Tag: indie

Women in Music: Soccer Mommy

Sophie Allison, also known as Soccer Mommy, has emerged as an intensely creative and moving female artist in the last few years. At only 21 years old, Soccer Mommy is already extremely accomplished: since 2016, she has released three albums including her debut album proper, CleanClean is a massive critical success and is cited as one of the best albums of 2018 by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NME, and Noisey, among others.

Goes West – An Instrumental Odyssey from William Tyler

The worlds of folk and Americana music are, at best, in constant struggle between the future and the past.  While some folk bands cling to what is familiar, the finest artists see the past as a springboard into fresh new sounds.  This was the case with Bob Dylan’s iconic Newport Folk Festival controversy, as it was the case with Fleet Foxes’s breathtaking 2017 album, Crack-UpGoes West by William Tyler joins this pantheon by continuing not only to push the envelope, but also to open it and slide a letter of his own inside.

New Discoveries at Savannah Stopover Music Festival

Called “SXSW’s grungy little sister” by Entertainment Weekly, Savannah Stopover is a hidden gem for festival-goers. In fact, EW perfectly describes this small city fest, as it was conceptualized eight years ago to attract touring artists who were on their way to the colossal South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX. Savannah Stopover brings in a large spectrum of artists, from the local bands to the Grammy-winners, but gives them all the same southern welcome.

Andrew Bird brings Dutch sentiment of gezelligheid to Nashville

This past Saturday, Andrew Bird gave Nashville a taste of Dutch culture by performing a concert at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in the spirit of gezelligheid.  For those who have studied abroad in Copenhagen, you are probably familiar with the Danish sentiment of “hygge.”  While the term has no truly accurate English translation, it is defined by feelings of warmth and coziness.  Hygge is different for everyone, but it can be experienced through appreciating life’s simple pleasures, joining in community, and finding contentment.  The Dutch term “gezelligheid” is similar and can be used to describe a bright, cozy atmosphere or more specific experiences such as spending time with loved ones (you can read more here).  Even during the frigid dark months of winter, the Danish and Dutch continue to meet with friends and find well-being in the name of hygge and gezelligheid respectively.

Turnover Leaves Nashville Dizzy on the Comedown

On October 18th, Turnover, the hallmark of Indie-Emo bands, played Exit/In, celebrating the release of their most recent album, Good Nature. Iconic for their sophomore album, Peripheral Vision, they drastically altered their sound in Good Nature, shifting away from emo-esque influences and focusing solely on optimistic dream rock indie vibes. Since this is their first tour with the new album, the anticipation to see how they would sound was insurmountably high.   

Bleachers gets personal at Marathon Music Works

Bleachers, a project of Jack Antonoff’s (guitarist of the notable group FUN. made popular by the hit “We Are Young”), has made an huge splash in the indie pop world in the 3 years they’ve been active. WRVU Nashville had the pleasure of sending two lucky concert-goers free of charge to see Bleachers at their September 13th show at Marathon Music Works.

Pitchfork Music Festival Saturday Highlights: A Tribe Called Quest, Angel Olsen, & More

A Tribe Called Quest at Pitchfork Music Festival 2017. Click to enlarge. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

After an eventful day one, Pitchfork Fest day two promised an even more saturated schedule. And it certainly delivered on that promise: first of all, with A Tribe Called Quest headlining, all the other bands could have tanked and this day still would have been certifiably historical. Fortunately, however, we were lucky enough that not a single one of the other acts disappointed.

Pitchfork Music Festival Friday Highlights: Dirty Projectors, LCD Soundsystem

Dirty Projectors at Pitchfork Fest 2017 (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

Friday’s lineup promised an electric start to an action-packed festival weekend. Nashville’s own William Tyler played at 4 PM on Friday, followed immediately by Frankie Cosmos and Thurston Moore. The three of these provided a perfectly well-rounded, balanced trio of acts to precede the contrastingly high-energy Danny Brown, who flawlessly delivered intensity and famously rapid rap. Dirty Projectors’ intimidating, otherworldly sounds set a new kind of mood, one that held the audience rapt for a night that culminated in an impossibly fantastic performance by LCD Soundsystem.

Albums That Don’t Suck As Much As I Once Thought

vinyl

While on a music-deletion rampage sometime last week, I realized that a lot of the albums I downloaded legally purchased ages ago only had roughly 2 or 3 songs on them that I recognized/ever listened to.  I gave some of these albums that I originally didn’t like more of a chance to woo me, and on most accounts I was pleasantly surprised.