RECENT ARTICLES

Chris Carrabba, front man for the popular rock group, Dashboard Confessional, has been living an acute modern duality for the past year. When scholars and scientists look back on 2020, they may be able to sum up what, exactly, was lost during one of the most tumultuous years in global history. But, with hope, they will also be able to calculate what improved, what we gained or what evolved in a positive sense, too. Carrabba, who has been at the center of both loss and gain this year, understands that balance. At the start of 2020, he and his band were poised to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut 2000 album, The Swiss Army Romance. But then the world turned upside down. Later, in June, as the COVID-19 self-quarantine truly set in, Carrabba was in a motorcycle accident, which forced him to lay up in casts. But the result of the isolation created a renewed sense of appreciation for what he’s worked to achieve over the past two decades.

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Drag queen extraordinaire, Laganja Estranja, says she’s married to her work. But the ever-savvy performer knows that the key to any healthy relationship is education and dialogue. If one gets complacent with a spouse, loses appetite and curiosity, then the relationship is likely to flatten and fail. That’s why Estranja, above all else, continues to learn. She explores new tastes and ideas and, as a result, is regularly in collaboration with other creative people. Estranja, who rose to popularity on the sixth season of the television show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, has continued to grow her career ever since. The most recent example of this is the release of her newest song (and titillating video), “Daddy,” which features intimacy borne only from clear communication and trust. And cake and honey.

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Everything musical started early for Mark Foster, front man for the now-platinum-certified band, Foster The People. But more accurately and acutely, everything musical stated with simple, pure sonic vibrations. Before he’d even turned three-years-old, Foster’s parents found him with his ear pressed up against the family upright piano, pushing his index finger down one note at a time as he worked his way along the keys chromatically. A few months later, Foster performed his first recital. In fourth grade, he was working with the Cleveland Orchestra in the children’s choir, exposed to the inner-workings of professional musicians and high standards of performance. Today, all that experience (and much more) has paid off for Foster, whose group is set to release its latest EP, In the Darkest of Nights, Let the Birds Sing, on Friday.

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For any musician who has undertaken a lengthy tour, booked a gig at a performance venue or just spent time in a green room, one thing becomes immediately clear: there is a ton of downtime before a show. Some musicians fill it with beer and snacks. Others stay on their phones all day or take naps in some well-worn easy chair. But for Car Seat Headrest’s Will Toldeo and Andrew Katz, the green room often becomes a makeshift studio where their newest creative project, 1 Trait Danger, comes to life. The project was borne in back stages around the globe and its there where the seeds of its future releases were sewn. And this week, Toledo and Katz proudly unveiled their latest endeavor: a skillfully made 1 Trait Danger video game in which players can engage online in an effort to defeat the “evil” founder of Matador Records, Chris Lombardi.

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For globally recognized rapper, Zlatan Ibile, a whole career began with a simple ask. It was 2011 and Zlatan, who grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, in severe poverty, was focused on completing his education. At the time, however, neither he nor his family had the requisite money to continue his higher learning. So, Zlatan was forced to push pause on the effort and reflect on his next move. It was then, though, that he encountered a friend on the way to a recording studio. In an instant, Zlatan had an important realization. He knew that his friend wasn’t an operatic singer or virtuosic instrumentalist. So, Zlatan thought, if his friend could go to the studio to cut a track, so could he. Since that important moment, Zlatan, who is known for his joyous rapping, singing and dancing, has garnered millions of fan followers, released popular songs like the recent track, “Lagos Anthem,” and is set for a bright creative future in 2021.

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For Seattle-based guitarist, Jimmy James, music should always be about comfort. That’s not to say every song is “easy listening,” of course. In each note James plays there is drama, a sense of story and a fertile tone. But each note also comes from an honest place. James, who is a virtuosic dynamo on the guitar, never offers his talents as a way of outshining anyone or in an attempt at some idea of victory. Rather, playing music, for James, is an homage to music itself. It’s like going to church and praying. If one does so honestly, the prayer is for the world. Not for individualism. That’s the secret to James’ success and that’s the vibe and tone he carries with him to his eight-piece big band, The True Loves, which is set to release its next LP, Sunday Afternoon, in March, and the record’s titular single here today.

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New York City songwriter, Joanie Leeds, remembers sitting at the 60th annual Grammy Awards in 2018 and hearing only one woman’s name called to receive an award (Alessia Cara for Best New Artist). Leeds remembers the rage bubbling up in her as she watched man after man accept trophies. So, Leeds began to write. First it was little notes in her phone: make a new album, hire women for the band, hire women to produce and engineer, hire women for the photo shoot. Leeds, at the time, was also going through a messy divorce. But the fight for her independence only strengthened her resolve when it came to making a new record by women for women. That work paid off and Leeds’ latest album, All The Ladies, recently earned its own 2020 Grammy nomination, proving that the songwriter’s instincts were correct and her hard work worth the efforts.

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In the world of music – or, really, any artistic field – the biggest challenge and yet most significant thing for any participant to do is to find their voice. This task can be harder and harder today with the amount of sheer noise (and access to it) in the ether at large. Yet, people somehow persevere. One such artist who is blessed with and confident in his own voice is the Atlanta-based rapper, YFN Lucci.

The lyricist rhymes uniquely, both verbally and sonically. Utilizing his voice in subtle, experimental ways, Lucci has taken what some may have at first criticized him for and turned into millions of record streams, spins and dollars earned. Lucci’s forthcoming release, the 21-track LP, Wish Me Well 3, exemplifies the lyricist’s signature style. The album, out Friday, is a blend of mellow music, rapid percussion and sing-spoken harmonies.

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When he was growing up, country music legend Garth Brooks remembers the rough-and-tumble nights at home. His father, Troyal Raymond Brooks Jr., was a former Marine and Golden Gloves boxing champ who created something of a “boxing ring” culture at home for Garth and his five siblings. As a result, there was ample competition and creative tension underneath the family roof. This ultimately strengthened the brood — especially the youngest son, Garth, who would go on to sell more records than any single recording artist in United States history.

But not every night included a sibling fistfight.

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Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, Judith Hill, stays on the offensive. Creatively, she doesn’t want to lose sight or control for a moment. It’s something she learned when collaborating with the hall of fame musician, Prince. If she disengages with her career, opportunities may fall in her lap, Hill says. But if she’s not in control of them, then she is not addressing her creativity or passion honestly. The moment one lets up is the moment someone else takes over.

As a result, Hill’s life is saturated in successful endeavors: Hill was featured in the documentary, 20 Feet From Stardom, for which she won a Grammy. She had a successful run on NBC’s The Voice. She’s collaborated with Michael Jackson, Elton John and John Legend and she recently appeared in a video during the National Basketball Association’s 2020 Draft telecast. But Hill’s latest achievement is the release of her video for the poignant song, “Americana.”

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When Seattle-based musician, Daniel Lyon, was born, he was premature and weighed only three-pounds-eight-ounces. As a result, for the very first few days and weeks of his life, the infant had to spend his time in an incubator, watched by nurses. There, he says, when he cried, the nurses would take him into a room and put on a radio and, more often than not, he would stop his wailing and listen to the songs. One wonders if he learned to cry just to get to the speakers! Nevertheless, today, music continues to comfort Lyon, front man for the Pacific Northwest rock band, Spirit Award, which is set to release its next LP, Lunatic House, in March 2021 and debut its newest single, “Lily of the Valley,” here today.

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In many ways, it’s completely appropriate that the long-anticipated new record, Odin’s Raven Magic, from the Grammy-nominated Icelandic band, Sigur Rós, is coming out on December 4th.

The eight-track album feels like the very chilling winter skies hanging above most of the country these days. There are sonic dashes of light mixed with a modicum of musical mist. There are shimmering stars and sweeping orchestrations like comets bouncing through the night sky. The live LP, which was recorded nearly two decades ago, also fits in-line with the many B-sides, rarities and live albums released by various groups this year, unearthed out of necessity as much as to celebrate artistry. In an era when recorded music or live performance is prohibited, these albums are more than welcomed. But Odin’s Raven Magic, itself, almost never came to be. In this way, its very existence is as much a miracle as the lovely melodies and sonic textures it offers.

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As a young person, Jinkx Monsoon (born Jerick Hoffer), grew up poor and without many friends. But the soon-to-be-larger-than-life drag queen turned, perhaps surprisingly, to classical music as a safe space for creative inquiry. Monsoon says that, as a “visibly queer” kid, the heady genre provided unique ground to explore. But life, in all its twists, can be ironic. Sometimes those of us who are most alone, focused on craft, become the ones, later in life, with the most attention from the outside. Monsoon, who would go on to win the fifth season of the famed television show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, is now a world-famous performer. Caterpillars do become butterflies. And the artist’s bright colors shine on her latest holiday album (out December 11th) and film (out December 1st) with longtime drag-compatriot, BenDeLaCreme, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special.

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Staring out before the buzzing, jubilant wash of 18,000 fans at Madison Square Garden in 2006, front man Marc Roberge had to stop the show. His band, O.A.R., which stands for “Of a Revolution,” had sold out the home of the New York Knicks, “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” Countless greats have graced that arena’s floor, from Patrick Ewing to Neil Young. It was a moment.

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Growing up in Olympia, Washington, burgeoning musician, Barrett Martin, who would later go on to play in the famed Seattle rock bands, Skin Yard, Mad Season and Screaming Trees, would noodle around with several “rickety” instruments while accompanying a player piano that his father bought at a garage sale.

The thing had more than 200 piano song rolls. It was capable of playing ragtime, swing, show tunes and even a few movie soundtracks. The exposure to the array of songs, coupled with his grandparents old 78s record collection, taught Martin from an early age to both appreciate myriad styles of music and that he could participate with them, too. That foundation has since taken the artist around the globe with stops in rainforests, monasteries and concert halls. Martin, whose 2020 album, Scattered Diamonds, features players from all over the world, cares deeply about the history of sound and its transformative possibilities.

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