New Music Friday: The best albums out Jan. 26 (and why they deserve reviews)

There's plenty about Wall of Eyes, the new album by the British rock trio The Smile, to remind you of Radiohead, the band with which The Smile shares Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. But there's something about The Smile that resists feeling like Radiohead redux, and on this week's episode Ann Powers, Tom Huizenga and Sheldon Pearce get to the bottom of what makes Wall of Eyes so satisfying on its own terms.

Plus: Discussion of a week's worth of great albums leads to a conversation about the state of music criticism, which took a blow last week when the long-standing, much-beloved, occasionally-hated website Pitchfork was folded into the men's magazine GQ and much of its staff laid off.

Featured Albums for January 26, 2024:
1. Patricia Kopatchinksaja, Reto Bieri, Polina Leschenko — Take 3
2. Benny the Butcher — Everybody Can't Go
3. Katy Kirby — Blue Raspberry
4. The Smile — Wall of Eyes

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