Ester Drang 8 p.m. Aug. 2 51st Street Speakeasy 1114 NW 51st St. facebook.com/esterdrangmusic 405-463-0470 $3 The Boston Globe warned that the HBO documentary Heroin: Cape Cod, USA “will break your heart,” but Echo & The Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch must have liked the soundtrack. Hearing “The Greatest Thing” by Tulsa’s Ester Drang in the […]
Sufjan Stevens
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Oklahoma Gazette’s 2015 music year in review
2015 was a great year for music, and 2016 might be even better.
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Matt the Electrician — Accidental Thief
His entirely unironic songwriting would fit in neatly next to The Avett Brothers on a tour bill or a playlist. Artifice isn’t in his bag of tricks, which means that “Accidental Thief ” positively bursts with immediate hooks. Opener “All I Know” is a jaunty, charming tune that sways and skips along easily. It borders […]
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Son Lux — We Are Rising
Ryan Lott, who is Son Lux, is most often referred to as an electronic musician, but “We Are Rising” is more orchestral than almost any Sufjan Stevens’ work (especially “The Age of Adz”). There are electronic elements here, but to lump this in the same general category with techno is not only selling it to […]
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Paleo — Fruit of the Spirit
“Pharoah” is a morose wanderer that would be right at home on Sufjan Stevens’ “Michigan,” while the upbeat “Over the Hill and Back Again” sounds like something that Clap Your Hands Say Yeah could churn out. The fact that these tunes are back-to-back on his album is telling — to call it “eclectic” would be […]
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Luke Rathborne — Dog Years E.P./I Can Be One E.P.
You know, just another week in the life. If any of you aren’t very interested at this point, the rest of this review probably won’t help you. For those of you who are (like me) totally floored at this point, here’s the skinny: Luke Rathborne has a golden voice, a brilliant songwriting style that draws […]
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Colin Stetson — New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, among others) is of the last category, as his upcoming album, “New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges,” is a cerebral experience unlike any other I’ve heard. It drops Feb. 22. Stetson plays saxophones primarily; there’s one 76-second French horn suite, but the bulk of the […]