Famed NYC indie-rock outfit Vampire Weekend often reflects on its simultaneous media presences—as beloved musicians and victims of typecasted scrutiny. Regarding its initial fame for 2008’s self-titled debut, frontman Ezra Koenig explains that Vampire Weekend got lumped into an Afrobeat Indie-Pop tag almost immediately, and the band has subsequently struggled with the notion of categorization [...]
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Mastered by production legend Bob Ludwig (Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Rolling Stones, The Who), Random Access Memories is Daft Punk’s fourth studio album—the French duo’s deepest and most anticipated dive into the big leagues. It was recorded using mostly live instruments and session musicians, limiting electronic instruments to a synthesizer, drum machines, and Kraftwerk-era vocoders. Random [...]
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Each belted harmony brought that rare, pure smile to the intently listening crowd of faces. The therapeutic beauty in harmonic, human (im)perfection was never more evident than in the calm, grateful moods of the audience filing back out into the storm.
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Kid Cudi breaks away from his Man On The Moon almost-trilogy with his third album, Indicud, released April 16. Cudi’s recent leave from Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music label to focus on his own Wicked Awesome Records marks a bold step toward a higher volume of self-produced tracks. Indicud, fully produced by Cudi apart from “Red Eye” (co-produced by [...]
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Chicagoland native Fall Out Boy returned to the spotlight this month with its fifth studio album, Save Rock And Roll, released on April 16 via Islands. A surprise to fans and critics across the world, Fall Out Boy decided to record the album in secret which, according to its website upon release, allowed for the [...]
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German producer DJ Koze (Stephan Kozalla) delivers an extraordinary self-reinvention with Amygdala, the March 2013 release named after the part of the brain where memory, learning, and fear develop. In Kozalla’s first solo release in nine years (2009’s compilation of remixes, Reincarnations, aside), he creates a quirky, melodious techno product. Most importantly, though, its positive reception stateside [...]
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Mala explores a more dynamic level of soothing with a few standout tracks.
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The Berkeley, Calif., collective Why? clings to all forms and varieties during a live performance, something America has seen a lot of in 2012 and the start of 2013. These frequent tours provide a good range of setlist flexibility for the band, making the show less about promoting an album and more about playing whatever they want.
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Widowspeak’s Almanac dulls in pace compared to their varietal self-titled debut in 2011.
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Darkstar sounds like an electrohead who’s found his niche, having grown up and into his thoughts on music.
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Let these artist take you to where you want to be- mentally, physically, astrologically …
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“This the thirst, call me Thirstin’ Howl/It don’t matter if we rich, stranded in this bitch/My throat dry, I’m parched just like I am working out/Feel like we are backpedalin’, scramblin’ again.” Deliver it like chicken and gravy, Freeway. After a three-year hiatus, Philadelphia rapper Freeway came back with the long anticipated album Diamond in [...]
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