The Philly-based band Big Nothing is something of a modern indie-rock supergroup, bringing together former members of Crybaby, Young Livers, Casual and Spraynard. But their sense of recent rock history can’t be denied. On “Carried Away” and other songs on their debut album, Chris, they adhere to what have become …
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Ryan Tedder has written songs for some of the most popular artists in the world: Beyoncé, Adele, Taylor Swift. Still, he’s never had an experience quite like the first time he hit the studio with Lil Nas X. “He was holding a bunch of horse balloons that his label had …
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The set of Hadestown, the Broadway musical up for 14 Tony Awards on June 9th, incorporates wildly swinging lamps and a trap door that hurls people into the underworld. But as the show’s auteur, Anaïs Mitchell, demonstrates, the show wasn’t always so hi-tech. Putting down the iced beverage she’s sipping …
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As the director of publicity and marketing at Payday Records in the early 1990s, Vikki Tobak worked with acts like Jay-Z and Gang Starr as they were beginning their careers. “There was this inflection point where hip-hop started to realize its power,” Tobak says. “[Artists] realized that images — what …
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It was sad but fitting that news of the passing of Gary Stewart, a bedrock force in the modern age of rock & roll reissues, broke on Friday morning, April 12th — 24 hours before the doors opened for this year’s Record Store Day. Because for Stewart, every day was …
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Jenny Lewis’ stellar songwriting chops were visible back in 2001 on Takeoffs and Landings, the first LP by Rilo Kiley, the band she co-fronted with Blake Sennett. They’ve only grown stronger since — and as her take on the Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle With Care” proved, she’s got a way with …
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Perhaps the best, and certainly the most weirdly-grooving of the four tracks Vampire Weekend have trickled out in advance of their forthcoming Father Of The Bride LP, “Sunflower” opens up with a swirl of tag-teaming guitar and bass runs, which are soon mirrored by wordless vocals. Internet guitarist-vocalist Steve Lacy …
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Fred Armisen is best known for his work on Saturday Night Live and shows like Documentary Now!, Portlandia and Forever, but music is his first love. He’s been drumming since his teenage years and even though he’s usually balancing three or four comedy projects at once, he always makes time …
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I t was five hours before showtime and Lil Peep was in the back of his tour bus, getting high with two young fans. They were smoking dabs, high-potency doses of concentrated weed that are vaporized, then inhaled. This was Tucson, Arizona, in November 2017, and the afternoon heat hovered …
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It’s been five years since the Black Keys have released any music together, but with their new song “Lo/Hi,” the duo seem to have picked up right where they left off. Dan Auerbach‘s signature bluesy, fuzzy guitar and Patrick Carney‘s thumping garage rock drum beat are alive and well. And …
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