Straight Outta Brompton: N.W.A. and A Clockwork Orange
A Cliffs Notes summary of N.W.A.’s 1988 breakthrough Straight Outta Compton might look something like this: Senseless beatdowns. Misogyny-by-numbers. Gangland murder masquerading as casual, cruel bloodsport... read more
With a Little Help From His Friends
Many songwriters expose their heart and soul, but Vic Chesnutt hoists up his spleen, too, venting gnarly proclamations, wry observations, throwaway potty-mouth jokes and Southern Gothic vignettes... read more
Lou Reed Revisits Berlin
In Lou Reed’s New York, the people worth knowing—the ones with nobility—are jazz arrangers, maverick saxophonists, conceptual artists. Characters. These days, that’s pretty much who to mention if... read more
Simple Stardom: Lee Ann Womack Embraces her Roots
Fifteen years ago, Lee Ann Womack was handing out demos door-to-door in Nashville, baby daughter in tow. “My husband at the time was on the road. I couldn’t afford a babysitter and thought...'" read more
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The Shocking Similarities Between Gospel Music and Death Metal
A few hundred near-maniacal fans stand wide-eyed in rural Arkansas, amped by the prospects of an afternoon spent rocking out. When the opening act takes the stage... read more
Hard Times in New Orleans
Last summer, I got a frantic phone call from my friend Jeanette. Her boyfriend had heard a noise in the front yard just after dark the night before. He opened the door, stepped onto the porch and was killed—shot in the chest... read more
He was a Sixth-Grade Alien: A Q&A with Michael Cera
The most surprising thing about meeting Michael Cera isn’t that he’s so skinny or that he seems so young. (Now 20 years old, Cera looks like he could play teenagers awhile longer.) It’s that he’s every bit as down-to-earth as... read more
Red in the Face: Wayne Coyne on Fake Blood
Flaming Lips ringmaster Wayne Coyne first bloodied himself on stage some 20 years ago at an Exorcist-themed concert. After learning a valuable lesson about coagulation, Coyne revisited the trick about a decade later when touring... read more
Hurts So Good: Love and Bad Movies
My boyfriend Joe and I have been together for years—through high school, college at separate universities 120 miles apart, and beyond. Many people find this unusual, even unfathomable, so we’re frequently asked, “How do you do it?” My answer is simple, and three-pronged... read more
River of Screams
Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff wrote “Westfall,” a chilling murder ballad about the slaying of a young girl, more than six years ago. Yet even now, Okkervil audiences scream every word... read more
Shock and Awww
We live in a brutal world. Violent, degrading and tragic events disturb everyday existence, just as they have since the dawn of time. Or as novelist Chuck Palahniuk puts it, “Crap has always happened, crap is happening and crap will continue to happen.”... read more
Murder, They Wrote
[Above: The Raconteurs]Traditional murder ballads evolved from mandolin-drenched morality tales into gangsta-rap boasts and contemporary-country rallying cries. Today indie rockers also delve into the tormented psyche. Hence, some murderous modern classics, all suitable for a spin on grandpappy’s Victrola.... read more
Berlin Dispatch: Dance Music Gives Rock a Beatdown
Between 1961 and 1989, Berlin was divided by a wall, and on each side was a culture, one of which was communist. Which isn’t to say that the commies didn’t rock—far from it: They had bands in East Berlin, notably The Puhdys... read more
Dublin Calling: How the Irish Bagpipes Point Me Home
What do I remember about my first seven years? I remember that I spent them in Ireland. I remember the rain and the pervasive grey skies that made every color on earth below—natural and manufactured—seem bottomless. I remember those rare sunny days that occasionally prompted women to stand in their front yards wearing bras like bikini tops, soaking up what sun they could. We were deadly pale, the ghostly descendants of Adam and Eve, and we felt no shame.... read more
Ken Stringfellow: A Long Way from Home
It’s 1:30 a.m. in Oslo, Norway, and the official shows at the 2008 by:Larm music festival have all shut down. But as I squeeze into the tiny music room at the back of hole-in-the-wall pub Revolver, the band shows... read more
Young and Restless
For the past 30 years, Neil Young has been a patron of the Mountain House, a logger’s roadhouse hidden away in a redwood grove at the pinnacle of Kings Mountain, 40 minutes south of San Francisco. He immortalized the place in his Greendale DVD and... read more
Killing Time: A playlist of modern murder ballads
It's a rough world out there, but somebody's got to document it. Or a lot of somebodies, judging by the number of candidates on the shortlist for inclusion on this compendium of recent homicidal hits. All of these songs were released in the last decade, with the exception of the Nick Cave song, which came out in 1996 (because it would be criminally negligent to overlook his entire Murder Ballads album). Most of them are original compositions, some are time-tested traditionals, but they all share a distinct ability to unsettle and entertain in varying measures. Enjoy the squirming! Okkervil River,... read more
Ladysmith Black Mambazo: In the Name of the Father
After 40-some years leading boundary-breaking South African vocal troupe Ladysmith Black Mambazo, group founder Joseph Shabalala is stepping down and turning the reins over to his son Tommy Shabalala, who now joins a notable group of African sons carrying on the work of their esteemed musical patriarchs... read more
New York Bars Serve Cosmopolitans
Everyone complains about record labels, calling them out-of-touch money pits that can’t innovate fast enough to compete in the 21st century marketplace. But maybe the real problem is that they don’t know how to pour a drink. Two New York companies... read more
Randy Newman Burns On
Randy Newman’s sardonic first album covered father/son dynamics, childhood obesity and pork-barrel politics, and in less than four minutes told the story of a young couple from marriage to death. The record’s trenchant humor and chamber-pop melodies created a... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Stay Zombie…
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
