It’s been three years since we heard from Jenn Wasner & Andy Stack. 2011’s Civilian wasn’t necessarily a major commercial but it found success after The Walking Dead featured its titular track. However, in those three years, those two found something special in their sessions together leading up to Shriek and oh how grateful we should be. The project […]
Artists have a tendency to show their roots whether it’s the music that inspired their current love for music or the nations that raised them. The Band Called FUSE hails from a multitude of locations bringing diversity to the crafting table when writing starts. Sometimes the results could be a lackluster cluster of noise due to the […]
Annie Clark is not your normal artist. Every album has worked itself into this great little niche she’s been carving out where the music is challenging yet invasive. Debuting withMarry Me back in 2007, her sophomore album Actor (2009) was an incredible feat of balance between melodic pop and dangerous lyrics. I mean, with a track called “Laughing With […]
“enjoy” That’s what Donald Glover tweeted when his newest release because the internet leaked last night. There’s been a whole lot of hullabaloo circling around the rapper or the comedian or even maybe the actor depending on how you look at him over the summer and into the fall. He left his show Community, made a film called Clapping for […]
I’m personally a huge fan of Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd and a lot of the music he’s produced in the last two years. The extremely poignant tracks he releases focus on relishing in drug culture and the accompanying decadence of that lifestyle or as he says, “xo til we overdose”. With his album Kiss Land set […]
Hungry artists are fan’s best friends. El-P & Killer Mike may not be household names but they make waves with every release. El’sCancer 4 Cure was a great effort from the alt hip hop artist where as Killer Mike’s last album, R.A.P. Music, was out shined only by Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. Mike and El-P met during R.A.P. Music’s production and […]
Ahh… there’s the Mayer we know and love; crooning into a soda can microphone with some hilarious imagery around him. The video for “Her Favorite Song” is like one giant public service announcement to men everywhere. Taking the phrase “men are dogs” quite literally on this one, we follow the exploits of a few girls […]
M.I.A.’s videos have always been something to note. Her videos for “Born Free” & “Bad Girls” both brought a lot of attention to issues both personal and political. She doesn’t give a damn about what you think; she’s here to go hard and be a feisty spark in the scene. “Bring the Noize” focuses more […]
“Holy shit.” That’s what came out of my mouth when I got through this album for the first time. I simply muttered that under my breath, took my headphones off, and went to the fridge where I just stood for a good minute lost in all the labels looking back at me. I’m not saying […]
When this track came out in February, it seemed like this was a Weeknd song with Juicy J featured. XO takes up a majority of the track talking about the haze of one of his many drug-induced, cloud dancing nights. Juicy’s forthcoming album Stay Trippy – if it follows more of this kind of sound – is […]
Abel Tesfaye has been around long enough to be selling out shows but you still might not know who he is or why people (see John Norris of MTV) are calling him the “next Michael Jackson.” He’s found the essence of a generation in his drug-riddled tales of desperate adoration, sex, and pain. The self-starter […]
Deftones have been creating music since ’88 and haven’t had a single line-up change until tragedy struck their bassist Chi Cheng in 2008 (he’s been recovering at home as of the latest news, which is amazing to hear). I bring this up because after twenty years together as a single unit, bringing in somebody new to continue the […]
This week, I thought we’d try something new and introduce a new feature that focuses solely on a song. Yeah, album releases lend themselves to more dissection but sometimes, a single is all you need to really shake up the music world. Cue Adele and the release of “Skyfall,” the title song to the soon to be […]
I, personally, listen to a lot of drone music. I can read to it, write to it, think and work without hesitation or accidentally saying or typing the last lyric I heard. It’s a niche market, I know but it’s a beautiful and wondrous place to explore. And just like there’s sub-genres of mainstream music, […]
Okay, right off the bat, let’s get this clear – this isn’t Kanye West’s new album. Compilation album that he’s the Exec. Producer on for the G.O.O.D label- that’s what this is. Whew, thank you & spread that knowledge please. Now, throughout the summer, Yeezy and his crew have been releasing some solid music. Between […]
It’s been three years since The xx’s debut album came out and the absence of records saw the band touring to the point that one member left. A “Tour Only” EP was released in 2010 but contained some B-sides that had previously come out with singles. Then, this past holiday season they released a demo track, […]
It could be safe to say that Lucifer is, in a broad stroke kind of manner, a lullaby album meant to keep Indra Dunis & Aaron Coyes’ newborn Mikko safe from the terrors of the night. Patient and understated, drum machines kiss simplistic guitar solos creating a melancholic haze of sound. Layers come and go with ease, repetition the album’s […]
The seconds before an album starts up (well, in the CD days) tend to have this quiet-before-the-storm feel. As if, you’ve just saw lightning and you’re waiting for that sternum-rattling thunder to follow. Sometimes you get let down and nothing really happens, a little toot maybe. However, there are also the booming releases from the […]
I like making it a point in being able to sum up something I’ve seen or heard in three words or less. If I’m lucky enough, I’ll be able to do it in a single idea; an all encompassing word that brings about not only a definition that fits but a connotation that couples, too. […]
Witnessing evolution – on any level of the term – can leave one awestruck. It’s empowering, incredible, and just plain wild to experience something like that first hand – the path behind, and where said evolving will end are coming to a point in time together. Ugly, the New Brunswick trio’s fifth release, is that intersection of […]
In the opening track to Noctourniquet – Volta’s sixth album – Cedric Bixler-Zavala ends hoarsely repeating the lines, “I’m a landmine / cause I’m a landmine / don’t step on me,” as the music dissolves to nothing behind him before kicking up its synth-induced chorus again. It’s a lot to take in as an opener. […]
Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen released what is either a very new EP or a very old EP. I say this because these tracks could very well have been what he played for Chris Taylor – another member of the aforementioned group – early in college when Bear was just starting out as a three-piece act. […]
By the second track of Open Your Heart, there seems to be an exciting path this album is going to follow. Lead Nick Chiericozzi, is gruffing his way through lyrics like “Wrap your hands around my throat / Run your nails through my mind / I wanna feel you,” as a few female backups counteract […]
Earlier on in the year, I talked about how K.R.I.T. was going to be releasing his debut LP, Live From The Underground. Remember that? Well, in the meantime – to put off the drooling dogs we have become – K.R.I.T. decided to release one more mixtape for us before that dropped. 4Eva N A Day […]
As February comes to a close, the weather has been getting beautiful – unless of course you’re reading this from Oymyakon in Sakha Republic, Russia which has -3 ºF (-16 ºC) as its yearly average. Hopefully, you’re not there but even if you are, we went and found you some our favorite up and comers […]
Nowadays, it’s really easy to get lost on the Internet. Days can go by before you realize you haven’t left that blue glow and you’re still wrapped in the towel you showered in from Tuesday morning. It happens to the best of us; I know from personal experience. And don’t get me wrong – the […]