Roxy Music gave us Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno, influenced punk and new wave, and charmed a legion of musicians with their sonic collage art: David Bowie, Chic, Grace Jones, Sex Pistols, U2, Duran Duran, Siouxie and the Banshees, Radiohead, Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand, and more. So why the hell did it take decades for […]
The following acts released quality albums in May 2022 alone: Radiohead off-shoot The Smile, Kendrick Lamar, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Sharon Van Etten, The Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, Harry Styles — we’ll stop there for space reasons. It’s been such a wild music year so far, only some of them made the following list. […]
It’s almost absurd how much good music — universally acclaimed, big-ticket, year-end contender music — came out in 2022’s first five months. It’s hard to imagine the next seven matching that pace. We’ve heard soul-bearing rap songs (Kendrick Lamar), future windows-down rock classics (Momma), loads of elite-level Thom Yorke (The Smile) — the list, literally, goes […]
The Clash were “The Only Band That Matters.” But more to the point, they were the only band who’s ever gotten away with calling themselves something so self-aggrandizing, because it felt close enough to the truth. They formed in early 1976 out of the ashes of Joe Strummer’s pub rock band, The 101ers, and Mick […]
In some ways, U2 have had a fairytale existence unheard of in rock music. Paul “Bono” Hewson, David “The Edge” Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. began making music together, with two more friends, when they were 14 or 15. And that core quartet has remained together for over four decades, with no lineup […]
Last year, when helping assemble SPIN‘s 50 Best Albums of 1971, I wondered if that year could have been popular music’s absolute peak. Now I’m asking myself that same question all over again. As I built a spreadsheet for 1972, gathering our writers’ votes alongside my own weird choices, I was once again struck by […]
Getting toasty stoned and streaming a flick is a marriage that was made in Hollywood heaven ages ago. The ritual of sparking a joint and watching a movie can be cathartic and watching stoned people navigate the world high on THC is equally as entertaining on the silver screen as it can be in real […]
It happens every spring, pitchers and catchers start to report to spring training and America shifts its attention from thousands of other things to the National Pastime. You’ll see kids heading to little league, folks filling out their fantasy rosters, and – all over the country – people who have never visited New York will […]
The powers-that-be did their best to prevent this year’s Major League Baseball season from happening, but, alas, we’re back. By we, I mean the annual SPIN baseball preview. As usual, everyone (or almost everyone) is optimistic about their team’s chances in 2022. In 2021, a good chunk of the season was played with minimal fans […]
Skull-cracking elbow drops and ground-trembling suplex slams are only part of what makes WrestleMania great. The WWE’s biggest annual event — considered the pinnacle of “sports entertainment” by its creators (aka “Showcase of the Immortals,” “Grandest stage of ‘em all”) — happens at the intersection of athleticism and theatrics. Equally as thrilling as the high-flying […]