Know Your Rites: The Artists of Rites of Spring 2016

March 27, 2016

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It’s finally spring here at Vanderbilt. The air is brimming with pollen, day parties have commenced, and everyone’s excited for Vanderbilt’s annual spring music festival. This year’s lineup is incredibly diverse: from electronic beat-maker Porter Robinson to comedic rapper Lil Dicky, there’s bound to be an artist for everyone’s tastes this year. With Rites of Spring just around the corner, it’s always a good idea to get to know the artists a bit in advance. So, check out the synopsis of this year’s lineup below.

Sadness Sells

March 27, 2016
(source)
(source)

When Sufjan Stevens sings with raw vulnerability about “Death with Dignity,” or Alex G warbles about “Thorns,” or Frankie Cosmos draws you in with “Sad 2,” or King Krule weeps with deep-voiced, buttery droning through “Bleak Bake,” you are being sold an emotion just as much as a song. Naturally, a degree of sadness can be a fuel for inspiration, pushing artists into more creative realms, donating their hurting to public consumption—offering a source of relatability for the general populace, giving us solace in melancholy solidarity. Sad songs, then, are incredibly important: sobbing in the depths of the saddest song you can find on your Spotify playlist is often an unmatched catharsis. Sadness sells, and often is mutually beneficial for consumer and producer alike.

A Musical Comeback: Vinyls Earn More Than Free Streaming

March 27, 2016

Row of old records

It would appear that vinyls are not nearly as old fashioned as my grandfather would have me believe. Earlier this week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released the statistics from the past year and the sale of vinyls for 2015 was the highest it has been since 1988. The sales brought in a total of $416 million, a small fraction of the $7 billion the entire industry brings in. However, what’s notable is that vinyls, the old men of the music world, surpassed free streaming, which only made $385.1 million last year.

Lesser Known (and cheaper) Music Festivals This Season

March 23, 2016
If Coachella is too mainstream for you, check out the music festivals below. Source
If Coachella is too mainstream for you, check out the music festivals below. Source

I spent a lot of time this past weekend stalking the Instagram accounts of several of my favorite bands that happened to be playing at SXSW. It was a bit of a depressing experience, both because I was at the time stuck in Featheringill trying to study for a test and because I currently do not have the money to spend on a large music festival experience. That being said, there are a ton of music festivals that are driving distance from Nashville that are cheaper and still offer great lineups. So if you’re bummed about missing Coachella or Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza, check out these awesome festivals coming up this summer.

Making Long Car Rides Bearable

March 22, 2016

 

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I just got back from a spring break road trip from Nashville to the Grand Canyon, which included way too much sitting in my friend’s car. Whether it was driving for hours and hours on endless country roads or sitting in the passenger seat while traveling across the entirety of Kansas, road trip songs definitely kept me sane. The following playlist was one of the many I made for the 48 hour drive there and back, and I used songs by ODESZA only.

Mac Sabbath Drives Thru Nashville

March 17, 2016
via musictimes.com
via musictimes.com

Before I even start reviewing Mac Sabbath’s appearance at Exit/In, let me just say this – there are some things that you can’t just make up.  This entire show was one of those things.  For those not familiar with Mac Sabbath, the parody metal band was formed in 2014 in Los Angeles by people whom I can only imagine are really interesting underneath their costumes.  Formed as a way to protest a certain fast food chain (and fast food in general), the band takes Black Sabbath songs and changes the lyrics to center around this certain chain’s food and imagery.  According to the band, they are from a “delicate part of the space time continuum,” and the group consists of Ronald Osbourne (vocals), Slayer McCheeze (guitar), Grimalice (bass), and the Catburglar (drums).  Again, I just can’t make this stuff up.

Ra Ra Riot at Exit/In

March 15, 2016
PC: pitchfork.com

On Sunday March 13th, Ra Ra Riot graced Nashville with an lively performance at Exit/In. The crowd cheered the band into a two song encore, causing the show to end well after midnight. I can honestly say it was the most fun I’ve had on a Sunday night in quite a while. Opening for the band was PWR BTTM, a queer punk duo (their words, not mine) and Sun Club, a psychedelic indie band which describes themselves as “a group of buddies playing happy music.” Both were great, but I particularly enjoyed PWR BTTM (I suggest you look up their single “I Wanna Boi.”)

Pinegrove, Cafe Coco, and Fruit Juice

March 15, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh3s0Bl5k4Q

Note: This interview took place just prior to the anonymous accusation of sexual misconduct against Evan Stephens Hall, the details of which are murky as of this time. We do not at all endorse or condone any inappropriate or coercive behavior on the part of bands we’ve interviewed. Read our full statement here.  

Café Coco isn’t normally the go-to venue for bands as suddenly popular as Pinegrove. Though they easily could have filled Exit/In next door—where their friends, the edgy punk duo PWR BTTM, were coincidentally playing tonight—they instead packed Coco, where eager fans filled the space with anticipatory energy.

Life On Mars: A Reflection on Bowie, Two Months Later

March 6, 2016

As a composer, people often ask what my favorite piece of music is – the one that affected me the most, the one that made me feel things I hadn’t before, the one that when I heard it I knew what I had to do with my life. I remember one day last fall that question was posed in my Intro to Composition class, to a room of mostly composition majors. Everyone in the room called to mind immediately their first exposure to Mahler, or their first bout with Bach or Beethoven or Brahms. As a composer I know I “should” love these great composers and be deeply affected by their expertise and power – and I do, and I am. But the piece that has most deeply affected me, the one that makes me sure of exactly why I chose to study to be an artist, and the one with which I responded in class was “Life On Mars?” by David Bowie. This song is, without hesitation, my Mahler Five, my Beethoven Nine, my Rite of Spring. But its impact on me (as well as Bowie’s impact) stretches back years before I ever decided to compose.

Revisiting The Decemberists’ “What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World”

March 3, 2016

Driving back to Nashville from Lafayette, Indiana this weekend, I decided to revisit the Decemberists’ entire discography on the way down, to listen to each record and then to rank them in a hierarchy. The result was a list ordered as such:

  1. Picaresque (2005)
  2. Castaways and Cutouts (2002)
  3. The Hazards of Love (2009)
  4. The King is Dead (2011)
  5. The Crane Wife (2006)
  6. Her Majesty the Decemberists (2003)
  7. What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World (2015)

You may notice that their most recent release, What a Terrible World, is at the bottom. What you can’t see is how strikingly large the gap between albums six and seven actually is. Make no mistake — WATW is still a decent album by any standard. But it does stand as the Decemberists’ biggest disappointment, especially given the bands remarkable consistency and excellence. I want to reexamine What a Terrible World a year after its release, unpack its problems, and see if they can be fixed.

Leon Bridges Takes Nashville Back to the 1950s

March 3, 2016

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After selling out Marathon Music Works in October, contemporary 1950s-soul artist Leon Bridges was back in Nashville last night at a sold-out Ryman Auditorium. The crowd surprisingly consisted of all ages compared to the Marathon Music Works show, which was a glaring majority of young couples. The ability to sit down in pews likely contributed to the older crowd’s attendance, and there was also the benefit of not having to watch hundreds of couples slow-dance and make out to Leon’s jams. In general, as my friend astutely commented, “There are a lot of good hats tonight.” Leon’s vintage style permeated the crowd, transporting us to the 1950s.

The Life of Kanye West’s Career

March 2, 2016

 (Written by Corey McCloud and Linzy Scott)

Nobody will ever imitate Kanye West. Not even Kanye himself. With the release of his most recent effort, Life of Pablo, the eclectic rapper-producer megastar proved once again that he isn’t afraid to change his style and push rap forward with every release. So against the cries of his fans demanding old Kanye, against people saying he was getting too artsy, or too egoistic with Yeezus, and against everybody who thought he might actually be losing his mind, Kanye dropped the a-bomb with Pablo. The album’s sonic range alone is impressive and the first six tracks are among the best stretches of tracks in hip-hop history. I hate to sound like a fanboy, but at this point we are 2 weeks removed from the release of the album. It’s been a week and a half since I first bit the bullet and got a Tidal trial account to try it out, and yet I somehow find myself going back to this album multiple times a day.

Merchandise Frontman Brings Out Hardcore Sensibilities in New Project

February 29, 2016

Carson Cox of Merchandise recently formed Death Index, a side project that seems to unleash the musician’s inner hardcore sensibilities.  The project’s debut album, released on February 26th, uses a post-punk template that one would expect from Cox, but adds plenty of hardcore punk elements to the music.  With all of the vocals done by Cox, the album certainly reminds listeners of modern post-punk outfits such as Viet Cong, but several of the tracks contain hardcore and noise-rock tendencies that I embrace with open arms.

Kurt Vile’s Sold-Out Show at Marathon Music Works

February 26, 2016
Kurt Vile at Marathon Music Works 2/25 (photo courtesy of Alexandra Justice)
Kurt Vile at Marathon Music Works last night (photo courtesy of Alexandra Justice)

Kurt Vile tickets were in such high demand that the show moved from Exit/In to Marathon; they eventually sold out there as well. Everyone, it seemed, was clamoring to see the man behind the deep, droning voice whose b’lieve i’m goin down… rounded out the latest addition to his successful solo career.

Paying for Music, and the Value of Rap

February 23, 2016

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When you find something you like, usually you want more of it, and this basic relationship finds a lot of relevance in music. It’s become an even greater part of many music lovers’ lives with the onset of the eras of downloading and streaming. Whereas before, our parents and grandparents had to really make that journey down to a physical place selling physical copies of the new Luther Vandross and part with their pocket change, the only thing that’s stopping us now from having Sonic Youth’s entire discography is an internet connection.

Truett In-Studio 2/19

February 23, 2016
brooklynbasementrecords.com

As you may know, last Friday, Ron Pope & The Nighthawks played at Mercy Lounge. But you may not know that Ron Pope brought with him Truett, an up-and-coming blues-rock artist and a fellow Georgia native. I had the opportunity to interview Truett the morning of the Nashville show. He told me about how he and Ron go way back, first meeting when he was practically still a kid. Truett’s sister made the introduction, because she and Pope went to same high school. Recently, Truett signed to Brooklyn Basement Records, the label Pope owns with his wife.

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