Travis Beck
Persistence of Consistence: Yo La Tengo at the Teragram Ballroom
Travis Beck
June 25, 2018
Yo La Tengo are the type of band that screams road trip music to me. You feel their sound more than you hear it. Angelic emotion runs through their balancing of rhythmic melancholy and sprinkles of sonic hope. It’s the type of music you put on in the background before merging onto the freeway and zoning out so completely, you feel like a machine. House parties are another great venue for Yo La Tengo music, I would imagine, as the vibe seamlessly blends in with the casual ambiance and physical bodies chatting and standing around. Some people might sit on the couch, or lay on the floor passed out with a warm Michelob Ultra as “Dream Dream Away” hums on in the ether. related content: The Dead Milkmen Deliver Cartons Of Fun For 2 Nights At Teragram All appropriate scenarios for Yo La Tengo experiences. But seeing them live at a venue? I’m not sure. Maybe I’m horribly out of shape, getting old or just plain lame, but half way through the show I was desperate for a couch and/or recess. The lullabies were lulling me to sleep. But it was so goddamn beautiful. I absorbed the pain, and bit
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Get Off Your Phone and Into the Crowd: Unknown Mortal Orchestra at The Wiltern
Travis Beck
May 28, 2018
There are times in my life when I don’t listen to new music. Those are often dark times where I do nothing but binge all my old favorite artists – which span about 50 years – from jazz legends to the Beatles to “Crash Into Me” by Dave Matthews Band. The ladder often facilitates sobbing in my car similar to a scene in the Oscar-winning film Lady Bird. related content: Super Tight Rides Into The Sunset At Final Show But new music. New music is magical. New music captures the vibe of the times – if done correctly. My favorite artists have always been those who evolve with the changing cultural landscape. Artists like Beck, Prince and David Bowie. Every time I “discover” a new artist, I learn they’ve existed for years. This makes me feel one of two ways: either taken aback – like I’ve been living under a rock, or excited, like you just met your new best friend. Even though they tour around the globe, Unknown Mortal Orchestra is still, well, unknown to most music fans out there. At least in my experience. But they shouldn’t be, because they rock the fuck out and have been putting
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Super Tight Rides into the Sunset at Final Show
Travis Beck
May 9, 2018
At first glance, the psychedelic clown flyer for Super Tight appears to be some underground Tim & Eric masochist party where everyone takes drugs, has sex and talks about the TV Show they’re developing. Actually, wait: that’s kind of what it is. In the best way. This out-of-focus Polaroid shows a fierce thirty-something female with pink furry hair and sequined flower-antennae standing shirtless against a purple wall. She wears blue lipstick and a red clown nose on her orange and green-painted face, with the words “SUPER TIGHT” emblazoned in bubble letters in the white space below. This kind of eye candy is enough to make any hipster in Highland Park run his hand through his hair and say, “oh, shit.” related content: Stayin’ Alive: Giorgio Moroder’s 78th Birthday At The Globe Theater Super Tight is a monthly show produced, curated and maintained by Casey Rup, a young producer in the animation world. He’s a nice guy, and humble in his accomplishments, which range from animation producer of Viceland’s Party Legends, to executive producer of Ricking Morty, an episodic commentary on the hit Adult Swim show Rick and Morty. Rup got his start in the animation world by working as an
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