Author Archives: Jakob Dorof

For most, the thought of live music on campus evokes concert halls packed by the Yale Symphony Orchestra on Halloween, or a swoon-worthy Valentine’s performance by any of the bountiful, freshman-feeding a capella groups. But traditionally, original music by Yale students has flown under the radar, rarely producing more interest than the small, curious flock »

A war between independent and corporate coffeehouses has been raging on Chapel Street ever since international java conglomerate Starbucks first set up shop at the corner of High and Elm Streets in 2001, challenging the locally-owned, three-decade-old Atticus Bookstore Cafe just down the block. When Cafe Bottega marked its own territory across from the touristy »

“Our new record is about becoming proud of it,” Max Bemis explains to me before hitting the stage at Toad’s last Thursday. “Musically, it shows the development of our band, and I think it was very important for us to embrace the genre. I grew up listening to Sunny Day Real Estate and the Getup »

“Everywhere is far, by our terms,” said Tom Campesinos! from the dimly lit bowers of New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. “The UK seems miniscule after traveling around here.” Tom is a guitarist, and he’s been traveling with his band, Los Campesinos! The constantly touring synth-’n’-strings pop ensemble has been busy as of late releasing its »

Honey Owens should have no problem fitting in with the esteemed roster of Kranky Records. The label made a name for itself in 2000 with the release of Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s space-rock opus, “Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven,” and has more recently housed the “ambient punk” of press darlings Deerhunter and »

“Before the rise and popularity of television and movies, pulp fiction magazines were notorious for publishing lurid pop-fiction,” explained Alena Gribskov ’09, while finding a dry sanctuary on a rainy Tuesday night in the Bass Library Cafe. “Science fiction, westerns and detective genres were all defined or shaped by the pulps, and many of the »

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that rock music is in a bad way. That is to say, rock music can hardly be considered a viable commodity anymore, much less one that can attract the screaming teenage legions of decades past. The old dinosaurs present for rock’s initial blast have »

Two summers ago, my friend invited me to go see Of Montreal — the electro-pop paradox that managed to sell itself to both indie tastemakers Pitchfork and corporate flesh-peddlers Outback Steakhouse. Twenty-five dollars and one endless van ride later, I found myself deep in the paunch of Amish Country, Pa., swallowed whole by a palpitating »

Stumbling into New York City’s Webster Hall last Saturday night, one might have witnessed any number of bizarre happenings. Over the course of roughly 90 minutes, the stage played host to a small girl blowing colossal bubbles of glycerin syrup with the slow, methodical wave of a hand; lithe ribbons of water and paint emanating »

If Rivers Cuomo had to pick a way to describe his fans, he’d probably go with “little bitches.” At least, that’s what he called them in an interview with Guitar World Magazine in 2002, upon the release of Weezer’s fourth album, “Maladroit.” Cuomo and his band have always had a strange relationship with their diehard »

In America, dance music has long been an acquired taste. Beyond high school mixer staple “Sandstorm,” the idea of techno often conjures images of sweaty dancehalls populated by longhairs slick with sweat and lavish mousse lathers, seeing all and remembering nothing through the clouded windowpanes of LSD and other designer drugs. The perception that electronica »

This past Tuesday, for the second time this year, the doctor of pill-popping schizo-diva Amy Winehouse ordered her to cancel an entire tour to get some sun and enjoy “complete rest.” On that same day, Winehouse’s debut album finally saw domestic release in the States, some four years after its initial U.K. release. Titled “Frank” »