The Summer Vibes on MAX’s Newest Track Will Have You Wishing This Season Never Ends
MAX This week: “Acid Dreams” by MAX & Felly (Colour Vision Records, 2019) Why we’re into it: MAX’s sound has always been upbeat, but “Acid Dreams” finally puts that energy into a track that’s both for the dance floor and a picnic in the park. MAX’s music is defined by its smoothness. Maybe it’s his vocals—which occupy…
On the Road with the Black Pumas
The Black Pumas are a heavy-grooving soul-rock band from Austin that came together around the collaboration of big-hearted singer Eric Burton and Grammy-winning guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada. Quesada has a rich background playing and producing soul, funk, and Latin music, and he earned his Grammy as a member of Grupo Fantasma in 2010. (The…
Leave It to Gay Icon L Devine to Write a Song About Being Horny
L Devine This week: “Naked Alone” by L Devine (Warner Records, 2019) Why we’re into it: Groovy and sexy, Devine’s newest single is a reminder of the pop star’s talent for finding universality in the specifics. When she made her Mother Jones debut back in January with her heart-wrenching—and very gay—track “Daughter,” Olivia Devine proved to us…
In Martin Scorsese’s “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story,” the Masks Drop, and the Women Disappear
Circuit Films/Zuma Around the midway point of Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story, now out on Netflix, the actress Sharon Stone tells a story. It seems that at some point in 1975, Stone had been invited to tag along with Bob Dylan and crew on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour. She would…
On the Road With Lee Fields & The Expressions
With the release last month of It Rains Love, one of his most nuanced and hypnotically grooving albums yet, Lee Fields is celebrating 50 years as a soul journeyman. Fields, who has deep roots in the golden era of funk and soul, paved the way for artists like Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley—he counts them…
Bach, Don’t Kill My Vibe: Can Podcaster Cole Cuchna “Bridge the Gap” Between Classical Music and Hip Hop?
Kelsey Dake; Photo: F. Sadou/Admedia/ZumaOn March 15, 2015, Kendrick Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly, a jazz-infused exploration of black culture, racial inequality, and personal transformation that went on to win several Grammys. Early the next morning in Sacramento, California, 33-year-old Cole Cuchna sat in a rocking chair calming his day-old daughter, Mabel. As the…