“A blue bong, high quality indica buds, hash, hash oil, freebase, red wine, cigarettes, LSD, coffee, and whippets.” Dust Brother Mike Simpson’s recollection of the essential items in the production of the Beastie Boy’s second album gives more than a hint about why this particular slice of hip-hop has been, to say the least, a little obscured. And this is the Beastie Boys album which needs the most exposition; even though most people will tell you that it’s their masterwork, the …

Further proof that the hip-hop world moves too goddamned fast for us rockists: just when we’d gotten the whole “is DJing a legitimate art form” debate through our thick-as-Led skulls, along came Kanye, Danger Mouse, and the Neptunes, and they went and turned it into a producer’s medium.
Now, aspiring Timbalands can even create reputable music on their own home computer – aren’t those the things Jack White hates? – with just a vast MP3 collection, a decent sampling program and a good feel for …

Springtime Can Kill You is the musical equivalent to an old, black and white film. A beautiful, troubled, lonely woman flickers and wanders through the screen, encountering men, horses, dust, and even more trouble as she stumbles through a vast desert. Sometimes, she is all-consuming; her voice thunders, sounds, and wails with all the power of wagon wheels clomping towards California. Other times, she is a far-away dot; a moving speck with gleaming hair carried away by the Americana-tinged winds of a vast, …

Between the years of 1970 and 1973, Johnny Cash quit drugs and alcohol, started a massively popular TV show on the ABC network, met with Richard Nixon, and recorded a number of children’s songs. Columbia Records has since remastered and re-released Johnny Cash’s Children’s Album (now for the first time on CD), the strange and beautiful document of a family-friendly, transitional period in the Man in Black’s life. Those who were children during the album’s initial 1975 release will enjoy this remastered …

Alright, it’s official: I, Zachary Colin Hoskins, am too goddamn old for the Vines.
It’s an announcement, frankly, that I’ve put off for too long. My feelings of ambivalence for the Australian “garage rockers” have been brewing beneath the surface since before the release of their second album, 2004′s Winning Days, but I’ve ignored them out of a kind of rosy-colored nostalgia. See, the Vines were one of the two or three bands who, in the summer of 2002, made me really, passionately care …

Some great voices are instruments of artistry. Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye — these are all composers, pop artistes; their legendary vocals just one element of their equally legendary visions. Other great voices, however, are something else entirely: they, themselves, are the instruments. Otis Williams belongs decidedly to the second category. A founding member of legendary soul quintet the Temptations, his powerful, melodic baritone sounded great on classics like “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “Just My Imagination”…but it was arguably …

So far, 2006 has been a year mostly in love with the past. Major buzz bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are still in the process of attempting to update the wiry post-punk and early college rock of the 1970s and ’80s, and indie kids all over the world have eaten this trend up with a silver spoon. Yet, oddly, one of the best albums of this year, The Gossip’s Standing in the Way of Control, has been ignored amidst all …

I have long held the opinion that with every album a band releases, there should be change, evolution, and growth. It’s for this reason that there’s a lot of people out there who would probably consider me to be a punk rock heretic; but the fact of the matter is, when it comes to Southern California’s Bad Religion, I just prefer the newer stuff to the old. This isn’t to say that I can’t appreciate their classics, but with every album there’s a noticeable …

Technology is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? There was a time, not all that long ago, when we were at the mercy of television producers and progammers. They told us what we were allowed to see, and when we were allowed to see it. With the explosion of cable channels, however, and the creation of syndication, it became easier to find the type of show you wanted to see, at a time more convenient for you – just ask any Law and Order fan. …

I believe that the Velvet Underground’s transition from “Sweet Jane” to “Rock & Roll” links one of the most inspired track pairings in history. For me those songs are forever mated; listening to “Sweet Jane” and then skipping “Rock & Roll” is like eating a meal and skipping dessert. Unless you absolutely have to, you don’t do it. My favorite Rolling Stones record is Between the Buttons. Yes, yes, we all know Exile on Main St. is a masterpiece, but it just doesn’t …