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.
(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.
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.
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.”
2007: a great year for heavy eyeliner, lip piercings, Myspace, and alternative music that nowadays we pretend to be embarrassed of ever liking. Just to make everyone’s hearts feel a nostalgic pang, I’ve decided to compile a list of albums that will be turning 10 this year.
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.
This song is VALID, and there’s really not much else to say. I threw it on, and suddenly I was wearing Aldo shoes (you know, like, the loafers) and I was two stepping with a truly unfathomable degree of proficiency.
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
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.
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.)
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.
WRVU hosted Boyscott, Spirit Week, The Pills, Born Animal, and Wax Mistress at The End around Thanksgiving for our first annual Turkey Jerky Jam! Now you can relive (or experience for the first time, if you missed it) the thrilling experience all up close and personal right here on the internet from the comfort of your screen.
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.
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.
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 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.
Also, there was a lot of sweat.
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”.
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.
The weekend is finally here and 5pm is coming faster than ever. Assignments have been turned in. Lunch has never tasted better. Classes are done. Work is finished. And you have plans tonight. Finally, you have plans tonight.
Until about three weeks ago, I refused to give in to the Spotify craze. While all my friends were raving about how amazing Spotify was, my stubborn self kept responding by saying how good ol’ iTunes was just fine for me. One day, I was browsing through my computer and stumbled upon the Spotify app that I had downloaded months back and decided to open it. After an hour of scrolling through different artists and playlists, I realized it was time to make the switch. I purchased Spotify premium and haven’t looked back since.