Imagine an album that opens with a singer reciting an Edgar Allan Poe poem in an exotic Germanic accent over a lush symphonic backdrop. Followed by the industrial clanging of a synth-pop anthem that suddenly segues into a jazz solo by Yes guitarist Steve Howe. An album previewed by a hit single inspired by German […]
Name Shaun Cooper Best known for Bassist of Taking Back Sunday. Current city: Long Beach, NY. Really want to be in Like Dorothy said, there’s no place like home! I’m currently at an orthodontist appointment with my son. No place I’d rather be. My current music collection has a lot of Billy Joel. And a little bit of Yacht rock. Preferred format I love […]
Purveyors of “high energy sublime dance-floor euphoria” Midnight Lovers have relaunched Downtown LA’s Bar Franca with a new vision that’s already bringing fresh life to the heart of downtown. A Danley sound system adds warmth to the “sultry blend of jazz, funk, disco, house, and Balearic beats curated by Midnight Lovers,” as gold lighting sets […]
Kanye West called Erick Sermon sometime in May 2023 and wanted the EPMD co-founder to hop a flight to Los Angeles to work on a new project. Sermon’s ailing mother, Belinda, was in hospice care at the time and knew about the trip but didn’t want to hamper her son’s opportunity. Sermon protested but was […]
This new ongoing series is about the business of music with a SPIN twist. Not since the dawn of the Internet, Napster, and streaming services combined has there been such curiosity and horror over the music industry’s latest challenge: AI. Every day brings a new headline pondering whether we are on the precipice of a […]
Jimmy “Super Rhymes” Spicer, whose 15-minute single “Adventure of Super Rhymes” is widely considered hip-hop’s first storytelling rap, died from cancer in 2019 in financial peril. As Russell Simmons’s flagship artist at Rush Management, Spicer helped lay the foundation for what would eventually become Def Jam Recordings. His music has been sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan, 2Pac, De […]
Gina Birch never thought of calling herself an artist. Which seems like a strange attitude for this restless musician, painter, and filmmaker who first made her mark as a founding member of the Raincoats, a lasting spark from London’s musical underground of the late 1970s and a personal favorite band of Kurt Cobain and Kathleen […]
“And” is the first word Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath sings on “Nod,” the opening track from Ricochet, released in August. It’s also the first word he sings on the next song, “I Want It All.” But that wasn’t a deliberate strategy, judging from McIlrath’s surprise when I point it out. “Oh yeah, I didn’t […]
Once Upstate New York locals sense that an early winter is on its way, they can count on a few short weeks of spectacular weather, where amber-leafed sugar maples and auburn birches sway in the warm breeze. At the end of a rocky dirt road, surrounded by this cinematic countryside, is the bright blue barn […]
Name Steven John Fucking Kilbey Best known for Idiot savant (perhaps more of the former) behind Australian band The Church. A prolific renaissance bloke, knocking out records, paintings, poems, books, and now even comics. Still haven’t choreographed a ballet, but who knows? Current city Coogee Beach, Sydney, Australia 2034. Really want to be in Bali. Sitting on a deck […]