Chris Richards
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Chris Richards
@chrisrichards.bsky.social
9.7K followers 350 following 240 posts
Pop music critic at The Washington Post
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chrisrichards.bsky.social
Last night, PLAYBOI CARTI gave one of the greatest arena performances I’ve ever seen — even if I could barely see it

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Review | Playboi Carti might be the greatest vanishing act rap has ever seen
On his current arena tour, the Atlanta rap visionary practically disappears into a swirl of thick fog, big noise and deep meaning.
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November 12, 2025 at 10:29 PM
chrisrichards.bsky.social
Spoke with the terrific ABE MAMET about making quiet jazz in world that keeps getting louder and louder

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Abe Mamet is making quiet music for a noisy world
In his dynamic Septet, the rising composer and improviser is exploring the idea of doing less with more.
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November 12, 2025 at 9:13 PM
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If you’ve already figured out that the promise of AI is nothing more than a corporate attack on human curiosity, contemplation, critical thinking and free will, ROSALÍA’s “Lux” will sound like a new kind of feel-good music.

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Review | Rosalía’s ‘Lux’ is taking prestige pop to new levels
Rosalía’s new album, “Lux,” wants to blow your mind. Give it your undivided attention instead.
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November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
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Is this strange, unfamiliar sensation upon learning that half of the GRAMMY NOMINEES for album of the year make rap music… optimism?

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Column | Music’s biggest night is finally changing its tune on rap
Kendrick Lamar leads the list of new Grammy Award nominees. Will rap music finally rule on music’s biggest night?
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November 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM
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If you want to improve your life, spend some time with this absolutely terrific piece by @davesheinin.bsky.social who gets behind the damn piano to show us how iconic sports theme music works

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The 10 best sports theme songs of all time — and what makes them great
Our list of the greatest sports theme music includes John Tesh’s iconic “Roundball Rock,” several dark riffs on football and a whole lot of nostalgia.
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November 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
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The rock-and-roll biopic remains a cursed proposition but I felt like “SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE” made a few nudges in the direction of progress

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Review | This Springsteen movie doesn’t live up to the album that inspired it
The rock-and-roll biopic is a cursed form. “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is an attempt to make a few fixes.
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October 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
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Made some posters for KEEP YOUR EAR TO THE GROUND - A HISTORY OF PUNK FANZINES IN WASHINGTON D.C.

(The design references an old “D.C. tour” poster c. 1999)

Come ask John questions about his incredible book and grab a poster at these upcoming events!
October 17, 2025 at 4:33 PM
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“What a teen girl goes through is what a teen girl wants to hear” — BRI3 on rap music as truth-telling/truth-receiving

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Bri3 is turning teenage intuition into rainbow-bright rap music
The rising Waldorf phenom wants her listeners to feel good. It’s working.
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October 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM
chrisrichards.bsky.social
D’ANGELO

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Column | D’Angelo showed us what the 21st century should sound like
His visionary R&B music — from “Brown Sugar” to “Voodoo” to “Black Messiah” — rearranged our ideas about timelessness.
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October 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM
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Talking about the weather with the great RAFIQ BHATIA

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Rafiq Bhatia’s idea of jazz has grown into a force of nature
The guitarist’s immersive new album, “Environments,” channels the unknowability of the outside world.
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October 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
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I love how these excellent newish books by/about SWIZ, HUGGY BEAR and BILLY CHILDISH tell bigger, broader punk rock truths

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Review | Punk’s next frontier: Revolutionizing the rock-and-roll memoir?
Exciting new books from punk heroes Huggy Bear, Swiz and Billy Childish might be reinventing the form.
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October 3, 2025 at 3:37 PM
chrisrichards.bsky.social
Mixed feelings about TAYLOR SWIFT’s mixed feelings

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Review | Taylor Swift returns with an album of mixed emotions — and mixed results
“The Life of a Showgirl” wants to feel good, but other feelings keep getting in the way.
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October 3, 2025 at 2:25 PM
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DOGO DU TOGO AND THE ALAGAA BEAT BAND can take you there (even when it’s hard to come here)

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Dogo du Togo and the Alagaa Beat Band want to transport you
Though a travel ban has made things difficult for the Togolese group and its D.C. bandleader, the music remains.
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October 2, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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I have seen ADDISON RAE in concert and the dream is real is the dream

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Review | Addison Rae stepped into reality and became the perfect pop star
In concert, the former TikTok sensation wants to show us what dreams are made of.
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October 1, 2025 at 8:09 PM
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THE D.C. CANON!

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The 101 greatest movies, songs, books, artworks (and more!) about Washington, D.C.
Introducing the D.C. Canon, starring Chuck Brown, Olivia Pope, George Washington, Leonardo da Vinci, Duke Ellington, Rites of Spring and — who could forget? — Gort.
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September 28, 2025 at 9:52 PM
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It’s been a legit joy to watch EL COUSTEAU grow up/level up

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Review | El Cousteau grew up to become your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper
Earl Sweatshirt and A$AP Rocky want to rap with him. On his sharp new album, “Dirty Harry 2,” the stylish D.C. native shows why.
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September 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
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This OASIS reunion packs the life-affirming power of 10,000 karaoke nights but if you’re reticent to sing along, I invite you to join me in pondering the meaning of Liam Gallagher’s slouch

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Review | Oasis is back. And this time, the whole world is singing along.
Oasis, the reunited Brit-pop act, finally sounds like the classic rock band it always wanted to be.
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September 1, 2025 at 7:46 PM
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This new SABRINA CARPENTER is a gas (and maybe a new kind of pop album, too)

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Review | Is Sabrina Carpenter the funniest pop singer alive?
“Man’s Best Friend” is a pop album that feels as zesty, clever and cathartic as stand-up comedy.
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August 29, 2025 at 6:57 PM
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I like traditionalism when, instead of taking us back, it brings good things from the past into the now — which is why I like the music of ZACH TOP

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Review | Zach Top is making a new kind of old-school country music
Like Randy Travis and Keith Whitley before him, the rising young singer knows how to make life’s heaviness feel light.
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August 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
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TikTok is a funnel and SOMBR is a sound

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August 26, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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NOURISHED BY TIME says “we don’t have to be so average”

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Review | Nourished by Time isn’t your everyday R&B singer
The Baltimore singer-songwriter’s new album, “The Passionate Ones,” reminds us that “we don’t have to be so average.”
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August 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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New signs were up this afternoon and bands were playing
August 18, 2025 at 1:33 AM
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This summer, the hazy punk of INTERMISSION sounds like a reminder that the algorithm has never been your friend

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Review | Intermission is the best new punk band you’ve never heard
Intermission is the kind of punk band the algorithm could never help you find. But the group’s debut album, “Power Corrupts,” is one of the year’s best.
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July 30, 2025 at 12:21 PM
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I love how harDCore keeps changing shape, which means I love how the straight edge screamo of EXPIRATION DATE pushes toward shapelessness

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Expiration Date pushes the sound of screamo into the unknown
The searing Maryland quintet finishes its first tour at 618 DC on Tuesday, July 29.
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July 23, 2025 at 10:19 PM
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OZZY OSBOURNE

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Column | Ozzy Osbourne’s fame never felt as big as his music
Before he was a pioneering reality television star, he was a pioneering heavy metal singer. But Ozzy Osbourne’s music has always felt bigger than his celebrity.
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July 23, 2025 at 2:33 AM