It’s been a while since I was this excited to place a little round disk in a tray and listen to it spin around, probably not since last year’s brilliant Phosphorescent album, or maybe Jason Isbell’s latest. Both of those were superb albums, and this one is also. It takes all of 8 seconds to realise what you’re in for here.
Gangsta rap isn’t a term that carries as much weight in 2014 as what it used to. Times have changed since legendary lyrical thugs such as Tupac, Scarface and Notorious ruled the roost. Swinging their dicks, bragging about guns, bitches and blunts. The idea of the Gangster in 90’s hip hop was hugely important to the success of the genre. They played the role of the...
Black Lips are a band that should really get more credit as musicians. Their stage shows may be a complete mess of sexual confusion and projectile vomit, but they’re far from a gimmick band. They’re professionals after all, playing those wonderfully slimy, throwback garage rock riffs leading into fun little ditties about incest or violence or something similarly offensive.
Schoolboy Q dropped Oxymoron a week or two ago and we've all had a bit of time to let it settle in and digest what Q dropped. Overall it was a pretty handy album for his first release with major label back following Top Dawg Entertainment's deal with Interscope records ... peep the obvious Dr Dre connection. Schoolboy Q does what he does best and does what all hip hop artists should do - give you a look into...
It’s been a while since we last heard from Beck Hansen. Not since 2008 if you’re only counting full album releases, although his is a name that sporadically pops up on singles here and there. Oh, and there was the Song Reader project in 2012, consisting entirely of sheet music. Yeah, you can always trust this guy to follow his own muse...