Blogs

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...

Regents – Antietam After Party 2012, thankfully, was a year full of quality punk albums, and post-hardcore supergroup Regents capped it off with one of the year‰'s hardest releases, Antietam After Party. Made up of veterans of the fertile D.C.-and-Virginia hardcore...

Lambchop  Mr. M Is it really any surprise that Lambchop has ended up on a list of overlooked records? After all, Mr. M sounds like some bizarre collaboration between Burt Bacharach and your piss-drunk uncle who claims to have invented the earmuffs. Overlooked, indeed....

As part of la nouvelle rock sc̬ne fran̤aise (“the new French rock scene”), BB Brunes formed in 2005, joining the ranks of what the French media called Les BÌ©bÌ©s Rockers (“Baby Rockers”), marked by their youth, good looks and post-punk influence. Lead singer Adrien...

If you wanted to dive into the world of K-Pop and were turned off by PSY‰'s atrocious foray into the music industry (please do not even try to defend “Gangnam Style”), give it a second chance and start off with BIGBANG. While the rest of the world was slowly warming...

I was first drawn to the music of Oddisee through his uniquely focused album, Traveling Man. This D.C. artist hopes to explain the world through his music, labeling the tracks in this album after different cites he visited while on the road. Oddisee describes his...

Hailing from sunny Mexico City, Hello Seahorse! (exclamation point always included) reminds us how globalized this world has become. Images of mariachi bands and suave Spanish guitars have been replaced by a new generation of young musicians with more international...

Name of show:åÊSeventh Inning Stretch, Mondays 12-2 p.m.! (Like and follow me on Facebook!) Three words to describe your show:åÊVaried, rambling and cheerful. What can we expect to hear on your show? Sort of like alternative rock like The Black Keys and The Arctic...

Happy Holidays from WVAU! This year went by so quickly — and there’s still so much to be thankful for. Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and folks are heading home for winter break, the WVAU staff wanted to share that overwhelming feeling of thankfulness that...

For WVAU’s FREE YEAR-END SHOW, we’re hosting a warped beats-frenzied tripleheader with D.C. acts Heavy Breathing and Misun and AU’s own DJ BCKWTR on Saturday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Kay Basement. After all, this is WVAU’s last Capital Punishment before the Mayan...

Name of show: Artificial Sweetener, live on Sundays from 9-10 a.m.! (Like and follow us on Facebook.) Three words to describe your show: Bubblegum Teen Angst What can we expect to hear on your show? Julia: Indie alternative rock from past to present, some ’90s grunge,...

Matthew Jones is doing something amazing with his music. First off, who doesn‰'t want to listen to a band with a killer name like IT IS RAIN IN MY FACE? After exploring his musical genius, there has yet to be a track that isn‰'t simply stunning. His melodic voice...

In just a few years drag queen/author/singer/model/television personality RuPaul has transformed from an underground sensation into an unstoppable force. Due mostly to her popular show “RuPaul‰'s Drag Race‰” on Logo (which AU still doesn‰'t get- SG should get on...

“I think, therefore I am.‰” ‰ÛÒ Descartes “Swaggy.‰” ‰ÛÒ Justin Bieber Justin Bieber is the ultimate example of a modern pop star. Having ascended to superstardom through a combination of viral videos, Internet buzz, celebrity endorsements, strategic marketing,...

Name of show: Hot Chocolate with Pink Marshmallows on Saturdays 10-11 a.m.! Three words to describe your show: For your chakras… What can we expect to hear on your show? The beauty of “Hot Chocolate with Pink Marshmallows “ is the unpredictability of the music flow. I...

Initially known as “the girl on that Gotye song,” Kimbra has now made a name for herself following a wildly successful debut album that has been certified platinum in her native New Zealand and Australia and headlined an Australian and North American tour. In fact,...

I discovered Pile at CMJ and became a rabid fan in the space of a week or two. On Thursday night they played at an odd Ethiopian bar in D.C. and my roommate and I naturally followed. Something about this band causes me to ring with a resonant frequency; like a glass...

DJing is often associated with hip-hop and dance music, but the D.C. based Fort Knox Five are a different kind of DJ group. They mix funk, reggae and of course some hip-hop elements to create a unique and captivating sound. Fort Knox Five started in 2003 when,...

I never liked Elvis because I was misguided into believing that he was credited with making traditionally known “black‰” music popular to a wider range of audience. I used to believe that he stole something that did not belong to him and then catapulted himself to be...