Tag: New Music

New Artist Spotlight: The Polychromatics

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This week, the WDCV music directors added a few featured artists, and we’ve decided to shine a light on one of the newest bands.

The Polychromatics are an indie rock band based in Philadelphia, and their EP is a perfect depiction of the versatility of their talents. They’re refreshingly open to experimenting with their sound. John McKenna, the guitarist of the band and featured vocalist on two songs off the EP, describes each song on the EP as an island, but I disagree. While the songs sound sonically different – in four songs they manage to play everything from folk, to garage jam band, to psychedelic – the lyrics convey a claustrophobia and existential anxiety that feels genuine and relatable to anyone in transition.  

According to the guitarist, the band’s influences go hand in hand with their favorite music, such as Pink Floyd, Ty Segall, King Crimson, Gandalf, and The Doors (some of my favorites as well). McKenna specifically said that the song that is most prominent from his youth is The End by the Doors, which led him to pursue music. He says, “When I first heard Robby Krieger’s skill on that song, I made the decision to become a guitarist.” (He also recommends we listen to the psychedelic band Wand.)

If you’re interested in listening to them, they’ll be circulating through our automation, and they’re also on Soundcloud. When I asked how they felt about how the internet affects the music business, a controversial issue, they said, “It’s giving our band the ability to reach an audience quickly [which] we might not have had the chance to do if we took the old school method…I can’t help but see the benefits of instantaneous communication on a free platform for unknown bands like ourselves.” 

If you have any questions for the band about their work, or event opportunities, you can contact them at their email, the.polychromatics@gmail.com, on twitter or on facebook.

If you have questions for the author of this article, please email logiurab@dickinson.edu or post on her facebook page. 

Album Review-The 1975’s “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it”

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The-1975-I-like-it-when-you-sleep-for-you-are-so-beautiful-yet-so-unaware-of-it-2016-official

I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
The 1975
released February 26, 2016

The reintroduces the England-based group’s eclectic sound, which ranges from gospel to late 80s synth-pop. Their self titled first track is a re-imagination of a song off their previous album. Rather than the angst they expressed in their first album, the band now introduces a more clear yet complex sound through this revitalized first track. The following songs, “Love Me” and “UGH!”, are fast tempo and upbeat, setting the stage for that late 80s early 90s synth-pop sound. Elaborate guitar riffs mixed with unique synth rhythms induce a care-free, wholesome feeling. Add in Matty Healy’s enthusiastic, sometimes sarcastic, vocals and the album appears to be a windows-rolled-down-roadtrip compilation. But as the the album progresses, the band introduces more unique pieces like “If I Believe You” which, with its added vocals, induces an evangelical gospel feeling. “Please Be Naked”, a non-lyrical piece that combines a simple piano melody and intense synth, acts as a transition piece to the group’s more emotional music. As the music becomes more intense, so do the lyrics. The 1975 deepen their characters with lines that question love, death, and the uncertainties of life. The song “Somebody Else” represents a deep emotional release, still reliant on simple piano chords and complex synth beats, creating a distinct and new sound that The 1975 beautifully utilizes. The album ends with “She Lays Down”, a track that is very intimate for the listener because it is solely Matty Healy, his guitar, and you. This song contemplates suicide but ultimately resolves with the wonder of life, reflecting the beauty of the melody and harmonizing guitar, ending the album on a dark but hopeful note, leaving the listener in a harmonic melancholy as the last notes ring.

ADDs of the Week for 10/22-10/23

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I know I haven’t been exactly on top of my ADDs game for a while. A lot of senior thesis work and staring out the window has been occupying my time. Not to mention my attempts to break this caffeine addiction. It’s a little disturbing. Anyway, we have a lot of really great ADDs this week which you will be hearing over the air for a while, especially the ones I’m about to tell you allllll about. Because they are awesome. Didn’t I already say that? Anyway, here are this weeks top ADDs:

Titus Andronicus — Local Business: The long anticipated and accidentally recently leaked new album from punk rock Americana superband Titus Andronicus is here! This album differs from their other two albums because it doesn’t follow a set concept or narrative, but it is just as violent and rawly awesome as their other work. The subjects covered in the album’s themes range from an eating disorder to quitting smoking to lots of other things so nihilistic I can’t even begin to describe them all. Listen and punch a wall simultaneously to get the full effect.

Recommended Tracks: Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape With The Flood Of Detritus, My Eating Disorder, In A Big City, (I Am The) Electric Man

RIYD: Andrew Jackson Jihad, Bomb the Music Industry!, Japandroids

Paul Banks — Banks: This is the front man of Interpol’s solo album, and let’s just say he works even better alone. A more simplified sound, Banks’s voice still adds a lot of the allure that has fans drawn to his band Interpol as well. There’s something a little 1970s about this album as well.

Recommended Tracks: The Base, Over My Shoulder, Young Again

RIYD: Turtle Giants, Interpol, Blonds

Chelsea Wolfe — Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs: Okay, this girl is like Lykke Li and Cat Power had a baby after listening to a lot of Grimes. Though the album is primarily acoustic, her voice and layering of harmonies make this album a lot richer. There is a lot of raw emotion juxtaposed with clean cut structure. This album is perfect for studying or pretending to be studying but actually just stressing out while staring up at the ceiling. Highly recommended.

Recommended Tracks: Sunstorm, Flatlands, Boyfriend

RIYD: Cat Power, Lykke Li, Tegan and Sara, EMA

New Single from TEGAN AND SARA

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I don’t know about you, radioland, but I have been waiting for a new Tegan and Sara single since I was in, like, high school. Like. They’ve probably had new music before then but I haven’t had any new Tegan and Sara in my personal universe in a long time.

Anyway, you should definitely check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dSGbOmW4AjI

And you can check out their first single “Closer” right here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7MNGPmrlWo

Their new album Heartthrob is set to be released in January 2013.

New Titus Andronicus Single!

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Titus Andronicus, the nihilistic and awe-inspiring rock machine has released the first single from their new album Local Business. The track is called “In a Big City.”

The album is set to be released October 23rd and the band had this to say about the album:

“While abandoning the linear narrative of their last album The Monitor, the songs on Local Business aim to make explicit the implications of the first two LPs, that the inherent meaninglessness of life in an absurd universe gives the individual power to create their own values and their own morality. Along the way, we witness a devastating automobile wreck, a food fight (that is to say, a battle with an eating disorder), an electrocution, a descent into insanity, and ultimately, a forgiveness of the self for its many faults. Titus Andronicus even finds time to broaden its emotional palette to include moments of pure positivity, brief respites from the usual doom and gloom.”

Titus Andronicus — In A Big City

The track listing for the album is this

1. Ecce Homo
2. Still Life With Hot Deuce And Silver Platter
3. Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape With The Flood Of Detritus
4. Food Fight!
5. My Eating Disorder
6. Titus Andronicus VS. The Absurd Universe (3rd Round KO)
7. In A Big City
8. In A Small Body
9. (I Am The) Electric Man
10. Tried To Quit Smoking

The Two Rapstresses We Can’t Get Enough Of

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And coincidentally, they have similar(ish) names: Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks aka Yung Rapunzel

Iggy Azalea, real name Amethyst Amelia Kelly, is a native Australian only 22 years of age. Despite her youth, she has already gained an avid underground following with a free mixtape available for download as well as her EP Glory which is also available for free download. Iggy was recently signed to Grand Hustle Records, the record label founded by TI in Georgia. Her rise to fame has been mostly due to her videos going viral on Youtube, and her sound is as fun as it is fierce. Her main influence is Tupac Shakur.

See her video with TI for Murda Bizness here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzI9VQUHJkU

Follow her on twitter here! https://twitter.com/IGGYAZALEA

Meanwhile, Azalea Banks is an American rapper/singer/lyricist from Harlem, NY. She is currently signed to Interscope/Polydor records. She is a young up and coming artist as well–she is only 21 years old! From a young age, Azalea was interested in theater and performance, but she eventually left high school early in order to pursue a career as a rapper. Azealia has a mixtape titled Fantasea as well as an EP released on Polydor/Interscope titled 1991.

See her video for Liquorice here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPaXn2XR-P8

And follow her on twitter here! https://twitter.com/AZEALIABANKS

The xx released a preview of their new album!

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The xx is FINALLY releasing a new album! The album is titled Coexist and can be preordered here: http://bit.ly/CoexistPreorder

The album will be officially released by Young Turks on September 10/11th

They’re so cute! Anyway, I myself cannot stop listening to this track and am SO EXCITED for Coexist.

Check it out for yourself–

Listen to it on Youtube by clicking the link below!

The xx – Angels

 

Hope you’re all having a great summer and be sure to keep checking the blog for more new music updates!

Grimes is Awesome

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Has anyone gotten into Grimes yet? Have you heard of her at all? Because she is great.

She comes out of the illegal DIY culture in Canada, and she’s been making music for a couple of years, though I’ve only heard of her recently because of  her latest album Visions. Anyway, the video for Oblivion just came out and you must all watch it. Ergo, I’m posting it here.

Grimes — Oblivion

Also, here’ s a picture of her. Yay.



She also has a twitter account @grimeszs

Meep,

Tori

 

Heavy Rotation Update: ADDs for the week of 4/23-4/24

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Hello hello hello, is there anybody listening out there? I wasn’t sure.

Anyway, the weather here in Carlisle has taken yet another drastic turn for the cold and depressing, with some apocalyptic rain for good measure. For those of you suddenly depressed by copious amounts of last minute papers to write plus the lack of sunshine, here’s a breaded cat to cheer you up:

Anyway, here are some of the adds for this week:

Anathema — Weather Systems: This band is pretty doom and gloom, but not so much so that you need to curl up in to a ball afterward. A little more 90s alternative than I usually go for, at least in public, they definitely work as a pleasant mind meld when you’re tired of pretending that OFWGKTA is the only thing you ever listen to outside of working out at the gym. RIYD: 30 Seconds to Mars (lol), Porcupine Tree, Muse

Joel Plaskett Emergency — Scrappy Happiness: Who doesn’t like a guy with a dreamy voice singing about nostalgia and stuff? I would describe this album’s genre as being a creature of “wistful rock music.” Let’s get weepy. RIYD: Paul Baribeau, Ted Leo, Elvis Costello

The Guiltracket — Thuds and Grunts: Still not sure if that’s all supposed to be one word or two words. Oh well. This band is probably my favorite add for the week, just saying. They’re a lot punkier than we usually have in our binder, and they balance it out by having plenty of folk edge to them as well. RIYD: This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Ghost Mice

Anyway, keep your nose wet and your tail dry. Er…

Love,

Tori

 

Heavy Rotation Update: ADDs for the Week of 4/16-4/17

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Hello hello, radio followers and fleers…and sheep…ers,

Apparently Carlisle weather decided to switch from almost freezing to SWELTERING summer weather overnight. I’m as shocked as the rest of you. Truly.

A little heat can’t stop ME from giving YOU the latest updates to the station’s heavy rotation binder this week though. In fact, I like the excuse to hide from the sun. No vampire jokes allowed.

Delish.

Anyway, here are the ADDs for this week:

Sarah Donner — Fossil of Girl: This album is truly lovely. Sarah Donner’s sound reminds me of a young Alannis Morisette, though slightly less angry and probably best friends with Tegan and Sara. RIYD: Bjork?

Live Animals — Live Animals: This band is a rag tag group from SoCal and they fair from a skate punk surf snob scene indeed. RIYD: Sublime, 311, people in animal masks.

Toro Y Moi — June 2009: A revival of some of Toro Y Moi’s older and unreleased tracks, reminding us all why we luv him so much in the first place. RIYD: Best Coast, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Flaming Lips

Part Time — What Would You Say?: Synthetic pop is making a come back…who knew it ever left? RIYD: M83, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

Horse Feathers — Cynic’s New Year: Weird album title, great album. Horse Feathers is back with an even more folky Americana album. RIYD: Iron & Wine, Damien Rice

the breakups — running jumping falling shouting: This band isn’t nearly as obnoxious as their band name and album title. RIYD: The Shins, Elliot Smith

Alabama Shakes — Boys & Girls: This band has some serious Southern soul power. RIYD: The Black Keys, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

CHYEAHHHH BOIIIIII

Anyway, anyone else remember Sailor Moon? So magical.

Have a great rest of the week, try not to break anything, and eat lots of pizza.

Love,

Tori