
Live Review: Danny Brown at The Grog Shop
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor Saturday I went to see Danny Brown at the Grog Shop for what promised to be an amazing show, with Maxo Kream and Zeelooperz headlining. I didn’t get to see Zelooperz, however by that horrendous name I probably wouldn’t want to. Maxo Kream was in the middle of his set by the time I arrived, and he clearly commanded the attention of the crowd. It always impresses me when a performer can find charisma on stage, even more so if you’re drawn in having ne

Album Review: The Men - Devil Music
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [We Are The Men; 2016] Rating: 5/10 Key Tracks: “Dreamer,” “Violate” There is a weird gulf between modern avant-garde music and the average indie-rock band. The memories of great rock bands are conjured because they provoked that avant sensibility and pushed the boundaries of guitar music. It seems ludicrously hard to make rock now that hits the spot of being revolutionary, and other genres have taken the lead on crafting the next waves of culture t

Album Review: KOOL A.D. - HAVE A NICE DREAM
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Self-Released; 2016] Rating: 4.5/10 Key Tracks: “WHO AM I?,” “JUST LIKE MAGIC” Kool A.D. apparently does not like to be typecast. He is a man of many modes, trying out sounds like free samples at Costco, dabbing in the methodology of prodigy while being uninterested in maintaining easy classification. This is admirable, desirable even. However, scrutiny is not exempt from such creative decisions. This is definitively true in the case of HAVE A NICE

Album Review: Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Warp; 2016] Rating: 8.5/10 Key Tracks: “Lost,” “Golddust,” “When It Rain” In the canon of major label Danny Brown releases, the 35-year-old’s mentality has drastically shifted throughout each release. Easily one of the most unique rappers in the game right now, the psychology of a highly intelligent man has deteriorated parallel to his musical style, and it’s especially evident on Atrocity Exhibition. Brown mirrors Ian Curtis completely here; he’s

Album Review: Preoccupations - Preoccupations
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Jagjaguwar; 2016] Rating: 6.5/10 Key Tracks: “Anxiety,” “Zodiac,” “Sense” A key component of Preoccupations’ music is existential dread. This encapsulates from everything they do, from the downtrodden former members’ stint in Women to the current pledge as newly retitled Preoccupations. While Preoccupations builds upon this past ethos as succinctly as possible, it doesn’t manifest itself in the more explosive and captivating ways like on Public Str

Album Review: TOMOYU - Imagining "The Life of Pablo"
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Self-released; 2016] Rating: ???? Key Tracks: “汝、光を見たか,” "導きたまえ,” “スメケに逢いたい” The death of the author has reached its inevitable conclusion. If one does not have art readily available to them, they can just do it themselves! The ubiquity of Kanye West is so universal that Japanese producer TOMOYU has reconstructed The Life Of Pablo in his own imagining without ever hearing it. It completely removes the idea of singular identity in someone’s music, b

Album Review: Father - I'm A Piece Of Shit
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Awful; 2016] Rating: 4/10 Key Tracks: “Fuck Up The Sheraton,” “Slow Dance 2” Are you the type of Father fan that likes “Look At Wrist?” Would you enjoy an album full of songs like that? If you answered yes, steer clear of I’m A Piece Of Shit. This is the type of record that gets called “mature” and “evolved” regardless of the quality, simply for the lyrical content. Father’s signature grimy beats take center-stage here as he bemoans being just so a

Feature: Jawbreaker's Dear You Vs. 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
When great discography meets an abundance of content, then emerges the question of “Which album is superior?” Almost like clockwork, future releases soon become a platform for debate. A pinnacle example is 90s emo band, Jawbreaker. Two of ACRN’S own dueled it out between Jawbreaker’s Dear You and 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. Having trouble deciding for yourself? Check out what our staff had to say about the never-ending feud between two of Jawbreaker’s highly contested albums. E

Movie Review: The Witch
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Parts and Labor; 2016] Rating: 8.5/10 Puritan society in Anglo countries were arguably some of the most terrifying societies in modern memory. The demonization of young women (think Salem Witch Trials) is put on full display in The Witch, a horror-thriller directed by Robert Eggers, that is as much unsettling for its familial dramatics as it is for 1700s-brand witchcraft. It’s hard to believe that this is Eggers’ first feature film, as the level of

Album Review: She's Beautiful - Ok
By Eli Schoop, Copy Editor [Self-Released; 2016] Rating: 4/5
Key Tracks: “A Green Field,” “Oh Why,” “Rainbow” How does one deal with depression? It’s a very common disease, one that afflicts far too many to count. Frank Haught a.k.a She’s Beautiful seems to have figured that music synthesizing their internal feelings is the way to self-actualization. Their brand of electronic is both magical and affecting, drawing from such pioneers as Tim Hecker and Caribou to craft an albu