by Dave "Scout" Tafoya If you had given me the Cymbals Eat Guitars record after their show last Saturday at Boston University Central, I probably would have laughed and said you'd made some sort of mistake. Don't take offense just yet, their record Why Are There Mountains is a heavily produced, oft serenely languorous, oft slackerish and crunchy rock record that strikes a near-perfect balance between its disparate elements. The show that I and a few dozen others saw on Saturday, however, was quite a bit different from that. Throwing their dynamics [...]
by Dave "Scout" Tafoya Welcome to the cabaret of Joel Gibb. The Berlin-based frontman of the Toronto-based musical collective, The Hidden Cameras , has found what he likes best and made a highly efficient machine out of it. What does he like? Hooks. Hooks so theatrical they border on kitsch. Switching between showmanship mixed with operatic presentation of otherwise ordinary (if splendid) tunes, soft inward-looking balladeering, and Pleasure Principle-inspired new wave, Origin:Orphan , The Cameras' fifth album, finds them delivering non-stop niceties, whether you want them or not. The songs [...]
( "Color Me Impressed" is a segment that addresses the question, "What's so great about those guys?" ) by Dave "Scout" Tafoya At first listen, or even second or third, MSTRKRFT (pronounced "Master-craft") appears to be an unremarkable techno act. Some things may catch the ear, like their rubbery bass sound that nicely brings out their rhythm. And, if you're willing to pay attention to some of their remixes, you can see something a little different about them as opposed to the myriad of other DJs in the electronic music world. But ask anyone [...]
by Dave "Scout" Tafoya 13 hours is a long drive anywhere. But by yourself, through three states, with breaks only to get gas, and you're looking at one looong day. That's what my drive to Rothbury, MI was like for the Rothbury Festival . It takes determination (or maybe craziness) to do a thing like this alone but that's really all I and a lot of the other press people at Rothbury had, determination. With the exception of the few people who could afford the VIP packages, those who made the pilgrimage to Rothbury have [...]
by Dave "Scout" Tarfoya I love Brooklyn. Drink terrible sample soda off the sidewalk, browse through over-priced records, mope around hoping to run in to Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear. Perhaps it's because I've seen some of my best shows there, but everything I do there just feels more artistic somehow. With that in mind, it's not hard to see why I thought the husband-and-wife team known as Handsome Furs put on one of the best shows I've ever seen Wednesday night at The Music Hall of Williamsburg. One thing's for sure, it was definitely the [...]
by Dave "Scout" Tafoya The Rothbury Festival is this weekend and were it not for a few names, it could almost be called "Bonnaroo North." Sun and jam bands abound, but the reason I'm interested in covering the event is the little bands, the folk rockers with no marquee value. To make it to a festival like this on the bottom half of a bill that includes Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson is no small feat, and I'm curious to know who we'll look to for our smoldering acoustic indictments of society in the future. [...]
Sam Roberts is a committed songwriter, someone who understands that timelessness isn't something you strive for, it's something you achieve through forward thinking, championing human beings, and using art to do good. Roberts latest release, Love at the End of the World , is perhaps more memorable lyrically than musically, with songs that transcend the moment they were recorded in and in doing so, achieve a sort of timeless quality. And you get the feeling that Roberts is grappling with his exterior and interior worlds at the same time. The tracks on LATEOTW feel like the [...]
M. Ward may be one of the few artists who truly understands the potential of a studio recording. Having long been regarded as something of a sonic loner – both in spite of and because of his friendship with Conor Oberst – Ward's recordings started off sounding like bedroom angst recorded through a tin can. But with 2005's Transistor Radio , the world at large began to see Ward had more to offer than his mournful crooning and virtuosic acoustic guitar picking. Finally on 2006's Post-War , Ward burst from his shell with a collection of Jim James-produced [...]
A new soundman every night. The members of Hoots and Hellmouth are drinking away the stress of the van ride from Philadelphia, preparing to take the stage at any moment as snow continues to pile up outside when Sean Hoots, one fourth of Hoots and Hellmouth and one third of its vocal harmony, tells me about the interesting sensation of baring one's sound (and soul) every night, not just once but twice. Once being to an audience obviously, but before that, before the audience even arrives, you have to do it for an audience of one, an [...]
(Editors Note: Recently, Between Love and Like added a new writer, Dave 'Scout' Tafoya , to our crew. This review is Scout's first contribution to us, the first, we hope, of many. Welcome Scout!) When an established band changes its sound – the size of the shift notwithstanding – they take a risk. They risk alienating an existing fanbase, they risk not finding an audience for their new sounds, they risk opening themselves up to new pressures, and they risk criticism from everyone with a voice loud enough to whisper. With this [...]
Between Love & Like
Clive Davis Cancels Pre-Grammy Party After Whitney Houston’s Death
Diplo & Don Diablo “Make You Pop”
The Weeknd – D.D. (Chi Duly Remix)
