We've all seen those Blackberry commercials. The “Love What You Do” campaign consists of thirty-second spots blatantly calculated for the 18-to-34 crowd, featuring twenty-somethings doing unique young person activities with the help of their fancy new phones. Come...
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Sam Beam and His Burly Beard Are Back
Like so many other current Sam Beam admirers, I first discovered Iron & Wine through The Postal Service's cover of “Such Great Heights.” Now, almost a decade after Beam's first and only truly solo full-length album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, Iron & Wine...
Flex Mathews & The Unknown on D’N’A
Last Thursday, guests Flex Mathews and The Unknown came on D’N‘A to talk about their past, present and future in the hip hop world. The duo are rappers based in DC, dominating the local scene with their strong stage presence and complex lyrics. Flex...
Pharoah Sanders and the Circle of Life
In the early 1960's jazz scene, freedom reigned, and it was good. The birthing pains of the free jazz movement had ceased, leaving a rich placenta for musicians to feast upon. Emerging from this feast with bloodstained lips of magic came a young tenor saxophonist...
An Open Letter To James Murphy
I have never met you, James Murphy. And I won't ever be lucky enough to cross paths with you. I'm not reviewing or analyzing or criticizing anything in this ÛÒ I'm just sharing. Since you're not ever going to read this piece (THAT would be embarrassing), let this...
Grinderman grinds it up at The 9:30 Club
Grinderman, Nick Cave's relatively new collaboration with three of his Bad Seeds bandmates, played their noisy blues at the 9:30 Club last Tuesday. The band was born when Cave decided to write music on a guitar rather than his preferred piano. He discovered that he...
WVAU Loves Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports
I'll begin with a brief warning. You will probably not have fun listening to Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports. This is not dancing music. This is not driving-down-the-highway music. This is not makeover montage music. Some people wouldn't even consider the...
WVAU Loves Sufjan Stevens – The Mistress Witch of McClure (Or, The Mind That Knows Itself)
There's a story that I heard growing up in North Carolina about a spot known as the “Devil's Tramping Ground.” This is a place where no trees grow. Animals avoid going near it out of fear of something. Local legend says that this is the place where the Devil...
CMJ Report: Jaill
Newly Subpop'd signees Jaill released their album “That's How We Burn” in July to moderate acclaim. Please do not be thrown off by the extra “L” and judge them for the worst likeÛÓ you will be doing yourself a disservice. Among the teaming multitudes of mediocre...
CMJ Report: Crushing on indie band Kisses
One of the greatest parts of CMJ was reading band descriptions off the official pamplet. You can just tell the interns of CMJ toiled endlessly up until the week of shows to come up with 1,300 descriptions for each of the bands. The official description of Kisses read,...