Photo by Lee “Intuition” Shaner via Knocksteady Aaron Frank knows what CMYK stands for but he ain’t telling. In the three years since I moved to LA, I’ve never seen a new artist sweep up fans across such a broad cross-section of socio-economic backgrounds quite like James Blake. The Sunset Strip crowd and industry crabs… Continue reading »
Abe Beame hails from Section 84. Summer ended suddenly on a Wednesday night in Tribecca when Kendrick Lamar, a self-appointed Dylan for 80s babies, took the stage at SOBs, one of the last venues Manhattan has left to a dedicated Hip Hop stage. And hip hop, in its strange 2011 iteration was in the building.… Continue reading »
Whether or not you enjoy Death Grips depends on what you want out of your music. If you’re searching to replicate the disorientation of a drill sergeant screaming seig heils at you while you attempt to asphyxiate yourself with a plastic bag, this will be your favorite rap group of all-time. If not, they exist… Continue reading »
Photo via Austin Surreal Abe Beame is always cooking up something marvelous. What a difference a year and two critically acclaimed mixtapes make. Last June, Big K.R.I.T. had some buzz going — but not enough to save him from famously being booed off stage for attempting to perform “Country Shit” at a Jay Electronica/Joell Ortiz… Continue reading »
We’ll never be able to forget the 90s. Even if we ever eradicate the cult of Cobain, VH1 will mercilessly bludgeon us until the dialogue from Reality Bites is finally memorized without a glitch. Ricardo “Speedboat” Rozay will continue to keep the memory of MC Hammer alive and well on the obese and ursine front… Continue reading »
“I’ve been afraid to release Act II because I feel like it’s not gonna be good enough. I know the people expect so much from me. — Jay Electronica on Aug. 9th, via Twitter for the iPad Jay Electronica has no one to blame but himself. During his sold-out Key Club appearance last week, the… Continue reading »
Photos by Henry Choi The jokes are obvious. Gerontollapalooza was my best attempt. Nor are they necessarily unwarranted. When the only 80s baby on the bill is Wiz Khalifa, it doesn’t inspire confidence in the temperature of hip-hop. Had Guerilla Union wanted to they could’ve assembled a powerhouse undercard of Gibbs, Pill, Danny Brown, Blu,… Continue reading »
Aaron Matthews did not accept the Souls of Mischief’s invitation to high tea. Following the meteoric rise of NWA and Dr. Dre, gangsta rap and G-Funk owned West commercial airwaves. Of course, there were alternatives like the Good Life Café, where the jazz-inspired Freestyle Fellowship and The Pharcyde got their start (also where a pre-Dogg… Continue reading »
Disco Vietnam approves of pharmacists, street or otherwise. If it ain’t raw it’s worthless. Ted Leo’s forthcoming album and first for Matador, The Brutalist Bricks, takes its title from the post-World War II architectural style known as brutalism, which incorporated raw concrete to construct buildings with “striking repetitive angular geometries.” If Leo and his… Continue reading »
Excellent Adventures
Bogus Journeys
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Listening
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Aaron Matthews
Abe Beame
Evan Nabavian
Tosten Burks
Matt Shea
Jonah Bromwich
Reading
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Tosten Burks
Aaron Matthews
Abe Beame
Jonah Bromwich
Watching
Jeff Weiss
Sach O
Douglas Martin
Tosten Burks
Aaron Matthews
Evan Nabavian
Jonah Bromwich
Inner Sanctum
Miscellaneous Apostles
Local Natives
Understanding Media
The Sporting Life
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
Miscellaneous
