My favorite thing about the underground music scene during the 1980s is the regional rosters which developed within independent labels. Many cities had a distinctive sound and scene which locals were proud and passionate about. Being a music fan during the mid to late 1990s did not have the same impact because the internet made the world a much smaller place and it became a lot easier to access independent music regardless of where it came from.

I grew up in New Jersey and, largely in reverence toward the earlier label-based scenes, have always felt an extra bit of passion for bands that come from the area. I still feel a tinge of excitement when I discover a great band and find out that they are from my home state and make no mistake about it: Titus Andronicus is a great band.

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During the days of my deviously energetic youth, I sought music that complimented my heightened emotions; I searched for music that propelled and alleviated everyday confusions and epiphanies. Along with various other forms of music, the genre of metal has always held a special place in my arsenal of music knowledge. Growing up in South Jersey, I was surrounded by a budding “metalcore” scene. Although most diehard fans of metal tend to dismiss this and other new forms of metal, metalcore introduced to me the vast expansiveness of all areas of metal, and for that I am thankful. If it wasn’t for bands like Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Between the Buried and Me, I most likely wouldn’t be able to appreciate the other forms of metal that I love to this day.

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I have never gone to a music festival of any kind. I often see bands play live but the prospect of watching performance after performance while surrounded by sweaty, intoxicated people never seemed appealing. This being said, I have spent the last few years watching the live broadcast of the Pitchfork Music Festival from my home and somehow wishing I was there.

A few months ago, when the line-up was announced for the 2010 Pitchfork festival, I was impressed. It seemed really solid with stand-outs like Beach House and Panda Bear; then I got to the bottom of the list and noticed the word ‘Pavement’ and was immediately floored. Pavement has been one of my favorite bands for many years and I never thought I would get to see them live. I had gone to the Pixies reunion tour in 2003 and I knew that missing Pavement would be a huge disappointment so I immediately bought two tickets. On Wednesday of last week, I found myself hitting the road to make my way from South West Florida to Chicago.

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Black metal has been a genre of scorching emotive outbursts. The music is fast and abrasive; the singing is akin to the sounds a tortured demon might make. It is a dark and creepy section of the metal genre. Bands like Emperor, Xasthur, Dimmu Borgir, and others bring a sense of doom and destruction to their music. Another aspect that is usually felt when listening to this style of music is despair. Soaring guitars strike out melodies that seem to evoke plaintive, introspective feelings as opposed to the cathartic, anger management treatments usually associated with this stye of music. No band, that could be considered “black metal,” has done this greater than Alcest. A French band made up of one man, Neige, Alcest has structured beautiful songs around the combination of two almost completely separate genres of music.

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As a music enthusiast, I have always been a fan of the album. The album is a definitive statement: a reflection of a time or place in an artist’s life. Every album is, in essence, a ‘concept album’: The songs it is comprised of are given greater meaning based on their placement. They are inescapably linked to the atmosphere they inhabit. I frequently find myself creating a narrative around similar lyrical or musical themes which give an extra dimension to the music. My preferences make it difficult for me to champion a compilation but They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave by Carissa’s Wierd has really won me over.

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