First and foremost, it would be downright irresponsible of me to make any substantive claim, analytical, theoretical, or otherwise, about Eminem’s BET freestyle without first addressing the obvious. Like the pristine river that guides an untamed eye across the canvas, through dark mountain valleys and up into the great blue unknown—that archetype of the transcendental, that ineffable sublime—Eminem’s beard is nothing. And yet it is everything.
On Tuesday, September 26, 2017, Memphis rapper Young Dolph was shot near the Loews Hollywood Hotel and hospitalized in critical condition. Two weeks later, Dolph is on the road to…
At only 20-years-old, Jorja Smith has gone from a high school student and part-time Starbucks barista to releasing tracks on Spotify that garner millions of listens in only a couple of days. Smith hails from Walsall, West Midlands, UK where she met her manager at the age of 15. Despite her youth, she has already worked with some of the most prominent names in the R&B/Hip-Hop such as producer Black Coffee. She was even featured on two tracks (“Get it Together” and “Jorja Interlude”) off Drake’s recent mixtape, More Life. Let’s take a look at her past and present.
BROCKHAMPTON returned with a bang on their third release, Saturation II, off their own label Question Everything, Inc this past August 25th . The group has a sound as unorthodox as their origin story, the majority of the members having met on a popular Kanye West forum before ever meeting in real life. Coalescing under leader Kevin Abstract and taking up the all-caps moniker BROCKHAMPTON, the group of 15 moved to South Central Los Angeles in 2015 to be the next great American boyband. Following their two previous releases, Saturation II creeps, crawls, and roars its way into your sonic sphere with the youthful energy of a group of 19-23 year old men that have something(s) to say.
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (TWIABP) has been a powerful presence in the ’emo’ community since the release of their debut full-length album Whenever, If Ever (2013). Last week, the band released their third album, Always Foreign, a phenomenally composed album overflowing with cynicism, chaos, and an unadulterated sense of vulnerability.
“She’s just trying to reach you,” Protomartyr singer/lyricist Joe Casey chants at the climax of “A Private Understanding,” the opening track on the Detroit post-punkers’ fourth album Relatives in Descent.
Through the pages of history runs a river of interesting and often tragic narratives concerning rock’s forbearers and transportation mishaps. Duane Allman, Buddy Holly, and Otis Redding, among others, met…
Moses Sumney’s debut full-length Aromanticism, released Sept 22nd on Jagjagwar, is a shimmery showcase of Sumney’s smooth-as-butter voice that marks an artistic departure from his 2016 EP Lamentations. While the EP revolves around layers of Sumney’s vocals and guitar, his latest release incorporates a much wider color palate, replete with beautiful orchestration and swirling synths. There’s a higher production value, which in turn sacrifices some of the intimacy of his earlier releases which made his music so powerful.
There’s no denying that Soundcloud has become the birthing ground for new hiphop artists. Some of the biggest names today, Chance the Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert to name two, began their record-breaking careers on the platform. Soundcloud’s accessibility has made it easier than ever to enter the game, but just as easy to be buried under a million other users (talented or not). How do you set yourself apart? Lil Pump’s Answer:
Freudian, Daniel Caesar’s debut album, released August 25, 2017 on Golden Child Recordings sparked discussion among music fans across all genres. It’s variety of production, a seamless fluctuation of emotion between subtle elegance and bold passion, is reflective of the intricate message the love-ridden Caesar is trying to convey. Throughout the 10 song album, Daniel Caesar spills his heart out about the complexities of love, ranging from despair to pure ecstasy.
It took Rolling Loud Festival less than three years to become the largest Hip-Hop festival in the world. After three consecutive sold out festivals in Miami, FL, co-founders Tariq Cherif…
The National’s most recent album, Sleep Well Beast, released September 8, 2017, is characterized by a tracklist that can be compared to a morning commute. “Guilty Party” resembles the melancholy of waking before the sun has risen, a sheet of morning dew still covering the hood of your car. But the sun does rise and the gloom quickly turns into anger and frustration. “Turtleneck” embodies the morning drive itself — the agonizing slow burn of exit after exit, when you begin to tailgate cars just to feel like you’re making progress. Unlike previous albums, where each track transitions from one to the next like the tranquil flow and ebb of a stream, Sleep Well Beast is a complete mishmash.
Bleachers, a project of Jack Antonoff’s (guitarist of the notable group FUN. made popular by the hit “We Are Young”), has made an huge splash in the indie pop world in the 3 years they’ve been active. WRVU Nashville had the pleasure of sending two lucky concert-goers free of charge to see Bleachers at their September 13th show at Marathon Music Works.
Neck Deep is one of those bands that never fails to impress. Within the span of five years, they have skyrocketed to an incredible level of fame: between playing main stage at Warped Tour and opening for Blink-182, they have indisputably cemented their name as a pop punk powerhouse. Upon releasing The Peace and The Panic (TP&TP) this past August, their fan base has continued to expand and dote on their favorite British band. While some of the tracks on this album are somewhat questionable in nature, TP&TP is, overall, an absolute jam.
Metal seems to be one of those things that most people either really love or really, really hate. While I definitely fall into the former camp, I get why it turns a lot of people off. Today, I want to provide a few possible starting points for people who, for whatever reason, don’t like metal or haven’t gotten into it yet but want to. So here are five metal albums you might like even if you don’t traditionally “like” metal.
SZA’s Ctrl, released June 9th, 2017 on Top Dawg Entertainment, is widely about the endless personal journey towards understanding and balance in life. SZA, born Solána Rowe, writes about her own personal challenges, blessings and limitations and how they’ve each shaped her ability to maintain her autonomy. Reflecting on the advice and support of her mother and grandmother, provided for listeners in the form of audio clips interspersed throughout the length of the album, SZA navigates tides of uncertainty.
Fans cheer at Pitchfork Fest 2017 (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
Pitchfork Fest was a remarkably relaxed and fun festival. The only difficult part was—as cheesy as it sounds—choosing which sets from the vast and diverse array of options to watch. Luckily, Pitchfork happens to be the rare festival that allows you to bounce from set to set with relative ease: the stages are close together which means you don’t have to walk far; the Chicago weather made for an almost too-good-to-be-true forecast to move between outdoor stages; despite the overlapping sets, the times were strategically planned such that you could catch at least a little bit of all your favorites. It seemed, in short, designed to facilitate your having your best time.
Pinegrove’s Evan Stephens Hall at Pitchfork Fest (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
The last day of Pitchfork Fest, I’d assert, was the day that had the highest concentration of crowd-pleasing favorites: in just sheer numbers, today’s lineup was the highest up in terms of hitting on almost every conceivable niche of possible audience interest all across the obscurity-to-popularity spectrum. And with Solange—Solange!—headlining, there was nothing to possibly complain about.
A Tribe Called Quest at Pitchfork Music Festival 2017. Click to enlarge. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
After an eventful day one, Pitchfork Fest day two promised an even more saturated schedule. And it certainly delivered on that promise: first of all, with A Tribe Called Quest headlining, all the other bands could have tanked and this day still would have been certifiably historical. Fortunately, however, we were lucky enough that not a single one of the other acts disappointed.
Dirty Projectors at Pitchfork Fest 2017 (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
Friday’s lineup promised an electric start to an action-packed festival weekend. Nashville’s own William Tyler played at 4 PM on Friday, followed immediately by Frankie Cosmos and Thurston Moore. The three of these provided a perfectly well-rounded, balanced trio of acts to precede the contrastingly high-energy Danny Brown, who flawlessly delivered intensity and famously rapid rap. Dirty Projectors’ intimidating, otherworldly sounds set a new kind of mood, one that held the audience rapt for a night that culminated in an impossibly fantastic performance by LCD Soundsystem.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 official lineup (via Pitchfork)
Pitchfork Music Festival boasts an impressive lineup that is as eclectic and genre-spanning a collection as it is all-encompassing. Just as it has in past years, Pitchfork delivered a list that truly has something for everyone without relying on superfluous bill-filling bands or kitsch or campiness. Here’s what to look forward to…
