Freddie Gibbs and Madlib are two larger-than-life figures who carry diametric mystiques. Gibbs is the Rust Belt hero, the world-beating outlaw who bathes with snakes and has been serving impregnable street raps since 2009. Madlib is much more elusive but no less prolific—the perpetually shroomed-out producer who spends his days …
Read More »'The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings' Goes Deep Inside Bob Dylan's Legendary Rock & Roll Medicine Show
From the rough, spontaneous energy of the rehearsals that open this box to the set’s barely-tamed-tornado climax, on stage in Montreal, Bob Dylan‘s Rolling Thunder Revue barely lasted a season: seven weeks in the frenzied autumn of 1975. And no song captures the distance and velocity of Dylan’s legendary touring …
Read More »Review: Rapper Supa Bwe's 'Just Say Thank You' Showcases His One-Of-A-Kind Voice
If you don’t know Supa Bwe, you know his sound. The 29-year-old Chicago rapper has championed a combustible blend of hip hop, pop-punk, and R&B and helped carve out what would become a fertile, crowded lane occupied by younger stars like Lil Uzi Vert, XXXTENTACION, Trippie Redd, and YNW Melly. …
Read More »Review: Better Oblivion Community Center Make Soft Rock For Hard Times
What is it about dashed expectations that breed singer-songwriters? As the Sixties dream cratered, a golden era peaked in Laurel Canyon — think Joni, Jackson, Sweet Baby James — with a tendency towards wistful solipsism. Now, a new one is blooming as the American experiment contemplates its doom. Father John …
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