Louder: Eminem's 'The Marshall Mathers LP' at 20

Plus: The 1975, Breland, Carly Rae Jepsen and More

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story May 22, 2020 By Caryn Ganz Pop Music Editor The internet has made it relatively easy for it to seem like everybody is talking about the same thing. Eminem really did get everybody talking about the same thing — him — with no social media, no constantly refreshing news feeds, no forwarded threads from your uncle. He was the subject of Senate committees, TV newsmagazine segments, radio spots, water-cooler conversations. And for many people, he was a problem. “The Marshall Mathers LP,” released 20 years ago this weekend, was a landmark for many reasons, some of them troubling — Em provoked, joked, threatened and emoted like few before over a sustained body of work. What music preceded the album and may have fueled Eminem’s creativity? And what followed in its wake? Charles Aaron broke down every track for the audio project Before & After, and our fantastic producer/designer/wizard Aliza Aufrichtig put it all together. (Hint: Hum “The Real Slim Shady” as the top graphic reveals itself.) Profiles this week: Grayson Haver Currin spoke with Woods, the indie psych-rock group that teamed up with David Berman shortly before his death, about that experience, and their new album. Jon Caramanica interviewed Breland, a country-rap up-and-comer who seems poised to fill the void left after “Old Town Road.” The critics wrote sparkling pieces this week, starting with Jon on 6ix9ine as an agent of chaos, using social media as an instrument of mayhem; Jon Pareles double-reviewed albums by Moses Sumney and Perfume Genius, artists who explore a spectrum of queer desire; and Lindsay Zoladz reviewed the latest from the 1975. And we debuted a series of Google docs — Notes From Our Homes to Yours — offering readers a window into some of our writers and editors’ worlds while we’re at home. I started a virtual tour of my music and media memorabilia (50 Places to Go … In My Apartment) that helps explain why I have a half-eaten piece of Britney Spears’s birthday cake in my freezer, among other things. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT BEFORE & AFTER Catherine McGann/Getty Images   Eminem’s ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’: Hear What Came Before and After On his second major-label album, the Detroit rapper provoked, joked, threatened and emoted. Twenty years later, listen to the songs that came first, and the ones he inspired. By Charles Aaron and Aliza Aufrichtig PROFILES Woods Became David Berman’s Band. Then They Picked Up the Pieces. The leaders of the psych-rock group helped Berman make his first album in a decade. After his suicide, they tried to get lost in finishing their own LP, “Strange to Explain.” By Grayson Haver Currin Breland Is Country. Breland Is Hip-Hop. Can Breland Go Pop? The 24-year-old’s single “My Truck” is the most viable fusion of rural and urban since “Old Town Road,” and his new EP pushes the sound even further. By Jon Caramanica A Philip Glass Score Was Lost. 50 Years Later, Here It Is. “Music in Eight Parts” has finally been reconstructed and recorded. By Joshua Barone THE CRITICS     Critic’s Notebook 6ix9ine, the Chaos Agent From home confinement, the rapper and rabble-rouser has once again taken over pop culture by poking powerful figures and delighting in the results. By Jon Caramanica Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times   Critic’s Pick Moses Sumney and Perfume Genius: Complex Voices of Desire Two new albums by musicians who have taken on a spectrum of love and longing explore more ambitious sonic possibilities. By Jon Pareles Magdalena Wosinska for The New York Times   Album Review The 1975: Self-Aware, Self-Indulgent and, Yes, Sincere The British band’s new album, “Notes on a Conditional Form,” is a more downcast take on the challenges of living in the internet age. By Lindsay Zoladz Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT the playlist Carly Rae Jepsen’s Summery Throwback, and 11 More New Songs Hear tracks by Phoebe Bridgers, Polo G, Neil Young and others. By Jon Pareles, Lindsay Zoladz and Giovanni Russonello The Many Lives of Doja Cat The pop star took an extremely nonlinear path to No. 1, and continues to push the boundaries of online behavior. FROM OPINION Chad Batka for The New York Times   THE BIg Ideas: Why Does Art Matter? Sonny Rollins: Art Never Dies It outlives the contentious political veneer that we cast over everything. By Sonny Rollins NEWS news analysis Coronavirus Shut Down the ‘Experience Economy.’ Can It Come Back? Large-scale gatherings are on hold for the foreseeable future. That is taking a toll on the live events industry and society at large. By David Gelles America’s First Concert in Months Rocks an Arkansas Stage Fans who had to have their temperatures taken and wear masks for the Travis McCready show said it was worth it for the experience of hearing live music again. By Bret Schulte Bard College Music Student Sues School, Citing Instructor’s Conduct The teacher was fired, but the suit says he should not have been on staff because of prior complaints by other students. By Melena Ryzik A No. 1 Hit Vanished From Poland’s Charts. It’s Not Going Quietly. In a furor over censorship, prominent broadcasters resigned and artists asked for the state-run radio station at the center of the controversy to stop playing their music. By Joanna Berendt the charts With Help From 100 Bundles, Nav Lands Another No. 1 Album The Canadian rapper’s “Good Intentions” reached the top of the Billboard 200 with the equivalent of 135,000 album sales. By Ben Sisario Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT OBITUARIES Astrid Kirchherr, Who Helped Create the Beatles’ Image, Dies at 81 The stark black-and-white photographs she took of the group in Hamburg, Germany, before the musicians were famous captured both their toughness and their sensitivity. By Allan Kozinn Lucky Peterson, a Bluesman Since He Was a Boy, Dies at 55 He cut a record at 5 and went on to a steady if somewhat under-the-radar career as a backing musician and solo artist. By Neil Genzlinger Jorge Santana, Latin-Rock Guitarist, Is Dead at 68 He played guitar with the band Malo, whose Top 20 hit “Suavecito” became a staple of the genre. He also recorded and toured with his brother Carlos Santana. By The Associated Press Else Blangsted, Who Fled the Nazis and Found a Hollywood Ending, Dies at 99 A top movie music editor who worked with Dave Grusin and Michel Legrand, she was haunted by the fate of her first child. By Richard Sandomir + MORE The Climate ‘Hot 10 Songs’ A keen ear could hear the theme of global warming starting to swell in popular music all across the dial in the last two decades as global temperatures started to rise. By Kendra Pierre-Louis Learn Guitar with Laura Marling The folk singer-songwriter demystifies her various tuning techniques, taking followers step-by-step through some of her most popular songs. By Adriana Balsamo ‘Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl’ Review: A Star Who Fell to Earth A new documentary, about the British singer-songwriter’s struggle to reassemble her pop career, is a frank depiction of the life of a workaday musician. By Teo Bugbee Make a friend’s day: Forward this email! Get this from a friend? Sign up here. 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