cut nov by sarah gorman

volume5.issue2.nov2011

volume 4 â&#x20AC;˘ issue 5 â&#x20AC;˘ april 2011

BIG

N A E S 1

volume5.issue2.nov2011

FEATURED ARTICLES phantogram.12 big sean.16 corelia.20

IN EVERY ISSUE letter from the editor.04 music news.06 steel city start-ups.08 majority report.10 cut em all.26 mixtape.27 reviews.29 essay.30 3

LETTER

from the

EDITOR Editor-in-Chief

Kristen Swanson

Assistant Editor Meela Dudley

Art/Layout Director Sarah Gorman

Photo Editor

This issue of The Cut is all about diversity. The Cut will satisfy all of your musical needs, ranging from music on your very own Carnegie Mellon campus, to bands who got their start in the Steel City, all the way to bands touring their way through Pittsburgh. What more could you possibly want? Well, for all the cynics or just die-hard music lovers, we have plenty more for you to gush over.

Molly Berntsen

Copy Director Zach Branson

Marketing and Publicity Chief

Catch up on your monthly dose of music news to start out with. Finals and exams are piling up just around the corner, so reading about the buzzing music world will be a nice break.

Writing Staff

Not to mention our wide-array of feature bands that will fill any musical cravings you have. From rock group Tapes ‘n Tapes, who, I can say from personal experience, know how to put on a killer live show. Then there is Phantogram, whose dreamy pop sound will have you dancing around your dorm room until the late hours of the night. Be sure to check out the Steel City Start-Up bands in this issue as well—Both are extremely dedicated bands that you should have listened to weeks ago. Plus, one of them will be performing at Carnegie Mellon, and you don’t want to miss it.

Andrew Bakert, Zach Branson, Allison Cosby, Dan Curhan, Hannah Dellabella, Meela Dudley, Christopher Edwards, Jeff Kehl, Lisa Kessler, Elizabeth Li, Jing Jing Li, William Lush, Nicole Marrow, Christina Mitas, Alex Reyes-Morales, Sejal Popat, Mike Ryan, Emma Steuer, Kristen Swanson, Samantha Ward

Don’t forget about our cover artist Big Sean, who not only has more swag than the entire university combined, but can call Kanye West his homie. Seriously, how many of us will ever get to say that? Which leads me to Corelia, who might not know Kanye West, but you’ll want to check out these metalheads who are just getting their start in the music industry.

Jing Jing Li

Public Relations Coordinator Christina Mitas

Web Manager Elizabeth Li

Art, Photo, & Layout Staff Sankalp Bhatnagar, Max Brown, Sarah Gorman, Christina Lee, Kristen Swanson, Samantha Ward, Crystal Yip

Editing Staff Zach Branson, Kairavi Chahal, Alison Cosby, Hannah Dellabella, Holly Fitzgibbon, Zaneta Grant, Phoebe Ng, Danielle Peters, Mike Ryan, Magdalen Silberman, Jordan Stephenson, Emma Steuer

So, you think that’s it? There is still plenty more that I haven’t even covered yet! Don’t take my word for it, though. Turn the page and start reading. Satisfaction is guaranteed. Kristen N. Swanson Editor-in-Chief The Cut Magazine

NEW RELEASES

TOP TEN DOWNLOADS 1. We Found Love Rihanna

6. Pumped Up Kicks Foster the People

2. Sexy And I Know It LMFAO

7. Moves Like Jagger Maroon 5

3. Someone Like You Adele

8. Stereo Hearts Gym Class Heroes

4. Good Feeling Flo Rida

9. 5 Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Clock T-Pain

5. Without You David Guetta & Usher

10. It Will Rain Bruno Mars 5

MUSIC NEWS by Allison Cosby

The Roots have announced that they have finished their new album, Undun. According to ?uestlove, the band’s 13th album is finished and set for its December 6 release.

John Mayer has recently undergone surgery to treat a serious

throat condition. According to Mayer, he will be on “complete vocal rest for a month or more.” So does that mean two months? Six months? A year? Forever?! A girl can dream.

Gorillaz are celebrating their 10th year anniversary by releasing an

album of singles titled The Singles Collection: 2001-2011. The album will include 15 tracks (singles, videos, and remixes) and will be released November 28.

Sonic Youth

Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage. Any faith I had left in the institution of marriage is now gone.

The Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan, front man of , has started a pro wrestling company in Chicago called Resistance Pro. Regarding the new company, he said, “We’re going to try to bring back the glory days.” If only he were talking about the band and not wrestling.

Big Boi

Carnegie Mellon’s favorite rapper has avoided jail time for the drug charges he faced after being busted in Miami with ecstasy and a cigarette roller with marijuana residue. Instead of jail time, the rapper will pay $2000 in donations to charities and will be drug-tested for three months. Seems like a good deal to me.

Rebecca Black has announced a new single, “Person of In-

terest,” and the video is set for release in November. Oddly enough, I don’t think there are many people interested in this.

Amy Winehouse

The mystery of ’s death has been solved. A new coroner report claims that she died from excessive alcohol consumption. According to the report, Winehouse was more than four-anda-half times over the legal driving limit. I would make a joke here about how it’s a good thing she didn’t drive anywhere, but that would probably be inappropriate.

U2’s Bono told Rolling Stone Magazine that the band would be happy to end its career now. We’d be pretty happy, too.

Carnegie Mellon’s Recording Gem In the basement of the CFA lies a room protected by double walls and double steel doors. No, it’s not a fallout shelter. It’s Carnegie Mellon’s stateof-the-art recording studio. The walls and doors are to stop all sound from getting into the studio––so effective that a recording session was once held with a jackhammer outside. Inside, you’ll find a spacious control room with world class recording equipment, and two isolated sound booths. And, on most days, you’ll find Riccardo Schulz. Riccardo, as he likes to be called, is the recording engineer for the School of Music. He also teaches three courses, all of which take place inside the recording studio––Sound Recording, Editing and Mastering, and Multi-track Recording.

Sound Recording is essential if you want to learn how to record in the studio, from setting up mics to working the massive control surface and its sea of knobs and faders. Carnegie Mellon hasn’t always had such an amazing recording studio. Before this one, they had a closet-sized recording studio without multi-track recording, and Riccardo had to bring all of the equipment to campus in a milk crate strapped to the back of his bicycle. Not surprisingly, Riccardo had been pushing for a new facility since he joined the school in 1989. Finally, in 2001, it was built and has been a valuable resource for musicians at Carnegie Mellon ever since. Since the control room also needed to act as a classroom

A CaPittsburgh Project On October 29, students, parents, alumni, and members of the Carnegie Mellon community gathered in Rangos to attend the fourth annual A CaPittsburgh project. The event, “Music is Alive: the 4th Annual A CaPittsbutgh Project,” features six of our university’s a capella groups and worked to raise money for the Tickets for Kids Foundation. The event was extremely successful—having sold out of tickets early on in the evening, the event allowed visitors to stand at the back of the seating area. Rangos was completely packed with attendees. The show was organized and hosted by Carnegie Mellon’s all-girl a capella group Counterpoint, who performed two sets

By Chris Edwards

that could hold 30 students, it is very spacious. In fact, it’s the largest control room on the east coast. The sound booth isn’t small, either, housing a Steinway grand piano and still allowing enough room for a drum kit and several other musicians. The studio has seen a fair share of musicians––many Pittsburgh artists have had recording sessions in the studio, and some students’ work has been published by record companies. It is also used to benefit the Pittsburgh community. The Arts Greenhouse teaches Pittsburgh teens between the ages of 13 and 19 about hip-hop music production. Workshops every Saturday cover topics like music history and business, before moving on to beat-

making and songwriting with professional hip-hop artists. The teens then move into the recording studio, where they work with Riccardo to record their tracks. Riccardo is always eager to work with people who are passionate about music––be it musicians in the sound booth, or engineers on the other side of the glass in the control room. Combine Riccardo with the truly amazing recording studio, and you have an opportunity that devoted musicians and audiophiles should definitely not pass up. To learn more about The Arts Greenhouse go to www.pghbeatmakers.com.

By Meela Dudley

at the beginning of the show and at the end of the show. The girls of Counterpoint arranged and performed songs by Adele, Lykke Li, Madonna, and more. A quartet of “Mr. Sandman” was Counterpoint’s first song, and the most complicated and impressive arrangement by the group. Carnegie Mellon’s newest a capella group, Treblemakers, performed second. The group started their set with the Mario Theme Song and ended it with a beautiful male/female duet of the song “Breakeven” by the Script. Soundbytes, the original non-secular coed a capella group on campus, performed third during the event. The

group played a selection of original compositions from several decades, and the songs shined in their complexity. In the majority of the songs, the high sopranos rose above the harmonies to steal the spotlight. Soloist James Wolpert excelled in the groups rendition of “Roxanne.” Next, the Originals, Carnegie Mellon’s all-male a capella group, took the stage. The group was refreshing in the way they incorporated humor in their set. New member Stephen Murphy absolutely rocked his solo on the song “Somebody to Love.” After a brief intermission, Joyful Noise took the stage.

The group is religiously affiliated, and sang a wide variety of songs that all focused on or spoke about God’s truth. Next, Deewane, Carnegie Mellon’s premier all-male South Asian a capella group, performed. The physicality of the group’s performance, the dance and step, really added to the songs and worked to set the group’s performance apart. A CaPittsburgh was a night of beautiful music and constant energy. It was incredible to see the campus community come together in such large numbers to support the musical endeavors of their peers.

Layout by Crystal Yip

Photos courtesy of Kyle Dean Reinford

STEEL CITY

1, 2, 3

You probably haven’t heard of the Pittsburgh natives Nic Snyder and Josh Sickels, founders of the band 1, 2, 3, unless you habitually dig deep through the indie blogs that have begun to expose their talent. An audible mix of 70s-inspired guitar riffs and wailing choruses, the sound is similar to bands like Spoon, Delta Spirit, and The Shins. Catchy and unique, their sound swims in your head long after you have stopped listening. There is a manipulated vibe to the music, a metallic undertone that’s perfect to blast while driving on a summer night. They walk a line between funk and pop, with the heartfelt choruses soulfully pounded out by lead singer Nic Snyder’s scratchy, but pleasant sound. I chatted with Snyder while he was

by Samantha Ward staying at his parents’ home in Irwin, a small town just outside of Pittsburgh. Snyder and Sickels grew up in an urban town about 30 minutes outside of Irwin. Neither of them really knew how to play instruments until Snyder’s father, a musician himself, bought Snyder a bass guitar when he was 15. “We were really just a small group of kids who skateboarded and listened to punk music,” Snyder reminisced. Since then, the two have been in a slew of bands of all genres until forming 1, 2, 3. They’ve been playing music together for almost 10 years now, though they haven’t spent a lot of playing time in Pittsburgh. “It’s my hometown,” he responded when I asked how he felt about returning to Pittsburgh. “I like being here. I like the people. I like the weather up until January.” 1, 2, 3 played a show at The

Shop in Bloomfield on October 29 and will be opening for Tokyo Police Club at Carnegie Mellon on November 12. With these two performances, 1, 2, 3 will double their minuscule repertoire of shows here in Pittsburgh. The duo released their first album <ital>New Heaven</ital> on Frenchkiss Records in June 2011. <ital>New Heaven</ital> was produced by Nicolas Vernhes, who has previously worked with bands such as Animal Collective, Deerhunter, and Cat Power. Snyder commented that the studio had a vibe he hadn’t experienced elsewhere. He said the space was a “wonderland of recording equipment,” and it was warm, which was unexpected for a Brooklyn studio. The album successfully translated the warmth of its creation with its quality sound and inviting melodies. Snyder does all of the writing for 1, 2, 3 and is inspired by an arsenal of pop culture. He explained that much of his music is born from a love of classics like The Beatles and The Clash, as well as a vast array of movies. For example, his interpretation of Asian melodies from <ital>Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon</ital> is subtly injected into their sounds. Even the lyrics of their songs suggest more than the outwardly simple structure. “Confetti,” a short number, has a solid, poppy beat juxtaposed with the lyrics: “Dandelion, blow my soul out into the sun/I’ll take the breeze to big cities to see everyone/ Even though we’re all gonna die

here/You’re my kind, dear.” The band name has been consistently chastised for being “ungoogle-able,” a word Snyder hadn’t known existed until he dubbed the band with this title. However, as proof of their blossoming popularity, a google search of “1, 2, 3” will now harbor their Myspace page. He elaborated that he gave the band this title because it was simple and didn’t mean anything. The two musicians didn’t want listeners to have a preconceived notion of their sound or style, a common fate in the industry. The ambiguous name certainly does its job well—arguably a little too well. The band has recently finished a tour and is currently working on their second album, called <ital>Big Weather</ital>, a double album that will translate the emotions of people dealing with natural disasters. It intends to speak about these situations in a romantic and humorous way. “People looking for love in the afterworld, and things like that,” explained Snyder. They’ll start recording soon, then hit the road again in January and February. I can guarantee that students who make their way to the concert November 12 won’t regret it. I was hooked the first moment I played one of the tracks on their website. They have a familiar and comforting sound, and before I knew it, I was singing along. It feels good to recognize the talent born here in Pittsburgh, and our support will only continue to inspire the growth of a budding music scene. Find them at www.123land.net

Photos by Sankalp Bhantnagar

START-UPS

household stories

by Emma Steuer

If there was one word to describe the Greensburgbased band Household Stories, it would be flow. The band’s indie streak runs deep, creating music that combines gently-pulsing melodies with lyrics weaving slice-of-life vignettes. When the trio talks about their experiences, they finish each other’s sentences, almost as if speaking from one stream of consciousness. They have no set method of writing songs, usually brought together from bits and pieces as a collaboration. As lead guitarist Matt Zeoli puts it, “We’re just one big groove machine.” Household Stories’ is also a band that prides itself on simplicity. The band only uses one amplifier for Zeoli, preferring to plug singer Jon Majiros’s acoustic guitar directly into the PA. They

don’t have a bassist or even a drum stool for drummer Frank Hebda to use. With their simple set up, they are capable of producing a sound so full that fans have remarked upon hearing a “phantom bass” in the trio’s music. Despite the simplicity of their set-up, the guys have had instant chemistry. Majiros and Zeoli met first while at job training for a YMCA sponsored summer camp. Zeoli, who currently teaches autistic children, encouraged Majiros to pursue teaching. Hebda and Majiros met on Halloween of 2010 while Hebda was in a zombie mask, and they jammed together later that night. Hebda then ran into Zeoli when he played a solo acoustic set at the Keynote Café, which became the venue for the band’s first show in late winter of this year. “The owner of the venue, she

does everything she can for the artists and musicians that go in there,” said Hebda. “We gave her one of our high-res black and white photos that Jake [Rinehart] took, and she put it on the front window.” Each member of Household Stories is dedicated and passionate—all of them bring a uniqueness to the band through their individual personalities. Frank Hebda is both a visual artist and a musician. He received his current Sonar drum set from his grandfather at 13. At 15, his grandmother signed for his first tattoo and, noticing his passion for the craft, encouraged him to pursue it. In the following year, he obtained his GED and began working as an apprentice at Big Daddy’s Tattoos while performing in a local punk band called Slick and the Uglies. That band performed in hole-in-the-wall bars (with a tendency to get shut down quickly) and inspired moshing so intense a listener once crashed into Hebda’s drumset. Lead vocalist Jon Majiros began teaching himself guitar five years ago at 18. “I never really had any critics,” he explained, and said that this gave him the freedom to express himself and let his natural style develop. Majiros is currently a senior at Seton Hills, which is where he plans to graduate in May and become a secondary school teacher in another one of his passions: history. Majiros feels inspired by his parents for both of his passions. Growing up in upstate New York, he remembers his father hosting pig roasts and playing music for

his mother, as well as taking him to visit Civil War sites. Majiros draws his musical influences heavily from the 80s, such as Talking Heads and the Cure. Zeoli finds himself heavily inspired by 90s and early millennium pop and rock bands like Weezer and Motion City Soundtrack. He started playing guitar as a high school student. “When I was in middle school, I told people I played guitar before I played guitar,” joked Zeoli. “Then it was like, ‘Oh crap, I’d better learn.’” A chance-viewing of Buddy Holly on MTV gave him a “musical epiphany” and set the spark that would encourage him to pursue music more passionately. The band has progressed so quickly that the members themselves are a bit startled by it. Since their formation towards the beginning of the year, the band has played almost 20 shows and opened for acts such as TS and the Past Haunts, led by Travis Shettel of Piebald. They recorded their four-track self-titled EP at Mr. Smalls, a studio that lists the Black Eyed Peas and Roger Daltry as past clients. Majiros described the recording process as “kind of surreal,” since he had never been in a studio. Zeoli said the recording process struck him, and thought with surprise, “We’re actually doing this,” when they walked into the studio. The band plans to return to the studio in January or February of 2012 to record a full length CD. For future updates on Household Stories, be sure to check them out at www.facebook.com/householdstories.

MAJORITY

RE PO RT with

As fans, we’ve all had that album release that we’ve looked forward to for months. We’ll read online that the band is in the middle of recording, or almost done, or that the album release date has been announced. Then we’ll spend those next months hoping that the album will leak. As the days draw nearer and the likelihood of a leak increases, we’ll check online everyday to see if, just maybe, we’ll get to hear the album before we’re supposed to. Surprisingly, we oftentimes do. Album leaks are no rare occurrence in the music industry, and it would seem that it is getting harder and harder to keep them from happening. The most recent example that comes to mind is Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto, which leaked nine days before its worldwide release. In an interview

before the album leaked, an agent had mentioned that they were going to extra lengths to keep the album from leaking. Despite their efforts, the album found its way to torrent sites early. Another popular album that leaked weeks early was Britney Spear’s Femme Fatale. The most controversial leak in the recent years, though, was Bon Iver’s self-titled album that was made available for purchase for a short time on iTunes a month before its release date. These days, it’s not really a surprise to see an album surface online before its release date. Fans no longer speculate whether or not an album would leak, but when. While consumers are excited about and look forward to album leaks, people in the music industry dread them. Album leaks

by Zach Branson l a tr s e h c or xplosions e

One type of music has captivated audiences for centuries, another has just recently been gathering momentum, but both seem to have the same end result. Classical music and post-rock both try to balance peaceful, atmospheric tones with cascades of cathartic melodies. Many post-rock bands have actually tried to take on more elements of classical music, but it’s about time that post-rock bands stopped trying to imitate an orchestra and instead collaborated with an orchestra to create energetic rock

symphonies. A fitting post-rock band would be Explosions in the Sky, who have brought the genre out from its underground roots and have become the forefront of the post-rock scene. Now we just need an orchestra that is as equally talented and engaging as Explosions in the Sky, and I think the Pittsburgh Symphony would play the role perfectly. Though the Pittsburgh Symphony naturally leans towards classical music by the likes of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, the symphony does sometimes play modern music, and has even performed with current artists, including Boyz II Men. The

ng L i J g n Ji

mean losing a lot of money in album sales because less people are paying for the album when it is released. Even worse, it’s not just the artists who lose money, but also it’s producers, engineers, and anyone else who put effort into making the album. As consumers, we like to think that these people are rich and don’t need the extra money, but the truth is the opposite. So what can people in the music industry do to keep albums from leaking? Maybe they should take a page out of Ben Fold’s book and create a fake leak. The fake Way to Normal leak generated buzz about the album while fans tried to figure out which tracks were real and which were fake. This stunt also garnered a lot of hype for the album.

Pittsburgh Symphony also is legitimately one of the greatest symphonies in the country. Its 100+ year history has garnered it international recognition and numerous awards. Sure, this Pittsburgh magazine has a bias for the Pittsburgh Symphony, but objectively, the Pittsburgh Symphony has some of the most talented musicians in classical music today. Likewise, Explosions in the Sky has gained a much larger audience in recent years. Their music has recently been used in many films, and the band is famous for its heavy involvement with the Friday Night Lights soundtrack. Explosions in the Sky has also captured more listeners by taking the stage at huge music festivals, such as Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. Undeniably, Explosions in the Sky has created a type of dynamic,

orchestrated rock wherein millions of people joyfully get lost in bliss. It’s not that strange for popular artists to perform with orchestras. Weirder things have happened than to have Explosions in the Sky and the Pittsburgh Symphony collaborate together; for example, Bob Dylan once played with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. With post-rock being an up-and-coming genre that possesses so many characteristics of classical music, it just makes sense for a brilliant band like Explosions in the Sky to join with the classical musicianship of orchestras like the Pittsburgh Symphony. The experience would be an overwhelmingly beautiful mesh of two types of music that seem to go handin-hand.

HOW DO WE

BY ALLISON COSBY

LISTEN TO

MUSIC?

Students are always listening to music—whether through speakers or headphones, iPods or computers. We listen to music while we do homework, write papers, hang out, party, etc., etc., etc. We have a million choices about when and how we listen, and these options have only been amplified by technology. Now we can also choose what file format we want our music to be in and from what source we get it. I definitely have my own set of music listening habits, and recently I’ve been wondering how they compare to those of my peers. Am I the only one who cares about audio format? Does anyone else think that the way we listen is important? To find some answers (read: To make sure I wasn’t crazy for caring so much about this), I took it to the sidewalks and talked to Carnegie Mellon students about their listening habits

Headphones or speakers? Most students I talked to prefer to listen to music through headphones. Sennheiser, Klipsch, and Bose were popular headphone and speaker brands that were mentioned. The reasons for preferring headphones were pretty varied. According to sophomore Marie Barcic, “My music taste is really embarrassing, so I prefer headphones.” Other students cited practicality or sound quality as their main reason for preferring headphones. Does audio format matter? For many students, audio format doesn’t really matter—the distinction between mp3 and FLAC is there, but not really worth the extra effort. Most students didn’t seem to care much about sound quality. Some, however, had stronger opinions. Junior Alex Price finds sound quality extremely important: “Music that is poorly recorded or poorly transcoded makes me sad, especially since so many artists think compression is the new shit. That’s not cool.” Very few students I spoke with cared about nondigital formats, like CDs, cassettes, and vinyl records. According to sophomore Celine Berger, “I like [cassettes and vinyl] because they sound warmer. My car only has a cassette player and I like all the flaws in the sound, how lo-fi it is.” Later in our conversation, Berger added, “I like vinyl mostly because of the process that goes with it, and having to dedicate time and effort to listening to an album.” Berger is not alone in liking these formats, as evidenced by their continued popularity in our culture, but it seems that many students don’t find the sound worth the effort and inconvenience. Individual songs or albums? In almost every conversation I had with my peers this week, the songs vs. albums debate came up. Personally, I fall on the album side, but that isn’t the case for everyone. Sophomore Bennett Kriete told me he’s “just never in the mood to listen to an album straight through.” Marie Barcic said she likes

variety when she’s listening to music, so she downloads individual songs and keeps her iPod on shuffle at all times. Sophomore Lou Lamanna shared this sentiment: “I prefer individual songs because I can’t listen to the same voice or sound over and over again without getting bored.” Those on the album side of the debate seemed to have stronger feelings about it and were vocal about the importance of context. Sophomore Andrew Bueno said he prefers albums because “you get a better idea of the music in general, especially if it’s a concept album.” Similarly, junior Lauren Faigeles feels like she can “get involved in the music a little more” when she listens to full albums. Celine Berger told me that she has recently been more interested in listening to full albums “because there’s usually a conscious decision on the part of the artist or group to put the songs in that particular order.” For Berger, and others on the album side of the debate, context matters.

So what? Does any of this really matter? Personally, I think that understanding the way people listen to music has important implications for musicians. Websites like Bandcamp allow listeners to choose what format they want to download their music in (mp3 320, FLAC, etc.). But if people don’t care about audio formats, why bother compressing files or uploading lossless versions? Artists should also care about the song vs. album debate. While many people do care about context, it seems like a lot of others don’t. So why bother putting together cohesive albums when you could just release a bunch of singles? As someone who cares deeply about both cohesiveness in albums and having an array of audio formats to choose from, I certainly hope these things don’t change. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to think about. After talking to students around campus, I have a better understanding of how we listen to music. That is, how differently we all listen to music.

Phantogram Interview by Kristen Swanson hantogram is a duo from Saratoga Springs, New York, consisting of Sarah Barthel (vocals/keyboards) and Josh Carter (vocals/guitar). Although the setup sounds simple, Phantogram’s music is far from simplicity. Barthel’s voice is strikingly haunting, and it blends well with Carter’s undertones, backed by hiphop-inspired beats that are not only catchy, but also extremely addicting. Phantogram is still new to the music scene, but they have their own unique sound and style that make them an upcoming band to look out for. <ital>The Cut</ital> had a chance to talk to Josh Carter about the band’s new EP, his own musical inspirations, and the dynamic of a male/female duo.

The Cut: Does being in a band together ever test the friendship that you and Sarah have? Josh Carter: Being in a band tests our friendship because you have to deal with somebody day in and day out. It’s kind of like being brother and sister on the road. In general we get along really great, but it’s not really that difficult for us because we’ve been friends for so long, way before we started the band. I think it keeps our relationship pretty positive on the road. We don’t walk on eggshells around each other or anything like that. If either of us has a disagreement about anything, whether it be musically or the best way to get to a venue, we have no problem expressing that.

photo courtesy of Doron Gild

The Cut: Your music is labeled everything from mysterious, danceable pop music to electronic rock. How would you personally describe your music?

Interview by Kristen Swanson

by Holly Morrison JC: I would describe our musicphoto as beat-heavy, droney, dreamy pop music. Most bands out there right now are electronic in one way or another whether they admit to it or not. Any kind of pop musician, especially a top 40 musician, is certainly electronic. Everything gets dumped into the computer and is quantized, and then recorded using drum machines, tons of synths, auto-tuning, and stuff like that. It’s just music really. We like experimenting with electronics, but we also have a lot of organic elements to our music. The Cut: Your new EP Nightlife came out November 1. Was there a reason you decided to put out an EP rather than a full length? JC: Well we’ve been touring constantly on Eyelid Movies and it’s been doing well, and we’re gaining new fans every day, even though the record came out almost a year and a half ago. We wanted to put something else out to keep our fans happy and to just keep going as a band before we work on the next full length. After our headline tour, we’re gonna take a break and work on the next full length. We’re always working on new ideas. The Cut: Was there a theme or vibe you wanted to create with the EP? JC: Nightlife points in the direction of Eyelid Movies and also into the future of Phantogram. It’s kind of like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz pointing both ways to Dorothy at the crossroads. It hints to the past, but also to the future. The EP is entitled <ital>Nightlife<ital> because it was written on tour late at night in between time from venues and hotel rooms. The Cut: Did you do anything differently when making Nightlight that you haven’t done before? JC: I think we took a bit of a different approach, considering Eyelid Movies for us was just a demo. I mean, it was just something that we wanted to make for ourselves. Nightlife is something that we wanted to make for ourselves as well, but we knew that we have an audience now. When we did Eyelid Movies, it was just the two of us messing around making music. We had no expectations of drawing any kind of buzz, or record labels showing interest, or anything like that. I think we approached Nightlife with the idea that we would be performing these songs live. The Cut: What music inspires the sound of Phantogram? JC: All kinds of music. We both really like hop-hop music, so that probably explains the beat aspect of our sound. Everything from J Dilla, Madlib, Kanye West or Jay-Z to Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine, and Explosions in the Sky. We went through a lot of different stuff. I’ve been listening to mostly classical music, jazz, or obscure french pop when I’m in my car. I also tend to listen to a lot of Prince and Da-

vid Bowie, so we listen to all kinds of music. We don’t derive our sound from any one particular genre. The Cut: Phantogram is still a fairly new band, yet things have picked up fast for you over a short amount of time. How are shows and tours different for you now in comparison to the first show you ever played? JC: I mean, it’s amazing. Like you said, we’re a young band, and our first show was in this dingy little place in Saratoga Springs—to go from that to headlining The Fillmore in San Francisco and the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, and selling out these amazing, legendary venues is very exciting. I have to pinch myself sometimes. The Cut: How is the dynamic of playing in a band with one other person, different from playing with a group of people? JC: Well right now we play live with a touring drummer, so we have three people on stage. For a year and a half of touring it was just the two of us, which was pretty exciting, because we did a lot of juggling of different tasks onstage, like with our samples, guitar, and the drum machine. I think after a while, though, we realized it would be a little more fun to have at least one more person on the live show. The Cut: How do you feel about collaborating with other musicians? JC: As far as collaborating with other bands, I guess we’ll wait and find out. Big Boi from Outkast has shown a lot of love to us and I was talking to him lately, so I’d like to do a collaboration with him. In general, as far as collaboration goes, I’m more focused on Phantogram. I think a lot of bands, especially young bands, do too much collaboration and don’t focus enough on their own work. Unless it’s Thom Yorke, I mean he’s been in a band for 20 years, so I think he deserves to be able to collaborate. I think a lot of young band should just hone their craft and do what they do. The Cut: There seem to be more male/female duos in music currently with bands like Sleigh Bells, Best Coast, and Cults. Do you ever feel like you’re being compared to these bands just because you’re a male/ female duo? JC: [laughs] Sometimes. It doesn’t happen too often, but I guess by default it does. Our first show at CMJ we played with Sleigh Bells and everybody wanted to compare us with Sleigh Bells, but we sound nothing alike. We like beats, we sort of have heavy, hip-hop sounding beats. Sarah and the singer from Sleigh Bells both have bangs, so that’s the only similarity. People want to say boy/girl bands sound similar, but obviously they haven’t listened very closely to the music.

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Composure, The Front Bottoms The Smiling Moose

The Beets, Legs Like Tree Trunks Garfield Artworks

Drive-By Truckers Carnegie Library of Homestead

Steve Aoki Club Zoo

20 Real Estate, Big Troubles Garfield Artworks

21 Ra Ra Riot Carnegie Lecture Hall

Watch the Throne CONSOL Energy Center

04 Street Dogs, Off With Their Heads Altar Bar

05 Yacht Rex Theatre

Jukebox The Ghost Brillobox

11 City And Colour Mr. Smalls

Sondre Lerche Club Cafe

Tinariwen Rex Theatre

Of Mice & Men Altar Bar

Cage The Elephant, Switchfood Stage AE

Between the Buried and Me Altar Bar Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Mr. Smalls

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Dillinger Escape Plan Rex Theatre

Dashboard Confessional (solo acoustic) Mr. Smalls

CALENDAR

THURSDAY

Bob Seger CONSOL Energy Center

25 Sharks, Four Year Strong, Title Fight Altar Bar

26 Touche Amore, Thursday Altar Bar Anti-Flag, The Menzingers Altar Bar

ecember Hit The Lights, The Story So Far Altar Bar

15 Sara Bareilles, The Cab Stage AE

Mac Miller Stage AE

Beirut Altar Bar

BIG SEAN Interview by Christina Mitas

ailing from Detroit, Big Sean is a young rapper who recently released his debut album Finally Famous. The 23-year-old started rapping in middle school and made a name for himself locally by performing for a Detroit radio station. As a teen, he got the chance of a lifetime when Kanye West interviewed at the station, and he was allowed to rap a few verses for the famous rapper/ producer. Impressed by Seanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talent, West signed him to his group G.O.O.D. Music in 2007, where Sean has been realizing his dream career ever since. He is currently performing on his first personal world tour called I Am Finally Famous, which came to Pittsburgh on October 12.

Photos by Sankalp Bhatnagar 17

The Cut: You’re currently on your I Am Finally Famous tour. What’s it like to be on your own world tour? Big Sean: Man, it’s great. I went through a lot just earning my spot, to be able to put an album out, to be able to put music out. From putting out mixtapes to starting to do shows from a 100 people to sometimes 20,000 people now. And, you know, I passed up a lot of tours, from a tour with Chris Brown, to Watch the Throne, to whatever, because I wanted to do my own solo tour. I feel like it was important to let people know that I can do it myself. I wanted to do venues that were a little bit smaller than what I’ve been doing, just to give an experience to the people that I’ll never forget and that they’ll never forget. Just to rock out and have fun for my first solo tour. It really means a lot. I had my mom at the one in New York the day before yesterday, and she had such a great time. Her seeing my name across that bill in Manhattan at the Best Buy Theater—She was so proud. People were asking her to take pictures with them because they recognized her and she felt like a celebrity. Kanye came out and it was a great time. It’s going great so far. The Cut: Your album, Finally Famous, came out in June. What was the journey like to becoming famous and to bring that album out? BS: It was very hard. Not hard, but you know, you really got to enjoy the journey. There have been times, like when I remember a couple years ago, I spent my last 40 dollars on a studio session, and I didn’t even have money to eat or anything, and I went to McDonald’s anyway. I don’t know why. I ordered some food and they gave me my food and told me to have a nice day, I didn’t pay for anything. But that moment let me know that I was on the right track, that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I felt like that was God telling me, “Yo, man, I know you’re going through a lot, but it’s all going to pay off.” And it’s those times that make times like these that much better for me. There have just been a lot of things that really have been testing my faith. It taught me to believe in my dream and believe in myself more than I believe what I see right in front of me with my own eyes. You know, once you believe in that, that’s when your world truly starts to unfold. It’s been great, and I can’t even tell you how much I

really appreciate it, for real. The Cut: You say in your song, “My Last,” that this is all what you expected, even though people didn’t expect you to get this far. But you came into the game almost unexpectedly, meeting Kanye West and getting to rap a few verses for him. What do you think made you stand out to Kanye West that day when you got to rap for him? BS: I ask him all the time, and he says it was my voice. He says, “Your voice is so unique.” He said it was as unique as Biggie’s voice was to me, not similar, but it was just “so unique that you reminded me of Biggie.” And he said, “Your flow was good, you were witty, and you were young.” I was like 17 I think. I gave him my CD and he was impressed because he said, “Man, you actually had concepts.” And there were a couple little things where he knew it wasn’t perfect at all, but he thought, “Maybe with a little bit of work this kid could be something great. He could be my protégé.” That’s what he told me. The Cut: In your raps you reference Detroit a lot, like West Side Detroit where you’re from. What influence do you think Detroit culture has had on your raps? BS: Well, my upbringing in Detroit was pretty different from a lot of people’s, because I stayed in the hood, like straight ghetto, but I would go to a private school from kindergarten to eighth grade that was not ghetto at all. There I would have best friends that were white, yellow, green, Jewish, this and that, and I would go home to the hood and have the most ghetto-ass, hood-ass best friends ever. I think it gave be a perspective of Detroit that a lot of people don’t really get to see—a very well-rounded one. It taught me a lot about society. It taught me a lot about how people are, how to act, where to act, and it just gave me a very open mind. I’m not closed-minded in any way, I’m very open to how people are, and I can relate to a lot of people. And I feel like that translates to my music. When I go to my shows, there’s not just black people, it’s not just white people—it’s black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, everything, all having fun. And that’s what I want to represent. I want to represent the people, not just one set of people. The Cut: You mentioned earlier how Kanye was talking about you being his “protégé,” talking about

your potential, but in your verse on “See Me Now,” you talk about how you want to be defined as different from Kanye. You don’t want to be in his shadow. You talk about how people say Kanye acts like a jerk, but he drove you and your mom around in his Maybach. So, you defend him, but you also want to disassociate yourself from him. Do you ever find people placing a lot of doubt in you and being in Kanye’s shadow? BS: Yeah, definitely, but lately I’ve been really working out of that. Kanye knows I love him to death and that’s my homie. You know, I was just kicking with him yesterday. But, if you think about a lot of artists—I was talking to J. Cole about this too—there are a lot of artists that were signed to Kanye and Jay-Z that never did anything with it. They never could stand on their own. I could count seven, eight, nine, ten for those two artists alone that were signed and never did anything. So to have a co-sign is a really great thing, but sometimes it can also be the death of you because people expect so much. To be able to stand on your own two, under an artist, is a great testament to your artistry. That’s how I want to be known—as somebody who can stand under an artist, that’s their own artist. I want people to see my uniqueness and I feel like that comes with time. I’m 23 and it’s like, all I got is time on my side. You know there are still a lot of people who don’t know about me, they say, “Man, he’s just a radio artist. He’s this, he’s that.” But it’s all strategic, especially with this next album, I plan to

“You know, to have people like Kanye and Jay-Z—you get the hits with them, and from there you can do anything.”

really focus on the artistry. And I really think it’s important that I’ve got the radio on my side now, and have radio hits, and can take it to the next level from there. You know, to have people like Kanye and Jay-Z—you get the hits with them, and from there you can do anything. The Cut: Especially from being on the radio, you’re known for a lot of the collaborations that you’ve done, and collaborations are a big deal today in rap songs. What has your experience been like in doing collaborative works? BS: Well, always working with Kanye is cool. Wiz Khalifa’s my homie, too, like for years before he blew up, before I blew up. So it’s always good working with him, too. I like working with people like my homie 2 Chainz—he’s fun to work with. Nicki Minaj is cool as hell. Drake is cool. No I.D. is probably my favorite person to work with, though, as far as production goes. He was the person who believed in me the most and really connected with me and brought the most out of me creatively. He’s definitely the creative director of my last album, and he will be for this album too, and probably all my albums, just because he’s a great person in music and he understands music more than anybody else I’ve ever met. The Cut: That definitely comes out in your album. You’ve become recognized by your flow, how it kind of rolls, and you have very lighthearted rhymes. What effect are you going for with these kind of rhymes? BS: I just try to make music that can be recognized. You got a million different rappers nowadays on top of another million rappers, so I try to distinguish myself with my voice, and my flow, and funny words and ad libs, like “Boi boi boing,” and “I do it,” to just be creative and have fun with it. I think that’s one of the most important things is to have fun with it. In a world that’s so serious all the time, sometimes you just need songs like “Ass” or songs like “Marvin and Chardonnay” that are just lighthearted and fun. And sometimes you need songs like “Memories” that you can really cry to, that are just really great conceptual songs. So I’m going to keep making music, keep being distinctive, and just keep going, you know.

Corelia C

Interview by Dan Curhan

orelia are a young progressive metal band that should be on every up-and-coming-artist radar. Singer Ryan Devlin is currently on the road with The Human Abstract, which is helping the band gain the attention of well-established bands and labels, and if they don’t make it big, it will serve as a disheartening reminder of how much the music industry sucks. Their EP Nostalgia dropped last month, and it is a self-recorded, self-produced masterpiece of a debut. I had a chance to talk with guitarist Chris Dower, bassist Adrian Alperstein, and drummer Clayton Pratt about the EP, their plans for the future, and their thoughts on music in general.

The Cut: You guys have just recorded and released your EP, and you did that all yourselves, right? Chris Dower: Yeah, we pretty much did everything ourselves. The only thing we didn’t really do ourselves was the final mastering. The guy who mastered it, Luke Martin, is from the UK. Cool guy. We never really talked to him, just over Facebook, but he offered to master the EP for free. So we called him up. The Cut: Nice! So did you buy all your equipment or did you rent it? CD: Well, Ryan [Borrell, the other guitar player] and I both own Axe-Fxs, so that makes recording the guitar pretty easy. Other than that, we just used Superior Drummer for the drums. Clayton Pratt: And vocals we pretty much did the same thing. Cheap stuff. We used a [PreSonus] FireBox, which is a lower model of a FirePod, which we used for the interface and the preamp for the mic. The mic we used was a [Shure] SM-7b, and going into Cubase, and yeah, that’s it. The Cut: Nothing too fancy, but it came out really good. CD: Yeah, we were surprised. We were kinda wary—we started recording the EP and were like, “Uh, how’s this gonna turn out? We’re not really experienced with self recording.” It was painful, but it turned out really well. CP: It took a lot of extra time making that kind of stuff sound professional. The Cut: What do you guys think of Ryan and his tour with THA? CD: I think it’s awesome, and it kinda happened at a good time—right as our album was coming out, so we got a lot of exposure from that. CP: Yeah, it really just gave us some time to work on the material and make sure it’s good. He’s coming back this weekend, so we’re pretty prepared for him to come and practice with the vocals now and it’s pretty smooth. The Cut: How did THA find Ryan? CD: Well, their singer quit, so they were looking for a fill-in cause they were booked for tours already, which were the Frak the Gods tour and the European tour that they’re doing right now. And I guess Spencer [Sotelo, previous vocalist, now in Periphery] recommended Ryan. CP: I think it was Misha [Mansoor, guitarist and founding

member of Periphery] first, actually. I guess A.J. [Minette, one of The Human Abstract’s guitarists] went to Misha to see if he knew anybody, and Misha recommended Ryan. Misha talked to Spencer about talking to Ryan, too. The Cut: Have you been getting any interest from important people, like labels or other bands, that want to tour with you? AA: We’ve had a few bands talk to us, but nothing that went too far, mostly because of our situation. We’ve had a few labels talk to us, *mainly Inside Outside, Century Media, and now I guess Metal Blade and stuff like that, but nothing has come to fruition yet regarding any of that stuff. CP: Obviously Periphery have an interest in touring with us. We’ve been talking to Spencer about that. AA: We were just assembling the pieces for a while and finally things have come together, and we’re just now about to do all the things that we’ve been building towards. So if you’d have caught us in about two months, it probably would have been different. The Cut: Who are your dream bands to tour with? CP: I think we can all agree on some. AA: Yeah, I know one of my favorite bands, Between the Buried and Me, and another of my favorite bands, Dream Theater. They toured together once before, and I was so pissed I missed it. CD: I missed that tour, too, and I was pissed, also. Yeah, I’d say Dream Theater and Opeth. Those are my two favorite metal bands, pretty much, so playing with them would be a dream. CP: I gotta go with you on that one. Dream Theater and Opeth are my two favorites. AA: I’ll go with those two, also, but I’m keeping BTBAM in mine, I don’t care. The Cut: All three of you agreed on Opeth, but I don’t hear much Opeth influence in your music. CD: I thought about that recently, too. There’s a lot of bands that people on YouTube comment on, saying, “Oh, it sounds like this, it sounds like that,” but I’ve never seen one Opeth. AA: I think a lot of the stuff that we decided not to release on Nostalgia, we’re kind of working towards for the next one, plus some newer stuff that we’re writing, lets it shine through a little more than some of the stuff we did end up releasing. CP: I think it also reflects the way we write our music. Most of the stuff we’ve written has been digital, like kinda just sending ideas back and forth. Chris will write guitar riffs, big ideas, and we’ll expand on them, and that kind of reflects in our music. If we were writing music in a more jam type setting more often, I think our Opeth influence would shine through a bit more cause I see them as more of a jam type band. CD: We’re definitely heading a little bit more in that direction. The Cut: Kind of along those lines, you were talking about the next thing. What are some of your future plans? AA: Everything! No, haha. We’re working on a full-length album that we’re writing right now. The writing process is coming along absolutely great. We’re all more motivated than we’ve ever been before, so everything in that regard is going fantastic. Along with that, just as many shows, and tours, and as much of whatever is possible.

photo courtesy of Doron Gild

The Cut: Have you guys played live yet? CD: No. That’s the goal. CP: We probably would have by now if Ryan hadn’t done the Human Abstract thing. photo by Holly Morrison AA: It’s not like we don’t want to, and we’ve all played live before in other bands, but... CP: We just didn’t want to until we had a group of songs that we were completely happy with. The album didn’t release until after Ryan left, so we have to wait for him, and rehearse a little with him, and then it will be time to start with that. CD: We’ve really been meticulous with preparing everything, finding the right members, finding our sound, and figuring out what we want to do. AA: It took us a while to get a second guitar player and a singer. CD: Basically as soon as we had a core lineup we decided it was time to start working on the EP. So that took up a chunk of our time, and now that that’s out of the way, I think we’re good to go. CP: Actually, know what? I kinda retract that. It didn’t take us a while to find the people and do what we did, we just started to gain popularity faster than a lot of bands that are just starting out. We’ve only been together like a year and a half. The Cut: You said you used Superior Drummer for the drums. Did you write everything out beforehand and then arrange it all in something like GuitarPro? CD: Yeah, GuitarPro is our friend. AA: It’s really helpful because I don’t live close. They live probably 45 minutes away from me, and it makes it really easy: If you have an idea, you just put it in there and send it over the Internet to the other band members, and they can tweak whatever and mess with stuff. The Cut: And you’ve released a few GuitarPro tabs on your website. CD: Yeah, and we plan on releasing all of the ones we have so far, it’s just that we’ve been so involved with practicing and writing new music that we haven’t updated all the GuitarPros with all the parts that were written or tweaked in the studio. CP: I think as far as the Superior Drummer question goes, I think the core reason why we use it is because it’s the best option that we have available to us. If we had access to a studio, we could write and tweak 24/7, which is what we do all the time. We constantly change our ideas, and it’d be really hard to get away with that without having access to a digital interface. Our ideal setup would be to record live drums, and get everything going as live and jammy as possible. The Cut: When you recorded, did you use a live kit with triggers or did you use an electronic kit? CP: No, I programmed everything by hand in the whole thing. When I do it, it’s all imagined through a real drum set, like, all the dynamics and everything. So really it’s going to sound almost identical to how it would in real life on real drums. CD: When I was trying to start a band in high school, we paid to get a song recorded. I was so excited, like, “Yeah, we’re spending money on a studio, it’s gonna turn out good,” and it just turned out utterly terrible. You really have to know what you’re doing, have to know how to work with your music. CP: You gotta have passion, too. You can’t just go to some guy. CD: Yeah, a lot of the studio guys are just working it like a nine to five job, not putting much passion into the bands. The Cut: How do you guys feel about djent? CD: I don’t really have much of an opinion on it. We get tagged as djent a lot, but I accept it cause it’s a trending niche

right now so we get some exposure. CP: It’s relevant. AA: Here’s what I’ll say. I don’t like to get stuck too much in one sort of genre. When we write, we write whatever sounds good and feels good, and I don’t care whether it just branches off towards something totally different. A lot of good bands are labeled as djent and a lot of people label us as djent, even though I don’t feel that we fit in with the majority of the djent bands out there in most ways. In a few ways I can see it, but most ways we don’t. And the scene as a whole, it’s pretty cool, but I think there’s still a lot of over-saturation. But I think that’s the way it is with any genre with the media. And there’s a lot of bands that try too hard to stay within the djent thing. CP: I think it’s kinda weird how the djent thing has been connected to the whole home studio recording thing. I don’t really know how that started, probably with Misha and Periphery, cause he’s kinda like a forerunner in the home studio recording thing with a cheap setup. Most djent bands do the home studio thing, too. The Cut: With most djent bands it seems like it’s not about the tone, just the “djent djent” sound which you can achieve with modeling and sampling. You can program the guitars and make a djent song. CP: Yeah, I think that’s why it’s over-saturated. The Cut: That’s why there’s so much controversy surrounding the genre, because people feel like it’s too easy to get into it. CP: Yeah, it’s so rhythmically based. At least, as far as the djent tone. It doesn’t say anything about melody, it’s all about the rhythm. Anyone can pick up a guitar and start screwing around with simple rhythms, and I think that’s a big part of it, too. The Cut: So you’ve been compared to a bunch of bands like BTBAM, SikTh, and Protest The Hero. All of those are incredibly mathy. They play with all kinds of complex, odd time signatures, not even predictable time signatures. You guys take a little bit more of a conservative approach toward the mathy side of things, but your music still sort of fits in with theirs a little bit, especially in terms of the complexity and style. Do you have a comment on this? AA: I’m actually glad you brought that up. I feel one thing our music has that I really like is that we incorporate a lot of weird time signatures and a lot of cool stuff in it, but we try to always make it flow properly. So someone who’s not really into crazy heavy music can listen to it and be like, “Oh, that’s a pretty cool song,” or something, and it’ll be melodic in a way that it all flows together. A lot of people don’t realize how many weird time signatures are in there until they look at the GuitarPros or something like that. That’s something we try to do that not every band tries. CP: The melody drives the time signatures more than the time signatures drive the melody. CD: When I write my guitar stuff, I usually don’t even really think of it in terms of time signatures. Clayton made a good point, it’s driven by the melody. And sometimes, the melody ends up having a few off meters here and there, and I think it makes things tie together and flow well. AA: We’re definitely not scared to have them in there.

CONCERT REVIEWS arctic monkeys by William Lush These days among recording artists, the ability to play well live is something that garners a lot of respect. Anyone with a techno beat and a bit of auto-tune can make a pop song, but if they can’t play live, their music seems to carry less weight. The Arctic Monkeys are famous for playing live shows as good or better than their studio albums, and they were true to form when they came to Stage AE on their Suck it and See tour. The night began with a set from the Smith Westerns. The Chicago-based garage-indie band came out playing songs from their newest album, Dye it Blonde. Although they sounded pretty good, their songs tended to sound rather similar as the set wore on, and given conversations among the crowd, it became apparent that the Arctic Monkeys had attracted the majority of the crowd. The Arctic Monkeys came on stage with a blazing rendition of “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your

jack’s mannequin

by Hannah Dellabella

On their tour to promote their latest album, People and Things, Jack’s Mannequin played at Club Zoo on October 11 with Motion City Soundtrack and Company of Thieves. Company of Thieves started off the show with a few songs from their first album, Ordinary Riches. Lead singer Genevieve Schatz’s quirky attitude and Chicago accent had the crowd clapping along to songs like “Death of Communication.” The band ended with “Won’t Go Quietly” from their album Running From a Gamble. Motion City Soundtrack took the stage to an enthusiastic audience. Starting their set with “Worked Bee,” they then moved into the famous “Everything Is Alright,” which had the entire audience singing along and dancing. The band played a mix of songs from all four of their studio albums, like the catchy breakup song “Her Words Destroyed My Planet” and the more sober “Even If It Kills Me.” At the end of their set, Motion City Soundtrack played “Let’s Get Fucked Up And Die (LG Fuad)” and “The Future Freaks Me Out,” two fanfavorite songs that left the audience cheering and ready for Jack’s Mannequin to take the stage. From the moment that Jack’s Mannequin’s lead singer and pianist Andrew McMahon walked out of the stage doors, the audience couldn’t stay quiet. The band kicked things off with “My Racing Thoughts,” the first single from People And Things. Despite the album’s recent release just over a week earlier, the crowd sang along. When the band moved into the upbeat, summery “Holiday From

Chair,” which set the tone for the rest of the night. Alex Turner’s signature slurring, wailing yet controlled voice, combined with Jamie Cook’s loose, bawling lead guitar work, Nick O’Malley’s driving bass lines, and Matt Helders’ powerful drum assault worked the audience into a frenzy, bringing them to the edge of mosh-pit madness, and then retreating back to melodic swaying before starting back up again. The Arctic Monkeys’ set included favorites like “Teddy Picker,” the incredibly catchy “The Hellcat Spangled Shalala,” and, of course, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor.” They closed the set with “505,” a song about returning home. As I rode the bus home with “She’s Thunderstorms” replaying in my head, lightning flashed across the sky over the river, silhouetting the city and creating a fitting end for an amazing concert.

Real,” there wasn’t a voice in the place that wasn’t singing along. They played the hopeful single “Swim” as blue lights illuminated the stage like an ocean. McMahon slowed things down a bit with the ballads “Restless Dream” and “Rescued,” but immediately picked the crowd back up with “The Mixed Tape,” an energetic single from the band’s debut album, Everything In Transit. Next up was “The Resolution,” a powerful song about survival. They played a few more songs from People and Things including “Hey Hey Hey (We’re All Gonna Die),” an oddly upbeat number about mortality. After so many years of touring, McMahon wasn’t afraid to jump on his piano and stomp on the keys to the audience’s amusement. The band ended the set with “Dark Blue,” a song famous for the universal appeal of the line, “Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?” Naturally, the fans demanded more. The band took the stage for an encore, and to much surprise, began to play the bittersweet ballad “Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)” from The Glass Passenger. Jack’s Mannequin played two more favorites, “Bruised” and “La La Lie.” At the end of “La La Lie,” McMahon took off his shoes and told the crowd he wanted to make it to the sound booth and back. He dove into the ebbing crowd, making it all the way to the back of the club and back to the stage carried by the eager hands of fans. As these three bands played their hearts out, the audience’s energy had all of Club Zoo singing and dancing from the first song to the last..

pittsburgh symphony orchestra by Mike Ryan As Carnegie Mellon students, we have an unusual amount of exposure to the fine arts. Concerts and exhibits in CFA, Carnegie Music Hall, and the Carnegie Museums are open to us for no cost, but such performances and shows come much less frequently for the general public. To help foster interest in the arts and sciences, the Allegheny County Regional Asset District (RAD) hosts free RADical Days events at Pittsburgh’s museums and concert halls each year. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra took the opportunity to perform a sampling of their works planned for the upcoming year. The concert, held at 11am on October 15, drew a small, intimate crowd. The hundred or so Pittsburghers huddled in the house’s best seats (the dress circle, towards the front of the balcony) were dwarfed by Heinz Hall—with such a small audience, the huge venue’s high crystal chandeliers seemed to be miles above the orchestra. Even so, conductor Thomas Hong was anxious to expand the symphony’s audience with this preview. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played samples from five pieces during the show. Opening with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Heinz Hall’s scale became apparent. With the tiny audience, the orchestra’s sound seemed to explore all of the concert hall’s cavernous interior before settling on the listeners’ ears. However, that is not to say that the orchestra could

jojo

have been louder (though the Kiltie Band might claim so)—the acoustics of the concert hall handled the sound perfectly even with an unusually small audience. In their next piece, Sibelius’ Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, soloist Yuko Uchiyama’s performance rang out beautifully even as the rest of the orchestra fell silent. The full force of the Pittsburgh Symphony came out, however, during their performance of Liszt’s Les Préludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3. As Hong elaborated, Lizst sought to frame the struggles of life as merely a prelude to whatever may follow it, and the piece’s broad dynamic range helped the orchestra demonstrate not only its technical proficiency, but also its ability to express the powerful emotions of such pieces with earnest conviction. Similarly, “Nimrod,” the ninth movement of Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme, enveloped the concert hall with its soothing melody. The orchestra rounded out their performance with the much more lighthearted Tritsch-Tratsch (ChitChat) Polka by Strauss Jr. As families and students left the venue scarcely after noon, each audience member went about their weekend with some of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s love of music behind them. Judging by this preview, the orchestra’s concerts for this year will bring the same level of professionalism and passion to a hopefully much larger, very satisfied audience.

by Elizabeth Li

Remember JoJo? Back in 2004, she was that little girl with the big, soulful voice, storming music charts with her debut single “Leave (Get Out).” After a fairly successful run with her second studio album The High Road, which featured her biggest hit to date “Too Little Too Late,” JoJo seemingly disappeared for a few years, apparently due to conflicts with her record label. Last year, she reemerged with a more mature, diverse, and beautifully sung mixtape entitled Can’t Take That Away From Me, available for free download at http://rap-up. bandcamp.com. Finally, it has been announced that her next album, Jumping Trains, will be released in early 2012. I had a chance to see JoJo perform at Hard Rock Café in Pittsburgh for Pinktober, Hard Rock’s breast cancer awareness campaign. Guests who donated five dollars to the cause were given a free CD copy of JoJo’s latest single, “Disaster.” JoJo started her completely acoustic set with her oldest single, “Leave (Get Out)”, followed by her newest release, “Disaster.” Although the failed relationships theme is still prevalent in her music now, it was clear hearing these songs side by side, that JoJo’s voice and

artistry have only matured over the years. “Disaster” was followed by a heart-wrenching rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good.” JoJo explained to the crowd that what she admired most about Winehouse was the honesty she put into all of her songs, no matter what they were about, and that was something JoJo strove to achieve in her own work. I think that’s an admirable goal and JoJo is doing a fantastic job of pursuing it so far. She kept it real throughout the concert, which made her very likable and the emotion in her performance believable. JoJo then performed the title track from Jumping Trains, which was the most easygoing song in her set, but was still spotted with JoJo’s impressive vocal acrobatics. Finally, she invited the audience to sing along for her closing number, “Too Little Too Late.” After the concert, fans lined up to get photos and have their CDs signed by JoJo. When I talked to her she looked and sounded so tired compared to her powerful stage presence, not having slept properly for the past three days. Stay strong, JoJo. Keep showing the world you’re a badass. We will revisit JoJo with an album review of Jumping Trains next year. Be on the lookout for it.

TAPES TAPES ’N

INTERVIEW BY JEFF KEHL

Photo by Kristen Swanson 24

SMALL CITY, BIG SOUND: TAPES ‘N TAPES COMES TO BRILLOBOX

ittsburgh tends to draw the extremes of the music scene. One night, you can catch some mainstream group down at the Console Energy Center, and the next, a band that just left their garage at some hole-in-the-wall down on East Carson. Recently, the Burgh was lucky enough to host a group on the rise, Tapes ‘n Tapes, and The Cut was lucky enough to get to talk to their front man, Josh Grier. For those who don’t follow this Minneapolis music marvel, Tapes ‘n Tapes is what would best be described as an “experimental rock” band that started as a trio, fresh out of Carleton College in Minnesota in 2003. Their sound is a mix of indie rock, neo-psychedelic rock, and college rock, likened to the sound of the Pixies and selfdescribed as, “somewhat weird.” Over the last eight years, they played around with both their sound and performers, resulting in a four-man band, with each member named after a word in Tapes ‘n Tapes: Josh Grier (Tapes 1) on vocals and guitar, Jeremy Hanson (Tapes 2) on drums, Matt Kretzman (‘n) on keyboards, and Erik Appelwick (‘n - yes, Kretzman and Appelwick share the ‘n) on bass guitar. Since its inception, Tapes ‘n Tapes has released one self-titled EP and three studio albums, the most recent of which, Outside, dropped in January of this year. When I sat down to talk with Grier the day after their debut at Brillobox, he had a lot to say about the experience, summing up with, “It was exceptional!” During their concert, when the room was packed with everyone jumping around and having a good time, you could even feel the floors shake, which scared the front man a little. However, Grier looked back on the event positively, saying, “Everyone was having fun, and that’s what we care about.” Pittsburgh’s Brillobox was just one stop on the band’s latest tour across the country, and this tour is their second time debuting Outside. “The tour is going great,” Grier said. “The last time we toured, it was during the middle of winter, so, it’s nice to have the warmer weather.” He admitted that after already promoting Outside early in the year, the band was “locked-in and exploring” the album more, and having a lot of fun doing it. Outside is the first album since the band’s debut that was both recorded and produced by the guys in Tapes ‘n Tapes. Grier explained, “It let us spend more time demoing our music. We were able to have a lot of fun making this album, and it definitely translates to the record.” When I asked if there was any one track that had stuck out to the band during production, Grier likened it to picking your favorite child. “You just can’t bring yourself to do it. You love them all too much to single one out.” Outside is the first album since the band’s debut to not have a single released (though they have recently released a music video for Outside’s “One in the World” online). After getting caught up on all the recent happenings with the band, I asked Grier what it was like eight years

ago when Tapes ‘n Tapes was just a small trio making their first album during a frigid Wisconsin winter. “It was a really different experience back then,” he explained, talking about how he and his friends had just gotten out of college and were still fresh to the music scene. “There was a lot of frozen pizza and bad beer that went into making [Tapes ‘n Tapes],” the band’s first EP. “We’ve definitely evolved since then.” Grier went on to talk about how over the next few albums, two members were replaced and a fourth was added, meaning there truly was a different cast each time the band went to record. In fact, Outside was Tapes ‘n Tapes first album to have the same members as the album before. “Outside was definitely us being used to each other…which lead to a lot of different things, creatively.” The band is constantly evolving, and that’s the way Grier likes it. For a relatively new band, Tapes ‘n Tapes has had its fair share of big experiences. The band first gained momentum after they dropped their first studio album, The Loon, which was a hit with Pitchfork Media. After releasing their first single, “Insistor,” the band hit a major high point, appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman. Grier laughed, “It’s surreal from the other side. And what you don’t get by watching [Letterman] on TV is that he loves a cold studio. It was like 48 degrees the entire show. We were freezing, but it was a lot of fun.” The next spring, Tapes ‘n Tapes performed at Coachella 2007 along with Rage Against the Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Later, they would go on to play at Lollapalooza and be featured on MTV’s Human Giant and in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. “They all really made a lasting impression,” Grier said, referring to all the big breaks they’ve had over the years. “We never imagined when we were making our first album that it would ever lead to this.” It’s easy to say that Tapes ‘n Tapes is a band on the rise. Only four albums in and the band has already started making a big impression on a lot of people. Recently, the Philistines Jr. recruited Tapes ‘n Tapes to cover one of their songs for a new album, If a Lot of Bands Play in the Woods…?. From gigs to TV spots, it’s pretty clear the band will be around for a while. “As long as we enjoy it, we’ll keep doing it,” Grier said. Since Tapes ‘n Tapes was born during college, I decided to ask Grier one last question: What advice would you give to a college student today, eight years later? “Carpe Diem. Just enjoy college. The real world is coming. Don’t waste your time now. Have fun. I feel that was one of the mistakes I made. I didn’t have enough fun during college. Take advantage of it!” If you want to learn more about Tapes ‘n Tapes, which I highly recommend, check out their website, www. tapesntapes.com, or follow them on Twitter @tapesntapes.

cuet m all

by Dan Curhan & Alejandro Reyes-Morales

WHY METAL?

An intimate look into the minds of metalheads.

Alejandro: In this month’s column, we’ll discuss how to tell apart the various walls of noise we choose to call metal sub-genres. We will focus our attention on the primary subgenres: thrash metal, death metal, and black metal. We’ll see what sets them apart from each other and how they’ve evolved over time.

THRASH METAL

BLACK METAL

DEATH METAL

Emphasis on: Face melting speed Origins: Early 80s British heavy metal and punk rock Style: Fast drumming, shredding solos, shouted vocals, and simple song structures Lyrics: Social issues (war, government, history), violence, literature, partying Evolution: Increased complexity in riffs and song structures

Emphasis on: Grim atmosphere Origins: Thrash metal and snow blizzards Style: Simple repeated riffs with shrieked vocals and blastbeats. Terrible production adds to atmosphere. Lyrics: Misanthropy, satanism, nature, vikings Evolution: More complex song structures, use of synths/ symphonic instruments

Emphasis on: Spleen-rupturing brutality and general badassery Origins: Thrash metal Style: Complex song structures, atonal riffs, growled vocals, blastbeats and 2-beat drumming Lyrics: Gory, violent and offensive (early), abstract concepts and science (modern) Evolution: Increased emphasis on melody and technicality

Dan: Thrash metal was one of the first sub-genres to really differentiate itself from the bluesdominated style of Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. The music is still riffy with a good sense of groove, but more focus is placed on speed and intensity. The big four thrash metal bands of the early 80s, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth, all simultaneously laid the foundation for generations of metal to come. The thrash movement died in the early 90s, but there has recently been a small revival of neo-thrash that is a total throwback to the classic thrash era with bands like Municipal Waste and albums like Trivium’s The Crusade and Machinehead’s Through The Ashes Of Empires.

Alejandro: Black metal originated in the snow-covered countries of Norway and Sweden in the mid-80s, and this is reflected in the harshness of this controversial sub-genre. The music crafted by pioneers like Venom and Bathory is like a snow blizzard; it is pummeling, fierce, and unfriendly. Just as a few snowflakes can create something surprisingly massive and overpowering, black metal’s best artists know how to combine simple riffs and song structures to envelop the listener and push them to the point of catharsis. Black metal aims to capture the complexity of this force of nature by simultaneously being both terrifying and oddly beautiful.

If you’d like to check out some of the tunes we think best represent these genres, please check out our monthly MASSIVE METAL MIXTAPE VOL I online! - thecutmagazine.com (link: http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Massive+Metal+Mixtape+Vol+1/62352342)

Dan: Death metal began somewhat simultaneously in Florida and in Sweden. While the climates of Florida and Sweden couldn’t be further apart, their early music is surprisingly similar. Death was formed in 1984 in Orlando, and along with Possessed, from the west coast, pioneered the death metal genre, combining atonal riffs, two-beat drum patterns, and guttural vocals in the mid-80s to intensify the groundwork laid down by bands like Venom and Slayer. Before the end of the decade, Florida also gave rise to death metal giants Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary, and Progressive death metal pioneers Atheist and Cynic. The Swedish scene was also quite active in the late 80s/early 90s with bands like Dismember and Entombed, but is better known for developing the “Gothenburg sound,” genre-fied as melodic death metal, with bands like At The Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquillity.

MIXTAPE ? t a h w ay s , s c i r y l

You know when you’re completely absorbed by a song that you don’t even pay attention to the lyrics? You’re just so into the rhythm or lured in by the catchiness of a song, that the lyrics are an afterthought. But then you actually pay attention to the words and even Google the lyrics to make sure you’re hearing them right. Here’s a mixtape full of songs that will make you second guess singing out-loud and leave you asking, “Lyrics, Say What?” Against Me! - “Searching For A Former Clarity” When the band ventured from their ‘up the punx’ style of music, I never doubted their punk cred. However, as I’m jamming out to this song and I hear Tom Gabel sing “Confessing childhood secrets of dressing up in women’s clothes/ Compulsions you never knew the reasons to,” I question what the hell this song is really about. Kristen Swanson

Blur - “Girls and Boys” Since putting “every song I listen to in a different language ever” defeats the purpose of the exercise, let’s turn to the 90s’ Britpop band that isn’t Oasis. “Take your chances looking for/Girls who are boys/Who like boys to be girls/Who do boys like they’re girls/Who do girls like they’re boys/Always should be someone you really love.” Truly a chorus to sing along to. Nick Higgins

somethingsomething,” and you still don’t think much of it. It’s not until the moment of clarity leading into a really awesome jazzy section where they sing “Don’t fall asleep or we’ll mutilate your genitals” that you start to question what the song is actually about. Dan Curhan

Dynamite Hack - “Boyz in the Hood” This song starts out sounding like a forgettable, mellow jam by a random singersongwriter. It is usually not Boston - “Peace of Mind” until the chorus that you Having been introduced to realize this isn’t just another Girls - “Alex” it at the impressionable age Okay, so I am learning of three, I became obsessed breezy melody, but a hilarious take on the song of the same all about Alex. She has with this upbeat, spirited name by Eazy-E and N.W.A. blue eyes, she has black rock song. I had heard it hair, she’s in a band, she hundreds of times throughout Needless to say, the lyrics are not ones that you would has a beautiful smile that my childhood and beyond, you could just get lost but had never really thought share with your grandmother. Nevertheless, this song is a in—sounds like a pretty about anything other than great version of the original cool chick if you ask me. the melody and the wailing The song is so sincere, it high notes of the lead singer song, and will get stuck in your head long after it’s over. makes every listener fall who, I was surprised to Will Lush in love with Alex. Then, learn, was a man. Perhaps all of sudden, the bomb I was rocking out too hard Pink Floyd - “In the Flesh” is dropped: “Alex has a all those years to notice the This song comes from the boyfriend. Oh well, I’m in social commentary about infamous double album rock hell.” Shit, I already love a repressively competitive opera <ital>The Wall</ital>, her. #Single4Life. Meela culture and the hippies that which was a staple of my Dudley struggle to survive within it. childhood. Wikipedia says Christina Mitas that this song is about how Manchester Orchestra “Where Have You Been?” Dog Fashion Disco - “Valley the protagonist of the album hallucinates that he’s a fascist Caught up in the ethereal Girl Ventriloquist” beauty of the song, I Dog Fashion Disco is a really dictator while on way too many drugs. Regardless, I’m listened to it over and over unique band that combines always going to back away without actually “listening” elements of metal and jazz from this album a bit when I to it. Then I tune in and hear with a prominent keyboard hear Roger Waters singing, Andy Hull heart-wrenchingly and a vocal style that’s “And that one looks Jewish, sing “When you look at almost like System Of A me, I’ll be digesting your Down and The Mars Volta at and that one’s a coon! Who let all this riffraff into the room? legs.” Whaaat? So I listen a circus together. The first to the rest of the words and verse is mostly unintelligible. There’s one smoking a joint, and another with spots! If I realize the song is a mess It’s kind of strange, and of poetic, but seemingly hard to describe, but catchy had my way, I’d have all of you shot!” I’m too convinced that nonsensical phrases. I’m and intriguing. Then the I’m listening to catchy Nazi sure whatever it’s about first chorus comes with propaganda when I turn this means a great deal to him. something that sounds like on, and eventually, I have to Bineh Ndefru “Ammonia, sweet river, turn it off. Zach Branson

aerwork by Christina Lee Beck- “Loser” It’s catchy guitar twangs and memorable chorus will make you breeze right by the verses. When you stop and listen you realize that 1. You have absolutely no idea what Beck Hansen is saying and 2. You’re now extremely curious. What deeper meaning could these verses contain? Frankly, I still have no idea. But at least I can now sing along with delightful lines such as “With the plastic eyeballs spray paint the vegetables, dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose.” Sam Ward Katy Perry - “Thinking of You” While Katy Perry isn’t typically thought of as a lyrical genius to begin with, you could see how hard she tried to get us to take her seriously by releasing this “power ballad” as a single, and radio listeners listeners just ate it up. You belted out the chorus, feeling the pain of...not loving your current boyfriend as much as you love your ex? However, you faked your way through the mess of lyrics in the verses where a lost love was compared to “a hard candy with a surprise center” and Ms. Perry bemoaned the fact that she “picked the ripest” apple hanging from the tree but “still got the seed.” My heart bleeds for you, Katy. My ears kinda do too. Nicole Marrow Notorious B.I.G. - “Me & My Bitch” Biggie’s debut album, Ready to Die, showcased his incredible ability to immerse listeners with his well crafted lyrics and unique delivery. This particular song is about a criminal and the woman he loves. It is an unique take on a love song, but the second line in the song, “You look so good, I suck on your daddy’s dick”, made me double-take so hard I got whiplash. Alejandro ReyesMorales Final Fantasy – “I’m Afraid of Japan” Also known as Owen Pallett, Final Fantasy is probably best known through the music of Arcade Fire, for whom he made string arrangements before embarking on a solo career. His expertise is clear in “I’m Afraid of Japan,” a song carried by strings and Owen’s careful vocals. It’s pleasant and calm, almost dreamlike, until you hear quite clearly, “But only by seppuku/ Can I retain my virtue”—turns out the song is a closeted gay japanophile’s suicidal plea to his girlfriend. Nick Rock

Siberia Lights by Nicole Marrow

4 Scissors

Much to the delight of her ever-growing fan base, Lights Poxleitner, an adorable 24-year-old electro-pop phenom hailing from Canada, crafted an album with a brilliant blend of soaring vocals and sick beats, a combination that sets her apart from the manufactured crap that gives the genre a bad name. In her second full-length album Siberia, Lights developed an edge to her bubblegum image by trading auto-tune for dubstep while keeping the same mesmerizing synth as the base for the songs. Her unique take on this mixture of sounds is best displayed on the title track, which harkens back to her previous work, but with a bigger emphasis on her voice and less reliance on electronic accouterments, which shows where she plans on moving in the future. Other standout tracks are “Toes,” the charmingly-fun single from the album, and “Cactus in the Valley,” an interesting and beautiful ballad. “Where the Fence is Low” is literally dubstep-lite, a slow starter that dives right into some wobble bass in the chorus, but

Days Real Estate

ALBUM REVIEWS it’s nothing to be afraid of. Of course, the relatively solid album hits a few false notes, especially with “Everybody Breaks a Glass,” where a strange rap interlude featuring a guest vocalist brings the song down instead of enhancing the impact of the piece, and with “Day One,” an unfortunate nine minute grab bag of nothing but electronic racket. Honestly, in my eyes, Lights can do no wrong. The lyrics on Siberia are lovelier than one would expect from a self-defined “intergalacticelectro” musician, and the end result sounds extraordinarily polished, even considering the samples and heavy bass in each song. Even if you’ve been afraid to venture to the dark side before, Siberia is the album to help you bite the bullet and transition to the age of dubstep.

by Meela Dudley

5 Scissors

I fondly remember seeing Real Estate perform live in 2009, just after the release of their debut self-titled album, at a small auditorium near the University of Pittsburgh with a crowd of around 30 people. Two years and 25 ticket stubs later, I still consider Real Estate’s show to be the best Pittsburgh performance I have seen yet. This golden aptitude for live performances is rooted in the band’s ability to produce simplistic and charming records. The band’s follow-up album Days, released on October 18, is the much-needed and longawaited second installment of the Brooklyn-based band’s hazy chillwave legacy. In Days, Real Estate’s token simple sound—though not at all simple technically, more a minimalistic tonality that

refreshes and calms—is conveyed through gentle rolling rhythms and echos characteristic of the band’s debut album. The album’s opening tracks “Easy” and “Green Aisles” have catchy surfpop definitions, bringing listeners back to that familiar fire pit on the sandy summer beach. “It’s Real” picks up the tempo and toys with vocal harmonics while using scattered ominous chords to create energy pockets within the verses. In “Kinder Bluman,” the group uses dissonance to spice up an instrumental and structurally repetitive track. Almost the entire album relies on repetition in the way this song does, but it does so in a way that is remarkably inventive and never tiring. Songs like “Municipality” push harmonies that showcase the band’s vocal prowess in a way that the debut album was unable to do. The album’s closer is candidly titled “All the Same” and is most likely in reference to the charming melodic lines repeated throughout the

M S

Dead Throne Wilco

and almost poppy. However, the instrumentation and variations in tempo greatly complicate this structure. For example, on “Capitol City,” 4 Scissors layers are increasingly added to the song, many of which require repeat listens to notice. These After Wilco, a six-piece group based out of Chicago, released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002, layers complement each other and the song expectations were set high, perhaps unreasonably itself. In the case of “Capitol City,” horns, voices, and church bells contribute to the sound of the high. The expansive album seamlessly melded disparate genres such as noise rock and country city mentioned. Elements of country, electronic, together, and established Wilco as a prominent classical, rock, and pop are fused, providing the specific sound needed to complement the alternative band. Even though the albums that followed were often similarly brilliant, they did structure. What results from this process is an album not fully deliver on the promise made by Yankee that is inviting, and it unravels a multitude Hotel Foxtrot. That is, until recently. The Whole Love, Wilco’s first release since 2009’s Wilco (the of details with scrutiny. Indeed, the album is Album), marks a return of sorts to the same in- highly cohesive and transitions from one song to another. Perhaps the closing song “One Sunday novation that raised expectations in 2002. Forming the backbone of The Whole Love is Morning” could have been condensed from twelve minutes, and the shift from fast to slow Jeff Tweedy’s songwriting, which grounds the paced songs could have been less predictable, but band in a classic song structure and surprisoverall The Whole Love is a remarkably complex ingly complex lyricism. Every song on the reworking of simplicity. album, while unique, is similarly approachable

by Andrew Bakert

People And Things Jack’s Mannequin by Lisa Kessler

5 Scissors

My ears have lusted after every thought that Andrew McMahon has deconstructed on his piano since I bought my first Something

Corporate album in middle school. No matter how many times I see him live or hear him through headphones, I’m constantly amazed at the passion he exudes when his fingers touch the keys. The third release of his side project, Jack’s Mannequin, blends the poppy vivacity of the first record with the more somber and lyrical depth of the second album to create the masterpiece that is <ital>People and Things</ital>. “My Racing Thoughts,” the first track, is reminiscent of earlier, brighter songs, while “Release Me” features a grittier sound than the band typically delivers. “Television,” which takes some time to build up momentum, eventually explodes into one of the best tracks on the album. With its upbeat instrumentals, “People, Running” delivers some of the album’s strongest lyrical efforts. The album slows down with “Restless Dream,” a beautiful combination of guitarist Bobby “Raw” Anderson’s skills and McMahon’s fragile voice and lyrics. “Casting Lines” closes with flawless piano and lyrics that make me happily homesick. “Hey, Hey, Hey,” which was originally intended for the second album, does not fit as well on this record, despite its ability to stand with the other masterpieces on the record. While McMahon has obviously grown as a person and artist, between getting married and overcoming leukemia, <ital>People and Things</ital> demonstrates his new introspection on life, while staying true to Jack’s Mannequin’s sound. Needless to say, I think it’s pretty damn perfect.

Ashes and Fire Ryan Adams by Mike Ryan

3.5 Scissors

Ryan Adams has done quite a bit since retiring from music. In 2009, the alt-country singer-songwriter left the Cardinals, citing anxiety from his Ménière’s disease and disillusionment with the music industry. Between now and then, Adams has married Mandy Moore, released two books of poetry, and recorded three more albums. If the October 11 release of Ashes and Fire means anything, it’s that nothing will keep Adams from making music. However, this doesn’t mean that Adams is trying to innovate. Ashes and Fire seems at times like a rehashing of his earlier work. In fact, one of the album’s best and most rocking numbers, “Chains of Love,” hinges on a guitar hook that I swear is a major-key version of the riff from “Cobwebs,” a single off the 2008 release Cardinology. Part of me wonders if this is intentional—the songs deal with differing views on strained relationships, but it almost seems as if Adams is cheating at this point. Nevertheless, Adams’ signature style remains solid, if static. His vocals are a consistent high point for the album, especially on “Chains of Love” and the title track, and Adams retains his characteristically-tight songwriting. In Adams’ words, the album’s title is supposed to evoke the image of a phoenix, somebody “not destroyed by change.” This seems fitting, if a bit dramatic, taking into account his Ménière’s disease, but he refrains from directly referencing his illness on the album. Songs like “Lucky Now,” the first single, reflect more vaguely on his personal struggles, asking, “Are we really who we used to be/ Am I really who I was?” Perhaps Adams has changed, but his music retains more of his old self than he might admit. Still, with Adams’ credentials, that’s not such a terrible thing.

essay desert songs by sejal popat

When I listen to Tinariwen, I turn off the heard from all over and still move people to tears, to desk lamp in my room, pull the curtains across dance or to sit, simply mesmerized. Without knowing the closed windows, and curl up in my blanwhat is being murmured or chanted along with the ket, eyes shut. Then I see it, a black quiet night rich guitar melodies, we still feel a melancholy and hanging above a red wall of rock that rises up nostalgia. Each song takes me further within myself, from the desert. At the base of the rock engrasping at familiar sounds and memories. clave is a campfire and men wrapped in white As the song “Afours Afours” begins, I can hear and indigo robes sitting in a circle around it. the distinct patting of the drums in the background, Ibrahim, a tall gaunt man with matted hair, carrying the beat slowly along and taking me back sits with his guitar, strumming slowly and home where a drum with animal hide wrapped taut murmuring in a deep, textured voice. The light with rope sits. I begin to see my father’s hands patting the animal skin drum idly and humming. flickers off his brown, wrinkled skin As his fingers approach the center of and his head bobs with the rhythm. the drum, each beat resounds fully and These are the men of Tinariwen, a breathes. Then “Chabiba” begins beautiband of nomad musicians who have fully with crisp guitar strumming. I been singing songs of the desert hear the chorus of women chanting to and its mysteries for decades. echo Ibrahim’s lead, and suddenly, in Tinariwen’s founder, Ibrahim Ag my mind, my grandmother is among Alhabib, was born in the wake of Mali’s civil unrest and rebellion. By them. I am eight years old again, sitting the time Ibrahim had reached four in a circle with her and other older relayears of age, his father had been tives. We are holding metal trays of lit executed by the Malian government. He had candles, incense, and flowers, and swaying witnessed the death and misery of the 1963 back and forth humming in a language rebellion, and the horrific governmental I still don’t understand. It is lulling, the suppression of the Tuareg. For the next few heat and the motion, everything seemdecades unrest would continue, and he would ingly drifting in and out of focus with the sound become part of the waves of displaced Tuareg echoing into itself. Then the deep resonating muryouth moving through Algeria into Libyan mur of Ibrahim brings me to my grandfather’s voice refugee camps. It was here that Tinariwen reverberating off the red rock canyons of Arizona as was formed, singing songs that recount the we walk barefoot on the clay earth. struggle and political oppression and longing There is something about this music, some soothfor a homeland. ing physical resonance, a visceral organic hum, that There is an ever-present mood of longing, strikes you softly and carries you through the desert of heartache, for a home that is always either with it. It’s strange how many places Tinariwen takes out of reach, shifting, or being fought for. me; I start off with Ibrahim and his brothers around Alhabib sings of the mystery of the desert, of the camp fire, then to the dizzy prayer circles with my experiences in which he stands in an expanse grandmother, and then to Arizona with my grandat night, totally free and alone, engulfed in father as we marvel at the echoing of our voices on its hypnosis. the rock walls and the stillness of night, until finally I Written in Tamashek, the language of the find myself back in my room, eyes closed and swaying Tuareg, these lyrics cannot be understood by slightly in the dark. most of the world. Yet these songs have been

artwork by Christina Lee

by Christina31 Lee

CHECK US OUT ONLINE www.thecutmagazine.com

OR FIND US ON

FACEBOOK &

TWITTER 32