Louder: The Chicks Are Done Caring What People Think

July 10, 2020

By Caryn Ganz

In terms of music industry drama, the Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks) have seen it all, been called it all and are now blessed with an enviable superpower: “a true ability to not care,” as Natalie Maines put it. Returning with its first album of new music in 14 years, the trio Zoomed with Amanda Hess, who put a finger on so much of what has endeared them to fans: “In an industry that’s never really loved them or defended them, they became a testament to female self-reliance. They move with the energy of witches who could not be burned.”

Rob Tannenbaum’s sparkling, amusing Q. and A. with Jarvis Cocker is one of the last things I edited in the office in March (insert rueful laughter). Grayson Haver Currin talked with Julianna Barwick about moving to L.A. and finding her own healing. Jon Caramanica chatted with Sheldon Pearce about the evolution of the rap duo Run the Jewels, and how its music perfectly anticipated this moment.

And Ennio Morricone died this week, at 91. He “was more than one of the world’s great soundtrack composers,” writes John Zorn in an appraisal, “he was one of the world’s great composers, period.”

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The Chicks Are Done Caring What People Think

The trio formerly known as the Dixie Chicks is returning with its first album in 14 years, at peace with an industry that’s never made nice.

By Amanda Hess

Tom Jamieson for The New York Times

Jarvis Cocker Keeps Hearing That Voice

Returning with a new band, Jarv Is …, the onetime Pulp leader explains how David Bowie saved his life and why he can’t give up songwriting — yet.

By Rob Tannenbaum

THE CRITICS AND POPCAST

the playlist

Gerard Way Sneers at the Apocalypse, and 12 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Katy Perry, Dominic Fike, James Blake and others.

By Jon Pareles, Giovanni Russonello and Lindsay Zoladz

album review

Redman, Mehldau, McBride and Blade Take Another Spin, 26 Years Later

A quartet of jazz all-stars returns with its players — and its philosophy — in a different phase of life.

By Giovanni Russonello

Debating ‘Hamilton’ as It Shifts From Stage to Screen

Five critics wade into the controversies (like its treatment of slavery) and examine the performances (especially Lin-Manuel Miranda’s) five years after the show debuted.

By Stephanie Goodman

The Timely Agitation of Run the Jewels

Killer Mike and El-P’s anti-government and pro-justice hip-hop feels like it anticipated the current moment.

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Julianna Barwick Left Her Ghosts in New York. Then the Healing Began.

The musician became a star on the city’s experimental music scene, but her personal life spiraled into chaos. A move to Los Angeles unlocked her creativity and let her find joy again.

By Grayson Haver Currin

my ten

Ellie Goulding Likes Her ’90s Rock Political and Her Social Media Inspiring

The British pop star, who’s releasing her first album in five years, “Brightest Blue,” also has Kate Bush and an Almodóvar film on her list of cultural must-haves.

By Olivia Horn

ENNIO MORRICONE

Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse, via Associated Press

Ennio Morricone, Oscar-Winning Composer of Film Scores, Dies at 91

His vast output included atmospheric music for spaghetti westerns in his native Italy and scores for some 500 movies by a Who’s Who of directors.

By Robert D. McFadden

Ennio Morricone in Eight Moments

The spaghetti westerns were only the beginning. His scores turned horror, romance and more into transcendent works of art.

By Joshua Rothkopf

an appraisal

Ennio Morricone Was More Than Just a Great Film Composer

He was one of the great composers, period.

By John Zorn

OBITUARIES

Charlie Daniels, Fiddling Force in Country and Rock, Dies at 83

He was a singer, songwriter, bandleader and a blazing fiddle player on hits like “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” His politics swung, too, from left to right.

By Bill Friskics-Warren

those we’ve lost

Dulce Nunes, Bossa Nova Star of the 1960s, Dies at 90

She was best-known for the 1964 album “Poor Little Rich Girl.” Ms. Nunes died of Covid-19.

By Michael Astor

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5 Arrested in Connection With Pop Smoke Killing

The Los Angeles Police Department said it had taken three adult men and two minors into custody on Thursday, following the February shooting of the rising rap star in the Hollywood Hills.

By Joe Coscarelli

Lady Antebellum Sues the Singer Lady A Over Name Change

The platinum-selling country group’s new name was already being used by a blues singer. Now they’re asking a court to affirm “a trademark we have held for many years.”

By Joe Coscarelli