
I think of metal and its various forms only peripherally, as some other tribe's music, acknowledged as valid yet neither understood nor experienced from the outside. But because metal rose in the sixties and seventies, a warped response to blues rock and the psychedelics that raised intensity to a level previously unheard, I have always known it; its culture is largely unchanged in nature, focusing on a core fashion and the shared experience of the live event, even as it attracts new generations. And, as within our ever-popular 2009 exploration of Punk through coverage , though [...]
Covers of songs like Drop It Like It's Hot, Gin and Juice, Who Am I? (What's My Name?) to celebrate the legend's 39th!
Without a doubt, one of my favorite columns to write is the D.I.Y. Ethic missives. We at the Ripple, just can’t tip our hats high enough to salute all the D.I.Y. musicians who strive against spellbinding odds to pursue their music. Much respect. So today, we’re gonna run through five stellar D.I.Y. projects that are truly head and shoulders above the pack. Pay them some attention. Jason Ager & The C.O.P.O – Lunchdate [...]
The first post of the month features covers of every track on a famous album. Got an idea for a future pick? Leave a note in the comments! London Calling entered into the world in December 1979, but didn’t make its stateside debut for another month. That makes 2010 the album’s 30th Anniversary on this side of the pond. It’s aged well. While many classic albums sound very much of their time -
Cover Commissions is a monthly series in which a featured artist covers a reader-selected song for this blog. Any artists interested in participating, email me at the address on the right.When Blondie released “Heart of Glass” in 1979, the New Wave pioneers were accused of abandoning their roots for the emerging disco sound. For once the critics may have a point, since the tune was written as a

We have a rather charming acoustic number for you today from Hollywood-based artist Brady Harris. 'Drunk With You' is taken from his forthcoming album Acoustic Rewind (set for release on December 22nd). "Former frontman for the Replacements-inspired Solid Goldsteins, Brady Harris' solo career has diverged from his previous work into a sound altogether more indicative of his Texas roots. Bearing considerable vocal resemblance to John Lennon, Harris crafts moody country-rock with a hard pop edge. Strongly melodic with a confident wit, he [...]
Cover Commissions is a monthly series in which a featured artist produces a special cover for this blog. The song to be covered is usually chosen by blog readers via a poll or suggestions form. Any artists interested in participating in a future installment, please email me at the address on the right.We’ve fallen a bit behind on our Cover Commissions her at Cover Me, but we’re not about to let
In the music world, Dr. Dre must have the highest influence-per-album ratio this side of the Sex Pistols. He dropped The Chronic in 1992, 2001 in 1999 and Detox in…well, don’t hold your breath. The man can be forgiven for turning his third album into hip-hop’s Chinese Democracy though. After all, it takes time to produce practically every hip-hop hit of the past twenty years. Dr. Dre
Yesterday Retro Music Snob made a sneaky return to action after being on indefinite hiatus since November. It was definitely a welcome surprise to suddenly see familiar updates coming up on the ol' RSS feed. For the uninitiated, the Retro Music Snob provides an almost unrelenting stream of constant updates pointing out quality music across the blogosphere with bonus points for having an eye for cover songs. I think of it as a kind of human-curated Hype Machine, weeding out the chaff and digging up the gems. Full disclosure: he's linked to Fong Songs [...]