Tag Archives: music

BREAKING: 80/35 Festival Proves the Midwest to be, in fact, Best

DES MOINES IS NOT HERE TO PLAY GAMES!

Okay, now that we have that out our systems, let’s talk about Des Moines disrespect, before we attack this absolutely incredible festival lineup.

There will be no Des Moines slander up in here. It is a magical city with charm and kind, warm folks. And they have really cool stuff, i.e. the 80/35 non-profit Festival.

This is a festival that knows who it is and what it is bringing to music fans in the Midwest and nationwide.

From headliners Father John Misty’s prophetic and lamenting beautiful prose to Charli XCX’s syrupy sweet hyperpop, filled with iconic earworms from the not-forgotten eras of dance and fun!

Jamila Woods is one of the greatest poets of our day and Japanese Breakfast is putting on the best show in music right now. Check out M. Zauner aka J Brekkie, aka THE GOAT before she wins her Oscar. đź‘€

Not to mention that this festival supports countless of human beings, families, pets, businesses, and the world around us and the air we breathe. So you’ll literally be saving the world by going.

BUY TICKETS AT: https://www.80-35.com/

Boulevardia in Kansas City returns with Epic Nostalgic Lineup

Boulevardia has been the emporium of brews, blues, and BBQs.

This year they return with another stellar display of mainstream greats that you can’t wait to see grace the stage again. Bands like Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, shouting rally cries into the late night air, hot and heavy with that sweet summer heat.

Or Dashboard Confessional, the first band that captured EXACTLY how you felt in middle school when Ashley Godfrey broke your heart. Yeah, they’re headlining the coolest festival in KC this summer.

Not to mention about 100 other incredible local and national acts that could quickly become your new favorite bands.

Get your tickets at https://boulevardia.com/

Hum – Live @ Theater Of Living Arts Philadelphia,Pa 2/28/98

After releasing their first album in 22 years earlier in June, the shoegaze greats Hum are back and stronger than ever before. If you haven’t listened to their triumphant comeback album Inlet,  boy are you in for a heavy, good time!

This fan-captured show from 1998 showcases the power that the Illinois space-rock band can bring, dealing out riff after nasty riff for days. Touring on Downward Is Heavenward, their last album before going on hiatus, this 90’s time capsule features a group working at their peak and operating on all cylinders.

To put it simply, Hum shreds and this show rules. Enjoy!

The Chainsmokers’ Throw a Deadly Party

The New York Health Commissioner said that the Chainsmoker’s Hampton’s party “Mocks New Yorkers’ attempt to flatten the curve.” 

On Saturday, The Chainsmokers threw a $25,000 per ticket, promotional party to support FuckJerry’s tequila release. The CEO of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, performed as a DJ, opening the show.

How, you may ask, did we get here? Why would so many people think that partying during a pandemic, as a deadly infection virus sweeps the nation, is a good idea? How could nobody have stopped this?

It’s beacause everything is terrible.

But we’re not the only ones who are pissed about the party. New York’s Health Commissioner, Howard A. Zucker, who has worked tirelessly for almost 6 months to flatten the curve of infections in New York, and did so to an impressive extent, expressed his anger in a letter he released.

“This is not just a lack of common sense, but an illegal and reckless endangerment of public health…

I think what struck our collective nerve was seeing so many with so much to their advantage — concert attendees were generally young, healthy, and, as indicated by the $850 ticket prices, able to afford health care if they should need it — be so cavalier about taking a risk that could have dire consequences for many.

You don’t have to be the commissioner of health to realize that when it comes to contracting and transmitting a contagious and dangerous disease, every one of us is a card-carrying member of the rank-and-file. COVID-19 is an equal-opportunity infector: It doesn’t recognize skin color or the thickness of stock portfolios.”

Look, we love a party. We all want to party. But we’re not partying because it could possibly harm people. Nobody likes a party that hurts people.

But it’s one thing to throw a bad party, it’s another if your party could potentially murder people.

Rap Battles in the Age of Covid

Imagine, if you will, you’re inside of a dank basement or an underground warehouse full of sparks and sweat, so humid you can see the moisture and fear in the air. Two men stand toe-to-toe, locked at the eyes, with nothing but fire and tension between them. The moment builds, the crowd of anxious hyenas wait silently, patiently. One man grabs the mic:

“2 CHAAAINZ”  

He declares proudly as the room explodes with deafening cheers.

M-M-M-Maybach Music”

The tension hangs so thick in the air, you can taste it on your tongue. It tastes of pride, aggression, and the will to survive. Who wants it more?

Welcome to the World of Battle Rapping, and during the times of Covid and social distancing, they don’t happen in fiery warehouses, there are no musty basements. It’s happening right inside your house. 

On Thursday, August 6 at 8 p.m. EST, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz will go head to head in a Verzuz virtual rap battle. Hosted by Ciroc and Apple Music, the two rap giants will compete in the most primal of rap activities, a battle.

Verzuz pairs up rappers for a virtual rap battle, because that is what happens when there are no concerts or music festivals. We need new content, and it has to be virtual.

To watch the battle, head to Verzuz’s Instagram, or watch on Apple Music.

Phoebe Bridgers Invites the Apocalypse in Her Epic “I Know The End” Video

One of the joys in music is how brutally it can strip away all ego. I’ve seen grown men cry at Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” I’ve seen a band of young Japanese girls play the hardest metal you’ll ever hear. 

When it comes to music, the feeling you get when that song starts, or how you lose yourself in the lyrics, is all that matters. 

Phoebe Bridgers makes impossibly pretty, yet emotionally carving indie rock. Her music has this ability to cut you to the core, yet keep you coming back for more. 

This is her gift as a songwriter, to craft something so approachable, and making it deadly. She’s the human embodiment of a butterfly knife- floating delicately along, until it cuts you.

On her latest album, Punisher, she cuts deeper than ever before. “I Know the End,” the climatic album-closer, is one of the best songs of the year. 

What starts as a strumming guitar grows into an erupting volcano. Bridgers’ voice is light as a feather, almost like a whisper in the breeze, until it comes crashing down around us. The song builds and builds into an all out apocalypse of guitars, drums, and shouts to anyone who’ll listen.

The result is nothing short of stunning, and the video is no different. Director Alissa Torvinen finds Bridgers in a bleak, world, gone past the brink of extinction. As the song builds to its crescendo, the fire and flames do too.  

It’s a victory lap for an artist at the top of her game, and exactly what a world currently in shambles needs to see right now. 

Get Down With the Sickness

Covid 19 has canceled all major festivals across the world. However, it sounds like one festival in Wisconsin was created because of the deadly virus.

“Herd Immunity Fest” the overwhelmingly underwhelming 2-day festival featuring some of nu-metals least popping names, including Static X, Sponge, Flaw, and Saving Abel took place this past weekend.

Although many artists on the bill, smartly, backed out, the show, much like Coronavirus, goes on. Fans in attendence were asked to socially distance and wear a mask, but it appears that there was little to no responsible activity taken place at “Herd Immunity Fest.” Shocking, eh?

The festival, which didn’t boast Coachella or Lollapalooza numbers, actually asked fans to come out to the venue early, to help set up.

Stereogum reports: “As of last week, there were 326 positive coronavirus cases in Marathon County, where the festival took place. Two people have died.”

Two Unknown Artists Collaborate

Two young, up and coming musicians, still pretty new to the game, but with kind of unique and somewhat interesting sounds and styles are collaborating together this week.

They’re called DrakĂ© and Dee Jay Khalid.

Never heard of ’em.

Just kidding, they’re the masters of rap and pop music who have come together to create the house party essential bangers including, but not limited to: “I’m On One,” “To the Max,” “No New Friends,” and more.

Now, it’s been announced via Khaled’s very loud Instagram that he and Drake some two fire tracks that are almost ready to be brought out of the oven.

They will be dropping 2 new tracks this week, and if I was a betting man, I’d say they will be catchy, poppy, and make a trillion dollars.

UGH.

UGH.

UGH UGH UGH.

Kanye, please don’t fuck this up for us. I’ve been a fan for a really long time. It hasn’t always been easy. But if you somehow get Biden in the White House instead of the Racist Tangerine we have now, I will never stop listening to your albums.

Kanye announced on Twitter last week that he wants to run for President in 2020. #2020Vision. Clever!

The only problem with this is:

  • He’s unqualified
  • He’s nuts
  • We have a very bad man in the office right now
  • We have a better man who is trying to get him out
  • Kanye is not either of those people, so he shouldn’t be involved
  • He involved himself
  • And finally
  • If Kanye is a candidate that people vote for, either out of fandom or thinking they’re funny, or just because they hate both choices, Kanye will still not recieve close to enough votes to win. Howver, he may steal valuable votes away from Joe Biden, who, as earlier noted, is trying to kick the racist bad man out of the office that he uses to do bad things to good people.

Kanye’s currently polling at 2%. The data shows that he isn’t affecting Biden’s numbers, but he is taking a point away from Trumpito.

So with any hope, Biden/Kanye is the winning ticket, and we can experience joy and relief again.

But we’ll just have to see what happens in 112 DAYS.

Can’t Wait for LamaPalooza

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has been a symbol for peace, patience, respect, and harmony for many years. He’s been a beacon for so many people for so long. And after enough time, creativity strikes and you just have to make an album. These things just happen.

The Dalai Lama released his debut album last Friday, and what do you know, the thing is a cover-to-cover bangers. For this reason, it has propelled to the top of the charts, claiming the #1 spot on Billboard’s New Age album chart.

The album is composed of melodic and peaceful tones, perfect for a meditation sesh, or some nice ambient studying music. Maybe you’re studying Buddhism to become a more well rounded global citizen. In that case, I would definitely recommend the Dalai Lama’s new album for you.

It’s kind of nice to see another name that’s not Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, or Pope Francis at the top of the charts.

Much love to the Dalai Lama!