By 1993 grunge was everywhere, but The Smashing Pumpkins never really sounded like anyone else. Hailing from Chicago, it’s not hard to think that these four college rockers made a conscious effort to separate themselves from whatever the hell was going on in Seattle. While other bands turned their amps up to 11 and screamed…
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Elliott Smith’s debut album Roman Candle begins the way a lot of his later albums began – a simple strumming guitar. Although the sounds of the guitars are soft, the lyrics have a bite. “I want to hurt him, I want to give him pain,” scathes Elliott toward an unnamed oppressor on “Roman Candle.” This…
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Between First Aid Kit’s country-tinged melodies and not-so-subtle references to Robert Frost, it’s obvious that Swedish-born sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg have a special affection for Western culture. They’ve never been ashamed to flaunt their influences — after all, their stunning 2008 cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” was their initial launch pad to stardom. But…
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Lana Del Rey is the alter ego of musician Lizzy Grant. Ultraviolence is the second album from the 28 year old chanteuse, whose breakthrough 2012 album Born to Die reached number 2 on the Billboard Top 200. Born to Die was a popular album, but not a fully actualized one. Riding off of the success…
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Joy Division is a band shrouded with mystery. They popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, made some songs, and then fizzled out before the world could really appreciate the music that they created. Their music was very unlike what was popular during the time period (late 1970s), and their vision was not fully actualized before…
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