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Ajena had the crowd stomping with their riotous 90s-influenced set, with the lead singer leaping into the pit for their last song.
CJ Monét set the tone for night two with odes to her energy and a hopeful message about the current state of the world.
Girl Brutal’s powerful, energetic performance during night one sent audience members running towards the pit.
Petrov closed Double Barrel with a performance that showed off catchy riffs and powerhouse vocals.
There’s been a rapid explosion in the number of apps claiming to show user data in the name of taste-sharing. Letterboxd and Last.fm are early examples, releasing in the early 2010s and becoming digital diaries for users to log their media consumption. In the world of music, Last.fm dominates data-sharing. Airbuds has become a recent hit because of its social elements, such as emoji reactions and direct messaging, but Last.fm remains the most popular. As someone interested in music trends and online spaces, I’m curious about why there has been such a push for apps whose sole purpose appears to be data collection rather than actually giving users the media they’re tracking.
Sharing listening or film-watching data becomes a way of stating one’s tastes and even one’s identities. What does it say culturally when data, a profitable resource extracted from people like us, has become a way in which friendships and identities are legitimized? Even with the veneer of connection through the availability of sharing features on these apps, what makes users want to share this much so freely?
Once, while driving to a venue whose name I can’t recall, my friend turned to me and began to say “I wish Glass Animals would perform more songs from How To Be a Human Being.” I agreed with her idea, not just because “How To Be A Human Being” is my favorite Glass Animals album, but because many artists have begun going on tours to commemorate the anniversary of an album’s release. Typically, artists perform newer tracks in order to promote their newer albums, yet some choose to play work that is almost exclusively older. If you’re a fan of an artist who hasn’t released new music in years yet is currently on tour, it’s likely an anniversary tour!
Note to readers: this blog contains brief mentions of sex, pedophilia, arson, drug abuse, gun violence, involuntary commitment, and more while discussing music that covers such themes.
Listeners now may not recognize how old the concept of an album as a narrative device is. The history of the concept album is murky, the history of strictly narrative albums with characters, setting, and a climax are murkier. Some say, including literary review writers at the University of Connecticut, that “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles started the idea. Paul McCartney (alongside Boston-based radio station WERS) traces the Beatles’ inspiration to Frank Zappa’s “Freak Out!” released in 1966.
Fiona Sturges at The Independent goes further, saying that commercially available song collections including a broader narrative may have originated with Woody Guthrie in the 1940s. If you consider musicals or opera as part of this history, you can go back centuries. Even in spite of its unclear origins, the narrative album continues to be a significant and growing part of contemporary music.
Promotional logo for Dreamville Festival.
The “end of an era” is what Atlanta-based rap duo EarthGang tweeted in reference to their performance at month’s Dreamville festival. Dreamville, held annually at Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park, has come to a close, at least in its current form. Considering this, many are wondering what is next for live music in the Triangle.
Caroline Rose performing in the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC, 2015, by Colakovicsrdjan CC SA-4.0
…the Slug Life chose Caroline Rose. Through their, sluggish persona, today’s Caroline Rose understands what folk music is. In an unexpected move, the genre-bending artist leaked their newest album last month several days before release. This, alongside a series of tour dates in “independent, intimate venues” and a release strategy that avoids traditional streaming, Rose hopes to put their music in the hands of fans first.