Music
Localized: Famous Relatives and Conquer Monster
Utah is home to a sea of great talent in just about any electronic subgenre. This month’s Localized show on May 10 will provide a wide and refreshing variety of electronic music. Starting at 9 p.m. for just $5, the show at Urban Lounge will feature a few aesthetically pleasing electronic acts. Ischa B. will emcee the show, which starts with the haunting, space-like sounds of Mkaio before heading into the relaxed yet energetic live instrumental set provided by Famous Relatives with a backing band. The night will end with the glitchy, homemade 8-bit sounds of Conquer Monster, Salt Lake’s favorite chiptune group. The show is 21+ and sponsored by Budweiser, Spilt Ink and KRCL 90.9 FM. … read more
Donovan Blanc: Taking the Tongue-In-Cheek out of Pop Music
“We wanted to be as sincere as we possibly could. Everything seems to be a nod to something, or a joke, in music these days. Everything has to be a thing from some kind of era. Writers are always comparing this band or singer to that guy. That sort of culture has robbed new music of any genuine identity.” … read more
Just An Oklahoma Boy: An Interview with JD McPherson
“People like Wanda Jackson, Chet Baker, Charlie Christian and even Eddie Cochran was originally an Oklahoma cat. When Eric Clapton quit Cream, his whole band was recruited out of Tulsa. So I was surrounded by music growing up, by pickers out in the sticks, and my parents were really into music as well. People ask me all the time and seem to expect me to pick [up] and move to some place like Chicago or L.A., but I’m happy to stay here in Oklahoma.” … read more
“Female DJs” Shouldn’t be a Weird Term: an Interview with...
Clayton’s work in producing began purely out of a passion for creativity, not a desire to be liked. We talked with her about everything from her recent EP release to how she feels about being a working woman in the electronic world. Clayton’s interview will be the first in a mini series dedicated to highlighting women who produce music or DJ professionally. … read more
Blue Skate
If you’ve ever eaten at the locally famous Blue Plate Diner, you may have noticed that more than one employee is zipping around the restaurant in shoes with blown-out toes. And if you’ve any reckoning of the talent that graces our streets and skateparks on four wheels and a narrow mass of plywood, then you know that some of Salt Lake’s finest shred-sledders are also employees of one of Salt Lake’s finest diners … read more
Pissing My Jeans on RSD
More than 10 years after the band’s inception, Pissed Jeans have gone from punk stardom to Sub Pop’s best-kept secret. A combination of hardcore punk and noise rock, with a smattering of dudeist cynicism, Pissed Jeans were a total gamble—a divergence from typical Sub Pop artists of the last decade like Fleet Foxes and The Shins. … read more
Death Waltz Recording Company: An Interview with Spencer Hickman
Opening any release from Death Waltz Recording Company is like opening a fantastic gift—soundtracks to films both cult and lost, with bespoke tip-on jackets, detailed liner notes, unique artwork, lithographs and colorful variants, all combined to form an immensely rewarding multisensory experience. These records aren’t like many others: They’re special, rather than a reissue cash grab—and obviously the work of someone who loves what he’s doing. I spoke with Spencer Hickman, owner of Death Waltz, via Skype at 3 a.m. here, to make up for the time difference between the Mountain West and the UK. The conversation moved quickly, comfortably, and focused on one of my favorite topics—records. … read more
¡Vinyl Vive! Sacred Bones’ Caleb Braaten on Record Stores, Reissues...
Founded in 2007, Sacred Bones Records has grown from a small, independent label based in Brooklyn into a diverse community of international artists—with a range that includes the avant-pop star Zola Jesus, the psych-kraut of Psychic Ills, the dismantled post-punk of Pop. 1280 and The Men, coldwave outfits VÅR and Lust for Youth, and industrial noise fright Pharmakon. Though difficult to categorize, Sacred Bones releases are hooked through with fervent, often unsettling dedication to the craft and communal life of music. … read more
Sounds From Out There: Records, Record Store Day And Singing...
Last September, the Voyager 1 left our solar system. That cold little coffin containing all of what mankind thought was important in 1977 is now careening through uncharted interstellar space. Onboard that space craft is a gold-plated phonographic record containing images and sounds that represent a fairly decent cross-section of human and animal life, as well as a record of some of our best scientific achievements up to that point. … read more
Localized: Charles Ellsworth
This month’s Localized, on April 18, will feature a mysterious hodgepodge of sincerity. Crook and the Bluff will start off the set with western-tinged psych-blues, after which blues crooning, working man rocking, badass motherfuckers Vincent Draper and the Dirty Thirty will sexy your face off. Following, mustachioed and chocolate-voiced singer-songwriter and strum-master Charles Ellsworth will finish things off. This delicious treat begins at 10 p.m. at Urban Lounge, $5 for those 21+. The night is hosted by Ischa B. and sponsored by Budweiser, Spilt Ink and KRCL 90.9FM. … read more
Cult Leader: God’s Lonely Children Emerge From the Shadows
Discussing the moment the group was faced with an uncertain future for their past project, Gaza, Mason says, simply: “It can’t end like that.” So, from ashes, Cult Leader was born in Salt Lake City. Within less than a year, Mason, Hansen and Lucero faced the end of a successful band, the creation of a new one, and became part of the Deathwish Inc. record-label family: a redemptive myth in the music world, if ever there was one. … read more
Localized: VINCENT DRAPER AND THE DIRTY THIRTY
This month’s Localized, on April 18, will feature a mysterious hodgepodge of sincerity. Crook and the Bluff will start off the set with western-tinged psych-blues, after which blues crooning, working man rocking, badass motherfuckers Vincent Draper and the Dirty Thirty will sexy your face off. Following, mustachioed and chocolate-voiced singer-songwriter and strum-master Charles Ellsworth will
