Phil Freeman

Jenni Rivera is one of the most popular singers, male or female, in regional Mexican music. She's carved out a unique niche for herself by specializing in banda, a genre dominated by all-male ensembles like Banda el Recodo or Banda Machos. She frequently branches out into norteño and even pop,...

5. Immortal All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast) These Scandinavian black-metallers get ridiculed for their excessively KISS-like corpse paint and pro-wrestling poses in promo pics, but one listen to this astonishing comeback album, their first release since 2002, will call a halt to any and all snickering. The production gives them...

This year was such a good one for heavy music, I wound up having to cheat when putting this list together. I just couldn't settle on ten albums that kicked my ass the hardest in 2009; there were dozens of candidates. The best I could do was fourteen, so each...

How much noise do you think two saxophonists and a guitarist can make? Okay, now imagine ten times that. Imagine a screeching ululating fuzzed-out roar that reduces your teeth to shards and your internal organs to pulsing red mush. That’s the sound of Borbetomagus. That, and much more. An upstate...

How much noise do you think two saxophonists and a guitarist can make? Okay, now imagine ten times that. Imagine a screeching, ululating, fuzzed-out roar that reduces your teeth to shards and your internal organs to pulsing red mush. That's the sound of Borbetomagus. That, and much more. An upstate...