Though her 2010 debut Pink Friday was a ham-handed combination of rap lyrics mixed with pop hooks, Nicki Minaj’s latest release, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, is a more expansive look into her scatterbrained imagination, whose presence somehow feels even more abrasive this time around. Starting with her hectic delivery on “Roman Reloaded,” which zigzags between short-of-breath word[Read More…]
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Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Though her 2010 debut Pink Friday was a ham-handed combination of rap lyrics mixed with pop hooks, Nicki Minaj’s latest release, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, is a more expansive look into her scatterbrained imagination, whose presence somehow feels even more abrasive this time around. Starting with her hectic delivery on[Read More…]
Deep Cuts: Your guide to Montreal Record Stores
Located off of St. Denis just south of the Mont-Royal metro, L’Oblique is a cozy and peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of its neighbouring street. The store is split evenly between vinyl and CDs (there’s even a tiny, nostalgic section reserved for cassettes and eight-tracks), and it’s also[Read More…]
Big K.R.I.T.: 4Eva N A Day
Big K.R.I.T. is a rapper with very few vices. Sure, his carefree attitude and occasional codeine references are consistent with most up-and-coming MCs, but besides these infrequent mentions, he’s the closest thing to what hip-hop fans could call straight-edge. While the rest of southern rap remains fascinated by drug-themed lyrics,[Read More…]
DJ ascends to the throne of popular music
Dove Shore Electronic music has always maintained a modest yet comfortable position in mainstream music’s landscape, but the recent explosion of electronic’s various subgenres—particularly house, dubstep, and breakbeat—has turned what was once a novelty into music that is now viewed, alongside pop, as pure social necessity. To what (or whom)[Read More…]
Van Halen: A Different Kind of Truth
Supposedly created from Eddie Van Halen’s scrapped guitar riffs and discarded studio tapes, Van Halen’s A Different Kind of Truth marks the band’s first record in 14 years, and the first to feature original lead singer David Lee Roth in almost 30. The album faithfully reconstructs the band’s early[Read More…]
What’s a Grammy worth?
Proclaiming that the Grammy Awards aren’t the definitive measure of musical success isn’t exactly going out on a limb, but why is it that so many music fanatics approach this ceremony with either indifference or downright distain? The winners of the film industry’s Academy Awards might not always coincide with[Read More…]
Man vs Cave
I’ve been through the heart of darkness: I’ve sat through an entire New England Patriots game with my dad and his buddies. I’ve seen Tostitos get double-dipped, heard grown men refer to the Patriots as Brady’s Bunch, and witnessed 50-year-olds go for high fives only to whiff completely, attempt a[Read More…]
Hashtag Criticism
Two weeks ago, SPIN Magazine announced it would be discontinuing its traditional in-print album reviews in favour of 140-character reviews posted on Twitter (@SPINreviews). SPIN reasons that, thanks to the Internet, listeners don’t depend on professional critics to act as authoritative voices about new releases: all anyone needs to discover[Read More…]
Guided By Voices: Let’s Go Eat the Factory
The original Guided By Voices lineup has at last reunited for the first time in 15 years, and with the release of Let’s Go Eat The Factory comes the return of their iconic lo-fi, garage band sound. Starting with the electrifying opener “Laundry and Lasers,” it’s clear that lead singer[Read More…]
