Oliver Wang
Oliver Wang is an culture writer, scholar, and DJ based in Los Angeles. He's the author of Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area and a professor of sociology at CSU-Long Beach. He's the creator of the audioblog soul-sides.com and co-host of the album appreciation podcast, Heat Rocks.
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There are moments of inspired magic on West's gospel-flavored ninth album, and moments that sound ill-considered and slapped together. Those extremes feel like the story of his recent career. -
Raphael Saadiq's new album, Jimmy Lee, is his first in eight years. It was inspired by his brother's struggles with addiction and, ultimately, his death.
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Patrice Rushen's years singing for Elektra Records in the 1970s and '80s helped define late-era disco and R&B. Now, a collection of her classic R&B and dance tunes is being released. -
In 1972, Gaye began work on a follow-up to his classic album, What's Going On. He laid down over a dozen new tracks, but the project stalled and most of the songs were not released until now. -
This German group delivers steel drum covers of Mary J. Blige, Mobb Deep, Gang Starr and more. -
After embarking on solo projects and a three-year break, The Internet has come back together to produce an album of low-key songs of summer. -
Listening to Cut Chemist's latest album is like looking under a microscope at a drop of ocean water. The longer you examine, the more life you find. -
The first Dr. Octagon project to reunite Kool Keith with Dan the Automator in 22 years picks up right where they left off, as weird and warped as ever. -
Featuring Shannon Wise's mesmerizing wisp of a voice, The Shacks' debut album mixes R&B, dreamy indie-pop and '60s British rock in woozy sheets of reverb. -
Throughout their career together, Jones and her band gave listeners something to feel with every recording and every performance. That's still true on their final album.
