Issue 24

northeastern students on music

THE ODD FUTURE DEATH BY TWITTER

President KYLE RISLEY Editor in Chief KATIE PRICE Art Director ANNE LATINI Web Design EDWIN MORRIS Marketing Director CAITLIN KULLBERG Features Director COLIN PETERS Features Editor ALYSSA MASTROCCO Interviews Coordinator CHRIS STOPPIELLO Interviews Editors NICK HUGON Reviews Director DAVID TSCHIEGG Reviews Editors SUZIE CONWAY Photo Director ANDREW SWARTZ Copy Editor TOM CASEY Staff Writers AADIL SULAIMAN, DINORAH WILSON, JORDAN MUNSON, LAUREN MOQUIN, LESLIE FOWLE, V.J. TURSI, MICHELLE BUCHMAN, NATHAN GOLDMAN, PATRICK DUANE Art & Design DAVID TSCHIEGG, ABBIE HANRIGHT, ALYSSA SULLIVAN, JUSTINE FINDRA, LACEY HONDA, BRIAN CANTRELL

Tokyo Police Club @ afterHours by Andrew Swartz

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

4 6 8 10 12 13

Calendar

Local Photos

Sand Reckoner

Music Tells Us How To Feel

The New Pop Trifecta

True Music Videos

14 15 18 20 22 30 32

Death By Twitter

Odd Future

Hip Hop's Forefathers

Dupstep Gets Darker

Tastemakers Guide to Summer Festivals 2011

Colleg Kid's Survival Soundtrack For Summer Break

Not Your Average

33 34 36 38 40 42

Riding The Past

Katy Perry

Show Reviews

CD Reviews

A Double Shot of MoCA

Etcetera

June 2 Paul Simon HOB

3 Curren$y ME

4 Slim Jim & The Mad Cows ME

5 Death Cab For Cutie PA

6 Other Lives BM

7 Thao and Mirah TT

8 Okkervil River, TItus Andronicus RO

9 Yeasayer, Smith Westerns RO

10 The Figurines BM

11 The Music of Queen ME

12 The Music of Queen ME

13 Architecture in Helsinki PA

14 The Dodos PA

15 Brooke Fraser PA

16 The Antlers PA

17 Los Lonely Boys PA

18 Brunt Of It, The Yer Moms ME

19 David Bazan TT

20 Marina and the Diamonds PA

21 Joe Purdy w/ the Milk Carton Kids BM

22 Dinosaur Jr. PA

23 The Bouncing Souls ME

24 Elise Hayes ME

25 The Bouncing Souls ME

26 Owl City HOB

27 Freshlyground BM

28

29 Skism, Terravita ME

RâœşC

KOM ENDS 4

1 Wildbirds & Peacebrums TT

Duncan Sheik

6/9 @ Brighton Music Hall

by Alyssa Mastrocco (English) It may be a few years since you've heard "Barely Breathing" on the radio, but there's nothing wrong with reliving your high school days. Check out Duncan Sheik at Brighton Music Hall on 6/9 and maybe he'll play those radio hits you know him best for.

Hate Eternal, Vital Remains, Origin and Abysmal Dawn 7/9 @ Worcester Palladium

by Jordan Munson (metal/music industry)

Four bands, one bill: the cream of the crop in the modern death metal scene, and some of the most technical bands in the scene.

Absolute legends!

Florence and the Machine 6/23 @ Bank of America Pavillion

by Michelle Buchman (English)

After stopping by the House of Blues this past Halloween, Florence Welch returns to Boston.

Her music is perfect for a summer show right on the waterfront.

Prepare to get down in sweet sundresses or short shorts to one of the best voices in music right now.

July 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 Xmortis TT

9 Rubikon ME

10 Bill Callahan BM

11 Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars/Ragin Teens TT

12 Gomez PA

13

14 Bombino BM

15

16 Beneath the Stone, Wolfbane, Tester ME

17 Dwarves, Motherbear, For the Worse ME

18

19

20

21 Torche ME

22

23 The Glitch Mob PA

24 Disappears / The Psychic Paramount BMH

25 Oumou Sangare Band PA

26

27

28 EELS PA

29

30 Imelda May BM

Death Cab For Cutie and The Lonely Forest 6/5 @ Paradise Rock Club

by Bill Shaner (Anthropology)

For the size of their following, Death Cab for Cutie booked some pretty outrageously tiny venues for their Codes and Keys tour, the 850 maximum capacity Paradise Rock Club among them. Not surprisingly, the show sold out in minutes. But if you can find a way in, this is a rare chance to see the indie vets at a venue that doesn't suck fun like a Dementor. Get your StubHub on!

31

Gomez

7/12 @ Paradise Rock Club

by Emily Cassel (Journalism) They've somehow managed to stay under the radar since forming in 1997, but you won't want to sleep on these Brits and their fuzzy, delightful indie rock. With their already stellar back catalog and a new album due in June, it's sure to be a foot stomping good time.

Key PA BM HOB TT ME NEC AA

Paradise Rock Club Brighton Music Hall House of Blues TT & The Bears The Middle East New England Conservatory Agganis Arena

5

Left: Wiz Kalifa @ Matthews Arena

by Andrew Swartz Right: Joe Pug @ Middle East Upstairs

by Christina Spleen

---------Snapped a shot worth showing off?

Email it to TastemakersPhoto@gmail.com ----------

L O C A L

P

P H O T O S

San d Re ckone r

Sen sory Exhib ition written by Priyanka Tanavde (Health Science)

I walked into the Fenway Center to hear Northeastern band Sand Reckoner’s music and see some art. My gaze was first drawn to the front towards the huge kaleidoscope formed by three mirrors. The kaleidoscope was the creation of sisters Kaitlin and Danielle Brewer. It set the tone for this psychedelic music and art event, which took place on March 19, 2010. At the center of the church were Northeastern students Matthew Rhodes, Benjamin Hughes, and Jonathan Lesh of the band Sand Reckoner recording their album.

First a little bit about the band: co-founders Matthew Rhodes (Guitar, Vocals, Bass, Harmonica) and Benjamin Hughes (drums) who hail from Pennsylvania joined up with Jonathan Lesh (Guitar, Keys, Bass, Vocals) and Michael Kofron (guitar, vocals) and formed the first incarnation of this band, The Lone Pine Cones. As their sound got more mature, they transitioned into a unique psychedelic, bluesy, hard rock sound: Sand Reckoner.

Their sound and lyrics have an earthy, western, feel to them. Matt Rhodes says he personally drew inspiration from “a lot of earth-tones and where I grew up. The woods, fields, parks, etc. have influenced the way I write music. Writing music to different landscapes/settings is something I really like to do. Westerns, cowboys, Native Americans (sic) have been a big influence even though we aren't from out west.

Pennsylvania was a really beautiful place to grow up.”

Sand Reckoner played and recorded a total of 38 songs.

The band did a White Stripes cover and Matt Rhodes also did his own cover of Neil Diamond’s “Heart of Gold." Between each set there was also a couple of short films, including a quirky short film about magical tea by Jillian Bass. The Dennis Miller composition was a group of odd short films by different students that were very esoteric and bizarre. The event was a

group effort by Matt Rhodes, Kaitlin Brewer (MASSART) who was the art curator for the event, and Green line Records President Brittan Williams.

The Art Collaborative, a NU Club, created two pieces for the event: a long mural of acrylic on paper, which included an insightful acrostic poem about spring, and a totem pole sculpture of televisions painted with acrylic and had paper flowers and wires coming out from the bottom. The top screen was of an eye while at the bottom the screen had an outline of a dancing figure. The televisions were turned on, creating a white static effect on the screens, which really drew people in.

On easels as well as on the walls were pieces of art.

There were two paintings of cats with flourishes of patterns and designs by artist Shannon Vangyzen. There were also simple, but interesting, pieces of art such as a red whale falling from a blue sky by student Sophie Greenspan. There were also live artists Ian Stewart and Adahn Stewart who created works of art during the event. People who attended the event also created art and got intricate body art on their arms, hands and faces.

Becky Nastase (Human Services) said, “ I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I’ve been to art galleries and concerts before but I haven’t experienced something like this that combines art and music.” Rhodes hopes to do this event next year with more bands, as the event was very successful with many people staying for a 5-hour event. This summer the band will return to Pennsylvania to play shows in Philadelphia and do more recordings.

A free download of this session will be available on sandreckoner.bandcamp.com along with free downloads and videos at sandreckonerband.com.

photo by Christina Spleen (Computer Science/Digital Art)

8

9

F E ATU R E

Written by Bryan Berlin (Media Studies)

My favorite movie montage of all time is the montage from Up that plays towards the beginning of the movie. The 4-minute scene documents the entire married life two people share together, both the ups and downs, and ultimately establishes the relationship that the rest of the movie drives.

Before this montage, there has only been one other scene to set a relationship between this couple, Carl and Ellie, and they were only young kids in it. After the montage, you understand the entire history between this couple and instantly fall in love with Carl (potentially tearyeyed at this point). This is a great example of the power a montage can have on the viewer. What’s more important, though, is the power the musical score had on this scene.

If you own the Up soundtrack, which was composed by Michael Giacchino (who also composed the music for the TV show Lost and won an Oscar for the Up score), go and listen to the track “Married Life” right now. Okay I’ll give you a few more seconds…great! Now, if you have seen Up, I would bet you could remember the visual accompanying the music for most of the song. And if you haven’t seen Up but for some reason have the soundtrack, I bet you could tell the general mood of the montage at certain points

10

during the song. The order goes something like this: the marriage and honeymoon period (happy), the miscarriage (sad), the middle years (slow build up back to happy), and Ellie’s death (the saddest of sad).

It’s amazing that while it’s only a series of chords and notes, this montage music gives listeners multiple feelings over only four minutes. But how?

Sure there are major and minor chords, but why does one make us feel happy and the other sad? Music is used in everything from movies to advertisements to evoke a certain feeling, but how do we know to feel that?

While it’s generally the case that major chords are pleasant and minors are unpleasant (this is because of receptors in the ear that take these notes into the brain differently), the sequences of notes put together to establish happy or sad has a completely different reason for being the way it is.

The basic answer to why people associate certain sound and note sequences with certain emotions is that we are conditioned to accept them. As a kid, even before you can even fully understand music or what it does, your brain is being told to associate certain notes and chords with happy things and other notes and chords with sad or scary things.

If you went to The Haunted Mansion as a really young kid, you’d most likely be scared by what was going on around you. Since “Grim Grinning Ghosts” is playing around while you’re scared of what you’re seeing, these chords become associated with that. Suddenly, this music denotes creepy and scary. It works the same way in a positive way playing with a toy that sings “Marry Had A Little Lamb” as you play with it. You like the toy, so the music makes you happy.

Advertisers are incredibly good at capitalizing on these music sequence emotions. If you think about it, there are almost no commercials that exist without music in the background. In 30 seconds (or sometimes 15), advertisers have to convince people to buy their product or watch their show.

When they combine that product with a catchy song that people cling onto, they create a successful commercial. Many times people don’t even realize it, but the music accompanying that commercial is making them feel certain emotions, and the triggers responsible to set off these emotions were established when we were young.

Movie scores do the same, but some composers do it so well that the music becomes one and the same with the pictures on the screen. If you saw a shark attack

from Jaws you’d immediately have that dundun dundun music in your head to accompany it. There are certain visuals that have had a fused soundtrack to it and parallel the emotions on screen perfectly.

Originally, Alfred Hitchcock didn’t want any music during the shower scene in Psycho, but the composer Bernard Hermann felt it was so necessary to have it that he went behind Hitchcock’s back and composed a score for the scene and put it into his cut for Hitchcock. Today, it is one of the most powerful and memorable pieces of music in a movie.

If these musical sequences have become so engrained in our brains then what happens when people make music against those established understandings? The Psycho shower scene music works because it effectively reinforces the horror of that moment. If instead in that moment of terror Beethoven’s 5th Symphony or the “Blue Danube Waltz” played, the reaction would not be nearly the same. People would probably laugh, especially if they knew what was supposed to be there. While this is just more of a visual/audio association, this manipulation of assumptions can happen with music alone.

Once your mind understands these patterns, you expect certain chords will follow others and

Each of these images are powerful enough to evoke the music assosciated with them

patterns and chord progressions are established. If you go to a ballet, there is a certain genre of music associated with that. Igor Stravinsky changed that in 1913.

His piece, “The Rite of Spring,” premiered in Paris alongside a ballet.

Stravinsky’s piece was very different from anything people had expected and the main focus of the piece is one extremely dissonant chord which continues throughout most of the piece. After a few minutes, people were screaming at the stage and booing, and eventually the theater broke into a full out riot.

Could one chord really have that big of an effect on people?

Does music actually have that much power? Our brains are wired in a certain way where they understand the normal and expected musically, and are completely thrown off when what our brain expects doesn’t happen. What that initial audience didn’t learn though, is that our brain can adapt to these changes and actually enjoy the result. Stravinsky played the same exact piece one year later in the same exact town, and the crowd cheered down the streets at the end, carrying Stravinsky in praise.

It’s easy to agree that music impacts people’s lives every day and that the majority of people need it at some point to get by. While people may throw on headphones

just to ignore the crazy people on the T, it’s also something that relaxes people, pumps people up, and saves a person’s day. But none of that makes it essential, or does it?

It actually might. There is a condition called Musical Ear Syndrome (MES) and it causes auditory hallucinations for people with hearing loss. What’s crazy though is that MES may not

actually be hallucinations. Recently, scientists found out that there are actually twice as many neurons coming from the brain to the ear as are going from the ear to the brain.

Basically, your brain is playing music a lot, but we can’t hear it because our neurons from the ear to the brain overtake the ones coming the other way. There have been cases where people remember

the exact moment they lost their hearing and the next moment they remember is hearing music, but it was coming from their brain.

Music isn’t just something we listen to for pleasure anymore.

Our brains actually get so accustomed to music that it literally plays it on its own, even when our hearing is long gone.

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The New Pop Trifecta B.o.B., Bruno Mars, and Janelle Monàe Written by Nick Hugon (International Affairs) By the time 2010 rolled around, three young artists had plans in motion to lay siege to the airways: rapper Bobby Ray Simmons (calling himself B.o.B), pop singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, and neo-soul artist Janelle Monàe.

All had their debut studio efforts distributed by Atlantic Records who masterminded a brilliant publicity move at the 2011 Grammys that catapulted the artists from successful young talents to industry royalty. B.o.B and Mars scraped the surface of mainstream acclaim with the lead single "Nothin' on You" from Simmons' new album early on in the year, and by the time each of their highly anticipated studio album debuts rolled around, they were already big names in the entertainment industry.

B.o.B rapidly sought to distance himself from the throngs of thugs-gone-clubbing plaguing hip-hop by incorporating a live band into his shows. The effect of this maneuver is refreshing; a DJ will back most hip-hop artists if the audience is lucky. The unlucky may be stuck watching a performer and a MacBook.

When B.o.B.'s album The Adventures of Bobby Ray was

12

released, fans were perhaps surprised to see that leading tracks didn't feature a ton of hip-hop artists celebrated and unknown, but rather the front-people of well-established alternative rock groups Weezer and Paramore, Rivers Cuomo and Hayley Williams respectively.

Bruno Mars was launched into the public eye in tandem with B.o.B. Prior to the drop of his own album Doo-wops and Hooligans, Mars was little more than the pretty voice featured on "Nothin' on You" to the casual listener. In actuality, Bruno Mars packed a punch that would turn heads all over the entertainment industry. A prolific and talented songwriter, Mars and his team The Smeezingtons had an enormous hand in the creation of Cee-Lo Green's acclaimed album The Lady Killer as well as having written for Travie McCoy, K'naan, and Kid Cudi. Doo-Wops was a fantastic commercial success in its own right, and Bruno Mars was the immediate dominating voice on the radio with tracks "Grenade" and "Just the Way You Are." The final piece of this emerging trio of superstars is Janelle Monàe, the Texas-born neo-soul songstress. Monàe's electrifying

voice coupled with her dancing and theatrical live performances made her naturally appealing, but more importantly, her creation of her own label gave her massive credibility in the indie community.

She later augmented this standing with a massively successful tour with Of Montreal in support of her studio effort The ArchAndroid, telling the dreamlike story of a messiah in a failed utopian society.

At the 2011 Grammy Awards there was no Thom Yorke with a marching band or P!nk twirling gracefully in a hanging sheet.

Instead, there were Atlantic Records' three wunderkinds. The performance started with Mars on vocals and piano with B.o.B rapping the verses of "Nothin' on You" and Monàe singing backup somewhat off to the side. Mars then transitioned into a soulful R&B rendition of his massive chart-topping single "Grenade" before Monàe wrapped up the performance with "Cold War" featuring Bruno Mars on drums and B.o.B on guitar and the strobe power to match the energy the three put into the final song.

The brilliance of this performance lies in the effect the artists have

on each other by simply sharing a stage. To the indie audience, Monàe's presence legitimizes the two more recognized artists and gives them credibility simply through their collaboration. To doubters, B.o.B and Bruno Mars may have made the transition from everyday mainstream artists to genuine pop icons simply through this realization that they actually are talented individuals who could keep up with an artist like Monàe whose overabundance of ability is so clearly on display. In turn, Mars and B.o.B have lifted Monàe from an indie neo-soul artist burgeoning on mainstream popularity to an exciting new star in her own right.

The manner by which these musicians were brought together was brilliant because it completely filled out each of their images as major industry figures. Bruno Mars has drawn some tentative comparisons to Michael Jackson, and Janelle Monàe has been likened to something of a female hybrid of James Brown and Andre 3000. Together, these three are bringing something brand new to the music scene. It stands to show just what they'll do next.

F E ATU R E

True Music

Videos, Where Art Thou?

Written by Shea Geyer (Pharmacy)

W

hat’s the first music video you remember watching? Chances are you can recall the entire song, what the artist looked like and what was going on in the video.

For me, it is Toni Basil’s “Hey Mickey!” She wore a red-whiteand-blue cheerleader outfit and pigtails while dancing around on an all white set with other cheerleaders. I was three years old when I first saw it.

Flash-forward eighteen years and the music video scene has changed dramatically. Gone are the videos where the artist is just playing an instrument and singing on a stage. Gone (well, mostly gone) are the videos in which the song tells the story that is unfolding in the video. Music videos today are more focused on the acting rather than the music. The music doesn’t even play continuously in some music videos, making it the background

soundtrack to the film. Take Lady Gaga’s recent music videos: they are more than seven minutes long, making them seem more like short films than music videos. There is a considerable amount of acting and the obscurity level increases with each new music video she creates.

Music videos should be created to showcase the song and to introduce you to the people behind the music. The Foo Fighters recently premiered their music video for “Ropes,” signifying a return to the music-video making days of the 80s and early 90s.

The music video was filmed with a VHS recorder and it is just the band jamming out to their song.

It’s a simple and basic music video that focuses on the music the entire time. The Arcade Fire also created a true music video for their song “Ready to Start.”

The video consists of footage of the band playing their song live at a concert, except it is in black

and white. The vocals are even the real voices from that concert, not concert footage mashed with studio-recorded track.

Unfortunately, it seems that artists today are just competing to create the most outlandish video and garner a lot of attention. Kanye West’s short film “Runaway” did just that. Sure, he included each song off of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but the story of the film had nothing to do with the music. The music became the soundtrack to the storyline, so the viewers were more in tuned to the acting.

Kanye, of course, became rather popular because no other artist had done something like his 30-minute-long “music video.”

Beyonce, on the other hand, created an infectious music video for “Single Ladies” with her doing a dance routine to the song. There was no acting in the music video, just a simple

music video that focused on the song. Viewers can take something away from the music video by learning the dance routine, so every time the song plays, dancing skills can be shown off.

Although MTV is no longer Music Television, music videos are important in influencing viewers to become more interested in a band. YouTube has taken over as the music video channel, which does leave some lesser known artists out of the “most viewed” artists group. Many of the imposter music videos currently have hundreds of millions of views, but some of the true music videos may only have a few million views.

There is still hope that true music videos will make a comeback and reverse this trend of short films that do not embrace the music.

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Death by TWITTER Written by Leslie Fowle (English / Journalism)

C

hristopher R. Weingarten is a music writer. Not that anyone has ever heard of him because, well, who listens to music writers anymore?

That is exactly the problem. Back in 2009 in a speech given at the 140 Characters Conference in New York (basically just a huge Twitter-fest), Weingarten - freelance writer for Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, and Revolver magazine, among others announced, “By this time next year I am going to need a new job.”

This is very sad, because there was a time when rock critics could not only pay the bills, but were rolling in the proverbial dough… and cocaine, and hookers, and whatever else they wanted. Record labels would supply them with such bounties because their opinions mattered. Their words were crucial to the success of an album.

With the advent of the Internet and websites like Pitchfork and Stylus, rock critics and their editors got nervous because these webopinions were pretty good and cheap (as in free). More importantly, they showed that, ‘Hey, any old person can do this rock criticism thing. If you have an opinion, share it!’ By 2005, everyone and their grandmother had a music blog.

Today, it’s those music blogs that are running the show.

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‘But why?’ you may ask. First of all, bloggers have access to leaks.

You have access to leaks. Everyone has access to leaks. Google an album: it’s pretty awesome. While magazines are still waiting for their legal – and, therefore, too late - prereleased albums, the blogs have already posted their thoughts. By the time a magazine gets into the hands of the public, all the reviews are old news. More often than not, they are just comments on what is trending in the blogs. Need an example? If you’ve heard of bands like Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, and Sleigh Bells it’s not because they are held in high regard of an eclectic lifelong professional critic; it’s because some 19-year-old kid sitting at his computer with a pair of headphones spread the word.

Who cares, right? As long as you’re not an aspiring critic, these recent changes in the musical landscape do not affect you. In fact, your experience is only easier. You can check your favorite blogs, see what they tell you to listen to and download accordingly. Chances are, you’ll like their suggestions.

This is all fine and dandy.

The problem is that this creates what I call “musical tunnel vision,” or maybe, “tunnel hearing.” If you like rap, you follow your favorite rappers on Twitter. Or maybe you just follow Kanye West for his ridiculous

Tweets; that’s okay too. If you like indie, you follow your favorite indie blogs for the latest trending band.

Your Internet experience is geared toward ºyou. You are never exposed to artists outside your realm of “good music,” because you don’t have to be. I once met a girl so involved with the indie scene she wasn’t familiar with Ke$ha. Not that everyone should be listening to Ke$ha, but come on, do you turn on your TV? I later saw one of her statuses had been “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy.” I still don’t know to this day if she had a lapse of memory, or if it was some sort of self-preservation thing.

In a magazine, however, a review of Animal Collective’s latest album might be next to a rap album, or a country album. You have no choice, thus, making it more likely that you might read it, especially if it was written by a critic that you trust. Sometimes, everyone needs to step out of the proverbial box.

I’m not saying that people can’t have their own opinions. In this day and age, there is no getting around the music blog phenomenon. That’s

where Chris Weingarten comes back in. From 2009 to 2010 he reviewed over 1,000 albums via Twitter in 140 characters or less.

It’s a slap in the face to those music bloggers who may go on for 700 words saying basically nothing, and he’s still at it today. Weingarten’s tweets are poetic and effective, and you can follow him @1000TimesYes. With his project, Weingarten intends to create a space where the music critic is still relevant.

If Twitter is that space, we don’t know. With all of these opinions flying around, it is unlikely the average web surfer will ever find the @1000TimesYes project. With that being said, Weingarten reminds us that it is OK to know what you like, you just need to be able to say why. “Be a critic in whatever you do. Let people know the why, let people know the how… Just don’t expect to get paid for it ever.”

Written by Bill Shaner (Women's Studies)

S

omewhere on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles there’s a group of 10 teenagers hanging out. Hell, who knows, they might even be getting out of school. They’ll probably hit up the 7Eleven and grab some Palmers before heading back to one of their parent’s basements to hang for the night. They like to skate, smoke, tweet, Tumbl and make dick jokes. Oh, and they’re probably the craziest thing to hit hip-hop in years.

These kids, all between 16 and 19, compose OFWGKTA, or Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. Six months ago you’d have to be an LA resident or Internet cave-dweller to know the name. But last July, OFWGKTA posted a video for their youngest and arguably most talented member Earl Sweatshirt’s single, “Earl.” Therein, a shoddy home camera films the gang as they drop a couple pills, a bag of weed, cough syrup and some malt liquor into a

blender, mix it up, drink it down and hop on their skateboards. Shots of them falling, bleeding, loosing teeth and having seizures follow. All the while, 16-year-old Earl’s haunting flow chimes over a gross, dissonant beat with lines like “Sent to earth to poke Catholics in the ass with saws/And knock blunt ashes into their caskets and laugh it off” and “Earl puts the ‘ass’ in ‘assassin’/Puts the pieces of decomposin' bodies in plastic/Puts 'em in a pan and mixes it up with scat/Then gobbles it like fat black bitches and catfish.”

Horrible, right? Listen to it.

“Earl” is where the national snowball really started. Garnering a million and a half views, it was picked up quickly in the blogosphere. XL records covered travel expenses for a November 5 show in London and a November 8 show in New York. Shortly after, The New York Times wrote a feature on them. Tyler, The Creator and the

Photography Provided by golfwang.tumblr.com

group’s defacto spokesman and leader, released his self-produced single, Yonkers, on February 10th, which now has over 3 million views on Youtube. XL records quickly signed the 19-year-old to a 1-record deal for Goblin, out May 10. On February 16, Tyler and Hodgy Beats performed on Jimmy Fallon, backed by The Roots. On March 16, Odd Future gave a startling show including midgets and chicken costumes at the MTVU Woodie Awards. They performed all four nights at SXSW and are on the bill for Coachella and Pitchfork Music Festival. They did a skit for Funny or Die on February 28. Spin, Billboard, Dazed and Confused and Pitchfork have all written feature articles on them. Billboard even gave them a cover spread and the brash title, “Odd Future may just be

the Future of the Music Industry.”

Sheesh. As the Odd Future boys (and girl) would say, that’s pretty swag (“swag” is the group’s go-to term for anything they think is cool). But why have these dirtymouthed kids producing music on Macs in a pool house drawn so much attention? Surely they aren’t the only high-school punks with Apple Logic and time to spare. What sets them apart?

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The Attitude

The Cussin’ The overly graphic nature of their lyrics is one of the biggest immediate draws. These kids vividly depict rape, murder, necrophilia, violence and drug abuse – with an emphasis on the rape. They carry a certain “Wait, what?” and “Holy Sh**t” factor that’s so infectious it makes you question the decency of your soul for going back to it, like this line off Tyler’s “Blow”: “You call this shit rape but I think rape’s fun/Wait, now it’s about 8 something/It’s late and you’re stuck in my basement/Come downstairs with nothing but a shoe string/ Yeah, bitch. This date’s done./” The eerie synth lines and deep base that accompany create more than a slight spooky feeling.

The shock value is accompanied by witty, borderline geeky, pop culture references from Anne Frank to Ike Turner to Forrest Gump.

These kids show a range of taste bigger than t​heir music immediately suggests. In an interview with British music magazine Dazed and Confused, Tyler said his favorite movies are by Stanley Kubrick, especially A Clockwork Orange, he called Sid Vicious an idol even though “his music really sucks,” and lamented the death of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division.

A dream of theirs is to get a music video directed by Quentin Tarantino and they’re currently authoring a pilot episode for a show on

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Adult Swim they’ve described as occupying the space between Jackass and Dave Chappelle.

But after a few listens through Tyler’s full length, Bastard, the aspect that resonates over the gore and hipster appeal is the poignant emotional level he reaches when rapping about his absentee father. The album’s opener and closer, “Bastard” and “Inglorious” respectively, take on the subject of his father almost exclusively.

“Bastard” opens with a slow, emotive piano progression. The beat’s only other layers are synth strings, horns and bass. Tyler, who taught himself piano at 11, takes a huge creative risk here. An entire rap song played over 1 piano line?

That’s unheard of. And over it, Tyler spits straight from the heart: “I’m tall, dark skinny/My ears are big as fuck/Drunk white girls the only way I’ll get my dick sucked ... My goal in life is a Grammy/I hope my mom can attend the ceremony … fuck a deal/ I just want my father’s e-mail so I can tell him how much I fucking hate him in detail.”

With lyrics like that, Tyler takes rap to an emotional place it rarely sees. This backdrop gives the hate-filled rape verses and demonic beats in the songs that follow a connotation of displaced angst that attaches legitimate meaning to the shock-value chaos.

Their overall attitude, shown in videos, live performances and interviews, proves to be just as infectious as their lyrical content.

They have the confidence of most rap stars on the rise: the sort of ‘I’m the best, I deserve the fame I’ve received so I’m going to bask in it.’

But it’s coupled with the nihilistic ‘fuck it’ attitude seen in skate parks and punk rock. They make fun of each other, spray paint swastikas and film each other stealing drinks from convenience stores. One of their slogans is “Fuck Steve Harvey.”

The group has yet to divulge a legitimate reason for their seemingly unsolicited hatred of the Family Feud host, and likely never will.

Random idiosyncrasies like this and their affection for upside-down crosses, swastikas and bacon give the collective a personal style that’s highly unique and, well, odd. They’re those kids from your high school that went to class baked, threw peach cups in the cafeteria and played the penis game in chemistry. You know who I’m talking about. Their public school-cultivated nihilism makes them highly relatable, and that coupled with the audacity and ingenuity of their music proves toxic.

Oh, and Tyler is straightedge – “Say no to drugs/Never sparked it.” Though the rest of the group seems rather fond of pot, this further disproves any of their abrasive content is rooted in fact.

But it doesn’t need to be and they’re open about that. These are punk kids trying to “scare white America” as Tyler said before going on Jimmy Fallon. The fact that there’s no truth in the atrocities they describe doesn’t take away from how tangible the descriptions are, and the falsity of their lyrics further adds listener confusion that plays into their punk attitude.

They also completely dump on mainstream rap. “I created OF because I feel we’re more talented than 40 year old rappers talking ‘bout gucci/ with kids they haven’t seen in years/impressing their peers.” Almost nothing on the radio is “swag.” They bash Drake, Rihanna, Dom Kennedy, B.o.B., Haley Williams and the popular hip hop blogs 2DopeBoyz and Nah Right for starters. But they’re not trying to be the antimainstream either. About a month ago, Tyler tweeted “Who the fuck is Antipop Consortium? Can people compare us to cool musicians?

Fuck.” Like any high school clique, they have a very defined sense of ​“swag” and their music is the ultimate representation of it.

Their fashion sense is another strong declaration of difference.

They have a unique style incorporating Supreme Box Logo hats and hoodies, jean shorts and vans sneakers. Tyler articulates this

difference on “Seven”: “Maybe I should buy some 100s, wear some fucking skinny jeans/And follow in your footsteps like a motherfucking millepede/Centipede/Make songs about Gucci and cigaweed.”

And lastly, their live shows are insane. At an SXSW show, Tyler broke a kid’s nose stage diving off a ten-foot amp. In the same show, Hodgy Beats climbed to the ceiling and dropped himself into the crowd.

They run around stage, wear ski masks and incorporate midgets and zombies into their routines.

Tyler ended the Jimmy Fallon show by jumping on the host’s back and putting his hat on him. Mosh pits are a regular occurrence. They treat their fans with a reverence while simultaneously berating the music journalists and “niggas with cameras” in attendance. If you were to watch the crowd with the sound off, you’d think it was a Converge or Ceremony show. “We’re so opposite. Because if you go to any other rapper’s show they just stand there and rap. There’s no emotion,” Tyler said in a video interview with MTV. Fellow “Wolf” Domo Genesis cut him off to say, “Our shows aren’t rap shows. We might play rap music, but they aren’t rap shows.”

“That’s why I like our fans,” Tyler chimed back in. “Because they feed off our energy.” Here’s a picture taken from Tyler’s twitter of one guy who got the Odd Future experience in the form of Hodgy Beats’ foot.

DIY/Social Media

Where To Start

They recently acquired a booking manager and a PR guy, but otherwise, they’ve been an autonomous operation since the start. Every album and mixtape they’ve put out was recorded in Syd’s parents' pool house, which they let the kids turn into a recording studio. Syd is the collective’s only female member. She records and masters everything the group puts out and engineers/DJs every live show. Tyler and Left Brain produce every beat and instrumental save for the collective’s out-there space funk group The Jet Age of Tomorrow. Every video and cover was self-made save for the Yonkers video. These kids show just as much professionalism as they do punk antics.

They’re also a social media circus that begs for creepy obsession (I’m a little guilty). The collective’s main site, oddfuture.com, is a tumblr and has every album and mixtape they’ve put together up for free download. Golfwang.TUMBLR. com is their photo blog. Hodgy Beats, Left Brain and Syd all keep personal tumblrs and almost every member has a twitter (Tyler’s, @ fucktyler, is immensely entertaining).

Most of them accept random friend requests on Facebook.

Outside of the stalking it allows, it serves an important purpose.

Up until Tyler signed with XL, Odd Future was completely self promoted and broke into the national sphere before any major label or magazine uttered the name. Odd Future’s do-it-yourself use of the Internet has many music journalists pegging it as the start of a new age in the music industry. Bold words, but at the pace these guys are going, they may not be too far off base.

The Radical mixtape features every member and some interesting samples. Though not the artistic pinnacle of their work, it’s a solid, fun introduction. ​Then I’d suggest Bastard, Tyler’s first full length. It’s the most emotionally charged and poignant album, but don’t worry; it still has its ghastly moments. Tyler’s selfproduction and flow are unique and very developed. The lyrical content snaps from heartfelt to disgusting with ease, all the while peppered with witty and often hilarious pop culture references.

Then Earl Sweatshirt’s Earl.

Composed when he was 16, this album is a reincarnation of early Eminem except on crack, or meth, or something else, maybe dragon’s blood or whatever they put in the core of wands in Harry Potter. It’s quick, witty, catchy and horrible.

At 26 minutes long, it’s a short blast of terror and awesomeness.

After that, you’re introduced (and probably shocked). Go where you need from there. Every other rapper in the group is a little more conventional. Hodgy Beats, one of the collective’s more talented rappers, has a lazy, weedy flow reminiscent of Wiz Khalifa. He and Left Brain, the group’s main producer, come together to form MellowHype. Their most recent release, Blackendwhite is a very solid effort with some special production on “Brain” and “Hell.” The most bizarre Odd Future product is The Jet Age of Tomorrow, Matt Maritan’s whacked out space-funk beats. Its most recent work is The 5th Echelon.

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HIP-HOP'S FOREFATHERS: WHAT ARE THEY OWED?

written by William Patrick Duane (English)

In late January 2011, word spread around the hip-hop community that its most original artist and innovator had been hospitalized. To make matters worse, the founder of said billion-dollar industry was too poor to pay for healthcare. One of hip-hop’s most famous producers, DJ Premier, was most vocal about the situation, criticizing hip-hop artists and claiming they “owed” DJ Kool Herc for providing them with hip-hop. Can such a direct line be drawn between Herc and the contemporary music generation? Is it fair for DJ Premier to hold both new and old artists from the 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s responsible when DJ Kool Herc was most active during the 1970’s?

DJ Premier was closely connected to DJ Kool Herc as he actively spun and created records in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He does directly owe his style of production, boom-bap drum and bass infused with soul, jazz, and various other sampled genres, to Kool Herc. Most modern producers would likely include DJ Premier on their top 5 biggest influences list, therefore owing a large amount of their style to DJ Kool Herc despite lacking any personal connection whatsoever.

Another division that makes the situation more confusing is a recent clash between the new and old generations of hip-hop.

Some claim hip-hop music is experiencing its first generational gap as older artists cling to antiquated forms that the newer artists are attempting to usher out of existence. The “old guard”, as it is deemed, claims everything the new guys do is “not hip-hop” and the young bucks say the old guys are “stuck in the 90’s” or “too boring” and “don’t know how to have fun”.

Although it may not bear a direct resemblance to what DJ Kool Herc or Grandmaster Flash were producing, all current hip-hop owes the creation of its mechanics to DJ Kool Herc.

DJ Kool Herc, also known as Clive Campbell, was born in Jamaica and raised in the Bronx.

He made the Bronx apartment complex 1520 Sedgwick Avenue forever famous in hip-hop history through throwing multiple block parties during which the musical styles of hip-hop are said to have been founded. Kool Herc has been credited with discovering and creating the isolated break beat. He would set two turntables next to each other and find the “break” or

syncopated drum pattern in each record whether it be disco, rock & roll, jazz, or any other genre.

Herc was most interested in how to move a crowd, dance music at the time was too linear and the rhythm had become too standardized.

He wanted to provide an alternative to popular dance music while incorporating sounds his close friends enjoyed. Thus, Herc began isolating the periods of drum syncopation, or “breaks”, in music from varying genres.

He would scratch the break on a record repeatedly while allowing another to play unhindered. This is most easily described by the “pulling back” motion you see DJ’s doing where they reach for a certain location on a record and rewind the record to that point so it replays.

Through this process the entire genre of hip-hop was created. Kool Herc, as previously mentioned, was not a studio producer nor was he interested in recording, he just wanted to continually rock hour-long parties. In 1989 Herc was asked by New Music Seminar if he thought rap would become the billion-dollar industry that it is today.

He replied: “No. People are saying, ‘Hey you should get something for being out there Herc.

You started this for Run and Kurtis Blow…' They heard what I played. They went out and put other things to it. Hey it’s only right when anything gets created there’s gonna be somebody else creating something to enhance it. But when they ask the question of where it comes from, it started here.”

United States copyright claims “A 'compilation' is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship.” Kool Herc, had he possessed omnipotent foresight, could have potentially copy written his technique of playing one record’s breaks over a separate record. He did not, however, have any desire to record inside a studio and cut a three and a half minute track, that wasn’t hip-hop to him at the time. Why cut an hour-long party perpetuating mix to a nonsensical three or four minute manufactured studio track? Without a studiorecorded track, Herc is also unable to claim he “created” by United States copyright standards.

DJ Kool Herc developed the technique and platform for what is now the hip-hop standard.

We now have electronic music programs and electronic production studios that reproduce the same sounds Herc manually discovered.

Any one can pay for these programs. When a producer samples an old jazz or soul song they are directly utilizing Kool Herc's technique. The artist responsible for creating the sample and the producer who physically did the sampling are the sole money earners. We have found ways to credit the sources we sample from but it would be technically impossible to compensate someone who fused two forms of creation without truly and wholly creating something new.

Had DJ Kool Herc known to patent or copyright what he was doing at the time, perhaps he would be earning small benefits from every hip-hop song ever created.

In a technical sense, Kool Herc is not owed any money. Yes, there are certain personal convictions we may have, for who knows what “hip-hop” could be had another man made Herc's discovery and taken the idea in different directions. One of the most focused perspectives on the matter comes from Chuck D, one of hip-hop’s most outspoken activists. In 1993, he noted to Rolling Stone, "Most of the pioneers were just music lovers--record collectors. They were busy experimenting and being innovative in the art, and nobody knew where it was going, so when it blew up, they felt like `Hey, I'm gonna reap it for all it's worth' and sell it before it dies.'

People got caught up in trying to plan for it to disappear." In the meantime, corporate types mapped out a plan and figured the business end of hip-hop industry management. Ever since, there has been a give-and-take relationship amongst artist and corporation in which the corporate types often find ways to exploit artists who are negligent with contract reading procedures. Until artists become better educated on contracts and agreements we will likely see some of the genre’s heroes folding at an early age and requiring monetary support from people who supported them their whole career.

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DUBSTEP GE A Q&A WITH DARKSIDE

Written by Kyle Risley (Marketing)

IN THE PAST YEAR, a low rumbling has come from across the Atlantic, injecting sub bass frequencies into everything from hip blogs and dance clubs to Forever 21 stores and Britney Spears singles: dubstep. Mixing half-time and 2-step beats with sternum crushing bass, vocal samples lifted from B-movies, and jagged mid range stabs, dubstep made an ear-splitting entrance. And while this genre has achieved a velocity that shows no sign of declining, its success was by no means achieved overnight.

Beginning ten years ago in South London clubs with the support of a handful of DJs, producers, and promoters, dubstep earned very little attention for the first five years. Fortunately, early adopters recognized the genre's potential and began tracking its progress, documenting the sound's growth along the way. One of the first was GetDarker, founded by Lee Taylor in 2004, which streams live DJ performances from its own studio, posts exclusive audio clips, interviews key producers, and hosts parties. Since then, GetDarker has become the most downloaded dubstep podcast on iTunes, issued the popular This is dubstep compilation, and began releasing music as a label this February.

Quite an impressive run, but Taylor insists that the best is yet to come.

Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): How did GetDarker get started? What was the mission and who were the founders?

Lee Taylor (LT): I started a website back in 2003 called DarksideRiddem.com, which was focused only on dubstep and grime music. The site itself became very popular, very quickly - providing the latest audio, interviews and general information surrounding the genre. In 2004, the website was nominated for its first award, and continued to expand very quickly.

In 2006, I decided to re-brand and change the name to GetDarker, with the mission remaining identical: to continue to be the most reliable and trusted source for dubstep music.

TMM: What were the biggest challenges you faced when starting GetDarker?

LT: Two very major challenges were both time and cost. Even now I'm not convinced people appreciate how much effort and commitment has gone into the site over the years, but ultimately it's clear that our team is very passionate about the genre,

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ETS DARKER which is rewarding in itself. And of course starting a website, many years before social networking websites were common, the obvious difficulty we faced early on were server and bandwidth costs.

For example, our podcast is the most downloaded dubstep podcast in iTunes, and GetDarker has had over 650,000 complete audio downloads since January 2011.

TMM: Do you see GetDarker strictly as an entertainment outlet, or do you also aim to educate listeners about the genre's history?

LT: The whole idea of GetDarker is to educate about both past and future sounds. The history and foundation of dubstep is a major factor as to why it's such a key genre of today. There are always many blogs popping up, but none had the privilege of being there from the start.

TMM: Some DJs, such as Joe Nice, have taken a relatively militant stance against 'brostep.' Do you see GetDarker as a platform to push certain styles of dubstep, or

are you open to any shade of the genre? Do you feel like 'brostep' is cheapening the sound, or are developments like this inherent with any genre's growth?

LT: GetDarker's strict stance is to remain independent to dubstep, whatever the sub genre might be labeled. My personal views are entirely separate from GetDarker's views. This subject is an argument that isn't going to go away. There are some very exciting tracks that get tagged as 'brostep,' but what I find frustrating is it appears that any sound written at 140 bpm is now classed as dubstep. I choose to be constantly interested in the genre for the low-end bass music that dubstep is, but this theme of bro-step often, (but not always) lacks low-end frequencies. Dubstep has always had a very interesting and vital 'jump-up, tear out' side, and a few of the masters at this are the likes of Coki, Skream, Jakes, Distance & Kromestar all involving that 'bottom end' which is what I'm always looking for.

TMM: GetDarker has begun issuing compilations and, most recently, an original release from Kromestar and Dark Tantrums. How did the label come about and are there future plans for more releases?

LT: The label was always a matter of time before it happened. I first heard the A-side track 'Mental Universe‚' when Kromestar played it on one of his GetDarkerTV sets and I couldn't think of a better track to be titled our first release. I'm working on the next release, which will be something interesting from Cyrus, Distance & Tunnidge. Our This Is Dubstep compilations have been a very exciting project. It was the first ever TV advertised dubstep release and I put each one together with an inside view of the dubstep scene.

Our advertisement was even voiced

by MC Crazy D. I am currently working on the next compilation, which is going to be huge!

members, to focus on updating the site's content daily. We're approaching episode 100 of our GetDarkerTV broadcasts, which is a huge achievement, so [we] will be continuing [to push] this and of course the new label.

GetDarkerTV broadcasts live every Tuesday from 7:00 to 11:00pm GMT, with the audio from past episodes available for download on iTunes. Learn more at GetDarker.com.

Read more invterviews online at tastemakersmag.com/interviews.

TMM: What are GetDarker's plans for 2011 and beyond?

LT: We're launching a new version of the website in a few weeks, and have increased our team

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Bumbershoot

Seattle, WA September 9–September 5

CHOOSE YOUR FESTIVAL DESTINATION Stage Coach Indio, CA April 30–May 1

Austin City Limits

Austin, TX September 16–September 18

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KahBang

Bangor, ME August 8–August 15

Wanderlust

Bondville, VT June 23–June 26

Pitchfork

Chicago, IL July 15–July 17

Lollapalooza Chicago, IL August 5–August 7

Camp Bisco

Mariaville, NY July 7–July 9

The Bamboozle East Rutherford, NJ April 29–May 1

Solid Sound

North Adams, MA June 24–June 26

Newport Folk Newport Jazz

Newport, RI July 30–July 31

Newport, RI August 5–August 7

CMJ Music Marathon New York, NY October 18–October 22

Mipoint Music Cincinnati, OH June 22–June 24

Bonnaroo

Manchester, TN June 9–June 12

YARRRRR, make ye’ sure to log on to thy tastemakers website over the summer to find out about the festivals you see before thine’ eyes!

Voodoo Experience New Orleans, LA October 28–October 30

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SUMMER FESTIVALS 2011 The Bamboozle East Rutherford, NJ 4/29 – 5/1

Stagecoach Indio, CA 4/30 – 5/1

First held in 2003 at The Stone Pony, the historic venue that helped launch Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi to superstardom, The Bamboozle has now taken over the Meadowlands Sports Complex parking lot, attracting fans from the greater-NYC area and New England. Similar to The Warped Tour, the three-day event is usually comprised of a higher percentage of posthardcore, screamo, and pop-punk bands than other festivals. This year, headliners include Lil Wayne, Motley Crüe, Taking Back Sunday, The Gaslight Anthem, 30 Seconds to Mars and Wiz Khalifa.

This festival is where country finally becomes cool, figuratively speaking. Occurring the weekend after Coachella, Stagecoach takes the same scorching polo field by storm each year with country legends both new and old. This year’s headliners include Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts, but the real gems in the lineup are Loretta Lynn, The Punch Brothers and Darius Rucker. Even if country isn’t your thing, listening to that sweet twang surrounded by gorgeous mountain ranges and blue skies might do the trick.

Kathryn Price (Music Industry/Journalism)

Jeff Curry (Behavioral Neuroscience)

Bonnaroo Manchester, TN 6/9 – 6/12 Held in the middle of a boiling, Tennessee June, Bonnaroo is certainly, by size, the largest festival 26

in the United States. Without “spend[ing] a dollar on marketing until the third year,” Bonnaroo continually draws audiences greater than 70,000 and hosts an eclectic mix of performers every year.

In 2011, the bill consists of acts like Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Robert Plant and Bonnaroo veterans My Morning Jacket, yet the festival was able to sway from the jam bands and include miscellaneous acts such as Eminem, Lil Wayne, Girl Talk, Bassnectar, and Florence + the Machine. Bonnaroo is the epitome of the American music festival and a great festival for first timers, with a lineup that will please anyone.

Andrew Swartz (Music Industry)

Midpoint Music Cincinnati, OH 6/22 – 6/24 Celebrating a “decade of audio addiction” in Cincinnati, Midpoint Music Festival has slowly made a name for itself in the Midwest as a decent substitute for nearby festivals like Lollapalooza and Pitchfork. The festival hosted artists such as Best Coast, Phantogram, Surfer Blood, Fang

Island, Cults, Chairlift, Javelin, Justin Townes Earle, Felice Brothers and Holy Fuck in various venues throughout the city just last year. This year is sure to have an even greater group of hipster-approved talent, as organizers are adding new venues and expanding into more daytime programming. If you just so happen to be in the Midwest come September, might as well give good ole’ Cinci a visit.

Kathryn Price (Music Industry/Journalism)

Wanderlust Bondville, VT 6/23 – 6/26 Looking for inner balance and peace while still enjoying some kick-ass music? Then take a trip up to Vermont for the Wanderlust Music Festival.

Billed as being "Four days of yoga, music and nature," Wanderlust holds festival music along with spoken word sessions (this year's headliner is Deepak Chopra) and yoga instruction. Even the lineup is non-traditional, favoring world music acts over the usual festival performers, although the headliners are Andrew Bird and Michael Franti & Spearhead. So bring your yoga mats and discover new, worldly music and experiences at the Wanderlust Festival.

Suzie Conway (Communications)

Solid Sound North Adams, MA (Mass MoCA) 6/24 – 6/26 In its second year, Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival takes place on the campus of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The location is prime for art lovers looking for a relaxed atmosphere. The lineup is small, made up of mostly smaller artists, and is spread over the course of a weekend, so there is plenty of time to catch the acts, laugh at the comedians and enjoy the exhibits without missing anything.

Alyssa Mastrocco (English)

Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago, IL 7/15 – 7/17

Camp Bisco Mariaville, NY 7/7 – 7/9 Founded and curated by the Philadelphia electronic jam band Disco Biscuits, Camp Bisco is a three-day exploration of electro, breakbeat, synthpop, hip-hop, dubstep, psychedelic pop, and every other genre that sounds better with a little help from your friends. The newly reunited Death From Above 1979 will be laying down thick layers of warm, fuzzy basslines. DFA and Mad Decent will be holding it down in their own tents,

and critical darlings Cut Copy and Yeasayer will be performing as well. Now where the hell is Mariaville?

Kyle Risley (Marketing)

Held by the notoriously bitchy Pitchfork Media Inc., Pitchfork Music Festival is held in Chicago’s Union Park in July. This year’s headliners are Animal Collective, winner of multiple “Best New Music” designations from the site’s reviewers, Fleet Foxes and TV on the Radio. With a fairly diverse bill, this weekend in Chicago July is guaranteed to be a good time.

Alyssa Mastrocco (English) 27

Newport Folk Festival Newport, RI 7/30 - 7/31 To the land of the Gatsby mansions, George Wein’s 38th Newport Folk Festival kicks off in historic Fort Adams with over twenty of folk’s finest acts. You can pick up most of the festival on NPR’s stream, but if the talent present last year (Andrew Bird, The Avett Brothers, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) is any indication, this is the folk festival you don’t want to miss.

Newport Jazz Location: Newport, RI Dates: 8/5 – 8/7 The Newport Jazz Festival first took place in 1954 as America’s first jazz festival. In its 57th year, the festival has hosted legends like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Chick Corea, and continues to attract the big names in jazz year after year. The 2011 lineup hasn’t been announced just yet, but NJF’s track record promises another solid offering.

bands like Matt & Kim, Ra Ra Riot and OK GO. This year, bands range from hip hop acts like B.o.B, Bad Rabbits and Biz Markie to indie acts like Free Energy, The Sea Captains and Aviation Orange.

Lauren Moquin (Journalism)

Alyssa Mastrocco (English) Aadil Sulaiman (International Affairs & Economics)

Lollapalooza Chicago, IL 8/5 – 8/7 Bringing the best of both worlds together, Lollapalooza combines hordes of sweaty music lovers with a shiny, windy city. This year Lollapalooza has already brought its signature mix of pop artists to Chile with The Killers, Kanye West and Jane’s Addiction. The real Lolla is still a ways away and the performer rumors are already flying. Headliners are supposedly Eminem, Muse, Foo Fighters and three others. Other artists speculated to be there are Best Coast, Girl Talk, Crystal Castles and Lykke Li. The lineup never fails to make headlines, so stay tuned!

Kathryn Price (Music Industry/Journalism)

KahBang Bangor, ME 8/8 – 8/15 Downtown Bangor, Maine is taken over for a week to hold the diverse music festival of KahBang. Bangor might not be big, but at its heart there are music venues that are home to many shows throughout the year, but within the week of KahBang, they are home to one of the biggest music festivals in the northeast. Within the final two days, two waterfront stages are opened to hold the most anticipated acts of the week under the stars. The week is full of opportunities to see and hear new things with art exhibits, film viewings, and bands that fall under the festival’s intention of “discovering the next big thing”. As KahBang reaches their third year, they can proudly say that they have featured

The Flaming Lips photo by Kathryn Price (Music Industry/Journalism

Bumbershoot Seattle, WA 9/3 – 9/5 This festival, held every year at the Seattle Center in downtown Seattle, WA, offers up a mix of indie rockers, comedians, dance companies and more to attendees. They even offer a branch of programming just for kids called Youngershoot.

Performers for 2011 won't be announced until late-Spring, but last year's headliners included Jenny & Johnny, The Decemberists, Weezer, Rise Against and Bob Dylan. Look out for this year’s lineup to be announced closer to the fall!

Michelle Buchman (English)

Austin City Limits Austin, TX 9/16 – 9/18

Nicole Atkins at Austin City Limits photo courtesy of Luc Byhet 28

The 10th Anniversary of ACL will take place September 16-18th at Austin’s Zilker Park. The festival has yet to announce its 2011 lineup, but judging by the massive names to headline last year - including Muse, The Eagles, and The Flaming Lips - Austin City Limits will not fail to produce a mouthwatering array of talent that is sure to draw you to Texas’ beautiful capital city.

Nicolas Hugon (International Affairs)

CMJ Music Marathon New York City, NY 10/18 – 10/22

Voodoo Experience New Orleans, LA 10/28 – 10/30

Every year, CMJ (College Music Journal) hosts a takeover of New York City. The shows take place at venues all over the city, and the artists range from indie favorites to acts just starting to break out. CMJ offers music lovers the chance to see bands in smaller, more intimate spots.

You could easily hop around the city and catch three or four shows a night during the marathon.

Student badges are a good bargain considering they provide you access to ALL CMJ shows and parties.

New Orleans’ Halloween music and arts extravaganza hasn’t released its 2011 lineup yet, but it produced a genre-hopping selection of attractions last year featuring Drake, MGMT, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5, Macy Gray, Florence and the Machine, Weezer, and countless other notable artists.

Michelle Buchman (English)

Nicolas Hugon (Cosmetology, Hair Concentration)

The Avett Brothers at Newport Folk photo by Kathryn Price (Music Industry/Journalism

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Best "fall in summer love" album: Ah, yes, summer love: the pinnacle goal of most young people embarking on their summer vacations. Whether you've finally met that special someone or you're rekindling things with an old flame, 'tis the season to lust under the host sun. Though it's been overplayed a thousand times over, Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" blends the nostalgic joy of true young love with the necessary passionate lust that fuels the fires of a summer fling. If you're an elitist hipster kid who avoids the mainstream at all costs- get over yourself. Just one listen and baby you'll believe. This is real, so take a chance and don't ever look back.

Album: Teenage Dream We suggest: "Teenage Dream" (Track 1)

Best "crank while cruising around town with the windows down" album: It's hotter than hell, the AC in your beat-up, hand-me-down Volvo crapped out years ago and the traffic light just won't turn green. You might as well make the best of it and play some tracks that sound damn good when they're played at max volume. May we suggest giving your car's speakers a run for their money with Sleigh Bells, whose infectious and energizing beats make for prime listening. The people in surrounding cars might think you're obnoxious, but you'll still feel really cool.

Album: Treats We suggest: "Crown on the Ground‚" (Track 8)

Best "day trip to the beach" album: The weather is perfect and you're in the car with your friends getting ready for a fun-filled day at the beach. Hopefully you haven't pulled a Rebecca Black on everyone and you didn't have to deliberate over which seat to take.

Regardless, it's time to put on some grooves everyone can sing along to. It's an oldie but a goodie; we never get tired of getting down with Beck. It's the right balance of funk, rock, pop, and everything else you need for an idyllic car ride to the beach. Press play and enjoy.

Album: Midnite Vultures We suggest: "Nicotine and Gravy" (Track 2)

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Best "summer breakup" album: Best "get sick of living at home with parents" album: Parents: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Everyone will agree that it's great to be home at first, but everyone has their breaking point when they need to get back to their own independent lifestyle at school. If said point for you is particularly early during break, and your simmering pot of frustration starts to boil, you might as well resort to cranking some good ol' fashioned punk, preferably something energetic but not too angry, as you're not trying to get kicked out of the house. Thus, we look to the granddaddies of punk themselves: the Ramones.

Album: Ramones We suggest: "Judy is a Punk" (Track 3)

If anyone knows about summer breakups, it's probably Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino.

Though we don't actually know if it occurred in summer, her breakup with Wavves' Nathan Williams clearly made for some quality musical angst, as evidenced on BC's debut album Crazy For You. On the bright side, they did get back together- but before you get your post-breakup hopes too high, blow off some blues with your headphones on.

Album: Crazy For You We suggest: "Boyfriend" (Track 1)

Best "go camping" album: Ready to detox from the city and get in touch with Mother Nature? Fortunately, there are a wide variety of tunes that mesh quite nicely with cool summer nights spent underneath a canopy of trees and a starlit sky, such as Fleet Foxes.

Imagine lead singer Robin Pecknold's vocals, drenched in reverb and augmented by the sounds of softly hooting owls, crickets, and the breeze blowing gently through the trees. Perfection.

Album: Fleet Foxes We suggest: "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" (Track 4)

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g n i rid t s a p the

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The Many Faces of

Written by Dinorah Wilson (Journalism)

aty Perry never ceases to be in a constant state of metamorphosis.

In a short time span of four years, we have seen Katy Perry take on the appearance and persona of a vintage housewife, a switchblade-wielding rock star and an extraterrestrial being, just to name a few. Yet, it’s hard to fathom that the stylish alien in “E.T.” or the sexy pin-up from “California Gurls” was once a struggling Gospel singer sleeping outdoors after three unsuccessful runs at popular record labels. It’s surprising to note that as many times Katy Perry has reinvented her exterior, her musical career has also been a bumpy ride of predictable failures and unexpected success.

Unbeknownst to most people, Katy Perry grew up a good ol’ Christian

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girl before emerging as a major pop icon. Born on October 25, 1984 as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California to two evangelical pastors, Perry spent most of her early life heavily immersed in her parents' ministry. Throughout her youth, she attended Christian schools and camps to reinforce her religious upbringing. But Perry first showcased her interest in music during religious services, where she would sing gospel as part of her church’s choir.

Interestingly enough, “secular music” and modern-day dancing was not tolerated in the Hudson household. Yet, Perry was allowed to learn swing and other vintage styles of dancing at a Santa Barbara recreational center.

Eventually Perry’s public gospel performances led to the young musician being signed to Red Hill, a now defunct Christian music label, in which she released her debut self-titled album in 2001 at fifteen years old. In terms of mainstream recognition, the album was disastrous.

However, the album did push Perry into the commercial spotlight

where she fell into the hands of Island Def Jam Music Group. Once she dropped her birth surname of “Hudson” at Island Def Jam, the wholesome image of the young Christian gospel singer was scrapped in favor of a rock-influenced, edgier Katy Perry. Unfortunately as soon as she began negotiations on an album, Perry was dropped from Island Def Jam. Alone in Los Angeles at seventeen years old, with only a GED from her local Santa Barbara high school, Perry admitted in later interviews that this time was one of the most discouraging in her life.

Often living off an extremely low income and using her car as a living space, Perry searched for another shot at recording an album, which was scarcely available until 2005.

While it seemed that Perry had found her breakthrough the third time around at Columbia Records in 2005, the label did very little to promote her as a solo artist. At Columbia, she was marketed as a mere vocalist to be paired alongside the record label’s more popular acts. After two albums went unreleased, including Perry’s

solo project, she was dropped from Columbia Records.

A stint at an independent label gave Perry enough time to recover from three monumental record label failures, events that would surely wreck a recording artist’s career.

The drop from a major label such as Columbia Records heightened Perry’s presence in the mainstream music industry, leading to a meeting with Jason Flom, chairman of Virgin Records, that would eventually secure international success for the challenged musician.

Perry was signed to Capitol Music Group, a joint venture between Virgin Records and Capitol Records, which finally yielded success in 2008 through Pop music with her first “official” mainstream album, One of the Boys. Despite negative criticism, the album has been certified Double Platinum in Canada. It has also been certified Platinum in America, the United Kingdom and Australia. An overall international success with the hit “I Kissed a Girl,” the album was certified Gold in New Zealand and has topped charts across the globe.

Perry’s new image, clearly

influenced by earlier 1940’s images of seductive pin-up girls, was recurrent in her third studio album Teenage Dream. Both image and album have yielded similar successful results with the Pop singles “California Gurls” “Teenage Dream” “Firework” and “E.T.” Perry has also been a source of controversy for the conflicts between her religious upbringing and the secular themes in her music. A rival of British songstress Lily Allen and wife of funnyman Russell Brand, Perry never seems to be too far out of the public spotlight.

One thing’s for sure: despite setbacks, Perry still has enough spirit in her to take it to the next level, whether it be through her music or personal brand. With the California Dreams tour continuing until November 8, 2011, we’ll be seeing Perry linked to other artists such as Yelle, Robyn, and Janelle Monae.

Admittedly, Katy Perry’s no Gwen Stefani. But she’s cute, no?

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Tokyo Police Club

with Hollerado and Raindeer @ afterHOURS, April 6th

by Nick Hugon (International Affairs)

Now I’m not trying to hate on afterHOURS, but it’s pretty rare that we get an act passing through that truly is significantly bigger than the stage it’s playing on. Northeastern’s small standingroom-only venue is accustomed to local acts and Northeastern student artists. I was thrilled when I heard that Tokyo Police Club (who recently performed at Canada’s Juno Awards and have toured with the likes of Weezer and Phoenix) was going to headline Springfest’s small show there. Apparently I wasn’t the only one judging by the line to pick up tickets stretching from the Ell Hall box office all the way out the doors and to the end of Krentzman Quad. As the night of the show approached, I was somewhat skeptical as to what kind of atmosphere afterHOURS would lend itself to for a bigger show. It is a Starbucks, after all, and Tokyo Police Club boasts a very upbeat sound that tends to create a pretty lively ambiance.

My concerns turned out to be entirely inconsequential in the end. We crowd-surfed, stage-dove, and mostly just jumped around where there was no room to do so; the concert was an uproarious success. Tokyo Police Club played favorites from their debut full-length Elephant Shell including “In A Cave”, “Graves”, “Tessellate” and “Your English is Good” while supporting their latest record, Champ, with performances of “Bambi”, “Breakneck Speed”, and “Wait Up (Boots of Danger).” Tokyo Police Club plays a very simple show; no hypnotic strobe storms or strange instruments are involved, just playful songwriting and enough musicianship to make its members’ own youthful rowdiness contagious.

Of the two warm-up acts, Raindeer and Hollerado, the former lacked energy (and a drummer) while the latter was definitely a pleasant surprise. Hollerado play bluesy, groovy rock

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and roll and don’t mess around with too many experimental techniques in their music either.

They sport a simple two-guitar, bass, vocal, and drum lineup and play with a lot of vigor and flair. A background check on them will show that they’re no unknown name in their own right, having played in the past with Andrew W.K., The Stills, and were reportedly hand-picked by Jack White to open for his band, The Dead Weather.

The show turned out to be one of my favorites since coming to college this past fall, and I can assure you that I would have never expected to say that of an afterHOURS event. I tip my hat to CUP for booking such an entertaining group, and eagerly look forward to the chance to crowd-surf Starbucks again next spring.

Ezra Furman and The Harpoons with Tristen @ Great Scott, April 7th

by Bill Shaner (Anthropology)

Mix Bob Dylan and the Band, garage rock and a tiny pinch of steam punk aesthetic and you get Ezra Furman and The Harpoons. The Tufts University-born 4-piece played to a small but energetic crowd at Great Scott in Allston. The group didn’t delve far into their 3 LP repertoire with most of the set coming from their most recent releases Inside The Human Body and Mysterious Power. The night’s standout tracks were “The Dishwasher,” “Take Off Your Sunglasses” and “We Should Fight.”

Ezra quickly established himself as the main attraction; his energy made focusing on anything but him difficult. A Chicago native, he adopts a rural mid-western, self-depreciating drawl when addressing the audience. Dressed in a nice shirt and vest with an “Ezra” name tag, he is slim and quirky, but captivating. He said off-kilter things like, “Live music attendance is at an all time low

this year, so I thank you for being on the fringes of society with us. I quite like it myself.” The farmer boy accent and dress make this line feel like it came straight out of a period piece on the Great Depression, and for some reason, it works.

They opened with the thumping, catchy “The Stakes Are High” off Inside The Human Body.

Oddly touching lyrics like”I’m just living in a fantasy/And I will always be there probably/You could move in, you could move in with me” wove over an infectious guitar hook reminiscent of “Twist and Shout.” Afterward, Ezra introduced his act: “We like to play rock and roll music. But, you know, it’s always fun to bring some negativity and party pooper stuff too. We’ll play some of those songs soon.”

And that they did. With band at full force, Ezra has the crowd bopping up and down like it’s an 80s British punk show, but when he gets

to the “negativity” the crowd thins and even the band seems a little bored. The lyrics, though interesting, didn’t seem to hold the crowd the way a Jeff Tweedy or Lou Reed could. Ezra’s songwriting is a dish best served with a driving beat and quick guitar hook. When the music is fun and dancey, lines like “Baby, will you be mine?/And I’ll be your butt-sucking whore/” hit home in the best, most chaotic way.

When they aren’t trying to pull heartstrings, this band puts on a fun, authentic show, and their quirky front man is a pleasure to watch perform, if only to try to figure out what his deal is.

The opener, an indie songstress that goes by Tristen, is also worth a look. She’s a Nashville native with a big voice and some mild country tendencies.

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[cd]

REVIEWS If you would like to submit a review to be considered for publishing in print or online, e-mail: tmreviews@gmail.com

by David Tschiegg (Graphic Design)

The Sneaky Mister Weird Release Date: March 13, 2011 Label: Unsigned/digital release Genre: Anti-folk, experimental, lo-fi

The Sneaky Mister's most recent, and aptly named, Weird is a light-hearted anthem to some of the more awkward experiences that we as humans share. A Boston native, the Sneaky Mister (aka Judith Shimer) has been recently playing at numerous clubs and underground venues, often with a ukulele as her only musical accompaniment. The simplistic nature of her compositions and cunning voice aid Shimer in tackling some of the rather clumsy aspects of social life.

With ukulele, crisp strings arrangements, and simple beats (including subdued beat-boxing on "Gone"), the music of Weird, in quite an adorable fashion, often shrouds Shimer's melancholy lyrics.

Right off the bat, she teases us with opener "Friend" – "I 'd like you to be my friend because you're pretty/not only are you pretty but you're pretty funny too/I need you to be my friend so I'll feel pretty." This theme of insecurity and

Jeff Curry (Behavioral Neuroscience)

Between the Buried and Me The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues Release Date: April 14, 2011 Label: Metal Blad Genre: Metalcore, death metal 4 28

I’d like to imagine that when Between the Buried and Me proudly announced last month that they were leaving Victory Records for Metal Blade, progressive metal fans felt as if the Berlin Wall had just been torn down again. Although David Hasselhoff didn’t sing at this celebration, the band’s simultaneous announcement of their upcoming EP, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues, certainly entertained. But would a change in label be enough to limit BTBAM’s genre experimentation and cause them to return to a strictly metal sound?

Nope. Between the Buried and Me’s trademark genre smorgasbord returns with an increased level of mastery in execution. The heaviness of The Parallax is likely attributed to the short length of the EP, which limits the presence of BTBAM’s quieter sections. At only thirty minutes and three songs, the space for long jazz-influenced jams is minimal.

“Specular Reflection” begins the album with a chilling keyboard arrangement before the

dependence on others is recurrent. "Rule” as explained by Shimer, is about the loss of emotional connection with a new love interest where unnecessary teasing is prevalent. A cycle is created when the will to reciprocate the teasing is elevated only by a desire to satisfy the other person – the residual effect is, well, weird.

The playfully touching and appropriately produced tunes on The Sneaky Mister's latest are nothing but fun to listen to. For fans of Regina Spektor and The Blow, this is a must listen. Be sure to listen to catch The Sneaky Mister live or listen to Weird streaming on Shimer’s Bandcamp.

The full download is only $1!

Recommended Tracks: Friend, Stupid, Rule

band comes in at full force just after the 50 second mark. “Augment of Rebirth” continues the explosive energy until an accordion solo suddenly takes the spotlight at 6:30.

Distinct elements like these are what help make Between the Buried and Me the best band in their genre. Overall, the EP sounds more like an expansion to their 2009 release The Great Misdirect than a completely new direction for the band. This isn’t a bad thing, though; Between the Buried and Me has found their forte in genredefying progressive metal. Now to perfect it.

Recommended Track: Specular Reflection

Suzie Conway (Communications)

Foo Fighters Wasting Light Release Date: April 12, 2011 Label: Carpark Records Genre: RCA

After a long wait and numerous side projects, including lead singer Dave Grohl’s Them Crooked Vultures, Foo Fighters are fighting to make you remember why they are still around and kicking.

Refusing to be written off, the band has returned with their long-awaited album, Wasting Light, featuring a guest spot from fellow Nirvana alum Krist Novolesic.

Launching into strained screams from Grohl in the opening track “Bridge Burning,” which, aside from being a little too long, is a departure from Foo Fighters’ traditional alternative rock sound. It’s a harder edge that seems to build upon the 2007 single, “The Pretender.” Lead single “Rope,” by itself lacks any real distinction from prior Foo Fighter hits, but you can’t blame a successful band for knowing what works and sticking with it. “White Limo” seems out of place, sounding more like a screamo song you blasted in eighth grade after fighting with your

Alyssa Mastrocco (English)

Gypsyblood Cold in the Guestway Release Date: April 12, 2011 Label: Sargent House Genre: Indie rock, alternative

Cold in the Guestway is Gypsyblood’s first fulllength album since being signed to Sargent House a few months ago. Between then and now, they had released a three-song EP whose tracks have found their way onto the LP. For a young band on a fairly young label, Cold in the Guestway features a somewhat experimental sound. Singer Adam James’ vocals are on the lower end, and consistently fuzzy and distorted.

The album starts off strong, with three, upbeat dance inducing tracks, “Take Your Picture,” “In our Blood” and “2-4-6 in the Dark.” This trio does a good job of introducing the duo’s unique sound before the album slows down with “A Song Called Take 2,” which Adam introduces in a mysterious British accent, as well as “Dirty Thieves,” and “Hey Gloria” as the penultimate track. “Superstition”, the fifth track, is a sort of throwback to the Brit-punk

by Kyle Risley (Marketing)

Snowing I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted Release Date: May, 2011 Label: Count Your Lucky Stars Genre: Indie/emo

Arriving two years after their debut EP, Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit, Snowing has upped the ante, delivering 11 new tracks on their first full length offering. Building upon the dense prose, agile percussion, and melodic guitar interplay of their EP, Snowing have flexed their songwriting muscle, delivering a record with more musical variety and songwriting depth.

I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted adds another push behind the “Midwest emo revival” movement, opting for lo-fi production, introspective lyrics, and spastic passion over perfection. Never at a loss for something to say, I Could Do Whatever is dominated by John Galm’s (vocals, bass) alcohol-fueled contemplations on the darker shades of life. “Memo Yeah That’s Fine Man” examines the wistfully nostalgic, yet deflated lifestyle of unemployment and how Galm can justify it to his father. “I’m giving life a shot. Hey fuck yeah, Dad, I tried,” is the eventual conclusion, but not before smashing shit, yelling at college kids and watching

parents. “Arlandria” is wonderfully unpredictable, piecing together divergent beats and styles to form a powerful semi-ballad with a kick.

What Wasting Light lacks, though, is a driving single to power the album through. “Rope” tries to claim the position held by “Best of You” off of In Your Honor or “Monkey Wrench” from The Colour and the Shape, but falls short. Trying to innovate and get back to basics simultaneously, Foo Fighters seem to be trying too many things at once. But after 17 years, I give them props for still trying to grow.

Recommended Tracks: Arlandria, Back and Forth, Walk

bands like The Clash while still fitting into the sound of the overall album.

This album has such a distinctive sound that it will be interesting to watch this band grow. If you’re looking for something to listen to during the impending summer, Cold in the Guestway is it.

Recommended Tracks: 2-4-6 in the Dark, Dirty Thieves

Predator. After all, there’s nothing better to do when you and your best friend have degrees but no job.

Snowing also experiments successfully with mid-tempo tracks, a distinct departure from the pace of their EP. “So I Shotgunned a Beer and Went Back to Bed” uses rolling percussion with guitars that alternate between twinkly and tense to create a lethargic swirl around the song’s exhausted, regretful lyrics. “Damp Feathers” uses a similar formula to propel its heart broken refrain, “come closer, he can’t be the one you want all of the time,” to a hypnotic finale.

A notable to follow up to Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit, I Could Do Whatever shows that even “revival” bands can make refreshing music. Raw, honest, and inventive, it’s a must-listen for anyone who ever spun Braid, The Promise Ring, or any Kinsella records. But seriously, keep that ugly sweater-vest in the back of your closet.

Recommended Tracks: I Think We're in Minsk, So I Shotgunned a Beer and Went Back to Bed, Damp Feathers 5 29

DOUBLE SHOT OF MOCA MASS MOCA ENTERS ITS SECOND YEAR OF SOLID SOUND Written by Chris Stoppiello (English)

Photos by Alyssa Mastrocco (English)

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ost people select their summer festival destinations based on the lineup. What bands are playing? How many would I pay money to see? How many could I not care less about? Then, there is also the distance. Any promising Coachella lineup (not this year's) can often be crushed by the pragmatics of coast-to-coast travel. Venue itself seldom comes into focus. Most of these big summer festivals are just a stage constructed in a large open field. Venue is usually nothing more than scenery.

Then there is Solid Sound. The Wilco-curated weekend, which is holding its

second annual festival on June 24- 26, sees location as equally important to lineup. Established 12 years ago, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is a Mecca of creativity in the Berkshire Mountains, and when Wilco was looking for a place to house their festival, it made perfect sense that they would reach out to Mass MoCA. The space was converted from a textile factory that was built over a century ago. Home to paintings, sculptures, film screenings, and live performances, the museum is no stranger to music. Since 2002, the annual Bang on a Can Summer Institute has been bringing young musicians and composers together to create and display music of their own. Mass MoCA has also been host to numerous touring musicians, but last year Wilco took everything to a new level.

Solid Sound's inaugural Festival saw music and art filling every corner of Mass MoCA's campus and even spilled out onto the streets of North Adams, MA, itself.

Every band performing was hand picked by the members of Wilco, but they did not stop with just the music. The band contributed visual art as well, dedicating one exhibit to a retrospective of Wilco tour

posters. Another exhibit displayed Polaroids taken by keyboardist/ guitarist Pat Sansone for the release of his book, 100 Polaroids.

Aside from the few exhibits already mentioned, Mass MoCA curated the rest of the artwork as part of its regular season one that the museum rotates heavily. With the exception of the amazing Sol Lewitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective, which has an engagement through 2033, festivalgoers should expect to see a completely different collection from last year's art. "[What's] kind of exciting about it is that not only are there new performers playing new music, but we'll have all new art too," says Katherine Myers, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Mass MoCA. Providing stunning and imaginative art is no new feat for Mass MoCA. New territory that was faced by the museum was housing between 5,000 and 6,000 people at one time. Last year's festival was the first time the Museum had done any event of this size and, considering their inexperience, it is impressive how smoothly the weekend went.

Of course, that does not mean the facility isn't learning from last year and tweaking things. Myers told Tastemakers, "If there was one thing

we were not prepared for it would be the number of strollers." Strollers proved to be most inconvenient in the smaller, indoor auditorium where one stroller took up the space of two people at a time when space was in high enough demand to begin with. Another change will be allowing guests to enter Joe's Field (the large field that housed Wilco's headlining set) as early as they wish rather than blocking it off until the evening like last year.

There are no drastic changes in the works but, then again, there aren't many needed. Solid Sound is a success because with Mass MoCA, you don't just get an open space in which to hang out, you also get small town, Berkshire

establishments had signs welcoming Wilco fans to town.

Mass MoCA did not see why staying on their campus had to mean giving up personal comforts.

Running water and flush toilets were readily available inside and proved so popular that the museum finds it needs fewer portable toilets this year. Water bottles could be filled for free from a provided hose and the facilities offered plenty of room to get away and relax if you need a break from the crowds.

This mentality proves a huge success. After last year's festival the reception was immensely positive and ticket sales are up since last year. If you are the type of person who likes the idea of a

hospitality. "Mass MoCA's attitude and the town's attitude was less 'how can we make the most money off of these fans' and more 'how would we want to be treated if we went somewhere'," says Myers.

All around North Adams,

festival but never found one that felt welcoming enough, then Solid Sound might be the place for you.

You'll be coming back for years.

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name the video Can you name these four music videos by looking at the screen shot?

zoomed Can you tell which six album covers we've zoomed in on?

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what's missing?

Can you pick out the 15 differences?

find bieber We've hidden Justin Bieber somewhere in this issue.

Find him and maybe something cool will happen...

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