In 1987, when Devo got the opportunity to write the musical score for Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, the band didn’t have much going on. It had been seven long years since their breakthrough hit “Whip It” and after the back-to-back flops of 1982’s Oh, No! It’s …
Read More »Record Stores: Coronavirus 'Could Be the Death Knell' for Indie Retailers
The day before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order over the coronavirus, Reckless Records buyer Matt Jencik felt anxious. Over the previous week, Jencik’s chain of three Chicago music stores, which employ about 40 people, had been playing chicken with the inevitable: closing its doors. But Jencik was …
Read More »Feeling Lonely? Self-Quarantining Got You Down? Here's Your Isolation Playlist
Under normal circumstances, choosing to stay in can be a nice break from the chaos of the outside world. But these days, when social distancing is a worldwide mandate due to the coronavirus outbreak, it can be hard to keep your spirits up. Can music help us cope? We think …
Read More »Lukas Nelson on Finding Hope Under Self-Quarantine With Family Time
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real had a lot of touring lined up behind their new album Naked Garden (out March 27th), before our nationalemergency caused them to put those plans on hold. One of those shows was the Luck Reunion, a huge festival held at his dad Willie …
Read More »When We Celebrate John Coltrane, We Celebrate McCoy Tyner, Too
When we talk about rock, we talk about bands: Zeppelin, the Who, the Stones. But when we talk about jazz, we tend to talk about individuals: Miles, Monk, Coltrane. On some level, that makes sense: If the song is the primary mode of rock expression, the solo is generally the …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: Lila Drew, 'Locket'
Nineteen-year-old Los Angeles native Lila Drew is a R&B singer-songwriter to watch, and her song “Locket” is the perfect representation of the dreamy and smooth songs she is bound to serve up in the future. It’s a great end-of-winter jam, ideal for fantasizing of warmer weather. “Locket” explores first heartbreak …
Read More »Black Pumas: Rise of a Psychedelic-Soul Force
Black Pumas’ journey to the Grammys began with a potentially awkward phone call. In late 2017, long-standing Austin-based guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada needed a singer for some new instrumentals he’d been recording. On the recommendation of a mutual friend, he left a message for a local talent, Eric Burton, …
Read More »Doobie Brothers' 5 Greatest Songs
With the Doobie’s Hall of Fame induction, there’s never been a better time to get familiar with the captains of Yacht Rock. Their heyday was basically the entire decade of the Seventies, though a major shift occurred when frontman Tom Johnston, who wrote the majority of their hits, stepped aside …
Read More »Best Music of 2019: Staff Picks
Here at Rolling Stone, we listen to a lot of music in any given year. When we asked staff members to share their favorite albums of 2019, we found some strong consensus picks — Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell!,Taylor Swift’s Lover, Lizzo‘sCuz I Love You, and Miranda Lambert‘s Wildcard …
Read More »A Medical Mystery Almost Ended His Band. Then He Found a 'Poo Roadie'
T he classified ad in the local paper for Manly, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, read: “Medical Stool Donor Needed. $100 [per week]. Yep, you read it right. I need your poo!” A 30-year-old man named Dave had placed the ad, seeking a donor for regular “fecal microbiota transplants” (FMTs), …
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