Take us through a recent workday. I woke up, looked at my emails, responded to some and sent some off. Most of them are around trying to book future guests for Song Exploder; either I’m getting ...

Later this month, Damon Albarn's insanely popular cartoon-pop project Gorillaz will return with the new album Humanz. Albarn has already shared a generous handful of tracks from the guest-heavy LP, ...

Among the first instruments you hear in Losing My Religion, the 1991 smash hit by R.E.M., is a mandolin. Played by guitarist Peter Buck, the minimalist melody moves through the song virtually ...

Former staff writer Randall Roberts covered Los Angeles music culture for the Los Angeles Times. He had served various roles since arriving at The Times in 2010, including music editor and pop music ...

R.E.M. may be broken up (cue "Everybody Hurts") but they've been in the public eye a lot this year due to reissuing their 1992 classic Automatic For The People. Their latest appearance is on the ...