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...
If you’re anything like me, you’re the type of person who takes pride in searching high and low for music that most people have probably never heard of. Instead of listening to the never-ending loop of overplayed songs on the radio, you prefer listening to songs or albums that don’t get nearly as much attention as other popular artists,...
As I walked around Far Far Away Record Store, wallowing in the thought of never seeing our beloved Green One again, I suddenly heard a sound. “Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me,” the words proclaimed. Now, the Green One had certainly rolled me before, but I couldn’t be sure. As the words continued with, “I...
Pharrell Williams has quietly dominated the music industry for quite some time by helping produce some of the biggest albums for today’s hottest stars, including Miley Cyrus, Usher and Jay-Z. However, in 2013 he took a step out from behind the scenes and was featured in some of the year’s biggest hits: Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Daft Punk’s...
With “Louder,” Lea Michele has released her very first album with Columbia Records as a solo recording artist. Most of her work has been on Broadway and “Glee,” where she was constantly singing covers of popular songs with her castmates. Michele’s soprano voice is big and beautiful, and in her new album she produces a sincere and sentimental work...
Real Estate has never been a band to step beyond its self-imposed borders. Since its debut, the band has had its feet pressed firmly into the sand of the chill, psychedelic and carefree surf-rock it has become known for. On the latest album, “Atlas,” the band reaches its full maturity, providing deeper lyrical content and refining its signature rock-daze...
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...
“I think I’ve always tried to live at the intersection between accessibility and lunatic-fringe,” says Annie Clark, otherwise known as St. Vincent, on a recent interview on the Colbert Report. On her fourth album, “St. Vincent,” Clark — the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens touring band alum — finds herself doing just that. Clark dives headfirst into the intersection,...
Expected to be dropped in early to mid-2013, Schoolboy Q officially released “Oxymoron” on Feb. 25 to eager ears. Many expectations weighed on this project: a growing career, a high bar set by “Habits and Contradictions” and the competition from fellow labelmate Kendrick Lamar after “Good Kid.” The hype is answered with a loosely conceptual toned-down album as Q...
I first heard NO about two years ago — roughly late 2011 or early 2012 — on a car ride home late at night listening to a KROQ local music show. It had been a late night finishing production at the newspaper when the song “Stay With Me” came on the radio and almost immediately struck me. After arriving...