Music - The Eastern Echo

Sophomore Donald Lajiness was born with only one arm, but you couldn’t tell that by listening to him perform.

Guitarist overcomes disability to play well

By Jess Salisbury · Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Guitarist Donald Lajiness, a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University, steps to the front of the Alexander Music Building’s auditorium to a burst of ecstatic applause. He sits down in the proper classical guitar position— foot up, fretboard raised —and begins to strum the opening chord of the mysterious-sounding “Koyunbaba,” a modern piece with Turkish influences composed by Carlo Domeniconi. After a nearly flawless recital, the musician basks in the glow of his fellow music majors’ collective cheering and praise.

William Shatner’s ‘Seeking Major Tom’ is No. 5 on the list.

Ranked by hilarity: Worst album covers

By Matt Rice · Friday, March 29, 2013

Awful album covers are incredible. For every “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” or “The Velvet Underground & Nico,” there’s a few amateur (or even, sometimes, mainstream) artists whose album cover designs are just absurd. Sometimes, this turns out quite disturbing (every Cannibal Corpse album cover) or just creepy (“Julie’s Sixteenth Birthday”).

Ypsilanti musician Watabou works on new projects, shows

By Carmen Bojanowski · Sunday, March 24, 2013

Travis Jarosz is a pretty common name in the Ypsilanti music scene. He’s been involved in a few musical projects, ranging from metal bands to some short-lived jazz projects. He’s currently working with indie band Walk Your Bike, electro-punk Crochetcatpause and his electronic side project, Watabou. Watabou started in April 2009 as a general outlet for Jarosz’s musical ideas. He was involved in a couple of bands, but many of his bandmates were focused on the sound their band was creating or weren’t able to fully dedicate themselves to being in a band.

Justin Timberlake’s ‘The 20/20 Experience” has several songs that fall flat.

Matt on Music: Justin Timberlake's 'The 20/20 Experience'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, March 24, 2013

While it’s often believed (especially by people who hate pop music) Justin Timberlake first came into his own as an artist with 2006’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” that can really be traced all the way back to ’N Sync. If not on their debut, Timberlake at least began to come into his own on “No Strings Attached.” It was there that he began to stand out as not only the finest lead singer in the boy band scene, but one of the finest singers in music.

Virginia-based Corsair’s newest album is better than expected, and serves as a powerful heavy metal album.

Matt on Music: Corsair

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Virginia-based rockers Corsair initially seemed like the type of group whose every idea represented something I dislike. They are typically described as heavy metal, their name is boring (although, to be fair, so are the names of the majority of bands I like), the cover of their self-titled album appears to be a failed attempt at epic imagery (which, in heavy metal, is often used to compensate for a lack of imagery and epic qualities in the songs), and they open the album with an instrumental called “Agathyrsi” that nears six minutes in length. Everything was in order for me to hate this band.

EMU professors will play weekend recitals

By Mariya Gefter · Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Music will be in the air this Friday, and this time it’s an Eastern Michigan University faculty member creating the melody. Professor Joel Schoenhals, an EMU music professor of piano, will be performing part two of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 at Pease Auditorium.

Matt on Music: Kacey Musgraves' 'Same Trailer Different Park'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, March 17, 2013

The title of country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves’ new album, “Same Trailer Different Park,” comes from her acclaimed country hit “Merry Go ’Round,” which was released in September 2012. It was a surprising masterpiece, displaying a blunt kind of cynicism rarely seen in country music. It was such a contradiction to the genre’s rural obsession that it might as well have called “Miserable in a Small Town.”

Dutch DJ Tiësto rocks Convocation Center

By Krystal Elliott · Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013

Thousands of concertgoers packed Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation Center Wednesday night, in various stages of undress and states of mind (some of which probably weren’t legal), to get lost in the heavy bass lines and thumping beats of electronic music powerhouse Tiësto.

Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s ‘Ebony and Ivory’ is dull.

Matt on Music: 10 greatest artists (whose greatest hits suck)

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013

While researching this list, I had a stunning realization: The music-buying public is not stupid. This was a hard list to research, mainly for that reason. When an artist stops being good, they typically stop having hits. This list, however, is about the flukes—the strange instances where an exceptional artist’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was one of their worst songs. These are the 10 greatest artists (whose greatest hits suck).

Bettie Serveert’s new album, ‘Oh, Mayhem!’ is the group’s first complete success.

Matt on Music: Bettie Serveert's 'Oh, Mayhem!'

By Matt Rice · Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

It’s interesting to look into what happened to all of the ’90s indie bands after the ’90s ended. Pavement broke up, of course, while Modest Mouse’s success continued to grow. A lot of them lost much of their popularity, but how their later discography held up varies from band to band. R.E.M.’s later music never held a candle to their older stuff, while The Magnetic Fields released many great albums after their 1999 classic “69 Love Songs.”

No. 2 ranked DJ Tiesto brings DJ Quintino and DJ Tommy Trash to the Convocation Center.

DJ Tiesto brings ‘electro’ to EMU

By Krystal Elliott · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

For electronic dance music fans all across Michigan, the anticipation to see Tiësto has been building since tickets went on sale last summer, but the wait is finally over. The famous Dutch DJ is coming to rock the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center next Wednesday.

Matt on Music: New Skrillex EP “Leaving”

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

Sonny Moore, also known as Skrillex, is in a very convenient position in his career. He may not be making the most money in the music industry, he doesn’t have the most Facebook fans and he definitely isn’t the most critically acclaimed artist. Still, there are few musicians who are in the same spot he’s in; the spot where he can do practically whatever he wants because nobody’s going to change their mind about him.

‘America’s music’ to be heard at Student Center

By Kayla Boyd · Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013

If you are a music lover or enjoy relaxing to some classical jazz every once in a while, you should attend Eastern Michigan University’s Jazz Ensemble concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Student Center Auditorium.

Things to do around EMU

By Jess Salisbury · Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013

Looking for something to do? Here are a few on-campus activities to keep your week interesting. Join presenter Diane Brookins and Students for Life for the Black History Month event, Life of a People, Monday at 6 p.m. at Halle Library. The event is Learning Beyond the Classroom credit approved.

Christopher Owens’ solo debut, ‘Lysandre,’ is not good and has no key tracks.

Matt on Music: Christopher Owens’ solo debut “Lysandre”

By Matt Rice · Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013

If you were to look at a list of my favorite instruments, you would see a lot of diversity. Saxophone and steel drum are my top two, and also high up on the list are the bass guitar, combo organ, violin and ukulele. What you won’t see on my list, however, is the flute. On Christopher Owens’ solo debut, “Lysandre,” the first sound heard is that of a flute. And I have never heard the instrument sound as horrendous as it does, opening this record.

Tongue-in-cheek band Electric Six to play at Blind Pig

By Michael Klink · Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013

It’s Valentine’s Day, and you’ve probably seen enough images of topless cherubs and rootless flowers with three-day shelf lives to last a lifetime. Why not enjoy your Valentine’s Day this year by spending it with Electric Six at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor?

Carmen’s No. 1 love song is “Dammit Janet.”

Echo staff express favorites in love songs

By Carmen Bojanowski , Jess Salisbury and Matt Rice · Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013

Through the ages, many artists expressed their love for their respective hunnies through song. Being one of those universal feelings and all that, love songs are something most people can relate to, so understandably, there is a metric crapton of them swimming about out there. Music writer Carmen Bojanowski, music critic Matt Rice (of Matt on Music) and life editor/resident music major Jess Salisbury weighed in on their personal favorites.

Yo La Tengo performed at the Michigan Theater Feb. 8. The show lived up to high expectations and the crowd enjoyed it.

Matt on Music: Yo La Tengo at Michigan Theater review

By Matt Rice · Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013

For their current tour, Yo La Tengo is splitting shows into two parts. The first part is mainly acoustic, and the second is electric. Knowing this, I was pleased when they opened their show at the Michigan Theater on Feb. 8 with an acoustic version of “Ohm,” the opening track from their new album “Fade.” I was even more pleased when they played the song again for their electric set.

Matt on Music: Dawn Richard's 'Goldenheart'

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013

Last year’s “Armor On” EP wasn’t Dawn Richard’s first release. It wasn’t even her first solo LP. In 2005, before she was ever a member of Danity Kane (whose hit “Damaged” is among the greatest pop songs of 2008) or Diddy-Dirty Money, she released “Been a While,” an album that has been almost completely forgotten.

Matt on Music: Tegan and Sara's 'Heartthrob'

By Matt Rice · Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013

In 2009, I became a Tegan and Sara fan after being introduced to them through a friend. They stand alongside TV on the Radio and Vampire Weekend as one of the bands most responsible for my fascination with indie-rock after being exclusively classic rock-oriented for so many years.