Lopatin's music has spanned genres and mediums, with the composer filling various roles, but its through line is its sense of the uncanny and Lopatin's understanding of how warping sonic textures can tap into surreality.
"Howie could get along with anybody. He was friends with both Johnny and Joey Ramone. Hells Angels, skinheads, drag queens, comic-book nerds, art collectors, fashionistas-they all loved him."
"I feel like the first album, it was very hectic, it was a rush. It was like, all of a sudden, overnight craziness. So now that I'm settled in, I feel like I know more about my direction and what I want to do, what I want to say."
Sara Landry, also known as 'The High Priestess of Techno,' performed at Coachella with Blood Oath, a collective of female DJs she assembled. Her unique style and heavy industrial production have made her a power player in the dance music scene, especially after her viral Boiler Room set that garnered 10 million views.
'I was in a hospital. My heart's only beating like 25 percent, but as long as I stay focused and stay on the right path, everything will be all right.' It's a more optimist outlook than he gave in a recent IG Live, when he said doctors gave him months left to live. 'I thought... I could handle all the alcohol, I could handle all the Adderall, I could handle all the drugs, but I couldn't,' he said.
Earl has spent the past decade or so immersing himself in New York's underground rap scene, resulting in one of the most unique and unpredictable discographies of his generation.
Rockie does kinda feel like the album Donna Hayward would make if she could pursue her musical ambitions: She'd be influenced by Julee Cruise, for sure, and probably Chromatics, and Sky Ferreira, and what could be more Badalamentian than the cloudburst of synth that opens "On Our Knees"?
Last month, LaRussell announced his signing of a "project deal" with San Francisco label EMPIRE, one of the music industry's largest and most powerful independent labels and distributors. In 2023, he announced a deal with Live Nation for select concert dates. Both deals, LaRussell indicated, allowed him to make decisions on his own terms. The Roc Nation announcement comes after images of a late January meeting between LaRussell and Jay-Z were shared online.
January is the month where music is moving underneath the surface, feeling out the venues, plotting and planning for those great days under the sun, at a festival. If you are a globe-trotting DJ or band, January is the month you're finishing up those FaceTime calls with managers and bookers, and plotting out which month you'll be on the road playing the Empty Bottle in Chicago, the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA, or the Continental Club in Austin, TX.
The rapper, known on his tax form as Charles Wingate and known by his old Harlem associates as Charley Rambo, made his name in the rap game during an all-too-brief run in the 2000s, as one of the most colorful members of Jim Jones' Byrdgang, his solo offshoot from the Diplomats (although due to his growing up with rappers Cam and Mase, Max is like honorary Dipset).
Admittedly, I wasn't hip to Spank Nitti James until he spearheaded one of the best posse cuts of last year. Probably because I've been ducking Hit-Boy beats since King's Disease 3. But I've become a fan of his ability to balance heavy-hearted life lessons and reckless credit card swiping worthy of BlueBucksClan. On "LDO"-a thumping yet melancholic return to form for Hit-Boy-Spank splits the difference, preparing to turn himself in for an upcoming jail sentence by recounting all the cool shit that just started coming his way:
These are deep-fried potatoes that are lathered in batter, then deep-fried all over again until they congeal into a crisp, iridescent mass. Birmingham locals-Brummies, as they're known-treat delicacies like battered chips with a reverence Parisians reserve for haute cuisine. It's bad for them, they know, but Brits take pride in the ridiculous, delicious traditions unique to the working-class cities of England.
The gift of skaiwater's best music is its unique shape, blown-out underground rap styles carefully folded into delicate origami. Forget every preconceived notion you might have about 'rage rap' and put on 'rain'-it's so pretty, a butterfly fluttering around a bomb site. On that album, skai harnessed beat drops like wrecking balls crashing into the walls of their heart.
