Category: Music

Music, Print, Reviews

New Music Monday: Kanye West “Only One”

January 5, 2015

After months of posturing, Kanye West’s ravenous fan base have been chomping at the musical bit for something new. The details up until now have been vague at best, and frustratingly stingy. Sources close to West including funny-man Seth Rogen and musician Theophilus London have generated whispers of secret and smoky listening parties, and a rough cut of the rumored single “All Day” was briefly (as in hours) featured on Instagram. Apart from that, fans only had repeated promises that the album was finished, and waiting for release. Well, folks, it’s 2015, and there’s no new album, but we do have a new single.

Continue reading
Music, Print, Reviews

Crítica del álbum: Miranda! Safari

Este verano pasado Miranda! nos presentó con su sexto álbum llevando por nombre Safari. Ahora Alejandro Sergi y Julieta Gattas (ambos vocalistas) se encuentran sin la presencia de Lolo Fuetes, quien fue su guitarrista estrella desde el comienzo de la agrupación en el 2001. El primer sencillo de Safari se lanzó en diciembre del 2013 y lleva por nombre “extraño,” en el nos ofrecen una letra muy magistral y juguetona. La letra sugiere una relación que ya no es lo que había sido y extrañan esa parte, por el otro lado son como dos desconocidos o dos extraños donde no hay marcha atrás. “Extraño” tiene un sonido que caracteriza a Miranda! y sin lugar a duda una buena elección para darnos una probadita del resto del disco.

Continue reading
Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: She & Him Classics

January 4, 2015

Nostalgia. One of the more relevant feelings in the age of “10 Things Only 90’s Kids Will Get” listicles. It’s an itch that might be scratched by watching Even Stevens, The Goonies, or old Warner Brother’s cartoons. Or maybe listening to oldies music. The clean cutting guitar of the Beach Boys, the cajoling croon of Frank Sinatra. There’s something in the sound that evokes a warmth for a better time, or at least a different one. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward make up the duo known as She & Him, a group that has built their music largely on the back catalogs of American music.

Continue reading
Features, Music, Print

There’s Something To Be Said Sticking To Your Guns: An Interview With The Juan MacClean

January 2, 2015

In true DFA fashion, the album bristles with vintage synthesizers and dreamy arpeggios, and the length of the songs allows for the grooves to have a settling effect that fits nicely into their aesthetic. With vocalist Nancy Whang taking more of a lead on the album, the songs exude class and talent. Recently, we had a chance to catch up with The Juan MacClean after his DJ set at Bar Standard in Denver.

BandWagon: Do you ever see yourself as a Top 40 musician at some point? Do you ever see yourself shooting for that 3 to 5 minute pop song that’s accessible to everyone?

The Juan MacClean: Yeah I used to think that kind of thing, that one day, I don’t know if you would even call it “selling out,” but as an experiment see if it is possible to do that kind of thing. But the reality of it is, it’s not really possible. At that level everything is so manufactured. I could sign to a major label and that kind of stuff but it would be burning my career. I would lose all my real fans and it would be too weird for the rest of the world.

Continue reading
Features, Music, Print

All About the Bass

December 23, 2014

“I’ve seen a lot of personal friends lives be damaged, destroyed or ended through making the wrong decisions with drug use,” Lorin Ashton says. “I’ve also seen some amazing transformations happen from very limited and responsible experimentation. I want to be ultra careful about not condoning anything without expressing how important it is to be safe and aware.”

Ashton, better known by his stage moniker Bassnectar, is often at the helm of massive EDM parties and has undoubtedly seen all sorts of debauchery in the crowd. However, at age 36, he’s learned valuable lessons over the years— not only as a musician, but also simply as a human being.

Continue reading
Music, Print, Reviews

New Music Mondays “In a Dream” The Juan MacClean

December 15, 2014

The Juan MacClean (real name John MacClean) has been a major player is the world of electronic music for almost a decade although most fans of the current style of the genre wouldn’t know it. One of the original artists on the DFA label, which was founded by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, The Juan MacClean is an artist who has been a rock in the electro dance punk scene.

Continue reading
Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2

Run The Jewels has never claimed (or wanted) to be anything other than themselves. To the auteurs behind this project, Killer Mike and El-P, Run The Jewels is more than a title, more than a catchy hook. It is a call to arms; take to the streets, and raise hell. You’re in, or you’re out. The effect is so encompassing, that their 2013 debut began with the song “Run The Jewels,” making that “Run The Jewels,” on Run The Jewels, by Run The Jewels. The sequel, aptly titled Run The Jewels 2, is a tactically precise release that feels like it answers all questions early critics had, while simultaneously doing whatever the hell they want. If they’re careful, there will be much more to see from them in the future.

Continue reading
Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: The Echo Chamber Synesthesia

December 10, 2014

I’m going into The Echo Chamber’s new release, Synesthesia, completely blind. While I have an interest in electronic music, I don’t necessarily listen to a lot of it, and while The Echo Chamber has played here in Greeley, I can’t recall ever attending one of their shows. So I’m largely judging it as if this is the group’s first album, even though this is the Fort Collins-based group’s second release.

Continue reading