There’s nothing memorable about “Madden 16,” with its over-designed cutscenes and main menus distracting you from a lazy reskin of the same game they’ve been feeding us for decades at this point. But I’ll never forget the heavily reverbed wubs that filled my basement speakers when I booted the game up for the first time, […]

It’s 3 a.m. and I’m hearing colors. The sheen of billboards and buildings flashes before my mind’s eye as the deliciously funky basslines and peppy trumpets of Mariya Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love” worm into my ears. All signs point to a session of easy listening, yet I find myself desperately clinging to memories that aren’t mine— […]

My Navy-enlisted friend texted me one morning back in September. This usually means quickly debriefing each other about daily random inconveniences, but today was a special occasion. The text read “Bro jojis coming to Denver,” and I immediately made a decision: fly out to the Mile High City to see Joji’s “Pandemonium Tour” concert on […]

I know, I wasn’t expecting it either. I didn’t even know Usher was still releasing new music— let alone a 20 song album the same week as his Super Bowl Halftime performance. This coincidence of timing made me think the album exists just as a precursor to his performance on the big stage. But on […]

With an almost thirty-year-long music career, Marcus Hummon is a star-studded veteran of the Nashville country scene. But from the way he discusses music – the intricacies of a piece, his old favorites and newer artists to watch, and his song-writing strategies – you’d think he was a bright-eyed ingénu, unsullied by the industry’s grueling […]

Sufjan Stevens has always been an achingly raw writer, bringing universal themes to life through metaphor in a way that reads like a story. With Javelin, his thirteenth studio album, he’s released an accompanying essay collection of ten meditations on love.  My first love was an involuntary sound – the music of the spheres. . […]

The world of R.A.P. Ferreira is the most fascinating rabbit hole I’ve ever fallen into. It was like finding the final piece of a puzzle: one read-through of a Reddit album review turned into hours of diving deep into his art museum of a discography. With four distinct musical personas, he assumes the role of […]

Brennan Wedl has been working in Nashville for years as a recording singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Simultaneously they’ve been taking on several solo and full-band regional tours, expanding their fanbase and tugging at heartstrings with vulnerable lyricism in the coldest states in New England and the most humid areas of the South. Yet, the biggest […]

From the second it was announced she would be releasing her own music, Disney-actress-turned-pop star Olivia Rodrigo has become wildly successful. Her first single, drivers license, went viral almost immediately, and the hype didn’t dwindle following the release of her debut album, SOUR. Two years later, Olivia Rodrigo has returned with yet another record for […]

Before answering that, you have to know what a concept album is. Essentially, it is an album with tracks that hold greater meaning together than individually, usually revolving around a central theme or narrative. Got it? Good. No? Reread it. Now, has the concept album died? No… That sums it up. No, it hasn’t died. […]

As a bona-fide classical music nerd, I spend a majority of my time around music in some sort of way. But outside of the opening chords of the piano arrangement of “Danse Russe” from Petrushka and the iconic bassoon solo introducing “The Rite of Spring,” I’ll admit that I am completely unfamiliar with Igor Stravinsky’s […]

After a two-year gap from her last studio album “Plant Her”, Doja Cat’s comeback was a much anticipated release. The hype mainly came from the artist herself, who repeatedly distanced herself from her Grammy-award-winning previous album,  denouncing her old music as “fake,” while promising fans and news outlets that “real music” was on the horizon. […]

For some time, country music has struggled to balance pageantry and authenticity. Between the rhinestone-clad pop country icons of yesteryear and their  jaded outlaw country contemporaries, the struggle between theatrical escapism and authenticity was quite apparent in the 70s country landscape. Amidst all the noise, however, one voice from the gulf coast asked us all […]

In the present day rap scene, violence has become a mainstay. However, the community has ended up losing more than what they can gain.. literally. Nipsey Hussle. Takeoff. Pop Smoke. XXXTentacion. King Von. PnB Rock.  All familiar names. All men who were taken from the world too early. And these are the more recognizable ones. […]

Set. A friend introduced me to their debut as their much older brother’s taste in music: “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.” What could be a more attractive title for a teenager in the jumbled up in the of confusion of self-discovery? I was captivated by their unrestrained spiky rock sound, accentuated […]

Both multi-textured and understated, “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We” is Mitski at her most mature. Against a monochrome stiff, the album cover sports its eerie slogan in a homey cross-stitch font, embodying the album’s exploration of familiarity and mourning. With this new record, Mitski maintains her standard of stellar lyricism, and the […]