Arc In Round @ Yucca Tap Room|10/22/12 I’m a bloody sucker for shoegaze. Even if it sounds relatively crappy to a “veteran” shoegaze groups like Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine, I have trouble saying no. Luckily, getting turned on to Arc in Round turned out to be far above average…
A swirl of krautrock and shoegaze, Arc In Round (formerly known as Relay) draws as much influence from Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine as they do Camberwell Now and Can. The four-piece are also a primary figure in the Philadelphia music scene, thanks in large part to lead guitarist and…
Dan Deacon @ Crescent Ballroom|10/18/12Dan Deacon’s live shows are not only deafening, they’re legendary. I’ve heard of his infamous methods of crowd participation, playing on the floor, surrounded by his fans, even using coercion to get everyone to play along. Basically, he’ll unsympathetically point you out if you don’t have…
Baltimore MC Height (known by his mother as Dan Keech) got his start rapping with Wounds and Dogg and Pony and Keech’s first solo show was opening for Animal Collective in mid-2000. Eight years later, Keech started collaborating with other Maryland musicians, starting Height With Friends. As part of Wham…
Dan Deacon’s name is synonymous with “experimental,” and not just because of his quirky musical soundscapes. The man exudes the air of a guy who lives outside the box, from his thrift store chic clothing and co-founding Wham City (Baltimore’s weirdest art collective) to making viral videos with Jimmy Joe…
Stereogum, you’ve got it all wrong. The new Die Antwoord video, “Fatty Boom Boom” isn’t blackface. Sure, Yo-Landi Vi$$er is covered head to toe in some black grease get-up, but I seriously doubt she’s doing it to poke fun at darker -skinned folks. She looks kind of like a panther…
When I called and spoke with Dan Deacon earlier this month, he was in the middle of his tour and didn’t know where he was (he guessed somewhere between Georgia and North Carolina). Deacon, who is known for many weird side projects and his bizarre, experimental music, has become a…
1999 was a weird year. That June, George W. Bush announced his candidacy for President, people were partying like it was the year in question, and a prevalent fear of the Y2K bug spread like Ebola fever. Muse also released their debut album, Showbiz, instantly drawing comparisons to their British…
Not all signs of the record biz’s struggle for life are depressing. Thanks to EMI’s $1.9 billion merger with Universal Music Group, a few things will get shaken up, including a chance the wretched informercial sludge Now That’s What I Call Music! series will be put six feet under…
Our sister blog, West Coast Sound, has caught a lot of shit lately for their disdain for neo-blues rockers The Black Keys. Just remember we’re only critics, and opinions are just opinions. Nicholas Pell even offered up some alternative blues bands for you to dig. The problem is, as commenter…
The 2012 Presidential Debates are coming, the first of which is this Wednesday night, reminding us there’s no hope left for our country. Mitt Romney is telling us to “Believe in America,” which is not a bad idea. It’s similar to Stalin telling folks to “believe in Mother Russia.” Hey,…
I missed Sound Wave, so my Saturday was not spent doing ecstasy in a drained swimming pool. Sad face. I also missed Justin Bieber’s concert, which totally blows because he threw up, guys! He threw up on stage in front of hundreds of people and now millions of people will…
Justin Bieber more closely resembles John Lennon than the majority of musicians today. That’s right: It’s been said. Songs like “As Long As You Love Me” and “Baby” are more heartfelt, innocent love ballads than the jaded, bitter tunes of jilted rock stars who have been used, abused, and left…
World-traveled and somewhat of a spiritual guru, blues-folk songwriter Citizen Cope tours incessantly, sometimes pushing 200 shows per year. He’s collaborated with Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Dido and Sheryl Crow and landed his tunes in a few major films, from Accepted to The Lincoln Lawyer to Fracture. See also: Citizen…
Lymbyc Systym @ Yucca Tap Room | Friday, September 21, 2012Jared and Michael Bell, who make up the entirety of post-rockers and former locals Lymbyc Systym, may be brothers but they seem like polar opposites. Mike is definitely the more extroverted one and it shows through his dynamic drumming display…
Ethereal and otherworldly, Lymbyc Systym has a knack for activating its purposely misspelled namesake, the little corner of your brain known for controlling emotions. Their instrumental waveforms also evoke Explosions in the Sky, Four Tet, or The Appleseed Cast, gaining them the attention of touring mates like The Album Leaf,…
For their third album, Symbolyst, post-rock band Lymbyc Systym has come full circle, beginning and ending in the Valley of the Sun. After a tour through their former hometown, brothers Michael and Jared Bell began working on their latest record in January 2010 and three days after its release this…
See also: A Tour Doc Reveals Katy Perry’s Essential Katy Perry-ness See also: Katy Perry’s 10 Best Looks and Lyrics See also: Five Totally Rad Things About Katy Perry Watching the trailer for Katy Perry’s movie, Part of Me, raised a lot of questions: Why is this movie in 3D?…
Nothing places your heart on your sleeve like naming your electro-pop band after the public cubbyholes where teenagers go to feel each other up. Indeed, the lyrical themes of Passion Pit, spun by vocalist and lyricist Michael Angelakos, draws on teenage angst and adolescent sexual appetites. Angelakos originally crafted the…
Once again reminding us the record industry resembles the band on the Titanic playing as it sinks, Rolling Stone reported “9 Ways Musicians Actually Make Money Today.” To be blunt, it’s pretty stupid…
Tycho @ Crescent Ballroom | 9/2/12To set the scene for this show, I should let you know I took some 25i-NBOMe. This research chemical is so new that it doesn’t yet carry with it any scary taboos, let alone a nickname that makes it more sellable on the streets. Apparently,…
Purity Ring @ Crescent Ballroom|8/31/12 Lesson of the day: don’t overestimate the obscurity of a band. Or, at least check ticket sales. I went to Purity Ring confident that standing room would be still available for me and my girlfriend, but I was the only one able to get in…
