Monday Feature: Revelry is Coming

You know a weekend is going to be great when you’re already anticipating for the week to be over on Monday at one in the morning. Whether you’ll be attending the annual Mifflin Street Block Party, hitting up capitol square for the weekly fresh market, or kicking back and watching a Star Wars trilogy (preferably the original one), there is no shortage of funtivities available for Madison citizens this first weekend of May.

And while all of these funtivities are respectable means of entertainment in their own right, I want to highlight the weekend event I will be attending: Revelry Music and Arts Festival. DISCLAIMER: I am in no way being prompted to write this feature by any member of WUD Music. I chose to write this feature because it’s music related, it’s Madison news, I love music, live concerts are awesome, and I want to give those that are or may be going a small preview of what they can expect out of the musical talent at the festival. So let’s get to that. I am going to give my short, unarticulated opinion of the artists that were highlighted in the wonderfully crafted video below. Here goes nothing.

Toro y Moi – Contrary to what your initial reaction may be, Toro y Moi is actually one man. And he may be one of the chillest men I’ve ever heard on a track. For starters, he combined both the Spanish and French languages to create his stage name. It doesn’t matter as long as it translates to English easily (Bull and Me) and sounds cool, right? Beyond this, his calm vocals and looped electronic beats are combined to him consider him a part of the genre known as chillwave. It doesn’t get any more chill than that.

Hoodie Allen – One of my close friends has been a Hoodie fan well before the Revelry lineup was released, and since its release I have hopped on the bandwagon hard. His All American EP was only $5 on iTunes, and provides eight solid tracks that exemplify his catchy music and smart lyrics. In addition, his newest mixtape Crew Cuts is on his website for free! Outside of his music, the former Google employee and UPenn Sprint Football player has collaborated on comedy videos with CollegeHumor that are just too funny to only watch once.

Phox – This seven-piece band from Baraboo, Wisconsin utilizes instruments that run the gamut of sounds, resulting in songs that are most often whimsical, but can also be hectic and heavy. No songs particularly called out to me, but there’s no doubt that the band is unique.

The Mowgli’s – While the only music I could find of theirs was the five songs from their Love’s Not Dead EP, this pop-rock octet has an established pedigree with a recent performance at SXSW 2013 and a scheduled performance at Lollapalooza 2013. Their eight-person chorus is extremely catchy, and “San Francisco” is an irresistible summer jam. 

Chance the Rapper – Chance the Rapper is definitely a different sounding hip-hop artist, with a significantly higher voice than your typical MC. His second mixtape, Acid Rap drops tomorrow, so hopefully Madison will be receptive to his new material come Saturday.

Delta Spirit – This band has a strong alternative rock sound, and many of the songs I listened to have the feel of a live show even though they’re master tracks. I trust that their live performance will be nothing short of a great display of musical talent. In addition, they have a song on the official first volume of The Walking Dead soundtrack, so I am sold.

Julian Lynch – Chill, instrumental, and articulate all at once, Julian Lynch’s music gives off good vibes. With a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology (!?) from UW-Madison, I think concert attendees will give the former city resident a warm reception.

Oh Land – Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, Nanna Øland Fabricius serves as singer, songwriter, and producer, for her music. Pianos and an extensive palette of electronic sounds make for a plethora of experimental tunes for Oh Land to sing over. It will be interesting to see how her music translates to a live performance.

So there you have it: A preview of the biggest acts that Revelry has to offer. It would seem that there is a little something for everyone in the festival’s first installment, and I couldn’t be more excited. Here’s to the joys of live music, summer, and the continued success of this festival for years to come. Revel on.

Freddie Gibbs FREE Ticket Distribution

In light of what happened at the Joey Bada$$ concert last weekend, we want to make sure our crowd has the best experience possible. So, for the upcoming Freddie Gibbs concert on April 27 in Union South: The Sett, we will have a free ticket distribution.

UW Madison students, faculty, staff and Union members will be able to pick up two tickets at the Vilas Hall Box Office, beginning on Thursday, April 18. You must show your ID, but you are allowed one guest with your tickets (meaning, of the two tickets you pick up, one can be for someone who is not a student, faculty or staff member).

Tickets will not be sold online or through phone calls, they must be picked up in person at the Vilas Hall Box Office. At the concert, you will exchange your ticket for a wristband upon gaining entrance to The Sett.

Vilas Hall Box Office hours:

Weekdays 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

GO GET ‘EM (…when they go on sale)

Watch Deleted Scenes, Lost Lander Record Daytrotter Sessions

I maintain that you can’t be call yourself a music fan if you live in the Midwest and don’t know what Daytrotter is. Until recently, each day Daytrotter would post songs free for download that the best indie bands would record when they stopped by their studio, the Horseshack, in Rock Island, IL. The songs are still there, but now a month’s membership costs $2 (They made the decision to turn to the fans for support rather than corporate ads). One of the great things that came along with that decision was that they began to film bands in the studio as they recorded them.

Daytrotter’s position in Illinois means that UW-Madison often sees the bands that record their sessions shortly before or after they visit the studio; Star Slinger, Shlohmo, and Shigeto, all visited the studio the day after playing a triple bill at the Sett. In the next two weeks, you can see two bands playing at UW-Madison venues record sessions shortly before appearing here: Deleted Scenes and Lost Lander. Deleted Scenes will record this Saturday at Noon CST before their 9:00 p.m. show the same night at The Sett. Next week, you can watch Lost Lander do the same at 2 p.m. CST on Thursday, the day before they take the stage at Der Rath. This could be a great way of familiarizing yourself with the bands before you see them in person! Check out Daytrotter’s schedule for more upcoming sessions.

Listen: DRRT

DDRT  by Lost Lander is now out! Listen to the album on the player below

Listen: Carter Tanton

Carter Tanton of Lower Dens released his solo album Freeclouds in November of last year and if you haven’t heard it yet you’re just missing out. Fight your musical illiteracy this weekend when he performs Saturday at FRZN at the High Noon.

ALSO DON’T FORGET

Lower Dens will be playing here in Der Rath March 9th with Yellow Ostrich and Grace Weber!

Carter Tanton- Murderous Joy

Listen- ‘Afraid of Summer’

Listen and download Lost Lander’s new single ‘Afraid of Summer’ via Rolling Stone and be sure to grab the album on January 17th and come out for the show February 10th!

 

Kids These Days’ Debut LP to be Produced by Jeff Tweedy

You know how Kids These Days, the folk/rap/soul/jazz/everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fusion group made up of 18- to 20-year old Chicagoans, is playing at the Sett on Friday, December 2nd? Of course you do. Well, yesterday the news broke that their next record will be produced by somebody you may have heard of. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco fame (“…and Uncle Tupelo. Don’t forget Uncle Tupelo!” you hipsters will say) will be behind the dials on Kids These Days’ debut LP, Traphouse Rock, which they happen to be recording as we speak (or, more accurately, as I type). The LP follows the critically-acclaimed Hard Times EP, released this summer before a set at Lollapalooza to an enormous, rowdy crowd helped put them on the national map.

Yeah, like that enormous

It’s probably safe to say that we’ll get a sneak peak at a couple of the tracks off the upcoming album when the band comes to Madison in about a week-and-a-half. It’s gonna be a party. Check out the Facebook event for more details on the show, and take a gander at Kids These Days’ “Darling” video below.

Look for Emmie Staff and Win Ra Ra Riot Swag

If you don’t know, this weekend is our Ra Ra Riot, Yellow Ostrich, and Delicate Steve show funded in part by ASM! We’ve also teamed up with Emmie Magazine to help them bring awareness and readership to their magazine with their Where on Campus is the Emmie Staff? This week, November 14-18, if you spot students around campus wearing red tank tops like the ones in the poster above, tweet or write on the Emmie Facebook page stating where you saw the staff person for a chance to win sweet Ra Ra Riot merch.

There will be one winner selected everyday and the five winners will be announced at the show, November 19th at 9pm in The Sett!

Ra Ra Riot on Jimmy Fallon

A couple of weeks ago Ra Ra Riot stopped by Jimmy Fallon to play “Shadowcasting” from their album The Orchard. Watch the video through photobucket and check them out at Union South November 19th!!

*Photo Credit RaRaRiot.com

Milagres Featured On NPR World Cafe

 

Milagres is getting a lot of buzz lately from NPR.  A few weeks ago All Songs Considered: First Watch featured their video Halfway and now World Cafe has a full broadcast from the Brooklyn band about their latest album release.

Listen to the program here and catch them when they open for Peter Wolf Crier next Friday the 14th in Union South!