Concert Review: AJR’s One Spectacular Night

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by Amy Soba ’21

On Saturday, December 26th, AJR hosted their first full livestreamed concert. I’m not normally a big fan of livestreamed concerts, but this was something different. It was hosted on VENEWLIVE which presents a more interactive interface than Facebook or Instagram Live. For example, the viewer can rotate between different camera angles and chat with other audience members. Viewers can also cheer, stomp, and applause which are played at the end of each song. Fun fact – AJR themselves created the cheering sound effects! (see their TikTok or Instagram for more @ajrbrothers).

 

I’ve been to two AJR concerts, one for The Click and one for Neotheater. Both times I was absolutely blown away by the level of dedication and creativity the brothers show to their music and to their audience. Thus, I was really intrigued to see how they would pull off a virtual concert experience.

 

The show started out with a FANTASTIC overture containing pieces from AJR’s entire discography. As a big AJR fan, I was a little sad that they did not include an overture on their Neotheater album like they did on Living Room and The Click, so, to me, this was the perfect way to kick off the night. The band played through a good portion of their Neotheater album while also throwing in some bigger hits like “Weak,” “Sober Up,” “Burn the House Down,” and (perhaps their biggest hit yet) “Bang!” They also debuted a new song, “My Play,” which will be part of their upcoming album OK ORCHESTRA.

 

Just like with any in-person concert, there were also tons of lighting effects like strobe lights and laser beams in addition to the songs themselves. Similar to their Neotheater tour, AJR also used a giant projector screen which Jack, the lead singer, interacted with. However, I think the coolest stunt they did was having Jack suspended mid-air with wires and making it look like he was walking on a laser beam. In a way, I think certain visual effects could have only worked in this virtual setting, as you would have had to look at the stage from just the right angle to make the effect look real. That’s what I really like about AJR. They took this virtual concert space and were like, “Okay, the audience can’t really be there, so how do we make this an experience worth watching and how can we take advantage of this virtual setting?”

AJR performs “My Play”

 

 

One of my favorite moments of the night was when Ryan broke down the production of “Bang!” AJR does a song breakdown in every concert they do, so it’s always fun to guess which one will be featured. “Bang!” was a little tougher to guess than past ones because it honestly sounds like a standard pop song until you hear that tell-tale marching / swinging rhythm and trumpets. I loved how Ryan started with the simple, everyday sound of a door knock, and added in elements piece by piece until he created a whole song. It was like watching them produce a song right in front of us.* 

 

*if you’re into music production or really love song breakdowns,  I highly suggest checking out AJR’s Youtube channel where Ryan opens up their ProTools setup and breaks down acouple of different songs.  

 

All in all, AJR’s One Spectacular Night was indeed spectacular. While nothing can be the same as moshing to “Weak” with hundreds of other people, the band did a fantastic job putting together and performing a virtual show. Everything from the song selection to the visual effects to the stunts was completely captivating and I’m really glad I decided to go.

 

If you’re looking for the latest from AJR, check out “My Play” and make sure to keep an ear out for their upcoming album, OK ORCHESTRA, which drops March 26th, 2021.

 

Find AJR on Spotify!

All featured photos are from AJR’s Instagram @ajrbrothers

A Reflection on Remote Radio

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From the perspective of a station manager

Photo credit: Amy Soba ’21

 

The fall semester has come to an end and what a crazy one it’s been. I remember walking out of the station in March thinking “I’ll be back soon. It’s just spring break.” Boy, was I wrong. One week turned into two weeks and then a month, and then a whole summer which blurred into a remote fall semester. I was definitely let down. I thought, “Wow, I’m a senior and one of my last memories of the station will be sitting on the couch watching Barry – wild.” Little did I know that radio could continue on from the oh-so-familiar four walls of my room. I called a meeting with the other station manager, our faculty advisor, and our technical engineer. We were able to brainstorm four pretty good ideas which we then pitched to the rest of exec and the DJs. One of the ideas – prerecorded shows – really caught on. We ended up with about 24 active student and community DJs, which I think is pretty amazing. I was able to record a show on Friday night and have it air on Tuesday, which was convenient.. The prerecorded format also gave me space to try talking more “on-air” and add in more fun facts about the artists or personal anecdotes about a particular song. Our exec board also hosted a few Zoom hangouts, game nights, and even pulled off our semesterly 24 Hour Live event.

 

The spring semester offers a whole new set of challenges with Dickinson’s plan to flip the on-campus student body halfway through the semester. I’m hoping to have more live DJs in the station with proper cleaning protocols in place along with continuing remote radio for those who are at home. In an ideal world, I would love to see a socially distanced Live on Britton once it warms up in April/May. With 2020 almost over, I’m definitely ready to look towards the new year. I’m sure I won’t wake up January 1st, 2021 with all of my problems solved, but if this year has shown me anything, it’s that people can be really creative in coming up with ways to keep moving forwards. All in all, I’m very impressed with how radio has fared and I’m curious to see what next semester holds.

 

by Amy Soba ’21

Album Review: Hurts Being Alive by Down Time

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Artist: Down Time

Album: Hurts Being Alive

Genre: Indie

Hometown: Denver, CO

Track Listing (* – recommended tracks):

  1. Other Side*
  2. Take Me To A Place
  3. Hurts Being Alive*
  4. Not A Complicated Person*
  5. Star
  6. No Sentiment
  7. Blank Stare
  8. Despite
  9. Doubt
  10. There It Goes

Songs with profanity: #1, #5, #7

Recommended if you like: Frankie Cosmos, Snail Mail, Lomelda

Label: Self-released

Reviewed by: Lil Macchiato

Album Review: Man Alive! by King Krule

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Artist: King Krule

Album: Man Alive!

Genre: Alternative, Lofi

Hometown: London, England

Track Listing (* – recommended tracks):

  1. Cellular*
  2. Supermarché
  3. Stoned Again
  4. Comet Face
  5. The Dream
  6. Perfecto Miserable
  7. Alone, Omen 3*
  8. Slinky
  9. Airport Antenatal Airplane
  10. (Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On
  11. Theme for the Cross
  12. Underclass
  13. Energy Fleets*
  14. Please Complete Thee

Songs with profanity: #2, #3

Recommended if you like: Cosmo Pyke, Ariel Pink, Blood Orange, Homeshake

Label: Matador Records

Reviewed by: Lil Macchiato

Interview with Dr. Ruth Westheimer

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This year, the Poitras Gleim Lecture guest was Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The lecture honors people who’ve made significant cultural contributions to media and popular culture, and this year Dickinson was pleased to have Dr. Ruth. She’s best known for being the sex therapist on American broadcast media, alongside many other things such as being a Holocaust survivor, Israeli military member and more.

Our interview with her discussed a lot about her general career, and her own reflections of life at age 92! WDCV can proudly say Dr. Ruth gave us glowing reviews for our interview and she enjoyed it very much, which we take as high praise since she’s done radio far longer than our station members.

CREDITS:
Interviewers: Rosey Pasco & Nuhan B. Abid

Technical assistance & help: Brenda Landis, Taylor Garrett

The BEST Halloween Playlists you have never heard of, until now

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Aquarium Drunkard. Bookmark it. Put it on your daily reads list. Educate yourself on all sorts of awesome music that isn’t on commercial radio (but we play on WDCV!). Their vintage mixtapes are the stuff of legend. Perfectly crafted finds from scratchy records that might have languished in a forgotten box in your neighbors basement but these expert diggers source, curate, and share these gems for all of our benefit.

My favorite ones are the Trick or Treat Mixtapes filled with a focus on 60’s garage and surf rock monster tunes but other vintage gems are peppered in there. You won’t hear Monster Mash but I promise you will hear tunes you wish you heard before today. I can only find volumes 5-9 online and if you can find me 1-4 I will forever be in your debt.

They have 7-9 still posted and 5 and 6 links straight to a sketchy download site.  So, for your trick or treat bag I have downloaded all 5-9 for your enjoyment and also because they keep removing the old ones and I don’t want them to disappear forever. 

If you like these I highly recommend their other holiday mixtapes “Lit up like a Christmas Tree Vol. 1 and 2′ And “Christmas Jambree :: A Vintage Jamaican Yuletide Mixtape”.  Really, just use this link to search any post with the term ‘mixtape’ in it and you are likely to stumble upon the best treasure trove of downloadable vintage jams you never knew were missing from your life until now. 

I’m also a fan of the Bomboclat! Island Soak series.  Really, you can’t go wrong on any of these mixtapes.  Happy listening!

Rare’s BEHive on Campus Conference (Interview)

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WDCV Interview Series

 

 

 

 

WDCV recently interviewed Lindsey Lyons and Allison Miller ’20 from the Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), alongside Katie Velasco from Rare to discuss their upcoming conference on Dickinson on the 5th of October.

 

The event’s set to feature all kinds of sustainability issues, and present some prominent panelists alongside much more that you can hear some thoughts about in this interview.

 

Read more at : https://www.dickinson.edu/news/article/3885/dickinson_college_to_host_national_higher-ed_sustainability_summit_oct_5

 

Credits:

Nuhan B. Abid ’22, interviewer and Content Coordinator for WDCV

billie eilish Album Review

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Nothing can compare to the excitement I felt when Billie Eilish dropped her first full album on March 29th, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?  It immediately shot to No. 1 on the Billboard charts, making Eilish the first artist born in the 21st century to hit the chart’s peak. The album accumulated many recent singles released and added more diverse sounds and styles.

I have been a huge fan of hers ever since I heard her song “watch” in January of 2018. I instantly fell in love with her unique voice, her pop and indie style, and the creativity in her lyrics. After discovering her, I made sure to tell everyone about her, and I’m sure others did too, as she rose to fame with multiple single drops and collaborations with new artists like Khalid in the song “lovely”.

Her songs cover a variety of subjects: love, culture, self-image, hatred, and everything between. She fantastically combines these lyrics with incredibly chill beats and new technology to give her music an edge.

 

 

Some may say that her recent album is too dark and dismal, but I think it is a true masterpiece. There is a sense of fluidity through her album, as the last three songs are called “listen before i go”, “i love you”, and “goodbye”. There is a great combination of songs to bop to, songs to get you in your bag, and songs to sit back and appreciate musically. My favorite song on the album is called “xanny” where Billie addresses teen culture of using drugs. Other favorites are “wish you were gay” and “when the party’s over”. As her first full album, it is unbelievable how much talent and musicality is pieced into every song.

I very highly suggest you take a listen to Billie’s new album, and all her old songs too. She is truly unique to this generation of music.

 

 

By: Victoria Dionisos ‘22

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Fishing for Fishies | Review

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Album Review- Fishing for Fishies by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

by Jackson Rhodes

 

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, an Australian psychedelic rock band formed in 2010 and fronted by Stu Mackenzie, return after a year-long hiatus with a cohesive and sonically radical new album, Fishing for Fishies. 

The Gizz announced at the beginning of 2017 that they would release five studio albums throughout the course of the year; Mackenzie elaborated that “We had this random batch of songs. It was not a cohesive record at all. So we thought we’d split it up, and split again until it became five.” Flying Microtonal Banana, Murder of the Universe, Sketches of Brunswick East, and Polygondwanaland were released, concluding on December 31, 2017 with the release of Gumboot Soup. Although an exciting idea which produced gems like Flying Microtonal Banana and Polygondwanaland, the rate of album releases surpassing even Brockhampton was bound to birth some half-baked and rushed ideas (looking at you, Sketches of Brunswick East). It’s a credit to the band that quality was retained through the mass of quantity pushed into 2017, validating their hiatus through 2018. With the new release of Fishing for Fishies after just a year and few months from Gumboot Soup, the lack of Gizz content versus 2017’s prolific output makes the hiatus feel more like a decade.  

If there’s one thing in common between Death Grips and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, it’s a hatred of a stagnant instrumental palate. Previous works like Nonagon Infinity boast instruments as strange as the Zurna: Fishing for Fishies laughs at that and uses vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, mellotron, piano, synthesizer, organ, bass, flute, drums, vibraphone, drums, percussion, and a harmonica to create a catchy, irresistible psychedelic blues-rock sound that boogies like nothing has ever boogied before. In a similar kooky charm to Bill Wurtz or hokiness of T. Rex, King Gizzard’s leading harmonica lines and quality drumming throughout the record create an enrapturing boogie. I mean, this thing’s got boogie. There should be a warning on the album cover that, upon starting the album, your body will be paralyzed into the boogie until the final track fades away. If there’s one thing I can’t emphasize enough, it’s that if you listen to this album, the boogie shall be within you.  

Fishing for Fishies is an indication of what the Gizz can do if they allow themselves the time to do it. Songs like “This Thing” and “Acarine” methodically morph throughout their durations, easing transitions through introductions of varied instruments; “This Thing” in particular switches up the beat so much Travis Scott should be punching the air out of jealousy. While I’m talking about it, “Acarine” is an example of the environmental theme throughout the record, bringing to light the acarine disease that mortally handicaps bees’ ability to fly (and makes it psychedelic). “Plastic Boogie”, while instrumentally still an undeniable boogie, spreads the boogie into blunt lyricism, where Stu Mackenzie sings “It’s not fantastic/It’s gonna come and kill us/It’s gonna be massive/It’s gonna be brutal/Death will come from plastic/Death will come from people”.   

Is this record a great album throughout? Absolutely not. “Cyboogie”, despite the boogie still being present, lies too flat in its electronic production, an unnecessary direction for the bluesy record. You could consequently say that “Cyboogie”, despite its annoying qualities, is a welcome point of variance from eight other songs that sound interchangeable in the tracklist. However, you gotta love this thing for what it is. If you need some well-crafted boogie, buddy do I have something to show you.

 

Concert Review: Hardwork Movement

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On Friday April 5th, Philly-based hip-hop group Hardwork Movement took the stage in Allison Community Room. Founded by two Dickinson alumni Dwight Dunston ’10 and Jeremy Keys ’11, this concert was a celebrated homecoming. With four rappers, a flutist, pianist, bassist, drummer, and trumpeter, the band’s energy immediately infected the crowd. Audience members leaned against the stage as Keys, Dunston, and the rest of the group bounced and danced through their set. Keys had a specialty for leaning up into the audience, zoning in on listener, and speaking his verses to an individual. When the music would build, the band would crouch with the tension. When the beat finally dropped, they’d all splash around the stage, infectiously dancing and singing. Dunston had multiple costume changes, sporting a denim onesie, socks and sandals, and of course Dickinson merchandise. The crowd’s favorite of course was when he grabbed our over-sized WDCV canvas poster and wrapped it around himself like a cape. Whoever sang the next verse had the honor of wrapping the sign around themselves, all the while grooving with the upbeat music. Throughout the one hour set, Hardwork Movement presented the crowd with their best songs, including freestyles in spoken verse and instrumentals. 

                 

When the set finally wrapped up, every audience member went home with an extra bump in their step. Hardwork Movement brought to Dickinson light and energy, passion and power. WDCV thanks the band for coming through, and the audience members who made it such a fun experience!

 

                      

Find Hardwork Movement on spotify!
 

Written by Julia Ormond ’19