For a band currently enjoying the spotlight of international fame and two Grammy nominations, Austin’s SURVIVE had inauspicious beginnings. In an interview with Austin NPR affiliate KUT, band member Kyle Dixon described the outfit’s unceremonious first gig in a freezing Texas backyard. According to Dixon, the stage was inside a shed among a “pyramid of […]
David Ford Smith
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Record Review: Sylvan Esso Refines its Slick Synth Pop Formula on What Now
In his 2007 book Love Is a Mixtape, rock critic Rob Sheffield explained why he considers the synth-pop duo to be his favorite musical pairing. To him, the classic form works as a symbiotic relationship. The shy producer, lurking in darkness behind the synth, is too reserved to sing songs himself. He needs the human […]
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Oddisee Might Not Be a Megastar, But He’s a Creative Champion of Instrumental Hip-Hop
ODDISEE Friday, April 21, 8 p.m., $20 Kings, Raleigh www.kingsraleigh.com In a 2013 interview with Red Bull Music Academy, Daddy Kev, cofounder of the Los Angeles electronic club night Low End Theory, was questioned about the future of instrumental hip-hop, which had recently revitalized L.A.’s music underground. His response was hopeful, citing an unprecedented influx […]
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Record Review: Trust Trandle’s Comfortable Instrumental Hip-Hop
Instrumental hip-hop can be tricky. Sifting through the genre’s Bandcamp tags indicates an impressive volume of work, but by the same token, there’s also more paint-by-numbers Jay Dee worship being shoveled online than ever before. Like experimental film, or poetry, you have to ask of the artist. “Am I in good hands?” hi key low […]
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Record Review: No One Mind Makes a Sharp Debut Breakup Album
Breakup records come in all shapes and sizes, and the history of rock ‘n’ roll is littered with them. Rumours, Sea Change, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Spaceeach, in its own way, soundtracks the bitter interior states created by a newly deceased relationship. No One Mind’s self-titled debut is a glorious collection of […]
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Hopscotch, Night Two: Timing Tangles Erykah Badu and Young Thug
Hopscotch Music Festival Downtown Raleigh Friday, September 9, 2016 How was your second day of Hopscotch? This year’s Friday ‘Scotch was a solid night of music filled with some stellar shows, a few of which were marred by that perennial problem of multi-venue festivals, aka the domino effect that results when acts go on late. […]
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Hopscotch, Night One: Semi-Charmed Kind of Start
Hopscotch Music Festival Downtown Raleigh Thursday, September 8, 2016 Not every Hopscotch is created equal. Poor weather always threatens to throw a curveball, as those who saw The Roots play a waterlogged set at Hopscotch 2012 may recall. The same goes for the looming possibility of acts throwing up a last-minute cancelation, as with Deerhunter […]
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Live: Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa Puff Puff Pass in Raleigh
Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, Raleigh Tuesday, July 26, 2016 “How many of y’all smoking right now?” Snoop Dogg asked a packed crowd during his set on Tuesday night at the Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Raleigh. The question might as well have been rhetorical. Even through […]
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Moogfest 2016, Day Two: Grimes in a Parking Lot, Grouper in the Wrong Context, and the Blessed Bass of Bicep in The Armory
Moogfest Downtown Durham Friday, May 20, 2016 So far, having to hide my empty backpack in a bush behind The Durham Armory to get in may be my least favorite moment of Moogfest 2016. At the end of day two, this festival has largely exceeded the expectations I set. For starters, the distance between venues […]
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Live: Savage Weekend VI Disrupts, Sans Tech Money
Savage Weekend Nightlight, Chapel Hill Friday, May 13–Saturday, May 14, 2016 Today, Moogfest will roar into the Triangle, importing an impressive roster of headliners like Grimes, Gary Numan, and Sunn O))) alongside a load of niche electronic/experimental talent. While I’m chuffed that Moog’s corporate patronage is providing us with these acts, it felt fitting that […]