Photo Credit: Gunner Stahl Not since Tyler, the Creator reinvented himself with soul-inspired records like Flower Boy and IGOR has a rapper reinvented himself as 25-year-old Lil Yachty does on Let’s Start Here. So, what in the world happened? The viral hit “Poland,” released earlier this winter, hinted that Lil Yachty was about to climb… Read more
Photo Credit: Scott Dudelson David Crosby, the singer, musician, and songwriter best known for being the first name in long-running rock supergroups: Crosby Stills & Nash and Crosby Still Nash & Young, died on January 18th at age eighty-one. Uniquely recognizable by his heavy frame, long hair, and wooly mustache – a look he rarely… Read more
Photo Credit: Zackery Michael On their seventh studio album The Car, the Arctic Monkeys continue the musical road trip that they set out on with their previous release, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018). The Sheffield, England quartet which became known (and renowned) for their brand of fast, kinetic, mile-a-minute Britpop delivered with a punk… Read more
Sure, one could argue that being a household name within the music industry in any way should disqualify you from complaining. Still, there are plenty of groups out there that deserve way more appreciation than they get. Here is a list of ten groups – new and old – that we think should be talked… Read more
To have something important to say and to know how to say it – that’s the art of succeeding with your debut album. Some debut albums have such an important message that they change the world forever. Some of them are just incredibly well executed, burning with the energy of a new artist who finally… Read more
Photo Credit: Chuck Berry via Universal Attractions (artist management) “Hail, hail rock and roll // Deliver me from the days of old.” – Charles Edward Anderson Berry Rock and roll always had a problem orienting itself from the beginning. It is the musical product of a dozen styles of American music blended through time and… Read more
Photo Credit: Mikael Eriksson You have to hand it to the Swedes. They have a preternatural ability to craft pop songs, in English, across any genre you could name. This phenomenon began, of course, with Abba who was able to take the disco they heard coming out of the States and turn it into something… Read more
Mark Josephson, Executive Director of the New Music Seminar said back in 1988 that “alternative music has real strength, real quality, real excitement, and it has to be socially significant, as opposed to Whitney Houston, which is pablum.” That’s a great explanation of what started during the late-‘70s to early-‘80s as college radio features like Dead Kennedys… Read more
In the rock era alone, there have been many, many cover versions recorded and released. From live-only interpretations to deep album cuts, to #1 hits (even the Beatles, who we’ll get back to in a minute, started as a cover band). In some cases, artists’ cover songs are well-known just because the original already proved… Read more
Photo Credit: MTV VMAs This year’s MTV Video Music Awards (which aired live on September 12th) tell us pretty much all we need to know about how the state of rock ‘n’ roll is 2021. Actually, we can even go all the way back to 1997: The award category that had once been “Best Heavy… Read more