Since the homogenization of South by Southwest by the mainstream, it has become fashionable among music critics and self-anointed culture commentators to dismiss music festivals as passé. They claim media conglomerates, bringing bloat, have diluted the musical variety which could be counted on at SXSW to make it palatable to general tastes. These observers conclude that the principles of independence and community that SXSW was conceived upon have been subsumed by the now ubiquitous forces of corporatization. Coinciding with this sentiment is anxiety among locals who cleave to an idealization of Austin as a bastion of open-mindedness and creative experimentation;… Read more »
We compiled a list of special artists we think rule and labels should be paying attention to.
2014 was a wonderful year for music, but it was also a wonderful year for forgetting that it was 2014. With so many of this year’s releases wearing their nostalgia for musical eras past on their sleeves, it seemed easier than ever to pick up a record that immediately whisked you back to the decade of your choosing despite being less than twelve months old.
Even if you’re convinced that a band changing their sound is the worst thing that’s ever happened to you, it’s perfectly natural for someone’s music to develop and shift from album to album. But every once in a while, those shifts are so dramatic that the early work ends up sounding like it was released by an entirely different band than the more recent material.
Autumn is just around the corner, and that means one thing: it’s almost time to throw on your comfiest sweater and trade in the upbeat sunny anthems you’ve been singing the past four months for something a little more chilled out. It’s always fun to return to your usual favorites, but it’s even more exciting to add something unexpected to the playlist — which is why for this week’s Tuesday Ten, we asked our writers about ten songs they didn’t like until they heard them acoustic.
In this week’s Tuesday Ten, we’re exploring the connections between some of our favorite bands named after lyrics and the songs they’re titled for.
Long before we conceptualized idobi Howl, idobi Radio was known for breaking new talent before anyone else, giving young artists a chance when the mainstream wouldn’t give them a fair look. When we created idobi Howl, we decided to share that philosophy and give talented young hardcore/metal artists a bigger platform.
Birmingham, Alabama’s Erra are young and full of ambition. Taking cues from bands like Misery Signals and Between the Buried And Me, the band recently released their latest record Augment through Tragic Records and are looking to hop back on the road this year. idobi writer Alex Rudisill chatted with the band’s guitarist/clean vocalist Jesse Cash on the current status of the band.
Although somewhat predictable, Imaginary Numbers is a highly impressive five-song effort that once again displays The Maine’s burgeoning maturity and musicianship.
Panic! At The Disco have undergone drastic changes with every album, resulting in a distinctively different sound on each album – some will enjoy the change and musical exploration, others will frown upon yet another departure from the band’s roots.
