WQHS-The Blog

Foxy Shazam Welcomes You to the Church of Rock and Roll

Intense, powerful, oversexed, Foxy Shazam is a hard-rock phenomenon with a reputation for live shows that challenge the volume capacity of speakers and the seam capacity of leather pants. Earlier this year, the band played at the Trocadero with fellow glam-icons The Darkness, making sweet love to a leopard-and-lace crowd with every hip thrust and throaty growl. The first time an aural pregnancy occurs, it will be to a Foxy Shazam fan.

Previewing Hundred Visions

On Wednesday April 11 two WQHSers will be heading out to Johnny Brenda’s for Hundred Visions. Fresh from SXSW, Hundred Visions has a seventies rock feel with an indie twist. After taking a listen to their three song EP (http://hundredvisions.bandcamp.com/), we’re excited about the show.

Check them out:

When: Wednesday, April 11. Doors @ 8, Show @ 9, Hundred Visions on @ 10

Where: Johnny Brenda’s

What: Hundred Visions with Brazos and White Demin

On the remake of the Lana Del Rey music video “Blue Jeans”

When I saw on the Lana Del Rey page that the “Blue Jeans” video was just posted on Youtube, I wasn’t sure what to think because I had already watched the Blue Jeans video infinite times. Was I crazy? No, in fact – they had made a new video to the song. The first time I watched the new video, complete with the same male model from the “Born To Die” video, a white bathing suit, and crocodiles, I was astounded.

Memoryhouse: The Slideshow Effect

If you like Beach House, definitely give Memoryhouse’s new album The Slideshow Effect a spin. Dreamy loops, reverb-heavy vocals, and songs that grow on you the more you listen. The album is filled with many mellow ballads (“Pale Blue”, “Kinds of Light”), but the band is at its best when it goes a little up-tempo. “The Kids Were Wrong” is an early highlight. The album as a whole though, has very post-rock feel, in that each of the songs attempt to build to some great cathartic climax. Some of the songs are successful, whereas others are a little too simple. Listening to the last track reminded me of Explosions in the Sky with less interesting guitar and a female vocalist. Definitely keep an eye on this band. After listening to this record, its clear that greater things will come. Overall, I’d give it 6.5 out of ten.

- McLean Baran

Re:Generation - The Remixes

This is, at it states, a remix album. If you’re looking for soothing folk music, go listen to something else. However, if you like raves, club music, dubstep, hip hop, trance, or any other form of electronic music, check this out. Five world-renowned producers are the main draw: Skrillex, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights, Mark Ronson, and DJ Premier. Each of them have numerous collaborators: members of the Doors, Martha Reeves, The Funk Brothers, Leann Rimes, Dr. Ralph Stanley, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, Mos Def, Zigaboo Modeliste, members of the DAP Kings, Nas, and the Berklee Symphony Orchestra. Those names alone should get some attention.

Screaming Females: Ugly

I like my music loud. Sure, there are moments where quiet, thoughtful music serves a purpose. It can play in the background while you’re studying, relax you after a long day, or serve as the soundtrack for a nice conversation with a friend. Sometimes, though, the best music is that which demands your attention. The type of music with thrashing guitars and persistent drum beats. That’s where Screaming Females enters the picture.

Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

Lately she is on every singers’ most wanted list for collaboration, and can be heard in seemingly every tune on the radio. Marching to the beat of her own drum, Nicki Minaj was named 2011 Rising Star by Billboard just in time for the release of her second studio album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.

WQHS Picnic!

Stop by this Friday for a picnic WQHS style! Come out for a day of sunshine, good music from student performers, and lemonade!

There will also be three opportunities to win a pair of floor passes to Tiësto and Passion Pit at Spring Fling! We will be hosting three rounds of musical chairs at 2:10, 2:40, and 3:20. If you win one of these rounds, you’ll win a pair of floor passes to the concert! Stop by the picnic throughout the day to sign up and enter the game.

For more information and to RSVP, go to the Facebook event here.

Justin Duerr: Pigeon Punk Pulling Through

Justin Duerr faces an empty water bottle on his kitchen table on a sticky fall afternoon. It’s an appropriately bone-dry setup for Philadelphia’s most recent and most unlikely movie star, who has spent all his life thirsting for more.

Dirty Projectors: “Gun Has No Trigger”

It’s been a while since art rock super troopers The Dirty Projectors released some new material. Coming off their 2009 critically acclaimed Bitte Orca and their collaboration album with the none other than Björk on Mount Wittenberg Orca in 2010,DP has enjoyed quite a bit of love and attention from college radio and indie music blogs alike, but it seems like they went underground for a while- or rather above ground on the music festival circuit. Yet finally as March 2012 comes to a close The Dirty Projectors have given us a sneak peak of what they have in store for their next studio album in the form of “Gun Has No Trigger.”