Tag Archives: music-features

As part of our newly updated survey of the500 Greatest Albums of All Time, we’re publishing a series of pieces on the making and impact of key records from the list. Talking Heads‘ Remain in Light came in at number 39. When Talking Heads entered Nassau’s Compass Point Studios in …

T he Weeknd promises he hasn’t baked any bread during quarantine,unlike every other bored millennial on Instagram. “I’m a horrible cook,” he says, laughing off the very idea, on a Zoom call from a desk in a tastefully decorated, exceptionally long room in his home on Los Angeles’ west side. …

Freeman Vines, a North Carolina–based artist, guitar maker, and one-time blues musician, thought he’d seen it all: He’d worked for free on a white farm and served jail time for bootlegging. But about five years ago, a man approached Vines with two planks of black walnut wood from which he …

Tinashe wasn’t always the type of artist to lead with her political beliefs. It’s not that she didn’t have her convictions, but trying to keep your recording career alive inside a company that’s not built for you to succeed tends to be a full-time job. She parted ways with RCA …

“What’s the name of that fantastic Netflix series about hip-hop?” Bruce Hornsby asks. “You’re going to have to make a plea for my inclusion!” Hornsby is joking, of course, but this summer has brought another reminder of the keyboardist-singer’s unexpected impact on the genre. Nearly 35 years ago, Hornsby had …

TikTok has been downloaded over two billion times, but some artists still remain wary of the app, uncomfortable with its reputation as an engine for dance crazes. “Some people think they’re too good for the platform, don’t want to disgrace their art — ‘this is the song, only play it …

Washington, D.C.’s famed 9:30 Club was supposed to be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year — instead, it shut down in early March due to COVID-19 with no opening date in sight. Now, amid anti-police brutality protests in our nation’s capital and beyond, it’s become a haven for protesters looking …

“Black music is the backbone of the music industry in the U.S. today. It seems to be less affected by variables in the economy than any other forms of music… The major problem is the lack of broad, open acceptance by all segments of society based on feelings that are …

Nestled between the second and third tracks on Butch Walker‘s new album, American Love Story, there’s a talk-radio sketch that sums up the polar-opposite stereotypes of the 2020 United States. Female caller Annie passionately preaches her belief in “equality” and “helping out others,” while testosterone-charged Bo rattles off the minorities …

Stevie Nicks had always intended 2020 to be a relatively quiet year, but not quite this quiet. She’s been battling a case of Epstein-Barr virus since January, and has been safely holed up in one of her California properties with three friends and her dog Lily for weeks now. She …