Issues: Exclusive
Lyrics Born @ The State Room
Though he’s venturing even further into the realms of power funk, Lyrics Born still remains important for conscious hip hop heads (yes, we still exist). After the show I approached him, told him what a great time I had and he was very cordial back. The venue was literally shaking during the performance from excitement and the bass funk his band was pumping out. … read more
Meat Beat Manifesto: An Unexpected Rhythm
A lyric via MC Young Cassius on Meat Beat Manifesto’s 2008 album Autoimmune is a fitting slogan for the group’s main man Jack Dangers: “… as heavy as motherfuckin’ Buicks.” For over two decades, Dangers (née Corrigan) has pioneered, employed, expanded and mastered so many so-called electronica and sample-based styles, and “heavy” is the only way to describe him. … read more
Napalm Flesh: Prelude to the Apocalypse – Interview with Decrepit...
For this week’s blog we have an interview with California death metal crew Decrepit Birth. There’s also the usual round-up of concerts going on for the week, lots of national and local metal to be seen all around. Also, there is a slurry of blog exclusive CD reviews as well as reviews that didn’t make the print magazine for November. … read more
An Evening in Canterbury
Held at the Murray Theatre, An Evening in Canterbury combined an authentic 14th century seven course meal with amateur theatre and abundant cosplay. We were in the minority, with most folks decked out in bright felt renditions of Middle English Garb. The alcohol-free event consisted of four of Chaucer’s tales narrated by actors milling through the audience, while up on stage the rest of the cast performed a rough pantomime of the events. … read more
The Hold Steady @ In the Venue
The Hold Steady had played Salt Lake City on their two previous tours, both times packing the Urban Lounge to near (or even past) capacity. So much had changed since then. Would they even try to recapture the old magic, or would this be a completely new direction for this Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minnesota group of musicians? Any lingering concerns were quickly put to rest when guitarist Tad Kubler ripped into the first song. … read more
Napalm Flesh: A Week of Swedish Black Metal-Watain & Marduk
This week’s blog dissects and gives a rundown of last week’s goings on with the Watain tour and Marduk shows in Salt Lake City, both big shows from gigantic Swedish black metal bands. You should have been in attendance for at least one of the gigs—if not, you missed out on some evil doing black metal. Also is a rundown of this week’s shows, and another batch of blog exclusive CD reviews as well as some choice reviews from fellow SLUG writer Andrew Roy. … read more
Volcom ‘9191’ Review
9191 focuses on my two favorite things about snowboarding: shredding powder and riding with the homies. 9191 takes a new approach to making a snowboarding film. In lieu of a traditional team video, Volcom created a movie based on the travels of Gigi Ruf. … read more
‘The Storming’ Review
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }Dear Standard Films: Thank you for being an equal opportunity employer. Thank you for not overlooking the ladies. Most of all, thank you for bringing me what I’ve wanted all year—a shred flick with girls who can actually hold their own. All my love, Katie Panzer.
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Who the FUCK is Circa Survive? A review of Dredg...
Dredg has been one of my favorite bands since a suitemate introduced me to them in college back in ’04. Their Live at the Filmore album proves they’re the kind of band that can reproduce intricate prog rock as fluently live as in the studio, which is more than can be said for the general gamut of post-TOOL prog rock groups. … read more
Small Black at Kilby Court 11/12
As a space heater warmed up the Kilby garage, crowd-pleasing local opener The Heavens and the Earth (aka producer Matt McMurray) came onstage behind an impressive array of electronics hooked together with a grippe of colorful cables. As he started playing a whooshing synth pad, I anticipated a set of Tangerine Dream worship. Then he hit the crowd with a beat and got everyone moving. … read more