Never heard of Sky Ferreira? Not sure what synth pop is? Have you ever wanted to know who styled Michael Jackson’s hair? Well you came to the right place.

In anticipation of Ferreira’s show this Sunday, I, your trusty student journalist, will break down all the information you will need to impress your friends at the show this weekend. Here’s some Sky Ferreira trivia you probably never knew and most likely never wanted to know.

Fact: Troy Carter, Ferreira’s manager, worked as a promoter for Notorious B.I.G. before he made it big time as chairman and CEO of Coalition Media Group.

Another fact: In 2010, Ferreira starred in an independent drama called Putty Hill, where her character Jenny must cope with the untimely death of a young man named Cory.

Aside from her brief acting career, Sky has had a pretty successful music career thus far. Karolina Ramos from The GW Hatchet compared her to indie pop artist Lorde for her ability to “tackle contemporary love, desire and insecurity with depth, composure and frankness.”

She has also been placed amongst the ranks of Lana Del Rey and MGMT in both style and prowess. Her synth pop roots, comprised of drum machines, heavy bass guitars, and of course synthesizers, create an alluring canvas for her rebellious, teenage romance lyrics.

Sky first became interested in music through her friendship with Michael Jackson at a young age, one of many artist her grandmother worked for as a personal hairstylist. Since then she has released three EPs and one full length album entitled Night Time, My Time.

In promotion of her album she recently toured as the opening act on the Bangerz tour. Her most recent accolade however is her performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last Friday, April 4th, where she performed her song “I Blame Myself,” accompanied by a plethora of lasers.

However, if you take anything away from this Sky Ferreira crash course it’s that few come close to her wit when it comes to captioning Instagram photos.

Sky Ferreira’s show has been rescheduled due to illness, she will perform at the IMU Ballroom this Thursday, May 8th. Doors open at 7pm. The show starts at 8. You can purchase tickets at The Hub in the IMU or on Ticketmaster.

The post Show Preview: All you need to know about Sky Ferreira (Show 5/8/14) appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Never heard of Sky Ferreira? Not sure what synth pop is? Have you ever wanted to know who styled Michael Jackson’s hair? Well you came to the right place.

In anticipation of Ferreira’s show this Sunday, I, your trusty student journalist, will break down all the information you will need to impress your friends at the show this weekend. Here’s some Sky Ferreira trivia you probably never knew and most likely never wanted to know.

Fact: Troy Carter, Ferreira’s manager, worked as a promoter for Notorious B.I.G. before he made it big time as chairman and CEO of Coalition Media Group.

Another fact: In 2010, Ferreira starred in an independent drama called Putty Hill, where her character Jenny must cope with the untimely death of a young man named Cory.

Aside from her brief acting career, Sky has had a pretty successful music career thus far. Karolina Ramos from The GW Hatchet compared her to indie pop artist Lorde for her ability to “tackle contemporary love, desire and insecurity with depth, composure and frankness.” She has also been placed amongst the ranks of Lana Del Rey and MGMT in both style and prowess. Her synth pop roots, comprised of drum machines, heavy bass guitars, and of course synthesizers, create an alluring canvas for her rebellious, teenage romance lyrics.

Sky first became interested in music through her friendship with Michael Jackson at a young age, one of many artist her grandmother worked for as a personal hairstylist. Since then she has released three EPs and one full length album entitled Night Time, My Time. In promotion of her album she recently toured as the opening act on Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz tour. Her most recent accolade however is her performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last Friday, April 4th, where she performed her song “I Blame Myself,” accompanied by a plethora of lasers.

However, if you take anything away from this Sky Ferreira crash course it’s that few come close to her wit when it comes to captioning Instagram photos.

Sky Ferreira performs at the IMU Ballroom this Sunday, April 13th. Doors open at 7pm. The show starts at 8. You can purchase tickets at The Hub in the IMU or on Ticketmaster.

The post Show Preview: All you need to know about Sky Ferreira appeared first on KRUI Radio.

California band !!! (pronounced “chk chk chk”) was accompanied by Trouble Lights and Caroline Smith at Gabe’s on Friday night for another fun and energetic Mission Creek show.

Iowa duo Trouble Lights kicked off the night’s events.  The electro-pop duo quickly brought the up the energy with their catchy synth beats.  When singer Adrien Daller’s voice wasn’t soaring throughout the venue, she was dancing and jumping around the stage.  The group played songs from their newest and so far only album, The Endless Prom.  They closed with “Stay With Me”, the debut single, and my personal favorite on the album.

Trouble Lights’ liveliness put the night to a great start, but Caroline Smith decided to tone it down a bit.  This isn’t to say Smith was boring–far from it.  Smith and her band gave a fantastic performance of soulful R&B indie pop.  Smith’s smooth vocals radiated throughout as the audience danced right along.

Smith played a few of her older songs but focused on her new album, Half About Being A Woman.  Crowd favorites such as “Magazine”, “Half About Being a Woman”, and “Buy Me Something” made an appearance.  I found myself pleasantly surprised and very happy as Smith started rapping of verse of Kendrick Lamar’s “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” to her song “Bloodstyle”.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect as !!! took the stage as the final act of the night, but the band  grabbed me and the rest of the audience right from the beginning.  The Californian dance-punk band used electronic style beats to build and build until the final breaking point.  !!! also utilized fast and bright keyboards, saxophone solos, and a variety of percussion instruments to add to their already unique sound.

But as fun as they were to listen to, !!! was just as fun to watch.  Lead singer Nic Offer took advantage of the entire stage, jumping around, flailing his arms, and using vogue-style dance moves that kept the energy going.  Offer even took the floor, stepping off the stage weaving throughout the tight crowd.  A few members of the audience even made their way onto the stage to dance with Offer.  It was, essentially, one big party.

There’s still events left for Mission Creek Festival.  For information on their lineup and schedule, visit their website.

The post Mission Creek: !!! @ Gabe’s, 4/4/14 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Trouble Lights is an electronic pop duo from Fairfield, IA. Adrien Daller and Philip Rabalais (both of whom contribute their respective talents to a myriad of other groups) have been working together for quite awhile, but “The Endless Prom” is their first proper release as a pair.

Philip Rabalais is most well known for his beat-making work in the electro-punk band Utopia Park. Yet he’s also working on a project with Darla Murphy called Animal, and his work has appeared on albums by Little Ruckus and Zoe Boekbinder.

Adrien Daller is perhaps one of the most well-trained singers in the state — having worked in musical theater in England and even singing “God Save the Queen” for the Queen of England.

That these two creative forces have found each other is proof of Iowa’s growing cultural clout, but let’s move on to the record itself.

First and foremost, the track sequencing is tremendously important. Although any “concept” is more or less absent, this is still clearly an album, with a purposeful ordering. There’s no narrative, but the tracks are sequenced in such a way as to allow for the listener to imagine their own contexts.

It’s that very balance between the audience and the artist that reveals one of “The Endless Prom” central questions — that is, the question of mass appeal versus personal connection.

The topic, which runs underneath the whole album, is particularly noticeable on stand-out track “Fire Night.” The song is addressed to an unnamed “you,” to whom Adrien sings, “You watch yourself become someone else,” instantly blurring the line between her and the listener. This conflation of “singer” and “audience” is at the heart of the record (and perhaps at the heart of all pop music, but that’s a conversation for another day).

On “Safe With Me,” by far the best song on altogether fine album, moves away from the “you and I” language of most of the rest of the album. Instead, the lyrics address a “little boy” and a “little girl,” promising to keep them safe. That the lead single exists in the world of children is indicative of another theme of the album — regression. Pop music is inherently regressive, of course, but the genius of Trouble Lights’ music is how it uses regression as a shifting framework, letting the artist appear to regress and therefore allowing the audience to simply enjoy the music.

Regression is also central to the creation of the album. In a recent interview with Iowa Music Buzz, Philip alludes to this, saying, “I want to forever be this 13 year old nerd kid, making beats on my computer. Adrien is always this anxious, emotional teenage girl singing her heart out.”

But the great thing is, this is not regressive music at all. Adrien’s performances are clearly informed by her extensive vocal training. Phil’s production is clean, but never sterile; inventive, yet always accessible. But the duo are still chiefly concerned with the universality of pop music, what it means to make and listen to popular music, all the while creating personal connections with ever-growing crowds.

“The Endless Prom” is available for pre-order now at Maximum Ames Records and will be released on September 25, 2012.

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