Rancid are an institution. Fervently punk rock roots mixed with songs catchy enough for people who've never seen the inside of a squat, these Californians ain't fuckin' around. But while we take this moment to appreciate the majesty of Rancid and look forward to their upcoming shows Thursday and Fri ... More >>
Tokyo’s Boris play one of their classics
Better Than: The opening act. Poor P!nk. Back in 2001, she was the pop star who wasn't, dissing L.A. and Britney and singing songs for all the missundazstood suburbanites teenpop theoretically ignored. Ten years later, it looked like P!nk was moving away from pop just as pop was moving more towards ... More >>
Blow P!nk one at Madison Square Garden
You can't really know where you're headed unless you know where you've been. For that reason, we're taking a look back at Pazz & Jop 2012 to drill down into the ballots of contributors and voters who participated. Maybe amongst the rubble we'll find clues about what lies ahead for music lovers in 20 ... More >>
In this week's Village Voice, out now: Despite the aerial hijinks of P!nk (above) and lots of sex talk, I get underwhelmed by MTV's Video Music Awards; and Jonah Bromwich hangs out with the hard-rocking kids who make up Unlocking The Truth, who you might be able to catch playing Times Square sometim ... More >>
The term "flop," in a musical context, usually refers to an unsuccessful album. Though singles constantly perform above or below expectations, a song will rarely get a reputation as a flop unless there's a lot riding on it, such as a pre-release single from a big-name album. In 2011, Beyonce's "Run ... More >>
Beach House shack up in Central Park
Roger Waters Yankee Stadium Friday, July 6 Better than: The Yanks taking three of four from the Red Sox. Size matters. Roger Waters proved this Friday night at Yankee Stadium when he put on his biggest-yet production of one of the biggest albums of all time, his former band Pink Floyd's double-LP ... More >>
It's a familiar scene to anyone who's seen VH1 programs like Behind The Music or Where Are They Now?, or the channel's endless lists of 'one-hit wonders' of the '80s and '90s: a musician whose brief fling with stardom is well behind them sits at the mixing desk of a studio, while the voiceover detai ... More >>
Superstar pals and Young Money labelmates Lil Wayne and Drake released two of the biggest albums of 2011Tha Carter IV and Take Careand both are still spinning off hits well into 2012. But a look at the singles charts reveals something odd: the biggest current hits off both albums aren' ... More >>
Finding the bright side of 2011
Smell that money burning. This concludes Sound of the City's year-end roundtable, a conversation about pop music in 2011 between Tom Ewing, Eric Harvey, Maura Johnston, Nick Murray, and Katherine St. Asaph. Read it all again. Thanks for the handoff, Nick, and thanks to Katherine, Tom and esp ... More >>
Here are my top 10 bouts of musical rage. If you disagree with me, I'll be furious! (10) "We're Not Gonna Take It"--Twisted Sister Infectious anger at its most rollicking. I always felt this song was the musical equivalent of "I'm mad as hell" from Network.
VH1 spent last week counting down what the channel, and its panel of celebrities and "experts," consider The 100 Greatest Songs of The '00s. They certainly haven't been the first to assemble such a listRolling Stone and Pitchfork and every blog under the sun had their say about two years ago, ... More >>
A few weeks ago, my colleague Chris Molanphy broke down how "Super Bass," the late-breaking crossover smash from Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday, presented a rare example of a hit album taking months to yield a top 10 single after moving major units out of the gate. But at the time, I was patiently ... More >>
Imagine if People named an actor "Sexiest [Gender] Alive" months before he or she had released a hit movie or TV show. It's not unthinkable, certainlythink back to the '90s and the Julia Ormonds and Skeet Ulrichs who scored Next Big Thing magazine covers before face-planting in a flop ... More >>
It's true. Pink Friday sold 44,000 copies this week to top the Billboard charts. It would've set a record for the worst-selling #1 record of all time, except Cake already hit that number in January, and last week Amos Lee ruled the charts by selling a mere 40,000. (Your 2011 one-week sales le ... More >>
Nicki, P!nk, Gaga, and those two other ones taste the rainbow
Attack of the singing rappers
Growing pain or total disaster? One fan and one non-fan hash it out.
If you happened to watch last night's American Music Awards, well, I'm very sorry. If you didn't, our good friend Maura provides an in-depth live-blog summary over at the Awl, but here's the gist: Justin Bieber reigned supreme, Katy Perry wandered so far off key she made Taylor Swift sound li ... More >>
RomanceLet's just say multiple members of the Voice critical braintrust are generating possibly dozens of hundreds of words about Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday even as you read this, and leave it at that -- we are excited, is all. Nicki herself, meanwhile, is ubiquitous. Her "If I'm Lucky I'll Fi ... More >>
Poppin' it so crazy kooky
Can this superhero save herself?Nicki Minaj has had quite the weekend. First came "Check It Out," a Buggles-sampling, will.i.am-featuring slice of zaniness that seems destined for Pink Friday, her long-gestating debut LP, currently due on November 23. Then came a marriage announcement via fro ... More >>
Because even though every one from P!nk to Marc Hogan to a decorated Boston media reporter/former colleague who is now a Northeastern University professor (!) has become compelled to weigh in, compiling the best of this particular musically inspired hashtag trend is too much to bear. That said, if ... More >>
Oh, National Enquirer. We knew exactly what to think of you (not much) until the day you broke the John Edwards love child story. (That was some good stuff!) And now, whenever you come out with the story of so-and-so's affair or drug addiction or secret baby lair, we wonder: Could you be tell ... More >>
On May 7, Katy Perry debuted "California Gurls," the first single from her forthcoming album, Teenage Dream. It was a cleverly-engineered, synchronized piece of pop craft--a classic no-chances move--and it had to be: there were things riding on this song. Things like the viability of Perry as a bo ... More >>
There must be a lot of celebrating going down in the old VW compound right about now. From yesterday's Q A in the Times, with Ghost and his manager Mike Caruso, an interview which took place inside a "parked S.U.V. around midnight recently": Q: Vampire Weekend is a group you said you liked. ... More >>
Pop insurgent Pink brings the circus to town
--Perez Hilton is suing Black Eyed Peas manager Polo Molina for battery and "infliction of emotional distress," after, you know, he got punched for calling Will.I.Am something homophobic. Hilton's lawyer said in a statement: "Whether you love Perez or hate him, he is entitled to his freedom of speec ... More >>
Kristen Kosmass new play concerns a girl with a death wish
Funhouse is the most energetic divorce record probably ever
Justin Timberlake reclaims his King of Arena Pop crown with nearly three hours of gleefully defied sexxlaws
Former teen heroine matures by offering crisis counseling to 10-year-olds
Upon taking wing, singer finds airways no walk in the park
Fuck you, Heidi Fleiss! Fuck you, Scott Weiland! Linda Non-Blonde Honey, see ya around
