Summer is rapidly careening to a close. We as a hemisphere are currently immersed in the dog days, a time of constant heat advisories and fantasy football drafts and Hollywood castoffs that can be described as neither blockbusters nor Oscar bait. Schools are opening, pools are closing, and the seemingly endless march through festival season is -- hold on, actually, that's continuing for at least another...
"You love to hear the story, again and again, of how it all got started way back when." That was MC Shan on "The Bridge" in 1985, when rap, as a recorded form of music, was barely a half-decade old. Shan was rapping about the early hip-hop parties in Queensbridge, and it's the line that sent KRS-One into a tizzy of rage. KRS responded with Boogie Down Productions' "South Bronx," an incensed history...
Earl Sweatshirt's been pretty quiet this year so far -- before the minute-long instrumental "Pelicula" from earlier this month, the last we heard from him was a handful of tracks that trickled out in January. He's contributed a new song to this year's Adult Swim Singles Program, though, and while it's another short one (just over a minute), it does at least feature a new verse from Earl. On "Balance,"...
As you might have heard, Michael Phelps is a swimmer, and a pretty good one at that! This past week at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he broke some historic records, winning his 13th individual gold medal and beating some ancient Greek dude for the most Olympic titles held of all time, retiring from his Olympic career with 28 medals in total. Because we are a music site and music is the most...
A demo of an old Lana Del Rey song called "BBM Baby" has leaked, and it's a true shame it never saw the light of day until now. For those of you who don't know or can't remember, BBM was (is?) BlackBerry Messenger, a messaging application through BlackBerry phones, which were wildly popular several years ago and are now used only by President Obama and Kim Kardashian. Though this Penguin Prison-produced...
Billy Corgan made a Facebook Live video a few hours ago in which he discussed the future of Smashing Pumpkins and his reconciliation with bassist D’arcy Wretzky, who he kicked out of the band in 1999. Corgan asserted that he's been talking to Wretzky for the first time in 16-odd years, and that the band's original lineup is back in contact. This doesn't come as a huge surprise seeing as how Corgan...
There are three parts to Olympic equestrian competitions: equestrian jumping, equestrian eventing, and equestrian dressage. Dressage is called the "highest expression of horse training," and involves the rider and their horse performing a routine. Essentially, it's a horse dancing with a human riding on its back. Amazing. Even more amazing: Spanish equestrian rider Severo Jesus Jurado Lopez and his...
Around the time Bon Iver were debuting their new album at Eaux Claires tonight, the band released details on that album along with extended versions of its first two new songs. The LP is called 22, A Million (which explains the "22 Days" mural that went up in Brooklyn this week), and the tracks are "22 (OVER S∞∞N)" and "10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⊠ ⊠." That's the new album art above by Eric Timothy...
In a small back room of a Radisson Hotel in Appleton, Wisconsin, Chuck Auerbach is offering me a piece of gum. He’s just finished his first-ever live performance in conjunction with the city’s annual Mile Of Music festival, and I’ve been peppering him with questions about his forthcoming debut album. After our 30-minute conversation, which…
Tonight the Go-Go’s — the pioneering California quartet that melded punk and New Wave into inimitable musical staples — embark on a farewell tour signaling that they’re go-going for good. For the next month, the chart-topping band’s “classic lineup” (featuring vocalist Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock on drums, guitarist Jane Wiedlin, and jack-of-all trades Charlotte Caffey)…
Earlier this year, Pinegrove released Cardinal, one of our favorite albums of the year so far. The group — built on the foundation of core duo Evan Stephens Hall (guitar/vocals) and Zack Levine (drums) — hails from Montclair, NJ and has steadily accrued a fervent following in the DIY rock sphere, often getting lumped in…
“You don’t let someone you love feel afraid,” Jilian Medford sings on the opening track of IAN SWEET’s debut full-length, Shapeshifter. Falling in love is terrifying in and of itself; realizing you’ve lost too much of your individuality in the process is even worse. Shapeshifter is built around a singular flaw — the compulsion to…
Did Sufjan Stevens record an album called Stalker in 1998? A Reddit user under the name lookitzpancakes alleged as much Wednesday afternoon. The user, later identified as a Dallas actor and musician named Marc Rebillet, posted images of the unreleased CD-R’s homemade packaging, which he claimed to have plucked from a Brooklyn dumpster after Sufjan…
Johanne Swanson has lived in many places, but hasn’t felt particularly at home in any of them. She started making music as Yohuna six years ago while on a year-long exchange program in New Mexico, a long ways away from where she grew up in Wisconsin. “I wanted to be in a radically different environment,”
Over this past Memorial Day weekend, four of the original members of the Anniversary — the much-beloved band from Lawrence, Kansas — reconvened to rehearse a few of their old songs. This would be the first time that the four of them — Josh Berwanger, James David, Adrianne DeLanda, and Chris Jankowski — had been…
There’s an intangibility to Katie Dey’s music that’s difficult to articulate. It’s best to point to specific moments: the hopeful opening pings of “you gotta get up to get up,” “all on you“‘s submerged longing, “unkillable“‘s squealing rush. Those three tracks — all from the Melbourne-based musician’s first release, asdfasdf — exhibit a sonic complexity…
Sun Club is a Baltimore quartet that plays a hard-to-define brand of art-rock that’s bright and furious at the same time. There’s sort of an aggression in all the weird angles and intensity of their music, but it’s a weird joyous aggression. The band’s made up of brothers Shane and Devin McCord, Mikey Powers, and…
Tegan And Sara changed my life, or at least that’s what I dramatically wrote when I did a deep dive into the group’s discography two years ago. While the Canadian duo scored their first mainstream hit only three years ago with “Closer,” they’ve been a formative influence throughout my entire life, shaping my identity and…
Halfway through Mitski’s Puberty 2, there’s a short, scratchy blast of noise called “My Body’s Made Of Crushed Little Stars.” If you’ve seen Mitski Miyawaki live at any point over the last few years, there’s a good chance you’ve heard her power through this one like an anxious ball of energy: “I wanna see the…
Prodding punk quartet Speedy Ortiz with a variety of odd and unrelated questions might be a budding tradition at Stereogum. Last August at Outside Lands, we discussed Donald Trump, musician beefs, and the band’s comradeship with comedian Hannibal Buress, and at Sasquatch!, after Speedy’s set at our Toyota Music Den, I talked with lead singer/guitarist/songwriter…
Tamaryn is a nomadic singer-songwriter whose music lives somewhere between dream-pop and shoegaze. She was born in New Zealand — though her ancestors have no direct ties there — and has since lived all over the U.S., now residing in LA. Tamaryn’s most recent release, last year’s Cranekiss, pushed her production and vocal capabilities to…
Friendship is often overlooked in music. Many artists sing about love and heartbreak, lust and sex, and even the love of family, but what about the family you choose? And The Kids extract the same meaning and emotion through friendship where most artists and outfits seem to be inspired by the ecstasy of love’s highs…
In light of the fullness and sonic diversity of songs like “Bad” and Jeff” you may not expect Shakai Mondai to be the musical project of just one person, let alone a person who began experimenting with electronic music less than two years ago. Still, it doesn’t take a whole lot of listens to understand…
Tomorrow, My Morning Jacket are releasing a deluxe reissue of their sprawling, beloved 2003 album, It Still Moves. The package includes frontman Jim James’ original acoustic demos for the songs that made the album, as well as three outtakes. But for James, the main impetus for the project was to go back and remix the…
“We met in line outside the show, and he had a Coke bottle full of vodka or whiskey or something. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and I remember thinking that it felt like a My So-Called Life episode. Like, it’s all starting…” That’s Eva Grace Hendricks, recounting the first time she met…
Christian Holden will go to epic, often unreasonable lengths to get a good album cover. But they draw the line at getting arrested. …
It’s Weird ’90s Week on Stereogum. All week long we’re looking at the strangest musical moments and trends of the decade. Check out more here. …
When English shoegaze legends Slowdive reunited in 2014, it marked Rachel Goswell’s first live performances since a viral ear infection called labyrinthitis sidelined her from Slowdive offshoot Mojave 3 in 2006. Her return to the stage was exhilarating, and now Goswell is on to her next milestone: releasing her first recordings since her unplanned retirement…
Austin, Texas is populated by a malicious blackbird called the great-tailed grackle. The birds make themselves known to visitors in two ways: Their very particular sing-song caw is inescapable, and they swoop down from the sky to scavenge whenever possible. There are food trucks and roadside restaurants all over East Austin, which to a grackle…
Chris Cohen is not a household name, but he’s been around. Back in 2000, he formed the Curtains with Trevor Shimizu, and amidst releasing several albums under that moniker, he also put in stints playing with Deerhoof, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, and Cass McCombs. He’s one of those characters in the indie world who’s had…
Alessia Cara calls me back just as soon as she wraps up with Michelle Obama. The 19-year-old Def Jam singer — born Alessia Caracciolo to Italian parents in the Ontario suburb of Brampton — is in New York to perform at the First Lady’s College Signing Day event at Harlem Armory alongside a slew of…
Simon Lam has a unique style that brings warmth and a subtle soulfulness to each of the three separate musical projects he’s involved in. The Australian is becoming a sought-after producer, in part because the music he creates as Kllo, Ill’s/Couture, and now Nearly Oratorio demonstrates an incredible range, from terse and energetic pop to…
Weaves are fucking wild. The Toronto quartet kicks out buzzing, spasmodic rock songs like tightly wound balls of tension constantly unspooling. There’s a breathless improvisatory quality to their live show that reminds me of Deerhoof — that sense that any and every player might go off the rails at any moment, yet their combined creative…
It’s fitting that Kweku Collins (pronounced kway-koo) is from just outside of Chicago. The 19-year-old rapper and Evanston, Illinois native lives just beyond the fray of the city dubbed Chiraq and the distinctive music scene that has risen as result. He is close enough to witness some of the more disturbing elements of crime, poverty,…
There’s a box of Easter candy waiting for Carly Rae Jepsen when we step onto her tour bus.
It’s a gift from the wife of her stage manager, and it’s piled high with the traditional pastel blues, yellows, and pinks meant to signify the impending holiday. There are Peeps (“those are gross,” she says,…
Of all the shoegaze reunions that we’ve been blessed with over the past few years, perhaps none is more satisfying than the return of Lush. Unlike many of their ’90s peers, most of whom either fizzled out due to lack of interest or were forced to close up shop for financial reasons, Lush ended their…
Few artists can boast a career as varied and oddly sprawling as that of Ben Watt. After releasing an acclaimed solo record in 1983, Watt would subsequently spend the next 16 years as one half of Everything But The Girl (with his now-wife Tracey Thorn), who eventually recorded nine albums before quietly going into what…
Though Explosions In The Sky had already released three excellent albums between 2000 – 2003, it was their scoring of 2004’s Friday Night Lights that exposed the Austin band to millions of listeners unfamiliar with their signature quiet build into orchestral bombast. Twelve years later, the group make their most distinct shift yet with The…
