Halloween is Ruined: Performance Life with Klaus von Austerlitz

Halloween is Ruined: Performance Life with Klaus von Austerlitz
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Halloween is ruined. Its most treasured sensibilities are under attack. Goths have turned the occult into ridiculous camp and queers have turned ridiculous camp into a cult. So, if Oct. 31 is the only day of the 365 that you’d think of dressing yourself up outrageously, you might be a lamebrain. For local performance artist Klaus von Austerlitz, every costume is a performance, and every performance a carefully constructed vessel of artistry and social critique.  … read more

Review: KeepCup

Review: KeepCup
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KeepCup KeepCup Brew us.keepcup.com If you ever wanted to catch the eye of your favorite barista, get your coffee or tea in one of KeepCup’s chic and ingenuous reusable cups. I took my glass KeepCup Brew ($32) on daily treks to SLUG HQ’s favorite caffeine haunt, The Rose Establishment, where it was the envy of

Collected By Himself: Captured Tracks Founder Mike Sniper on New Venture Omnian Music Group

Collected By Himself: Captured Tracks Founder Mike Sniper on New...
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Under the direction of Mike Sniper, Captured Tracks has grown from a small, independent music label based in Brooklyn to a sonically diverse, aesthetically vibrant vision for the state of millennial music. Today, with a full roster, Sniper has his sights on an even more expansive assembly of sounds with label group Omnian Music Group.

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A Ringing Sound: The Jesus and Mary Chain on Psychocandy

A Ringing Sound: The Jesus and Mary Chain on Psychocandy
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“We wanted to make a record that was going to be around for a while. At that time, we were listening to stuff from 20 to 30 years before us, and we kind of thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if, 27 years from now, there were bands in Texas that were making music because of Psychocandy?’"

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Top 5: Foster Body

Top 5: Foster Body
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Foster Body’s debut album, Landscapes, which was released on cassette and digitally in March, captures the Salt Lake City–based, punk combo at a brilliant moment of process—merging strong aesthetic sentiment and live performance practice into a compelling vision for contemporary noise-punk. With eight tracks lashing across the album’s 20-minute duration, Landscapes is a quick yet thrilling listen. … read more

Iceage: Punk’s Achilles’ Heel

Iceage: Punk’s Achilles’ Heel
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After two albums of the kind of scorched-earth, blackened punk that thrust a teenage band from Denmark into the global limelight, the savant-as-ever Iceage have finished their third and most accomplished album yet. … read more

Hive Mind and the Guest Writers Series: Antennae of the Cultural Vanguard

Hive Mind and the Guest Writers Series: Antennae of the...
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Now in its 20th season, the series brings in a handful of writers from outside of Utah, typically one or two per month throughout the academic year. … read more

Kilby Court Celebrates 15 Years of Musical Charm

Kilby Court Celebrates 15 Years of Musical Charm
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The hidden gem of a venue that is Kilby Court has long been hailed as the heart of Salt Lake music culture. Most of us can remember our first expedition there: the sharpness of Salt Lake’s Granary District, all industrial gray and rusted, the expansive asphalt of 700 South flanked by long-abandoned businesses—unused train tracks ripping up 400 West, ragged plants the only signs of existence. What awaits music devotees at the end of Kilby Ct. is one the longest-running independent all ages venue in the U.S. July 18 marks a celebration of the 15th anniversary of the beloved venue.  … read more

The Heaven We’ve Got: Slumberland at 25

The Heaven We’ve Got: Slumberland at 25
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Vinyl records and great tunes are a few of Mike Schulman’s favorite things. Slumberland Records (SLR), the label that Schulman and his friends started in 1989 around those things, has grown into one of the most beloved labels of the “pure, perfect pop” community. SLUG chatted with Schulman about indie pop culture, favorite records and running an independent label for 25 years. … read more

Creature Feature: The Bad Kids Collective Enters Their Terrible Twos

Creature Feature: The Bad Kids Collective Enters Their Terrible Twos
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Since the summer of 2012, the Bad Kids Collective has shaken up Salt Lake’s drag scene, made connections with the global genderfuck community and established a home for queer artists at Metro Bar. Now, at “terrible” 2 years old, SLUG catches up with founding braintrust Cartel Chameleon Fenicé and performers Jezebel Jet and The Bearded Femme about where they’ve been, where they’re headed and why their approach to gender-integrated performance art is a vital force in queer Utah. … read more