Johnny Marr – The Messenger (Sire Records, 2013) Over his tenure with The Smiths, and in the two and a half decades since that band split, Johnny Marr has built a reputation as the greatest guitarist of a generation. His…
ESG: Live at Bowery Electric, 1/30/13
In the late 1970s, four young sisters from the South Bronx formed a band and began to perform around New York City, starting with talent shows and quickly moving up to nightclubs and discotheques. They produced a completely unique form…
Single Reviews: Luscious Jackson, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Veronica Falls
Luscious Jackson – Are You Ready? (self-released, 2013) Luscious Jackson were one of the great genre-bending pop groups of the 90s, turning out folk-inflected trip-hop, harmonic disco torch songs, slither-funk party raps, and whatever else they felt like. They were…
Album Reviews: Czarface (7L/Esoteric/Inspectah Deck), Jamie Lidell
Czarface- s/t (Brick Records, 2013) Czarface is a new project that features the dynamic rap duo 7L and Esoteric joining forces with Inspectah Deck (of Wu-Tang Clan) to produce fourteen tracks of action-packed boom-bap, and it’s an inspired combination. The…
Hip-Hop Comics: Ron Wimberly’s Prince Of Cats.
Ronald Wimberly’s Prince Of Cats hit bookstore shelves last September, and I picked it up immediately, took it home, and read it that evening. Now, half a year later, I’m still turning it over in my head, constantly revisiting it,…
Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde: Live at SOB’s, 1/31/13
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this tour. Four of the original architects of The Pharcyde’s debut record, performing the entire album live onstage, twenty years later. I was trying to keep my expectations tempered with a healthy…