Daily Loaf

Formerly bearded weirdo Devendra Banhart releases another album of strange folk with What Will We Be (Reprise). Problem is, his major label debut sounds overproduced and commercialized, with none of the organic charm of previous albums. It’s an unfocused grab bag of tracks ranging from Banhart as R&B crooner on “Baby,” to Banhart as Cut Copy-inspired DJ on “16^th and Valencia, Roxy Music.”

“Can’t Help but Smiling,” though, has the refreshing, invigorating feeling of waking up after a mid-day nap. It’s a lively, tropical folk song with Spanish undertones. Depressingly, the production tarnishes the tune with a sheen that wouldn’t be out of place in a commercial for Levi’s or iPod, or some other corporation trying to lure in a hip demographic. The appeal of previous Banhart albums were their lo-fi intimacy. Who wants a musically airbrushed folk singer? Read the rest of this entry »

“mc chris” does not capitalize his handle. Googling him, I found he is pretty adamant about it. He also doesn’t even capitalize song titles. [Photo courtesy of mc chris' myspace.]

Whereas some bands put on lackluster performances and call their concerts “shows” for the sake of monosyllabic brevity, I Fight Dragons put on a spectacle of a performance worthy of the term “show.”

The band started off as any good mixtape should — with a fast paced, hit-‘em-with-the-best-you-got opener, “Don’t You.” The song set the tone by showing the band’s appreciation of musicianship as well as showmanship.

As clips from Metroid and Super Mario Bros. were projected on the wall behind them, I Fight Dragons showed they could write catchy pop songs with selections like “No One Likes Superman Anymore.” On “The Faster the Treadmill…,” the band sounded surprisingly like Owen, a side project of Mike Kinsella with similar electronic noodling and emotional lyrics. Read the rest of this entry »

Your enjoyment of Raditude is entirely dependent on your feelings about Weezer’s brand of pop music — sing-a-longs, whoa-OH choruses, and inane lyrics that you can’t get seem to get out of your head.

Lead singer-songwriter Rivers Cuomo seems to have given up on writing the sort of lyrics he did back on Pinkerton, an album cherished by many Weezer fans for its self-reflective, interesting verses. Now, listeners are stuck with songs that come off as jokes.

Take “Can’t Stop Partyin’,” which features the studio work of well-known hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri (Jay-Z, Usher) and guest vocals by, of all people, NOLA rap artist Lil Wayne. In the track, Cuomo sings about how much he loves Patrón and jewels, pretty girls and “bottles of the Goose.” It’s hard to reconcile the lyrics with their creator, a skinny, nerdy Harvard English graduate. The opening single, “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” is similarly simple-minded and features such oy-inducing lyrics as “I swear it’s true / without you / my heart is blue.” Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever heard the creaky noise an unoiled door makes when it’s opened, or the screeching sound of violin strings rubbing against a chalkboard? That’s what most of Sufjan Stevens‘ new album sounds like — jarring and harsh.

Run Rabbit Run recycles material from 2001’s Enjoy Your Rabbit. The new album, arranged by assorted New York composers and played by the quartet Osso, consists of string versions of the songs from Enjoy Your Rabbit.

I’m not sure why this album is released under Sufjan Stevens’ name instead of Osso’s since it’s essentially an album of remixes, but I do know that certain sounds — like the violins, which sound like they’re being played by toddlers at a music store — are obnoxious. Osso’s string players, the same who worked so elegantly on Stevens’ 2005 album, Illinoise, bring a discordant and grating feel to the album. Read the rest of this entry »

Submission#7: Evan Tokarz | My USF Tampa: “Thanks, Teach”

Evan Tokarz
USF Tampa
Junior, Journalism (News/Editorial)
20, Lutz
My USF is: “The professors who teach me about myself and the world.”

For Evan, the most memorable aspect of his college experience was — wait for it — the education! And as an old-school kind of guy, he decided not to go the video route to sum up that experience but instead reported on it the old-fashioned way — in writing. Read his essay, below, about four favorite professors, and listen to his audio slide show about them, with photos by Rebecca Wainright.

Everybody seems to have favorite teachers. For me, it’s been USF’s teachers of liberal arts. Although I had one English teacher who mocked me for reading books in class — really — for the most part I’ve had good luck with people on the humanities side of the academic fence. Read the rest of this entry »

Attention bachelors and bachelorettes! I have discovered a fast, tasty alternative to Ramen and microwaved frozen food. And all you need is a toaster oven.

The toaster oven is the intersection between the tastiness of oven-cooked food and the speed of a microwave. It cooks like an oven, with temperatures and broiling settings, but there’s none of that annoying pre-heating business. I don’t know about you, beautiful reader, but I hate having to wait. The toaster oven fulfills my laziness since the only steps are: 1: put food in oven, 2: set the temperature, 3: come back. And like a microwave, you can just set the timer and come back when it dings. Unlike a microwave, it doesn’t zap the flavor. Toaster oven food just tastes right.

My specialty is pizza bagels. And they are amazingly easy to make–all you need are bagels, pizza sauce, and cheese (recipe after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

As a sometime member of Broken Social Scene and Stars, Amy Millan has never had to step into the limelight completely. In BSS, the vocals of Emily Haines and Leslie Feist often overshadow Millan’s own. And in Stars, she shares center stage with singer Torquil Campbell.

Masters of the Burial, Millan’s second solo effort and follow-up to 2006’s Honey of the Tombs, proves Millan is a good anchor. She evokes a pleasant, welcoming vibe, and her delicate, honey-throated vocals paired with subtle strings contributes to the album’s overall intimate feel.

On the opener, “Bruised Ghosts,” Millan coos “Ghosts weren’t meant/For bleedin’,” and she employs some of the literary aspirations of Stars on “Lost Compass” with lyrics like “Your mouth on my mouth/A fire I just can’t put out.” Read the rest of this entry »

Three bands, one out-of-towner and two locals, hit the standing-room stage at New World Brewery last night (Wednesday, October 7). And even if Will Quinlan wasn’t a fan of the humidity, his band showed promise. “But wait!” you say, “I didn’t hear about a Will Quinlan and the Diviners show.” That’s because Quinlan was playing with a new Diviners side project, The Holy Slow Train [pictured below; all photos by elawgrrl].

Among the palm trees and Pilsners, Holy Slow Train played a series of numbers the audience seemed to enjoy. Although indie-rock crowds are usually full of people that could pass for statues, fans in the pit of New World were freely swaying and moving to the group’s music despite the heat. Read the rest of this entry »

Doug Martsch – lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of Built To Spill – helms There Is No Enemy as skillfully as previous albums.

The new album, the band’s seventh and first since 2006’s You In Reverse, continues the Built To Spill tradition of producing catchy, guitar-driven alt rock composed of fractured melodies and plenty of guitar soloing.

People who complain that the band is too obtuse find evidence in There Is No Enemy with the opening song, “Aisle 13,” and verses like “One day I / Come home to find / Covered with ants / ’Cause you’re so sweet.” Martsch is above making sense – or even using correct grammar, apparently. But it’s not really important because fans cherish Built to Spill more for their guitar skills than their sparkling lyrics. Read the rest of this entry »