Blogs
Keep Ya Head Up: If You’re Reading This Drake is Still Drake
Courtesy of NY Daily News.Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late was released the night before Valentine's Day (so Drake) this past month without any prior announcement or fanfare and within 3 days sold 495,000 copies. All 17 songs off the...
The Tough Crowd: Smash It Up
The Store: Smash! RecordsI'm going to be a little bold here and say if you live in DC and haven't found yourself at Smash Records yet, you are doing it wrong, and I will personally volunteer to drive you there to prove it. Back in my days as a lonely freshman...
Pop Exodus: Probably Better Than a Bunch of Hollywood Directors Anyway!
Courtesy of MTV. Have you ever wanted to direct a music video for a song you loved more than life itself, but have neither the money nor actual skill to do so? Me too. It sucks, so I wrote up a basic synopsis of some imaginary videos for songs I listen to on...
Zen Palette: Get to Know Tülpa
Courtesy of Alaya. A year ago, I came across Babel's track “Life of Eve feat. LÌ´psley” remixed by Tülpa. Immediately, I fell in love with the low-key, melodic and ethereal track. I even included it in a mix that was featured by 8tracks...
Minutia: Pile – "You’re Better Than This"
Courtesy of Stereogum.You're Better Than This is not the album that will allow the uninitiated to understand the cult appeal of Pile. If anything else, it's the complete opposite. Song structures are labyrinthine, relentlessly challenging any convention or formula...
Krill, "A Distant Fist Unclenching" (Exploding in Sound/Double Double Whammy)
Scrappy Boston indie heroes prove themselves cultworthyOn Distant Fist, Krill's clever garage pop has made a giant leap into a bigger sound and a more ambitious songwriting style. Ian Becker's exuberant, huge-sounding drums and Jonah Furman's powerful bass lines...
Smithfield Bargain, "Buttonwillow" (self-released)
Cute, quirky, bluesy, acoustic talentsSmithfield Bargain's sound on is thick, with harmonies deep and sweet. Buttonwillow features superb musicianship and superb singing. For those who appreciate acoustic guitars, thick upright bass, strings, and even some brass,...
Drug Cabin, "Yard Work" (401K Music Inc.)
Are you going on a camping trip in an RV through the mountains? At first I thought this was John Mayer and then I heard the vocals and it sounded like a woman because the vocals are quite high pitched. But I like it. The duo make calming, good for anytime tunes. I...
Jeff Rosenstock, "We Cool?" (SideOneDummy)
High-energy alternative/punk about growing up, feeling bad, and all the folks you love“Malt liquor doesn't make you youngÛ. An amusing but slightly sober (no pun intended) line from the opening track, “Get Old ForeverÛ, that is a good introduction to the lyrical...
Dan Deacon, "Gliss Riffer" (Domino)
Trippy, ENERGETIC, Electronic Layers on Layers on LayersBaltimore based Dan Deacon's album Gliss Riffer is the musical incarnation of exuberant, endless energy. Deacon uses seemingly infinite layers in every song to create a depth in which listeners can fully immerse...
Little Helen Rose, "Live At The Monkey Room" (Self-Released)
Cursed saxophone music played by small ChihuahuaIf any of you are familiar with the early 2000's cartoon Courage the Cowardly Dog, you would understand the reference I was trying to make within the slug. In the show, a recurring character was Shirley, a Chihuahua who...
The Pop Group, "Citizen Zombie" (Freaks R Us)
Very weird.It's been 35 years since the legendary post-punk avant-garde band, The Pop Group, released an album. Although, they haven't been recording for so long, the Bristol, UK band sounds about as cohesive and palatable as they've ever been. The first track of...
Screaming Females, "Rose Mountain" (Don Giovanni)
More than enough to get you your pop punk fix“There are ways to fix a broken sound with my head in the sky and my ear to the ground” belts Marissa Paternoster on the track “Burning Car” from Screaming Female's sixth album Rose Mountain. Her head remains firmly...
Simian Ghost, "The Veil" (Playground Music)
If the Beach Boys were indie but in a good wayThe Veil opens up with the sound of waves and a barbershop quartet harmony. It's that dreamy sound of wholesome 60s boys with bowl cuts running on the beach that makes the album grab your attention, and continues to hold...
Stage Hands, "Stage Hands" (My Idea Of Fun)
(Mostly) Instrumental electronic beats Stage Hands is an album consisting almost only of electronic beats and drumming, but the duo manage to convey a wide range of emotions and styles with their instruments of choice. The album starts off with a relatively simple...
Guest Post: Juan Wauters Concert Review / February 15th / Comet Ping Pong
Courtesy of Captured Tracks.With the ping pong tables pushed aside and the aroma of their famous “smoky” mushroom, mozzarella, bacon, and onion pizza permeating throughout the room, Comet Ping Pong welcomed local indie-pop band The Sea Life and alternative...
Homemade: Nashville
Courtesy of TripAdvisor. Home of the Grand Ole Opry, Music Row and other legendary institutions, Nashville is known by many as Music City, U.S.A. As a city teeming with fresh talent, it's overflowing with various labels, venues and artists, and while it may be...
Pop Exodus: So, You’re Writing a Thesis about Pop Music?
Courtesy of The Independent. Instead of actually writing the first 10 pages of my thesis due this week, I decided I would just write about writing about it as a bizarre act of masochism. When you're a literature major, you have a year to write a 25+...
Feedback: Melodic Mongolian Folk Metal
No matter how cruel the world is, you are always by my side. Every "tough" metalhead has a very sweet loving heart Û_ pic.twitter.com/mCRp6gNjus— Tengger Cavalry (@tenggercavalry) February 14, 2015 Mongolia's rich roots of conquest and constant, often...
The Tough Crowd: Goodwill Goodies
Courtesy of World In Photo.The Store The most underrated place in the world to get vinyl has got to be Goodwill. Really, any thrift store carrying mostly musty grandpa sweaters and old shoes will oftentimes have one lonely box of records right under the VHS...
Zen Palette: Artists to Know – David Stewart
Courtesy of David Stewart's Facebook. I've been listening to David Stewart ever since I found his collaborative EP Dark Side of Paradise with Sango, released in 2012. Since then, I've been anxiously waiting to hear more from this young Londoner. If you dig the...
Porque no los Dos: Paquita’s Journey
Courtesy of NPR. Does a memory ever come back to you so faintly and broken into such undecipherable pieces that it becomes hard to tell if it was a dream or an actual occurrence? I have this very faint memory (or dream) that I am in a restaurant with...
The Current: David’s Songs
Courtesy of New York Times.When I first picked current events as the theme of my column it seemed rather simple. Just talk...
Coo Coo Ca Choo: Old Meets New – First Aid Kit and Simon & Garfunkel
Courtesy of Glide Magazine.It's very rare that I stumble upon covers of classic songs that I enjoy, let alone take time to write about. I'm especially skeptical when I come across covers of my favorite tracks.My readers should know by now the extent...
Feedback: So Much for Metal in the Media – Tenacious D’s Win at the Grammys
Courtesy of The Grammys.Jack Black may have won his biggest award yet when his comedy duo Tenacious D took away the Grammy for best metal performance. The apt comparison many have made is giving Weird Al the award for best rap performance. Any writer...
Keep Ya Head Up: Kendrick Lamar’s Double Conscience
Courtesy of hotnewhiphop.A day after winning the Grammy for Best Rap Song & Performance his single “iÛ, Kendrick Lamar released “The Blacker The Berry.” The newest single, or statement' as Lamar prefers to call the music he releases, is a much...
Another Kind of Currency: Albert Camus and Titus Andronicus
Courtesy of Clash. Guys, I swear I like other bands. There is just so much I have to say about Patrick Stickles and his band that I just need to write about it this week. Especially since I'm writing a paper for class about existentialism in science...
Pop Exodus: "Pray to God feat. HAIM" by Calvin Harris
Do you want to be in a sisterly witch cult? Or possibly stroke wolves? How do you feel about hair that's parted down the middle? HAIM raises these questions as I stare at my computer screen, cheap Starbucks in hand. I'm not entirely sure what's going on in...
Porque no los Dos: Rocüo D̼rcal
Courtesy of Durcal. Family get-togethers for Latinos aren't to see how much little Susan has grown or how Jimmy isn't a starter on the soccer team. Latino get-togethers are to reminisce on the past. The presence of familiar faces takes us back...
Zen Palette: Why Mothica Is My Non-Problematic Fave (and Other Feminist Musings)
Courtesy of Blahblahblahscience. To continue on with my female producer and girl power-infused articles, I decided to write about one of my faves this week: Mckenzie Ellis, known as Mothica. I love this girl and I probably favorite every single one of...