“Is that what Oklahoma sounds like these days?” he yelled. Yes, it is. Held March 15-17, the first official SXSW showcase for Oklahoma bands, sponsored in large part by the Oklahoma Film & Music Office, went a long way to taking Sooner music out of stereotypes and into reality in listeners’ minds. From the Ramones-esque […]
Stephen Carradini
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Dam Mantle — First Wave
The glitch-heavy production only serves to enhance the feeling of life within the tracks, which is the first time I’ve heard that herky-jerky stops and starts have worked that way. The winner here is “Movement,” which I featured here. A symphony orchestra gets the chopped-up treatment, with the breaks and jumps only serving to make […]
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Noah and the Whale — Last Night on Earth
Noah and the Whale’s “Last Night On Earth” trades in the acoustic guitars and clever lyrics of previous efforts for big synthesizer hooks and optimistic platitudes. These tunes aren’t bad. They have solid choruses, good instrumental melodies and pleasing arrangements. All those elements are carried over from Noah’s two earlier albums. But there are bands […]
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Toro Y Moi — Underneath the Pine
This is probably why Baths plays piano now, Foxes in Fiction is suddenly a guitar-based songwriter, Neon Indian is collaborating with The Flaming Lips, and Toro Y Moi plays disco/funk. Yep, you heard that right: Toro Y Moi, a pillar of the nascent chillwave scene, has released a sophomore album called “Underneath The Pine” that […]
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Yuck — Yuck
But some people hype a thing because it’s actually really good. Yuck, the latest in a seemingly constant stream of “next big thing”s, has the music world all aflutter because the tunes on its self-titled debut are great. Yuck’s sound is a modern interpretation of early ‘90s indie rock (good grief, how was that almost […]
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Brianna Gaither — Love Is Patient
Edmond native Brianna Gaither’s “Find You” does that immediately, kicking off her brilliant “Love Is Patient” album with a bang. “Find You” opens with a pensive piano line, haunting guitar and a propulsive snare/ kick beat that creates intriguing tension between the urgent rhythm section and the casual melodic instruments. Then, her lilting voice comes […]
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Who deserves a Woody?
Yes, the Oklahoma Gazette’s annual local music awards are back, and we need your help nominating the best acts for the prestigious honor. Nominate up to three bands in any of the below categories by commenting on this article with your picks. You may enter nominations for multiple categories in one post. Nominating twice in […]
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The Mountain Goats — All Eternals Deck
It seems like a quibble to say that the songs on The Mountain Goats’ new release, “All Eternals Deck,” are great, but they don’t fit together. But if you’ve heard the mastery that is “The Sunset Tree,” it’s hard to not want that total package every time. It should be noted that even if John […]
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Monty Harper — Songs From the Science Frontier
In “Songs From the Science Frontier,” Stillwater’s Harper takes cutting-edge science research and explains it to kids in song format: phototactic bacteria, wheat genomics and luminescence dating, among other things. It’s a testament to his lyrical ability that it’s not only explained well, but rhymes. Talk about challenging yourself. With a project like that, the […]
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SXSW FAQ
Many are part of the Oklahoma Film & Music Office’s Buffalo Lounge showcase; some even answered this question for us: What are your goals and expectations for the event? The Pretty Black Chains second SXSW appearance “Just to do what we do: Generate some buzz, play some shows, expose people to our newer sound we […]