Authors: Ryan Hall
Modern Man’s Hustle: The Devil Whale Redefines Success
It would seem that The Devil Whale are a successful band. Their popular debut album was recently followed up with an even more popular EP. They are embarking on a nationwide tour before their second album comes out in May. They have been chosen as a showcase artist at the nation’s largest live music festival, SXSW. However, in today’s world of instant exposure via social networking and careerist music bloggers, does exposure necessarily mean the same thing as success? … read more
Sympathy for the Recording Industry: Midnight Records
Founded in 2008 and located in the back of the Utah Arts Alliance on 127 S. Main Street, Midnight Records has beaten the odds by flourishing and growing in this incredibly volatile time of transition in the music industry. Midnight charges a flat, $75 rate per song, which includes mixing, mastering and a CD, or a $45 hourly rate, which includes mastering. The flat-rate pricing allows a more relaxed and interactive recording environment. … read more
Local Reviews: The American Shakes
Releasing an album in the wake of such a popular local band is going to invite some comparisons to the latter’s work. Brent Dreiling, former pedal steel/steel guitar slinger for Band of Annuals (R.I.P), expands on the classic Americana of B.O.A by steering his alt-country intonations into sugary, ‘70s AM radio hits instead of the dive bar balladeering of his previous band. … read more
Local Reviews: Seven Feathers Rainwater
15 Apple Magicians is the album I always knew Salt Lake City was capable of producing. Aside from being the zeitgeist-capturing masterpiece of all things happening within the burgeoning “New Weird Utah” collective in the past few years, 15 Apple Magicians delivers on every promise hinted at by the insane talent of the Moondial Tape family. … read more
Farther, Creepier: Spoek Mathambo and South African House
Before the idea of moving to Africa was even a thing, my love affair with Johannesburg musician/rapper Spoek Mathambo was moving beyond crush-level. There was something about Spoek’s 2010 debut, Mshini Wam, that seethed with an unplaceable “Otherness” that we Westerners can only associate with Africa. Like a funhouse mirror, the distortions of Western musical output came back to us only to highlight our deep-seated insecurities. … read more
Local Review: Mooninite/RS2090
Side A, Mooninite’s side, treads lightly in familiar ambient territory, owing much to the sampled instrumentation of Boards of Canada and the swirling arpeggios fancied by fellow compatriot OK Ikumi. The beats are slightly off, staggering with a seasick lurch. RS2090’s side is all absurdist rhythm patterns, pitch-shifted lecture notes, squiggly synths, bottom-scraping low-end and an angular, almost geometric approach to composition. … read more
Outer Blues: Akron/Family Discuss Travel and Location
Sub Verses, Akron/Family’s seventh studio album, is best viewed through a wide lens. It is busy, incorporating their signature three-part harmonies, buzzing electronics and complex guitar lines. It is also really, really heavy. Sub Verses takes in travel, aging and a sense of place shot with an IMAX-level widescreen. Its reference points are the locations filmmakers use as alien planets. I had a chance to email vocalist/bassist Miles Seaton from my place in Swaziland about their latest album and how traveling and location have impacted this album. … read more
Combat Rock: Dengue Fever and a Resurgence of Repressed Rock...
Dengue Fever’s sound is a sonic masala of influences including surf, Afrobeat, hip-hop, punk, and, the Rosetta Stone to their sound, Cambodian pop. On their latest, self-released album, The Deepest Lake, Dengue Fever were in total control of the entire experience, from the music to the packaging.
Sounds From Out There: Records, Record Store Day And Singing...
Last September, the Voyager 1 left our solar system. That cold little coffin containing all of what mankind thought was important in 1977 is now careening through uncharted interstellar space. Onboard that space craft is a gold-plated phonographic record containing images and sounds that represent a fairly decent cross-section of human and animal life, as well as a record of some of our best scientific achievements up to that point. … read more