Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City and formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley (drums) followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, rounding out the core line-up. Jim O'Rourke was also a member of the band from 1999 to 2005, and Mark Ibold was a member from 2006 to 2011.
Robert Thomas Christgau is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."
Land of Dreams the eighth studio album by Randy Newman, Released in 1988, the album features vignettes of his childhood in New Orleans.
Electric Version is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers. It was released on Matador Records and Mint Records on May 6, 2003.
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper The Village Voice and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year absence from the Voice, each year from 1974 onward. The polls are tabulated from the submitted year-end top 10 lists of hundreds of music critics. It was named in acknowledgement of the defunct magazine Jazz & Pop, and adopted the ratings system used in that publication's annual critics poll.
Controversy is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released on October 14, 1981 by Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Prince, written by him, and he also performed most of the instruments on its recording.
Los Angeles is the debut studio album by American rock band X, released on April 26, 1980, by Slash Records. It was produced by ex-Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song "Soul Kitchen".
Rather Ripped is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 13, 2006, by Geffen Records. It was the band's first album following the departure of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who had joined as a fifth member in 1999. Unlike its immediate predecessors, the album was produced by John Agnello and recorded at Sear Sound in New York City, the same studio where the band's 1994 album, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, was recorded. It also completed Sonic Youth's contract with Geffen, which released the band's previous eight records.
The Roches is the 1979 eponymous debut trio album by The Roches, produced by Robert Fripp, who also plays guitar and Fripperies. Also playing on the album are Tony Levin and Jimmy Maelen.
Squeezing Out Sparks is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Graham Parker and his band the Rumour. The album was released in March 1979. Although the Rumour were not credited on the cover, their name was included on the album label.
The Moldy Peaches is the debut album by American indie rock band The Moldy Peaches. It was primarily recorded in a basement in Port Townsend, Washington and was released in 2001. The album has the dubious distinction of being released in the U.S. on September 11, 2001, the date of the attacks on the World Trade Center, while coincidentally featuring a song called "NYC's Like a Graveyard".
Song X is a collaborative studio album by American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It is a free jazz record that was produced in a three-day recording session in 1985. The album was released in June 1986 by Geffen Records.
Volume One is the first album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and singer/songwriter and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.
Actor is the second album by musician St. Vincent, released by 4AD on May 4, 2009, in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States. Annie Clark was influenced by scores to films by Disney and Woody Allen. To prevent writer's block, Clark watched films without the sound and composed music for her favorite scenes. After arranging the music using GarageBand, she then wrote lyrics and added gentle vocal melodies.
"House of Jealous Lovers" is a song by American indie rock band the Rapture. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album, Echoes, in March 2002, through DFA Records in the US and Output Recordings in the UK. It was eventually re-released in 2003.
"Digital Witness" is the second single from St. Vincent, the eponymous fourth album by American musician St. Vincent. It was released with another single, "Birth in Reverse", on a gold vinyl triangle packaged with the album. The song, whose lyrics deal with dependence on social media, and its music video have both received positive attention from critics. Darkside produced a remix soon after the song's release.
"Two Weeks" is a song by English singer FKA Twigs from her debut studio album, LP1 (2014). The song was released digitally on 24 June 2014 as the album's lead single. It was also released on 12-inch vinyl on 29 July 2014, featuring the song "Pendulum" as a B-side.
Rips is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Ex Hex. It was released on October 7, 2014 by Merge Records.
"Seasons (Waiting on You)" is a song by American synthpop band Future Islands. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album Singles, and was released as the album's lead single on February 4, 2014. The song received much critical acclaim, topping The Village Voice's annual year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll and also being named the best track of 2014 by publications such as NME, Pitchfork, and Spin. In 2019, it was named the 34th best song of the 2010s by Pitchfork, and was ranked 94th on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2010s.
"On the Regular" is a song recorded by American musician Shamir. It was released by XL Recordings on October 28, 2014. "On the Regular" is also featured on Shamir's 2015 debut album Ratchet.
