Tag: acrn

Frank Ocean stirs controversy with Coachella performance

By Rocco Prioletti, Contributor 
[Photo courtesy of Getty Images]
Pop music’s endeared recluse Frank Ocean has caused widespread controversy after his first performance in nearly seven years at Coachella, headlining Sunday’s bill as the closing act. Concertgoers camped-out at the stage’s frontend barricade, scorched under California’s unforgiving sun and were greeted by Frank Ocean over an hour later than scheduled. Just hours beforehand, Ocean’s performance was excluded from Coachella’s official livestream listing, despite promotional material still advertising it on the day of the performance. 

ACRN Live Review Roundup: SXSW Bands to Watch

[Photo of Algiers courtesy of Julia Weber] By Julia Weber, Features Editor This year’s South by Southwest ushered in an array of talented artists spanning across genres. Now that things have settled down in the wake of this year’s festival, here are a few artists you’ll want to keep an eye on. Read more: Q&A:…

Read More

Q&A: The Bobby Lees

[Photo courtesy of Speakeasy PR] By Julia Weber, Features Editor Macky Spider Bowman is the drummer for Lobsterfest headlining punk band THE BOBBY LEES. Ahead of Lobsterfest, I called him to talk about headlining the festival, what he’s been listening to lately, the importance of routine and, of course, the power of smell. [This interview…

Read More

Q&A: Greet Death

[Photo provided by Mark Connolly] By Julia Weber, Features Editor Greet Death are a Michigan-based rock band and one of the headlining acts for ACRN’s 2023 Lobsterfest. Before their Saturday night performance, I talked with Sam Boyhtari of Greet Death about everything ranging from new music and touring, Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, shameless adoration of…

Read More

20,000 Albums for Eidelyn Gonzales: Low

By Venus Rittenberg, Editorial Director
[RCA; 1977]
Key tracks: “Sound and Vision,” “Always Crashing in the Same Car,” “A New Career in a New Town”

Rock and metal legends collide for PowerTrip Festival

By Nicholas Kobe, Contributor
(Photo courtesy of PowerTrip)
Some of the biggest names in hard rock and heavy metal are set to headline the PowerTrip Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. The festival will take place from October 6-8th, with two headliners featured each night. Friday night will star Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden. Saturday night will feature AC/DC and Ozzy Ozbourne with Tool and Metallica closing out on Sunday. 

Album Review: Don Toliver – Love Sick

By Nicholas Kobe, Contributor 
[Cactus Jack; 2023]
Rating: 2/10
Key tracks: “If I had”, “Bus Stop”, “LoveSickness”
Texas native Don Toliver has been making major waves in music since around 2018. He released his first album Donny Womack and had a prominent feature on CAN’T SAY by Travis Scott. Despite how long Toliver has been around, it feels like he only picked up real traction in the past year or so, or at least, got on my radar.

Album Review: BabyTron – Out On Bond

By Cody Englander, Contributor
[The Hip Hop Lab Records; 2023]
Rating: 4/10
Key tracks: “A2Z”, “Overthinking”
The story of BabyTron’s latest EP may be more entertaining than the EP itself. Much like the title suggests, after being arrested for drug possession, he got set out on bond, and recorded part of this 12 minute EP on the road directly after getting out. This EP is coming off of the success of Babytron’s success of his last album, Bin Reaper 3: New Testament, widely agreed to be one of his better works by fans and critics alike. Babyton addresses his arrest on the very first line of the project, “Stop saying free me, I got out the next day, man.” While this EP may not be high art, the context of this 5 song EP really helps to understand how we got the project that we did.

Single Review: Men I Trust – Ring of Past

By Devon Risner, Contributor
[Independent; 2023]
Rating: 8/10
The neon-colored funky bops and ballads of the 1980s might be a bygone time, but to the Montreal-based band Men I Trust, it hasn’t left just yet. Their new single “Ring of Past”, released in February of 2023, harks the emotion of funk and dare to say even a little disco. Since the band’s conception in 2014, they have always known how they wanted to sound and never failed to achieve it in the slightest. “Ring of Past” is just another piece of supporting evidence.

Album Review: Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want to Turn Into You

By Nicholas Kobe, Contributor[Sony Music; 2023]Rating: 7/10 Key tracks: “Bunny Is A Rider”, “Sunset”, “Blood and Butter” Desire, I Want to Turn Into You is Caroline Polachek’s sophomore release (under this name). In the mid 2010s, she released one studio record each under the names Ramona Lisa and CEP, Arcadia and Drawing the Target Around…

Read More