Sal Bardo

Jul 22, 2023 | slantmagazine.com | Sal Bardo

Early in her set at Los Angeles’s Greek Theatre, Tori Amos reminds the star-studded audience—including Olivia Rodrigo, Kumail Nanjiani, and Kristen Schaal, among others—that the songs from her solo debut, 1992’s Little Earthquakes, were written not too far away from Griffith Park’s historic amphitheater. The implication, of course, is that we’ve come a long way, boy.

Jun 26, 2023 | slantmagazine.com | Sal Bardo

“Business is business,” Young Thug says at the tail end of “Parade on Cleveland,” the opening track to his third studio album. Over a particularly hard-hitting 808, the Atlanta rapper proceeds to parrot the phrase 19 more times in under 20 seconds, turning a potentially prosaic statement into a thrilling declaration of intent. Despite Young Thug’s continuing legal issues, when it comes to spitting wackadoodle lyrics set to quirky trap beats, it’s still business as usual for the MC.

Jun 20, 2023 | slantmagazine.com | Sal Bardo

Kelly Clarkson’s skillful covers of Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” and Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees,” from last year’s Kellyoke EP, hinted at what it might sound like if the singer were to reprise the more rock-oriented sound of her under-appreciated 2007 album My December.

Jun 16, 2023 | slantmagazine.com | Sal Bardo

After seemingly denouncing the pop-leaning Planet Her and Hot Pink, Doja Cat has joked about dropping a rock/spoken-word album and, alternately, vowed to lean more heavily into hip-hop and rap. She delivers on the latter promise with “Attention,” the first single from her forthcoming, as-yet-untitled fourth studio album. Doja recently told Rolling Stone that the new album is influenced by ’90s hip-hop in particular.

Jun 10, 2023 | slantmagazine.com | Sal Bardo

When Madonna introduced Sam Smith and Kim Petras at the Grammy Awards earlier this year, the subject of the singer’s appearance overshadowed both her message—“You are seen, you are heard, and most of all, you are appreciated”—and the symbolic significance of a legendary gay icon and activist introducing two openly queer pop stars on national TV.