With bedroom-produced DIY tracks topping the streaming charts and explosive distortion the new norm on TikTok, is sound quality becoming irrelevant in 2026?

For anyone who relies on headphones to get through the daily grind, there is a familiar and frustrating cycle. You buy a pair because the marketing promises the world – silence in a chaotic subway, ...

Do my ears deceive me?

Music has a funny way of surprising us. Sometimes it's not the guitar solo or the vocal runs that stick with you. You know ...

Simon Reynolds is releasing a new book. Set to arrive via publishing house White Rabbit Books in June, Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention Of Rock, 1984–1994 follows emerging ...

By Lena Moreno, February 3, 2026 Harry Styles released his lead single “Aperture” Jan. 22 after a four-year hiatus, setting up a new and experimental tone that reshaped my expectations for his fourth ...

Rock's unsung architects: these are the quiet geniuses who provided great bands with their essential DNA while others took ...

Wired earbuds can offer superior sound quality, and they never run out of battery. Here are the four best pairs our editors found after years of testing.

There aren’t enough guitar solos anymore. I mean, there are guitar solos still happening—in the metalspheres of the world, ...

Mamdani ran on the most ambitious universal child care proposal in the country: free day care for all kids ages 6 weeks and ...

Get obsessed with us. Four days a week, Pop Culture Happy Hour serves you recommendations and commentary on the buzziest movies, TV, music, books, videogames and more. Join arts journalists Linda ...