Music - The Eastern Echo

‘Encore’ shows Eminem at his most humble.

Matt on Music: Eminem

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Eminem, Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady—whatever you want to call him, the man is a genius and one of the most important artists in the history of American popular music (at least before his lame last couple albums). Here is a list of his 15 best songs.

They Might Be Giants’s new album, ‘Nanobots,’ has flaws but perfect opening tracks.

Matt on Music: They Might Be Giants' 'Nanobots'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, April 14, 2013

Mainly based around John Flansburgh and John Linnell, alternative rock band They Might Be Giants first formed in 1982. They became popular on college stations and over time became one of the few college rock bands to become a household name along with R.E.M. and The Smiths. Since releasing their debut album in 1986, they’ve never gone more than three years without releasing an LP.

String Teachers hosts fundraising concert

By Mariya Gefter · Sunday, April 14, 2013

Spring is in the air, and Eastern Michigan University’s music students have a lot in store for the campus community. The American String Teachers Association is holding a fundraiser concert in the Alexander Music Building Recital Hall Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. The concert will feature music arranged in the pop and rock style for string instruments.

Bands play tribute to The Replacements

By Matt Rice · Sunday, April 14, 2013

Several bands paid tribute to the influential band The Replacements at Woodruff’s bar in Ypsilanti’s Depot Town on Saturday.

Matt on Music’s 15 favorite songs of the ’90s includes the Backstreet Boys hit ‘I Want It That Way” (1999) at No. 4 and Kris Kross’ 1992 hit ‘Jump’ at No. 15.

Matt on Music: 15 favorite songs of the '90s

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The early ’90s was one of the best times for alternative rock and the late ’90s was one of the best times for pop singles. The ’90s were just an awesome time for music overall, so here are my 15 favorite songs of the decade.

Bands play tribute to the ‘Mats

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Bastards of young, dope smokin’ morons, girls who play make-up and wear guitar. If any of that describes you or you’d just like to hear a group of bands pay tribute to one of the greatest American rock groups of all time, come to Woodruff’s, located at 36 E. Cross St. in Ypsilanti, on Saturday at 9 p.m. for ‘Mats Fest.

The songs in Low’s new album, ‘The Invisible Way,’ work splendidly.

Matt on Music: Low's 'The Invisible Way'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, April 7, 2013

“Mormons can’t rock. There, I said it,” a friend of mine quipped about Low after I posted my overview of the band on Facebook. In response to that statement, I must bring up the Butler brothers of Arcade Fire and New York Dolls bassist Arthur Kane, as well as the fact that Low isn’t a particularly rocking band. Their style is mainly based around minimalism, harmony and beauty; three things that many people, including my friend, love about The xx, and what I love about Yo La Tengo’s “Fade.”

Low captivates with mind-blowing harmonies.

Matt on Music: Low

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Low is a Duluth-based slowcore band fronted by married couple Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, both practicing Mormons. Although Sparhawk and Parker have been consistent members since the band’s formation in 1993, they’ve changed bassists three times.

Sophomore Donald Lajiness was born with only one arm, but you couldn’t tell that by listening to him perform.

Guitarist overcomes disability to play well

By Jess Salisbury · Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Guitarist Donald Lajiness, a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University, steps to the front of the Alexander Music Building’s auditorium to a burst of ecstatic applause. He sits down in the proper classical guitar position— foot up, fretboard raised —and begins to strum the opening chord of the mysterious-sounding “Koyunbaba,” a modern piece with Turkish influences composed by Carlo Domeniconi. After a nearly flawless recital, the musician basks in the glow of his fellow music majors’ collective cheering and praise.

William Shatner’s ‘Seeking Major Tom’ is No. 5 on the list.

Ranked by hilarity: Worst album covers

By Matt Rice · Friday, March 29, 2013

Awful album covers are incredible. For every “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” or “The Velvet Underground & Nico,” there’s a few amateur (or even, sometimes, mainstream) artists whose album cover designs are just absurd. Sometimes, this turns out quite disturbing (every Cannibal Corpse album cover) or just creepy (“Julie’s Sixteenth Birthday”).

Ypsilanti musician Watabou works on new projects, shows

By Carmen Bojanowski · Sunday, March 24, 2013

Travis Jarosz is a pretty common name in the Ypsilanti music scene. He’s been involved in a few musical projects, ranging from metal bands to some short-lived jazz projects. He’s currently working with indie band Walk Your Bike, electro-punk Crochetcatpause and his electronic side project, Watabou. Watabou started in April 2009 as a general outlet for Jarosz’s musical ideas. He was involved in a couple of bands, but many of his bandmates were focused on the sound their band was creating or weren’t able to fully dedicate themselves to being in a band.

Justin Timberlake’s ‘The 20/20 Experience” has several songs that fall flat.

Matt on Music: Justin Timberlake's 'The 20/20 Experience'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, March 24, 2013

While it’s often believed (especially by people who hate pop music) Justin Timberlake first came into his own as an artist with 2006’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” that can really be traced all the way back to ’N Sync. If not on their debut, Timberlake at least began to come into his own on “No Strings Attached.” It was there that he began to stand out as not only the finest lead singer in the boy band scene, but one of the finest singers in music.

Virginia-based Corsair’s newest album is better than expected, and serves as a powerful heavy metal album.

Matt on Music: Corsair

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Virginia-based rockers Corsair initially seemed like the type of group whose every idea represented something I dislike. They are typically described as heavy metal, their name is boring (although, to be fair, so are the names of the majority of bands I like), the cover of their self-titled album appears to be a failed attempt at epic imagery (which, in heavy metal, is often used to compensate for a lack of imagery and epic qualities in the songs), and they open the album with an instrumental called “Agathyrsi” that nears six minutes in length. Everything was in order for me to hate this band.

EMU professors will play weekend recitals

By Mariya Gefter · Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Music will be in the air this Friday, and this time it’s an Eastern Michigan University faculty member creating the melody. Professor Joel Schoenhals, an EMU music professor of piano, will be performing part two of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 at Pease Auditorium.

Matt on Music: Kacey Musgraves' 'Same Trailer Different Park'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, March 17, 2013

The title of country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves’ new album, “Same Trailer Different Park,” comes from her acclaimed country hit “Merry Go ’Round,” which was released in September 2012. It was a surprising masterpiece, displaying a blunt kind of cynicism rarely seen in country music. It was such a contradiction to the genre’s rural obsession that it might as well have called “Miserable in a Small Town.”

Dutch DJ Tiësto rocks Convocation Center

By Krystal Elliott · Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013

Thousands of concertgoers packed Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center Wednesday night, in various stages of undress and states of mind (some of which probably weren’t legal), to get lost in the heavy bass lines and thumping beats of electronic music powerhouse Tiësto.

Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s ‘Ebony and Ivory’ is dull.

Matt on Music: 10 greatest artists (whose greatest hits suck)

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013

While researching this list, I had a stunning realization: The music-buying public is not stupid. This was a hard list to research, mainly for that reason. When an artist stops being good, they typically stop having hits. This list, however, is about the flukes—the strange instances where an exceptional artist’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was one of their worst songs. These are the 10 greatest artists (whose greatest hits suck).

Bettie Serveert’s new album, ‘Oh, Mayhem!’ is the group’s first complete success.

Matt on Music: Bettie Serveert's 'Oh, Mayhem!'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

It’s interesting to look into what happened to all of the ’90s indie bands after the ’90s ended. Pavement broke up, of course, while Modest Mouse’s success continued to grow. A lot of them lost much of their popularity, but how their later discography held up varies from band to band. R.E.M.’s later music never held a candle to their older stuff, while The Magnetic Fields released many great albums after their 1999 classic “69 Love Songs.”

No. 2 ranked DJ Tiesto brings DJ Quintino and DJ Tommy Trash to the Convocation Center.

DJ Tiesto brings ‘electro’ to EMU

By Krystal Elliott · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

For electronic dance music fans all across Michigan, the anticipation to see Tiësto has been building since tickets went on sale last summer, but the wait is finally over. The famous Dutch DJ is coming to rock the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center next Wednesday.

Matt on Music: New Skrillex EP “Leaving”

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

Sonny Moore, also known as Skrillex, is in a very convenient position in his career. He may not be making the most money in the music industry, he doesn’t have the most Facebook fans and he definitely isn’t the most critically acclaimed artist. Still, there are few musicians who are in the same spot he’s in; the spot where he can do practically whatever he wants because nobody’s going to change their mind about him.