Music

Nana Grizol Springs Back into Relevancy with an Incredible New Album

Emerging from a seven-year musical coma, Nana Grizol is back and better than ever with Ursa Minor, another chill indie-folk album offering songs that serve as disillusioned social commentary with compact narratives discussing various personal and societal issues.  As their first two albums have demonstrated, Nana Grizol is all about making the world a place more full of love and appreciation; with a message so wholesome, chords so wistful, and lyrics so earnest, this band is damn near impossible to dislike.

Formal Szn Ft. WRVU

Formal weekend is upon on us! Frats are descending on beaches, drinks are being poured (and spilled), and everyone wants #bangers. So I’m gonna get the party going with a few of those. Each song is linked to the next through the features or producer to ensure a truly cohesive playlist experience.

Run the Jewels and the Art of the Political Music Video

(via “Legend Has It” music video by Run the Jewels)

Politics! We all love (or love to hate) talking about it. Undeniably, we are living in a time where almost everyone is paying attention to our political climate. Which, in turn, also brings out a lot of opinions. Run the Jewels are no stranger to politics. Killer Mike was a strong endorser of Senator Bernie Sanders in the presidential primaries, even speaking at rallies. Tracks like “Talk to Me” are laden with political talk (“went to war with the Devil and Shaytan/He wore a bad toupee and a spray tan”). Their music videos have even embraced this talk wholeheartedly.

Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House: Emo at Heart

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Two momentous things occurred on Friday, March 24: the first was that Paul Ryan’s dream of repealing Obamacare likely died forever; the second, almost equally exciting event, was the birth of #RoachGate, an Internet rumor alleging that Paul Ryan is secretly an angsty emo kid who still listens to Papa Roach.

Why You Should Be Excited About Shoegaze in 2017

via Twitter

So perhaps you’ve seen the pink guitar album, or at the very least seen praise heaped upon Bullet For My Valentine and thought it odd that not only have they been a band since the late ’80s but that they’ve also done anything worth mentioning in the same sentence as the words “critical acclaim.”

Sun Records

Source: beachamjournal.com

When you think of Rock ‘n Roll, you think of an American phenomenon exemplified in its prime by jukeboxes and American Bandstand and later by Woodstock and Ziggy Stardust. Yet, before it was a way of life, it was an experiment in a little studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Year Thus Far: What You Might Have Missed

The passing of a new year for most signifies a time of change– well-intentioned resolutions are made as we wave goodbye to the previous 365 days and undergo the ritualistic purging of meticulously catalogued year-end movie, music, and video game lists for a fresh start with a blank slate come January 1st

Birth, Death, and Rebirth of Rock ‘N Roll

(source: Billboard)

Little Richard quit rock ‘n roll for Gospel in October 1957. Elvis was drafted in March 1958. Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin and was blacklisted from radio in March of 1958. Buddy Holly died in a plane crash in February 1959. Chuck Berry was arrested in December 1959 for soliciting a prostitute. Thus, rock ‘n roll died, and a vacuum was created in American music in the early 1960’s. The youth simply lost their sound. However, rock ‘n roll and the blues were abroad, being marketed to a foreign audience and growing outside the American musical garden.

Wet Talks Writing, Performing, & Pre-Show Prep in WRVU Interview

Wet backstage at Exit/In (photographed by Meredith Mattlin)

A while back, WRVU had the opportunity to interview Wet, the effervescent indie pop sensation that had eager Nashvillians lining up out the door to Exit/In in hopes of a ticket to the sold-out show. We talked before their Exit/In show about touring, new music, their writing process, being on the road and in the South, pre-concert rituals…to read it all, and watch for the first time/relive their show, check out the interview and concert footage below. (We also photographed the band backstage before the show, which you can check out below as well.)

“Shining” and the Art of Making Another One

 

(via 991Nation)

Released in the after-hours of the Grammys on February 12th, DJ Khaled’s “Shining” is definitely one of the best songs in its genre of this very young year, and just about everything about it works. It’s Khaled’s trademark pop production firing on all cylinders, and its arrival after last year’s “For Free” is evidence of Khaled’s sustained return to form as a hit-maker.

Dear Santa

 

Have you taken the time to write your “Dear Santa…” letter? Did you desperately beg for Tha Carter V, Detox, or the Chance the Rapper/Childish Gambino mixtape to drop in 2017? Unfortunately, even Santa’s elves won’t pull through for those. While you check out the pre-Christmas Cole Santa has left for you, check out the albums Santa will manage to bring for next year.

Why Spotify Premium is Actually Worth It

spotify-premium-image

You sit down at your desk after a long, hard day of work. Unraveling your headphones, you anticipate the transcendent melodies of your favorite artists. Today, it’s Elliot Smith, and nothing could stop you from drifting off to the sound of his cherubic voice. Just as you lift a steamy cup of herbal tea to your lips and click play, you jerk back in agony, your headphones flying off your head and crashing to the linoleum floor.

Songs to Listen to Over Break

Photo Credit: Timeanddate.com
Photo Credit: Timeanddate.com

So since we find ourselves in November and I’m feeling somewhat reflective, I think that this is a perfect opportunity to look back over the year and take some time to consider how great some of these 2016 tracks have been. Honestly It’s been a pretty nice year in terms of music (and a pretty terrible year in terms of other things) and there’s a ton of quality out there. So we’re gonna keep it light and fun and just look at some stunners that have been released in the calendar year of 2016. No specific order.

Daylight Savings Time and the Bedroom

Photo credit: ABC News
Photo credit: ABC News

Daylight savings time did something to us. Now we wake up… and it’s dark. We go in buildings for the whole day. Then when we walk home it’s dark again. With light only available for a few hours now, it’s easy to slip into playlists that sound well, melancholic. Though the trees are changing colors, their leaves are still falling and dying off. We’re in this place where we need to accept the changes in the day and slowly dive into this new dark lifestyle. The best artist to help us through this is Bedroom, also known as Noah Kittinger.

Altering Tracks: A Perspective

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Originally, this blog post was going to be a review of Tinashe’s newly released commercial mixtape Nightride. While I quite like the mixtape, something so atrocious happened during its production that it entirely consumed the contents of this post.

Young Thug was removed from “Party Favors”.

Nashville Gem: Fela Soul

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In the world of hip-hop, producer mashups are hardly rare. Danger Mouse first made a name for himself in 2004 with The Grey Album, which combined the verses of Jay-Z’s The Black Album with the instrumentals of The Beatles’ The White Album. Tom Caruana did the same with Magical Mystery Tour and Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), deeming it Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers. And the subgenre of plunderphonics revolves around the overlaying of samples over hip-hop verses, leading to classics like Girl Talk’s Night Ripper.