This morning I was almost late, which caused slight stress as I sat down to the boards, but I calmed myself with a little wintertime piece of music on this first day of December…
Hoppipolla – Sigur Ros
Sad that I didn’t go to The Majestic last night, a little bit of this…
The Lemon of Pink – The Books
Coming up in der Rath…
Next Best Thing – Toki Wright
Secrets – Headlights
Ms. You and Me – Smoking Popes
“On Rotation In The Office” (the fun part!!)
For Molly Lloyd, my boo…
Please Read The Letter – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
For one of my non-Music Committee friends, Eric Carlson, who at this point had been writing a paper for eleven hours, and also informed me that this song is actually about catching kids picking their noses (one of the GBV members was a former 4th grade teacher)…
Teenage FBI – Guided By Voices
For me…
So Everyone – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
Because even hip-hop loving Music Committee Director Matt Forrest loves this song and they’re selling out venues like ca-razy…
Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
And the last two were mostly for me, again. Say what you will about the last track. I’m into it…
Harold T. Wilkins or How To Wait For A Very Long Time – Fanfarlo
So following a really long night at College Library (I’m currently living in academic hell), I had a nice 5 AM trip to WSUM.
This morning’s show had absolutely no organization and was mostly requests and songs I like until I decided to do my job and play some Sunny Day In Glasgow and Common Loon before this weekend.
It’s not worth wasting words with the reasoning behind most of these tracks. A lot of them were requests from my eight online listeners. Ha.
If you had happened to be up at 5 AM last Tuesday morning (or Monday night), you could have tuned in to the inaugural episode of the new WUD Music radio hour, Club 770, on 91.7 FM here in Madison, the student radio station. Don’t worry if you didn’t catch it, though, because here’s what I played.
Also, don’t worry, next semester the show will be at a real time.
These first two tracks commemorated the real Club 770 (R.I.P. Union South), where both played before they “got big.”
Together We’ll Ring In The New Year – Motion City Soundtrack
Ghost Under Rocks – Ra Ra Riot
A couple Memorial Union shows of the past…
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song – Fleet Foxes
Major Label Debut – Broken Social Scene
Some highlights of this semester so far:
Here Comes the Sky – Crocodiles
Pulling On A Line – Great Lake Swimmers
And now, for fun, “On Rotation In The Office” — what we’ve been listening to around the Union, wishing we could book, obsessing about, and singing along to in our bedrooms… That last one might just be me though.
Dreams – Smith Westerns
Swim (To Reach The End) – Surfer Blood
Let’s Go Surfing – The Drums
Love Is All I Am – Dawes
Animal (Mark Ronson Remix) – Miike Snow
are you still in vallda? – jj
Eminent Victorians – Princeton
Lust For Life – Girls
You can hear my lovely voice again in a couple days either over the airwaves or streaming on wsum.org and through iTunes. Or you can just wait and download the file of what I played because you are not masochistic and like to sleep.
I wanted to post something up here. I’ve been meaning to but haven’t had much to say as I’ve gravitated between both busy and lazy days but mostly, countless long nights.
I wanted to provide you, the reader, with music I’ve been enjoying throughout the summer (that I think you should know about):
Toro Y Moi
I first came across Toro Y Moi, like so many other things, on Gorilla vs. Bear. The first song to really grab a hold of me was “Talamuk.” It’s a mellow, bassy dance track that’s a bit chopped n’ screwed towards the end. With another look at the band’s Myspace, I found a set of older songs, “109″ and “Ekleton,” which really got me excited. At some point Toro Y Moi made the transition from lo-fi, guitar pop to mostly mid-tempo house. It doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense but either hat fits on Toro Y Moi’s head.
I don’t really listen to rap music, but I know a good song when I hear one and this is one. I love the lines “Kush is what we smokin’ / Patron is what we sippin’.” This is an all-around, great party track and in some ways reminds me of “Country Grammar.” Call me crazy, if you want.
I’ve seen this Brooklyn-based via Florida band twice this summer as they’ve gigged around NYC constantly. They initially took me by complete surprise as I went to go see them on a whim. They have this 80′s New-Wave meets surf-pop aesthetic that I think works for them. “Me and the Moon” is my favorite song by them. It’s as dark as a sunshine pop track about unrequited love could be.
This could be filed under the “guilty pleasure” section but I won’t do it. I unabashedly enjoy this former teen actor’s work. I was a big fan of R&B in elementary school and middle school (even though I didn’t understand half the sexual references made in the music). It always seemed like a natural transition to move from listening to R&B, which centers on soulful musings of unrequited love and being really good at sex, to Emo, which centers on more depressed musings of unrequited love and being bad at sex (?). Does Drake straddle the line? Thanks to Gabe and Peter K. for this discovery.
Lessins is the House project of Toro Y Moi brain child, Chaz Bundick. Bundick puts on his dance shoes for Lessins and doesn’t look back. The song “Lina” is a damn good dance track that doesn’t overwhelm (sorry Gabe and Matt). More music like this should be played at parties because it doesn’t annoy you or force itself upon you.
Ganglians are not for the faint of heart. I’m going to forewarn you that it takes a bit of effort to listen to this band. I think they get their name-sake from the fact that the lead man is tall and “gangly” and doesn’t appear to have an ass. Start with the song “Hair.” It is reminscent of a WAVVES’ track but more psych and a little more thought out. I saw these guys and was in the midst of a food coma while they played their set so I didn’t fully appreciate their performance. I’m definitely going to catch their performance at Forward Music Festival this September.
Another Brooklyn-based band, but they’re not what you think. Little Gold play folk delights not replete of violin or catchy hooks. Take a listen. I promise it’s good.
Other notable mentions: Passion Pit, Miike Snow, Desolation Wilderness, Air France, Patrick Watson, Foreign Born
I can’t think of anything else to give you. This should hold you over for now. 3 1/2 more weeks and I’m back in the homeland. Can’t wait to see some familiar faces and cause a little trouble.
Tell me what you’ve been enjoying this summer- bands, albums, songs, etc.
tweet tweet. now you can get your updates concisely from our twitter. but since you love our videos so much we’ll keep putting those up on here for you.
so i guess we are moving up the ranks in the hype world. 21st over all. damn. must have been the wavves show (which is now a running joke amongst us not for the music, just how hype it is).
no but seriously about 25% of the bike around are single speeds, more and more tight pants emerge, and i just saw a bro wearing crooks and castles. we are doing our part to make this the mini brooklyn of the midwest and it seems like we are making it work.
and many others are doing well too. i mean how else would wyndham manning get elected if he didn’t work the mildly socially conscious hipster vote. we have regular dance parties now (where zebo at hay hay HAY), random people showing up on party pic sites from chicago, even a panel on how to b hype. wavves – all that needs to be said. women – coming to a terrace near you soon. i mean hollywood holt is here judging break dance battles the same weekend u-n-i is performing and wale is performing at the event known for repping ‘real hip hop’ (where krs-one b?). and the word juke is thrown around regularly in the streets.
but there is more work to be done. we need more basement shows. we need a back room bike shop where they dont make you pay excessive prices (cough yellow jersey). we need more of the shitty bars around to be venues and even the small ones to suck it up and build a stage. there is more stuff we need but i wont go into it. oh maybe a good shoe store.
anyways if we want to reach the top of the list even if it is in the blogosphere we need to start an initiative. the madison hype initiative. jackmode on the name game biddy martin. if you care or dont care to care then just do your part. but open your basement to a band. let manning grow his warlock of a beard without the scrutiny of the badger herald. take back the pub. make fun of the kids at madison avenue. and in the end rep your shit to the fullest. if we can make this happen:
we can make anything happen. we r da world.
cause even if its only the list of places visiting a blog. that shit is gold in a hip world. lets make it happen/rain.
Im back, and this time it’s for good. I have recently been granted Leadership over the Blog for the upcoming academic year. Hurray! So strap on your party hats guys….
Ok, enough about me. Down to business. Let’s recap the super successful show I covered on Friday.
Seriously though, I’m speaking to the handful of you who actually recall the events of the past weekend, I know Saturday is still a bit blurry for the better part of Madison, but Elvis Perkins in Dearland and opener Other Lives played an awesome show at Der Rath Friday night. The show was pretty packed. Lots of familiar faces singing along. Unfortunately my camera has been on the fritz as of late so I do not have much to offer in terms of visuals, but I will say this….Elvis’s wardrobe was a spectacle in itself. A few socially curious members of Other Lives even graced us with their presence at a fellow Committee Member’s party later that evening.
I cannot speak for the condition of your livers (or kidneys) post Mifflin festivities, but over all I’d say this weekend was a success.
SO to retiring Committee Director Patrick Tilley for surviving his 21st birthday.
Good luck with finals everyone, don’t get that Swine germ.
Day 3 kicked off for me at the Pitchfork/Windish Agency Party. Well technically it kicked off at 5am with intense side cramps from sleeping on the floor but the part you cared about started at this really neat venue called Emo’s which basically looks like they found a pit, poured concrete in it, put up a fence and some shamble roofing, and when something breaks they take some 2×4 and plywood and slap that over it.
I waited through a lot of indie bands the only one of which was really memorable for me was the Dirty Projectors. Their guitar sounds are truly unique (sounds something like what you think indie music in the medieval era would be) and their three front women create some damn good harmony, I mean it is really beautiful (of which Truby is in love with the bassist).
But the main attraction for me was the duo performance of A-Trak and Diplo (who will be in Madison April 11th). What was really interesting about their split bill is that you really could tell the differences between their styles. Diplo started it off with his worldwide gutter shit (meaning sort of electro world type beats with a banger twist) and A-Trak who started off in hip-hop (and rose to the level of Kanye’s DJ) but then made the move to more of a hard electro style but as he showed us he still has that solid hip-hop base with some perfect beat jocking and the best scratching I have seen in a while…on some electronic shit (Abilities and him should square off). Hearing these two styles go back and forth was great and seeing the whole room dance unrestrained was something that doesn’t happen too often. Whats great is that they do what the like and have been before this got popular. That’s what makes it work for them.
Tilley, Truby, and I had some excellent dinner at the Ironworks BBQ which almost made us fall asleep but not enough to miss Hollywood Holt (before the side journey to the wrong venue for some Mexican punk band Pat wanted to check…turns out the venue was next door and the one we were in looked like something out of Blade II). Holt had apparently been crunkin and doing shows all day but that didn’t mean he didn’t give us a damn good 25 minutes of a show. He somehow always manages to give out a ton of energy and even crowd surf with the 30 or so people he packed into the front of the venue. He may be loud and obnoxious but once again in an age where hipster rappers are starting to come from everywhere he is legit and this is what he loves. Its hard to knock that. Plus his shows are just too much damn fun. From lessons in juking to “gold chains hanging low” its hard not to enjoy yourself when Nigel is on stage.
This also made me realize one of the shittier parts of the experience: that there is so much going on, so many of your favorite artists appearing that its impossible to catch every little thing that happens. From what was most likely a wild afterparty with Kid Cudi, to the secret Diplo shows, to Holt’s 5 other performances which weren’t listed that day
I then ventured off to see another one of the “Freshman 10 of Hip-Hop” Mickey Factz, but not before passing the big story of the festival thus far, Metalica‘s appearance at the Guitar Hero party. I guess people had been in line since 5am but with my magic badge I got to jump ahead of them just to catch a glimpse of these folks only to say that I was there…and I was. I couldn’t tell you what song they were playing nor do I care that much. Its just one of those things I can say I did. Church.
Anyways I got to the AM Only party which was at the worst run venue I have been at thus far the Beauty Bar. It took everyone about two minutes just to get into the seemingly half full venue. I made my way to the patio to see Mickey. Not impressed. No Supras performance. He spent the set yelling over electro beats and Daft Punk, bringing girls on stage to dance, telling one to “crawl on the ground like a mouse gurrrrl”, and more yelling. I know he has some legitimate music but its hard to be impressed when you see that shit show.
I was hoping this show would redeem itself with some Tittsworth but despite him putting all his energy into it the awkward ass crowd was just too much to overcome. His set was more electro based than I expected it to be based of the hard B-More club stuff I have come to know but I will hopefully see that live another day.
All in all this was the downer party I went to this week. Terribly organized by both promoter and venue and strange performances from otherwise great artists. Epic fail.
I wandered back to where I was originally to catch the end of Amanda Blank‘s set who I was quite impressed with. Her music isn’t too hardly rooted in hipster electro like the rest of the artists that night like Thunderheist who set was good but had no up’s and downs and never drew me in. Blank is a talented singer and above all a really good emcee. This girl can rap. She varies her lyrical style with speed and precision and its something unique in the emerging realm of hipster-hop. She is definitely an artist to keep an eye on and I’m bummed I wasn’t able to see more.
The next up was Lady Sovereign from dA UK who was quite loud and in your face. Not bad but maybe just a little much. She performed he main song Love Me or Hate Me (Fuck You) to a sea full of middle fingers. Other than that it was an up-tempo electro British rap set to a crowd of drunk UT kids, old brosephs looking to slang, the occasionally hype beast, and chubby hipsters. Yay. Church.
Asher Roth was up next and I will say this: he has come a ways from rapping over Milli beats which tons of kids do in their dorm rooms anyways. He came down hoping to start a revolution of some sort, which ended in him roaming the streets looking for pizza at the end of the night. As stated in the previous article he did perform some new songs and is starting to gain a more legitimate sound and in my mind some actual credit for his raps not just someone who I think I could battle over an old Beastie Boys beat because he is too high. Of course he performed his hit I Love College but the highlight was his new stuff which should produce a semi-decent album. You can tell the industry has gotten a hold of him though since he got on stage with no acknowledgment of his gracious host Hollywood Holt and was backed by a drummer, some dude as his hypeman/pusher, and a djay to throw in some scratches all in the set of a pretty planned out set. He is good and he does what he like I am not here to knock that, but the fact that he is so packaged up does two things: one it makes him loose some of his very connective (to the 20 something masses) nostalgia that got him to where he is anyways, and two once his niche closes he is going to be chewed up and spit out…he will just be the first white boy to have it happen. Hopefully he can keep pulling something together like Soulja Boy has.
Kid Sister was the final performer of the evening and was accompanied by her boys Flosstradamus. Her set was live. Her set was short. All was well. She always puts on a very interactive and hype show but this one was just a little too short. Its hard not to get into it when she hits you with Damn Girl then Switchboard followed by Pro Nails and then ends with a Flossy-D Act A Fool live performance. Shit is banging. Also got to end the night with a little duo tag team djay set of Hollywood Holt and Autobot. Juke dem hoes.
One finaly big ups to Holt for hosting the entire night and doing a smash up job djaying. Gotta love some new Orleans bounce followed by Dunn Dunn by Shawty Lo not once but tree times just to get into it long enough so the crowd could got “Got Damn! Must be Two SIDE!”. See why:
Off to the Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish. And my deadly 7:00am flight. FML.
And the second day in Austin has come to an end with some excitements, more hiking near the Hook em Horns campus and late night surprises (aka Pat Tilley CREEEEEPPPIN! not.)
We started the day where all self-entitling hipsters should, at the back alley of an Urban Outfitters with our BFF from the Ill Mill at a PBRty. Yippee.
The first band I saw and the only one I feel like mentioning from this venture was the band Women from Canada. From my limited experience with Indie bands all I can say is that I did really enjoy their drummer. He carries the melody of the group quite well and has several creative approaches to his rhythms including placing the tambourine on the snare and making some strange yet well produced noise.
After a healthy hike back to the downtown area from the UT campus (about 23 blocks more or less) we made it back to the main downtown stretch where I broke off from the main group to help promote the Rhymesayers showcase that eve. The main promo was done at a day party with radio djays where some interesting events took place. Mainly the never to be seen again freestyle on the street collaboration between the Yay Arena’s Mistah Fab and the South MPLS emcee Eyedea of E&A. I shit you not. I wish I had video. This never to be seen again unless a parallel universe opens between the ghost riding king and the long winded fast rapper may be one of the strangest and more epic events I have seen thus far.
The evening show for RSE started at the Havana club with Toki Wright who has just been signed to the label under what appears to be a ‘Showcase Series’ of artists from maybe just the Twin Cities or all over. Or maybe he is just on the label. Well have to see. He played a lot of new tracks which didn’t really differ stylistically from his previous work but still sounds like it will make up a good album.
I Self Devine was the next artist up also playing material off the new album to come “Sounds of Lower Class Amerika”, and also similarly sounding to the previous release “Self Destruction”. He continues to be one of the under-represented artists by the label since every time you catch one of his shows it is one of the livest and most memorable performances you will see.
E&A were up next and performed a few new songs and some of the classics like Now and Birth of a Fish. And of course one of my favorite parts of the whole experience is to see Abilities do a scratch set. Shit is bananas and always something new. This time it was the Mr. Me Too beat and scratching “Yeah…I’m Back” for about 5 minutes straight.
I ran over to the Back Alley Social about 10 blocks away to catch Pac Div the F.A.T. Boys from sunny LA. The 20 minute set was highlighted by 5 minutes of the Mayor dance in the half full venue and only about one verse of their hit F.A.T. Boys. This wasn’t the greatest show but you caught enough of the idea of what they are trying to do so it all works out. And in the end what they are trying to do is somewhere between the Cool Kids and U-N-I. Not quite just hipster rap but pretty close.
I caught the beginning of the POS show back at Rhymesayers before heading off. It was pretty much the same set except a curtailed version as in Madison so you can just read all about that.
Finally it was off to Ace’s Lounge for the final act I was going to try and catch that night, Kid Cudi. But it appears the dreams of the room were to be slashed as the rapper appeared to be a no show. The venue manager from SXSW came out to announce the news and was quickly greeted by a beer bottle being thrown on stage and hit back with a very stern look and mean pointer finger at the culprit. Then the actual owner of the venue came out to try and calm folks down but was also greeted in a similar fashion and a stream of people leaving.
About two minutes into his speech however a flood of people came back into the venue and 30 seconds later Kid Cudi jumps on stage, a sigh of relief passes over the club owner, and Cudi yells out “Sorry Ya’ll we flew into Houston!” After a brief sound check the show started which can apparently be seen on Carson Daly’s Late Night programming.
The show itself was quite good. Whenever a new rapper following in the Cool Kids steps (more or less but you know what I mean…hipster rap) comes out its always hard to tell if the can rap or not. Cudi appears to be one of those individuals who actually can. He may not rap fast or show you ten different styles in a night but lyrically he can tell a story and that is more than the Cool Kids can say save the Basement Party track. He broke up the set with short “smoke” breaks on stage and bringing his party girls on stage. And he of course closed with the “popular” radio station hit Day & Nite and then throw on the Crookers remix of the same song to “keep the party going”. And the party did keep on going. More girls came on stage, Million $ Mano started dancing around, and guests from Rhymesayers who I was surprised to see there (Brother Ali, Jake One, Freeway, Siddiq, and others) and the guys from Pac Div showed up even after the main sound was turned off and the monitors were the only music going.
So yeah that show was interesting. We apologize for the lack of photos since our internet is terrible in the hotel. They will be up when we get back. Stay tuned for updates from Day 3 (Hollywood Holt, Diplo + A-Trak, Mickey Factz, Tittsworth, Amanda Blank, Asher Roth, and Kid Sister) and from what should be a good Day 4 (Cool Kids and MSTRKRFT).
