When William Bevan (a.k.a Burial) was working on the original tracks for the follow-up to his 2006 freshman release, he “took ages on them” (per a 2007 interview with Mark Fisher for The Wire). At this point, his identity was still unknown to the…
If one were to properly date when Pascal Arbez-Nicolas’ cultural ascension commenced — from his humble beginning as a no-name disk jockey, steadily slumming it in France under the moniker of Hustler Pornstar — it would be easy to attribute his rise to an…
Totally improbably, MGMT still exists, and not just that, but they also continue to build and better their sound, having released three albums since their full-length debut Oracular Spectacular, each reconceiving and honing what they produced on that iconic 2007 release. It’s a rather…
JR White passed away on October 18, 2020, at the age of 40, leaving behind a special body of work as a producer/engineer, and one-half of the short-lived, much beloved, cult indie rock act, Girls. White hadn’t been associated with a publicly-released project since…
While musical virtuosity and compositional genius are indisputable bona fides for any great artist to possess, and are indeed the key ingredients behind any number of remarkable records throughout history, such elements aren’t necessarily requisite. This is a sentiment especially true when considering a…
“Fuck Soulja Boy. Soulja Boy, I know you’re young enough to be my kid but you single-handedly killed hip-hop, man. That shit is such garbage. We came all the way from Rakim, we came all the way from Das EFX, we came all the…
Few debut albums have, since their initial release date, so easily defined themselves as a milestone and game-changer for a genre in the way of In the Court of the Crimson King. The record, released in October 1969 by British outfit King Crimson, is an…
How lucky would one be to have the opportunity to listen to Definitely Maybe while remaining blissfully ignorant of the very inflated egos of both Liam and Noel Gallagher? Their public personas make it rather difficult to conceive of Oasis as not just nobodies,…
The accolades that critics, fans, and lay listeners alike have bestowed upon Blue Lines since its release in 1991 — being branded as the album that spawned trip hop, becoming a staple of UK dance music, and being regarded as one of the greatest…
Black Sabbath are generally credited as the leading pioneers of heavy metal music, and rightfully so. They took some definite cues from outfits like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Blue Cheer, but their iconic use of the musical tritone, sinister lyrical content, tuned-down guitars,…
