The Uneasy Confessions of Alex G

The devout 'God Save the Animals' distills the songwriter's eccentric style

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With over a decade of released music behind him, Alex G has long taken a playfully distorted approach to songwriting, like he’s filtering his music through a funhouse mirror. The 29-year-old artist often addresses or morphs into fictional characters: insecure teenage girls and children with names like Sarah, Alina, Sandy. Flashes of storybook innocence, tales of guarded treehouses and stolen …

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Marc Bolan and T. Rex Blended the Visionary with the Saccharine

A deep dive into the glam-rock pioneer's varied catalog

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There are so many alleged geniuses in music that the field has grown fallow. Marc Bolan wasn’t a genius. But judging by his body of songs, and the overall harvest, he was absolutely guided by a conditional brilliance. Equal parts Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry and John Keats, the late UK glam god seemed to misplace the stolen promethean fire of …

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‘Cheat Codes’ is the album Black Thought couldn’t have made until now

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For many years, the Black Thought solo album felt like an imaginary object, long rumored yet never revealed. It went by several names — Masterpiece Theatre, The Talented Mr. Trotter — and had many soft launches. The Philly rapper born Tariq Trotter had of course already displayed his otherworldly dexterity as frontman and co-founder of The Roots, and, beginning in …

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August 16, 1974 | The Ramones Play First Show at CBGB

"1, 2, 3, 4..."

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Sometimes it can feel like the entire history of classic rock — every new direction, every iconic performance, every paradigm shift — was condensed into a little more than a decade. From The Beatles on Ed Sullivan (1964) to Pet Sounds (1966), Woodstock (1969) to the Sex Pistols on The Ed Grundy Show (1976), the cultural zeitgeist moved from “Her …

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Fresh Rotation | 4 New Songs We Really Dig

New music from Dry Cleaning, The A's, John Cale and Katalyst

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to add to the rotation on The Independent 89.9 HD4 (and to our tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our monthly Fresh Squeeze playlist). Each song is chosen with intention. And so we often feel like they are worthy of a broader discussion (or at least …

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Summer of Sharing | Who Wants Free Music?

Vinyl, concert tickets, swag and more!

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The Jacksonville Music Experience is all about sharing — It’s what we do all day long on The Independent 89.9 HD4 when we share the latest from new and inventive artists. And what we do on jaxmusic.org when we dive even deeper to share the latest music news, reviews, profiles, and live music events.  But this summer we’re sharing even …

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Fresh Rotation | 3 Songs We Can’t Stop Listening To

Avant-pop from Dummy, folk punk from Pigeon Pit and a mythic free-jazz reissue

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to add to the rotation on The Independent 89.9 HD4 (and to our tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our monthly Fresh Squeeze playlist). Each song is chosen with intention. And so we often feel like they are worthy of a broader discussion (or at least …

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Local Spotlight | 3 Great Tracks by Jax Artists Out Now

New music from Flipturn, K.UTIE and Severed + Said

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We’re always keeping our ear to the ground in order to put the spotlight on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, Jacksonville Music Experience contributors share three new songs by local artists that we think you’ll dig. Let’s dive in. “Halfway” by Flipturn Since their more-precocious days of being Fernandina Beach high-school rockers circa 2015, to their …

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Fresh Rotation | 4 Songs We’re Listening to Right Now

New music from Sharon Van Etten, Khalid, Holiday Ghosts and a long-overdue Terry Allen reissue

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Each and every week the JME team handpicks the juiciest new tunes from local, regional, national and international artists to add to the rotation on The Independent 89.9 HD4 (and to our tasty, tall-glass-of-a-listening-experience that is our monthly Fresh Squeeze playlist). Each song is chosen with intention. And so we often feel like they are worthy of a broader discussion (or at least …

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On ‘Stories Up High,’ Laney Jones Seeks the Flow State

Nashville singer-songwriter brings her record to Blue Jay Listening Room

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Since her debut nearly a decade ago, Nashville singer-songwriter Laney Jones has been impossible to pigeon hole. In naming Jones one of its Country Artists to Watch in 2016, Rolling Stone magazine said Jones’ music worked just as well “on the indie stage of a bluegrass festival as it would in an iTunes commercial.”  For her latest full-length, Stories Up …

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