Chicago-based Whitney kicked off their fall tour with a show in Nashville on September 29. The band, built upon the core singer/drummer and guitarist duo, Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek, blew up in the independent rock world after their 2016 freshman album, Light Upon the Lake. Combining mellow indie pop with modern jazz undertones for a unique, chill, and groovy blend, Whitney has become a favorite in the indie rock scene.
BROCKHAMPTON returned with a bang on their third release, Saturation II, off their own label Question Everything, Inc this past August 25th . The group has a sound as unorthodox as their origin story, the majority of the members having met on a popular Kanye West forum before ever meeting in real life. Coalescing under leader Kevin Abstract and taking up the all-caps moniker BROCKHAMPTON, the group of 15 moved to South Central Los Angeles in 2015 to be the next great American boyband. Following their two previous releases, Saturation II creeps, crawls, and roars its way into your sonic sphere with the youthful energy of a group of 19-23 year old men that have something(s) to say.
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (TWIABP) has been a powerful presence in the ’emo’ community since the release of their debut full-length album Whenever, If Ever (2013). Last week, the band released their third album, Always Foreign, a phenomenally composed album overflowing with cynicism, chaos, and an unadulterated sense of vulnerability.
“She’s just trying to reach you,” Protomartyr singer/lyricist Joe Casey chants at the climax of “A Private Understanding,” the opening track on the Detroit post-punkers’ fourth album Relatives in Descent.
Through the pages of history runs a river of interesting and often tragic narratives concerning rock’s forbearers and transportation mishaps. Duane Allman, Buddy Holly, and Otis Redding, among others, met…
Kevin Rhomberg, the Grammy winning singer/songwriter/producer known as Knox Fortune. Photo courtesy of Bryan Allen Lamb.
In the midst of chaos, Knox Fortune offers us a refuge in Paradise with his debut album. The Chicago singer/songwriter/producer is perhaps best well known for his hook on Chance the Rapper’s “All Night,” but on Paradise, he shows he can stand alone in authentic style, production and lyrics.
Moses Sumney’s debut full-length Aromanticism, released Sept 22nd on Jagjagwar, is a shimmery showcase of Sumney’s smooth-as-butter voice that marks an artistic departure from his 2016 EP Lamentations. While the EP revolves around layers of Sumney’s vocals and guitar, his latest release incorporates a much wider color palate, replete with beautiful orchestration and swirling synths. There’s a higher production value, which in turn sacrifices some of the intimacy of his earlier releases which made his music so powerful.
There’s no denying that Soundcloud has become the birthing ground for new hiphop artists. Some of the biggest names today, Chance the Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert to name two, began their record-breaking careers on the platform. Soundcloud’s accessibility has made it easier than ever to enter the game, but just as easy to be buried under a million other users (talented or not). How do you set yourself apart? Lil Pump’s Answer:
Canadian five-piece Alvvays finally released their second album, Antisocialites on September 8th, under Polyvinyl. Alvvays’ eponymous debut album explored
On Tuesday, September 25th, independent singer-songwriter and ironic demigod Joshua Tilman descended upon Nashville in the form of Father John Misty to give two amazing performances in one day: a solo acoustic show at Third Man Records and a full show at the Ryman.
Freudian, Daniel Caesar’s debut album, released August 25, 2017 on Golden Child Recordings sparked discussion among music fans across all genres. It’s variety of production, a seamless fluctuation of emotion between subtle elegance and bold passion, is reflective of the intricate message the love-ridden Caesar is trying to convey. Throughout the 10 song album, Daniel Caesar spills his heart out about the complexities of love, ranging from despair to pure ecstasy.
The first spoken words on Mizan K’s Dark Blue – “Are you looking for somebody?” arrive at the end of a short sequence of thick, rumbling synthesizers, which, along with…
It took Rolling Loud Festival less than three years to become the largest Hip-Hop festival in the world. After three consecutive sold out festivals in Miami, FL, co-founders Tariq Cherif…
Can you feel it? Monday night at the science library. Three vending machine coffee cups and a hallucination of your girlfriend’s scent bear witness to your struggle—you’re new to the writing staff, and despite your general zeal for music and exegesis, you find yourself waylaid with uncertainty. What can you give to this blog? And what must you keep for yourself?
The National’s most recent album, Sleep Well Beast, released September 8, 2017, is characterized by a tracklist that can be compared to a morning commute. “Guilty Party” resembles the melancholy of waking before the sun has risen, a sheet of morning dew still covering the hood of your car. But the sun does rise and the gloom quickly turns into anger and frustration. “Turtleneck” embodies the morning drive itself — the agonizing slow burn of exit after exit, when you begin to tailgate cars just to feel like you’re making progress. Unlike previous albums, where each track transitions from one to the next like the tranquil flow and ebb of a stream, Sleep Well Beast is a complete mishmash.
Bleachers, a project of Jack Antonoff’s (guitarist of the notable group FUN. made popular by the hit “We Are Young”), has made an huge splash in the indie pop world in the 3 years they’ve been active. WRVU Nashville had the pleasure of sending two lucky concert-goers free of charge to see Bleachers at their September 13th show at Marathon Music Works.
Neck Deep is one of those bands that never fails to impress. Within the span of five years, they have skyrocketed to an incredible level of fame: between playing main stage at Warped Tour and opening for Blink-182, they have indisputably cemented their name as a pop punk powerhouse. Upon releasing The Peace and The Panic (TP&TP) this past August, their fan base has continued to expand and dote on their favorite British band. While some of the tracks on this album are somewhat questionable in nature, TP&TP is, overall, an absolute jam.
Metal seems to be one of those things that most people either really love or really, really hate. While I definitely fall into the former camp, I get why it turns a lot of people off. Today, I want to provide a few possible starting points for people who, for whatever reason, don’t like metal or haven’t gotten into it yet but want to. So here are five metal albums you might like even if you don’t traditionally “like” metal.
SZA’s Ctrl, released June 9th, 2017 on Top Dawg Entertainment, is widely about the endless personal journey towards understanding and balance in life. SZA, born Solána Rowe, writes about her own personal challenges, blessings and limitations and how they’ve each shaped her ability to maintain her autonomy. Reflecting on the advice and support of her mother and grandmother, provided for listeners in the form of audio clips interspersed throughout the length of the album, SZA navigates tides of uncertainty.
Hey you! You wanna see Bleachers and Tangerine at Marathon Music Works this Wednesday? Cool! Snapchat us (wrvu_nashville) your most creative video of you listening to WRVU and you could…
A Tribe Called Quest perform on the Panorama Stage. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
Sunday at Panorama was a whirlwind of heavy hitters. A Tribe Called Quest headlined, and some notable highlights included Glass Animals, Cloud Nothings, and Dhani Harrison. Check out our gallery below:
