An architect of Chicago footwork in the late Nineties, RP Boo helped create the first wave of that juddering style of dance music with his noir, menacing, skeletal sound. At once harsh and murky, his breakout song “114799” made a slap-chop soufflé of the Godzilla soundtrack, and eventually he would create similar stomp-and-skitter with The …
Read More »Review: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks' Warm, Tuneful 'Sparkle Hard'
The greatest story in Nineties indie-rock was watching Pavement grow from boutique noise aesthetes into one of America’s truly fine bands. In the 19 years since they closed up shop, it’s been equally fun seeing frontman Stephen Malkmus relax into an excellent solo career marked by a warmth, humor and …
Read More »Review: Post Malone's 'Beerbongs & Bentleys' Is A Rich-Sad Bummer
Post Malone isn’t into labels. “I don’t want to be a rapper,” said the 22-year old in a recent interview. “I just want to be a person that makes music.” That’s a pretty convenient line of logic for a white guy who’s made millions, since his 2015 breakthrough hit “White …
Read More »Review: Decemberists Shake Up Artisanal Folk Rock on 'I'll Be Your Girl'
The Decemberists do a very particular thing – darkly ornate, literary-minded, self-consciously verbose Anglophile prog-folk-rock – exceedingly well, so well that you can’t blame ’em for wanting to do something else. They do just that on I’ll Be Your Girl, at least in parts, the upshot being, well, a re-affirmation …
Read More »Review: Tune-Yards Get Intersectional, With Mighty Grooves, on Fourth LP
“It’s giving me a heart attack-ack-ack” blurts Merrill Garbus at the start the first Tune-Yards release in nearly four years. What’s “it”? Take your pick – global warming (the funky single “ABC 123” invokes Elizabeth Kolbert’s tour de force The Sixth Extinction), gender tyrannies (“I don’t wanna be a woman/If …
Read More »Review: Pink Keeps Energy High, Vitriol Catchy on 'Beautiful Trauma'
Pink was dominating the charts with spunky, real-talking anthems back when today’s slow-sad divas were in preschool, and her seventh LP is a reminder of that. The title track and the strummy “Whatever You Want” are vintage Pink, with juicy hooks and pop-rock muscle; “I Am Here” underscores its EDM-powerment …
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