Blogs
Belle Brigade- Just Because (ATO)
A summery 90s singer/songwriter throwback Sibling duo, Belle Brigade produces musical perfection in this follow up to critically acclaimed 2011 debut album The Belle Brigade. Soft and sweet featuring the summery vocals of Barbara Gruska, Just Because harkens back to...
Majestico – When Kingdom Come (ATO Records)
Another great 60s garage-rock inspired psychedelic album. There’s no shortage of bands these days who basically owe their entire existence to the pioneers of garage rock in the 60s. Still, when a band like Majestico masters this style with the right combination...
Broken Gold – Residency At Hundo Beach (End Sounds)
Super rich punchy power-pop. When Broken Gold went to record Residency At Hundo Beach, they started with around 40 demos. Though the EP ended up being only six tracks, each track is so dense and rich that it seems like they just squeezed all 40 demos into the six...
Incan Abraham ÛÒ Tolerance (White Iris Records)
Perfect combination of vocal harmonies and ambient synths. As we approach the close of the semester, papers, finals, and horrific group projects are the only thing standing between complete freedom and peace of mind. Incan Abraham's debut LP, Tolerance, may be the...
Zella Day ÛÒ Sweet Ophelia EP (Pinetop)
A whimsical singer-songwriter defining her range. It's hard to believe Zella Day only wrote songs for her acoustic guitar while she was growing up in the Arizona mountains. It is obvious from her two-track EP that her compositions are anything but simplistic. In...
Faces On Film ÛÒ Elite Lines (Self-Released)
Miniature exploration of indie rock subgenres. It's hard to place Faces On Film into a subgenre within indie rock, but whatever it is that they do, they do it well. Frontman, Mike Fiore, combines different elements of the acoustic guitar, atmospheric buzz, cooing...
Elbow ÛÒ The Take Off and Landing of Everything (Fiction/Concord)
Classic Elbow sound, twenty years deep. The title of Elbow's sixth full-length album, The Take Off and Landing of Everything seems to foreshadow the themes of the album: the pondering thoughts of life and death. “This Blue World” isn't the best opener to the album;...
Dry Heeves ÛÒ Boogie Till Ya Puke (Self-Released)
Lo-fi surf rock that really will make you boogie. To get an immediate vibe from Dry Heeves, listen to the instrumental track “The Swell.” It illuminates their purely guitar-based, lo-fi sound, with surf rock inspired riffs. Although it has enough substance, the track...
Twintapes- Everyday Chemical (single)
Bright Electro with a kick Brooklyn electro-pop band Twintapes creates a surprisingly danceable track with their newest single “Everyday ChemicalÛ. Featuring velvety synthesizers and an upbeat tempo, “Everyday Chemical” creates a sound that breaks through the...
Axxa/Abraxas ÛÒ Axxa/Abraxas (Captured Tracks)
Chill! Far out! Psychedelic, dude! Axxa/Abraxas is the project of Atlanta resident Ben Asbury, who clearly took after the psychedelic tendencies of fellow Georgians in the Elephant 6 collective. Unlike that group's folksier leanings, Asbury prefers straight up psych...
The Revivalists ÛÒ City of Sounds (Wind-Up)
A fun rock, big band and funk patois It's gonna be a little tough to come up with the “RIYL” for New Orleans septet because they sound very similar and very unique at the same time. The group gets originality points for adding big band instrumentation and funky...
Various Artists ÛÒ Suicide Squeeze Presents: Forever Singles (Suicide Squeeze)
Like one giant, rad garage rock house party This compilation from Seattle based record label Suicide Squeeze collects 14 singles previously released by various bands via the label, often times in limited edition vinyl formats. Stylistically, most of the bands featured...
New Bums ÛÒ Voices in a Rented Room (Drag City)
The sound of a hangover of the prettiest hangover ever The folk stylings of New Bums hits an interesting spot on the musical spectrum, both stylistically and mood-wise. They're sad and downbeat, but not outright depressing like Sun Kil Moon, and their songs about...
Battleme- Future Runs Magnetic
Smart, simple cross-genre album. Anyone that heard Battleme's 2013 EP Weight on the Brain was left wishing for more, and the full-length answer to the prayers is Future Runs Magnetic, an edgy and dynamic album. Ranging from dreamy and experimental indie to post punk,...
Desert Noises- 27 Ways (SQE Music)
Impressive debut effort from a creative indie rock band. Desert Noise's debut album 27 Ways is refreshing and upbeat addition to the realm of modern indie rock. High-energy songs that pack punchy percussion, rootsy-rock guitar riffs with overtones of 80s alternative...
Early Morning Rebel – Life Boat (Baby Bird Records)
Indie-pop sounds of 3am sadness Everyone knows the feeling of a digital glow reminding you it's too early for you to still be awake as you stare blankly at your ceiling. Life Boat should be the soundtrack to those nights. Every song off this debut album explores some...
The Chain Gang of 1974- Daydream Forever (ADA)
Indietronic synthfest with a beat The Chain Gang of 1974 is (spoiler!) just one man, Kamtin Mohager- but this guy has enough tricks up his sleeve to act as 5 people. Daydream Forever was an effort between Mohager and producer Isom Innis, who is best known for his work...
Joyland-Trust (Arts and Crafts)
Keeping it cool This album is much cooler than you are. I don't mean this as an insult or a compliment, more as a statement of mere fact. If this album were somebody, it would be the young people at a party who have excellent, perfectly disheveled haircuts and a...
DJ Spotlights: Foreplaylist
Welcome to the inaugural WVAU DJ Profile series, where we take a look at some of the lovely faces behind the microphone who serenade you with all sorts of music. This series will look at some of our fantastic DJs and give you a little more insight into all of the...
Leading Ladies: From Indonesia, Singer Neonomora Ready to Go Global
Indonesian singer, Neonomora, hopes to reach international status. It’s not very often that artists from Southeast Asia are mentioned beyond the local community. A few names have made it big like Malaysian artist Yuna, multitasking star Charice from the...
The Tough Crowd: Reunions and Why They Make Me Cringe
A month or so ago, emo/post-hardcore/whatever else band, Basement announced (well, hinted at) their reunion through a discreet but very obvious Twitter post. It was classy and sure upped their hype factor to the kids that already jock them, but for me as someone that...
Sit Down with Shira: Perfect Pussy
For my inaugural badass-f***-off-indie-girl-fronted-(or compiled)-band post, I figured there would really be no better band to start off with than the ultimate front runners in their supersonic field: Perfect Pussy. Yes folks, there is a band called Perfect Pussy, and...
Rainy Day Music #5: Speak No Evil
This week’s Rainy Day Album is the first jazz album to make the cut (gasp!). Wayne Shorter’s 1964 masterpiece Speak No Evil, nominated by my good friend/old bandmate Yoni Arbel, is an inimitable album, perfect for the more meditative stretches of a calm,...
Live in the Hive: Soundtrack to Sleep
DC emo-nites Soundtrack to Sleep came by the studio for an intimate acoustic session. Packed to the brim with sing-along choruses, punchy rhythms, and vocal/heart tearing lyrics, Soundtrack to Sleep are perfectly emotive. Around since 2011, this isn’t just some...
Minutia: Dilute – "0"
Dilute's Grape Blueprints Pour Spinach Olive Grape is an album of extremes and contradiction. Instruments dance around each other like migratory birds, individually chaotic but with a warped cohesion in the grander scale. Voices sing with glassy fragility, but slowly...
U Street Music Hall’s Anniversary
For 4 years, U Street Music Hall has blessed DC with cheap shows from world class DJs. And every year, to celebrate their birthday, they bring the best and brightest DJs from all parts of the dance music spectrum to grace the venue’s legendary sound system. Come...
The Looking Glass: Schoolboy Q’s "Oxymoron"
With the release of Oxymoron, we are confronted by the very new and long awaited project ofåÊSchoolboy Q. Schoolboy Q noted in an interview that the album has a double meaning; it refers not only to a kind of debut, a coming of a new artist into the mainstream of...
Minutia: Swans, "Coward"
Through numerous lineup changes and decades spent making music, Swans have covered ground from no-wave to post-rock, but their artistic vision has remained extremely focused and identifiable. Swans make music that is hellish, blacker-than-black, and suffocating. All...
Heavy Rotation Highlights: Real Estate, Drive-By Truckers, We Are Scientists, and More!
Hey Spring Breakers! Whether you’re partying it up at at SXSW, Cancun, or your basement, hopefully you’re enjoying some time off this week. In need of some new tunes during all this idle time? Look no further than these Music Staff picks, highlighted by...
The Tough Crowd: mewithoutYou Show Review
Reviews aren’t really my thing. I don’t like ‘em and they always leave me feeling as though the recommendations given through them are arbitrary and useless. That is why this isn’t going to be a real review but more of me reciting a recent...