The new year is almost here, and with it comes a maelstrom of “End of the Year Lists.†Here on Ex-Spectator, I’ll be rolling out a few “End of the Yearâ€/â€End of the Decade†lists. Today’s list: The Best Overlooked Albums of the Aughts. A while back I started an ongoing feature called “Overlooked in … [Read more…]
It was indeed “A Decade Under The Influence.†But while Taking Back Sunday could string together a few solid hits drenched in a post-hardcore milieu and cut with pop sensibilities, chances are no one in the band could have predicted how influential emo would become in the aughts. The presence of the word in the … [Read more…]
As mentioned in a previous post, P.O.S. (otherwise known as Stefon Alexander) was just in town to perform at Harper’s Ferry in support of his newest album, Never Better. I interviewed Alexander via email for Bostonist in time for his visit. Of course, as curious as ever, I asked about emo-rap. Here’s the skinny: The … [Read more…]
In a slightly tangential continuation on from the previous post, I’ve stumbled upon even more riveting recent hip-hop releases. Or, in the case of The Streets, soon-to-be-released…. Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, was a huge surprise coming out of the UK. Back in high school when I picked up the Streets’ first release, 2002’s Original … [Read more…]