You may be wondering, what kind of a name is Moon Hooch? Well, they are a trio of extremely talented musicians straight out of Brooklyn that specializes in something one could call “jazz fusion.” The genre right now is still just hitting the mainstream, but I wanted to put the spotlight on this group that I think, or at least hope, will make it big time.
Originally this was going to be titled “12 Non-Cheesy Love Songs” but as I have come to realize, there is no such thing as a completely non-cheesy love song. Here are my picks for the best love songs to listen to this Valentine’s Day.
1. The Moldy Peaches – “Anyone Else But You”
Anyone who is a fan of Juno probably added this to their playlists the second the film ended (I know I did).
2. Ryan Adams – “When the Stars Go Blue”
A lot people may be familiar with Tim McGraw’s recording of this song, but the original Ryan Adams version is a lot more stripped down and romantic.
3. Coldplay – “Yellow”
This may be one of the more cheesy songs on the list, but there’s no denying that it’s beautifully written.
4. Vance Joy – “Georgia”
Not as upbeat as his hit “Riptide,” but definitely more sincere.
5. The Lumineers – “Dead Sea”
Almost any Lumineers song could easily fit on this list, but “Dead Sea” is by far my favorite from their album.
Two weeks ago, I reviewed Modest Mouse’s two releases off of their upcoming album, Strangers to Ourselves, now set to release on March 17th. This past week, the band dropped another single, “The Best Room”. Like most bands found commercial success after developing a loyal fanbase, Modest Mouse has polarized fans between their , and newer well-produced material. Whether you are looking for the Modest Mouse from recent albums like Good News For People Who Love Bad News (aka the album with “Float On”) and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, or hoping they can incorporate more of their edgier sound from an album like The Lonesome Crowded West, these singles are much needed messages from a band who has not been responding back for far too long.
With the Grammy’s less than two weeks away, there is lots of speculation surrounded who will win. I’m here to tell you who (in my humble opinion) should be taking home those golden statues on February 8th.
Record of the Year
Nominees: Fancy (Iggy Azalea feat. Charlie XCX), Chandelier (Sia), Stay With Me (Sam Smith), Shake It Off (Taylor Swift), All About that Bass (Meghan Trainor)
My Pick: Chandelier
In terms of overall song quality, Chandelier is the song that encompasses the best lyrics, music, and overall performance by Sia. It also seems like Sia is a bit overdue for some recognition – she’s been making music (really really good music) longer than any of the other nominees in the category, especially considering 3 out of the 5 nominees are newcomers. Overall, Chandelier takes the cake for me.
Album of the Year
Nominees: Morning Phase (Beck), Beyoncé (Beyoncé), X (Ed Sheeran), In the Lonely Hour (Sam Smith), Girl (Pharrell Williams)
My Pick: Beyoncé
With it’s incredibly successful surprise release, Beyoncé’s self-titled was undoubtedly one of (if not the most) buzzed about albums of the year. Not to mention Beyoncé managed to do what few artists do anymore – focus on creating songs that work together as a cohesive album, not just a few hit singles. If this is the direction music is headed, I’m all for it.
As many of you may already be aware, Australian musical artist Sia recently released a rather controversial video for her song Elastic Heart. Like her previous hit Chandelier, Elastic Heart featured twelve-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler of Dance Moms fame. The video depicted Ziegler dancing alongside actor Shia LaBeouf. Almost immediately after its release, the video came under fire due to accusations of pedophilia and abusive overtones. The bulk of this criticism stemmed from the fact that LaBeouf and Ziegler both danced in nude clothing while “trapped” inside a cage.
In the craziness of life, sometimes tasks and the time that they take to accomplish can be a little overwhelming. As a college student, I find it almost impossible to…
For my last article of the year, I’ve decided to compile a list of some of the songs from my yesteryear that really hit me hard and had an impact on my musical taste. If you haven’t heard some of them, give them a listen and you just might find your next favorite genre or band.
I have to level with you guys here. I am not a big fan of Christmas music. This is probably an side effect of working retail for the past three years, but somehow holiday music does not get me in the appropriate festive spirit. Unfortunately, as the 25th edges closer and closer, it becomes more and more difficult to avoid listening to it altogether. So for those of you who like me do not enjoy this particular subsection of music, I hereby present Laura Hillsman’s Christmas playlist for people who don’t like Christmas music.
Although WRVU takes pride in supporting local artists and showing love to less popular musicians, we aren’t living under a rock. 2014 had its fair share of compelling hits on mainstream radio, and we are going to highlight 9 of those songs here. Our criteria is simple: each song needed to spend at least one week on The Billboard Hot 100 to be eligible for this list. We present them to you in no particular order.
“Man of the Year” – ScHoolboy Q
Schoolboy Q’s flow and a sample of Chromatics’ “Cherry” makes “Man of the Year” an easy and enjoyable listen.
Before the out-of-nowhere snowstorm that caused Interpol to be stranded for 50 hours, I had the pleasure of seeing Interpol at Marathon Music Works on the unusually chilly night of November 11. I went over to the venue and was immediately greeted by a large, excited crowd. What came after definitely did not disappoint and made my Tuesday night go from ordinary to extraordinary.
Gracing his wrist, “The River Is Everywhere,” a quote from the piece “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse rests on Andrew McMahon’s lower arm as a reminder that wherever you go there is always going to be a piece of you. Since the release of his latest venture as Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, this daily reminder could not be any more relevant. The long awaited debut of a solo album came under the moniker Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness following a short solo EP, The Pop Underground, in 2013, nearly 8 years with Jack’s Mannequin and 3 full length albums recorded with high school band, Something Corporate.
When talking about weird, avant-garde musicians, Frank Zappa’s name is usually thrown around. I say “thrown around” because I feel like not many people who know his name really known much about his music. Too many times I’ve heard someone say something like, “Oh, Zappa? Yeah, his music is kind of weird, I’m not really a fan.” There’s some truth to this statement; his music is, generally speaking, weird, but I feel as though many people don’t understand the spread of genres that Zappa incorporated into his own music. Truthfully, I think that there’s at least one Zappa album for almost everyone.
Before you crank up “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and start decking the halls with boughs of holly, take few minutes to heave up some enthusiasm for the holiday that cuts between “The Monster Mash” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” While largely ignored by convenience stores, TV specials, front yard decor, and the radio waves, Thanksgiving has just as much of a right to be celebrated as the other holidays do!
If you’ve been in Urban Outfitters recently, odds are you’ve seen some vinyl records. These dinosaurs of the music world have been making a comeback in slightly more hipster circles for a while, hence their appearance in one of the most hipster clothing stores of them all. These records aren’t just the oldies that your parents listened to either. In fact, new albums are still being released as vinyl records as well as in more contemporary formats. So in honor of this resurgence, I hereby present to you a history of music formats, from vinyl to MP3.
You are probably already familiar with the famed “feud” between Sun Kil Moon frontman Mark Kozelek and the rock band War On Drugs, which started when Mark Kozelek became frustrated with the sound from the War on Drugs’ set bleeding onto his own stage at the Ottawa Folk Fest. The conflict only escalated with Internet exchanges, a couple of unflattering songs by Mark Kozelek, and fuel for the fire provided by the abundance of music websites and blogs commenting on this issue. Some people do not find any kind of humor in Kozelek’s attack and see him as an immature jerk, while others believe that this is simply another case of the media sensationalizing things out of context for the sake of a story. Whatever side you may take, there’s no denying that this beef was unexpected and the relationship between the two parties does not have the rich history that is more typical of these kinds of conflicts. So, we’ll take a look at 10 diss tracks with more personal back-stories than the songs we got from Mark Kozelek. We could easily put in 10 solid hip-hop songs on the list, but instead, we will try to go for some variety and see how wide-spread this phenomenon truly is.
It’s that time in the semester. Things are starting to get crazy. Those projects are piling up. Finals are just over the horizon. Right now you’re probably halfway through an intense study session, your study playlist is exhausted, and you find yourself checking WRVU for your emerging music needs.
Luckily for you, I have some great artists to bolster the ranks of your depleted library as you take on the end of the semester. As a general rule, these artists don’t feature many lyrics in their songs as I generally find lyrics to be distracting from my work. If you can get into the studying zone while listening to music with prominent lyrics, then I envy you.
This week was a whirlwind of school loads getting way too much to handle, the CMA Awards taking over Nashville and to top it off my friend had ACL surgery. With all of the busy-ness this week, I wanted to put a few songs together, new and old, that bring me peace and comfort in the hard, negative and stressful times.
Earlier this week, another one of WRVU’s staff writers talked about Concert Do’s and Don’t’s. One of the suggest modes of concert etiquette was “Don’t experience the concert through the lens of your camera.” I feel like this has become a hot topic among my friends and me throughout the past few years; increasingly so as apps like Snapchat and Instagram have become more and more popular. So I’m here to talk about what I think, what the good people of the Internet think, and what artists think about smartphones at concerts.
This week was a good one for Run the Jewels fans in Nashville. This morning, two days after their sold-out show at Exit/In, Run The Jewels 2, the duo’s long awaited follow-up to their self-titled debut, appeared on my news feed. I ate up this fresh musical morsel as soon I could. What I found when I dove into this album was one of the best collection of dope beats, club bangers, and vicious verses I have heard out of the rap scene this year and a continuation of the trademark style that El-P and Killer Mike have developed.
There was a palpable curiosity concerning GIVERS’ new material at the Exit/In this past Tuesday, October 21st . GIVERS have not released anything since their exuberant debut album, In Light, came on the scene in 2011. After years of waiting, concert-goers were finally treated with what GIVERS have been tinkering away on these past few years.
I am lyrically challenged. I will be listening to a song and not even hear the lyrics most of the time. If I have listened to the song enough, I might be able to sing along even though I have given exactly zero thought to the meaning or even coherence of what I am singing. I also grew up listening to the mainstream pop punk, nu-metal, and metalcore of the early to mid 2000’s and held an active dislike for rap. These things considered, there is seemingly no reason that I should find myself getting into hip hop and rap at the age of 20. It turns out I just had to find the right stuff to serve as a gateway to the hip hop world. Here, I will list some of the artists that helped make the transition into the wonderful genre of hip hop a little easier.