"This track is like being raised on velvet pillows and then, on your 18th birthday, having a crazy albino mannequin begin to rub sandpaper on your face."

Stylus is shutting down, unfortunately. Here's their own excellent guide to the best of the site. Great weekend reading.

"An artist is Advanced when they do something that is neither expected of them nor the opposite of what is expected of them." Tongue-in-cheek, but the article lives on. Note the notes on Val Kilmer and C-Murder.

On Advancement Theory: it's not bad; you just don't get it. "The most Advanced figure of all time is Lou Reed [who in] 1986 released the song 'The Original Wrapper,' in which he raps about AIDS, Louis Farrakhan, and waffles."

"Your guide to understanding Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and other highly Advanced musicians." If a genius does something you don't understand, it's probably even more genius.