Barber-Q-Records

Mustafa, Toronto's hood poet, shoulders the stories of the lost

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Wed, 9 Oct 2024 03:30:00 -0700

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On the aching Dunya, the artist stands at an east-west crossroads, trying to resolve a young striver's years of trauma with a folklorist's drive to preserve what's left.

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

150 years after his birth, composer Charles Ives remains a maverick

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Tue, 8 Oct 2024 03:06:00 -0700

Many music lovers consider Ives, who died in 1954, to be the first truly great American composer. A new recording by pianist Donald Berman is a major addition to the Ives discography.

* This article was originally published here

Some of Bob Dylan's most raucous rock comes to life on 'The 1974 Live Recordings'

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Tue, 1 Oct 2024 03:19:00 -0700

Dylan's 40-show 1974 tour with The Band produced a live double-album later that year. Now, the music available from that tour has increased dramatically with the release of a new 27-CD set.

* This article was originally published here

Golden-age rappers make a digital-age leap — and survive

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 03:11:00 -0700

The FORCE finds the rapper looser and more agile than he's sounded in years, assisted by eclectic production from Q-Tip.'/>

On surprising new albums, '80s trailblazers LL Cool J and MC Lyte sound thrillingly revitalized, thanks to sharp production choices and a willingness to bend their signature styles toward the moment.

* This article was originally published here

Marking the centennial of jazz pianist Bud Powell

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 03:06:00 -0700

Born Sept. 27, 1924, Powell helped set the style for jazz piano after WWII. While earlier pianists played busy bass patterns, he helped establish a more fragmented, punctuating role for the left hand.

* This article was originally published here

Remembering Dan Morgenstern, a revered jazz historian, archivist and critic

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 03:10:00 -0700

Morgenstern, who died Sept. 7, directed the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies for 35 years, building a one-of-a-kind collection of recordings, memorabilia and writings. Originally broadcast in 2004.

* This article was originally published here

MJ Lenderman joins rock and roll’s lineage of heartbreak kids

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 03:26:00 -0700

Manning Fireworks, finds inspiration in The Band and the Drive-By Truckers.'/>

Ann Powers considers the breakthrough of indie rock up-and-comer MJ Lenderman, and finds that he’s got some classic rock in his tales of romantic woe.

(Image credit: Charlie Boss)

* This article was originally published here

'Woodland' is the sound of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings rebuilding together following disaster

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Sun, 8 Sep 2024 03:24:00 -0700

Woodland, the new album by Gillian Welch (left) and David Rawlings, is the latest in a long collaboration between two musicians who have built careers — and an influential legacy — out of the magnetic interplay between their voices and the strength of their musical ideas.'/>

The magnetic bond between Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, partners in life and in music, has always been central to their songs. On their latest album, the "we" becomes existential.

(Image credit: Alysse Gafkjen)

* This article was originally published here

Doechii is too big for your small screen

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 6 Sep 2024 03:21:00 -0700

Alligator Bites Never Heal.'/>

Viral stardom is often a prison — but on the dazzling and frequently hilarious Alligator Bites Never Heal, the "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" rapper proves those walls can't contain her talent.

* This article was originally published here

'Fresh Air' marks the centennial of the 'Queen of Blues' Dinah Washington

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 03:03:00 -0700

* This article was originally published here

Gucci Mane and DJ Drama, back in the trunk

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 03:28:00 -0700

Over a decade after their classic run upended digital culture, the rapper and mixtape mogul reunite to show listeners why it mattered — and what a younger generation of trap artists has learned.

(Image credit: Srdjan Stevanovic)

* This article was originally published here

Sabrina Carpenter's 'Short n' Sweet' is smart and silly

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 03:12:00 -0700

Short 'n Sweet is out now. '/>

Sabrina Carpenter has had two of the year's biggest hits with "Espresso" and "Please Please Please." Now, she's released a new full-length album called Short n' Sweet, which serves up more catchy silliness and high drama. But does the album keep that "Espresso" magic alive?

Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus at plus.npr.org/happyhour

* This article was originally published here

Tinashe and Ravyn Lenae lean into the paradox of 'alt-R&B'

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 03:24:00 -0700

Quantum Baby is Tinashe's seventh album, and the second in a purported trilogy that began with last year's BB/ANG3L.'/>

The new albums Quantum Baby and Bird's Eye are exercises in self-liberation, leveraging the sounds and potential of a loaded category while rejecting its limits.

* This article was originally published here

50 years later, Neil Young's 'On the Beach' remains bleak -- and beautiful

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 03:30:00 -0700

The recording sessions for Young's 1974 album were gloomy, drug-fueled affairs, but the end result proves that artists can make good work no matter how hemmed-in, churlish or depressed they may be.

* This article was originally published here

A sibling spark fuels Isata Kanneh-Mason’s 'Mendelssohn' album

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 03:12:00 -0700

The rising young pianist, from a family of seven musical siblings, offers dynamic music by brother and sister Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn.

(Image credit: Karolina Wielocha)

* This article was originally published here

JPEGMAFIA, rap's most tireless agitator, looks inward

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 9 Aug 2024 03:09:00 -0700

I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, the artist's fifth album and first since his Kanye collabs made him a snark target, swings back at everyone in sight — but saves a few knocks for himself.

* This article was originally published here

Ice Spice seized the moment — but maybe not the right one

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 2 Aug 2024 03:24:00 -0700

Y2K!, on July 26.'/>

The Bronx rapper's acid tongue and unbothered stance made her one of hip-hop's hottest prospects. On her debut album, Y2K!, her snowballing hype may have exceeded the reach of her pen.

(Image credit: Coughs)

* This article was originally published here

Revisiting the hard-rock swagger of the New York Dolls' 1974 album, 50 years later

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Thu, 1 Aug 2024 03:30:00 -0700

Though sales were lackluster, Too Much Too Soon captured the band's spirit. Less than a year after its release, the Dolls broke up in a combination of commercial failure and personal misbehavior.

* This article was originally published here

Childish Gambino, Denzel Curry and Curren$y channel rap's blog era

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 03:12:00 -0700

Bando Stone & the New World, billed as a soundtrack to a coming film, revives some of the anarchic spirit of Donald Glover's earliest work as Childish Gambino.'/>

Three survivors of a chaotic moment in hip-hop conjure its best qualities, a decade and a few major career twists later, for three new albums released on the same day.

(Image credit: Pavielle Garcia)

* This article was originally published here

50 years ago, 'Country Life' solidified Roxy Music's reputation as art-rockers

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 03:21:00 -0700

* This article was originally published here

Eminem and Common confront the same milestone — middle age — from opposite angles

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 03:10:00 -0700

The two veteran rappers read as comic inversions of one another on their new albums, by turns renewed and restrained by the instincts that defined them at the start of their careers.

(Image credit: Aaron J. Thornton)

* This article was originally published here

West of Roan collects ancient folktales — not personal folklore

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 03:18:00 -0700

In an era when connecting the tidbits of an artist’s private life can seem more important than following a musical thread between songs, West of Roan's Queen of Eyes revives faith in the power of the concept album.

(Image credit: Blake McMeekin)

* This article was originally published here

50 years later, Stevie Wonder's 'First Finale' remains ripe for rediscovery

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 03:27:00 -0700

Fulfillingness’ First Finale won the Grammy for Best Album in 1975, yet today it feels underrated — perhaps because its overall tone was more meditative than the albums immediately preceding it.

* This article was originally published here

Zach Bryan makes — and breaks — his own myth on 'The Great American Bar Scene'

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 03:12:00 -0700

The Great American Bar Scene, features love songs, thorny anthems, autobiographical lore and even a mini-arc that directly invokes classic Bruce Springsteen songs. '/>

Bruce Springsteen, 40 years on from Born in the U.S.A., shows up on Bryan’s new album to offer the wisdom and regret of a lifetime of telling truths and spinning yarns.

(Image credit: Keith Griner)

* This article was originally published here

Unpacking hip-hop's sprawl in 2024's most eclectic release date

calicasino@gmail.com (Barber-Q-Records) — Thu, 4 Jul 2024 03:12:00 -0700

Megan Thee Stallion's post-traumatic reset, a left-field Lil Yachty collab, the raunchy return of cupcaKKe: June 28 delivered a truckload of major albums, and a portrait of modern rap's main tension.

(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Live Nation)

* This article was originally published here