Quit Mumbling

  Blacksmif, aka Yemi is a young producer hailing from London. His recent release on Synchronicity was crafted with finesse and affection without resorting to well known tropes or obtuse programming. Here’s what he had to say for himself a few months ago on the current state of his scene, reaching out to wider audiences [...]

If you don’t connect with the Beastie Boy’s albums, you fall under one of two categories: 1. You are one of those people who proclaims loudly that you are in search of “high art,” while secretly you crank the volume when “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” comes on the radio. 2. You have no sense of [...]

Kindness’s debut World, You Need A Change Of Mind is out next week and features a cover of The Replacements’ “Swingin’ Party,” off their 1985 album Tim. The Replacements’ original is unfiltered reflection, a self-critical confession of shortcomings lazily lost in afternoon thought. Paul Westerberg’s strained vocals are resigned to incurred pain, and warm guitar [...]

As a music writer, the first instinct is to compare a surfacing artist to a band with an already established sound. When listening to Bear Attack’s EP Shine, I am faced with the difficulty of trying to find any kind of accurate comparison. The synths and drumbeat on opening track “Mother” are reminiscent of post-OK Computer Radiohead; [...]

Metal is alive and well. A culture of heavy riffs blasted through huge stacks has become the stuff of legend and cultish fandom. Adult Swim’s joyful lampooning and a new exhibit at the Grammy Museum featuring metal icons serve as proof to the genre’s enduring magneticism. Nevertheless, for a generation weaned into music on the lukewarm breast milk of indie [...]

This morning, wake up to the warm space waves of Mr. Beck Hanson.  Never an artist to stick to any certain genre, Beck’s latest work “I Only Have Eyes For You,” a cover of  The Flamingos, finds the artist giving one of his best crooner performances to date. Dainty pianos provide the sparse backdrop to [...]

Let’s be honest, your life hasn’t been the same since the demise of LCD Soundsystem.  Since their departure, my heart has been sporting a big hole, waiting on James to come to his senses and fill in that void.  But my heart started hurting alot less since being turned on to Hundred Visions. “Last Cab [...]

The instant “Say Goodbye” starts you immediately notice two things: 1) This isn’t a sound we’ve previously associated with Norah Jones, probably because 2) Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton’s fingerprints (paw prints?) are all over this track. The understated, shimmering synth chords combined with the subtle laying of guitars are, for any fans of Broken Bells, [...]

If you did any flying during late 2011 you may have noticed an unassuming Italian man traversing America’s airports with a carry-on full of electrical equipment, wiring and light bulbs. In the era of shoe bombers, security obsession and general xenophobia, it takes a brave man to negotiate TSA checkpoints with a bag full of [...]