One Direction megastars Zayn (the cute one), Liam (the cute one), Harry (the cute one), Louis (the cute one), and Niall (the cutest one) met as competitors, each looking to take home The X Factor Season 7 title, when judge and lead Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger suggested that the dudes might... More >>

Philip Jung and Patrick Bodmer’s Get Physical dominated the past 10 years with releases by heavyweight artists including Booka Shade, DJ T, and themselves, under the pseudonym M.A.N.D.Y. Either way, the Frankfurt-via-Berlin duo knows how to curate a tech-house set: Tom Middleton is... More >>

Mark Stewart the guitarist (as opposed to Mark Steward the Pop Group vocalist or Mark Steward the Passing Strange composer) plays to the middle-outside as a founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, to the middle-inside as Paul Simon's longtime stagehand, and to the lunatic fringe as half... More >>

This weekly party at tiny Vauxhall bar the Eagle is up there with Optimo (Espacio) and Berghain/Panoramabar on the list of internationally renowned good times. For the past eight years Jim Stanton, James Hillard, Filthy Luka and Severino have been throwing Horse Meat Disco, a “queer party... More >>

Perhaps you've heard of the Zoo Troop, a corps of adults who entertain children while wearing outsize anthropomorphic animal costumes. While Bergen County MCs Zoo Troop Gang are no relation, they're no less ridiculous, half-serious swag-rap minstrels rocking shades and chin-straps in hi-res... More >>

Sly Stone may live in a camper in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles and may not be familiar with the Stone in Alphabet City, but that’s not stopping Sex Mob frontman Steven Bernstein and the nine-piece Millennial Territory Orchestra from playing some incredibly inspired covers from... More >>

Sprung from the loins of giants (Long Island's late John and Alice Coltrane), the tenor saxophonist has constructed a jazz identity more Blue Note cool than Impulse! Records hot. Expect his longtime quartet (Luis Perdomo on piano, Drew Gress on bass, and E.J. Strickland on drums) to delve into... More >>

“You wanna include me in your plan,” OFF! frontman Keith Morris sneers in one of the minute-long hardcore rants on his band’s new self-titled album. And he’s totally right: Whatever else you do tonight, be sure to save at least three-quarters of an hour for this... More >>

As rap eccentrics from Odd Future to Nicki Minaj have bubbled up to the mainstream (and beyond), it has gotten considerably harder to seem like a true weirdo in hip-hop. Busdriver pulls it off: On this year’s Beaus$Eros—say it aloud—the Los Angeles–based MC layers his... More >>

Even if you’ve never heard of ratchet music, the rap-production style associated with L.A.’s DJ “Dijon McFarlane” Mustard, you’ve probably heard “Rack City,” the inescapable Tyga single produced by Mustard and originally intended for mutual friend YG.... More >>

Best known as co-founding percussionist of afrotronica band Burkina Electric, the Austria-born drummer makes a rare foray into the jazz zone tonight with a band consisting of Leron Thomas (trumpet), Travis Sullivan (sax), Shoko Nagai (piano), and Evan Lipson (bass). Dig Ligeti's dance of ideas... More >>

The second installment of Soul People Music head honcho Fred P’s occasional party features one of his more interesting collaborators, Aybee. That the Oakland native has released records on Ron Trent’s Prescription and Jus-Ed’s Underground Quality should further attest to the... More >>

Born Gerald Donald, he first adopted the alias Heinrich Mueller in tribute to German proto-techno, then joined the late James Stinson to helm mysterious electro-aquatic under the name Drexciya. These days, as Dopplereffekt, he continues banging out sophisticated minimal electro with real or... More >>

At first glance, these two singer-songwriters don’t share much beyond a debt to Joni Mitchell: Collins, of course, broke through in 1968 with a cover of “Both Sides Now,” while Peyroux’s albums seem deeply informed by Mitchell’s late-’70s jazz period. Listen... More >>

His Kanzleramt label has been one of the powerhouses of German minimalism since 1994, releasing records from a stable that includes Johannes Heil, Anthony Rother, Christian Morgenstern, Patrick Lindsey and DJ Slip. His own productions rank alongside those of collaborators like Teo Schulte and... More >>

Twin pillars of the triple-A radio format, DeGraw and Caillat have both outlasted the singles that once seemed sure to consign them to one-hit wonderdom. Artistically speaking, he’s never improved upon “I Don’t Want to Be,” but she’s actually got several tunes... More >>

The 11 minute title track of this New Orleans guitar demon's new Black Eye Galaxy is something like the "Dark Star" of recovery anthems. Elsewhere, Osborne's emotionally white-hot album features songs like, and in his lacerating live shows he comes off as someone telling stories through his... More >>

Co-ed folk-rock rabblerousers from Nashville, the Kopeckys come on like a more sensual Arcade Fire—or maybe a Mumford & Sons with a sense of humor. With MyNameIsJohnMichael, a young New Orleans outfit with some hats and some horns. More >>

Ace Led Zeppelin reinterpreters Bustle in Your Hedgerow—that’s Marco Benevento (keyboards), Dave Dreiwitz (bass), Scott Metzger (guitar), and Joe Russo (drums)—play house band for a fundraiser benefiting the late Band drummer's barn-studio. Tribute payers include Craig Finn and... More >>

The U.K. songwriter's surprisingly engaging debut album has a handful of vocal-powerhouse moments that tend slightly toward gospel, but she's actually at her finest when she backs down into more familiar pop and R&B territory, singing like a nondescript descendent of Rihanna or Beyonce. On... More >>

For those who wonder what happened to the purple haze machine gun Electric Ladyland and can't just ask the axis, it died in 1970 with Jimi Hendrix. But Hendrix lives on, beyond history and beyond category. His kaleidoscopic vision influenced practically everyone, transcending genre and causing... More >>

These long-running New Zealanders don’t visit the United States often, and they aren’t in much of a hurry to put out albums. Mister Pop, their latest, was released in 2009, but you can hear their wistful jangle-pop sound in any number of younger indie acts. From Yuck to Beach House,... More >>

40 years have passed since this aging reggae icon starred in The Harder They Come, yet somehow he still remains at the top of his game. His recent “Sacred Fire” EP, for instance, includes a gritty EP that covers The Clash's "Guns of Brixton," Rancid's "Ruby Soho," and Dylan's "A... More >>

Montpellier duo Rinôçérôse have always followed a more rock-strewn path toward French house than most of their Parisian peers: Rinôçérôse want to make you dance, but they also want to be pop stars, and they retain an enduring love of guitars.... More >>