Lil Peep was not pleased when he first received the final mixes of his Goth Angel Sinner EP. “I keep reflecting on this moment on the tour bus when Peep heard the studio edits that I had done with the [British production trio] Invisible Men in London, and he absolutely …
Read More »It's Time to Talk About This Insane Grateful Dead Video
The Grateful Dead‘s craziest video — a 1987 clip for In the Dark track “Hell in a Bucket” — begins in a smoky bar. Bikers greet each other, embracing and clinging to their cold beers while flaunting their bicep tattoos. A woman shoves a dude playing an F-14 Tomcat pinball …
Read More »Debbie Harry: 'I've Been Criticized for My Entire Career'
When Debbie Harry first told Rolling Stone about her memoir, Face It, earlier this year, she promised it would contain “an overview of the way [Blondie] carried on through all that time, from my sort of warped little perspective.” But when it came out, it turned out to be even …
Read More »How Bob Dylan's 'Make You Feel My Love' Became a Modern Standard
Onstage in recent years, Michael Bolton routinely introduces a number he’s about to sing by first announcing its composer, Bob Dylan. The reaction is usually muted: “Bob Dylan should elicit this enormous response,” he says. “But I don’t get that.” Then the piano-based melody starts up, Bolton works his way …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Drax Project feat. Six60, 'Catching Feelings'
New Zealand’s Drax Project are enjoying burgeoning global success thanks to a unique musical blend. All of the band’s members attended music school, where they studied jazz. You can hear that influence in their use of saxophone, subtle melodies and delicate vocal interplay, which can bring to mind vintage street …
Read More »Faye Webster's Accidental Romance Record
When Faye Webster reached into her stocking last Christmas, she found a yo-yo. The 22-year-old singer-songwriter didn’t think much of it, except for the fact that she could take it to visit her relatives in the small town of Longview, Texas. “I was like, ‘I’m going to be bored!’” Webster …
Read More »When Harry Met Sheffield
When Rob Sheffield is on deadline, he follows a strict routine: He wakes up at 5 a.m., hits “play” on a cassette mixtape he’s loaded the night before into his 1989 boombox (Rob has hundreds of cassette mixtapes stacked on shelves in his Brooklyn apartment), and makes a grilled-cheese sandwich …
Read More »Would You Invest Your Own Money Into Your Favorite Artist's Music?
This might be a golden age for artists in terms of the likelihood they can make a living from their music, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t tough out there: According to recent stats, Apple Music, the world’s second-largest audio-streaming subscription service, pays artists (and record labels) an average of …
Read More »Oliver Tree Is Outlandish, and It's Working
Not long after Oliver Tree released the video for “All That x Alien Boy” — in which the bowl-cutted singer gets bowled over by a minivan, staggers to his feet bloody but unbowed, finds his way to a monster truck, and uses it to wreak vengeance on his attacker — …
Read More »Flashback: Neil Young Premieres 'On the Beach' Songs at Surprise 1974 Show
On May 16th, 1974, Ry Cooder and Leon Redbone wrapped up a gig at New York City’s Bottom Line, but the crowd was told to stick around for a surprise. It was 2:15 a.m., and a man with a guitar appeared onstage. “This one is called, um … this one’s …
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