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Music Talib Kweli’s Top 5 Reinvented Artists

November 8, 2011 - 11:08 am

Talib Kweli broke ground as a top-tier, razor-sharp, socially-minded lyricist as a member of Reflection Eternal with Hi-Tek and in Black Star with Mos Def. The Brooklyn rapper’s solo material has been equally charged, from the inspirational “Get By” to the tribute to his lady on “Hot Thing.”

Kweli continues his remarkable creative evolution with “Habits Of The Heart,” the debut album from Idle Warship, his group with singer Res. The sonically and thematically diverse collection allows both Kweli and Res to explore new components of their artistry. Kweli, for instance, plays a violent character on “Enemy,” while Res takes a decidedly upbeat stance on “The Floor.”

With Idle Warship in full swing, Talib sat down to give us an exclusive look at his Top 5 Artists’ Reinventions, something he knows plenty about.

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Gallery Music Bad Souls and Pretty Lights: Lollapalooza Day 2

by Kim Taylor and Graham John Bell

August 7, 2011 - 8:45 pm

Chicago rain came pouring down in the night, so the pristine grounds of Lollapalooza 2011 have turned into a mixture of mud, hay and grass on Saturday, August 6. It now smells like the true heartland of America that it is. Yet nothing will deter the up-for-it music fans coming to Day 2 of the sold out event.

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Gallery Music Eminem Ends Bonnaroo With a Bang

by Barbie Brady and Joe Gall

June 20, 2011 - 11:12 am

Eminem was slip-sliding away there for a minute. Self-admittedly his last CD was “eh,” his personal life was a bad soap opera and drugs where his number one activity. When he got sober, he grew up. I’ve heard Dr. Drew, of Celebrity Rehab fame, often say that you are stunted at the age that you start to heavily do drugs and you never really emotionally advance from that place until you are willing to quit. Well Dr. Drew, our little Marshall’s all grows up!

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Gallery Music Suicide Machines Send Out An S.O.S.

by Joe Gall

April 13, 2011 - 11:06 am

S.O.S. we need help….

“Now this is what Detroit’s all about! People coming together to help each other, not luxury cars and Eminem,” shouted Jason Navarro, as The Suicide Machines took the stage.

Saturday night resurrected the ska-core legends as they headlined a sold out benefit show for 29 year old Drew Podgorski. Everyone knows Drew as a staple of the Detroit punk community and an all around solid dude. Last December, a rare stroke left him partially paralyzed and buried beneath medical bills.

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Music Mandy’s Music Mail 2/4/11

by Amanda Boyd

February 4, 2011 - 11:20 am

I instantly loved The Kills from the moment I first heard them (many moons ago now). Something about their gritty sound that just, in my opinion, exudes pure rock and sex and I can’t get enough of it. Have seen them a few times live (along with The Dead Weather) and have yet to see another chick on stage who’s as sexy or badass as Alison Mosshart. Here’s the first single off their forthcoming album Blood Pressures (out in the UK on April 4^th and the U.S. on April 5^th) entitled “Satellite”. Per The Kills website: For fans of the street hassle swagger and sass that has come to be associated with THe Kills, it’s still alive and well in their new material, but with an added depth and thoughtfulness which is undoubtedly reflected in the at, at times, frankly heartbreaking lyrics. The Kills haven’t disposed of their edgy rock identity, they’ve merely built upon it and created something even more special.

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Film Gallery Los Angeles Music Video Festival

by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing

February 1, 2011 - 11:59 am

The First Annual Los Angeles Music Video Festival (LAMVF) took place January 23rd at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles. To celebrate a communal love of music videos, guests spent the day watching screenings, listening intently to speakers, and participating in discussions.

Out of 200 submissions from directors in over 16 countries, the screenings for student and independent videos resulted in awards being offered to:

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Music Prepare to be Amazed: The 2010 Grammy Nominations

by Rich Thomas

December 6, 2010 - 1:01 pm

After having the weekend to marinate on both this year’s Grammy nominations and the college football bowl selections, I’m having a hard time figuring out which entity frustrates me more, the BCS or the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. For both, a lot of money is riding on who gets anointed with top honors, but every year both groups seem to get more wrong than they do right. (Except for the year NARAS picked 60% right on the Album of the Year nomination with Radiohead’s OK Computer, Paul McCartney’s Flaming Pie and Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind.) But the sad fact is, both entities aren’t going away anytime soon, so we must make due with what we’ve got. I’ve highlighted a few categories below and picked some crowd favorites and dark horses. (You can see the entire list of nominations here.) Sit back, crack open a juice box, and prepare to shake your fist at the screen. And don’t forget to check out some of our very own nominations at the end. We think they deserve a little shine, too!

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Music Music Magic 11/5/10

by Amanda Boyd

November 5, 2010 - 11:01 am

This week has been ridiculously busy but seriously awesome: Halloween weekend plus kicking it at the famed MSR Studios every night this week with The Roots, Miniature Tigers and Shiny Toy Guns as they rehearse for Red Bull’s Soundclashes taking place later this month in Atlanta and Phoenix. Hard to believe sometimes that this is my job. Pretty incredible. That being said, I’m most happy it’s the weekend and am looking forward to cheering my friend Tess on as she runs the New York City Marathon on Sunday!!

So speaking of The Roots (all of whom are amongst the nicest guys I’ve ever met, such wonderful and immensely talented men), check out their performance of “Maniac” (which I wrote about the other week) with St. Vincent, Kid Cudi and Cage on Jimmy Fallon.

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Music Friday’s Fantastic Music Magic!

by Amanda Boyd

October 15, 2010 - 11:43 am

What’s a perfect remedy to a less than stellar start to a morning when one is woken up at 5am to a ludicrously loud garbage truck that beeps incessantly for (no joke) 30 minutes? Discovering the full album stream for Kings of Leon’s Come Around Sundown a full week before it’s release! I have been looking forward to this for months and totes did a little (okay major) happy dance upon said discovery.

As a whole, the album doesn’t sound all that different from Only By The Night, but that doesn’t bother me in the slightest as I loved OBTN. It really frustrates me when people complain how their new stuff sounds so different from albums past and they refuse to like it purely on that basis alone. It’s a good thing that it sounds different. Their first EP, Holly Roller Novocaine came out in 2003, and frankly, if their sound hadn’t grown and changed, they wouldn’t be as successful and people would be complaining that every song sounded the same, and to be honest, their music hasn’t changed that dramatically – which is one of the great things about KoL, in my opinion – they continue to grow and try new things, yet are still able to maintain a distinctive sound.

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Mandy's Awesome Music Mail Mandy Mail! Hello Rocktober!

by Amanda Boyd

October 1, 2010 - 10:38 am

Hello kiddiwinks! Your favorite time of the week is upon us once again; I am of course referring to the moment when you all get to bask in the glory that is my weekly music news recap. I’ve finally recovered from the oh so lovely cold a certain someone gave me (you know who you are, but don’t worry, I still totes love you) and am feeling back to normal once again! Eeee! Happy panda paws in the air! So, without further ado, let’s get to it shall we?
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