Archives - Jeffrey Howard
Culture
Umphrey’s McGee brings the house down
On Sunday Feb. 9, the band Umphrey’s McGee played Rochester’s Harro East Ballroom. They didn’t wear kilts, they weren’t jolly nor stout, and their music didn’t take on the lumpy contour of phrases like “Humpty Dumpty” or “Dunder Mifflin”. They did, however, bring the house down. Umphrey’s McGee is a jam band, which means it […]
Culture
Charlie Parr and and the truth
Charlie Parr is a folk and blues singer-songwriter. He’s from Minnesota. He plays National resonator and acoustic guitars, but he doesn’t do electric. He doesn’t do modern recording studios either. Call him an old soul, rootsy, or traditional– it doesn’t matter, because these labels don’t do Charlie Parr any justice. While influenced by musical-forefathers as […]
Culture
Lovelife lack substance on “Feel” EP
You’ve got to hand it to Lovelife – at least they held no secrets by naming their latest EP “Feel”. Through the course of four songs, Lovelife prove that they’re masters of the unfocused, emotionally vague melodrama that made Imagine Dragons and The Weeknd so successful. While the aforementioned bands hone in on a specific […]
Culture
Light show leaves mixed feelings
On Saturday, Jan. 25, Rochester’s Strausenberg Planeterium held a Radiohead light show. The phrase “Radiohead light show” is sure to evoke two starkly different reactions. For most people, a Radiohead light show promises an audiovisual journey of epic proportions. This makes perfect sense, as there’s no reason why the union of bright lights and loud […]
Culture
Talent show brings smiles and tears, claps and jeers
On Friday, Jan. 31, the Susan B. Anthony Lower R.A. Staff hosted “UR’s Got Talent” at the May Room in Wilson Commons. Leave it to UR, the school that unashamedly exploits every opportunity to turn the letters “UR” into a pun, to showcase the talents of its students in a mock-reality show format. Like a […]
CT Recommends
CT Recommends: The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
On “The Suburbs”, Arcade Fire explores the human struggle that exists within a world confined by white picket fences. The band beautifully balances punk rawness with sophisticated songwriting and arrangement, providing a depiction of the everyman in which he is kicking and screaming in confusion and terror, but ultimately knows what’s wrong with the world. […]
Ed Observers
Zero stars out of five
Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” I try to take Darwin’s words to heart, what with him publishing one of the most important texts in human history. Yes, even with my […]
Culture
Jesse Miller of “Lotus” talks EDM, band’s new influences
To an outsider, the “jam band” label denotes long song structures and improvisational soloing, characteristics often dismissed with the infamous term “noodling.” These descriptors misrepresent the jam movement. At its heart lies a spirit of exploration, proof that music, even when founded in a concept as abstract as the exchange of energy, can be worthwhile […]
Culture
CT Recommends: Aquemini by Outkast
If “Aquemini” were released today, it would still be ahead of its time. On OutKast’s third LP, the rap duo of Andre 3000 and Big Boi simultaneously embraced and rejected the gangsta sound that infiltrated their hometown, Atlanta, Georgia. “Aquemini”, released in 1998 is rooted in the trap beats and minor cadences that dominate club music […]
