Blogs

Indie rock experimenters and Elephant 6 veterans Of Montreal are back again with a new record Paralytic Stalks that is just as funky, self-deprivational, and plain interesting as anything they’ve ever put out. Staff Writer Richard Murphy recently spoke to...

WVAU Capital Punishment 2010 veterans Javelin return to town on Saturday, February 25 to play the postcard-sized Red Palace. If you were lucky enough to attend their disgustingly danceable show in Kay Basement a few semesters ago, you know what Javelin’s...

For WVAU.org’s newest feature, we quizzed DJs about their shows, their most embarrassing on-air moments, their favorite 8th grade tunes, and everything in between. First up is Luisa Armijo, the host of Chido Cheverisimo with with Ana Sabalvarro on Mondays from...

Haaaaaaaay Justin, Too much, I know. Allow me to try again, Dearest Mr. Timberlake, We can all agree that 2011 was a pretty great year for you. You were still riding the hype-waves from “The Social Network‰” through awards season. Your name made top-billing on two...

Join Electric Factory with Louise Brask today from 6pm-8pm for an exclusive DJ set with Chris Nitti (Lost & Sound, D.C.) Nitti is a rising local DJ who is slated to open for Ewan Pearson 2/22 at U Street Music Hall next week. He is a resident DJ at DC’s very...

Poli̤a- Give You The Ghost I‰'d call it post-rock, but somebody sings. I‰'d call it R&B, but it‰'s got too much drumming. I‰'d say it‰'s Bon Iver, but the singer is a girl. And yeah, she sounds a lot like Justin Vernon, probably because Poli̤a (pronounced...

Royal Baths are nothing if not unconventional. Their live performances are unpredictable and spontaneous, with very clear disregard for how things are supposed to be done. Their drummer sits atop what is, apparently, a small tall wooden side-table, and there is not a...

Neil Young has spent almost half a century compiling a catalog that is nothing less than extraordinary. It’s difficult to explain exactly what is so extraordinary about his music without blatantly contradicting myself: it’s straightforward, yet imbued with...

I have been in love very few times in my life. It is odd to say a few times because every happily married couple I have met (only one and they are my grandparents) has said they have only been in love once and that‰'s only if you‰'re lucky. To them the mere thought of...

Dr. Dog – Be The Void Let‰'s be clear, Dr. Dog aren‰'t reinventing the wheel here. Their latest release follows the same psychedelic, ’60s-style rock radio as their previous releases. It might seem easy for this band to grow tedious by their seventh...

This Friday, December 10 at 8:30 p.m, WVAU is hosting the semester’s first Capital Punishment, featuring three of WVAU’s finest student bands for one night in Kay Basement. Headlining is the Neologians, the afro-funk legionnaires who we first saw last...

Winter break is over, and all we have to show for it is a stack of books to read, memories of sleep, and stale Christmas cookies. This depressing state of affairs led me to listen to almost exclusively slow, quiet Paul Simon songs. Fortunately, there are only so many...

Ambient music is always something that I’ve appreciated, but never fully engaged in. My first real experience with the genre was on a late night drive back from Philadelphia with my dad, when we could find nothing else on the radio to listen to but the excellent...

Cate Le Bon – CYRK When I saw Cate Le Bon open for St. Vincent last February, I had only one real criticism: she needed a band. Thankfully, CYRK, her sophomore album, fixes that, and provides excellent results. Le Bon focuses not so much on catchy hooks or...

Editor’s note: We caught up with last semester’s abroad columnist to get her own top tracks from last year. The verdict: club bangers and chillwave. These two picks would mos def be on a list had I compiled my favorite tunes from 2011, but it‰'s early in...

I am from Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas calls to all the outsiders to unite in this seemingly small city. Nothing surprises me anymore. From the time I was ten I could have named 20 strip clubs. My middle school English teacher was once a stripper. I‰'ve seen a drunk...

I can honestly say I‰'ve never seen a live performance of a movie score, much less heard of the concept, until now. In late November, English band 65daysofstatic took their alternative score of the 1972 sci-fi flick “Silent Running‰” to the Duke of York Picture House...

Radiohead – The King of Limbs Unfortunately, one of the best albums of the year (in my opinion) has been subject to some of the worst qualities of the music-listening world: shallowness, self-righteousness, and stubbornness. Listeners who were waiting for a...

Lou Reed and Metallica – Lulu I know what they say about Lulu. But I listened anyway, and found out they‰'re completely wrong. The negativity surrounding Lulu started before the album even came out, with critics tearing apart the odd combination of Lou‰'s...

The Front Bottoms – The Front Bottoms Did your 2011 lack the dark comedy lyrics of folk punk, the danceable melodies of your favorite 2009 synth-pop band, the belting choruses of your emotional middle school years, and the DIY New Jersey attitude? Have no fear,...

Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra. With his first major release, Frank Ocean emerges as a broken-hearted sensitive crooner (a.k.a. an oddball) in the OFWGKTA crew, the angry youth-driven group that the public has deemed to be the worst thing since unsliced bread....

In 2011, one DJ’s guilty pleasure was another‰'s song of the year. At some point, your favorite embarrassing Top 40 jam probably earned a spot among some publication‰'s best tracks of the year, from the overwrought (“Someone Like You‰Û) to the nonsensical...

The Drums – Portamento The Italian word “portamento‰” means a transition musically from one pitch to another, and it’s a fitting title for the Drums’ grim, somber second album. The Drums as we knew them were the lighthearded buzzband (see:...

Afuche – Highly Publicized Digital Boxing Match Afuche dances. And I don‰'t only mean musically. I mean that if you look at videos of them they‰'re just boogying away. But that‰'s not what makes Highly Publicized Digital Boxing Match a great album. There‰'s far...