Conor Battles
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Album: Starboy Artist: The Weeknd Label: XO Rating: Photo courtesy of Heavy.com The most immediately noticeable thing about Starboy, the third studio album from Toronto’s eminent alt-R&B lothario The Weeknd, is that Abél Tesfaye has no interest in dwelling on the past. The brooding, tenebrous dirges of Trilogy have been replaced by a startling fusion […]
Photo courtesy of what.cd It’s easy to treat the demise of What.cd, the legendary invite-only private tracker, as just another casualty in the war against Internet piracy; akin to Napster’s Lars Ulrich-fueled final stand or Limewire’s unceremonious takedown in 2010. The reality of What’s shutdown last week is something far more nuanced in its tragedy. […]
Album: We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service Artist: A Tribe Called Quest Label: Epic Rating: photo courtesy of Genius.com The last time A Tribe Called Quest appeared on television was on an episode of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show last year. Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Jarobi White and Ali Shaheed Muhammad were touting […]
Photo courtesy of newyorker.com Prolific Canadian singer-songwriter, visual artist and poet Leonard Cohen has passed away at the age of 82. The news was broken late Thursday night via post on Cohen’s official Facebook page. No further details have been given. “We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries,” the statement read. […]
Photo Courtesy of pitchfork.com Scribed by: Conor Battles Album: Big Baby D.R.A.M Artist: D.R.A.M Label: Atlantic Release Date: October 21st Rating: It’s very important to Shelley Massenburg-Smith that you know how happy he is. The 28-year-old rapper and singer, better known as D.R.A.M. (Does Real Ass Music) has a knack for finding the positive in […]
Album: You Want it Darker Artist: Leonard Cohen Label: Columbia Rating: Not content to give the people their concise, carefully-wrapped and tied-off goodbye, Cohen takes the opportunity to send a message about life and death “I’ve got some work to do. Take care of business. I am ready to die.” When Leonard Cohen said those […]
Scribed by: Conor Battles Album: ‘Revolution Radio’ Record Label: Reprise Release Date: October 7th Rating: Photo Courtesy of warnerbrosrecords.com It’s not punk, it’s not political and it’s not anything we haven’t heard a million times before from Green Day. Since their impetus in the early days of West Coast pop-punk, Green Day have done what […]
Scribed by: Conor Battles Title: MEGA Artist: Blank Banshee Label: self-released Release Date: October 10, 2016 Rating: 3/5 Photo courtesy of Blankbanshee.bandcamp.com There’s a certain challenge to soundtracking the future Visions of a neon-soaked urban sprawl, ripped straight out of Blade Runner, Neuromancer or Shadowrun, dominate the imagination. But for all the futuristic wonder of […]
Scribed by: Conor Battles Album: ‘22, A Million’ Record Label: Jagjaguwar Release Date: September 30, 2016 Rating: From the first muted, pitch-shifted notes of 22, A Million, Bon Iver’s principle auteur Justin Vernon makes it apparent that the band’s third LP – their first in five years – is unlike anything else they’ve ever put […]