music

December 22, 2010 - 12:41pm
As we join Block Party headliner Drake in waving bye-bye to 2010, take a look at the top moments and matters for the Syracuse music scene.

It's the time of year for massive amounts of lists and not even Syracuse is safe. We reached out to some of the movers and shakers in the campus music community to compile some of their own original year-end lists spanning a variety of topics. And, continuing in the spirit of last year, we here at Otto-Tune compiled our second annual year-end list of Syracuse music happenings. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

November 3, 2010 - 4:41pm

A Korean music and dance concert drew a large crowd of students to Grant Auditorium on Tuesday night. Some of the students obviously don’t frequent folk concerts – a few even had their laptops and cell phones out – but the pieces in this Department of Ethnomusicology-sponsored performance were stunning enough to halt many audience members mid-text.

October 20, 2010 - 11:09am
Review: Irish up-and-comers Two Door Cinema Club played Schine Underground last night, but could be playing major venues within the year.

Two Door Cinema Club aren’t a household name, but they could be – and soon. This up-and-coming Irish trio have already amassed a considerable following across the ocean and could very well become the next big indie-pop outfit to hit the States.

October 18, 2010 - 9:01pm
Review: France's indie darlings conquer the rock scene in Central New York and around the world.

A friend had a question for me right before Phoenix took the stage last night at Cornell University. The show was sold out for a few weeks and we were packed tightly about 40 rows deep from the stage – this despite getting to the show 45 minutes early.

“So, you think they’re the most relevant rock band in the world?”

October 12, 2010 - 4:35pm
Review: The iconic DJ’s Schine Underground show proved he’s bound to do for house music what Mozart did for classical.

Steve Aoki played a venue that was appropriately packed to a crowd that was appropriately rowdy. It was University Union’s second sold-out show of the semester, yet there didn’t seem to be any overarching buzz for the event on campus.

It begs the question, how many people know who Steve Aoki is?

October 4, 2010 - 11:43am
Review: M.I.A. proved that politics and dance parties don't mix well at Sunday's Cornell show.

Say what you will of M.I.A.’s taste in French fries, child-rearing practices or Sri Lankan political parties – the pop provocateur keeps a crowd entertained.

“If they think I’m f------ bad, I’m gonna be f------ bad,” she spouts, inexplicably, from the stage of Cornell University’s Barton Hall. “And my bad’s not just putting out some f------ s--- hit or something.”

October 2, 2010 - 11:05am
Review: Sleigh Bells and LCD Soundsystem made a riotous impression in Clinton on Friday night.

There are a few ways for concertgoers to evaluate a set. Did the audience hear all the radio singles it wanted? Did the band throw in some fan favorites and rarities? Or did the band play a mixture of its whole discography in an order that allowed for the momentous highs while never bottoming out so low that the crowd stands still?

Whichever your answer, LCD Soundsystem has perfected a set list so epic, so powerful and so emotional, that the audience is never allowed to come down from its musical high.

October 1, 2010 - 3:08pm
Veteran indie-rocker’s steady, string-filled songs suited the surprisingly small crowd on Thursday.

Despite making a name for himself as the creator of indie-pop band Matt Pond PA, Matt Pond’s 12-year, eight-record career didn’t draw many people to Thursday’s show. Perhaps it was the relentless rain that kept some away. But those who did attend were treated to an intimate set of some of Pond’s best songs.

September 29, 2010 - 9:09pm
Step through their legendary dance-punk discography before heading to the show at Hamilton College.

Never before has a middle-aged man in a white shirt commanded so much attention, but this is exactly what James Murphy, frontman and mastermind of LCD Soundsystem, does night after night. Armed with a six-piece band, James Murphy goes out with his smooth, deep voice and creates havoc on the dancefloor.

September 29, 2010 - 8:35pm
Indie rock veterans will bring their characteristic sound to the Westcott on Thursday.

Matt Pond PA are not the same band they were when they started. In the 12 years since their formation, the band found a new homebase, altered their line-up many times and released albums on several different record labels. Yet throughout all these changes, Matt Pond PA has managed to keep a consistent sound thanks to the architect and one permanent fixture of the band – Matt Pond himself.

Pond and company will bring that sound to Syracuse this Thursday when they perform at the Westcott Theater.