“More money, more problems?” asks Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon on his sixth solo LP. “You gotta be kidding!” For more than 20 years, Rae has been one of the most gifted heirs to Slick Rick’s storytelling legacy; here, he keeps it going with a 44-minute journey into opulence. His rhymes are… Source: RollingStone Link: Fly International […]
Built to Spill are the AC/DC of indie rock: Their catalog is full of one melancholy LP, jam-packed with guitar pyrotechnics, after another. But frontman and six-string virtuoso Doug Martsch knows how to vary the formula just enough to keep things interesting. On their eighth LP, and first since 2009,… Source: RollingStone Link: Untethered Moon
Where is the excitement in a Josh Groban album? Is it in the crystal-clear way he belts out his high notes? Or is it in the way he gets co-signs from everyone from Rick Rubin to Herbie Hancock? There’s no doubt that the operatic pop singer is one of today’s… Source: RollingStone Link: Stages
In the Nineties, Oasis won the major Brit-pop battles: worldwide album sales, U.K. Number One singles and gossip-column yardage. But their archrivals, Blur, soundly beat them in exploration and legacy. Oasis wanted to be as big as the Beatles and the Who combined; Blur embodied those bands’ impatient forward march…. Source: RollingStone Link: The Magic […]
They triangulate country bounce, classic-rock flex and jam-band wiggle like crossover wizards. Their frontman has a buttery midrange tenor, can sell the heck out of a song, and keeps his lumberjack beard nicely trimmed. With the possible exception of their relentless likability, there’s nothing unlikable about the Zac Brown Band…. Source: RollingStone Link: Jekyll + […]
Raphaelle Standell maps the often-vast gaps between love and sex — see Braids’ 2011 standout “Lemonade” and the object lesson on her Canadian art-rock crew’s excellent third LP, Miniskirt, a jeweled time bomb staring down child abuse, eating disorders and slut-shame culture. The music is sensual and surprising, with echoes of… Source: RollingStone Link: Deep in […]
Massachusetts indie rockers Speedy Ortiz take a plunge down the rabbit hole on their second LP. Frontwoman Sadie Dupuis is their bedraggled Alice in Wonderland, tumbling past the cartoonish faces of every ex-friend and bitter stranger, with plenty of Mad Hatter-worthy wordplay along the way (“We were the law-school rejects/So… Source: RollingStone Link: Foil Deer
Yelawolf’s second major-label album trades out the failed stabs at arena rap of his 2011 debut for a stronger embrace of his Southern roots. This time around he’s less Eminem, more Kid Rock: Instead of awkward outsourced hooks, the Alabama native serves up slow-burn ballads like “Devil in My Veins”… Source: RollingStone Link: Love Story
Passion Pit are excellent at sounding like Passion Pit — they’ve mastered the art of pairing emotionally naked lyrics with sweet, lush synth beats. On their third LP, though, that strength becomes a fault, as the band’s tender vibes begin to blur into sameness. Singer Michael Angelakos’ writing remains sharp, telling… Source: RollingStone Link: Kindred
On their 2012 debut, Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes coined a hot retro mix of black Southern soul and white rock & roll that connected. It was the kind of instant-vintage album that college kids and their record-buying grandpas could love, and it made the Shakes a rare success story… Source: RollingStone Link: Sound & […]