WVAU’s #8 Song of 2016: "The Season/Carry Me" by Anderson .Paak
Calkie Fisseha
December 24, 2016
“The Season/Carry Me” is the perfect introduction to Anderson .Paak. There is no doubt that this dude is nothing short of amazing. SERIOUSLY. His type of music can't even be restricted to one or two genres. And those damn drums. THOSE DRUMS! The switch up between “The Season” and “Carry...
WVAU’s #9 Album of the Year: "MY WOMAN" by Angel Olsen
Michael Lovito
December 24, 2016
All and all, I've found being a music fan in 2016 to be pretty frustrating. It's hard to think of a high profile release this year that didn't have an over the top or torturously prolonged roll out (Blonde) or insisted on itself by putting out supposedly brilliant but in reality scattershot and unfo...
WVAU’s #9 Song of 2016: "16 Shots" by Vic Mensa
Sean McCarthy
December 24, 2016
Part way through the first verse of Vic Mensa's bombastic “16 Shots” he drops the lines, “And we all know its cause cause he black/Shot em 16 times, how fucked up is that?” The track, a fiery response to the 2014 death of Laquan McDonald, marks Mensa's emergence as the voice of Chicago's...
WVAU’s #10 Album of 2016: "ANTI" by Rihanna
Calkie Fisseha
December 22, 2016
When I was told I get to write about ANTI, a weird stream of emotions rushed over me. I was excited. I was overwhelmed. I was worried about not being able to do this album justice. Repeat after me: Rihanna is more than a fashion icon. She's an artist, badass, and angel that miraculously lives...
WVAU’s #10 Song of 2016: "Heart Shaped Face" by Angel Olsen
Kathleen Lovito
December 22, 2016
I'm sitting on the edge of my bed, bare feet feeling into the worn-down grain of the cold wooden floor. I try to count the grooves like I always do. Like I always do when I'm sitting here and you're way over there. Down the stairs, across town, states away... but I'm thinking of you, anyway....
WVAU’S MOST UNDERRATED AOTY: Mykki by Mykki Blanco
Tessa Dolt
December 21, 2016
Courtesy of Pitchfork Mykki Blanco has taken the aggressive rap of previous albums and added an impressive vocal range that works honestly with the heavy, introspective lyrics in her studio debut, Mykki. The queer, gender-fluid performer and alter-ego of Michael Quattlebaum Jr., has established herse...
WVAU’s #6 Album of 2016: "Puberty 2" by Mitski :: U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N
Luke Palermo
December 20, 2016
WVAU 2016: BEST LOCAL DC ARTIST
Kathleen Lovito
December 18, 2016
Just a month or so back, AU's music mongers flocked to the Tavern to drool over Girlpool's honest lyrics and swoon over Frankie Cosmos' psychedelic sweater at WVAU's fall Capital Punishment show, but few expected to be blown away by the four-piece that led the pack: Big Hush. Big Hush may...
WVAU 2016: BEST NEW ARTIST
Michael Lovito
December 17, 2016
Hinds's 2016 LP Leave Me Alone is far from their first release; the Madrid-based quartet has been releasing music as far back as 2014, which makes their designation as “Best New Artist” a little dubious. However, 2016 is certainly the year that Hinds broke, turning a bunch of heads in the firs...
WVAU 2016: BEST ALBUM ART
Tessa Dolt
December 16, 2016
Courtesy of Prince Rama I was way into Xtreme Now's album art before I knew it was inspired by energy drinks and Taraka Larson's prophetic vision of people base-jumping off planes while the Mona Lisa smiles back at them from their parachutes, but now I have even more of a reason to love it. I like to...
WVAU’s #1 Album of 2015: “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar
Calkie Fisseha, General Manager
December 31, 2015
Courtesy of Genius To Pimp a Butterfly? What does that even mean? Why are all these shirtless dudes in front of the White House on the cover? Therapeutic. That's the only word to describe To Pimp a Butterfly. As I write this, I am at a loss for words about how this album makes me feel. It's th...
WVAU’s #1 Song of 2015: "Hotline Bling" by Drake
Jack Fitzpatrick
December 31, 2015
Courtesy of Pitchfork When I was selected to write about Hotline Bling as WVAU's Song of the year, I was excited, yet felt a plague of pressure. This track is just so much more than a song. Hotline Bling is the summation of Drake's entire year. This record has so many components, scandals, be...
