Blogs

Courtesy of AFP/Getty Images If I had my way, there‰'d be no more award shows, no more grading according to stars or letters or decimal points, no more best of insert arbitrary timeframe here lists. Intentionally or not, all of these practices cultivate a cancerous...

It‰'s no secret that Michael Cera, one of Canada‰'s finest specimens, was born to do great things. When he first emerged on our screens in Arrested Development in 2003, everyone immediately saw that this kid had pure comedic potential. This week, an album called true...

Courtesy of Billboard Let it be known; as August rattles its last breath and we're plunged from a dream of summer into the cruel ice bucket challenge of fall semester, WVAU.org will raise its sleepy head in service of the better things. After all, going back to school...

Courtesy of The Chicago Sun-Times At this year’s 9th installment of Pitchfork Music Festival, held in Chicago‰'s west side Union Park, yearly attendees and concert officials found themselves drowning in the claustrophobic masses of new concertgoers. On three...

Our first international guests, PAWS, graced our cozy studio for some pop-punk straight out of Glasgow. You can listen to an innocent pre-Morrissey PAWS, before they were burdened by BUZZ, SOCIAL MEDIA, and DRAMA. Regardless of whatever beef (he he) Moz may have with...

Over the last ten years, The Hold Steady have established themselves as one of America’s most joyous, intelligent, and overall best rock and roll bands. Between the combination of singer Craig Finn’s hyper-literate lyrical narratives and lead guitarist Tad...

If you’ve tuned into WVAU at any point this semester, it’s safe to say you heard a track off of Natural Child’s latest record Dancin’ With Wolves. The record’s been played non-stop since we’ve received it and to have the Nashville...

Right off the bat, “Cowboy Dan” sets the thematic tone of 1997‰'s The Lonesome Crowded West perfectly. It sounds western, it sounds like open skies, it sounds fragile and pretty, but it also sounds menacing and dark. The song‰'s title character is easily...

Before I dive into in this, I wanted to start out by saying thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read my pieces either from Shaken Not Stirred or Jazz Up Your Day from last semester. Prior to joining WVAU, I had no prior experience in creative,...

In 2012 an independent developer released Bastion, a somewhat clumsy platformer and arcade style third person shooter for the computers. The gameplay and the art style, while interesting, did not make quite as big a splash as its soundtrack. With good reason too, most...

On April 21st, Third Man Records, Jack White‰'s privately owned record label, released their video of the fastest vinyl ever recorded and sold. The video begins with a short performance of White’s newest single “Lazaretto‰” in his studio at Third Man Records...

Courtesy of CV Comics. On Saturday I met a real life rock star. A 70‰'s icon decked out with big long hair, tight jeans and his mother‰'s blouse. I (and all of my friends) met Bobby Liebling, vocalist of the legendary doom metal band Pentagram. I experienced the whole...

Last week‰'s Rainy Day Album was an album of relentless, visceral sorrow — an opportunity to use a rainy day to purge the darkest emotions in your nature. This week‰'s is the opposite, a light and carefree album to make the most of your time inside: the Shins‰'...

My addition to the Slint reissue circlejerk: There‰'s something about being immersed in the mundane, cyclical toils of prepubescent academia that has left me utterly unmotivated to follow this column‰'s self-imposed structure. I spend my days hunched over a...

An amalgamation of music genres by musicians isn‰'t all that uncommon these days. You even have new genres arising from time to time (PBR&B, Chillwave, Slowcore) to add to the confusion when trying to place a finger on someone‰'s brand of music. Thankfully, no...

This semester ran me over. In the last couple months I worked harder than I ever had before and encountered whole new stresses. But I know I am not alone. During this time of the year plenty of us have papers to complete and finals to study for. To help us all get...

Raggedy, full-grown beard: check. Loose fitting, probably vintage flannel: check. Greasy, lion‰'s mane hair: check. What more could you ask for from a three-piece, indie rock band? Well, besides a hardcore drumbeat to make you jump repeatedly and buzzing guitar...

Still from Angel Olsen’s “Tiniest Seed” music video. I don‰'t think there‰'s anything greater than an ethereal songstress, strumming softly on her guitar while wheezing haunting lyrics. This, dear friends, is Angel Olsen in a phrase. After releasing...

From North London, rapper and actress Simbi Ajikawo, known by her stage name Little Simz. Courtesy of BKLYN1834. As soon as Little Simz‘s latest mixtape “Blank Canvas” was featured on JAY Z’s Life&Times website, everyone wanted to know...

The world of Twitter is relatively new place for me. Over the past month or so I have been trying to navigate the waters of the social network and learn its intricacies. I have learned some but I still have some way to go to become a master sailor of Twitter. I find...

Last week‰'s pick, Dilute’s second album, was a piece of beauty that embodied rain in its sound as well as its abstract emotion. This week‰'s Rainy Day Album does away with the abstract and goes straight for the emotion: Hospice by the Antlers. Thanks to our...

Only two years after the release and success from their first album, Light Up Gold, the Brooklyn punk outfit Parquet Courts have announced the release of their new album Sunbathing Animal. Along with the announcement of their new album, they also released a new...

It‰'s that time of year again. The time for crazed festival fans to prepare themselves for the summer‰'s upcoming musical events. Finally, summer music festivals are releasing their lineups for 2014 and pumping up festival-goers across the country. This past Tuesday,...

How did you come to call your show Strictly Kosher? Drew Sher: Before Strictly Kosher, my show‰'s name was Fur Sher. As with all of my names, I was joking around with Mikey Creedz, Mike Creedon, and we came up it. I like for my show name to be a play on words. What...

Janelle MonÌÁe performs with a hologram M.I.A. for a live on-stage collab. (I might have cried just a bit.) I am a big fan of seeing women uplift and support each other, especially within the music industry. Recent examples include BeyoncÌ© featuring Nigerian author...

Very rarely am I optimistic about a new record. Especially when the new record is from a recently reunited band, and even more so when that band’s last record I consider one of my personal favorites. Last week when Copeland announced their reunion, it‰'s the...