Blogs
Gin Blossoms’s New Miserable Experience and How the Lyrics of our Favorite Records can be Forgotten
Anybody who has ever read any of my columns knows that lyrical analysis is very much one of my favorite activities. But that was not always true. Especially when I was 8— which was one of the first times I remember hearing the phenomenal breakthrough record from...
GOLDLINK, CISCERO, and DJ AYES COLD Upcoming Show in the Tavern
Courtesy of Billboard TOMORROW, SATURDAY the 25th, DC rapper Goldlink will be coming to THE TAVERN for a FREE show for all AU students, co-sponsored by AU Student Union Board (SUB) and WVAU. Come before 8:30PM with your AU ID and get ready to BUMP. GoldLink instantly...
How HOMESHAKE’s Fresh Air Would Help Me Seduce A Robot
Courtesy of HOMESHAKE's Bandcamp I'm not saying I would boink a robot, but if I were to ever venture for the mechanical man, Fresh Air would be the album I put on while doing it. Here's how HOMESHAKE's latest album, Fresh Air would help me in my pursuit of robotic...
A Punk Analysis of Lil Yachty
Courtesy of High Snobiety People have been mostly pretty quick to shrug off new-on-the-limelight artists such as Lil Yachty as “badÛ, and “not interestingÛ, and “not goodÛ, and asking questions like “why is this popular?Û Punk rock and Lil Yachty do not seem...
So Many Colours Fill the Sky: Miami Horror, Whitney & More
Edit by Maria Carrasco I was originally going to do something different for today's post, but the weather was so nice Saturday and Sunday, I figured I should dedicate something to that. I mean, it's February and it was 70 degrees (but also, climate change is real...
Liv Takes a Crash Course in Egyptian Mythology To Satisfy Her Compulsive Need to Know What Songs Mean
The Pica Beats isn't the easiest band to find information about, but, after all, if the band you like has a Wikipedia page you lose indie points anyways. As the musical project of Ryan Barrett, they could arguably hail from Portland, Seattle, or Vermont depending on...
“Castle on the HillÛ: Hold On, We’re Going Home
2017 started off like any good year should start: with Ed Sheeran releasing new music. Finally, everyone's favorite ginger (Ron Weasley is a close second) returned with not just one but TWO singles that'll get you grooving. While “Shape of You” is one of Sheeran's...
Reel Big Fish: A Self-Aware Parody at the cost of Ska as a Genre?
I grew up loving ska, especially the third-wave ska that was popular in the 1990s. A copy of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones's Let's Face It was one of my favorite CDs my Dad gave me, among copies of Blues Traveler's Four and Huey Lewis and & The News's Sports....
Back to the Swamp: Cherry Glazerr, Father John Misty & More
Edit by Maria Carrasco Last year I was very excited to come back to D.C. during winter break. This year was different, for obvious reasons. But despite my absolute disgust of returning back to the city, especially on Jan. 21, some great music has come out that makes...
An Interview With FM Belfast: Purveyors of Peppy Icelandic Electronica
Courtesy of Wordpress Recently I got the chance to talk to FM Belfast's Lüa Hlün HjÌÁlmtüsdüttir about the band's new single, a recent collaboration, and politics. Macie: How was the Iceland Airwaves festival? Were there any new acts you found particularly...
My Top 5 Favorite Songs Called “Down By the RiverÛ
Photo Credit: Daniel Jenks You may laugh at that video, but back in Chicago I actually did know a promoter (that is a generous title for what he was doing with his life) who lived in a van…down by the river. Kinda sad, actually. Anyways.Musicians worldwide have always...
SPRING OPEN MIC TONIGHT
IT'S THAT TIME OF THE SEMESTER AGAIN: AN OPEN MIC, BABY. This time we're sponsoring with our friends over at Education Not Debt, @ENDebt_AU. Same place as always -- Batelle Atrium. And it's TONIGHT (Fri, Jan 27) at 8PM !!!!!! And now, a much more articulate wording of...
D.R.A.M. at U Street Music Hall
Photo taken by Bailey Cunningham On Tuesday, January 17th, D.R.A.M. kicked off the DMV leg of his Big Baby D.R.A.M. tour with a show at U Street Music Hall. He collaborated with openers River Tiber and Ari Lennox, whose hazy sounds set the mood for the night. Lennox...
Being a Habesha Kid in the Weeknd’s World
I may be over a month late on giving my opinion on Starboy, but I just wanted to process my emotions before babbling on for thousands of words. I decided to make this short and sweet. After listening through Starboy, I sat and stared at my ceiling for a couple of...
WVAU’s #1 Album of 2016: "Coloring Book" by Chance the Rapper
“IGH! IGH! IGH!Û Three noises ÛÒ not even words, and we already know. It's Chance the Rapper, Lil Chano from the 79th, Chancellor Bennett ÛÒ the voice of a generation, the star of 2016. Coloring Book was a mixtape everyone anticipated, but quickly became...
WVAU’s #1 Song of the Year: "Ultralight Beam by Kanye West
This is the opening track to Kanye West's seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, and it serves as a sample for what one can expect for the rest of the album ÛÒ a rapper reflecting on life through a God-fearing lens that seems so deeply rooted within him it may be...
WVAU’s #2 Album of 2016: "Life of Pablo" by Kanye West
Oh, high school me. How naÌøve you were. I now laugh at the amount of times I turned up my nose at the fantastic music that Kanye put out, while secretly hoping that “ Gold Digger” would come on the school bus radio, or that the DJ at my junior prom would put on “...
WVAU’s #2 Song of 2016: "Your Best American Girl" by Mitski
I have a problem with the cinematic classic Grease: namely the message sent when Sandy Dee transforms from pastel-clad bobby soxer to cigarette-puffing, rule-breaking sex kitten for the attention of some boy. Clearly, no one sat her down to talk about the importance...
WVAU’s #3 Album of the Year: “A Seat at the Table” by Solange Knowles
I don't know what the world did to deserve Solange, but girllllll I'm so thankful for her. We can all admit that 2016 wasn't the best. In a year full of turmoil, black girls shined. No matter what anyone did or said to keep us down, we sprang back up and did it...
WVAU’s #3 Song of 2016: "Shut Up Kiss Me" by Angel Olsen
It's impossible to discuss “Shut Up Kiss Me” -- the highlight single from Angel Olsen's My Woman ÛÒ without also discussing “The Waiting,” probably the most accessible track on Olsen's 2012 release, Half Way Home. A mousy, country influenced ditty, “The...
WVAU’s #4 Album of 2016: "Blonde" by Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean's most recent album, Blonde, is the musical embodiment of blue balls. Anyone who remotely cares about R&B has been waiting for this album for what seems like years because it truly has been. Frank Ocean's first album, Channel Orange, was released in...
WVAU’s #4 Song of 2016: "Cranes in the Sky" by Solange Knowles
I constantly make the mistake of agreeing to write about things I am too emotionally invested in. “Cranes in the Sky” is one of them. As I sit here writing about what this song means to me and this hell of a year we've all had, I decided to delete everything I've...
WVAU’s #5 Song of 2016: "Really Doe" by Danny Brown
Danny Brown doesn't follow the rules. Rappers don't have their big break at 30, they peak with their debut album at 22. Rappers don't sign to Warp Records, they sign to Def Jam or Atlantic. Rappers don't sound like they've just inhaled too much helium while on an...
WVAU’s #6 Song of 2016: "Needed Me" by Rihanna
First off, Rihanna is an icon. So maybe I am biased in that she could have recorded herself making a cup of coffee and I would have adored it. On second thought, I doubt Rihanna makes her own coffee. In my eyes, Rihanna can do no wrong. My friends and I incessantly...
WVAU’s #7 Album of the Year: "Leave Me Alone" by Hinds
I've never been good at expressing my feelings in a non-self-deprecating-with-a-hint-of-meme way. I've always liked dancing, though. When the Spanish all gal garage rock band Hinds dropped their album Leave Me Alone, I found out dancing and expressing your feelings...
WVAU’s #7 Song of 2016: "Nikes" by Frank Ocean
On August 20th, I found out that boys do, in fact, cry. After fours years of cryptic messages, twitter memes, and seemingly endless delays, Frank Ocean surprised us all with “BlondeÛ. The “Thinkin Bout You” singer finally emerged from his hiatus to bless us all,...
WVAU’s #8 Album of 2016: "Teens of Denial" by Car Seat Headrest
Here I was, working one of my long weekend shifts at a catering company in (where else but) Ithaca NY during this past summer vacation. I was stocking back, and threw on a new album that had been recommended for me to take a listen to: Car Seat Headrest's Teens of...
WVAU’s #8 Song of 2016: "The Season/Carry Me" by Anderson .Paak
“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...
WVAU’s #9 Album of the Year: "MY WOMAN" by Angel Olsen
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...
WVAU’s #9 Song of 2016: "16 Shots" by Vic Mensa
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...