Avinash Chak
Avinash Chak
Recent Stories
Gambler’s Paradise: It’s just a cab ride away
Almost divorced several times because of his all-too-frequent visits to the establishment, Abe has never been able to stay away. He has been going to Sports Haven for twenty years, as long as he has lived in Connecticut. An Egyptian immigrant, he seems to have enjoyed every part of his 27-year-long American experience — except Sports Haven. He’ll stop going after this week. He has to. At least that’s what he says.
Tango with a bandoneon
With “Tango 3.0,” France’s Gotan Project brings their music back to Nuevo Tango. Combining downtempo and ambient dub with more traditional tango instrumentation, the album blends together the approaches of 2001’s “La Revancha del Tango” and 2006’s “Lunático.” Members Philippe Cohen Solal, Eduardo Makaroff and Christoph H. Müller balance the Argentinean ballroom music with electronica, creating a sound to which you can dance (if you know how to tango) or chill out.
Motown in the modern age
Whatever happened to that Motown sound? Have you ever asked yourself why they don’t make music like they did in the 60s and 70s? Well stop asking yourself, because they do. Or at least Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings do.
Lukewarm Massive Attack
Trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack are back on the shelves with a new sound that will surely let down longtime fans.
Le Roi de Rock
PARIS — “Didier–Wampas–est–le –roi” (Didier Wampas is the king) echoes throughout L’Alhambra Music Hall.
A G-rated thang
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. Shit made Tipper Gore’s crusade against ’80s rock stars look like an attack on Nick Jr. for its sex and violence.
Jedis at Toad’s
Monday night’s Jedi Mind Tricks show at Toad’s was a pretty standard underground concert — audience full of hip-hop heads and adventurous rockers, high-intensity verses and a lot of call-and-response. Every time DJ Kwestion dropped a beat, the whole crowd knew what it was and jumped up and down in anticipation. Rapper Vinnie Paz proceeded to tear through his verses with some hype man help from Crypt the Warchild of OuterSpace. This went on for about 20 minutes.
RIP PIMP C
“UGK 4 Life,” the final studio album from the Underground Kings, signals the end of an era in Southern hip-hop.
How to lose friends
Full of isolated and untapped talent, N.A.S.A.’s “The Spirit of Apollo” is a little like the United States’ 2004 Olympic basketball team.
Waiting for Rakim
Ed. Note: Reporter Avinash Chak set off to interview Rakim, his favorite rapper, the day before his concert at Toad’s Place. The interview never happened. These are his notes.