The Greenwich Village of the 1960s was a carnival of music, literature, poetry, coffee houses, free love, fashion and great ethnic food. The neighborhood’s heartbeat was Bleecker Street, where one could hear the soon-to-be-discovered Bob Dylan at The Village Gate, or Joni Mitchell at The Bitter End. 1967 saw the arrival of Village Oldies on […]
Artists often go unnoticed until they inspire you. Until they lead you by the hand into a brand new understanding of the world, they could just be the louder-than-life character sitting next to you at the bar. Hell, they could even be serving you your next beer. Last month, we lost an unsung talent in […]
A new generation of ska-punk bands has a message for you, Rudy, and it’s all about unity. Embracing the 80s British ska scene’s politically charged idealism while taking musical inspiration from 90s American ska-punk, Bad Time Records is a focal point of the thriving ska-punk scene. The label has released music by We Are the […]
Luke Bentham was taking painting lessons in a community center when inspiration struck for the new Dirty Nil LP, Fuck Art. “There’s this old man sitting at the back of the class, and he’s such a whiny asshole,” the singer-guitarist tells SPIN. “He keeps putting his hand up, and he’s like, ‘Um, my bushes don’t […]
Poppy vividly remembers her 2020 “Mission Impossible moment.” The pop-metal shapeshifter was gearing up for a European tour behind her acclaimed January LP, I Disagree, when her manager broke some unfortunate, pandemic-related news. “I got the call right when I was about to fly [over there],” she tells SPIN. “We were like, ‘Do you think […]
“What is this for?” David Hasselhoff asks me. “Is this for SPIN magazine or an Austrian magazine, or a German magazine or what?” David Hasselhoff wants to know why I’m here. It’s a valid question, really. Why are any of us still delighting in the adventures of his sixty-year career? It’s not a roller-coaster ride, […]
Once upon a time—hard times, as it were—in an unrelenting, kick-you-when-you’re-down New York City, a real-life couple were struggling and fighting and having a thoroughly shit time. According to “Fairytale of New York” co-writer Jem Finer, this relatable and timeless dynamic became the basis for what some might consider one of the most fantastic and […]
Considering the hyperactive mind of the modern music listener, the 50 million songs in Spotify’s catalog and Amazon’s universe of subpar listening devices, can anyone tell which music medium sounds best anymore? What does “sounds best” even mean? While we’re at it, what the hell is sound? Glad you asked because there’s a whole lotta […]
I had a conventional small town, Arkansas upbringing. My dad was a full-time poultry technician and part-time rancher who herded cattle on a motorcycle. It wasn’t even a dirt bike; he thought a bigger bike had a smoother ride. He felt the same way about cars – the bigger the better – and when I […]
If it feels like the most-recent NBA season just ended, well, it did. The strangeness of 2020 engulfed the association, but it led to one of the more innovative ideas of the COVID-era: the bubble. (Mostly) quarantined, teams competed with nary a hitch at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando. The season ended […]