Sample Jack: An Interview with Meat Beat Manifesto

Sample Jack: An Interview with Meat Beat Manifesto
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It was around 1990 when I was staying up late on Sunday nights to watch 120 Minutes on MTV when Meat Beat Manifesto first grabbed my attention. The video to “Psyche-Out” came on. I was touched with the finest electronic music that aided in my discovery of the Wax Trax musicians. I began scrawling “Meat

When You Wish Upon A Star: An Interview with Ethan Miller of Comets on Fire

When You Wish Upon A Star: An Interview with Ethan...
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While researching previous Comets on Fire interviews in preparation for my own, I came across a word several times that I think adequately describes the direction or aesthetic of this band: organic. When I first read that word, and several times thereafter, I was curious how, or why, organic. Was it provincial? Was their sound

Versified Street Life Reinventing Bar Rock Hype: Interview with The Hold Steady

Versified Street Life Reinventing Bar Rock Hype: Interview with The...
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I was doing a lot of drugs when I first heard the Hold Steady’s debut release, Almost Killed Me, in January 2004, and I was enraptured. I thought, “These guys are brilliant, they live the crazy drug lifestyle and use their experiences to produce this unbelievable art that people like me can really relate to.

Localized – June 2005

Localized – June 2005
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Localized is a monthly showcase of local bands on the second Friday of every month at the Urban Lounge. This month we bring you the perilously odd combination of a death metal band playing with a Christian hardcore band and Gaza. … read more

Local Review: The Second Opinion – Flesh Except Dust

Local Review: The Second Opinion – Flesh Except Dust
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The Second Opinion Flesh Except Dust Second Opinion = Mayhem + Burzum + Aodl + Ramsses + Skullflowers I think with a name like Second Opinion, I was expecting West Valley nü-metal crap trying to redeem itself with second-rate female vocals. O how far from the truth. Open your arms to chilling industrial/noise that seems

Local Review: Drew Danburry – Besides

Local Review: Drew Danburry – Besides
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Drew Danburry Besides … Drew Danburry = Elliott Smith + Bright Eyes Drew Danburry vulnerable, naked-heart-on-the-sleeve, psychologically-helpless indie-rock folk spillings—it’s not bad, alright? But the song titles are the best part: “It Starts With Indigo, Orange and Green,” “It Ends with Red, Violet and Orange,” “Coming Around Like the Karate Kid.” It’s best when Drew

Local Review: The Horns – Yellow T EP

Local Review: The Horns – Yellow T EP
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The Horns Yellow T EP The Horns = Girls Against Boys + fast Melvins At least, mine came with a section of yellow T-shirt with hand-drawn flowers on it courtesy of Dave Styer, one-half of The Horns’ double-pronged axe-destroying machine. The Horns, my favorite new local band, put the “I” back in “merciless.” Self-gratifying crunchy,

Local Review: State & Stereo – The Reservoir

Local Review: State & Stereo – The Reservoir
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State & Stereo The Reservoir Gloworm Records S & S = The Strokes + Modest Mouse + Julian Tulip’s Licorice I just found out about this charmingly mopey band called Julian Tulip’s Licorice, and there are moments when State & Stereo remind me of the better parts of them, even though I’m confident State &

Local Review: Subterranean Masquerade – Suspended Animation Dreams

Local Review: Subterranean Masquerade – Suspended Animation Dreams
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Subterranean Masquerade Suspended Animation Dreams The End Records SM = Pink Floyd + Polyphonic Spree + Katatonia + Paradise Lost + Tommy Subterranean Masquerade’s much-anticipated first full-length album picks up where two-song EP Temporary Psychotic State left off, giving us Pink Floyd psychedelia, Porcupine Tree/Devin Townsend prog rock and 60s Tommy concept-rock-opera insanity, but blended

Local Review: Swedish Music in Utah – Lucia Celebration

Local Review: Swedish Music in Utah – Lucia Celebration
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Swedish Music in Utah Lucia Celebration Utah Arts Council Lucia Celebration = cute times + food, folks & fun This CD is just sickeningly cute. It’s a bunch of Swedish young people singing trad Swedish music. It’s a recording of the Lucia Day Celebration, put on by Utah’s Swedish Heritage Society. Sweden happens to be