Category Archives: Preview

Monday Feature: Revelry is Coming

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You know a weekend is going to be great when you’re already anticipating for the week to be over on Monday at one in the morning. Whether you’ll be attending the annual Mifflin Street Block Party, hitting up capitol square for the weekly fresh market, or kicking back and watching a Star Wars trilogy (preferably the original one), there is no shortage of funtivities available for Madison citizens this first weekend of May.

And while all of these funtivities are respectable means of entertainment in their own right, I want to highlight the weekend event I will be attending: Revelry Music and Arts Festival. DISCLAIMER: I am in no way being prompted to write this feature by any member of WUD Music. I chose to write this feature because it’s music related, it’s Madison news, I love music, live concerts are awesome, and I want to give those that are or may be going a small preview of what they can expect out of the musical talent at the festival. So let’s get to that. I am going to give my short, unarticulated opinion of the artists that were highlighted in the wonderfully crafted video below. Here goes nothing.

Toro y Moi - Contrary to what your initial reaction may be, Toro y Moi is actually one man. And he may be one of the chillest men I’ve ever heard on a track. For starters, he combined both the Spanish and French languages to create his stage name. It doesn’t matter as long as it translates to English easily (Bull and Me) and sounds cool, right? Beyond this, his calm vocals and looped electronic beats are combined to him consider him a part of the genre known as chillwave. It doesn’t get any more chill than that.

Hoodie Allen - One of my close friends has been a Hoodie fan well before the Revelry lineup was released, and since its release I have hopped on the bandwagon hard. His All American EP was only $5 on iTunes, and provides eight solid tracks that exemplify his catchy music and smart lyrics. In addition, his newest mixtape Crew Cuts is on his website for free! Outside of his music, the former Google employee and UPenn Sprint Football player has collaborated on comedy videos with CollegeHumor that are just too funny to only watch once.

Phox - This seven-piece band from Baraboo, Wisconsin utilizes instruments that run the gamut of sounds, resulting in songs that are most often whimsical, but can also be hectic and heavy. No songs particularly called out to me, but there’s no doubt that the band is unique.

The Mowgli’s - While the only music I could find of theirs was the five songs from their Love’s Not Dead EP, this pop-rock octet has an established pedigree with a recent performance at SXSW 2013 and a scheduled performance at Lollapalooza 2013. Their eight-person chorus is extremely catchy, and “San Francisco” is an irresistible summer jam. 

Chance the Rapper - Chance the Rapper is definitely a different sounding hip-hop artist, with a significantly higher voice than your typical MC. His second mixtape, Acid Rap drops tomorrow, so hopefully Madison will be receptive to his new material come Saturday.

Delta Spirit - This band has a strong alternative rock sound, and many of the songs I listened to have the feel of a live show even though they’re master tracks. I trust that their live performance will be nothing short of a great display of musical talent. In addition, they have a song on the official first volume of The Walking Dead soundtrack, so I am sold.

Julian Lynch - Chill, instrumental, and articulate all at once, Julian Lynch’s music gives off good vibes. With a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology (!?) from UW-Madison, I think concert attendees will give the former city resident a warm reception.

Oh Land - Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, Nanna Øland Fabricius serves as singer, songwriter, and producer, for her music. Pianos and an extensive palette of electronic sounds make for a plethora of experimental tunes for Oh Land to sing over. It will be interesting to see how her music translates to a live performance.

So there you have it: A preview of the biggest acts that Revelry has to offer. It would seem that there is a little something for everyone in the festival’s first installment, and I couldn’t be more excited. Here’s to the joys of live music, summer, and the continued success of this festival for years to come. Revel on.

Friday Night in the Sett: Dessa w/ First Wave Performers, Co-sponsored by the Campus Women’s Center

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DESSA

Guys, I have a confession to make. I am more than a little bit obsessed with the artist I’m currently writing about. Some have called it a Level 3 girl-crush…Whatever. Basically, THIS is the blog post that I’ve been waiting for. Friends, WUD-ians, countrymen, lend me your ears. I’m going to tell you a tale. A tale that begins far, far away in the land of Minneapolis.

Dessa’s unique combination of musical talent and smart, biting lyricism first arose from participating in slam poetry competitions in college at the U of M. While living and working in Minneapolis after graduation, she befriended members of the Doomtree rap collective, and when they discovered her incredible talent for writing, they  asked her to join the group. She has since gone on to basically conquer the world, releasing four albums with Doomtree, writing and publishing a book, developing her own lipstick color with The Elixery in Minneapolis, and releasing two solo albums with one more, Parts of Speech, on the way on June 25th. Parts of Speech is being hailed as Dessa’s best work yet, with a wealth of different genres, beats, and instruments weaving together into a beautifully cohesive album that has critics falling over with pure excitement. The first single, Warsaw, was described by one reviewer like this: “The track boasts a beat like Azealia Banks playing Pacman, which provides a background for our emcee’s confident, hypnotic flow.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. You can listen to that here.

Dessa’s style is truly exceptional. It’s rare to encounter a rapper who makes amazing music without conforming to the genre’s stereotypes, but she accomplishes it, refusing to be put exclusively into the box of “singer,” “rapper,” or “writer.” She’s not shy about calling out the sexism and hypocrisy present in the world of hip-hop, with lyrics like “I found your steel ladder/Now your ceilings don’t matter/Check me out now I got glass floors.” Dessa will make you think. She will grab you by the collar and make you listen to her lyrics. She will change how you think of women in rap music.

She is what I listen to when I’m blissfully happy, and what I listen to when I’m so angry that I want to punt strangers through the Camp Randall goalposts. Dessa is an incredible artist, and a role model for women everywhere. Not just those in the music industry, but all the women who deal with sexism and stereotyping in their lives and work.

Of course, this night would not be complete without the incredible talent of an all-female group of First Wave performers, in honor of this event’s co-sponsorship with the Campus Women’s Center. For those who don’t know, First Wave is a multicultural coalition of artists who are also students here on campus. They perform spoken word and hip-hop, polishing their skills and showcasing their talents all across campus, the city, and the country. Anyone who has seen First Wave in action before knows that they consistently put on an energetic and passionate show, and will be the perfect intro to a night full of strong women with mad talent.

And as a final quick plug, the Campus Women’s Center does amazing work on this campus, and we are very proud to be working with them to put on an incredible show that honors and promotes female artists and their accomplishments. This show is going to be ridiculously awesome. Get there.

Friday 4/19, The Sett, 9:00 PM

Here’s some videos, to get you pumped.

Friday Night in Memorial Union: Purling Hiss w/ Spires That in the Sunset Rise + Claps

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130219-purling-hiss[1]This Friday in Der Rathskeller, come see Purling Hiss, Spires That in the Sunset Rise, and Claps!  The highest temperature will be 41 degrees that day, so why not warm up with some fuzzed-out, psych rock courtesy of Purling Hiss and company.  Do your friends’ house party have loud guitars, a psychedelic folk band, and some synth pop all playing live?  If they do, invite me.  Otherwise, Der Rath is the place to be.

Purling Hiss is a lo-fi psych rock band out of Philadelphia that combines killer guitar riffs and hooks with a distinctive recording sound that, on their first few albums, sounded like it was made with microphones from the 1950′s in an abandoned basement. Their latest LP, Water On Mars, lost that aggressively lo-fi recording style, but kept all the catchy melodies and guitar lines.  Check out their song “Mercury Retrograde” below.

Spires That In The Sunset Rise is a psych folk band from Decatur, Illinois.  Consisting of Kathleen Baird and Taralie Peterson, they combine traditional folk instruments with experimental songwriting to create a truly unique sound.  You can sample their song “Morning Song” below.

Claps is a Minneapolis synth pop band with reverb drenched vocals and simple, but effective synths. Imagine if Joy Division decided it hated its guitars and traded them for analog synths. Claps’ songs are dark dreamscapes filled with ominous bass lines and sullen rings of electronic music. Check out their song “Strain”, off their album Glory, Glory below.

Purling Hiss-”Mercury Retrograde”

Purling Hiss-”Run From This City”

Spires that in the Sunset Rise- “Morning Song”

Claps-”Strain”

Saturday in Music Hall: Deerhoof

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Deerhoof

Performing since 1994, with eleven self-produced albums under their belt, Deerhoof makes a stop in Madison this Saturday night in Music Hall. Just for you. For free.

Their sound is indescribable, considering the band members do not even know what kind of music they are producing when they produce it. Originating from San Francisco, Deerhoof has been pushing the boundaries of music with every note.

Deerhoof vs. Evil of 2011 was their latest album and sources gave it rave reviews, including The Rolling Stone stating the album had, “lurching effects and percussion before segueing from riotous soca to lugubrious funk to what sounds like drunkard’s take on Cuban son.”

It’s a night you surely do not want to miss, because playing along with Deerhoof is Ensemble dal Niente. But this show starts at 8 p.m. in Music Hall, a different location form our typical venues.

Saturday in Great Hall: Ra Ra Riot with Pacific Air

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I had the great fortune of coming across Ra Ra Riot through a Spotify advertisement about a year and a half ago. After listening to their 2010 album The Orchard, I was immediately drawn in. Their arrangements of a standard band’s instruments along with a violin and cello create a sound that should not be missed.

Formed in 2006 at Syracuse University, Ra Ra Riot’s high-energy campus performances quickly drew the attention of the indie music scene. The band was signed to Barsuk Records in 2008, whom they have produced all three of their albums under.

Even though Ra Ra Riot is relatively young in terms of their work, their newest album Beta Love indicates a change in the band’s sound from previous years. This change was most likely influenced by the departure of cellist Alexandra Lawn, but the music doesn’t skip a beat because of it. The album (which can be streamed here, complete with unique music visualizer) is filled with significantly more electronic and synth sounds, but still meshes well with Wes Miles’s soothing falsetto’s and the now more occasional but welcomed violin stylings of member Rebecca Zeller. It will be interesting to see if the band is able (or willing) to perform any of their songs from The Orchard, given the new dynamic they have immersed themselves in.

Accompanying Ra Ra Riot on stage will be Pacific Air, (formerly KO KO) an indie pop duo consisting of brothers Taylor and Ryan Lawhon. Signed to Republic Records in 2012, they have since released a four song EP titled Long Live KO KO. In addition, the music video for their song “Float” dropped on February 26th, and definitely shows promise for the duo’s future. 

The show starts at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 2nd in the Great Hall in Memorial Union. The doors open at 8:00 p.m., but I hope to see you there earlier to be front and center for this great indie show.

Saturday Night in the Sett: K.Flay w/ MyrihaB

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In the kingdom of indie rap, K.Flay is one of the queens. I’d like to imagine that if she ever saw this blog, she’d roll her eyes at such a cliché and write a song sarcastically making fun of it, which I would then download onto my iPod and listen to while walking to class and fighting the urge to break into embarrassing white-girl-at-a-rap-show dancing.

This is probably why we here at WUD Music are so excited to have K.Flay performing at the Sett on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. K.Flay (Kristine Flaherty) hails from San Francisco and is a Stanford alumnus (I know, I know, but let’s try and put our injured pride from the Rose Bowl behind us).  She’s whip-smart and it shows in her spitfire lyrics backed by throbbing and dance-ready beats. Her eclectic style has been bolstered by touring with such diverse artists as Passion Pit, 3OH3! and Wallpaper, and she’s recently had songs featured on the season two premiere of Girls (“So Fast, So Maybe”) and the most recent episode of Pretty Little Liars (“Easy Fix“). On top of all this, she just dropped her brand new mixtape, West Ghost on February 21st (clearly I don’t joke around when I say brand-spanking-new).  You can download the whole mix-tape FO FREE right here: http://www.kflay.com/

Of her most recent EP, Eyes Shut, she writes: “There are no love songs. It’s really about a mindset, a perspective. A lot of the people I know are pretty apathetic and disillusioned. They’d rather check out than engage in something. I’m drawn to that myself at times and at other times I’m repelled by it.”

Opening for K.Flay is MyrihaB, one of UW Madison’s own. She’s a super unique and multi-faceted artist and knows how to start a high-energy night off right. Her debut project dropped in December and you can find it on her Bandcamp page right here: http://myrihab.bandcamp.com/album/life-of-a-struggling-student

Hope you guys are ready to get your collective minds blown by one of the most kickass, in-your-face rappers on the scene these days. DON’T MISS THIS.

As if you needed it, here’s a little more incentive to show up:

2/23/2013 K.Flay w/ MyriahB – Union South: The Sett, 9:30

Friday in The Sett: WHY? w/ Astronautalis and Dream Tiger

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For all of you who were counting down the days until WHY?, Astronautalis and Dream Tiger would be in The Sett, put down your school work and call up every single person you know because the day is finally here. Tomorrow night, The Sett breaks down heavy beats to welcome these three one-of-a-kind artists.

What began as a solo project in 2003, Yoni Wolf decided to retire his stage name Why? only to continue performing with other band members under the same name in the year 2004. Since then, this truly unique combination of indie rock and rap band released four albums, including Elephant Eyelash, Alopecia, Eskimo Snow, and their latest, Mumps, Etc.

Their song, “Sod in the Seed” from Mumps, Etc., happily sucks you in with their care-free indie sound, but anchors you down with Yoni Wolf’s steady string of philosophical lyrics. His voice is even comparable with a rap-version of Cake. Their live performances do not disappoint and for a band as unique as they are, WHY? is a must-see.

Also a must-see performance is Astronautalis, one of the supporting acts for the night. Astronautalis is known as Andy Bothwell, an indie rapper that holds back no emotion when on stage performing. Bothwell has performed in The Sett before, around this time last year, and enticed the crowd with his incredibly fast pulse of hip hop and free-styling ability. It’s true, Bothwell picked topics out of the crowd and had everyone dancing, jumping and laughing.

In addition to the support of Astronautalis, we also have Dream Tiger. This young female artist focuses more on interpretation of electronic beats than actual hip hop, but will still have you begging for more waves of her pop creations. Listen to her EP here.

Check out the videos below if you still need more convincing of attending:

WHY?:

Astronautalis:

Friday Night at Der Rath: The Daredevil Christopher Wright w/ Cuddle Magic

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Every weekend, WUD Music tries our best to bring you bands that are both enjoyable to listen to and entertaining to see. It is time yet again for another weekend with just that, and we are starting it off this Friday night with The Daredevil Christopher Wright and Cuddle Magic in Der Rathskeller at Memorial Union.

The dim lighting in Der Rathskeller will create the perfect ambiance for the whole-hearted and soothing sound of The Daredevil Christopher Wright. You can almost hear the twinkle in Jesse Edgington, Jonathan Sunde and Jason Sunde’s eyes as they produce folk music that sets them apart from most indie bands originating from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Considering that most bands from that area usually fuse the nature of their surroundings in soft and soothing tones, The Daredevil Christopher Wright stand out by pushing their sound further and interacting with physical surroundings.

Ironically, in reference to nature, their latest album release is named The Nature of Things, which was described by Consequence of Sound to “offer a kind of cheery foreboding, a quality that seems uniquely Midwestern.” The song “Divorce” immediately draws you in with the comforting strum of the guitar combined with the intriguing high pitch vocals and percussion that sounds like subtle rain drops- if they had a note on the musical scale.

Splitting that 7″ with The Daredevil Christopher Wright is Cuddle Magic, a perfect addition to the soft, mesmerizing indie music taking place tonight. Although not from Eau Claire, New York instead, Cuddle Magic delights any stage with their harmonic presence. Their name is no lie, songs like “Expectations,” and “Ring of Gold” speak to your emotions and cuddling just seems to be the most enticing thing to do.

The only logical thing to do then is to come to Der Rathskeller and find a cuddle buddy, it is the beginning of the winter season after all. Check out free downloads below for both The Daredevil Christopher Wright and Cuddle Magic.

Download>>The Daredevil Christopher Wright- “Divorce”

Download>>Cuddle Magic- “Disgrace Note”

Tonight at The Sett: Bonnaroo 365 Tour presented by Samsonite featuring White Denim and Maps & Atlases

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Tonight, The Sett brings White Denim along with Maps & Atlases on the Bonnaroo 365 Tour, which has traveled from East to West before the tour wraps up in White Denim’s hometown of Austin.

2011 was a banner year for White Denim.  The band released their fourth full-length album, D, to widespread critical acclaim, and from there, the band has not looked back.  Rolling Stone gave the album four stars, and said they are, “like a jam band that refuses to be boring,” as they mix “psychedelia, hard blues, boogie, prog rock and fusion riffs…” This elaborate mix of styles, along with such high praise is what has catapulted the band to such great heights.

In 2006, Josh Block, James Petralli, and Steve Terebecki came together in Austin, Texas and formed White Denim.  The band combines a number of influences, ranging from garage to psychedelic rock and just about everything in between.  This seamless shifting amongst genres has garnered them acclaim from sources as disparate as Rolling Stone to Relix, a jamband magazine.

While their studio output has been increasingly fine tuned, their live performances have taken the band to where they are now.  After years of heavy touring, their hard work paid off when they were selected for an opening slot for Wilco on their early 2012 West Coast tour.  They then followed that up with appearances at many of the major festivals including a hallmark performance at Bonnaroo.

This is absolutely a show you do not want to miss for fans of any genre with the word “rock” in it, and the best part is, the show is free!

Here is a clip of the band performing at Bonnaroo:

Saturday Night at Der Rathskeller: Laetita Sadier with Orca Team

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Saturday night at the Rath features one of the biggest shows of the Fall.  Laetita Sadier of Stereolab brings her unique sound and lyrical style to campus.  Sadier’s career began during the 80s, but continued in earnest when she teamed up with Tim Gane and formed Stereolab.  While in Stereolab, the band released ten albums, five of which charted on the Billboard 200, and their breakthrough album Dots and Loops reached the #2 spot on the Heatseekers chart.  Since leaving Stereolab, she has released two solo albums, The Trip, which received an 8.2 on Pitchfork, and most recently, Silencio.  Pitchfork called her most recent effort “as timelessly hip as a pair of Wayfarers or an Eames chair.”  Sadier’s highly political lyrics and washes of sound makes her performance a can’t miss.

Opening up the night is Orca Team, a self-described “Pop-Surf-Post Punk” band from Seattle, Washington, whose sound matches their home-base perfectly.  Blending walls of sound with minimalist lyrics, and driving bass lines, they have been described by Brooklyn Vegan as “early ’60′s pop and surf pop with Krautrock rhythms and basslines.”  The band currently finds themselves in the middle of a tour which has them playing for 69 straight nights.

Between the up-and-coming yet road-tested Orca Team, and the star power of Laetita Sadier, this is a can’t miss night for a fan of indie rock or fans of good music in general.  Check out a video from Laetita Sadier and Orca Team below and also a free download from Ocra Team:

Download>>Orca Team- “Michael”

Laetita Sadier:

Orca Team: