Tag Archives: Run the Jewels

[Festival Review] Moments & Songs from Treasure Island 2015–SF, 10/17-18

DNP_5253It’s particularly sad to say goodbye to Treasure Island Music Festival. Not only does TI mark the end of the summer festival season, but it’s also a true breathe of fresh air from the oft-overwhelming mega events that have come to dominate the space. With relief from the typical pains of festivals –trouble meeting friends, overcrowded stages, set conflicts and the list goes on–we always walk out of TI refreshed and this year was no exception. Overlooking the San Francisco skyline, Treasure Island’s serenity never fails to amaze us and it didn’t hurt that the weather was pretty much perfect all weekend.

The clear-split lineup that highlighted electronic/hip-hop on Saturday and alternative rock/pop on Sunday gave each day a vibe all its own. Take a trip back with photos and songs from the two different, but equally enjoyable, days.

All photos by Dominic Powell unless otherwise stated. 

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[Festival Review] Life on the Incline: Sasquatch!, the Gorge and the Hill’s Eternal Serenity

17496069434_2c6a933028_oThere’s nothing quite like the sensation of sitting sideways atop the slope of the Gorge Amphitheater’s hill at Sasquatch! Music Festival overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. Add entrancing music to a background that no picture or piece of art could ever do justice; and, at that intersection, you’ll find the happy place Squatchers look forward to all year. The so-far-past picturesque backdrop sets the tone for the festival but, with arguably one of its best lineups yet, was a far cry from Sasquatch’s only attraction this year. Rather, the main stage’s slope served as the much-needed anchor after a dance party at the Chupacabra tent or Big Foot stage—a place to lie, head up or down, and absorb the collective consciousness of thousands of equally inspired concertgoers.

Music festivals have become such chaotic events and Sasquatch! is, certainly not an exception, but it’s that same comfort felt on the hill that permeates throughout the entire campground. No matter what you’re going through or how you’re feeling, the hill will take your emotional state to serenity, where it belongs.

18009447496_4d9cd9882f_oWords, photos and songs really can’t do justice to just how incredible the Squatch is but we’ve done our best to recap, from our perspective, the musical highlights from the 4 days. For those of you who were there, we hope this brings you back even if just a little bit and for those who weren’t, well, you’re going to want to be there next year after peeping our recap.

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Coachella 2015 – Must See Acts [TMN EDITORS’ PICKS]

TMNCoachThe spectacle and legend of Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival seems to grow every year and, although it’s certainly reached a critical mass at this point, it proves time and time again to be worth the trip. After breaking box office records for consecutive years, Coachella continues blazing ahead in 2015 with a deep, diverse lineup and some of their most ambitious projects to date including their largest investment in art installations ever. With the first weekend kicking off this Friday, the set times for Coachella were finally let loose yesterday bringing up the regular scheduling conflicts and tough decisions. To make things easier for you all, we’ve decided to lay out our top acts to see every day chronologically. We hope this serves as a useful guide as you prepare for the whirlwind of emotion that is Coachella. Best advice we can give you all: keep good company, don’t sweat (figuratively, of course, perspiration is imminent) and most importantly be safe. Hope to run in to some of you ninjas there!

P.S. We didn’t forget the Do Lab! You can find our Do Lab picks on the final page.

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[Hip-Hop] Run The Jewels – Blockbuster Night Part 1

Run The Jewels
Blockbuster Night Part 1

What a year 2013 was for hip-hop. Kanye, Cole, and Mac all released chart-topping albums on the same day, while others like Drake and Jay weren’t too far behind. However, one of the most criminally slept on projects of the year was Run the Jewels. Released on Fool’s Gold Records, it still got major blog play, but El-P & Killer Mike‘s first collaborative album was unable to penetrate the mainstream cycle. Simply put, these two are a match made in hip-hop heaven. El-P provides the most in-your-face beats the rap game has seen in a minute while Killer Mike proves his pseudonym to be true as he quite figuratively kills the mic on each record. Run the Jewels 2 is due out next month, but the guys have been kind enough to share the first single off the upcoming project with us. “Blockbuster Night Part I” picks up right where the previous album left off and if this is any indication, the sequel album may be even stronger than the first.

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Outside Lands 2014: 10 Acts to See Before 3PM [Event Preview + Playlist]

With the inevitable shenanigans that occur during preparation, it can be difficult to get to a music festival in a timely manner. As a result, its fairly common for festival-goers to miss out on acts that play early in the day. While headliners rarely disappoint, there’s something incredible about discovering an artist for the very first time during a live performance–a mutually beneficial exchange between artist and fan. The first few hours of a lineup provide ample opportunity to do so without compromise often producing some of the most energetic shows of an event.

Outside Lands is coming up on Friday, and we’ve decided to do our best to compel all our ninjas to make it to Golden Gate Park early this weekend by highlighting 10 acts worth seeing before 3PM. In creating the list, we found that there is certainly no shortage of artists, both established and up & coming, that we’re excited for during the first few hours of each day. If you can’t make it in early, don’t sweat, because at least a few of these bands will be headlining festivals themselves soon enough. Check out the playlist below and we hope to see some of you at OSL this weekend!

Day 1 (08/08):

Night Terrors of 1927 (Noon, Panhandle Stage)

Sounds like: Brooding, dark pop bringing together powerful emotions on either end of the spectrum.

’Night Terrors of 1927 – Young and Vicious’
’Night Terrors of 1927 – Dust and Bones’

Aer (12:45PM, Twin Peaks Stage)

Sounds like: A sunny blend of hip-hop, alternative rock and a splash of Sublime.

’Aer – Feel I Bring’
’Aer – Won’t Laugh’

Run the Jewels (2:15, Lands End Stage)

Sounds like: Hardcore hip-hop with counter-cultural commentary.

’Run The Jewels – Banana Clipper feat. Big Boi’
’Run The Jewels – Get It’

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Phantogram Talk Psychic Connections, Childhood Memories and Musical Influences at Sasquatch! 2014 [TMN Exclusive Interview]

Phantogram1

PHANTOGRAM
Black Out Days

Experimental-pop duo Phantogram have continued their incredible run of the last few years with the February release of their second album, Voicesa project incepted in the midst of a seemingly never-ending string of quality sold-out shows and festival appearances. Band members Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel have a knack for melding deeply emotional undertones with euphoric melodies and hip-hop inspired rhythms resulting in a larger-than-life sound. Nowhere is this style more pronounced and evolved than on Voices, their major label debut, which serves as an organic progression that takes their music to a new level of intensity.

I was lucky enough to sit down with Josh and Sarah shortly before their performance at this year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival to learn about their journey thus far. Phantogram’s show at the Gorge’s Bigfoot Stage truly embodied their collaborative artistic growth with a perfectly synced, powerful and mesmerizing experience. Check out the conversation below and make sure to catch Phantogram on one of their upcoming tour dates–it’s definitely not a show you will want to miss.

TMN: I know that you two have known each other since middle school, growing up together in New York. Were you guys already involved in playing music at all back then? Was there any indication that you might be in a band when you were older, or was that not at all in your minds yet? 

Josh: When I was a teenager, I was just really into skateboarding a lot. I was skate or die. Music was always a huge part of my life, and when I think back at growing up, I didn’t make music or anything, but I was always kind of writing songs in my head and thinking up beats. When I wasn’t skating around with headphones on, I was always kind of making beats in my head. So I should’ve known better that maybe I would start doing it, but music came into my life later. When I was in my late teens/early twenties was when I got really into it. I learned how to play guitar, drums and piano.

Sarah: For me, it was the same kind of idea. When I was a kid, I would always sing along to songs, but I didn’t think that I was going to sing. And not even close to being in a band and writing, producing and creating music until Josh and I met up together.

TMN: Does having that friendship for such a long time play a large role in your dynamic as musicians? 

Josh: Yeah, I mean, we are like brother and sister. And kind of like psychic twins artistically and emotionally too, which has a huge role in how we make music because we’re very connected and in-tune with each other’s emotions and experiences in life. Without that, I don’t think we’d make music that is so personal and emotional. I really do think that our music has a certain emotion behind it that would be lacking if we weren’t so connected.

TMN: Talk a bit about the formation of the band because I know you both were working on some music of your own at the time you joined forces, and had a band under a different name at first. How did Phantogram come to fruition?

Josh: I was playing in a band with my brother in New York and then I decided I just wanted to work on my solo career, which was basically working on my own stuff at home. Sarah and I started hanging out a lot when I moved from NYC to upstate New York, closer to where we grew up. She had finished college and came back to our home area and I was playing her a lot of my demos and solo stuff. I just asked her if she wanted to sing on some of them and she did and I think we kind of looked at each other and were like, “this sounds awesome. let’s start a band.” And then we just did it. Continue reading

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