Of Montreal ditch sanity, pick up Bowie on Paralytic Stalks

January 31, 2012 • Nick Mitchell ('13)/Eastside staff  

“We Will Commit Wolf Murder. Exorcismic Breeding Knife”.  “Authentic Pyrrhic Remission”. These somewhat intricate and foreboding song titles appear on the band Of Montreal’s new album, Paralytic Stalks, and definitely represent the overall mantra of the band’s style and approach to their... Read more »

Florence and the Machine track reviews

November 1, 2011 • Jenna Wilson/Eastside Staff  

Florence and the Machine, is the brainchild of singer Florence Welch, an import from Britain, who is changing the face of the music industry with every song she sings. The international star is dropping her highly anticipated sophomore album, Ceremonials, on November 1, but for all those fans that can’t... Read more »

New armchair sits well with retired Pitchfork writer Ajay Nadig

October 31, 2011 • Ajay Nadig ('13)/Eastside staff  

Most lives are populated by chairs.  In general, most of the worlds work gets done while seated, and one may even spend hours on a chair every day.  This rich tradition of chairdom has been kept going by a number of the big chair labels we all recognize: Staples, OfficeMax, and even Target to name... Read more »

Wilco grows up

October 20, 2011 • Alexa Garber ('12)/Eastside staff  

Wilco, a group from Chicago, Illinois, reached our hearts in the late 90’s with their alternative rock-country style and heartbreak-infused lyrics. Recently they signed to their own label, dBpm (Decibels per Minute), leaving Nonesuch Records. A lot of loyal fans were skeptical to how they could handle... Read more »

Das Racist Relax album review

September 28, 2011 • Angie Nguyen ('13)/Eastside Staff  

Das Racist is back with Relax, their first official commercial album! Finally. Das Racist is a stellar Brooklyn-based, 1/3 Afro-Cuban, 2/3 Punjabi, hip-hop trio (formerly duo) consisting of Kool A.D., Heems, and Dapwell, whose real names are Victor Vazquez, Himanshu Suri and Ashok Kondabolu. It has been... Read more »

Strange Mercy album review

September 15, 2011 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/Eastside Online underground editor  

Marry Me, indeed. St. Vincent is the project of principle songwriter Annie Clark and a rotating cast of supporting musicians. The band burst out of obscurity with a thrilling performance on The Late Show and the release of their second full length, Actor, in 2009. Clark’s performance is an enigma:... Read more »

Sonic Youth at the Williamsburg Waterfront

August 18, 2011 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/Eastside Underground editor  

Sonic Youth has been kicking for quite some time. Since the early 1980s, the band has torn the rock music formula into shreds and pieced it back together in their own manic image of expression. Having helped supply the blueprint on which the entire independent music scene built itself upon, Sonic Youth... Read more »

Iceage- New Brigade review

July 7, 2011 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/ Underground Editor  

Iceage is a group of fiery Danish teenagers, currently riding a cloud of internet buzz in the States. Have no fear, even though the band hails from the land of the Viking, New Brigade saw a release date much earlier this year in the band’s homeland, but was recently pressed in the U.S. on What’s... Read more »

Battles – Gloss Drop review

June 4, 2011 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/Eastside underground editor  

Earlier this year, NBC’s widely popular sitcom satire of the mundane, The Office, said goodbye to Steve Carrell, who played Michael Scott, the Regional Manager at Dunder Mifflan Paper Company and focal point of the show. After six seasons, Carrell moved on, leaving a breakroom full of very funny and... Read more »

Out of the vault; under the radar — Tony Hawk Underground

May 24, 2011 • Bryan Sheehan ('13)/Eastside staff  

With eleven skateboarding games, the first released in 1999, Tony Hawk and his ever-expanding series of awesome skating games are known and played by virtually everyone born in the last 25 years. With a new game being released each year since “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” was gifted to us by the video... Read more »

The quest for the perfect milkshake comes to an end

May 17, 2011 • Sarah Minion ('12)/Eastside underground editor  

 As the weather begins to get warmer and the need for cold treats becomes ever more important, my quest is starting to get a tad more intense. Determined to find the best milkshake in the area, the final place I tried is two-time Best Milkshake of Philadelphia award winner, Nifty Fifty’s. A unique... Read more »

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two review

May 15, 2011 • Mia Holley ('12)/Eastside photo editor  

The Beastie Boys have come back into the music scene with a brand new album to shake things up. The legendary hip-hop trio brings old school quality back to the table on their latest album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, satisfying those listeners with a craving for vintage 80’s and 90’s beats. Members... Read more »

Greek yogurt: the new food of the gods

May 9, 2011 • Gabrielle Kains ('12)/ Eastside News/Features Editor  

Yogurt has become a phenomenon over the past year: whether original, frozen or Greek, it seems to be a more delectable treat because of the new ways of serving and eating it. Greek yogurt is taking center-stage in supermarkets all over the country as consumers are now seeing its wide range of health... Read more »

Cymbals Eat Guitars on their new album, the state of New Jersey and fleas

May 4, 2011 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/Eastside underground editor  

Cymbals Eat Guitars are in Headgear studios in Brooklyn recording their sophomore album, but it appears they have hit a major roadblock: “Incubus has a new record coming soon. John, better delete all those DJ scratch tracks. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board. ” That comes from the... Read more »

Cherish the Light Years album review

April 23, 2011 • Joe Incollingo ('13)/Eastside staff  

Sometimes it feels like the 80’s, with all of their tight clothes, Kevin Bacon, and synthpop, never left. While Spandex and Footloose deserve as much attention as anything, one must appreciate that, while society was quick to gracefully evict the likes of hair metal from its Walkmen, the aching-hearted... Read more »

Share the Joy album review

April 23, 2011 • Sydney Gore ('11)/Eastside staff  

Vivian Girls are an indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York circa 2007. Their first album Vivian Girls was released back in 2008, followed by Everything Goes Wrong in 2009. Their upcoming album, Share The Joy was released on April 12. The album contains ten songs which run for approximately 35 minutes... Read more »

Badlands by Dirty Beaches Review

April 5, 2011 • Hannah Feinberg ('12)/Eastside community editor  

As someone who hiccoughed her way though childhood in Buddy Holly EPs, and thinks it would be just swell to share a chocolate malt with James Dean (or Steve McQueen), to this reviewer, nostalgia is a near marketable service.  Kindred spirit Alex Zhang Hungtai, aka Dirty Beaches, shares the affinity... Read more »

James Blake – James Blake

March 16, 2011 • Sydney Gore ('11)/Eastside staff  

If Burial and Imogen Heap procreated, James Blake would be their offspring. James Blake is a musician from London, England. His new self-titled album James Blake was released last month and contains 11 songs — 12 if purchased on iTunes. It’s the kind of album that has tunes about falling in love... Read more »

Lykke Li, Swedish artist, returns with Wounded Rhymes

March 6, 2011 • Mia Holley ('12)/Eastside photo editor  

The Swedish indie pop princess is back and on the move! The sweet voice of an angel, Lykke Li, has returned with her new knockout album Wounded Rhymes, a powerful semi-sweet follow up from her first album Youth Novels.  Li packs a punch, letting her conflicting range of emotions from her recent breakup... Read more »

Gil Scott Heron & Jaime XX – We’re New Here

March 6, 2011 • Hannah Feinberg ('12)/Eastside community editor  

The album cover for I'm New Here, courtesy of prettymuchamazing.com Gil Scott-Heron is sacred territory for music geeks and revolutionaries alike, and messing with his deliberately sparse and gripping tracks is a bold move, even for British post-dubstep wunderkind, Jamie Smith of the xx.  Did Scott-Heron’s... Read more »

Toro y Moi – Underneath the Pine

March 6, 2011 • Hannah Feinberg ('12)/Eastside community editor  

Underneath the Pine album art. What is that, grapefruit or something?. Courtesy of Gorilla vs Bear. In the newly developed recipe for homebrewed electropop — sounds of the past sampled with the bleeps and bloops and blips of Barcelonan elevators of the future –  music like that of multi-instrumentalist... Read more »

Bright Eyes – The People’s Key

February 28, 2011 • Nick Mitchell ('13)/Eastside staff  

Conor Oberst, the leader of a folk band called Bright Eyes, lyrically challenges the music industry with his poetic compositions of foreboding yet honest anthems. His beautiful lyrics combined with soft melodies can supply one with a portal into Oberst’s curious mind and imagination. Their new album,... Read more »

Gimme Some Peter Bjorn and John

January 24, 2011 • Nick Mitchell ('13)/Eastside staff  

Peter Bjorn and John, an indie-rock band hailing from Sweden will soon debut their sixth album Gimme Some this March. Peter Bjorn and John’s fusion of catchy chorus lines, psychedelic combinations of drums and guitar, and bouncy beats make Gimme Some a noteworthy album for 2011. The album cover of... Read more »

Destroyer’s new album: it’s not kaput, it’s Kaputt

January 20, 2011 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/Eastside Underground editor  

The first time I listened to Kaputt, I was on an airplane. About three songs in, I realized the person next to me was trying to get my attention. I took out my left earbud. “What are you listening to?” What a generic question. I love answering that question. “Destroyer’s new album.” “Oh... Read more »

Mog(wai)uls of Music: Mogwai stuns with new album

January 19, 2011 • Bryan Sheehan ('13)/Eastside editorial assistant  

  Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, courtesy of postrockxchange.com Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, the newest album from post-rock band Mogwai delivers nothing short of a musical journey throughout the songs. The album is made up of ten tracks, the majority of which are instrumental monsters.... Read more »

The Hipstory: re-emergence of the hipster style

January 13, 2011 • Hannah Feinberg ('12)/Eastside Community editor  

Looking back at the past decade (I was a very wise and seasoned six years old at its start, so clearly I’m apt to dissect its cultural going-ons), the prevailing cultural trend, which burrowed itself irrevocably into the American conscience, heart and blogosphere, is the re-emergence of the hipster. ... Read more »

Girls – Broken Dreams Club EP

December 4, 2010 • Hannah Feinberg ('12)/Eastside Community Editor  

Since their debut Album last year, San Francisco’s residential life-lusting cool kids, Owens and Chet “JR” White (and their much less talked about band mates) have garnered the unquestioned adulation of critics and built a fan base in the trend-obsessed masses (i.e. people who read Pitchfork).... Read more »

Garage Rock

November 19, 2010 • Hannah Feinberg ('12)/Eastside Community Editor  

What started as a very true-to-its-name garage movement by those with no other place to perform has since become a blanket term for music’s sleaziest, ugliest, least polished sort. Garage rockers of the 60’s, like the Kingsmen and the Sonics, paved the path for punk with their down-and-out ideology... Read more »

Oi!

November 18, 2010 • Bryan Sheehan ('13)/Eastside Editorial Assistant  

Oi!: is not just an expression. Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. Oi!, also known as street punk, is a more gritty version of punk set out to express a more working-class view of punk rock.  What distinguishes Oi! lyrically is generally a more melodic... Read more »

Halo Reach preview

August 14, 2010 • Bryan Sheehan ('13)/ Eastside Editorial Assistant  

As the last installment in one of the most well known and widely played video game franchises, Halo Reach is poised to be a swan song of epic proportions. With the first three games setting sales records for the Xbox and Xbox 360, Reach is expected to continue Halo’s dominance in the video game world.... Read more »

Arcade Fire lights up the Mann Center

August 7, 2010 • Jack Braunstein (’13) / Underground Editor  

When I bought tickets to see Arcade Fire at the Mann Center, anxiety was the very last emotion I expected to be feeling— their 2004 album Funeral proved itself to be one of the seminal indie rock albums of the past decade and has the power to freeze most in revelry at first listen—In fact, what... Read more »

Summer concert preview

June 16, 2010 • Jack Braunstein ('13)/ Eastside Staff  

There is so much to celebrate over the summer: hot weather, cold beverages, the abundance of beach excursions, the absence of education and of course the summer concert season. Throughout the whole world music festival attendees celebrate sound and sunburn for days on end, with thousands of like-minded... Read more »

New metal show features summer tours

May 17, 2010 • Jason Cominetto ('10)/ Eastside Underground Editor, Josh Merhar ('10)/ For Eastside and Autreen Rahbari ('10)/ Eastside Radio Manager  

http://www.podcastrevolution.com/viewpodcast.php?pid=832     Brett Duffey (’10) is unavailable for this episode’s panel but makes rooms for guest co-host Josh Merhar (’10) to discuss blossoming summer tours, a new Triptykon album, new Dillinger Escape Plan and the like. Also in... Read more »

Comics Corner discusses comic-to-movie releases

April 26, 2010 • Brett Israel ('10)/ Eastside Staff, Jason Cominetto ('10)/ Eastside Underground Editor and Autreen Rahbari ('10)/ Eastside Radio Manager  

Comics translated into movies; it’s happened many times before, but the next couple years offer a slew of surprising and interesting comic-to-movie releases. Our Panel debates on the current arks and movie productions of Scott Pilgrim, Thor, Captain America and The Green Lantern. Check out the... Read more »

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