Reviews
With King’s Disease II, Nas’ Second Reign Is Better Than His First
A good sequel is rare. Every now and then, we get a part two on par or better than the original, but for every Dark Knight, there are 50 Hangover Part IIs. It’s a feat even more challenging in music, because each album is about a particular time in an artist’s life. Asking for a new version of that same thing is basically asking them to hop in a time machine and relive the past. Which, until someone says otherwise, is impossible. Never one to shy away from an impossible task, Nas surprised the world when he announced King’s Disease II, a sequel to his Grammy-winning 13th album, just one week ago. Out today, August 6th, it finds the rapper and producer Hit-Boy continuing their flourishing tag-team partnership. Their first endeavor, released in August 2020, felt designed to make fans fo...
Pink Siifu’s GUMBO! Is Good for the Soul
Pink Siifu’s latest release, GUMBO!, is another sprawling Afrocentric vision from one of the boldest voices in contemporary rap. Following up on 2020’s NEGRO, a genre-bending exploration of Black rage in the face of racist oppression, the album’s songs are as rich and varied as its titular stew. Siifu’s boundless style makes for an unpredictable but rewarding ride across the album’s 18 tracks, as he explores the diverse sounds of his influences and breaks new ground with a unique class of co-stars. Siifu, born Livingston Matthews and raised between Alabama and Cincinnati, has already notched a conspicuous list of collaborations in his burgeoning career, from legendary producer the Alchemist to Australian electronic group the Avalanches. These collabs reflect the ravenous appetite which inf...
On Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish Brilliantly Tackles the Dark Side of Fame
“Last year, when I was at my lowest point during the tour in Europe, I was worried I was going to have a breakdown and shave my head,” Billie Eilish confessed in a 2020 Vogue cover story. The price of Eilish’s hard-won path to pop stardom has not been lost on her. It’s long hovered in the shadows of her work, but Happier Than Ever confronts the shift in her celebrity status head-on and once again pushes sonic boundaries. When Eilish released her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2019, it altered the face of mainstream pop with its authenticity and transparency, catapulting Eilish to global success. It also irrevocably changed her relationship with fame forever. On Happier Than Ever, Eilish grapples with the paradox of celebrity culture — the realization of her dreams ...
Billie Eilish Is Happier Than Ever: How the Brutally Honest, Introspective Album Proves She’s Here to Stay
The thing about comets is that they were initially perceived as disturbances to our earth’s atmosphere; an anomaly, an intrusion. It wasn’t until Edmond Halley predicted the trajectory of a comet, accurately calculating its return, that people started to accept comets as something out of our reach, circling beyond the moon. Halley’s Comet was immortalized. The halfway mark of Billie Eilish’s sophomore album, Happier Than Ever, is a track called “Halley’s Comet.” It’s melancholy and yearning, but it acts as an appropriate connector between the first and second halves of the album — as well as the gap between her first album (the lauded, Grammy history-making When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?) and her latest effort. With this collection, she proves that she was not just a shot in the ...
Rainbow in the Dark Admirably Chronicles Ronnie James Dio’s Iconic Career: Book Review
For years, Ronnie James Dio fans have been patiently waiting for an autobiography that he had begun work on prior to his passing in 2010 from stomach cancer. Now, we have finally received Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography. First off, readers should know that the idea behind the book was to recount the story of the legendary metal vocalist (real name: Ronald James Padavona) from birth up until his fulfillment of a lifelong career dream, when Dio headlined Madison Square Garden in 1986 (as the leader of his eponymous band). The book was not completed before Dio’s passing, but with the help of his wife/manager, Wendy Dio, and respected rock journalist Mick Wall, the missing bits have been filled in commendably. As a reader of many rock autobiographies over the years, I must admit that I ...
Newport Folk Fest Marks the Glorious Return of Festivals in US
Most major music festivals coming back in 2021 chose to give perspective attendees a fair amount of time to decide to get vaccinated while still keeping the events “summer.” Hence September is jammed with nearly sold-out fests, from Bonnaroo to BottleRock. But many are looking towards August’s Lollapalooza as the first real test of what a post-pandemic festival looks like, which isn’t entirely accurate. Over the weekend (July 23rd-25th), Newport Folk Festival returned for part one of its slimmed-down Folk On 2021 double-event — and there really is no better way to bring music festivals back. Typically on the smaller side of capacity limits anyway, Newport cut back to just 5,000 daily attendees to help mitigate COVID risks. They also broke up the schedule over two back-to-back three-day chu...
Vince Staples’ Self-Titled Album Turns Grudgingly Inward
Vince Staples, the eponymous release by the Long Beach rapper, takes quick stock of his lifestyle against the backdrop of his troubled past. Staples, who has long reckoned with the complications of the fame his music brought him, does not linger on this description, instead keeping to the cold honesty and tight arrangements of his signature style. Kenny Beats, who transitioned into a thriving career as a hip-hop producer after forming half of the EDM duo Loudpvck, handles all production on the album. He also made contributions to Staples’ previous release, 2018’s FM! — another short project (“because who needs more bullshit?” Staples wonders aloud in a Def Jam press release), which, like Vince Staples, was made even shorter by the inclusion of a pair of interludes. As the title ...
Kevin Smith Flips the Script on Eternia with Masters of the Universe: Revelation: Review
The Pitch: Following directly from the original ’80s cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the battle between He-Man (Chris Wood) and Skeletor (Mark Hamill) continues to rage over Eternia and the magical powers of Castle Grayskull. But in the wake of Eternia’s most devastating battle yet, the Power Sword is split in twain and the planet is fragmented, thrown into an anarchic wasteland without magic or hope. Without the power of He-Man to rely on, it’s up to Man-at-Arms’ daughter Teela (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her cohorts — including old faces like Orko (Griffin Newman) and Moss-Man (Alan Oppenheimer), as well as new faces like Teela’s partner in crime Andra (Tiffany Smith) — to reforge the Sword and save the universe. Back to Battle-Cat Basics: At first blush, Kevin Smith...
Anthrax Celebrate 40 Years of Thrash with Career-Spanning Livestream Concert: Review
Setting the Stage: It’s hard to believe, but this year marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of thrash metal pioneers Anthrax. Considered to be one of the “Big 4” of thrash (along with Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth), the band — which since 2013 has featured a lineup comprised of singer Joey Belladonna, guitarists Scott Ian and Jon Donais, bassist Frank Bello, and drummer Charlie Benante — undoubtedly would have preferred to celebrate this impressive career accomplishment with a thorough world tour, but instead offered up a virtual worldwide concert event. Anthrax officially formed on July 18th, 1981, and the metal legends started the 40th anniversary celebration a couple months back with a video series documenting their illustrious career through testimonials from the band members ...
Foo Fighters’ Debut as the “Dee Gees” Is a Fun Foray Into the Legacy of the Bee Gees
In a clip from his new Paramonut+ docuseries From Cradle to Stage, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl tells Pharrell Williams that he ripped off old disco and funk songs when coming up with his drum parts for Nirvana’s Nevermind. And while his hard rock ethos has always been present, Grohl has been outspoken in the past about his appreciation for ‘70s pop, disco, R&B and funk. This time, however, the Foos are taking that appreciation one step further with Hail Satin, their debut EP as the Dee Gees, which is out today (July 17th) exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day. Hail Satin sees the Foo Fighters taking on five classic Bee Gees songs (“You Should Be Dancing,” “Night Fever,” “Tragedy,” “Shadow Dancing,” and “More Than A Woman”) and bringing their own unique spin to them under a dis...
Clairo Doubles Down on Restraint on Sling
Claire Cottrill’s rise to internet stardom is well-chronicled. While drinking a Dunkin’ coffee in her childhood bedroom, she lip-syncs to “Pretty Girl,” her unlikely viral video that has now amassed more than 75 million views on YouTube. She didn’t expect the reaction that it received. “By the time I got to school for orientation, people already knew who I was,” Cottrill said in 2019. The following semester, she packed up her dorm room at Syracuse University to perform under her moniker, Clairo, as an opener for Dua Lipa. She’s since moved away from the lo-fi bedroom pop that characterized her breakthrough EP, diary 001, which included “Pretty Girl” on its tracklist. With her sophomore record, Sling, she focuses on restraint and soft, subtle arrangements. It’s uncharted territory for her, ...
Clairo’s Sling Is a Luminous, Devastatingly Intimate Portrait of Domesticity
Just four years ago, Claire Cottrill was creating lo-fi bedroom pop on a simple keyboard. Then her now-certified-platinum song “Pretty Girl” went viral on YouTube, and the unexpectedly biting track cascaded into a breadth of opportunities for the young artist, who performs as Clairo. After dozens of festival shows, collaborations, and an EP, she released her excellent debut album Immunity in 2019 to widespread acclaim. Although many doubted Clairo’s ability to showcase a strong musical identity due to her age, background, and her viral moments, Immunity was an impressive and personal foray into her unique brand of indie pop. (It also sparked her first Billboard hit in “Sofia,” which enjoyed TikTok attention in the autumn of 2020.) Now, two years later, Clairo returns with Sling, an organic...
