Blogs
Concert Preview: The Record Company @ 9:30 Club on 2/28
Have you ever wondered to yourself: What if I could understand what Dave Matthews was saying? Let us introduce you to your next steel guitar obsession. The Record Company—a Los Angeles blues-rock outfit—is at large, re-touring their hit debut album "Give It Back To...
Carter’s Classics, Vol. 1 – “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it”
The term “classic” is often thrown around when it comes to music. The truth is that something being “classic” is subjective, just like music in and of itself. That’s why in my column, “Carter’s Classics”, I will be diving into projects that some people don’t...
Concert Preview: Maggie Lindemann @ 9:30 Club on 2/26
Maggie Lindemann has carved out a space in pop music that feels both raw and unapologetic, and she is sure to bring that to the stage of one of D.C.'s most iconic venues. After first gaining attention with glossy pop tracks, she’s fully leaned into a darker, heavier...
Album Review: I Used To Go To This Bar – Joyce Manor
Over the years, I feel like I’ve noticed people slowly giving up on Joyce Manor. Their early work so perfectly captures what it feels like to be young and angry. As their sound has become increasingly polished, many fans have accused them of shedding the rawness of...
Concert Preview: Umphrey’s McGee @ 9:30 Club on 2/14 & 2/15
Drawing on notable influences like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Police, this Indiana-based band delivers a wide variety of sounds spanning multiple genres. At its core, Umphrey’s McGee is rooted in rock. Born out of a combination of University of Notre Dame rock...
The 2026 Grammys – Winners and Losers
For over half a century, the Grammys have been marked as the pinnacle of musical achievement. Yet, with praise of the award show also comes a fair bit of controversy. Wins like Killer Mike’s “Michael” over Travis Scott’s “Utopia” for Best Rap Album, Eric Clapton...
Concert Preview: ALEXSUCKS @ The Atlantis on 3/9
Need to defrost? ALEXSUCKS are bringing their fiery blend of sing-along, dancey garage rock to DC with a show at the Atlantis on March 9th. For fans of 2000s indie rock (The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, etc.), this is one you won’t want to miss. With...
WVAU x AASU DJ SET THIS FRIDAY 2/6!!!
Join us in the Battelle Atrium for a night of dancing and DJ sets by Digital Riot and Angie Teig! This event is in collaboration with the Asian American Student Union @ AU. Door open at 7:30.
No One Noticed — A Poem using lyrics by The Marías
How the hole In my chest Grew each year As everyone Around me Left to Find their Other half. Oh, how I feared Staying in my Too cold, Too empty, Too quiet Apartment, Wondering Was I meant To be a part Of anything? Maybe I Lost my mind Searching for ...
We Cannot Let The Music Go Quiet.
For several weeks, the song “Walk My Walk” by Breaking Rust topped Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart, alongside a number of songs by Caine Walker. All of these charting songs were written and performed by AI, becoming part of a growing trend of AI “artists”...
Album Review: Looking Back on 30 Years of Jagged Little Pill
This past June marked the 30th anniversary of one of my favorite albums, “Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morrissette. I think fondly of sitting in the backseat of my parent’s car when “Ironic” would come on the radio. My dad would revel in how much he loved the song,...
Experience the iHeart Radio Soundbank with Audrey Hobert w/ a WVAU Web Staffer
Audrey Hobert grabbed her guitar, adjusted a blue scarf right above the saddle. “Guys, will you let me play some acoustic songs?,” she asked the audience. The small crowd, gathered by a local radio station, felt enormous as a loud cheer erupted after her question. ...
Pets Talk “Dig The Skull”
There is a kind of magic that can only be created when a truly great band plays in someone’s garage. The last time I saw Pets, I was sitting on top of my car, legs through the sunroof, kissed by rain so thin it was almost mist. Barely cold enough for a sweater, it was...
Ben’s Thoughts on the 2026 Grammy Nominations
This year's Grammy nominations are out, which offers me an exciting opportunity to take a look at a questionable amalgamation of nominees in categories that never quite line up. But who doesn’t love award shows! This year, Kendrick Lamar leads the pack with a total of...
Reframing the Sabrina Carpenter Album Cover Controversy
Over the past few years, you most likely noticed the gradual rise of a pop superstar. Although not new to the limelight, the release of Sabrina Carpenter’s fifth studio album “emails i can’t send” and the virality of its song “Nonsense” propelled her to a new level of...
“I wouldn’t exist without y’all, and that is simply facts” – Meet Emma Andersen
As she breaks into the music world, Emma Andersen, an emerging folk-pop singer-songwriter, is driven and grateful for the communities that surround her as she gains her footing in the industry. “The whole community aspect that goes into music is why I love to do it,”...
Concert Review: Sydney Rose’s I Know What I Want Tour @ The Atlantis
I walked past countless flower crowns, long white skirts, and outfits that belong on a fairy garden-themed birthday party Pinterest board. It was rainy and cold, but that didn’t stop Sydney Rose fans from lining up outside The Atlantis in anticipation of her show on...
Album Review: Mon Laferte’s “Femme Fatale”
Mon Laferte, one of the biggest artists in Latin America, has released her new album “Femme Fatale”. Laferte is a Chilean Mexican singer whose music transcends genres. She creates gut-wrenching songs; some might even call her the queen of yearning. Her breakout song...
Concert Preview: Portugal. The Man @ The Anthem
Moving into winter, what better concert is there to attend than one in which the band’s founding members are from Alaska? Portugal. The Man began in Wasilla, Alaska in 2004. After moving to Portland, Oregon, they released their debut album titled “Waiter: ‘You...
Album Review: Lux – Rosalía
Lux is a wildly ambitious album: Rosalía sings in 13 different languages, weaves together orchestration, and explores spiritual themes by relating them to her own life. She told NPR that she wanted to “fit the entire world in an album”, and I think she managed to do...
How The Soundtrack in “The Royal Tenenbaums” Shapes the Story and the Viewer
“I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum” says Eli Cash in “The Royal Tenenbaums” directed by Wes Anderson. It is also the name of my playlist encompassing the score for the movie. On my second viewing, I created this playlist as the movie developed with the hopes of...
Concert Preview: Digable Planets @ Lincoln Theater on 11/18
When people think of Jazz-Rap, there are a few groups whose status as legends of the genre can not be denied. Digable Planets are absolutely among them. With unparalleled smoothness, the Brooklyn-based trio of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca"...
Twenty One Pilots’ final message to their fans in their album “Breach”
I watched the “City Walls” music video on Sunday night just a few days after it came out. I’d come off one of those weeks you have as a senior that makes you contemplate your entire life course, one where assignments seem to never end and every stressful thing...
Album Review: Melt – Not for Radio
During a cold winter in upstate New York, María Zordoya began crafting what she describes as her “alternate reality”. Pulled away from the loud world of the music industry, she set out to create music simply “for the love of experimenting”. That resulting project is...
Press Shuffle and Take the Metro
Midway through the fall semester of my junior year of college, I’ve found myself living more independently than ever. A weird experience, might I add, but a rather profound one that has contributed to a period of self-discovery. My favorite moments of being on my own...
Concert Preview: The Wombats @ The Anthem on 11/11
Midterm season got you down? As we move into the last stretch of the fall semester, why not spend your hard-earned downtime at a good old-fashioned live music performance? The Wombats — English indie-rock trio consisting of Matthew Murphy, Tord Øverland Knudsen, and...
Concert Review: Twilight Override @ The Lincoln Theatre: A Night With Three Tweedys
Short beards, knitwear, too-small beanies, and wire-rimmed glasses; on Oct. 26, Jeff Tweedy brought his classically eccentric audience to the Lincoln Theatre. The room itself felt like a relic from another decade: red velvet seats, ornate gold trim curling around the...
The Death of Spotify
Earlier this month, an event series launched in Oakland called “Death to Spotify”. The forum sold out in just 24 hours, with interested individuals from Detroit to Bangalore, India inquiring about hosting similar talks in their own cities or receiving recordings of...
Concert Review: Yung Lean @ The Anthem
As I walked into The Anthem, the vast venue was filled with flashing yellow, blue, and red lights. The stage was taken over by the opening act, The Taxidermists. Their upbeat indie vibe grasped the attention of the crowd and their songs “Sweet Guilt” and “Love You”...
An Audiophile and New Jersey Defender’s Take on the Garden State Soundtrack
I recently rewatched the indie cult-classic “Garden State” the other weekend. The air finally felt cold enough and the leaves yellow enough. Really, I wanted to hear the soundtrack, the same one that won a Grammy. It really is so special, full of perfectly...