James Murphy is the David Eckstein of music. He’s an unassuming schlubby looking guy. The sort of dude you expect to see in line in front of you ordering a dozen Jelly donuts. He’s the kind of guy everyone calls the “backbone of a team.” Of course, by everyone, I just mean the Rapture. Meanwhile, […]

Who needs jogging? The elliptical will get rid of that gut just fine, and you can read while using it. And isn’t multi-tasking supposed to be what separates us Gen Y-ers from the pack anyway? What I do need, however, is a more consistent outside jump shot. There’s a team of Israeli guys in my […]

Last September, when I first saw Elvis Perkins’ live, his lyrical maturity, simple but finely-crafted acoustic melodies and compelling stage presence immediately impressed me. Unlike many folky singer/songwriters who churn out great studio albums but fail to bring the goods live, Elvis transcended the delicate and frail sound of his album, turning the soft-sounding cuts […]

There’s only a handful of ways to describe Dalek’s Abandoned Language. Most of them involve some permutation of adjectives typically bringing to mind High School English teachers lecturing on Edgar Allen Poe. It’s bleak. It’s harrowing. It’s chilling. It’s dense, claustrophobic paranoia. Sadly though, Abandoned Language doesn’t have any ravens. Instead, we get the Newark-based […]

It’s fitting that the mercury’s been hitting 80 degrees in Los Angeles over the past few days, making it feel like summer in the dead of Winter. Which fits perfectly with the vibes of the Parson Redhead’s debut record, King Giraffe that dropped yesterday on Yukon Records. I’ve raved about their energetic stage show in […]

The Shins have an album coming out next Tuesday but you’d never know it if you only read music blogs for your news, considering most of them have kept mum about the record since its leak last October, thanks to Sub Pop’s subsequent buzz-crushing decision to call in the blog police for some good ol’ […]

For my money’s worth, I consider Pharoahe Monch one of, if not the most underrated rapper of all-time. Too intellectual and lyrically sound to ever get significant radio airplay, yet too hardcore for casual hip-hop fans who think hip-hop should be all optimism, positivity and jovial, tubby, ?uestlove, Pharoahe has always been tough to classify. […]

Perhaps my favorite thing about music criticism is that it allows you to shed light on acts that you believe slipped through the cracks, brilliant musicians who for one reason or another didn’t receive the acclaim that they so rightfully deserved. That being said, there is no act in all of hip-hop more deserving of […]

On some level I lied in the title of this post, because the incredible Funky Soul box set isn’t the ideal Christmas present. Indeed, the perfect Christmas present for anyone with class and gentility would be Jim Jones’ A Dipset Christmas. But perhaps that special someone in your life doesn’t find hearing the word Baallin!!! […]