Our long, luxurious month of break is nearly upon us, but without homework and class to skip, what will we do? At ArtsEtc., we have some ideas. Whether you’re sticking around Madison or venturing off to wherever you call home, there’s plenty to keep you occupied this break, even if… Read more »

“I didn’t actually know him before the tour, but I was played a few of his tracks and I was just like, wow, I can’t believe this kid is 19, he’s really, really talented and he’s got his own thing happening. After we started hanging out and just seeing him… Read more »

In an electronic scene where music has been reduced to the letter M and DJ booths have become DJing optional, Canadian-born, San Francisco-bred ill.Gates cuts an unusual figure. Over his nearly 20 year career, .Gates has preferred the term respect to rage, IDM to EDM and music production to theatrical… Read more »

One minute you’re a finance major, the next you’re DJing at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. While this may sound like a power lecture daydream to many, such is life for 21-year-old Justin Blau. Blau, or 3LAU as he is billed, was attending school at St. Louis’ Washington University when… Read more »

Macadelic Mac Miller: Pittsburgh rapper to headline Capitol Stage Not all of us can relate to growing up in Pittsburgh, rapping with Pharrell or releasing a mixtape at age 15. But we can all relate to being 20, smashing bottles of Hennessy and secretly loving Bright Eyes. It is this… Read more »

Here at the arts department, we occasionally get sent a package suspiciously shaped like a square Frisbee. Inside these packages are those lovely relics of music’s past: real CDs. Some are from local artists, some come in fancy packaging and some of them never get listened to. Cue Mix Bag… Read more »

When 2 a.m. rolls around in downtown Madison, the streets are filled with shouts of joy from a night on the town and growls of stomachs hungry for something non-liquid. While pizza joints and Parthenon are always available, those who crave something a little less meat and a little more… Read more »

ArtsEtc. Editor Allegra Dimperio live tweeted Tuesday night’s Dillon Francis concert! Dillon Frances in 140 characters or less on Storify.… Read more »

For the untrained or simply uninterested ear, all electronic music has a tendency to sound the same, with Avicii happily chilling in the same boat as Skrillex and Steve Aoki. For those who use “electronic music” not as an umbrella term but as the only term, words like electro house,… Read more »

When most of us think of foreign music, our mind either goes blank or we think of tribal music we were forced to listen to in an anthropology class. While the music video for Chilean band Astro’s “Ciervos” is also reminiscent of anthro with its shirtless, pelt-wearing characters running amok… Read more »

In today’s world, we cannot escape the tentacles of celebrity. From our Twitter feeds to our not-quite-highbrow news sources to our grocery store checkout lines come gossip-mongering, photo shop-abusing, gasp-inducing headlines and graphics, all telling you about Kim’s latest alleged sex scandal or which slighted young Hollywood actor is refusing… Read more »

By the time the average person turns 70, they have spent about 3 years of their life waiting — for a red light, for a file to download or for food to be served. On Friday, I spent nearly four hours standing outside in the rain, waiting to win a… Read more »

Electropop duo Teengirl Fantasy just released their sophomore album Tracer, but the sounds are intentionally anything but hot off the shelf. Snubbing the scripted hooks and builds of today’s popular electronic, the band’s commitment to spontaneous, live mixing led them to an album that sounds more like a nod to… Read more »

When Neon Indian regretfully informed fans that they would have to stop playing just one song into their set, their Lollapalooza crowd started murmuring. When a few minutes later an announcement was made that all attendees had to evacuate due to impending weather, the murmur turned into a dull roar.… Read more »

With 94.1 JJO Band Camp just days away, we caught up with headliner Korn’s drummer Ray Luzier during a sound check in Montana to chat about the band’s latest album, their current tour and what to expect from their set on Saturday. Badger Herald: Tell us about your new album,… Read more »

On a Monday morning, some 10,000 cars inched their way out of the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, Mich. Among the line of cars leaving the ranch’s campsite were license plates from Maryland, New Jersey, Colorado, Mississippi, Texas and even California. The cars, VW vans and pickups were stocked with… Read more »

For most college students, throwing back a few beers and talking about the future is a fun pastime, a way to pretend they won’t get swallowed up in the corporate machine like the rest of their classmates. For recently graduated UW alums Jake Gafner and Walker Richardson, however, that fun… Read more »

Bassnectar (a.k.a. Lorin Ashton) has been called the King of Bass, the Lazer Bass God and the Lord of Dubstep. While he is undeniably worthy of these titles for his music, Lorin as a human being may be more worthy of the title of Benevolent Shaman of Bassheads. “My ideal… Read more »

Two masked men stand hunched over, facing each other from opposite sides of back-to-back tables, looking as if they are intently conducting an experiment in a Technicolor-lit laboratory. One flicks a switch here, the other adjusts a knob there, with both scurrying from apparatus to apparatus, bobbing their heads as… Read more »

Just after 11 p.m. on Sunday night, a steady stream of sweaty bodies poured out of Miami’s Bayfront Park, some dragging their dirty furry boot-clad feet, others still dancing shirtless to the beat that played on in their heads. Roughly 165,000 electronic music fans clogged Biscayne Boulevard for the last… Read more »

David Guetta. Armin van Buuren. Tiësto. Avicii. Skrillex. And those are just the household names. What sounds like a name drop from DJ Mag’s Top 100 list is in fact just a few of the headliners at this year’s Ultra Music Festival. Yes, Ultra is back and it’s bringing its… Read more »

In honor of Lit Week, I have a confession to make: I just cannot get on board with e-readers. Call me old-fashioned, but to me an e-book is about as satisfying as fat-free frozen yogurt — close, but just not as good as the real thing. Sure, you can have… Read more »

Camped out in the Herald office during the Super Bowl, my head jerked up when the familiar strains of Avicii’s “Levels” filled the room. By then I was used to hearing it in unexpected places, with the song being played to death by opening DJs and frat boys (and my… Read more »

It takes just one minute to get into Feed Me’s newest EP, Escape from Electric Mountain. At approximately 1:08, the beat drops on the album’s first track “Trapdoor,” spiraling into the glitchy, in-your-face, knob-spinning breakdown Feed Me has built his sound around. Escape from Electric Mountain is the British DJ’s… Read more »

Tucked away in a warehouse on the Near East Side lies Sector67, Madison’s own hacker space. Officially dubbed a Center for Prototyping, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing, the mystery of just what goes on at Sector67 remains even after stepping through the nondescript door. Although the middle of the industrial space… Read more »

“Tonight’s show involves bright flashing/strobe lights during the performance. If you are susceptible to seizures, do not enter the show.” That was the message show-goers found on the door of the Majestic on Thursday night as they geared up to see Colorado-based Paper Diamond. That is, once they made it… Read more »

He opened for Bassnectar on New Year’s Eve 2011. He’s pals with Pretty Lights. The label he founded just sent Two Fresh on 41 tour dates with Skrillex. While the name Paper Diamond may not yet be on your radar, the producer/performer/man about Boulder is undeniably making his mark on… Read more »

Morning bun — $2.50 By most accounts, the morning bun was actually created right here in Madison at the long-closed and long-missed Ovens of Brittany. In its original form, the morning bun is croissant dough rolled in brown sugar and cinnamon and twisted up a la cinnamon roll. 4 &… Read more »

The holiday season ushers in snow, the end of the semester and visions of hot cocoa and homework-free days. It also brings the harsh reality that I spent all of my money on Christmas presents. For a college food columnist, the last few weeks of class bring the anxiety of… Read more »

Take one part metal guitar, one dash of lasers, one crowded dance floor and two Israeli DJs. Shake well, and serve hot. That about sums up the recipe for Wednesday’s Infected Mushroom show at the Majestic, an event that set glass rattling and heart rates racing. Infected Mushroom producer/keyboardist Erez… Read more »

Infected Mushroom members Amit “Duvdev” Duvdevani and Erez Eisen are not your typical Top 25 DJs. They’re not European, they’re not pretty boys and you would never mistake their music for house. Yet the Israeli duo has been in the electronic scene longer than most of us have even known… Read more »

Contrary to popular belief, Asian Kitchen is not the best option for Asian food in Madison. Yes, their lip-smacking, MSG-ridden General Tso’s chicken is the perfect drunk food, and yes, the location is ideal for stumbling into, but if you are looking for more than Americanized question mark meats, Madison… Read more »

This Sunday, I made my way to the East Side Club to do one of my favorite foodie things: I wisely decided to forgo lunch and munch on mini cupcakes at Iron Cupcake Madison Challenge #7 instead. I was thrilled to be going. Iron Cupcake Madison is a cupcake bakeoff… Read more »

At 12:20 on Sunday morning, a cheer swelled from the crowd of sweaty, costumed coeds at Segredo. The ghosts, teenage mutant ninja turtles, slutty fill-in-the-blanks, kandi kids and club-goers stopped churning for a moment and looked up: Wolfgang Gartner had finally arrived. The Top 100 DJ opened his set with… Read more »

Just four years ago, California-born Joey Youngman made a name change. The then-25-year-old producer ditched the moniker “Deep House” and chose the pseudonym “Wolfgang Gartner” for his new project as a DJ. The rest, as they say, is history. Wolfgang Gartner has played Ibiza, Ultra, Electric Daisy Carnival, the UK’s… Read more »

I have a confession to make: I’m an anti-high fructose corn syrup person. Call me a food faddist or a granola nut, but I just cannot bring myself to accept corn as a replacement for sugar. Perhaps it’s the fact that the syrup is enzymatically processed or that corn is… Read more »

The first time I had a salted caramel was by sheer chance. On a trip to Nashville two summers ago, I found myself in a bakery with a mouthwatering display case. Not content to try only the fruit tart and almond croissant, I picked at random and landed on sea… Read more »

View Ice Cream, FroYo and Gelato on State Street in a larger map In Wisconsin, summer tends to last the required three months, then disappears into the wet, cold and ugly season known as the rest of the year. Although summer is obviously over and the prospect of more 70… Read more »

For most college students, food is something that should be fast, hot and easy. Going to sit-down restaurants is not a priority, and venturing outside of walking distance to nosh is a rare occurrence. In Madison, this is a damn shame.    Yelp lists 655 restaurants in Madison, not including… Read more »

For many of my fellow students, the thought of spending 30 dollars for an entrée is simply ludicrous — that’s like two 30-cases. Yet that’s what you can expect to pay at L’etoile or Harvest, arguably the best restaurants in Madison. Both are hailed as gems of the Midwest, both… Read more »

There are few sandwiches I hold in higher esteem than the grilled cheese. When done right, the simple combination of bread, cheese and butter has a special place in my heart (and stomach) that even the most elegant dish cannot touch. Perhaps my love stems from fond memories of meals… Read more »

For many Wisconsinites, thoughts of Madison would be incomplete without thoughts of State Street. Seen as a major attraction, the six blocks between the Capitol and Library Mall are chock full of all things good in life: shopping, restaurants and hipsters. Tourist materials boast that State Street is home to… Read more »

It’s just after midnight on Sunday morning, and I want dessert. In what has become a weekly routine, I quickly scan my fridge knowing there’s nothing in it, search my cupboards though it’s futile and curse myself for not feeding my sweet tooth earlier. With a sinking feeling, I know… Read more »

Staring out the window onto State Street is one of my favorite ways to pass the hours blocked off as “study time.” Learning much more about society than I ever could in a sociology class (so I tell myself), I observe all sorts of phenomena, including the effects of… Read more »