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YG: Still Brazy (take 2)
There is tension everywhere in YG’s second studio album, Still Brazy . It is the fundamental tension of gangster rap—between lyrics that are shaped by violence, misogyny, fatalism, and emotional...
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Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam: I Had a Dream That You Were Mine
We listen to music for many reasons, but one of the most mysterious is the pursuit of feelings we don’t like to experience -- heartbreak, loneliness, regret. We listen to songs that remind us of how...
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Write Better Songs: An Interview with Sleigh Bells' Derek Miller
Most artists who experience early success set their sights on expansion as they move past the initial waves of excitement into a stable fanbase and signature style. They take in more sounds --...
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Lil Durk: They Forgot
There is more to the way we process music than sound. There is also mythology, the images we affix to sounds: Brian Wilson leading session players in pursuit of a great pop symphony; Prince in the...
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Groundswell: An Interview With Angaleena Presley
"I mean, I don't want to get run out of town and everyone not like me anymore. I just ... want to tell the truth and be honest about things." This is the tension that animates Angaleena Presley,...
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Colin Stetson: All This I Do For Glory
The first thing you notice when you watch Colin Stetson perform with a bass saxophone is the size of the thing. Unwieldy is not the word for it. Massive is closer, and it has a sound to match. But the...
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Metz: Strange Peace
There is a brilliant and brutal simplicity to the music the Canadian punk band Metz makes: loud, cynical, severe, sharp around the edges. The group is composed of three members -- guitarist and...
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'Top of the Lake': Season Two Showcases a Series That Has Found Its Voice
There are times, during Top of the Lake ’s first and second seasons, when I've felt like I’m watching a different show than the one depicted in its trailers and reviews. It's been sold as part of the...
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Me, Myself, and I: 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and the Art of Being a Sociopath
The genius of Curb Your Enthusiasm lies in the dissonance it creates between the way it looks and how its characters act. “One day, I heard Survivor , and then I thought 'survivor,' and I went, 'holy...
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'Curb Your Enthusiasm' S9 Couldn't Find Its Rhythm
In an era of reboots and revivals, we've invented a new form of entertainment: speculation. It sometimes seems as if we enjoy begging for television shows to return more than watching them when...
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E Ruscha V's 'Who Are You' Could Have Benefitted From a More Patient and...
Anyone who's picked up an instrument or fiddled with GarageBand can understand the difference between playing music for yourself and composing it for an audience. It's similar to the difference...
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Tirzah Sound Like They're Drifting Apart on 'Devotion'
NoneTirzah's Devotion is a collection of love songs, but in an obligatory way, as if "love" were chosen from a hat filled with possible subjects. If you listen to the lyrics on the first full-length...
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