46 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(09/30/14 4:28pm)
The illustrious Thom Yorke followed the likes of Aphex Twin, Beyoncé, and more unfortunately Bono by suddenly releasing an album Friday afternoon. Ensuing Yorke’s and producer Nigel Godrich’s mysterious sharing photos of a white album, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes showed up for listeners to download on BitTorrent. Adding to the new age techniques of music industry marketing you can purchase the album for 6 dollars off of the site similar to Bandcamp. It seems non advertisement and ambiguous marketing techniques are on an upward trend across the industry (Aphex Twin’s blimp over London to name one).
Yorke will receive 90 percent of the sales from the album cutting out the middle men trying to cash in on the creative genius of artists. The eight track album will leave devout Radiohead fans with some tunes to mull over still waiting for the band to drop and new album. Radiohead hasn’t formally published anything together since 2011 The King of Limbs, yetYorke collaborated previously with Flea to form Atoms For Peace and release AMOK. The band started recording their new album together in September, so we’ll have to wait in apprehension for its release (hopefully sooner rather than later).
Take a listen to the first track of the album here:
(09/24/14 4:37pm)
After featuring on Flying Lotus’ new single “Never Catch Me” earlier this month, Kendrick Lamar dropped his first single off his much anticipated album. The track titled “i” was released earlier today and is the first single off his yet to be named album (United States of A.L.A.RM. has been falsely rumored as the title).
Kendrick Lamar’s forthcoming album has generated a decent amount of hype, rightfully so after the successes of good kid, m.A.A.d city and Section: 80. In recent Rolling Stone interview Lamar promised one thing for sure of his new record, “it’s that it will connect again.” Kendrick’s recent tours have refined his performance rhetoric and stage presence, I can attest seeing him three times in the past year, he has really transformed as an artist. Yet, Kendrick has not announced a release date, so eager fans may be waiting longer than years end for the complete album.
“i” offers different dimension to Kendrick, straying away slightly from the aggressive and raw tones that contributed to his previous recordings. Don’t fret though, Kendrick said in the same Rolling Stone interview “aggression and emotion” will be plentiful on the upcoming album. Give the track a listen and decide for yourself if you like the new sound.
(09/23/14 9:08pm)
Pygmalion seems to be a fitting name for a music, art, literature, and culture festival considering all the different contexts the word can be derived from. The Phoenician Ovid wrote a narrative depicting a sculptor Pygmalion. He crafted a sculpture named Galatea and fell in love with it because she was pure and the other women of the world were tainted. Spawning from Ovid’s narrative came a play from George Bernard Shaw. In Shaw’s play, Professor Higgins wages a bet with a counterpart to culture a low class girl into becoming duchess.
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois will play host to the 10th anniversary of The Pygmalion Music Festival. Every September fellow music lovers conglomerate on University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana grounds for four days of music, art, literature, and above all, culture. This upcoming weekend September 25th – 28th, U of I’s campus will entertain the likes of CHVRCHES, American Football, Panda Bear, Real Estate, Tycho, Sun Kil Moon, and many other artists. The festivals rich history and vast collection of past acts has created the spectacle we see today. You can check out all prior acts here http://www.thepygmalionfestival.com/past/.
The Festival will run concurrently across the campus all four days, spanning almost ten different venues throughout the weekend. The Krannert Center and Highdive Outdoor Stages will host the big headliners for the weekend, but you can find acts at all different types of venues over U of I’s diverse music scene. Each venue offers a unique feel for the concert goers.
A brief rundown of prominent acts day by day:
Thursday 9/25
Real Estate will headline the night starting at 11 o’clock at the Krannert Center (500 S Goodwin, Urbana) commencing Pygmalion Festival. The Ridgewood rockers draw upon textured undertones coupled with surf rock-esque rhythms to form a engulfing sound that all audiences can appreciate. Recently releasing Atlas on March 4, 2014, Real Estate will surely convey different tracks to listeners.
Contributing to the kickoff of Pygmalion on Thursday will be The 92, Diamond Youth, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, and Authors Peter Orner and Audrey Petty performing at the Krannet Art Museum.
Friday 9/26
Friday night, the festival gets rolling at Canopy Club (708 S Gooodwin, Urbana), at 6:00 P.M. At 6, Authors, Matt Frank, Erika L. Sánchez, Amy Sayre Baptista will be speaking for the crowd.
Following the authors, The Krannert Center will host California’s Sun Kil Moon at 7:30 ensuring a graceful set of acoustically moving tracks. An unforgettable show for all who will be in attendance I’m sure.
Succeeding Sun Kil Moon, on Krannert’s stage Friday night starting at 9 PM, one of the most experimental musicians I think our generation will ever hear: Panda Bear (listen to Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, please). Panda Bear’s performance will be highly anticipated considering the release of new sample tracks via a website pbvsgr.com. In addition, Panda’s record label Domino announced in February that Panda Bear will be releasing a new album this year with a working title Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper. The website may allude the upcoming album, nonetheless, it offers new tracks for a purely magnificent show.
If you can possibly manage another show after Panda’s set, XXYYXX will be playing an entrancing electronic set at Canopy Club (708 S Goodwin, Urbana) or Speed Ortiz will be playing an equally electrifying performance at Red Herring (1209 W Oregon, Urbana).
Saturday 9/27
First and foremost Saturday will be packed full of music, arts, literature, and culture this author can’t possibly preview all of.
The Esquire will hold the Pygmalion Book Fair from 12 PM to 4 PM, while almost simultaneously The Made Fest will be happening from 12:30 PM to 6 PM at the Highdive Outdoor Annex.
Starting off a fantastic day of music at 2:45 will be Modern Kin, an enticing indie rock band from Portland, Oregon (Highdive Outdoor Stage 2).
Chicago natives Twin Peaks will take the Highdive Stage 1 at 5:00. Branding a Chicago style of psychedelic surf rock, Twin Peaks will offer textures and tones for listeners of all ages and walks of life.
After Twin Peaks, Tycho will take the stage (Highdive Outdoor Stage 1), providing downtempo enchanting beats making all crowd goers fall in love with the melodies.
Headlining Saturday night will be the electronic stylists of CHVRCHES, the upbeat, dancy, feminine vocally led, and downright fascinating electronic dominated band. (Playing 10:30 – 12:00 @ Highdive Outdoor Stage 1).
Following CHVRCHES, a plethora of upbeat musicians will follow @ Mike N Molly’s, Memphis on Main, Cowboy Monkey, and Brass Rail until 2 AM
Sunday 9/28
Music, Authores, and The Made Fest will play continuously from 12 PM till about 6 PM. An immense amount of culture will be playing during these hours, so I suggest you look at the full schedule.
At 6:45 Deafheaven will take the Highdive Outdoor Stage 1. Performing heavy metal licks, Deafheavan will generate a trashing, intense, and lively crowd no matter who is in the crowd.
Sending off a final salute to Pygmalion will be Urbana performers: American Football. American Football will take Highdive Outdoor Stage 1 @ 9 PM until 10 PM, which will conclude performances on the main stages at Pygmalion. After taking a long standing haitus from the music world, American Football will once again rock the stages of Champaing-Urbana. A local headliner that will be one for the ages.
After American Football, on the same set of stages as Saturday night (Highdive Indoor, Mike N Molly’s, Memphis on Main, Cowboy Monkey, and Brass Rail) will be Resinater, King Dude, Earth, Gardens and Villa, Motes, Alex G, Mutual Benefit, Cody & the Gateway Drugs, The Soil and The Sun, and Bones Jugs and Harmony.
Emphasizing the arts seems to be a specialty of Pygmalion’s, something I hope Indiana’s campus can learn from. With any luck, one day it will culminate in Indiana University hosting a similar event as Pygmalion does at Illinois. All of the artists offer something extremely unique in adding to the culture of us all, so please take listen and even more attend Pygmalion this weekend.
For full schedule details see: http://www.thepygmalionfestival.com/schedule/
Tickets: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pygmalion-festival-2014-tickets-11291307605
(09/22/14 9:40pm)
If one day of school makes you already wishing for the weekend you can get your weekend started early on this upcoming Tuesday Sept. 23.
Doors will open at 9 p.m. to The Bishop (123 S. Walnut St.), for The Bangs, Pink Cigarettes, and headliner The Dirty Lungs. The Bishop will be an 18+ event Tuesday, a 5 buck cover (You can find in your pocket) will get you through the door.
The Bishop is a cozy venue with capacity of about 200 or so people. The relatively small space offers a great venue to catch an up close, more personal show. It will be hard waking out after Tuesday’s show without slightly muffled hearing. The Bishop has yet to offer me a poor viewing experience this year and I don’t think The Dirty Lungs will either.
The Dirty Lungs aka Ra-Jaan Parmley, Carson Mitchell, Chris Scott, and Justin Ward fuse upbeat surf rock tempos with Nirvana grunge undertones, while layering psychedelic waves throughout. Labeling the rockers as punk for me isn’t a fitting genre; when a band has a unique unclassified sound it usually gets cast as punk if it’s even the slightest bit unorthodox or experimental. If psychedelic, engulfing, rich, spacey, or unique classify music enticing to your pallet, I highly suggest you check out The Dirty Lungs.
Recently announcing the release of their Communicating Vessels album, The Dirty Lungs have hit the road for promotion. The Bishop should yield a set with fresh licks and an electric environment in anticipation of the upcoming release. I’m anticipating entrancing songs filled with layers and textures materializing an absorbing atmosphere.
Even if none of what I have said sounds enticing to you, my stylistic dancing will be in full effect and I promise you that is a sight to see in itself.
(09/18/14 7:22pm)
This Wednesday, The Bishop featured smooth jazz upright bass lines coupled with violins, mandolins, hollow body electric guitars, and even more a downright stirring atmosphere. The Double Digits opened for the Two Man Gentlemen Band (TMGB) in front of an intimate crowd, where even front man, Andy Bean, of TMGB remarked “We’d throw someone out, but then we’d lose 10% of our crowd.” Despite arriving a little late to the show, the opener was already in full swing and, bowtie upon taking in the scene, a few things immediately peaked my interest. Predominantly catching my eye was the bassist slapping a cherry red upright bass garnishing a fedora, , and stylish brown leather shoes (circa 1960). Almost as eye catching as the bassist was the violin player in the background bow in hand, moving fluidly as a river up and down the strings. I found an overwhelming appreciation in the way the band followed the basic theory of construction led me to see how the members felt each other and how they could deviate to make the live performance original and fresh. Double Digits left the stage, providing an appropriate entrance for Two Man Gentlemen Band. When Two Man Gentlemen Band took the stage I was completely unprepared for the comedic relief I found between a varying selections of songs. Andy Bean (front man), “The Councilman” (upright bassist), and touring drummer comprised The Two Man Gentlemen Band. Despite the words of front man Andy Bean as he pronounced to the crowd why we shouldn’t close our eyes, “most of the songs [will] sound exactly the same”, the show spanned sentiments of everywhere from a 20’s swing club, an old western saloon, a classy 50’s jazz bar, and everywhere in between. Even more impressive than the spanning period music was the variety of instruments featured during the set. Bean played a hollow bodied electric, mandolin, banjo, and mouth trumpet. Dean’s partner in crime, the Councilman, played an upright bass and kazoo. Yet, Bean referred the Councilman’s bass as “A giant fiddle," I can attest, if you closed your the Councilman might have fooled you into thinking a fiddle was playing. The variety of instruments paired with a toe tapping drum beat provided upbeat enthusiasm the crowd couldn’t help but jive to. The Councilman remarked a portion of the show as “A jazz grab bag with a banjo,” and somehow I couldn’t agree more. Even if you don’t quite find contemporary 20’s and 30’s swing music as your cup of tea, The Bishop would have left you swinging after Double Digits and Two Man Gentlemen Band. I respect anyone that can get up on stage and perform live as the two bands did. They fed off each other and no one member was more important in generating the performance than another. Conclusion for this writer, live music offers more to the viewers than analog can, go out and see some shows people!
(09/16/14 4:09pm)
ICYMI: For all you Hoosier’s that believe Sunday Funday can’t be a reality in Bloomington because Big Red Liquors won’t sell you a 6 pack of beer, you’ve been sorely mistaken. If you don’t know what or where the Bishop is I suggest you acquaint yourself quickly (I have just recently acquainted myself), especially if you’re under the age of 21. This past Sunday, the Bishop hosted Shabazz Palaces and if you weren’t there I feel sorry for you.
For all of you don’t know who or what Shabazz Palaces is, it will be my pleasure to introduce and inform you. Rapper Ishmael Butler formerly Butterfly of the early 90’s jazz hip-hop group Digable Planets (If you haven’t heard of Digable Planets just google Rebirth of Slick to jog your memory) teamed up with Tendai Maraire in 2009 to form the experimental group that is Shabazz Palaces.
Despite the “traffic issues” that caused the music to be pushed back and hour, the opener Oreo Jones with co-rapper Sirius Blvck and their band warmed up the Bishop crowd with thumping bass drum and captivating beats engineered between two drum kits. After the dragging intermission Shabazz Palaces took the stage and did not disappoint.
In front of a crowd of about 100 or so, Butterfly and Tendai mesmerized the crowd with electronically fused bass and drum beats coupled with slick licks and lyricism. At times the crew seemed to be orbiting in a different cosmic realm entrancing the crowd into one unified vibe. The experimental beats flowed fluently from outro to intro the whole show with constant layers and textures putting listeners in constant state of astonishment. Leaving the music to do the talking, Butterfly’s occasional big smile in between looks of un-phased concentration showed how truly energized by the crowd he was. Reciprocating their appreciation for the crowd Shabazz Palaces closed with a passionate performance of “An echo from the hosts that profess infinitum.” Triumphant echoes of “who do you think you are” reverberated throughout the crowd to wrap up the evening. After, they simply exited the stage with Butterfly stating they used up as much time as possible for the music instead of leaving and coming back for an encore. A performance rhetoric I truly appreciate.
The astonishing hour and a half set rendered me in a muffled daze as I euphorically strolled the 4 blocks down Walnut to my apartment. For one of the first shows I’ve seen at the Bishop, the night left me with high hopes for the shows to come this semester in Bloomington.