Sophie, the avant-pop artist who produced singers like Madonna and Charli XCX and released the acclaimed 2018 album Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides, has died at the age of 34. The Scottish-born musician’s record label, Transgressive, confirmed Sophie’s death. “Tragically our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible …
Read More »'Sound of Metal' Review: Riz Ahmed Composes a Song for the Deaf
This review originally ran as part of our 2019 Toronto International Film Festival coverage. It starts with a ringing. Ruben, one half of the noise-rock duo and Decibel cover-story couple Blackgammon (think Lightning Bolt if fronted by a throat-shredded Diamanda Galas), is putting out merchandise, limbering up for a modest …
Read More »This Is What Stealing an Election Looks Like
The Supreme Court‘s five conservatives on Monday voted to strike down an order from a Wisconsin federal judge allowing the state to receive and count absentee ballots up to six days after Election Day, so long as they were postmarked by Election Day. The decision is a troubling indication of …
Read More »LL Cool J on 'Mama Said Knock You Out' Turning 30 and Shunning the Phrase 'Old School'
Don’t call it a comeback. LL Cool J‘s powerhouse fourth album, Mama Said Knock You Out, came out 30 years ago this week and its rhymes and production techniques still resonate today. At the time, the record was a response to critics and fans who thought he’d sold out or …
Read More »'Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine': A Tribute to a Wild, Crazy Music Rag
Maybe we should start with that subtitle: “America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine.” [Clears throat at the volume of a jet engine.] Scott Crawford’s documentary on the estimable, invaluable 1970s music rag does stoop to mention another U.S. publication that was covering rock stars and the counterculture scene, one that …
Read More »'RS Interview: Special Edition' With Jeff Bridges
The great thing about Jeff Bridges is that he is the Dude — just with a social conscience and a mystical tilt. “’Shut the fuck up, Donny,’” that could be a koan, Bridges told me during our recent video chat. “Or, ‘Well, that’s just like your opinion man.’ That’s another …
Read More »To Save Black Lives, and the Soul of Our Nation, Congress Must Act Boldly
For too long, Black people in America have been burdened with the unjust responsibility of keeping ourselves safe from police. We have been raised by elders and have been taught to pass along to future generations the understanding that every day, we must prepare how to navigate and even survive …
Read More »Donald Trump's Presidency Is a Saturday-Night Massacre That Never Ends
Attorney General William Barr‘s ham-fisted firing this weekend of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the powerful Southern District of New York, bears all the hallmarks of the Trump administration’s shoot-first-aim-second approach to governing. But the clumsiness of Berman’s ouster shouldn’t overshadow the chilling message sent by the firing of …
Read More »Twitter's Jack Dorsey Is Giving Andrew Yang $5 Million to Build the Case for a Universal Basic Income
Jack Dorsey, the billionaire CEO of Twitter and mobile-payment company Square, is giving $5 million to Humanity Forward, a group launched by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, to build the case for a universal basic income. Dorsey, who plans to give away $1 billion of his wealth through a …
Read More »The Sound of the Coronavirus Quarantine Is an Acoustic Guitar
Millions of listeners have been coping with the loneliness, moral fatigue, and existential boredom of a global pandemic to the beat of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” so many that the song took the top spot on the RS 100. Yet overall, Americans have been seeking solace not in synthetic beats, …
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