Promised for over a decade, recorded and re-recorded with an army of producers and band members hired and fired and living in chicken coops, racking […]
Author: shemthepen
CSNY 1974 Box Set Review
CSNY were the seminal baby boomer band, in the most pejorative sense. They were selfish, hedonistic, and hypocritical. Their peaceful sloganeering didn’t translate to their […]
Pavement Discography
Pavement didn’t have an image, they were the show about nothing. They looked like the journalists and record store clerks who tipped the scales for […]
The Decline Of The Wu-Tang Dynasty
In 2014 RZA announced the release of a new Wu-Tang album limited to one physical copy. The single pressing would be presented in ornate packaging, […]
El-P Discography
El-P has lived on the cutting edge his whole career. His work in Company Flow set the stage for the late 90s underground hip hop […]
Resurrections
Kurt Cobain – The Dry Swamp (1996) Mostly acoustic, produced by Mark Lanegan. For Kurt’s sake, let’s call this a post-sobriety album, recovering from Nirvana’s […]
jeen-yuhs Episode 1 (Netflix – 2022)
The first episode of jeen-yuhs covers a year of transition: for Kanye from hustling beatmaker to industry pro, and for hip hop from the last […]
Frank Zappa’s Neighborhood
Frank Zappa the mad king! Building an impossible world of castles and malls and strip clubs. No such thing as too many notes, nor jokes […]
An Introduction To Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello has the air of a legacy artist, generationally guarded. His music is not readymade for new cycles of youth culture, like how Nirvana […]
Eminem Discography
“My Name Is” had all the marks of a novelty song, with its annoying hook and pop culture obsessions. But Eminem’s music is too smart […]