The Aux

Music

Concert Review: Vista Kicks rock despite subpar venue

Colton Newman | February 22

Four velvet orange sport coats, three creative band picks and one annoying audience was the breakdown of Vista Kicks’ latest Albuquerque performance Saturday. The Northern California rock band Vista Kicks made a quick stop through Albuquerque on their Booty Shakers Ball Tour to play a show at the mysterious Moonlight Lounge. To warm up the venue before Vista Kicks, local bands Eugene and Treehouse Basement both performed six to seven song sets. Both groups came with something to prove — and prove it they did, creating catchy beats and a warm presence.

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Music

UNM-Valencia celebrates Japanese drumming

Annie Edwards | February 22

The University of New Mexico Valencia Campus hosted a taiko Japanese drumming lecture and demonstration Monday, as part of the “Valencia Speaks” series. Dr. Julia So organized this event, inviting Anita Lee Gallegos to the Student Community Center at the Valencia campus to demonstrate traditional Japanese drumming, called taiko. Gallegos, a 2018 New Mexico Women of STEM honoree, is a physicist as well as a martial artist and founder of the Bushido Kenkyukai in Albuquerque.

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Music

Maxwell Museum hosts exhibit supporting refugees

Megan Holmen | February 21

The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at The University of New Mexico is taking an anthropological perspective on the current political climate. Now through March 3, the museum’s open-to-the-public exhibit, “No Hate, No Fear,” will focus on immigrants and refugees in the United States. Devorah Romanek, the curator of exhibits at the Maxwell Museum, said that this particular exhibit is part of a series that addresses contemporary anthropological issues that are in the news.

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Music

Music Review — Top songs of the month: January

Colton Newman | February 19

2018 is here, and musically it is starting off on a good foot. This is a list of the top tracks, whether they’re singles or tracks off albums released in the month of January. Migos — “BBO,” feat. 21 Savage “Culture II” is here, and it was not well received. It was just shy of two hours long with a surprisingly weak tracklist. But within the slew of messy songs, tracks such as “Stir Fry,” “Motor Sport” and “BBO” shine bright. BBO featuring 21 Savage is one of the best Migos songs to be released in January, its fresh beat lightly sprinkled with trumpets, courtesy of Buddah Bless and Kanye West, make this song an instant classic.

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Music

UNM Symphonic Band hosts Valentine's Day performance

Ariel Lutnesky | February 18

The UNM Symphonic Band, Percussion Ensemble and Saxophone Choir held a concert Wednesday evening. “There's always a few (issues while playing), but for the most part, it came together really well,” said Samantha Rice, a clarinet player in the Symphonic Band. The concert started with the Percussion Ensemble taking the stage, all holding various sizes of triangles, as the piece they played, “Escape: Sextet for Triangles” by Drew Worden, only required triangles.

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Music

HSC Orchestra helps UNM community stay connected to music

Aubrie Powell | February 16

Composed of healthcare professionals, students and community members, the Health Science Center Orchestra encourages those interested in renewing old skills on the violin, flute or other instrument they learned in high school to attend a rehearsal. Trombonist and biology Ph.D. student Tim Ohlert said, “This is my second semester in the orchestra, and my favorite part is the community mentality that we are all professionals and experts in diverse fields, but we make time to come together and play music.” The group is welcoming of new members as at least two new musicians attended this past Sunday’s rehearsal.

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Music

Review: "Black Panther" album proves boisterous and flashy

Colton Newman | February 15

One week before one of the most talked about superhero movies opens in theaters, Top Dawg Entertainment released what will prove to be a game-changing movie album. Disney, of all companies, approached Top Dawg Entertainment — home of hip-hop and R&B titans such as ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, SZA and of course King Kendrick — and requested that Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith and Kendrick Lamar curate and produce the album for the "Black Panther" movie. This proved to be a unique opportunity for a record label that has given the world nothing but quality music. With the release of the "Black Panther" album this trend continues.

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Music

Q&A: Cali band Vista Kicks looks back and talks future goals

Colton Newman | February 11

If you attended last year’s Fiestas at Johnson Field, you probably were drawn into the wild party that the Northern California band known as Vista Kicks threw. Just one year later, they are planning on making yet another stop by the 505 on their Booty Shakers Ball Tour. They took some time to give the Daily Lobo a quick email interview — answers are by the band members Sam Plecker and Nolan LeVine, written as joint statements. Q: It’s been close to a year since you have played at the UNM Fiestas. Between then and now, you’ve released your first full-fledged album and are set for a long tour. What other news should your fans be filled in on?

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Music

Concert Review: Walk the Moon provides immersive concert experience

Colton Newman | February 7

There is no other word that comes to mind other than electric when looking back on Walk the Moon’s latest show in Albuquerque. The unforgivingly joyous band made a stop through the Sunshine Theater to perform for a sold-out crowd of over a thousand fans Monday during their Press Restart Tour. Their name might not sound familiar, but their music is unavoidable. With pop hits such as “Shut Up and Dance” and “One Foot” constantly playing on the radio, it is hard not to enjoy the quartet’s infectious vibe.

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Music

Beatles tribute band brings the '60s to Popejoy

Timber Mabes | February 5

The New Mexico Philharmonic performed at the University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall Saturday night, alongside Beatles tribute band Classical Mystery Tour. “All You Need is Love,” “Penny Lane,” “Come Together” and other songs filled the air, as this concert, sponsored by Bernalillo County, showcased the music of the 1960s rock band. Arriving on the stage in matching black suits and their famous bowl-cut hairstyles, the Beatles imitators had the audience cheering on their feet before the music had even begun.

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Music

Career Issue: UNM Wind Symphony prepares for performances

Aubrie Powell | February 4

The University of New Mexico Wind Symphony is putting on a concert featuring Russian and American works on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Popejoy Hall — performers pieced together the show in the first three weeks of the semester. Professor of Music and Director of Bands Eric Rombach-Kendall hopes students can learn how to perform the music in a short period of time, he said.

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Music

Music Column — Greta Van Fleet: Reviving Old-School Rock n' Roll

Charissa Inman | February 1

Once again, pop music dominated the 2018 Grammy's with Bruno Mars sweeping up the 6-most prestigious awards. Alessia Cara and Ed Sheeran joined Mars as mainstream icons that seemed to go over-appreciated in modern pop culture. However, one category was absent from the mainstream altogether: rock.  Although rock has its own 4-award categories, making the late Leonard Cohen, Mastodon, The Foo Fighters, and The War on Drugs all Grammy winners in its own category, rock was left out of the biggest nominations like Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Aside from an awkward, rendition of Sting’s solo, “Englishman in New York” featuring Shaggy, and a Fats Domino/Chuck Berry tribute by Gary Clarke Jr. and Jon Batiste, rock was absent from the stage performances as well. That being said is rock, and roll, dead?

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Music

A Legacy Disparaged: Eminem Releases Worst Album of 2017

Colton Newman | January 28

Despite Eminem scoring his eighth consecutive No. 1 album, “Revival” is not what we’ve come to expect from one of the most decorated rappers in history. The Detroit legend and hip-hop icon has been known for being unapologetically himself, whether the public approves of it or not. With genre-defining songs such as “Stan,” “Lose Yourself," “Rap God," “The Real Slim Shady” and many more, we hold the most technically skilled rapper on an extremely high pedestal — and perhaps wrongly so. The road to "Revival" was an interesting, albeit promising one.

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Music

Music Column: Tribute to Dolores O'Riordan (1971 - 2018)

Kyle Land | January 18

We have only made it a couple weeks into the year, and already the music world has lost one its greatest icons all too soon. Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer and one of the main creative minds behind the legendary band The Cranberries, passed away on Monday at the all too early age of 46. Fans of a younger generation may wonder who exactly Dolores is and why she is considered so important to the genres of rock and pop. Make no mistake, The Cranberries defined popular rock music in the nineties, going on to influence scores of other bands for years to come.

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Music

Best Albums of 2017: Top 10

Audrin Baghaie , Colton Newman , James Li , Kyle Land and Eric Ng | January 10

The contributors assigned for this list, fortunately, all have vastly different music tastes. Each writer was assigned to include two albums, as well as listen to the suggestions by other writers, and contribute accordingly. The result is a shared collective view of ten albums in 2017 that provide the most evocative, genuine, and interesting listening experiences. Due to the nature of the collaborative piece, albums are not ranked numerically. Each record is considered a number one, so to speak, and are presented alphabetically with the respective writer credited for their contribution. Here's to a new year that's louder than the last.

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Music

Best Albums of 2017: Honorable Mentions

Audrin Baghaie , Colton Newman , James Li , Kyle Land and Eric Ng | January 6

2017 was, in almost every way, a calendar year, that occurred. Things happened, which was cool. Some things did not happen, that was also fine. The things worth mentioning though, the important stuff; that stuff resides on your phones, tablets, and desktops. Because 2017, in addition to being another profound year for music streaming, was a great year for music in general. So many artists are stepping out of their comfort zones, hungrier than ever to produce evocative music often influenced by the sociopolitical struggles we've come to be immersed in these days. We here at Daily Lobo Music are big fans of lists, calenders, and innovative music, so we decided to all band together like a tag-team squad of transatlantic Captain Planet music junkies and document what releases made us laugh, cry, jam, mosh, scream, wonder, and go: "oh dang, yeah I like that" this year. Here is part one of our two part Best of 2017 series: the honorable mentions that didn't make it to the top 10.

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Music

Review: G-Eazy appends lackluster discography

Colton Newman | December 30

If you’re in search for a meaningful record, one with compelling lyrics and clever word play, then “The Beautiful & Damned” is definitely not your album. Bay Area rapper Gerald Earl Gillum, a.k.a G-Eazy (not to be confused with talented artists such as Jeezy or Eazy-E), has been on a constant mainstream rise since the 2014 release “These Things Happen”, in which his painfully annoying track “Mean It” made a brief appearance on the airwaves On December 15th, G-Eazy then released into the world what is more or less a carbon copy of his last album. In an excessive 20 tracks, split up onto two physical CDs, Gillum covers familiar ground and gives little to no progression to his personal style or musical capabilities. With rhymes as simplistic as "look, cook, book, took" etc, one might think a 3rd grader was learning how to write poetry.

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Music

Eugene: Live at the Garage

Audrin Baghaie | November 30

As passionate as our local scene here in Albuquerque is, there aren't many bands that take the "less is more" philosophy to heart or, simply, a more chill approach to songwriting. And not as in a "slow-the-beat-down-during-the-bridge-clap-your-hands" kind of chill. More of like a cosmic intergalactic wave of stardust orbiting Alpha Centauri at the pace of your own soul's rhythm.. chill. Indie neo-soul trio Eugene is the closest thing to that daydream and they present themselves with wit and poise; an amalgamation of feverish melodies, slick licks, and lyrics that poetically illustrate the human experience. Filled to the brim with three musically-trained guitarists: - Emmanuel Catanzariti on lead, keys, and vocals: - Kendal Jones on bass - Marshall Broyles on drums The group re-adapted themselves to play whatever instrument was needed to realize a certain core sentiment. One that is, for the most part, channeled through Catanzariti's songwriting. 

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Music

Review: Swift's Latest Pop Endeavor Falls Face First

Colton Newman | November 28

In 2014, Taylor Swift released her hit-filled record 1989; the album went on to win a Grammy for best album of the year making her the first female artist to win the award twice. From the mesmerizing “Shake It Off” to the instant karaoke hit “Blank Space,” '89 was an album full of mainstream appeal; formulaic, but fun to experience. Moreover, it marked Swift's first whole-hearted endeavor into contemporary pop which went over with flying colors. Fans were ecstatic to see where Taylor would take her new music and, sadly, she exploited the bland commercialism we're all growing numb to.

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Music

Q&A with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala

Audrin Baghaie | November 20

Deltron 3030 is a reaction of ingredients, the result that occurs when the environment is just suited for righteousness. A passionate multi-genre producer, a DJ that doesn’t sleep without a vinyl player, and a rapper may or may not have a use for inhaling. The boys teamed up and made something out of the ordinary, a space odyssey: easily one of the most definitive records in the past two decades.  You can still feel the waves of their debut release from seventeen years ago, as it was the first science-fiction hip-hop effort ever, essentially one of the first concept albums in the genre at all.