A few days before Halloween last year, I stood in my school’s German beer hall, Der Rathskeller, captivated by possibly one of the weirdest shows to grace the normally indie rock and jazz-oriented stage. Chicago rapper TYGKO had just left after a stellar (as always!) set, and when pop artist Fraxiom took the stage, she declared that “the vibes are federal,” referring to the Wisconsin State Capitol building that sits just a few blocks away ..read more

Every year, I try to see at least 100 artists perform live. For the past two years, I’ve hit that mark, and I’m well on my way to hitting it again in 2024. In 2023, I saw plenty of truly amazing shows and though I never tried to put them in order, there’s definitely an upper class of the most memorable musical moments I had that year. Among the best was underscores, who played LA’s Roxy Theater fresh off the release of her critical smash concept album Wallsocket. The memorable magnetism of that concert is what pulled me to an even bigger venue just a few miles away this week to see underscores ..read more

Last week, Porter Robinson gave away his designer clothes to fans based on what he deemed a vibe assessment. As hundreds of fans in LA lined up (and thousands more watched on Twitch), a few signs sat on the door explaining the event and its single rule for fans: “no words will be exchanged,” the pink signs said. “if you speak you will be kicked out ..read more

Happy July! We’re back with another edition of Caller ID that rounds up just our favorite releases from the past month, this time including tracks by Charli XCX + Lorde, Tinashe + Jane Remover, Glitch Gum + Jack The Underdog, Lu-Ee, and Bree Runway. “The girl, so confusing version with Lorde” - Charli XCX, Lorde BRAT was a tailspin. You’d be forgiven if you listened to the record and felt the need to discuss “So I” and its touchingly vulnerable SOPHIE tribute, “I think about it all the time” and Charli’s meditation on motherhood, or even just the overall surprise of a record so willing to wand ..read more

SOPHIE died suddenly and tragically three and a half years ago. She was already an iconoclast of the hyperpop era, an innovator in microgenres like deconstructed club and industrial dance whose mysterious demeanor and understated speaking voice contrasted the social bombast presented by so many of her peers. In death, SOPHIE has gone on to mean so much more to so many people. She became the latest genuinely transcendental artist taken too soon, but also an individual whose relentless drive and unmistakable personal touch still lingers years after she’s gone. To trans women in particular, her e ..read more

VELVET DREAMING, 22-year-old Kade Thibodeau's electro-pop solo project, first appeared on my radar late last year when I saw them open for Alice Longyu Gao. As they delivered an energetic set, commanding the audience's attention with ease, I got the impression that I was seeing the Boston-based artist fully in their element — not only were they performing for a local crowd, they were also in the perfect venue: Berklee College's Red Room at Cafe 939, whose crimson walls seemed as though they'd been painted specifically to complement Thibodeau's fit, a bold scarlet ensemble from head to toe. Tha ..read more

Charli XCX’s music doesn’t always live in the club. Make no mistake, if you’ve been to a queer dance party of any kind in the past 10 years, it’s almost a guarantee that you heard her voice at some point in the night. But for all the dancefloor classics she’s served up in her career, her love for pop structures is impossible to ignore across her entire discography. Occasionally, that manifests with sentimental ballads resistant to even the most tasteless of SoundCloud house remixes. But Charli XCX the person seems like she was almost custom-made for dancing at sweat-soaked raves running deep i ..read more

Happy June and happy Pride Month! After last month’s double edition, we’re back to our regular monthly schedule for Caller ID, this time with reviews of tracks (and an album) by Happy Birthday Mr. Baskets, underscores, marshall4, Charli XCX, and saoirse dream. Graphic by Zoe Axelrod “xXidontneedyou_tolovemebackXx” - Happy Birthday Mr. Baskets Happy Birthday Mr. Baskets' newest single has one question at its core. "Do you think that it's alright if I don't need you to love me back?" will probably be stuck in your head for a few reasons after you hear the track. The first is because it's delive ..read more

It’s been a hectic few months for the Ringtone team! We weren’t able to squeeze Caller ID in last month, but we’re back and better (and later, sorry, my bad) than ever with a new double edition! This time, we decided to add a new Call Declined section for a few songs that we… didn’t like. Here are our favorite songs from the past two months (okay, fine, maybe one from very late in February) by Charli XCX and Porter Robinson as well as our least favorites by Camila Cabello & Playboi Carti, Rico Nasty & Boys Noize, and [loud sigh] JoJo Siwa. Graphic by Zoe Axelrod “B2b” - Charli XCX For ..read more

In Los Angeles, seeing a show in a venue that is so truly and deeply bizarre that it imprints its own character onto an event is par for the course. Such is the case of Boyle Heights’ Don Quixote, a club frequented enough by locals that many have long moved beyond just how strange of a name Don Quixote is. But what I could never imagine myself normalizing no matter how many times I go to Don Quixote is how dissociative it feels to be inside. In contrast to the expansive concrete warehouses or cramped poorly lit boxes that play host to most raves, Don Quixote is both spacious and quite polished ..read more