catherine degennaro

There’s just something about dysfunctional musical relationships that capture the imagination—the way that great music so often comes from talented musical minds on the outs with each other, outgrowing one space and pushing each other back and forth for control of it. The 2002 documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, chronicling the making of the seminal Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, manages to capture such a clash between Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett. The Tweedy-Bennett songwriting team produced many of Wilco’s most memorable musical moments in spite of—or maybe because of—the growing tension in their relationship. Years later, the Ashes of American Flags documentary captured quite a different dynamic. The group, four years into what is now the longest run of any lineup in the band’s history, had come a long way from the arguments and migraines. In their place, we got longtime bassist John Stirratt offering around soundcheck cookies and Tweedy commenting on drummer and father-to-be Glenn Kotche’s habit of sitting on the bus hi-lighting parenting books. If the chaos of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the sound of a band straining at its seams, the straight-forward 70s rock of 2007’s Sky Blue Sky and its underwhelming follow-up Wilco (The Album) came to be heard as the sound of this new comfort, or worse, complacency. Read More »

If it rains one more day, I am seriously considering building a huge ark, loading up two members of every varsity sports team on campus (and perhaps a few Leo’s staff members), and setting sail for Bermuda until global warming decides to chill out. Unfortunately, I don’t have nearly enough lumber to make this a realizable dream (and I think cutting down all those trees would actually worsen the whole climate change thing), so instead I’ve had to resort to seeking out the highest ground on campus possible to escape from puddle season.

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Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at SAC Fair today! If you’re lucky you may have picked up one of our SWEET MIX TAPES (if you’re extra lucky you got the one that Andre 3000 personally burned for you). In any case, we hope you enjoy it, and check out a complete track listing after the jump!

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Congratulations! You survived move-in day. Welcome to college. Now what? Any glance at the news (or out your window) will tell you that you should be tearing the last non-perishables off the shelves, barricading your windows, hoarding AA batteries, flashlights, stocking up on enough bottled water to last you through the Apocalypse and perhaps investing in a gondola. All of that checked off your list? Well, once you’ve made yourself comfortable–maybe curled in the fetal position in the middle of your room in a nest made of emergency supplies–press play. This one’s for you, Irene. We’ve got nothing else to do but wait for you. Read More »

As we approach the end of July down in DC, the temperature is starting to flirt with triple digits. The air outside is thick with humidity, weighing us down and threatening to reduce us to sticky pools of sweat if we don’t find shelter. It can be tempting to rush from one indoor air-conditioned sanctuary to the next, but we can also embrace the heat, at least for a little while. Read More »

Maybe, like me, you’ve returned home for the summer to recoup your losses after that unpaid internship burned a gigantic hole in your pocket (more like U n paid, am I right?). Because you (read: I) have yet to develop any “real life skills” for which people will pay you, and you refuse to submit yourself to the cruelty of CVS customers ever again, you take what you can get. Say no to hanging with the Under 5 crowd? Not in this economy.

In all seriousness, babysitting isn’t a bad gig. I get paid to go to the park, hunt for bugs, fight pirates and build spaceships with a kid. There are few better ways to spend your 9-5. However, since I’m used to spending most of my waking hours pumping music into my ears, sometimes I need a fix to get me through the third consecutive hour of playing Lego Good Guys vs. Bad Guys — something that is preferably a little less “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and a little more “Itsy Bitsy Spiders (Kidsmoke).” But unfortunately, little boys aren’t really the ideal demographic for 10+ minute Krautrock jams. So what are my options? Read More »

When a band tours as rumors of new albums swirl, there is a good chance they’ll road-test some possible material on you. These performances used to be intimate moments: an artist sharing something that was, at that point in time, reserved only for those lucky enough to be in the audience. But now that anyone can whip out their phone, press record, and have it uploaded to YouTube by the time the next song begins, these moments have become a little less confidential. And now we’re in on it, too.

You may remember the day we last heard from Andrew Bird. Does January 20th, 2009 ring a bell? Read More »