On DS4EVER, Gunna brings a surfeit of personal style. His raps, a blend of melodic gestures and whispered boasts, glide like an Aston Martin dashing along Biscayne Bay. It’s breezy and full of allusions to hot sex, macho boasts and luxury accoutrements. On occasion, he refers to personal troubles: The …
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George Harrison was all of 27 years old when he started making what became All Things Must Pass, in May 1970. The Beatles, the band to which he had dedicated his musical life since he was 15, were over, and Harrison spent the summer and fall in the studio, hammering …
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Over the past half-decade, M.C. Taylor has released four new albums (and a slew of outtakes compilations and live records) under the moniker of his country-soul recording outfit, Hiss Golden Messenger. But more impressive than the sheer quantity of the North Carolina singer-songwriter’s output is the degree of spiritual sensitivity, …
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Eric Church might look like a tough-guy outlaw who plays by his own rules, but his real gift has been for bending the rules to his will. No recent country artist has maneuvered the Nashville system as successfully, remaining dedicated to the power of down-the-center hitmaking even as he’s helped …
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Pleased to Meet Me was the sound of the Replacements trying for once. The band’s previous five LPs were snarky slacker masterpieces full of chintzy songs about hating music ’cause it’s got too many notes, ironic Kiss covers, and the occasional tender ballad, and their concerts were more like drunken …
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Ed O’Brien has been an under-appreciated but crucial part of Radiohead ever since the band formed in 1985. His contributions may not be as flashy as fellow guitarist Jonny Greenwood, but look to Thom Yorke’s immediate right at any live show and you’ll see him bashing the tambourine on “Reckoner,” …
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The last three years have been somber, sobering and not much fun, with only intermittent beams of sunlight. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the same goes for Our Pathetic Age, DJ Shadow’s first record since before the 2016 election. Shadow’s music has never been overtly political, but rarely has an …
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Formed in Kent, Ohio during the late Seventies, Human Switchboard was one of a slew of bands who sprung up throughout the benighted American heartland in the wake of punk-rock’s initial explosion in New York and London — from the Gizmos in Indiana to the Embarrassment in Kansas to the …
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It is a long rock & roll tradition: writing songs about the high price of success in exhaustion, sanity and lasting relationships. Modern-rock stars Cage the Elephant take a turn on Social Cues, their fifth studio album. And the bill comes due with a vengeance. “I was promised the keys …
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