By Ethan Bloomfield, Contributor[Merge; 2020]Rating: 6/10 Key Tracks: “The Last Place I Saw You Alive”, “Bell Swamp Connection”, “Getting Into Knives” What can be said about The Mountain Goats that hasn’t been? John Darnielle and company have created 13 studio albums and some of the biggest indie classics for the better part of three decades….
Category: Rotation
Album Review: Ariana Grande – Positions
By Lauren McCain, Columns Editor [Republic Records; 2020]Rating: 7.5/10 Key tracks: “positions”, “34+35”, “safety net (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)”, “pov” After the whirlwind of her albums Sweetener and thank u, next less than five months apart in 2019, in 2020, Ariana Grande brings a more intimate, sultry R&B sound to the table with Positions. Positions makes…
Newport Folk Festival limited edition vinyl package sells out within hours
By Ethan Bloomfield, Contributor Attention vinyl fans: another great sale has already come and gone! A pre-order for the limited vinyl release of music-icon collaboration album A Change is Gonna Come sold out within a few hours. The vinyl was released in support of the Newport Festivals Foundation, a charity created in 2010 “to support…
Covers: An Overview of Approaches for Reimagining Pop Music
By Jonah Krueger, News Editor So, you want to cover a song? Wonderful! Let us start by congratulating you for making this tremendous decision and reinforce how excited we are that you chose us™ to help you along this rewarding journey. Legally, we are required to inform you of the potential risks involved with covering…
Preview: ACRN Battle of the Bands with Boy Jorts, Rooftops, Friends for Sale, Velvet Green, Birds with Vertigo
By Kwase Lane, Features Editor Flyer by Olivia Doepke The fates have not been kind to any of us this year, but ACRN’s Battle of the Bands is still happening—albeit in a new, virtual form. There are five bands competing, and every one of them have recorded a 15 minute set for you to watch…
Records I’m Not Ashamed to Own
By RJ Martin, Music Director Within the landscape of mid-to-late-2000s butt-rock and post-hardcore, there are few acts that rose above the rest and created music that had staying power. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, there may only be one that matters: Avenged Sevenfold. After putting out two independent records and rising to major-label…
Run The Jewels releases shirts with a purpose
By Lauren Patterson, Copy Editor Hip-hop duo Run The Jewels have announced a limited edition T-shirt collection, “Hold Our Hands,” with Charitees. The announcement came Monday via Twitter, urging voting and supporting organizations. All proceeds from the tees go to corresponding charities, Brooklyn Vegan reported. Read more: Japanese electronic group Black Boboi announce new album…
Album Review: Touché Amoré – Lament
By Jonah Krueger, News Editor[Epitaph; 2020]Rating: 8.5/10 Key tracks: “Come Heroine”, “Reminders”, “Limelight”, “Deflector” Touché Amoré has rightly become an emo A-lister, managing to vary its approach to songwriting while remaining remarkably consistent in quality with each release. Yet, the glamorous rise of the band was abruptly halted with the release of their fourth album. …
Highsnobiety, Newport Jazz Festival announce livestream
By Maddie James, Contributor Starting Monday, Highsnobiety and the Newport Jazz Festival are teaming up for “Jazz TV”. This three-day virtual event will feature DJ sets, live performances and panels on Highsnobiety’s digital platform and YouTube channel. All proceeds from “Jazz TV” will go to the Newport Festivals Musician Relief Fund, a nonprofit created to…
Album Review: A.G. Cook – Apple
By Kiah Easton, Editorial Director[PC Music; 2020]Rating: 6.5/10 Key tracks: “Oh yeah”, “Beautiful Superstar”, “The Darkness” Apple is the second full-length album from PC Music founder A.G. Cook. His first LP, 7G, came out less than two months ago and consisted of 49 songs, lasting more than two and a half hours. Apple fits much…
Album Review: Joji – Nectar
By Ethan Bloomfield, Contributor[88rising; 2020]Rating: 8/10 Key Tracks: “Run”, “Afterthought”, “Like You Do” Nectar is the highly anticipated, second full-length release of lo-fi and R&B artist George Miller, aka Joji. Dropping almost two full years after Ballads 1, Joji takes his signature sound to a much cleaner, more focused and emotionally mature place on Nectar. …
Your Favorite Musician is an Asshole: Elvis Edition
By Taylor Linzinmeir, Staff Writer Many call him the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but few call Elvis Presley what he really was: a sex offender. I won’t be talking about Presley’s rise to fame in this article; he has already been unreasonably idolized and glorified in countless ways over the years. Instead, I want…
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