Music
Top 5: Spindrift
When Spindrift played Urban in November 2010, they opted to play a set of songs off of their then-unreleased album, Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1. The songs seemed moodier and spookier than their earlier work, but just as sexy. When the albums was released, my initial impressions of what I had heard were confirmed. Spindrift’s Classic Soundtracks unfolds much like the name suggests it would—a soundtrack to some long-forgotten, dusty spaghetti western. … read more
Top 5: Satan’s Host
After twenty-four years away from the group, original vocalist Leviathan Thisiren (aka Harry Conklin of Jag Panzer) rejoined Satan’s Host in 2010, which spawned an album filled with the best evil and nasty heavy-metal ferocity released this year. The combination of black/thrash/death metal with a classic heavy metal-styled vocalist pushed Satan’s Host out of the realm of mediocrity and into the realm of pure awesome evil metal. … read more
Top 5: PJ Harvey
I spent weeks buried behind my headphones listening to Harvey’s every word within the horrifyingly beautiful socio-political battle she created. When I came up for air, I had two words to describe this piece of work: bloody brilliant. Studying the anti-war poems of Harold Pinter and dedicating two years perfecting her writing of the lyrics, she paints disturbingly vivid images of conflict, war, death and grief over a backdrop of buoyant folk-pop melodies. … read more
Top 5: The No-Nation Orchestra
The No-Nation Orchestra originally began as a solo project for Stephen Chai, demoing songs in his bedroom and copiously rewriting lyrics until finally (after several years) the work was ready to be introduced to friends Josh Dickson, Weston Wulle and Mike Sasich. The core members of No-Nation formed, and the four began spending time in Sasich’s recording studio polishing their own version of an afrobeat sound. The end result is The No-Nation Orchestra’s More More More EP. … read more
Top 5: Mr. Gnome
It’s hard to believe this album is the product of a duo rather than a full band, but having seen them live, I can testify that Cleveland-based singer/guitarist Nicole Barille and drummer/pianist Sam Meister are the only two musicians behind mr. Gnome—and with a box of pedals and a heap of talent, they’ve figured out how to execute their layered chaos on the road … read more
Top 5: Cold Cave
In 2003, if you would’ve told me that the singer from American Nightmare would eventually break edge, move to San Diego, do a metric ton of coke and write dance tunes for Pitchfork kids to off themselves to, I would’ve cried and then moshed you into a traffic median. No lie … but times change, edges dull and we realize that our Livejournal pages amount to little more than incoherent blathering. … read more
Top 5 of 2011
To celebrate another year’s end, SLUG handpicked eight writers to spotlight one of their favorite releases of 2011 in an extended review. Read on for Top Five lists from SLUG’s contributors and genre-spanning reviews of artists such as Satan’s Host, Wugazi, Spindrift and locals The No-Nation Orchestra. … read more
Top 5 of 2010
To celebrate another year’s end, SLUG handpicked 13 writers to spotlight one of their favorite releases of 2010 in an extended review. Read on for Top 5 lists from SLUG’s contributors and genre-spanning reviews of artists like The Black Keys, Sleigh Bells, Acid Tiger and local artist S.L.F.M. … read more
Volcom’s Wild In the Parks @ American Fork Skatepark 05.08.10
2010 WILD IN THE PARK STOP#1
Volcom’s 2010 North American Wild in the Parks Tour was kicked off in style at American Fork’s own Greenwood Skatepark on Saturday, May 8th. With 200 competitors shredding the park for a chance at invites to this year’s $25,000 WITP Championships in Arizona. Needless to say, it was a ruthless battle consisting of everything from a kickflip back tail shove out to tre-flip boardslides. The skill level of the skaters was off the charts and gave everyone more than enough to think about on their way home at the end of the day! Photos: Gage Thompson
Results:
14 & Under:
1st: Chandler Seipert
2nd: Christian Ridgeway
3rd: Christian Bourne
4th: Keddrick Tanner
5th: Tristan Hays
6th: Shyl Lo Sweat
7th: Noah Olson
15 & Over:
1st: Tyson Bowerbank
2nd: Daniel Roman
3rd: Derek Rivera
4th: Logan Summers
5th: Nick Meyer
6th: Jordan Brown
7th: Dylan Fisher
Pro-Am:
1st: Brodie Penrod
2nd: Matt Fisher
3rd: Oliver Buchanan
4th: Aaron Lopez
5th: Chaise Striwerda
6th: Garrison Conklin
7th: Kevin Federson
Electric’s $50 “Hype of the Day” Award: Derek Rivera! … read more
Music | Reviews Music | Skate
SLUG’s Top 5 of 2009
Jaleh Afshar – Graphic Designer Top 5 Gallery Shows of 2009 1. Aniko Safran’s “Reflexions” at Art Access Gallery II 2. Travis Nikolai’s “Pan-Galactic Ghost Chapel: Temporary Infinitarium” at the Alvin Gittins Gallery 3. Poor Yorick Studios open house 4. AIGA’s “50 Books/50 Covers” at the Marriott Library 5. BFA Senior Show at the Rio