Pandemics can do funny things to a person’s mind. Dreams can turn strange, with random, poignant memories emerging unbidden from the hidden folds of our brains. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s newest song, “Dreamsicle,” is full of images like those: ice cream melting on fingers in the twilight, fireflies …
Read More »NFL Legend Terry Bradshaw Now Has a Quarantine-Themed Country Song
These days, NFL legend, broadcaster extraordinaire and national treasure Terry Bradshaw can be found on his 800-acre quarterhorse ranch in Thackerville, Oklahoma, located right on the Texas-Oklahoma border. Bradshaw, his wife Tammy, his three grandchildren, and nine dogs have been home for six weeks when a recent chance phrase by …
Read More »How Dead & Company Craft the Perfect Set List
Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir planned out only two things before each of the thousands of concerts they played together in the Grateful Dead: The song they would begin with and the song they would end with. Everything else was decided in the moment. “While Jerry was singing, I had …
Read More »Danger Mouse's 'Grey Album' Could Never Happen Today. Here's Why That's a Shame
Since nostalgia for any era begins about two decades after the fact, early-2000s look-backs have arrived right on schedule. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s Super Bowl takeover returned us to their end-of-the-century breakouts; Bernie Sanders couldn’t have picked a more circa-2001 rock band for a rally than the Strokes; Jessica Simpson, …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Kaye, 'Closer Than This'
Charlene Kaye, who know performs under Kaye, launched her music career eight years ago with indie-pop love songs like the Darren Criss-assisted “Dress & Tie.” She has evolved into bigger and bigger pop sounds as a solo artist, taking a break to perform with San Fermin for a few years. …
Read More »The Many Sounds of Jazz in 2019: A Listener's Guide
Jazz continued to explode in 2019, shooting off in countless directions. There wasn’t one dominant trend, sound, or scene in the genre this year, but there were clear areas of focus, informal constellations of like-minded players and conceptualists: artists who harnessed the energy of rock, devised unusual instrumental textures, pushed …
Read More »Happy Birthday, Tina Turner: Pop's Ultimate Comeback Queen Turns 80
“As I’m about to turn 80, I’d like to think I’ve become wise in some ways,” Tina Turner just told Rolling Stone. But there’s never been a revival like Tina’s Eighties comeback. She became a solo superstar when she was 44. Things like that just don’t happen. (For context: That’s …
Read More »Nils Lofgren Breaks Down New Neil Young and Crazy Horse LP 'Colorado'
Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s concert at Winnipeg’s Centennial Concert Hall on February 4th was only their seventh show since guitarist Nils Lofgren rejoined the band after a five-decade absence, but something about it felt different to everybody on the stage. “It was a really special night,” says Lofgren. “Afterwards …
Read More »The Cure's Robert Smith Looks Back: 'I've Never Thought About Legacy'
Although Robert Smith says he hopes the Cure never truly fit in with the cultural landscape, he is very aware of just how unusual the group’s success has been over the past four decades. “One of the lovely things about the band is that we’re able to headline Glastonbury, play …
Read More »The Last Word: LL Cool J on What Rick Rubin Taught Him and Why He Won't Apologize for 'Accidental Racist'
If you ask LL Cool J, there is no “worst part” of being successful. “I think the worst part of life would be not going after your dreams and living a life of quiet desperation,” he tells Rolling Stone. The rapper, actor, and entrepreneur, born James Todd Smith, went after …
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