
James Stafford


Happy 69th Birthday, David Bowie
The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust was decades ago and Aladdin Sane is hardly a lad anymore, but postmodern icon David Bowie gave us all a gift for his 69th birthday.

15 Years Ago: Apple Unveils iTunes, Forever Changes the Future of Music
While MP3s and Napster already existed at the turn of the 21st century, Apple radically revolutionized the way we consume music in 2001 with iTunes.

Cover Stories: The Flaming Lips, ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’
Who's the genius behind Yoshimi's brilliant cover art? Here's a hint: there's probably paint all over the hamster ball.

30 Years Ago: Minutemen’s D. Boon Dies in Tragic Van Accident
He was one of the most talented guitarists of his generation, but one split second cut short the life of Minutemen's D. Boon.

10 Years Ago: Ryan Adams Releases ’29,’ His Third Album of 2005
Although Ryan Adams might have been running out on fumes by the time he recorded '29,' the underrated album contains at least two legitimate classics.

Cover Stories: Arcade Fire, ‘Neon Bible’
While the artwork for Arcade Fire's 2007 album is beautiful in a postmodern way, you're only getting half the effect until you watch it in its animated form.

23 Years Ago: Nirvana Turn Piles of Demos and Outtakes into ‘Incesticide’
This 1992 compilation proved that even Nirvana's outtakes were far more interesting than a lot of the best studio efforts by their peers.

Cover Stories: The Subway-Inspired Artwork for Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘Fever to Tell’
There's a great story about ascending New York's punk underground buried within the cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' debut and it has nothing to do with the band.

35 Years Ago: Germs Frontman Darby Crash Dies of an Intentional Overdose
He was southern California's version of Sid Vicious: a drug-addicted, self-destructive punk icon who became a legend in the worst way.

15 Years Ago: Rage Against the Machine Make Their Own Mixtape With ‘Renegades’
Rage Against the Machine's farewell gift to fans in 2000 was a covers album filled with a dozen disparate and classic songs filtered through their own distinct prism.