A lot has changed since 2019 when singer, songwriter and musician Ruban Nielson began working on Unknown Mortal Orchestra‘s fifth studio album, V. Initially named Guilty Pleasures, the project transformed and evolved over time. “It’s like four years of music,” Ruban (who is Hawaiian and Maori, grew up in New Zealand and is currently based in Palm Springs) tells us. “There were quite a few different …
In 1980 Nile Rodgers received his first Grammy nomination—as a songwriter on the Sister Sledge hit “We Are Family.” A year later he received another with “Upside Down,” which he produced for Diana Ross. As awards shows go, he wouldn’t win—until 2014. That year, his collaborations with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams (the track “Get Lucky” and album Random Access Memories) would take home three …
1. The Genius of Walter Becker Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker, who passed away last weekend, was widely regarded as one of music’s greats—though not as a brilliant guitarist or vocalist, but rather a genius when it came to melodies. Both Steely Dan co-founders were jazz nerds, but beyond that they were groove masters who managed to craft left-of-center pop songs that appealed to just …
