Music
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Urban Lounge 04.03 with...
Let me hit you with some cold, hard SLUG truth: Stephen Malkmus looks like the lovechild that Peter Murphy and Aaron Carter spawned after a heady night of blazin’, snackin’ and talkin’ sports. Goofiness aside, The Jicks and openers Speedy Ortiz entertained a packed crowd of seasoned slackers and young fans alike at Urban Lounge last Thursday night. … read more
Neutral Milk Hotel @ The Depot 04.01 with Elf Power
The symphonic effect of the full band seems to be a testament to the length of time that they have been making music together. Maybe after so many hours, weeks and months of this, they transcend as a group into music nirvana. Their music crosses into the familiar and timeless effortlessly, like a classic novel that anyone can pick up and connect with. The relationship Jeff has with his songs is incredibly intimate, and when he shares them with an audience their vulnerability is illustrious and historic. … read more
Small Black @ Kilby Court 04.01 with Snowmine
A kid next to me had his ear literally pressed to the speaker, screaming “SMALL BLACK I LOVE YOUUUU!” until his voice cracked, occasionally pausing to sit on the ground with his head between his legs, shaking his head in awe. There was the teenage couple fully making out beside me, and a sweet lesbian couple slow-dancing with each other. It surprised me to see everyone’s vastly different reaction to the music, with some people chilling out, some flipping out and some sharing tender moments with their significant other. … read more
The Black Lips @ Urban Lounge 03.31 with The Coathangers,...
To a thunderous welcome from their devoted audience, The Black Lips furiously launched into their set, opening with the garage rock number “Family Tree.” … read more
April 2014 National Music Reviews
April 2014 National Music Reviews from Arum Rae, Document, Home, The Huney Trees, Kevin Seconds, Insomnium, Metatag, Modern Rivals, Phantogram, PUP, Reverend Horton Heat, Ringworm, The Shrine, Sleepy Sun, Sr. Vincent, Trust, TWeak Bird, The War On Drugs, White Suns and more! … read more
April 2014 Local Music Reviews
April 2014 Local Music Reviews including Better Taste Bureau, Black Seas Of Infinity, Clint Lewis, Cory Mon, Excermentum Luciferi, False Witness, In The Making, For All The Girls, Foster Body, Her Luminaria, Taylor Fang, The Lazy Waves, MoneyPenny, Q1, Scalps and Silver Antlers. … 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
SLUG Slides Through SXSW
Last month was the time of year for another SLUG romp-down to the huge music festival South by Southwest (SXSW) for its 28th year of taking over the Music Capital of the World: Austin, Texas. SLUG caught some prolific, emerging and downright obscure acts to bring back home to the Beehive State. Read further for the lowdown on the good (or bad) stuff that stood out for our audiophile ears! … 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
