It was a cold day at Universal Republic Records when Jay-Z proclaimed the “Death of Auto-Tune.” T-Pain ran up the spine of the company execs as they readied their latest single, Jay Sean’s “Down,” for mass release. The song showcases auto-tune like never before, as Jay Sean’s synthetic riffing assures the listener that “even though the sky is falling down” luscious...
I have the theme song from “Fame” stuck in my head. “I’m gonna live forever. I’m gonna learn how to fly. I feel it coming together. People will see me and cry.” Catchy, right?
It’s official: Tyondai Braxton is the Willy Wonka of art rock. Braxton’s latest solo creation, “Central Market,” is so exuberant, so droll, so whimsically entertaining and unpredictable, that you’d practically have to be Augustus Gloop to resist its charm.
A supergroup usually forms for a simple reason: Talented musicians who happen to be friends enjoy playing together and decide to make a record. This holds true for the members of Monsters of Folk, but something deeper is at work.
“The Beatles: Rock Band” is ridiculously fun. It’s not “fun enough,” or “very fun”; it is an electromagnet of joy. When Yale Beatles expert Danielle Wiggins ’12 (Beatlemaniac, three-time Fest for Beatles Fans Trivia Champion, and two-time Name That Tune Champ) and I began playing in my friend’s common room, we were alone. By the time an hour had passed, the room was...
Despite the fact that Toad’s Place is barely a minute’s walk from the gates of Old Campus, the club/venue/cesspool is a culture unto itself. I’ve seen a solid variety of venues in my concert-going history — from sport stadiums to rock clubs to basements — but never have I experienced the bizarre pastiche that is Toad’s. The architect must have designed a few roller rinks...
Whether you know him as Young Hova, Jigga Man, Mr. Knowles or Jay-Z, Shawn Carter is a hip-hop mogul. Jay broke into the game as a free-styling youngster in the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, and after dropping countless hit releases (“Brooklyn’s Finest,” the singles off “Blueprint”) featuring the rap scene’s hottest rising stars, ascended to “boss hog” status. As the...
The first time you listen to xx, the debut album by British quartet The xx, it is impossible to escape the feeling that it is somehow different from other recent releases. The reason why is not as clear. It isn’t the uncommon instrumentation (two guitars, a bass and a synth), nor the rich but unobtrusive production. The clicks and echoes of the drum track are...
Ever since the 2005 release of “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” — the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history — Arctic Monkeys have remained indie rock darlings. Before they signed to Domino Records in 2005, the Monkeys were one of the first bands to gain a following largely by Internet file-sharing and gigging around their hometown of Sheffield.
Plies is not one of the bigger names in hip-hop, which is surprising considering his proficiency: the production of three successful albums in the span of 16 months, two of them selling RIAA gold. It’s possible that his ties to murder charges have weakened his commercial appeal, but they have definitely not affected the quality of his music.
Many a celebrity has tried to eulogize Michael Jackson with singing (Mariah Carey), essays (Lisa Marie Presley) or block parties in Brooklyn (Spike Lee). But how do you properly say thank you and goodbye to the King? With a no-holds-barred dance party.
As a proud hip-hop head and member of the vestigial population of CD buyers, I was happy to add “The Chronic” to my collection this summer. I would finally be able to bury my most shameful secret: I’d never actually listened to the seminal Dr. Dre album. Sure, I knew “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” like everyone else, but I needed to fully immerse myself in that Compton wordplay....
“ ‘My Maudlin Career’ is the sort of album that makes you want to stare out windows. With it off.”
“Was it alright? Would you change anything?” he asks. Yes, more than. No, not a thing. I think. But I cannot express myself. I am dumbstruck. I could not create this // I want to create this.
Swan Lake is drunk, and, from first track to last, “Enemy Mine” is an assault on the listener’s sobriety as well. Words are slurred, meaning lost, and if the listener’s fine with that, it’s a bright and pleasurable jolt.
To name an album “Swoon” is to announce a not unimpressive ambition. A psychosomatic one, of sorts — a desire to arrange beats and tones in such patterns as to cause physical symptoms in the listener: to make the blood rush to places where it shouldn’t rush, to force the body into retreat. To make ’em weak at the knees and light in the head.
Jamie Foxx has cooler friends than you. No, they don’t dance. They seem to spend all of their time getting out of cars or holding, but not drinking, champagne.
Consistency has never been a word one could use to describe Neil Young. His music is often political, frequently exquisite and has been profoundly influential, but the man himself rarely finds something and sticks with it — his in-and-out track record with Crosby, Stills and Nash is just one example of this pattern. With “Fork in the Road,” Young’s new concept album, the...
Two songs into Ray LaMontagne’s set at the Shubert a chorus of audience members screamed “Free Bird! Play Free Bird!” Rarely have I been to a concert where at least one chant for that glorious piece of Southern rock was not barked.
Junior Boys’ latest — the obscurely titled “Begone Dull Care” (Google it for a kick) — is best experienced as a complete album.
