Lil' Flip, 'I Need Mine' (Sony Urban/Columbia)
Houston's king of dramedy reaches beyond the South.
By Nick Catucci 03.07.06 4:00 AM
In hip-hop, MC monikers are either flat nicknames or ostentatious badges. Somewhat enigmatically, the affable freestyle champ and Houston native Wesley Eric Weston calls himself Lil' Flip. Inside that enigma is a riddle: Is he advertising his battle-honed script-flipping ability, or hinting at his screwed comic sensibility, an offhand irreverence we might call flipness?
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Arctic Monkeys, 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' (Domino)
Openly disregarding their "it"-ness, sort of.
By Nick Sylvester 03.02.06 4:00 AM
"Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment," or so goes the smarting first line from Arctic Monkeys' debut LP. Before the Sheffield upstarts had been around long enough to get slagged as a second-rate Jam rip, the British music press had already placed a crown in their cradle, making them fresh bait for industry bats and baby eaters.
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March 1992
Arriving three years late to the Nine Inch Nails party -- with a lot of questions
By Chuck Klosterman; Spin Staff 03.01.06 4:00 AM
There are many people -- in fact, you may be one of them -- who devote much of their daily energy toward hearing about things first, even if those specific things don't particularly matter.
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Neko Case, 'Fox Confessor Brings the Flood' (Anti-)
Country noir from indie pop's dark angel.
By Will Hermes 02.28.06 4:00 AM
Besides having the sexiest snaggletooth in indie rock, Neko Case may be the scene's hardest-working gal. She records and tours with Canuck ultrapoppers the New Pornographers; writes, records, and tours as a solo artist; and also finds time for the occasional side project (like her currently dormant duo with Carolyn Mark, the Corn Sisters).
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