My Effin’ Life, the new memoir from Rush‘s frontman and bassist, Geddy Lee, tells a tale that’s almost as epic in scale as his band’s largest-scale songs, from his upbringing as the child of two Holocaust survivors, to the rise of Rush, to the loss of drummer Neil Peart in …
Read More »'Mice in a Maze of Pain': Inside the Scandal-Scarred Comeback of Star DJ Bassnectar
T homas was a 19-year-old metalhead when a friend persuaded him to attend his first DJ set in 2012. DJs were “corny” for not playing instruments, he thought. But after the show, his mind was blown — not only by the huge range of track selections and psychedelic visuals, but …
Read More »'Payola Is Illegal': Lawsuit Revives Pay-for-Play Accusations in Radio Industry
In March 2020, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong released a cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now,” hoping to offer a small measure of comfort to a pandemic-stricken world. “I figure if we have to spend this time in isolation, at least we can be alone together,” the singer wrote …
Read More »Al Green's 'Timekeeper' on How He Gave Southern Soul Its Funky Heartbeat
Howard Grimes, the legendary Memphis drummer who played on some of Stax and Hi Records’ greatest recordings, died Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022 at the age of 80. Grimes’ band mate Scott Bomar confirmed the drummer’s death to the Commercial Appeal, citing kidney failure as the cause of death after several …
Read More »Internet Rap Mavericks 'Chillin Island' Are Too Raw for TV, but They're Doing it Anyway
Since 2009, three longtime friends — rapper Alec “Despot” Reinstein, comedian Ashok “Dap” Kondabolu, and rapper Aleksey “Lakutis” Weintraub — have brought the sensibility of Howard Stern to covering emerging hip-hop. Like Stern’s iconic radio program, their long-running underground radio show Chillin Island is hard to describe if you aren’t …
Read More »Joe Cocker's 'Mad Dogs & Englishmen': Inside the Triumph and Trauma of a Legendary Tour
When singer Rita Coolidge attended the premiere of Mad Dogs & Englishmen, the 1971 doc that chronicled the Joe Cocker–fronted tour of the same name, the experience was far from celebratory. “I started shaking and crying and it all came back to me,” she says. “I got up and left …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: BaianaSystem, 'Água Remix'
When the Brazilian group BaianaSystem released “Água” in 2019, it served as the head-turning opener to their O Futuro Não Demora album. The track was measured but scrappy, with thick, bristling brass and a chanting lead vocal; founder Robertinho Barreto played zippy lines on guitar, sticking lots of notes close …
Read More »From Korea to the World: Chung Ha Readies Her Next Big Move
If there were ever any doubt that K-pop is going global, one only needs to take a listen to Chung Ha, the multi-hyphenate singer-dancer-choreographer who stormed onto the international scene this year with her song, “Demente.” The reggaeton-tinged single marked the first time a K-pop artist released a song sung …
Read More »Aespa Want to Reinvent the K-Pop Girl Group Sound
Aespa have only three songs out, but they have already shown incredible range for a budding supergroup. The quartet (Karina, Winter, Giselle, Ningning) was assembled last year, becoming SM Entertainment’s first new girl group since the popular Red Velvet six years earlier. With their debut, they also reinvented how a …
Read More »Beijing Calling: Suspicion, Hope, and Resistance in the Chinese Rock Underground
Like Beijing itself, Dusk Dawn Club — or simply DDC, to the locals who stumbled out at all hours — blended centuries of history into a neon blur. Located in the city center’s trendy Gulou district, down one of its many winding, sparsely lit stone alleys, the club was housed …
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