Anthony Fantano

“I've obsessed over a lot of bands in my time, and I'm sure I'll become infatuated with a lot more in the future.”

“On its self-titled debut, Happy Birthday flirts with several flavors of love, and 'Girls FM' is where taste gets confusing.”

“Despite being an ocean apart, New York's ESG and France's Lizzy Mercier Descloux were shooting for roughly the same idea: disco beats with a rough and energetic presentation.”

“I don't really think reviewing music is something you're going to get famous doing overnight.”

“For more than 10 years, Daniel Snaith has been playing mad scientist with pop and psychedelic music. As Manitoba, and more recently as Caribou, he's pushed the genres' limits with electronics and studio trickery.”

“The personality and songwriting of Holy Ghost! trumps the originality card any day.”

“Less is more' may be a cliche, but that doesn't mean musicians often heed that advice. Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, who performs and records as The Tallest Man on Earth, follows it religiously.”

“Short-sighted music fans might scoff at the revivalism of, say, Ariel Pink, but plenty of acts have built healthy careers around the art of bringing back the past.”

“I always liked popping up in a place, inviting my fans out, and then having a discourse with them in person. That's what I try to do with 'The Needle Drop,' even though it's difficult to have a two-way conversation.”

“The U.K. trio Let's Wrestle doesn't make music for its art, but for its attitude.”

“King Khan and the Shrines may look and sound bizarre, but don't feel left out; it's not an exclusive club.”

“After a casual listen, it might be easy to lump Rocky Votolato in with the downtrodden likes of Conor Oberst and Elliott Smith. But his songwriting is a bit more triumphant than theirs: Votolato would rather pull himself out of a gutter than wallow in it, focusing instead on the victory before the misery.”

“The Internet is the fastest way to get what you want and expose yourself to music you would never have heard otherwise.”

“More than a quarter of a century into the band's career together, it's inspiring to hear Melvins continue to deafen new generations of listeners.”

“Occasionally, I'll want to cover something that's outside of my audiences' tastes or interests. Every week or so I have to try and cover at least one or two of those things to keep my sanity. If you're only reviewing what is in the top album spots on Apple Music every week, you can get kind of jaded.”