THE BONESETTERS BARCELONA BEACH HOUSE YEASAYER GIRLS
ROLE MODELS
YOU’RE INSPIRED BY
THEIR MUSIC BE INSPIRED BY THEIR STYLE
THE COMEBACK THE VILLAGE GREEN DOES NATIONAL RECORD STORE DAY $4.99
ISSUE I // MAY/JUNE 2010
F L U X . C O M
CONTENTS
ISSUE I // MAY/APRIL 2010
16 FEATURES
16 // role models You’re inspired by their music. Why not be inspired by their style? Here’s three looks that you can recreate on a budget.
22 // the comeback VGR joined in on National Record Store Day, which brought live music, discounted vinyl and smiles to the masses.
REGULARS 07 // cool times for electronica The name might be ridiculous, but we can’t deny it: this “freak folk” sounds pretty damn catchy.
14
08 // track stars New albums and artists that you need to meet, spend time with and get to know intimately. You’ll thank us, we promise.
10 // music philosophy A Mico Toledo poster is the brainchild of his affection for music and typography, and there’s a whole lotta love to go around.
12 // click, push Spotted: a plethora of iPod’s on campus. But what are the kids of Ball State really listening to these days?
14 // breakin’ bones Local group, the Bonesetters is setting the trail ablaze for whimsical folk rock. Giddy up!
22
30 // weekend warrior Impromptu road trips are what college dreams are made of, and Indiana offers some larger than life landmarks.
32 // festival showdown Four of the largest national music festivals are right around the corner, and the lineups are stacked. Choose your bliss.
36 // the boys next door
02 //
Seattle band Barcelona is working on a second album and gaining awesome points for pulling epic road pranks.
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MAGAZINE // EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pam Farmen
ART DIRECTOR
Becca Dixon
PRODUCTION TEAM
Mark Townsend + Adam Wright ASSISTANT EDITORS
Megan Capinegro Season Schafer Stephanie Stamm Mark Townsend
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Peter Gaunt + Nicole Shae Harris FEATURE MODEL
Monica Glawatz
SUPPORT SYSTEM
Dixon family
SALVATION BY
Jesus
flux APRI L // MAY
PLAY DOWNLOAD
LIST
25 FREE tracks
O N LY AT F L U X . C O M
01 The Radio Dept. // Heaven’s on Fire 02 Miike Snow // Song for No One 03 Real Estate // Beach Comber 04 Julian Casablancas // 11th Dimension 05 Passion Pit // To Kingdom Come 06 Kid Cudi // Pursuit of Happiness 07 Fleet Foxes // Quiet Houses 08 Beach House // Silver Soul 09 Local Natives // Warning Sign 10 Surfer Blood // Swim 11 Villagers // On a Sunlit Stage 12 Washed Out // Feel It All Around 13 Class Actress // Let Me Take You Out 14 She & Him // In the Sun 15 Grizzly Bear // Knife 16 The XX // Intro 17 CFCF // You Hear Colours 18 Portugal the Man // When the War Ends 19 MGMT // Congratulations 20 Here We Go Magic // Collector 21 The New Pornographers // Crash Years 22 The Pass // Colors 23 Yeasayer // Love Me Girl 24 Two Door Cinema Club // I Can Talk 25 Brite Lite Brite I Just F L// U X .Want C O U2 M Myself
HELLO
ONCE UPON A TIME... I was 20, and I did nothing but stare at a computer screen for 10 hours straight everyday. Caffeine intake was frequent, nights were late and meals were few and far between. It was a time for discovery in all aspects of my life: discovering how to survive the next day on two hours of sleep, discovering how much of a distraction social media can be and discovering how important music is to my daily routine. Let me take you back in time. The year was 1997. The Dixon family computer was a beast, and floppy discs were multi-colored. Spandex was an acceptable fashion choice, and as an active young person, I enjoyed it. As I recall in the above photo, Disney’s Magic Artist made me very happy. I suppose I was just beginning to discover that design, art and technology rock, and although I might strongly argue that statement on certain days, my heart remains in the same place. Whether it’s through coming across a new artist, blog or mashup, discovery is a constant reminder of just how complex and beautiful this world can be when creative minds offer up their work to be enjoyed by all. Though it only biologically associates with the sense of hearing, music has the ability to connect with the past, present and future. It inspires me to think creatively, to see the everyday with fresh eyes and to experience genuine feelings of happiness. I hope that reading this magazine will satisfy your appetite for new artists, albums and styles. Thank you for picking it up. I want to hug every one of you who helped make this project possible =] I wish you a lifetime full of discovery. Pay attention to what makes you feel happy and create your surroundings to follow suit. Visit your local record store. Try iTunes genius™. Create mixtapes. Create stuff. Go, Do. XO // BECCA DIXON
“IT COULD BE THE TIME WE’RE LIVING IN, WE’LL NEVER FEEL SO SAFE AGAIN, BUT LOVE ALWAYS REMAINS.” – MGMT
05 //
P U P N U T N T S L P U N T S L
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LSTNUP
cool times for electronica A CHILLWAVE PRIMER ASIDE FROM THE SILLY NAME, IT’S A SLIPPERY GENRE THAT USES LO-FI LAPTOP RECORDING, A WHOLE LOT OF REVERB, AND SOME SERIOUS ‘80s NOSTALGIA TO CREATE DREAMY POP TAILOR-MADE FOR THE SUMMER. WORDS // GARIN PIRNIA PHOTOS // BRYAN BUSH
Last July, a blogger named Carles, writing for the site Hipster Runoff, clustered together a handful of up-andcoming bands with a similar sound and recording approach and, by most accounts, birthed a new genre: “chillwave.” It didn’t take long for other music sites to start throwing around the term. “About six months removed from the summer of chillwave, Toro Y Moi’s debut LP is being released in the dead of winter,” read a recent Pitchfork review of an album by multi-instrumentalist Chaz Bundick, who performs under the name Toro Y Moi. Summer of chillwave? Wait. What exactly is chillwave anyway? “It generally has an ‘80s influence, which is definitely pretty heavy in my stuff,” said Ernest Greene, a.k.a. Washed Out, one of the acts being touted as part of the trend. New Wave-sounding samples and ambient music is often interlaced with dance-y beats, and the approach to recording is decidedly lo-fi. Carles explained the genre this way in a post last summer: Chillwave, he wrote, “sounds like something playing in the background of an old VHS cassette that you found in your attic from the late ’80s/’90s.” Chillwave isn’t limited to a geographic region, but the South and East Coast figure prominently. Bundick is from South Carolina while Greene is from Georgia. Other socalled chillwave bands, like Small Black and Neon Indian, are New York-based, while Memory Tapes, a.k.a. Dayve Hawk, hails from New Jersey. That’s where the parallels end. “We were out the other night with the dudes from Neon Indian and we were joking about how we’ve created a scene that never really existed,” said Josh Kolenik of Small Black. The band introduced itself to Neon Indian, he said, “because we wanted to make chillwave jokes.” Whereas musical movements were once determined by a city or venue where the bands congregated, “now it’s just a blogger or some journalist that can find three or four random bands around the country and tie together a few commonalities between them and call it a genre,” said Alan Palomo of Neon Indian. Chillwave is partially a response to the over-produced Italo-Disco and French house records of recent years.
M AY / / JUNE 2 010
Now, electronic music is devolving back to cheap Casio keyboards like the one Small Black uses. In a nod to ‘80s nostalgia, Ernest Greene released his “High Times” E.P. exclusively on cassette. “The cool thing about cassettes is that they are made by hand and each one sounds slightly different, so it makes for a more personal experience,” Greene said. Until the bands started receiving press last summer, most chillwavers had never heard of each other. But Kolenik reached out to Palomo of Neon Indian, and also contacted Greene and convinced him to tour together with Small Black this spring. Even if the musicians involved largely think chillwave is a made-up genre, they appear to be taking advantage of their increased profile. Small Black just signed to indie label Jagjaguwar, and Neon Indian became the first chillwave band to appear on national TV when they performed in February on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Toro Y Moi plans to release his second record of the year in August; Small Black has a full-length on the horizon and Neon Indian’s side project, VEGA, will also drop a record this year. “It’s happened so fast –- at times it’s hard to deal with the expectations,” Greene said, referring to his current tour and upcoming festival shows at the South By Southwest Festival next week. Originally, he had no intention of ever playing live, and only performed his first show last October at a Kia Soul Collective event in Atlanta. Greene said he changed his mind because it seemed like a good opportunity to travel. Dayve Hawk of Memory Tapes didn’t plan to tour either, but did so to silence the people needling him about it. “People can’t ask me why I don’t play live anymore,” Hawk said. Still, the future of chillwave remains nebulous: maybe it’ll transcend into a different incarnation or maybe it’ll disintegrate. “I’ve already finished most of my next record and it doesn’t sound like my first record,” said Hawk. “Maybe it’s something that could grow into a real thing. I wish they’d come up with better name if it’s going to be a real genre.” F
TORO Y MOI //
BASED: Columbia, SC DISCOGRAPHY: Causers of This LP (2010) LISTEN TO: “109”
WASHED OUT //
BASED: Macon, GA DISCOGRAPHY: Life of Leisure EP (2009), High Times cassette EP (2009) LISTEN TO: “You’ll See It”
NEON INDIAN //
BASED: New York City DISCOGRAPHY: Psychic Chasms LP LISTEN TO: “Deadbeat Summer”
MEMORY TAPES //
BASED: Southern NJ DISCOGRAPHY: Life of Leisure EP (2009), High Times cassette EP (2009) LISTEN TO: “You’ll See It”
07 //
LSTNUP
TRACK STARS WORDS // BECCA DIXON EDITED BY // SARAH STROM
BEACH HOUSE // TEEN DREAM
Band members Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally
The title’s at least half-right. Buoyed by reverb-swathed guitars and the dusky torch singing of Victoria Legrand, Baltimore’s Beach House have been the dream-pop duo to beat since 2006. They’re more radiant than ever on their third disc, particularly on songs like “Zebra,” with background chorales swooping over stately guitar plucking. The band is enraptured by the grandeur of Phil Spector and Brill Building teen pop, but there’s no puppy love in the romantic fatalism on these songs (“You would slip from my mind,” sings Legrand, “in a matter of time”). Beach House’s dreams, and nightmares, are for adults.
GIRLS // ALBUM Born into the extremist Children of God cult before escaping to live on the streets at 16, Christopher Owens knows misery. But on Girls’ debut, he’s made peace with his past and crafted ace tunes to go with his tales of redemption. Owens sings about dancing and hanging with California girls on gorgeous songs that range from Buddy Holly-style rock to prom balladry to the strummy epic “Hellhole Ratrace.” On “Lust for Life,” he’s “fucked in the head” but trying to “make a brand-new start.” Judging by Album, he’s on the right track. Band members Christopher Owens and Chet White
YEASAYER // ODD BLOOD
Lead band members Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton and Anand Wilder
08 //
Like their Brooklyn neighbors Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective, Yeasayer are pioneers of a scene that refuses to choose between a sense of experimental adventure and pure pop pleasure. It’s a balance they’re perfecting as they grow older: On the follow-up of their 2007 debut album, they dive deeper into electronics and big Eighties beats. The result is simultaneously stranger and poppier, more celebratory and more serious. “Ambling Alp” is a hugely catchy anthem whose scrumptious reggae-pop chorus and falsetto bridge unspool amid splashing water and ricocheting ray guns. The most killing jam is “O.N.E.,” a dubby blast of samba-spiked funk.
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LSTNUP
NEWLY RELEASED Local Natives
The Morning Benders
GORILLA MANOR Local Natives have a familiar sound-- rustic vocals, harmonies, clattering percussion-- but songwriting skill and youthful energy mark their striking debut. Advance singles “Airplanes” and “Sun Hands” recalled elements of Dodos or the Fleet Foxes, but the best comparison perhaps is that they’re sort of a West Coast Grizzly Bear-- down to naming an album after the location in which it was recorded. Gorilla Manor proves to be a reminder of the pleasures of synthesis.
BIG ECHO This San Francisco baroque-pop group’s second album is a homecoming of sorts, as it finds the Morning Benders embracing a more coastal, kaleidoscopic California sound. It also finds them embracing the cavernous experiments of Grizzly Bear, whose Chris Taylor shares a co-production credit. From warped music-hall strings to hymn-like, softfocus vocals, exquisite accents help frame the Morning Benders’ highly successful stylistic transition.
Jonsi
Charlotte Gainsbourgh
GO On his solo debut, Jonsi Birgisson -- Sigur Ros’ spectral voice and six-string skyscraper -- embraces a lithe, lush pop his main band is too monolithic to accommodate, and it’s revelatory. Though still recalling Sigur, Go moves more quickly, from the flute-happy “Go Do” to the giddy “Animal Arithmetic.” It’s not unlike Thom Yorke’s sideline trip The Eraser: Each retains an inimitable singer’s sound but adds oxygen-rich breathing room.
IRM After a 2006 album created in collaboration with Air and Jarvis Cocker, Charlotte Gainsbourg returns with a surprisingly great LP written and produced by Beck. The nods to psych rock, junkyard blues, half-rap cadences, and ghostly ballads won’t shock anyone generally familiar with Beck’s oeuvre, but Gainsbourg’s versatile and vulnerable vocals add a depth missing from many of her songwriter’s post-Sea Change work.
Surfer Blood
The xx
ASTRO COAST The debut LP from this young Florida band is a great guitar album packed with sing-along hooks, but there’s more going on beneath the surface. It’s unfair to think of Astro Coast as reactionary in some way to the more overtly ambitious indie stars of last year. But ambition can just as easily manifest itself as a desire to create a relentlessly catchy, “classic indie” album in your own dorm room, and if that’s what Surfer Blood set out to do, Astro Coast succeeds wildly.
THE XX The xx are four 20-year-olds from South London who make predominantly slow, furtive pop music, mostly about sex. They are also one of the stranger recipients of UK hype in recent memory. Working without a live drummer, the xx manipulate airy, lingering negative space as well as any band going. xx rewards volume and repetition like few other albums this year. They didn’t need a gestation period, though xx is nuanced, quiet, and surprising enough that you might.
Real Estate
Grizzly Bear
REAL ESTATE After several excellent singles, New Jersey’s Real Estate deliver on their full-length debut with a rich collection of evocative and haunting songs. Despite the summery song titles and the beach balling associations that might follow these guys around, this music transcends the notion of seasons. It’s an album with songs about beaches that sounds best in the fall. This isn’t the kind of debut that hints at any limits in terms of sound, technical gifts, and most importantly, time.
VECKATIMEST More than most any album in recent memory, it is compositionally and sonically airtight, every moment sounding tweaked, labored over. The obvious highlights are breathtaking-- the bounce of “Two Weeks”, the skyward swoon of teen creeper “Cheerleader”, the surefooted shuffle of “While You Wait for the Others”-- but this is Grizzly Bear, and despite an increased confidence in their pop sensibilities and an overall strengthening of melodies, they’re still meanderers at heart.
UPCOMING RELEASES Broken Social Scene
FORGIVENESS ROCK RECORD // MAY 4 The sprawling Canadian collective brought a mob mentality to its fifth album. Cut mostly in Chicago, the sound id surprisingly reined-in on pretty tunes like “All to All,” a sparkling, loop-driven song, and “Sentimental X’s,” a countryrock cut syncopated drums and chiming effects.
NOW HEAR The New Pornographers
TOGETHER // MAY 4 The New Pornographers have dropped a few pop chestnuts from Together for your listening pleasure. “Your Hands (Together)” is a head-bobbing multivocalist number. It sounds like the New Pornographers have picked up the pace and stepped up their game since 2007’s Challengers.
The National
LCD Soundsystem
Band of Horses
Blitzen Trapper
HIGH VIOLET // MAY 11 After breaking out with 2007’s slowburning set Boxer, Brooklyn indie rockers the National are amping up their sound for the follow-up. The disc, which features cameos from Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens, will contain cuts like the crunchy “Blood Buzz, Ohio” and the orchestral “L.A. Cathedral.”
INFINITE ARMS // MAY 18 Recorded over the last year and a half in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Asheville, North Carolina; and L.A., the disc was produced by the five-piece themselves. One tune has a three-piece horn section and strings, another has a doo-wop feel, and there’s a trippy, stoner-rock anthem.
M AY / / JUNE 2 010
THIS IS HAPPENING // MAY 18 Work is underway for what may be James Murphy’s last record as LCD Soundsystem. Murphy spent time recording at the famous mansion in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon. A recently released video features a snippet of a new track as well as Murphy’s discussing the experience of recording at the mansion.
DESTROYER OF THE WORLD // JUNE 8 Get ready for a new American epic: The Oregon folk-rockers latest was inspired by the storytelling in For Whom the Bell Tolls, East of Eden, and Bob Dylan’s John Weasley Harding. The music is just as ambitious, with multisong suites, big Seventies-rock anthems and string sections.
THIS //
COAST When I’m With You 1 BEST ACTRESS Journal of Ardency 2 CLASS BELLS The High Road 3 BROKEN CARIBOU 4 Swim WEEKEND White Sky 5 VAMPIRE TORO Y MOI 6 Talamak LOS CAMPESINOS! 7 There Are Listed Buildings INDIAN Deadbeat Summer 8 NEON BEAR Bros 9 PANDA
09 //
LSTNUP
BOOKSHELF //
music philosophy DESIGNER MICO TOLEDO LIKES MUSIC AND TYPOGRAPHY, SO HE COMBINED THE TWO INTO FUNNY, TONGUE-IN-CHEEK POSTERS THAT DO, ACTUALLY SOMETIMES MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER. WORDS // BECCA DIXON EDITED BY // ERIC TEGELER
This coloring book offers an interactive and colorful journey of creativity, artistic expression, music, and charity. Wiggle yourself through the intricate Broken Social Scene maze, marvel in the colorful carnival of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, color Bon Iver’s enchanted water supply, or slide down the psychedelic playground of MGMT. Oh and no rules here, we even encourage you stay outside the lines!
We know that felines aren’t generally too fond of water, but aren’t they absolutely adorable when they’re wet and angry? The internet phenomenon stuffonmycat.com thinks so, and for your amusement they’ve assembled a collection of twenty assorted notecards featuring four copies of five funny photos of damp kitties.
A fable filed with inspiration - based on simple truths in a highly unique situations, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s tale is a compelling take on the mysteries of self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment. This story is full of comic charm, dramatic tension and fairytale intensity - all employed to maximum effect in an effort to encourage you to believe in your dreams.
10 //
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H O E T O W N W
HOMETWN
click, push
MARCH 25 MARKED THE REINTRODUCTION OF POLAROID FILM. BLACK & WHITE AND SEPIA FILM ARE CURRENTLY THE ONLY AVAILABLE OPTIONS TO PURCHASE, BUT THE IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT HOPES TO HAVE THE COLOR PACKS READY BY SUMMER 2010. AT $21 FOR EIGHT FRAMES, THE PRICE IS A LITTLE MORE THAN IT USED TO BE, BUT WE’LL TAKE EXPENSIVE POLAROIDS OVER NO POLAROIDS ON ANY DAY. CH A s e n R L SI E ior / / h o SE XS O spit alit yN + fo
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gem
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JON ATH AN WIL senior // financeLI AMS
ES tio GH u ni c a U LH m A E / com H / C MI n i o r e s
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K AT ELIN freshman FIELD S // elemen tary
education
tu ns
die
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HOMETWN
mm X FO // co R E n L a T Y shm fre
ic un
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hics P K A M ism grap R E E l N V journa / NN O SH A o m o r e / sop h
LLI e AVA l justic C O I mina N O A NT or // cri juni
A L LISO junior // N FINCH fashion merc
M AY / / JUNE 2 010
handisin
g
HOMETWN (From L to R): Four of the five band members: Sam Shafer, Dan Snodgrass, Ryan Rader and Jeremy Bauer take a coffee break during rehearsal. So needed.
breakin bones
LOCAL BAND THE BONESETTERS IS SETTING THE TRAIL ABLAZE FOR WHIMSICAL FOLK ROCK WORDS // HEATHER COLLINS PHOTOS // PETER GAUNT
The band was recently named the third-best in Muncie in Doc’s Music Hall’s Battle of the Band’s Competition. The Bonesetters consist of Dan Snodgrass on vocals and guitar, Sam Shafer on trumpet and keyboards, Ryan Rader on bass, Jeremy Bauer on saw and back-up vocals and Joey Morrow on drums. The eclectic mesh of instruments combined with the haunting sounds of a bowed saw gives the band an original sound separate from the mass of folk rock musicians. Their influences include Tom Waits, Ennio Morricone and Andrew Bird. “It’s getting a much fuller sound,” Shafer said. “It’s getting more rock ‘n’ roll.” The band just released their “Savages” EP featuring the songs “Bruises,” “Xanax,” “Maypole,” “Revival” and “Shakespeare.” The group hopes to begin doing weekend tours once the summer begins. They are currently preparing to record a full-length album. F
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ROLE MODELS INSPIRED BY THE CAREFREE STYLES THAT MUSIC OFTEN EMBRACES, WE CHANNEL THE SPIRIT OF THREE LOOKS AND RECREATE THEM IN AN AFFORDABLE AND PLAYFUL FASHION // peter gaunt becca dixon
PHOTOGR APHED BY ST YLED BY
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thestyle ierightiwaes geyek track blessa TORO Y MOI //
E L E C T RO -INDIE FAV ORI T E T ORO Y MOI, T HE P RO JE C T OF CH A Z BUNDICK U S E S L A P T OP BE AT S , L I V E IN S T RU M E N TAT ION A ND V OC A L S T O CR A F T A S OUND S OM E W HE R E BE T W E E N T HE P O S TA L S E R V ICE ’ S S OF T SINCE RI T Y A ND D A F T P UNK ’ S F L OOR- R AT T L ING T HU M P. HI S S T Y L E C A P T UR E S CL A S SIC FAV ORI T E S F ROM T HE EIGH T IE S , INCL UDING O V E R SIZ E D S P E CK S , FA DE D DE NIM , GR A P HIC P RIN T S A ND BOL D TA N K T OP S .
our way S W E AT ER / / H & M SHOR T S / / FORE V ER 21 TIGH T S / / A MERICA N A PPA REL
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thestyleivirntagwae clayssic track sing SHE & HIM
//
A C T R E S S , S ONG W RI T E R , SINGE R A ND A L L A ROUND S W E E T HE A R T, Z OOE Y DE S CH A NE L H A S T E A M E D UP W I T H M . WA R D T O P RODUCE S HE & HIM ’ S 13 -T R A CK V OL U M E T W O. W I T H S ONG T I T L E S L IK E “IN T HE S UN” A ND “L INGE RING S T IL L ,” ONE GE T S T HE F E E L ING T H AT Z OOE Y ’ S M U SIC I S A S P UR E A ND A S DO W N T O E A R T H A S HE R SIGN AT UR E S T Y L E . T HE S E L FP ROF E S S E D GE E K P R E F E R S INDIE L A BE L S O V E R RUN WAY T R E ND S A ND C A R E F UL LY TA IL OR E D PIE CE S W I T H MINDF U L DE TA IL S . HE R COL OR PA L E T T E OF CHOICE I S A K IN T O N AT UR E , W I T H L O T S OF E A R T H Y T ONE S .
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our way
DRE S S / / FORE V ER 21 SHOE S / / SIMPLY V ER A FOR KOHL’S
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thestyle ierast wacoastyprep track california english VA M PI R E W EEK EN D //
W I T H T HE R E CE N T R E L E A S E OF T HEIR S OP HOMOR E A L BU M , CON T R A , T HE BOY S OF VA M PIR E W E E K E ND H AV E P RO V E D T H AT T HE Y A R E MOR E T H A N JU S T A PA S SING FA D IN T HE M U SIC INDU S T RY. JU S T L IK E T HEIR MUCH - B L OGGE D - A BOU T S E L F-T I T L E D DE BU T A L BU M , CON T R A F E AT UR E S MOR E OF T HE UNIQUE V OC A L S A ND A F RIC A N -IN S PIR E D R H Y T H M S MI X E D W I T H P R E P P Y LY RIC S T H AT VA M PIR E W E E K E ND FA N S LOVE.
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our way
SHIR T / / MODCL O T H SHOE S / / URBA N OU T FIT T ERS SUNGL A S SE S / / R AY-BA N
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R
ECORD STORE DAY IS A GLOBAL EVENT BOASTING THE PARTICIPATION OF MORE THAN 1,000 INDEPENDENT RECORD STORES WORLDWIDE IN RECOGNITION AND CELEBRATION OF THE IMPACT INDIE MUSIC RETAIL HAS HAD ON THE MUSIC YOU HEAR TODAY.
22 VGR Owner Travis Harvey recreated 36 original vinyl covers to promote the event around the Muncie and Ball State community.
N A T I O N A L R E C O R D
ST
ORE DAY
APRIL 17 2010
LET’S CALL IT THE
COME BACK! THE VILLAGE GREEN RECORD STORE SPREAD THE LOVE FOR RSD BY EXTENDING THE EVENT OUT OVER TWO NIGHTS. INCLUDED WAS A SATISFYING SELECTION OF LATE NIGHT TUNEAGE, DANCE SESSIONS AND BAKED GOODS ALL IN THE COMFORT OF ITS FRONT LAWN. PHOTOS BY NICOLE SHAE HARRIS WORDS BY BECCA DIXON
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it h n w nt a g t be e ve t ha t one gold y a u d h ge i n a a l l . B w it a op e r a i n f nc i n g r a ve r e d h h a c k u r d u o a k ic ’t m d a t h it in Not y ing m on of n s a ti d n s. en r e w k i e s a t o e n u b b l e i s e v e l e b r a e t he r e h g h c t T v y s a l l s id b f ul d t o mt h r s, he a t he b d l i q u he b a c c e s s u dd l e w a r u l l r f t h a d t e r a n h t a t i n a s u n d s h wo f o r a t e s r e . e g t c t i i i o e St o g l a y n f t w A s f r e or d t h c or d c or d t d o . i e t l r e s e y F t on e r u n R e l R e of v i n ig a r p a r h i n g s d a c he r s p G r e e t ion a e a r t e h t t a e all shar et s, o Villag It ’s N rate t . s s b d e . 0 le or e ea r en th an we side t 201 to ce sic st few y hic t e b rs in g fes bite t mu ast p g r a es p e n n a c ov Sp r i w i t h e n d e n t he d e mo t e a c h . P a ie’s ed de p t h i yl L at ng s v in Munc et ur n cal in ed w i mong re t h crav i an d a e r u th r lt er ot f ac it ad e lo o f f s i s n , a n d n d t h r e s u r opu l a r y c u n s u m t a nc e t i n g c s g i o p y a e e b c n a h l u isf y T r e D t u r e h av n g l y col eate e su ah l Sto sic cu cords creasi medi to sat g mor iPod, an cr c mu inyl re me in in a er net ant in by an t hat rth y o V e d e I nt e f t w r e d b c s . No d i e b e a 9 o b l r h e r i e 1 t h f e s and t was ce on ho ar it y of me a st de d at 5 y-ow n al e o l n l o u a t t w a c e t h end o s e q u s b e nc e m , l o c a d e n a nn s, d e p f or t h s ou n d d s h a p e r i e S t or e d e p e n t h i r d a r t i s t e r But poor reco ing ex ecord 21 in ate t h f 25 ost in o e t he e wor n l i s t e n e e n R o f t h c e l e b r l i s t s on m 6 a n d r t c e r e s i l1 G o e c a n s t c pr i A pr i , s a l e a s na mu lage as o t he he Vil e., w India er ing unted ween ar vey eant T Av s in of f i s c o b e t dm sH r t in store t by and d dise Trav i eeken le. a n n M or d e w v er es ha s s ib l a i m rec ges e releas merc reow n at t he e it po ally c it y a n d h all- lusive ic an ar sto to w d mak to re mmu his s exc e mu ur-ye lit t le helpe t unit y t he co ey. “ T re r t ’ o sto For f mean ll t hat oppor ere in Har v t hey g n d 17. bers e for a s t he ace h ,’” said ut , an brat i a p e l m u y l s o o e u a e r s r n w h i ve ing ’re c rd ou ey ’ as a his g d and s is ou re com t hey ow t h T d i n “ h n h u be ta g r o k e ‘ t t h a u s , a a nd and nd e ou r b e l i a n d s w i t h or e s h a t t b t or t rea n a n d l l t he h a r e i or d s ll b t supp e t ha i c t s a s e r g a is t o of r o n n h i g t m n ca e or goi idea g.” ng t hos Wit h hon d is i h n t y t he ng t hi y ing life b use – stores g t ren at m dy i ut a d ack to t he ca cord rest in e for re g o e B ht b e t a o r M t n t g in ent , an i e v in ads. in u t o r d d br hea pen ide ing t h w nlo e sol in w t e pu ind at ion cern al do s wer sold n 700 day n ed con dig it lbum 8,000 ielse N s t hi g not e of inyl a t he 85 g to % in g 0v n n i i a 89 e m hs d b t he 00 % f ro accor rose mont e , 0 h , in n 99 5.4 s r w le fe d t 1 ea t ha 7, up ous y yl sa f irst racke pany n t i 200 prev n. Vi st t he has e com t 20 t he ndSca in ju Scan ce t h almos n d Sou 9, an Sound les si bers s a 200 010, nyl sa g num , a i ng t o i 2 t v lec t in r n aim e of l hes th s o u s ic t i h ig a n c o . f r o of m t i n o a g p o e g t n b rs a rce ts i ng a le k yea ut r is t y sou ew t t uden spar B n i e n s e s a nd n i n g u m te ot po es com prom t y, ex genr le lis st s as f b i i to mun et y o t ang en ex i l ar t i a c om e v a r r t he e G r e r i g i n t he d i f o i l l a g or o or f w e ov t he V r d f a ve n c t ion . l a h e le boa m, f or e t i n e a t i ve u s ic s l r l m bu a c u nd a nd er g r o u nd
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Village Green Record Store
Owlsburg
“I’m just trying to build a hunger in people, a creative hunger, a hunger for people to want to try something new, to be cultured in another way,” said Harvey. “Everything I’ve ever been driven by is just the idea of sharing soul and feeling that independent record stores are an important part of the community.” It’s thanks to the efforts and passion from Harvey that this weekend was made possible, and though Saturday’s events had to be moved indoors due to a blown P.A., the cozy store housed nearly 75 people all night. As the sun went down, neon-colored lighting transformed it into an inviting spectacle from the outside and shelter on the inside from the cold winds that passed through Muncie all weekend. Adjustments to the set list and order didn’t scare too many away, and a good turnout remained until the final note was played by local band The Bonesetters at 3:38 a.m. Sunday morning. With an eclectic variety of sounds and styles ranging from glam-rock to folk, each band brought a new atmosphere to the event as the night progressed. The closeness and intimacy of each show played indoors contained a heart that could set the beat for independent record stores all-year round. Some crowd favorites included Holy
The Seedy Seeds
Ghost Canyon, The Seedy Seeds, Rodeo Ruby Love, The Bonesetters, Metavari and Charlie Slick, who put on show half-naked amidst an energetic crowd Friday night. There were so many requests for a spot in the lineup on Saturday that Harvey decided to spread the acts out between Friday and Saturday night, which most didn’t seem to mind. “As far as a communal experience with friends, I was happy to come out and enjoy the free music,” says Ball State student Chester Fitch, 20. “It was just a chance to come hangout and support such a significant local business to the Ball State community.” Harvey received a turnout of more than 300 people throughout the weekend, and don’t be caught for a minute in thinking he plans to take a break in his efforts of spreading music culture across the community. “I want more people to be aware of what their independent record store has to offer them and that’s for everyone. I want kids to have a good experience here, and that way for the rest of their lives, they visit record stores and they partake in the deals that a record store offers them. I’m always trying to break down that idea that there’s a barrier, and you should feel weird coming in here. The whole point is to try to share that with other people.” F
Works Cited
I’M JUST TRYING TO BUILD A HUNGER IN PEOPLE, A CREATIVE HUNGER, A HUNGER FOR PEOPLE TO WANT TO TRY SOMETHING NEW, TO BE CULTURED IN ANOTHER WAY. TRAVIS HARVEY
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en route
EN ROUTE Are you stocked up on snacks?
weekend warrior
ROADSIDE
INDIANA
:
BIG THINGS TO SEE //
WHETHER IT’S A 24-HOUR GETAWAY OR A SMARTLY PLANNED OUT VACA, ROAD TRIPS THAT INCLUDE GOOD FRIENDS, GREAT TUNES AND AWESOME TIMES ALWAYS WIN. WORDS // BECCA DIXON PHOTOS // LORI TITE
1 FORTVILLE //
NEW CASTLE //
Off highway 37/67 in Fortville is a GIANT FIBERGLASS ELEPHANT He’s pale pink, wears black eyeglasses, and sips from a martini glass (complete with olive no less) he grasps in his trunk. He sits outside a liquor store, and has been there since the early 80s.
This GIANT SNEAKER was created in 1990-1991 and installed on a billboard. They advertised for Reebok during the NCAA Championships. It is displayed in front of the basketball hero Steve Alford’s All-American Inn. This shoe is 14 feet tall and 8 feet wide.
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BUNKER HILL //
ROSELAWN //
The BUNKER HILL ROCKER is about 13 feet tall. It was built around 1978 for a furniture refinishing business and has been replaced twice. There doesn’t seem to be a related business there now.
GIANT LADY’S LEG SUNDIAL The Sun Aura Nudist Resort opened in 1933. The club was renamed Naked City, and the sundial was erected, 63 feet long and properly positioned to tell time.
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MONTPELIER //
SANTA CLAUS //
The MUFFLER MAN INDIAN was made in Venice, CA in 1960 for the Tom Wood Pontiac dealership in Indianapolis. Later it was in front of the Indian Museum in Indianapolis. After the museum closed, the statue was presented to the City of Montpelier in 1984.
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The SANTA CLAUS STATUE is a 22 foot high granite statue was erected in 1935, weighs over 40 tons, and sits on the site of the original location of Santa Claus Land. A fiberglass replica of this statue sits in front of the Santa Claus Town Hall building. FLUX.COM
EN ROUTE
FESTIVAL SHOWDOWN INDIO, CA
MANCHESTER, TN
www.coachella.com
www.bonnaroo.com
JUNE 10 - 13
WHAT ABOUT IT?
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Fields. The event features many genres of music including alternative rock, hip hop, and Electronic music as well as large sculptural art. The event has stages and tents throughout the grounds, each playing live music continuously.
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual music festival, created and produced by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment. It features multiple stages of live music, which include a diverse array of musical styles including indie rock, world music, hip hop, jazz, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, reggae and electronica.
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$269.00 for GA // $369.00 for VIP
$249.50 for GA // $1,349.50 for VIP
Beach House // B.o.B. // GIRLS // Grizzly Bear // Hockey // Imogen Heap // Jonsi // Julian Casablancas // La Roux // LCD Soundsystem // Local Natives // Matt & Kim // Passion Pit // Phoenix // Sleigh Bells // Spoon // The Avett Brothers // The Big Pink // The Middle East // The Raveonettes // The Temper Trap // The xx // Vampire Weekend
Blitzen Trapper // Circa Survive // Damian Marley and Nas // Here We Go Magic // Kid Cudi // Manchester Orchestra // Mumford & Sons // Neon Indian // OK Go // Regina Spektor // She & Him // Tenacious D // Flaming Lips // The National // They Might Be Giants // Thievery Corporation // Umphrey’s McGee // Ween // Weezer
More glamour, less odor: a superstylish, celeb-studded crowd rocking out to alt-rock gods, Nineties reunions and the buzziest of buzz bands. There isn’t a better fest for people-watching: You might just see Danny Devito bugging out to Muse.
It’s like Neverland for granola rockers: The Freewheeling, anything-goes vibe mean there’s no curfew, so bands play epic sets. Music nearly 24 hours a day, a killer comedy tent and movie theater, and the tastiest ribs in Tennessee.
HEADLINERS
APRIL 16 - 18
LINEUP SAMPLE
BONNAROO //
WHY GO?
COACHELLA //
MUSE
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GORILLAZ
JAY-Z
STEVIE WONDER kings of leon
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND FLUX.COM
EN ROUTE
OUR HIGHLIGHT OF THE BEST SUMMER MUSIC HAPS ACROSS THE NATION. WE INFORM, YOU COMPARE. HAPPY CHOOSING!
CHICAGO, IL
CHICAGO, IL
www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com
www.lollapalooza.com
PITCHFORK //
LOLLAPALOOZA //
JULY 16 - 18
AUGUST 06 - 08
Organized by Pitchfork Media, The Pitchfork Music Festival showcases over 40 of independent music’s best bands and artists on three stages. Its goal is to create a reasonably priced summer music festival that provides an overwhelmingly positive, comfortable and fun festival experience for both attendees and musicians.
Created in 1991, Lollapalooza began as a touring festival until 1997. It was revived in 2003, but poor ticket sales forced the 2004 tour to be cancelled. In 2005, Perry Farrell and the William Morris Agency partnered up with C3 Presents and reshaped it into its current format as an annual weekend destination not to be missed.
$40.00 for single day // $90.00 for 3-day pass
$190.00 in advance // $215.00 for GA
Bear in Heaven // Broken Social Scene // Cass McCombs // CAVE // Dem-Funk // El-P // Freddie Gibbs // Girls // Here We Go Magic // LCD Soundsystem // Lightning Bolt // Modest Mouse // Panda Bear // Pavement// Raekwon // The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion // The Smith Westerns // Sleigh Bells // St. Vincent // Titus Andronicus
Aeroplane // Aterciopelados // As Tall As Lions // Beach House // Charlotte Gainsbourg // David Guetta // Deerhunter // DEVO // Fever Ray // GIRLS // Gorillaz // Grizzly Bear // Local Natives // Matt & Kim // MGMT // Miike Snow // Muse // MUTEMATH // Phoenix // Ra Ra Riot // The Soft Pack // Thom Yorke // Yeasayer
The festival also offers a vast array of other activities. With 50 individual vendors, as well as specialty fairs, the fest not only supports local businesses and the local economy, but also promotes the Chicago arts community as a whole.
The Nineties tour finally has a home – in an urban lakeside park – and the most mainstream lineup. The Chicago clubs keep the music going late into the night. Bonus: You don’t have to sleep in a tent – and if you try to, you’ll get arrested.
MODESTMOUSE
PAVEMENT
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM M AY / / JUNE 2 010
soundgarden
GREEN DAY
LADYGAGA 33 //
SPOTLIGHT
SPTLGHT like relationships, love and hurt into a three and a half minute song.
Describe the greatest road prank that you’ve successfully pulled. Our
From left to right: band members Chris Bristol, Rhett Stonelake and Brian Fennell
the boys next door SEATTLE-BASED TRIO BARCELONA SIT DOWN WITH US TO SHARE THOUGHTS ON PLANS FOR THE FUTURE, YOUTUBE AND TACO BELL. WE LIKE. WORDS // BECCA DIXON PHOTOS // KRISTEN SIRK
Where are you guys right now? What have you been up to lately? We are
currently stranded in a Wyoming snow storm on our way home from South by Southwest, a musical festival in Austin. Austin is incredible. Wyoming is cursed. This exact thing happened to us last year on our way home from SXSW.
Is there a second album in the works? Yes! We
have been working on new songs and getting some preliminary demos recorded. We don’t have a release date as of yet, but stay tuned for new music!
Speaking of albums, what does the title of your debut album Absolutes mean? We had actually
36 //
discussed calling the record “Attempted Absolutes” at first - because that’s really the thought behind the title. Each song addresses a topic and attempts to sum it up, but we all know that it’s impossible to reduce topics
dear friend and Tour Manager, Billy Reed, had a great time in Los Angeles a year or so ago. We had asked people to give us ideas on pranks to play on him as some sort of initiation for his first tour. One night a fan brought us four caramel apples that “his mom made.” Three of them were for us and a fourth was for Billy, only his was actually a caramel covered onion. Watching Billy take a huge bite of that will forever be one of our favorite memories!
What new artists are you into right now? We each
are constantly finding new music. The most recent discoveries would have to be Temper Trap, Patrick Watson and Speakeasy Tiger.
great places to go out and grab a great cup of coffee or a beer. Time with friends and family is always important to each of us.
I’ve noticed that making YouTube videos is a hobby of Barcelona’s. Do you have a favorite YouTube craze of the moment? We go in spurts, random spurts. Last week was all about crazy soccer injuries. Who knows what will happen next week.
Name on guilty pleasure. Taco Bell.
What is your favorite TV show right now? We
absolutely love “The Wire” an HBO show about crime in Baltimore. It’s must-see TV... that you have to pay for.
What jams can always bring out your best moves? Barcelona loves the dance party. Turn up the hip hop and watch out.
FOLLOW BARCELONA AT T WIT TER.COM /BARCELONA.
What’s the last great meal you had? We have eaten
Taco Bell for almost every meal for the last 4 days. We were given a ton of gift certificates, so we got to use them up! We like to think outside the bun.
If you weren’t playing in Barcelona, what would you be doing? We’d all probably
be involved in music in some form. Brian got his degree in Music Education and works at a studio in Seattle. Chris works in marketing while at home and Rhett could always fall back on his successful business screen printing t-shirts with epic cat portraits.
What is your favorite way to kick back? Seattle has some
BREAK DOWN FROM // SEATTLE, WA BEGAN // 2004 SOUNDS LIKE // PAPER ROUTE, COPELAND, SWITCHFOOT, SEABEAR
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TOP TRACKS
1 COME BACK WHEN YOU CAN 2 PLEASE DON’T GO 3 IT’S ABOUT TIME 4 GET UP 5 FALLING OUT OF TREES FLUX.COM