by Ruairí McCann Knowing no one understands these songs,I try to sing them clearer.Even though no one has ever asked:”What does Mount Eerie mean?”I have tried to repeatedly explainIn complicated songs.But tonight, we will find out.I know no one.And no one knows me. Those are the opening lyrics of “No Flashlight”: Songs of the Fulfilled Night (2005). The first album Phil Elverum released as ‘Mount … Continue reading Dogme Year Zero: Microphones in 2020
Between the week-long disassociating spells and doom scrolling through the slow moving apocalypse, these albums acted as an anchor. Continue reading 2020 in Music
Bitching about fame is commonplace in popular music, and bitching about a musician’s bitching is just as recurrent a talking point as well. Continue reading Committed Distancing: On Car Seat Headrest’s ‘Making a Door Less Open’ and Drake’s ‘Dark Lane Demo Tapes’
If anyone were to ask you for either a time capsule of rap music in 2016, or an embryonic example of the seedlings of what’s become one of hip-hop’s equally richest and bewildering creative eras yet, you’d simply have to present them the 2016 XXL Freshman Cypher… Continue reading “Lil Uzi Vert, to Be Exact”: On Eternal Atake/Lil Uzi Vs. The World 2
Žarko Urošević walks us through the perfect encapsulations of struggle, fear, failings, and humanity that make up the music of Mitski. Continue reading Women’s Day: “Mom, I failed, I’m coming home” – On music, loneliness, immigration, and Mitski
When it comes to reevaluating posthumous releases from recently passed rappers these past few years, it’s been best to cede a little more slack than usual to the overall integrity of such projects, given the ever-growing porousness of release guidelines. Continue reading Album Review: ‘Circles’ by Mac Miller
by Ruairí McCann There are numerous landmarks set to be struck here on the eve of the 2020s but a significant one is that it will be nearly 8 decades since rock first took shape. While not the only mainstay of popular music that is getting long in the tooth, it seems especially potent for a genre so associated with both the shock of the … Continue reading Album Review: ‘Phantom Rhythm 幽靈節奏 (幽霊リズム)’ by Gong Gong Gong
All writing is autobiographical, writing about culture doubly so. There is no way to distill the past decade into 10 essential albums without egregious oversight and omission. There are some artist and albums that I am not equipped to write about, there are also artists that have had their critical moments in the sun. They will not be written about here. That is okay, beautiful even. Remember that the truth is in the telling. Continue reading A Decade In Review: Music of the 2010s
As musical boundaries continue to dissolve at such an alarming rate, the albatross of being a “buzzed about” artist hangs heavier with each year, even if we’re only going as far back as 2011-12. Looking back from the last quarter of 2019, certain bands and musicians who dominated the cultural conversation seem frivolous now, and others seem retroactively undeserving of the hand-wringing that may have accompanied their ascents. Continue reading Doubling Down – DIIV’s ‘Deceiver’ and Danny Brown’s ‘uknowhatimsayin¿’
Martin Bremer reflects on an evening in Berlin spent at a King Crimson 50th anniversary concert Continue reading Rubbernecking – A Review of King Crimson’s 50th Anniversary Tour
ULTRA DOGME 