One of the nation’s best kept musical secrets lies a mere three hours away from Nashville. Beale Street Music Festival, located in my hometown of Memphis, TN, consistently has one of the best small-festival lineups each year for only a fraction of most festivals’ price. I got the great pleasure of being able to work press this year, and as a result fell even more in love with my favorite Memphis event of the year.
From the opening track, BROCKHAMPTON shows that iridescence is a different beast from their previous endeavors, while still retaining the same backbone that propelled them to quick success and a dedicated fanbase. The SATURATION trilogy has concluded in both style and name, and I’m okay with that — iridescence is complicated and superb.
About a year ago, we saw the virality of the #MeToo movement, which led to the dismantling of many abusive and hugely powerful men. The movement felt cathartic; a beacon of hope for a…
Named after lead vocalist Jake Luppen’s supportive aunt Bambi (not the deer), Hippo Campus’ sophomore album is an experimental stew of distortion, questioning and answering, and the band’s individualism finally breaking…
I thought Eminem was done. We all did. I can remember listening to “Arose,” the last track off of Eminem’s Revival, released this past December. In this song, Em takes us back to 2007, where he recounts a play-by-play near death experience in the hospital after an overdose. This is truly an emotional track, with Bette Midler’s “The Rose,” sampled under Eminem giving goodbyes to his family and apologizing for not being there for Hailie and the other kids.
Ambient music has been called wallpaper music, and that’s what makes it great.
Alex strolls into his apartment building, walking stick carried nonchalantly over his shoulder whistling along with a piece of classical music. Sprawled across the vibrant early-70s décor are the words “SUCK IT AND SEE.” This is a point in Alex’s life when he will begin to impose more of his synthesizer-loving, retro-vibe-oozing will on his followers, and shake things up in the process.
We caught up with Whitney’s Julien Ehrlich to talk about their upcoming tour kicking off tomorrow in Nashville, pre-show rituals, the next LP, and an exciting collection of demos to be released in November.
Want to join WRVU Nashville for the 2018-2019 school year? Requirements: Must be a Vanderbilt student Training: 10 album programs, 5 in-studio sessions with a DJ, written and hands-on exams…
You want Lorde tickets. We know. Here’s the first clue: Where are you most likely to find melodrama on campus? Go to that location to find the next clue! Oh, and…
Sunflower Bean turned heads with their first full length album Human Ceremony, released back in 2016. Their debut’s breadth and urgency was illustrious of the band’s burgeoning appetite for a life beyond New York City’s DIY scene, and was ultimately successful in helping them realize the musician’s cliched dream of making it out of one’s hometown. After putting out music for only a year prior, the record was an impressive start for bassist and singer Julia Cumming, guitarist Nick Kivlen, and drummer Jacob Faber. The Brooklyn based trio were young and ambitious then— as they still are now, although their energy has become undeniably more harnessed— and these characteristics were central to Human Ceremony’s sound and thesis. The album was appropriately all over the place musically, with tracks ranging in style from shoegaze to surf rock to psych pop, and influences like the Velvet Underground and Black Sabbath obvious (in some cases on the same songs). Now, Sunflower Bean is back and more polished than ever on their sophomore release Twentytwo in Blue.
Alright, before you completely hate me for bashing your favorite source for enjoying your tunes, know that I am also a loyal Spotify listener. I even subscribed to their premium service (but I pay half price thanks to that sweet student discount ~cuz money is tight amiright?~). But it’s about time that you knew the truth of how Spotify treats the artists that they stream.
Despite starting out back in 2003 with the album Toothbrush, most music fans know Dr. Dog for its funky fresh 2016 album The Psychedelic Swamp or its mellow, slightly folkly 2017 album Abandoned Mansion. And if you aren’t a music listener at all, there’s still a 99% chance you’ve heard Dr. Dog’s version of “Heart It Races” from 2007, the band’s most played song that features one of the recognizable, catchiest bass lines.
Lazaretto, Jack White’s 2014 album and second solo LP, received heavy criticism for a lack of his guitar skills. On his new record, Boarding House Reach, it seems that Jack took this criticism to heart.
Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan is one of indie rock’s most promising young talents. 2016’s Habit EP, written while she was only an impressive fifteen years old, shocked critics with its depth and eloquence. The project tackled adolescence with the kind of careful reflection one would expect from someone sufficiently distanced from the melancholic woes of high school— except Jordan wrote it while she was still right there in the midst of it all. Habit beautifully chronicled youthful turmoil from inside the belly of the beast and did so successfully enough to land Snail Mail in-studio gigs with both Tiny Desk Concert and Audiotree Live, as well as a record deal with Matador. It’s clear that Jordan has a knack for putting the ineffable to words, and in combination with her excellent guitar skills and intricate style (she was taught by Mary Timony of Helium, Ex Hex, and Wildflag) it’s hard to imagine a future where she isn’t at the forefront of the lo-fi scene.
Carolinerosemusic.bandcamp.com From strait-laced Americana to experimentation bordering on absurdism, Caroline Rose’s music has taken a new form since her 2014 debut I Will Not Be Afraid. Of the clear shift…
Infinitely relatable, angst-ridden tales of infatuation and heartbreak are what 20-year-old Nashville songwriter Sophie Allison, better known as Soccer Mommy, details with her debut studio album Clean.
In regards to emo and pop-punk, 2018 has not been off to a particularly bangin’ start. I imagine you’re probably thinking something along the lines of: that’s because those genres died, like, ten years ago. But that’s where you’re wrong. Whatever wave of emo is currently happening is still sputtering on, asphyxiating slowly resultant of its cultural irrelevancy. Despite the poor state of the scene at present, however, there are still a few upcoming releases everyone can look forward to, both in and out of the genre.
Atop the dark stage in the large ballroom of Nashville’s The Basement East sit six vintage television sets, arranged in a cultish semicircle. I’m here to see Joywave, the glitchy indie-pop group from Rochester, New York. They’re 10 minutes late. I begin to look at my watch when I hear a dull murmur emerge around the room. As I lift my gaze, I see a single man emerge from the darkness. A dim light illuminates his body from below. I can’t make out his face, but I can see his shirt strikingly clear. On it reads one succinct sentence: “I don’t like corn dogs, but I do like Korn, dawg.”
Subtlety has never been Courtney Barnett’s thing. So far, that’s been to her advantage. Native to Melbourne and on the rapid rise to fame since the 2015 release of her debut LP Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett has made a name for herself through witty, avant-garde lyricism and garagey guitar riffs. Her previous work resonates with a sort of comfortable honesty, regardless of the first-glance mundanity of the everyday occurrences she so often addresses. This past October’s Kurt Vile collab album Lotta Sea Lice saw the further development of this knack, and quietly allowed Barnett to temporarily side step the anxieties of following up Sometimes I Sit and Think’s success. Now ready to tackle those fears head on, her second full length solo project, Tell Me How You Really Feel, will be released May 18th on Mom+Pop, Marathon Artists, and Barnett’s own Milk! Records. In tandem with this announcement, first single “Nameless, Faceless,” as well as an accompanying music video, were put out ahead of the upcoming album.
With another month, comes another wave of new singles and album announcements. Explore some of February’s highlights and preview upcoming LPs with this selected list of new songs, courtesy of evolving artistic landscapes.