Click here to download  a PDF of the issue.

Brrrrr, it’s freezing here in New England. Thanks goodness spring is only a few short weeks away, followed by the summer festival season. But you don’t have to wait until summertime to experience some awesome events during the chilling winter months. If you’re in the Bay Area, don’t miss Noise Pop from the 22nd through the 27th. Check out which shows we recommend in this month’s “Soundbites” section. And of course, next month brings the behemoth we all know and love: SXSW. We’ve got a little preview for that in this issue, as well, so be sure to read up on some must-see artists showcasing this year. Hopefully we’ll see you in San Francisco and Austin!

I also want to thank those of you who have sent in positive comments on our new formatting. We truly hope the new layout makes it easier to read and follow. A magazine, I believe, should feel like your favorite record. My favorite records tend to have a unified feeling, even if the individual songs have their own unique sound. Likewise, when you pick up the magazine, it should be instantly familiar on the whole, yet each section should have its own unique, fresh personality. Sometimes, I’ll hear a song and not know the name of it right off the bat – but I can tell which album it’s from. I hope that’s how you approach Performer. Pick it up and flip through it. As always, your feedback is welcome.

And lastly this month, I want to touch upon our review section. If you’ve read the magazine for any length of time, you’ve no doubt noticed we do not have a star system, numerical scoring or any other form of ranking albums. Judging art on a scale of 1-10 seems a bit silly to us. The simple truth is, we cover music we like and want to introduce to our readers. If we don’t dig a record, we won’t waste the ink and paper on coverage. So I encourage you to read the review section with that in mind, and use it as a recommendation guide as opposed to some hipster grading system. What merits a 7.6 over a 7.4, anyway?

-Benjamin Ricci
Editor

P.S. – In last month’s “Spotlights” section, we regrettably referred to RIBS’ upcoming release as Rush of Blood, when in fact it’s actually titled Russian Blood. In just a few short keystrokes, we inadvertently made the group sound like a Coldplay tribute band, which is definitely not the case. We apologize for the error, and ask that readers pick up their debut, British Brains, which is a) awesome and b) available now. Also look for the band’s new double A-side digital single due out this month. For more info please visit ribstheband.com.