SXSW – Is it the best music festival?

March 15th, 2010 • Commentary, Op-Ed, Texas
Tags: austin, FM Belfast, sxsw

There is certainly no music festival in the United States quite like the famed South by Southwest festival (SXSW) held annually in and around Austin, Texas. It is an absolute certainty to say that students of the University of Texas and workers in the Texas government are very lucky to have this one-of-a-kind event invade their city every year.

The truly special thing about SXSW when compared to other large-scale music festivals in the United States such as Bonaroo in Tennessee or Coachella in California is that SXSW is not really aspiring to be the next Woodstock. The concerts are deliberately small and held in venues across the city. Venues that might not normally host concerts are transformed into hip spots to see some of the world’s finest musical talent perform. Read more »

5 Albums for Sleep

January 24th, 2010 • 3 comments Commentary, Op-Ed
Tags: ( ), Bon Iver, Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana, For Emma Forever Ago, insomnia, Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedala, pet sounds, S.E. Rogie, Sigur Ros, Sleep, the beach boys

A friend of mine once said, “are you planning on sleeping tonight? Because when you do, have a nice sleep.” For many, however, it is not that simple. It has been estimated that about one in every eight Americans suffer from insomnia, and, while this statistic may alarm you, it perhaps does not have to be this way. My secret to getting a good night’s sleep is almost always throwing an album on to lull me into my REM cycle. While there are a number of albums that really do the trick, I am going to leave you, insomniacs of the world with five of my personal favorites presented in alphabetical order by the band’s name.

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Certainly among the best albums recorded ever, its a drifty arhythmic masterpiece of sweeping multipart vocals and heavily layered instrumentals. It is certainly an album you should take a listen to while you are awake and conscious, but for me those horn lines on low volume are like musical NyQuil.

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

This low-fi masterpiece from 2007 has some heavy lyrics that may be off-putting to the average sleeper, but the drifty wistful nature of Bon Iver’s musicality easily deposits me into dreamland by the third or forth track of the album. Its earthy and elemental stripped down nature is something special. Read more »

Eclecticity

January 11th, 2010 • Commentary, Genres, Op-Ed
Tags: Bright Eyes, college radio, eclectic, last.fm, Lil Wayne

If there is one buzz word associated most with the world of college radio, it is the adjective eclectic. It is in some sense a self identifier; as college radio is normally free format in nature, the breadth of music played can cross a multitude of genres from Heavy Metal to Opera. Indeed, even on the most pretentious radio stations the label of “eclectic” is often applied to its greatest extent.

Take a look at the WRBC schedule and you will find more than a few programs that, lacking a thesaurus, described themselves as an eclectic mix or an eclectic blend of music. Today’s college students are not restricted to the confines of one genre and many shows broadcast on WRBC cross genres over the course of two short hours. Read more »

Commentary: Musician for our Generation

January 1st, 2010 • Commentary, Folk, Hip Hop, Op-Ed, Rock
Tags: death cab for cutie, eminem, jay-z, kanye west, Lil Wayne, mgmt, Radiohead, red hot chili peppers

Looking back in time, every generation has a small handful of bands and singers with which they are culturally linked, such as the Beatles and Bob Dylan for my parents’ generation and Bruce Springsteen, who gave a voice to the subsequent generation. Up until the present because it was extremely expensive and difficult to record and distribute music, it took real talent just to get an LP pressed, but digital technology has really changed the playing field. Popular music now transcends the confines of a single genre.

So as I sit at home watching the various New Years countdown specials, I started to think about who is the musician or band that defines my generation in music as many of the performers put in front of me I had never even heard of. So I wondered, in 2050, when I will be 63, who will the kids talk about as being emblematic of music of the late 1990s and early 2000s? Read more »

18 Crucial Albums of the Past Decade to Supplement the Editor's Picks

December 26th, 2009 • Commentary, Op-Ed
Tags: Against Me!, Animal Collective, Bill Callahan, Black Eyes, Bright Eyes, Dan Deacon, Deerhunter, Destroyer, Dinosaur Jr., Elliot Smith, Fugazi, Modest Mouse, Mountain Goats, Of Montreal, Q and not U, Rage Against the Machine, Re-Up Gang, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

The following 18 albums, sometimes missed or overlooked on retrospective lists, but deserve some mention of worth.

1. Fugazi — The Argument/Furniture Ep

The last simultaneous releases from Fugazi also happen to be their best. Fugazi has been such an important band for the independent music scene, and these two recordings truly display the band’s ability to convey their ethos and message into a powerful musical form. The band’s impressive 15 year span culminates in these two final masterpieces.

2. Animal Collective — Water Curses

It was hard for me to pick between Water Curses or Feels, so I decided to go by my play count in iTunes. I think Water Curses is Animal Collective’s most dynamic, complex, and innovative recording to date. While their current pop direction is great, I do long for their freaky folk days. Additionally, the lyrical quality is much, much better than their latest releases. Street Flash and Cobwebs are standouts. If it wasn’t for Feels, then I would say that this is the best Animal Collective album by far.

3. Q and not U — Different Damage

Dance punk from DC. This album is much more subtle than their previous release, benefiting their sound to a huge extent. The energy is still there, but in a less frantic form. It has direction, velocity, and as a result, more force and power, exemplified in These Are Flashes. Another innovative punk album from our nation’s capital, but this one reigns above the rest.

4. Modest Mouse — Moon and Antarctica

One of my favorite Modest Mouse albums and their last great recording before they lost the air in their tires. Shows what a great band can do when backed by high production values on a major label. Too bad they blew it afterwards. This album, though, continues to blow my mind. Read more »

Editor’s Picks: 30 Best Albums of the Decade

December 24th, 2009 • 1 comment Commentary, Electronic, Folk, Hip Hop, Op-Ed, Rock
Tags: Amadou & Mariam, Animal Collective, Bjork, Bon Iver, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, David Sanford & The Pittsburgh Collective, DJ Danger Mouse, Fleet Foxes, Gregory and the Hawk, Gui Boratto, Jens Lekman, Jonsi and Alex, Lil Wayne, M83, Noah and the Whale, Phoenix, Radiohead, Ryan Adams, seabear, Sigur Ros, Sin Fang Bous, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens, The Arcade Fire, The Hold Steady, The Shins, TV on the Radio, Yeasayer, Yelle

1. The Arcade Fire – Funeral

This album made baroque pop cool again, something that seemed unachievable after the Beach Boys fell apart.

2. Ryan Adams – Gold

Gold is alternative country at its very best, chocked full of sublime instrumentation and sentimental lyrics.

3. Bruce Springsteen – We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

The Boss sings Pete Seeger and brilliance results; there is something fantastic about the combination of Springsteen’s voice and Seeger’s lyrics.

4. Yeasayer – All Hours Cymbals

All Hours Cymbals is an album for the decade lyrically, thematically, and instrumentally.

5. Jonsi and Alex – Riceboy Sleeps

Jonsi and Alex’s post-rock/ambient masterpiece is an album to listen to all the way through (8+ times) to really catch it’s flavor. Read more »

Editor’s Picks: 10 Best Albums of 2009

December 21st, 2009 • Commentary, Electronic, Folk, Op-Ed, Rock, Top Ten
Tags: 2009, Animal Collective, au revoir simone, best albums, Fuck Buttons, Grizzly Bear, Jonsi and Alex, Karen O and the Kids, Noah and the Whale, Phish, Phoenix, The Avett Brothers, Top Ten

Now, just 10 days remain in the decade, and as such, another top ten list is in order. This time, I am looking at what I think are the ten best albums of the past year.

1. Jonsi and Alex – Riceboy Sleeps

This is one of the finest ambient albums ever made. This album is both enigmatic and idiocyncratic; it really grows on the listener such that it may be true that each time one listens to it, Riceboy Sleeps feels like a whole new album. Despite being produced by Sigur Ros lead singer Jón Þór Birgisson and his boyfriend Alex Somers, this album has a unique quality to it that fans of post-rock should hope continues in the future with Jonsi’s upcoming solo release, Go, which is due out early in 2010

2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

It’s light and poppy; it’s deep and lyrical; it’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. This album is about contradictions and while that might not normally make for a stellar album concept, French rockers Phoenix have really produced a piece on indie-pop gold in this, their fourth full-length studio album.

3. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Delightfully weird, as one should come to expect from the Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion is a tour-de-force of the dream-pop scene, which is developing in and around Baltimore of all places. Read more »

Commentary: An Exploration into the Burgeoning Pittsburgh Music Scene

November 23rd, 2009 • 1 comment Commentary, Electronic, Op-Ed, Rock
Tags: Girl Talk, Indie, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, The Clarks, TV on the Radio

I should first make it clear that I was born, raised, and still technically live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This is likely not the city you probably envision in your mind. I have heard many falsities about my hometown in my tenure here at Bates. Pittsburgh is not a suburb of Philadelphia. It is no longer dirty. Ihere is, in fact, an ‘H’ at the end of our name, and there is more to life than the Steelers, Penguins, and, of course, our lowly Pirates. Read more »

Commentary: iTunes Flashback

February 6th, 2009 • Charleston, Commentary, Op-Ed, Rock
Tags: built to spill, Charleston, grandaddy, itunes, mates of state

I think it is a great idea to take a trip down memory land via iTunes. First I organized my entire library by the “Date Added” column. I scrolled through the whole thing trying to remember each day that I uploaded the particular album(s). My library is recently new, as I transferred all my music in one big lump from my old computer to my current one on 5/7/2006. So, I didn’t get to flashback too far. It would have been nice to see all the way back to 2004/2005 when I first got iTunes. Read more »