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(05/30/19 4:10pm)
On April 19, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Jamel Knox vs. the Commonwealth of PA, setting a dangerous precedent that could sanitize hip–hop. The case, which centers on local Pittsburgh rap sensation Jamel Knox aka Mayhem Mal, doesn’t slot easily into the tropes that trail hip–hop. Knox isn’t fighting drug charges nor weapon possession—he’s fighting for his right to free speech, something the criminal justice system now believes rappers shouldn’t have.
(04/30/19 2:02am)
Like many great relationships, it began with “Sex." When The 1975 released that single in 2012, it quickly became popular with teenagers and gave the Manchester band attention that their prior releases had not. With the song’s dynamic drum beat under the aggressive narration of a vapid girl explaining how she's using the lead singer, Matty Healy, to cheat on her boyfriend, how could it not? It perfectly captured the sad–but–satisfied emotional themes that colored the teen ethos of the time, when we all reblogged pictures of cigarettes and our favorite John Green quotes onto each other’s Tumblr dashboards. The group consists of four members: Healy on vocals, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer George Daniel. With a band name originating from a Jack Kerouac scribbling, The 1975—in all of their grunge glory—arrived at the perfect time.
(04/25/19 7:35pm)
In 2017, indie rock band the Mountain Goats shocked their fan base with the release of Goths, which was marketed as having “NO COMPED VOCALS. NO PITCH CORRECTION. NO GUITARS.” Although comped vocals and pitch correction were always antithetical to the lo–fi Goats, the band achieved its fame through vocalist John Darnielle’s squawky voice, heavy guitar, and not much else. If Goths was a departure from form, however, then In League with Dragons, released April 26 by Merge Records, is a glorious return, made up almost entirely of lyrical and acoustic callbacks to the past quarter–century of Goats history.
(04/26/19 12:04am)
Make no mistake about Sasami—it might be easy to peg her as a shoegaze artist, but that does little to describe the blend of synth and guitar sounds on her debut album, SASAMI. It's easy to describe her sound as drawing upon her time in Cherry Glazerr as their synth player, but that, too, fails to capture the heart of it. Sasami Ashworth herself describes the album as "drafting a long, angry text in the Notes section of an iPhone and then letting it simmer," which comes close. She sings in the album's opener, "I Was A Window":
(04/26/19 1:44am)
Goodbye iconic black bangs and pining for a phone call, hello blonde bob and longing for in–person communication. While Carly Rae Jepsen’s style, sound, and musical content may have matured, her “Call Me Maybe” days still linger in her work. Her new single, “Julien,” released on April 19, is evidence of this.
(04/29/19 8:05am)
Easter Sunday is a strange day for me. It’s the one Sunday that I don’t have to get up early for church, as I always attend the Easter Vigil Mass the night before. I always feel out of place sleeping in until nine or ten in the morning, dressing in a t–shirt and jeans rather than a button–down and khakis, and I need to find a way to fill the lacuna of time I have been awarded. Usually, this comes in the form of a baseball game, but the Phillies were away this weekend. I could have shipped up to the Bronx to see the Yankees or taken a trip down to Camden Yards, but instead I spent the last few hours of Easter at Union Transfer, screaming until my voice was raw to the sounds of La Dispute.
(04/22/19 4:12am)
Lizzo wants to be America’s hype girl—or at least that’s what she leads listeners to believe, based on a discography overflowing with references to self–love, acceptance, confidence. Just take 2016’s breakout hit “Good As Hell” as an example, with its big, brassy rhythm and reminders to take care of yourself that soundtracks commercial after commercial. Lizzo’s third album, Cuz I Love You, pushes much of the same. Clocking in at a little over a half hour, it’s a bite–sized pep–talk and already a contender for album of the year, at least according to all the publications that matter.
(04/23/19 4:44am)
Donald Glover and Rihanna in a musical film together, shot over the course of a few months in Cuba. What’s not to love?
(04/26/19 1:34am)
Not Waving But Drowning, out on April 19, showcases Carner’s lyricism perfectly, as he excels in crafting prose in stories about broken friendships and new beginnings. Carner’s debut album, Yesterday’s Gone, was released in 2017, and highlighted his poetic talents interwoven with playful melodies.
(04/18/19 7:34pm)
Hatchie is the final dance montage at the end of an 80's feel–good flick. Hatchie is neon lighting and strong fog machines. Hatchie is so simultaneously classic and revolutionary, she's already making waves in her native Australia and in North America, having only put out her EP Sugar and Spice in the summer of last year.
(04/22/19 5:28am)
Front–woman Greta Kline of Frankie Cosmos has been releasing her DIY indie music on the internet since she was 16. If you have the time to scroll through her bandcamp page, you’ll find dozens of EP–like releases under the names Ingrid Superstar, Ingrid, Little Bear, the Integrates, Zebu Fur, and, finally, with a back–up band as Frankie Cosmos. Clicking on these albums with their bad photoshop and doodle cover art, you’ll find little gems of indie rock. After years of experimenting with unvarnished and poetic songs, Kline has mastered indie rock on her latest project Haunted Items.
(04/22/19 11:54pm)
It’s been a very long time since we’ve heard from Vampire Weekend; their last full length release, Modern Vampires of the City, was released in 2013. With six years under their belt, one might expect the band to return to the fold full force with a novel sound and fresh ideas. Instead, Vampire Weekend delivered a lackluster EP. Casually, This Life/Unbearably White is a fine listen: It’s moderately catchy, sonically cheery, and consistently palatable. But beyond a few shining instrumental moments, it’s immensely boring as it falls into a refined palate of the past decade’s most successful indie tropes lumped with a derivative '70s sound.
(04/22/19 3:34pm)
Kevin Abstract has been mostly quiet on the solo music front as of late, with his last full solo project being American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story in 2016. Yet ARIZONA baby, a three–track EP released April 12, marks a return for the R&B singer in a significant way. ARIZONA baby is a brief glimpse in a new direction for the 22–year–old Texan artist, and his new sounds within the three songs are fresh and captivating.
(04/18/19 7:44pm)
Taylor Swift lives in miniature eras, each spanning the length of the tried–and–true album–to–tour–to–award–season cycle. There was Speak Now, with its sparkly pink guitar and the drawings on Swift’s hand at every performance. And there was Red, with its liner notes about maple lattes and girls' nights out. And while many Swifties are still reeling from the lack of cohesion that dominated the Reputation years, some are already trying to label Swift’s next phase, especially in the wake of a cryptic countdown that appeared on her website last week. It races towards April 26, the day when, according to at least one Buzzfeed writer, Swift will “invent music for the seventh time.”
(04/22/19 5:45am)
Beck has been around forever—it’s been nearly 30 years since he entered the music industry, with a career spanning and combining a wide variety of genres, from folk to alt–rock to hip hop to country. He’s won multiple Grammy Awards for his singing and production, including an Album of the Year win for his 2014 album, Morning Phase.
(04/19/19 1:37am)
Brutalism is a step in the right direction for The Drums; their 2017 album, Abysmal Thoughts, stretched their 80’s indie pop sound as far as it could go, but the sign of a good musician is their intuition towards stylistic expansion. Brutalism capitalizes on a pop sensibility that has always underscored Jonny Pierce’s songwriting and amplifies it to a magnificent volume; employing studio musicians, engineers, and a producer to polish the dust off of The Drums indie sound.
(04/22/19 3:55am)
2019 is the year for Tame Impala fans. The group's 2015 album Currents made waves in the psychedelic rock scene, and the recent releases of both their single “Patience" and SZA's “Together,” which features Tame Impala, coupled with the hints of a new album, has fans on the edge of their seats, if not already standing in wait. Hot off their new song release, “Borderline,” Kevin Parker and Tame Impala headlined Coachella for these past couple of weeks. “Borderline” cements where Kevin Parker is moving Tame Impala, and the upcoming album will continue this theme.
(04/18/19 7:24pm)
Wait, didn't Anderson .Paak just release an album not too long ago? Ventura, which came out on April 12, was released less than half a year after Oxnard, Paak’s previous album. Oxnard did not receive nearly as much critical acclaim as Malibu, which came out in 2016. Contrary to Oxnard, Ventura deviates from rap by focusing more on Paak’s relationship with funk and his painting of immaculate scenarios, but still features his bubbly persona and chill, dance–like beats.
(04/15/19 2:06am)
Fling has flung for the year, and everyone who attended the concert, opted out, or spent the night attending and subsequently being thrown around the pit for Dance Gavin Dance instead, is back to the Penn grind. Finals are less than a month away, after all, and it's a race to the finish. The best study break, however, and the best way to cure the post–concert blues, is attending another show, and there's no better week to do it: from rising stars to pop icons, alternative slow jams to hardcore headbanging, there's a little something for everyone, whether you have $500 to spare or only $25.
(04/15/19 1:31am)
While at karaoke just the other day, my friends and I sang our way through everything from Maroon 5 to My Chemical Romance, but the song selection that shocked me most was ending on John Denver's "Country Roads," a country classic about West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Shenandoah River.
