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(04/01/20 7:26pm)
With the COVID-19 pandemic causing Culture Shock 2020 to be pushed back to a later date, we at WIUX are using this time as an opportunity to look back and celebrate past Culture Shock Music Festivals. We’re starting this series today with Culture Shock Music Festival 2011 when Ty Segall, The War on Drugs, and Joe Exotic, performed on one of the greatest stages in the college radio world.
BLOOMINGTON, IN – It is almost 80 degrees out on this beautiful, sunny, afternoon in April, but Dunn Meadow only got hotter as college kids and big cat enthusiasts gather by the stage. As Brooklyn indie pop newcomers Beach Fossils began to prepare for their set, we took the opportunity to ask attendees what they are most excited about for this year’s festival.
“I literally have never heard of most of the people in this lineup. But having Joe Exotic here is a huge deal.” – Tony Vaughn, sophomore.
“Joe Exotic is the pulse of the DIY alt country world; he’s been all over college radio for the past year. It’s wild they got him.” – Molly Roche, freshman.
“Who is Ty Segall?” – Max Cohen, WIUX Co-Music Director.
(03/05/17 6:04pm)
6/7
Self-aware, mystical, and somber, bass guitar guru Stephen Brunner continues his legacy as the eccentric moniker “Thundercat” on his third installment, Drunk. Though his previous albums explored the spirit and death, Drunk contemplates on the chaos and mess of what we are already experiencing: moving through the life. Stories of frustrating love, revenge, uncertainty, and lots of talk about “Diablo" is backed by a funk, R&B and punk fusion that can only be accumulated through Thundercat’s experience. Meaningless but meaningful, Drunk-era Thundercat is intoxicatingly funky and honest.
It is hard to describe the type of experience Drunk offers. The 23-track saga explores everything from cheating women, to the desire to transition into an animal, to Dragonball Z. But what I can say is that one is instantly catapulted into Thundercat’s odd, enchanting world by the end of a bass line. “Them Changes," a standout track which was actually featured on 2015’s The Beyond/ Where the Giants Roam, is revisited with long-time collaborator Flying Lotus joining in on the fun. The groove and funk intertwined in every pulse, paired with a kung-fu inspired music video, echoes of a more innocent time. However, the lyrically-charged heartbreak rings of the present and future. All of Thundercat’s music seems to have this effect--like you have heard the songs before, almost as if you can harmonize and sing along. For me, I swear some of the electronic rhythms I heard from hours of “SimCity” and “Monkey Ball” game play. But they are too futuristic. It seems in many ways that they transcend a time frame.
“Friend Zone," which was originally released as a single, interestingly contains some of the highest highs and lows of the album. Of course, it is inherently funky. But this anthem for the men who have been played and heartbroken comes across as a little, well, cringey. The track is a collaboration with electronic music producer Mono/Poly, and as intricate and lively as the beats are, I just don’t feel it. Maybe it is because it feels like it is just complaining about women with no real wisdom gained, or maybe it is because one of the samples in the song’s intro is literally my morning alarm clock, and my harsh judgement is due to something subliminal.
Although collaborations with other music moguls is typically magical on everything Thundercat, Wiz Khalifa’s feature on “Drink Dat” shows he is unable to get into Brunner’s world. Both are talented, but in this case, their artistic styles were unable to mesh. “Drink Dat” belongs on a Wiz Khalifa album, or maybe it's meant to be played on loud speakers before an outdoor Maroon 5 concert to pass time.
The oddball sense of humor which is now synonymous with Brunner’s writing is more apparent than ever before. (After much debate, my friends and I are in agreement that the line “I'd rather play Mortal Combat anyways” is going to be our favorite lyric of 2017). This is something I have always loved about Thundercat’s world: weird is cool. Everything has this touch of weirdness. For instance, take “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)." For the entirety of the song, Thundercat sings about everyone wanting to be a cat. Surely, this sort of declaration isn’t normally associated with coolness. But when Thundercat does it, for whatever reason, I’m like, “Oh man! He’s right." Maybe it’s the smoothness of his falsetto, or the nostalgia induced when he name-drops “Diablo." As much of a character as Brunner’s “Thundercat” is, I think everyone who grew up surfing Adult Swim at odd hours or playing Nintendo sees him in themselves.
Favorite tracks: “Them Changes," “Show You the Way," “Rabbot Ho," “Jethro”
Least favorite: “Friend Zone," “Drink Dat”
(02/08/17 7:00am)
Rating: 5/7
Released: 2/3/17
Snowdonia is Surfer Blood’s most honest and ambitious album yet; it takes us to a much colder and darker place than the Florida natives have explored before. Following frontman John Paul Pitt’s assault charges on his girlfriend in 2012, his own mother being diagnosed with breast cancer, and the loss of the band’s guitarist, Thomas Fekete, Pitt had a lot of reflection and re-evaluation to do. Snowdonia, in my eyes, marks Pitt’s awakening from being a frat boy who never grew up to thoughtful and reminiscent. John Paul Pitt is a jerk, and Snowdonia is his shot for redemption.
Interestingly enough, the lyrical flow of this album rings of a Parquet Courts song. Though an unlikely influence, I soon found Parquet Court’s 2016 single “Outside” on Paul’s 2016 Favorites Spotify playlist . Like Parquet Courts, there is a heavy focus on emotional honesty within the lyrics. “I became completely lucid. Said 'who are, who are you?'”, Pitt sings on the haunting leading track “Six Flags in F or G”, “I felt his icy breath”. Clearly a reference to the passing of Fekete, Pitt speaks of how he often feels his presence still lingering from beyond the grave. This depth brings on an exceedingly different tone compared to tracks in the group’s past discography, which was strong in beachy vibes, but not a whole lot of context or lyrical complexity. The tragedies leading up to Snowdonia were the inspirational kick to transform Pitt into quite the thoughtful songwriter.
“Matter of Time” is another stand-out track on the album; it also tackles themes of death with a nihilistic touch. Each guitar bridge gives the listener a moment to reflect and take in what Pitt has just preached or reflected on, and it is enough to catalyze an existential crisis at times. I do not think there is one song on this album that does not ponder our impermanence on this Earth. It is possible to tune your ear to overlook the layers among layers of dread and agony associated with death and loss intertwined throughout the album, and emphasize the upbeat tunes for quite the dance party. To do that, however, would not only dismiss the real transformational journey we follow Pitt on from track to track, but would be missing Snowdonia’s point as well. It is easy to be ignorant and completely can our behavior and ill-effects on others, but it is impossible to grow as a person until admitting fault, and taking an honest shot for redemption. Even by the album’s title, and it’s stellar ballad of a title-track, Snowdonia implies that the world, or even the mind as well, can be a cold, cold place. But we have the power to melt this metaphorical ice away from within us.
Do not think Surfer Blood has transformed into some sort of sad boy group, however. Especially on songs “Taking Care of Eddy”, and the closing track “Carrier Pigeon,” there is an spirit of gratitude towards the life experience. We are all going to experience pain and die, we do not even know why we are here, we did not ask for this life. John Paul recalls deep appreciation for his mother and sister on “Carrier Pigeon”, summoning appreciation just for their existence, and the way they have touched his life. They are just as lost he is in this life, but everyone is on this journey together. Nice! This album was everything I did not expect from Surfer Blood, and generally very moving and relatable to listeners. The band managed to sail new territory, and succeeded.
Favorite tracks: “Six Flags in F or G”, “Carrier Pigeon”, “Frozen”, “Snowdonia”
Least favorite: “Instant ‘Doppelgängers"