AltWeeklies Wire
Jazz Writer Ted Gioia Bites Off More Than He Can Chew in 'The Birth (and Death) of the Cool'new
Gioia presents convincing evidence that people trust brand names less than they did for many years. But he spends endless energy hard-selling the idea that brand-name obeisance has, or has ever had, anything to do with "cool."
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
11-24-2009 |
Nonfiction
Two Dance Lables -- Warp and Hyperdub -- Look Back at Their Own Historiesnew
When a record label hits a divisible-by-five anniversary, it celebrates -- especially in dance music, which takes all the parties it can get. And as you'd expect, most of the compilations that ensue tend to be fairly self-indulgent.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
10-06-2009 |
Music
NYC Trio Naam Puts a Fine Finish on Sludgenew
It's refreshing to hear a prog-rock element in a band that isn't a sit-down proposition, such as Tortoise. "I wanted to make [prog-influenced music] in a much more loud, droning, drug-induced sense," Naam bassist John Bundy says.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
08-25-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Kingdom EP, Naam
Which Otis Jackson Jr. Do You Like?new
Jackson has renamed himself as much as anyone in the Wu-Tang Clan, though Madlib is the moniker that subsumes all others--his umbrella pseudonym, if you will.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
10-07-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Madlib
Al Silverman Talks to The Post-War Editors Who Helped Forge Contemporary American Lettersnew
The book is a celebration of the "golden age of the publishing industry," from the end of World War II to the beginning of the 1980s, focusing on the publishing houses themselves.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
10-07-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The James Brown Reader' Shares a Warts-and-all View of the Godfather of Soulnew
Co-editors Nelson George and Alan Leeds both contribute fine overtures to the volume, but it's hard not to wish they'd included a note about their compiling methodology, though it doesn't take long to figure out the pair elected to leave in original typos, misspellings, falsities, and myths.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
06-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Where Hip-hop Wentnew
Gold: New Jack Swing, a genre overview, and and What Does It All Mean?, the collected works of cut-up pioneer Steinski, tell the story of rap going beyond itself.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
06-24-2008 |
Reviews
What's So Crazy About Gnarls Barkley's Second Album?new
Most of The Odd Couple feels like a reheat of St. Elsewhere. But "Crazy" sounded a little thin at first, too; it wasn't till the greater public got its hands on it that the song sounded as major as it was. Maybe that will happen to The Odd Couple and maybe it won't.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
04-08-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Gnarls Barkley, the odd couple
Mark Harris Examines New Hollywoodnew
Think of it as the prequel -- every bit as good -- to Peter Biskind's classic New Hollywood history, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
04-01-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Oscillatornew
In the absence of new material, Craig's remixes have probably done more to enhance his legendary status than if he'd gone ahead and released a classic album. Getting a Carl Craig remix guarantees a receptive techno audience the same way a Lil Wayne guest verse does with hip-hop fans.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
03-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Sessions, Carl Craig
Other People's Propertynew
The world may never run out of songs, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise. How else do you explain the approximately eleventy-bajillion covers albums released in 2007 -- including ones from Shawn Lee, Ann Wilson, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss?
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
10-30-2007 |
Music
Black Moth Super Rainbow Doesn't Write Songs, It Doodlesnew
Dandelion Gum can sound like the lo-fi bedroom work of one or two people.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
09-18-2007 |
Reviews
Luc Sante Sinks His Teeth into American Culturenew
The Sante on display in Kill All Your Darlings is the cultural critic; even the first-person essays that lead it off are much about the role society played into the author's early history.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
09-11-2007 |
Nonfiction
Britt Daniel Loosens Up Lyricallynew
Daniel brings his own oddly contoured thoughts on home like a soul man.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
07-31-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Spoon
Hot Chip & Spank Rock Attempt to Answer 'What is Hip?'new
Both groups have toeholds in the international dance-music marketplace that are likely to be strengthened by their newly recorded DJ sets.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
06-05-2007 |
Reviews
