10. Johnny Polygon — The Nothing 2013 belonged to the introspective rappers — the ones who found their strength in going soft and whose heads, hearts and souls lay open for listeners to poke around in. Tulsa emcee Johnny Polygon tips open his brain like a cap on The Nothing, baring weed-soaked nuggets of self-truths that are […]
Albums
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Music Made Me: Chase Kerby
Photo: Doug Schwarz Jeff Buckley, Grace (1994) As cliché as it has become to say that you’re a Buckley fan, I’ll never stop admitting it. This was one of those records I got at the perfect time in my life. His lyrics are poetry, and his melodies are undeniably brilliant. He’s also the one who […]
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Music Made Me: Chris Harris
The Cure, Disintegration (1989) This record was released when I was 15, but I don’t really remember listening to it a lot when it came out. I started playing guitar when I was 17, and it was probably sometime around 19 that I revisited it and realized that my guitar playing was subconsciously influenced by […]
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A time to heal
As America learned of Moore’s utter devastation by the May 20 tornado, the news hit the two members of New Orleans-based Generationals especially hard. “Everybody is aware and thinking about what has happened in Oklahoma,” said Grant Widmer, lead singer and guitarist. “Tragedies like these are particularly resonant for us because of what happened to […]
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Beat street
Making electronic music is more complicated than you might think. The virtually endless spectrum of sounds capable of being produced by a computer is matched only by the equally broad variety of kits, patches and plug-ins tailored for each piece of production software — an often daunting wormhole suited only for those seeking a truly […]
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Songs of the South
The Kamals Photo: Stephen Carradini Taking place March 12-17, the event’s switch from the single-story Friends Bar to The 512, a two-story location, allowed for two stages without too much noise interference, which is almost always a problem at SXSW. The open-air upstairs stage had a bit of peripheral sound invasion, but even during Samantha […]
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Listen up again
Following up our list of 2012’s best local albums, here are our picks for the 10 top singles. 1. Sooner the Sunset, “All Because of You”If there is a formula to writing the perfect folk pop song, Graham Colton clearly has it, and to give him an equally formidable singer-songwriter to play off of (Lindsey […]
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Classic Albums: Peter Gabriel: So
To Classic Albums newcomers, the franchise delivers the “definitive authorised story” of a culture-shaking disc in feature-length form, relying on video clips, concert footage and many a talking-head interview from the talents who were there, on both sides of the studio glass. In this case, that includes Gabriel, other musicians, members of the tech team […]