Tom Breihan

The LA rapper Ab-Soul is a bit of an enigma, and he seems to disappear and reappear whenever it suits him. Right now, it’s been six year since Ab-Soul released Do What Thou Wilt., his last album. Earlier this year, Ab-Soul came out with “Hollandaise,”  » Read More

In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.  » Read More

Next month, the San Jose death metal band Ripped To Shreds will release their new album 劇變 (Jubian). Bandleader Andrew Lee recorded the album in his home studio, and we’ve already posted the first single “Reek Of Burning Freedom,” which goes insanely hard. The same is true of “漢奸 (Race Traitor),”  » Read More

Two years ago, the San Jose-based multi-instrumentalist Kathyrn Mohr released her debut As If, a record of meditative and low-key indie that she recorded entirely on her own. Next month, Mohr will follow As If with her new seven-song EP Holly. With this new record,  » Read More

Mindforce are back, baby! It’s a celebration! The Hudson Valley hardcore greats released their debut album Excalibur back in 2018, and that record has never stopped kicking ass. At this point, we can probably acknowledge Excalibur as a classic of modern hardcore. After that record came out,  » Read More

Seven years ago, the Harlem rap great Cam’ron and the Montreal turntable wizard A-Trak had plans to release a collaborative EP. A couple of singles came out, and they were pretty good, but we never got the EP. Now, Cam and A-Trak are making up for lost time,  » Read More

The Brooklyn rapper and producer Ka is a truly inspiring DIY figure. He makes music on his own, following his own sounds and ideas and pathways. He produces his own tracks, and he releases his albums on his own label. He does all this while holding down a job as a fire chief.  » Read More

It sounds like demonic smoke belching up from the center of the earth. It sounds like dim echoes of dark rituals reverberating out of the mouth of a cave. It sounds like bubbling swamp-glop with visible swirls of blood. You can describe Philosophical Collapse, the new album from the Boston-based band Innumerable Forms,  » Read More

Blackpink aim to overwhelm. The globally massive K-pop girl group has a hard, hyperactive swagger that just blasts you with constant hooks until submission is the only option. Their singles are relentless bursts of dance beats and gleaming synths and earworm choruses and better-than-they-should-be rap verses. Give in! Enjoy it! There’s a whole lot of corporate pop product out there in the world,  » Read More