There’s no shortage of rappers who incorporate food into their work. Most notably, onetime chef Action Bronson sprinkles his tracks with references to fine dining, even spinning those interests into a Viceland TV show called Fuck, That’s Delicious. But there’s no other rapper who uses food as a springboard for…
2016 has been a big year for music, with the likes of Beyoncé, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Radiohead, Chance The Rapper, and Drake all releasing records that vary from pretty good to really, really great. Then there’s the emerging talents that have turned in career-defining works and earned high marks, like Blood…
Every Friday, dozens of new records are released into the wild. Some make big splashes, and others sink almost immediately. For most music consumers, it’s almost too much information, and save for those precious few who spend their hours glued to reviews sites and release calendars, it’s hard to know what’s coming out…
Phone messages from a couple posited as Kendrick Lamar’s parents snake their way through the Compton rapper’s major label debut, 2012’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, providing the album with a realistic dimension. The message at the end of “Sherane” sets the tone for Good Kid, leading Lamar into the complicated world he…
Grindcore made its first splash outside its insular bubble with Napalm Death’s 1987 debut, Scum, which includes the one-and-a-fraction-second song “You Suffer,” a favorite of iconic BBC DJ John Peel. The terse, brutal cuts on Scum set the tone for decades of extreme metal to come, and tense opener “Multinational…
In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week, we’re talking about songs with a cappella interludes.
In a largely positive Washington Post review of Pinback’s 2004 album, Summer In Abaddon, critic Elaine Beebe Lapriore wrote, “Indie guitar rock has lain fallow of late, bearing less fruit of interest than 10, 20, even five years ago.” These days Lapriore’s claim comes across as dubious in retrospect: After all, 2004…
North Coast Music Festival, now in its fourth year, hit Chicago’s Union Park on Labor Day weekend with its signature mix of producers, DJs, rappers, and jam bands. The A.V. Club waded through the wafts of Nag Champa to bring you this report.
We’re only about halfway into 2013, but this year already feels more musically exciting than 2012. With albums on the horizon from Lady Gaga, The Dismemberment Plan, and Arcade Fire—and great LPs already out from Kanye West, Deafheaven, My Bloody Valentine, Vampire Weekend, Daft Punk, and David Bowie—the race for…
On the surface, Purity Ring is a sleek pop act with an ear for the weird. Corin Roddick’s off-kilter instrumentals—warm washes of synths, chopped and pitch-shifted vocal samples, and skittish, hyperactive beats—envelope Megan James’ wistful coo to create a set of remarkable, accessible tunes. Tracks like the jittery,…
The growing international acclaim for Australian bands like the soulful Royal Headache and the visceral Eddy Current Suppression Ring gives the impression that nearly every independent act making its way up from down under cut its teeth in the proverbial garage. Melbourne foursome Husky, however, stands in contrast…
There’s not a single pop-culture meteorologist who could have predicted the strange career path of Brooklyn hip-hop crew Das Racist. The group first gained national attention in 2009 with “Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell,” an irresistible, sharp pop gem camouflaged by an absurdly cloying aura thanks to its…
A founding member of iconic D.C. punk band Fugazi, bassist Joe Lally provided the glue that held the legendary group’s diverse, sometimes extreme stylistic choices together, anchoring the sounds into a coherent vision with his taught, oft-funky, and always deft playing. From 1988’s 7 Songs EP through Fugazi’s…
On the surface, Champaign, Illinois’ Hum appears to be your average mid-’90s semi-success story that can be filed under the blanket tag that is “alternative.” After releasing a couple albums—Fillet Show in 1991 and Electra 2000 in 1993, both on a local label called 12 Inch Records—Hum signed to RCA and put out You’d…
Time hasn’t been kind to the once-popular amalgam of metal and hip-hop known as nü-metal, and it’s been absolutely brutal to former scene king Limp Bizkit. Unfortunately, when it comes to the current wave of ’90s retromania, sometimes the bad stuff returns from the dead, too. Gold Cobra is Bizkit’s big comeback…
Keith Morris may not be the most recognizable name in hardcore punk’s first class, but as evidenced in documentaries like American Hardcore, he’s easily one of that scene’s most magnetic personalities. As the original frontman for Black Flag, Morris proved an excellent foil to guitarist Greg Ginn’s ear-shattering…
Few artists have rendered the art of failure as enjoyable as Claudio Fragasso did with his 1990 film Troll 2. The combination of stilted acting, awkward dialogue, and a plot that makes any exploitation picture seem drab by comparison helped make Troll 2 a cult phenomenon. Four years ago, Michael Stephenson, who played …
Three decades ago, a fledgling Chicago label called Autumn Records released Busted At Oz, a compilation record that documented the city’s punk scene. Recorded live at Oz, a venue that hosted many of Chicago’s first punk acts, the compilation features early recordings from Strike Under, Da, Silver Abuse, Subverts, …
As far as bands go, Mister Heavenly is pretty new. And still, for some not-so-mysterious reason, the band is getting a whole lot of press attention. Deservedly so, of course, because even though the group’s only just released two songs, it’s still pretty damn ripping.
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