Two weeks ago, when Governor Andrew Cuomo began to shut down New York City after the spread of coronavirus became unmanageable, Lance Lazzaro sprung into action. For the past two years, Lazzaro has served as counsel to Daniel Hernandez, the controversial rapper known as Tekashi 6ix9ine who, until this week, …
Read More »40 Years of 'Mad Love': In Praise of Linda Ronstadt's Forgotten New Wave Album
Happy birthday to Linda Ronstadt’s New Wave album Mad Love, released 40 years ago, in March 1980. It’s the weirdest oddity in her catalog, with three Elvis Costello covers. Mad Love is forgotten by time, written out of her official history. Not even Linda has a kind word for this …
Read More »'I Will Probably Take the Answer to My Grave': Radiohead's 'Just' Video Director Looks Back
Director Jamie Thraves had only been out of art school for a few years when he was approached to direct the video for Radiohead‘s “Just,” a single off their 1995 album, The Bends. Thraves got the gig through his new job at Oil Factory Productions, a video company run by …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Trace Mountains, 'Lost in the Country'
Songwriters have been experiencing revelations on the road for as long as popular music has existed. A poignant exchange at a roadside gas station; a passing conversation overheard outside the venue. After a while, these comically insignificant moments become the only real way a touring musician encounters the world. In …
Read More »How Black Sabbath Made Heavy Metal Swing
Jean-Paul Gaster still remembers the moment he realized the first heavy-metal band was playing jazz. Growing up near Washington, D.C., the drummer — who for nearly 30 years has brought a loose-limbed swagger to the rhythms of esteemed hard-rock band Clutch — would sit with his father and watch live …
Read More »Caribou Dances Through Life's Joys and Sorrows
In the basement of an old row house in northeast London is the little room where Caribou‘s Dan Snaith makes nearly all his music. “When we moved in, it was just a coal cellar with an unfinished dirt floor,” he says. “I’m very happy down here.” Snaith is downstairs late …
Read More »The Timeless Glam Perfection of T. Rex: Why Marc Bolan Still Casts a Spell
Bang a gong, T. Rex fans. The great British glam-rock studs are finally going into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a year after their comrades Roxy Music. It’s a beautiful moment because Marc Bolan has always stood for everything benignly insane about glam. T. Rex didn’t flourish long …
Read More »10 Holiday Shows to See Before Christmas: Harry Connick Jr, Khalid, She & Him, Pentatonix
Whether you like to get in the holiday mood after Oct. 31, or right before Christmas Eve, the winter weather is sure to bring that familiar feeling. These concerts will give you plenty of chances to get cozy with artists who love Christmas a little too much — think Pentatonix’s …
Read More »The Highs and Lows of Kanye's 'Jesus Is King'
How did Kanye West end up recording a deeply sincere gospel album a year after serving as creative director for the Pornhub Awards? Brendan Klinkenberg joins host Brian Hiatt for an episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast that traces West’s artistic and spiritual journey, while also digging song-by-song …
Read More »Angel Olsen on Her Dazzling New LP, Becoming a Crazy Cat Lady
Angel Olsen is standing on a rainy sidewalk in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, smoking a cigarette. “I’ve just had a really emotional day,” she says, staring at the Manhattan skyline across the river. “I cried a little bit. I feel OK now.” Olsen is preparing for the release of her new album, …
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