Jonah Bromwich admits that, regrettably, yes, that is his cowboy hat. “What is this shit?” sneered Greil Marcus in the pages of Rolling Stone, reacting to Bob Dylan’s 1970 record Self-Portrait, an album that Dylan had made to deliberately alienate his increasingly cult-like block of fans. During the SP sessions, Dylan threw every idea he had at the […]

The second release following Toronto-based WIDEAwake’s purchase of the Death Row catalogue, Snoop Dogg’s Lost Sessions Vol. 1 would ostensibly offer a gold mine of unheard rarities cut during the label’s 92-96 heyday. Instead it offers a closer look at how quickly Snoop fell off without Dre’s serpentine funk and creative direction. Of course, any […]

The song commences with Busta admonishing Royce for “sharing your food in a recession.” Judging from Bussa Bus’ ever-expanding waistline, he hasn’t been sharing food since his salad days. It doesn’t help when he starts confusing rappers with hamburgers and frankfurters. If you consider “Fried Chicken,” his 2008 collaboration with Nas, it’s clear that Trevor […]

As Dom Passantino pointed out, “Zevon came with more killer openings than Bobby Fischer.” Though the lyrics were co-written by a late-period whiskey (and coke and acid)-addled Hunter S. Thompson, it’s hard to argue with the efficacy of “You met her in a Turkish town/but you didn’t want to bring her here/You didn’t want her […]

Despite their heavy buzz around Los Angeles, there were a variety of reasons why I never got into Rainbow Arabia. For one, there is the above video. I’m not quite sure what’s going on, though I’m pretty sure that if I tried I could pick enough low-hanging hipster humor fruit to fill up a Carmen […]

From the new EP from Stuart Murdoch’s side project. For those who enjoy Isobel Campbell-era Belle & Sebastian, 60s girl groups, and St. Vincent joints. Ideal for a sensitive but quirky Michael Cera indie comedy with a mawkish soundtrack that will mar this song for eternity. Enjoy it while it lasts. Download: MP3: God Help […]

Thanks to Nate Patrin, I recently discovered “Midnite Vultures,” the would-be title track turned “Nicotine & Gravy” B-side from 1999. Sez Nate: “some days, this would be my favorite Beck track.” Sez I: throughout of the duration of the weekend, it was mine. In hindsight, Beck channeling Serge Gainsbourg while smoking Gauloises and sipping Pernod, […]

As seen earlier, Rah Al Milio of the Knux has begun a blogging and recording side-project under the Joey Lestrat (Le Pop Killer) alias. He bills it as “The Knux, Vampires, Guitars and stars.” I can’t help but view this as a wise move. In these True Blood and Twilight times, the real money is […]

My bad. Three months ago, Smoking Section don, John Gotty sent out an e-mail requesting that I listen to Freddie Gibbs, a Gary, Indiana-raised, Interscope Records refugee with co-signs from Devin the Dude and Just Blaze. For reasons best blamed on scatterbrains and Internet fatigue, I never got around to The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs, […]

My former Stylus colleague, Mike Orme tagged “Feel It All Around,” from South Carolina’s Washed Out, with a Pitchfork Best New Tracks this morning. Rather than fritter away an afternoon grappling with ways to reiterate what Mike already said, I’ll just co-sign his sentiments regarding Ernest Greene’s sublime vision, “stuck somewhere in an imagined euphoria […]