After teaming up last year to release the collaborative album “Run The Jewels,” rapping duo El-P and Killer Mike are back with their appropriately titled follow-up “Run The Jewels 2” as a free download. It’s another high-energy assault of hard, fast and fun rap, as Jaime and Mikey go tit-for-tat verbally with eloquent and intricate […]
There were moments during Perfume Genius‘ show at the Roxy Theatre on Sunday night where you could hear a deep breath, or the click of a camera shutter 15 feet away, because everyone in the near-packed house was silent and mesmerized. Backed by band members on guitar/bass, keys/synth, and drums/percussion, Mike Hadreas and company played […]
After putting out a mixtape a year since 2011, and guesting on multiple tracks from Common, Earl Sweatshirt and Mike G, Long Beach rapper Vince Staples put out his first official release last week, an excellent EP entitled “Hell Can Wait,” via Def Jam Recordings. Its first track, “Fire,” finds him spitting rhymes over an […]
The music of Perfume Genius has always been raw, often haunting and emotional, with Mike Hadreas’s lyrics wrapping you with a sense of intimacy. His 2012 sophomore album “Put Your Back N 2 It” was full of delicate and sparse piano ballads tackling topics like drug addiction, violence and living as a gay man, orchestrated […]
Lorde, née Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, is 17 years old. That’s important to remember – since, in the 14 months since she played a 10-song set at the Echoplex last August, the New Zealand teenager has become a Grammy-winning, world-touring phenomenon on the strength of her single “Royals” and debut album “Pure Heroine.” ||| Photos […]
Earlier this spring saw the release of the Madlib-produced Freddie Gibbs collaboration “Piñata,” a “gangster Blaxploitation film on wax” and one of the best hip-hop albums of the year. In this Gregory Buissereth-directed video for its track “Harold’s,” shots of the surrounding people and places in Gary, Ind., are interspersed with Gibbs holding court at […]
After teasing its release last week, Kendrick Lamar finally dropped the first single from his forthcoming sophomore album. It’s entitled “i,” and was produced by L.A.’s Rahki. The new song samples the Isley Brothers’ classic “Who’s That Lady,” heavy on the cowbell, drum machine and psychedelia, and it’s a step in a different direction from […]
There was a point at dusk on Saturday during TJR’s set at the Mad Decent Block Party, as beats blared through the booming sound system and the packed street of patrons danced in a trance, that five anatomically equipped male inflatable dolls bobbed above them all. They thrust-danced haphazardly, as did the two blue inflatable […]
Last month, London-based Kevin Martin (aka The Bug) released his fourth album, “Angels & Devils.” The album’s sessions produced nearly 160 demos and versions, so Martin is releasing an EP culling together some of the leftovers, titled “Exit.” One of the standouts is “Black Wasp,” featuring Liz Harris of Grouper on vocals; she collaborated on […]
Following a rousing performance at FYF last month, Los Angeles’ Flying Lotus, née Steven Ellison, is gearing up to release his fifth studio album, “You’re Dead!” on Oct. 7 via Warp Records. It is set to feature appearances by Angel Deradoorian, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat, as well as FlyLo’s rap alter […]
