Category: Music

A close-up portrait of Kendrick Lamar, a bearded man with dreadlocks.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – A Kendrick Lamar Retrospective

By Noah Springer • June 24th, 2022

Coupling Kendrick Lamar’s recent album release and Unwinnable’s tenth+ year, Noah charts the critically acclaimed rapper’s rise over the 2010s.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – May 2022

By Noah Springer • May 27th, 2022

In anticipation of Kendrick Lamar dropping his first album in five years this month, some of the top rappers in the game decided to put on a hip hop clinic.

A sepia-toned photograph of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African-American a capella group from Fisk University.

Sigurd Springer’s Music Box

By Noah Springer • April 26th, 2022

In correspondence from a temporarily quiet battlefield, Private First Class Sigurd Springer writes on the premier melodians of 1872.

No Accounting for Taste

In a still from Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, a dark-haired boy stares longingly in front of a blue sky filled with fluffy clouds.

Everything Old is New Again. And Then Some

By Adam Boffa • April 12th, 2022

Thanks to one weird trick, the reboot has gotten a new lease on life.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – March 2022

By Noah Springer • March 25th, 2022

Things are happening! Noah brings us some fresh new records for March.

Collision Detection

A blurry photo of a clock reading quarter-to-twelve. It looks as if the viewer is the one with blurred vision.

Pressing Pause

By Ben Sailer • March 2nd, 2022

Ben gets his year-end wrap-ups from various entertainment services and has an unexpected epiphany.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – February 2022

By Noah Springer • February 24th, 2022

After a brief hiatus, Noah returns with five new albums for a sleepy February.

Rookie of the Year

A scruffy ginger man lies on the floor wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by recording equipment. A microphone is propped up on the same pillow on which he lays his head.

It’s a Beautiful Year to Stay Inside

By Matt Marrone • January 6th, 2022

Look, Matt made you some content!

The Beat Box

Two colorful, cartoonish portraits of two men, one wearing a Detroit Lions baseball cap and the other bald with a full beard. A serpentine dragon coils between them.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – December 2021

By Noah Springer • December 29th, 2021

Noah takes a stab at putting his fingerprints on the 2021 hip hop canon with a look at some favorite albums from the year.

Best of 2021

A sound wave represented electronically by sound editing software.

The Best Music of 2021

By Team Unwinnable • December 28th, 2021

Compared to 2020, 2021 was a not-nearly-as-terrible-but-still pretty-awful year. For musicians and their fans at least, it was a marked improvement.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – November 2021

By Noah Springer • November 29th, 2021

They say if you play Mozart in the womb for your kid, they come out smarter. But what happens when you play them Wu-Tang on their first day of life?

No Accounting for Taste

Two swordsmen cross blades, each pushing hard against the other.

Music and Memory in Midgar

By Adam Boffa • November 12th, 2021

Final Fantasy VII Remake uses its music to dramatically reshape a familiar story.

Rookie of the Year

A sun, superimposed with a crosshair, sets behind a craggy mountain.

The Summers Wind

By Matt Marrone • November 8th, 2021

Sometimes nostalgia is a gut-punch from the past. Sometimes it’s a nice breeze. More often than not? It’s both.

The Beat Box

A man holds the hand of a young boy and points up towards the top of a tall building.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – October 2021

By Noah Springer • October 31st, 2021

Noah doesn’t review Donda.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – September 2021

By Noah Springer • September 22nd, 2021

And now for something a little different.

Here's the Thing

A painting of Weird Al Yankovic, a man with glasses, a mop of curly brown hair, and a yellow and black 80s-patterned shirt.

The Lyrical Genius of Weird Al Yankovic

By Rob Rich • September 1st, 2021

Rob talks about how “Weird Al” Yankovic’s goofy image belies an incredible talent for writing.

Rookie of the Year

The Busking Stage from the Newport Folk Festival

Folk On

By Matt Marrone • August 24th, 2021

Matt goes outside, to a concert of all things!

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – August 2021

By Noah Springer • August 23rd, 2021

Noah goes mainstream!

Feature Excerpt

A naked person holds a tamed snake up for entertainment.

On Orientalism and Exoticism in Videogame Music

By William Dowell • August 18th, 2021

The insidious way that Orientalism exists in videogame music.

The Beat Box

Noteworthy Hip Hop – July 2021

By Noah Springer • July 30th, 2021

Chill beats to do stuff and improve one’s life to.

The Beat Box

A greyscale image album cover for Unlocked 1.5 by Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – June 2021

By Noah Springer • June 30th, 2021

Noah moved this month but he still put this together for us all. What a guy!

Always Autumn

Egress

By Autumn Wright • June 3rd, 2021

Autumn explores cycles, hurtling towards the way out of things.

Exploits Feature

Variations

By Autumn Wright • June 1st, 2021

What these recordings offer in their canonization of different variations is a juxtaposition that glimpses lives and careers.

The Heavy Pour

An illustrated Gillian Anderson in bed with David Duchovny and Chris Carter based on the iconic photo.

Creep

By Sara Clemens • May 14th, 2021

Whatever makes you happy. Whatever you want.

Exploits Feature

Queer Black Manhoods

By Oluwatayo Adewole • May 3rd, 2021

Black men in the West are offered two models for existing and neither have room for queerness.

The two band members of 68 in a red stylized image, overlapping. This is a section of their album cover for Give One Take One

’68 Releases a Menu Worthy of the Meal

By Levi Rubeck • April 13th, 2021

This wasn’t a boast but a call-to-arms, and there are many who took on the charge.

Detail from the cover art for We are Always Alone of a girl in a schoolgirl outfit, a purple and red light above her head.

portrayal of guilt’s Anthems Against False Hope

By Levi Rubeck • April 5th, 2021

Anthems for sinking ships, as if the tide itself was a choleric spirit drawing you down to a lightless ocean floor.

The Beat Box

A man with smoke coming out of his mouth, standing in front of the American flag.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – March 2021

By Noah Springer • March 22nd, 2021

You’ve got to hunt for these albums!

Feature Excerpt

Painting of two people gathering potatoes.

Car Rides and Crooning: Bridging the Gap with A Woman’s Heart

By Christine M. Estel • March 18th, 2021

Music has a certain power to bridge the general divide.

World Tour

Australia

By Oluwatayo Adewole • March 9th, 2021

Throw something on the barbie, Tayo’s going down under!

The Beat Box

A man with gold teeth within concentric circles.

Noteworthy Hip Hop – February 2021

By Noah Springer • March 1st, 2021

Hey you guys! Noah is doing album roundups again!

Feature Excerpt

Videogame Chamber Music

By William Dowell • February 26th, 2021

“One Winged Angel” is plenty haunting to start but then you hear the string quartet version. Find out what goes into that.

Letter From the Editor

Unwinnable Monthly – February 2021

By Stu Horvath • February 14th, 2021

February sure is long for the shortest month, right? Pass the time with the new Unwinnable Monthly.

Rookie of the Year

More Songs About Bob and Judy

By Matt Marrone • February 3rd, 2021

Did David Byrne invent Twin Peaks? Matt thinks so.

The Beat Box

RIP MF DOOM

By Noah Springer • January 29th, 2021

Just remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name.

Exploits Feature

Two Minutes to Late Night – Bedroom Covers

By Ed Coleman • January 3rd, 2021

Our pick for best thing on the internet that makes the pandemic bearable.

Fear of the Dark, Side B

By Ed Coleman and Stu Horvath • January 1st, 2021

Maiden Voyage season one wraps up with the departure of Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden! (Decades old) PLOT TWIST!

Rookie of the Year

365 Days of Halloween

By Matt Marrone • December 29th, 2020

Practically every time we saw Phoebe Bridgers in 2020, she was wearing a full-body skeleton costume.

Best of 2020

The Best Music of 2020

By Team Unwinnable • December 29th, 2020

Despite the shit show of 2020, musicians soldiered on, doing what they do and providing us all with the briefest of respites from staring at our phones, our walls or each other.

Fear of the Dark, Side A

By Ed Coleman and Stu Horvath • December 25th, 2020

Ho, ho, ho! What could be better than a new episode of Maiden Voyage for Christmas?!? What’s that? You had a whole list of things you asked for and a new Maiden Voyage episode wasn’t one of them? Well, consider this a fun, unexpected stocking stuffer!