Issue 45 by tastemakers

Festival Roundup | 11

An Interview With Car Seat Headrest | 30

WHY

SHOULD

THE DEVIL HAVE ALL

All Aboard the Hype Train | 44

northeastern students on music

The good MUSIC?

No 45

Get Involved Want to become a Tastemaker? Click get involved on tastemakersmag.com Snapped some awesome photos at a concert? Email them to tastemakersphoto@gmail.com Heard an album that really got you thinking? Send a review to tmreviews@gmail.com

Get More Can’t get enough? Check out more original content on tastemakersmag.com Become a fan on facebook at facebook.com/tastemakersmag Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/tastemakersmag Follow us on Instagram and add us on Snapchat

E-Board President David McDevitt

The Team

Staff Writers Emily Arntsen Allison Bako Editor in Chief Spencer Bateman Joey Dussault Joseph Bondi Justine Cowan Art Directors Reid Flynn Emily O’Brien Anu Gulati Amanda Pinsker Sarah Kotowski Christopher Miller Promotions Director Emmett Neidhart Rami McCarthy Taylor Piepenbrink Jonas Polin Seth Queeney Staff Kelly Subin Jonathan Vayness Features Editor Alex Wetzel Terence Cawley Art & Design Reviews Editors Allison Bako Tim DiFazio Colleen Curtis Peter Giunta Brooke Dunahugh Vanessa Gregorchik Interviews Editor Madisen Hackley Mayeesha Galiba Dan Mondschein Bianca Rabbie Photo Director Anna Smith Nola Chen Sara Trosky Abigail Walker Social Media Grace Woodward Directors Hannah Crotty Promotions Sarah Keneipp Stacy Andryshak Ingrid Angulo Jacob Aubertine Sofia Benitez Julia Boll Scott Breece Dash Dell’Imperio Nikita Goyal Emily Grinberg Emily Harris Helen Hennessey Erin Hensley Jenny Kang Jae Lee Evelyn Liu Navin Mani Isabella Miele Patrick Milne Joanna Moore Taylor Poehlman Kylie Ponce Jake Poulios Jane Slaughter

Meet the Staff

About

Listening to

Quote

Spencer Bateman Position Staff Writer Major Computer Science/Music Graduating Never Favorite Venue The Hollywood Bowl Tastemaker Since 2015

D’Angelo Brown Sugar Frank Ocean Blonde J Dilla Donuts

(to Terence) “Terence, how do you know what heaven looks like?”

Terence Cawley Position Features Editor Major Biology Graduating Spring 2018 Favorite venue Brighton Music Hall Tastemaker Since Summer 2014

Craig Short Position Online Staff Writer Major Music Industry Graduating 2020-21? Favorite venue The Gasworks, Albuquerque, NM Tastemaker Since Fall 2016

David McDevitt Position President Major International Affairs/ Economics Graduating ??? Favorite Venue The Sinclair Tastemaker Since Spring 2014

Jimmy Eat World Integrity Blues Richard and Linda Thompson “Walking on a Wire”

(to Spencer) “Mostly from the intro of the Simpsons.”

The Waterboys A Pagan Place

The Microphones Mt. Eerie

“leggomycreggo”

Vince Staples “Summertime ‘06” Don Caballero Punkgasm

Chance the Rapper ft. D.R.A.M. “D.R.A.M. Sings Special” Chance the Rapper ft. D.R.A.M. “D.R.A.M. Sings Special” Chance the Rapper ft. D.R.A.M. “D.R.A.M. Sings Special”

“I have worked so hard not to be on the staff page.”

The Kills, Paradise Rock Club

Photo by Kaylan Tran (Marketing)

Table of Contents Cover Story

Editorial

Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music: The Christian Rock Story

Car Seat Headrest Mayeesha Galiba chats with Will Toledo and his band of sardonic indie rockers

Reviews

08 34

20 24

Extraordinary Machines & Twisted Fantasies

Pitch Shift: Pop Gone Chipmunk

44 46 48

Local Photos

Festival Roundup A recap of musical gatherings near and far

The Persisting Influence of the TR-808 Nothing sounds quite like an eight-oh-eight

The Future of Us All: An Ode to the Fangirl Inside the gendered world of musical fandom

Etcetera

The strange heritage of chipmunk soul

All Aboard the Hype Train The meteoric rise of the totally real (not fake) band Polar Witchcraft

No More Anarchy in the U.K Is anarchism still a feasible ideology in punk music?

06 Calendar

On the artistic kinship of Kanye West and Fiona Apple

Show Reviews Brand New, Ash, Built to Spill

Making a Name for Yourself A band by any other name would sound as sweet. Or would it?

Album Reviews Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, Danny Brown, Green Day

A music scene thrives at the other end of Route 9

Jesus, take the mic.

Interviews

Return of the Western Mass. Music

Features

Viper the Rapper One Tastemaker’s experience as director of merchandise for a meme-famous rapper

41 46

In Defense Of Kid Congo + Pink Monkey Birds’ La Araña Es La Vida

Discography Phil Elverum, of The Microphones and Mount Eerie

Calendar November Su

Foals House of Blues

Daughter Royale

Grouplove House of Blues

Mitski Paradise Rock Club

High on Fire House of Blues

Bad Suns Brighton Music Hall

5 The Orwells Middle East Downstairs

Diane Coffee Royale

AJJ and Chris Farren Royale

Digable Planets Paradise Rock Club

Sun Kil Moon The Sinclair

Slothrust The Sinclair

Tony Molina Middle East Upstairs

Frankie Cosmos Middle East Upstairs

Snakehips Paradise Rock Club

Yellowcard House of Blues

Good Charlotte House of Blues

Ani DiFranco Berklee Performance Center

Porter Robinson Orpheum Theatre

The Dillinger Escape Plan Paradise Rock Club

Atmosphere House of Blues

Ingrid Michaelson House of Blues

Letters to Cleo Paradise Rock Club

Pile Great Scott

Caspian Royale

Letters to Cleo The Sinclair

The Wonder Years House of Blues

PWR BTTM ONCE Somerville

Nobunny Middle East Downstairs

Abbath and Children of Bodom The Sinclair

Dinosaur Jr. and Buffalo Tom House of Blues

Kansas Berklee Performance Center

Napalm Death Brighton Music Hall

Jeff Rosenstock The Sinclair

STRFKR Royale

Andrew W.K. Paradise Rock Club

Michael Kiwanuka Royale

Animals as Leaders Royale Flosstradamus House of Blues

Rockommends

Yellowcard November 7 @ House of Blues

Snakehips November 9 @ Paradise Rock Club

Yellowcard is finally calling it quits after more than a decade together. They are not the first of their generation to fall, but as each year goes by, the chances to indulge your teenage self in noncringeworthy nostalgia trips are dwindling. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out.

Snakehips, the aptly-named electronic group famous for remixing artists like Banks, Wild Belle, and The Weeknd, throw down beats that make listeners move their hips in reptilian s-formation. Coupling their downtempo rhythms with a small venue, their show at the Paradise Rock Club is expected to be sexy and intimate. Wear your dancing shoes.

David McDevitt (International Affairs/Economics)

Emily Arntsen (English)

December

you can view the calendar online at: http://tastemakersmag.com/calendar

Red Fang The Sinclair

Cam’ron Middle East Downstairs

MØ Paradise Rock Club

Lez Zeppelin Thunder Road

Reverend Horton Head The Sinclair

Tedeschi Trucks Band Orpheum Theatre

Twin Peaks The Sinclair

Emancipator The Sinclair

Morne and Peter Murphy Middle East Downstairs

Norah Jones Orpheum Theatre

Set Yor Goals Paradise Rock Club

The Weepies Wilbur Theatre

Basement Royale

Sad13 Middle East Downstairs

Caveman Great Scott

Eskimeaux Middle East Upstairs

Kevin Devine and The Goddamn Band Royale

Andrea Bocelli TD Garden Pink Martini Orpheum Theatre

Slander House of Blues

Kanye West TD Garden

Kurt Vile & The Violators Royale The Mighty Mighty Bosstones HOB

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones House of Blues

Good Charlotte & The Story So Far November 13 @ House of Blues

Dinosaur Jr. November 25 @ House of Blues

Good Charlotte – the pop punk heavyweights that brought you early-2000s hits like “The Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” and “The Anthem” – are embarking out on a mega tour with The Story So Far and Four Year Strong in support of their new album Youth Authority. Come jam to some angsty, guilty pleasure pop-punk jams both old and new. You know you want to.

Hey you! Yeah, you reading this magazine! Do you like totally awesome fuzzed-out guitar solos played at volumes so loud your ears will ring for three days afterwards? Does the prospect of seeing one of the greatest indie rock bands of all time play – arguably even better than they did in the ’80s – fill your little teenage misfit heart with glee? Have you ever written J Mascis/Lou Barlow slash fiction? If your answer to any of the preceding questions was yes, then for heaven’s sake get thee to the House of Blues and see Dinosaur Jr. live. Also, Buffalo Tom are opening and they’re a classic indie band in their own right.

Taylor Piepenbrink (Music Industry)

Terence Cawley (Biology)

Lettuce House of Blues

Album Reviews

Bon Iver 22, A Million Reviews

Release Date September 30 Label Jagjaguwar Genre Indie Folk Tasty Tracks “33 ‘God’”, “29 #Strafford APTS”, “8 (circle)” I don’t think we need to talk about the cabin. 22, A Million, the third full-length release from Bon Iver, is such a departure from the snowflake folk of For Emma, Forever Ago that I would guess Justin Vernon agrees. Noisy, synthetic, beautiful and complicated, the first new album in five years by the Wisconsin-based auteur may come as a shock to anyone who last checked in around “Skinny Love.” The shift may not be so jarring though when you consider how Vernon spends his spare time: making guest appearances on Kanye West albums, dancing with R&B enigma Francis Farewell Starlite, drinking Bushmills Whiskey. Swapping junkyard acoustic guitars for homemade voice-shifting software seems entirely in line with his current interests. Don’t be alarmed though, not everything has changed. 22, A Million still sounds like the sight of your breath on a cold day. The gospel samples, warped saxophones, and spectral warning on “22 (OVER S∞∞N)” that “it might be over soon” may seem apropos of nothing, until Vernon’s familiar upper register swaddles the listener. “715 - CREEKS” is a pastoral episode of a cappella heartbreak reminiscent of “Woods,” where Vernon, with a voice like gargling pixels, begs “god damn / turn around now / you’re my a-team” to a lover. And even if the folksy strum of For Emma, Forever Ago is absent from Vernon’s repertoire, songs like “8 (circle)” and “00000 Million” are still saturated by his love of 80’s soft rock so evident on Bon Iver, Bon Iver. There is a sense on 22, A Million that we have been removed from Justin Vernon’s most intimate thoughts. In a press conference for the album, Vernon requested no pictures of his own face be disseminated, stating “faces are for friends only.” Older songs seemingly

Spring 2016

Moldy

Stale

inserted us in face-to-face conversation with Justin (“go find another lover / to bring - to string along / with all your lies / you’re still very loveable”). 22, A Million, on the other hand, seems more vague. Lines like “it’s not all then what it seems / and the whole thing’s hauled away” never clarify the context they exist in. He even makes up words, like the sepia-tinged yodel of “paramind” on “29 #Strafford APTS.” Surely we aren’t meant to relate to phrases that only exist in its creator’s canon. The ambiguity of the lyrics, not to mention the cryptic song titles and runic album artwork, don’t detract from Vernon’s project though. Rather, they give us the sense that we must be held at arm’s length, that he needs more control this time around on how exposed we are to his most closely-guarded personal struggles. What is most impressive about 22, A Million, though, is Justin Vernon’s authentic attempt to experiment with his own influences. For years indie bands have been espousing the influence that hip hop artists such as Kanye West or Drake have had on them, only to go back into the studio

Edible

Fresh

Tasty

and churn out another guitar album. On 22, A Million, Justin Vernon embraces the art that matters to him. The most prominent instrument on the album is pitch-shifted chopped-up vocals. There are samples buried all over the place. The industrial beat on “10 dEAThbREasT” could shake the leaves clear off all the trees in the woods of Eau Claire, and may as well have been ripped off Yeezus. Here’s this grandfather of tear-soaked six strings telling all his contemporaries that it’s okay to show off your love of hip hop, or R&B, or hell, even John fucking Denver if that’s what you’re into; just don’t dwell there too long, and never stop moving.

Reid Flynn (Accounting)

Moldy

Stale

Edible

Fresh

Tasty

Frank Ocean Blonde Release Date August 20 Label Boys Don’t Cry Genre R&B Tasty Tracks “Skyline To”, “Self Control”, “Nights” “That’s a pretty fucking fast year flew by,” Frank Ocean admits on “Skyline To”, one of the mellower tracks on his long awaited second LP Blonde. Frankly, Frank, the feeling

Danny Brown Atrocity Exhibition Release Date September 27 Label Warp Genre Hip Hop Tasty tracks “Lost”, “Ain’t It Funny”, “White Lines” It’s been said that it’s better to write something that one person will read a thousand times than something that a thousand people will read once. With Atrocity Exhibition, it’s clear that Danny Brown took this advice to heart. He’s always sought out fans that will obsess over his albums, but the bizarre, fragmented beats of this project are an active rejection of the casual listener. His art now challenges in a way that starkly contrasts the catchy, trap-influenced production of Old and makes even the desperate, unpolished XXX

is mutual. It seems like only yesterday you were posting cryptic messages on your “boys don’t cry” website about a potential album drop in July of 2015; now, over a year later, it has definitely been worth the wait. On Blonde, Ocean gives himself the space to shine as a lyricist and singer. He trades his more ostentatious poppy production for tracks that sound deeply personal, providing his vocal melodies little shelter from the storm. Tracks like “Good Guy” expose a profoundly intimate narrative of his experience of discovery in a new relationship. Ocean’s lines “You text nothing like you look” and “Here’s when I realized you talk so much more than I do” are nothing short of Dylanesque poetry. Lacking pop armor, Ocean dominates each track with a powerful delivery and incredible songwriting. The music moves out of his vocals’ way and lets his wordplay outshine everything else. Ocean’s first album, Channel Orange, is a story about becoming yourself and growing up. Blonde is about being a young adult in 2016. Feelings of uneasiness are unmistakable on tracks like “Facebook Story,” “Be Yourself,” and “Futura Free,” and just how many people grew up in high school listening to Channel Orange. Blonde feels like it is written for those same people now four years older pushing their way towards their midtwenties, utterly terrified.

look commercial. Where his last two efforts followed clear timelines that split cleanly into two sides, Atrocity Exhibition is rugged and unpredictable. The sheer range of sounds it encapsulates is breathtaking; in the span of three tracks he spits over a menacing glockenspiel, borderline vaporwave and vaudevillian horns. Such ambition is laudable even for an established critical darling, and the whole record feels like the kind of passion project that Danny always wanted to make but previously lacked the security to do so. Of course, such an anti-populist effort runs the risk of feeling self-indulgent. Danny has always preferred to make short, punchy songs - “punk rock shit,” in his own words. When this brevity is combined with Atrocity Exhibition’s sky-high ambition and variety, it can be difficult not to leave the listener gasping for breath. Luckily, each track feels so complete that Danny’s approach feels less like ADHD and more like perfectionism. The shortest track, “Lost”, puts a new spin on the

Ocean wistfully sings on “Ivy”, the second track, that “I ain’t a kid no more” and that “we will never be those kids again.” A short signal of his past work, then Frank leaves his Channel Orange days behind and pushes into a touching analysis of selfidentity, love, loss, and the isolationist ultrafame he now experiences. At first, Blonde feels rough, subtle and sometimes unpolished, with abrupt transitions and strange mixes, but the more one sits with it, the more overwhelming the evidence that suggests this album is masterfully crafted from start to finish. A number of the tracks feel like direct sequels to songs on Channel Orange. The iconic dreaminess of “Sierra Leone” is echoed on “Skyline To” and the dance-based flip-groove of “Pyramids” is stripped down on “Nights.” Ultimately each strengthens the other, Blonde reframes ideas on Channel Orange, while Channel Orange lays the groundwork for many of Ocean’s ideas on Blonde. With his second album, Frank Ocean has moved from being an exceptional, young, up-and-coming talent, to solidifying himself as one of the new great American songwriters of the 21st century. Spencer Bateman (Computer Science/ Music)

Moldy

Stale

Edible

Fresh

Tasty

classic drug dealing/rapping parallel. Danny frames the narrative by comparing himself to Spielberg and Kubrick, with a hook that functions as a double-entendre for cutting up cocaine in the kitchen and hunching over his desk penning rhymes through sleepless nights. This all happens over a disorienting, psychedelic beat that equally evokes 9

Reviews

drug-addled wooziness and the surreal feeling of insomnia. After this strange contemplation, Danny launches into what may be the most off-thewall crazy track of his career: “Ain’t It Funny.” In many ways, this is the quintessential Danny Brown song. His hyped-up flow would fit right in on one of Old’s louder tracks as he spits some of the most ridiculous battlerap lines of all time (“I can sell honey to a bee / in the fall time make trees take back they leaves”). Producer Paul White crafts a beat that, with its flailing horns, manages to simultaneously feel like a banger and a descent into madness. On tracks like this, Danny’s partying is so over-the-top that it sounds downright sinister. This feeling comes to a head on the last verse, where he’s fallen into “a living nightmare / That most of us share.” The beat is as festive as ever, but Danny’s thoughts are anything but. This duality, however, is nothing new to Danny. He’s always straddled the line between endorsing and condemning hedonism, but what this record portrays is a violent collision. In the disturbing “White Lines,” his adenoidal flow is so exaggerated that he sounds like he’s on the verge of overdose, and the beat stumbles over itself like a drug addict struggling to regain control. In contrast, the calmer “Get Hi” tackles a completely different sort of addiction as Danny praises marijuana as the perfect form of problem avoidance. Atrocity Exhibition tears down Danny’s Jekyll/Hyde tendencies and replaces them with something much more multifaceted and ultimately unsettling. Perhaps that is why he considers it to be his “career album.” His wild persona has always felt like something of a character, but as time goes on, it becomes increasingly evident that he was never acting.

Tim DiFazio (English)

Green Day Revolution Radio Release Date October 7 Label Reprise Records Genre Punk Rock Tasty tracks “Somewhere Now”, “Bang Bang”, “Say Goodbye” Green Day are finally breaking their radio silence with their first album since releasing their unsuccessful trio Uno!, Dos!, and Tre!, which the band themselves have claimed had “absolutely no direction to them.” Revolution Radio was kept a secret from fans for quite a while, and it comes as no surprise that the the trio have produced an album rich with political statements regarding violence in the U.S.A. Revolution Radio opens with an unexpected yet fitting acoustic track, “Somewhere Now,” which later fills into the heavier, more familiar rock ballad that the band has perfected. Its delivery is entirely appropriate for what might be considered a comeback album, with just enough kick to prove that they are back for good. The fast, hard single “Bang Bang” is a classic American Idiot-esque punk rock anthem, and though controversially written from the perspective of a mass shooter striving for media attention, its frantic delivery and quick riffs are exactly the kind of thing listeners have come to expect from the band. Distorted, stomp-rocky “Say Goodbye” addresses “violence on the rise”, especially the recent police shootings, juxtaposing the verse, “Say goodbye to the ones that you love” with “Say hello to the cops on patrol” later on. It even kills two birds with one stone by tactfully mentioning the water pollution crisis in Flint, Michigan with the line “Raise your children well from the bottom of the well.” Luckily, the band doesn’t limit themselves to reflecting on the state the country’s affairs, and the album pauses to takes a nostalgic look back at their nearly 30 year career and the fact that they just aren’t as young as they used to be in “Outlaws.” Revolution Radio takes an unexpected turn with “Still Breathing,” which, with its blasting power chords and lyrics that just fall short of

Moldy

Spring 2016

Edible

Fresh

Tasty

being inspirational, could just as easily have been written by fellow pop punkers blink-182. Any attempts Armstrong might have made to rid the band of its pop punk title are completely disregarded here, though the distinct pop punk style offers listeners a little variation in the album. The second to last song, “Forever Now,” proclaims “I wanna start a revolution / I wanna hear it on the radio / I want a better way to die” in a prolonged seven minutes that could easily be placed in their 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown before cutting back to an outro that flows nicely into a reprise of “Somewhere Now”. This track could have concluded the album but instead leads to the closer, which concludes the album in a similar way that it began: with a sweet acoustic ballad. “Ordinary World,” is disappointingly ordinary, and probably would have been better suited as a bonus track. Though it’s clear that Revolution Radio is trying to say something, the message as a whole is a little difficult to uncover to passive listeners. The band never directly names the events that their songs are pointing at, but the lyrics make it clear that the the songs are painting pictures of guns, violence, and injustice. As is typical of Green Day, its heavier tracks are anti-authoritative and give listeners a sense of “us vs. them”. The subtle statements they make throughout the album will make it a lot more meaningful to those who are really listening, and perhaps that’s a message the band is trying to convey. The album is a steady mix of sound-alike songs that could be placed on previous albums, but for the first album in four years, we’ll certainly take it.

We publish album reviews online too! tastemakersmag.com

Stale

Taylor Piepenbrink (Music Industry)

SUMMER Festival RounduP Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is one of the oldest and most hyped summer festival experiences in America. Located in sunny Indio, California, the fest has set the bar for summer music extravaganzas since 1999 and has massively influenced other festivals across the United States. This year was no different. Coachella premiered three massive reunion acts: LCD Soundsystem, Guns N’ Roses and Ice Cube. However, one of the strongest undercards they’ve had in years made these historic headliners feel like a footnote. The massively strong line-up from the opening of the gates to 1 a.m. curfew is what still makes Coachella the strongest music festival out there. All day, every day, there is always an unbelievable show to see. Coachella brought a hodgepodge of ’80s rockers and indie ravers to the desert valley, only to be met with suburban moms that had made the trek to see Calvin Harris with their 14-yearold daughters. While the undercard maintained their indie reputation, Sufjan Stevens, Jack Ü, Underworld, Purity Ring, Of Monsters and Men, G-Eazy, Rae Sremmurd, Joey Bada$$, DJ Mustard and Parov Stelar dotted the festival lineup as well, and that was just Friday.

That is the thing that makes Coachella such an unbelievable festival; you could literally create any other festival’s lineup out of the bottom half of its lineup. And that’s what keeps you going all day in the desert heat: a totally packed line-up of unique musicians who tear it down. Between Ice Cube’s blistering set of ’90s classics, where he brought out MC Ren, DJ Yella, Kendrick Lamar and, oh yeah, Dr. Dre, to Death Grips’ no-nonsense hour-long face-melting show, where they premiered songs from the then unreleased Bottomless Pit, there was something for everyone at Coachella. Coachella also took a step back this year with fewer art installations, which is rumored to be because they put money into booking their big reunion acts. The result was that the focus seemed to be entirely on the music. Peddling its desert fantasy out in Palm Desert, Coachella remains THE music festival. Although it has become more and more mainstream in the past 10 years and even more so in the past few, Coachella still sets the bar at the beginning of the summer much higher than other festivals can reach. Logistically it is the best I have ever experienced, it is still getting smoother and the people are still great as long as you don’t hit the middle school sets. • Spencer Bateman (Computer Science/Music)

WayHome Fest

Feature

Word on the playground is that first is the worst, second is the best and third is the one with Kanye West. So when I saw the lineup for the second iteration of WayHome Music Festival this summer I jumped all over it, regardless of when Yeezy plays. As indie rock gives way to electronic music and hip-hop in terms of lucrative festival acts, cranky guys in skinny jeans like me have become limited in their festival options. With Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem and The Killers headlining outside Toronto, it was 2007 all over again, and for just one weekend, guitar music was relevant. With the help of Bonnaroo purveyors AC Entertainment, WayHome set up a pastoral wonderland in rural Ontario. The sprawling campgrounds, dragonfly sculptures and motivational banner emblazoned with “I Feel You” felt like they had always been there. Most endearing, though, was the small festival feeling like you’re in on the ground floor of a four stage gathering about to explode into Canada’s biggest summer draw. Kind of like Coachella but with maple syrup and manners. Incredibly well booked, WayHome touted mornings with emotive up-and-comers like Mothers and Braids, afternoons with eccentric outsiders like Robert Delong and Wolf Parade and, after the headliners, late night acts ranging from Mac DeMarco, aka Bart Simpson in camo overalls, to must-see dance mystic fka Twigs. Without a doubt, though, the best act of the weekend was Arcade Fire, who played a greatest hits set spanning their entire discography. Win Butler smashed a clock, Regine Chassagne danced like an extra in the “Thriller” music video and the show ended with a fireworks display during the crescendo of “Wake Up,” as 40,000 dehydrated bohemians collectively blurted out “woah,” in awe of the sensory overload. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with booking J. Cole or Major Lazer to headline a weekend. It just means that oases like WayHome, where all the bands sold their turntables and bought guitars, feel a little bit more special. • Reid Flynn (Accounting)

FYF You could say that there is still a little bit of controversy around FYF, Los Angeles’ own music festival located within Exposition Park at USC. What once corralled the local grunge, punk and indie bands into a backyard for the weekend has transformed itself into a headline venue for Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem and Tame Impala. Are there a few angry 30-somethings that want their festival back? Probably. But for the rest of us, the last weekend in August served as an end of summer showcase of many of the best performances of the year. Aside from LCD, some favorites included Wolf Parade, Todd Terje and Air. For all of these sets, I would credit both the artists and the crowds for the once in a lifetime experiences. In the words of James Murphy, “You fucked up if you didn’t see Grace Jones.” I couldn’t agree more. The Jamaican-born model and singer drew a smaller crowd between the sets of Father John Misty and LCD Soundsystem, a set spot that many later called inappropriate. However, I can’t complain since the intimacy of the crowd allowed for an excellent view of Jones’ body paint, cymbals and hula hoops. Every song demanded a wardrobe change, be it a new hat, headdress, mask or cape. She was the original Madonna, the early Lady Gaga and the spirit of the black diaspora all in one. Truly, if you missed this, you made a huge mistake. Spring 2016

• Jameson Johnson (Political Communications)

Afropunk Festival Afropunk Festival NYC is generally a raucous, vibrant affair filled with big personalities, excellent performances and a personality of its own. This year’s iteration, held at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, was no exception. When the lineup was announced back in March, I simply had no choice but to pick up a two-day and head to New York. Featuring a solid repertoire of what seemed to be handpicked members of Flying Lotus’ West Coast label Brainfeeder, Saturday quickly became a funk-filled jamboree with back-to-back performances by Shabazz Palaces, Thundercat and George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, along with a set by the label head himself. †Thundercat amazed with his brilliant six-string bass, playing a set filled with old favorites as well as debuting some new material from an album coming later this year. At the ripe old of 75, George Clinton continues to dazzle, playing a full 45-minute medley of P-Funk classics that never failed to get the crowd moving.

An extremely excitable Flying Lotus followed, and he surprised the crowd with a new Captain Murphy song and a collection of songs that spanned his illustrious career. Sunday was an entirely different affair, featuring several members of the Odd Future gang, including Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator and The Internet who played respectable sets in their own right. But the real star of the evening was Janelle Mon·e, who played an absolutely earth-shattering set with a full nine-piece backing band which featured stunning renditions of her most boisterous songs and a heart-rending cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” that made this writer a very happy man. At the end of it all, Afropunk still remains the best deal of the summer and a sure-fire good time year after year. • Joe Bondi (Business)

Local Photos

Black Pistol Fire, The Sinclair

Photo by Seb Herforth (Engineering)

The Kills, Paradise Rock Club

Photo by Kaylan Tran (Marketing)

Car Seat Headrest, AfterHours

Photo by Nola Chen (Computer Science)

Brand New, Merriweather Post Pavilion (MD)

Photo by Nola Chen (Computer Science)

Tom Odell, Royale

Photo by Lauren Scornavacca (Engineering)

Kip Moore, Royale

Photo by Lauren Scornavacca (Engineering)

Editorial

Return of the

Western Mass Music Scene

Spring 2016

Everyone knows the infamous photo of a messy-haired, mascara-smeared Kim Gordon donning a t-shirt that reads: “Girls Invented Punk Rock, Not England.” While the Western Massachusetts resident was certainly onto something, perhaps her t-shirt would have been more accurate if it read: “Girls Invented Punk Rock In New England.” Western Mass is the vague region that encompasses pretty much everything west of Boston and is often synonymous with Middle-of-Nowhere, Massachusetts. Generally associated with the Berkshires or long-forgotten Puritan farms, Western Mass certainly doesn’t hold the reputation of being a cultural epicenter. But although the area is probably not the first place that comes to mind when thinking of Massachusetts’ music scene, it shouldn’t be overlooked. While Boston is the obvious hub of the state’s music scene, Western Mass can’t be ignored. Home of the Five College Consortium (University of Massachusetts Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, Amherst and Smith College), the youthful community is a natural breeding ground for creativity and experimental music making. Northampton and Amherst are the two main cities in the area with venues ranging from unofficial college student basements to state-of-the-art concert halls to pizza restaurants to libraries. Undistracted by the hustle-bustle of city life and surrounded by forward-thinking, laid-back college students, Western Mass is a haven for new bands trying to find their sound or established bands striving to experiment. The area started gaining street cred among indie rock fans in the ‘80s with bands like The Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. After a lull in the ‘90s and early 2000s, the Northamptonbred band Speedy Ortiz put the region back on the map in 2011 with their album The Death of Speedy Ortiz. No, the band’s name is not an homage to Big Papi (it’s a reference to the comic Love & Rockets), but Speedy Ortiz reps their Massachusetts roots in other ways. In an interview with a local Western Mass newspaper, lead singer (and UMass Amherst graduate) Sadie Dupuis said, “Western Mass has a legacy that had been impactful to us,” citing Dinosaur Jr. as a major influence. “A lot of bands move to New York. I’m one of the only ones who still lives here.”

Speedy Ortiz did more than just reinvigorate the Northampton music scene, however. Dupuis’s explicitly feminist lyrics are an empowering inspiration for emerging female artists from the area such as And The Kids and Potty Mouth. Backed by an MFA in poetry, Dupuis’s lyrics are rich with meaning and wry undertones. In the band’s sardonic song, “Taylor Swift,” Dupuis sings, “I got a boy in a hardcore band/ I got a boy likes to fuck to Can/Then there’s the boy sings those sad songs I like/I got too many boyfriends to see you tonight.” Reversing the gender stereotype of men bragging in their lyrics about all the women they sleep with, “Taylor Swift” is just one example of Dupuis challenging gender roles in her music. But Dupuis doesn’t always need a political agenda to showcase her feminist nature. She often asserts her authority with lyrics about female agency or her personal struggles with the patriarchy without necessarily making it political. In “Raising The Skate” she sings, “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss / Shooter, not the shot,” for no obvious reason other than, well, because she’s a woman you don’t want to mess with. Since Speedy Ortiz’s inception, a slew of up-and-coming Western Mass indie bands have emerged. Most notable among them is the grunge punk band And The Kids. The female trio released their first album, Turn To Each Other, in 2015, and their second album, Friends Share Lovers, earlier this year. While the band has a large presence in Northampton, their audience also extends east to the Boston indie scene after touring with the beloved Boston band Vundabar this summer. Staying true to the femme rock precedent set by Speedy Ortiz, And The Kids exudes girl power. Addressing taboos head-on, lead singer, guitarist and lyricist Hannah Mohan doesn’t shy away from sexuality or controversial topics in her lyrics. Friends Share Lovers is a mix of themes ranging from female sexual repression to the muddled line between friends and lovers. “Devastation Celebration” begins with the hard-hitting line: “Why do we celebrate the castration of women?” while “Secret Makeout Factory” playfully suggests, “Let us take off our pants, and we’ll argue less.”

Potty Mouth is yet another recentlyformed all-female punk rock trio from Northampton. Their first EP, Sun Damage, was released in 2012. While the trio certainly has qualms with sexism and the pitfalls of gender stereotypes, they claim they’re not a politically feminist band. In an interview with Village Voice, bassist Ally Einbinder says...

“People see an all-female band that plays music that’s kinda punk inspired, and they say ‘Okay, this is a riot grrrl band.’ That’s a really lazy comparison to make.” She further explains that the band’s only explicitly political song is “Girl XL,” which is a response to hate mail the band received about “being too confident.” In the interview, Einbinder further expresses her frustration with being in an all- girl punk band from a small town. “Everyone wants to compare us to Sonic Youth because Kim Gordon also lives in Northampton.” While the only common thread between these bands is location, Potty Mouth’s lead singer and guitarist, Abby Weems, did coincidentally go to high school with Gordon’s daughter, Coco. While Speedy Ortiz, And The Kids, and Potty Mouth all have unique sounds and various political intentions, they do represent an extremely niche community – punk rock girls from Western Mass. Whether this noteworthy concentration of kickass female musicians in relatively sparse population is causation or correlation, who knows? But what is for certain is that Western Mass has a small but flourishing music scene that deserves a second listen. • Emily Arntsen (English)

Editorial

Making a name for YOURSELF Alex Wetzel (Business Administration) Name changes are nothing new. Some are merely placeholders until a better one comes along. When bands first start out and begin playing together, the number one priority is (obviously) making music. So as bands progress, name changes are relatively common. Here’s a fact that you didn’t want to know: the band Creed was originally called Naked Toddler. Radiohead used to be called On a Friday. Green Day was once known as Sweet Children. These changes can be pretty mundane. A lot of the time, the band in question is just ditching a goofy placeholder. Other times, record labels request the change. What

Spring 2016

is intriguing, however, is when bands are pressured into name changes through social reaction. These changes typically come early on, before artists rise in popularity. But earlier this year, folk-punk group Andrew Jackson Jihad nixed their name after twelve years as a band. They now answer to AJJ. In a Facebook statement, band members expressed a desire to distance themselves from both parts of their original name: Andrew Jackson, who they acknowledge did many terrible things, and “Jihad,” in recognition that since none of them are Muslim, the name is inappropriate for them to hold. The band also made it clear

on a friday radiohead sweet children green day naked toddler creed andrew jackson jihad AJJ VIET CONG PREOCCUPATIONS teen suicide ? that they were not pressured to make this change; that it was a personal decision, and one each member agreed it was time for. Even still, a number of fans were incredibly bothered by the switch. Some have even decided to boycott the band—which is, by the way, wildly irrational—over the change. A similar story, though of a less established band, is that of the Calgary postpunk band Preoccupations. The band formed in 2012 as Viet Cong, and released their debut full length in 2015. The name evoked painful memories for listeners of Vietnamese descent, and heavy criticism followed. After being barred from performing at Oberlin College, the band finally reconsidered its name. As with AJJ, the members of the band are white: an added element of ignorance, given allusions to the Vietnamese military group. On Facebook, the band stated that it was never their intention to offend people,

and that they had not fully understood what they were naming themselves after. Preoccupations have not received quite the negative backlash that AJJ have following the change. Viet Cong may just be a more offensive band name, so people were less surprised when it was changed. The switch was also a long time coming: the band took a while to settle on a new name, even though it was known for months that they planned to distance themselves from the “Viet Cong” moniker. AJJ’s announcement may have come as a larger surprise to its fans, but the change was minor. Many fans already referred to the band as AJJ, so the negative response seems like an overreaction. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Teen Suicide’s impending name change (when it finally comes) will be received. The project began in 2009, after AJJ formed but before Preoccupations.

Teen Suicide’s lead singer Sam Ray has acknowledged its insensitive nature, and the band’s April 2016 release It’s the Big Joyous Celebration, Let’s Stir the Honeypot will be the last album under the Teen Suicide name. In July of this year, the band released two songs as The World’s Greatest, a temporary name pending a more permanent change. Many bands do have more offensive names than the three mentioned above. A quick search can lead to a whole mess of obscene and graphic names. Many of them are made with the intention to either anger people or make them uncomfortable. So when a band does change its name, it’s not to be “more PC” or because other people made them. The band is doing it for themselves, and though fans are allowed to have their own opinions on the subject, they also must understand that changing a band name is not an easy decision.

Feature

The Persisiting Influence of the

TR-808

Fall 2014 Spring 2016

You’ve probably heard the pop music cliché before: My heart beats for you like an 808. Or something along those lines. From Kesha to Britney Spears, the term “808” has been name-dropped in dozens of songs across the last two decades. These analogies evoke the influence of some rhythmic, pounding sound, but if you’re confused about what exactly these artists are comparing their pulses to, you’re probably not alone. The Transistor Rhythm 808 drum machine was released in 1980 by Roland, a company already dominant in the synthesizer industry. At $1200, it was a comparatively frugal alternative to competing drum machines of the time. Although Roland was confident enough in their technology to boast the slogan, “We design the future,” the programmable 16-step sequencer was expected to be used only in artists’ demo tapes, not as a commercial-grade instrument Roland’s competition in the early ’80s was an entirely separate drum innovation: the digital sampler, namely the Linn LM-1. Not only could the $5000 LM-1 program endless combinations of drum loops, but unlike any of its predecessors, it relied on an array of prerecorded percussive sounds. This offered the ability to create acoustic drum patterns with the metronomic precision of a computer, but without a physical drum set or the technical skills required to be a drummer. There were even dials to modify the tone of the original digitally sampled sounds. Session drummers feared their imminent

“The snares were crisper and the kicks were fuller than any acoustic counterpart could produce.” obsolescence. Yet no one’s heart beats like an LM-1. Though it may have provided artists with their own virtual and tireless drummer, its novelty was in its convenience and versatility, not in sonic innovation. Conversely to digital sampling, drum machines powered by analog circuitry like the TR-808 had been manufactured before, but failed to be accepted as practical. Instead of using recorded digital samples, the 808 synthesized sound to emulate acoustic drum hits whenever a note was triggered. Whereas digital machines played rhythms nearly indistinguishable from live drums, the sounds of the 808 were unconvincing imitations. But the eccentricity of the machine soon pushed it into the burgeoning electronic

“Nothing sounds quite like an eight-oh-eight.” genre, its unconventional percussion enlisted by pioneers like Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa to create dancefloor hits. Its snappy snares, ethereal cowbells and subsonic kicks meshed seamlessly with the robotic styles established early in the decade. In 1986, visionary hip hop producers like Rick Rubin and DJ Marley Marl liberated the sounds from the machine through sampling. Kicks and cymbals were reversed, pitch could be changed and more variations in rhythm became available. The unnaturally low frequency kicks met the demands of a style increasingly enamored with bass. In the south, subgenres of hip hop like Miami bass thrived on the booming kick. This small and often forgotten sector of hip hop soon spread its influence across the nation. In the early 2000s, the 808 served as the foundation for trap music production for artists like Zaytoven who utilized its kick, hi hats, snares and claps while the machine’s other sounds, such as its toms and cowbells, fell into obscurity. On Kanye West’s fourth studio album 808s and Heartbreaks, the TR-808 serves not only as a namesake, but is featured prominently in every track. Its retro-futuristic aesthetic is exploited to create a soundscape both cybertronic and tribal in its percussion. West and collaborating producer Mike Dean distorted the kick further from its original sound through stretching, saturating and pitch shifting the sample. The term “808” was soon adopted as a blanket term for kicks with this new distinctly punchy bass sound, which

may or may not be originally synthesized in the actual drum machine. In many instances, sounds ascribed to the term 808 are nothing more than sharp, overpowering bass tones. Consequently, it is no longer necessary for kick drums and bass lines to operate as separate entities; bass rhythms of hip hop songs are often constructed purely from producers’ arsenals of “808” hits. Countless rap bangers like “Backseat Freestyle,” “Hotline Bling” and “Collard Greens” use this exact technique, pushing subwoofers to their limits with this modern incarnation of the 808 as the entire bassline. Though the definition of “808” has warped and broadened over time, the appeal is still much the same today as it was in the ‘80s. The snares are crisper and the kicks are fuller than any acoustic counterpart can produce. Today, derivatives of the original TR-808 sounds are so prolific in hip hop it is difficult to find tracks without traces of the iconic machine. Purists might argue that the term “808” should only be applied to sounds directly from the physical TR-808, but regardless of individual stances on the drum machine, hip hop and electronic music as we know it would not exist without its presence. Its eternal appeal may have been explained most succinctly in a line from the Beastie Boys’ song “Super Disco Breakin’”: “Nothing sounds quite like an eight-oh-eight!” • Emmett Neidhart (Architecture)

Editorial

Extraordinary

MACHINES Twisted

Spring 2016

FANTASIES

The Artistic Kinship of

Fiona Apple & Kanye West It’s no secret that Kanye West is one of the most influential artists of our generation, and that he himself takes influence from a variety of musicians and styles. One perhaps not easily heard in his work is singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, who entered the spotlight in 1996 when her debut record, Tidal, surprised audiences with its striking power and honesty. West has been vocal in the past about his admiration for Apple; in a 2005 piece for Interview Magazine, he praised Apple for her distinctive vocals and impressive wordplay. In fact, in his quest to become “the rap version” of Apple, West tapped Jon Brion to co-produce the follow-up to The College Dropout. Brion, who produced Apple on 1999’s When the Pawn... and 2005’s Extraordinary Machine, had no previous hip-hop experience before West contacted him for Late Registration. Brion’s fresh perspective combined with West’s natural pop sensibility resulted in a varied, dynamic backdrop for West’s quick-witted delivery. He exudes confidence on tracks like “Touch the Sky” and the personal “Hey Mama”, and there are clear moments in Apple’s discography that showcase the same poise. On the rapidfire “Fast as You Can,” a single off of When the Pawn..., Apple’s knack for flow is brought to the foreground, while the frenzied fury of Tidal’s “Sleep to Dream” culminates in her fervently slamming the piano keys, declaring, “I’ve got my own hell to raise.” Most similarities between the two may not be specific to a particular musical style or production technique, but both West and Apple pursue unapologetic honesty in their art as well as their personas. Apple’s debut expressed the emotional turmoil that came after she was sexually assaulted at 11 years old, the strongest example being the haunting “Sullen Girl,” while on breakout

accountability, and the vulnerability that comes with it, continues throughout much of Tidal. Eight years later, West released The College Dropout, a collection of tracks focused on external rather than internal honesty, challenging social norms like society’s judgment of those fitting the album’s title. Both albums are relentless in their truth telling; as Apple laments the loss of her innocence in “The Child is Gone,” West uses Dropout to express a similarly dismal outlook toward the world, best summarized in the opening lines of “Jesus Walks” (“we at war with ourselves”). Both artists also seem to share the sentiment that fame is not all it’s cracked up to be, and have been scrutinized for voicing that opinion. At the 2015 VMAs, after receiving the Video Vanguard Award from Taylor Swift (whose acceptance speech he famously interrupted in 2009), West expressed incredulity at the entire awards show system, calling out MTV for re-airing his

“

single “Criminal,” she insists on honesty in a very different context: guilt over using sex to manipulate a man. Apple refuses to justify her actions, as she would rather seek retribution than lie to herself. Her refreshing

West and Apple clearly favor artistic integrity over industry politics, though this attitude has come across quite differently over the course of their careers. West, inspired by the authenticity of artists like Apple, made himself into a household name through innovative music and unfiltered behavior. The majority of his work received critical acclaim upon release, resulting in 21 Grammys to date, but his notoriety is also due, in part, to public outbursts and controversial comments on topics ranging from the aforementioned VMAs to former president George W. Bush. Regardless of the subject matter, West refuses to cater to a demure audience and seems to revel in any publicity he receives, positive or not. Apple, on the other hand, stayed out of the spotlight in the years following her initial rise to fame. After Extraordinary Machine, she recorded a few covers and side tracks, but did not release another record until 2012 and has

Both West and Apple pursue unapologetic honesty in their art as well as their personas.

interruption of Swift and exploiting the fact that Swift was presenting him the award in order to boost ratings. He dubbed himself a fighter for the artists, someone who speaks out against an industry that pits hard-working musicians against each other for various metal figurines. Unsurprisingly, West’s speech echoes one of Apple’s from the very same awards show. In 1997, upon receiving the Best New Artist award, Apple used her acceptance speech to proclaim that the music industry “is bullshit.” She encouraged viewers not to idolize or imitate pop superstars, but to follow their own paths, advice that West has certainly taken to heart.

”

not put out anything since, save for an eerie cover of “Pure Imagination” for a Chipotle commercial. Few details are known regarding her personal life; she doesn’t appear to want the focus put on anything but her music, contrary to West’s demands for attention. Knowing West took inspiration from Apple in his early years, it would seem that both artists exemplify similar ideologies, albeit in vastly different ways. Each has built their career around a specific creative vision and refused to compromise on it; the difference, however, is that Apple seems only to envision releasing albums and being left alone, while West envisions an empire. • Justine Cowan (Business)

Cover Story

WHY SHOULD THE DEVIL HAVE ALL THE GOOD MUSIC? The Christian Rock Story

Spring 2016

The Origins of Christian Rock

Introduction Since its inception, rock ‘n’ roll music has not just refused to conform to Christian values and beliefs, but often directly opposed them. From the eagerness with which early rock fans embraced the legend of Robert Johnson’s apocryphal Faustian pact to John Lennon predicting Christianity’s demise while calling The Beatles “more popular than Jesus” to hysteria over metal bands allegedly sneaking Satanic messages onto their records through backmasking, rock and Christianity have a long history of not getting along. Patti Smith’s legendary reworking of “Gloria” may have put the prevailing attitude among rockers most succinctly: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins/ But not mine.” No one could have predicted that Christian rock, such a seemingly oxymoronic concept in the genre’s rebellious early years, would one day become the cornerstone of a massive industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And yet, somehow, that’s exactly what happened. What follows is a brief history of the uneasy truce between two of the most powerful cultural forces in 20thcentury America.

Given Christian rock’s status as a primarily American phenomenon, it’s surprising that the movement arguably originated with five British Salvation Army cadets. The Joystrings were assembled in 1963 to promote the Salvation Army on the popular BBC program Tonight, and despite their inexperience, the group’s TV performances propelled their first single, “It’s an Open Secret,” into the top 40. But the novelty of evangelical “beat music” quickly wore off for the public, and the few Christian UK groups that followed failed to replicate The Joystrings’ success. The first known American Christian rock album is I Like God’s Style by Isabel Baker, a bizarre rockabilly record released in 1965 when the singer was just 16. The album, only recently rediscovered by collectors, made virtually no impact upon release, and even the most basic biographical information about Baker remains unknown. Slightly more successful was California garage rock outfit The Crusaders’ 1966 effort Make a Joyful Noise with Drums and Guitar, which combined Yardbirds-influenced originals with electric versions of old chestnuts like “Little Drummer Boy.” Morgantown, West Virginia’s Mind Garage achieved another key milestone when, on March 10, 1968, they performed a psychedelic piece called “The Electric Liturgy” during a church service, with the song’s movements meant to both narrate and accompany the mass. Every modern church that uses praise bands to attract a younger audience owes a debt to Mind Garage. And every modern Christian rocker owes a debt to Larry Norman. Larry Norman was the first artist one could call a “Christian rock star” with a straight face, a strong-willed eccentric with the chutzpah to butt heads with the

mainstream church and the tunes to back him up. His 1969 solo debut Upon This Rock is often called the first major label Christian rock album, although his attempts to win over nonbelievers with a counterculturefriendly aesthetic both drew televangelists’ ire and flopped commercially. Undaunted, he spent the 1970s founding some of the first Christian rock labels, maintaining a halfway house, releasing doggedly catchy albums enlivened by a cheeky sense of humor and touring to increasingly large crowds. By the end of the decade, he was playing for Jimmy Carter on the White House lawn- and he got there without compromising. Norman regularly criticized organized religion and often took the corporate Christian artists who followed him to task for their unoriginality and lack of spiritual conviction. Ironically, he would become a formative influence on the Christian rock establishment which rejected him in his time. He also left his mark on the secular rock world, with a young admirer named Charles Thompson naming his perverse indie rock band’s 1987 debut EP after one of Norman’s catchphrases. The EP Come on Pilgrim by The Pixies.

Cover Story

Isabel Baker

Larry Norman

“I Like God’s Style”

The Joystings “It’s An Open Secret”

Christian Rock Goes Mainstream

Spring 2016

Late ’60s counterculture soon developed a Christian population, known as “Jesus people” or “Jesus freaks,” who sought to return to early church values and often lived in communes. Many of the converted were street musicians, and as they began to add Christian lyrics to their folk-influenced songs, they created the movement’s soundtrack, dubbed “Jesus music.” The advent of Christian music festivals in the 1970s brought this music to a wider audience. Modelled after the massive rock festivals of the ’60s, these festivals gave Jesus music its first real mainstream publicity. The most notable of these festivals was Explo ’72, an evangelism conference in Dallas whose concert finale paired Larry Norman with secular stars like Johnny Cash, all playing for over 100,000 fans. Early Christian festivals leaned heavily towards folk, viewing rock with suspicion ñ Southern rocker Randy Matthews was chased off stage at the 1974 Jesus Festival after announcing an impending tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top, and the first Christian rock festival wasn’t held until 1981. Still, the

“Upon This Rock”

196

The Crusaders

EXPLO ‘72

“Make A Joyful Noise With Drums And Guitar”

rise of Christian festivals kick-started Jesus music’s transformation into the modern Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry. Like many formerly radical elements of the ’60s counterculture, Jesus music had become a mainstream concern by the end of the ’70s. Since many Christian artists distrusted the secular music industry, and since said industry generally couldn’t be bothered with these artists and their ideological baggage anyway, the formation of a proper Christian music industry was a logical next step. Soon there were CCMspecific publications like CCM Magazine, which launched in 1978, as well as an explosion of Christian labels, many of which were affiliated with major labels who were suddenly very interested in this potentially lucrative trend. Things really began to pick up in the early 1980s, as the sale of CCM albums in Christian bookstores became standard practice. Christian radio stations, which thanks to religious exemptions could use extensive transmitter systems to cover broad swaths of the country, began spinning CCM artists. It took a precocious singersongwriter from Nashville named Amy Grant, however, to prove that CCM could succeed outside of its self-imposed boundaries. A teen prodigy with three high-charting CCM albums under her belt by the time she was 20, Grant earned the title “Queen of

Christian Pop” with her 1982 album Age to Age, which sold at such an absurdly higher rate than any CCM album before it that by 1985 it had gone platinum, a first for a Christian pop album. While the reverential piano hymns of Age to Age sold like hotcakes to the evangelical crowd, it wasn’t until Grant hooked up with a secular major label and reinvented herself with a booming ’80s pop sound that mainstream listeners made her the crossover star the CCM industry was now capable of producing. Her 1986 duet with Chicago’s Peter Cetera, “The Next Time I Fall,” was a No. 1 pop hit, but she truly peaked with 1991’s Heart in Motion, a 5x platinum blockbuster with Grant’s first solo No. 1 single, the giddy confection “Baby Baby.” Even if her biggest crossover hits were secular love songs, Grant still put religious songs on her albums and never disowned her CCM roots, unlike many of the Christian stars who would follow the path she paved to mainstream glory. In a post-Amy Grant world, it seemed like anything was possible for CCM. Christian metal? For Stryper, playing glam-metal songs about Jesus and passing out Bibles during concerts proved a winning strategy, with 1986’s To Hell with the Devil going platinum. A larger piece of the music industry pie? With the proliferation of chain Christian bookstores, greater distribution in big-box retailers and more accurate reporting of

20 “To Hell With The Devil”

8 197

CCM Growth Ceased

Amy Grant “Queen of Christian Pop”

sales figures with the adoption of SoundScan in 1995, CCM became the fastest-growing genre of the 1990s. Greater musical diversity? Name a subgenre of rock and it probably had a CCM contingent, from the multiracial rap-rock of DC Talk to Five Iron Frenzy’s spiritual ska to the punk and emo acts on Tooth & Nail Records. But as the new millennium dawned and Christian rock settled into its new identity as a musicindustry behemoth, it soon found itself facing a whole new set of problems.

Backlash and Acceptance When the 21st century music industry began its long downward slide, the CCM industry naturally followed suit. After 1998’s peak of $836 million in album revenue, CCM growth ceased around 2003 and will likely never reach those heights again, with album sales down even as music consumption increases. Around the same time, the label of “Christian rock,” always a contentious one, became undesirable even for bands who selfidentified as Christians. Their fears weren’t unfounded, as being pigeonholed as Christian rock had become both critical kryptonite

Stryper

CCM Magazine

$836

million in album revenue

and a guarantee that secular listeners would ignore your music. Strategies for combating this stigmatization ranged from avoiding CCM-affiliated labels or festivals (Creed, Sufjan Stevens, Cold War Kids) to repeating the old saw about being Christians in a band but not a Christian band in interviews (Anberlin, Switchfoot, Evanescence) to toning down the explicit spirituality in their lyrics and declining to preach from the stage (pretty much everyone). The band Mutemath even sued their record label in 2005 to stop them from promoting the group as Christian. While Christian rock is still a dirty word for many music fans, a wide variety of artists still find a home within the genre’s nebulous confines. Artists with a more conflicted and questioning approach to Christianity, such as Sufjan Stevens and mewithoutYou, win critical plaudits from the indie community. More proudly evangelical bands like Newsboys seem content playing to their loyal, if increasingly niche, CCM audience. Another recent trend finds ambitious young pop artists using the Christian rock scene as a sort of minor league system, where they can hone their chops before storming the secular charts. Emblematic of this trend are Owl City, who recruited Matt Thiessen of Christian pop-punkers Relient K to sing backup on his breakthrough hit “Fireflies,” and Twenty One Pilots, who built much of the grassroots fanbase behind their guerrilla

chart takeover on the Christian festival circuit. After surviving a half-decade’s worth of transformations, Christian rock shows no signs of going away, its existence a firm answer to the question Larry Norman posed with the title of one of his most famous songs: “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?” • Terence Cawley (Biology)

Interview

-AN INTERVIEW WITH-

CAR SEAT

HEADREST By Mayeesha Galiba

In the last few months, Seattle indie rockers Car Seat Headrest have been on the upswing. After the 2016 release of Teens of Denial, the band has drawn sold out crowds and appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert- it’s easy to forget that Car Seat began as the lo-fi solo project of vocalist Will Toledo. Following an electric headlining set at our fall showcase, Tastemakers sat down with Toledo and company to discuss Canadian confections, Skrillex and Car Seat Headrest’s future in politics.

Spring 2016

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): First tell me a little bit about yourselves as a band. Andrew Katz (AK): I’m Andrew, and fun fact: I drum. Seth Dalby (SD): I’m Seth and I play lead bass in Car Seat. Ethan Ives (EI): I’m Ethan, I’m a guitarist. I like hiking and distortion pedals- a lot. Will Toledo (WT): I’m Will and there’s nothing really fun about my life. TMM: I didn’t know you guys were an emo band. So, how were you guys able to make the transition from being self-produced to working with Matador Records? WT: I mean it was a lot of things at once, because we also became a full band at that time and that was what really helped.

It was a great move making that transition between selfproduced to working in a studio. I met Andrew and Ethan at the end of 2014 and we were playing together by the time Matador came along. The first half of 2015 we just spent recording. Teens of Style, our first Matador record, her by the time Matador came along. The first half of 2015 we just spent recording. I produced Teens of Style, our first Matador record, in basically the same way I’d been doing it. Then right after that we went into Teens of Denial, [which] was more similar to a live performance in that we were laying down all the tracks together in the studio. It wasn’t as difficult as I might have expected because we had been playing together as a band for a while at that point. TMM: As you moved away from home recording, how did that change your relationship with the name Car Seat Headrest? WT: I mean, it has definitely evolved. The project has moved into its next phase, and I think my conception of the project allows for that to happen. Even within the self-produced era there were different phases. It started out with just putting out numbered albums, one after the other. Then I started putting more effort into writing, doing about an album a year. Now we’re in phase three, I guess, of Car Seat Headrest which is more full band. Hopefully the same rate of production as far as recording goes.

TMM: Your TV debut was with Stephen Colbert. How did that come about, and what were your reactions when you found out you were going to be on the show? Are there any funny green room stories? AK: How did that come about? Our publicist, Shira, just set it up. When we found out, obviously we were pretty excited but also nervous. I really don’t get nervous for shows, and I don’t think these guys do either, but for that one I was quite nervous. But I think we played well.

When we found out, obviously we were pretty excited but also nervous. As far as funny green room stories go, not much. We got to watch the run-through, the rehearsal, that was kind of fun. They had this little TV up in the corner of the room. We got to watch Colbert shut down jokes like, “We gotta rewrite that joke” or whatever. WT: I liked his rehearsal persona more than the TV persona. He would just be reading the teleprompter, very deadpan, and then after the joke he would just be like, “That doesn’t

la C

o yN sb

m Co n(

ce)

ien

c rS

oto

work, we gotta change that.” I wish he kept that persona for the actual show.

AK: But we didn’t see Tim Kaine naked in the green room.

Interview

TMM: Your songwriting is generally very personal, but do you think you would ever consider using your music for more socio-political issues? WT: I can see it happening. We live in extreme times, that’s for sure. I don’t know if I would go fully political, but I think it makes sense to write about that at times. I would like to keep it within a sort of broader context or emotional context. But I feel like indie-rock is fairly apolitical. AK: I mean, I don’t like to get involved in it. I have my opinions but I’ve gotten into way too many fights with people in real life to put stuff out that pisses people off that much. I like to stay just in the middle. WT: But I feel like we’re not going to [laughs]. TMM: What affect does touring the world full-band will have on your songwriting? WT: We’ll write better songs [laughs]. No, I mean, just having more experiences in life leads to writing better songs. I think the main difference, listening to future records, will be how tight we get as a band and the different places we go. On Teens of Denial we were just starting off. It was just me, Andrew, and Ethan. Seth hadn’t come to us yet. It’s got a sort of garage rock feel, which I like- but I think future albums will be a little more fleshed out, because we’ve got a bigger lineup now and we’ve been playing for long enough that we can really get in sync with each other. TMM: Have you considered collaborating with other artists? What would your dream collaboration be? AK: Skrillex! WT: Yeah, we want to work with Skrillex. It would be mostly production and maybe some guest features. I wouldn’t mind having Frank Ocean do vocals. But yeah, in the future I would like to do an album that’s just sort of built up with a bunch of guest collaborators, like a rap album. But we gotta get more popular first. TMM: Will, you moved from Virginia to Seattle. What was it like to embed yourself into a different music scene? WT: Well there wasn’t much of a music scene in Virginia at all, so it was just kind of starting from nothing. It was a while before I really started getting a taste of the Seattle scene. Even when we were a band, when we started being a band, none of us were really a part of the Seattle music scene and we had a tough time getting gigs before Matador signed us. Even after Matador signed us, just because no one knew who we were. But we slowly got integrated in and we produced Teens of Denial with Steve Fisk, who is a Seattle fixture and has been working there a long time. I feel like after that we sort of got some cred in Seattle and people kind of accepted us there after that. TMM: Your show at The Sinclair a few weeks ago was more than sold-out. How does it feel to start playing sold-out shows? AK: It feels fantastic. Of course, when we first started playing in Seattle no one showed up to our shows. TMM: Is it nerve-wracking, or do you think it motivates you more? AK: It’s way easier to play in front of a packed house than it is to like, six people. WT: There’s always a good energy with sold-out shows, like people are usually really excited to be there. Some shows, it’s kind of hard- there’s a lot of people and they aren’t moving around or making much noise, and it’s hard to tell how you’re doing on stage.

Spring 2016

TMM: Do you like playing college shows? WT: I like how it reminds me of my college in Virginia. Most of the shows I played were at my college, College of William and Mary. Me and Seth played some shows there. And, you know, that was a fun-esque time in my

life. I say I don’t have any fun but if I did, it was in college and this kind of takes me back to that age. TMM: Any last fun tidbits? AK: Anyone got a tidbit? Give her a tidbit! EI: I don’t have any tidbits! AK: Ooh, that reminds me of Timbits. We went to Canada.

The Natural World Phil Elverum

One of the most prolific and idiosyncratic songwriters in the independent music world, Washington-based singer/songwriter Phil Elverum constantly absorbs the natural landscape musically and lyrically. His instrumentation conjures the sounds of nature, whether they be soft or harsh. Taking influence from everyone from acoustic songwriters such as Elliot Smith to extreme metal bands such as Wolves in the Throne Room, Elverum constantly absorbs the musical strains of Northwest America. His lyrics reference the life he lives in Anacortes, Wash. and the vast world he can’t fully explore, but only as an indirect method of understanding his existence. Since 2004, Elverum has created an outlet for himself and others in the Anacortes music scene under his label P. W. Elverum & Sun. He is constantly in conflict with his identity as a melancholy folk songwriter with a somber voice and the untamed nature of his songs and instrumentation. The biggest releases in his sizeable back catalog are truly unique displays of Elverum’s pop

sensibility, interest in nature and off-kilter recording techniques, but there is also excitement in following his career as he figures out how to present his way of life and view of the world in exciting ways. He also offers many rewards for those immersed in his catalog by selling adorned physical copies of his music alongside various journals and posters. This past summer, Elverum announced that his wife and fellow musician Geneviève Elverum was undergoing cancer treatment and created a donation page on the website GoFundMe for medical expenses. Despite the unfortunate passing of his wife in early July, donations passed the initial goal in just a few days with over $100,000. Elverum’s lifetime of prolific touring and recording may not have been able to completely cover his expenses, but the people he and his music affected helped pay it back. • Chris Miller (Accounting/Music Industry)

The Microphones 1996-2003

Although the name implies that there are multiple members, The Microphones was Elverum’s solo recording project from 1996 to 2003. The project was made for Elverum to fine tune his knack for recording experimentation. By 2003, Elverum had collaborated with many local musicians in the Olympia music scene and released several of his studio albums on K Records, a label that released early records by ‘90s alternative icons such as Beck and Modest Mouse. The Microphones had a very unique sound that mixed Elverum’s organic folk songwriting with the noise of ‘90s punk. On the surface, some of these songs may sound amateur due to the sloppy guitar takes and Elverum’s boyish and untamed voice, but many of these aspects gave his music character.

Etcetera

The Glow Pt. 2 (2001) This record is the definite entry point for The Microphones and Elverum’s music in general. Other than being an important landmark in lo-fi music, this album is extremely immersive. Elverum delivers quaint acoustic numbers, sprawling instrumental epics, fuzzed out sonic mayhem and everything in between. The songs are bound together by Elverum’s obsession with his place in nature and how the environment affects his relationships with people. Elverum’s studio trickery is the most realized on this record. Despite the somewhat ramshackle recording, the mix is at times psychedelic due to the panned guitars and natural sounds emerging from each channel. One song will be warm and inviting, but the next song will bring in the storm; he just hopes that you stay for the ride. Highlights: “I Want Wind to Blow”, “The Moon”, “You’ll be in the Air.” Spring 2016

Mount Eerie (2003) This album serves as the grand finale to The Microphones. The album plays like a musical, and guest musicians act in a story of personal discovery. The premise sounds a bit over the top, but the album can be enjoyed as another ambitious album that contorts the idea of what conventional folk songwriting is. Many of the songs shift quickly from one idea to another with many percussive interludes. The intro song is a slow burner, but once the album kicks into high gear, many parts achieve the brilliance its predecessor did. Highlights: “Solar System”, “Universe”

Early Mount Eerie Releases 2004-2008

Black Wooden Ceiling Opening (2008) This album is a recording of a group formed under the Mount Eerie name in 2006. It is the introduction to Elverum’s self-named black wooden genre, a somewhat vague mix of folk and black metal. The EP features a mix of new and old songs that are performed in a new evolution of this black wooden style, which at this time was a take on hardcore punk with a touch of extreme metal. The dynamic between Elverum’s softer voice and the crushing riffs makes it a stand out in his discography. Highlights: “Appetite”, “Stop Singing”

After ending The Microphones and spending several months in a small Norwegian town, Elverum started a new project named after his last Microphones album, which is a reference to a mountain he grew up near off the coast of Washington. He also changed his last name’s spelling, showing that he was renewing his identity as a way of escaping the sudden success of his former project. Elverum began to record and rework a set of songs that he wrote during his isolated stay in Norway, and in the releases during this period you might hear the same song recorded three different times or a familiar lyric or vocal melody from a song he already laid to tape. Elverum has made this his calling card, and the songwriting technique recalls the folk tradition of song interpretation. Many of the releases in this time frame are less ambitious in scope then his Microphones output; nevertheless, there are definitely some varied and interesting bursts of creativity.

Dawn (2008) Although released in 2008, this album is a companion to the journal of songs Elverum wrote while in Norway in 2003. Many of the songs on Dawn were recorded in various forms previously, but here they are in bare acoustic form. Besides being a nice summation of this more introspective part of Elverum’s life, it is a must-listen for people who are into melancholy, yet engaging, acoustic music. The fact that the music is unadorned may seem like a negative for a very instrumentally ambitious artist, but the bareness of the songs truly showcase how talented of a songwriter Elverum is when he sheds his arrangements. Elverum’s Thoreau-like trek into isolation for personal revelation also provides quite an interesting context for the lyrics. Highlights: “Moon Sequel”, “Wooly Mammoth’s Mighty Absence” , “Great Ghosts”

Recent Mount Eerie Releases

After the heap of material Elverum released in the first years of Mount Eerie and countless re-workings of material, he started to focus on bigger standalone releases. Although the gaps between his releases have widened, he still continues to stretch his musical space further.

2009-Present

Etcetera

Sauna (2015)

Winds Poem (2009) This is the final evolution of the black wooden genre, and actually fits the name. Elverum takes his usual style of folk and brings in the roar of pummeling tremolo picked guitars that evoke many of the American black metal bands of the Northwest. The songs range from complete metal to quiet drones and a mix of both. The soft/loud dynamic plays into the lyrical motif of wind as a two sided force of nature. There is definitely a “Twin Peaks” vibe with the synthesizer sounds on this album too. Though sometimes harsh, many of the metal aspects of the album do not overreach, and Elverum’s songwriting is still very poignant and memorable. Highlights: “Wind’s Dark Poem, “Through the Trees”, “Lost Wisdom Pt. 2”

Spring 2016

Allegedly the end of the Mount Eerie moniker, the album has some of his most expansive songs, and the flow of the album mimics the sharp sonic turns that a Microphones album might have. The influence of ambient drone and drone metal reaches a peak on this release, and the soothing sounds evoke the feeling of a stay in a sauna. His lyrics are once again dual sided, portraying a sauna as a form of escapism that is soothing but also isolating. With the future of Mount Eerie uncertain, Sauna makes for a good entry point and another peak of Elverum’s catalog. Highlights: “Boat”, “Planets” , “Spring”

PITCH SHIFT:

POP GONE CHIPMUNK

The level of anticipation for the follow up to Frank Ocean’s 2012 studio album had been huge. More than a year after it was set to be announced, the album, titled Blonde, was finally released. But for all those fans who had waited so long to hear Frank Ocean sing one of his own songs again, the album didn’t open with the Frank they expected. Rather, the first song on Blonde begins with Frank Ocean’s voice pitched up to helium-warble, resembling a profane

Alvin and The Chipmunks more than Marvin Gaye or Prince. The strangest part is that this squeaky-voiced alter ego probably didn’t confound too many fans. Recent pop music has taken to using digital technology on the human voice with zeal, creating pitches and personas along the way. The idea of “chipmunk soul” is usually attributed to Kanye West, who spent the early ‘00s crafting joyous, sped-up singalongs for peers like Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Common.

West was certainly not the first to have some fun with the ability to shift the pitch of the human voice, since artists have been doing it since the 1950s heyday of Alvin and Chipmunks, but West was one of the first to present these goofily high voices as a normal thing, i.e. not a jokey studio experiment. Although the idea of chipmunk soul began there, the modern trend of vocal pitch shifting has leapfrogged Mr. West, who always worked with existing tracks that were

then sampled by him and altered. Today, even the biggest pop stars and rappers throw their voices through pitch technology without a moment’s notice. One of 2015’s biggest hits, “Where are Ü Now”, was a collaboration between Justin Bieber and dance-music godheads Skrillex and Diplo that transformed Bieber’s voice into a sound more comparable to an especially musical dolphin. Rappers are fond of pitch shifting too – Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky peppers his songs with ad-libs of his voice slowed down to impossibly low registers, as if he was in the booth with Darth Vader. For rap music, this idea comes from Houston’s chopped and screwed aesthetic, a style of hip-hop remix that slows entire tracks down to a woozy, trippy pace. World-famous rappers like Drake, Lil Wayne and, you guessed it, Kanye West, have hopped on this trend as

well. At this point in time, the reference is almost an expected part of rap. Even more staid or traditional genres like indie rock have toyed with sped-up or slowed-down voices. The first single from Bon Iver’s new record 22, A Million constructs a choir out of Justin Vernon’s voice split across pitches that range into chipmunk territory, and hands the song’s best hook to a chipmunk’d Vernon. This pitchshifting fever isn’t a new look in Indie either - Vampire Weekend’s 2013 album Modern Vampires of the City featured songs that took frontman Ezra Koenig’s voice to deep, slurred levels of pitch and then back up to chipmunk register in the span of a single song. It seems safe to say that modern pop music’s fascination with wild pitch manipulation is here to stay. In a digital era where video and sound manipulation is a smartphone tap away, it makes sense that we

would become more relaxed about computer technology taking the human voice to wider (and stranger) ranges than ever before. I once saw Kanye West’s chipmunk’d vocals compared to the carefree fun of playing with different RPM speeds on a record player while the record is playing. The availability of computer pitch-shifting technology is helping pop, rock, hip hop and dance music reconnect with its inner child, creating fun, strange, new sounds along the way. • Seth Queeney (Communication Studies)

Show Reviews Brand New October 15 @ Cross Insurance Arena

Reviews

Brand New shows often sell out in minutes, as scalpers and ticket bots are well aware of the Long Island band’s passionate fan base, and floor spots for their latest tour with The Front Bottoms and Modern Baseball were snatched up immediately. Coming off of a summer run with Modest Mouse during which they hinted at a 2018 breakup, the band announced last month that they would not be releasing their highly anticipated new record until next year. The good news was that they would play the entirety of 2006’s The Devil & God are Raging Inside Me on this tour, and the Internet seemed in collective agreement that this would be one hell of a consolation prize. The GA line snaked around Cross Insurance Arena until doors opened, though the seats did not fill up nearly as quickly as the floor. The median age for the show skewed toward the younger side; Modern Baseball and Front Bottoms shirts filled the front rows. Stragglers mostly concerned with seeing Brand New waited in line for drinks and slowly filled the rest of the arena as Modern Baseball got things started. Their

set was heavy on this year’s heartfelt Holy Ghost, peppered with 2 songs from their back catalog. Energetic and easygoing, they got the crowd up and moving quickly, but saved the real emotional punches for the later acts. Next up were New Jersey’s The Front Bottoms, whose miniature living room setup included couches, lamps, and, endearingly, two friends sitting on stage drinking beers. The band was clearly a favorite in the arena, as it’s rare for an opening act to generate such a rowdy crowd and loud sing-alongs. Similar to Modern Baseball, the Front Bottoms display an unpretentious camaraderie; frontman Brian Sella told the crowd he was going to go outside and smoke a joint after their set while a tiny television broadcasting Jaws flickered at one corner of the stage. Though the openers were well received, as the members of Brand New walked out to deafening screams, it became clear why we were all there. Jesse Lacey blurted out a quick “hello” before being drowned out

by the opening riff of “Mene,” one of the 2 new tracks released this year. This was followed immediately with the other, “I Am a Nightmare,” and several cuts off of 2003’s beloved Deja Entendu, which the crowd ate up. The joy in the air was almost tangible as hundreds of kids on the floor shouted “Die young and save yourself!” at the end of “Sic Transit Gloria.” Surprisingly, there were no tracks from Daisy, but rather a surprise acoustic cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” that transitioned into Deja closer “Play Crack the Sky.” Afterwards, the band briefly exited and returned right into the powerful “Sowing Season (Yeah).” When the song ended and Lacey announced, “We are Brand New, and this is ‘The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me’,” I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt chills. Devil and God is considered the favorite for a majority of Brand New fans, and, when accompanied by a dynamic light show, experiencing the album live was emotionally jarring. Standouts included the heartbreaking “Limousine,” which references the true story of a young girl who was decapitated in a car accident, instrumental “Welcome to Bangkok,” and the end of “Luca,” during which many people in the crowd nearly fell to the ground from an intense bout of thrashing. The final track on Devil and God, “Handcuffs,” was perhaps the quietest moment of the night. Instead of going out with a bang, the band went with “Untitled” and an extended outro, ending the show on a more thoughtful note.

Justine Cowan (Business) Spring 2016

Justine Cowan (Business)

Brand New Justine Cowan (Business)

Ash October 3 @ Middle East Upstairs The album anniversary concert is an inherently nostalgic proposition, but at Ash’s recent Middle East show, the nostalgia was multilayered. On one level, the Northern Irish power-pop band was marking the 20th anniversary of their debut album, but on another level the evening was a celebration of the year which that album’s title commemorates: 1977. That’s the year Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols and Star Wars came out, and the convergence point between the former’s punk energy and the latter’s endearing nerdiness is the sweet spot Ash hit with 1977’s exuberant yet wistful evocations of youth. Recapturing that feeling is far from easy, but Ash remain perfectly up to the task. Jeremy and the Harlequins’ opening set was an instructive lesson on the limitations of nostalgia taken too far. Before the young Brooklyn band played a single note, their leather jackets and slicked-back hair made it clear that their sound would pay homage to the ‘50s and early ‘60s. Rockabilly sleaze, surf-rock twang, Bo Diddley beats, slowdance waltzes- every stylistic trope present on the jukebox at your local Johnny Rockets was faithfully replicated by Jeremy and the

Harlequins. While the songs were catchy and well-crafted, the last thing we as a civilization need right now is more secondhand nostalgia for the days before the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and the hepatitis B vaccine. Unlike many bands who make it to the anniversary tour stage of their careers, Ash has not lost any original members, meaning that the power trio who played 1977 at the Middle East is the same one that played those songs while opening for Weezer on the North American leg of their Pinkerton tour. Since two-thirds of the band were teenagers when the album came out, and since 20 years really isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, it’s hardly surprising that Ash were able to tap back into 1977’s adolescent spirit with ease. While the whole album sounded great, Ash really hit their stride with the third track, “Girl from Mars,” a fizzy sugar high which singer/guitarist Tim Wheeler launched into the stratosphere with a jetpack of a guitar solo. From that point on, even slower numbers like the singalong-inducing “Oh Yeah” crackled with life. The faster songs, meanwhile, were almost unbearably enjoyable, none more so than the goofy “Kung Fu,” which was just as much a tribute to The

Ramones as it was to Jackie Chan. Wheeler held an appropriately sunny demeanor throughout, frequently joking with fans and expressing his gratitude. Having finished 1977, Ash proceeded to round out the main set with four more tunes from the band’s mid- ‘90s beginnings, including their poppy first single “Jack Names the Planets” and a cover of one of Wheeler’s “guilty pleasures,” ABBA’s “Does Your Mother Know.” The first order of business upon returning for the encore was attempting to honor a request for the Ash version of “Cantina Band” from Star Wars. They only remembered the first minute or so, but it was still a neat little nod to the 1977 origin story. After four more recent songs which proved that Ash’s aptitude for guitar-pop goodness has survived the ‘90s intact, the band made their exit. And lo, that exit was a triumphant one, for Ash had just delivered that rarest of things: an anniversary concert which leaves fans excited for the band’s future.

Terence Cawley (Biology)

Built to Spill October 4 @ Paradise Rock Club

Reviews

Fans convened at Paradise Rock Club for the second and final show of Built to Spill’s fall 2016 visit to Boston. This was the only city to get two nights of performances, and it was such a lucky opportunity to see bands of this caliber playing together. Kicking off this ridiculously stacked bill was Philadelphia’s rising lo-fi/indie singersongwriter Alex G. Backed with his full band, the short, 30 minute set was emotional, engaging, and filled mostly with songs from Trick, DSU, and his 2015 Domino Records debut Beach Music. Typically his recorded music sticks to the sound of his more mellow bedroom-pop roots, but seeing Alex G play live as a band gives his songs an entirely different, upfront and commanding feel. His screams during “Icehead” grabbed the attention of everyone in the venue. This dynamic shift alone made seeing them live a worthwhile experience. Next up was another Philadelphia-native band, Hop Along. Frances Quinlan’s powerful and unique vocals led the band through a wonderfully energetic set. It was packed with songs off of 2015’s Painted Shut (#7 on Tastemakers top 10 albums of 2015), save “Tibetan Pop Stars” as the

closer, and a surprising cover of The Weeknd’s enormous hit “The Hills”. The set was loud and exciting and was everything a fan could hope for from their live performance. Finally, the 22-year-old indie rock band from Boise emerged on stage. Led by the original frontman and creator of the band, Doug Martsch, they performed as a three-piece on this tour with Steve Gere on drums and Jason Albertini playing bass. The band indulged the crowd with a very long set, pulling songs from many of their past releases (with a CCR cover tossed in), mixing up the setlist considerably from night one. The band presented little in the way of theatrics, with minimal movement around the stage or talk between songs, but theatrics were not needed to keep the audience fully captivated by the performance. The set was built up with long solos from Martsch throughout, and toying with the number of effects pedals he had both in front of him and beside him. Despite a serious and subtle stage performance, you couldn’t help but see Martsch flash a smile a few times as the crowd sang along.

Sadly, however, it was a struggle to hear Martsch’s vocals as he sang. I was not there for the first night, so I don’t know if it was intentional to keep the vocals quiet, or just an error in the sound. Despite a few yells early on of “we can’t hear the lyrics!”, it didn’t seem to change through the remainder of the performance. But even with this minor distraction, it would be very difficult to walk out of this show with any feeling of disappointment. The impressive solos and sheer breadth of songs they played made their performance feel full and unique. To see all three bands play together, and in a club as jammed as Paradise Rock, made it a really special evening.

Alex Wetzel (Business Administration)

Spring 2016

In Defense Of KID CONGO + PINK MONKEY BIRDS La ARANA ES LA VIDA Brian Tristan is a man who can truly say he has seen it all. Under the moniker Kid Congo Powers, Tristan has been playing guitar with punk royalty for more than thirty years. After meeting and becoming friends with the legendary Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Kid Congo Powers embarked on an illustrious 20-year career that would have left even a casual observer of the 80’s LA punk scene seething with jealousy. Following a brief stint with The Gun Club, Powers was whisked away to play for The Cramps, and what followed is history. Between then and the formation of his solo project in 2006, Powers played alongside the Flesh Eaters, Michael Gira in his Angels of Light project and Nick Cave as a regular touring member of the Bad Seeds. All of this brings us to Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds and their 2016 release La Araña Es La Vida. For a man with such a distinguished backstory, his output with the Pink Monkey Birds has been criminally underrated and overlooked. Starting in 2009, Kid Congo and Co. have released an album consistently every two years on LA-based indie label In the Red. For the unaware listener, this project with the Pink Monkey Birds should send up several red flags that would normally send any music fan running in the opposite direction without a second thought. Given the general stigma and (often unfortunate) disinterest in the solo works of members from well-regarded bands, it’s a wonder that Brian Tristan has been able to maintain a solid solo career well into his 50s. Even more incredibly, the output from this most recent foray has been increasingly inventive and consistently captivating with each new release. La Araña Es La Vida picks up where Powers’ last release, 2013’s Haunted Head, left off. An album of straightforward garage rock that kept its head down and stuck to its strengths, Haunted Head was a solid record that stood on its own with a solid mix of gritty guitar riffs, tight drumming and slightly unhinged lyrics that created an extremely compelling listening experience. La Araña follows suit with much of the same, but like any good sequel it builds upon the thematic elements of its predecessor. It’s easy to see where Powers draws upon his time spent with The Cramps in songs like

“Magic Machine”and “La Araña” with their vintage LA punk guitar riffs, muddy vocals and choruses that jump right out of the song and enthrall. In his recent output, and La Araña especially, Tristan showcases his ability to capture that perfect punk ethos in crafting songs that are simple in structure yet hit the listener in a way that never fails to draw them in. Powers doesn’t shy away from his Latin heritage and instead incorporates it thematically and musically. It is nearly impossible to describe, but when listening to both Haunted Head and this most recent album, listeners are left conjuring some fantastical mixture of a vintage Spaghetti Western and a frightening Mexican folk tale. It’s no small wonder that Powers is a self-described voodoo guitarist from the psychedelic jungle. This album is a marvelous fusion of early Chicano rock and a raw, primitive sound that is sure to please any fan of the recent West Coast garage renaissance. All these things and more play into Kid Congo’s ability to create captivating imagery in ways other than just through lyrics. As far as the individual tracks are concerned, opener “Psychic Future” is a stomping, raucous track with a driving sound that is matched in intensity only by “Ricky Ticky Tocky,” found towards the middle of the track listing. These tracks are punctuated by the wildly entertaining, yet lilting melodic sounds of tracks like “Chicano Studies” and “Coyote Conundrum” that are as humorous as they are catchy. “Karate Monkey” is a fast-paced fingerpicking romp that somehow manages to sound exactly as the title describes. La Araña Es La Vida is a wildly entertaining record through and through that deserves the recognition of a project created by a man with not just an incredible backstory, but one with a promising future. • Joe Bondi (Business)

Feature

The Future of Us All: AN ODE TO THE FANGIRL

TAKE A SECOND to think about “teenage girl music.” What popped into your head? One Direction? Justin Bieber? Some sensationalized maledominated group that plays to the poor, little hearts of girls everywhere? Well, fuck that. I love One Direction. I like Justin Bieber. And one more thing: THERE’S NO RIGHT WAY TO LIKE MUSIC. Why would we pre-determine categories of art or genres of music for such a large and diverse group? When you say teenage girl, you are automatically pointing towards every female in the world from ages 13 to 19. And that’s a lot of fucking people. Don’t push conformity onto young women who shouldn’t and can’t be combined into one homogenous mass. By doing so, you’re perpetuating the myth that women exist in a vacuum of blind, disingenuous consumption. That not only discredits young girls’ ability to engage with things in a sincere way, but it automatically writes off bands with a strong young, female following as lacking in substance. There shouldn’t be an inherent alienation solely based on the fact that target audiences for those bands have tended to shift towards a particular group of people. Spring 2016

By continuously invalidating the interests and passions of young women, we are telling them that there isn’t a place for them in music or other areas of life. Music is life changing, and it’s often life saving. Growing up is confusing, and we each experience a plethora of events that may lead to depression, insecurity, and uncertainty, among other things. Something like music - something both tangible and intangible - can serve as a constant in an otherwise “in flux” life. Music is a vessel through which people can let out negative feelings, celebrate happiness and explore new communities when they feel they cannot fit into mainstream society. Elitists, take note.

ON TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FAN GIRLS Even after this initial de-legitimization (as if that weren’t bad enough), young girls that still feel confident enough to participate in their scene often find themselves in compromising situations, coerced by their idols into doing something they don’t want to do. There is a level of hypocrisy involved here - men in the music industry dislike and devalue fangirls until they are on the receiving end of the attention. Men in positions of power have always taken advantage of women, and the trend definitely is equally present in the sphere of music. Artists like Front Porch Step and Austin Jones have faced multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment, often involving minors. Though they have addressed the accusations on social media, they have dealt with scant repercussions.

“THERE’S NO RIGHT WAY TO LIKE MUSIC.” Between 2014 and 2015, artist Front Porch Step (Jake McElfresh) faced multiple accusations of sexual harassment, many of which were circulated through Tumblr. According to the surfaced allegations, the singer habitually sent and received nude photos from underage girls. After a Change.org petition calling for McElfresh’s removal from Vans Warped Tour garnered over 13,000 signatures, founder Kevin Lyman nixed him from the lineup. However, Front

Porch Step still managed to appear at Warped Tour’s Nashville date, sparking outrage from concertgoers and fellow performers. In an interview with Billboard, one young woman described her interactions with McElfresh: the singer repeatedly asked for nude photos, his accuser said, often resorting to emotional manipulation to achieve that end. She was 16 at the time of their correspondence. In 2015, singer/songwriter Austin Jones was accused of sending young fans a “how-to twerk” video to convince them to send back twerking videos of themselves. One fan, Ashley, was 13 when Jones began direct messaging her on Twitter. The singer’s manipulative messages were designed to guilt his young fans, playing to their love of him and his music. He, like McElfresh, was set to join Warped Tour but was consequently kicked off. He continues to make music and grow a relatively loyal fan base, despite his multiple encounters with underage women. The various ways in which male musicians continue to prey upon their teenage fan bases is grossly manipulative, sending the message that taking advantage of young girls’ adoration is not only totally normal, but an act that will not result in appropriate repercussions. These situations are not the result of a “lack of judgment,” but very clear decisions made by adult men who, honestly, should know better. A simple Facebook apology does not excuse sexual harassment or assault. This imbalance in power between fan and musician diminishes the bodily autonomy held by teenage girls, reinforcing the perverse idea that this demographic of music consumers must offer up part of themselves to the musicians they idolize in order to be taken seriously.

THE FUTURE OF FAN GIRLS

damaging to the future of the music industry. People often look for themselves in the interests they hold. If teenage girls cannot find this, what encouragement do they have to chase after their musical dreams? An industry that does not encourage, support and advocate on behalf of women provides a dim hope for its future.

“LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE, AND LET OTHERS DO THE SAME.” But it doesn’t have to be this way. From the bottom up, it is possible to restructure both the scene and the industry. For starters, teenage girls must be allowed to engage with the music they adore with open arms, free of judgment. It is not a bold claim to make, and all music lovers will be better off because of it. The scene will be a more amicable place if we all enjoy what pleases us without infringing upon another’s enjoyment. Simply put - like what you like, and let others do the same. As a whole, we must stop attempting to police music. Music does not correspond with gender roles, SO DON’T GENDER MUSIC. We must erase from the collective music fans’ mind that certain bands are only for certain demographics, and that to like such bands is a sign of poor taste and lack of substance. Women have to justify 99.9 percent of other things in their lives; don’t force them to justify their musical choices. Music scenes and industries can form networks of thriving communities in which the pursuit of passions can benefit infinite numbers of individuals. It would be shameful to root out future generations of these communities simply because they are young and female. Teenage girls are geniuses in the making who are simply looking for fulfilling paths to develop their passions into brilliant creative endeavors. Their music, their choice.

• Mayeesha Galiba (Political Science and Journalism) & Sarah Kotowski (Economics)

It’s no wonder that young girls are discouraged from pursuing musical passions, whether it is the consumption of music or working in the industry themselves. Inequality in the industry runs rampant, with a skewed focus placed on male musicians, sound techs, producers, etc. Lack of representation is

All Aboard t Editorial

EVENT FAN REACTION

It’s the announced release date and Tundra is not released.

HYPE LEVEL

Kind of like when a young kid waits in line for 90 minutes in the hot sun to ride a roller coaster and gets to the front to find they’re too short. Except instead of it being children crying and screaming in a public park, it’s mostly full-grown adults crying and screaming on the Internet. Anxiety is high, but the hype is only higher.

Lead singer Leslie Jawn decides to leave his social media accounts open and let his cat walk on the keyboard. The result is an incomprehensible status update. Rumblings on various blogs. Some are convinced the time is nigh; others are a bit more skeptical. Band makes series of nine Vines, announcing in Latin that new music will be released in exactly one week. Initial: Nothing. Nobody speaks Latin. A few hours later: Fans are basking in the warm feeling of anticipation. Streaming numbers for PW’s back catalog increases, bloggers speculate about possible tracklistings, merchandise sales skyrocket the people are ready.

Three years after the release of their critically acclaimed last album, PW is now finished with their highly anticipated follow up, and ready to start promoting. Spring 2016

Still in the dark.

RECORDING FINISHED

EVENT

the Hype

Tra

PW releases Tundra on all platforms.

PW release a link that sends 10% of people to their new single. The other 90% are redirected to a website that asks their height and weight, then cuts to a video of people laughing at them.

Ecstasy. Festivals spontaneously materialize in the streets. Polar Witchcraft thank fans for joining them on the hype train, instructing them to exit on the left.

People are starting to think that weight thing might have been a little much, but the single makes its way around. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so good that people forget about the abuse. Fans are still waiting with bated breath for the final release.

In the past months and years we have seen - and maybe taken part in - the phenomena of ridiculous album hype. Daft Punk, Kanye West, Radiohead, Frank Ocean all generally seem to follow a model of doing something cryptic and watching the Internet explode. But those artists have nothing on Polar Witchcraft, a fake band I just made up, and what will happen when they release their 2018 album, Tundra. â&#x20AC;˘ Jonathan Vayness (Psychology)

TIMELINE

ALBUM LAUNCH

Editorial

NO MORE ANARC Is Anarchism Still a Feasible Ideology In Music?

“I’m not a conservative, I’m still the same anarchist punk I was when I was 18.” This quote by VICE magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes was a response to the opposition he faced from the current artistic underground he helped breed as a writer in the ’90s. For him and many other punk veterans, the values that once brought society’s outsiders together have now been pushed to the fringe. When punk became a defined cultural movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it created a free market of ideas from artists and fans. The young people interested in punk music had one thing in common: they wanted to see change against the status quo. They hated that people had unquestioned control over them through a government they felt they didn’t elect. The broadest group were those who ran under the anarchist flag, and anti-conformist attitudes arose in punk bands both popular and underground. The Sex Pistols were one of the flagbearers for the general anarchist notions against the establishment, labeling the UK government as a “fascist regime” in their song “God Save the Queen.” As one digs further underground, the bands under the anarcho-punk movement begin to focus on more specific causes. Spring 2016

Legendary punk collective Crass used their music and extracurricular demonstrations to promote environmentalism and anti-consumerism. Others, such as the Dead Kennedys, opposed censorship: the band found themselves in constant conflict over their name and their artwork. While outside the typical anarchist tag, Minor Threat penned the Straight Edge movement as a lifestyle alternative to the drug culture surrounding the punk underground. Despite having different social and economic views that each band passionately promoted, freedom of speech is what tied many artists and fans together. With free speech came those who provoked, whether it be offensive icons or white supremacist “skinheads.” No matter how polarizing a view can be, punks believed you had the right to say it free from censorship by a political power. Punk bands (and fans) felt a shared sentiment in being outside society’s set ideologies, and they needed an environment to speak their minds and critique freely. They also celebrated individualism, as many of them felt disconnected from homogenous mainstream movements. One

could argue that punk culture was built on the idea that fighting political power was pointless, but even the loose groups inside the punk underground could come together for demonstrations.

“No matter how polarizing a view can be, punks believed you had the right to say it free from censorship by a political power.” The political movements once found in the ’80s have been overshadowed by the modern nonconformist. While many punks are still anti-establishment, the perception of government has radically changed. For example, Bernie Sanders promoted many large government policies during his presidential campaign that the underground community now champions. While these people are still opposed to many politicians and specific legislation, they have much more positive attitude towards the power of bureaucracy if they have a say in it.

CHY IN THE U.K. With Sanders’ platforms becoming commonplace in the current Democratic Party, the modern punk’s ideals are becoming partisan, whether they like that or not.

“Instead of saying ‘the government is corrupt, we must resist it,’ the modern punk says, ‘the government is corrupt, but we can change it for the better.’” For example, Christian Holden, singer for the punk band The Hotelier and a selfdescribed anarchist, regularly promotes Democratic movements. Instead of saying, “the government is corrupt, we must resist it,” the modern punk says, “the government is corrupt, but we can change it for the better.” Free speech is the clearest tenant of punk anarchism that is under attack in the current music underground. This negative view can be mostly attributed to the change from individualism to collectivism in the punk subculture. The ’80s punk thought independence made you happy, but many

modern punks feel that inclusiveness is the key to happiness – and that means restricting some personal freedoms. In this way, the DIY underground has made some rules of its own. Many venues now promote safe spaces and nongendered bathrooms in an attempt to set a standardized ethical code. These “laws” that are becoming more commonplace show a confidence in order and control that oldworld anarchists resisted. The UK referendum this June also showed a dramatic shift in how the underground subculture views government and big business. Many wanted to remain in the EU, thereby guaranteeing lower costs for UK music and book tours through mainland Europe. The desire to keep the

“The modern hipster thinks inclusiveness is the key to happiness, which means restricting some personal freedoms.”

established political power centralized in Europe and promote policies in the interests of corporations would anger the typical anarcho-punk. The DIY ethic many ’80s punk bands championed has been thrown out the window – and to an extent, that’s understandable. Artists have their own best interests in mind, and that means benefiting the small and large corporations they work for as well. With the current dominant political ideology in modern punk music, classic anarchism is no longer a sustainable way of thinking for the indie musician. Many of the issues anarchists once faced, such as music censorship, have been mostly put to rest. The DIY underground culture (and results of the UK referendum) suggest that the anarchist musician’s opposition to government is no longer practical, as the modern musician needs protection with travel Visas and copyright laws. The anarchist punk is now truly the outcast. • Chris Miller (Accounting / Music Industry)

Editorial

I DESIGNED ALBUM COVERS FOR VIPER THE RAPPER First, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Viper’s former director of merchandise, graphic designer and so-called “bae.” You may recognize my work from such classics as Ketamine N’ Rimjobs, Kid Tested Mom Approved and She Still Suckin. Throughout my tenure, I designed dozens of album covers for the Houston rapper. You may assume that designing this many covers would be a Herculean task, and normally you’d be right. But when your client releases a new album every day, “normal” doesn’t factor into the equation. Lee Carter, nom de plume Viper, is more than just your average crack salesman. Behind the gangsta rap persona, he’s got quite the resumé as a high school graduate at the age of 16, an amateur pianist, and a University of Houston alum with a business degree. He’s the CEO of FreeMovers.com and a licensed real estate broker. Still, rap is his main passion. In 2008, he broke into the game with his hit single “You’ll Cowards Don’t Even Smoke Crack,” a song that addresses the question we’ve all been asking: How can you be successful if you haven’t even smoked crack? His deep vocals over Houston-style chopped and screwed beats evoke a dreamy feeling, like falling into a pool and dying. Following the success of Cowards, he’s stayed relevant through a slew of new releases – one album per day, every day since 2008, resulting in a discography that would make Frank Zappa blush. So how did yours truly secure a job with the most prolific musician of all time?

Spring 2016

“

Arguably Viper’s magnum opus.

My Descent Into Hell

Hell Gets Hotter

Like any normal person, I base my self-worth off of how many rappers follow me on Twitter (four, by the way). So when Viper tweeted out a call for graphic designers, I jumped at the opportunity. It seemed like pretty easy work – and entertaining, to boot. Viper was delighted to hear from me. We scheduled a phone conference the next day, where he laid out his simple desires. He wanted to become the next Jay-Z, the “next Puff Daddy Combs”.

As our professional relationship developed, so did our personal one. My nicknames went from “fam” to “bae” to “babygirl.” He called me to say that I was beautiful, and what was my ethnicity, and would I like to take an all-expense-paid trip to Houston to chill at his crib? (Thanks, half Asian, um.) He even promoted me to director of merchandise in a little under a week. Viper was enamored and, really, I can’t blame him. Sadly, the interest was not mutual, and what had started as an amusing pastime rapidly devolved into sheer terror. Viper texted me every single day. Once in a while, he would pitch the idea of flying to Boston to visit me. As fun as a Viper show at AfterHours sounds, I wasn’t too keen on it myself. It’s always hard to reject a suitor. It’s even harder when the suitor is a 30-year-old Texan rapper/crack salesman/real estate broker that knows your full name and where you live. But I assured myself there was no reason to worry. The whole thing would blow over, ending as quickly as it began.

“

[Viper] wanted to become the next Jay-Z, the next ‘Puff Daddy Combs’.”

And then he asked me to marry him. In order to accomplish this, he’d need albums, a lot of them, to the tune of 20 covers a day. Each cover had to use a different font. He sent me hundreds of images to choose from, all low-res photos of scantily clad women I’m pretty sure he Googled “sexy girl” to find. This broke almost every design rule in existence, but being a true vanguard of aesthetic, I said yes. His promises to take care of me for life and give me 20,000 shares of FreeMovers.com stock were too glamorous to resist.

His deep vocals over Houston-style chopped and screwed beats evoke a dreamy feeling, like falling into a pool and dying.” Do you think about death often?

Oh, God. Oh God, Oh God, Oh God

The Aftermath

The man responsible for “You’ll Cowards Don’t Even Smoke Crack” proposed to me over text, saying that with his big rap earnings, we’d move in to a big house in Houston and live happily ever after. If you’d like a visualization of what was going through my head at the time, throw an egg on the ground and piss on it and you’ll be pretty close. Surprisingly, Viper took rejection well. He apologized, wished me a good night and went on his way.

Since then, some things have changed and some haven’t. I no longer work for Viper. We’ve been out of touch for over a year, although he did recently send me a friend request on Venmo. I still base my selfesteem off of number of rapper followers (three). I wish I had a moral for this story, but I shouldn’t have to tell you people not to accept a job with a crack-addled rapper you met on Twitter. Go walk dogs or something.

The next morning, he asked if I was mad.

• Allison Bako (Animation)

A Sampling Of My Work

Etcetera Spring 2016

Tom Odell, Royale

Photo by Lauren Scornavacca (Engineering)

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST Western Mass Musicians

(see page 18 for full story)

1. “Glory Glory” – And The Kids 2. “Secret Makeout Factory” – And The Kids 3. “Raising the Skate” – Speedy Oritz 4. “The Spins” – Potty Mouth 5. “Little Trouble Girl” – Sonic Youth 6. “Washing Machine” – Sonic Youth 7. “Creeper” –And The Kids 8. “Friends Share Lovers” – And The Kids 9. “Picture” –And The Kids 10. “Devastation Celebration” –And The Kids

Although I wouldn’t call western Mass. a cultural hub, the region does attract a substantial community of musicians. The little sister to Boston’s music scene, the Northampton/Amherst music scene is grungy, quirky, and pretty kick ass for the middle of nowhere. • Emily Arntsen (Major)

Find the playlist at sptfy.com/322B

ZOOMED Can you tell which six album covers we’ve zoomed in on here?

Drake Views Glass Animals How To Be A Human Being Local Natives Sunlit Youth 2nd Row:

Yeasayer Amen & Goodbye Kishi Bashi Sonderlust Chance the Rapper Coloring Book 1st Row:

FIND KANYE

Like what you read? Check us out online. tastemakersmag.com @tastemakersmag 