Somewhere in Sacramento, Stefan Burnett paced down a workplace hallway wearing all black and a gas mask. He tested every door, with his friend Zach Hill on his tail, recording him for a music video. Eventually a door opened, and an empty printing room sat there. A...
Carter Hillsdon
Concert Preview: Wallice @ The Atlantis on 4/15
The U Street Corridor plays host to some of the city’s best music venues – The Lincoln Theatre, The 9:30 Club, and the live music fanatic-favorite, The Atlantis. Nestled behind the iconic 9:30 Club, The Atlantis has embraced its role as a smaller venue that plays host...
Carter’s Classics, Vol. 4 – “Blonde”
I remember sitting in bed at 2:30 in the morning, glued to my phone a little over halfway through my sophomore year of high school. That night (or morning, if you may) was Frank Ocean’s first live performance in six years: Coachella 2023. But little did people who...
The Top 15 Songs of the 2020s
When discussing the current decade’s best albums, I kept coming back to one thought: “What are the best songs of the 2020s?” With so much music having been released over the course of the last six years, the task felt impossible. How could I narrow it down? Starting...
Concert Preview: Perfume Genius @ Lincoln Theater on 3/31
The Lincoln Theatre has hosted several incredible artists over its tenure in D.C., including Fiona Apple, Bon Iver, and Duke Ellington. Joining the ranks of these legends and more is the Grammy-nominated Perfume Genius, set to perform Tuesday, March 31. Perfume...
Carter’s Classics, Vol. 3 – “Heavy Metal”
It seems like everybody and their mother is talking about Geese and their lead singer, Cameron Winter, these days. The band’s sudden emergence in the indie rock scene has come largely due to the success of their 2025 album, “Getting Killed”, but also due to the eyes...
The Five Greatest Albums of the 2020s
We are now six years into the current decade, and with that time has come lots of incredible music. From the development of hyperpop to the relative fall-off of modern country music to the constant rebranding of indie rock, the 2020s have given us plenty of...
Carter’s Classics, Vol. 2 – “Getz/Gilberto”
The 1960s are known to be one of the most influential decades in music history – here grew the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Beach Boys, to name a few. This emergence of rock began the takeover where jazz would start to be overshadowed. The works of Miles Davis and John...
Carter’s Classics, Vol. 1 – “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it”
The term “classic” is often thrown around when it comes to music. The truth is that something being “classic” is subjective, just like music in and of itself. That’s why in my column, “Carter’s Classics”, I will be diving into projects that some people don’t...
The 2026 Grammys – Winners and Losers
For over half a century, the Grammys have been marked as the pinnacle of musical achievement. Yet, with praise of the award show also comes a fair bit of controversy. Wins like Killer Mike’s “Michael” over Travis Scott’s “Utopia” for Best Rap Album, Eric Clapton...









