Tag Archives: music-features

Two days ago, Dan Marfisi, a longtime musician and songwriter in the L.A. area, received a text from a composer friend. “He wrote, ‘Did you write this song onThe X-Files?’” Marfisi says. “He said, ‘You should go to Twitter and check out these threads. You’ll be a hero.’” Marfisi had …

F or many years, Taja Cheek lived two lives. As L’Rain, she made acclaimed music that was warm yet weird, steeped in exhilarating experimentation and heavy emotions. At the same time, she was navigating the art world, working at New York non-profit institutions like Creative Time and the Kitchen; she …

A year ago, Sen Morimoto was on the cusp of quitting music altogether. Instead, the Chicago-based, Japan-born multi-instrumentalist and producer channeled his disillusionment with the music industry and society at large into a new album, Diagnosis. He released it this fall on the quietly influential indie label he co-owns, Sooper …

“I was a victim of my foolish thinking/Carelessly, I’ve risked my love and my life/There’s no self-pity; I admit, I obliged/Overpowered by love, I pretended to be blind/Faith has survived all the doubts I’ve summoned/My heart has stood all the failure and loss/Helpless I cannot further be driven/I’ve learned to …

Denny Laine, the original lead singer of the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney’s co-founder/guitarist in Wings, died December 5 after a short battle with Interstitial lung disease. He was 79. “I was at his bedside holdings his hand as I played his favorite Christmas songs for him,” his wife Elizabeth …

Former Bad Boy rapper Mark Curry, author of the 2009 Sean “Diddy” Combs expose, Dancing With The Devil, shared some of his Bad Boy recollections with the YouTube channel Art of Dialogue last week. His book, which accused Combs of being an exploitative businessman, slipped under the radar years ago. …

Ludacris is cruising through New York a few days before the release of his new movie Dashing Through The Snow with Lil Rel. Our Zoom session isn’t long, but I’m happy to ask the rap legend a few questions. With six platinum albums, over 24 million records sold worldwide, and …

When Mick Jagger needed a guitarist back in 1988 who could effortlessly play parts originated by Keith Richards, Brian Jones, and Mick Taylor, he called up Joe Satriani. Five years later, when Deep Purple needed to airlift in a guitarist at the last second after Ritchie Blackmore quit the band, …

Raise a farewell toast for Shane MacGowan, one of rock’s most fiendishly brilliant growlers, snarlers, songwriters, storytellers, and blackguards. Shane was the resident Celt-punk genius of The Pogues, one of the great Irish bards of his or any other era, which is why the world is mourning his death on …

L il Yachty and Tierra Whack are two of the more inventive artists in hip-hop today — two wildly original talents who have charted their own paths without following anyone else’s trends. If you’re going to compare them to anyone, though, it might as well be each other. Both started …