Alex's Staff Picks
Chinese American Bear Channel the Blog-Rock Greats on 'Wah!!!'
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PUBLISHED Nov 4, 2024
Seattle "mando-pop" duo Chinese American Bear channel the best of golden-era blog-rock: the romantic haze of the Pains of Being Pure at...
Laura Marling's 'Patterns in Repeat' Unites Greenwich Village and Greenwich, London
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PUBLISHED Oct 25, 2024
It's hard to make folk music in the mould of '60s/'70s singer-songwriters without sounding like mere imitation. With Halloween coming up...
Mk.gee Makes the Guitar Sound New Again on "ROCKMAN"
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PUBLISHED Oct 21, 2024
It's been about 70 years since electric guitar became the dominant instrument of popular music — a role it held for many generations...
Panda Bear and Cindy Lee's "Defense" Unites Two of Music's Great Pop Deconstructionists
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PUBLISHED Oct 16, 2024
On the aughts indie pop pinnacle 'Person Pitch,' Panda Bear channeled the very familiar sounds of '50s and '60s pop into something...
'Rose Main Reading Room' Is Peel Dream Magazine's Very Own 50 States Project
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PUBLISHED Sep 5, 2024
I am but a simple millennial indie fan: when I hear trilling woodwinds, I think of Sufjan Stevens. There are 50 States Project vibes all...
OMBIIGIZI Refine Their Craft on "Laminate the Sky"
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PUBLISHED Aug 20, 2024
OMBIIGIZI, the super-duo of Daniel Monkman (a.k.a. Zoon) and Adam Sturgeon (a.k.a. Status/Non-Status) have announced their sophomore album...
Charli XCX Continues to Reinvigorate the Remix Thanks to "Guess" with Billie Eilish
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PUBLISHED Aug 2, 2024
When Charli XCX got Lorde for her "Girl, so confusing" remix, it was a revolutionary way to sing about friendship. In an era when pop stars...
Sean Leon Keeps Listeners Wanting More on Addictive "WHAT IS HAPPENING?"
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PUBLISHED Jul 26, 2024
Sean Leon's "WHAT IS HAPPENING?" could easily have been a funk banger. All the pieces are there: a shimmying synth bass, choppy strums of ...