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DANIEL BROCKMAN

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The Varsity Girls aim for pop stardom

Making the cut
By the time I arrive at their Lowell recording studio to talk to the teenage pop/R&B dynamos Varsity Girls, it's almost 10 pm, and I'm expecting to encounter an exhausted group of studio-tanned kids burned out after a full day of singing and more singing.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | January 04, 2011

Eleven discs to listen for early 2011

James Blake, PJ Harvey, Cut Copy lead the way
James Blake, PJ Harvey, Cut Copy lead '11

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 29, 2010

2010: The Year In Pop Music

A schizophrenic year of rock and pop
Music may exist to express emotions, dreams, and nightmares, but beyond its loftier aims, it's a means of escape.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 21, 2010

Motörhead | The World Is Yours

EMI (2010)
The Myth of Lemmy is one of speedfreak exuberance fashioned into a lean, mean machine of blackened annihilation.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 15, 2010

Pre-Weezer: The Metal Years

Rivers' edge
Rivers' edge

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 07, 2010

Weezer: The Early Years

Rivers Cuomo reflects on the making of 'Blue' and Pinkerton
When Rivers Cuomo, Weezer wunderkind and Harvard-educated overachiever, sets his mind to something, he is nothing if not meticulous.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 07, 2010

Ke$ha | Cannibal

RCA (2010)
As club banger "Blow" crescendos, incendiary brat and cultural irritant Ke$ha intones, "We are taking over — get used to it!"

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 07, 2010

Deadmau5 | 4x4=12

Ultra (2010)
The world of the superstar DJ is not dissimilar to that of the superstar architect.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 30, 2010

Brandon Flowers and the evolution of a pop-star Killer

The Flamingo kid
Rock stars are often seen, culturally, as wolves in sheeps' clothing, seducing and subverting once they have gotten their fangs into the hearts of music listeners, using their Pied Piper powers of coercion to ensnare innocent ears and radicalize minds with their unholy aims.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 23, 2010

Kanye West | My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Roc-A-Fella Records (2010)
Amid the zapping prog-lift of the vaguely Nietzschean "Power," the lead single from his fifth album and magnum opus, Kanye tosses off the casual self-platitude "Every superhero needs his theme music."

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 16, 2010

Holy Grail: 187-riff salute

Shredding along a tighter metal path
Most metal bands have no difficulty in shredding, and shredding mightily.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 16, 2010

Grinderman help liberate some bad seeds

Cave in
Whatever you want to call it, don't call it a midlife crisis.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 09, 2010

Rihanna | Loud

Def Jam (2010)
Let's be honest here: the average human doesn't care about RiRi's need to express her artistic personality through music and would be more psyched if it were just 11 versions of "Don't Stop the Music."

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 09, 2010

Brian Eno | Small Craft on a Milk Sea

Warp (2010)
Brian Eno is a man, flesh and bone, who talks and farts and sleeps and listens to things and presses buttons.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | November 02, 2010

Review: oOoOO | oOoOO

Tri Angle (2010)
As much as I love a solid song or a monstrous riff, I will always tip my hat to those at the fringes of the music world ...

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 26, 2010

Black Mountain scale various rock influences

Psychedelic heights
If, as they say, talent borrows and genius steals, then Vancouver rock collective Black Mountain do a bit of both.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 26, 2010

Kylesa tell a simpler story

Shaking off the crust
Savannah crust-metal collective Kylesa have opted to keep the mythic in the music alone, searing ears with a widescreen two-drummer assault that's both pummeling and haunting.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 19, 2010

Matt Pike and High on Fire sludge forward

Slow burn
There are, really, just two types of rock legends: those who try hard to find the rocker within them, and those who are born rockers.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 19, 2010

Die Antwoord's Ninja's zef squad

The brazen frontman talks the talk
Some artists figure out their signature style through a slow organic process.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 18, 2010

M.I.A.: Fixing the glitch

And talking the talk
Monday night, mid-set on stage at Royale, it almost seemed like Maya Arulpragasam, a/k/a M.I.A., had had it.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 06, 2010

Dead Kennedys walking

East Bay Ray defends a punk-rock legacy
"Every artist is a business." If you're a fan of the legendary and incendiary punk band Dead Kennedys, you'd probably be dismayed to hear those words exit the lips of guitarist and band co-founder Ray Pepperell, a/k/a East Bay Ray.

By: DANIEL BROCKMAN | October 08, 2010