The Roots have been a model for longevity and continual growth within hip-hop as well as the music scene for almost as many years as they’ve been active in it. Over 20 years in the business of making music, their appeal has begun to expand more than ever before with their gig as the house band on “The Tonight...
Tennis — composed of husband and wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley — has warmed indie-loving hearts with their unique vocals and knack for writing whimsical lyrics, all without the typical love-smitten angst of the genre. Their latest album, “Small Sound,” changes Moore and Riley’s lyrical mood from sweet and soft to sorrowful and hopeless. While that may...
Iconic indie-rock band Deerhunter recently released their seventh studio album in “Fading Frontier,” which is a departure from their previous work. In fact, it is strongly reminiscent of some of Wilco's best work, like "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" or "Summerteeth" in the way it irreverently utilizes various different styles and effects of different genres, like pop and British shoegaze. "Fading...
Big K.R.I.T.’s come a long way from his days of being a 2011 XXL Freshman or the victim of Kendrick Lamar’s notorious “Control” verse. With his sophomore release “Cadillactica,” K.R.I.T. makes up for the lost potential of “Live From the Underground” with spacey synths, soulful compositions and encapsulating concepts. Big K.R.I.T. has always been known as the underground’s rapper...
Having strummed his guitar and sang his heart out for the past 10 years, Taylor Locke is no stranger to the stage, since he played as lead guitarist and singer in Rooney and in the Roughs. With his new band, Locke steps back onto the LA music scene with “Time Stands Still” — his first solo album. Still inspired...
For his longtime fans, “Old Ideas” offers all the rhyme, rhythm and baritone that make Leonard Cohen a legend. For those unfamiliar with his work, however, this folk-rock genre may not for everyone. It’s deeply poetic lyrics and minimal accompaniment make it far from a showpiece and more of a subtle work of art to be listened to attentively....
Maryland-based hip hop artist Logic's second studio album "The Incredible True Story" is a lyrically heavy concept album that touches on a variety of different themes. His previous album, "Under Pressure" actually debuted at the fourth spot on the Billboard 200 and garnered much critical acclaim. In a year dominated by great hip hop albums, "The Incredible True Story"...
Let’s start off with this: I never thought Weezer got as gut-wrenchingly terrible as many critics and fans did. Extremely inconsistent? Yes. Most of their albums in the past 10 years have had a couple of good tracks surrounded by filler and mediocrity, as if frontman Rivers Cuomo was writing on autopilot. When I first heard about Weezer’s new...
From her allegedly manufactured image to her atrocious live performances (YouTube her now infamous performance on SNL) and the much-anticipated debut of her second album “Born to Die,” Elizabeth Grant, the real name of the 25-year-old New York native “Lana Del Rey,” has absolutely nowhere to hide, much less offer up any good explanations for her tarnished image as...
We are back to the ‘90s when it comes to just about everything in today’s pop culture: fashion, makeup and now, music. Never Shout Never’s 4th album “Indigo” seems to bring an abrupt end to the band’s indie days in exchange for a classic pop-rock sound reminiscent of Sonic Youth. The retroactive resonance accentuates the entire band this time...