Music
TAO brings Japanese drumming to Popejoy
Aubrie Powell | April 22On their second tour in the United States DRUM TAO once again visited Albuquerque’s Popejoy Hall Friday.
The Aux
Music
Concert Review: Tank and the Bangas dazzle in Santa Fe
Colton Newman | April 16Before making their 2018 appearance at Coachella, Tank and the Bangas made a boisterous stop at Santa Fe Brewing Co., just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Tank and the Bangas, led by the ever fascinating Tarriona “Tank” Ball, gained a huge fan base due to their recent appearance on an episode of NPR Tiny Desk Concert as a result of winning the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest.
Music
List: Four female rappers you should listen to
Shayla Cunico | April 10As conversation increases around females in the music industry, the importance of female acts in hip-hop culture seem to increase as well. With the dialogue circling around female empowerment and the escalation of female voices, there’s no better time to dive to into the discographies of these four diverse female acts. Listen to the compilation of all the female artists on an Apple Music Playlist here. Songs can also be found on the Daily Lobo Spotify account: Daily Lobo Music.
Music
Fiestas brings annual fun to Johnson Field
Amy Byres | April 9As college students grow more and more stressed throughout the semester, Fiestas at the University of New Mexico comes around for an opportunity to blow off steam and dress up, according to UNM freshman Rachel Shiver. Fiestas started as a rodeo, said Chance Hoover, the Students Special Events Executive director. “When the University was founded, a couple years after that, the festival was a three-day rodeo, and it did include live music,” he said.
Music
Album Review: The Weeknd tightens up and changes tone on "My Dear Melancholy,"
Colton Newman | April 9Just over a year ago Able Tesfaye, known more widely by his super star persona The Weeknd, released his overly flashy album “Starboy,” the follow up to his Grammy winning “The Beauty, Behind the Madness” (TBBTM). With Able teasing on Instagram that he was back in the studio working on new music, the world waited in anticipation for him to release the first single. On March 29, Able posted artwork for what many thought might be his new single, called “My Dear Melancholy,”. But fans in London noticed a suspicious billboard that stated “New album from The Weeknd out now.” Accidentally put up a day early and tweeted by fans, the world was now just hours away from another full album by The Weeknd.
Music
Top Songs of March 2018
Colton Newman and Kyle Land | April 1In what turned out to be a surprisingly dry month for new music, March still managed to witness the release of several amazing tracks, from nostalgic pop punk to rap bangers filled with expletives. You can find all of these songs, as well as all the best songs of 2018, in the Best of 2018 playlist on the Daily Lobo Spotify.
Music
Column: Why contemporary classical music is relevant
Aubrie Powell | April 1When it comes to the arts, catering to norms can be stifling. Contemporary classical music is a little-known world that brings a variety of approaches to the creation of sound within time and space, and none of these approaches can be described as completely normative. Most notably, composers in this world are alive and able to interact with other intellects and musical voices — something that Mozart and Beethoven simply cannot do. To most, this may not seem like a big deal when compared to popular contemporary musicians like Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Kanye West. These artists are alive, if not accessible. However the world of classical concert music is plagued by nostalgia, where new music often slides back to include music from the late 19th century.
Music
Top Songs of February
Colton Newman and Kyle Land | March 31Here is a list of some of the best tracks the month of February had to offer. You can find a playlist of all the best songs of 2018 on the Daily Lobo Spotify page, Daily Lobo Music. Logic — “44 More” Not even a year after the release of his album, “Everybody,” Logic is back with the debut single from his newest album, “Bobby Tarantino II.” “Everybody” was a prime example of where Logic lacks musically, getting carried away with trying to make music with a message and forgetting about the music itself. Logic’s work loses its ability to entertain. Thankfully on “44 More,” Logic finds his groove again, proving he can move away from socially charged music to make something purely fun.
Music
UNM course studies women in music
Annie Edwards | March 29Female Voices in Music Composition is an ongoing course this semester, taught by Ana Alonso-Minutti, Ph.D., an associate professor of Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the University of New Mexico. This course, offered through UNM’s Department of Music, focuses on female composers throughout various genres of music, encouraging students to engage with content through readings, listening selections and films.
Music
Student receives composer award
Aubrie Powell | March 26As part of the John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium, Annie Merrill received the Scott Wilkinson Student Composer Award and her recent piece, “Torusot,” for flute, clarinet, percussion and cello. Born is Colorado, Merrill attended the University of New Mexico initially to study French horn performance, she said. “I’ve been a musician for as long as I can remember,” Merrill said.
Music
Music department gears up for 47th Annual John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium
Aubrie Powell | March 22The University of New Mexico music department will host the 47th Annual John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium from March 23 to 29. The symposium brings distinguished composers from around the world to campus. This year it is hosting a larger-than-usual number of composers, including Betsy Jolas, Cort Lippe, Hilda Paredes, Augusta Read Thomas, Hans Tutschku and Hildegard Westerkamp. To get an idea of the individual voices of these composers the Symposium has put together a YouTube playlist.
Music
Concert Review: Opener shines in Tigers Jaw performance
Colton Newman | March 22The mysterious Meow Wolf played host to a night of rock ‘n’ roll fun, with the indie rock band, Tigers Jaw. The band is currently touring its new album, “Spin,” and is joined by the female-led bands, Looming and Yowler. Looming proved to be a lot — like four electric guitars at once a lot.
Music
Concert Review: Red Light Cameras pack Sister Bar for tour kick-off party
Colton Newman | March 18Sister Bar hosted the tour kick-off party for local Albuquerque band Red Light Cameras and their guest performers, the Timewreckers and Jared and The Mill. Despite a disrespectfully low amount of monthly listens on Spotify, Red Light Cameras was able to gather a huge amount of fans for their opening tour performance. The opening band that stood out the most was, by far, the Arizona band, Jared and The Mill. Led by ultra-skinny-jean-wearing Jared Kolesar, Jared and The Mill ramped up the audience with a strong folk rock performance only topped by genre giants Mumford & Sons.
Music
Ten study songs to add to your playlist
Shayla Cunico | March 6A dark period has descended upon the University of New Mexico student population — midterms. It is easily one of the most stress-inducing, anxiety-ridden weeks of the year. To help with this, here are 10 study songs you should listen to in order to survive that last-minute study session you’re putting off. “Baby” — Reverse The Boston trio that includes Ian Kennedy (guitarist/vocalist), Jackson Cannon (drummer) and Mike Piehl (bassist) are the masterminds behind the unique sound that is Reverse. Released in late February, “Baby” proves to be an infectious love song that describes the simple aspects of being in love.
Music
Album Review: Basic, tedious tracks prevent Jaden Smith from making name for himself on “SYRE”
Colton Newman | March 2A lot can be said about Jaden Smith — but, in a much more real sense, not much can be said about him either. He’s the son of one of the most famous celebrities to ever grace this planet, he wore a white Batman costume to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s wedding, his sister had that one song a while back called “I Whip My Hair” and he somehow caused a stir when he cut off his dread-locks and carried them around. Seemingly following in the steps of his father and sister, Jaden decided to dip his toes into the world of music. On Nov. 16, 2017 Jaden Smith released his first attempt at an album, “SYRE.”
Music
“Turn of the Screw" opera to be performed at Keller Hall
Aubrie Powell | March 1Opening Thursday night, the University of New Mexico Opera Theatre presents Benjamin Britten’s “Turn of the Screw” based on the gothic novella by Henry James. Professor Leslie Umphrey directs and Kristin Ditlow, Ph.D. conducts the music for the dark ghost story. “It’s really ‘Downton Abbey’ gone terribly wrong in a way,” Ditlow said.
Music
Concert Review: Brockhampton lights up Denver
Colton Newman | March 1With the 2017 release of three albums Saturation 1, 2 and 3, America’s favorite boy band Brockhampton took a sledgehammer to the door of the hip-hop game. With their 2018 Love Your Parents tour, Brockhampton is shoving their faces through that shattered door to let the world know they are not going anywhere. The 15-member band first met on a Kanye West fan forum. From there, group curator Kevin Abstract built off each member’s strengths to form the now-famous group, Brockhampton.
Music
Palm breaks boundaries with label debut "Rock Island"
Ryan Moloney | February 27Craving a band’s next album when you’re only on the fourth track of their newest is a strange feeling. Rarely can a record be so instantly captivating, engaging, yet unfulfilling. It’s like the meal before Thanksgiving dinner; it satisfies you for now, but the real prize has yet to come. Rock Island is the best Thanksgiving lunch you’ve ever had. The record is Palm’s first full length LP through Carpark records, and their most accessible work to date - which is not to say that the band is compromising its sound for streaming numbers or festival billings. It's still littered with the abrupt time changes, frenzied drum patterns, and off-the-wall guitars that make their previous releases so good, but this record is a clear step forward for the band on all fronts and its most intriguing aspect is that it feels like it’s a sign of much greater things to come.
Music
Sports Issue — Baseball: Lobo players reveal inspiration for walk-up songs
Matthew Narvaiz | February 25For the players, it is one of the most important parts of the game. Some do it to hype themselves up. Others do it to calm their nerves and relax. But for just about every player, walk-up songs give insight into who they are and what they listen to. For the University of New Mexico baseball team, it’s no different. The Lobos, this season, have a wide variety of music choices from classic rock to old school hip-hop, to old Kanye and much more.
Music
Album Review: "Twin Fantasy" re-release electrifies a classic
Kyle Land | February 25When I first listened to Car Seat Headrest, I found out two startling facts: frontman and creative mind of the band Will Toledo possessed one of the most unique lyrical voices in rock music today and that he had released several albums prior to the release of his 2016 breakout release, Teens of Denial. Nearly all of the releases first came out on Bandcamp — which, of course, means that the quality of the songs often leaves much to be desired. What little investigating I did into his back catalogue left me with little interest in listening to anything beyond his second release with Matador Records.
