Music Reviews »
Blockhead: Interludes After Midnight
The term “instrumental hip-hop album” usually means one of three things. It’s either the instrumental companion to a rap album with all of its vocals removed, a series of minute-long unfinished sample loops rushed
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Damon Albarn: Dr Dee
Alchemy has long been a part of Damon Albarn’s work. A Britpop notable while fronting Blur in the ‘90s, Albarn has gone on to meld eclectic musical performances with 2D virtual band Gorillaz and
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Future: Pluto
The era of Auto-Tune dominance feels like a lifetime ago. While the climate of hip-hop music makes for a rapidly changing soundscape whose trends can cause songs to become immediately dated, the inescapable three
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Santigold: Master of My Make-Believe
Less than 10 years have passed but already you can trace the lines of influence that spread in the wake of M.I.A.’s global music piracy mission statement Arular. The legacy of that album goes
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Billy Woods: History Will Absolve Me
The cover of Billy Woods’ new album History Will Absolve Me is among the most provocative of any genre’s this year. A close-up of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe paired with one of Fidel Castro’s
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Father John Misty: Fear Fun
Fleet Foxes is a band that invites mythologizing. Their best music sounds like it was carried in on mountain mists, wafted along by the power of ancient spells. It doesn’t hurt that their various
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Moonface With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery
I imagine Spencer Krug’s workspace is a room full of near-toppling piles. Best known as the grand marshal of Wolf Parade, Krug has since lent his talents to such projects as Sunset Rubdown, Frog
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Grinderman: 2 RMX
Nick Cave’s Grinderman project was founded in 2006 as a noisy, nasty, downright dirty take on atmospheric blues-punk. Both Grinderman (2007) and Grinderman 2 (2010) found Cave weaving tales of sexual desperation and supernatural
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Light Asylum: Light Asylum
Shanon Funchess’ voice is memorable enough that it’s hard to consider Light Asylum’s music without first talking about those show-stealing chops. On the duo’s terrific debut EP In Tension, her crushing baritone made the
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Aufheben
On Aufheben, the highly prolific Anton Newcombe returns beneath the Brian Jonestown Massacre moniker with a freshly shuffled roster and new slate of influences to paste into psychedelic pastiches. In stretches, the throwback outfit
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