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Eight Artists At the Forefront of the Twin Cities Hip-Hop Charge
Finding Novyon The leading lights of the Twin Cities hip-hop scene haven’t had a lot of time to worry about chart status or mainstream fame—even when it arrives. Instead, their DIY work ethic,...
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Lahore State of Mind: Pakistan’s Jaubi Pays Tribute to J Dilla
This month, as with every February for over a decade, rap fans far and wide celebrate the life and work of the late hip-hop producer James “J Dilla” Yancey. In 2016, in addition to the usual mixtapes...
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Back from the Grave: Altar de Fey on Deathrock’s Origin and Legacy
Alter de Fey, 1985 by Renee Haden Pouvreau Echoes in the Corridor, the new LP from Altar de Fey, exudes all of the extravagant darkness and drama of deathrock from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Its...
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Vocaloids: Our Friends Electric
Hatsune Miku. Art by Nicole Ginelli “You can call me Miku.” A larger than life pop star—almost 10 feet tall, in fact—is standing on stage at the Warfield in San Francisco, decked out in a mini-dress...
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On “Reassemblage,” Visible Cloaks Have the World at Their Fingertips
Visible Cloaks by Jonathan Sielaff As a genre, the phrase “world music” is as imprecise as it is historically fraught. It dates back to a much-storied meeting of music industry insiders in 1987, when a...
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Album of the Day: Karriem Riggins, “Headnod Suite”
It’s a fair assumption that Karriem Riggins never stops working—for that matter, he may never sleep. The 41-year-old Detroit native has been on a tear since his 2012 debut, Alone/Together, but he’s...
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Earthen Sea’s Night Moves
Earthen Sea by Shawn Brackbill There are those fleeting moments where the fear of change dissolves, when our vision becomes clear and we accept whatever inevitable transformation might come our way...
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Album of the Day: Lawrence English, “Cruel Optimism”
A little bit of advice when listening to Lawrence English’s new album, Cruel Optimism: turn the volume way down before track three kicks in. Considerably louder than anything that comes before or...
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Music for Relaxation: A Meditation Journey
Nicole Ginelli This was supposed to be one of those eight-hour nights of sleep. You were in bed by 10pm, but now, as you reach for your phone for the third time, the device stoically informs you that...
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The Best New Jazz on Bandcamp
Nothing quite signals the start of a new year than those couple of excellent January releases that already have you thinking ahead to end-of-year lists. January of 2017 is no different. And in a year...
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The Dark Sonic Evolution of Grails
Grails is a band shrouded in mystery. That’s not because of some great promotional effort, but because the seldom-touring and geographically far-flung outfit changes their style as they please. At...
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“I Hustle From Sunup to Sundown and Even Then I Need a Night Light”:...
2016 was a tough year for the U.S. as a whole, marked by political unrest and the loss of many beloved public figures; for Philadelphia-based rapper, producer, and singer Hezekiah, it was just as...
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Album of the Day: The Courtneys, “II”
The Courtneys are a rarity in contemporary surf rock. Where their counterparts—and, for that matter, their forerunners—are chiefly concerned with both brevity and blown-out instrumentals, The...
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London O’Connor Wants to Make Music for Interplanetary Travel
On O∆ , inventive beats and textures provide the foundation over which London O’Connor reflects on his upbringing, delivering lyrics that channel suburban boredom, the ups-and-downs of friendship,...
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GEMS Embrace the Mystical With Their Full Moon Singles Series
Photos by Edric Chen Every 28.5 days there’s a new full moon. That’s a fact that Cliff Usher and Lindsay Pitts of GEMS can offer up without consulting Google, having committed to releasing a new single...
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Terrace Martin’s Los Angeles: Why His Versatile Jazz Sound Is Perfect for...
A hijacked white big rig filled with hazardous material slowly hulks down the 10 East with California Highway Patrol in hot pursuit. Just off Crenshaw sits Terrace Martin, his frequent collaborator...
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The Shape of Punk That Was: Dave Hofer’s DuPage County Hardcore Archives
In the mid-to-late ’90s, while Chicago was the musical center of attention, suburban scum dogs were also raising a racket in a variety of venues outside the city. Within the “Chicagoland sprawl,”...
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Album of the Day: PVT, “New Spirit”
Sydney, Australia-based Warp alums PVT—formerly known as Pivot—return with their fifth full-length, a record born both out of necessity and an innate desire for change. And while New Spirit is full of...
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Echelon The Seeker Makes ‘Actionable Art’ With A Broad Sonic Lens
In the era of user-friendly digital music tools, composition, it could be argued, is an undervalued art. It’s rare to find an artist skilled in the pen-to-page aspect of music creation, while also...
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Chico Mann and Captain Planet: Night Visionaries
Chico Mann and Captain Planet by Azul Amarel Known for their love of Latin funk, Afrobeat and Caribbean-inspired rhythms, LA-via-New York globetrotters Captain Planet (née Charlie B. Wilder) and Chico...
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