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The Latest Nirvana Oral History Is More Mythmaking
The question any new, historic work about Nirvana should have to answer is, "Why?" With a story that’s been told and retold to the point of being a well-worn musical legend, a new book purporting to...
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In Defense of Fangirls
Image via InstagramZayn Malik’s departure from popular boyband One Direction last week unleashed a torrent of scorn and mockery; news anchors, bloggers and the Twittersphere groaned and made jokes at...
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Shake Appeal: Coneheads, MAMA, Mean Jeans, the Ar-Kaics, Aquarian Blood,...
You've been good, so it's time for another installment of Shake Appeal, Evan Minsker's garage/punk/psychedelic/etc. music round-up.The "great" records in recent months have been huge productions—music...
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Pitchfork at the Plate
Image via MLB InstagramBaseball season is under way, folks. To celebrate Opening Day, we polled Pitchfork staffers on the song they would choose if they were stepping up to the plate. Here are their...
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The Makings of an Empire
For decades, cinematic depictions of the music industry have stoked our imagination of what it is: homogenous, corrupt, controlled by small concentrations of power, beholden to an ideology that...
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A Dispatch From the D.I.Y. Opera Scene
John Cage photo courtesy of EM Records/Omega PointIn 2013, the New York City Opera—the city’s second largest opera company—filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. A move from Lincoln Center to Brooklyn, a...
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This One's For the Fans: One Direction and the Illusion of Access
Image via InstagramOver the weekend, the exclusive first interview with One Direction following the departure of founding member Zayn Malik was published in UK tabloid The Sun. The now-quartet—...
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Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator's Odd Future as Mature Adults
Photo by Sagan LockhartOn his latest album, I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, Earl Sweatshirt raps like he’s been pulled, kicking and screaming, into the cold world of adulthood. His flow is...
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Coachella Was Our Woodstock
Photo by Chris TuiteCoachella, Coachella was our Woodstock; Jungle our Jimi, Tame Impala our Sha-na-na, Steely Dan our Steely Dan, and Touché Amore our, uh, Modern Life Is War. It was a golden...
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The National's Alligator at 10
A few months after the National released Alligator the band played a small college venue to 30 people, a number that included venue staff and the opening band. I know this because I was there, and I...
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The Replacements Return (to Portland)
The best place to watch a band at Portland’s 1500-person capacity Crystal Ballroom is the all-ages side. Except at a reunion show. Then, it’s just the sober section, and "all-ages" mostly means "all of...
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Record Store Day and the Ambivalent Branding of Independence
Is Record Store Day stronger than ever? Or is it irrelevant? Heading into the 8th annual celebration of "the unique culture" of independently-owned record stores this April 18th, the same evidence can...
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Familial Bond: Mountain Goats' Sunset Tree and Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell
Photo by Emmanuel AfolabiSufjan Stevens' latest album Carrie & Lowell is unlike any previous work he’s ever released. Haunting and intimate, it pulls back the curtain on the devastation and sadness...
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The Audacity of Hotep (A Playlist)
Encompassing a wide array of styles and ideas, hip-hop and R&B go together like two swinging double dutch ropes. Some aspects, like the so-called conscious movement, are celebrated as often as they...
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The Ancestral Migosity of Rap
Photo by Erez AvissarStrolling the streets of Mafateng, Lesotho, in Southern Africa, where I live and work, I heard a thumping hip-house beat, blaring from a nearby storefront. The droning hook was...
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Why Artists Are Returning to the Torrent Communities That Birthed Them
Photo by Erez AvissarIt’s no surprise that sample culture has been amplified by the Internet Age, revitalized by the advent of torrent clients, which have been sparking debates about authorship and...
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A Mini Guide to the Best Teen Movie Soundtracks
On this year’s Record Store Day, Universal Music will be re-releasing the soundtrack to Clueless to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. And while it’s hard to top the revered classic that is...
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Jim O'Rourke on Drag City: A Primer
Earlier this month, word arrived of a new album by the musician Jim O’Rourke. To some people this will mean a great deal; to the other 99.99% percent of the population it will mean nothing at all....
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What Happens When There Are No Boys in the Room: A Report from Robyn’s Tekla...
Photo by Tom Spray"I need to be a hamster!" Robyn yells across a packed hall. Here, at the kick-off of Tekla, the free one-day tech conference that the Swedish pop star has helped organize for 200...
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Kanye West, the Antihero
Photo by Erez AvissarEach passing month can be marked by a new defining turn in Kanye West’s audacious act(s); attempting to walk on water is perhaps the merest of them. However, Kanye’s gall is rarely...
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