song reviews
Kanye West feat. Pusha T
“New God Flow”
Kanye previewed his new G.O.O.D. Music single in a breathlessly barked quasi-freestyle a capella at the BET Awards. The song itself has the same vibe of frantic triumphalism: a gospel sample, a bumrush beat and Kanye comparing himself to everyone from Lebron to Biggie to MLK to Rodney King and – in an even more audacious, "is nothing sacred"?! flourish – bragging that his new sneaker line is better than the Air Jordan. He’s more than a New God. He’s a Human Hashtag. R... | More »
Public Enemy
"I Shall Not Be Moved"
Leave it to Chuck D to own his age: "I work it/UH!/the senior circuit." Crafted by Chuck and Gary G-Wiz, this single (from Public Enemy's upcoming album, Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On No Stamp) is one of PE's toughest, leanest, weirdest tracks in years, live drums and pure-funk guitar leaning into fuzzy synth wobble worthy of Skrillex or Throbbing Gristle. Chuck can still hector with the best, dissing Clive Davis and bellowing "What good is learnin' from some rec... | More »
Divine Fits
"Would That Not Be Nice"
This latest leak from the debut album by indie supergroup Divine Fits (Spoon's Brett Daniel, Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs' Dan Boeckner, and New Bomb Turks drummer Sam Brown) is something close to an ideal garage rock record: a delectable admixture of rubbery groove, scuzz, melody, psychedelic effects, and mumbo-jumbo. Daniel takes the lead, growling trippy responses to the titular question – barely intelligible, possibly nonsensical, totally irresistible stuff about Minneapolis,... | More »
The Avett Brothers
"Live and Die"
It's an old pop music verity: You can be an old softie, if you have the tunes to back it up. On the lead single from the Rick Rubin-prouced The Carpenter, due in September, not much has changed: the Avett Brothers are still indie's dippiest sentimentalists – "I want to love you and more/I want to find you and more/Where do you reside when you hide?" – and still among its sharpest melodists, with banjos plinking along to swooping power-pop melody worthy of Big Star. Rela... | More »
Avicii
“Silhouettes”
Swedish DJ Avicii typically purveys utter gush, but on "Silhouettes" his prancing synth chords and euphoric builds are tauter than usual, and less over-the-top. Odd that Salem Al Fakir croons he's "never getting back to the new school" over circa-'98 trance-pop, though. Listen to "Silhouettes": Related• Avicii Talks All-Arena Tour, Dream Collaborators | More »
Cat Power
"Ruin"
Chan Marshall's career has been all about learning to move – from the alluringly static lo-fi mumblings of her Nineties albums to the shyly swinging Memphis soul of 2006's The Greatest. Here she really gets truckin'. "Ruin" is her poppiest, most straight-ahead song ever: a rolling piano and pushy drums drive lyrics about restless travel – from Saudi Arabia to Soweto to Belfast. But this isn’t some eat-pray-love yuppie self-searching. What’s all the rambl... | More »
Chelsea Light Moving
"Burroughs"
With Sonic Youth still on vacation, Thurston Moore has formed a new band comprised of Northhampton, Mass cronies to play what he calls "Burroughs rock." Lucky for us, our first taste of this exciting new genre sounds quite a lot like vintage Sonic Youth (sort of Sister's "Stereo Sanctity" meets Daydream Nation's "Hey Joni") – a loose, breakneck gallop, waves of two-guitar noise-terror and a fired-up Moore singing a tribute in the form of a playful punk-rock taunt. After the re... | More »
Yoko Ono, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon
"Early in the Morning"
This 14-minute track, also on 10-inch vinyl, is a benefit for orphans of the 2011 tsunami and a preview of a forthcoming album by Ono and the Sonic Youth ex-couple. Ono's tremolo cries are set in a guitar paroxysm recalling Youth's feedback monument "Expressway to Yr Skull." Gordon adds eerie alto-vocal comfort, while the John Lennon who played on Ono's "Mind Train" would approve of the guitars' treble stammers and raw-fuzz groans. Related• Yoko Ono Recording With So... | More »
Radiohead
"Full Stop" (live version)
Radiohead have been rolling out fascinating new material throughout their current tour – from the funeral-parlor soul ballad "Cut a Hole" to "Identikit," which suspended one of Thom Yorke's more athletic panic-attack falsetto freakouts over high-def funk burbles. The enthusiasm for this stuff among Radiohead fans is so intense that lyrics and guitar tabs for the most recent new offering, "Full Stop," were auctioned on eBay in March – three months before the band debuted the t... | More »
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
"Baby"
This low-fi popster's new one is a loving cover of the 1979 soul obscurity "Baby," cranking the trippiness in a ballad that was pretty codeine-dream trippy already. Related• Ariel Pink Explores the California Sound with 'Mature Themes' | More »
Music Reviews
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star ratingOverexposed -
star ratingLiving Things -
star ratingDays Go By
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star ratingWrite Me Back -
star ratingKing Tuff -
star ratingHa Ha I’m Sorry EP
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