Spin Madly On

The first post- many more to come

Welcome everyone to my new blog, Spin Madly On. 

My name is Kirsten and I'm a recent graduate of The University of Kansas (Rock Chalk to all my fellow Jayhawks). While in Lawrence, I studied journalism and received my degree with an emphasis in news and information. 

I'm currently living in the Chicagoland area while I search for my big break into the industry. In college, I worked as a student life reporter for the University Daily Kansan and while I enjoyed covering daily news, I'm mostly interested in magazine journalism and feature writing. 

Indie, classic rock, electro, even some hip hop, (but never country–sorry Garth Brooks fans) I listen to and love it all. And as a young journalist I try to keep up on current events. I'll be using this blog to post my opinions on everything from new songs (as I write this I'm jamming to Yolanda Be Cool's "We no speak Americano!") to what's happening around the world. Please feel free to comment on any post. I'd love to hear from you. Whether you agree or disagree with what I have to say, let's keep the conversation going. 

Thanks for reading. I hope you find Spin Madly On entertaining, fun to read and informative.

-K.

 

 

Matt and Kim: What they lack in lyrical writing, They make up for on stage

 

I don't know anyone who calls Matt and Kim their favorite band. And I'm not saying anyone should.

But when I saw them perform at Lollapalooza a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find a seemingly loyal fan base–people who knew their work beyond "Daylight" and "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare". 

The duo, who are best known for these songs, hit the stage with Fat Joe's "Lean Back" blaring from the Adidas Mega stereos. An instant party shock-wave infected the crowd. Thousands of kids appropriately decked out in plaid, neon and chuck taylor's, threw both hands in the air and began doing the inevitable intro dance–myself included.

Nothing beats a great opener. Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino must have learned that somewhere along the road. 

From that moment on, their set only got better. The crowd got crazier. Matt sang louder. And Kim slammed on those drums with the mighty force–which made her more badass (if this is possible). 

I played a few of their songs on repeat for months so I was looking forward to their show. But I must admit, I never thought it would become one of my favorites of the  three-day festival. A full listen to their two albums proves they have a long way to go.

Songs like "Yea Yeah" and "Lessons Learned" while catchy, deliver overly simplistic lyrics.  Still, when they played them live, I had a blast.

The consensus? I'm not about to call Matt and Kim's albums "genius", but they do know how to put on an extremely fun show. They're @ the Metro in Chicago, Sept. 19 and I fully plan on attending. 

Here's a video of Matt and Kim at Lolla. What did you think of their intro?