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Dinosaur Jr. @ First Avenue
November 20, 2009 – 10:59 am | No Comment

The Amherst trio had towers of amps stacked up all over the stage, including one that was pointed directly towards front man J Mascis, in case his monitors weren’t providing him enough of his own guitar sound. And not having enough sound has never really been a problem for the group, and it certainly wasn’t on this evening as the band tore through a fiery 90 minute set that spanned the band’s entire career.

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Articles by Kyle Myhre

Refresher Course: Denizen Kane
November 19, 2009 – 10:21 am | No Comment
Refresher Course: Denizen Kane

While he may not get the blog-love or indie-rap nerd hype associated with a lot of other emcees these days, Denizen Kane has forged a strong career for himself on the strength of his unique delivery, creative lyricism and understanding that “hot beats and hot bars” shouldn’t be the end goal for hip hop acts—it should be the basic foundation off of which you can go into new and different places.

Culture Bully Asks: What Are Your Favorite Hidden Gems?
October 27, 2009 – 3:27 pm | 3 Comments
Culture Bully Asks: What Are Your Favorite Hidden Gems?

What are some of your favorite songs buried deep on an album by an artist not a lot of people even know about?

Interview with Sketch Tha Cataclysm
October 18, 2009 – 1:34 pm | 6 Comments
Interview with Sketch Tha Cataclysm

As a listener, it’s getting harder and harder to give new artists the benefit of the doubt. Everybody raps; and hardly anyone is worth a damn. Sketch, however, can SPIT. Long multisyllable chains, varying tempos, funny punchlines, heartfelt content; seeing him perform actually brought a smile to my face. It’s fun to be surprised…

Culture Bully Asks: What Are Your Favorite “Political” Songs?
October 13, 2009 – 2:33 pm | 19 Comments
Culture Bully Asks: What Are Your Favorite “Political” Songs?

What “political songs” do you appreciate the most?

How to Write About Hip Hop
September 26, 2009 – 5:29 pm | 5 Comments
How to Write About Hip Hop

I read a couple of great satirical pieces recently about how to write about Africa, and how to write about Muslims. This is an admittedly less serious topic, but something I think is worth pointing out. Finally, let me say two things: as an artist (one who has gotten a whole lot of great write-ups), this isn’t sour grapes—just some funny stuff I’ve noticed. And as a music writer myself, I’m guilty of some of this too. Again, just some stuff I’ve noticed.

Best of the Decade: Melodic Hip Hop Pop
September 21, 2009 – 10:45 am | 4 Comments
Best of the Decade: Melodic Hip Hop Pop

It’s been called “post-rap,” it’s been called “hip popm” and it’s been called “hey why won’t that OutKast guy just shut up and rap?” But no matter how you file it at the record store, it’s a relatively new genre of music that finds hip hop artists singing and experimenting with polished pop/soul/rock music, often (though not always) over hip hop beats.

El-P “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” (Best of the Decade)
September 16, 2009 – 12:00 pm | 6 Comments
El-P “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” (Best of the Decade)

To me, this is indie hip hop’s OK Computer. It’s that good.

Culture Bully Asks: Where My Ladies At?
September 15, 2009 – 12:15 pm | 19 Comments
Culture Bully Asks: Where My Ladies At?

…Who are your favorite female-identified hip hop artists?…

Saul Williams “Saul Williams” (Best of the Decade)
September 11, 2009 – 11:06 am | 4 Comments
Saul Williams “Saul Williams” (Best of the Decade)

While his other albums all have worthwhile tracks, Williams has never sounded so focused; his self-titled album isn’t a spoken-word masterpiece—it’s just a masterpiece.

Erykah Badu “Mama’s Gun” (Best of the Decade)
September 9, 2009 – 2:00 pm | No Comment
Erykah Badu “Mama’s Gun” (Best of the Decade)

An album that deftly combines the spiritual with the political with the personal, Mama’s Gun deserves a place in the soul music canon right next to the best albums from Marvin, Stevie and the rest.

Regina Spektor “Begin to Hope” (Best of the Decade)
September 8, 2009 – 5:33 pm | No Comment
Regina Spektor “Begin to Hope” (Best of the Decade)

It doesn’t succeed despite its eccentricities; it succeeds because of them.

The Postal Service “Give Up” (Best of the Decade)
September 3, 2009 – 2:45 pm | One Comment
The Postal Service “Give Up” (Best of the Decade)

It’s the perfect soundtrack to a society that’s either evolving into something new or destroying itself, maybe both.