Features / Music

7/9 - Boris, Torche, and Clouds @ First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA If Boris played everything off of Amplifier Worship I'd be extremely upset to have missed it. I'm missing this show because I'll be in an airport in D.C. about to fly to Europe. 7/16 - Mewithoutyou Maps … Read more

Where has the time gone? We're already halfway through 2011, and we've already experienced the Rapture (not the New York hipster band, but the apocalyptic religious end-of-days), the controversy of Beyoncé headlining Glastonbury festival, and the death of Osama bin Laden. It's been a climactic year. Luckily, the next impending … Read more

In time-honoured tradition, here's our list of the best records released this year so far, plus some tasty extras: best EPs, albums we missed last year, best hip-hop albums and mixtapes, and of course, the records we're anticipating for the upcoming half of the year. Read on for more on … Read more

It barely seems like yesterday that we compiled our list of the best of 2012, but already the year 2013 is half finished, leaving in its wake some of the best albums of the last twelve months. Here the SPB team have compiled the best of these records, sorted by … Read more

How has your 2014 been so far? Team knocked out of the World Cup yet? Still not gotten around to listening to the new Lawrence Arms record? Don't worry: SPB has got you covered. There are still six whole months left to go with this year, and our handy lists … Read more

That's right: this year is already half empty. Or half full. Something like that? Metaphors aside, we at SPB have distilled the best music of the year so far into a delicious glass that you can sniff at delicately, taste a sip and pontificate over whether Faith No More's comeback … Read more

It hasn't been the most promising start to a year: with both David Bowie and Prince departing the Earth (presumably to take their music to the rest of the galaxy), making predictions about the rest of the year seems decidedly risky. That said, though, some of SPB's writers have gathered … Read more

Remember 2016, when things were simple? We've got bad news for you: we're almost halfway to 2018. Or midway through 2017 if you're that kind of person. Either way, once you've gotten over the shock of the year being 50% through, you can relax: SPB has you covered. Rejoice as … Read more

We're halfway through the year. When did that happen? Luckily for you, SPB's expert staff are on hand to guide you through the records you may have missed so far in 2018, and the albums you need to go back and listen to so you can pretend you were on … Read more

Tension on the North Korean border. Conflicts with Iran. Brexit hovering like the sword of Damocles over Europe. Who knows if we'll even see the end of 2019? Just in case, you better check out SPB's guide to the best music of this year so far. You just might discover … Read more

As is SPB tradition, we've gotten together to compile a list of the albums our staff are enjoying most so far this year. Here are 55 records (with a little overlap – spoiler: turns out Run The Jewels just released a pretty good album) that you need to check out … Read more

The less said about 2021 so far the better, right? We won't rehash the political chaos, the ongoing climate crisis, the billionaire space race and, of course, the C-word (Covid-19 – what were you thinking?). Instead, we'll focus on the music. Here are a set of lists by our staff … Read more

Somehow, we're halfway through the year again. Where did the time go, we ask ourselves, as life returns to something vaguely resembling pre-pandemic times, music festivals begin to emerge once more slumber, and secret music projects begin to see the light of day as artists rediscover themselves. Luckily for you, … Read more

How's 2023 been for you, so far? Good? Average? Pretty rough? Don't worry – the kind folks at SPB have got you. We've crunched the numbers, broken down the boundaries, and—more importantly—listened to all of the music released in 2023 thus far. Alright, most of the music. Armed with this … Read more

It's been a year of intense, crazy events. Assassination attempts on former presidents. European governments overthrown in waves of unexpected left-wing landslides. Tenacious D imploding. Hold on, that was just the past few weeks. Yep, we're midway through this thing called 2024 and it only promises to get more interesting … Read more

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Seth 1. Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow 2. The Bad Plus - These Are the Vistas 3. The Blood Brothers - Burn, Piano Island, Burn 4. Death From Above - Heads Up 5. V/A - Our Birthday, Your Present (GSL Compilaton) Sean 1. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- Hearts of … Read more

For years, music had simply gone without discussion. Nobody would dare say a word about a band, record, or song; with the apprehension that, he or she would be persecuted for their beliefs. We lived in a dark age where freedom of speech applied not to the splendid sonic art … Read more

30. Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets (Lookout!) Looking for a good dose of jangling, dancey rock? Look no further than Ted Leo and the Pharmacist's latest, the album poppy-indie kids wet their pants for in October of 2004. Shake the Sheets is a collection of fun, … Read more

It's that time of year again - our year end feature! It's been a long process, but we've totalled up all of the results of our individual staff lists (see later pages for these), to calculate an overall list for the entire staff and site. We use this approach because … Read more