As Arcade Fire is currently riding the crest of their popularity, the band’s newest release could have consisted solely of white noise and people would have talked about how groundbreaking it was. Thankfully, Reflektor is so much more than that. A big step up from 2010’s The Suburbs, the album[Read More…]
Music
Deep cuts
Love Me Artist: Katy Perry Album: Prism Released: Oct. 21, 2013 Like current single “Roar,” Perry is focused here on responding to the adversity of self-repression—except on “Love Me,” her impressive vocals mix some crooning in with the roars. The song’s light verses are reminiscent of U2’s “Beautiful Day,” but[Read More…]
Rock and roll heart
Legendary producer Brian Eno once famously remarked, ìThe first Velvet Underground record sold 30,000 copies in the first five years. I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band.î These thoughtful words say a lot about the type of artist Lou Reed wasóbut not everything. While[Read More…]
Aokification nation
What does Steve Aoki—notorious cake thrower and DJ extraordinaire—do when he’s not performing for hundreds of university students? He drinks green juice. “It sounds like we’re partying every night, but we’re usually healthy [….] I’m drinking the craziest drink right now, it’s pure green and kind of tastes like grass.”[Read More…]
Fire of Anatolia: sure to set the stage ablaze
Since its establishment in 1999, Fire of Anatolia (originally titled Sultans of the Dance) has been continuously dazzling audiences around the globe with its impressive spectacle of dance and percussion. Conceived and produced by Mustafa Erdoğan, a native of Turkey, this unique performance draws inspiration from the ancient mythological and[Read More…]
Overshadowed, but not overmatched
When I bring up Shad in conversation, I find that the number of people familiar with him is still frustratingly low. Many will shake their heads to indicate they have no idea who I’m talking about, but when someone is familiar with the emcee from London, ON, I can expect[Read More…]
Krewella DANS la ville
Krewella is one of music’s most fascinating emerging acts. Their debut album Get Wet was released last month with a strong chart performance, and the group landed in 44th place in the DJ Mag Top 100 this past week. Consisting of sisters Jahan and Yasmine Yousaf, as well as Kris[Read More…]
Black Milk – No Poison, No Paradise
Black Milk’s sophomore album, No Poison, No Paradise, is the perfect blend of smoothly laid hip-hop beats and a techno-synth vibe. The Detroit rapper-emcee introduces a new kind of soulful lyricism mixed with a story-teller vibe that was largely absent from his 2010 release Album of the Year, a mix[Read More…]
The Head and the Heart – Let’s Be Still
I listened to Let’s Be Still on constant alert for a track that might outshine “Rivers and Roads,” The Head and the Heart’s traditional concert -closer and all-around gem of a song. In that regard, their sophomore album didn’t succeed—the sendoff song is still the cream of their catalogue—but when[Read More…]
The Strumbellas – We Still Move on Dance Floors
Canadian indie rockers The Strumbellas have been described as alt-country and ‘popgrass,’ among other ambiguous labels, but I can’t say I have a better phrase for what they do. Their sophomore album, We Still Move on Dance Floors vacillates between the quiet and unobtrusive, as well as a forced pep[Read More…]
