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(11/06/13 12:00am)
From Kanye West to Taylor Swift, Arcade Fire to Daft Punk, it seems the stars are aligned and all the big names in music have clamored to put out a record in 2013. With so many established artists topping the charts, debut albums from new bands can easily be lost in the shuffle. But the anticipation surrounding the debut album from Glasgow-based trio Chvrches has the Internet eagerly awaiting what comes next in the great canon that is synthpop, a newer genre based around electronic instruments and around utilizing many synthesizers and keyboards that change and adapt daily. That is a lot of pressure for a band that has only ever released five songs, but luckily for us, The Bones Of What You Believe does not disappoint.
(10/22/13 12:00am)
Lorde embodies the year 2013. Really, her music could have only existed now. Her young, female identity places her in a category with other teen pop stars like Taylor Swift and Adele. But her spacey, minimalist synth and bass production puts her in a category with other more electronic artists, like Lights or even The xx. At just 16, the young New Zealander could not have created the buzz she has without help from the ever-expanding Internet, which was nearly in full swing by the time she was born. The subject matter of her songs references modern music, cultures and obsession - things that are important to a 16-year-old in the year 2013. And by dismissing the types of acts she is supposed to be (Katy Perry, Britney Spears) and singing about what seems big and important to her, she outshines all of her compatriots on her first try with her elegant debut album Pure Heroine.
(10/09/13 12:00am)
Innovation in music is strikingly hit-or-miss. Most bands possess a new sound in the release of their initial records, which as they mature, they decide either to push in a new direction or continue working with the already-established formula. While the former can help a band achieve new musical heights, it can also backfire and alienate former fans. Mechanical Bull, the sixth proper studio album by Nashville, Tenn. family band Kings of Leon, is the rare album that does both, bringing the band back to its Southern-rock roots without sacrificing the new artistic dimensions it has acquired over the years.
(09/24/13 12:00am)
Remember "Kids"? That catchy synth line, those cryptic lyrics - that song was everyone's jam four years ago. How about the dance floor anthem "Electric Feel"? Both songs are by Brooklyn duo MGMT, off its 2008 debut album Oracular Spectacular. Songs like that will not be heard on the duo's latest release, MGMT. Instead, expect to see 10 eclectic, experimental, progressive synth-pop tracks reminiscent of early Animal Collective and completely devoid of the hook-soaked pop that powered Oracular. MGMT is a decent album, but it does not have the "Woah, what is this song?" feel of four years ago that so many people knew and loved. Weird and different? Sure. Will anyone know and love this record five years from now? I doubt it.
(09/17/13 12:00am)
Clubs are fast. Dancing is fast; uppers are fast; hookups are fast; sex is fast. Songs about those things are fast. You know what's slow? Mornings are slow. Relationships are slow; love is slow; depression and heartache are slow. The Arctic Monkeys made a name for themselves singing fast songs about fast stuff, but on AM, the band's fifth album, everything is slow. The same songs that were sung at breakneck pace on earlier Monkeys records now resemble dark, haunting dirges. Lead singer Alex Turner meticulously dissects every detail of his various love affairs with enough clever wordplay to make Fitzgerald blush, and that's what makes AM worth the listen. Turner's transformation of the band from a talented rock outfit to his own (im)personal soapbox, however, is largely a losing endeavor.
(09/12/13 12:00am)
Usually, a band's name is some arbitrary inside joke that has little to do with what the band delivers, but occasionally, it offers insight into and a description of the type of content the group produces. If listening to Repave feels like watching a harmonious collective of voices bubble up and explode from within a sulfurous promontory, one can successfully deduce that Volcano Choir has done something right.
(09/06/13 12:00am)
Ten years into its career, indie rock band Franz Ferdinand sings songs about playing the young man's game of attending dance clubs and cruising for girls, and it sounds like the group is damn good at it. Unfortunately, it forgot how to play the game of its own youth: making good rock music. While Franz's earlier material contains slick observations and tales of everyday people, all sprinkled with late-night romance, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action demonstrates its development into the kind of club-rat songwriters it used to sing about - a most unwelcome transition.
(08/29/13 12:00am)
Just one month after Rice's 2013 spring semester, Vampire Weekend released its best album yet and potentially the best album of 2013. Modern Vampires of the City continues the band's signature style and carries with it a whole host of new influences, from scat to 90s gangsta rap to hymnals. But as the band members approach their 30s, themes of aging and maturity take their content in a dramatic and bold new direction, something unseen on previous albums.
(04/05/12 12:00am)
It is hard to believe, but two or three years ago, indie folk rock bands were not easy to come by. It was not until bands like Fleet Foxes and Mumford and Sons broke into the mainstream scene in 2008 that folk rock received significant mainstream attention and airplay. However, it seems that nowadays everybody has his or her own personal favorite folk rock group, and the sound has lost a bit of its original luster. Still, the increased volume of groups entering the fray has required that groups either stand out and bring something different to the table, or fade away with their too-similar contemporaries.
(03/30/12 12:00am)
As I arrived on scene at the 21st Annual KTRU Outdoor Show, I was greeted with exactly what an ideal music festival should be: a beautiful spring day, a local band rocking out on stage, groups of kids sitting right down on the grass and actually listening to the music, and a ton of free locally brewed beer.
(03/07/12 12:00am)
Brooklyn rock group Sleigh Bells' debut album, Treats, was the loudest album I'd ever listened to - until I heard Reign of Terror.
(02/23/12 12:00am)
You probably remember The Fray. It is the band that sings "How to Save a Life," that song that was always on the radio in middle school. It has been over three years since the last time singer-songwriter Isaac Slade crooned at us with his sore throat and heartbroken wail of a voice, so maybe The Fray has adapted. After all, the band spent the last year touring the world and writing music about its experiences. Surely that would inspire some truly artistic commentary, right? The problem is that Slade can rewrite any experience into a romance ballad emphasizing the cruelty of the world, and on Scars & Stories, he delivers 12 of them.
(02/08/12 12:00am)
Most bands these days are very into their cryptically meaningless names. Then you have those band names that tell you exactly what you'll be listening to: Mumford & Sons, Dixie Chicks, Metallica, etc. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour falls into the latter category. Funky, space-themed electropop? Check. Out of Frequency, the pop duo's second full-length album, combines the funkadelic '60s with some modern electronic sampling while regaling you with tales of clubs, drugs, mischief and sexual endeavors. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour just wants to party with you, and to its credit, that's about all it does.
(02/02/12 12:00am)
It's common practice to describe a band as a cross of "X and Y," and usually that's enough for you to get a good feel for what you are in for. I racked my brain trying to come up with such an example for the indie band Hospitality but could not come up with any fewer than four groups spliced together. Simply put, Hospitality sounds very familiar, yet the band twists away from anyone trying to put a finger on its sound. The result is stunning. (Just for fun, try Vampire Weekend plus Dirty Projectors plus The XX plus Fleet Foxes).
