Heartless Bastards have made a living working within the confines of blues-influenced hard rock by injecting a slightly more contemporary energy into the muscle of their best songs. There’s little doubt lead singer Erika Wennerstrom...
Read More →In January of 2009, I was frantically trying to figure out how write about music for the first incarnation of my website Speed of the Pittsburgh Sound. I was searching for a local band deemed...
Read More →As the lead singer, songwriter, and major creative force behind world-indie-music purveyors Beirut, Zach Condon is the sort of musician wunderkind who can inspire awe and jealousy in  equal measure. He possesses a casually incredible...
Read More →Disclaimer: this review will not be objective. The Handsome Furs have been one of my favorite bands for the better part of three years and I have been patiently waiting two years for another chance...
Read More →While I’m not the biggest My Morning Jacket fan in the world, I certainly obsessed over three out of their first four studio releases (Tennessee Fire, It Still Moves and the superlative Z) with music nerd geekdom...
Read More →I’ll be honest; I wasn’t sure I was going to this show until about 30 minutes before the opening act, Pittsburgh’s own 1,2,3, took the stage. When the call came in on the Batphone confirming...
Read More →As one half of the Pittsburgh MC duo Varsity Squad, Beedie plays an excellent foil to his partner-in-crime Jon Quest. Quest’s flow is a husky draw capable of subtle changes in tempo that propel his...
Read More →Over the past nine months, Brandon Flournoy (a.k.a. B-FreeDaMisfit, Misfit Leroy) has quietly established himself as one of the most distinctive voices in Pittsburgh hip-hop. From his earlier work with Kausion and Ayatollah Jaxx (on...
Read More →Breaking off from the talent heavy, Pittsburgh rap collective The 58s, sturdy-versed MC’s Franchise and Vinny Radio comprise The Come Up: a small side project produced entirely by I.D. Labs stalwart beatmaker Big Jerm as...
Read More →Who knew Pittsburgh had an answer to Deltron 3030? I sure as shit didn’t, but thanks to arguably the best hip-hop blog in Pittsburgh, Rory Webb’s Stilltown, Fortified PhonetX member Connect and his debut mix tape...
Read More →Alex Zhang Hungtai, the Canadian-Taiwanese post-modern greaser behind Dirty Beaches, appears detached from our current place (or any place, for that matter) in time. His music (re:persona) hums with the dark, analog vibe of a burnt...
Read More →When El-P decided it was time to put the trailblazing and seminal NYC-based Definitive Jux label on hiatus in February of 2010, it seemed, and felt, like the end of an era. For almost the...
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