The Needle Drop with Anthony Fantano: Recent Episodes
The Needle Drop
Anthony Fantano, the Internet's busiest music nerd, rounds up his weekly rants and reviews, occasionally chatting with artists and other content creators.
Anthony reviews Daniel Caesar's Case Study 01, Kim Petras' Clarity, Ed Sheeran's No.6 Collaborations Project, Poppy's Choke EP, Uboa's The Origin of My Depression, and Tom MacDonald's "If I Was Black." He also comments on his own appearance in the "Area 51" music video for Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," as well as the phenomenon of remixing remixes.
Anthony reviews Dreamville's Revenge of the Dreamers III, The Raconteurs' Help Us Stranger, Pi'erre Bourne's The Life of Pi'erre 4, Jaden Smith's ERYS, Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, Young Thug and Mason Ramsey, and Billie Eilish's remix of "Bad Guy" featuring Justin Bieber. He also weighs in on Jermaine Dupri's recent comments regarding female rappers, and discusses whether or not Morrissey is ruining The Smiths' legacy.
Anthony reviews Kanye West's "Brothers" ft. Charlie Wilson, Post Malone's "Goodbyes" ft. Young Thug, AJR's Neotheater, Prince's Originals, Thom Yorke's ANIMA, Kirin J. Callinan's Return to Center, and Freddie Gibbs & Madlib's Bandana. Then in a podcast exclusive LET'S ARGUE segment he shares his thoughts on so-called "type beats."
Anthony reviews Baroness' Gold & Grey, Bill Callahan's Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, Daphni's Sizzling EP, Lil Nas X's 7 EP, black midi's Schlagenheim, and Rich Brian's "Yellow." He also weighs in on the recent Taylor Swift song ownership controversy.
Anthony reviews Young Nudy & Pi'erre Bourne's Sli'Merre, Megan Thee Stallion's Fever, DJ Khaled's Father of Asahd, Flying Lotus' Flamagra, Rammstein's untitled album, and slowthai's Nothing Great About Britain. Plus an exclusive LET'S ARGUE segment, as well as commentaries on Anthony's "unbearably white" audience and the inherent value of the number of writers involved in a song.
Anthony reviews Tyler, the Creator's IGOR, Vampire Weekend's Father of the Bride, Big Thief's UFOF, Carly Rae Jepsen's Dedicated, Injury Reserve's self-titled album, and Denzel Curry's "Speedboat."
Anthony reviews Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats' Anger Management, ScHoolboy Q's CrasH Talk, Tyler the Creator's "Earfquake," Slipknot's "Unsainted," Mac DeMarco's Here Comes the Cowboy, Logic's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Gus Dapperton's Where Polly People Go to Read, and Slauson Malone's A Quiet Farwell 2016-2018.
Anthony reviews Beyoncé's HOMECOMING: The Live Album, Cage the Elephant's Social Cues, Dos Monos' Dos City, Lizzo's Cuz I Love You, FKA twigs' "Cellophane," and comments on Kanye West's Sunday Service performance at Coachella.
Anthony reviews BTS's Map of the Soul: Persona, Kevin Abstract's "Baby Boy," Flying Lotus' "Fire Is Coming" ft. David Lynch, PUP's Morbid Stuff, Aries' Welcome Home, The Chemical Brothers' No Geography, Anderson .Paak's Ventura, and in a podcast exclusive LET'S ARGUE segment he comments on the matter of Juice WRLD being a "corporate-friendly XXXTentacion."
Anthony reviews Quelle Chris' Guns, Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising, Ibibio Sound Machine's Doko Mien, Show Me the Body's Dog Whistle, ScHoolboy Q's "CHopstix" ft. Travis Scott, Kevin Abstract's ARIZONA baby, and Lil Uzi Vert's "That's a Rack" & "Sanguine Paradise." Also, in a podcast exclusive LET'S ARGUE segment, he comments streaming's possibly negative impact on the music industry.
Anthony reviews Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go, The Comet Is Coming's Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery, Billy Woods & Kenny Segal's Hiding Places, La Dispute's Panorama, Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, and JPEGMAFIA's "The Who." Plus in a podcast-exclusive LET'S ARGUE segment, he comments on whether or not detractors of his reviews for Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande have listened to the albums themselves.
Anthony reviews Nav's Bad Habits, Logic's Supermarket, Stella Donnelly's Beware of the Dogs, and American Football's third album. He also comments on Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" being kicked off Billboard's country charts and Warner Music's recent signing of Endel, a mood music algorithm.
Anthony reviews Flume's Hi This Is Flume, Matmos' Plastic Anniversary, Dave's Psychodrama, Logic's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," and Tame Impala "Patience." He also examines the question of whether or not Billie Eilish is an industry plant and, in a podcast-exclusive portion of LET'S ARGUE, responds to the theory that streaming numbers have replaced music review scores.
Anthony reviews Juice WRLD's Death Race for Love, Sun Kil Moon's I Also Want to Die in New Orleans, Foals' Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1, Spellling's Mazy Fly, Little Simz's GREY Area, and ScHoolboy Q's “Numb Numb Juice.” Anthony also examines the question of how many of his followers agree with his reviews.
Anthony reviews Weezer's Black Album, 2 Chainz's Rap or Go to the League, Solange's When I Get Home, Blu & Oh No's A Long Red Hot Los Angeles Summer Night, Mac DeMarco's "Nobody," and Vampire Weekend's "Big Blue / Sunflower." He also gives his stance on rap lyrics being admissible as court evidence and responds to a tweet arguing that 85% of rap lyrics will age poorly.
Anthony reviews Gunna's Drip or Drown 2, Lil Pump's Harverd Dropout, Offset's Father of 4, SeeYouSpaceCowboy's Songs for the Firing Squad, and Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990. Plus an exclusive podcast commentaries on Anthony's prior hatred for The Misfits' Earth A.D. and whether or not Bhad Bhabie gets enough credit.
Anthony reviews Czarface and Ghostface Killah's new collaborative album, the latest LP from singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt, the reissue of Drake's breakthrough mixtape So Far Gone, as well as fresh singles by Freddie Gibbs, Madlib, and Tierra Whack. Also discussed is the question of whether or not Imagine Dragons is currently the worst rock band. Plus an exclusive podcast segment of LET'S ARGUE in which Anthony considers whether or not his score of 10 for Kids See Ghosts was valid.
Anthony reviews new releases by Ariana Grande, Panda Bear, LCD Soundsystem, Xiu Xiu, and Cardi B & Bruno Mars. Plus his thoughts on the premise of the forthcoming Danny Boyle film, Yesterday, which is set in a world where The Beatles never existed.
Anthony reviews new releases by Comethazine, Maggie Rogers, and Beirut. Plus an interview with George "The Vaporwave David Bowie" Clanton.
Anthony reviews new releases by Boogie, Bring Me the Horizon, Deerhunter, Weezer, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Lil Peep, iLoveMakonnen & Fall Out Boy.
Anthony reviews new releases by Future, Toro y Moi, James Blake, Malibu Ken, Sharon Van Etten, J. Cole, and Vampire Weekend.
Anthony reviews new albums by 21 Savage, Big K.R.I.T., Bad Bunny, Marquis Hill, as well as James Blake's track with Travis Scott and Metro Boomin. He also comments on Robert Christgau's "review" of him, the death of rock music, and Jay-Z's notable silence on the R. Kelly scandals.
Anthony reviews classic releases by System of a Down, Burial, Cannibal Ox, Sleater-Kinney, and The Postal Service.
Anthony reviews new releases by Soap&Skin, Meek Mill, and Black Thought & Salaam Remi. He also shares his picks for the 61st Grammy Awards.
Anthony reviews new releases by XXXTentacion, Ski Mask the Slump God, The 1975, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kai Whiston. Plus commentary on Epic Games being sued for its use of the Milly Rock in Fortnite, and a podcast-exclusive segment of Let's Argue about the influence of anime on modern music.
Anthony reviews new releases by J.I.D, Onyx Collective, Tyler the Creator, 6ix9ine, Grimes, and Chance the Rapper. Plus exclusive podcast segments of LET'S ARGUE about drummers and bassists being overlooked and whether or not re-remastered albums are a racket.
Anthony reviews new releases by Trippie Redd, Action Bronson, Jaden Smith, Anderson .Paak, Muse, A$AP Rocky, and Earl Sweatshirt. Plus an exclusive podcast segment of Let's Argue on musical innovation as it relates to mainstream popularity and longevity.
Anthony reviews new releases by Sun Kil Moon, Imagine Dragons, Jeffrey Lewis, Metro Boomin, Lil Peep, The Beatles, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell, and Mike WiLL Made-It.
Anthony reviews new releases by Poppy, Vince Staples, Takeoff, Rosalía, Curren$y & Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt, and XXXTentacion, plus comments on Kanye West and Kid Cudi's submission to the Grammys' rock music category.
Anthony reviews new releases by Julia Holter, Daughters, Current 93, Kurt Vile, Joji, Greta Van Fleet, Rosalía, and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Anthony reviews new releases by Future & Juice WRLD, Open Mike Eagle, Little Big, High on Fire, Lil Yachty, and Trippie Redd, and responds to a question about the psychological effects of listening to depressing music.
Anthony reviews new releases by Polyphia, Horrendous, Quavo, Clarence Clarity, City Morgue, Joji, and Lil Peep, and comments on Drake's recent statements about Kanye West and the Pusha T beef.
Anthony reviews new releases by Behemoth, Marissa Nadler, Sheck Wes, twenty one pilots, Weezer, Run the Jewels, and Lil Baby & Gunna.
Anthony reviews new releases by Tim Hecker, Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, Logic, Kero Kero Bonito, Anderson .Paak ft. Kendrick Lamar, and Jaden Smith.
Anthony reviews new releases by Hozier, Milo, JMSN, Brockhampton, Prince, and Young Thug ft. Elton John.
Anthony reviews new releases by Aphex Twin, Spiritualized, 6LACK, Noname, J.I.D, Lil Uzi Vert, and XXXTentacion & Lil Peep.
Anthony reviews new releases by Okonkolo, Yves Tumor, $uicideBoy$, Russ, Thou, Lana Del Ray, and Eminem.
Anthony reviews new releases by Armand Hammer, Eminem, and George Clanton. Plus discussions on Eminem's continued fall from grace and whether or not To Pimp a Butterfly would have received a 10/10 had someone like 6ix9ine made it instead of Kendrick Lamar.
Anthony reviews new releases by Blood Orange, Interpol, Oh Sees, Hermit and the Recluse, and Twenty One Pilots. Plus discussions on emo rap and anonymity in music.
In this episode of The Needle Drop Podcast, D. Respect and I once again run through a list of the worst rappers out right now, as chosen by you guys over social media. We don't fully agree with the 9 picks, but we go over why each artist might be catching all the negativity.
A new episode of the Internet's most inconsistent podcast, as well as a rare appearance by my wife, Dominique - it's a Valentine's Day miracle! Join us as we (attempt) to recommend and discuss at length a new batch of 20 love songs we love.
In this episode of The Needle Drop Podcast, I talk with fellow music critics Zoe Camp and Beezy430 about what it takes to review an album. It's a long set of conversations, but I personally feel as if I barely scratched the surface of this massive, multi-faceted issue.
In this episode of the TND Podcast, my guest is illustrator, animator, and fellow Death Grips fanatic Dominick Rabrun. He and I have a lengthy discussion about how exactly to get into Death Grips' music. How exactly to enjoy the experimental hip hop trio's music has become a frequently asked question over the years, so I figured I'd try my best to tackle it in-depth with this podcast episode.
In this episode of The Needle Drop Podcast, D. Respect and I again run through a list of the 10 worst rappers out right now. All rappers were culled from a list of suggestions made by you over social media. We don't fully agree with the suggestions, but we go over why each artist might be catching all the negativity.
A couple of weeks ago, our still pretty dead podcast was brought back to life thanks to the good people over at the SOS Fest in Central Texas. They flew me out to speak with a few acts, but mainly to do this on-stage chat with clipping., who have always been a pleasure to interview. This time we talk about the trio's latest album Splendor & Misery, their Donald Trump diss track, and their reaction to music reviews.
In this episode of the podcast, our guest is one of the harshest and most hilarious film critics on YouTube: Adam of YourMovieSucks. We talk criticism, reviews, music, and more!
On this episode of the podcast, we talk with the founder of Soundway Records, Miles Cleret. We talk about the process of bringing obscure, foreign music to a Western audience, and the evolution of the Soundway label. We also get an update on the next Ondatrópica album!
On this episode of the podcast, I give Pyrocynical a platform to defend himself. Nah, just kidding! However, I do converse with him and NFKRZ, who are two content creators in the growing community of "commentary" channels on YouTube. We talk drama, Leafy clones, Keemstar, YouTube, memes, and more.
On this episode of the podcast, contributor Jeremy Fisette talks with singer-songwriter Xenia Rubinos about her upcoming album, Black Terry Cat, on Anti- Records.
On this episode of the podcast, a friend of the show, Zach Hart, interviews Anthony Fantano. Together, they try to find out where exactly Anthony's life went wrong, driving him to create YouTube music reviews for a living.
On this episode of The Needle Drop Podcast, we're talking with YouTube content creator and culture critic Evan Puschak. We go off on a tangent-laced discussion about the promotion of new albums in the Internet age.
On this episode of The Needle Drop Podcast, we're talking with singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler. Contributor Jeremy Fisette asks her about her upcoming record, touring, and the songwriting process.
In this episode, an interview with electronic music artist Tim Hecker. We talk about ambient music, his latest album, and artistic concepts in regards to experimental music.
To celebrate 100,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, a discussion about all things art and music with Mr. FrankJavCee.
On this episode of the TND Podcast, a conversation with Daveed Diggs. We've been following his career since his involvement with the experimental hip hop trio known as clipping., but he's since landed major roles as Thomas Jefferson and Lafayette on the sensational Broadway hip hop musical, Hamilton.
On this episode of the podcast, a conversation with YouTuber and Pentatonix member Mitch Grassi. We talk about singing, Mitch's love of music, and some alternative electronic music producers that he's into.
On this episode of the podcast, a conversation with self-described "Otaku Gonzo Journalist," Digibro. He regularly uploads reviews and opinion pieces on his YouTube channel, diving into the ever-growing world of anime.
On this episode of the podcast, a conversation with Matmos about their latest album Ultimate Care II. We talk about albums, washing machines, touring, and more.
On this episode of the podcast, a conversation with culture critic and provocateur, Maddox. Since the late 90s, he's been writing rants that expose the inherent shittiness of life--but it turns out he hates because he cares. We talk about his upcoming book, metal, and more.
On this episode of the podcast, a conversation with Mark Grondin of Spectrum Pulse. In light of Kanye West's recent Twitter outbursts, we talk about white publications speaking on black music, and the idea of covering music along racial lines.
On this episode of the podcast, a conversation with Full of Hell's Spencer Hazard. We talk working with Merzbow, the Body, and some of the philosophy behind the band's extreme, abrasive sound.
In this episode of the podcast, a conversation with Connecticut rapper Apathy. We talk hip hop, upcoming releases, keeping it independent, old school vs. new school, and fatherhood.
This week on the podcast, our guest is Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org fame. His daily video series on health and the latest nutritional studies can be found on this 130,000-subscriber YouTube channel. He's also got a new book out titled How Not To Die, which goes into the how and why of preventing our leading causes of death via diet.
In this episode of the podcast, I'm talking with Tiny Mix Tapes writers Pat Beane and SCVSCV about their collaborative piece, "2015: Identity Crisis." We'll be discussing the politics and quality of modern music reviews and thinkpieces. A few albums will be coming up in the discussion as well.
In this episode of the podcast, a conversation with one of SSB Melee’s top-ranking players, Hungrybox. We’re talking with him about tournament play, the SSB franchise, and more.
Going over a list of the 10 "worst" rappers in the game right now with D. Respect of the DBL D's Podcast, considering why they get such widespread hate.
A discussion with rapper extraordinaire Busdriver about politics, jazz, America, his musical past, and a bit about his latest musical project Thumbs.
A talk with up-and-coming electronic music producer and recent Brainfeeder Records signee Iglooghost. His newly released EP Chinese Nü Yr is easily one of our favorites this year, and we're talking about the music on it, his influences, and old Internet memes.
A conversation with RipFork's Matt Wendus. On and off for the past several years, Matt has made it his mission to critique written music reviews. He and Anthony discuss reviews, grammar, and the state of music journalism (also accounting).
A discussion with ex-music writer Chris Ott about his history with Pitchfork Media, and Condé Nast's recent acquisition of the notorious music website.
A conversation with YouTube-based food critic, podcaster, shortwave radio enthusiast, and sharp dresser TheReportOfTheWeek.
A discussion with illustrator, animator, writer, podcaster, YouTuber, and creator of the Hip Hop RPG Dominick Rabrun.
Anthony responds to fan-submitted e-mails about musical life after forty, untimely deaths, and lyrics.
Anthony speaks with Zev Deans, director at Panorama Programming who has made videos for such artists as Behemoth, Chelsea Wolfe, and Liturgy.
A talk semi-anonymous producer and songwriter Clarence Clarity about his musical influences, the overwhelming Internet age, and the music on his latest album No Now.
Anthony chats with guitarist, songwriter, and fellow YouTuber Rob Scallon about his musical influences and the mindset of a YouTube musician.
Anthony talks with vlogger, comedian, and Internet blood-boiler, George Miller. The character he regularly plays on his YouTube Channel has grown to be one of the most controversial entities on the platform.
Anthony speaks with Wisconsin rapper and producer Milo about his next album So the Flies Don't Come, his growth as an artist, becoming self-sufficient, and learning all the tricks of the musical trade.
Anthony speaks with saxophonist and bandleader Kamasi Washington about the recording of his latest record, The Epic, and the tour he's in the midst of with his incredibly talented band, the Next Step.
A conversation with Arizona hip hop trio Injury Reserve. Topics include their phenomenal debut mixtape Live from the Dentist Office and the AZ rap scene.
A talk with Cali singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe about her fantastic album Abyss, her writing process, dreams, the concept of an abyss, and sleep paralysis.
Anthony speaks with Ethan and Hila of H3h3productions and FrankJavCee about YouTube's strike system, copyright in the Internet age, and predatory MCNs signing unaware content creators.
A talk with Sleaford Mods vocalist/lyricist Jason Williamson about Mod culture, Russell Brand, passing gas, and UK politics.
A talk with Neil Cicierega (aka Lemon Demon), the mind behind animutation, Potter Puppet Pals, and last year's insane pair of mashup albums Mouth Sounds/Mouth Silence.
The Needle Drop Podcast returns with an episode all about vaporwave! Interviews with musician/documentarian, Wolfenstein OS X, and musician/founder of Dream Catalogue (the largest label dealing with vaporwave music), Hong Kong Express.