Though we didn’t think much about it during the announcement of the Bonnaroo 2018 lineup, Day 2 of the festival brought us our biggest surprise of the weekend. Our excitement to photograph T-Pain made it so we ran past Adam Devine and Chance The Rapper to get a good spot in the front.
Do not regret.
Keep up with T-Pain here.
When you get the opportunity to photograph the little ball of energy that is Hayley Williams along with her incredible band Paramore, you take that opportunity and you run with it. Considering Bonnaroo took place over Los Angeles’ Gay Pride weekend, we were all about her style choices as well. Peep it all here!
Keep up with Paramore here.
We don’t care what you have to say about the incredibly diverse lineup at Bonnaroo 2018, because Manchester Orchestra was on that lineup and we never miss a chance to see them. Check out some highlights from their energetic set below!
Keep up with Manchester Orchestra here.
We started our Bonnaroo 2018 experience a day late to the festivities – the music and arts festival, now in its seventeenth year, took place on June 7th – June 10th, 2018 – finding ourselves joining in with the positive energy with a set by fellow Missourian Sheryl Crow. She took time to pay tribute to Tom Petty (before her phenomenal appearance at Superjam), and to point out that her music is older than some of the people in the crowd. She’s not wrong, but that just proves her lasting hold on generations and demographics to come.
Keep up with Sheryl Crow here.
In between walking on the runway for fashion houses like Burberry and Gucci, Ruben Pol finds time to create stunning new music. His most recent effort is “Bed Sheets,” and he has Tom Martin helping him on the production front.
Classically trained in an array of instruments, Pol’s vocals can be heard with their almost ethereal tones here, drifting throughout his simple and stunning electronic layers. With some brushes of guitar and piano peppered across to carve out a melody, “Bed Sheets” shimmers from start to finish.
Stream this single here.
Based with roots all the way in Hong Kong, multi-talented music group Blood Wine or Honey are currently celebrating their new album Fear & Celebration released on June 8th, by playing shows in Hong Kong. Consisting of members Shane Aspegren, Joseph von Hess, and James Banbury, this act ties in aspects of electronic, African, and dance style instrumentals. Blood Wine or Honey uses African drums, a wide variety of additional instruments, and trendsetting electronic vocals that will make you want to get up and dance to the music. When comparing the band to other musicians, there is no talent quite the same, so I suggest that if you ever find yourself in Hong Kong while they are on tour, you make your way to one of their shows to experience an electro-based sensation.
Keep up with Blood Wine or Honey here.
**Words by Aubrey Hanson
While Colorado-based indie/blues rock group Dream Feed – comprised of Miguel Dakota (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Ryan Wagner (Lead Guitar, Vocals), Will Gaines (Bass), and Brian Nolan (Drums) – is busy crushing it, they’ve somehow found time to create a playlist just for Imperfect Fifth. We’re digging the vibes, and hope you integrate this one into your “must listen” list.
“These are songs that inspire us to be more creative writers, performers, and musicians. And they‘re just straight up jams!” – Miguel Dakota
Keep up with Dream Feed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at their website.
I think it was 93 or 94, I must have been seven, we lived in an old mill town on the Willamette River, outside of Portland, Ore. It rained a lot. It was melancholic and beautiful.
I had my own CD player, I loved it, I painted it with glitter nail polish. I had two CD’s only at first. One of which deserves no mention (some Disney movie BS) and the other, Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles. I remember buying them at the mall.
Listening and playing music inside while it rained outside was a big part of my childhood. I remember feeling like my CD player and my CD’s were gold. They were sacred. I would save up my allowance and go to the Mall and buy CD’s. My brother was always trying to sell me things. Once he sold me a nearly dead Lizard, it died within hours of me buying it. But when I could dodge his tempting sales pitches, I bought CD’s.
My Dad was a classic rock guy all the way. He was an elementary school music teacher, and mostly a pianist. When my brother and I were young though, I remember him listening to music more than playing. He would spend weekends rearranging the garage or the living room in our old farmhouse, listening to Fleetwood Mac or The Band or The Beatles or something at top volume. Our house was always uncluttered and I was exposed to a constant stream of really killer music.
I was taught to worship the Beatles at an early age, but my choice to go with Magical Mystery Tour over another record was partly the influence of a friend, and the fact that it was probably the only album my Dad didn’t have. Surely he had every other Beatles Record.
I can’t remember the name of this said friend, but my memory of her is like something out of a David Lynch film – but a kid-friendly non-violent David Lynch film. Play dates at her house were always unsupervised and bizarre. We would sit in her basement listening to her copy of Magical Mystery Tour. I think it was a tape. She was the only other 8-year old around who also dug the Beatles. I remember The Hanson’s and The Spice Girls being all the rage amongst my friends. I only knew her for that year, was it second or third grade? I can’t remember. She claimed to see ghosts and wore a lot of black for a seven or eight year old. I thought she was the coolest, jamming out to the Beatles in her basement, hoping for the ghosts to come.
My Dad (Like so many others) regarded the Beatles as the best band EVER; Of course I was massively influenced by them, I think it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been influenced by the Beatles. I think it’s important to mention how into black music they were – John Lennon was the one who named Chuck Berry “King of Rocknroll”. Was it appropriative? Sure. Rocknroll was, as we all know now, created by black people. Some of their songs feature some sexist language. You have to see them in their context, growing up in post-War England. But what they did with it all – using the Indian music and western classical, all woven together with the power and magic of this Black American idiom. With acid! So in 2018 I could look at some lyrics and think they are less cool… But their musical genius is undeniable, and their work is canon.
Keep up with Heart Hunters here.
Self-proclaimed “electroexotica” duo Stronger Sex – comprised of Johnny Fantastic and Leah Gage – is bringing their vivid personalities to the world in an exciting new visual for single “Dead Women”, Directed and Edited by Mark Williams Hoelscher. At the center of the experience is a stuffed monkey, and other versions of what look to be childhood toys. But it’s what happens with those toys that will really put you into a tailspin. (Could they come alive, a la Toy Story? Is it OK to think they’re still cute and not creepy?) The main focus, however, is the protagonist, who is depicted experiencing the emotional turmoil that aligns with the lyrics in the song. Confirms Leah Gage of the track:
“Dead Women” is a song about feeling the weight of a legacy of important matriarchs, and the pressure to live up to their expectations. My mom and my grandmother were both extremely smart (and troubled) women who placed a lot of emphasis on prestige and renown, and expected me to achieve both, almost on their behalf. Since they’ve both died, I struggle a lot with knowing whether I’ll ever live up to their expectations. I used to keep their photos all over my room, as a kind of inspiration, but after a while I realized it was just making me anxious and sad, and I needed to figure things out for myself. So, this video is inspired by that idea. There’s a girl, who lives in a fantasy world with her “friends” who are clearly all toys, and she lives with an overbearing woman who wants her to get rid of her friends and join reality. Eventually, the woman goes behind the girl’s back, throws the friends in the trash, and goes back to her life. The girl is utterly distraught, but eventually uses her anger and frustration to channel herself out of the house, and she runs away, with her friends. Both the woman and the girl are flawed – these aren’t of course her friends, they’re toys. And the woman, well, she probably has her reasons for wanting the girl to join reality, even if she’s going about it in a mean way.
This video brings light to a struggle many women face, and we are pleased to host the exclusive premiere.
