Music
Aimee Mann @ The State Room
Aimee Mannʼs music is comforting, melodic, beautiful and despite the unfortunate and incorrect critical tag line of it being “depressing,” (I would have chosen “realistic” if I wrote reviews back in those days) very uplifting. I was extremely excited about seeing her live for the first time, in a new venue (the great new The State Room), and especially in such an intimate setting: The State Room boasts a capacity of 300. … read more
Mastodon @ Saltair
After years of derision as the preferred means of entertainment of suburban meatheads and scandinavian church burners, metal has been accepted by the masses. It’s unsurprising that one of the fall’s biggest tours is a metal-based affair, co-headlined by a fictional band with serious chops and one of the most successful metal bands in recent memory. Even though most of the audience was in attendance only for Dethklok, they were gonna get an incredible showcase of heavy music, whether they liked it or not. … read more
Kylesa @ V2
Even though I’ve had my newfound fondness for metal for about a year, I haven’t been to any metal shows in that time. This show changed all of that. The chance to see Kylesa, one of my favorite newly-discovered metal bands, play at a venue I had never been to a crowd I had no idea how to interact with seemed like a perfectly logical step in my progression into full metal immersion. … read more
Why? @ Club Sound
After standing in line for about 10 minutes with girls wearing nothing more than lingerie and those Sasquatch-like furry boots, I realized I was probably in line for the rave, not the Why? show. The real line for Why?, in fact, stretched around the building and half-way down 200 S. … read more
Frightened Rabbit @ The Urban Lounge
It’s not too often that us Utah folks get a good taste of live Scottish rock. Sure, The Proclaimers reared their ugly heads recently to the delight of many boring 30-something women. But while those dumb whores were cumming in their pants to the Reid brothers walking another 500 miles (worst fucking song ever), those of us in the know were dancing our pants off to not just one, but three bands hailing from the heart of Scotland. … read more
On Meeting the Pet Shop Boys
Meeting a favorite artist or band can be a religious experience. One is given that rare chance to grab an autograph, a picture with their idols, a chance to tell that artist how much their music has meant to them, or just the opportunity to smile/wave/gawk at them. When my long-time favorites Pet Shop Boys announced their Fall “Pandemonium” tour with a chance to purchase a “VIP Meet and Greet” package, I jumped at the opportunity. … read more
Thursday @ Club Sound
Arriving at In The Venue, I found the entrance locked and the distinct vocals of La Dispute’s Jordan Dreyer blaring from the doors of Club Sound to the north. Walking through the sparsely filled venue, I looked over at the tiny (and I really mean tiny) stage in bewilderment. “Is this the stage Thursday’s playing on?” I asked the kid next to me. Oooh yeeeah. … read more
Sea Wolf @ Club Sound
The sweet, low voice of a man in a flannel shirt, the rain against the window flows with the strum of guitar, and you, lucky you, are sitting in the warmth of a small soul-warming fire enjoying this all to yourself. Mmm, if only this could be the layout of a Sea Wolf show. … read more
National CD Reviews – October 2009
Reviews of national music, including new releases from The Black Dahlia Murder, Converge, The Entrance Band, Exene Cervenka, Health, Karl Blau, Liturgy, Mew, Pissed Jeans, Thrice, The Twilight Sad and many more. … read more
Matt Winegar
Matt Winegar is a local producer, audio engineer and musician. All this he sums up tersely as “making records.” “Lots of kids get confused by this,” he says. As he explained why this is the case, we spoke of recording studios and the state of musical technology in the broadest sense––drums and wires, but also the body parts and skills that make up the total experience music. … read more