Blogs

The good thing about these articles is that I have to do research for “No Cover‰” on Sunday night instead of Tuesday night. The bad thing about these articles is that I start working on them on Sunday night. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised when I hopped on...

In a world of conglomerated music venues and promotion companies like I.M.P. and Live Nation, 9th & Beats stands alone. The brain child of Sweet Tea and Pumpkin Pie Fest (which featured the WVAU-hosted Shark Week Capital Punishment Showcase) founder Dave Mann and...

In 2007 I asked my close friend Conor for his thoughts on Arcade Fire‰'s recently released sophomore album Neon Bible. His response: “I love Neon Bible because it doesn‰'t ruin Funeral for me.‰Û As good a compliment as any for an artist burdened with the task of...

This semester Kaleidoscope Sound will allow the listener to see the variety of shades, silhouettes and shapes the international music scene offers. The Costa Rican music scene has proclaimed their surf garage-punk rock royalty: Las Robertas. Who wouldn’t have guessed...

Because there are a lot of lovebirds out there who may be … erm … taking advantage of the chance to romance on Valentine’s Day, we thought it only fair on this holiday evening to share some of our tricks! Music always sets the mood. Who better to suggest some mood...

Valentine‰'s Day is a holiday created to make us feel like we‰'re all back in middle school. At best, you‰'re running on a sugar high, at worst, you‰'re crying alone in your room åÊwondering if [insert name here] will ever notice you. But there‰'s no reason for anyone...

Labels and terminology are two of the most complicated, frustrating, impossible things about underground music. Nowadays, you can look up a band on Bandcamp or Last.fm to see how they categorize themselves, but even then there are about half-dozen tags, at least. When...

Sometimes, this love thing can be exciting. Whether you‰'re a newbie or you‰'re taking risks or maybe you‰'ve tried to fight it for too long but now have just decided to go with it. Here are some tracks you can add to your life if it were a romantic comedy: 1. “Your...

Valentine’s Day is upon us! And at WVAU, we know there can be a lot of pressure and a lot of build up of expectations, when in fact, it is simply about being in love and appreciating love. And people who aren’t in relationships can appreciate love: Carlton Banks...

Whatever you think about Taylor Swift, there is no denying that she is currently the most popular and ubiquitous musician in the nation, possibly the world. The recent downward spiral for album sales, even for established artists with impressive past sales figures?...

  WVAU is proud to present Stephen Thompson, NPR Music Editor and founder of The Onion’s non-satirical pop-culture spinoff, The A.V. Club, for a Q&A on music journalism and college radio. — Tuesday Feb. 5 in Ward 6 —   Thompson is an editor and writer...

I have been to many music festivals around the world, but BPM was definitely the most epic of my music experiences. The BPM FestivalåÊis a 10-day, electronic music festival that takes places along the beach on the Mayan Rivera in Mexico. During these 10 days, music...

Only 20 days in and this year’s already promised so much: more long-awaited reunions, revivals and releases than we could’ve ever dreamt, maybe that new My Bloody Valentine and, of course, #BabyYeezy. The Exec Board shares what we’re looking forward to in 2013. Mike...

We loved so many things about 2012 that we’re not ready to let it go just yet. Here’s our favorite cover tracks from 2k12:   Divine Fits – “Shivers” “I’ve been contemplating suicide, but it really doesn’t suit my style” sounds exactly like the kind of cocky...

Titus Andronicus – Local Business Titus Andronicus‰' third album, Local Business, seems to find the band thinking about its long-term career and making some subtle changes in its sound and approach as a result. In this way, the record‰'s title has a lot more meaning...

Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It When I named Put Your Back N 2 It my favorite album of 2012, I was often met with the response of “ugh, it’s so depressing though.” It’s true; one can easily get caught up in the record’s topics (“17” is about a gay teenager’s...

Mount Eerie – Clear Moon / Ocean Roar Mount Eerie’s latest albums show a perfect contrast: tranquility and disorder. Clear Moon feels emotionally satisfying with elements of Elvrum’s past concepts embedded (the black metal elements of Wind’s Poem, the folk ideals of...

Kool A.D. – 51 Rappers love talking about being the realest in the game. About how none of their actions are dictated by societal pressures or whatever else forces one to act “non-authentically”. But here’s a newsflash: if you have to talk about being real, you aren’t...

Azealia Banks – 1991 After serving up a club smash with last year’s “212”, rapper/singer Azealia Bank came through this year with an ear-catching blend of hip-hop and house music on 1991, her short but sweet debut EP. This four-track effort showcases Banks’s talent...

Julia Holter- Ekstasis “Avant-pop.‰” “Ambient experimental.‰” “Ethereal.‰” “Baroque-pop.‰” Try as they might, the blogs cannot pin a clean tag on Julia Holter‰'s sophomore album Ekstasis. Though they are not entirely wrong. Underneath the layers of antique atmosphere,...

Holograms – Holograms Holograms‰' self-titled debut evokes the gray energy of Joy Division and the synth based percussion of the ’80s. Though a bit odd in theory, the Swedish quartet takes all of their frustration and despair and produces something that‰'s more than...

Zammuto – Zammuto When The Books broke up, music fans mourned. The band produced some of the most thoughtful, inspiring, and creative music of this generation between Nick Zammuto‰'s found-sound samples and Paul De Jong‰'s cello loops. Zammuto is Nick‰'s first solo...

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp We can thank heartbreak for an endless wealth of classic albums‰ÛÓ Blue, On the Beach, Funeral, For Emma. But rarely has an album inhabited heartbreak so well that it universalized it. And rarely has one succeeded with such fire and passion as...