In September of 1996, R.E.M. followed their fuzzy, grungy, glammy album Monster with the relatively expansive and immersive LP New Adventures In Hi-Fi. The band worked on the album's tracks while on the road, following the example of their young friends in Radiohead, and they came up with a set of songs that worked as a transitional document for...

I thought I’d write about Nas this week. I thought maybe I’d write about the new Kanye West-produced Abstract Mindstate album, too. The parallels were too much to pass up. One one side: a rap deity, coming off of a Grammy win and a whole lot of spousal-abuse allegations, attempting to project composure and wisdom and national...

For years now, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has only loosely been a jazz festival. For example, consider the top names on the fest’s just-announced 2021 initial lineup: Dead & Company, Stevie Nicks, the omnipresent Foo Fighters, Jimmy Buffett, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, the Black Crowes, H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, N...

Today is a great day to hear a whole bunch of motherfuckers just rap. You probably won’t hear a better example than “Pravda,” the new single from the Brooklyn rapper Your Old Droog. Droog just announced the new album Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition, his follow-up to last year’s Jewelry. Where Droog explored his J...

So far, the musical artists who've rescheduled their postponed 2020 arena tours seem to be assuming that people will be able (or at least willing) to attend large indoor gatherings like that by summer 2021: The Weeknd, Rage Against The Machine, and Justin Bieber, for example. This more or less squares with a recent CDC…