EMMIE
WHITE RABBITS
A$AP ROCKY
GRISWALD
SLEIGH BELLS
DIRTY PROJECTORS
GANGNAM STYLE: LOVE VS HATE
winter 2013
cred
its
lisa Fox Editor in Chief
livi Magnanini Features & Album Reviews Editor sara Pierce Show & Album Reviews Editor julie Jarzemsky Layout Editor
aj Becker Graphic Designer
Other contributors: meher Ahmad adelaide BLANCHARD mitchell Brachmann matt Christie brandom CLEMENTI joyce Edwards sam EICHNER tyler FASSNACHT michael Kuca sean MANNION conor MURPHY mat POLOWITZ alex Ross abby SCHNEIDER molly TRERETOLA
special thanks to:
Dear Reader,
Music loving students at UW unite at Emmie, a magazine that strives to present exciting and creative articles to readers each semester that review albums and concerts, interview artists, and give a fresh perspective on the music world today. With each new semester, we embrace the opportunity to immerse ourselves into the so-called ‘music scene’- seeing shows all across the country, counting down the days until that new album drops, and learning every Google-able detail about our favorite bands. We are then lucky enough to utilize Emmie as our creative outlet, one where we can pour our opinionated hearts out- whether we are hailing a singer as the songbird of our generation, a combination of Fergie and Jesus, or labeling them the most overrated band since Rush. In this issue, you’ll find an album review for a band called Puffy Areolas (if that doesn’t entice you to read on, I don’t know what will), concert reviews for some of the most popular acts in music right now (read: Sleigh Bells), and our staff’s compiled playlists for when you’re: walking to class, getting over a break up, in a party mood, or are about to get it on (for lack of a better word). I’m excited for you all to read this issue, and I hope you enjoy it! Love you, mean it, lisa FOX
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features 6 White Rabbits 8 Emmie Staff Playlists 10 Battle of the Bands Winner: Griswald 13 A Chat with Milo Greene 15 How We Listen 16 The Sheepdogs 19 Laura Warshauer 22 Pro-Con: Gangnam Style 24 Trap Music 101
festivals 28 Outside Lands 30 Not Your Average Summer Camp 32 Lollapalooza 34 Bonnaroo
ts
show reviews
40 A Hashtag-free Lil B Review 41 Danny Brown, School Q, and A$AP Rocky Take Over the Rave 42 Mayer Hawthorne at the Majestic 43 Dinosaur Jr. Feeling the Noise 44 Wood Brothers Return to the Majestic 45 Sleigh Bells Slays the Stage 46 Odd Future: Disappointingly Tame in Milwaukee 47 The Head & the Heart Return to Madison 48 Lumineers Light up the Riverside 49 Kids These Days, Prof, and Mac Miller Hit up Freakfest 50 Dirty Projectors Ring in Majestic’s Fifth Year Anniversary 52 Andrew Bird at the Overture 53 Dawes 54 3LAU’d Out
album reviews 58 Shields- Grizzly Bear Allah-Lahs- The Allah-lahs 59 The Carpenter- The Avett Brothers Art History- California Wives 60 Push & Shove- No Doubt Babel- Mumford and Sons 61 1982: Dishonorable Discharge- Puffy Areolas Traphouse Rock- Kids These Days 62 An Awesome Wave- Alt-J Crystal Anis- Les Limiñias 63 Bent- Ssion Channel Orange- Frank Ocean
Features
white rabbits
sayheyrecords.com
Following their Lollapalooza debut, I caught up with White Rabbits guitarist Alex Even to chat about the group’s new album Milk Famous. After a solid performance, Even was open to chat about the meaning behind their album name, photography, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and he even made up a few words along the way. With a bright future ahead, White Rabbits may not make a ton of sense on paper but are definitely a band to keep an eye on, and both ears too. How was your performance? Our performance at Lollapalooza was fun. It’s always interesting having that many people in front of you. It sort of, like... annonymizes-zes the performance in a way? Is that a word?
we’ve gotten better at managing that sort of experience. But it’s fun to play festivals because it sort of makes you want to step up your game a little bit, you know, and explore how you can do that without sounding stupid [Laughs].
So how did you guys come up with Yeah, sure. That’s always kind of challenging and the name for your new album Milk not something normal, but it was fun. Famous? Uhhh…I think it was…How did we Do you prefer that anonymity of the come up with it, I don’t know. We had been thinking about names for the crowd, or rather a more intimate setting? album and that one sort of seemed Well, I think we’re more used to more just random enough. It’s almost intimate settings, and I think that impressionistic enough that you could
put your own meaning on it. Yeah, it just sort of sounded absurd, it sounds cool. Milk Famous actually sounds like a slogan for the state of Wisconsin. [Laughs] Oh right, the dairy land capitol? Our drummer Dave is from Madison, actually. So maybe that’s the secret truth behind the name? Dave was scheming perhaps? Maybe he was trying to lobby for his home state.
So with this new album are you guys trying anything different musically? Or is it building off of the sound of your previous album, It’s Frightening? Both probably. It’s especially tough for me to have perspective on stuff like that because I’m so, or rather, we’re all so kind of ‘in’ the project so all the changes that happen to us, happen very gradually. Whereas to the rest of the world it happens in like, spurts, like spurts of albums and they sound different. But to us it’s all happened very slowly and day by day. So I guess it’s more of an evolution of sound. So I was looking at the White Rabbits website and I noticed a logo of your band name and it’s in the shape of a black dog that is bending over. Do you know which image I’m talking about? Oh yeah for sure, I think so. There’s this famous photo by Czech photographer Josef Koudelka called ‘Hound’ of a black dog in the snow and the resemblance between the logo and the photo is uncanny. I was wondering if the photo inspired you guys? I haven’t seen that photo. That’s crazy I’ll have to check it out. Well a friend of ours that we grew up skateboarding with designed that
shirt, so maybe that photo inspired him. I’ve never seen it though. Yeah definitely check it out, I’d be interested to see if there’s a connection. So, in terms of gearing up to make music, what starts off the process- an established idea or lyric, or do you guys just get together and start playing? Generally one of us will have a little
during the day. That sounds like the perfect Lollapalooza song. Is there a band that you’re really into right now that people might by surprised by? We’ve been listening to this band called Yello for the past few days. I think they’re Swedish. Do you know that song in the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off soundtrack, the one that goes [deep bass voice] “ohhhh yeahhhh” in a really low voice?
photo credit: Nick Simonite
bit of music maybe, like a chord progression, a couple lyrics, melody, or a drumbeat. Then a smaller group of us, like two or three, will play around with it. Once it gets to a point we bring everybody in and try to make it sound how we would play it together as a band. That’s basically the process.
[Laughs] Yeah I know what you’re talking about, that was a really good impression. Yeah it’s that band. We just checked them out in the past few days and they’re pretty sweet. So we’ve been listening to that, Yello.
So would you recommend Yello to Emmie readers? Oh yeah for sure.
So what are your plans for this fall? We’re going to Europe for a tour next week, and then we will be going into the studio when we get back. Then we have a few shows with The Shins this Do you have a favorite song you like fall. So there’s definitely a lot to look to play live off of Milk Famous? forward to. I’m really enjoying playing the last track on the album called “I Had It joyce EDWARDS Coming.” It’s sort of like a breezy tune that’s fun to play in the summer
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Less of a song you’d want to have playing while getting freaky, it more or less represents the rising and falling passion we all love about sex. michael KUCA
Features
on the way to class
We Own the Sky
m83
ScythiAn Empires
Andrew Bird
Forever Young
Bob Dylan
My Girls
Animal Collective
Forget the Flowers
Wilco
Freeway
Kurt Vile
Kick Drum Heart
sexy time
Miss fFat Booty Mos De r this (cover) High fo Ellie Goulding Jet Stream Minnesota
e Breath Telepopmusic u Rock lWJaitckhsoYo n ae Mich Fuck You All The Time Jeremy
Bed ay J Holid Toeachnkizown Dam- Fu DevilWeinsta New Dress Kanye Tell Me Something Good
Avett Brothers
Bitch I Feel Good
Chip the Ripper
Tobacco Road
Common Market
get burned
sleeper agent
Rufus and Shaka Khan
Latin Thugs
Theme Song Big Boi Pull FrOuomt Above 1979 Death Gimme Shelter
Cyprus Hill feat Tego Calderon
Israelites
Desmond Dekker
Earl
Earl Sweatshirt
the song progression is of outstanding musical artistry, and the lyrics are equally ingenious. When I walk to class with this on, I find myself actively suppressing my urge to shout “ow!” (see lyrics, listen to song). sara PIERCE
Rolling Stones
An aural representation of that steamy session from last weekend. You might need to shower after this one… michael KUCA
emmie staff playlists
Evocative of blue sky and perhaps Caspian kingdoms if you’re listening to the lyrics, the song trickles nicely into the groggy morning brain of commuters, as if to say, “Today might not wholly suck. Hell, today might be a good day.” matt CHRISTIE
The kind of tune you’d want to have playing while smoking a joint in bed with your late-night lover. michael KUCA
Delicate throwback vinyl noise and a sexy female alto set the stage for some smootches with your significant other, at least to begin. Warm, rolling synth beckons, as if to say to your lover, “What are you doing so far away? Come closer...” matt CHRISTIE
This song will get even the most uncoordinated to throw away their inhibitions and bust a move. You’ll have the whole party feeling like PYTs, ready to ignite. julie JARZEMSKY
pregame
thrift shop
macklemore feat ry
an lewis
Untrust U
Crystal Castless
Baby’s On Fire
Die Antwoord
Sweet and Sour
MVSCLES
Bad Girls
mix)
Lemme Sm
Turquoise Jeepang It
Miami 2 Ib
ft Tinie Tempah
Come Up and Get Me
Death Grips
Hard to Explain
Breezeblocks
Alt-J
smile
Daft Punk
Plague
Marvin’s Room Our deal
PJ Harvey
Justice (Mstrkrft re
Crystal Castles
California
Delta Spirit
Man Size
3LAU
a Swedish Houseiz Mafia
Bulletproof
La Roux
Best coast
Dubsex
One More Time
Lose You
Pete Yorn
Drake
M. I. A.
D.A.N.C.E.
post-breakup
lilly allen
breakin’ up
rilo kiley
Coming Back to a Man
Dawes
Somebody That I Used to Know
Elliott Smith
made concrete
republic tigers
The Strokes
If you don’t know this song or don’t recognize it as an excellent pregame anthem, get with it. sara PIERCE
s guitar Warning: Hi bitter chords and send vocals may into a you reeling ars. of te cathartic fit EMSKY julie JARZ
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Features
meet emmie’s battle of the bands winner:
griswald
Before their show at the Sett, Jeremy Hart, Taylor Keding and Mike Seehafer of Griswald sat down to talk about music, Wisconsin, and how school fits into it all. How did Griswald start out? JH: We had a band in highschool that played some stuff, and then through a project over the summer we had Mike playing bass, so when we went to college our highschool band broke up and then we played last year here, and then over the summer, Mike’s girlfriend-now-fiancé is living here, so it’s kind of natural that we fused. How do you guys write songs for the band? TK: Most of the time Jeremy has a lick on guitar. JH: I think for me, the music comes first, and then you kind of base lyrics around it. For me personally it’s more about how the words come out through the notes rather than actually what the words are saying. TK: Whenever we do lyrics, it’s more of like, we always start off—so we have this lick, and we’re playing it, and then we’ll sing a part we can put over the top of that, and then we make words based on the sounds we were making with our mouths, and so the lyrics aren’t really stories or
anything like that, it’s just more of like what sounds natural, like what we were singing. Do you guys prefer recording music or performing it, and what does each have to offer you guys creatively? I guess, well recording you can do as many layers of things as you want, so it’s easy to sit for an hour, like for instance on one of our songs, I have trumpets going consecutively panning each ear, and so I just sit and do this note, and do this note, do this note, just to get that effect. It’s cool to be able to do that and you can’t ever do that live. Live you just have the excitement.
What music inspires you guys and shows through to your own work, and what part of Griswald do you feel is your own outside of that inspiration? JH: [laughs] Mike, you want to answer this one? MS: So, music that inspires us? Some bands that that we all like are The National—what did you say? JK: Definitely, yeah.
MS: Yeah, The National’s a really big one. Tuneyards we’re starting to listen to a lot more. I think that Jeremy and I have a lot more similar musical influences than you do [Taylor]. Jeremy and I have a lot of TK: We have recordings—we’ve been indie influences, like The National, recording our EP for the past six Tuneyards, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bon months now, well, total, and so we’re Iver, things like that, and some older just getting down to the finish. I things like The Smiths, Joy Division, don’t know about you guys, but I look some droning-type things like that. forward to actually playing gigs now You want to speak for some of yours that we’ve been recording for so long that are a little different? that finally, y’know, I want to get out JH: I think we all liked Bon Iver kind and actually play these songs. of in time.
TK: Yeah, no I really like Bon Iver. Actually tonight, I know Jeremy, you’re not a huge fan of them, but State Radio, I really like State Radio. And they’re actually playing at the Majestic tonight. I love The National, I’ve been listening to them a lot lately. And then I’m just a huge fan of oldies, too. MS: And your jazz background still comes in all the time [to Jeremy]. JH: Yeah, like on Spotify there’s a Blue Note app, and it’s got all these old jazz records, so you can go on and listen to like “Cannonball” Adderly and all these guys. I’d say jazz comes into the picture a lot, too. MS: Long-winded answer. How do you guys describe your dynamic on stage? JH: I don’t know, I’d say mostly it’s just based on creativity and doing what you’re feeling right there. I’d say that’s pretty much what our goal is.
MS: Well a lot of the times it’s four-four time, it’s just we’re going to mess with it [laughs]. TK: It’s just about feeling the music.
TK: I feel like there are a lot of—especially like nowadays, in this day and age, where music programs are getting cut and the arts are being left behind a lot of the time, a lot of school districts and cities and stuff. I think we were fortunate in—well, 715 is huge, in northern Wisconsin. Yeah, it’s like half the state. TK: Yeah, yeah. But I don’t know, when I think of 715, I think back to us, where we’re from, Wausau, Wisconsin, and we had a lot of opportunities to express ourselves musically, with bands, with school bands, orchestra, whatever else. I just feel whenever I can hear that, whenever we’re singing that, I feel like wow, we had a lot of opportunities to get to this point in our past, and we’re really lucky.
“
I really really don’t like flashy stuff, I still like to keep it simple, and so I always try MS: I don’t know about you to keep that in the back of guys, but going through high school, the music scene was the my head one thing that I always went to
“
TK: Yeah, I don’t know, Mike and I usually—you just have to lock really hard, because a lot of our stuff, it’s not like four-four time, y’know, we’re just going chop our way through this, it’s a lot more intricate than that.
Your song “Gladys Night” calls out the area code 715 as a refrain. What connection do you feel your music has to Wisconsin, and how important is it if there is a connection? JH: I think there definitely is a connection because I think the dream is to have a place where you can build your own music rather than having to go to a huge city, and so I think having a place where you can grow up or having a place that you’re really based in as the spot where everything happens is really special.
and always felt comfortable with. That’s how we got to know eachother,
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really, was we both had bands that were in the Wausau music scene in high school, so it was just really good making those connections, feeling comfortable together. Taylor, your percussion on stage when I last saw you guys perform, it’s just a few pieces, yet it comes off as a full part of the music. How do you approach playing for Griswald, and what makes it work? TK: Well, not tonight [laughs], I brought a bigger set. Most of like what you’ve seen me—it’s been a lot more open mic format, and especially before since we didn’t have Mike with us at bass, it was a lot of just guitar, and I wanted to just add that little bit, that percussion element,
y’know how you have that beat. I still approach it the same way, I really really don’t like flashy stuff, I still like to keep it simple, and so I always try to keep that in the back of my head, even if I have a bigger set, I like to keep it simple and make sure—I think back to those times when I played with a low tom and a snare, and that’s all I had, and I try and keep that same “alright, we gotta be creative with what I have here,” and that’s the same kind of thought process that I use when I play with a bigger kit. So not a whole lot’s going to be different, it’s definitely going to sound different because I’ll actually have cymbals and stuff, but the same thought process goes behind it. How do you guys balance school and the band? Because gauging the importance of one versus the other can be difficult sometimes, I imagine. TK: [laughs] We just kind of talked about this, actually. JH: I have three tests this next week, didn’t really spend much of the day studying. TK: I think it’s being open, making sure we communicate, and I think being understanding, too. Mike’s graduated, he’s— MS: I’m not graduated. I’m studentteaching [laughs].
TK: Oh you’re student-teaching, I’m sorry, I’m sorry [laughs]. It seems like you’re graduated, because you’re—but yeah, he’s doing that, his own thing, in Eau Claire, right? MS: Well, living in Tomah. Still a long drive. TK: And we’re here in Madison, and so it’s just mostly about communicating with eachother and understanding like “well shit, I have a test this week, so maybe we shouldn’t do this, maybe we shouldn’t practice, maybe we shouldn’t record this week. JH: I think if I look back, I’d be like “y’know, that was a fun show” as opposed to “oh, I got a B+ on this test.” Which one’s going to carry longer? TK: Grades will come and go, but you only get a few opportunities to really play gigs and stuff. Check out Griswald’s new EP Hearsay & Lore at http://www.soundcloud. com/griswaldmusic or at www. facebook.com/griswaldmusic (you can like them there, too!) matt CHRISTIE photos by allie Folino
a chat with milo greene
Before cinematic green clouds loomed and pounding rain shut down all of Chicago’s Loop district on the second day of Lollapalooza, folk-pop quintet Milo Greene took the stage and brought some of their California sunshine with them. With a new self-titled album released this past July in tandem with a short film, Moddison, the group’s ambition is apparent as they tackle multiple projects across different creative fields with genuine excitement. After their Lolla debut I had the chance to talk with the group via email about late night television, the challenge of producing videos, and visiting grandpa’s cabin. Is there a story behind your the name, Milo Greene? MG: When Robbie and Andrew were in different bands in college, they decided to come up with a fake publicist/ agent to seem more professional. “Milo Greene” became the man calling venues and promoters to book shows in a British accent. Down the line when we all came together, it seemed only natural to pay tribute.
How was your first Lollapalooza? MG: It was sweaty, exhausting, and pretty amazing. We were really excited that so many people showed up early… and that we played before the weather gods went to crazy town – that was another memorable experience altogether. What groups are you excited to meet and what shows did you check out while at Lollapalooza? MG: We were pumped for Amadou and Mariam, and then we randomly met them in Wisconsin the day after Lolla in our hotel lobby, [we] made friends, and went and saw them for the second time in two days.
Is there a song or element on your new album that are you each most excited about? ANDREW: ”Autumn Tree,” because its the original demo we wrote before we ever thought we’d be a band. It started this whole thing. MARLANA: ”Moddison.” How I feel when I hear that short interlude is how I want to feel all the time. CURTIS: ”Take a Step.” I love the drum tones and the production. GRAHAM AND ROBBIE: ”What’s the Matter,” – just love it, vibe town USA. Recently, you were on Letterman, and in September you’ll be performing on Conan. Other than the major achievement of performing on these shows, are you guys big late night fans? MG: Definitely fans. You grow up and everyone on late night seems so magical, so far away. Slowly friends’ bands like Grouplove and Local Natives started to become guests, and it became more
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Features The album came first, you wrote the film script in 3 days and filmed it in 5. In the process you took on producer roles, what was that like and how was it different than your roles at musicians? MG: We definitely got a crash course in film production. Dealing with all the details and logistics of the movie process was a bit overwhelming at times but in everything we do collaboratively we are very hands on about the specifics. So in that regard, though the process of making a movie is quite different than making an album, the role of producing is something we are used to and enjoy doing.
tangible. But when we actually did Letterman, it was just as surreal as it seemed as a kid…..potentially because we hadn’t slept and it’s 40 degrees in there but…
What’s the story line of the film? Does the album follow that same story line? MG: The film is about a young man who struggles with his sanity.
The album artwork is really vibrant and beautiful. Does this tie in with the theme of the album and film? You guys also made a film called Moddison that MG: The artist’s name is Dan Wooster. The art is actually provides a corresponding visual experience to the a painting that belongs to our friend Spencer Williams tracks on the album. Are you guys planning to continue who plays the lead character in “Moddison.” to pursue a film career, or is film more in tandem with your music work? What do you guys have in the works for the future? MG: We would love to link up in the future with a MG: Lots and lots of touring. director/film project and provide a film score. We’ve always seen our music as cinematic and creating an joyce EDWARDS emotional soundscape for a movie would be something we’d be really excited about. I read that the tracks and the film released will not necessarily match as they come out. What is the reasoning behind this? MG: The movie itself follows the track order on the album but we didn’t release the videos that way because we wanted to highlight certain songs at first. Additionally we wanted people to start to put the pieces together on their own that the videos were part of a larger experience. I also heard that the film is shot at your grandpa’s cabin? How does grandma feel about your success, especially with reviews calling your group, “the feel good band of the summer?” MG: The film was shot at Andrew’s grandpa’s cabin. We are sure that Grandpa Bill is looking down and smiling to see all the use that the cabin has gotten over the last few years – not only did we shoot the movie there but we recorded a number of songs on the album there as well.
how we listen
an overview of data on music listening services julie JARZEMSKY itunes pandora 8tracks rdio
last.fm turntable
deezer
jamendo soundcloud spotify
locations of major headquarters
number of users
10 9
slacker
8
millions of users
grooveshark
primary source of new music
6 5 4 3 2 1
IFY
SPOT
CKER
K
.4% .2% .1%
SLA
ud
HAR
OVES
GRO
T.FM
LAS
es
itun
lo ndc
sou
DORA
PAN
fm radio friends none (not interested in music) my kids facebook itunes siriusxm pandora other youtube tv magazines other websites npr movies spotify twitter subscription music services myspace
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source: jacobs media
2007
2008
turnt
soundcloud ks
able
2005
8trac
er
2004
slack
2003
grooveshark y
2002
2006
spotif
fm
2001
last.
itunes
a
r pando
2000
year launched
2009
2010
2011
2012
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the sheepdogs crazy kind of thing where people are coming to see just you. We like both, but I think that where we’re at right now to be able to come do something like this, and to play for that many people, most who probably haven’t heard of us before is really cool.
After cancelled flights and almost missing their performance at Lollapalooza, the guys of Canadian rock group, The Sheepdogs, were happy to have just made it in one piece, let alone draw one of the largest crowds the festival saw all Sunday. With a new self-titled album produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys coming out September fourth and a Rolling Stone cover under their belt, the shaggy rockers are eager to give life to their new tracks by playing them live. After a packed performance, bassist Ryan Gullen and drummer Sam Corbett stopped to chat about a fortuitous text message, staying true to their sound, and a made up person in Australia with a fondness for sheep dogs.
How was your show? Ryan: It was awesome. It was really good, yeah. Sam: We got really good feedback from the crowds. Some people were saying it was the biggest crowd at that stage all weekend. I don’t know about that, but we’ll take it if it’s true. I definitely heard that that’s true. Do you guys prefer large festival crowds or more of a club setting? Ryan: Each show has its own merits. The best thing about festivals, especially for us being a Canadian band, is about discovery. Like, people walking by and discovering our band. You have a lot of open-minded people just going out to enjoy music. Whereas a club show is kind of sweaty,
Sam: This is actually our first time playing in Chicago so I’m assuming there are probably a lot of people who haven’t heard us. It’s awesome we’re so excited to be here. Welcome to Chicago! So where did you guys come up with the name The Sheepdogs? Ryan: There really isn’t a story at all. No? Ryan: We sometimes have made up stories, but no it’s …Okay, so what happened was that we had a different band name, and this was about seven or eight years ago. And we found out that a bunch of other people had the same name. We spent so much time deciding on what that name would be that we were just like, “Ahh, whatever.” And we just picked this one. It worked out with our shaggy appearances that kind of came over time. Sam: We sort of grew into the name. There’s really no story to speak of. What are some of the fake stories that you tell? Ryan: Ewan (vocals and guitar) always tells a story where he was in Australia and met this friend whom he told that if he ever made a band he would call it The Sheepdogs. So when we finally came up with the band he was so excited and called his friend to tell him about it…and his friend had died. But it’s not true! What a sad ending to a very fake story! So your new album is coming out September fourth and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys produced it. What was that like having him as part of the process? Ryan: It was cool. We met Pat through friends at a Tom Petty tribute thing we played at in New York.
That’s a really cool idea of trimming off the fat. Is there a song off the new album in particular that is full of those juicy bits? Sam: Well we’ve performed maybe three or four songs off the album so far. We’re actually going to do some rehearsals in a week and try to get the rest of the album in shape so we can play it on our fall tour. I don’t know, I think all of us probably have different favorite tracks. There are a lot of tracks that I really love a lot. It’s hard to pick a favorite. Ryan: There’s also the aspect of playing live. I think playing a song live gives it a new life. You go on the road and play new songs and the songs change. This new album sounds like we made it in a studio with Pat and just hung out. So I think that we have to give it live life. Once we get a chance to play all of those songs I
think we’ll enjoy playing them live. Because once you’ve made a record the only life those songs have is when you sit around and listen to your own record. But those favorite songs normally come out of playing it live. Has there been a transition between albums in terms of your sound evolving, or something you’re trying to do differently? Sam: Definitely not a drastic one. This album definitely sounds like a Sheepdogs album. But with all of our albums we try to do slightly different things like try a song that maybe wouldn’t have been part of our repertoire before. We want to be open-minded to different sounds. Ryan: There’s always a natural progression when you have a couple years between records. You have people getting into different stuff and we all become more competent
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again, but ehh, you’re making music for yourself and for other people and you have to be conscious of repeating yourself. So this past year you guys won Rolling Stone’s ‘Choose the Cover’ contest and were featured on the front cover of the magazine. What was it like for an already established band to get such sudden publicity? Ryan: Well we had been a band for seven years at that point, and it’s actually a year ago this weekend that we were on the cover. Certainly for any band, but especially as a Canadian band, getting that kind of U.S. publicity is huge. Anytime you can be successful outside as well as inside of the country you’re from it’s cool. For us it was all about getting our name out and getting our music out there. There were times were it was kind of tiring and things were a little bit weird. It’s being in
I think playing a song live gives it a new life. You go on the road and play new songs and the songs change.
as musicians as we evolve. There are always changes that will happen but we’re very rooted in the sound that we like. The basis of our music is that we make music that we like to listen to and hope other people like it as well. Obviously our tastes will change, but not drastically regardless of things that have happened in the last year nothing’s changed who we are as musicians. If we made the same record over and over you’d be bored, and I’d be bored. It’d be so boring if a band did that. Maybe with a handful of bands I would have wished that they did it over and over
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We were just talking about music and he kind of seemed passionately interested in what we are doing and what our albums are like. So we were like, “Hey, like, we’re big fans and have been for a long time when we started our band eight years ago. You should produce our album.” And he was like, “Nahh, no, no I’m way too busy I can’t do that.” So I was like, “Okay yeah that’s cool.” But a couple of months later I texted him and was like, “Hey, uhh, still any idea about maybe producing the album?” And he was just like, “Yeah, let’s do it!” That’s basically how it happened. It’s really cool working with him. He’s very like-minded in music, listening and talking about music. Also in terms of ‘trimming the fat’ of a song and just getting the really juicy parts. So it was cool to work with someone that we obviously respect musically, as well as someone who’s also very smart musically.
a contest. The biggest thing for us was that we took the experience and continued to do what we’re doing and try to do it on a larger scale. Things have changed, I mean the fact that we can do this full time as a job, which we couldn’t before. We’d work one, sometimes two jobs. So that’s the biggest change for us for sure. What are your plans for touring after your album drops on September fourth? Ryan: Lots and lots of touring. A big U.S. tour and a Canadian tour and
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we’ll be going overseas too. We’ll be spending some time over in Australia and Europe. Spreading the word, spreading the good word. Sam: You know we were on the cover of Rolling Stone, which is incredible, but it seems like most people from the States recognize us from being on Project Runway.
people might associate us with an American Idol-type thing. We don’t want to be seen as something that’s manufactured or that we didn’t deserve this success. We want to put our stuff out there and hopefully people respond to it.
I definitely saw that episode and wanted to ask you about that. Sam: Well that’s okay too. But we definitely want to capitalize on the momentum we got from the cover but we want to establish ourselves as a real band and to have people appreciate us for our music and not only for being on Project Runway.
Who are you guys checking out tonight at Lollapalooza? Ryan: We like just got here literally, so I really don’t know yet. I haven’t even sat down. But we saw Jack White at Sasquatch and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again, but I don’t know what else is going on. There’s another band, Empires, that was in the Rolling Stone thing with us and they’re playing in a little bit so I might go check them out.
And with Project Runway you probably reached a way different audience. Sam: A lot of people heard our music for the first time and that was great. Sometimes with winning a contest
Sam: A lot of people told me that Justice is really awesome so I might try to check that out as well. Did you guys ever see Jack White’s documentary Under Great White Northern White Lights that takes
place all over Canada? Sam: No, but we were at the show he played at the bowling alley in Saskatoon! Ryan: We were playing eight hours outside of Saskatoon the night before and we drove right back and went to that concert. But I remember seeing on Facebook beforehand people going, “Oh my God they’re playing at a bowling alley!” I’ve never seen the documentary but I saw It Might Get Loud with Jack White. I should check that out though. Yeah it’s pretty awesome. Jack and Meg go to an Inuit village and eat raw deer. Ryan: Oh yeah right on. Taking in some Canada. There’s a lot to see. The Sheepdogs’ new self-titled album is out on September 4th, 2012. joyce EDWARDS
laura warshauer On the cusp of her first break through album, songstress Laura Warshauer made her Lollapalooza debut this past August where she crooned through songs about nighttime drives and her scrappy New Jersey roots. With Prince William, Kate Middleton, and even Jay-Z among her fan base, the girl-rock showstopper is in especially good company. Warhauer met up with Emmie Magazine and even shared her last piece of gum, before chatting about Ozzy Osborne, singing in baby cribs, and what it’s like to run from the grave.
So now that we’ve shared gum and you gave me your very last piece I feel like I know you. We’ve totally bonded. So how was your first Lollapalooza? My first Lollapalooza has been amazing. This is my first time playing but I’ve been to the festival before and it really makes it that much more special and humbling when you arrive at Grant Park and you’re surrounded by throngs of people. Knowing that there’s going to be 100 thousand people a day here… It’s like, “Oh my God, I get to get up on one of these stages and sing my music?” What was it like performing in front of such a big audience for the first time? Well, I’m really excited to say that I now know what a festival setting is like playing at. This is my first time playing something like Lollapalooza. There’s something really vibe-y and casual about being on stage in the middle of the day outdoors. There’s a relaxed nature of the crowd. It’s something that I really enjoy about a small theatre and the drama that [is the] darkness and nighttime. I think that as I’ve done more and more performances, I just got off a national tour, and now playing Lolla, you just realize that being in the moment is just the ticket. Who are you excited to see at Lolla? I got a chance to see Metric yesterday and Metric’s one of my
favorite bands. I actually got to meet Emily and Jimmy, which was such a highlight for me. Emily even told me she liked my necklace, so....no big deal. She told me she was sure I was going to rock my show, so that to me like was like, “Okay, take me now!” I felt like I was anointed. She’s such a rock star. It was one of those moments where you feel like the coolness and hope that somehow you’re soaking it up somehow and then radiate that kind of coolness yourself. I loved seeing Passion Pit, and Ozzy last night was epic. Did you catch Ozzy’s show? Oh yeah, his presence is so powerful. I felt like he was this giant dark figure on the top of a mountain parting the Red Sea, or something. Like with a scepter. It’s very epic. His prowess and the way he commands the stage was really inspiring. How long have you been writing songs for? I’ve been writing songs since I was 14, and it was right around the time that Jagged Little Pill came out. It seemed like those songs were all that I was singing and everything that I was thinking about at that time. I was really struck by how it really impacted everyone around me too. It felt like every girl my age was singing those songs as if they were their own. I was really moved by how something so simple could be so powerful. There was this debate of whether you loved
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Features or hated the voice. It was just so fresh and impacted me from a songwriting perspective and it made me want to take a jab at it myself. At the time I learned “Ironic” and Joan Osborn’s “One of Us” and those were my cover songs. I became inspired to write my own songs from there. I loved how I could go to the Yellow Pages and book my own studio time on the Jersey Shore for an hour. Or go to Backstage Magazine and find open mics that my dad would take me to. I felt that it very quickly became a way to communicate and then I delved into the performance aspect of it. It was a way to make the songs come to life by conveying them in front of an audience. So what came first, writing or singing? Singing for sure, I’ve been singing since I was in my crib. I’d get up in the middle of the night and belt out “Mary Had A Little Lamb” or “Twinkle Twinkle.” What can you tell me about your upcoming full-length album with PJ Bianco? The album I’m working on now is really my break through body of work. It’s almost like I’ve been in the pre-game show where I’ve been figuring it all out. I’m like, “Okay I believe in these songs and my voice and I’ve gotten stage experience.” Now I’m getting that chance to pull it all together. The collaboration with PJ is something new and I’m so excited to work with him. I feel like he’s my dream collaborator and producer that I always knew I would find, I just didn’t know when and where that would happen. It’s amazing, we hit a creative sweet spot with the first the song we did together, “Running from the Grave,” which will probably be my first single. It was a great experience because everything I was always thinking about and wanting was coming out of the speakers. Ultimately, in your recordings you don’t want it to just be some cool song but it has to be like a movement. It’s got to encapsulate
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your spirit so people get you without even talking to you. I moved from New Jersey to LA and have had a lot of those nighttime desert-driving experiences, like a bit of that scrappy Jersey girl and that psycho bass motel woman on the run kind of thing where the moon’s in the sky and you’re alone with a telecaster in the back seat. I feel like that energy is encapsulated in “Running from the Grave.” Did I even answer your question? I don’t know, I guess the idea is that we’re in this really empowering situation where we can make a track and a video for it and then get back in the studio and work more. Do you have a name for the album yet? At this point I would call it “Running from the Grave” but next week that could change. So are you most excited about “Running from the Grave?” We also have a new song called “Somebody for Me” which is like the Irish drinking song
of life. There was definitely some wild turkey that happened in the studio that night. It’s Dublin meets Asbury Park, New Jersey. It’s like, “Everybody’s got somebody, I just want somebody for me.” I just got off stage after performing it live for the first time. What do you start with when you write a song? You won the Buddy Holly Master songwriter hall of fame award. I’ve always just sat down with my guitar and just gone to my go-to chords. I’ll come up with melodies and lyrics that I’ll start singing over the top. Sometimes I’ll come up with a verse or a chorus and it’ll be like ‘Cool, I’m home free.’ Recently it’s been really exciting to be in the studio and collaborate a bit, and just sit down and try stuff out, sometimes completing a song from start to finish. You have a song called “To Will and Kate Meet Me at Exit 109” that was featured on E! True Hollywood Story: Kate Middleton and became very popular this past summer with the royal wedding. The song tells the story of your friendship with Prince William and Kate Middleton at St. Andrews University. Do they know about the song? We were all connected in our freshman year there when you make fast friends with the people around you. William lived down the hall and Kate was on the floor below. So I was transitioning from New Jersey to Los Angeles and I was packing up some stuff and came across some photo albums. I was touched by these very real moments behind the scenes. Sunday nights eating lasagna on the floor or college parties, [or] getting a ride to the airport. I wasn’t sure if they heard it, but you’d think with the internet that there is a chance that they’d hear the song, but I didn’t know. But just yesterday a photographer friend of my mine just did a big show in London and apparently got the chance to speak with Kate and she said that she knew of the song and to please give Laura a kiss for her. I literally heard this yesterday.
So how do you feel about Jay-Z calling you ‘fantastically talented?’ I love the fact that he used the word fantastically, that was classic to me. He was an executive and I had an early deal with Island Def Jam and he worked for that company at the time in addition to being the amazing artist that he is. He saw me perform after I was signed and I was performing at a Grammy after party and a PR guy was like “Jay, you remember Laura?” and I was convinced he was not going to have any idea who I was. But he looked me dead [in the eye] and then told me that I was ‘fantastically talented.’ It was like, did this just happen? It makes me want to be better and to inspire people more. The artists I love and the role that they play in my life, it’s incredible knowing that they’re walking around. Bono and Bruce Springsteen are around town drinking coffee and it makes everything seem tangible. So when I think about what those artists give to me, it makes me want to give that to other people. Whether it’s the Buddy Holly Award or a sound bite from Jay-Z, I’m going to carry this with me and I’m going to keep trying to up my game. joyce EDWARDS
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wikitonia.com
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” is one of many embarrassing singles that has risen to popularity recently, but unlike the majority of those singles, you are not too cool for “Gangnam Style.” An appreciation for “Gangnam Style” is not about good taste or groundbreaking talent. It’s not about any social commentary on Gangnam, a district in Seoul, South Korea, and Psy recently attested to this in his Reddit AMA: “GS is not a critique, just FUN!” Pop music from any culture is basically junk food for your ears. “Gangnam Style” is the equivalent of the candy in the Korean wrapper you picked up at Asian Midway Foods. It may not be the turd-shaped American candy bars you’re familiar with and the wrapper may be different, but the sugary punch is familiar. And don’t pretend you don’t like it. In moderation, a little bit of junk is fine, and there’s a reason “Gangnam Style” has caught on to mainstream American music like Milk Duds to your molars. The best part about “Gangnam Style” is its absolute lack of pretense. It has the same charming vapidity of “Call Me Maybe” without the annoying preteen auto-tuning. It has the same remix & sing-a-long friendly
qualities of “Somebody That I Used to Know” without the supersized helping of angst. There is no reason it exists except for “just FUN!” and too often that gets undervalued in a song or an artist. Not all music has to make you stare out a raindrop-streaked window pane, or thrash and stomp around, or remind you of your ex, or have Ying-Yang Twins levels of raunchiness. It’s a mainstream break from songs about fucking, romance and feelings in general. Watch the video once. Explosions, a glitter storm, horses, beach yoga, vinyl suits… It’s all a load of awesome, catchy nonsense. And that’s what “Gangnam Style” is all about: Awesome nonsense for its own sake. And awesome nonsense definitely has its place.
gangnam gangnam gangnam gangnam pro
University of Wisconsin lecturer Alexander Shashko teaches about the phenomenon of popular dance music in his class about black history and music. He cited the rise of disco in the 1970s and dubstep today as examples of people using catchy rhythms to escape the bleakness of reality, most often during times of war and economic downturn. Mindless dance music has a place in life, he said, if only as a way to temporarily forget about it. adelaide BLANCHARD
entertainmentwise.com
872,867,695. That number is more than double the population of the United States. That’s 97 times the population of Manhattan. And that’s the number of views PSY’s Gangnam Style has had since I last checked it. By the time you read this article, it will be approaching 1 billion. So what’s to hate? It’s astounding that so much of humanity can find pleasure in the straightforward, if not mind-numbingly simple techno beats with a well-dressed Korean man singing over them. But it’s astounding in the same way 500,000,000 people watched “Charlie bit my finger.” Both of the videos are, to put it simply, dumb.
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style style style
What I’m getting at here is that the reason the entire world suddenly became enthralled with Gangnam Style is that it fed to our base human instincts...which are also dumb. It’s as if, after the thousands of years humans have been producing music, humanity has boiled it down to what would’ve appealed to our caveman ancestor. Like monkeys, we can’t help but bob our heads and admit to each other, with drooling mouths, that the song is “pretty catchy.” The lyrics of the song are completely meaningless on American ears, with the exception of “Hey, sexy lady.” This ageold greeting is enough to get us hooked. The Katy Perrys and Lady Gagas of the world could be singing in Pig Latin over a generic set of beats and we’d eat it up. “I Kissed a Girl” only hit 41,000,000 views. Why? Because she was speaking English. The listener had to think and process the message, that Katy Perry doesn’t do what good girls do. What does that mean? Her head gets so confused. Too good to deny it. What is it? Why am I processing thoughts when all I want is a pumping bass line with some canned melodies? And that’s what Gangnam Style is. For those fluent in Korean, the song is a commentary on the wealth and opulence of a certain district in Seoul. But for the rest of the world, it’s, “Guku huku guru han jon mana hana sawa ray… Opa Blabla Style!” meher AHMAD
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As it has exponentially gained widespread attention in recent months, it only seemed appropriate to examine the most recent trend in music. That’s right… Trap music. While it has become increasingly played at college parties, clubs and music festivals across the country, Trap music originates in the Dirty South. Although it is debatable whether Houston or Atlanta is the home of the current craze, both cities’ hip-hop scenes have contributed to its overall development as a genre. If anything is certain though, it is that Trap music finds its roots in the South. In it’s essence, Trap music is a minimalist form of hip-hop. As a musical style that is stripped down, the characteristic features of Trap music include repetitive snares, patterned hi-hats, rhythmic bass kicks and an overlapping melody. If this doesn’t mean anything to you, think of Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard in da Paint”, Kanye West’s “Mercy”, or 2 Chainz’s “No Lie”. By accentuating these aforementioned elements, a hard-hitting disposition is crafted. Interestingly enough, what may have started as a playful joke, the sampling of the TrapA-Holics mixtapes voice drops (i.e., “Damn Son Where’d You Find This?”, “Real Trap Shit”, “This is a Certified Hood Classic”) has actually become another defining characteristic. Regarding its recently immense popularity, does this mean Trap music is the next Dubstep? Is Trap music here to stay, or is it just another musical fad that will be phased out soon enough? Should either of these questions even matter? The best answer might be to just stand back, carelessly enjoy a Trap tune, passionately complain about the genre and finally wait for it all to play out… The following artists are some of the current biggest names currently representing the genre.
ƱZ
sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net
http://soundcloud.com/ball-trap-music
Still unidentified after coming out to the world via SoundCloud roughly eight months ago after posting the initially five song ŤɌ∆Ҏ ᶊῌῗ† series, ƱZ continues to make waves in the Trap music world. Differentiating these tracks from the countless other Trap tunes that saturate the music-blog world is not just the mystery of ƱZ’s identity, but their complexity of both flowing hi-hat and bass rhythms combined with a distinctive, ominous tone. It was after the five songs went viral, receiving lots of attention from various blogs and tons of support from other producers, Diplo’s music label Mad Decent and its imprint Jeffree’s offered to host the producer’s next releases, which comprise a four song EP entitled ŤɌ∆Ҏ ᶊῌῗ† 6/9. Budding away from the darkness and introversion characteristic in his initial releases, ƱZ displays poise through his smooth production that attributes to a resounding, confident sound expressed in the EP. Since his first official release, ƱZ has gone on to collaborate with fellow up-and-comers L☮LGURLZ and CRNKN and remix tracks by Flosstradamus and Foreign Beggars. In today’s music world where non-stop releases are quickly becoming the norm, Trap music fans will have some difficulty waiting for ƱZ ‘s next release.
Flosstradamus
http://soundcloud.com/flosstradamus
www.behringer.com
Baauer
Comprised of J2K (Josh Young) and Autobot (Curt Cameruci), the Chicago producer/DJ duo is commonly heralded as the current “Kings” of Trap music. Their signature sound is founded in unconventionality, which is demonstrated by the group’s incorporation of trance, gabber, house, drum-and-bass and juke elements in a number of their tunes. No electronic music subgenre is off-limits for the duo. While drawing much more attention in the past year, the group has been performing since the mid-2000’s. Partly attributing to the recent surge in popularity is their remix of Major Lazer’s “Original Don”. Their remix features a sensational buildup accompanied by a larger-than-life drop that flows over the listener and catchy melodies created from both a bouncy, playful synth and sampling the vocals from the original song. Since 2007, Flosstradamus has released a slew of EPs, singles, and remixes. Most recently, the group has done official remixes for notable artists such as Sub Focus and Usher. According to their Facebook, Flosstradamus currently represents music labels Fool’s Gold, Mad Decent/Jeffree’s, and Green Label Sound. michael KUCA
http://soundcloud.com/baauer
Born Harry Rodrigues, Baauer is a 23-year-old Brooklynbased producer/DJ that has been causing a stir in the Trap music world with his unconventional productions. Most notably, his breakout song “Harlem Shake”, which Rustie rinsed in his Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1, a significant outlet for upcoming talent, turned into a Trap anthem over night. With an unforgettable, squishy synth melody, booming bass, lion growl sample, and surging hi-hat patterns, Harlem Shake packs an intense aural punch that is anything but generic. Although it may seem like the young producer is experiencing overnight success, he has indeed been working on music since the age of fourteen. Before turning heads under this new identity, he was known as Cap’n Harry, an electro and house producer/DJ. It was originally Top-40 house music that influenced him, specifically artists like Eric Prydz and Basement Jaxx. A little more than a year ago, after experimenting with hip-hop, the structure and style of which felt natural to him, the decision was made to pursue producing hip-hop-influenced music under the moniker Baauer. Since then, although there have been relatively few official releases from Rodrigues, everything the producer has put out has demonstrated his unparalleled skill in the studio (like the saying goes, “Quality over quantity”). A clear connection can be drawn between the experimental nature articulated through the tonal palette of his tunes with his selfproclaimed influences of J Dilla, Madlib, and Flying Lotus. Today, Baauer currently represents music labels LuckyMe and Mad Decent.
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Outside Lands Whether it’s the desert of Coachella or the farmlands of Bonnaroo, the biggest difference between most musical festivals is setting, and with San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival, the beautiful Golden Gate Park served as a music haven for thousands during the festival’s three days.
Even in August, the fog from the bay overcast most of the festival and made for a seemingly frigid weekend for summer, but Brooklyn’s electro-pop duo Tanlines did their best to fight through with bright and sunny songs to a small but appreciative crowd.
The crowd at the main stage packed in tighter and tighter awaiting the much anticipated Beck. His appearance at the festival was one of a few shows he played over the summer and so without a new album to tote his set list spanned every album of his discography (except Midnite Vultures). Beck’s backing band jumped around and rocked out while the man himself stood at his microphone, clad in leather jacket, hat and sunglasses. His laid back demeanor was a little disappointing at times, but his songwriting made up for it. After an entertaining and arena ready set from Foo Fighters, the legendary Neil Young headlined the first night with his ragtag band of underdogs, Crazy Horse, for the first time in almost eight years. Over the course of a two and a half hour set, the band played almost entirely brand new songs that had never been played, including a thirty minute epic “Walk like a Giant” that ended with almost ten minutes of noise. They showed off their skills and put musicians less than half their age to shame with their equal amounts of virtuosity and “fuck off” attitude. Young did grace the crowd with some old favorites like “Needle and the Damage Done” and “Cinnamon Girl.” The second day had the most eclectic line-up with the Goth-y brooding of Zola Jesus all the way to the charming harmonizing bluegrass gals in the recently reunited The Be Good Tanyas. A highlight of the entire
San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival, the beautiful Golden Gate Park served as a music haven for thousands during the festival’s three days.
michaelhaytonphoto.com
During a mid-afternoon slot, Fitz & the Tantrums brought some much needed energy to hype the crowd. With basic instrumentation, they played groovy funk tunes that made everyone within earshot bust a move. Even with clichéd song content and structure, Fitz and backup singer Noelle fronted the group with such conviction that it didn’t matter.
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The other big SF band playing the festival was the main headliners of day two: Metallica. The forefathers of classic speed metal easily had the biggest crowd of any show during the whole weekend and had an equally large and ridiculous stage set up that included flamethrowers and long runways that allowed guitarists Kirk Hammet and James Hetfield to run into the middle of the crowd. The headliners of the smaller main stage were slightly less aggressive, albeit equally as intense.
Iceland’s Sigur Ros played a unique blend of orchestrated post-rock that had an ethereal and atmospheric backbone. The main four members were backed at the festival by a small woman’s choir, a group of string and horn players and additional percussionists. Sigur Ros requires a certain patience, and even if they aren’t as immediately rewarding as a band like Metallica, they seemed to affect their crowd on a much more intimate and emotional level. Couples kissed and held hands while others were even brought to tears.
almost three hour set. Every song was a fan favorite and turned into sing alongs, including the Beatles classic “All you Need is Love.”
Outside Lands truly acted as a departure from the reality of a big city like San Francisco, where gourmet food stands and craft tables lined the fields and music lasts all day.
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weekend was local San Francisco garage-rock heroes Thee Oh Sees who whipped the packed crowd into a huge frenzied pit of pushing, dancing and crowd surfing that encompassed the entire area in front of the much too small side stage.
Hidden away by eucalyptus forests, Outside Lands truly acted as a departure from the reality of a big city like San Francisco, where gourmet food stands and craft tables lined the fields and music lasts all day. The escape for everyone at the sold out festival was surely not long enough as hoards of fans descended back upon the city after the third day, still shouting and dancing in the streets, reminiscing about the entire weekend, trying to relive every moment again. tyler FASSNACHT
During the third day, Outside Lands’ most unique stage the Barbary really shined. The enclosed theater hosted a long list of comedians and entertainers including Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Andre, David Cross and others made famous by Cartoon Network’s mature themed programs on Adult Swim. The luxury of seats and theater snacks was a much needed break in the physically taxing festival experience and the line for every show was long and winding. The man, the myth, the legend, Stevie Wonder closed out the festival with an incredible
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Not Not your your average average summer summer camp camp
There were no teary-eyed parents waving us off upon our departure. Rather than screaming counselors to emphatically cheer on our arrival, we faced a looming security checkpoint. The wide-eyed, pre-adolescent campers were replaced by a sea of disheveled festi-kids, freshly coated in the tire-kicked dust of a collective army of campers and cars all waiting for their turn to park. With a 90-degree sun weighing down from overhead, energy was high and a strong air of anticipation seemed to take over the crowd. Friends laughed and speculated, courtesy of bandsthatjam.com
while music remained the undertone of everyone’s disposition. No, this isn’t your average summer camp. In its 12th summer, the Illinois-based Summer Camp Music Festival has grown from a 20-band backyard hoedown to a six-stage, eclectic mid-western musical mecca. With genres spanning from bluegrass to blues and funk to electronica, it has something to offer for every taste. And while headliners included big names like Bob Weir, Primus, and festival hosts moe. and Umphrey’s Mcgee, not much has changed in terms of the small family feel that makes Summer Camp seem like, well, summer camp. An early-bird Thursday opened up the weekend with Caravan of Thieves, a gypsy-swingin’, foot stompin’, four-piece band out of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Playing multiple times throughout the festival, their high energy and interactive nature brought the Campfire Stage audience under their spell each and every set. Elephant Revival’s transcendental folk later proved a perfect segue into Cornmeal’s Americana-spun bluegrass, whose infectious grooves had festival goers up and dancing from the get-go. Friday brought with it a killer set from festival-favorite Keller Williams, the “one man jam-band” who captivated campers with his skillful mixture of loops, samples, and multi-instrument madness. After a brilliant rendition of Cage the Elephant’s “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” I immediately hustled over to the Sunshine Stage just in time to settle in for the highly anticipated Weir, Robinson, and Greene super-trio. Masterfully resurrecting numerous songs of the Dead, the group’s artistic finesse shined through in their “Not Fade Away” finale, in which Weir and friends pulled away early, leaving the crowd to finish the song a-capella.
genres spanning from bluegrass “ With to blues and funk to electronica, it has
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something to offer for every taste.
As if this wasn’t enough, Weir graciously joined Primus on stage later that night for one of the most memorable and highly regarded collaborations of the weekend. Together with Les Claypool’s stream-of-conscious banter and similarly erratic style of playing the bass, an uncanny culmination of musical genius brought perfect closure to the first full day at Summer Camp.
Saturday’s heat spawned an intrepid line of back-toback hip-hop acts, starting with Chicago-based upand-comers Kids These Days. Walking a strange line between rap and rock, the young band played with wisdom far beyond their years, and opened up the perfect transition into a lyricaldriven performance by Common that left the audience enlightened and thirsty for more. Later on, Warren Haynes’ Gov’t Mule left faces melted (as always), leaving alternating sets between moe. and Umph to keep campers jamming long into the evening.
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Guided by a musical comprehension that spans across generations, the festival provided a framework not only for learning, but for becoming.”
Arguably the best of the festival came on Sunday, however, with a string of acts that will remain forever in my mind as the epitome of what music has to offer. Both Greensky Bluegrass and Yonder Mountain String Band delivered skillful displays of bluegrass magic, while Michael Franti and Spearhead gave way to one of the most blissful performances I have ever had the joy of being part of. Then, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, together with intense on-stage chemistry, a masterful art of story-telling, and Derek’s unparalleled ability on guitar effectively summoned tears from the eyes of my entire group with an organic blues-rock sound that spanned as wide as the eleven-piece group that produced it.
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photos courtesy of detroitunderground.com
Next we headed over to Shpongle, a psychedelic-driven duo who had the crowd moving in strange ways, to even stranger sounds that made up what is best described as a somehow perfect amalgamation of audible hallucination. It is without doubt that this act was one of the weirdest and most fun to hit a Summer Camp stage all weekend. Finally, in one of the most surprising sets of the weekend, Galactic—a funky New Orleans act featuring guest singer Corey Glover—put together a colorful performance that left the crowd speechless, out of breath, and gasping for three more days of music.
Memorial Day weekend in Chillicothe, Illinois was an ideal mixture of heat, dust, friends, and music—with just the right amount of weird to give way to a perfect start to festival season. Guided by a musical comprehension that spanned across generations, the festival provided a framework not only for learning, but for becoming. It was a place for friends to turn family and for family to come home. After all, isn’t that what summer camp is all about? mat POLOWITZ
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Lollapalooza 2012 festivals vs. afterparties courtesy of speakimge.com
Emmie writer Joyce Edwards gets an inside look on what happens AFTER the big show during Chicago’s biggest summer festival, held in Grant Park
As I turned the gold plated corner of Hard Rock Hotel Chicago’s staircase I realized that I was painfully underdressed in wrinkled red shorts for the Lollapalooza after show that featured Poliça, Childish Gambino and Little Dragon. With salty cakes of dry sweat accenting my totally haggard ensemble, I was immediately greeted by a team of make up artists eager to save a festival vagabond with lots of red lipstick. The dimly lit series of rooms scattered with famous people presented an exciting and stark contrast from my years of festival going, and I soon began to mentally compare both the advantages and disadvantages of seeing a band perform in either setting. With musical heart strings taut in either direction I’ve decided to explore what’s better; getting your lipstick smacked off your face in a mosh pit, or having the Olsen twin’s makeup artist perfect your pout when seeing a band perform? Though I’ll spare you the imagery of my tender feet and raging sunburn, the endurance of the festival left a visible imprint as a reminder of how amazing, yet taxing the previous days had been. My first stop was the ladies room to wash my hands and check out my new rouge kisser, however, I was surprised to see swarms of women waiting for swag bags rather than darting to the stage. Such priorities soon became apparent as I found my friend and I among the minority seeking out a spot to catch Polica hit the stage.
Earlier in the day, the second a performer struck the first chord there would be an eruption of praise amongst a crew of anxious fans. Though it’s valid to acknowledge the immense amount of people in attendance at Lolla, it was still disappointing to stand next to people who were yapping loudly while trying to enjoy the shows. While my immediate periphery was surrounded by disinterest, a few feet yonder actor Joe Manganiello of True Blood and Magic Mike fame was passionately mouthing every lyric with gusto. His irreverence was refreshing and proved to be unrelenting having seen him doing stripper body roles earlier in the weekend at Die Antwoord. The perks of an after show were obvious to me with free drinks, free trinkets, and the chance to bump into Kelly Osbourne, but the biggest draw was definitely the ability to catch three solid shows in close proximity and with little waiting. After long beverage lines and long distance
courtesy of blog.do312.com
courtesy of sitt.photoshelter.com
sprints between stages during the festival, staying put in a smallish room full of showered people was a beautiful thing. Hygiene and glitz had an apparent role in the after show, but it also made me appreciate the gritty, somewhat sentimental, charm of catching a show at a festival and having it be both a physical and mental experience. Most everything other than lounging in one spot takes a lot of effort at a festival, and once you commit to getting up close it becomes a personal investment to be there. There’s no better place to gush about Jack White’s new album or thrash around with other fans of your same caliber, and the result is an enhanced concert experience. Generally the bands sense this crowd involvement too, and rather than casually sip drinks like at the after show they tend to want to commit to a solid performance. Ultimately, I recognized really quickly that people had clearly made a choice; either go to the festival
or the after party but definitely not to both. Despite the pros and After long bevarage lines and long distance cons of both festivals and after shows, sprints between stages during the festival, I think that Joe Manganiello had the best disposition in both scenarios. Regardless staying put in a smallish room of showered of his environment he truly had a great people was a beautiful thing. time making those around him laugh with raunchy dance moves and intently seeking out shows that he really wanted to be at. Overall, Manganiello’s attitude best demonstrates that regardless of the atmosphere sometimes it all depends on your ability to have the most fun possible in any situation. I definitely think that he and I were on the same page. joyce EDWARDS
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FESTIVALS
Bonnaroo 2012:
Farmland? More like dreamland Emmie writer Alex Ross roadtripped out to Manchester, Tennessee to cover the four day festival held on a 700 acre farm which attracts over 80,000 fans every year Day One What happens at Bonnaroo does not and should not stay at Bonnaroo because everything that happens there is so fantastic that everyone deserves to know about it. I was in a group of three Bonnaroo newbies ready to take on the magical world of outdoor camping festivals and hours of quality performances. Press passes in tow, we penetrated that ethereal Tennessee farmland with such giddiness that can only be found in a group of music junkies roughing it for four days in what should be considered the happiest place on Earth, second only to Disney World. I was surrounded by people equally as excited as I was, fueling everyone with a sense of camaraderie that made everyone immune to labels. It was our own Breakfast Club of musical interest. The music didn’t start until nighttime, so I took time to bond with our camping neighbors before heading to White Denim. The sultry guitar chords of “No Real Reason” and up- tempo of “It’s Him” vibrated throughout the audience, and I couldn’t hear a difference between the live and recorded versions. It was an overall outstanding show, and despite a fairly chill repertoire, White Denim managed to capture its listeners with their almost electrifying musical talent and stage presence. The Alabama Shakes wrapped up my first night at the festival and went above and beyond the high bar I set for them. Their raw talent and neo-soul sound allowed them
to deliver an outstanding set. I befriended a few people at the show, and we spent the rest of the time dancing to/gushing about the sound coming from the stage. Brittany Howard, lead singer of the Shakes with pipes that channel Janis Joplin, took a few minutes to pay an intimate homage to her recently deceased brother with a song that went untitled. After their final (and my favorite) song, “I Found You,” I slowly wiped the drool off my face and went to out enjoy. photo courtesy of inyourspeakers.com
Day Two Within less than 24 hours, I was beginning to get the hang of things. It was hot and sure there was no shade to be found, well, anywhere. After attending a brief press conference with Kristin Bell and Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums (an event that brought my inferiority complex to fruition,) I went to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. On the way I stopped by The Kooks, who were good but not too enticing. That afternoon, funk became reincarnated the in the form of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings on stage. Although I clearly was not alive several decades ago, the group’s sound and drive behind every note, chord, and vocal progression sent me to the time of analog recording equipment and voluminous pant legs. It was invigorating and also set the stage for a rampant girl crush on Sharon Jones.
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by dedicating it to Jack White. It was all too much. I left the show a bit early in order to get a prime spot for Major Lazer, the last show of the night. Major Lazer was a complete antithesis to the acts I’d seen earlier in the day. I could almost see (and definitely felt) the reciprocal exchange of energy between the audience and the DJs. One random and very lucky guy was picked out of the crowd and brought on stage. As Diplo began to mix “Original Don,” two female back-up dancers wearing nothing, and I mean nothing, except silver booty shorts and mesh tank tops, threw the willing victim to the floor and alternated between whipping him and gyrating on his face. I wish that gentleman good luck in finding happiness comparable to what he experienced on that photo courtesy of littlebylisten.com
Press passes in tow, we penetrated that ethereal Tennessee farmland with such gridiness that can only be found in a group of music junkies roughing it for four days...
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I caught a glimpse of Two Door Cinema Club and was mostly blown away by their dapper dressing habit, but the music was still notable. Fitz and the Tantrums ended up being one of my favorite performances of the entire festival. Lead singer Michael Fitzpatrick proved himself to be one of the coolest people on Earth. The on-stage chemistry between Fitzpatrick and female back-up singer Noelle Scaggs was so intense and left me feeling envious and dirty. In addition to their original songs, they performed a great cover of “Steady as She Goes” that left the audience panting. My love for Fitz was re-affirmed tenfold when he refused to begin the last chorus of “Moneygrabber” until every crowd member was down on the ground, even going so far as to call out “blondie in the front” for not dancing. Seeing Radiohead live was simultaneously very relaxing and, in my case, very stimulating, thanks to the Mecca of coolness that is Thom Yorke. Sometime between verses of “Karma Police,” it hit me that I was breathing the same air as him; then Yorke introduced “Supercollider”
stage. The rest of the show was a sweaty blur of bodies surrounded by thumping bass and obvious radiating happiness.
Day Three Day three was the busiest day for my concert viewing endeavors and just happened to be the hottest day of the festival. Set on defeating the heat, I first found shade at Das Racist. As expected, the performance was so badass and the beat so strong that one of my companions proclaimed that she “now understood why people like rap.” The temperature soared into the high 90s and the press area was located conveniently behind the largest
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FESTIVALS stage, so I look a break to rehydrate in a hammock while listening to the end of The Temper Trap’s set, catching “Fader” before I was lulled to sleep by the infamous four-chord riff of “Sweet Disposition”. I woke up with time to spare for Flogging Molly, who I have been itching to see since age thirteen. They performed “What’s Left of the Flag” and “Salty Dog” with so much energy and northern European spirit that for a moment I was once again a wistful, angsty, hot mess of a teenager lusting after Irish rock. Santigold was next and dominated the largest stage in her neon blue pants, belting out “GO!”, “Disparate Youth”, and my favorite, “L.E.S. Artistes”. Santigold knew how to balance her clear entrancement in her craft while giving her audience the attention it craved. After a short break for sustenance and makeshift old fashioneds, a group of friends and I went to see the back-to-back powerhouses known as The Roots and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Roots won me over with “The OtherSide” and featured a ten-minute bongo/keyboard duet. The Red Hot Chili Peppers began their set shortly after and blew me away with every song. I have never been a devout Chili Peppers fan by any means, but their performance of “Dani California” struck some sort of
photo courtesy of ryanmastro.com
untapped nerve and I was mesmerized. It was clear that the members appreciate their audience and definitely mirrored our love through their music. Flying high off my new-found love for Red Hot Chili Peppers, I found my place in a thousand-person crowd moving to the Skrillex stage. During this show, Skrillex proved himself to be the master of dubstep and of the spectacle. Playing a set that went until 3 AM, he spun all of the songs in a spaceship about twenty feet high, and each time a bass dropped (547 times to be exact), hundreds of glow sticks were catapulted into the audience from the perimeter of the crowd. About halfway into the set, it started to rain and the dust on my body slowly turned into mud. The audience and the music were united in their griminess for a few sacred hours just before the next sunrise.
Day Four Even though I woke up to my last day of Bonnaroo in the middle of a rain puddle and still wearing the prior night’s shoes, I’d become strangely and powerfully attached to the primal conditions of the festival. Some might call it brainwashing; I call it a slight sacrifice of your physical and mental health for the love of music. Delta Spirit and The Black Lips played back-to-back, a massive treat that definitely showcased the beautiful results of photo courtesy of idolator.com
genre-mixing. A few hours later and it was time for Ben Folds Five, the newly re-assembled group that ended its twelve-year hiatus only a week before Bonnaroo. In addition to new material off their impending album, BFF ravished the crowd with classics like “Kate” and “Army” and even encouraged us to sing the trumpet tones that were missing from the latter. It might have been a lack of nutrients or hydration, but “Brick” evoked a wide range of emotions throughout the audience but I maintained by token role, “Sweaty crying girl”.
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Even though I woke up to my last day of Bonnaroo in the middle of a rain puddle and still wearing the prior night’s shoes, I’d become strangely and powerfully attached to the primal conditions of the festival.
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photo courtesy of yinews.wordpress.com
After Ben Folds Five, it was time to swallow my judgment and see a few minutes of Bon Iver, mostly for the experience. I watched in hopes of understanding why hits such as “Holocene” turned the Wisconsin native into a Grammy-winning artist. Turns out, I still don’t. While the act does have a lot of devoted fans (as shown through the acres of glassy-eyed minions drooling over Justin Vernon’s bro tank,) I still feel that Bon Iver’s lyrics are better suited for a William Wordsworth anthology than on a record. After each song, Vernon replied to the thundering screams and applause of his fans with a bored “thanks” (only Thom Yorke holds the credentials to pull that off, Justin. See: Day 2.) I rolled my eyes for a few more minutes and departed to the last performance of my Bonnaroo 2012 experience: Fun. I got to the stage (which wasn’t even one of the largest) pretty early to get a good spot because, as anticipated, thousands and thousands of fans started swarming the venue, a place equipped for about a third of the size of the audience that Fun. attracted. The group struck a great balance by playing a mix of old and new, and Nate Ruess’ Freddy Mercury-esque voice almost led me to have my fifteenth existential crisis during the festival. I had sworn I’d start throwing fists if I had to hear “We Are Young” one more time in my life, but obviously I kept my cool and enjoyed it. More than once, Ruess gazed out into the audience with one of the most sincere massive grins, gratefully expressing his disbelief at the size and passion of the audience. Fun. wrapped up their set with an impressive cover of The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, a surprisingly perfect end to my Bonnaroo experience. Essentially, it was a mind-blowing four-day experience that reminded me that there are tens of thousands of people so much more awesome than me but who love the same awesome music as me, and that’s pretty damn cool. alex ROSS
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a(theyhashtag-free lil b review said it couldn’t be done!) Alright, 12:20 AM let’s do this (and some laundry, because I’ve got some very sweaty clothes to wash.) I’m going to quickly write about my Lil B experience. Put briefly, it was everything I wanted it to be. I’d been looking forward to this show since I dreamed of it one day happening. I’d never have guessed that Lil B would make his way to Madison, but the Based God works in mysterious ways.
relentlessly based. He did a ton of hits, each one seeming to result in a new portion of the crowd claiming it as their favorite Lil B cut. There was never a dull moment during the set, even when it got weird(er) and Lil B played 3 or 4 emotional and relatively low-key cuts at the very end of the show. During ‘Wonton Soup’, he started pulling people on stage, which predictably ended up with an amazing number of people on When a friend and I got in line at stage. There are pictures on the 7:00 to wait outside for doors at Internet, of course, and they are 7:30, we were part of a line that amusing. Amusing online relics of ended up stretching from the front an amusing online phenomenon… door of the Majestic past Context who could have seen that coming? Clothing and a kitchen shop to the Fans were shooting video and Isthmus offices. I’d like to imagine taking pictures throughout the the Based God felt in his element whole show, naturally, all the walking this stretch of King Street, while shooting off an endless with its ready supply of denim and tirade of memes. Lil B had an cooking wares. It felt bizarre lining unobtrusive DJ and no hype up for a show we figured wouldn’t be man. There was no need. The cocainecrisp.tumblr.com packed, but it was worth the chance presence of a crowd as tirelessly to scope out the other Lil B diehards. As evidenced by the enthusiastic as Sir McCartney was as refreshing as it was line outside, the superfans were plenty and primed for sweaty. Everyone was nice and on their best behavior. action. This was a crowd that could have carried a lame performance over into ‘great show’ territory with their After his final songs, Lil B stuck around the venue to talk enthusiasm, but they didn’t get the chance to try their to everyone in the room that wanted to take a picture hand at hyping any disappointing acts. As soon as the with him or snag an autograph. The chemistry between doors opened things took a turn for the wild and stayed the Based God and his fans was endearing to witness. that way until people started making their way slowly out While waiting my turn to talk to him, Madison hip hop of the Majestic at the end of the night. icon Lil Rail took photos with Lil B and I witnessed Milwaukee rapper Juiceboxxx give Lil B a can of his energy Young based openers CRASHprez and RAGE LIFE (Phonetic drink Thunder Zone, which was awesome. One and ¡OYE!), both performing with *hitmayng on the decks, were all as solid as expected. These four First The best part of the night may have been sharing the Wave affiliates have been on an absurd number of Madison experience with everyone else in the room. Participating rap bills lately, but may have all hit their semester’s in the Lil B hypebeast online can sometimes come off peak with this gig. The crowd was antsy to see Lil B, but feeling inauthentic and joke-driven, but the kids that kept the energy at an admirable high. After their sets, showed up to the Majestic caught a 90-minute glimpse of the openers made their way back into the pink bandana- something very real: a rap star that prioritizes his fans in peppered audience. Lights dimmed and the Based God a way that truly is rare. made his way onto the stage. Lil B was Lil B. He came out to ‘Task Force’ and brandom CLEMENTI performed for an hour and a half straight! It was
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Danny Brown, Schoolboy Q, & A$AP Rocky take over the Rave A$AP Rocky might be the most buzz-worthy name in hiphop in the past six months. In anticipation of his album— which has now, unfortunately, been pushed to 2013— Rocky and his crew A$AP Mob, along with aforementioned rappers Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q, have embarked on the 41-stop LONGLIVEA$AP tour. On December 12, Pretty Flacko and friends descended upon the Rave.
This show was, however, all about A$AP Rocky. The backdrop illustrating him and A$AP Mob hoisting the flag after the battle of Iwo Jima implied a militaristic temperament of the crew, and when two of Rocky’s member stood behind him silently wearing gas masks as Rocky opened with “Wassup”, the crowd knew they were experiencing something special.
Danny Brown led things off and for an avid fan like myself, his setlist left me clamoring for more. To an average hip-hop fan, however, Brown is still an unrecognizable name and as such, his portion garnered the least crowd reaction.
Rocky is lauded for his impeccable beat selection, which more than makes up for whatever deficiencies he may have as a rapper. As such, when bangers like “Goldie”, “Pretty Flacko”, and “Thuggin’ Noise” were performed, Rocky had the crowd in the palm of his hand. At that point, he could have sang Frank Sinatra and fans would have been moshing in the crowd.
Things picked up during Top Dawg Entertainment’s Schoolboy Q’s set, the crowd reaching its crescendo during his song “Druggys Wit Hoes Again”. What impressed me most about Q’s set was his vocal diversity. On his LP Habits and Contradictions, Q utilizes a number of “personas”, for a lack of a better term, and in each song you get the sense that each vocal change exposes another side of his personality. I would have expected this not to translate into a concert environment, but by and large, Q was able impress myself and many other crowd members with his stage presence.
Rocky’s stage presence and charm vaulted this show into the upper echelon of rap concerts I’ve attended. During the show, Rocky admitted his surprise at how “turned up” Milwaukee was and even as an avid fan, I must admit that I was just as surprised at how “turned up” Rocky made it. mitchell Brachmann
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shows
mayer hawthorne at the majestic Stepping into the Majestic Theater on October 18th was like stepping into a time machine. Dubstep disappeared without a trace, kindly taking with it all forms of electronic drum kits and auto tune. For the first time since I can remember, I saw a musician perform, not a computer. Taking the stage in a retro red suit and bow tie, Mayer Hawthorne brought the audience back to the glorious days of Frank Sinatra. Between his smooth vocals and charming dance moves, Hawthorne exuded class and had the concert hall on their feet falling in love. He effortlessly transitioned from one song to the next, occasionally commenting on the complexities of love.
truly left it all on the stage, reinventing the meaning of an “opening act.” The Living Statues’ cover of “Prove My Love” by the Violent Femmes caught the attention of Vic DeLorenzo’s (drummer of Violent Femmes) sister who was coincidentally in the audience. She commended the band, stating how excited she is that the Violent Femme’s music is staying alive with a new generation. However, it must have been their original songs such as “Not My Fault” and “Stay in the States” that caught the attention of Mayer Hawthorne’s agent. It’s definitely not the last time we will be hearing from them, and I recommend keeping The Living Statues on your radar. abby SCHNEIDER
Between crowd favorites “The Walk” and “Finally Falling,” Hawthorne posed for pictures, afterwards insisting that everyone put away their cameras and “pretend” they are actually at the concert they are watching through a lens. The absence of electronics made the performance more intimate and allowed the night to be about the music. Hawthorne was accompanied by four highly mysterious, yet talented musicians who never missed a beat. Their effortless harmonies and solos spiced up the evening, while simultaneously exemplifying their musicianship. While Hawthorne’s performance exceeded expectations, it was the opening band, The Living Statues that unexpectedly defined the night. Based out of Milwaukee, front man Tommy Shears owned the stage, truly capturing the essence of 1960’s rock and roll. If it wasn’t their classy appearance or catchy songs that captured the audience’s attention, it must have been their passion. The four men, all dressed in black and white, thebrag.com
dinosaur jr.: feeling the noise As a math major preoccupied with line integrals and the complex plane, this writer has been currently bogged down in a mire of ambient music, full with its awesomely inhuman mechanical ticks and druggy geometry-invoking hooks (if the motifs are prominent enough to call them that). Tonight was to be a step away from that—nay, a leap, as the skeleton-shaking sound-beasts conjured by Amherst, MA natives Dinosaur Jr. were to wreak havoc on the eager audience awaiting such an aural ravishing.
Integral to the anti-math experience were the couple beers beforehand, accompanied by an impromptu and short-lived jam sesh (yes, sesh) that my concert-going comrade and I had, the appropriate rite of initiation for stepping out the door, priming our ears for the otherworldly (perhaps olderworldly) waves about to enter their already partially destroyed interiors (the flavor of pregaming accomplished by listening to You’re Living All Over Me (1987) was completely necessary). The band that night was not about to default on expectations, and people in the audience with ear plugs were missing the point: Dinosaur Jr. are loud. During setup, bassist Lou Barlow (of notoriety in his band Sebadoh) stepped up to the microphone and simply uttered the telling word “volume.” Put more dramatically, emanating from the sound equipment during the concert was an exceptionally Devonian sludge, carrying the import of the sloshing brine as the first unsavory organisms pulled themselves out of the ocean to stare upon the virgin continent before them with their glassy, amphibian eyes. This is the music (and aesthetic) of Dinosaur Jr. The stacks sit as monoliths on stage, stout and towering, with the girth and permanence of ancient cycads (if not much is coming to mind, image searching “cycads” on google will yield a much clearer mental picture). The dinosaur imagery is invoked not only for novelty, but also to convey the immense weight of this band’s craft, both physically and critically. For those unfamiliar, Dinosaur Jr. takes the chord and harmony sensibilities of Neil Young and turns it up to 11, adding the force and melodic flourishes of hardcore fathers Hüsker Dü along the way. Frontman J Mascis has been noted to call the Neil Young comparison annoying, but that doesn’t stop it from holding a certain level of truth. Mascis carries the lyrics with a characteristic stately whine that is only paralleled in Young’s music, although
Mascis shouldn’t feel confined by this comparison, since Dinosaur Jr. go much farther. The galeforce melodic fronts behind his deflated declarations craft a captivating juxtaposition, giving rise to the most acerbic swaying music ever.
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Back to the glassy amphibian eyes mentioned above: the band members are surprisingly unsmiling, poised, and austere, an image atypical of the electric potential they demand to propel their music into the crowd. At least initially; this steadiness adds to a sort of stoicism that can be gleaned from the distorted weight of the music, along with the seemingly out-of-place catchiness (at least at first glance) of the hooks played in between the decibels. It is precisely this quality that lends the band to be “taken in,” sniffed rather than gulped outright. A nearby concertgoer had his head cocked and his hand to his chin, staring thoughtfully into the sonic solar flares being jettisoned into the surrounding space of the Majestic which should have been melting his face. Rather, Dinosaur Jr. were a work of fine art to be pondered and taken in fondly. The curbed liveliness of the small, barely moshing pit during “Feel The Pain” served to further reinforce the apparent appropriate method of letting Dinosaur Jr. fill the senses. Featured that night was the band’s newest album I Bet On Sky, released this past September. The album holds its own, putting forth the same gravity-doubling riffs as records of old; had Barlow not declared “first we’re going to play some new songs, then some old ones,” the songs could have been mistaken for B-sides from the earth-shaking age of 80’s Dinosaur Jr. matt CHRISTIE
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shows
wood brothers return to majestic
Chris and Oliver Wood commanded the Madison crowd yet again. I will speak for everyone that was at the Majestic Theater November 2, 2012 when I say we appreciate the Wood Brothers, and they appreciate us. Mutual appreciation springs the Wood Brother’s longstanding relationship with their Madison fan base, and the guarantee of a Wood’s show being and excellent show. After last year’s struggle to keep the audience seated, the Brothers learned their lesson; never again expect to maintain chair-bum contact if playing Wood Brothers classics like “One More Day” or “When I Was Young”. Those particularly grateful were the hippies who danced out of their chairs at last year’s show. To the groovy dancers’ delight, the floor was cleared of chairs for this year’s show; swag turned on. Though last year’s show slightly inhibited the moves (Here in Madison, enjoying blue-grass music is a full body activity), the forced seating to minimize sound for the Brother’s live recording in paid off. Oliver Wood thanked whoever was present at last year’s show and informed us that four songs from their 2012 live album were recorded in Madison. Thanks for the shout-out Mr. Wood. We’re glad to help out. Chris and Oliver showed their appreciation for the Madison crowd a couple of times. They made a beautiful dedication to us with favorite “Postcards from Hell” from Loaded, their 2008 album. We fully understood their gratitude when the official portion of the show ended. Ok, so unless an audience is
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Here in Madison, enjoying blue-grass music is a full body activity
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overwhelmingly disappointing, artists generally reemerge for an encore of one song, maybe two? But how often does an audience deserve a double encore? Chris and Oliver heard our stops, hoots, and clapping pleas for more Wood to fill our souls, walked back out and strapped in for another three songs. They bowed, graciously waved and made their second exit. Commence the hollering again to prompt a third entrance for two more tunes. We were not done listening, and the brothers were not done playing for us. Wood Brothers shows are of another breed foreign to most college students plagued by EDM concerts. I don’t imply that electronic music lacks musical quality. I too enjoy the occasional fist-pump and face-rage event… there’s something to be learned from quality music exuded from real instruments and vocal cords rather than a laptop and spinning discs. And of authentic music played in Madison, the Wood Brothers are a soulful breath of fresh talent I wish I could share with others. molly TRERETOLA
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sleigh bells slays the stage One resounding guitar chord reverberated over the walls of the Majestic and time stood still for a few moments as mesmerized faces gazed up at Sleigh Bells’ Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, poised to launch into an explosive set. The note hung in the air until finally the vibrations of the chord were broken as Krauss and Miller delved into their first song of the night, “Demons.” The song builds from series of harrowing guitar chords, soon joined by a background beat and then Alexis Krauss’s simultaneously edgy and sweet-sounding vocals. The crowd immediately broke into a frenzy of movement, mimicking the fist pumps that Krauss delivered relentlessly as she and Miller rocked through the next few songs, which drew from debut album Treats as well as recent release, Reign of Terror.
Krauss, a former schoolteacher, met Miller when he was waiting tables in Brooklyn, where Krauss’s mother volunteered her to be a vocalist for Miller’s music project. The two met in a park to listen to some of Miller’s projects, and voila: Sleigh Bells had transpired. They began producing noise-pop music together in Brooklyn, releasing a self-titled EP, and soon landed deals with M.I.A’s N.E.E.T. Recordings and Mom & Pop Records, to release their widely successful debut album, Treats in April of 2010. A year and a half later, the band became hyping their next album, Reign of Terror, linking their website to a trailer video and putting out a featured song of the album, “Born to Lose.” Krauss stated about Reign of Terror, “It sounds really huge, so there’s going to still be
tons of volume,” a truth that definitely rang true during the Sleigh Bells show.
Between each head-bang-inducing tune of their set at the Majestic, Krauss, in her “Parental Advisory” tee, would shout out to the crowd, like a punk cheerleader, pumping the crowd up to rock even harder. Hanging over the front row, whipping her hair and squinting her glitterclad eyes as she threw her fist up to the beat, Krauss has a stage presence that has made her into the infamously desirable indie rock star that she is. Miller, usually more subdued on stage, was visibly tipsy, at one point handing his yellow guitar over to be fondled by the fans in the front row (and then grabbing it back hurriedly in time for the next song). Krauss and Miller lost no steam as they powered through favorites from Reign of Terror, “Comeback Kid” and “End of the Line,” as well as “Tell ‘Em,” “Rill Rill,” and “Infinity Guitars” off of Treats.
At one point Krauss paused to reminisce about the band’s last visit to Madison, part of their first ever tour supporting Yeasayer. The band has made huge strides since this first tour, undoubtedly catapulted further into fame by their ability to engage with the crowds they perform for, and create catchy, fast-paced music that breaks free from the low-key, indie rock typical of the late 2000s. This refreshing break from the norm, along with the sheer energy of their sound, has landed Sleigh Bells praise from Pitchfork, the cover of Spin magazine, and fully-booked shows across the country. After leaving the stage to a crowd that refused to accept the show was over, Krauss and Miller returned to perform “Never Say Die,” “Riot Rhythm,” and “A/B Machines,” leaving everyone beaming with satisfaction at having witnessed the show. Sleigh Bells had undoubtedly nailed it, delivering another unforgettable set to a lucky crowd. julie JARZEMSKY
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shows kittens. These young’ns likely left the show in awe of their stage dives, screaming, and joking on stage. I, meanwhile, learned one thing— I’ll be going to Chicago when the next tour rolls around.
odd future
Odd Future concerts are notorious for mosh pits and a type of crowd and stage presence typically reserved for a metal concert. And, without a doubt, their performance was unlike any rap show I’ve encountered, and certainly one of the more fun ones I’ve attended.
disappointingly tame in milwaukee
The problem is, Odd Future’s show the next day was in Chicago. And in Chicago was their friend’s art showing And lyrical protégé Earl Sweatshirt. And Frank Ocean, who can lay claim to arguably 2012’s best album, Channel ORANGE. It’s hard to look back on Odd Future’s show without the slight emotion of feeling slighted. The sense of urgency and chaos I expected from the crew members was not there. Crowd favorite “Radicals” was never played, as was no song with, of course, Sweatshirt or Ocean. Meanwhile, in the hours after the concert, my Twitter feed was littered with tweets from group members excitedly anticipating their next stop on the tour. What about us?!? Odd Future is young and has a rabid fan base; one that they know, no matter what songs they play or who they bring along, will sell out every venue they perform at. The crowd was littered with kids aged thirteen through fifteen, decked out in gear with inverted crosses and
The demographic of the concert left something to be desired; my (admittidely wishful) hopes were that I’d encounter a number of individuals like myself—there for the music and to see what all the hype was about. What I encountered, though, were hundreds of little teenagers in their skating gear, looking to “rebel” by staying out past curfew. Granted, this is much of the target audience for Odd Future and the type of fans music like this will often generate; regardless, the high-pitched shrieks were annoying.
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I sat on my computer freshman year, anxiously awaiting the clock to hit 10 PM for frontman Tyler, the Creator to release his now-famous video, “Yonkers.” .” Fastforward two years later, and I found myself updating Tyler’s Twitter feed to check out his new tour dates. As luck would have it, on September 15, Odd Future came to Milwaukee.
Nothing, though, disappointed me more than the collective’s stage presence. Tyler demands attention whenever he does, well, anything, and on stage was no different. I found my eyes drifting towards him even in songs he wasn’t featured in—that’s how magnetic a personality he has. It was just disappointing that everything seemed… off. They clearly knew Chicago (their next stop) would be a tour highlight, and I along with the friends that came with got a similar feeling. I won’t stop refreshing Tyler, the Creator’s twitter when a new song or video is announced, and I’ll be among the first to download any new song Mellowhype or Earl releases—hell, if they come to Milwaukee, I’ll probably go again because of my devotion to the group. I just hope that the up-and-comers don’t take for granted the little stops on their tour, or even their most loyal of fans may begin to show a sliver of doubt. mitchell BRACHMANN
THE head & the heart RETURN TO MADISON Seattle trio The Head and the Heart filled up the Overture Center on a crisp September night with soaring melodies, chilling harmonies, and a thousand fans. The show actually had to be moved from the previously scheduled Majestic to seat the fans anxiously awaiting the arrival of the band on their second trip to Madison.
They opened with [name of album]’s “Cats and Dogs,” getting the partially seated crowd on their feet dancing with the three members of the band - Josiah Johnson, Jonathan Russell, and Charity Thielen (violin). They maintained the high energy with the following song “Ghosts,” then slowed it down to play the heartbreaking and beautiful, “Honey Come Home (“Do you remember every block/ every minute of every walk we used to take? / We were young/ so many years ago”).
photo by Nate Vandermuellen
Their album, if it wasn’t the only one they have, [awkward] could easily be mistaken for a greatest hits record. They played almost the entire thing, rich with harmonies between the three and switches between the lead vocalists. On some of the bigger and fuller songs, like “Lost in My Mind,” “Sounds Like Hallelujah,” and “Down in the Valley,” the offkey audience created accidental harmonies with the band, creating [used twice in a row] a strangely
beautiful, fulfilling sound for everyone in the room. Some of the highlights of the evening were when Thielen stepped up to the microphone on “Winter Song” and “Rivers and Roads.” Her powerful voice was haunting, filling up the silent theater of an awed audience. The only time the band seemingly felt unwelcome was after Russell quipped, “I apologize for that Seahawks gaffe,” referring to the Green Bay v. Seattle NFL game four days earlier, when a call made by replacement referees during the referee lockout, since named one of the worst calls in NFL history, granted the Seahawks a game-winning touchdown. He was booed loudly, and he quickly interjected by adding “I’ll just shut up now” and playing the next song. He redeemed himself and ended the evening perfectly when he declared later that Madison was one of the most charming towns they’d ever passed through, saying “I’m so glad to come back to Spotted Cow land. I walked eight blocks with a case to bring with us.” I think I speak on behalf of everyone there that night that they are more than welcome to return to Spotted Cow land whenever they’d like. lisa FOX
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LUMINEERS light up the riverside ericswedlund.com
I sat in the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee in the front row balcony seats, looking wistfully down at those standing in front of the stage. In anticipation of the foot stomping show to ensue, the crowd buzzed waiting for The Lumineers to grace the stage after their debut self-titled album thrust them into the music scene this April. The three Colorado-based members waltzed on the stage to the tune of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” and thunderous applause. Immediately, they began with crowd-pleasers “Submarines” and “I Ain’t Nobody’s Problem but My Own” back to back. The energy only increased from here, keeping the crowd on their feet almost from start to finish. The balcony shook during the entirety of the show. “Let’s release some endorphins together!,” frontman Wiley Schultz exclaimed before playing their single “Ho Hey.” Schutlz had excellent rapport with the crowd, telling them “It doesn’t
feel like a Sunday night unless the Packers are playing. I’m a New York Giants fan. I’m sorry,” drawing laughs and boos from the audience, who’s Green Bay team would play the next day. He got a little more serious before the next song “Slow it Down,” telling the story of when the band’s van was broken into last year in Los Angeles and all of their instruments were stolen. He dedicated the song to those who helped buy back those instruments. On a whim, the band unplugged their instruments and requested the audience put their phones away before playing fan favorite “Stubborn Love” acoustically. After the hushed performance, Schultz appeased fans in the back row saying “We know some of you couldn’t hear that in the back row. We want to you get your money’s worth,” and playing the song again, this time loud and rowdy as ever. The night ended on a wonderfully happy note with the band requesting the thrilled crowd to come on the road with them, before inviting openers The Comets, Bryan John Appleby, and two audience members to the stage to close the show with “The Wait” by The Band.
lisa FOX
kids these days, prof and mac miller hit up freakfest If I’m going to be honest, I’ll have to say that I never went to Freakfest last year when I was a freshman. When I was hanging out with my friends, we decided to go to a house party, and avoid the festivities on State Street. So, this being my first official year of attending Freakfest, I went in with an open mind. The idea of an outdoor music festival always makes me happy, but whoever decided that Madison should have a festival outdoor, at night, in late October should be excluded from planning downtown events ever again. Thankfully, the music of the Capitol Stage helped to overcompensate for the 40-degree weather and drunken atmosphere. While the Frances Street stage was filled with alternative rock, and the Gilman Stage had various electronic flavors, the main stage at the junction of State Street and the Capitol Square brought three rather different hip hop acts to satisfy the masses. Starting off the night was Chicagobased act Kids These Days. The New York Times has hailed KTD as “a group with a sound if not a genre,” each member has the ability to play two to five instruments, and the variety of sounds on stage helped to offset the quick rhymes coming from the bands front man. By combining snippets of songs into their music through live instruments, KTD brings a new player into the sampling realm. A fresh take on a hip hop act, Kids These Days were able to get the energy going to start the night off well.
Next up on the stage was Prof. Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Prof has been working up through the underground hip hop scene. With a solid grasp for lyrical flow, Prof’s backing tracks help to assist him with the overall performance. That, however, is where the positives end. While not the most advance rapper in the bunch, his lyrics don’t seem to venture away from a standard flair of “Pussy, Money, Getting Trashed”
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that seems to dog most rappers today. While Kids These Days had a fantastic stage presence, Prof seemed to just walk around on stage and rap, no gimmicks, no sense of an act. Also, his engagement with the crowd fell flat, as he only interacted with the front few groups of people. The cherry on top of this lackluster performance was his throwing water onto the crowd at the end of his set. I mean, come on, man, throwing water on scantily clad college students in near freezing temperatures is not something you should be doing.
To end the night, Mac Miller came on as the stage’s headliner. The Pittsburgh prodigy of Wiz Khalifa helped to bring a more chart topping flair to Freakfest. After coming to Madison last fall, Mac Miller is a crowd favorite; several hundred people crowded the stage area, and even more filtered back down State Street. Wearing a number 39 Badger Football jersey, Mac gave the impression that he was seriously excited to be attending the event. After opening with “Smile Back,” he continued the show with selections from his debut album Blue Slide Park and his pervious mixtapes. I’ll admit and say that Mac Miller really isn’t up there with my favorite rappers, but he at least knows how to put on a show for drunken college students. As he ended the night with “PA Nights,” Mac thanked the crowd for coming out and that no one puts on a party quite like Madison, WI. In the end, I finally realize why people seem to dislike this event. While the acts were a great source of entertainment, the overall drunkenness of the crowd was enough to make the experience less special. The crowds will still come out next year, but unless a change in genre for the performers changes, I’ll be staying home during Freakfest 2013. conor MURPHY
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DIRTY PROJECTORS
ring in the majestic’s fifth year anniversary When it came out a few years ago, Bitte Orca was one of those albums I listened to over and over again, basking in the vocal talent and unexpected rhythms of the Dirty Projectors. And I wasn’t alone. Having caught the attention of many listeners with this album, along with collaborating with Major Lazer, Bjork and David Byrne since, the Dirty Projectors had set high expectations for the album they released earlier this year. Swing Lo Magellan is a collection of songs widdled down from about 70 written by lead singer and guitarist David Longstreth over the length of a year. It is a bright display of the same energy and versatility in genre that the Dirty
Projectors are known for. On Saturday night, September 29th, the group performed at the Majestic as part of a tour to promote the album and to celebrate the theater’s 5th year anniversary. With doors opening at 11, the Projectors came on stage at a late 12:30, after psych-rockers Night Moves played an opening set to the growing crowd. Starting off with title-track “Swing Lo Magellan,” the Projectors fired into a string of songs from their new album, including the high-energy “Offspring Are Blank” and “The Socialites,” a ballad that showcases Amber Coffman’s angelic vocals.
Tonight we’re playing at the Majestic Theater. What I’m here to tell you is that the majesty is in you.
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With the theater’s minimalist backdrop of colored lights overlaid with some enlarged tribal text, the focus rested solely where it should: on Longstreth belting out lyrics intertwined with the characteristic background “oohs” and “aahs” of Coffman, Haley Dekle, and Olga Bell. Throughout the show, Longstreth cocked his head and opened as wide as possible while holding notes, fully absorbed in the performance. His sheer commitment was impressive. However, Longstreth was so engaged in performing that he seemed almost distant, his eyes pinned to the back of the room, so concentrated that there was never a chance for them to meet with those of the audience. My ears perked up when the group launched into an older tune, “Cannibal Resource,” after the first few songs. This was one of the few breaks from their new album during the set, which were greeted with cheers from the crowd, happy for the familiarity of the old favorites. The band played through much of Swing lo Magellan, and when they left the stage, the crowd clearly wanted more. They were summoned back for a 3-song encore, including another tried and true song from Bitte Orca, “Stillness is the Move.” Despite their powerful vocals and spot-on performance, my expectations for a strong stage presence were not fulfilled. Perhaps it was because the eccentricity that comes through so vividly in their music didn’t quite translate to the stage. Longstreth did yell out a few lines, saying, “This one’s for you, Madison,” before playing “No Intention” and later breaking to state, “Tonight we’re playing at the Majestic Theater. What I’m here to tell you is that the majesty is in you.” However, these were the only diversions from the group simply moving from song to song, playing them perfectly but without interacting with and bringing in the audience. With a venue that makes it as easy to be intimate as the Majestic does, this was a disappointment. Nonetheless, the group still played a powerful set. Their tunes were circling in my head relentlessly for days to come, and my exposure to their newer album at the show has grown into a major appreciation, to the point where for me, its contents rival even the cherished songs from Bitte Orca. julie JARZEMSKY photos by aj BECKER
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shows
ANDREW BIRD
at the overture fanart.tv
The last time I saw a show at the Overture Center on State Street, it was Bob Dylan. I was very disappointed. So when I heard that Andrew Bird was performing there, my subconscious had me apprehensive about buying tickets, and I only gave in because I adore the man the way a stage five clinger adores their crush. In a large venue like the Overture, it’s easy to fail in connecting with your audience, one of the disappointments that turned me off when I saw Dylan. This fact in particular was disproved when I walking into the theater and saw the stage. The presentation was unique, with awe-inspiring lights and an intimacy in the layout of instruments – an overall success in making a distant stage close in sentiment. Intimacy is always hard to capture for any performer, but is an integral piece of a show that makes a good artist a great performer. Bird and
his boys captured that intimacy perfectly, not just by the ornate stage, but also with their chilling harmonies and close proximity to each other. I guess that’s why the energy in the Overture that night was almost overwhelming, in the best sense of the word. I’ve rarely experienced an audience that was so excited and connected to a performer. I credit at least my enthusiasm to my obsession with Bird’s talent – a violinist who can sing just as well as he can play is a unique brand of artistry that few people possess. The way he plays his violin is just as electric as the presentation of the show. He uses the instrument not just as a means of harmonizing with the melody, or as a background to a song, but as a focal point of his songs. The violin becomes a guitar with his ever-plucking fingers and his ambitious high-octave strumming. I guess one can consider him the
opposite of Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin (see their “Dazed and Confused” live footage). Bird’s individuality of an artist persists with his surprisingly melodic and precise whistling. In “Give It Away,” sporadic shouts filled the auditorium throughout the entirety of the song, each shout corresponding to his whistle-blowing prowess. To think that an artist who can whistle and strum a violin can be a crowd pleaser who avoids folk/ hipster vibes is a thought that can only be associated with Bird. I cannot match him with another artist, even though it would help immensely in describing him. I was not disappointed in the least this time around at the Overture with Andrew Bird. I was intrigued, I was enthralled, and I was foottappingly excited from my awed. sara PIERCE
card I’m holding in my hand/ ‘cause you broke the quick witted heart of a kid/ and you’re now coming back to a man” on “Coming Back to a Man”) and confessing his own weaknesses (“Love is not convenient/ it does not cease at your command/ you might take and leave it/ but love is all I am” on “Love is All I am”).
trueendeavorsblog.com
I must start this concert review with a disclaimer that I may be one of the world’s biggest Dawes fans. With that said, their show at the High Noon Saloon at the end of August was one of my favorite concerts of the year. The Los Angeles based band put out their first album, North Hills, in 2009 and has toured almost consistently ever since, adding to their collection with Nothing is Wrong in 2011. The band has a rockroots feel, being frequently compared to Jackson Browne (with whom they’ve frequently collaborated), and Buffalo Springfield, their sound reminiscent of 60s and 70s classic rock. They are classified as a part of the Laurel Canyon sound - also bringing to mind Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and Young. Lead man Taylor Goldsmith writes most of the bands material, and might be one of the best songwriters of our generation. In interviews, he’s mentioned that he writes on a typewriter to force himself to write with precision. He sounds equally eloquent turning away an old lover (“I might think of you more often than I’m willing to admit/but I can’t show every
The venue was ideal for a Dawes show, with no spot being too far away from where the band stands on the stage. The sold out show was full of diehards, with the words Goldsmith sang echoed by those standing at the very back of the crowd. [a little awkward] Nearing the end of their rigorous US tour this year, they played the majority of the new album and a few hits from their debut album. About halfway through the set, they initiated the new members of Dawes fan-dom by playing “When My Time Comes,” their first single and crowd sing-a-long. Goldsmith coached the crowd during “How Far We’ve Come” to sing his backups, and eventually had us singing the entire chorus. They played every fan favorite, with both “Time Spent in Los Angeles” and “A Little Bit of Everything” during the encores. A few new songs were played as well, from the third album the band finished recording this fall. Looking forward for Dawes, they have a few more dates in 2012 with Mumford and Sons in Europe, but then will take a break early in 2013 before their next album is released, and then begin touring again. Until then, we’ll have to continue listening to the first two over and over again (or is that just me?). lisa FOX
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3laued out Call me crazy, but for me one of the greatest things about going to a crazy concert is the after morning feeling: soar legs, hoarse voice, the smell of dirty, sexy sweat—both your own and probably a hell of a lot of people you don’t know; that pure exhaustion that hurts through to the core, that pleasure pain. After the raucous show 3LAU put on at the Majestic on November 9, I’m pretty sure people were feeling it all over. I’ll admit, I wasn’t the biggest 3LAU fan on the block, but after having the song “Dubsex” on constant repeat blasting from my roommates room last semester, I gave in and it quickly became our pregame anthem. So who is this mysterious genius? 3LAU, or Justin Blau, is a 21-yearold college junior who manages to still be a fulltime student, all the while making his music known across college campuses around the country. His music isn’t quite electronic, and it isn’t quite dubstep. It has been called “progressive house,” (I’m still not sure what that means…) but for me it’s difficult to pinpoint. In a way, his work is similar to the artist Girl Talk, except he mainly draws from EDM. Either way, I was pumped for a concert that would live up to the album title, “Dance Floor Filth.”
It certainly got filthy, at least musically. A relative newcomer to the EDM scene, DJ Justin Blau looks and acts like a seasoned pro. His set started out confident, setting the tone for the rest of the evening. Following three DJ’s, the show started late, 3LAU didn’t come on until 11:30 pm. But that didn’t phase the crowd, the second the music hit everyone was in total dance haze bliss. Throwing down top heavy beats, 3LAU began with the crowd pleasers, taking on remixed versions of “N*ggas in Paris” and Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” His incorporation of throwbacks like Cascada’s “Heaven” and even Kelis’s “Milkshake,” were taking me back to middle school dances, a slightly (but only ever so slightly) less sweaty and less racy type of dance party. Like a conductor, 3LAU stands in front of the crowd, wielding a bottle of Hypnotiq and directing the crowd like an orchestra; he knows what works and what gets the crowd moving. In tunes like “Guilty Pleasure,” 3LAU is screaming along with the crowd, “Lets make this fleeting moment last forever,” trying to capture the essence of the moment, “bottle up the dancehall haze and keep it forever.” When “Petty Language” came on, every girl (and every guy too) was screaming, “call me maybe” at the top of their lungs, to the background of twisted, contorted, robotic sounds. With the balcony packed, and the floor overflowing with people pushing, pounding, and
bumping and grinding against anything and everything, the maestro jumped on top of a stage amp, surrendering the dance floor into complete anarchy. Cue the champagne showers. Even though it was almost 1:30 A.M., it was clear the party was nowhere close to stopping. Two hours in, the man had lost no bit of his thunder. Speeding through recent chart topping anthems like David Guetta’s “She Wolf,” and Skrillex’s “Breaking a Sweat,” the music dipped in crescendos and built back up again only to fall down in thick bass drops. The reverberations coming up through the floor, the blinding of flashing strobe lights, the thudding of bodies against the stage, sent me into a feverish craze. Screaming “Let me hear some fucking baaaassss!,” 3LAU thrust forward into his final set, throwing us into what sounded like an intense video game soundtrack, racking my nerves and setting my heart running through a bizarre finale. We all watched as 3LAU’s posse came on stage, threw him over a shoulder, dousing his head in champagne, before firing on the crowd. I left the Majestic with my mind in a haze, soaked in sweat and god knows what else, buckling a little in the knees. I’m not quite sure what happened, and I’m pretty sure I still have champagne in my hair. But isn’t that college? livi MAGNANINI photos by aj BECKER
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ALBUMS percussion takes a more rudimentary role, a backseat to other instruments, most notably the vocals. Despite it’s departure from past albums, Shields has plenty to offer both I always tended to think of Grizzly Bear songs as somewhat veteran and virgin Grizzly Bear listeners. For one, it’s simply of a musical blackout: you start more accessible. As a whole, the album is tighter, and the songs out one place and the next thing themselves are more lyrically driven. Of the four, Shields is definitely the most emotional, heartfelt album. “The Hunt,” you know you’re waking up in someone else’s bed or on some guy’s couch, or in your own bed, in particular, is sustained almost exclusively by Ed Droste’s albeit with only one sock and a searing headache and a boo-boo higher register, here in the service of vulnerability (rather than a sort of Lynchian creepiness/absurdity, it’s normal mode in my on your knee (long story). With Grizzly Bear, I never end up opinion; Droste’s voice seems to me more the ghost of a voice where I think I will—the songs seem to flip a switch on a whim and undergo drastic shifts in tone, resulting in a truly abstract, than an actual voice). Perhaps my favorite song on the album, “Half-Gate” expressionistic, formlessly formal package. I’m thinking here rises from the melancholy of the middle of the album, providing particularly of their second full-length studio album, Yellow House, and songs like “On a Neck, On a Spit,” “Lullabye,” and the greatest payoff for instrumental buildup and a great, fastpaced drum line, infused with touches of cello and piano. The “Knife.” These are some of my favorite Grizzly Bear songs, opening song, “Sleeping Ute” is perhaps the catchiest of the precisely because of their unpredictability, their melodic bunch; it has a great, distorted guitar riff throughout, and a capriciousness and creativity, and the band’s embrace of a classic Grizzly Bear transition into a woodsy, acoustic verse near trajectory that never seems to follow a familiar path. In their fourth full-length studio album, Shields, these the end. “Speaking in Rounds” is another highlight, though it’s also arguably the album’s most “pop” song (an admittedly out of elements are salient, if not scaled back. If Grizzly Bear’s place comment to make in a Grizzly Bear review). previous works are strings, unraveled and distended, Shields While I do miss some of Grizzly Bear’s earlier, more seems like an attempt to reel those strings back in and wind atmospheric elements in this album, Shields is also their them up into a neat ball. One noticeable difference is in their most cohesive and emotive project to date. Their past work, percussion. In past Grizzly Bear albums, as well as in concert, Veckatimest was better, simply because it was more ambitious Christopher Bear’s drums are loose and lackadaisical; they and adventurous. Yet Shields is still a great, enjoyable listen—if were treated on equal footing with the guitars and the pianos, only because it’s easier. in that they didn’t appear to just be keeping the beat. Here, sam EICHNER
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shields
Allow me to set the stage: your friends are all in the car on the way to the beach, the sun is beating down overhead, reflecting and filtering light through the car windows, you roll them down and suddenly feel the sweet kiss of the California breeze on your cheek. An instant calm overcomes you, your heart beating softly in time to the sounds of tambourines, maracas, and the light strumming of a guitar. You’re instantly transported back to the 60’s California surf rock scene, except this isn’t quite “Surfin’ Safari.” Lazily you drift into a haze, everything feels drowsy as if its coming through sunlit windows, drifting out like smoke rings. This is the Allah-La’s effect. On their debut self-titled album, the soft-spoken boy quartet manage to capture the California sound of oceans, beautiful flowers, and sun-bleached land, and take us there.
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The album bathes in nostalgia, the band drawing inspiration from the 60’s glory boys The Kinks, The Monkees, and Donovan. Their sound may draw from the past, but it still flirts with modern elements, forming a more experimental sound. Songs like “Catamaran,” and “Don’t You Forget It” embody the mystique of a thick, deep voice crooning over the sound of light percussion and persistent rhythm. “Ela Navega” feels almost Caribbean, with castanets, bongos, drums, and cymbals
sprinkled in, emanating a smooth, relaxing vibe. At times, Allah-La’s becomes repetitive in sound, and difficult to distinguish individual tracks. Like its muse, most of the album is carefree and forward-thinking, but sometimes it shows a drearier, downtrodden side exemplified in songs like “Catalina,” and “Seven Point Five.” For the tumblr generation, Allah-La’s new album will feel like the perfect soundtrack for a summer roadtrip through time and space to 60’s California surf rock, to the waves and sound that came with it. Just like the romanticism it exudes, the band’s sound has that mysterious, intangible quality that only something as beautiful as summer can hold. livi MAGNANINI
The Avett Brothers like to take slightly different turns in each album, differentiating the newest one from the last while still keeping ties – those ties being the decade-long song series of “Pretty Girl from [fill town here]” and the consistent individual Avett sound of banjo strums and cello-feeds. Sit down for forty-five minutes listening to The Carpenter, and the contrast between this album and the last, I and Love and You, is clear in the newer, more produced, hi-fi anthems and melodies. Contrast is the essence of The Carpenter There’s light and dark, upbeat and mellow; all significant when one knows the band’s background. Their lives are changing – a change that feeds The Carpenter.
the carpenter
The contrasting theme of life and death is a prominent and graceful touch in the album. It’s a tad unoriginal to highlight this theme with the song “Live and Die,” but we’ll excuse this because it still belongs to the unique Avett sound. The lyrics are eloquent and it is a surprisingly upbeat track that changes the morbid ideal of life and death into a positive life truth that we’re all facing the same end. I assume that they’ve included this message because band member Bob Crawford is currently dealing with his two-year-old daughter’s recently diagnosed illness, something that they address more in their lyrics than in interviews. We’ve all listened to albums like this that delve into deeper issues other than boyfriend problems, i.e. Noah and the Whale’s The First Days of Spring, and I praise the Avett
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8500 Brothers for recording an album that I can experience with them instead of enjoy detached from the band. Another praise: their enhanced sound. We hear words like “produced” or “hi-fi” and almost automatically think the death of a band (Kings of Leon circa 2009), but The Avett Brothers stay more Avett and less Jonas with their grasp on originality. They utilize more studio time (and probably money), but keep their banjo, piano, bluegrass-rock sound. Except in one song. I report only one flaw in The Carpenter that flaw being “Paul Newman vs. The Demons.” But it may be such a failure because it is so disconnected to the album and its sound. The brothers told Rolling Stone magazine this summer that it was incorporated because their Nirvana-esque, earlyband sound of loudness and punk elements is still so much a part of them, so incorporating it in The Carpenter makes for yet another contrasting element that I can only appreciate. sara PIERCE
art history
Nothing screams emotional adolescent than California Wives’ in their 2012 debut Art History. I retract; Yellowcard and Death Cab for Cutie are the bands that come to mind, when I think of blasting music in my car, young heart-break and skipping class for the hell of it. However, I find myself going down memory lane with Art History. California Wives welcomes us to an era of likable “emo” music with Art History. Attracted to the catchy tunes from classic emo bands, I could not quite overcome the unbearably whiney lyrics and sounds. Sensitive but in a lighthearted way, these emo-indie boys keep me listening from start to finish. The manly California Wives incorporate sounds from before our generation. The peppy, adolescent melodies found in songs such as “Better Home” and “Tokyo” take the listener back to the 80’s with twang tones and quick rhythms.
The hipster band members aimed to invoke teenage nostalgia, with lyrics that “come from a relatable place of losing one’s youth,” with songs like “Marianne”, “23,” and “Blood Red Youth.” Mission accomplished boys; Art History.reminds me of jamming out to the high school band that almost made it out of the Town Hall stage and on to iTunes. I stood front row, completely sober while drunk off dreams of making out with the longhaired, grungy bassist. I can only envision a similar experience if I attended a California Wives concert. Equipped with both quality substantial lyrics and soothing tunes, Art History. you can have your cakey music and listen to it too. molly TREROTOLA
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ALBUMS
push and shove 8120 “Don’t speak, I know what you’re thinking and I don’t need your reasons. Don’t tell me ‘cause it hurts…,” was my curt response to the world in 2001, when No Doubt announced they would be taking a break from music, on the heels of their kickass power album Rock Steady. I could barely handle the news; it was as if Gwen and Tony had broken up all over again. But I never lost hope, I knew that Miss Stefani and the boys had no intention of leaving forever, and could only come back when they were ready to kill it. After a 11 year hiatus packed with marriage, kids, a fashion label, and two solo albums for Gwen, the ska/punk/pop quartet’s comeback Push and Shove certainly shows that the past is in the past and the band is trying to push and shove their way on to the next thing. On Push and Shove, the band settles into their quintessential sound, but puzzle listeners with a smattering of forgettable licks. More than anything, No Doubt tries to create a mature record, showing a wide range of a variety of different types of songs, from ballads lamenting the difficulties of adult relationships to crazy, sexy dance grooves. With acoustic selections and electronic remixes, the extended version of the album definitely shows the long labored process of the album in trying to cover all the bases and make up for lost time.
Mumford and Son’s long-awaited second album Babel is sure to please fans of their 2010 debut Sigh No More, keeping in tune with the rousing foot-stomping, and hoot-hollering hits that brought them to fame. The British based band exploded on the scene with Sigh No More, leaving the underground London folk scene behind to collaborate with the likes of Dylan and the Kinks, and to tour around the worldsolidifying their place as one of the most popular acts in folk music today.
Babel took the larger scale hits of it’s predecessor ( ex. “Little Lion Man” and “The Cave”) and made an album out of them- favoring a sound that will sound magnificent in an amphitheater. Some of the key tracks are the title track, the first single “I Will Wait”, and “Lover’s Eyes” , a prayer to ease the pain of the broken- hearted (“I’ll walk slow/ I’ll walk slow/ Take my hand/ help me on my way”).
The single “Settle Down” was released over the summer to much critical acclaim and excitement, bringing back the reggae dance hall sound we all know and love. This is the old No Doubt we were waiting for, the soCal pop punk party energy of the title track. “Push and Shove” is a killer collaboration with Busy Signal and Major Lazer, creating a textured and layered reggae ska sound, think “Hey Baby” pushed to the next level. But besides these two songs, there is no real ska sound, it is apparent we are so not in the nineties anymore.
The middle of the album can begin to feel like a Gwen Stefani solo album, with songs like “One More Summer,” “Dreaming the Same Dream,” and “Looking Hot,” that are cute and comfortable, if not a little boring. On the acoustic versions, the band strips down the dance anthems like “Looking Hot” and “Settle Down,” revealing a whole new side to the song, which is may even be better than the original. On “Easy,” Gwen croons “never going to be the same, never going to be the same,” and it may be true. Although I may want Gwen bopping up and down with her pink hair, screaming into the microphone about her broken heart, as her ex-boyfriend strums the guitar and backs her vocals, history will not repeat itself. The sound will never be the same, but at least its back. livi MAGNANINI
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The album is also just as heavy in biblical themes and references as the first album, with calls to the Big Man himself (“Babel”, “Lover’s Eyes”, “Whispers in the Dark”), confessions and accusations of sin (“Broken Crown”), and vows to serve (“Below My Feet”). Mumford and Sons hit the right note with this album, not straying too far from what brought them success, but providing new and interesting tracks that far surpassed any worries of a sophomore slump. They secured their rightful place as the current kings of pop-folk lisa FOX
This album drew initial intrigue with descriptive phrases like “intangible hate-fuck hysteria” and “toxic bath of spoiled space juice” coming with it on a neat eight-and-ahalf by eleven sheet of paper. In step with the ethos of the band, here is Merriam-Webster’s definition of “areola”: a small area between things or about something; especially: a colored ring (as about the nipple, a vescicle, or a pustule).
1982: Dishonorable discharge
For listeners who think they can take the intoxicating demon power of Discharge, do not attempt to operate heavy machinery while doing so, let alone drive a car, operate a blender, or hold a conversation—screaming and pointing will have to do. I made the mistake of pressing play while standing up; the dripping contraband refuse violently pushed its way through every biological opening I had, first entering the larger orifices like the mouth, nostrils and tear ducts, but quickly moving on to march into my pores with staunch resolve. A militant force, the pointed peaks and troughs of the putrid soundwaves were returning to the world of the living in halfamputated decaying zombie shells to let me know how tenuous my hold on homeostasis really was. One of these entry points was the ear canal, in which the relentless pounding made an unceremonious passing over the ear drum, flying past it effortlessly like planes over ineffective old-world trenches.
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In this new region my brain was situated, whereupon Discharge proceeded to undo any order or structure that came across its path. Grey matter was swept from the inner side of my skull like the lint wiped from a lint screen; my lobes, nicely partitioned into their various functional regions, resembled the sped-up time lapse of a compost pile laden with moist banana peels and egg shells, three months of rotting condensed into a one minute interval. It was at this point that I lost my motor skills, and was reduced to a drooling pile on our house’s wooden floor, my futile efforts to regain control manifested as an inconsequential swaying motion. As my room mate came to me to see what was the matter, he made the mistake of putting in my headphones to see what I was listening to. The gurgle I made in a feeble attempt to warn him did not achieve its desired result, and the cycle continued. matt CHRISTIE
traphouse rock
It’s an eclectic sound, one that conveys youthful energy and ageless wisdom all at the same time. It’s refined, with just the right amount of heedless exploration to produce a sound that is provocative. It’s rap and it’s rock, it’s funk and it’s the blues. There are strong suggestions of jazz and subtle undertones of soul. Not to mention it sounds fuckin good. In their debut album, Traphouse Rock, Kids These Days displays the fresh ability to groove across genres. Dynamic verses from multiple vocalists are woven seamlessly over an array of instruments, samples and beats, all to produce a sound that is
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both sophisticated and sincere. At ages hovering around 20, they’re young enough to take on the task of bringing it all together—and talented enough to make it work.
It also helps that Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy took a lead role in producing 7 of the album’s 15 tracks. After a threeday recording stint in the infamous Wilco loft, Tweedy invited them back for a more guided approach to the development of their sound and the new perspective shows. The album provides a passion-fueled ride through tunes about growing up, smoking pot, falling in love, and even Chicago’s student-driven protests which culminated in a student walk-out that the band themselves took part in. Traphouse Rock displays a chemistry and hunger that if nothing else, gives this young band an impressive foundation to move forward on and a bright start to a likely even brighter career. mat POLOWITZ
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ALBUMS
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an awesome wave
Sitting in the cages of Memorial library on a cool autumn night, my eyelids were shutting as I began to read the same line three times over. My pain immediately subsided when nerdy rockers alt- J’s “Breezeblocks,” came on my 8tracks playlist. What started out as a slow kooky British croon, built into a lazy xylophone tapping, drum-slamming jubilation, asking the question, “Do you know where the wild things go?” I was hooked. Combining an “I-can’t-get-it-out-of-my-head” catchiness and beyond bizarre lyrics, the boys of alt-J combine the perfect amount of seemingly contradictory elements on their debut An Awesome Wave, to achieve weird perfection. With songs like “Tessallate,” alt-J gets nerdy. In lyrics like “triangles are my favorite shape/three points where two lines meet…’til morning comes, lets tessellate,” sexual innuendos are cleverly hidden in geometry and light piano notes are hidden in thick bass beats. Many of their songs are like dark hallways of an empty high school, filled with math, literature, and unrequited love. Take “Breezeblocks,” for example, which starts out as quaint and cute proclaiming “Please don’t go, I love you so, I love you so...” but then quickly turns ominous and kind of creepy, “she may contain the urge to run away, but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks.” Its Reigning from a seemingly undisclosed locale in France, Les Limiñianas bring in their second fulllength album Crystal Anis with some serious groove. Though they ambitiously liken themselves to the Velvet Underground – a compliment I just cannot get myself to justify – most of the album offers some familiarly nice, anticlimactic jams. I say this but it really only applies to the songs written in French.
Sometimes they go soft, singing acapella in rounds in songs like “Dissolve Me,” and sometimes they go hard and energetic, in songs like “Fitzpleasure.” But they never totally commit to either element, making them opaque and charmingly complex. Taking elements of electronica, dubstep and intertwining them with jazz, a little metal, and folk, the Brits make their concoction as ambiguous as possible. Like mad scientists, they are not afraid to try whatever might work. Maybe that’s why its an attractive remix option, like Odd Future’s the Internet’s romantic syth take on “Fitzpleasure ” and Cry Wolf’s heavy dubstep version of “Breezeblocks.” These may just put them on mainstream radar, but not likely. Alt-J is art rock, and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It may be saved for the select nerds out there who find comfort in their angles, convoluted structures, and enigmatic lyrics. In the physics of music, An Awesome Wave is an enjoyable oscillation, a transfer of blissful energy to my ears. livi MAGNANINI
Crystal Anis
With an already ethnically ambiguous name, Les Limiñanas are not quite suited to be taken seriously in English. It’s just that the accented simple language that throws off the vibe a bit. It’s as if The XX’s lyrics were written in a creative writing class for ESL students – obviously giving some liberty to the composition. There definitely is that seventies feel in the sense that “Kinam Baby” has essentially the same riff as Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s worth,” which “Crystal Anis” employs with a distortion pedal. I’m sounding a little too critical. A good portion of the tracks had great success with this more skeletal format – an effort that is too often wasted. The French songs have an especially nice sound, offering a sonic melody that seems more fitting than English. The success of the album is
a masichistic plea for the delusional relationship, “Please break my heart.”
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probably best shown in the track “Longanisse,” where muted tambourine and delay pedals march les mots right along. While even in French we’re not dealing with serious haute poetry, the sound is much more natural. When the lyrics are removed completely in the instrumental track, “Belmondo,” we see the sound a little more objectively, and feel a little less hip in listening to it. If you’re not too concerned about epiphany provoking lyricism, Les Limiñanas will provide some solid tunes. sean MANNION
The Kansas City based group SSION (pronounced shun), led by vocalist Cody Critcheloe, presents their work with a power of art and free-expression that can only be seen in a bourgeoning underground big-city club scene. Not only is their live show tinged with performance art aspects with their elaborate and campy sets but they also extend their work into music video production having worked with Santigold, CSS, and Peaches only to name a few. The self-released record titled BENT, is a culmination of multiple degrees of free love and queercore presented over an eccentric electropop beat which, in select tracks, you can’t help but get pleasure from. The first (and only) moment of true pop-perfection presents itself early in “Psy-Chic” with it’s undeniable catchy chorus over an endless trance of bass pulse, and floating synth riffs. Critcheloe’s airy vocals and cheeky pop language make the entire operation appear effortlessly cool. Many themes presented in the lyrics can be attributed to self-identity and sexuality, exemplified by lines such as “so if you chose to be confused/ well, just let me lead you on” which
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bent 7666 subtly pokes fun at the most pesky closet-queers. “Feelz Good (4-Evr)” takes the album in a much darker direction with distorted hits and snaps which would only be fit filling a dystopian arena. “My Love Grows In The Dark” carries the carefree 80’s vibe perfectly with throbbing slap-beats under pure electronic dubs but where this track flies high most of the album can’t help but fall flat. The repetitive pop one-liners are perfect for the ADHD-inclined folk but as important SSION’s message might be for the younger (and queer) generation, BENT gets buried beneath a sound-scape of electric samples that are a bit too busy for the casual listener. aj BECKER
channel orange
Following up his 2011 mixtape, Frank Ocean, the neo-soul singer from Odd Future Wolf Gang, released his freshman album channel ORANGE in late June of this year. After coming out of the closet a week before on his blog, Ocean received praise from his colleagues in the hip hop/R&B community. In an industry known for homophobia, the across the board support for his coming out showed that the hip hop community is turning a new leaf. The album helps to show off Ocean’s many talents, most notably his vocal ability and song writing talent. Ballads like Thinkin’ Bout You and Forest Gump have a honey dipped sound, with soulful implementations of love and affection. The ten-
minute Pyramids brings together images of Cleopatra in mourning and a strong beat reminiscent of Afrika Bambaataa.
Another high point of the album is Ocean’s collaborative efforts. Fellow Odd Future members Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, The Creator make brief stops on the album. Most notably, Earl Sweatshirt’s verse in Super Rich Kids comes out as the best guest spot in the album. John Mayer’s guitar tones come out in White, a soft, minute long journey into a love filled evening. Even Andre 3000 makes a cameo appearance, sweetening up Pink Matter with sultry lyrical flow.
If you’re into buying only individual songs instead of the album, go for Thinkin’ Bout You, Pyramids, Super Rich Kids, Lost and Forest Gump. Every track on this near perfection, so consider spring for the full album this time. With this promising opener, Frank Ocean has established himself as a reputable R&B artist.
conor MURPHY
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