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Daily stories about music and vinyl: albums, artists, labels. Read on the web or in the CrateCore app.
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October 9, 2026
STORY · Rock
Why Did Leonard Cohen Hand His Comeback to Sharon Robinson?
Leonard Cohen returned in 2001 with Ten New Songs, a comeback he built at home with Sharon Robinson, who produced, arranged and sang on the album.
4 min read
Cover of “Ten New Songs” by Leonard Cohen. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · World
Chucho Valdés and the Sound His Father Left Behind
Chucho Valdés began his first recording sessions in Havana in January 1964, four years after his father Bebo left Cuba and fell silent for three decades.
4 min read
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4 min read
October 8, 2026
STORY · Metal
How Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar Rose from Ruin
Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar was recorded from February to August 1996 at Nothing Studios in New Orleans. The album appeared on October 8, 1996 through Nothing and Interscope.
3 min read
Cover of “Antichrist Superstar” by Marilyn Manson. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 1, 2026
STORY · Metal
Iron Maiden's Raw Turn on No Prayer for the Dying
Iron Maiden recorded their eighth album, No Prayer for the Dying, in a barn in Essex in the summer of 1990. Producer Martin Birch worked the desk of the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
3 min read
Cover of “No Prayer for the Dying” by Iron Maiden. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 8, 2026
STORY · Metal
Terry Balsamo: The Stroke That Almost Silenced His Guitar
Terry Balsamo, born in Florida in 1972, joined Evanescence in January 2004. He co-wrote most of The Open Door with Amy Lee before a stroke nearly ended his playing career.
4 min read
Alexandre Cardoso, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Soundtracks
Toru Takemitsu: The Self-Taught Sound of Two Worlds
Toru Takemitsu was born in Tokyo on 8 October 1930, and for the first six years of his life he lived in Dalian, Manchuria, where his father worked as an officia…
3 min read
株式会社 新潮社 ( Shinchosha Publishing Co, Ltd.), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
October 11, 2026
STORY · Alternative
How Pearl Jam Made Vs. a Raw, Record-Breaking Second Album
Pearl Jam recorded Vs. in 1993 with producer Brendan O'Brien, trading studio polish for jam sessions and single-take intensity. The album sold 950,378 copies in its first five days.
4 min read
Cover of “Vs.” by Pearl Jam. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
October 8, 2026
STORY · Metal
Why Did Korn Need The Paradigm Shift?
Korn's eleventh album The Paradigm Shift brought guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch back after eight years away. The record debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200.
3 min read
Cover of “The Paradigm Shift” by Korn. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Pop
How Enigma Closed a Chapter with Love Sensuality Devotion
Michael Cretu's Enigma released Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits on 8 October 2001. The compilation gathered a decade of singles and marked the end of the project's first phase.
3 min read
Cover of “Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest Hits” by Enigma. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Bon Jovi's Bounce Miss Platinum?
Bon Jovi released Bounce on Island Records on October 8, 2002. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, yet became the band's first album to miss platinum certification in the United States.
4 min read
Cover of “Bounce” by Bon Jovi. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Rock
How John Lennon Built Imagine
John Lennon recorded Imagine in 1971 with Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, and the sessions were filmed for a documentary that sat unseen for years.
4 min read
Cover of “Imagine” by John Lennon. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
4 min read
STORY · Folk
How Komitas Saved Armenian Song, Then Lost Himself
Komitas, the monk born Soghomon Soghomonyan, transcribed more than 3000 Armenian folk songs. The genocide destroyed most of his manuscripts and broke his mind.
4 min read
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4 min read
October 9, 2026
STORY · Alternative
Still: Joy Division's Final, Flawed Document
Released on Factory Records in 1981, Still pairs Joy Division studio outtakes with an illegally taped final concert at Birmingham University on 2 May 1980.
3 min read
Cover of “Still” by Joy Division. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 8, 2026
STORY · Alternative
G Herbo: From Fazoland to the Billboard Top Ten
G Herbo went from a sixteen-year-old Chicago cypher rapper to a Billboard top-ten artist. His record now carries PTSD, a federal fraud conviction and a community wellness program.
4 min read
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4 min read
October 7, 2026
STORY · Classical
Why Yo-Yo Ma Chose the Cello at Four Years Old
Yo-Yo Ma first picked up a cello in Paris in 1960, at four years old, after trying drums, violin, piano and viola. That choice shaped a life that led to the Silk Road Ensemble.
3 min read
Joi Ito, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Soul
How Toni Braxton Turned a Demo Into a Dynasty
A gas station attendant in Annapolis heard Toni Braxton sing and offered to produce her. That chance encounter set the Maryland contralto on a path from church choirs to the top of the Billboard 200.
3 min read
burningkarma, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Soul
How Taylor Hicks Proved Simon Cowell Wrong on American Idol
Taylor Hicks, a soul singer from Alabama, won American Idol in 2006 after Simon Cowell said he would never make the final. He was twenty-nine, the oldest winner the show had ever had.
4 min read
Jyle Dupuis from Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Classical
Why Did Mario Lanza Bet His Voice on Hollywood?
Mario Lanza died in Rome on 7 October 1959, twelve years after Louis B. Mayer handed him a seven-year MGM contract that pulled him off the opera stage and into Hollywood.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Soundtracks
How Marco Beltrami Scored Hollywood's Darkest Corners
Marco Beltrami, born on Long Island in 1966, built a three-decade career scoring horror, action and documentary films. He studied under Jerry Goldsmith at USC before entering the film business.
5 min read
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5 min read
STORY · Rock
John Mellencamp: The Name He Had to Win Back
John Mellencamp's first album appeared under the alias Johnny Cougar, a name a manager chose because Mellencamp sounded too difficult for radio.
4 min read
DoD photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, U.S. Air Force., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
Joe Hill, the Songwriter Who Would Not Stay Dead
Joe Hill, the IWW songwriter behind “The Preacher and the Slave,” was executed in Utah in 1915 and had his ashes mailed to union branches worldwide.
4 min read
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4 min read
July 5, 2026
STORY · Classical
Diana Lynn: The Prodigy Who Gave a Play Its Home
Diana Lynn, born Dolores Mary Loehr, was a piano prodigy who became a Paramount actress. She later lent her house to Mart Crowley while he wrote The Boys in the Band.
4 min read
New York Sunday News, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
October 7, 2026
STORY · Pop
How Did Lay Zhang Go from Changsha to the Grammys?
Lay Zhang grew up in Changsha imitating Michael Jackson, then trained in Seoul and became the only Chinese artist invited to the Grammy Awards.
4 min read
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4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Cissy Houston Found Her Own Voice
Cissy Houston, born Emily Drinkard in Newark, sang behind Elvis Presley and Otis Redding before winning two Grammys under her own name. She died at home on October 7, 2024, at 91.
4 min read
Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Pop
How Pikotaro's PPAP Became the Shortest Hot 100 Hit
Daimaou Kosaka released 'PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)' as Pikotaro on 7 October 2016. The 45-second track became the shortest song ever to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
3 min read
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3 min read
STORY · Metal
Why Did Slayer's Reign in Blood Scare Its Own Label Away?
Slayer's Reign in Blood arrived on October 7, 1986, but Columbia Records refused to distribute it after its president called 'Angel of Death' offensive.
3 min read
Cover of “Reign in Blood” by Slayer. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 5, 2026
STORY · Alternative
How R.E.M. Made Automatic for the People
R.E.M.'s eighth album grew out of demos cut in the winter of 1990, when Peter Buck steered the Athens band toward a quieter, organ-heavy sound.
3 min read
Cover of “Automatic for the People” by R.E.M.. Source: Cover Art Archive (coverartarchive.org)
3 min read
October 7, 2026
STORY · Alternative
How Thom Yorke's Bad Eye Shaped Radiohead's Strangest Leap
Thom Yorke was born with a paralysed left eye and wore a patch as a child. That refusal to fix what made him different shaped Radiohead's turn from Creep to Kid A.
3 min read
michell zappa from São Paulo, Brazil, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
3 min read
STORY · Classical
Yundi: The Boy Who Broke the Chopin Silence
Yundi Li was born in Chongqing in 1982 to steel-plant workers. He became the first Chinese pianist to win the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2000.
4 min read
Sailing82, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified: re-encoded
4 min read
STORY · Folk
How Judee Sill Vanished After Being Asylum's First Signing
Judee Sill became the first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records. She released two acclaimed albums in the 1970s and died in 1979 without a single obituary.
4 min read
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4 min read