With indie rock as their mainstay genre, you'd expect something cheery and upbeat from Wilco’s 10th studio album, “Schmilco,” especially considering their last album, “Star Wars” was chock-full of vibrant riffs and pulsating drums. Wilco opts to flip the switch this time around with “Schmilco:” a barrage of acoustic guitar-driven music that showcases lead singer and guitarist Jeff Tweedy’s...
From desperately attempting to save the soul of a person struggling with drug addiction to doubting the benevolence of a supposedly kind and nurturing God, the Fray have taken us through some of life’s deepest emotions and most challenging experiences with many of their widely recognizable songs. The band has already established itself as a groundbreaking pop-rock phenomenon, but...
Who would have thought? Whereas 2010 was the year of reflections on suburbia, 2011 follows up with what else than the “hardcore opera.” Bookending this year’s list are two “hardcore punk narrative albums,” a term I’d have cringed at a year ago. But Defeater and Fucked Up pulled them off, in excitingly different ways. In 2011, punks became storytellers....
Drake is having a great year. In February, he dropped his unannounced mixtape, “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” to much fanfare and critical acclaim. He followed that up by entering a bitter feud with rapper Meek Mill that resulted in the diss tracks “Charged Up,” “Back to Back” and another single, “Hotline Bling,” which dominated the charts....
From a contemporary standpoint, Swans is a band that’s sure to push the envelope, as they never confine themselves to a genre and always shift their sound. Their music is punishing at times, forgiving in others, but an underlying ferocity has always been present. Swans’ new album “leaving meaning.” is no different in this regard, yet where past albums...
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Lady Gaga returns with a brand new track that promises a new album and a new era. On Feb. 28, she released the song “Stupid Love” along with a music video; but for her fans, whom she likes to refer to as Little Monsters, the name “Stupid Love” has...
Besides her innate songwriting talent, Florence Welch’s unbounded, esoteric expressivity always manages to shine through on every project. Whether it be from her physical soul-stirring movement in the visual accompaniment of the “Florence + The Machine” 2015 album, “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful,” “The Odyssey” to the grounded vocals of “Ceremonials,” Welch’s talent knows no bounds. She is...
I initially felt pretty relaxed as I sat down to listen to Katy B’s sophomore album “Little Red,” but halfway through, I was energized and feeling the groove. The British-born, Mercury Prize-nominated artist brought forth an excellent, synth-heavy house album that is bound to hit dance floors everywhere (if it hasn’t already). Not only were the beats extremely catchy,...
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Time is something that everyone wishes they had more of, whether that means more time to hang out or more time to make things right. This is something that Tame Impala’s long awaited album, “The Slow Rush,” will have the listener wishing for. “The Slow Rush” is the five...
Shugo Tokumaru is one freakishly gifted multi-instrumental/bedroom-pop composer who is able to magically pile his copious instrumentals on top of each other in an arrangement that looks outrageous on paper, but ultimately works in implementation. His calm, sweet-sounding music evokes a dazzlingly eccentric and meticulously-crafted environment in his latest album, “In Focus?”
Tokumaru’s childlike glee is first introduced and conveyed...