In the early 1970s, Mapfumo and his band the Blacks Unlimited solidified an afro-pop style that they called “chimeranga”—the Shona word for struggle. His rich, polyrhythmic tunes drew on both...
You get the sense that a more discerning edit may have made a classic out of Have One On Me, but the relentless excess dooms it to unevenness.
Gorilla Manor, the first full-length release from Los Angeles quintet Local Natives, sounds like the work of a much more accomplished band, well-formed and generally agreeable.
This Thursday in Reynolds Theater, Andy Warhol’s spirit will be channeled through the modern rock of Dean & Britta, performing music to accompany a showing of the artist’s “Screen Tests.”
To understand who Ravi Coltrane is, you have to start by understanding who he’s not.
The Indo-Pak Coalition, and band leader Rudresh Mahanthappa, will be making their North Carolina debut this Saturday at Duke Performances’s WAIL! jazz saxophone festival. Synthesizing jazz with...
One Night Stand is Hot Chip’s way of declaring, “We are consistent!” With nary an unlistenable song, look for this record on 2010 best-of lists come December.
Odd Blood's aesthetic clearly diverges from All Hour Cymbals, and Yeasayer executes it with aplomb.
Saxophonist Miguel Zenon is kicking off Duke Performances’ mini jazz festival WAIL! tonight. The Puerto Rican musician, now living in New York, recently ended a sensational decade that in 2008...
But though this is no Mezzanine 2.0, it’s also not 101st Window, for which all trip-hop fans are grateful. Yes, Massive Attack is truly back, and with style and flair.
The ever-evolving world of jazz sends one of its brightest young stars to Duke next week. Marco Benevento, innovative pianist and co-founder of the Benevento/Russo Duo, troops with his trio to the...
Tha Carter is reborn as an ugly, nu-metal baby rocker.
Maybe you haven’t heard his name, maybe you’ve never actually heard his work. But you’ve heard of Gil Scott-Heron.
Despite the sophisticated studio-as-instrument technique, Causers of This is fundamentally a pop album, albeit one dipped in molasses.
Unlike troubadors like Jeff Tweedy or Ira Kaplan, their new release Romance Is Boring more evokes their upbeat contemporaries. And it works. Mostly.
Teen Dream is the document of a band maturing and experimenting without abandoning the core of their sound.
Realism is no radical departure—after exhausting all the stylistic tropes and conventions of pop over the course of their 1999 triple-disc magnum opus.
Jason Moran’s performances this weekend mark the latest collaboration between Duke and one of the most acclaimed pianists and composers in the jazz world. But it’s hardly the the first.
A fifth grade teacher at Durham’s Central Park School for Children, Heather Cook has organized the second benefit for arts education at the public charter school. The event is called Save Our Arts.
The songs ultimately sound sophisticated and crafted but don’t leave an impression. It’s disappointing entry in the Starbucks Adult Contemporary genre.
