March 2012
16 posts
2 tags
WQHS Interviews Duke Castiglione TONIGHT! (2/29)
Listen in TONIGHT from 8-10pm to The Zone as they interview Fox Sports Anchor and reporter Duke Castiglione, who has worked for ESPN and done some pretty cool interviews with big names such as Joe Torre, Randy Johnson, Bill Russell and Archie Manning!
February 2012
32 posts
4 tags
34th Street Magazine - Tyga: Careless World: Rise...
Tyga has already made one full–length, but thanks to his mega–hit “Rack City,” Careless World: Rise of the Last King is effectively his debut into the rap mainstream. The L.A. rapper doesn’t appear to have a distinct vision for the album; it wanders from lyrical rap to club hip–hop to R&B. If you can get past that, though, there’s a lot to enjoy here.
“Kings & Queens” features Tyga and...
WQHS in the Penn Gazette!
Check out the recently published article in The Pennsylvania Gazette, the University of Pennsylvania’s bi-monthly alumni magazine, written by our dear friend Shrestha Singh!
6 tags
Bears: Greater Lakes
What Bears lacks in anthemic power, they make up for in a certain delicacy, a texture of some French villa or that of a freshly brewed mug of coffee in the morning as you sit on your front porch in your over-sized cardigan and plaid slippers watching the sun break the horizon. While their earlier work on Shortest Day of the Year, Simple Machinery, and their eponymous debut Bears exuded a quaint...
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The Cranberries: Roses
Roses finds all of the Cranberries’ original members plus original producer Stephen Street back together eleven years after their coda Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. It’s no wonder, then, that they are picking up right where they left off, with the same adult pop polish that made them one of greatest U.K. indie groups of the early ‘90s.
The best of the Cranberries’ gentler songs have...
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Some Nights is Almost Completely (Un)fun.
Everybody knows at least one chemically imbalanced person who puts ketchup on everything, ruining the more subtle qualities of their food and just generally grossing people out. In the world of indie pop music, that person is fun. and pure liquid melodrama is the ketchup they liberally spread over the highly derivative melodies of Some Nights. Blergh.
To be fair, when “We Are Young” was...
3 tags
"The SlapBack's" Round Of The Week: Illmaculate vs...
Who would have guessed that this form of battle rap would spread this far throughout the world? Is that even an odd question to ask? Either way, I was pretty intrigued to find out a week ago that there is a league in Australia called “Real Talk”. With that, it was also very cool to see Illmaculate and TheSaurus recently engage in individual battles in this setting. However, the one that...
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Say Hey to Hey Marseilles
Having never heard Hey Marseilles before, I immediately latched onto their latest single, “Elegy.” The song employs just the right mix of interesting instruments and rhythms to gracefully climax and recede into obscurity again. I truly believe Hey Marseilles has perfected their sound in their most recent single. Delving deeper into their 2008 debut album, To Travels and Trunks,...
5 tags
Lydia Paek: A YouTube Standout
Let’s face it — the majority of YouTube musicians are far better at video-editing than actually singing. The few who can sing can’t properly accompany themselves on instruments. Really, how hard is it to fly acappella or ask a friend? If you can’t tell, I’ve got qualms regarding the use of YouTube by egregiously incompetent individuals who live vicariously...
2 tags
34th Street Magazine - What A Beautiful World
When you first step into Beautiful World Syndicate, it may seem like any old record store. Vinyl is everywhere (the tables, the walls, the stairs), and visitors are immediately greeted by collections of punk and indie music, two genres that fit the preferences you might expect from the type of people you’d conjure up when you envision “vinyl enthusiasts.”
But we promise you, if you roll up...
7 tags
Laura Izibor: Let the Truth Be Told
A singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, composer and arranger all at the tender age of twenty-four, Laura Izibor’s debut album reveals the harrowing pains and beautiful joys of relationships from the artist’s perspective. Having started singing, writing songs, and teaching herself the piano as early as fourteen, Let the Truth Be Told is a promising look into the future of this budding young...
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Lana Del Rey: Born to Die
They say that no press is bad press and they say that sex sells. These old adages prove true when it comes to the most divisive pop artists of recent memory. Lana Del Rey has generated enormous controversy from the fact that she got a makeover after her first attempt at a music career as Lizzy Grant. It’s possible that she seems to have sold herself as this Barbie doll or Jessica Rabbit...
3 tags
34th Street Magazine Co-op!
It is our pleasure to announce that WQHS has signed on to an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania’s 34th Street Magazine to share content on our blog and their website. Keep an eye out for future articles from our new companion with up-to-date info on everything from music and art to news and hilarious articles. Also be sure to check out their website at www.34st.com.
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Mates of State @ Union Transfer (2/16)
I have never before seen a more joyous procession. The instant Mates of State (husband and wife duo Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel) assumed their positions on stage, I could sense the smile per capita of the audience exponentially explode in an exultant orgy (or maybe more so of a cuddle party given the PG innocence of the couple). I suppose I really can’t express how much sheer ecstasy Gardner...
6 tags
Sleigh Bells: Reign of Terror
The crowd screaming in anticipation of Alexis Krauss’ candy pop voice and Derek Miller’s bleeding guitar start off Sleigh Bells’ Reign of Terror. It’s an apt metaphor for the excitement that this band’s new album is generating. Sleigh Bells roared into the blogosphere in late 2009 and became critic darlings with 2010’s Treats, an audial assault that took the entire music industry by storm. After...
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The Pretty Reckless' “You” is Pretty Okay
It has been many moons since Taylor Momsen and Little Jenny Humphries (nee Cindy Lou Who) parted ways in a somewhat dramatic fashion. The official version of events stressed Momsen’s wish to concentrate on her music career, but reports from the show, as well as a very candid interview with Tim Gunn who guest-starred on Gossip Girl alongside the actress, revealed the less than professional...
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The Coastals: Burn White Hot
With The Coastals’ second album, Burn White Hot, they bring a radio-ready pop-punk sound that brings to mind a more mild version of the Warped Tour sound but with better instrumentation. This is a textbook example of a pop-punk band complaining about Mom and Dad, girls and posers. It doesn’t break any new ground, but Drew Champion and company do know how to craft a hook as their...
3 tags
Shearwater: Animal Joy
Somewhere at the intersection of The National and Grizzly Bear lies Shearwater. Their sound is very big, rich and lush and their songs filled with vivid imagery and lyrics that should make John Darnielle and Colin Meloy take note. This sound puts this album in the unique group that is rewarded equally for listening on headphones or blasting on your stereo. Animal Joy is their debut album for Sub...
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Whitney Houston's death- it hurts...
Whitney Elizabeth Houston, singer, producer, actress, and model, was born on August 9, 1963 and left this earth on February 11, 2012. Having gotten her start early at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, the resounding response she received was quite an inspiration for her. She didn’t have a problem admitting when interviewed in 2002 by Diane Sawyer, “I think I knew then that (my...
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Poliça: Give You The Ghost
Sometime ago I posted a short blurb introducing Poliça and speculating that they will “make great strides this new year.” I’d like to retract that statement and offer a new one: Poliça will (most likely) be big. While this unfortunately means that they will become the “prize” of blogosphere eccentrics and hip music nerds, I honestly feel that this Gayngs-inspired group will be the crowning...
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Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom
Sir Paul McCartney is getting a lot of love just in time for Valentine’s Day. Just this week, Macca was named MusiCares Person of the Year and received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And Paul is reciprocating the love by covering some of the standards that he would always find in his dad’s record collection with Kisses On the Bottom. McCartney’s music has always favored melodic...
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"The SlapBack's" Battle Of The Week: PoRich vs....
Once again, on KingOfTheDot’s “BlackOut2” event came another very heated and personal battle; this time for the KingOfTheDot Championship. The contender PoRich squared off against champion Sketch Menace in this somewhat questionable outcome. As many spectators would say, (even some judges as well).
I’ll keep this battle of the week short and sweet, by saying that I...
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I Believe In A Thing Called “The Darkness”
In my many travels I have met several people who have claimed, at one time or another, to have experienced the feeling of being awestruck. Some recounted how magnificent architecture took them to a place of existential flux. Others described how the innate beauty of nature brought tears to their eyes and enriched their souls. I too have once felt that deep-seated, all-consuming, totally...
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Dr. Dog: Be The Void
Having only been released yesterday, Dr. Dog’s latest album Be The Void has already offered a lot to discuss. In that sense, I’ll try to fit most of my thoughts into this blog post, though I’m sure I won’t get to all of them. I would be remiss though if I failed to mention the great amount of Beatles-interplay that happens throughout record, arguably more so than their usual stylistic...
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The Not So Little Sounds of Little Dragon
If you haven’t heard of Little Dragon, you need to re-evaluate your self-esteem, character, and humanity. This four-person electronic band hailing from Sweden has one of the most unique and generous sounds on the scene. Lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s vocals are dipped in a perfect blend of rasp and density having mastered the art of texture. Members of Little Dragon have collaborated...
4 tags
Don Cornelius – The Soul Train Derailed
The death of the legendary Don Cornelius hit many generations quite hard. For over forty years, Mr. Cornelius introduced the world, namely African Americans, to countless African American artists via his show Soul Train, which aired following American Bandstand on Saturday afternoons. Soul Train gave young blacks a sense of pride and introduced the “Soul Train line” which still shows up in...
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Modest Mouse and St. Vincent take “Portlandia”
Besides the usual nonsensical tomfoolery of Portlandia, a recent episode starring St. Vincent’s Annie Clark and Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock brought up incredibly important questions for any person trying to raise a “musically cultured” child (or whatever that means). Are Mike + The Mechanics the bane of rock history? Is Whitney Houston our generation’s Dante? Is Harry Nilsson the perfect...
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Jack White: "Love Interruption"
Now that Jack White has finally ran out of other people to work with, the vinyl traditionalist is free to strip it all back and put out a project under his own name. But that doesn’t mean he’s reinventing himself. Lyrically, his debut solo single, “Love Interruption,” exudes the same awkwardly macabre bitterness that White often turned to in both the White Stripes and the Dead Weather. “I want...
8 tags
"The SlapBack's" Battle Of The Week: Hollohan vs....
Before I go on to discussing the video below, I would like to mention the fact that this KingOfTheDot event entitled “Blackout2” is most definitely packed with the best production and “epicness” I’ve ever seen in a rap battle before. From the dramatic introduction interviews to the appearances from Raekwon The Chef and EpicMealTime’s Sauce Boss, this event is...
5 tags
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour @ Union Transfer (2/2)
Pairing funk-inspired rhythms with psychedelic synth and a healthy dose of brass, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour channel big band soul gone 21st century. The feel is perhaps best encapsulated by the glittering silver bow ties worn by the band’s two-man horn section: retro, futuristic, and a whole lot of fun.
The Danish sextet took the stage at Union Transfer on Feb. 2 as part of the tour marking...
9 tags
The "Awkward" Sounds of San Cisco
It’s amazing how often things that shouldn’t work together do. For example, as a true Australian, I love Vegemite and cheese— don’t try this at home, folks. This love, however, is intellectually counterintuitive; Vegemite should not be loved in conjunction with anything (to be honest, the thought of Vegemite by itself is, in a word, “vomitous”). On the other hand, unlike...
5 tags
Meet Mac Miller
As a Canadian, I often find it difficult to dissociate myself from my nation’s past time: hockey (although, contrary to popular belief, it is not Canada’s national sport). So this week I am bringing to you a little treasure that hockey brought to my attention. This season of the HBO show 24/7: The Road to the NHL Winter Classic followed the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers in the...