Words like “party metal,” and “beer metal” come to mind when talking about Kvelertak, Norway’s black ‘n’ roll export, but a more accurate descriptor would be “sweat metal.” Or, if we we’re really going for accuracy, “fluid metal,” because it wasn’t just sweat that was soaking the stage and crowd at the Kvelertak show on [...]
The first time I ever saw Jacques Greene DJ, he spun Mya’s overlooked, Nicki Minaj-featuring slinker “Ponytail.” Throwing that out there made it clear he had been committed to pop-R&B at a young age, but is also ordained to keeping things on the dancefloor vibe sultry but still party-primed. Tom Krell, bka How To Dress [...]
Wes Eisold describes the new Cold Cave A-side as, “Cool nihilism. Existential, groovy, psychedelia.” I think the former term fits “Black Boots” pretty well, insofar as it means anything at all. The latter, though? Sorry, but “existential, groovy, psychedelia” this is not. Maybe “DeLillo-esque, urban, goth”? Or “violent, subterranean, death-rock”? Or “pale, rigid, post-punk”? I [...]
The enigmatic Californian rap producer Madlib is exactly the type of person to make a new track, put it on a 7″ single, only make 300 copies of that single, and then only sell those copies to the people who show up at one specific show. His new two-track single Rock Conducta is only available [...]
As far as we know, the great inward-looking indie singer-songwriter Cass McCombs has no plans to drop a new album on us anytime soon. But this summer, he will release a split 7″ with the veteran folk-music outsider Michael Hurley. McCombs’s contribution is a warm and buoyant shuffle called “Three Men Sitting On A Hollow [...]
Apologies for those who already know, but before “Crazy” and “Fuck You” and The Voice, Cee-Lo was one fourth of the ridiculously great Atlanta rap group Goodie Mob, whose first two albums are indisputable essential classics and whose third album is kind of sneaky-great. Last year, the group reunited on (of course) The Voice and [...]
You never, as a music dork, stop learning this lesson, but the truth behind it stands: It’s always, always a bad idea to dismiss an artist based on a terrible name. That rule is right up there with “horrendous rappers get better all the time, so stop believing it can’t happen,” and we break the [...]
If you’re heading to The Gorge for Sasquatch! this weekend, you probably already know to check out Sigur Rós, Vampire Weekend, Tame Impala, and other live favorites. But, as with Coachella, there are some hidden gems of the festival that you need to check out. Some are groups on the verge of breaking through, some [...]
From a distance, the title track from Deafheaven’s sophomore LP, Sunbather, sounds like a particularly harrowing and intense display of might. But in the lovingly crafted details, the song is all about dynamics: George Clarke’s raw shriek is pure urgency and desperation; percussionist Daniel Tracy’s rhythms vary from hailstorm to sunshower as the movements progress [...]
The Vancouver duo Lightning Dust is a side project of the great Black Mountain, and their new single “Diamond” is the romantic soft-focus new-wave jam that nobody ever expected them to write. With the song’s video, director Helen Reed tells a nice story about using art to overcome mundanity. It shows us three women who [...]
