[Oberlin: home to hippies and albino squirrels alike]For now:
Rilo Kiley - August
The Be Good Tanyas - Light Enough to Travel
Matt Costa - The Road
Belle and Sebastian - I Know Where The Summer Goes
I discovered yesterday that Radar thinks Oberlin throws one of the best college parties, otherwise known as Drag Ball. But last year they thought our ExCo's were bullshit, so I'm not sure how I feel about this designation.
Of Montreal and MGMT @ Hales Gymnasium 10-8-07
4 Comments Published by Kate on Wednesday at 10/24/2007 12:35:00 PM.
(more photos I took at the show here)MGMT opened the night and, as I'd hoped, they put on a great live set. Just a note: the guys in MGMT have the cute/awkward thing going on in a '70s psychedelic sort of way. Oracular Spectacular was released on October 2nd, and well...you could get it on iTunes.
See previous post on "Time to Pretend."
MGMT - Electric Feet [highly rec'd!]
MGMT - Weekend Wars [highly rec'd!]
Repost: MGMT - Time to Pretend
MGMT's website/myspace
Grand Buffet came on and went off, and then it was time for...Of Montreal!
...which turned out to be a pretty big disappointment. I'm fairly sure the balance was off during the entire show (the band showed up late), and Kevin Barnes' strutting across the stage didn't quite do it for me. However, they did play some songs from Skeletal Lamping (to be released in 2008), which made for the most energetic portions of the show.Of Montreal - We Can Do It Softcore If You Want (live, new song)
Of Montreal - Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider [highly rec'd!]
Buy Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? at amazon.com
Of Montreal's Website/Myspace
Labels: concert, mgmt, Oberlin, Of Montreal
Matt & Kim (and This is My Suitcase) @ the Sco 10-5-07
1 Comments Published by Kate on Monday at 10/08/2007 02:09:00 PM.
Somehow Oberlin’s various booking people (Becky, Concert Board, etc.) seem to have decided to jam-pack as many good bands as they could manage into one week, which happens to be the same week as Safer Sex Night.As for Matt & Kim’s show on Friday, I’m not going to talk about the first opening band, because I’d just end up being mean. So I’ll start the story a little later: I ran into the ‘Sco with two friends for This is My Suitcase, who I’d never heard before. They put on a pretty energetic set, and reminded me a bit of the Format. I’m not sure the two EPs they have available for free download (here and here) do their live sound justice, which is unfortunate. One of my friends bought their album, and I’m looking forward to stealing it from him sometime soon. This is My Suitcase hails from Columbus, OH, so they're like neighbors.
This is My Suitcase - The skin is the healthy part
This is My Suitcase - Not bones
This is My Suitcase's Myspace
No, the photo isn't from the Oberlin show, but they invited the crowd on stage for the last song, and it looked a lot like this.Matt & Kim rocked a lot more live than I'd expected them to. Around the time they played "Yea Yeah," I joined in the dancing, and the 'Sco was wild. There was simply so much wild energy in that room that it was easy to be consumed by it. The two also had great chemistry in their playing, and Matt seemed to enjoy telling embarrassing stories about Kim. It was pretty cute, actually.
Matt & Kim - Yea Yeah [alt link]
Matt & Kim - Silver Tiles [alt link]
Buy Matt & Kim stuff, or the single for "Silver Tiles"
Matt & Kim's Website/Myspace
I'm glad Matthew (of Song, By Toad) wrote about Cease to Begin so I don't have to.
Labels: concert, matt and kim, Oberlin, this is my suitcase
Vote for America's Most Annoying Liberal Arts College here.
Oberlin's profile:
(Update: I can't believe they didn't mention Michelle Malkin)
The line-up for Pop Montreal got announced today. Right now I wish I were Canadian.
Oberlin's profile:
Their grads deliberately make THE most annoying contributions to American culture - Eric Bogosian, Bill Irwin, Julie Taymor, Kim France, Liz Phair, Ed Helms, Josh MacPhee, David Rees, Josh Ritter, and yea, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It's a type.No mention of the Marxists, hippies, pot, vegans, co-ops, exco's, gender-neutral bathrooms, environmental studies kids, chronic overuse of the phrase "socially constructed," or conservatory majors? Please.
(Update: I can't believe they didn't mention Michelle Malkin)
The line-up for Pop Montreal got announced today. Right now I wish I were Canadian.
Oberlin College changed its admissions slogan from "Think one person can change the world? So do we." to "Fearless" this past year with a good deal of opposition from the student body. One of my friends came up with a parody video about the origin of the slogan for her final project for her digital film class, and I thought you might enjoy it.
An Oberlin Review article on the issue.
An Oberlin Review article on the issue.
Labels: Oberlin
Here's my funny story: 2 weeks ago, in my weekly downloading spree, I downloaded some tracks by a guy named Baraka Noel and began listening to them only to discover that this rapper I'd never heard of was essentially the long-lost brother of Immortal Technique. The lyrics alone, provocative, angry, and thoughtful, were worthy of the comparison. Meanwhile, this unknown rap artist had somewhat sophisticated instrumental backing - a lilting violin in one track and a bright brass section in another. Who was this guy?
I ran a google search (the solution to all my problems) only to discover that this amazing rapper was virtually unknown and... an Oberlin student. I swell with school pride.
Baraka Noel - Europe's Not A Continent
Buy The Mixtape Philosophies of Mushroom Black
Baraka Noel's Website (lots of downloadable free tracks)
His Myspace (four tracks available for download)
P.S. - Happy Passover everyone!
I ran a google search (the solution to all my problems) only to discover that this amazing rapper was virtually unknown and... an Oberlin student. I swell with school pride.
Baraka Noel - Europe's Not A Continent
Buy The Mixtape Philosophies of Mushroom Black
Baraka Noel's Website (lots of downloadable free tracks)
His Myspace (four tracks available for download)
P.S. - Happy Passover everyone!
Labels: artist profile, baraka noel, Hip-Hop, Oberlin, Rap
Yeah, I know it's a week later.The night featured several hip-hop groups and rappers from New Orleans, who opened for the Coup, and they varied in their levels of excellence.
To keep it brief:
Truth Universal were by far the best non-Coup performers
(Their myspace)
GPC didn't impress me nearly as much, but they were also pretty good.
(Their myspace)
Soapbox was not the greatest....
(Their myspace)
Onto the Coup:
They began their set without note, and throughout the show Boots Riley was hesitant to speak beyond his rapping, something I hadn't expected. The room was packed and hot, and while the music ensured a connection between band and audience, Riley made little attempt to connect with the mostly white audience. Silk E, filling in for DJ Pam the Funkstress (not even a member of the Coup) was by far the most charismatic of the group, getting the crowd to laugh by mentioning her high heels. Her efforts made "ShoYoAss" and "Baby Let's Have A Baby Before Bush Do Somethin' Crazy" some of the highlights of the night. "My Favorite Mutiny" was a little sad, because on the verse where Boots Riley raps was performed. "We Are the Ones" was Boots Riley at his best, along with "Get that Monkey Off Your Back" and "5 Million Ways to Kill A CEO." In any case, the concert warranted several re-listenings of Pick A Bigger Weapon, which rivals St. Elsewhere as my favorite hip-hop album released last year.
The Coup - My Favorite Mutiny
The Coup - We Are The Ones
The Coup - Baby Let's Have A Baby Before Bush Do Somethin' Crazy
The Coup's website/myspace
Silk E's myspace
(Buy Pick A Bigger Weapon from Amazon and/or emusic)
Give TGH a thumbs up!
