King 20/20 “CMFRTBL” Self-released king2020music.bandcamp.com If there is one thing I take away from the alternative hip-hop album “CMFRTBL,” it’s that King 20/20 is an open, honest rapper. Much of the record feels like a heated discussion between him and me around the dinner table- it’s that relatable. In 14 tracks, he tackles today’s mental, […]
Hip-hop
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘Letters’
Gary Lamaar “Letters” Self-released garylamaar.bandcamp.com Hip-hop generally uses vocal patterns that find themselves thrust upon our consciousness by its driving, underlying, and in most cases, unrelenting beat. This internal beat, and the bed of music where it resides, helps drive home the message, whatever it may be. Rochester musician Gary Lamaar deftly applies this with […]
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘Live From The Metropolitan’
Claude Bennington’s Fever Dream “Live From The Metropolitan” Self-released facebook.com/claudebenningtonsfeverdream “Live From The Metropolitan” is an intriguing calling card, a fitting first impression for those previously unfamiliar with the quintet Claude Bennington’s Fever Dream. One of Rochester’s most exciting emergent acts, the group creates a charming hybrid of hip-hop and jazz that’s never forced and […]
Posted inMusic
Musicians fight back: protest songs from the first year of Trump
It’s been a long year since election night 2016, but musicians across the country have been saying “fuck that.” Check out a playlist of protest songs curated by alt-weeklies
Posted inMusic
Twenty-five years in the life of Arrested Development
Few bands have had a better start than Arrested Development did in 1992, when its debut album, “3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life of…,” sold four million copies and earned the group two Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone named Arrested Development its band of the year, and film director Spike Lee asked […]
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘F*CK Ya Feelings’
Golden “F*CK Ya Feelings” Self-released golden585.bandcamp.com Rochester emcee Golden is impressively armored with lethal lyrical dexterity and an upbeat, free-flowing delivery. “F*CK Ya Feelings,” Golden’s latest release, is a product of an artist’s vision made without the normal calculated process; this is more of an impulsive, uninhibited creation. After finding some unused beats, “I decided […]
Posted inMusic
Album review: ‘Finally, I Can Vibe’
MdotCoop “Finally, I Can Vibe” D.E.L.I. Entertainment mdotcoop.com Emcee and D.E.L.I. Entertainment founder MdotCoop has thoroughly woven himself into his new full-length, “Finally, I Can Vibe” — and you can definitely vibe to these tracks. From the intro to the end, this record puts you into some dimly lit, after-hours house party somewhere in Rochester. […]
Posted inMusic
Rapper Moses Rockwell is still discovering himself
There’s a bit-o-mystery to Moses Rockwell and the things he does … even to the man himself.
Posted inMusic
MC Lars can’t quit
For more than 10 years, Andrew Nielsen — a.k.a. MC Lars — the self-proclaimed originator of "post-punk laptop rap,” has been an underground hip-hop mainstay with satirical, funny songs. The California-born rapper has also tossed aside the negativity associated with certain subgenres of hip-hop and replaced it with good karma — he’s climbing the ladder […]
Posted inMusic
Deaf musician Sean Forbes shines optimistic in his hip-hop
Sean Forbes is a rapper. A good one, too. But that, in and of itself, isn’t all that extraordinary. That is until you consider the fact that this young artist can’t hear what he’s doing. Sean Forbes is deaf. It’s a perplexing dichotomy that precedes him: a deaf rapper. What is admirable about Forbes is […]
Posted inMusic
Ambassadors to the rabbit hole
Sometimes a band gets caught up in its own secular spirituality and winds up crowding the vibe. It’s a delicate balance between message and music. Syracuse’s Sophistafunk puts forth a heavy groove that rivals pants-less fun, but there is also a seriousness in the minimalist attack, a sense of responsibility for the privilege of […]
Posted inMusic
Who catches what
There’s no mistake. You can distinctly hear Fran Broderick in all of his projects: the casual gravel and grind of his voice, his broad, chunky attack on the acoustic guitar, and lyrics that swing from the personally bittersweet to the flat-out hysterical. You may recognize Broderick from his work with Friday in America. You may […]
