Damon Albarn may just be the hardest-working man in show biz. He was the frontman of popular '90s alternative rock band Blur, the vocalist and main songwriter of experimental-electro band Gorillaz and collaborated with other artists on various musical projects. The man has even composed an opera. I mean, is there anything he can’t do? There seemed to be...
Southern California’s own 30 Seconds to Mars has released another stellar album with “Love Lust Faith + Dreams.” As the title suggests, the band explores themes of lost loves, chasing dreams, losing oneself and new beginnings.
Their single, “Up in the Air,” is definitely one of the best and most defining songs on the album. As Jared Leto sings, he...
Searching for new music can be very intimidating due to a plethora of artists and genres available to choose from. However, searching for new music can also be the most rewarding experience when you discover that hidden gem of a song or artist. This search for new music is difficult for most genres, but there is no such music...
“Shut your mouth / cause you talk too much / and I don’t give a fuck anyway,” snarls lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day during the song, “Let Yourself Go,” off Green Day’s latest album, “¡Uno!” The band’s ninth studio album is the first in their upcoming trilogy of albums to be released within four months. “¡Dos!”...
Prior to listening to their 3rd and latest album, “Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones,” Black Veil Brides seemed to me like a band whose gimmick heavily relied on an overabundance of guyliner, hairspray and hazardously spiked clothing. They had failed to seize my attention with “Knives and Pens” from their debut EP “Sex & Hollywood,”...
Shakira’s self-titled new album, “Shakira,” is a mixture of reggae, pop, Spanish and rock melodies combined with a few poetic and acoustic songs. This is the Colombian singer’s 10th studio album, and although she has features with Rihanna and Blake Shelton, she remains the main focus and power behind the songs. Like her hit tracks “Whenever, Wherever” and “Hips...
Artist: Ka
A cross between Earl Sweatshirt and Ghostface Killah, Ka is a Brooklyn-based FDNY Captain turned rapper who’s been on the scene since the ‘90s, starting out with the underground hip-hop crew, Natural Elements. Relatively inactive for quite some time after, Ka was reintroduced on GZA’s 2008 release “Pro Tools,” before the release of his debut solo LP “Iron...
Swedish garage rock band The Hives have released their first full-length album in five years, but don’t stray far from their signature style.
The album, titled “Lex Hives,” is irritatingly hyper-repetitive at times. The opening track, “Come on,” consists only of the lyrics “everybody come on,” sung over a canned track of a cheering crowd. Intended as a pump-up album...
Honestly, I wanted to like Grouplove’s latest effort, “Spreading Rumours.” I really did. And while not completely devoid of good songs, bland and uninteresting are some of the only words I can use to describe the band’s second album.
“Spreading Rumours” starts off on a fairly strong note. The haunting “I’m With You” proves that Grouplove is capable of a...
Boiling with manic depressive energy, Xiu Xiu returns to the experimental rock and punk scene with their eighth studio album, “Always.” Frontman and founder Jamie Stewart made a name for himself and his band with their angst-filled lyrics and riotous music. Xiu Xiu has never been good at pleasing the masses, and this album is no different. The band...