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Charlie Puth is 24 and incredibly famous for writing swoony hits. He’s also a Berklee grad who writes and produces all of his songs. He takes selfies with Al Roker too. A week in the life of this man isn’t like any week I’ve ever known (also markedly different from weeks had by Ricky Reed, Machine Gun Kelly, and the guy from Disturbed) — click his handsome mug to see why.
Back in the saddle! In this week’s installment of “Tuesday Reviewsday” (peep the podcast on iTunes or at NPR), I chitchat about Rihanna’s Anti, share my favorite cuts from St. Lucia’s Matter, and super duper gush over the arrival of Nevermen—that’s the supergroup comprising freak king Mike Patton, werewolf/singer Tunde Adebimpe, and the night-terror-having cosmology-creating avant-rap poet laureate Doseone. Geeked. Listen below or via one of the links above.
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Esperanza Spalding, the Grammy-stacking perpetual “jazz darling,” has made a prog album. Well, it’s a very soulful, jazz-streaked, noisy rock record called Emily’s D+Evolution, which is a concept LP about that titular character, who is Esperanza’s alter ego. (When you talk to her, it starts to make sense.) For the story, I also got to interview the legendary Wayne Shorter, who name-dropped Haruki Murakami and Neil deGrasse Tyson during our chat. That part didn’t make it into the piece, but, well, now I’m name-dropping.
At last, the sequel to my pork and Doritos-fueled binge at Tacos y Amor. This time I stuffed my face full of herby, hearty falafel on some house-made flatbread. Also the best goddamned beet sandwich you’ll ever taste. Oh, and it all comes from Dune. Chef Scott Zwiezen has a pretty great story. Dig in to find out why he considers his first restaurant (Elf) his ex-band’s second album.
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Anderson .Paak and I went cruising down the PCH on the first day that El Niño truly dumped on us. It was a little harrowing, but you wouldn’t know it from watching our video interview. Plus, if you read the story (which includes a chat with the mighty Talib Kweli), you’ll see that this dude’s made it through much much worse. His crazy soulful new album Malibu is out now.
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I got back together with Selena Gomez to review a little bit of her banner year — specifically, the song that started it all, “Good for You.” This one has more to show in print, but I conducted the video interview with her (and her team) as well. Want more? Revisit our October cover story.
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At last, proof that a Zayn Malik does indeed sh-t in the woods (and maybe the One Direction bed a little bit too). What do you do when you quit one of the biggest boy bands the world’s ever seen? You go home, back to Northern England, to steel yourself on mom’s cooking before buying a house in Bel Air and getting to work on your solo alt-R&B career. Also, you go camping with Frank Ocean’s favorite producer and record out among the trees.
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Lady Gaga had me over to her beachside Malibu palace to play some new songs on her old piano and chitchat a lil’ about being crowned Billboard’s Woman of the Year. Click through to read about how she bet big on her own talents, poured her rage into American Horror Story: Hotel, and did whatever it took to save herself from becoming, in her words, a “fashionable robot.” With input from Tony Bennett, Ryan Murphy, Diane Warren, and Matt Bomer.
It was an honor and a responsibility to write about Kendrick Lamar’s incredible To Pimp a Butterfly. It’s a monumental work that’s owed much more than I could give, but helping to crown it SPIN’s Album of the Year is a good start. I spilled ink on four others that made the year’s 50 Best LPs: Deerhunter’s Fading Frontier at No. 7, Protomartyr’s The Agent Intellect at No. 20, Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late at No. 23, and Blur’s Magic Whip at No. 37. Peep the whole list, which not only includes a ton of great music, but words by people I dig a whole lot.
They gave me free reign to program the entire Tuesday Reviewsday segment this time. Tune in for new jams by Björk friend Arca, Cavanaugh (Serengeti + Open Mike Eagle), cool brainiac Martin Crane, and Shovels & Rope in tribute mode. Click through or stream here:
Chris Writes Things 