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Bill Kopp on November 14, 2018
RISING OUT OF Sweden’s vibrant metal scene in 2006, Ghost has carved out a unique place in the rock landscape. Fronted by songwriter and vocalist Tobias Forge, the band is populated by musicians known only as Nameless Ghouls (Forge’s identity was only revealed in 2017). Wedding showmanship in the tradition of Alice…
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Estefany Gonzalez on October 17, 2018
Imagine a grimier Skrillex, cranked up to 11, and you’re starting to get the sounds that Frédérick Durrand—a.k.a. Snails—conjures from his DJ deck. This Montreal-based producer is credited with pioneering the heavy, maximalist EDM subgenre known as “vomitstep”—named after the gurgly filter he passes his bowel-rattling bass drops through. His latest album,…
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Steve Palopoli on August 15, 2018
The “Final Transmission” episode of Documentary Now—the recent Netflix series in which Fred Armisen and Bill Hader lovingly skewer a different famous documentary in each installment—begins with a shot of Armisen’s feet as he walks out on stage in a white suit and says, “Hi. I got a cool little toy.” He…
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Bill Kopp on August 10, 2018
At its core, rock & roll has always been about youthful rebellion. From the national debut of Elvis Presley—who was initially shown on television waist-up so as not to offend delicate sensibilities with his shaking hips—to transgressive modern-day artists like Marilyn Manson and GWAR, part of rock music’s mission has to been…
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Wallace Baine on June 30, 2018
Beyonce, watch your back. Gaga, better up your game. Katy Perry, this could get scary.
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Bill Kopp on June 19, 2018
Steve Howe laughs when asked what it is that keeps playing in Yes fresh and interesting for him. The guitarist has been a member of Yes for most of the years since 1970; he’s the closest thing the British progressive group has to an original member. The band has embarked on dozens…
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Wallace Baine on May 23, 2018
If you were a long-haired adolescent in the 1970s who bore some resemblance to either of the two guys in Wayne’s World, then “Carry On Wayward Son” is probably more intimately familiar to you than your mother’s voice. No self-respecting soundtrack of the Jimmy Carter years would be complete without it.
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Nick Veronin on May 2, 2018
The South Bay’s face doesn’t stand a chance. Symphonic metal quintet Kamelot is riding into town like a legion of time-space-bending valkyrie—dealing out punishing, pinch-harmonic-punctuated guitar solos and double-bass runs that ripple like thunder across a post-apocalyptic hellscape. The group released its 12th studio album, The Shadow Theory, on April 6. On…
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Bill Kopp on April 12, 2018
Jean-Michel Jarre built his music reputation on the strength of a series of groundbreaking 1970s albums. His second release, 1977’s Oxygène, pioneered the use of analog synthesizers in a melodic context and is widely viewed as an enduring influence upon today’s electronic artists.
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Wallace Baine on April 11, 2018
The end of the road for the Righteous Brothers came suddenly and unexpectedly in 2003, when Bobby Hatfield—the tenor in the duo, and the voice in the immortal love song “Unchained Melody”—died of a heart attack shortly before a performance with his longtime partner, Bill Medley.
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