Kurt Vile Invites Us to Watch His Moves
Indie rocker Kurt Vile returns with the sprawling, pondering, post-pandemic jam (watch my moves). Its best moments entrance and enthrall.
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Scree’s ‘Slow Bloom’ Is a Brief, Delightful Gem of an EP
The latest release from the Brooklyn-based jazz trio Scree, Slow Bloom, is a ruminative exercise in low-key jazz dynamics.
King Garbage’s Beautiful Mess of a Sophomore Album Is a Garage-Soul Classic
From marching band drums to gritty guitar lines to hip-hop beats, the dusty anything-goes soul-pop approach of King Garbage doesn’t have any contemporaries.
Why the Mountain Goats’ ‘All Hail West Texas’ Will—In Time—Both Outpace and Outlive You
Twenty years old, John Darnielle’s unique, emotion-driven songwriting gave the Mountain Goats’ All Hail West Texas unrivaled staying power.
The Lasting Legacy of Weezer’s Now-Beloved Commercial Flop ‘Pinkerton’
Weezer’s Pinkerton was released 25 years ago today and it was a critical and commercial flop. But in the intervening years, it’s become a beloved emo rock classic.
Elliott Page and Mark Rendall Break Out the Omnichord to Spread Joy
The eponymous three-song EP Mark and Elliott is simply the most fun, upbeat musical way possible to end off a summer we all desperately needed.
Gaadge Hit All the Right Notes on Excellent Debut ‘Yeah?’
Gaadge’s debut LP Yeah? is the sound of a new Pittsburgh. This version of the “Paris of Appalachia” is more cosmopolitan, more contemporary but still reserves a kind of understated magic behind its Fort Pitt-like cement walls
The 20 Essential Pavement Songs
This stroll down memory lane’s shady lane only underscores how a collection of Stephen Malkmus’ sharpest turns-of-phrase comes off like a veritable Bartlett’s Famous Quotations for the Gen X indie set.
Joe Kaplow Vents Gentrification Frustrations on “February Prorated Rent” (premiere)
Indie folk's Joe Kaplow premieres his new single "February Prorated Rent", a profoundly haunting and affecting song.
‘Transgender Street Legend Vol. 2’ Finds Left at London “At My Peak and Still Rising”
"[Pandemic lockdown] has been a detriment to many people's mental health," notes Nat Puff (aka Left at London) around her incendiary, politically-charged new album, "but goddamn it if I haven't been making some bops here and there!"
Sneaks’ ‘Happy Birthday’ Begs Us to Reconsider Musical Definitions
Sneaks' Happy Birthday is a worthwhile release for its insistence upon being categorized as music without a category.