This year’s Coachella line-up has a palette for everyone’s tastes. Artists range from Swedish DJ and master of house music, Avicii, to the melodious, indie-folk band, Bon Iver. Genres at the newly crowned two-weekend festival include techno, hip-hop, indie rock, folk, blues, garage rock, psychedelia and electronic.

The sold-out festival has been catering to a mighty desert folk for thirteen years and this year’s line up recruited some of the best acts in music for 2012. AEG has definitely reached its golden hands into the pockets of the hipsters, gangsters and frat boys of the world. Anticipated closers for Coachella, which will be taking place in the thick of April on the 13-15 and the 20-22, include The Black Keys on Friday, Radiohead on Saturday and Dr. Dre on back-to-back Sundays.

Artists I have deemed as ‘must see’ are: The Arctic Monkeys, Cat Power, Dawes, M. Ward, Swedish House Mafia, M83, Neon Indian, Alesso, The Black Keys [Friday], Andrew Bird, Black Lips, Bon Iver, Feist, Grouplove, Laura Marling, Miike Snow, The Shins, Radiohead, St. Vincent [Saturday], AraabMUZIK, Beirut, AVICII, Dada Life, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Oberhofer, Santigold, Real Estate, Metronomy, Calvin Harris, The Weeknd and Gardens & Villa [Sunday].

Granted I have probably left out some acts that will hold strong the epic Coachella name and some acts that may encompass the power to single handedly destroy it- I foresee two weekends of rarely attainable entertainment.

HOORAY COACHELLA (I’m not going). Enjoy the crowds, the camping, the commute, the kick-ass artists and that clear Indio, California sky.

Full artist line-up:

Friday (April 13th, 20th)
Alesso, Amon Tobin, Arctic Monkeys, Atari Teenage Riot, Band of Skulls, Breakbot, Cat Power, Datsik, Dawes, Death Grips, EMA, Explosions in the Sky, Feed Me, Frank Ocean, GIRLS, GIVERS, Hello Seahorse!, honeyhoney, James, Jimmy Cliff & Tim Armstrong, Kendrick Lamar, LA Riots, M83, Madeon, Madness, Manchester Orchestra, Mazzy Star, Neon Indian, Other Lives, Pulp, R3hab, Refused, Sean Kuti & Egypt 80, Swedish House Mafia, The Black Angels, The Black Keys, The Dear Hunter, The Horrors, The Midnight Beast, The Rapture, The Sheepdogs, Wolf Gang, WU LYF, Ximena Sarinana Yuck

Saturday (April 14th, 21st)
A$AP Rocky, Andrew Bird, AWOLNATION, Azealia Banks, Black Lips, Bon Iver, Borgore, Buzzocks, Childish Gambino, David Guetta, Destroyer, Destructo, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Feist, firehouse, Flying Lotus, Gary Clark Jr., Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Grouplove, Jacques Lu Cont, Jeff Magnum, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasbian, Kaskade, Keep Shelly Athens, Laura Marling, M. Ward, Martin Solveig, Miike Snow, Mt Eden, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Pure Filth Sound, Radiohead, SBTRKT, SebastiAn, Squeeze, St. Vincent, Sub Focus, Suedehead, The Big Pink, The Head and the Heart, The Shins, The Vaccines, tUnE-yArDs, We are Augustines, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Zeds Dead

Sunday (April 15th, 22nd)
AraabMUZIK, At The Drive-In, AVICII, Beats Antique, Beirut, Calvin Harris, Company Flow, Dada Life, DJ Shadow, Dragonette, Fanfarlo, First Aid Kit, Fitz and the Tantrums, Florence and the Machine, Flux Pavilion & Dr. P, Gardens & Villa, Girl Talk, Gotye, Greg Ginn, Housse de Racket, Justice, La Roux, Lissie, Metronomy, Modeselektor, Morgan Page, Nero, NOISI?, Oberhofer, Porter Robinson, Real Estate, Santigold, Sebastian Ingrosso, Sleeper Agent, Spector, The Gaslamp Killer, The Growlers, The Hives, The Weeknd, Wild Beasts, Wild Flag, Zedd

10.“Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing” – The Wonder Years

For a band whose two releases on No Sleep Records have both come within the last two years, it’s amazing to see how widespread feelings towards The Wonder Years have evolved from an appreciation of a Philadelphia pop-punk band’s uniqueness to a downright obsession. It’s not just that The Wonder Years’ musicianship, talent, and creativity are all lightyears ahead of those of any other pop-punk band; The band possesses the ability to craft and convey stories in a way that not only allows the listener to relate, but also feel good about doing so. Suburbia only pushes The Wonder Years further ahead. This album has such a high degree of relatability that it feels as if you could have grown up next door to The Wonder Years, in on their jokes and protector of their deepest secrets. It’s the whole story behind Suburbia that really captivates the most, though. The album is a guide-by-experience progression through the biggest challenge of any young adult’s life: growing up.

9. “Strange Mercy” – St. Vincent

Strange Mercy is, in many ways, a simple reflection of the complexity of its author. It’s a pop album in format, with no track longer than four and a half minutes, but Annie Clark has a demonically seductive voice that is often hidden behind a submissive sigh, and she looks nearly off balance brandishing a guitar that she wields with a rock star’s ferocity. String segments layered with carnivorous riffs give the record a delightfully precarious bounce, and careful production saves the constant juxtaposition of milkiness and serrated adrenaline from becoming gimmicky. That coexistence is the woman behind St. Vincent, and that is reflected both in lyrical content and in Clark’s delivery on Strange Mercy.

8. “Wildlife” – La Dispute 

La Dispute isn’t for most people. They are dichotomous in nature and polarize listener sentiments between adoration and hatred. Wildlife is not at all a vague album. You won’t be confused or ill-advised after listening to it, at least on a literal level. It is exhaustingly specific, gruesomely dark, and full of enough raw emotion to overwhelm even the most callous of listeners. Lyricist Jordan Dreyer’s stories submerge far beyond what is capable with vulgarities or threats; His aggression and frustration permeate through each varying stories told throughout the album. The feeling after completing Wildlife, however, is unlike any other. After the emptiness and gloom dissipate, what is left behind is the impact of a rare album that captivates and engages yet frightens and frustrates. The type of album that is damn near perfect.

7. “The King of Limbs” – Radiohead

Where will Radiohead go from here? After each major release from the Brits who hate to use any genre classification more than once, determining what their next studio album will sound like seems as if it would require a logic puzzle approach. Checking off genres and ideas, Radiohead have been known to blend specific elements from their ever-expanding repertoire with new ideas to create an exponentially-more progressive record. But The King of Limbs feels entirely different. Built almost exclusively around loops and featuring next to no live instrumentation, the album initially feels as if it could be passed off as a Thom Yorke solo album. But upon your fifth or tenth or fiftieth listen of The King of Limbs, you will realize that this 8 track, 37 minutes-and-change album is precisely the direction Radiohead needed to move in.

6. “21″ – Adele

You are already familiar with Adele Adkins’ second LP. You many not have listened to it all the way through, but that is a choice that you made. You are aware of the record’s existence, you know how popular it was (and remains) and you know, if nothing else, what a tempest her voice is. You don’t need to be spat out the statistics to know that this is one of the biggest pop records that will ever happen in your lifetime. The point is, 21 has earned your attention, and if you haven’t yet given it your time, that is your own loss, as tens of millions of people will tell you. And if you’re one of those millions – if you’ve heard 21 – then extra convincing is laughably superfluous.

5. “Father, Son, Holy Ghost” – Girls

Sometimes, indie music can just be a pissing contest to see who can do the more outlandish thing that can be interpreted by enough people as fashionable. For Girls frontman Christopher Owens, that approach isn’t really necessary. Owens’ tunes are generally straightforward and chord-driven, but meticulously crafted to showcase the band’s musicianship and Owens’ simplistic, yet always personally resonant lyrics. And that’s the thing – chances are, Owens is nothing like you. He’s a former Children of God cult member with a thing for opiates, and he recorded a critically acclaimed debut LP (Album, predecessor to this record) in his parents’ garage. And somehow it all sounds like the bastard child of Elvis Costello and the Beach Boys. But Owens’ lyrical anecdotes are stunningly relatable, and that’s the beauty of Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Everyone thinks their own upbringing makes their problems and their lives unique, but there are always parallels as one grows up, no matter how strange that person’s background.

4. “The Rip Tide” – Beirut

The Rip Tide is the third LP from Zach Condon’s project, Beirut. The record is fairly standard fare for Beirut fans accustomed to the old world charm of Condon’s music, but to a new listener, this is one of the freshest sounds in the industry. Condon masterminds a nearly faultless mélange of strings, piano, accordion, percussion and horns that yields a distinctly baroque flavor of folk pop that is as cute as it is addicting. And it’s all a gimmick; Zach Condon is from Santa Fe, not Budapest. But all the quaint accents aren’t cultural statements defined by geography, like country music. Beirut is a project – an experiment.

3. “Helplessness Blues” – Fleet Foxes

Helplessness Blues is the least self-indulgent album of the year. Beyond the fact that lyrics are generally darker than those found on Fleet Foxes, singer/songwriter Robin Pecknold finds himself again in a state of inquisition and analysis over gratification or appeasement. This empathy pays off; Helplessness Blues expands upon their debut while maintaining all the things that made Fleet Foxes great. A record without a sense of escapist submission is rare these days, and so a record like this that gives plentiful opportunity to relate is a beautiful breath of fresh air.

2. “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” – M83

For being just one person, Anthony Gonzalez has quite the reputation for making some pretty massive things. Since M83′s debut album in 2003, each successive record has overpowered the last in terms of “big”, but after Saturdays=Youth, any stronger epical songwriting would most likely overwhelm or desensitize the listener. Although Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is a double album, it’s only 17 minutes longer than Saturdays. The approach between the two, however, couldn’t be much more dissimilar. To push past the reserved pastels of Saturdays, Gonzalez makes use of interludes to space out the intensity of Hurry Up, but the result isn’t what you would expect of a double album. Every moment, interludes included, is expertly crafted and with a purpose. Gonzalez’s approach is risky; it’s rare for any band, regardless of popularity, to release a double album without tragic flaws, but in this case, it’s the most powerful M83 album yet.

1. “Bon Iver” – Bon Iver

The sophomore album is the hardest album of a young artists career. It’s a response to all that fans loved in the debut, but it cannot be a regurgitation of material; the sophomore album has to build. It has to be recognizable as distinctly the artist’s creative output while serving as a meticulously directed compass for the continuation of a career. Bon Iver’s follow up to For Emma, Forever Ago strikes this balance with remarkable sure-footedness. Frontman Justin Vernon’s careful experimentation on the 2009 EP, Blood Bank, led to a delicate but thoroughly impactful catharsis on the self-titled second album. Bon Iver maintains the introspective honesty from For Emma, but ventures musically from graceful folk to a progressive ensemble of synth organs, strings, saxophone (courtesy of Colin Stetson), and even features double kick drums. The product is an extraordinary composition whose intricacy manifests both effortlessly and breathtakingly. Bon Iver is the nearly faultless output of a maturing artist not content with mere mimicry of a proven formula.

Happy New Years from Tastemakers Content Team!

It’s finals week. You know what that means? I have all my final papers, tests and projects due tomorrow. Have I attempted to conquer these beasts? No.

Per usual, I have concocted a disjointed playlist and assigned it one strict duty: keep me awake and happy. These two ideas seem to run for the hills on finals night. It’s important to note that there are two types of music I avoid when selecting songs and they include dubstep and sleepy-time rock. Dubstep will make me want to rage; so au revoir Skrillex. Sleepy-time rock will make me want to fall asleep in my library cubicle and drool everywhere; so long Bon Iver, it was nice knowing you.

People often complain ‘I can’t listen to music when I work. It’s too distracting.’ Well you know what? When you have three papers, a final and an entire documentary to produce in an amount of time that is suitable for only one of these things to be properly executed, frankly, music is the only way to stay alive.

Here are a few songs off my playlist “Sunrise in Snell”

“It’s Real”- Real Estate
This title reminds me that the time has come to buckle down and read the book I was given in the beginning of the semester. This 376 page ogre is no longer a figment of my imagination, oh no, it’s so tangible it could give me a paper cut.

“Tongue Tied”- Grouplove
Tongue-tied: something the sentences in my essay seem to mirror when I have no idea what I’m talking about.

“Better Times”- Beach House
They are ahead.

“Don’t Move”- Phantogram
This is my favorite song off the playlist and its title is something I need to take very seriously, especially when suffering from self-diagnosed ADD. I know you have $38.50 left in printing money this semester, Allison, but no matter how many pictures you print of cats dressed as U.S. presidents your essay still isn’t getting done- but it’s still funny.

“Daydream”- Youth Lagoon
Why is the boy sitting in front of me riding a unicorn? Why is it the year 2001 and I’m suddenly married to Julian Casablancas? Why is my Journalism paper coming to life and Bernie-ing on my desk? Wait, that’s just my mind running rampant. Thanks a lot Youth Lagoon.

“Nodding Off”- Wavves
Usually around 12 a.m. is when my eyelids want to droop down to the floor. With this song screeching with guitar riffs and occasional vocals by Bethany Cosentino, I might just stay awake (emphasis on the might).

“Dead and Gone”- The Black Keys
The two words in this title are two things I should be at this point. I’m banking on being at least half way done my work with the assistance of my buddies mentioned above. With the help of this song off The Black Keys new album, El Camino, my foot will still tap if it isn’t numb! This leads me to the next song.

“My Body”- Young The Giant
That’s right, body! You might look like Gollum from Lord of The Rings right now with your unnatural state of hunching but I will not give up. The cramps I’m getting from this cold, hard chair will succumb to the belting joy of Sameer Gadhia’s voice.

“We’ll Be Fine”- Drake
Self-explanatory.

“Desire Lines”- Deerhunter
In the home stretch, craving the warm embrace of sunbeams in comparison to the blinding artificial library bulbs and the last graze of my final paper. The library doors are my desire line and their silver lining may decrease chances of a brain implosion.

“Goin’ Home”-Dan Auerbach
The last song on this playlist represents the perfect situation: home, bed, sleep. The Black Keys may already be on here but this delicate gem by Auerbach is something that I will serenade (probably out loud because of my state of delirium) Snell Library with on my way out. The depressing twinkle of the guitar depicts defeat while the lyrics entwined with thoughts of home emit comfort. Finals- you may have crept up on me once again but for now ‘So long, I’m goin’, goin’ home’.

When my dad was 12 years old, he eyed his grandmother’s victrola and asked, “Can I have this when you die?” When the day came, he did not remember saying that, but someone else did; now there’s a victrola standing in my family’s dining room. Yet, between victrolas and Apple products are records, cassettes and CDs, which form a surprisingly prolific market. On December 3^rd, I set out to explore the non-digital music scene in Boston.

My first stop was Looney Tunes, at 1106 Boylston Street, between Hemenway St. and Massachusetts Ave. The speaker outside the store played “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch,” bringing back fond memories of sitting in the dining hall an hour prior and hearing the same song. The sign on the door announced the store’s 33-1/3 year anniversary and a sale of the corresponding percent off any purchase.

In the door and to the right was the section of “bargain rock.” CDs ranging from the obscure to Steve Winwood, Pretenders, Yellowcard, Kaiser Chiefs and Blind Melon were priced at 99 cents and $1.99. One of my original goals for the outing was to purchase some cheap music from bands I had never heard of and I succeeded with Seven Fathoms Down and Falling by The Green Pajamas, Smoke by Drivin N Cryin and Funny Day by Bird Mancini, a local group.

Then there were the 99 cent 45s, the 12” singles, and, of course, boxes and boxes of records emanating that wonderful, musty smell of old cardboard. Publications ranged from Panorama of American Popular Music to Legends of Punk to The Opera Quarterly. Tucked away in the back corner were classical cassette tapes and world music, including Gypsy-Flamenco, Scandinavia and “Rest of the World.” There was also a “sleazy listening” section; hopefully Xavier Cugat and Martin Denny don’t mind calling that section home. There were also cheap DVDs and videotapes; if you’re a college student, there’s nothing quite like a Harry Potter movie on VHS to make you feel old and a Frank Sinatra record to make you feel young.

Having spent less than $5 on three CDs and a DVD — Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream — I exited the store and turned left on Mass Ave. onto Commonwealth Ave. to arrive at Nuggets. The premise is the same as Looney Tunes: buying, selling, and trading albums. Music aficionados, typically older in age, might come in hoping to find a copy of something on vinyl they have been wanting, perhaps even something they used to have and regretted getting rid of. Others go to stores similar to Looney Tunes and Nuggets in Boston and Cambridge, hoping one of them will buy their record.

Nuggets has similar offerings to Looney Tunes but more variety in certain categories, such as their impressive collection of shows and soundtracks on vinyl. There were also a lot of comedy albums, featuring Cheech and Chong, Steve Martin, National Lampoon, Saturday Night Live and Joan Rivers. Other interesting facets of the store included Jazz Time and Off Beat magazines, Dr. Who magazines and a $2 bargain CDs section, which, falsely so, felt like a rip-off compared to Looney Tunes’ bargain section. Nuggets also has an online catalogue at http://nuggetsrecords.com/catmain.html.

Next, I made my way back to Mass Ave. and turned onto Newbury Street. I was hoping to visit CD Spins, which should probably update their website to reflect the “Retail Space for Lease” sign on the door of 324B Newbury Street. I instead moved to Newbury Comics, which is better known, far more modern, and catered to a younger demographic. The store is a testament to some continued interest in records in young people, considering the sale of Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga and Florence and the Machine albums on vinyl.

The record selection is only a small fraction of the store. Rows of CDs with neon orange “USED” stickers dominate the space.  I laughed when I saw a used copy of Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto, because if I had bought that CD, I probably would have also gotten rid of it within a month-and-a-half of its release. Suffice to say, Newbury had more in the way of dubstep and movie soundtracks than the other two stores. There are also a lot of non-musical items worth mentioning: spam lip glaze, the zombie magnetic poetry kit, garden gnomes flashing passers-by, medieval weapon pushpins and a shark bite oven mitt.

The highlight of my day out was probably overhearing a father sarcastically saying to his son in Newbury Comics, “isn’t that the book you’re looking for? The Justin Bieber story?” and the son responding with a barfing noise. I came away from the outing seeing the unique features of each store. If you want the cheapest prices for good music or VHS tapes and don’t mind doing a little digging, go to Looney Tunes. If you want the best chance of selling something or are looking to buy jazz music, go to Nuggets. If you’re looking for the newest releases, tacky decorations for your belongings or a kick-ass gag gift, go to Newbury Comics.

When I sat in my dorm room afterward listening to The Green Pajamas, a lovely psychedelic group from Seattle, I couldn’t help but think that someday, I will have a grandchild who will ask of my CD player, “can I have that when you die?”

Otis Reading’s crooning can’t be missed in the hook of the Kanye West-produced “Otis.” Kelis’ angry monologue featured on “Caught Out There” addictively loops throughout James Blake’s “CMYK.”

From hip-hop to dubstep, songs that we’ve grown to love due to their complexity and inventiveness are often just variations of throwbacks from past generations.  Unbeknownst to many, beat producers are hard at work in the studio mixing, chopping and reworking obscure samples from the early days of music to create new hits. A producer’s decision to sample another artist’s composition contributes to the rich underground scene of beat production. Providing a link between music’s past and present, where sounds of contrasting eras can intermingle with one another to create innovative and memorable songs for listeners to enjoy and appreciate.

However, music is facing a rising trend where the fine line between sampling another’s work and shamelessly passing off a performer’s composition as one’s own has been carelessly trampled. Some DJs not only capitalize off the efforts of earlier musicians, but also refuse to ask for permission to use the original work in their mixes, generating a material profit for themselves. A sour outcome is produced when these producers blindly use the original artist’s creativity as a stepping-stone while denying respect to the original musicians whose musical masterpieces have clearly served as influences.

Madlib, a prominent underground Los Angeles DJ, popularly known as half of the duo Madvillain, is known to sample an extensive amount of music from various genres to create his instrumentals. His albums, including the /Medicine Show/ series and /Madvillainy/, prominantly feature samples ranging from Frank Zappa to sound blips from vintage Street Fighter arcade games. Cuts like these have aroused the interest of many fans that eagerly take on the mission of tracking down his obscure samples.

Through the creation of a sample set, a list of songs and composers that an artist has sampled, a significant amount of Madlib’s samples were identified as un-cleared. In 2008, responding to threats of copyright infringement from industry executives, Madlib lashed out at bloggers from kevinnottingham.com for posting a sample set, saying “pages like this on the internet are no help at all to people like Doom, Madlib, and those that work with them.” As a result, the sample set was removed, as several websites and blogs faced termination or legal action for revealing his un-cleared samples.

For the most part, none of these samples would have been recognized if it had not been for bloggers, who diligently sought out the origins of the beats. Understandably, producers are entitled to feel that despite the usage of earlier samples, due to the time and energy put into creating their music, the credit truly belongs to them. But should fans and blogs suffer consequences because producers refuse to clear their samples?

“I’ll say that I don’t think they should be punished, but I’d have to question their commitment to the group,” said Andre Lira, a Northeastern DJ known for his project, Docta Jeep. However, when asked about the benefits of fans creating lists of an artist’s samples to gain more insight into their beat-making processes, Lira said, “I am in full support of that just because it gives the listener a glimpse into the creative process of the artist, and producers like myself love that sort of thing because you can easily learn from it.”

Ultimately, the process of getting down to a song’s “roots” and finding the original sample is enjoyable to many people looking to add another layer of complexity to their favorite songs. Sample sets are history lessons within music compositions; they are convenient aids for locating the original songs of samples without the hassle of manual “crate digging” glorified in the past.

Still, if there’s one essential rule of “crate-digging,” it is to always pay homage to those musicians who are being sampled, even if it requires more work to clear samples and involves splitting profits. Fans calling attention to the major issue of producers “borrowing without asking” shouldn’t be seen as an exception to the rule.

What I am about to say will make me sound like a jerk. I’ve had good friends criticize me for it: I don’t like (most) female singers. Many times, I’ve been listening to a new band with a great intro, when suddenly a girl’s voice starts singing and I’m instantly turned off. I don’t know why. I’ve tried to figure it out for years. I know one element is that it’s much easier and more fun for me to sing along to a guys voice, since I am a guy (although singing along to Passion Pit and The Format is a stretch sometimes).

It’s not that I don’t like women musicians, because I do. I think a girl who can shred on guitar or play some rock violin (I’m looking at you, Arcade Fire and The Head And The Heart) is a total badass. For some reason though, when a girl goes up to the microphone, I quickly lose interest.

But wait! It’s not the case for every girl. On occasion, a girl slips by my sexist music radar. I’m pretty sure Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” is one of my Top 25 Favorite Songs Ever. In that case though, it’s really just that song. There are a few female musicians that I not only enjoy and listen to on a regular basis, but also actually recommend to people. Here are the big names on that list.

Jenny Owen Youngs

The first time I saw Jenny Owen Youngs was probably one of my top three concert experiences all time. She opened for Jukebox The Ghost at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City. She was magnificent. I was blown away by how she could go from sounding so intimate to sounding so powerfully awesome from one song to the next. She’s also a total babe. I left that concert with one line stuck in my head from her song “Transmitter Failure”: “There’s a lot of words in the English language and I’m just getting started baby – we could be here all night.” It was so poetic. I went home and listened to all of her stuff and was hooked. She is definitely the top female singer I listen to, and when I saw her again live last year, I was not disappointed.

Mates of State

Okay, I’m stretching it with this one. Technically, Mates of State isn’t a band with a lead female singer. Mates of State is made up of married couple Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, and they split singing duties. Considering Kori sings at least 50% of the time though, I figured this could count (I made a point not to use The New Pornogrpahers because AC Newman does more of the vocals than Neko Case). Also, I’m making up these rules as I go along, so of course it counts. Mates of State is a simple sound of drums and piano/synth, and their voices carry the music. Kori has a really relaxing voice that actually pairs perfectly with her husband. The best songs are the ones that share vocal duties and chime in back and forth over the course of the song.

Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor has been a part of my iTunes library for a while, but I only got into her about a year ago. There were two factors that caused this. The first was a song off of Ben Fold’s album Way Too Normal. Overall, this album was pretty lackluster, but one song on it has become my favorite Ben Folds song. The song is called “You Don’t Know Me,” and it features Regina Spektor. It’s amazing. Go check it out now. They are a perfect vocal combination. The other factor that led to my appreciation of Regina was the movie (500) Days of Summer. The soundtrack featured two songs by her. After getting into the soundtrack, I really started getting into Begin To Hope. The album has a great range of musical styles and she takes advantage of her extensive vocal range. I’m also a sucker for good piano, and she does it well. I also feel like she could be a pretty impressive rapper if she attempted it.

So it wasn’t that extensive of a list. Technically, it’s only 2.5 girls. That doesn’t mean there aren’t more that I listen to, I just omitted them for various reasons – Feist because I really only like The Reminder, The Head and The Heart because of the The New Pornographers reasoning, She & Him and the Civil Wars because I like them, but not enough to make the list since they also hit the Mates of State category. What the list above gives you are the three essential female vocalists to check out if you are as skeptical about female musicians as I am. And finally, I would love to find some more awesome chick singers, so if you read this and have some suggestions, let me know!

White Arrows were kind enough to sit down with me after their gig opening for The Naked And Famous. The L.A based band easily claimed their territory as a band to watch with their beach infused electronic rock. Between the Hawaiian shirts, raw energy, and their down to earth nature, White Arrows won the Paradise over that night.

The White Arrows is Mickey Schiff (frontman), Henry Schiff (drums), J.P. Caballero (guitar), Steven Vernet (bass), Andy Naeve (keys).

Tastemakers (TM): I heard your cover of Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” which is totally different than the music you are working on now. How much have you guys evolved?

Mickey Schiff (MS): I don’t know if it is evolution as much as manic schizophrenia of being influenced by so many different things that so many different sounds come out.

J.P. Caballero (JPC): Sometimes your Pokémon evolves.

TMM: During the show you (MS) said you lived in Boston for a year?

MS: Yeah, before I moved to New York and made the E.P, I lived in Boston for a year. I was actually just talking about it because my dad was at the show tonight and asked, “Do you remember what you were doing when you were here in Boston?” and I do remember. I lost 50 pounds, I was emaciated, I had a beard, and I only biked around on a little BMX bike because I didn’t understand the T and I didn’t have any interest in learning it. But I would bike from Boylston and Tremont or around Southie to Paradise, The Middle East, and T.T the Bears three nights a week.

TMM: You’re brave!

MS: Especially on a little BMX bike that was built for a six year old girl (laughs). I’m six foot three and it looked like I was in clown school, but I saw some of the best shows I’ve ever seen while I was living here in Boston. I saw the Black Keys at this club (Paradise). The Red Sox were in the World Series against the Yankees and everyone was watching, so there were five people in the audience.  The drummer gave up and gave me his drumstick after they played. I saw the Libertines here too when Pete Doherty was still in the band so this is a big night for me to play this place.

TMM: What do you miss most about Boston?

MS: Pretty much this club. It’s hard for me to say what I miss in general because the people that I missed in Boston have since moved, but I haven’t been back to the Middle East or T.T the Bears. I would love to go back to those clubs. I was actually here for school at Emerson for a year before I transferred to NYU. I loved Emerson. The people I met there I have reconnected with when they moved to Los Angeles. They are all awesome, creative, but intelligent people.

TMM: The face painting in your video for “8050 (Too Fast Too Slow)” set the bar pretty high for your Halloween. What are you being this Halloween?

MS: I might go back to the face painting and become a Juggalo for Halloween.

JPC: I’m going to be an airline passenger in economy seating because we are flying back to L.A. I’m going to get a little blanket and get comfortable.

TMM: If you guys were in any movie what would it be?

MS: I would probably be in a surrealist movie, something that’s not so narrative, but has kind of a story like 2001 Space Odyssey, like El Topo or The Holy Mountain. Just like a 10-year-old boy walking naked alongside a Zoro looking character riding a horse.

JPC: I would choose something like The Cannonball Run.

TMM: How do you guys pass the time on tour?

MS: We are in an RV and we listen to a lot of music, we read some books, we play some guitar…

JPC: …we try to work out at the YMCA.

Henry Schiff (HS): Not all of us do that. A lot of just veg out and just stare out our thumbs for like 40 hours (laughs).

TMM: Who’s reading and what are you reading?

MS: I’m reading a book called 2030. Albert Brooks wrote it. It’s like what happens to America and the world in the year 2030.

Andy Naeve (AN): I’m reading all of my Vonnegut books on Kindle.

HS: My Kindle broke during the first tour, so I’m pretty bummed.

TM: What newer music are you guys listening to?

MS: We love Deerhunter and Animal Collective…

HS: I’ve been listening to this band called Wiseblood. We played with them at The Echo and they’re rad. I’ve been listening the E.P a lot.

MS: …The Black Keys and I’ve recently discovered Oberhofer. It’s funny, you listen to music after people compare you to the music, so there’s no way that you could actually be influenced by the music. Then you try to find the similarities that people are talking about.

TMM: What are you guys excited for this year, in general?

JPC: The Coming Apocalypse.

MS: The Olympics and for us personally, our first full-length album. It will be due out this year and it’s the most exciting thing to date.

HS: I’m excited about it! I think about it every night before I go to bed.

Check out photos from White Arrows’ set at Paradise!

The first Kill Joy Festival will take place this Saturday in Central Square, Cambridge. Filling a variety of venues, the festival will feature a smorgasbord of local artists, performers, speakers, and others.

What can you expect from this day? Well, a little of everything. The fun starts at Rodney’s Bookstore with artist Sean Boyce, musician Caleb Groh, and author Gary Braver.  That lineup doesn’t even exemplify how eccentric the festival gets as the next event at Life Alive Café features a tea tasting, a beekeeper, and urban composting, and, of course, there is plenty of music. T.T. the Bears will feature Sand Reckoner and Streight Angular as well Jon Palmer & The New Complainers, Birthdays, Comedian Colin Pugh, a film premier, and more!

For full details check out killjoyfest.com. The first two events are free but the but T.T. the Bears and Pandemonium books are $10 each or $15 for an all access wristband that also gets you access to exclusive acoustic performances by Streight Angular and Sand Reckoner. Sounds like a pretty good deal if you ask me.

On October 1, Tastemakers is proud to Present…Titus Andronicus and The Dodos with Javelin, 5:00pm in Centennial Common for free.  The anticipation has been killing us.

Titus Andronicus is the next big thing from New Jersey.  The indie-punk rock band takes its name from the Shakespearean tragedy and are self-proclaimed “born to die.”  The sophomore release of The Monitor in March 2010 brought the band wider exposure as Rolling Stone called them “one of the seven best bands of 2010.”  No Ripcord reviewed the album as one that “will grip the listener, carry them along on a tide of spit and blood and youthful agression, and leave them dazed and exhausted at the end, with no other option but to start the album all over again.”

The Dodos, an indie-rock duo from San Francisco, is composed of Meric Long, originally a singer-songwriter, and Logan Kroeber.  They’ve released four albums since their start in 2005, the most recent being No Color in March 2011.  Their breakthrough album was definitely Visiter, released March 2008.  Pitchfork deemed the LP as “Best New Music”, calling their live sets “astounding.”

Javelin is “a hip-hop and electro production duo” from Brooklyn. They also grabbed Pitchfork’s attention, dubbing Javelin as a rising band after their LP  Jamz n Jemz. The New York Times called them “a quirky electro outfit with heavy 1980s and ’90s R&B influences, it’s one of the most thoughtful, and promising, young bands of the last couple of years.”

Want to meet Titus Andronicus?  Enter the Tastemakers Presents photo contest!  For additional information, check out the event on Facebook.

A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University,  Pavlow now shares an apartment in Allston with his brother and a mutual friend.  His closet is full of khakis and work shirts, a Bruins jersey hangs on his wall, a pile of clothes is taking over his bed and two guitars sit by a speaker in the corner.  On his dresser, next to a piece of paraphernalia and can of Canadian Blue Beer, is a Vestax Spin D-Jay turntable hooked up to his MacBook.

He pulls up a program on his laptop that works with the turntable along with an iTunes window.  He drags certain songs to the program, adjusts the beats per minute and starts to mix and scratch using the connected turntable to control the songs he’s chosen on the computer.  For 10 minutes Pavlow, headphones on, bounces to the beat while moving his hands from his keyboard to the turntable with expert precision, completely absorbed.

‘€œIf you can put yourself into a different world with music, dancing or not, you’re not thinking about other things,’€ says Pavlow.

New easy-to-use technology is making the art of electronic music more accessible to people like Pavlow, who has two jobs and belongs to a recreational soccer league, leaving only enough time for DJing to be a hobby.  This is the same technology available to professional DJs, helping to merge the two levels into one community, one that must fight the constant criticism that using a computer program does not take the same skill as playing a live instrument.

While the lack of live instruments loses the genre respect, it does make the electronic genre unique.  Additionally, computer music’s main set of influences come from outside the U.S., giving it a ‘€œEuro-chic’€ appeal.

Maurice Methot, professor of new media at Emerson College, is an electronic music artist and has been since the mid ‘€˜80s.  He recognizes the foreign influence on the genre.

‘€œBecause it wasn’t coming from America, people could hear it without prejudices,’€ says Methot.  ‘€œSome of the weird stuff was more acceptable.’€

Not only can this influence be heard in the music, but it has also spilled over into the way electro concerts are performed, which are similar to the European ‘€œdisco’€ scene.  There are flashy light shows, slide shows of intricate images to go along with the music and dancers in minimal clothing.  Everything about the genre screams ‘€œparty,’€ so it’s no wonder why it has taken off and is dominating the music scene.

This sense of fun and, as Pavlow mentioned, escapism, is achieved by the daring and unspecific efforts of electro artists.

‘€œMusic isn’t about the amount of expertise,’€ says Methot, ‘€œit’s the amount of soul you put into it.’€

Important influences include Daft Punk from France and Deadmau5 from Canada, both of whom are now well known around the world, and they definitely bring the weird.  For example, these artists are known for the strange props they perform with; Deadmau5 sports a foam mouse head and Daft Punk wear robot helmets.

The unassuming nature of Pavlow’s apartment makes it hard to imagine his interests are so far-out.  He works as a server at Boston Beer Works and just started selling real estate; he also likes sports and knows how to play the trumpet.  The electro scene would seem to be out of his comfort zone.

However, like Pavlow says, ‘€œElectronic music allows people to personalize what they love.  No one has to limit themselves anymore.’€

Electronic music is especially exploding at parties and raves.  College-aged students and even younger kids are excited to ‘€˜get down’ at different venues that host these types of concerts.  However, what they don’t see behind the glare of the light shows, deep bass and flashy attire, is the long history of electronic music.

While there is no definite date of creation, experts believe electronic music started in the 1960s.

Martha Peabody, professor of sound health and vocals at Northeastern University, cites the musicians György Ligeti and Milton Babbitt as founding fathers of experimental, electronic music.  Ligeti, from Austria, and Babbitt, from America, both started with classical composition and then discovered electronic sound in the ‘€˜60s.

Soon after experimentation with music began, like Ligeti and Babbitt’s, technology became easily available for those who wanted to mimic the electronic sound.

For example, the electronics company MOOG celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2010.  According to a timeline on MoogMusic.com, in 1970 they created the Mini Moog Model D, a synthesizer  that ‘€œintroduced synthesis to the touring musician’€¦and helped define the music of the 20^th century.’€

Just as DJing technology is available to both professionals and amateurs, all levels of musicians used the Mini Moog.

Peabody recalls teaching at Salisbury School in Connecticut during the ‘€˜70s and using a Moog with her students.  The 16 to 18-year-old students were just as interested in the sound as young people in 2011.  Peabody says the interest was generated by the students’ ability ‘€œto create and find sound’€ with this new device.

Soon after the Moog and other synthesizers were created, new technology emerged that gave people more freedom and options while creating their own sound.

According to Methot, electronic music may have gotten its start in the ‘€˜60s, however, ‘€œit exploded with MIDI,’€ a musical instrument with a digital interface developed in 1983.  MIDI allowed artists to connect their computer to an instrument, which gave birth to the term ‘€œcomputer music.’€

‘€œEven in my experience during 1984/85, [as an electronic musician] you immediately identify yourself as avant-garde,’€ says Methot.

Around this time, the European influence on the genre was evident.  Bands from Germany like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk were major contributors to electronic music, according to Methot and Peabody.  However, as music progressed, American hip-hop artists also gained a major role in the production of computer music.

Hip-hop has created the ‘€œmost amazing constructions of electronic music,’€ says Methot. Artists like Public Enemy began ‘€œreconstructing [music] and putting it back together,’€ he says.  ‘€œRemix culture was 10-15 years before Daft Punk.’€

Public Enemy’s second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, is a good example of remixing, with tracks like ‘€œShow ‘€˜Em Whatcha Got,’€ which samples the song ‘€œDarkest Light’€ by Lafayette Afro Rock Band.  According to Billboard’s Top 200, Public Enemy’s album was the #42 best selling record in 1988.

Throughout their career, the group kept their remixed sound, but as artists like Daft Punk came on the scene with their original, purely electronic composition, it was clear Euro-style electronic music began to dominate hip-hop sampling culture.  In 2001, Daft Punk’s Discovery was #44 on Billboard’s top 200, while just a year before, Public Enemy’s Revolverloution was at #110.

According to Methot, however, this type of music is old news.  ‘€œDeadmau5, Daft Punk; it’s been done,’€ he says.  ‘€œMusic never moves forward, new technologies emerge that you assumed were obsolete’€¦ [but their] dominance will fade. The new-ness of the sound makes people over do it a little,’€ he says.

Every Tuesday night, the migration of 18+ party people to The Middle East for Throwed Indie/ Electro Dance party makes it hard to believe Euro-style electronic music will be a fleeting trend.

‘€œI like the chaos of it all,’€ says Throwed employee Josh Larson.  ‘€œAfter we set everything up, I generally sit back and watch people go crazy; girls making out and people [basically] having sex on the dance floor’€¦ no Throwed is alike,’€ says 21-year-old Larson.

As the opening DJ begins at 9 p.m., attendees definitely start to go crazy.  Adorned with shiny bandeau tops, tight pants, gelled Mohawks and some wearing only underwear, people start to dance in a huddled clump, pressing forward to the stage.  The energy moving forward is hot and intense.  Larson says when you come to Throwed, ‘€œpeople know you’re looking to party.’€

Throwed started in 2008 as another dance party called ‘€œPaper,’€ which was hosted at Harpers Ferry.  Once they switched venues and changed names, Throwed was selling out the upstairs of the Middle East.  By spring 2010, the party moved to the larger downstairs of the club, and continues to grow.  In January 2011 The Boston Pheonix cited Throwed as ‘€œBoston’s biggest dance party.’€

Eric ‘€œEmarcé’€ Marcelino of New Bedford is the founder and resident DJ at Throwed, which is now co-owned by local DJ Jellz and Michael Krilivsky, the owner of Red Blue Records and Lets Rage Clothing in Boston.

Marcelino says he started the weekly event because, ‘€œI wanted my own dance party where I was booking the talent.’€

The DJ got his start in a local band called ‘€œSex Positions.’€  After they broke up he started to put on dance parties.

‘€œI am me, I’m not copying anyone,’€ says Marcelino of his DJing style.  He does cite, however, influences like Daft Punk and Justice, another electronic group from France.

As Throwed continues to make its mark on Boston’s electronic scene, it is not without opposition.  A group on Facebook called ‘€œEnough with the THROWED pictures,’€ referencing the multiple pictures posted weekly from the dance party, bashes the event.  It has 273 ‘€œlikes,’€ or members.

One member writes, ‘€œ[Throwed is] just a bunch of freshman in college who are like ‘€˜whoa no mom dad and high school chaperones kewl!’ and dress slutty and all dance the same with sketchy gross guys.’€  Another user makes the statement ‘€œWE KNOW YOU HAVE BIG GAUGES AND STUPID “F*** OFF” KNUCKLE TATTOOS F***.’€  A term commonly used to describe this personality is a ‘€œhipster.’€

Those who work Throwed understand hipsters are their main audience.  In addition to embracing their critiqued demographic, Throwed also uses Facebook to help promote their event despite the fact it is also host to many who dislike the event.  Krilvisky is in charge of event promotion.

‘€œSocial networking makes s*** bigger,’€ says Krilvisky, but in this industry, ‘€œyou have to take charge, you have to make yourself famous.’€

Electronic music has been making a statement since its start.  It’s experimental and catches people’s attention, especially today as the genre becomes partnered with a big party scene.  What happens next, however, is unclear.

Edmund Campion, professor of music and director of The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) at UC Berkeley, is on the forefront of electronic music.

At CNMAT, student’s work to answer the question ‘€œWhat is new music?’€ says Campion.  Graduate students here work with ‘€œemerging technologies’€ and ‘€œnew tools,’€ he says.

One thing is for sure; music is definitely not going to lose its electronic influence.  According to Campion, ‘€œIt’s [considered] electronic if sound comes out of a loud speaker.’€  With such a broad categorization, it will be hard to escape the electrification of music.

Methot agrees that electro sound will continue to develop, yet he is not sure what direction it will take. He does have theories, however, that the computer will soon be able to ‘€œmimic tape,’€ which would mean it could create sound more on its own by using a series of random numbers.

As new technology develops, allowing the genre to progress, music will become more and more accessible.  The tools already available make this possible to a certain extent.

‘€œWe have access to more music now,’€ says Campion.  ‘€œWe are able to listen to music all over the world’€¦ [and are therefore] exposed to more.’€  In addition to music availability, Campion also recognizes that technology ‘€œhas made more people composers.’€

These ‘€œcomposers’€ encompass the emerging ‘€œbasement DJs’€ like Pavlow, as well as more established musicians like Marcelino.

They are the DJs who ‘€œlike DJing because [they] want to keep the beat going’€¦ [and] help people escape,’€ says Pavlow.

It’s music for those in the clump of sweaty bodies at Throwed, dancing to the point of exhaustion and saturation.

‘€œSo many people love to be a part of something,’€ says Dean Pasciuto, a Throwed employee.  ‘€œThere’s a Throwed family,’€ the 21-year-old Salem State Student adds.

A party-goer gets nudged in the back, but he ignores it and keeps dancing, staring at Emarcé dancing and using his computer to create the ear shattering bass coming from the speakers.  The DJ is wearing a bright bathing suit bottom with a busy pattern and a track jacket.

‘€œEmarcé has the whole Euro-DJ thing down,’€ says Larson.  ‘€œOn stage, you’ll see him jumping up and down, feeling the vibes.’€

As the dancers on stage continue to whip their hair and encourage audience members to do the same, everyone in the pit looks blissful.  The heat, sweat, smells and lack of personal space are all just a part of the genre they love.

We’ve all been in the crowd at live shows watching our favorite musicians play. But, when the tables are turned and you become one of the people working a show, it changes the perspective. It’s a lot of work to make even the smallest events happen. Last weekend, my friends and I helped run an event with three bands and three DJs that sold out The Middle East upstairs, a 200 capacity room.  Here are a few things we learned from the experience:

1) PROMOTE. PROMOTE. PROMOTE.

This is easily the most important part of making any event successful. Social media is an easy tool for getting your information out quickly. Facebook? Create an event and invite everyone, even that random person you accepted as your friend but you don’t actually know. Twitter? Tweet the details and link them to a website/fb event for additional info. Tell your followers to retweet so it spreads like wildfire. Tumblr? Post info and let others reblog it, possibly with an animated .gif for attention. The other huge help is FLYERING. Make a snazzy, eye-catching flyer in photoshop and get them printed somewhere cheap like Vistaprint online. We put up postcards and handed them out at college campuses & nightlife events all over Boston. The response from people was really encouraging and friends kept remarking how they frequently saw postcards all over the city for the event. Make sure people have no choice but to notice your flyers.

2)  Expect that nothing will be perfect.

Things happen and nothing will go 100% as smoothly as you want it to. Sometimes equipment breaks, the venue’s wireless network dies or a number of other possibilities occur. What does matter is how you handle problems. Always have a back-up plan so that when the unexpected does happen, you’ve got things under control.

3)  Spread the work out.

No one is capable of doing everything themselves. Someone needs to make sure the bands are all set up with their needs, another person needs to help the DJs, others are taking care of taking photos, etc. The more people helping out, the faster and smoother everything will run.

4)  Have a good attitude.

If a crisis occurs it can be hard to not act frustrated or stressed. Having a positive attitude really does work wonders. The venue appreciates it when the different people they deal with on a daily basis are courteous and willing to listen. Smile, be friendly and listen to others who are trying to help.

5) Remember to have fun.

All the set-up and preparation leads up to the actual show itself. Relax and take some time to actually enjoy the evening. If you create a fun, enjoyable atmosphere then the crowd will sense that and have fun too. Celebrate that you’ve pulled things off well and plan for the next one!