The Beautiful Mind It’s commonplace for unsigned rappers to keep throwing out free releases on the mixtape circuit for months or years while hyping up their eventual (and, they hope, major label) proper debut album. Baltimore’s Skarr Akbar is no exception, but he’s taken the practice to an unusual extreme, touting the forthcoming album...
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Oxes bein' rowdy. Back in April, we got word of two 12-inch singles, titled “Crunchy Zest” and “Orange Jewelryist,” released in Europe by math-metalheads Oxes. The band also announced some European tour dates, and then we didn’t hear much of anything. No American release for the 12-inches and no stateside, let alone hometown, shows....
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By Stephen Poff The name doesn’t come from the phrase: “You don’t know Jack!” It’s an acronym from the first letter of each player’s name. But these knockout young performers may relish the association. After all, they’ve made it their game to advocate challenging repertoire: stuff that’s hard to play and sometimes hard for...
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Going out on a high note The local post-hardcore heroes Double Dagger are calling it quits, according to a statement on the band’s site. “As the band got older and grew and changed, the people in it did too, and our individual lives are pulling us towards other pursuits,” the statement, signed by all...
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Riding the rides A roller coaster ride would be a temptingly lazy metaphor to describe either the soft-loud dynamics of Wye Oak’s songs or the runaway success the Baltimore duo’s third full-length Civilian has enjoyed since its release in March. But the new video for “Holy Holy,” directed by Jeremy Johnstone, features the members...
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"Beach" The plot of the music video for the new Future Islands song, “Balance,” is fairly simple: two love-struck kids thumb rides with little more than a sign that reads “Beach.” But in the same way, say, the Smashing Pumpkins’ video for “1979” was able to capture the doldrums of being a teenager in...
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