Music
Dredg @ Avalon 05.10
A touring bill featuring this lineup likely would’ve been an impressive show, had the bumbling Avalon not fucked up yet another sweet setup with poorly trained and incompetent staff. The night ended with no encore and a sluggish herding to the parking lot, as well as a reminder that Salt Lake City’s inability to properly showcase medium-size acts is a true blight on its musical reputation. … read more
Junip and The Acrylics @ The State Room on 04.29
Moving from the empty winter streets to a full house at The State Room Friday evening, I joined Salt Lake’s dedicated José González fans to see his band, Junip. … read more
Starfucker @ Urban Lounge 04.19
I am so glad this band returned to their original name. The Portland dance pop squad initially altered their moniker because of the media attention they were receiving from the funloving but thorny “Starfucker” to the somewhat bland “Pyramid.” Apparently you just don’t feature a band called Starfucker in a TV commercial. With the release of their second LP (after a slew of EPs), Reptilians, the original name is back, although they will also tour as the more marquis friendly “STRFKR.” I think the original fits them. … read more
National CD Reviews – May 2011
New and recent releases from Austra, Citizen Fish, Deafheaven, Gang Gang Dance, I Was Totally Destroying It, The Kills, Nader Sadek, Pet Shop Boys, The Raveonettes, Shannon & The Clams, Sims, tUnE-YarDs, Wormrot, Young Widows, and many more are reviewed this month.
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Mountain Man @ The Deathstar on 04.06
Maybe I’ve become lazy in my show upkeep, or maybe this was just poorly promoted, but that’s not the point. What matters is that when a real deal hardcore band graced us, here in “Brovo,” with their raucous presence, I immediately put all my other pursuits (like patching together a broken relationship and finishing my linguistics essay) on hold. … read more
Young Prisms, Plastic Furs and Cephalotron @ Urban Lounge on...
Things were a bit sparse at Urban on Monday night, which is to be expected being that it was the beginning of the week. However, I thought the music would bring people out. I personally love to catch every ambient rock show I can, something about the tones and echoes really pulls me in. … read more
The Suicycles @ Bar Deluxe on 04.02
The Suicycles are the dance rock outlet for Camden Chamberlain and his commune of deviants. A set from the band has the feeling of a cult experience. You are very likely to see a large group of very wild and attractive people at their shows engaged in various acts of debauchary. … read more
Brumbies, Frame And Canvas and The Last Look @ Bar...
April Fool’s Night at Bar Deluxe was a night of local music. Everyone was in a good mood, perhaps because it had been a day of pranks at the office or perhaps they were stoked on the live talent. … read more
k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang – Sing It...
There is nothing better than hearing k.d. lang wrap that heavenly voice around brand new material, and the ease of how she works so seamlessly with a great band only makes this fantastic album that much more pleasurable. … read more
Beats Antique @ The Depot
Oakland, California’s Beats Antique take world and modern dance music to a different plane. This is a somewhat trite thing to say when it’s been said so many times before, but this time it’s real. I’ve written about Beats Antique before, but seeing them do a full set in the proper environ was not something I was thinking would ever happen in SLC. Thankfully, they made it to The Depot and knocked it up and out. … read more