The drumming there sounds like he's suffering a violent epileptic seizure in the studio, and yet all of his involuntarily flailing somehow lands perfectly on the beat.

The best Jimi Hendrix solo that Jimi Hendrix never played. And maybe better than any of the ones he did.

That line of direction alone qualifies George Clinton for the Bandleader Hall of Fame.

Much more concise version of what I just tried to get at below.

I don't know, it depends. In MLK's case, when I learned about him in school, he was basically presented as the second coming of Jesus. So it was a shock to later discover that, no, he was very much a human being, and a flawed one who cheated on his wife and drank too much and whatever else. But of course, he also…

I really wish I hadn't read "Miles." There's some truly astounding stuff in there, ranging from Miles' brilliant and spot-on descriptions of certain pieces of music to wild anecdotes about his fellow jazz legends. (Especially the story of riding in a cab through Manhattan with Charlie Parker, who was getting head…

I often have a hard time separating them — by which I don't mean that I can't tell who's playing what, but that when I listen to them I tend to just hear a single, otherworldly guitar SOUND, which is a testament to how well they played off each other.

Completely disagree on the "just as good" count, but "Goo" really is the gateway record.

Remember, this is an industry whose collection societies (specifically ASCAP) very recently tried to force Amazon and Apple to pay royalties for those little 20-second preview clips of songs that customers can listen to immediately prior to buying them. So, a function that was designed entirely to encourage people to…

THE WORST. And what really puzzles me are the ones where some kid will figure out a very rough approximation of, say, the first six bars of "Voodoo Chile," type out those tabs, and then just stop (sometimes with an explanation like "that's all I've got" or "I think this is right"). I mean, what could possibly compel…

"Rather than shutting them down, the record industry should be thanking them or figuring out a whole new way to monetize content…"

Exactly.

In general, I feel like way too many entries in this feature have been songs that any music-geek who frequents this site would have heard many, many times before. ( I mean, who the hell needs reminding that "Steve Biko" or "Eight Days a Week" are great songs?) This, however, is not. And it's fantastic. Well played.

I can't believe I'm essentially about to stand up for Robin Thicke over Marvin Gaye and George Clinton, but here goes:

Brilliantly stated.

Man, that scene was weirdly disturbing. Except for tazing him, everything they do is so gentle and intimate — laying him carefully down, tying his shoes for him — that it's like they're particularly conscientious nurses taking care of a quadriplegic. Instead of, like, murdering him.

Who would you draft for the Washington Generals of rap? Capadonna, Hittman and Silkk the Shocker would be on my ballot.

Indeed. My old-man rant aside, this is a much better time for rap than we saw 6 years ago or so. But competition breeds better music. I mean, I wasn't personally a fan of the Odd Future stuff, but it was thrilling to see someone out there willing to be obnoxious and burn bridges and piss people off. Earl Sweatshirt…

Three things:

When Will They Shoot is the first rap song I ever heard that genuinely scared me. Even at such a young age, I always found NWA, Dre, Snoop, Geto Boys, etc more funny and enjoyably profane than anything else, but the Cube on this song…I totally believed he would murder me if I caught him in the wrong mood.