Author Matt Wild

According to people unfamiliar with Snopes, “The Purge” is coming to Milwaukee this Friday

August 20, 2014

//In the dystopian world of last year’s The Purge and this year’s The Purge: Purge Harder Anarchy, society is granted an annual 12-hour period of complete lawlessness. Theft, murder, and anything else desp...

Lose yourself in the awesomely trippy video for Calliope’s “Casino”

Matt Wild

August 20, 2014

One of the biggest surprises in Milwaukee music this year has been Calliope’s ORBIS, a big, brash, unapologetic slab of psyched-out goodness that’s miles removed from the band’s previous efforts. With swirling ...

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Sugar Stems: Only Come Out At Night

Matt Wild

August 20, 2014

It’s fitting that Sugar Stems’ 2010 debut was titled Sweet Sounds Of The Sugar Stems. Over the course of three full-length albums—including the new Only Come Out At Night—the Milwaukee power-pop purveyors have ...

Field Report album release show set for October 22 at Pabst Theater

Matt Wild

August 19, 2014

The last few weeks have seen the premieres of two new songs from Field Report’s ridiculously anticipated second album, Marigolden. There’s likely more to the come before the record’s October 7 release on Partis...

Heavy Hand visits the motherfucking zoo in “Motherfucking Bobcat” video

Matt Wild

August 18, 2014

Last month, pop-minded post-punk trio Heavy Hand released a trippy video for “David Bowie Wants To Steal Your Baby,” the first single from its excellent new LP, Northwoods Knives. The video featured various bod...

Exclusive: Stream Arctic Sleep’s heavy, gorgeous new album, Passage Of Gaia

Matt Wild

August 18, 2014

Like rock, hip-hop, and nearly every other genre of music known to man, metal comes in a variety of subtle but recognizable flavors: classic, speed, doom, sludge, Norwegian death, etc. The metal embraced by Mil...

Here’s a video of Paul Ryan awkwardly milking a goat

Matt Wild

August 15, 2014

Lest you think U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan has been taking it easy and/or working on his ’ceps since his failed 2012 vice presidential bid, think again. The Janesville Republican is still the golden child of his party,...

Bublr Bikes (not WatrFountain Bikes) hit Milwaukee streets

Matt Wild

August 15, 2014

Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications for bits of news we missed throughout the week.• We’re forever barred from making jokes about NEWaukee’s NEWaukeean of the Week (sponsored ...

Milwaukee Film announces music docs, live music series for 2014 fest

Matt Wild

August 14, 2014

The sixth annual Milwaukee Film Festival is just over a month away (cue another round of heart attacks at Milwaukee Film), which means the fest is in full announcement mode. Programs spotlighting Mexican cinema...

Tracklist: 10 dubious Milwaukee listicle appearances

Matt Wild

August 11, 2014

If there’s one thing Milwaukee is good at, it’s appearing on dopey online lists—or “listicles,” if you’re nasty. Yes, there’s something about the Brew City that makes it a perennial go-to name for lists of 10 C...

Exclusive: Listen to Body Futures’ terrific debut album, Brand New Silhouettes

Matt Wild

August 5, 2014

Let’s take a moment to honor those bands that refuse to play the kind of music that typically gets streamed on NPR. Let’s take a moment to pay tribute to bands that stick to their noisy, straight-up rock-and-ro...

Hayward Williams previews new album at Walker’s Point Anodyne residency

Matt Wild

August 5, 2014

Back in the spring of 2012, Milwaukee’s gone-but-not-forgotten Juniper Tar set up shop at The Hotel Foster for four Wednesdays in a row, previewing songs from their then-upcoming album Since Before, and collabo...

Welcome to August: Here’s what you’re doing this month

Matt Wild

August 1, 2014

Is there anything more punch-worthy than saying “It’s August already? Where did the summer go?” Probably not, so we won’t say it. Instead, we’ll look ahead (past this weekend’s Breadfest/Center Street Daze mayh...

Listen to a previously unreleased (and totally bad-ass) Hollowz track, “Heist”

Matt Wild

July 29, 2014

It’s been a few years since Milwaukee hip-hop duo The Hollowz have dropped new music on the city—three years to be exact, which is when the group’s last LP, Dreams Of Sex And Flying, was released. Not that rapp...

Postmodern dance, heavy metal, and venturing outside one’s comfort zones

Matt Wild

July 29, 2014

This past Sunday, I went to the Lynden Sculpture Garden to see a retrospective performance from the Trisha Brown Dance Company, which kicked off Alverno Presents’ 2014-15 season. To say I knew nothing—and still...

6 reasons to get excited for Alverno Presents’ 2014-15 season

Matt Wild

July 24, 2014

For more than five decades, Alverno Presents has pollinated the city with some of the most original and rewarding performing arts in the world. International music and dance have long been staples of Alverno’s ...

Exclusive: Listen to the putrid new Drugs Dragons album, II & I/II

Matt Wild

July 24, 2014

Some albums instantly reward listeners with big hooks, sparkling production, and an eagerness to please. Other albums offer up complex arrangements and knotty lyrics, challenging listeners to unlock the rewards...

Great job, Milwaukee! Milwaukee named 4th unhappiest city in U.S.

Matt Wild

July 23, 2014

For a few months out of the year, Milwaukee is a magical place, filled with festivals, fireworks, and babes and bros on the beach. But the fleeting summer months hide an ugly truth: Milwaukee is a deeply unhapp...

Milwaukee Film adds Times Cinema as venue for 2014 festival

Matt Wild

July 22, 2014

If our calculations are correct, the 2014 Milwaukee Film Festival is little more than two months away. (Cue heart attacks from everyone at Milwaukee Film.) Like past fests, the sixth annual installment—schedule...

Jack White at The Rave or: In defense of good artists playing bad venues

Matt Wild

July 22, 2014

Walk into the Cactus Club and you’ll see a silk-screened 12” record created by Milwaukee artist Von Munz promoting The White Stripes’ first out-of-state show, November 13, 1999, in which they opened for The Mis...