February would have been a big month for James Dewitt Yancey, better known as die uberproducer J Dilla, this year, were he alive. February marks both Dilla’s birthday — he’d have been 40 on Feb. 7 — and  release date of his magnum opus Donuts, released shortly after his untimely death in 2006. Since 2007, hip-hop […]

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I always thought Mutations was Beck’s most underappreciated record. My favorite of its many nifty tricks is how it sounds simple upon the first listen, then reveals more psychedelic layers upon each play. I’ve listened to “Blue Moon,” the first single from Beck’s upcoming Morning Phase, his first studio album since 2008’s Modern Guilt, probably […]

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Beloved and seminal North Carolina indie rock label Merge Records — home to such historically important indie rock bands as Archers of Loaf and Polvo and current chart-toppers Arcade Fire — celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and Merge is throwing one hell of a yearlong party. There’s the Or Thousands of Prizes subscription series, […]

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Logan K. Young is the Editor in Chief at Classicalite.com. ALBUMS: Body/Head, Coming Apart (Matador) Lonnie Holley, Keeping a Record of It (Dust to Digital) Because Oxford American needs to see him. Wolf Eyes, No Answer: Lower Floors (De Stijl) Richard Youngs, Summer Through My Mind (Ba Da Bing!) Because Ba Da Bing! captured him […]

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The Pixies — now with 100 percent more Paz Lenchnatin! — released to their website yesterday a new EP. The oh-so-cleverly named EP-2 is the follow-up to last year’s abysmal EP-1. (Which, if you’re anything like me, you were able to block from your mind with repeated listens to “Distance Equals Rate Times Time.”) If […]

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KFL is a writer/lover of music, a drinker of coffee and a (begrudging) maker of lists. —————————————- Admission/Confession: I don’t bother defending my opinions these days; I find it to be an exercise in futility. Besides, I’m really fucking lazy. This is for posterity as much as anything. The List: 1. Phosphorescent, “Muchacho” (Dead Oceans […]

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1. Lorde, Pure Heroine (Universal) I’m fairly certain I would not have surmised my most listened to album of the year would have been written and recorded by a 16-year-old girl from New Zealand. I guess it proves I’m not utterly dead inside that I can still be this taken aback. Pure Heroine is an […]

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