Those around me continue to insist that it is Fall, with their pumpkin spices and their "spooky season" vibes, but I for one am not a person who rushes transitions. It is inevitable however that the leaves will soon change, and the outside shows start slinking back...
You might have caught our writeup on local producer JUST PLAIN ANT in our last issue (below the break). Well for those of you wanting to catch on to his music, Just Plain Ant and friends have released two full sets to download for FREE. Chill, hip-hop inspired beats and a B-side compilation of the best MCs RVA has to offer in one spot? You gotta...
I honestly never thought I would be asked to prepare a “top albums” list. The amount of music I go through in any given year is near incalculable. Even more so, I never thought I would have to rate them in order of their significance to me. However, after a few days of thinking, I was able to prepare a list of albums that stick out in my mind as...
How fair is it to judge an artist by a single work? Many might consider it a slight, especially those with a lifetime invested in aesthetic development. The arc of creativity is not easily ignored, but in certain instances a single creation can level an individual’s past, rendering irrelevant anything he or she had previously concocted. Gerry...
1/6 Herschel Stratego (pictured above), Folk The System, AM Astronaut, You Blew It @ The Camel 8pm. 1/6 Antero @ Balliceaux 10pm. 1/6 The Murder and The Harlot, Where There's a Will, Make Like Murder, Strike The Chord and Burn (pictured above, pic by Brandon Hambright) @ Canal Club 6pm. all ages. 1/6 Nurse Beach, Gila Monster (pictured above),...
Chromeo is hard to describe. Take your favorite Hall & Oates song, adding a 2011 talkbox vocal hook and some up-to-date synthesizer sounds, and you might come close. This is probably the only band that could play a joint show with Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates) and actually CONTRIBUTE to the sound (at Bonnaroo 2010). The modern funk duo, which...
1. Conditions - Fluorescent Youth This excellent Richmond-based emo band caught my attention with their debut full-length as soon as I heard it. Months later, I'm still playing it, if not every day, then at least every week. I've written at great length about it on this website in the past, so I won't belabor the point here, but if you want to...
I first heard Barn Burner during their set at Belgium’s Ieper Fest. The band was a strong contrast to the majority of the metal and hardcore bands that played that weekend, with a sound more akin to heavy metal circa thirty years ago than that of today. Like Metallica circa Kill ‘Em All and Jailbreak-era Thin Lizzy taking a tour of the Schlitz...
Walking into the plush hotel lobby and sitting down next to me, Big Sean was a surprise. It was the first time I’d seen him in person, and I was surprised to discover that “Big” Sean did not stand much taller than average height. However, the Detroit native has much to stand tall about, being a recent signee to Kanye West’s label, G.O.O.D. Music,...
1. Taking Back Sunday reunion tour – Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ. June 22, 2010 Without a doubt, the most memorable concert of 2010. After a tumultuous past, John Nolan and Shaun Cooper forgave and forgot, re-joining the band and completing the lineup that recorded their debut album. When the two returning members walked onstage that night,...
