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ANDREW GRAHAM

Latest Articles

How To Dress Well | Total Loss

Acephale (2012)
To the casual ear, there might not be a dramatic difference between Tom Krell's debut album (2010's Love Remains) and Total Loss, his potent new collection of ethereal hymns.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | September 12, 2012

Frank Ocean | Channel Orange

Def Jam (2012)
Since the ’80s, when R&B began to lean more heavily on the candid bling-and-booty-centric tropes championed by its plain-speaking hip-hop cousins, the music’s subtlety, nuance, and imagination have faded.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | July 24, 2012

Chromatics | Kill For Love

Italians Do It Better (2012)
Chromatics fans have become very familiar with the sensation of anticipation, almost to the point of numbness.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | April 24, 2012

Cubic Zirconia | Follow Your Heart

Fool's Gold (2011)
Tiombe Lockhart has been hustling her hot vocal talents for an indie-neo-soul minute now, dropping arresting guest spots with PPP, Waajeed, and Kingdom.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | October 25, 2011

Balam Acab | Wander/Wonder

Tri Angle (2011)
"Witch house" isn't the best tag for an act to get saddled with straight out of the gate, and when Balam Acab's first EP, See Birds, dropped about a year ago, that term had less of its current flash-in-the-pan feel.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | September 27, 2011

Chromatics | Night Drive

Italians Do It Better (2010)
Independent Italo-disco throwback record label Italians Do It Better is rooted as deeply in punk-rock DIY as it is in dance 12-inches from the '70s and drugged-out '80s club-night afterparties.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | November 16, 2010

How To Dress Well | Love Remains

Lefse Records (2010)
In the dreamy, spacious world of How To Dress Well (one-man band Tom Krell), everything is light: the tone, the production, the vocals, the touch of each aural element.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | November 02, 2010

Salem | King Night

IAMSOUND (2010)
In the beginning, there was Screw: the DJ from Houston whose slow and stuttering technique spawned a new musical subgenre.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | October 19, 2010

Chromeo | Business Casual

Atlantic (2010)
As far as genres go, the '80s-influenced synth-pop revival is a modestly populated one.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | September 22, 2010

Review: Camu Tao | King of Hearts

Fat Possum (2010)
Using hip-hop tools to create pop isn't a new tactic, but it's not often done well, or even notably.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | September 07, 2010

Doom | Born Like This

Lex (2009)
It's been more than three years since the infamous masked rap anti-hero Doom dropped an album — a long time for any musician, and an eternity in the mercurial, often fickle world of hip-hop.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | April 21, 2009

Roots Manuva | Slime and Reason

Big Dada/Ninja Tune (2008)
The richest fruit of British rap’s gestation period is the growing catalogue of Roots Manuva.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | October 15, 2008

David Banner

The Greatest Story Ever Told | Motown
It would be a stronger statement if it weren’t for the conflicting cornerstones of conscientious-rapper soapboxing and standard-issue gangsta themes he’s laid at its foundation.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | July 22, 2008

Chromeo

Fancy Footwork | Vice
It’s no surprise that their sweet sophomore-sleeper-turned-instant-classic is being reissued with extras.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | July 01, 2008

Akrobatik

Absolute Value | Fat Beats
One of the hallmarks of Akrobatik’s style has always been his sincerity.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | February 26, 2008

Mike Ladd

Nostalgialator | Definitive Jux
“Fuck it, it’s a mind set,” Mike Ladd notes amid a dense verbal and aural barrage titled “Trouble Shot.”

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | January 28, 2008

Boys Noize

Oi Oi Oi | Last Gang
Aficionados and connoisseurs of dance music qua dance music will find Oi Oi Oi a potent, concentrated dose of the undiluted pure stuff.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | January 07, 2008

DJ Drama

Gangsta Grillz: The Album | Atlantic
The West Coast is conspicuously under-represented.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | December 26, 2007

Justice

† | Vice
Vice like the magazine or Vice like Miami?

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | August 20, 2007

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