There’s a quote from Muhammad Ali that I never fully understood as a kid. “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life,” the boxing legend said. Ali’s statement speaks to growth, and on Raheem DeVaughn and Apollo Brown’s latest project, LoveSick, […]
Disco!, the latest release from the experimental New York rapper MIKE, builds upon his somber but virtuosic style, exploring new lyrical and musical terrain through the honest lens of his writing and his burgeoning talents as a beatmaker. His previous releases, weight of the world in 2019 and tears of joy in 2020, were in […]
Lyrics to the Foo Fighters’ opening aural salvo summed up a historic night and extraordinary experience: “It’s times like these you learn to live again.” The setting was Madison Square Garden, the occasion? NYC’s first full capacity arena concert since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March 2020. There was audience speculation about New York-centric guests along […]
Premiering this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, along comes another film about Brian Wilson. Is there more to be said about this cornerstone of modern American music? Indeed, Long Promised Road provides several more angles to further understand the journey Brian Wilson has taken. The film provides a wealth of encomia from well-respected musicians: […]
On Rare Pleasure, his third release for Stones Throw Records, Mndsgn evolves from his role as acclaimed beat-maker to focus on vocals, songwriting and arrangements. Complementing the album’s organic quality, its songs are warm gestures drawn from the producer’s personal life and reflected in lilting choruses, flurrying drums and glowing instrumentation. Littered with motifs and […]
One of the most beloved albums by The Beatles was their eponymous double-disc set. It was crafted by the individual members mostly separately, with occasional cross-pollination. The seminal Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Déjà Vu album is now seen through a similar lens, and a massive reissue box set has shed a glowing and loving […]
Being a teenager still fucking sucks and Olivia Rodrigo is here to tell us all about it. That’s really the thesis of Sour, the pop ingenue’s impassioned, sassy and highly satisfying debut album. Sure, it’s largely a break-up record as Rodrigo explores the waves of sorrow, anger and confusion that follow a heart-stomping loss of […]
Since 2019, the Philadelphia-based punk band Mannequin Pussy has been operating on another level. They began working with prolific emo producer Will Yip, moved to Epitaph Records, and garnered widespread acclaim for their third record, Patience. COVID-19 may have slowed their momentum, but the now-trio of vocalist-guitarist Marisa “Missy” Dabice, drummer Kaleen Reading, and bassist […]
In a 2019 interview, Weezer ringleader Rivers Cuomo spoke about their most recent self-titled album at the time, Weezer (a.k.a. the Black Album). “My main goal for any album at this point is for it to have at least one song that the audience at our shows every night wants to hear,” Cuomo said. He […]
Favorably compared to A$AP Mob and Odd Future for their versatile sound and offbeat, self-made visuals, the Avant-Garde Club (AG Club) juggles listeners’ hopes and their own ambitions. On their latest two-part release, Fuck Your Expectations, the East Bay area hip-hop collective focus on their genre-bending, DIY sound and leave all judgments behind them. The […]