The first 15 seconds of the Notwist’s “Where You Find Me,” the latest single from their upcoming LP Vertigo Days, sound like the equivalent of clouds breaking. It’s a skipping melody, voiced by warm, fuzzy synths that would sound like a voice if they weren’t rendered so perfect, and then …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Friendship Commanders, 'Stonechild'
On July 3rd, 2019, Stonechild Chiefstick, a Chippewa Cree man who was part of the Suquamish tribal community in Poulsbo, Washington, was shot and killed by police during a confrontation at a park. Accounts surrounding the circumstances of the confrontation vary, but he wasn’t carrying a gun, and the officer …
Read More »'Murder Most Foul' Is the Bob Dylan Song We Need Right Now
All across the country at this very moment, people are lost, scared, and grieving. The coronavirus crisis has transformed American life with shocking speed — and Bob Dylan wants you to know that he feels your pain. How else to explain the midnight release of “Murder Most Foul,” a somber …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Tobin Sprout, 'The Man I Used to Know'
Tobin Sprout’s new song is kind of a downer — in the best possible way. When Sprout was a songwriter for Guided by Voices, his simple writing stood in contrast to frontman Robert Pollard’s bombast. That same distinctive style is on full display on “The Man I Used to Know,” …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Prince Royce, 'Cita'
“This album gonna make you cry, love, & fuck,” tweeted Geoffrey Royce Rojas, better known as Prince Royce, about his upcoming double album, Alter Ego, out February 7th via Sony Music Latin. “Cita,” the newest song from the Dominican-American pop star, unabashedly steers listeners towards the latter impulse. With the …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Horace Tapscott, 'Why Don't You Listen?'
Unless you’re a hardcore jazz aficionado, you might not know the name Horace Tapscott. But to several generations of L.A. musicians — including breakout saxophone star Kamasi Washington — the late pianist and composer is a near-legendary figure. “I grew up in Leimert Park and his footprint is all over …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Lizzo, 'Jerome'
Lizzo‘s major-label debut album, Cuz I Love You, re-introduces the world to a freshly evolved artist. While she launched her solo career years ago as a backpack rapper, the new album highlights the fact that Lizzo has since become a world-class belter, using the raw passion in her voice to …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Tom Wardle, 'Jacqueline'
English songwriter Tom Wardle was having a hard time sleeping one night at his friend’s house in Los Angeles, so he went outside and stood in the driveway and stared at the Hollywood sign. “I really had no money, but at least the sun was coming out,” he says. The …
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