Kirill Makarenko

Former Assistant Leisure Editor


Leisure

Critical Voices: Wilco, The Whole Love

While the release of a eighth album may suggest a band’s unwillingness to retire, with The Whole Love, alternative veterans Wilco prove that they’re creative juices are still running strong. Continuing to avoid a defining genre, Wilco remains nestled somewhere between pop, alternative rock, and indie, once again incorporating new instruments and experimental sounds to live up to their continuity-through-change reputation.

Leisure

Critical Voices: Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

Yes, it’s country music. But it ain’t about sexy green tractors, farmer’s tans, or improper grammar. In fact, iTunes first mistakenly labeled all the tracks from Lady Antebellum’s third studio album, Own the Night, as “pop.” Perhaps the trio has begun to head the way of Taylor Swift: cranking out faux-country for a mainstream audience with little respect for true southern rock. Much of the new album, which drops on September 13, is missing the twang of older hits, such as “Lookin’ For a Good Time.” But oddly enough, the group’s transition to an increasingly diverse sound has, for the most part, worked.