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.
-
The iconic group's early music releasing online at last comes with a renewed interest in its career arc. Take a guided tour through one of the most distinguished runs in hip-hop history. -
Trugoy brought skill and care-free charisma to De La Soul's innovative music, which helped to usher in a new age of hip-hop. After years of legal disputes, that music will soon be available again. -
Valerie June has just released a new LP called The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers. The album foregrounds her distinctive voice and mixes reassurance with a yearning for engagement.
-
In 1968, the British singer flew to the U.S. after signing with Atlantic Records. Her acclaimed recordings from this period are collected in Dusty Springfield: The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971. -
The Gospel Truth was a subsidiary of the famous soul label Stax Records. A new anthology, The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection, revisits its brief moment in gospel soul history.
-
These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back. -
Hip hop duo Gang Starr broke up in the mid-2000s and in 2010, MC Guru died. So fans were surprised by the announcement of a new, posthumous album called One Of The Best Yet.
-
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. -
The Los Angeles band's distinct sound includes touches of Rio de Janeiro's tropicalia, Lima's cumbia, and American soul and funk.
-
Most of Fields' songs have been about love won, fought over and lost; it's a testament to his talent that each new one can feel like he's singing his heart out for the first time. -
Singer Dan Klein died of ALS earlier this summer, but at least his rocksteady band was able to see its collective vision through on this one sublime album.
