Wednesday 22 May
OKG Newsletter
Stephen Carradini
From Red to Randy
How did one of the most famous guitars in music history land in an Oklahoman’s hands ... and then go away?
Music
Stephen Carradini
Most guitarists play a six-string made of wood that costs in the triple digits.
Cello, goodbye
After two albums’ worth of cello compositions, Edmond music professor Samuel Magrill moves on to other instruments.
Music
Stephen Carradini
Although he’s a composer, Samuel Magrill knows a thing or two about stories.
Jazzed up
Think jazz is for squares? Then you’re just not circling the right spots. The American art form thrives in a progressive local scene.
Shutter sounds
For decades, local photographer Vernon Gowdy has shot rock concerts, images from which comprise his new book.
Features
Stephen Carradini
Hanging out with Oklahoma City shutterbug Vernon Gowdy will get you a boatload of stories about near-mythical rock bands.
Smith Westerns — Dye It Blonde
Packages 70 years of pop/rock into one fantastic album
Pop
Stephen Carradini
You know what’s often lost in hip and new sounds? Good songs. This is why chillwave was doomed. It was awesome, but who remembers it, other than a cloudy haze?
Emily Arin — Patch of Land
Baffling, awe-inspiring and calming all at once
Folk
Stephen Carradini
Many artists do what they do within a framework that’s easily named: pop, folk, country, metal, etc.
Buried Beds — Tremble the Sails
Some good songs reside on a conflicted release
Pop
Stephen Carradini
Buried Beds wants to be a charming pop band and a serious act at the same time.
These Magnificent Miles: On the Long Road with Red Wanting Blue
An adequate telling of a great story
Documentary
Stephen Carradini
Most bands give up. It’s rare to see a band put out more than three or four albums without any support whatsoever.
Unwritten Law — Swan
Do you miss rock in '02? You'll love this.
Rock
Stephen Carradini
You never really forget your first love, and my initial musical passion was turn-of-the-millenium pop-punk like Blink-182 and Sum 41.
No One Knows About Persian Cats
Eye- and ear-opening documentary/feature film
Documentary
Stephen Carradini
Did you know there are about 2,000 rock bands in Tehran, Iran? Me neither.
Lelia Broussard — Masquerade
Will soon be breezing through the indie scene with perkiness and wonder
Elbow — Build a Rocket Boys!
Mushy, mid-tempo pop tunes
Rock
Stephen Carradini
The raw attitude and stripped-down power of Elbow’s 2008 tune “Grounds for Divorce” make it one of my favorite indie-rock songs ever.
South spark
Oklahoma musicians weren’t great at the state’s first official South by Southwest showcase. They were epic.
Music
Stephen Carradini
The Non was winding down the first evening of The Buffalo Lounge’s three-day stand at Austin, Texas’ South by Southwest music festival, when a fascinated reveler couldn’t hold his thoughts in any longer.
Dam Mantle — First Wave
A weird, wonderful electronic anomaly
Electronica
Stephen Carradini
Dam Mantle’s “First Wave” is an weird, wonderful anomaly. It’s some sort of glitchy, electronic music, but instead of being cold and robotic, it’s vivid and full of life.
Noah and the Whale — Last Night on Earth
Folk band goes synth-rock?
Pop
Stephen Carradini
There’s one less witty folk-pop group in the world, and one more synth-driven pop band.
