Blogs
Discovery Mandy Weekly II
Consequences of Sound Valentine's day is right around the corner, and love is in the air whether you like it or not. I forgot about it, myself, until I realized that my discovery weekly playlist was basically force-feeding me songs about love. Everybody might not...
It’s Beyonce’s World And We’re All Just Living in It
Courtesy of SF Gate The past week the world of Beyonce, which is fairly synonymous with the world at large, has been nothing short of a whirlwind. Beyonce has taken me on an emotional roller coaster with dips at please help my fave is problematic' and what did I do...
Martin Courtney Live @ DC9
Backstory: Seeing live performances have been a big part of my time here in DC. I went to my first show back in October not really having been exposed to many different kinds of live music. I saw Saintseneca perform at Black Cat that night. Their music was a hybrid...
Live in the Hive: Bad Moves
D.C. band Bad Moves dropped by the WVAU studio to flaunt their DIY prowess.
Leading Ladies: 3 Songs to Revisit from 2015
Welcome back to “Leading LadiesÛ! I'm super stoked to get back to writing about some amazingly talented women in music from all over the world. To get things started, here's a sample of what I'm still obsessed with in 2016. Eryn Allen Kane - “Have MercyÛ...
Soundtrack to your Life: Is it a banger?
Courtesy of Rent A Swag Tom Haverford, mogul extraordinaire, once said, “Every song I download has to pass a series of rigorous tests to answer one simple question: is it a banger?” No matter who you are or what you do, situations arise more often than not that...
New Age-y Nostradamus: A Review of Joe’s Garage Act I by Frank Zappa
Courtesy of Music Today I think this is the most satirical and try-hard album I've ever listened to. Yet at the same time this rock opera' is beautiful. It is doing so many things at once. Joe's Garage is a rock opera without characters but with a moral. I'm...
When underground Ghanaian tapes get discovered: the mystery of Ata Kak
Self-taught musician Yaw Atta-Owusu, better known as Ata Kak, hails from Kumasi, Ghana and represents the country's exciting, emerging musical style. His style is referred to as “Hiplife": a fusion of American hip-hop and Afro-Caribbean music. Ata Kak represents...
Interviews: Bayonne
Courtesy of Publish Brand Last Wednesday, as D.C. hunkered down for the impending snowstorm, I sat down with Austin-based artist Roger Sellers to talk about his project Bayonne. He performed his minimalist electronic set at Black Cat later that night. Mom+Pop will...
Discovery Mandy Weekly: I
Courtesy of Narc Magazine Mondays used to be my least favorite day of the week. It marked the abrupt ending of a relaxing weekend, and with it ushered in a new set of weekday stress. However, my hatred of Mondays changed when Spotify introduced Discovery Weekly...
Tundra Tunes
Courtesy of Allan Kingdom I racked my brain for a few hours attempting to find something to write about that was not related to the immense amount of snow outside. But considering I have been doubling up on socks for days now, this winter weather has been occupying...
Porque no los Dos: Santi
Courtesy of Santi Productions Very rarely do I stumble across Latin-infused electronic down tempo on my sound cloud feed, partly because I don't actively search it, but when it does appear it's such a breath of fresh air. Paraguayan-born producer Santiago Ferreira...
When Underground Ghanaian Tapes Get Discovered: The Mystery of Ata Kak
Courtesy of Santi Productions Very rarely do I stumble across Latin-infused electronic down tempo on my sound cloud feed, partly because I don’t actively search it, but when it does appear it’s such a breath of fresh air. Paraguayan-born producer Santiago Ferreira...
In Remembrance of David Bowie
In the wake of the tragic loss of legendary pop star David Bowie, we at WVAU had a lot of feelings and wanted to provide some of our writers and DJs with an outlet to voice those feelings. Read on for a montage of emotions, exaltations, and expressions of life and...
WVAU’s #1 Album of 2015: “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar
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...
WVAU’s #1 Song of 2015: "Hotline Bling" by Drake
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...
WVAU’s #2 Album of 2015: "Carrie & Lowell" by Sufjan Stevens
Courtesy of Wikipedia Sufjan Stevens' musical journey has left few territories uncharted - over the course of his career, the Detroit native has explored acoustic folk, ambient rock, orchestral ballads, electronic, and everything in between. But on his latest album,...
WVAU’s #2 song of 2015: "Should Have Known Better" by Sufjan Stevens
Courtesy of The Daily Gazette Ah, yes, the token feelsy Top 10 songs. Because even us angsty college hipsters have to let our dammed-up emotions flood out in private every once in a while. The wide appeal of “Should Have Known Better” likely stems from its...
WVAU’s #3 Album of 2015: "I Love You, Honeybear" by Father John Misty
Courtesy of Wikipedia In I Love You, Honeybear Josh Tillman AKA Father John Misty takes a big, gaudy, rhinestone-lined heart and sews it onto his sleeve for all to see. According to Tillman, himself, the album is a concept album of his life, and it focuses very...
WVAU’s #3 Song of 2015: "Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)" by Father John Misty
Courtesy of Village Voice Say what you will about Father John Misty- trash his grimy hippie persona, poke fun at his hackneyed lumbersexual hairdo scoff at this pompous interview responses- but the man knows how to write a love song. And not just any love song, but a...
WVAU’s #4 Album of 2015: "The Most Lamentable Tragedy" by Titus Andronicus
Courtesy of Merge Records It's not every day that a band announces that their next album is going to be a rock opera. Sure, they were en vogue in the 70's and 80's, ushered in by the Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia, but the rock opera, arguably with the depreciation...
WVAU’s #4 Song of 2015: "Pedestrian at Best" by Courtney Barnett
Courtesy of E-Verse Radio Just like any other weekend, my friends and I were in my beat up Volvo cruising around suburban New Jersey with no destination in mind. The routine was simple: pile the whole friend group in the small sedan, fill up on gas, and turn on WFMU....
WVAU’s #5 Album of 2015: "Painted Shut" by Hop Along
Courtesy of Rolling Stone The second record from Philly rock band Hop Along starts with an awakening, with a dream immediately tugged away from consciousness in the early morning. From there it moves discordantly, but assuredly. From story to story, from paradox to...
WVAU’s #5 Song of 2015: "In Time" by FKA Twigs
Courtesy of Genius Beneath the modular synth and electronic string construction of “In Time” lies the girlfriend you don't want. Like, really don't want. Maybe you've already even broken up with her, but her texts keep coming in, and she shows up to all the same...
WVAU’s #6 Album of 2015: "Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit" by Courtney Barnett
Courtesy of Wikipedia In the penultimate song of Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Courtney Barnett somewhat climactically claims, “I'm just a reflection of what you want to see, take what you want from meÛ. While that sounds like something Bob...
WVAU’s #6 Song of 2015: "My Baby Don’t Understand Me" by Natalie Prass
Courtesy of Space Bomb I'm not entirely sure you can classify “My Baby Don't Understand Me” as a “break-up song.” Break up songs usually contain a sense of closure: either the singer's left their lover, or the lover's left the singer, and either party can be...
WVAU’s #7 Album of 2015: "Sound & Color" by Alabama Shakes
Courtesy of Consequence of Sound Although Pitchfork might've thought themselves too progressive or cool to include Sound and Color in their list of the 50 best albums of 2015, WVAU did not. Let's face it, though, Alabama Shakes' 2012's debut Boys and Girls made...
WVAU’s #7 Song of 2015: "Sorry" by Justin Bieber
Courtesy of Spotify Think back to January 1, 2015. While nursing those NYE hangovers, we were eagerly anticipating chart-topping releases from Kanye West, Drake, Frank Ocean, Adele, Fergie, and Kendrick Lamar (half of which still have not been released yet) If I told...
WVAU’s #8 Album of 2015: "Perpetual Motion People" by Ezra Furman
Courtesy of Pitchfork Almost every review/feature/write-up I find about Ezra Furman's Perpetual Motion People uses the word “outsider.” Ezra Furman writes “outsider music” or from an “outsider's perspective.” And, to a degree, I understand. Furman is a gender...
WVAU’s #8 Song of 2015: "Broken Necks" by Eskimeaux
Courtesy of Buffablog I was sitting on a deflated air mattress in my best friend's dorm in Boston the first time I heard "Broken Necks." While that maybe isn't the most picturesque setting, I like having a memory attached to a song. It is the kind of song I knew...