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NICK SYLVESTER

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Punk rock redux

Blood on the Wall pump out the nostalgia
Try reimagining early punk as some physically intense and massively popular athletic contest.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | April 01, 2008

Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox takes a solo shot
Bradford Cox reminds me of my man Polyphemus — not just the one Odysseus conned in the cave but the one posted up in the countryside and pining in song for the sea nymph Galatea.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | February 19, 2008

Pop in a hard place

Black Dice’s Load Blown
The norms Black Dice resist are significant and strong and worth resisting.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | December 16, 2008

Burial

Untrue | Hyperdub
Dubstep has been given its Dizzee Rascal moment with the release of Burial’s Untrue , the elusive London producer’s second album.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | December 26, 2007

Brooklyn calling

Good music in the outer borough
Below are new sounds from four very different Brooklyn acts.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | December 10, 2007

Peanut Butter Wolf Presents 2K8: B-Ball Zombie War

Stones throw
Stones Throw’s latest label comp, 2K8 , celebrates the indie hip-hop imprint’s deal with 2K8 Sports, who put out all those 2K video games for Xbox and PlayStation.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | December 03, 2007

FARC

Stuff you've never heard and "Fuck A Record Company"
You’ve probably heard of two of the “indie” hip-hop artists below, even if they’re bypassing trad distribution models and just giving away their music.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | November 19, 2007

Far into the Future

Tim Sweeney's nighttime playlist
Almost every Tuesday night, New York DJ/producer Tim Sweeney live-mixes disco, house, electro, and offshoots and recombinants thereof.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | October 08, 2007

Résumé: Selected + Mixed by Citizen Crew

Citizen
The French labels Kitsune, Ed Banger, and Institubes have clogged dance bins with aggro, monochromatic, twitchy filter metal.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | October 08, 2007

Chicago-based experimental

The year of Kranky
Rarely is one label responsible for so many of the year’s best releases.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | September 24, 2007

Culture clash

M.I.A. confronts American pop protocol
If there were two golden rules worth following for this reviewer gig, they’d be never conflate an artist’s backstory with her product, and never read other people’s reviews.

By: NICK SYLVESTER | September 05, 2007

The dark side of the rainbow

The new medium of the YouTube mash-up
Does the simple fusion of audio to video count as high-quality entertainment?

By: NICK SYLVESTER | August 29, 2007

Common

Finding Forever | Geffen
Can you fault a Second City 35-year-old Gap-shilling rapper for wanting to make elevator hip-hop for Second City 35-year-old Gap-wearing yuppies?

By: NICK SYLVESTER | August 14, 2007

Not better off dead

Art Brut find their way in the post-punk world
Three years ago, London’s Art Brut debuted with a punk-rock song called “Formed a Band.”

By: NICK SYLVESTER | June 12, 2007

Sonic couth

Deerhunter and Seefeel bring the right noise
Music is more or less a mess of tensions. Deerhunter, "Wash Off" (mp3)

By: NICK SYLVESTER | June 04, 2007

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