Music Category

“Harmoneeeee and Meeeeee, we’re pretty good companeeeeee” might have been Elton John’s best rhyme. Honestly, if you listen to a lot of Elton John, you might realize that not many of his songs rhyme. When you try to sing one of his hit songs for yourself, it comes out with none of the angelic strut that Sir Elton just belted. And you wonder why this is.  Well, it might be because Sir Elton is one of the greatest masters of vocal range of all time. An you’re not. Years agoRead More

Believe it or not, nine years have passed since a little known five-piece from San Diego burst onto the scene and into the ears of every American with a melancholy, beautiful power-ballad by the name of “Boston.” Seemingly overnight, Augustana – the creation of crooning frontman Dan Layus – found themselves thrust into the mainstream. “Boston” appeared on everything from MTV’s TRL (THAT WAS STILL A THING!) to episodes of Scrubs and One Tree Hill, and was played repeatedly on every major radio station. The song went on to becomeRead More

Does it seem like there’s been more and more commercial encroachment on your life?  It should.  The average American consumes about 11 hours and 52 minutes of media every day – a number that includes digital formats, radio, and print, as well as TV – up a staggering 66 minutes since 2010.  All that time gives advertisers more opportunities to take a stab at you, whether you’re relaxing in front of the boob tube, catching up on Hulu or reading articles on your favorite site (see: Writtalin).  We live underRead More

No working musician today seems less concerned about the changing landscape of rock and roll than Jack White.  On June 10th the eclectic singer-songwriter will drop his sophomore solo album Lazaretto, yet another collection of fuck-you rock and Southern sensibility that we’ve come to expect since he and Meg burst onto the scene thirteen years ago with White Blood Cells.  We’ve already gotten a taste of what’s to come with the ferociously gritty title track and the Icky Thump-esque instrumental “High Ball Stepper.”  Bent on teasing us further, White justRead More

What’s in a name?  For a band like Metallica or Five Finger Death Punch the answer may be obvious.  Others are a little harder to peg.  Take Australia’s Birds of Tokyo for instance.  For a first time listener, it isn’t instantly clear what to expect when you hit the play button on Spotify.  “I’m not sure we really know either,” admits BoT guitarist Adam Spark.  Sound check is in full swing at Los Angeles’ Bootleg HiFi, so he and lead singer Ian Kenny are tucked in a back room withRead More

I’ve honestly been thinking about writing this list for a while because I love rappers, and while most of my friends and probably a good chunk of the internet think I’m just some big groupie, I don’t want to hook up with every black guy with a mixtape or a Soundcloud profile, I swear! And in order to prove that to you, I’ve come up with a list of my top 5 rappers I’d love to kick it with in a totally platonic and not at all sexual way.  Read More

The Hold Steady is arguably the most critically-acclaimed rock n’ roll band of our generation. Having just released their sixth studio album, Teeth Dreams, on March 25th of this year, the band holds an otherworldly 80/100 average score on Metacritic, spanning the body of work they have produced over a decade of making music (find another contemporary group that comes close to that score – you can’t). Yet, mention the Hold Steady to your average music fan today, and you will more than likely be met with a blank stare.Read More

The scene around the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH is familiar. This place is as stereotypical as a concert venue gets; old-timey, even. There’s a marquee above the door, advertising that day’s show on one edge and the upcoming six on the other. The doors are closed, covered in graffiti unpainted and untouched in the two plus years I’d been coming to shows here, almost like a point of pride. The line stretches long but not as long as I’d expected. Usually it trails up the sidewalk at leastRead More

When it comes to your favorite musical artist, or I guess just any celebrity in general, there’s a fine line between being a fan and being a Stan. Between fandom and Standom, between fanaticism and Stan-aticism, between…you get the idea. In case you don’t know what a Stan is, I will kindly direct you to this Eminem song: Um, so yeah. I am kind of a Stan for one music artist in particular. Although I’m not gonna tell you who it is so as to protect my integrity, I willRead More

I just got back from Counterpoint in Georgia which was my first music festival, aside from “that time I spent 5 days back in October chasing rappers around Atlanta,” aka the A3C Hip-Hop Festival. This time I did the whole “sleep in a tent for three days and don’t shower” thing, and I learned a lot. Thankfully I’m not being selfish with the wisdom and I’m choosing to share my knowledge with you because I’m #based. 1. Don’t wear a leotard I know, I know, you see that neon greenRead More

The first time I saw Odesza, it was completely by accident. I stood in line at the coat check at Mezzanine, a smallish venue tucked away in the SOMA district of San Francisco, as they opened for Emancipator. I had no idea that this was their first-ever show in this city, as my friend and I remarked, “Wait…I really like this!” It was the kind of upbeat, laid-back electronic sound that perfectly emulates how you want to feel 24/7. Walking out of the venue later that night, we happened toRead More

I started listening to rap when I started going out in college, and that was what they played at frat parties. (Never mind that at the time I thought “Lazers” and “I’m on a Boat” counted as real rap, but I’ve come a long way since then…I hope). Sometimes, as an extremely naive white girl, it’s hard to be into rap. I try to identify as much as I can, but once ScHoolboy Q starts talking about things like “selling crack” and “having a daughter,” he loses me. Cue theRead More

Enclosure was made available April 8th, but I was able to hear it early because a satellite beamed it into my skull from outer space. The experimental satellite in question–not Valis but Sat-JF14–was deployed to transmit Frusciante’s twelfth full-length as it toured the planet. It sounded like an April Fool’s joke disguised as a marketing ploy займ на карту онлайн без отказа. It wasn’t. Unless the satellite was  in my head all along, in which case I have to avoid a certain delusion-inducing Dick in the library fiction aisle. FansRead More

Oh god, I done did it again… One too many crantinis and this girl became an absolute trainwreck – complete with tear-smeared mascara and thirteen “prof pic!” updates in the space of 45 minutes, all iced with a nice Technicolor yawn and a porcelain pillow at the end of the night. What was I thinking??? I kid, I kid. So it wasn’t quite that kind of night, sorry to disappoint, but I did manage to find another perfectly neat, and much less “I’m-going-to-feel-like-a-complete-dumbass-in-the-morning-once-I-have-slept-off-this-jackhammer-being-taken-to-my-temple,” way to destroy myself on a SaturdayRead More

I start to panic when my friend and I walk up to Beta Nightclub in Denver. My interview with EDM veteran Fedde Le Grand is supposed to start in seven minutes and I still have to get through a long line of eager ravers. It takes some time and I get some questioning looks when I tell door people and bouncers that I’m here to do an interview with the headlining DJ, but we finally get inside and get let into the Green Room. It’s empty. So here we are, sitting,Read More