Arts & Life

Dear listeners, Earlier this week, I was listening to “Pictures of You,” one of the many great singles by the British band the Cure, on the subway. It’s a song I’ve heard approximately one million times, and yet when I put it on, time still seems to slow down and …

Dear listeners, I do not know how this happened, but it did: It is already June. When I think June, I think moons … and spoons — that most infamously clichéd of all rhyme patterns, which Joni Mitchell both mocks and (internally) capitulates to in the second verse of “Both …

Dear listeners, Every once in a while, I’ll be telling you about a random song I am currently obsessed with in an attempt to explore the root of this fascination (and perhaps convince you to join me). Today, it’s a little-known gem from KC and the Sunshine Band. Yes, KC …

May 13, 2023, 1:52 p.m. ET May 13, 2023, 1:52 p.m. ET Fans pose with a statue of the Beatles in Liverpool, England.Credit…Mary Turner for The New York Times Liverpool, which is this year hosting Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine, is among the most important cities in pop music history, …

Dear listeners, I don’t have much reverence for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — a shadowy and arbitrary institution founded by record executives and music industry influencers who have historically hewed to a pretty narrow definition of rock ’n’ roll. However, this year’s inductees, which were announced earlier …

Dear listeners, It’s time for another installment of the recurring Amplifier segment My Record Haul, honoring the serendipity and bargains that can be found at brick-and-mortar shops. Today’s features weird and wonderful finds from one of my favorite places in Brooklyn, the Academy Records Annex. I’ve been shopping at the …

Updated  May 2, 2023, 6:31 a.m. ET May 2, 2023, 6:31 a.m. ET Ariana DeBose will return this year after hosting last year’s Tony Awards ceremony. Credit…Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Nominations for this year’s Tony Awards, which honor plays and musicals performed on Broadway, are being announced on Tuesday …

After spending an afternoon in a crowded gallery, an artist discovers there’s more to view than just what’s on display. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. April 29, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET Image

Dear listeners, On Wednesday night, I witnessed something that I never expected to see: a live performance by the mysterious British vocalist and producer Jai Paul. Paul’s music — full of glitches, strangely compressed sounds and spliced-together samples — is unmistakably a product of the digital age, yet his artistic …

April 27, 2023 There’s an adage, of murky provenance, that music executives like to cite whenever another copyright infringement lawsuit lands: “Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ.” The trial over Ed Sheeran’s Grammy-winning song “Thinking Out Loud” (2014), which began on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, is …