Finding the right words to describe shoegaze as a genre is nearly impossible. Ethereal doesn’t quite cut it; atmospheric is too vague; and dreamy implies a lightness that shoegaze avoids.
Nashville indie rock group Bats delighted the crowd for their afternoon set at last week’s Culture Shock. Bats’ lineup includes frontperson and songwriter Jess Awh, drummer James, steel player Nick, and bassist Ben. We got to sit down for an interview with Jess following their set, chatting a bit about Culture Shock and the band’s trip to Indiana.
Get excited, y’all – Culture Shock 2025 is less than a week away! From 12-9pm on Saturday, April 12th, the 37th annual WIUX music festival will take place on IU’s own Dunn Meadow. We have a lot to look forward to during this year’s Culture Shock, including a fun Americana theme, food trucks, a DIY merch table, free admission (as always!), and of course, sets from some phenomenal artists.
Whether from a place of nostalgia, historical appreciation, or rebellion, we young people love to love old media. IU Cinema’s March 4th screening of Nosferatu (1922) with a score by Radiohead was a perfect opportunity to engage with this act of finding the old in the new; discovering modern meanings in material from the past.
On October 19th, I had the privilege of attending a performance over 700 years in the making. I don’t think anyone can fully prepare to see a medieval depiction of hell in a century-old film accompanied by a driving synth score.
A few weeks ago, one of my close friends introduced me to a musical genre he coined as “Evil Techno.” This genre was unlike anything I had heard before– dark, rapid, and charged, it sounded like something you’d hear while watching a movie scene of 20-somethings partying at a euphoric underground rave somewhere in Europe, clad in black clothes and moody makeup.
