Vinyl Mag – Page 51 – Founded in Athens, GA.

Slingshot 2015: In Review

Posted on April 3, 2015April 30, 2015 by Kelsey Butterworth

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reptar_chelseakornse-3714 — Crowd during Reptar at Georgia Theatre. Photo by Chelsea Kornse

2015 has put another successful Slingshot Festival in the books. Despite hiccups here and there, this year’s festival drew unique and eclectic acts from around the world. Almost every band thanked the festival, and organizer Kai Riedl, for putting together such a fantastic offering, and I’d have to agree. But since we’re all bound by the physical impossibilities of linear time, my only regret is not seeing every act all at once. Where’s a Time-Turner when you need one, right?! Ba dum tsh. Anyways: it’s safe to say that another physical impossibility was having a bad time at any of these shows.

Thursday

Slingshot being a world-focused festival, it was more than appropriate to start things off with groups like Lassine Kouyate. Adam Klein, artist-about-town, has previously traveled to Mali for Peace Corps assignments and to visit friends he’s made there. A couple years ago he decided to go Graceland and record his own versions of traditional West African Mande roots music. He performed some of them at Hendershot’s as a six-piece, singing us songs about rebuilding after genocidal violence and the true price of blood diamonds.

Zarigani$_hannahpaprocki014 — Zarigani$. Photo by Hannah Pap Rocki

Japan Nite is a reliably supersonic experience, and the bands at Live Wire delivered. Zarigani$ was like a Japanese Death From Above 1979, throwing in random psychotic bass-tastic outbursts followed by ska influences and whistle playing. Somehow the vicious low-end punk still had a girly bounce, and even the dads in the crowd got into it. Peelander-Z were their usual colorful selves, playing duckpins and crowdsurfing with an ecstatic audience.

Rounding out a packed first night was Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra flying solo at the Theatre. Between him, the single guitar, a trained spotlight, and a small crowd, the show was almost uncomfortably intimate. Like a conversation with close friends, he was deeply touched by the fans who showed up – especially when a few requested the deep cut “Colly Strings.” Hull dug into his solo and Manchester Orchestra discographies in backwards chronological order, with passionate and bone-chilling results.

NosajThing_CPF002 — Nosaj Thing. Photo by Christopher Fodera

Meanwhile, DJs like Nosaj Thing and Clark blew minds at the 40 Watt with hypnotic dubstep beats and laser shows that would be enough to seize out a dog. The Watt’s disco ball has never looked better.

Friday

DreamBoat_JordanHampton-1 — Dream Boat. Photo by Jordan Hampton

Vinyl Mag likes to party – this should be no surprise. So we hosted a couple showcases, the first being at Caledonia on Friday and featuring Dreamboat, Nightmare Air, and a very special Washed Out DJ set.

Dreamboat were one of many of E6 offshoots to play the festival, with John Fernandes on violin. The band’s cosmic pop, Henry VIII-esque chamber pop guitar licks, and vocal harmonies were enough to bliss out the crowd, but the colorful orb projected onto the group made it official: Dreamboat lives up to their name. Think Smoke Faeries with a little bit of U2 bombast thrown in, and you can get the idea – every song left the audience so entranced, we almost forgot to clap.

nightmareair_hannahpaprocki001 — Nightmare Air. Photo by Hannah Pap Rocki

Up next were Nightmare Air, Dreamboat’s polar opposite. Proclaimed the ‘loudest band in L.A.’, their literally amp-busting amplitude woke up a lulled and contented crowd. Appropriately employing a smoke machine to create some nightmare air, their angular punk-and-stadium rock tunes stared into the void, like a Shiny Toy Guns played through Dinosaur Jr. volume levels.

washedout_hannahpaprocki001 — Washed Out (DJ set). Photo by Hannah Pap Rocki

Finally, Washed Out’s Ernest Greene brought his earnestly (sorry) chill vibes to the small space. Greene combined house, dub, funk, and hazy psych plinks to keep the crowd bobbing. To make things get weird a bit, he brought an hourlong cinema smash featuring disturbing images of dissections and war propaganda and advertisements for companies like Standard Oil, Mazda, and Jell-O. Essentially it was like Mad Men word association on acid (so maybe just a day in the life of Roger Sterling), or a hyperspeed iSpy book for adults only.

Over at the Theatre, Lord Fascinator opened things up with his freaky instrumental techno, requiring audience participation in the form of pulling people onstage and dressing them in body suits with attached face masks.

reptar_chelseakornse-3753 — Reptar. Photo by Chelsea Kornse

Up next were Reptar, playing an album release show for their upcoming Joyful Noise Recordings offering Lurid Glow. Somehow the show wasn’t as packed as theirs usually are, but it was just as fun. They played classics like “Cable” and used a giant slingshot (HAH) to shoot t-shirts into the crowd.

Saturday

Saturday saw the continuation of Slingshot’s film contingent, with several movies screened at the Globe for free to all. William And The Windmill tells the amazing and heartwarming story of William Kamkwamba, a Malawian who, at the age of 19, used scrap metal and an outdated book to build his village a water-pumping windmill. Next up was a short called Brooklyn Farmer about the rooftop gardens of New York’s ~coolest~ neighborhood. (Between these first two films, one might get their faith in humanity’s future genuinely restored, which is kind of Slingshot’s whole deal.) Next up was Palimpsest, a quirky short about a house tuner who’s on call if you think your toaster and shower aren’t in the same key. Finally, the last full feature Buttercup Bill is a tense ‘psychosexual romance’ about love, obsession, jealousy, and what it means to be a soulmate.

Vinyl Mag continued to throw down with its second showcase, featuring more E6 greatness in Mind Brains and Nana Grizol. Mind Brains opened things up with impassioned, Circulatory System-aping psychedelic explorations of the soul. Naturally they too had some freaky videography to go along with the experimental sounds, mostly putting bizarre insect habits on display (even though I am deathly terrified of bugs, I watched for you, reader, I WATCHED FOR YOU).

Closing out the early evening, Nana Grizol put the poppier side of E6 on display, with songs that could fit in anywhere in the discography of the Apples In Stereo. They also gave Live Wire’s sound guy a shoutout, and it was well-deserved – sound quality has been spotty in Athens venues recently, but the new management at Live Wire clearly hired a pro.

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Nightmare Air pre-set. Photo by Matt Lief Anderson.

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SXSW 2015: Fatherson x Vinyl Mag

Posted on April 2, 2015April 1, 2015 by Rebecca Smith

For those in the know, Fatherson coming to America is big deal. Though well-loved and celebrated in their home of Glascow, Scotland, the three-piece has been making waves in the states with their single “I Like Not Knowing.” We got together with Ross Leighton, Marc Strain, and Greg Walkinshaw during South by Southwest with some brews to get the scoop on Fatherson’s new album I Am an Island and their experiences in the U.S. thus far.

Vinyl Mag: Where did the name “Fatherson” come from, and when did you guys change it from “Energy!”?

Ross Leighton: Yeah, we were called “Energy!” before and something else before that. We changed it to “Fatherson” maybe three years ago. It just kind of happened; we knew we wanted to change the name, but didn’t really know what to name it.

VM: Can you tell us about the writing process and overall theme of I Am an Island?

RL: I Am an Island was slowly turned into a concept album by accident. I think the title kind of set the pace for the whole thing. What I liked about it was we managed to fit the theme into a couple of songs, so it kind of just happened. The title of the album is a metaphor. Everything is going really well, but you really know what’s going on, so you’re like on an island amongst a ton of other islands with all your friends all the time.

VM: Did all three of you collaborate on the album, or was it mainly you writing the lyrics?

RL: I wrote all the lyrics. A lot of the time it just comes… but it changes. We don’t have a set process. It’s nice.

VM: What would you say the biggest difference is between playing in the US as opposed to the UK, trying to get people to understand what you’re doing?

Marc Strain: It’s hard to tell, because in New York peopled traveled really far to come see us, and we’ve had a great time. I kind of feel like the crowds are pretty similar. People come out and get involved. Our music has rock aspect to it. People jump about, and we have a good time. We also have the quiet, softer albums as well where we can have just as good of a show.

Greg Walkinshaw: It just works with a good cross section of people. I think if people can feel it and get into it, then they’ll be cool for the rest of it. That seems to be how it’s gone so far.

VM: You’ve been really well received in the states, which I’m sure feels great, but does it even compare to the incredible response you’ve received in Scotland. I mean, you did sell out your last show in Glasgow?

MS: We’re so close to the stuff that happens in the UK and Scotland, so it’s a lot of hard work. I guess the States are so far away, and for people to come and see us is a really amazing experience. Some people know all about us, and some of them drove three and half hours to come and see us at our New York show, and we didn’t even know they knew who we were. It’s our first time here, and they know all about us.

RL: The show was in New York, and people came from Philadelphia and Boston. We were like, “what happened here? We’ve never been here before, and you’ve taken that time our of your life to come and see us, first of all, and sing your heart out.” It’s awe-inspiring. It’s crazy.

MS: It’s really rewarding. Scotland and the UK have always been really special to us, but this has been really, really cool as well, in a lot of completely different ways.

VM: On that same note, how is playing with bands that are so established in Scotland?

RL: It’s weird when you start seeing your name pop us in lists of Scottish bands. To even be thought of is kind of crazy.

MS: You start to meet all of these guys as well, and you’re so ready for them not to be that nice, but everyone’s been lovely so far.

VM: Why do you guys play the music from movie credits at the end of your shows? How did that come about, and what movies do you typically play?

GW: It just happened one night by accident. Someone was playing John Williams; I think it was E. T. after the show one night. Since then, after every show we do it. Nine times out of 10 everyone will know it, and it’ll give them a wee smile. It’s just about making the experience.

MS: It’s a lot of fun; we like it. You walk out and think it was pretty funny.

RL: We’ve done Top Gun, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Sweeney Todd; anything we fancy. Mission Impossible, that’s a good one.

VM: Is this your first time at SXSW?

RL: Yes. This is our first proper time in the States.

GW: We had a show in New York a couple days after we came here.

VM: What’s your first impression?

MS: It’s very hot. New York was pretty normal, but this has been crazy hot.

VM: You just need another beer. I think our countries like to drink, so we should get along for that if nothing else. How many shows are you guys playing here?

RL: We’ve done two so far, five all together. We have one this afternoon.

VM: How does it feel to be listed by so many sources as one of the top bands at SXSW?

MS: It’s cool. It’s obviously a big thing, coming over. We’ve always toyed with it for a few years. We just wanted to come over to show we’re not lost in the sea of all the other bands. We weren’t expecting that.

VM: Is there anyone in particular you guys are excited to see play?

MS: Basically the amount of music condensed down to two streets is amazing.

GW: There are a couple of bands. I really want to see Twin Shadow. We have a showcase tomorrow, but I really want to catch it.

RL: I want to see a band called More Than Conquerors; they’re really good friends of ours from the UK. And I want to go see Future Islands in person.

VM: Do you guys see yourselves more as “BBQ joint” people or “food truck” people?

RL: We had breakfast at a food truck place around the corner.

MS: That was amazing. I don’t know what’s breakfast about brisket, and cheese, and potatoes. That’s not breakfast in Scotland, not even close.

RL: I don’t think we’ve tried enough stuff yet to make that comment yet.

MS: We’ll get back to you on that one.

10 Songs by Up and Coming Artists You Should Know

Posted on April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 by Andrew Plaskowsky

Allie X – “Catch”

After being touted by Katy Perry as her “spring jam” this time last year, Allie X finally released a choppy yet stunning video for her earworm of a future pop hit ahead of her debut EP out this Spring.

Ghost Beach – “Everytime We Touch”

Ghost Beach opened for bands like Imagine Dragons and Vampire Weekend long before releasing its debut album Blonde last March. The album is a gritty combination of tropical music and alternative pop that ends up sounding reminiscent of Talking Heads.

Kat Dahlia – “Crazy”

Born Katrinia Huguet, this Cuban-American singer’s recently released debut album My Garden contains lyrically sharp tracks coupled with her fraught vocals that cover emotional ground such as toxic relationships, abuse and drug addiction.

Neon Hitch – “Sparks”

https://soundcloud.com/neonhitch/sparks

As someone who’s been following Neon since her signing to Warner Bros. Records in 2010, the termination of her contract last year certainly came as a surprise. Instead of staying down, she sought the help from her fans to release her album Eleutheromaniac the way she wanted. “Sparks” is merely a taste of what’s to come.

Only Real – “Yesterdays”

Hailing from West London, Only Real née Niall Galvin spent much of his 2014 recording his upcoming debut Jerk at the End of the Line in Atlanta. If the sun drenched rock of “Yesterdays” is any indication of what’s to come, get ready to hear tracks off this album all summer long.

Panama Wedding – “All Of the People”

Originally begun as a bedroom project, Panama Wedding gained critical attention with the release of “All Of the People,” with its cascading synths and ultra chilled vocals. Perhaps the group will ride the hype train all the way to an album release this year.

Ryn Weaver – “OctaHate”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTVZdW8pTEM

WARNING: You won’t be able to get this song out of your head. Now that that’s out of the way, Ryn Weaver’s debut single “OctaHate” was produced by Benny Blanco and Cashmere Cat as well as having Charli XCX listed as a co-writer. Weaver’s unique vocals truly shine in a monster of a pounding chorus.

The Veronicas – “If You Love Someone”

Okay, so The Veronicas might not be a technically new band, but their new self titled album is due to be released in February. The duo seems poised to fill the void in pop radio with their highly sarcastic lyrics and catchy singles (see “Cruel”).

Years & Years – “King”

https://soundcloud.com/yearsandyears/king

The winners of BBC’s Sound of 2015 poll, Years & Years have been perfecting their sound for a large part of the last three years. Enter “King,” a jumping synth heavy track about someone being manipulative with a soaring chorus guaranteed to root itself in your brain.

Zak Abel

If 2014 was the year of the British male crooner with radio eating up the likes of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, 2015 will be the year that such voices will be mixed with more…interesting production. Abel might be young, but his voice is heavenly against a sleekly re-imagined UK garage sound.

SXSW 2015: Twin Peaks x Vinyl Mag

Posted on April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 by Rebecca Smith

“We were wingin’ it the whole time. We’re still wingin’ it, and it’s going great.”

When the founding members of Twin Peaks decided to drop out of college and pursue music fulltime, they really were just “wingin’ it.” A philosophy that has worked out so well for the group, they’ve decided to live their lives by it.

We caught up with front man Cadien James at South by Southwest and found out quickly that sometimes, the best strategy is not having one at all.

Vinyl Mag: You guys recorded Sunken pretty quickly in order to make money on tour. Did you feel you had a little more leeway with Wild Onion?

Cadien James: Yeah, we were able to take our time with it. I started playing with Taylor here and there. He wasn’t around for the first album. We were able to experiment with having some buddies of ours help us work on the album that knew how to engineer. Taylor plays, but it’s buried in the tracks, but we had him play on a couple things, and now he’s playing live with us.

VM: Your videos for “I Found a New Way” and “Flavor” feel really summertime oriented, and they make you feel really young and youthful. Would you say that’s basically what Wild Onion is about?

CJ: We’re not a band who often thinks about what we’re going for. I think it naturally comes out with a natural process. My thing is, if we were to have a biography about us one day, or an autobiography if I do it, it’s going to be called “Wingin’ It,” because we’re always winging it. I guess we have a summer vibe. If that’s what you take out of it, that’s wonderful. No, the album is a little sad boy sometimes, because I’m just singing about a babe, but it’s still summertime vibes.

VM: Can you tell us about your decision to pursue music full time?

CJ: We all loved playing together. We were trying to play a lot more house shows when we were finishing high school. We booked this DIY tour before we went to college, so we went to all of these house shows across the west coast and the states. We were all in school and all thought that would be much cooler, so we dropped out – wingin’ it. We were wingin’ it the whole time. We’re still wingin’ it, and it’s going great. I guess a lot of people can wing it, and it ends up really bad, but we’ve been lucky in the sense that we all have a similar mindset with it, and we wing it together. We know what to say yes to and what to say no to.

VM: I know you guys are BFF’s, but what’s the most obnoxious thing about touring all the time with each other?

CJ: Oh, just that I’ve slept with all the dudes from the band more than I’ve slept with ladies at all in my life. A lot of the smells; the smells are bad.

VM: Can you tell us about your decision to release the demos album, Mind Frame, for free?

CJ: When we were thinking about doing the demos – I love Wild Onion, but I was sick of listening to it. I’m very happy with it, but there are things about it that I think could be better, and that’s why we always keep making more music. But I was also going back through the demos thinking, “these have some magic to them.” There was a nice characteristic to them. Some people might get something out of it, and I’d like them to hear it. I want to give them a gift. You see a lot of musicians who put out their albums before they’re for sale, like Chance The Rapper – he’s one of the most successful rappers coming out in the last couple years, a real success story, and he’s never sold any of his music. He has two great albums out. It’s a lot harder being a rock band to do that and sustain yourself, because there’s less money in being a rock band right now. You have more people involved, and the money is more spread out, and there’s less of it. It’s a little harder to put your music out for free as a rock band. Maybe I’m doing it wrong; I could learn some things. Anyone out there [reading] this, let me know.

VM: Some people have called your music ahead of its time – maybe even a bit ambitious; do you agree or disagree?

CJ: I feel like it’s behind its time almost. We play old school rock ‘n’ roll. Like I said, we never worry or think about those things too much. We have three different songwriters. We all write different kinds of music, but when we get together and play it, it works, and we’re all fans of each other’s stuff. We don’t worry about trying to have a super-cohesive sound necessarily; we just try to make a good album, a good piece of art we can celebrate live. It’s totally different live, because we have all sorts of things on record that we can’t think about doing live.

VM: Do you guys get sick of people talking about your age, or do you see it as a compliment?

CJ: We’re very lucky. There aren’t a lot of bands that are young, our age, right now that I’m a big fan of. There are a lot of great bands in Chicago right now that are doing stuff. In general, I’m not missing a lot of bands that 19 or 20-year-olds. I guess I am proud of that.

VM: We’ve seen your name all over Austin and feel like you guys might be the hardest-working band at SXSW. How many shows are you playing?

CJ: Nine total; we’ve already played three. Maybe this year we are, but not in past years when there were a lot more unofficial shows. Now SXSW is on everyone’s shit. They won’t let you do a certain amount of shows that aren’t official, and there are so many bands and so much social media, it’s a little bit harder, and there’s a lot more competition. I remember when I first heard about SXSW, Black Lips were playing 15 shows. The notoriety of that at SXSW is what I would hear going up before a game, but coming down here – this is my third year – this is the most shows we’ve ever played. I guess we’re playing more than most people. I’m down, I’m tired, I have a couple more days, but I’m still with it. I got free beer.

VM: What are you most excited to see this year?

CJ: We started to see a lot of our friends from Chicago. Maybe that makes me lame. I really hope I can catch Sheer Mag this week. They’re really cool, out of Philly, really dope, kind of 70’s power pop punk band. A lot of Chicago artists, because I do have pride in a lot of bands who are a couple years behind us, who are around our age, doing their first SXSW. I’m just so happy and proud to see them coming out here and making it on their own, trying to find any shows they can play, saying, “alright, we have two. Let’s go, road trip.” There are a lot of Chicago bands down here. Strange Faces, Modern Vices, The Boxers, Petty Crimes, and some of the older bands in Chicago, too.

VM: You guys are going to be busy.

CJ: Yeah, I don’t really have time to see anyone. I have tomorrow off. I’m just going to try and see some friends, but I also really want to go swimming in the river, since you can do that here. So, I might miss out on some bands and go swim. Last year I had a broken leg at SXSW; grateful to not have one this year. The first year I went to swim there, and it was fucking wonderful. We jumped off that bridge, and we were so excited about the rope swing. Bands are cool and all, but I like water.

VM: Do you guys consider yourselves BBQ joint people or food truck people?

CJ: I’m gonna say food truck, because the best food truck is BBQ Heaven, which is a BBQ joint that is a food truck, and they have Trailer Treasure. They got a spot by Hotel Vegas this year. We met them our first year, but they have this huge keg filled with Louisiana water seasoning with crawfish in it for free, free beers, and then they have shark and alligator meat to buy. We are going! It is dope! I’m gonna say food trucks.

VM: Is there anything else you guys would like to say?

CJ: Just keep breathing! The four words I appreciate in life are love, kindness, compassion, and positivity, and I try to think about that wherever I go, whatever I do. So I hope all of you reading this, I hope you can fuck with that too, because I fuck with that.

SXSW 2015 Tour Diary: Tribe Society

Posted on March 31, 2015April 1, 2015 by Vinyl Mag

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NY-based five-piece Tribe Society survived the beast that is South by Southwest, and they have mixed feelings about it. We asked them to document their journey for us, and they delivered. We’ve got sword fights, a pic from their biggest show, and one sad flute player. Check out their tour diary below.

Tribe Society also just dropped their debut mixtape, Delirium Sonata. Give it a listen.

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SXSW is an amazing yet horrible experience. On our first day out, we quickly found what makes SXSW incredible; anybody who has a passion for music can just set up on the street and rock the fuck out. Kinda like this dude making beats on tiny blown computer speakers that you can barely hear. His grooves were nasty but he might of been a little shy cause he was hiding quite a few streets away from 6th ave. Luckily our bass player, Rory found him and gave him two horns up.

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‘Bloodline’ Season 1: Review [SPOILERS]

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Kelsey Butterworth

Netflix has tried its creative hand yet again with the first season of Bloodline, a star-packed drama about the true cost of family. The site’s answer to True Detective follows the Rayburns, a Florida Keys family who essentially own their small town. Patriarch Robert (Sam Shepard) and wife Sally (Sissy Spacek) have had an idyllic beachfront inn for over 50 years, which is shared and supported by their children. John (Kyle Chandler, good to see your face again) is the town’s good ole boy deputy; Megan (Linda Cardellini) is a local Jane-of-all-trades lawyer; Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz) is a beach bum boat repairman; and Danny… Danny, played by Ben Mendelsohn, is the eldest and an expat, and his arrival always spells trouble for the tight-knit clan.

When the town wants to honor Robert with a pier dedication, friends and family gather at the inn for the celebration, but Danny’s shadowy presence stirs up painful memories of the past. Episode 1 makes it quite clear that this is a family full of secrets, and the show has no problem taking its sweet time in revealing them.

Bloodline employs TV tactics that fans of Lost, True Detective, and House of Cards will be very familiar with. Most episodes are interspersed with voiceovers courtesy of John, who speaks in vague tones about his family’s wrongdoings. Each episode relies heavily on flashbacks from different characters’ perspectives, painting their guilt and regrets one shade at a time. The flashbacks’ MO is to be doled out piecemeal over the course of an episode, which loosely centers around the character whose memories we’re privy to. Each complete memory, revealed in an episode’s final minutes, is another piece to solving the Rayburn puzzle.

These tricks put the audience in the uncomfortable position of being at the mercy of characters who know more than we do, and this is a show that lords that fact over us. In an age where binge-watching is the norm – Netflix is no fool and has designed its shows to cater accordingly – narrative structures change, which explains the tantalizingly slow pace here. There is something to be said for making viewers wait even while they’re packing 13 episodes into a weekend.

However, the presumed (but not shared) context determined by voiceovers and flashbacks raises a couple of problems. One, the show is pretty much destined to have a too-cool-for-school vibe, a la the “divine truth of the universe” dorm musings on True Detective. Two, details are bound to get glossed over or hurriedly tossed at us. It’s not made clear until the final episodes that Danny’s love interest, Chelsea (HELL YES Chloë Sevigny), is a nurse, and the show does a poor job of establishing that Megan’s longtime boyfriend, Marco (Enrique Murciano), is also John’s partner. He needs one, because John is a truly terrible detective, putting little effort into his requisite dead girls case and somehow needing to ask another detective about the statute of limitations on giving false testimony. Shows should never spoonfeed, but dragging things out for the sake of continuous viewership is sadistic.

As you could probably guess from the cast, the acting is phenomenal. So much so that it sometimes painfully underlines the scripts’ weaknesses. Bloodline is a drama, so a lot gets sacrificed for the dramatic. During a pivotal scene where Sally tells John about Robert’s childhood, the dialogue feels stilted and overcooked; throughout, the writers seem trigger-happy about dropping f-bombs, even when it doesn’t add to character development or scene intensity. Most of John’s voiceovers are too ambiguous, obvious, or overdramatic to warrant necessity. And if I hear phrases like, “It’s what dad would want,” or “Wow, it’s so beautiful here” one more time in S2… well, I have no backup threat, but CHANGE THE RECORD. With a cast of this calibre, it would behoove the writers to mix it up a bit – starting with giving Spacek a wider role than sitting in a rocking chair staring wistfully into the ocean’s middle distance.

All that being said, it’s inherently compelling to watch. Danny is a loathsome scumbag, and despite everything that’s been done to him, he’s impossible to root for, and hate-watching is addictive. His slimy arrogance and sweaty wifebeaters are freakin’ repulsive (strangely, there are many parallels between him and the now-super-infamous Robert Durst – both are murderers and drug users, both have vendettas against their wealthy families, and both are visibly deranged). And the photography and cinematography are flawless, making the show aesthetically appealing enough to make up for its shortcomings.

It remains to be seen whether Netflix renews Bloodline for a second season. They would be crazy not to given how the finale ended, and despite the currently uncertain fate of Lilyhammer, none of their original programs have been axed. Given Bloodline‘s instant popularity, there’s no reason they’d change their formula, either. As Vox pointed out, the very craft of storytelling has been sacrificed for binge-friendly cliffhangers, which is good for business – the sooner you finish the season, the sooner you can re-watch it.

As I said earlier, this seems to be Netflix’s attempt at True Detective‘s massive success. Both shows contain deeply wounded characters who drink to forget the death-y pains of the past; both frequently get high on their own philosophy; both are set in the initially idyllic, unnervingly loamy swamps of the south; and both use those settings as omniscient extra characters that juxtapose natural beauty with humanity’s monstrosities. But even if imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, it means always being a step behind.

3/5

SXSW 2015: Palma Violets x Vinyl Mag

Posted on March 30, 2015April 1, 2015 by Rebecca Smith

Whether it’s thrashing around on stage night after night or secluding themselves on a sacred mountain in Wales, Palma Violets knows that sometimes, it takes a little balance to make good rock ‘n roll. We sat down with lead vocalist/guitarist Samuel Fryer and keyboardist Pete Mayhew at South by Southwest to find out all about their much-anticipated second full-length album, Danger in the Club, and their upcoming US tour.

Vinyl Mag: How many shows are you guys playing here?

Samuel Fyer: We’re doing seven, which is more than last time. We came two years ago and only had five. This time we came with two and ended up with seven.

VM: We understand you worked really hard on the new album Danger in the Club.

SF: We really did. We worked hard; we really needed to. The first album was done in such a rush, in a month. We spent a lot more time writing and recording. We ended up with 20 songs after writing, demoing, and recording. The first one happened so quickly, because we were signed only after a couple of songs. You know how people say they have all their lives doing the first album, but I say we had more time doing the second one than we did the first.

VM: You guys were having trouble transferring back to the creative side after touring; what was that breaking point for you guys?

Pete Mayhew: It took a few months. There was a period where we had two or three songs for ages, and it was the pits.

SF: We were going to go on a US tour, and then we had two years of touring work, and we had no other songs. We needed to find a time to write some more together. We went to a house in Wales.

VM: Do you prefer the creative time writing an album, or touring and having fun?

SF: We do love touring. We’re made to play live, and that’s what it’s always been about since the beginning. It was playing to our friends in our basement, and now it’s constantly touring. I feel much happier within myself when I know we’re doing more and more for ourselves in the writing.

VM: Are there any significant differences between Danger in the Club and 180?

SF: The way that we wrote the songs are always different between every song, but it’s relatively the same process. We really said to each other to keep it young, to keep it sounding like music for our age. We’re not trying to grow up and write mature songs. That was the only thing we spoke about; we didn’t really talk about what direction we were going to go in ever. We just spoke about keeping it young and youthful.

VM: Because of the success of 180, did you feel pressure when creating the new record?

SF: Only internally, in ourselves. The pressure was trying to connect with each other again. Coming down and writing songs with someone you’ve been on tour with for two years is hard work. We never felt pressure from our fans and our label. Thank God we signed to the right people in the first place; we knew that was going to be a thing if we signed to a major label.

VM: Do you feel like the fact that the album was recorded in Wales has a reflection on the general theme of the album?

SF: I think so, yeah. The place was a very special place. It was kind of spiritual. It was on a farm, but the people that run it weren’t farmers. They grew vegetables, they had horses and cats and dogs. It was on the mountainside where the rocks were taken to form Stonehenge, the cliff there. It’s ancient land and sacred.

VM: Would you call the album tranquil then?

SF: It got us writing about London and what we experienced on the road. Lots of the album is about America. Although people may think it’s a cliché, we’re not saying how great America was. We’re just thinking about having fun with our thoughts. “Danger in the Club” is a very British song. It made us fall in love with the English countryside and what it is to be British being in Wales.

VM: Are you singing a lot of the songs off the new album here?

SF: Yeah! Even the ones we don’t know how to play live yet. We’ll be giving them a go, because this is SXSW. If we came back and played the same set again it’s not going to work out.

VM: What’s the biggest difference for you between festivals in the US from Europe or concerts in general?

SF: Festivals do seem to be quite commercialized over here, even though they are in the UK. They’ve still got the core campfire feel over in the festivals in the UK that I did love even before we went to festivals in a band. Over here, they are quite a bit different. Like, they’ve got a bit more investment involved. We haven’t played many though, but we’re going to play some more.

VM: So you guys are going to try and do some stuff in the US this summer?

SF: Yeah, we got a tour booked just now, a month long tour just after the album comes out. We’re going to go to a bunch of places we’ve never been. I think besides the tour, we got ourselves booked to play New Orleans on Halloween. I’m very excited about that.

PM: New Orleans is a lovely place. It still has that original feeling.

VM: What are you most excited to see while you’re here; are there any bands you haven’t seen before?

SF: We had a quick look at the lineup yesterday, but there are just so many bands, you can’t find anyone you know.

PM: We’re going to actively try to see a lot of shows from bands we haven’t seen or heard before. That’s kind of the whole point of South by. We’re going to try to catch Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

VM: What’s your favorite venue to play here?

SF: We like Mohawk. We’ve only seen five of them so far; there are so many. We’re not repeating any of the venues from last time.

PM: We’re happy to be in an actual venue at SXSW. Last time, we did a show at bicycle shop, and it was dreadful, so if it’s a venue we’re just happy it’s a real venue.

VM: Are you a barbeque joint or food truck person?

SF: Barbeque joint. Barbeque. I had the best ribs I’ve ever had a few days ago in San Antonio. We had just gotten off the plane. It’s called the Big Bib. They made their own sauces in the back, and we like sauces. It was really nice.

VM: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

SF: We are coming back to America in the middle of May. Buy the album; it’s worth it!

*Palma Violets new album Danger in the Club drops May 4, and you can catch them live at Shaky Knees in Atlanta May 8-10.

The Jeans That Every Woman Needs in Her Closet

Posted on March 30, 2015April 1, 2015 by Kate Foster

[tps_header]

Dark, Cigarette Skinnies

There’s no question that skinny jeans not only go with everything in your closet, but they’re also never going out of style. For this reason, it’s totally worth it to splurge on a pair of designer jeans.

We recommend True Religion and their Casey Low Rise Super Skinny Womens Jean. Want an even sleeker, but more comfortable fit? Try the brand’s Runway Legging in one of its darker washes. Wear them with a blazer on the job before slipping into something a little sexier on top post-work.

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SXSW 2015: Survival Guide x Vinyl Mag

Posted on March 30, 2015April 1, 2015 by Rebecca Smith

Emily Whitehurst is doing things a little different these days. After years of singing for the San Francisco favorite Tsunami Bomb as Agent M, she’s headed out on her fuzz rock solo endeavor, aptly named Survival Guide. We got a few minutes for an impromptu interview with her find out the basics about her upcoming album Way To Go, inspirations, and what she really thinks about SXSW. While you’re sitting in on our chat, check out her newest single, “January Shock,” below.

Vinyl Mag: You are one person, but you perform by the name Survival Guide…where did that come from? Why not perform under your own name?

Emily Whitehurst: Well, originally it was me and the guitar player. I play keyboards and sing. It was a two-piece, and then when he left the band, I decided that we had already done all this stuff as Survival Guide – we had a couple releases. I decided that I wanted to continue and possibly add more musicians as I go.

VM: So you just released a single [this month]?

EW: Yeah about a week ago. I have a record coming out May 15! I’m super excited and adamant to get this record out.

VM: So that’s just you singing and on the keys; you don’t have any guitar in that?

EW: All that stuff was from when my guitar player did his parts already. We wrote the electric drums together and put the guitar and keyboard part on it. So I’m not sure what I’ll do for the next record, but this one is done.

VM: How are you performing that?

EW: I am on my keyboard rig, and I have a trigger for all the tracks. It’s a backing track with guitar and drums while I sing and play keyboard.

VM: Is this your first time at SXSW?

EW: As Survival Guide, yes. I played here once as another band.

VM: Do you like it so far?

EW: Yeah, it’s awesome! I played a show yesterday, and then I have an acoustic one today and one tomorrow at the Big Picture showcase in the Blind Pig.

VM: What inspires you to make music?

EW: I definitely go through phases where I get obsessed with one or two records at a time when I can’t stop listening to them. Right now, it’s all female artists. I love the Haim record so much; I love Electric Lady by Janelle Monae, and I love Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey, which surprised me.

VM: After SXSW and after you put out this record, are you going to tour more?

EW: I plan on touring at least the West coast behind the record. I’ve actually been working on it. I have friends that played backing on a few shows for me, so I have a drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist, so it’s like the opposite of what I’m doing now, but it’s super fun. If not, it’ll just be me.

VM: Are you a barbeque joint or a food truck person?

EW: With a food truck, you have so many different options, and I love having a million options even though it takes me forever to decide. You can also get barbeque from a food truck! Food trucks are like everywhere in California. Speaking of, there’s a place in California where they can flash freeze ice cream in the truck…

SXSW 2015: Guantanamo Baywatch x Vinyl Mag

Posted on March 27, 2015April 1, 2015 by Rebecca Smith

@vinylmag Instagram: Thanks for the rain hangs Guantanamo Baywatch @guantanamobaywatch @theliberty #vinylmagsxsw #theliberty

“If a technical bass player were to watch what I’m doing, they would probably start to cry.”

Guantanamo Baywatch is definitely NSFW. Listening to their laid back, surf pop melodies in any professional situation would surely induce the uncontrollable desire to strip off that business casual pantsuit, find a bikini, and head for open water.

We sat down with Jason Powell, Chevelle Wiseman, and Chris Scott over some frozen drinks at SXSW to talk about recent collaborations, unique approaches to playing bass, and their new album Darling… It’s Too Late.

VM: Do you guys prefer touring on the West Coast or the East Coast?

Jason Powell: LA is my favorite place to play. We’re going to move there next year. We play the East Coast a lot. We always play up and down it a few times a year.

Chevelle Wiseman: As much as we can; we’re just from the other side so…

JP: I like the East Coast, too; we recorded our new album in Atlanta at The Living Room studio. We were there for like two weeks, we’re friends with The Coathangers and Curtis Harding.

VM: Speaking of, how was it working with Chris Harding for the single “Too Late”?

Chris Scott: It was cool. I called him the day of, and he said, “I’ll be there in an hour.” He had never heard the song before in his life and then sang for maybe half an hour.

JP: He hit it all in the first try.

VM: Chevelle, you kind of just picked up the bass and started playing one day; do you feel you’ve mastered the craft now?

JP: She is truly one of the worst bass players.

CW: Just for fun, I’ve been working with one of my mom’s friends who is a professional bass player (who used to play for The Go-Gos). She was trying to show me how to really do it, and I realized my technique is just like – no one ever taught me how to do it. So I don’t know how to do anything on bass, and I have to start back from the beginning. I can do some things well, but there are others things that I’m just the worst. If a technical bass player were to watch what I’m doing, they would probably start to cry.

JP: But the audience doesn’t care.

CS: The funny thing is that bassists here at South by, they look at Chevelle and what she’s doing on the bass and say, “how do you do that?” There’s no rhyme or reason to it; she’s just hitting notes.

VM: Your fans have been anxiously awaiting new music from you guys since Chest Crawl. How long did it take to record Darling… It’s Too Late?

JP: It took a long time. It took forever for me to write all the songs, and then we had to head down to Atlanta and record. Even after we got back, I worked on the album for another two months down in my basement, adding and editing shit. Then we had to go back to Atlanta to get it mixed and mastered. So it took almost a year.

CW: We also lost all the album art because my computer got stolen on tour, so we had to postpone it two more months.

VM: “Too Late” is kind of a slower departure from the rowdy stuff we’re used to with you guys – can we expect more of the same on the album?

JP: Well, everyone puts out a single that’s a fast party song, so we said, “fuck it; let’s do the slowest song we can do.” When we were listening to it, we thought it sounded the best.

CW: It definitely stands out as the title track, but it’s also the slowest song on the album. I think there are a lot more mid-tempo songs.

JP: It’s a pop album. It’s not a punk/surf rock album, but there are a lot of instrumental songs – but even those songs are more like theme songs for a show.

Do you guys still play house shows?

CS: Yeah, we played two yesterday! But they’re getting harder and harder to come by, especially in Portland.

JP: Yeah, Portland’s changed so much.

VM: Is this your first time at SXSW?

CW: It’s our fifth!

VM: Wow! How many shows are you playing?

CS: We’re playing eight total.

JP: But last year we played like 15, year before that it was more like 20. We used to play around three shows a day, but why would you want to do that? I get sick, and my throat hurts, and my strings break, and I’m hungry, and I’m sleepy.

VM: Who are you most excited to see, or what’s your favorite band that you have seen?

JP: No Parents, Natural Child, Sheer Mag. The White Fangs show at the Mohawk was so sick. We kind of grew up playing with them, so we’ve seen them a million times.

CW: We tried to see all of our friends that we’ve seen before but don’t get to see very often.

CS: And its South by, so getting to see your friends play to a whole new crowd and see how they react is really fun.

VM: Are you barbecue joint or food truck people?

JP: Barbecue joint. I hate food trucks. They’re always bad. They’re expensive, they’re terrible, you get rained on, and they’re slow as shit.

VM: What’s next for you guys after SX and the album comes out?

JP: Touring Australia and New Zealand. Going to hang out with some Kiwis.