Music
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Habeas Whitney
The one that got me was a torso shot. There were a bunch of them published even before she died, frantic paparazzi pictures of Whitney Houston leaving last night’s party.
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Rumpus Sound Takes: Cosmic Range
Reverb and other effects make Angel Olsen’s voice, accompanied only by guitar, sound otherworldly on Strange Cacti.
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Aural Fixations, The Rumpus Mixtape #11: Conversation Hearts
Conversation Hearts Two Words. Infinite Meanings. True Love. Missed Connections. 50% Divorce. First Date. Happy Nights. Sad Days. Star Crossed. Wedded Bliss. Bad Breakup. Holding Hands. Making Out. Great Sex. Poly Love.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #34: Excesses of Penis
The early, formative period of rock and roll criticism produced three great and indelible voices, three voices that have gone on to influence every writer who has written about popular music in the years since. Those three voices belong to…
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The Rumpus Interview with Luke Rathborne
Maine-born, Brookyln-based musician Luke Rathborne is still in his early 20s, but he is already off to a promising start. Rathborne has opened for the Strokes and played with Devendra Banhart, among other accolades.
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Aural Fixations, The Rumpus Mixtape #10: Making a Pie
Making a Pie (Instructions for Pie and Life) 1. The act of reading poetry is a fine thing to incorporate. Begin, say, with Cornelius Eady’s “Gratitude” and take it from there.
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The Rumpus Interview with Chelsea Wolfe
California native Chelsea Wolfe has returned, after her first album, The Grime and the Glow, to the aural world with Ἀποκάλυψις, pronounced “Apokalypsis.”
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Aural Fixations, The Rumpus Mixtape #9: Chilly Scenes of Winter
You can see the architecture of things in winter. Structures glisten. Naked trees drip with clear popsicles. We find ourselves alone with ourselves. Everyone else has gone away to someplace warmer/better/more fun or else they are tucked indoors. Even…
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The Rumpus Interview with Momus
Since the early 1980’s, the 51 year old Scottish musician/writer/provocateur Nicholas Currie, better known as Momus, has been releasing music (his latest album, Hypnoprism, was his 18th) to varying levels of critical and commercial success. Since the 1990’s, he has…
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Rumpus Sound Takes: California Bubble Pop
Ty Segall Goodbye Bread (Drag City) Orange County native Ty Segall weaves garage, surf, glam, and psychedelic rock into a collage that plays as self-consciously with its sources as any post-1960s folk music.
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R.I.P. Etta James
Etta James has passed away at the age of 73. The New Yorker reflects on her life and songs. The Awl pays tribute with this playlist.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #33: The Sweet Spot
For an entire decade, between 1975 and 1985, Brian Eno could do no wrong. In fact, even for the four or five years before 1975 he could do no wrong.