The newly released soundtrack for the film adaptation of The Last Five Years is an important album. Important for me because the Original Cast Recording of the musical on which it is based was one of the first physical copies of a cast album I ever o …Read more

Alto saxophonist and composer, Rudresh Mahanthappa can pinpoint his musical transformation to when — with the ears of an elementary schoolboy — he first heard a recording of alto bop great, Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. Quite some decades later, in an …Read more

In an age saturated with dark, brooding pop songs that challenge nothing in formula or function, it is quite easy to forget the power of music’s strong side-effect: fun. Luckily for us, that quality is far from lacking in the songs Cherub dishes out …Read more

Familiar Captured Tracks artist Catwalk got his buzz due to a few 7-inch records he released during his teen years. Following a lengthy period of grappling with the paralyzing Guillain-Barré Syndrome, Catwalk returns as himself, Nic Hessler, with a s …Read more

Few films have celebrated bayou culture like Beasts of the Southern Wild. The post-apocalyptic film directed by Benh Zeitlin managed to capture the essence of Louisiana as seen through the eyes of a feisty little girl called Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wal …Read more

For Suburban Living (aka Wesley Bunches), the creative process and life decisions follow the same principle: have a plan, but be open to whatever happens in the moment. He follows this idea not only in the studio, but also in major life choices, like …Read more

Composer and sound artist Ellen Reid, whose opera Winter’s Child is part of the 2015 Prototype Festival produced by Beth Morrison Projects, is keenly observant. As we meet up at Amy’s on 9th Avenue for a chat, I notice the depth to which she takes in …Read more

Many bands take a hiatus, needing time away from the demanding lifestyle of a touring musician to tend to other creative and personal endeavors. For The Vaselines, though, this hiatus lasted for twenty years. In fact, fame and success had not even co …Read more

As more and more common notions regarding the music industry get tossed out each week, A Sunny Day in Glasgow is putting to bed the age-old idea that band members need to live in the same city (or actually even the same continent). Though all gathere …Read more

Cover bands generally have a stigma, most oftentimes justified by being the burnt out middle age group that somehow stepped onto the stage at the local bar in your hometown to half drunkenly change tempos eight different times in renditions of their …Read more