Contributor
415 items by Jon Dolan
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"Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live)" | SONG REVIEW
Performed in Ecuador (born for the Internet), this embodies the kind of slimy pop serendipity that would make Kurt laugh, and then cry, and then laugh again (then sleep, probably). Miley may have the least Cobain-ian...
May 10, 2011 1:45 PM ET -
Turtleneck & Chain | ALBUM REVIEW
Five years since "Dick in a Box" forever changed our idea of dicks, boxes and Justin Timberlake, SNL's pop-parody trio show no sign of running out of impossibly brilliant half-jokes. Their consistently great second disc combines...
May 10, 2011 12:30 AM ET -
Goblin | ALBUM REVIEW
"I'm not a fucking role model, I know this/I'm a 19-year-old fucking emotional coaster with pipe dreams," Tyler, the Creator raps on Goblin. That would be putting it lightly: With his pension for horrific lyrics, on-stage outrageousness...
May 10, 2011 12:25 AM ET -
Stone Rollin’ | ALBUM REVIEW
On 2008's The Way I See It, former Tony! Toni! Toné! frontman and current Malcolm X look-alike Raphael Saadiq did a spot-on impression of Motown circa 1965, defying retro-soul's bias for Seventies babymaking mush. Some have called...
May 10, 2011 12:20 AM ET -
Santigold feat. Karen O, 'Go' | BLOG ENTRY
Hipster siren Santigold has said her new single is about "the new American Dream." If said dream includes Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O getting her Interplanetary Warrior Priestess on over an electro-punk track you can jump-rope to,...
May 6, 2011 1:06 PM ET -
"Ballin'" | SONG REVIEW
Jeezy's last album was called The Recession. On his new single, the recovery is in full swing: "I'm on them Diddys, spendin' dirty money," he raps over a razor-sharp beat. Not to be out-balled, Weezy offers,...
May 6, 2011 9:15 AM ET -
"Go" | SONG REVIEW
Hipster siren Santigold has said her new single is about "the new American Dream." If said dream includes Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O getting her Interplanetary Warrior Priestess on over an electro-punk track you can jump-rope...
May 4, 2011 9:20 AM ET -
"Holdin On to Black Metal" | SONG REVIEW
"Oh Black Metal you're so misunderstood," Jim James sings on this ode to Lucifer's favorite racket. Putting any actual metal in a song about metal would be way too obvious for these genre-bending Southern boys. So...
April 26, 2011 1:16 PM ET -
Walls | ALBUM REVIEW
An Horse may be grammatically challenged, but singer-guitarist Kate Cooper and drummer Damon Cox sure know how to re-purpose two generations of girl-powered indie pop. The Australian duo's second disc recalls the trance-y college rock of Throwing...
April 26, 2011 12:20 AM ET -
Don't Turn Out the Lights | SONG REVIEW
To boy-band fans, New Kids on the Block getting together with the Backstreet Boys is like Moses teaming up with Jesus. And the gut-sucking supergroup's debut track is blue-eyed dance-pop whoosh. Every Boy and Kid gets...
April 19, 2011 9:30 AM ET -
"Judas" | SONG REVIEW
From its drone-smeared synth throb to its bizarro hook, Gaga's latest club-crusher is a feistier monster than "Born This Way." A bad-romance confessional about a lover she can't leave behind, "Judas" is Gaga in full-on...
April 18, 2011 12:43 PM ET -
"End to the Lies" | SONG REVIEW
Getting the newest edition of Jane's Addiction off the ground hasn't been easy: Former Guns n' Roses bassist Duff McKagan recently quit the band after just six months. He was replaced by TV on...
April 18, 2011 9:25 AM ET -
TV on the Radio, 'Nine Types of Light' | BLOG ENTRY
On 2008's Dear Science, these Brooklyn artistes brought twitchy dance rock with an apocalyptic edge. Well, the end of all things must've been pretty bitchin', because the follow-up is pure heaven. "I'm optimistic, on overload," they sing.
April 13, 2011 3:00 PM ET -
Rockpango | ALBUM REVIEW
The Texacan lite rock of Los Lonely Boys' 2004 hit "Heaven" seemed built to last. But then hard times followed: Drummer Ringo Garza and his bassist brother, JoJo, ran into trouble with the law; and two follow-up...
April 13, 2011 10:40 AM ET -
Nine Types of Light | ALBUM REVIEW
On 2008's Dear Science, these Brooklyn artistes brought twitchy dance rock with an apocalyptic edge. Well, the end of all things must've been pretty bitchin', because the follow-up is pure heaven. "I'm optimistic, on overload," they...
April 12, 2011 12:35 AM ET -
Who You Are | ALBUM REVIEW
This 23-year-old Londoner is being hailed as "the U.K.'s answer to Lady Gaga," which might say more about the U.K.'s desire to answer to Lady Gaga than it does about Jessica Ellen Cornish. She's got a...
April 12, 2011 12:25 AM ET -
"Benediction" | SONG REVIEW
The lead track from Moore's Beck-produced solo record is strikingly tranquil – an acoustic rendering of a classic Sonic Youth chord progression and sweet singing. Sea Change-like flourishes subtly let you feel Beck's presence. Listen to "Benediction":
April 8, 2011 7:30 AM ET -
"Cardiac Arrest" | SONG REVIEW
While her fellow Swedes Teddybears make frothy disco rock, Robyn coyly disses a drugged-up young woman. Call it a pinch of arsenic in a tequila shot. Listen to "Cardiac Arrest":
April 7, 2011 7:45 AM ET -
"Chillin' " | SONG REVIEW
The last leak from Dre's eternally forthcoming Detox was "I Need a Doctor," a hard-rocker featuring Eminem that made Dre's return seem not just imminent but urgent. With "Chillin' " (as yet unconfirmed for Detox), Dre returns...
April 1, 2011 11:05 AM ET -
Rolling Papers | ALBUM REVIEW
Ben Franklin had his lightning bolt. Newton had his apple. For Wiz Khalifa, the aha! moment must have come when he realized the words "green," "blow," "rollin' " and "paper" all applied to both marijuana and money....
March 29, 2011 12:45 AM ET
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