for immediate release

i am unilaterally declaring that "Witchcult Today" by Electric Wizard is the album of the year.

Editing: WOW!

Holy crap.

It seems that each semester, we always somehow forget exactly how quantitative it is to run a magazine.  By that, I mean that we have tens of pieces that we need to forge through, tweaking until we feel that they're just right.  And I don't know what I'd do without our editing staff; Michelle, Dan, and Amanda have to be three of the smartest and most perceptive editors I've ever met.  And the comments on the drafts are endless sources of nerdy humor.

Don't worry, though.  We're not poking fun at you, we just start to go a bit delirious with the amalgamation of commas and periods that editing seventy pieces inevitably becomes.

Anyway, the issue is really shaping up.  Molly, next semester's EIC and the brains behind the amazing covers that we've had, is going to be doing a production orientation next week so we can get the ball rolling.  It's weird how deadlines that seemed so far away planning have literally snuck up and arrived with a bang. 

Until next late night update.

M

"hard" rock

Students,

Professor Batmatiks has been overhearing much talk of "hard" rock these days. Many names have been mentioned (Glove/Special Sauce, Muse, HELLYEAH, etc.), but none of these stay true to the classics. These new, experimental acts are quite progressive. Hard? Certainly not. Progressive? Certainly. But can something be progressive and HARD? Yes! However, how many hard progressive bands are there these days? Besides Mr. West, not too many. Dwell on this, friends.

the Professor

Show Tonight!

We couldn't be more excited to present tonight's Halloween show at Oxfam Cafe:

Circle Takes The Square

Transistor Transistor

Junius

Trap Them

It's going down at 7:00, doors at 6:30.  Wear costumes!

On Shuffle: Exploding Hearts, "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades"

sup internet. Welcome to On Shuffle, where I hit shuffle and write about the first song that comes up. This time it's "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades" off of the Exploding Hearts' excellent and only LP Guitar Romantic (2003).

Like the rest of the album, "Aids" is a catchy simple punk song in the Buzzcocks vain. It stands out, however, because it has probably the best lyrics on the whole album. The song details the aftermath of a breakup, and is full of telling, hilarious details: "The house doesn't look the same/I put new posters all over the walls/And the dog don't remember your name" for example, or this particularly cutting line from the bridge, "The first night after you left babe it was so hard (so hard!)/Didn't help that you told all my friends I'm a retard!"

But "Sleeping Aids and Razorblades" is just one pretty great song on an album full of them. Guitar Romantic is probably the best punk album of the decade before (and the half-decade since) it came out. A few months later the band's tour bus flipped and everyone except the guitar player died. So this song is awesome and tragic. Listen to it before you go see Control.

Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aids and Razorblades

Fall Issue is Shaping Up!

So, as yesterday was the deadline for fall issue articles, the content has been rolling in.  I'm astounded and thrilled about the breadth that this issue is going to cover; from ambient noise to ska to blazing hardcore (and even a little bit of Springstein), Melisma is filling in our mission of bringing every sound from the independent walk of life under one, uh, roof?

Culture is also a huge thing this year.  We have op-eds looking at some very different type of issues.  Can't wait to see the final product.

M

Blog Action Day

So since today is Blog Action Day, we want to send a thank you out to all of the bands that are doing their environmentally conscious thing, be it through their music, touring practices, or production.

There are a zillion environmental activists in music, but I want to give a shout out to Boston rockers Piebald, who, through their incredibly long career, have continued to be dedicated to finding alternative fuel sources for their tour vehicle.  Their campaign, Grease Not Gas, endures even after their August 19 break-up this past summer.  They've even been featured in a national advertising campaign for vegetable oil in their famous RV.

If you're not familiar with Piebald's mission, click over to their site.  And, of course, if there are any other environmentally conscious bands that you want to shout out, link us!

M

Because it's great

Instant dance party. Probably the craziest old-school punk band of them all. Ladies and Gentlemen, The B-52s

fuck...

high on fire w/ mono tonight...am i supposed to dress as a hipster or a metalhead?

dear blog,

for those hipper than i am, obscure private press psych-folk albums from the 70s are the next big thing. i'm a relative (read: complete) neophyte here, but i'm digging "Red Hash" by Gary Higgins, an album that was apparently recorded on the eve of a prison stay for drug charges. The closest comparison i can make is with early Tim Buckley. also, can anybody think of any bad shoegaze albums? it doesn't count if it's a non-shoegaze album by a shoegaze band, eg. "This is Your Bloody Valentine."

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Despite Marty's review of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black in last semester's issue, there was something about her that simply creeped me out; something that, rather vapidly, stopped me from listening to her.

But this weekend, I had to sort through her record in a desperate attempt to find a song to sing for November's Tufts Burlesque Troupe performance.  As I flipped through the tracks - first, the two singles, "Rehab" and "I'm No Good" - I was extremely surprised to find that some of the tracks actually spoke to me.  It's true; there's something extremely genuine and strangely authentic about her voice.  The juxtaposition of the idea of modernity and the current state of pop music against Winehouse's soulful croon and the Daptones' backup makes the record not only rich, but deep.

While some of the tracks were difficult to get through and ultimately lent me to skipping them, "Me and Mr. Jones" quickly became a favorite for me.  It's become the song I'm going to (try) and sing for the show.  Though I'll certainly never be Amy Winehouse.  And you know, while I'm sad about the fact that my pathetic attempt to belt like her will never match up at all, I'd never want to end up in rehab.

I say no, no, no. 

Daydream Nation

Today I helped Thurston Moore buy an iPhone case.

Cool.

Hello Internets

Am I the only one who has a pet jazz record that I trot out whenever the genre comes up so that I won’t seem like a total philistine? Mine is Money Jungle, and I actually think it’s a great session. Just don’t get too deep into the matter with me or I’ll probably end up covering my ass by saying that I only really enjoy fusion and free jazz, which is true, but it implies that I’m versed in the more traditional forms, which would be a bit of a stretch. The previous three sentences are dripping with false humility and are obviously designed to inform the reader about my musical knowledge, not my lack thereof.

:]

Emerging Thoughts: Anna Deem

A friend of mine with whom I went to high school, Anna Deem, was just hired as a writer for the indie staple EmergingThoughts.com.  She, too, is a blogger and writes about some of the weirder things in indie culture: a very Melisma-esque kind of thing.

Head over to the Emerging Thoughts Entertainment page to read her blog entries.  They're fabulous!  And you've always wanted to know the worst lyrics in indie, n'est pas?

This Week's Obsession: Black Kids

What's up internet.

Lately I've been listening to the Black Kids, a band from Floria somewhere. I really like their sound, two parts Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me one part Go Team fuzz. I have more to say about them later but for now here's an mp3 myspace link. Solid gold.

www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

Moving Mountains - Pneuma

Moving Mountain's Pneuma was my summer romance.  While everyone at Insound jammed along to their Panda Bear and Belle and Sebastian - or ironic 80s music (of which there was a lot) - I immersed myself on repeat with this small, local band from suburban NYC, my stomping grounds.

Every track on Pneuma is a veritable harmony of perfection; each note, perfectly placed.  Composition flawless.  And it's one ball of somewhat unintentional genius.  From the resounding prowess of "Alastika" to the sweeping splendor of "8105,"  I can barely think of a single record in my collection that makes me so excited to listen to straight from start to finish.  No skipping tracks.  Every song better than the last, culmintaing in the categorically epic "Ode We Will Bury Ourselves," my current favorite 8 minutes in music.

I heard back from Mitch of Moving Mountains last night on our MySpace. He confirmed an interview with Melisma for our Fall issue, which totally rules.  On top of that, it looks like they're going to be playing here this semester as long as I can get some dates worked out for them.  I'm trying to grab them for our Halloween show (Circle Takes The Square, Transistor Transistor, and Junius).  Updates as they come.

In the meanwhile, go listen to them and fall in love, too, so I don't seem like a creepy obsessor.  That's an order.

Welcome to the new Melisma blog!

Welcome to the Melisma Magazine blog!

This is something new we're trying this semester to add a live and interactive piece to our print magazine, which comes out twice a year in conjunction with Tufts University.

In this blog, we're aiming to provide live show reviews, CD reviews, and whatever indie musings we feel like writing (or bitching) about as they strike us.  All Melisma staff members have access to contribute.  We'll also use this space, along with the MySpace page, to announce administrative happenings and publishing dates.

If you'd like to become a contributer to the blog or the magazine, make sure to shoot us an e-mail at melismamagazine@gmail.com.

Happy blogging and happy reading!

-Meredith Turits

Editor-in-Chief, Melisma Magazine