Permanent Records is an ongoing closer look at the records that matter most.

Though she only released her first album, the self-titled Taylor Swift, in 2006, Taylor Swift has had a meteoric rise to fame, especially considering she’s only 25. With more than 40 million albums sold, Swift went from sweet-hearted country-singin’ teen to mega-watt stadium star over just five albums, with her…

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs with the word “hit” somewhere in the title.

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs with the word “hit” somewhere in the title.

In Set List, we talk to veteran musicians about some of their most famous songs, learning about their lives and careers, and maybe hearing a good backstage anecdote or two in the process.

Version Tracker examines how different artists have performed the same song over the years, adapting it to suit their own needs and times.

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs with the word “hit” somewhere in the title.

As I do every time they come around, I took advantage of the latest massive summer sale on Steam to fill out holes in my PC gaming library (currently numbering 434 games, I inform you with an even mixture of pride and shame). But if I’m being honest, I often feel like I enjoy owning the games, with the ability to play…

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs sung by siblings.

Last week Apple rolled out its highly anticipated Apple Music platform, which includes a streaming library of 30 million songs; Connect (a Tumblr-like feature for artists to share multimedia content); and a suite of streaming radio channels including Beats 1, which features an intensely curated cast of talent…

Many would say Owl City—née Adam Young—makes music for teen girls. They’d be wrong. Owl City makes music for pre-teen girls. A cursory scan of the lyric sheets on Young’s previous three LPs reveal musings on bumblebees, fireflies, and shooting stars. It would be no surprise if Young’s greatest influence was not The…

Once those classic rock riffs kick in, and those lilting, perfectly matched voices join in harmony, the sound is unmistakable: Veruca Salt is back. “It’s gonna get loud / It’s gonna get heavy,” Nina Gordon and Louise Post warn on opening track, “The Gospel According To Saint Me,” and they’re right, in more ways than…

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs sung by siblings.

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs sung by siblings.

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs sung by siblings.

Consider the era in which Janet Jackson’s seminal and sexy album Janet was released: In 1993 the No. 1 song in the country was Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and the No. 2 song was Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is).” This pairing perfectly represents the dichotomous soundscape of early ’90s R&B. At one end…

A lyric to a quintessential They Might Be Giants song goes: “You’re older than you’ve ever been, and now you’re even older.” This is true of They Might Be Giants, inasmuch as the band is made up of people and it’s true of every person. But the sentiment doesn’t always seem true for TMBG, because of their young-skewing…

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week: songs sung by siblings.

Twenty years ago today saw the release of the debut album from Foo Fighters, a name that began as a cover for the fact that Nirvana’s drummer had created the entire album by himself (a single guitar contribution from Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli notwithstanding). Drums, bass, guitar, vocals—it was a one-man Dave Grohl…

Held every year for about the past decade in Calgary, Alberta, Sled Island is one of Canada’s best-kept festival secrets. A multi-venue affair held over most of a week, Sled Island is curated each year by a different artist who gets to slot a number of their favorite acts into the schedule alongside other bands. Last…