Tags archives: matt berninger

  • Halloween is barely behind us and yet the storefronts and Starbucks cups are already all geared up for Christmas. The holidays are still a solid month away. We still have Thanksgiving and the start of winter to get through. Let’s focus on the present and all the good albums that have come out instead of decking the halls in November. Based on the past month and the beginning of this one, it looks like 2015 is going to close strong. Releases have included Matt Berninger’s new project El Vy as well as relative newcomer Alex G. Here are some of our favorite releases of late: “Need A Friend” by El Vy For Fans of: The National, Menomena, MinutemenOff of the band’s debut Return to the Moon, “Need A Friend” is a great example of how The National's Matt Berninger and Ramona Falls/Menomena's Brent Knopf have combined two fairly different sounds together to craft a new, just as good one. Berninger is known for velvety, smoldering vocals set to sweeping instrumentals whereas Knopf is typically springier, stranger and heavier on the synth. El Vy doesn’t sound like either of those things, but it’s already a favorite. Other tracks of the record, like “I’m the Man to Be”, are downright goofy compared than their usual tones, which makes “Need A Friend” a good mid-ground to start from when getting to know the group.   “Josephine” by Frank Turner For Fans of: Frightened Rabbit, Admiral Fallow English folk/singer-songwriter Frank Turner has been churning out heart-wrenching, ho[...]
  • It’s been a great summer for music. Taylor Swift is on tour, both the Cobain and the NWA documentary hit theaters, someone finally told off Miley Cyrus and One Direction is going on hiatus. Joy. Although summer isn't officially over until mid-September, the steady drop in temperature and fading light make it feel like it is almost fall. Before the leaves start to brown and fall, let's look back at the season and all the great releases that came with it: 1. “Run Away With Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen has gone from that one girl who sang that one sort of creepy song that everyone loved a couple summer ago to a legit pop artist. 2012’s one-hit-wonder has triumphantly returned with possibly one of the best pop albums of the summer. Maybe even of the year. Her new record, E•MO•TION, which was released last month, has already surpassed the popularity of “Call Me Maybe” and her sophomore album, Kiss. It’s no 1989, but it’s shockingly close. 2. “Leave A Trace” by Chvrches In a recent interview with the Guardian, Martin Doherty of Chvrches told the publication that the band "could have sold 200,000 more albums” if they had “put Lauren [Mayberry] on the cover of every magazine." However, Chvrches didn’t want to be "that band with the pretty frontwoman" and chose to sell themselves as their full outfit. The issue of female representation has been brought up repeatedly this summer, starting perhaps with Sophy Ziss and Mariel Loveland’s Pixable article that animate[...]