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(07/11/12 11:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Frank Ocean has lived a lot of life for a 24-year-old. His debut LP “Channel Orange” reveals an artist of even more dimensions than we knew and some flooring music that outshines the buzz preceding it. There’s “Pyramids,” the 10-minute electro-pop/trip-hop shape-shifter that addresses the lady he allowed to make him feel special even when she’d leave at nights to work as a stripper.There’s “Bad Religion,” the album’s official conversation draw, on which he relives rejection from the young man who became his first love, backed by a solitary organ and an orchestra.There’s “Super Rich Kids,” on which he remembers both the magnetic indulgences and unsettling superficiality of nights with his most privileged peers.And there’s a pair of stellar guest verses courtesy André 3000 and Earl Sweatshirt, both expertly subdued.This is a game-changer not because of the circumstances of its release. “Channel Orange” is inseparable from its maker’s story and succeeds for its honesty. One can imagine Ocean sitting before a television in the dark, high and brooding, channel surfing through glimpses of his recent past — throughout the course of which he traveled one of the more fascinating roads to icon status in years. We might not see another record generate as much anticipation as his debut LP “Channel Orange” for a long time, but at least it’s provided plenty to talk about until then. By Steven Arroyo
(06/07/12 12:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Japandroids’ second LP, “Celebration Rock,” is the type of inspired record that can only come from a driven refusal of letting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity go to waste. For starters, it wasn’t even supposed to happen.The Vancouver garage duo was about to call it quits when its last-ditch effort and first official LP, 2009’s “Post-Nothing,” unexpectedly took off and allowed the band to live its dreams of touring. Two years later, Brian King and David Prowse woke up with more than just memories — they had found massive acclaim, an international fan base and reason to go for their magnum opus.It is this now-or-never outlook that fuels “Celebration Rock,” an honest, coming-of-age effort and a shoe-in as one of 2012’s finest. King airs out his anxiety about future uncertainties on opener “The Nights of Wine and Roses” and remembers more audacious days on “Younger Us,” but is ultimately concerned with one thing only on “Celebration” — tonight.Similar to “Post-Nothing,” “Celebration” consists of just eight tracks (including a cover of the Gun Club’s “For the Love of Ivy”) and clocks in at a little more than 35 minutes, but it’s absolutely seamless this time — held together by the impenetrable strength of two best bros’ tobacco- and liquor-enhanced clarity at 3 a.m.By Steven Arroyo
(05/24/12 1:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For two guys creating so much buzz in the Bloomington music scene, brothers Bryan and Doug Enas are considerably soft-spoken young men. The lifetime Hoosiers and sole members of local art-rock duo Stagnant Pools might be having the month of their lives right now, but it would be hard to tell just by talking to them.Last week, Stagnant Pools officially signed with Polyvinyl Records (Of Montreal, Deerhoof), just days after Bryan (guitar, vocals) graduated from IU with a double major in English and film studies and Doug (drums) finished his sophomore year here studying philosophy.And then there are the actual shows. Even though classes have prevented them from doing any real touring, Bryan and Doug left Indiana multiple times this spring to open for some heavily acclaimed artists including EMA and Japandroids — on top of regular performances at local venues, such as the Bishop, Russian Recording, Landlocked Music and basements all over Bloomington and Indianapolis.Bryan, the older Enas who does most of the talking for the two, still shrugs off any implication that he and his brother have really done that much. “Fairly busy” is how he describes this past month for them.“Our dog recently had puppies,” he says, momentarily deflecting attention. “All sorts of happenings!” Doug jokes.Bryan and Doug began playing music together in their early teenage years, shortly after Bryan got his first bass guitar in eighth grade. After years of practicing Weezer covers and forming bands with their friends from the Indianapolis area (some of which now play in Calumet Reel), they began playing by themselves in 2009 — Bryan’s freshman year at IU.That same year, they recorded their first song on Pro Tools and played their first house show on the east side of Indianapolis.By last summer, they had already finished recording their debut LP, “Temporary Room,” which Polyvinyl will release Aug. 7.“We didn’t set out to be a two-person band,” Bryan says. “We weren’t for it or against it. It just happened to be that way, and we were open to anything that seemed fit.”Stagnant Pools certainly aren’t the only indie rock duo making waves with little more than some fuzzed-out guitar and a drum kit — that class includes the Black Keys, No Age and Japandroids, their new buddies and labelmates — and it’s easy to lump Bryan and Doug into this category at first glance.The truth is that none of these two-man bands sound much like Stagnant Pools at all. While many have reputations for blistering playing styles, as if to prove they can bring more energy with two members than most bands can with five, Bryan and Doug lean more toward hypnotic atmospheres characterized by maxed-out reverb and near-mumbled vocals. Pensive instead of purgative, inward instead of outward, hoods-up instead of shirts-off.To compare Stagnant Pools to these other duos would be a bit myopic; a more accurate description would be Japandroids crossed with Joy Division, Silver Jews or even The National — more melancholic bands with a baritone singer.It’s just the type of music you might expect from two modest, slightly self-conscious brothers with three liberal arts majors between them.“I played in some bands in high school, and I think the whole idea of being flashy and appealing, I don’t know, it’s kind of not what I want to do,” Doug says.“And an addition to the band might have changed that,” Bryan adds. “It is hard when it’s just two people because there’s not a lot to hide behind. I felt like when we were playing with more people, I was more comfortable because there was more going on. But with two people, you want it to be tight and good. And we’re not perfectionists at all. We don’t yell at each other when we mess up.”“I think that also reflects the record,” Doug says. “It’s so flawed musically. There’s so many mess-ups, at least in the drums.”Whatever flaws might have made it onto “Temporary Room” didn’t bother Polyvinyl. After an audition performance of sorts in Champaign, Ill., late last year, the record deal was all but finalized. But Bryan and Doug still had a spring semester to finish.“It was pretty easy to not want to care, but I mean, we both did really well the last semester,” Bryan says. “I think we just wanted to not have any regrets about doing school because we both enjoy academia. I had a lot of good experiences being in school, and I’m glad that I stayed in.”For the Enas brothers, it was eerily fitting that IU landed Booker T. Jones as this year’s commencement speaker. Jones, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is arguably the world’s most accomplished musician with an IU degree. Bryan and Doug were both present for his speech, which might as well have been tailored just for them.“I didn’t know that he was an IU alumnus,” Bryan says. “Just the fact that he was a good example of showing how important education is and still doing music. Because they said he wrote ‘Green Onions’ when he was 17.”Jones might have had a head start on Bryan, 22, and Doug, 20, but they’re not complaining. As they near their first national tour, the Enas brothers are leaving Bloomington with what they came here for: an education and a record deal.
(05/17/12 6:16pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As a songwriter, Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino is about as face value as they come. Those who enjoyed her 2010 debut “Crazy for You” insisted that to criticize her unabashedly recycled chord patterns or point-blank lyrics about summer love and weed was to miss the point.That much hasn’t changed on her sophomore LP, “The Only Place.”Cosentino is still a girl who knows what she wants and doesn’t care much for masking it — even the cover art depicts, literally, a big bear hug for California, as if the names of her band and album weren’t hint enough.What’s changed is her mindset. In interviews leading up to its release, Cosentino vehemently declared this album more mature, and if by that she meant less day-dreamy and more confident, this is true.Jon Brion’s production does away with the signature lo-fi fuzz of Best Coast’s sound in favor of sharpening guitar parts and bringing forth Cosentino’s (improved) singing voice. The result is 34 minutes of updates on 1960s girl group pop filtered through the psyche of a young beach dweller raised on pop punk.Cosentino still frequently relies on corny couplets with no shame (“crazy/lazy” is back), but if you can see past these to the remarkably concise and sincere pop songs at the center, this album can be just as rewarding as the group’s first.By Steven Arroyo
(04/26/12 3:36am)
WEEKEND previews this summer's big upcoming albums
(04/19/12 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>"Feistodon" 7"Mastodon and FeistWhen Atlanta prog-metal crew Mastodon and Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist played on the same episode of “Later ... with Jools Holland” in October, the mutually admiring parties discussed in passing the possibility of covering one another for a split. Six months later, it’s a reality; Feist will cover Mastodon’s “Black Tongue” and Mastodon will cover Feist’s “A Commotion” for a Record Store Day-exclusive 7”. It’s currently unknown whether Mastodon wore sundresses or Feist grew a beard during the recording sessions. — Brad Sanders"The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends" double 12"The Flaming LipsThe Flaming Lips have produced a double-vinyl album, “The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends,” that is loaded with outlandish surprises for their fans in honor of Record Store Day. The record features collaborations with Bon Iver, Ke$ha, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Erykah Badu, Neon Indian, Yoko Ono, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Biz Markie, among others. As if this enticing list of featured artists wasn’t enough to reel listeners in, the Flaming Lips have decided to release a few special records with an embedded vial of the collaborators’ blood in the center. In an interview with MTV, eccentric Lips frontman Wayne Coyne said he expects the individually made bloody records to be snatched up by the extremely dedicated and extremely wealthy sector of the group's fan base. — Megan Walschlager"Transverse Temporal Gyrus" 12"Animal CollectiveAnimal Collective hasn’t released a proper full-length record since 2009. In the meantime, the band has instead opted to tour the world, record EPs and singles, make a visual album called “Oddsac” and create a special exhibit at the world-renowned Guggenheim Museum in New York City. That last project, called “Transverse Temporal Gyrus,” is an experimental collaboration with “Oddsac” director Danny Perez. It features contributions from each band member randomly channeled throughout the museum’s performance space, and it’s now being released as a limited 12” vinyl that collects the individual tracks, in addition to live recordings of the piece. “Transverse Temporal Gyrus” should feature the band at its most bewitched with heavy doses of choppy samples and pitch-shifted incantations. Brace yourself. — Patrick Beane“A.D.D. Complete” 7” Chuck PersonsLast year, sample mastermind Daniel Lopatin, better known as Oneohtrix Point Never, released the sonic gem “Replica” to critical acclaim. Before that, however, Lopatin recorded underground cassettes that reworked FM radio hits into deliriously noisy and catchy loops, which he dubbed “eccojams,” under the pseudonym Chuck Persons. Lopatin is bringing that alter ego back with his upcoming 7” vinyl release, “A.D.D. Complete,” which compiles new “eccojams,” along with samples used to make “Replica.” Unfortunately, the release is limited to 120 hand-numbered copies, only available in-store at Piccadilly Records in Manchester, England. At least you can soon look forward to copping a guilt-free vinyl rip. — Patrick Beane“One Drop” 12” Public Image Ltd.It’s been 20 years since former Sex Pistols provocateur John Lydon churned out any new material with his seminal post-punk outfit Public Image Ltd., but that will change this Saturday with the release of the “One Drop” EP. Lydon calls the title track a “reflection of where I grew up in Finsbury Park, London. The area that shaped me and influenced me culturally and musically, a place I will forever feel connected to.” — Brad Sanders“Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions” box set Billy Bragg and WilcoIn the spring of 1992, Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, contacted English folk-punk musician Billy Bragg about putting music to thousands of sets of lyrics that filled her father’s notebooks before his death in 1967. Bragg subsequently reached out to then-up-and-coming alt-country group Wilco, and they collaborated on two critically acclaimed compilations, “Mermaid Avenue” volumes 1 and 2, that came out in 1998 and 2000. Appropriately, these sessions spawned many unfinalized tracks of their own, as well as a limited-release documentary film, “Man in the Sand.” More than a decade later, all the aforementioned material is coming out in one big package that will also include a 48-page book of photographs and reproductions of Guthrie’s lyric sheets and sketches. — Steven Arroyo“Do Ya Thang” 10” Gorillaz, André 3000 and James MurphyConverse’s “Three Artists, One Song” series has produced a handful of curious collaborations in the past two years, but none more so than its most recent edition, which put Outkast’s André 3000, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and Blur in a studio together. An abridged version of “Do Ya Thang” was released as a free download on Feb. 23, but the original ran more than 13 minutes, and it will see the light of day Saturday. “André just goes off,” Albarn said of the full version in a recent interview with Pitchfork. “And what he’s saying just gets more and more ridiculous. It finished on its own will, we really had nothing to do with it.” — Steven Arroyo
(04/12/12 1:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Eric Sjaaheim’s mission statement for his food cart, Happy Pig, boils down to one rule: “The happier the pig, the better the bacon.”Which means what, exactly?“I guess I just believe that if you find the right product that’s sustainably raised and responsibly grown, the end product’s going to be good and you don’t need to dress it up,” he said.Sjaaheim opened Happy Pig in November 2010 with the goal of offering a diverse menu of high-quality fast food made from local ingredients. In just a year and a half, it has built a strong reputation among IU students, especially for its macaroni and cheese and “Notorious P.I.G.” sandwich — a pork belly sandwich with maple syrup and a sunny-side-up egg.But much of Happy Pig’s support comes from customers who appreciate the variety it offers. Every week, Sjaaheim cycles between three different menus for lunch, late nights and Sunday brunch.He also offers vegetarian alternatives, as well as a rare beverage option: Mexican Coke, which is the only nonlocal item he sells.Still, Happy Pig might just owe most of its success to its strong social media presence.“We haven’t really done any marketing besides using Facebook and Twitter,” he said. “Early on, we tried to be out as much as possible and flier-ed a little bit, but Facebook and Twitter are so efficient, really, that we just post where we’re going to be about an hour before we go out.”Though a single tweet is sure to bring business to wherever Sjaaheim chooses to set up at any given time, he has started to operate loosely around a regular schedule.Weather permitting, hungry Hoosiers can usually find Happy Pig outside Atlas Bar on South College Avenue on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sunday for brunch, as well as outside the Sample Gates for lunch Tuesdays and Wednesdays.It’s a routine Sjaaheim is just fine with for now. He said he has considered relocating to Chicago’s larger market but would rather not deal with its far stricter regulations for street vendors. And he sees no need to jump on board the recent food-truck craze.“Since we have the cart, we get to work one-on-one with everybody, and it’s really a personal experience,” he said.“People get to see the food they’re about to eat right in front of them and they get to talk to us, and if they’re curious, we tell them about where the product comes from.”
(04/12/12 12:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Standing next to Bradford Cox, the flamboyant and eccentric frontman of ambient punk group Deerhunter, at every show is a guy who could not look more like his opposite. Guitarist Lockett Pundt, who records solo material under the moniker Lotus Plaza, dresses more like a stagehand than a rock star and may have never once cracked a facial expression when performing.On his latest album, “Spooky Action at a Distance,” Pundt embraces his modest and pensive element, and in doing so, he reveals exactly how much more he brings to Deerhunter’s table than most think.Through 10 tracks of thoughtful, atmospheric pop melodies, “Spooky Action” captures and harnesses a state of wanderlust for 44 minutes — not as a means for Pundt’s indulgence, but for his therapy.“No one will recognize us undercover,” he sings on “Dusty Rhodes,” longing for escapism, before repeatedly reassuring himself “one of these days, I’ll come around” at the end of “Monoliths” in a moment that’s the closest the record ever gets to cathartic.Unsurprisingly, then, “Spooky Action” is an ideal record to listen to while getting lost, whether via unknown roads or sidewalk blocks.
(04/04/12 7:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Click the link below to hear 10 tracks from Neon Indian's catalogue.WEEKEND Neon Indian
(04/04/12 7:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The last time 23-year-old Alan Palomo’s synthpop project Neon Indian performed in Bloomington was October 2009, the same month he released his debut album, “Psychic Chasms.” Thirty months later, Palomo is back in town with an expanded live set-up and fresh material from last fall's “Era Extraña." WEEKEND spoke with Palomo about the new album, growing up in a family of musicians and working with the Flaming Lips and Kreayshawn last year.Catch Neon Indian at 9 p.m. Thursday at Rhino's with openers Friends and Dreamers of the Ghetto.WEEKEND: You’re coming off a busy week in Austin at South by Southwest. How did it go?ALAN PALOMO: It was good, man. It was kind of a wonderful clusterfuck, is the best way I can describe it, just because it’s such a mess. I haven’t missed a single South By since my sophomore year of high school. But it sort of strikes me that it’s starting to outgrow what the city has to offer in terms of hotel rooms and accommodations, just because it seems like everybody is kind of in a mad dash, sleeping on each others’ couches. But I think that’s kind of what’s fun about it. I definitely had a good time.WEEKEND: You had a big year in 2011, which included releasing your new album “Era Extraña” in September. What would you say fans could expect the material from the new record to sound like live compared to the “Psychic Chasms” material?PALOMO: I think as far as live goes, I feel like when I was writing “Era Extraña,” it was after maybe about 18 months of touring for “Psychic Chasms” and having to perform the same songs every night. I feel like after performing live for such a while, performing certain songs over and over by myself, I thought there should be more live instruments this time, like a bit of live percussion and guitar and all that.WEEKEND: “Era Extraña” generally seems bigger, crisper and less “bedroom” than “Psychic Chasms.” Was that more or less your intention, and what other kinds of things were you shooting for with this record?PALOMO: I didn’t want to write another lo-fi record in the traditional sense of the word, just because it didn’t feel like it would be very representative of where I’m at this point. I mean, to completely ignore that I have studio access I don’t think would have necessarily made for the most interesting thing in my head. But I still wanted to capture that sort of theme or essence or swirly quality of it, but I feel like I did it with the individual sounds. With “Psychic Chasms,” it was pretty easy to just write a song and then fuck it up later, just kind of fuck up the entire actual recording of the song and play around with those components. But for “Extraña,” I feel like I was writing sounds that were individually fucked up in their own capacity, and then trying to combine all those elements to make one solid, cohesive song. So it was definitely a different approach. But yeah, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was set out to make. For me, it was more of a personal testament to whether I’d be able to sink or swim in a studio environment.WEEKEND: Around the time you released “Era Extraña,” you also teamed up with Bleep Labs in Austin to create your own mini-synth called the PAL198X. You even released a 1980s-style infomercial for it, and Jimmy Fallon played with it on his show. Is there any chance we’ll see it at the show?PALOMO: I’m actually starting to sell them on the road because I have a secret plan for them that will involve the participation of everybody that bought one, but you know, I don’t necessarily use it live just because I would feel a little odd using my own synth. But it was definitely something I made with the intent that I wanted to see what the potential was as far as people taking it and incorporating it into their set-up and maybe being able to recontextualize it as a different instrument just because it has a lot of leeway to play around with it.WEEKEND: You also surprised some of your fans last year when you went on a college tour with Kreayshawn. How did that come about, and what was that experience like?PALOMO: Well, there was a miscommunication at the beginning as to how it came together or what the situations were, and unfortunately, it wasn’t until I was pretty wrapped up in it that I knew what this was, which was a co-headlining tour. And I mean, to be totally honest, she was super awesome and so were all her people. I guess it just made for some awkward shows though. I kind of feel like there were two very distinct waves of audiences, and it didn’t feel as unified as it could, which I think was the initial spirit of what we wanted to put together with that.WEEKEND: Not long before “Era Extraña” came out, you recorded a collaborative EP with the Flaming Lips. Aside from the psychedelic similarities between you two, the Flaming Lips are also known as this group that’s never been afraid to indulge in left-field artistic endeavors, such as building elaborate movie sets or collaborating with Ke$ha. Did they inspire you to be less inhibited artistically?PALOMO: Yeah, absolutely. I think the EP that I made with them was one of the first experiences where I didn’t really feel confined by the general impulses that I tend to go through with my own projects, which is like, everything always eventually finds its way into some cohesive song. With the Flaming Lips, it really was just kind of jamming, for lack of a better word. And it was incredibly liberating. I love that they walk into a situation not really preemptively trying to see what song they’re supposed to make. In a lot of ways, I feel like the songwriting is always surprising them, because they’re kind of feeding off of that energy. And seeing them in the studio is as much of a production as any of their live shows. I really feel like they definitely have a flair to what they do, and in a lot of ways, it helped me finish “Era Extraña.”WEEKEND: Your dad was a pop singer in Mexico. What were your experiences in growing up around music and getting started with it?PALOMO: Yeah, he recorded an album in the late ’70s and then another in the early ’80s. I didn’t actually play music until college. I mean, I owned an acoustic guitar in high school, but everybody did. It was interesting, I feel like just through osmosis, I always kind of absorbed what my brother and my dad were doing. I didn’t really know I wanted to do music. But I guess when I finally did decide to, there was a certain intuitive quality to it that just came from growing up watching my brother and my dad play their instruments.
(03/29/12 1:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When the Shins released “Simple Song,” the second track and lead single off “Port of Morrow,” on Jan. 9, the indie rock universe breathed a sigh of relief that frontman James Mercer had not lost his touch for thoughtful pop bliss in the five years he had taken off from the Shins. Diehard Shins fans became instantly smitten with excitement about the possibility of an album filled with tracks of matching quality.Those fans might remember feeling that very same excitement in January 2007 when the band released “Phantom Limb,” the lead single from its last album, “Wincing the Night Away.” They might also remember the mild disappointment of discovering that a lead single is the clear peak of its album.Unrivaled though it may be, “Simple Song” — just as “Phantom” was to “Wincing” — remains an excellent highlight for “Morrow,” an overall gratifying Shins effort that features Mercer at his least confused and most direct ever. (“I call you on the telephone / Won’t you pick up the receiver?” he belts on “It’s Only Life,” nine years removed from “Called to see / If your back was still aligned, and your sheets / Were growing grass.”)Mercer, having replaced all his bandmates, started a family and launched a successful side project in Broken Bells since “Wincing,” also silences any lingering doubt that he’s moved on for good from his lo-fi origins, eagerly exploring the studio at every turn on “Morrow.”Unlike with the band’s seminal first two albums, “Oh, Inverted World” and “Chutes Too Narrow,” no one will be able to count the number of instrumental tracks on any given song here (not even happy anomaly “September,” the only one that almost sounds like it would fit on “Chutes,” if not for the tacked-on echo effects and güiro).If “Morrow” draws any backlash, it will surely be cries of “Overproduction!” from “Chutes” purists, and to be fair, they are occasionally warranted. But as the bursting and forthright love song “Simple Song” assures, Mercer has no interest in letting studio polish replace song ideas — just mature them.Thankfully, “Morrow” brings plenty of those, too.
(03/22/12 1:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>We may be nearing the end of March Madness, but fortunately, March also marks the start of music festival season. So of course we had to bracket-ize 32 of the country’s biggest festivals between now and August to let you know which should be 2012’s best. Read our music festival guide for more information on each.ROUND ONESOUTH#1 Bonnaroo defeats #8 Old Settler's#4 Hangout defeats #5 Beale Street#3 Wakarusa defeats #6 Free Press Summer Fest#7 Forecastle defeats #2 Jazz & HeritageIt’s hard to believe that the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival could get upset in the first round, but Forecastle had just the lineup to pull it out. With headliners such as Wilco, Sleigh Bells and Girl Talk, it looks like Louisville, Ky., is now Upset City. — Jonathan StreetmanWEST#1 Coachella defeats #8 Treefort#5 Pickathon defeats #4 High SierraIn a battle of West Coast fests, Oregon’s Pickathon bested California’s High Sierra by boasting a rootsy lineup centered around performances by Neko Case, Dr. Dog and Heartless Bastards. High Sierra buried similar bands under flash-in-the-pan EDM acts, so Pickathon gets the edge. — Brad Sanders#3 Outside Lands defeats #6 Harmony#2 Sasquatch! defeats #7 Sunset StripEAST#8 Orion defeats #1 The BamboozleThe Metallica-curated Orion Music and More Festival might be in its inaugural year, but its wildly diverse bill — and the promise of full performances of “Ride the Lightning” and “The Black Album” — earned it some serious buzz. Meanwhile, The Bamboozle is putting Skrillex and Mac Miller at the same place at the same time. ’Nuff said. — Brad Sanders #4 Ultra defeats #5 Wanee#3 Gathering of the Vibes defeats #6 Camp Bisco#7 Governors Ball defeats #2 Mountain JamJazz and blues acts spread over a four-day period in Hunter, New York, can’t compete with Governors Ball’s lean two days of acts such as Beck, Fiona Apple and Passion Pit on Randall’s Island in New York — not to mention zero overlapping sets in that short and sweet weekend. — Mikel KjellMIDWEST#1 Summerfest defeats #8 North Coast#5 Electric Forest defeats #4 Summer CampAside from Electric Forest having evolved from the fabled Rothbury Festival, it boasts a more diverse lineup than Summer Camp. With names from Das Rascist to Thievery Corporation enhancing its breadth, Electric Forest strutted away the winner. — Rachel Hanley#3 Pitchfork defeats #6 All Good#2 Lollapalooza defeats #7 NelsonvilleSWEET SIXTEENSOUTH#1 Bonnaroo defeats #4 Hangout#7 Forecastle defeats #3 WakarusaAny lineup with a range from Flying Lotus to Real Estate will get our votes over usual suspects Pretty Lights, Umphrey’s and Slightly Stoopid; Forecastle, easily. — Steven ArroyoWEST#1 Coachella defeats #5 Pickathon#2 Sasquatch! defeats #3 Outside LandsEAST#8 Orion defeats #4 UltraIt’s kind of hard to imagine how awesome it would be see Metallica perform two of its seminal albums alongside Best Coast, Modest Mouse and Titus Andronicus in the middle of the summer. How can a three-day dance music festival with an inconvenient late-March time slot even attempt to compete with that? — Mikel Kjell#7 Governors Ball defeats #3 Gathering of the VibesThe annual Gathering of the Vibes Festival has been running for 17 years, but the two-year-old Governors Ball seemed to edge Vibes out with ease. Fortified with a wider range of music, Governors Ball has a distinct identity in a scene of summer music festivals typically dominated by hippie themes. — Rachel HanleyMIDWEST#1 Summerfest defeats #5 Electric Forest#2 Lollapalooza defeats #3 PitchforkELITE EIGHTSOUTH#1 Bonnaroo defeats #7 ForecastleWEST#1 Coachella defeats #2 Sasquatch!EAST#7 Governors Ball defeats #8 OrionMIDWEST#1 Summerfest defeats #2 LollapaloozaFINAL FOUR#1 Coachella defeats #1 Bonnaroo#7 Governors Ball defeats #1 SummerfestContinuing a remarkable Cinderella run, Governors Ball rode its immaculate roster to take down the #1 seed out of the Midwest, Summerfest, cementing its spot in the finals. They face Goliath-fest Coachella in a battle of the coasts next, but Passion Pit, Modest Mouse and the now-defunct LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Pat Mahoney nearly took the Ball all the way. — Jonathan StreetmanTHE WINNER#1 Coachella defeats #7 Governors BallSo many things about Governors Ball impressed us here — among them, a gorgeous location on Randall’s Island in New York, an offer of no overlapping sets and a diverse and near-spotless lineup. Unfortunately for the Governor, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival offers most of those things, too, and it’s offering them twice. Its unfathomably lucky attendees will enjoy an unbeatable lineup of more than 100 artists, from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to Radiohead, playing two consecutive weekends in scenic Indio, Calif. Governors Ball might just prove itself as the country’s best-kept secret of music festivals, but Coachella was probably going all the way from the start. — Steven Arroyo
(03/20/12 2:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two Bloomington rock bands packed up their equipment and headed to Austin, Texas, last week to perform multiple shows at the city’s annual South by Southwest festival, widely known as one of the world’s key events for generating exposure for aspiring creative minds.On Wednesday, garage-rockers Apache Dropout played a late afternoon set on the front patio of Beerland to hundreds of passersby at the crowded intersection of Seventh and Red River streets.“We always bring our PA with us, so we have this reputation as a band who plays wherever the fuck they want,” singer and guitarist Sonny Blood said afterward.It was the first of five shows the band performed in Austin during the music week of SXSW. They also performed again at about midnight the same day at the official SXSW showcase of Family Vineyard, the band’s record label, at the Whiskey Room.This was the first SXSW experience for Blood and bassist Nathan Warrick, though not for drummer Seth Mahern, who has performed there in the past with his other Bloomington projects, John Wilkes Booze and Lord Frye.On Friday, former winner of Best of Bloomington’s “Best Local Band” Hotfox opened the Sonicbids Official SXSW Party at Maggie Mae’s with an 11:30 a.m. set, plugging and performing multiple cuts from its latest album, July’s “You, Me, and the Monster.” It was Hotfox’s first show of two on the day and three on the week, and the first SXSW experience for all the members.“It’s like if you multiply all the festivals we’ve seen before by 1,000,” guitarist Duncan Kissinger said when comparing SXSW to other big stages his band has seen.The band of IU students, one of whom sported a Mother Bear’s shirt onstage, earned that slot and had its trip paid for as a prize for winning JanSport’s annual Battle of the Bands contest. The band members discovered the competition when another Bloomington band, the Broderick, won it in 2009.Both groups will be in Bloomington this week before going back on the road again this spring. Bloomington-based indie band Tammar also performed at the festival.
(03/07/12 9:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jonathan Richardson remembers the first time he said goodbye to his entire vinyl record collection. It was in the 1980s, and the music world was converting to the compact disc.“I probably had 200 or something like that, and I sold them and bought CDs,” he said. “I was young.”But when he nearly had to part ways with his rebuilt collection again in 2008, it was against his will. During a particularly brutal storm that year, his basement sump pump broke, causing a room dedicated to his records — roughly 7,000 of them now — to flood.Richardson is an audio engineer, DJ and member of local veteran indie rock group EDM (formerly Early Day Miners) who has been collecting records on and off since his aunt, a former roadie for KISS, gave him his first one when he was a kid: KISS’ “Alive II.”It was his mother, though, who first sparked his interest in vinyl when she handed down her box of Beatles and Rolling Stones seven-inches.“She totally got me started on records. She gave me a record player, and I just started playing them all the time,” he said.Originally from Yuma, Ariz., Richardson came to Bloomington via Portland, Ore., in 1999 with about 300 albums. Shortly after, that number began to multiply once he discovered the Bloomington Public Library, which had sales in its lobby on Tuesdays. There, he found many old and rare records being offered for less than $1.“I don’t know where they got those things, but they were just the most amazing records,” he said. “I’d leave with a stack every single Tuesday.”Those stacks now fill shelves that take up most of the space in Richardson’s own personal records library in his basement, accompanied only by some furniture, stereo equipment and his own artwork.He loosely organizes the records into sections by genre: rock, reggae, hip-hop, soundtracks and “weird records, like incredibly strange type things.”Richardson was out of town on the day his basement flooded, and he lived a collector’s nightmare when he received the call from his friends who told him that many of those sections were underwater.They managed to salvage most of the damaged records thanks largely to knee-jerk reactions from Landlocked Music co-owner Heath Byers.“I had to take the sleeve off, take the record out, take the paper insert off, and I just had hundreds of piles of records, inner sleeves, outer sleeves and plastic sleeves throughout his entire house,” Byers said. “We managed to save more than he ever imagined, that’s for sure.”Richardson buys records less often today, and when he does, it’s mainly to bolster his repertoire for when he DJs, which he often does at the Bishop under the moniker DJ Jonny Yuma.Richardson might not be adding to his collection as actively as when he first arrived in Bloomington, but the vinyl industry is no longer completely dependent on people such as him, since vinyl sales have spiked again in recent years. He attributes that to listeners’ increasing disillusionment with the CD — the very same effect he experienced after selling his records all those years ago.“There’s no physicalness to mp3s, and people are tired of CDs,” he said. “It seems like digital blips, ones and zeros. It’s not physical, and I think people are craving that.“With vinyls, it’s like, ‘Oh, this is cool. It’s got inserts, it’s got a gatefold, and it smells like a record.’”
(02/23/12 4:30am)
WEEKEND takes a look at each of this year's Best Picture nominees
(02/16/12 4:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Of all the words in the English language that have boomed in the past year or two, “mixology” is up there. WEEKEND recently reached out to drink specialists at Malibu Grill, Serendipity Martini Bar and Restaurant and FARMBloomington to ask about their craft and what being a “mixologist” actually means, if anything.Emmy O'Connor, Malibu GrillOn her favorite specialty drinks to make:“One of the cocktails that I tried to perfect is called the aviation cocktail. It’s a gin-based cocktail with lemon juice, crème de violet — a floral, purple-ish liqueur — and maraschino liqueur. So that’s one of my hands-down favorite cocktails to make. And almost anything with bourbon I will make. I love bourbon.”On differentiating her drinks:“What’s characteristic to a drink is the liqueurs. And liqueurs can vary from just your typical orange liqueur that can go in margaritas or any other type of cocktails to a Douglas-fir tree pine liqueur. If they’re made by a smaller distillery, they tend to put more time and effort into their product.”On the YouTube video “Shit Bartenders Say”:“One of my favorite quotes in there that mixologists say all the time, they pan to one of the bartenders and he goes, 'Aquavit bores me.' Aquavit is a Swedish spirit, and it kind of has a liqueur-ish hint to it as well, but it’s not well known in the Midwest or any of these areas, but apparently it’s huge in the coastal cities. I did think that was kind of funny.”Zak Chmiel, FARMBloomingtonOn his favorite specialty drinks to make:“I personally am in love with Sazeracs. They’re just simple, easy, good and strong, a nice way to end the day. That’s probably my favorite post-shift drink. If someone comes into the bar and says, ‘Just give me something good. What do you like making?’ I’ll make them a Sazerac nine times out of ten, just because it’s a good, basic, nice drink.”On taking advantage of Chef Daniel Orr’s home garden:“Chef has a giant garden at his place in Columbus, so he’ll just bring in barrels and barrels of fresh herbs, so I’ll use anything that he comes in with — like lemon grass, lemon balm, thyme, whatever he has. He’ll just give me a handful of stuff and let me play around, and that’s the other thing that I love doing.”On the most original ingredients that he has used in drinks:“I think it was last fall, I was messing around with some recipes I had found and I used pumpkin butter. I turned that into a cocktail. It actually turned out pretty well. It was kind of like drinking pumpkin pie. That was kind of interesting. We make a bacon vodka here that’s delicious in a Bloody Mary. Anything seasonal or anything that’s fun or interesting that either Chef brings in or somebody hears about, we’ll give it a try. We’ll see if we can make a drink out of it.”Phillip Duffield, SerendipityOn his favorite specialty drinks to make:“I prefer Old-Fashioneds. I’m a big fan of bourbon — it’s growing in popularity and diversity. I like making Old-Fashioneds with blood orange bitters and a blood orange. That’s a unique twist on it. And then my double espresso martini, which is my drink, my recipe. It comes with double espresso vodka, Frangelico, Kahlua, Godiva white chocolate, Godiva dark chocolate, some simple syrup, coffee and cream.”On the difference between a mixologist and a bartender:“Well, a mixologist is someone that can create drinks without a recipe, and in my opinion, a bartender is someone who tends to a bar, doesn’t really get creative with it. They make simple mixed drinks. They’re not making complex drinks or they’re opening beer, for instance.”On snobby mixologists:“You’ll get those mixologists who take it so seriously that if you tell them that you want to drink a certain way, they’ll almost get offended by it. It’s like, well, it’s serious but it’s not that serious, you know? It’s like cooking. Everyone can change your recipe. It’s all about palate. So I do find it funny when people take their job way over-the-top seriously.”
(02/16/12 3:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Internally, the main difference was we wanted to sound more like we did live. We wanted to have more guitars on our album. We wanted to play more dynamically,” Dr. Dog co-frontman Scott McMicken said in October, comparing the band’s then-latest album, 2010’s “Shame, Shame,” with its 2008 predecessor “Fate.”At that time, the band had just finished recording “Be the Void.” How did he tease the upcoming record?“I think we even got a little bit closer with this one,” McMicken said.There is no denying McMicken’s assessment of “Shame, Shame,” which remains Dr. Dog’s best effort to date. Dr. Dog built its following on its live show — one that can get a drunk crowd of rock ’n’ roll purists sweating faster than Mr. Eric Patrick Clapton himself, as it did here twice in the past two years. “Shame” was a fantastic step toward better translating that guitar energy on record. This time, though, they might have stepped a bit too far.“Be the Void” is loaded with cuts that will still work best from the stage. The problem is that the dynamics the band members achieved on “Shame” seem to have compromised the importance of a fully realized song idea to them.It’s as if they were so excited to get back into the studio and try it again, they ended up rushing the songs.Unlike “Fate” and “Shame,” “Be the Void” rarely pushes past elementary, albeit very-well-produced riffs and “Carry That Weight”-style sing-alongs for choruses, from as early as its first line: “Oh, what does it take to be lonesome?/Nothin’ at alllll!”Twelve years in, McMicken and his bandmates remain up-front about wearing the music of their parents’ generation on their sleeves. On “Be the Void,” they're still on a mission to deliver the best songs never written by Paul McCartney or Ray Davies (“Well I am the ancient warrior man and I am from the ancient warrior clan/I invented the computer, man/Hubcaps and soda cans,” Toby Leaman repeats nearly 10 times on “Warrior Man” in a fake British accent).That’s still a valid M.O., and it’s one that some festival-hoppers might never get enough of. Those listening to “Be the Void,” though, will probably tire much sooner.
(02/15/12 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the second time in just a few months, Brooklyn dream pop group Asobi Seksu will headline at the Bishop, going on after local phenoms Chandelier Ballroom and Stagnant Pools. Live Buzz recently had the chance to speak with lead guitarist James Hanna about what being in a band for 10 years has taught him and the making of Asobi Seksu’s most recent album, 2011’s “Fluorescence.”LIVE BUZZ This is your second time at the Bishop in five months. What made you decide to come back so soon?HANNA That’s a good question. I don’t know, exactly, but it was on our roster. I think with our other show, something weird happened and it got cut off early, so maybe that’s why. There was like a noise problem with the comedy place next door (Comedy Attic), and we got cut off early. We probably played half a set, like 30 minutes or something.LB Asobi Seksu has been around for more than 10 years now. What have you guys learned in that time, either with performing or making records or seeing your music scene evolve?HANNA I just realized that I just need to be happy with what I’m doing, and that’s kind of the most important thing. It’s pretty simple, but I guess it’s just reality. If the kind of shit I’m doing isn’t making me happy, I gotta stop doing it. When I was younger, I didn’t really know anything, and I was very happy just to play, period. And at the same time, consistently dissatisfied, like before we started. But I don’t know how that works.LB When you guys started out, it was right after the initial tenures of shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine and Smashing Pumpkins. And now shoegaze is making a comeback of sorts, and then there’s also dream pop, which is kind of like its cousin. Beach House and Pains of Being Pure at Heart, for instance, seem to be two of your contemporaries. What artists did you guys originally draw from the most, and which ones today are you fans of?HANNA We just started using the term dream pop because I didn’t like the term shoegaze. But you know, it’s fine. I was a child of the ’90s, but I like a lot of music. A lot of shoegaze bands were OK and some of them were really good. I mean, Slowdive was a great band and obviously My Bloody Valentine was a great band and Cocteau Twins was a great band. And you know, then there’s a bunch of OK ones. But that’s just my kind of music. I like atmospheric, kind of emotional, pretty music. I like female vocals, so that’s just what I gravitate toward.I feel really out of touch recently, to be honest with you. Beach House, I like their first two records, I don’t think I heard the last one at all, but she (Beach House singer Victoria Legrand) has a really good voice. I think there’s something much more organic about them than us, which is different. There’s something a little more — I don’t want to say ’70s, but there’s just something a little more organic. I don’t know if I would consider them contemporaries. I think they’re a little bit of a different genre, but I think she has a good voice. I’m a fan of female vocals, so if a female vocalist is good, there’s a good chance I’m gonna be OK with the band.LB You guys have a number of music videos that incorporate lots of blur and bright color, which are words I think are also fitting to your music. How involved are you in filming music videos, and how much attention to detail goes into that?HANNA For me, not much. Yuki (singer Chikudate) is kind of the band liaison for the visual side of things. I’m kind of just an opinion in the background when she wants one. I really leave that stuff up to her, I trust her. Videos are cool, but at the same time, they’re kind of bullshit. They’re just little commercials that you have to do. I think they can have cool moments, but in general, it’s like, who sits around watching music videos, you know? That’s all.LB Your most recent studio album was called “Fluorescence.” I thought the production for that was a little cleaner than your last work. How was the making of Fluorescence different than your other albums?HANNA “Fluorescence” was a good one. It was easy to make. The one before that, for whatever reason, was just a challenge. I don’t know, it was fun, we had a lot of good times. It’s always a little stressful toward the end. You wonder whether it’s any good or not. But I enjoyed “Fluorescence.” I guess the production was pretty bright. The idea was something really vivid and crisp and bright, you know? So I guess that’s why it sounds clearer.LB Do you guys have any recording plans for the near future in the works?HANNA No, we’re really just writing music. We’re just getting ready for a few shows, and I think we’re going to Japan and then that will probably be it for shows until we have a new album. I’m really just enjoying writing music. The album’s in like the pre-pre-conception stages. But I mean, eventually.
(02/09/12 2:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Internet’s debut album drops as one of the few studio albums in the young lifespan of hyperactive rap crew Odd Future, and it’s certainly the most different. This is not music anyone would instantly identify with OFWGKTA’s brand, either going by the lesser-known faces behind it (producers Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians), or by its sound.Stylistically, the somber, cosmic trip-hop grooving on “Purple” is leagues apart from OFWGKTA benchmarks such as Tyler, the Creator’s “Goblin” or even the sedated R&B of Frank Ocean’s “Nostalgia, Ultra.” It’s also nowhere near as interesting.“Purple” never pushes past a tranquilized, frustratingly apathetic comfort zone, stretching for 41 minutes within this single confining dynamic.Most of “Purple”’s beats are impressively nuanced, and we should expect no less from the producers behind the most buzzed-about hip hop team to emerge in years. But that’s also because “Purple” doesn’t challenge any expectations — especially those of a debut effort from two of OFWGKTA’s least-known members.
(02/09/12 2:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Zines were originally born of the demand from fans of niche culture markets for an outlet through which to muse about their passions, but perhaps the most liberating aspect of zines is that they can literally be about anything.Amid the bona fide poetry compilations and cookbooks in the zines section at Boxcar Books are a select few eye-catching titles that take that liberation and run with it — far, far past the borderlines of socially acceptable thought.The following gems can actually be found in the zines racks there.“OCD: An Activity Book for Grown-Ups” — $3A handy guidebook from Microcosm Publishing featuring a variety of habits in which to indulge in place of old compulsions, including folding and tearing its own pages and listing where you think all of your exes are now.“Murder Can Be Fun” — $6Not a persuasive thesis about enjoyment that can be derived from homicide, but rather a 26-year-old series that recounts history’s most bizarre deaths between 20 categorized issues. 18th issue “Sports Thrills” tells of the strangest deaths to ever occur at public sporting events.“Fuzzy Lunch Box” — $2A collection of the inane, often illegal tales and reflections of two nobodies from Santa Cruz, Calif. “The Drink and Drown Issue,” its 15th issue, teases pieces about “how to drink in front of children” and “how to get your ass kicked” on its cover.“The Best Shit Ever” — $1The product of four guys on punk rock label Raise Your Fist Records who went on a coast-to-coast tour for a month and wrote reviews of nationwide public restrooms along the way — each one completed while the restroom was ... in use.“Guide to Picking Locks” — $6Another educational goldmine from Microcosm Publishing — a self-explanatory and surprisingly comprehensive manual, available in two different editions, on the discreet art complete with an indiscreet neon cover.