I usually get about 1 or 2 music submissions every week. Given my lack of free time I haven’t had a chance to do detailed reviews on every record that passes my ears. In an attempt to “catch up” on reviews, here’s another multi-album music feature.
One of the best parts of my spring break trip to SXSW in Austin was the chance to see a bunch of new acts that I had never heard before. Apart from apparent similarities in style, I recognized another interesting trend: many of the bands I found most intriguing were from Canada. Memoryhouse, GOBBLE GOBBLE, Two Bicycles, and BRAIDS were just a few that had come down from the wintery north to play the festival. This week’s review will take a look at several releases from the aforementioned groups.
The focus of this week’s editorial is certainly nothing new; the “go-local” movement has been around for quite some time. This last week I was reminded of how good we have it in Golden when I visited a local restaurant. Prices were incredibly reasonable, the food was great, the service was friendly, and the business was locally owned. My experience had me thinking about how I choose which goods and services to purchase.
This week we’re going to take a trip back in time. The year is 1986: the Russians have launched Mir, Ronald Reagan is president, the Miami Vice-look still has a stronghold on fashion, and a post-Garfunkel Paul Simon just released a new record titled Graceland. It’s quite unlike anything we’ve heard at the time: a mix of pop, African-influence, zydeco, and a healthy dose of Simon’s knack for stellar songwriting.
Examining the concept of a stereotype is an interesting and revealing exercise. Recently, in my course on Middle East studies, we considered how Islam is portrayed in the popular media and how different those projections were from reality. This got me thinking about the concept of stereotypes and how they affect people at every level from the international level down to the microcosm that is CSM.
Electro-pop (e-p) is an interesting creature. The seminal e-p record was 2003’s Give Up from The Postal Service. It was a somber reflection on life matched with 8-bit bleeps-and-bloops, synthesizers, and danceable beats. Owl City moved the genre on to more accessible grounds with 2009’s Ocean Eyes using ultra-sugary lyrics about lightning bugs and dentistry. It is on from this backdrop that I will introduce Galaxies- an electro-pop project headed up by Colorado musician and Act So Big Forest cohort Dillon Groeneman.
Tradition is one of those qualities that separate the exceptional from the average. There are a few characteristics within tradition: pride, community, history, and shared experience. On a macro level all of humanity recognizes the traditions that coincide with the stages of life: celebration of a birth or marriage, mourning and remembrance at funerals. Moving down the scale we pass religious and national traditions, finally arriving at the microcosm that is CSM.
With South By South-West (SXSW) just a week away, the last month has been a bombardment of showcase announcements and stories about “must-see” acts. Among the throngs of hipster-fodder is one band that keeps rising to the surface: Toro Y Moi. To be technically correct, Toro Y Moi is really just the stage name for Chazwick Bundick, a South Carolina native who has helped define the obtuse faux-genre “Chill-wave.” (Editorial note: With the exception of 1980’s “New Wave,” I find it difficult to take any modern “-wave” genre seriously).
Dressed in his unmistakable bow tie, engineer, comedian, and pop culture icon Bill Nye brought his unique blend of science and showmanship to the Mackey Auditorium at CU Boulder last Tuesday. Energy in the room was palpable as Nye took the stage; the former 90’s-children’s television-show-host turned director of the Planetary Society received a standing ovation before he began.
It is almost an unspoken rule nowadays: you’ve got to be an entrepreneur. Corporate cultures are shifting from the classic rank-and-file to a system where inventive, enterprising people get the jobs. Speaking from experience, nearly every job interview I have ever had has involved some question about being entrepreneurial.