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Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:33:07 -0500

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Girls, Robyn, and Musical Memes: Our (Complicated) Personal Relationships with Music

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:26:28 -0500

I’ve gotten pretty into Lena Dunham’s Girls recently. I don’t want to get mired into the whole self-indulgent display of white privilege vs. biting satire debate—something I myself haven’t decided definitively on—but given Girls’ fairly honest portrayal of what we would broadly term “hipster culture,” the show’s relationship with music is interesting and potentially instructive for us denizens of alternative music fandom.

At first glance, it’s easy to read Girls’ use of acts like Camera Obscura and Sleigh Bells as something akin to its costume choices, just part of the overall Williamsburg aesthetic. We would thus expect to see the songs as signifiers of the show’s finger on the pulse of the hippest music playing from the hippest warehouses in Brooklyn. But here’s the thing: Girls’ taste in music is…not that cool. The songs overwhelmingly lean towards recent music or at least songs from the latter aughts, so it’s not as if these are just timeless underground classics. At the same time, the music is often oddly dated, a couple months past when it constituted the indie zeitgeist. Case in point: In an episode from a few weeks back, lead character Hannah Horvath dances to arguably the song of this past summer, Icona Pop’s I Don’t Care. The only problem? The episode aired in June 2013, not July 2012.

So is it just that Girls’ musical decision-makers, Dunham herself and Manish Raval of Aperture Music, are the indie equivalent of your friend’s “cool” dad trying valiantly but unsuccessfully to keep up with the kids? Given Dunham’s otherwise spot-on portrayal of the subculture, I think that’s unlikely. Similarly, it’s hard to see songs being included simply to echo the show’s tenor at any given time. The associations are often obvious to the point of crassness (Hannah dancing on her own to Robyn’s “Dancing on my Own”? Come on.), and a thoughtful observer like Dunham is surely mindful that even if they weren’t, the visceral power of buzzy singles would fade over time, diminishing their effect. (The same logic could be applied to the argument that these are the hottest songs out when shows are written or taped.)

What’s important to note, then, is that these tracks are often played by the characters themselves rather than used as true background music. Thus, we’re getting an intimate look into how the characters relate the music to their own lives and use it for their own means. It’s not so much “Dancing on My Own” and “I Don’t Care” as pure manifestations of Hannah’s mood as much as it is Hannah’s own desire to make them so. In other words, Girls is commenting on what I term the meme-ification of music, the distillation of a song into one simple idea which we can repeatedly apply to soundtrack analogous situations in our own lives. The resulting memes often linger with us, to be referenced and played whenever relevant, even after the warehouse DJs have long since moved on to hipper pastures. Dunham’s description of selecting songs she listens to while she writes (it should be noted that Girls is semi-autobiographical) suggests at least subconscious acknowledgment of this dynamic. In displaying it, the show is simultaneously making a clever joke about and engaging in a sympathetic exploration of our relationship with contemporary music.

This is especially worthwhile for indie audiences because the idea of our music being so malleable in nature, to the point that we can neatly redeploy it to the context of our individual lives, contrasts so strikingly with alternative audiences’ idealized vision of the artist. We tend to revere those artists who are single-mindedly devoted to crafting their own worlds and think of true listening as immersing ourselves in an album’s world rather than vice versa. Indeed, Owen Pallett has made an entire album commenting on the power of an album’s creator. In his excellent essay series The Winners’ History of Rock and Roll, Steven Hyden notes how “the Message” is the cornerstone of music for the “‘elitist taste’ wing of rock,” whereas “the Sound” defines music for the masses. We prefer to approach music as we would a novel and scoff at the idea of using it as mere wallpaper in our lives.

So are Dunham and Raval just sending up hipsters by exposing their delusions of fan grandeur? Probably a little bit, but again I think that’s oversimplifying. It’s undeniable that many Serious Music Fans are interested in the intricacies of an album, but that’s only true sometimes. Music, after all, is different than literature in that listening doesn’t inherently involve conscious mental engagement at all times. Sometimes, we just want something to blast in the car on the way to the grocery store, and we’re not interested in parsing out the possible influence of the Velvet Underground. To eschew listening to music when you don’t have the wherewithal to closely analyze it would seem ludicrous even to the most serious of Serious Music Fans. The meme-ification of music is perfectly natural. And given our aesthetic tastes, we often turn to works that we were carefully scrutinizing earlier to channel the emotions of that nasty breakup or that freshly-aced midterm.

That seems like a lot to reconcile; on its face the meme-ification of music may seem fundamentally disrespectful towards the artistry of an album, like hanging a transcendent painting to spruce up your bathroom. Maybe the bridge lies in the fact that the best-crafted worlds are those we can relate to our own lives, but that seems cheap and discounts more otherworldly acts too heavily. I’d posit that best way forward is just to acknowledge that our relationship with music as Serious Music Fans is more complicated than just one of informed scholarship and that that’s perfectly OK. We turn to music for different reasons at different times. In acknowledging that fact, perhaps we can move one step closer to reconciliation with our brethren on the other side of the mainstream-alternative divide. Because who doesn’t hold one-person dance parties to “Dancing on My Own” every once in a while when feeling a bit lonely? (No? Uh…me neither.)

- Ryan Kuo; The AK Show (Thursdays from 10-midnight @ WQHS.org)

Amtrac, Xaphoon Jones, and BADBADNOTGOOD @ Penn (2/9)

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:14:55 -0500

The night started cozily enough, entering the small space of a frat house about as big as the living room of a slighty-larger two-story house. Dark, ambient, smoke in the air (of all kinds), and bands soundtesting on a stage where they were a mere armslength away created a laid-back atmosphere in which folks mingled and chilled off to the side before the show would get started. People were almost resistant to taking the center of the room, instead hugging the wall as if it provided comfort for them to reassure they made the right choice in dedicating four hours to the show for night. But as soon as the first artist, Amtrac, took the stage and more folks trickled in, any sense of apprehension fell away to give rise to the most energetic, hype-swag show I’ve ever seen in my life. Penn’s Jazz & Grooves group introduced electro and hip-hop house music, and ear-shatteringly good instrumental hip-hop jazz to make this night one of the best Penn has ever offered.

So this wasn’t a rave or Dayglow, but for what amounted to the equivalent of a ~60%, sparsely-filled room, people went hard. Damn hard. Hailing from Kentucky and with appearances at famous festivals including SXSW, Amtrac lit up the floor with the sickest and sexiest house beats that blended together elements of electropop, chopped-and-screwed soul, and even chillwave — if you can imagine — to get the ‘grooves’ going. Soon after he started playing, people took to the center of the floor and danced their hardest, further dragging others (sometimes, literally dragging others) into the fray. The energy continued non-stop for an hour long — but soon after Amtrac bid his farewell, Xaphoon Jones entered the stage to get the crowd going even harder. This time based right here in Philly and one half of the hip-hop group Chiddy Bang, Xaphoon Jones hyped up a distinctly more-party like atmosphere with hip hop “weird beats.” By the time of Xaphoon Jones’ entrance, more people had trickled into the room. Added with the fact that energy was still running high, Xaphoon Jones’s set was filled with folks dancing the hell out of the floor even more. When one person got up on the stage and started yelling, it merely exemplified the accessibility, so to speak, of just wanting to get down and let loose. Plus, I would personally say that this Xaphoon Jones individual has some particularly good sense if he mixes one of last year’s best songs, Major Lazer’s “Get Free,” and keeps the integrity of the song while still getting the crowd going.

Finally though, after two sessions of dancing the hardest you’ve ever in your life, the night’s headliner BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG) assumed the stage. While the last two acts were damn good fun, what next transpired could only be described as the sickest jazz you’ve ever heard. Though they looked like an unassuming 3-piece band from Toronto, the hype the managed to create with hip hop jazz belied their appearance. There’s a reason why Tyler, the Creator of Odd Future has endorsed this group. Starting with appropriately intro-like music to have to head and ears spinning, BBNG soon next spun up their new epic take on Flying Lotus’s Putty Boy Strut. TNGHT’s “Bugg’n” also appeared to be a popular one of the night — both Xaphoon Jones and BBNG had their own takes on the dope track and both got the crowd ‘down and dirty.’ Yet as strangely jazz-infused as any of BBNG’s songs were, the sheer explosion of piano, bass, and drums they produced had your ears, body, and head jumping up and down with each beat. BBNG also paid tribute to the late, legendary hip hop producer J Dilla with the song “Fall in Love,” having passed into the next day already of February 10th and the anniversary of his passing, and introduced a new song as good as any other they had.

But what absolutely made the night was BBNG’s live rendition of “Rotten Decay” off their second album. What the song ended up as was the most hammering jazz could get, literally the band hammering on their instruments with everything they’ve got and the crowd jumping and shaking in ecstasy. Moments of this raw expression were paused by the drummer, Alexander Sowinski, hyping up the crowd time and time again and entreating us to jump as damn hard as we could. We would scream as loudly as we could to express the raw desire to hear more, more, before the band finally gave in and hammered on and on. BBNG’s last song of the night, “Vices” (also off their second album), followed in much the same fashion.

So then by the end of the night at 2am in the morning, what transpired could only be thought of as the most complete, filling, and god-like musical experience to have graced this earth. I don’t just ask that you catch any of these artists on tour if they ever come around again — I downright demand you to. If you have any appreciation for house, hip hop, or jazz, you need to make it happen. My ears were gladly traumatized, and so would yours too. Don’t miss out. Check out Amtrac’s SoundCloud, Xaphoon Jones’ free mixtape, and BBNG’s stellar, free albums.

- Klyde Breitton; Your Ears Will Bleed Happiness (Mondays from 6-8 pm @ WQHS.org)

Beach House – Forever Still

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:27:00 -0500

I precisely remember opening Beach House’s newest album Bloom in the back office of the radio station just when it came out. While flipping through the booklet I happened upon an image that I immediately recognized: a star illuminated upon the side of a mountain under the night sky. This star in question is located in the West Texas desert, in my hometown of El Paso. It was then I remembered a friend mentioning that the band had taken residency at Sonic Ranch, a world-class, live-in studio located in the outskirts of the city on an old pecan orchard. Now, upon the release of the short film “Forever Still,” Beach House shows how they captured the landscape of the vast West Texas desert, and how that desert in turn captured them.

The short film, for those uninitiated, depicts the band playing four songs from the new album throughout the duration of one night, from sunset to sunrise. As said upon release of the film, “we wanted to perform in a non-typical setting without losing the spirit of our music. We felt the songs would resonate in a more majestic and spiritual landscape.” The brown valleys and mountains and swaths of desert aren’t encapsulated by the performances, but are released outside of their position as mere locations and into the mindset of natural artistic creation in ways many music videos simply don’t achieve.

I can’t help but to think about Bloom as the result of what the band envisioned for this short film instead of the other way around. This is to say; they aimed to capture not only the sonic interpretation of the landscape, but also the visual. The desert itself blooms to life every single day in ways most may never think of. In the same way, each track slowly escalates through building and layering instrumentation to bring about soundscapes that parallel those shown on screen. And these soundscapes, while they may have been thought up in a house in Baltimore, now seem to me to only belong to the desert in which they were recorded. Victoria Legrand’s slow moving, warm yet haunting voices swirls around Alex Scally’s instrumentals with that signature modern dream-pop sound that is synonymous with this band.

Maybe I am just being sentimental about the whole thing because, as stated earlier, this is where I grew up. The highways and the lettering on the mountain (“La Biblia es la Verdad Leela,” which translates to “The Bible is the Truth, Read It” is actually across the border overlooking Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico) in the opening scenes are those I drive down every weekend to visit family, the trek to the “The Hours” performance looks eerily similar to where we used to have bonfire parties back in high school, and the all encompassing skies that take over the frame, which can be both welcoming and intimidating and which blaze through with colors only the desert can provide, are those that looked down at me for many years. True, at this point I am definitely just being sentimental, but these expanses of land and sky are illuminated wonderfully not only by their visual capture in this film, but by the accompanying music.

To be honest, I have never had a personal fixation with Beach House. While I have always respected their music, I never quite “got it,” even after listening to Bloom several times since its release. “Forever Still” is helping me “get it.” There was no place for the music before this in my mind, and now there is. There is a place where I can see these artists coming from, being inspired with, and showing off to the rest of the world. The dreamscape of dream-pop can be a real place, and it just so happens to be a dream that I occupy quite literally.

- Dorian Mendoza; Blue, Not Gray (Wednesdays from 8-10 pm @ WQHS.org)

Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic (Jagjaguwar)

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:35:00 -0500

Find out what Yoel and Joe of ‘Songs That Are Good’ have to say about Foxygen’s second full-length album We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic…

Yoel’s take:

I love this album. This is despite the fact that in many ways it’s pretty derivative. “No Destruction” could easily have been on a later Velvet Underground album (maybe Loaded?). “San Francisco” would not be out of place on the Kinks’ classic The Village Green Preservation Society. Many of the other songs strongly recall Sgt. Pepper’s era Beatles, early Rolling Stones, or 60’s pacific northwest garage rock. But I don’t care. I feel like this takes what I liked about Tame Impala’s recent album Lonerism and makes it better and catchier. There’s not a song I dislike, and many that I really really like.

Favorite songs: San Francisco, Oh Yeah, No Destruction.

Overall score: 9/10.

——

Joe’s take:

Music inspired by the 60s and 70s is really not my thing. But this album is excellent. This very much reminds me of the new Tame Impala album, but whereas that album has one great track, a lot of very listenable songs, and a couple of clunkers, almost every song on Foxygen’s album is very good, a fact that is remarkable given how different the songs are from each other. I’m a fan. This is a fun and interesting album.

Favorite songs (in order, at this very minute): San Francisco, No Destruction, We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace & Magic

Least favorite song: Bowling Trophies (which is still a good song)

Overall score: 8/10

- Yoel Inbar and Joe Simmons; Songs That Are Good (Thursdays from 8-10 am @ WQHS.org)

Purity Ring @ Union Transfer (1/29)

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 04:20:29 -0500

It wasn’t a great start to the night. The crowd this last Tuesday at Union Transfer was a motley bunch of teenagers, yuppies, punks, and college kids, and the lack of common ground between many of the groups meant a fair amount of animosity in the early goings. Many people complained passive-aggressively (or full-on aggressively) as the room filled up and people started squeezing up to the front. (I myself got quite a dressing-down while I inched forward and craned my neck to get a better view.)

To make matters worse, opening act Young Magic’s set was a 45-minute exercise in “meh,” starting out with a generic mixture of vaguely tribal vocals and percussion and proceeding to survey various hot electronic trends of the past five years. Pleasant enough, but not enough to keep my mind from wandering towards the dude in front of me with the giant mohawk and wondering how angry he’d get if I took a pair of scissors to it. The between-set music was much livelier by comparison, a smattering of Pitchfork-approved R&B and hip-hop cuts. Some of the concert-goers around me started breaking out their middle/high-school dance moves and freaking as some Kendrick Lamar came up. I don’t know if they were trying to be ironic, but they immediately stopped when one of the few black guys in the room walked up to get closer to the stage, an interesting little microcosm of middle-class white—and, by extension, indie—culture’s complicated and often problematic relationship with African-American music.

And then the dust cover went off Purity Ring producer Corin Roddick’s elaborate synth set. And…wow. It was immediately clear that Roddick and singer Megan James had the chops to recreate the distinctive bass-stutter and hook combo that is their debut album Shrines’ calling card, but they took it a step further. The rap against electronic artists has always been that they don’t “play” anything and lack the virtuosity of their more conventional counterparts. However, Roddick and James were real pros: Roddick was constantly tinkering with beats and synth lines (which he played on a marimba-like set of what appeared to be lanterns), and James did an admirable job keeping up and belting out hooks. Like a jazz musician, you could see the singer briefly reacting to some complex syncopated rhythm Roddick threw in and then finding her place again a split second after. Aesthetically, it was a beautiful show as well: lots of cocoon like-lanterns and instruments that would glow with warmth with every beat. It was a nice touch and added to the music’s future-gothic vibe.

Of course, you can only express so much by breaking a set like that down into its component parts. What really struck me, then, was how the crowd seemed to find its redemption in the music. People who had up until that point been squabbling over standing room now joyously cheered and smiled at each other over the synth line in “Fineshrine” and earnestly apologized if they were asked by strangers for beer/drugs/etc. and had none to offer. And they were dancing. Mind you, although it’s bass-heavy, Purity Ring’s music is by no means EDM, and upon listening to their album one could just as easily imagine people sticking to the awkward hipster head-bob at a concert. Yet, almost as soon as the set started, people started swaying back and forth in unison with every pitch shift and bass rumble.

After the show ended—shamefully, there was no encore since Purity Ring burned through their entire catalogue in the set—people filed out of Union Transfer and back into their lives and divisions. But for a moment, we were all in it together.

- Ryan Kuo; The AK Show (Thursdays 10pm-12am @ WQHS.org)

Toro y Moi -- Anything in Return

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:24:00 -0500

Much to the joy of chillwave fans all over yonder, Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bundick greets the new year with a collection of immediately enjoyable pop songs to whet the appetite of ever-hungry listeners looking for that never-ending “new sound.” But let’s get this straight — Anything in Return, as Toro y Moi’s third album release, does not break ground with as a new pop sensation destined to make the masses bow-down in bliss. Instead, what it amounts to is a simply strong release, with Chaz Bundick ever-so-slightly treading beyond his comfort zone into slightly-new sound territory. And he does it with command and a kind of chill-smooth-suave that Chaz Bundick is known for. He’s just doing what he likes, and it works.

Chaz ol’buddy got his upstart in 2010 with his first album release of Causers of This that, alongside releases from other artists such as Washed Out and Neon Indian, is widely credited to have popularized a new set of chillwave-pop sounds. Since then he’s released Underneath the Pine in 2011, much the same sound, style, and success as Causers of This, and a slew of collaborations with other artists (we’re still waiting on that official release with Tyler, the Creator). And now we’re here in 2013, having survived the anti-climactic Mayan foretelling of doom to see the light of Bundick’s newest release.

Bundick’s been quoted many a time that for this go, he’s just looking to make “music his girlfriend would dance to” and maybe get more popular from it, as if reflecting the album’s modest request for anything in return from the listener. Yet as much as Bundick seems soft spoken of the matter, he’s really selling himself short — Anything in Return is filled with new influences from house (as proper from his side project in house music, Les Sins) to Justin-Bieber pop (of which he admits to being a huge fan). These influences are readily apparent in songs, “Say That” and “Cake,” with “Say That” featuring a decidedly-house beat and “Cake” featuring the irresistibly catchy hook “I’mma be her boy forever.” These influences blend seamlessly throughout the album with his well established groovy electro-funk-jazz sound to make Anything in Return a refreshing enough development in the chillwave movement. Not only that, but Anything in Return can’t help but feel more “alive” in its sound. Bundick breaks away from the laptop and moves into a more studio production, making the album definitively more penetrating in its poise to establish itself as dance music alongside Bieber. And though both Bieber fanatics and I would probably scoff at the idea of Toro y Moi opening for Bieber — be relieved that Anything in Return is still far-gone from BieberFever — Chaz Bundick makes it easier than ever to move and groove to the music. Still hazy and psychedelic at times, Anything in Return moves from the confined head-beating of Causers of This and Underneath the Pine to become a more full-body experience, moving from being headphone-friendly to speaker-friendly.

All this said, the most widely-cited fault in Anything in Return lies in its long run-time. At just over 52 minutes and 13-songs long, Anything in Return’s length is uncharacteristic of pop music albums. As a result, many feel its attempt to get to grooves going falls short. Who could dance for nearly an hour long? There’s also the unmistakable feeling of a “lull” in the middle of the album where things take a more downtempo turn, starting from the 5th song, “Touch,” before ending with a sudden upbeatness at the 10th song, “Cake.” It would, truth be told, be easy to fall asleep to this 5-song-long portion of the album. But in defense of these criticisms, I ask to take a step back, listen to these songs individually, and realize that they are no different from songs off Causers of This or Underneath the Pine. Songs like “Touch” and “High Living,” while definitely more “chill,” merely hearken back to Bundick’s old work while still blending in his new influences. This is not a bad thing. It is satisfying to take a break from the more apparent energy of songs in the beginning before getting back up to dance away the night with a fantastic end to the album. Were Anything in Return filled with nothing but the simplest and catchiest, nothing would stand out and the album would be ultimately forgettable. But as it stands, Anything in Return is dynamic, rewarding, and fun at just the right moments.

The reason you want to listen to Bundick’s latest release is not for appreciation of lyrical mastery or avant-garde experimental music. You want to listen to Anything in Return because Bundick makes it so. Anything in Return is a tad more accessible while still retaining the heart of his older work. It’s not a revolutionary new sound he goes for, it’s simply an enjoyable one that happens to take Toro y Moi in different directions, stretching Bundick into newer territory that positions his work for even greater developments in the future.

- Kylde Breitton; Your Ears Will Bleed Happiness (Mondays from 6 - 8 pm @ WQHS.org)

The xx @ The Electric Factory (1/27)

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:10:32 -0500

Walking into The Electric Factory on Sunday, one was struck by a strange see-through sheet that was right in front of the stage and a massive projector hanging above the crowd’s head. Whispers went through the air: “Are they really going to play behind a sheet the entire time?” and “Did they lug that huge thing in here?” Adding to the intrigue was that The xx were actually playing a rescheduled performance, cut off by Little Miss Sandy back in October.

As the lights dimmed, a strange oily like substance was projected onto the screen as The xx walked out and kicked into the lead single off their new album Coexist, “Angels.” Once they kicked into the chorus, the sheet fell and white lights burst out. After finishing the song, guitarist and vocalist Romy Madley Croft thanked the crowd for sticking around and coming back for a sold out show. After that it was all music, with The xx churning out their signature dark sound.

The highlights for me were Jamie xx and the lights. AKA Jamie Smith, the man behind all the beats and synths was a machine behind Romy and bassist Oliver Sim. Handling an eclectic and massive setup, he toyed with everything from your standard techno stuff, some piano, and even a steel drum. He absolutely held the group down as Sim prowled about and belted his British croon and Romy picked away at her Les Paul.

Brief aside about the lights; they were sick. It was almost all white, but they were hella bright and in some very interesting shapes. There was one effect where it came out as a paper thin sheet, and as it hovered above the band, it picked up the dust in the air to make it seem like clouds were hovering above the band’s head. Obviously the sheet thing was cool, but it was really the lighting effects that made the show.

As the band closed up, their triumphant X symbol appeared behind them and the crowd let out a mighty roar. Drawing fairly equally from their debut and sophomore albums, we were treated to the hits such as “Intro,” my personal favorite “VCR,” “Fiction,” and the aforementioned “Angels.” Before exiting the band thanked the crowd once again and exited. Overall, The xx were very effective in conjuring the dark and emotional feeling they portray on their albums to their live show. Of course with some help from a savant of a beatmaker and those sweet lights.

- Alston Brown; Frontier Psychiatrist (Tuesdays from 4 - 6 pm @ WQHS.org)

Jessie Ware @ Union Transfer (1/18)

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:59:00 -0500

2012 claimed a bright star in Jessie Ware, the late twenties British singer-songwriter whose debut album Devotion landed a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize last year. Yet her talent and appeal has yet to wear off, as she now makes her way into her first North American tour early on in 2013. Returning to Philadelphia to showcase her solo vocal chops (her first appearance in the city was as a backup singer), Ware brought with her an incredible musical register as well as quite the flirtatious zeal.

Preceded by newcomer Rochelle Jordan at Union Transfer, Ware immediately launched into her debut’s title track “Devotion.” Often cited as an ‘alternative Adele’ with post-dubstep influences, Ware challenges typical R&B structures and inclines towards a more complicated musical signature, one in which her vocals enact a seductive interplay between her drum lines and intensely grooving bass. Subsequent songs in the set list like “Still in Love” and “Sweet Talk” validated this claim as Ware transformed her stage presence to fall in and out of her musical support. Perhaps the highlight of this routine was “Swan Song,” which Ware delicately manipulated into a sultry expression, dropping her vocals at precisely the moments when her backing bass was at its most sensual state. Leaving the hits “Wildest Moments” and “Running” for the show’s conclusion, Ware made it a point to dispel hopes of an encore, a bold move that I found refreshing and sincere from such a young performer.

Yet I would be doing Ware a great disservice if I failed to mention the sheer personality that she stitched into her performance. All too often I find musicians maintain the invisible wall that separates the stage from the audience, ‘pretending’ not to hear the crowd shout song suggestions and “I love you,” or even merely ignoring their fans dancing or singing along to their performance. Ware was a completely different breed. She insisted on increasing the lights so that she could see her fan’s faces gleaming back, and even flirted with the audience with winks and smiles that truly revealed her gratitude for having such a devoted following. She wove personal stories, both charming and sentimental, into her set and never failed to remember that music is a special medium with the power of creating intimate interpersonal bonds. Ware seemed to believe in every aspect of her musicianship, and she keenly translated her passion into an indelible Friday evening.

- Gary Kafer; WQHS Blog Editor and Head Music Writer

WQHS's Top 10 Albums of 2012

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 23:34:00 -0500

With 2012 drawing to a close, the DJs of WQHS give to you their top ten albums of the year.

Check out the entire list after the jump.

10. Cat Power - Sun

Four years after Jukebox and six years since her last original material on The Greatest, Chan Marshall returns with Cat Power in her long awaited ninth full-length album Sun. In what seems to be her most costly work yet, Marshall delivers those signature hazy breaths over a raucous theater of percussion, piano, and of course plenty of backup vocals. Songs such as “3, 6, 9” and “Sun” reveal a whole new Marshall flirting with the unfamiliar, no longer brooding over the narratives that painted earlier albums. Yet while tracks like the ten minute epic “Nothin’ But Time” may suggest that this southern-gothic songbird has left behind the vulnerable days of Dear Sir and Myra Lee, lyrics such as the tragically simple “I am what you want/I am what you’re not/I want to live/My way of living” of “Always On My Own” dampen the fire of Sun’s “Cherokee” and “Real Life” with a bend of classic Cat Power naked sensitivity. Certainly Marshall’s image is evolving with the years (as it rightfully should), but her latest effort remains one of this year’s favorite albums for its sincere marriage of emotions: from the jaunty urbanite “Manhattan” to the disturbed “Peace and Love,” Marshall taps into a personal journey eloquently engineered into a fifty minute daydream that seems nothing less than a drive through the Navajo Desert in a rusty timeworn van with sticky vinyl seats, dusty windows, and bunch of good ol’ friends. Just kick back with a beer and have a good time. - GK

9. Purity Ring - Shrines

If you’re into electronic pop that is characterized by dark themes delicately delivered and foiled by airy female vocals, you’ve been iPod jamming pretty hard recently. Between Phantogram’s Night Life EP released at the very end of 2011, Grimes’ 2011 Darkbloom, her scary-fast, scary-good follow up Visions in January, and Tennis’s Young & Old in February, you probably thought you’d won the music library lottery. Then Purity Ring’s Shrines came out in July and you knew you’d won. Purity Ring had been on our radar since their single “Ungirthed” came out in early 2011, followed by “Belispeak,” which even caught Danny Brown’s eye. Singles “Obedear,” “Fineshrine”and “Lofticries” didn’t come out until 2012, but proved worth the wait. By the time Shrines dropped this summer, the blogosphere was abuzz and NPR hosted the full album for streaming. From Detroit rappers to the (presumably) more conservative NPR demographic, Purity Ring’s aptly named album seduced a serious cult following. -NS

8. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel…

Fiona Apple is known to wear her heart on her sleeve to both her benefit and detriment. In what is only her fourth full-length The Idler Wheel… (in classic Fiona fashion her album title is way too long to reprint without ellipsis), she harnesses this raw emotion in an absolutely thrilling way. It has been seven long years since Extraordinary Machine but this album is worth the wait. The Idler Wheel… is carried by Apple’s piano and beautiful voice where its predecessor rested on top of Jon Brion’s lush production. Because of this, the album is much darker and more minimalist with many songs consisting of only Apple, her piano and a hint of bass. This atmosphere is a perfect bed for Apple and her lyrics to lie in. She spits her venom throughout this album that makes you fear for the safety of anyone who crosses her, including herself. This album feels so much like Apple’s singular vision and what separates this vision from others is how unstable it all feels. “Every single night’s a fight with my brain,” she sings on the album’s opening track and then gives us a very honest glimpse at that fight. Like any good fight you can’t help stopping and watching. -JO

7. Grizzly Bear - Shields

Coming off their critically acclaimed Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear returned with another stunning and explorative album in 2012’s Shields. Though you won’t find another hit single such as “Two Weeks,” Grizzly Bear was able to combine a vast array of sounds to produce an album that ebbs and flows beautifully. According to primary songwriter Ed Droste, the album is about the reconciliation of the desire to be alone and the fear of loneliness. This struggle is highlighted by genres such as psychedelic, Americana, chamber music, and doo-wop clashing and contrasting to evoke the pains and aches involved in discovering self-awareness. The mood pulsates between haunting ballads (“Speak in Rounds,” “The Hunt”) and hopeful cries (“Sleeping Ute,” “A Simple Answer”) to show the vacillating feelings associated with self-discovery. Grizzly Bear has always been reliable in procuring artistic and thoughtful works, and they were able to add to the trend with this year’s wonderful Shields. -AB

6. Kendrick Lamar - good Kid, M.A.A.D City

Kendrick Lamar’s good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is a relieving breath of fresh air in the hip hop game. Kendrick’s verses on this album are both clever and interesting as he runs through the narrative of his coming-of-age in Compton, California. This personal history is captivating and honest – he discusses contentious issues such as peer pressure, gang violence, and drug use in the context of his life in a way that any listener can relate to. Beyond that, the instrumentals found on the album are impeccable and original. An especially notable instance of this is on the last track of the album, “Compton,” a tune laced with Dre-esque g-funk backdrops. Nevertheless, the album stays 2012 without sounding too much like 1992 because the songs feature a wide variety of samples ranging from Beach House to Roy Ayers. In the context of the album’s lyrical content, it is interesting that Kendrick samples Roy Ayers’ “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby” on the track “M.A.A.D. City.” The song is a legendary staple among all Brooklyn hip hop producers, yet Ayers himself was from Los Angeles. Beyond fitting well musically, I think this is commentary on the coastal divide in hip hop. By sampling the track, it seems to me that Kendrick is giving respect to the music birthed in both coasts. In any case, the album is full of the inexplicable wow-factor that you can hear in all of Kendrick’s tracks. There is something about his lyrics, the sound of his voice, and how well he integrates these with the samples that makes the tracks on good Kid, M.A.A.D. City exclusively Kendrick – and amazing. Hip hop fans all over the world were relieved in 2012 because of the sounds coming out of Kendrick Lamar’s studios – we want more.-AA

5. Tame Impala - Lonerism

It’s a little difficult to describe Tame Impala’s Lonerism without listing a bunch of bands that clearly influenced the deep, spacy, psychedelic sound that permeates this album. Personally, I would argue that Lonerism exists in the space between mid-to-late Beatles, Cream, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and The Vines circa 2004 (the good year.) Creating this kind of list of influences— impressive as it may be— might make the band seem derivative and homogenous. However, there’s something in every single one of Lonerism’s songs that renders them immediately recognizable as a Tame Impala product, whether you’ve heard them before or not. In other words, each song on Lonerism is, essentially, Tame Impala-ish. I’m not a hundred percent sure what it is that makes this album so distinctive, perhaps its the combination of dreamy, muted, echoing harmony with a crisp, driving percussion section, perhaps it’s the dystopian element that undercuts the marshmallowy softness of the vocals, perhaps it’s just because they’re from Perth and Perth is basically the most desperately boring place in the world plus beaches (you’d have to develop unique interests or wither and die.) In any case, next year, or the next year, or the year after that —Mayan/Incan/Aztec/Na’vi Calendar willing— I have no doubt that some other Penn student with a Macbook Air and Almost Famous dreams shining in their eyes will write, on this very list, that their album of the year exists in the space between blank, blank, blank and Tame Impala circa 2012. And that is why Lonerism deserves its spot as one of our best albums of the year. - SN

4. Grimes - Visions

Montreal delivers yet again this year with breakout star Claire Boucher as Grimes, the pop-savvy, post-electro songstress that has churned out the most unique album of the year. The girl behind the keys has, in one year and change, completely entranced the internet, music critics, and the everyday listener in a way that just don’t make sense. She seemingly decided one day to pick up some keyboards and music software and make music, she writes rap songs with some questionable characters, and she plays her shows not as a sugary, pop-goth songstress, but with the confidence and audacity of a hip hop star. The ultra-feminist underpinnings of all that she does should not appeal to such popularity, but it does, and it does well. There’s a sincere purpose to everything that Boucher does, even if you as the consumer can’t really comprehend what that purpose is.

Break out album Visions bursts forward as a singular piece of beautifully crafted experimental pop. The dark landscapes Boucher has clicked and dragged together set the precedence for her candy coated falsetto to dance around in spectacular fashion, creating a dichotomy of dark and light. Standout tracks “Oblivion” and “Genesis” are real crowd pleasers, with a penchant for melody and rhythm, you would never know that Boucher is singing about failed love or assault in such a sweet and illegible voice. And the accompanying videos do just as much to entrance the eyes as her music does the ears. From mocking themes of masculinity to laying siege to the Los Angeles with a crew of uber-females, its safe to say boldness is an understatement in describing Grimes. This though, is not a two-song album. The dark candy pop Boucher crafts stands out in “Symphonia IX” and “Nightmusic” in beautiful fashion, and “Circumambient” jams just has hard as any guitar rock anthem out this year.

She brings swagger to dream pop. She sprinkles retro goth on top of alternative pop. She is same parts Soft Cell as Bahaus as Beyonce as Bjork. Boucher received a lot of slack for the self-imposed “post-internet” branding, but in all honesty, nothing can be further from the truth. Her music represents something not yet seen before constructed lovingly from all corners of internet, and just like it, as erratic as the internet has made us. It might be a little presumptuous to call her the future of alternative music in the modern world, but nothing this year has pointed forward in time quite like Grimes. -DM

3. Beach House - Bloom

In 2012, six years after Beach House’s self-titled debut that began their career as the indie darlings we now know and love, they proved they’ve still got it. Bloom was eased out into the blogosphere in March of 2012 with the single “Myth” and a month later with the second single “Lazuli”. Though Bloom has the tendency to drag on in the second half—it’s hard to end an album with a seventeen-minute song—most of the songs tread the difficult line between dreamy and sleepy with, it seems, ease. Lyrically speaking, the duo seems to have broken out of its solipsistic shell and even verges on social commentary at points (“Other people want to keep in touch / Something happens and it’s not enough,” sings Victoria Legrand on “Other People”). Still, the appeal with Beach House remains the lyrical fluidity that allows for every listener to take away something different. And their dreamy, transcendent pop still has the power to please crowds young and old, as witnessed at their stunning October show at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer. -HH

2. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

The master of all illusory, all disjointed, all counterintuitive, David Longstreth spears Dirty Projectors into their most direct, articulate composition yet. What keeps Swing Lo Magellan in the identifiably-DP level of comely obscurity is its ability to retain the uncanny harmonies, Amber Coffmans’s transportive cries, the distinguished guitar hocketing, all though clear, decipherable lyrics. Culminating a decade of member-changes, albums, and tours, Dirty Projectors finesse their sound in twelve tracks. You can get your eerie in the cultish-yet-surprisingly-comforting-brand-of-creepy hums introducing “Offspring Are Blank” or your shouldn’t-she-be-singing-R&B-but-I’m-so-glad-she’s-here-in-this-indie-ballad Amber solos in “The Socialites.” Longstreth has always been a manufacturer of texture, but here he patents his knit. It’s vulnerable, it’s polished, it’s grotesque, it’s pleasant. It’s the Dirty Projectors’ newest album and its transcending mere highlight-dom of 2012. -MG

1. Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE

Who would have thought that the most transcendently refreshing album of the year would come from such a vintage, throwback sound? True, channel ORANGE does modernize R&B past its neo-soul predecessors, but in a world where Skrillex is Grammy nominated, Korean techno-pop passes the billion tally on YouTube, and even Taylor and Britney do dubstep, Frank Ocean’s proper introduction shines even brighter as a nod to a more traditional sound. But that doesn’t mean the album is stuck in the past. While tracks like “Lost” and “Sweet Life” flow as smooth as any D’Angelo or Badu track, the opus of the album, “Pyramids,” is a 10 minute journey through the electronic chasms that contain the future of the genre. From the most dynamic synth break of the year to John Mayer’s (surprisingly respectable) chillingly quiet guitar solo, the ode to the mysterious Cleopatra can stand alone as one of the most musically elaborate and beautiful products of the year.

But beyond that, there’s something about the pure honesty of Ocean’s storytelling that has made the album a true mainstay this year and for years to come. Even with his open letter revealing his bisexuality giving a new layer to the work, no artist this year has portrayed young loves and hardships like Ocean. You can’t help but smile at the raw energy coming from tracks like “Forrest Gump,” as Ocean croons “You’re running on my mind boy.” You feel his desire for catharsis on “Bad Religion,” where the prayer “Allahu Akbar” seems more like a condemnation than a comfort. And that hook on “Thinkin Bout You.” Oh man, that’s how you sing about affection.

channel ORANGE’s appeal bursts beyond the confines of the blogosphere to become both commercially and critically successful. It’s no surprise that without a proper album he was asked to sing arguably the best hooks on Watch the Throne, and has now settled in with the best R&B album in recent memory. With a slew of Grammy nominations and the best album of the year, Mr. Ocean looks poised to run the gamut. That is, if he wants to. -DM

Contributors: Alex Aronovich, Alston Brown, Megan Gross, Heather Holmes, Gary Kafer, Dorian Mendoza, Sumi Naidoo, Jason Oscar, and Naomi Shavin

Songs That Are Good 2012

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:09:02 -0500

I don’t know how to write about music. I don’t know what time signatures are, what it means for a song to change time signatures, or if I like it when songs change time signatures. I don’t know what dubstep is or if it’s prohibitively uncool to like songs that experts call twee. I don’t know what distinguishes music that is brilliant because it is inaccessible from music that sucks because it is inaccessible. I don’t even know why I like the songs I like.

Lacking insight into the real reasons for my preferences forces me to support my song recommendations with placebic reasons, such as “that song is awesome” or “that song is incredible” or “that song is amazing” or “that song has drums and I like drums” or “that artist is from Pennsylvania and sounds like Johnny Cash.” So here you go.

This is a list of 10 Songs That Are Good from 2012, accompanied by random thoughts and/or made up reasons for liking each of them. I’ve limited myself to one song per album, because otherwise there’s a chance I’d just be talking about Grimes and Beach House.

10. Chained by The XX (Coexist): Uniquely XX.

9. Motion Sickness by Hot Chip (In Our Heads): Remember when people thought the world was round?

8. Monoliths by Lotus Plaza (Spooky Action At A Distance): Catchy.

7. Tell Me by Dark Dark Dark (Who Needs Who): Nona Marie Invie sings moving, entrancing breakup songs about her bandmate. Possibly an awkward situation.

6. Some People Say by Allo Darlin’ (Europe): The way Elizabeth Morris sings “I wish some things would stay the same” sort of kills me.

5. Kill For Love by The Chromatics (Kill For Love): It may not be humanly possible to dislike this song. It may also not be inhumanly possible to dislike this song.

4. In The Beginning by Daughn Gibson (All Hell): He is from Pennsylvania and sounds like Johnny Cash.

3. Continuous Thunder by Japandroids (Celebration Rock): Adrenaline.

2. Genesis by Grimes (Visions): Get the album. See her live. Follow her on twitter. Build a houseboat and fill it with chickens.

1. Myth by Beach House (Bloom): Momentary bliss.

- Joe Simmons; Songs that are good (Thursdays from 8 - 10 am @ WQHS.org)

Lana Del Rey - Ride (Music Video)

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:19:47 -0500

It has been hard to know what to make of Lana Del Rey, a.k.a. Elizabeth Grant. Her nearly instant YouTube celebrity–on the back of a couple great songs, a look equal parts Nancy Sinatra and Jayne Mansfield, and a video that seemed to have been animated from Instagram stills–was followed by an equally swift backlash painting her as an inauthentic composite of trendy pop-culture tropes patched together by a shady cabal of music-industry insiders. (It didn’t help that her first few public performances were shaky, at best.)

We have a strange hunger for authenticity where we’re least entitled to expect it. Obviously, Lana Del Rey’s persona is just that - a role, a carefully constructed character, and so by definition “inauthentic.” The question is, who has done the constructing? We want the Lana Del Rey persona to be the creation of Elizabeth Grant, not of a committee of hit-makers and A&R men. We want authentic inauthenticity.

It is this hunger for authenticity that makes the music video for “Ride” so remarkably satisfying. It feels like the fully-worked-out expression of Lana Del Rey. She’s the bad girl, fierce, desperate, fragile and wild. She makes bad decisions. She’s a streetwalker and a biker gang’s girlfriend. In many ways, this is a video that doesn’t make her look good–in one scene she’s picked up by a fat, middle-aged bearded dude who sweatily bangs her on a pinball machine. (It’s just as gross – and as hot – as it sounds.) She makes out with several other fat, unattractive, bearded, dirty-looking bikers. She says, “I’m fucking crazy,” and looks like she really means it. The result is that one feels that there is no way this video could have been designed by committee. It is so weird and compelling that it must reflect one person’s vision. And that vision – although, yes, a pastiche of pop-culture tropes – also reflects something true and thrilling about America. This video reminds me of how much I love our beautiful shambles of a country, our total freedom to make the worst choices, to tear bare-headed through the desert on stupidly powerful motorcycles, to drink cheap liquor and light fires and scream at the stars–there is something intoxicating and gorgeous about it. It’s easy to want it even though you know you shouldn’t. This video captures that feeling, and that’s a true and noteworthy achievement.

- Yoel Inbar; Songs That Are Good (Thursdays from 8 - 10 am @ WQHS.org)

Guilty Pleasures: Fall Out Boy - “Take This To Your Grave”

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 13:34:00 -0500

There are so many reasons to hate Fall Out Boy; they’re misogynistic, whiny, self-referential and physically misshapen, and most of their song titles are smug pop cultural references that bear no relation to the sophomoric lyrical content of the song itself. Listen to anything after 2005’s Under the Cork Tree and you can just tell that Pete Wentz’ lifeless body will be found in a closet one day, hanging from a checkered scarf with his well-publicized dick in his hand in a failed attempt at the ultimate expression of self-love. Luckily, Fall Out Boy’s first full length album Take This To Your Grave is the least of the numerous reasons to hate the band.

Take This To Your Grave came out when I was 13 years old. It’s difficult to explain what I, a product of a middle-class nuclear household situated in a well-to-do suburb of the most livable city in the world, could have possibly found attractive in the nihilistic, women-hating narratives created by oversexed college students. But even now, as I sit in front of my MacBook Air and daintily sip at a tall, unsweetened green tea, I can’t help but respond to the raw power of the band’s early songs. There’s just something incredibly intoxicating about pure, unadulterated, childish hatred in musical form. Indeed, basically every track from Take This To Your Grave is dripping with teen vitriol and/or pain. Here’s my favourite line from the obnoxiously dubbed ‘Tell That Mick He Just Made My List Of Things To Do Today’: “Let’s play this game, called when you catch fire; I wouldn’t piss to put you out.” Yikes: somebody wasn’t hugged enough as a child. In a later song, from a different album, Wentz would write: “I only keep myself this sick in the head cause I know how the words get you.” The man may have tattooed his name on his toes, but he clearly understood his audience.

As the band grew up, Patrick Stump’s vocals would get smoother, the guitars would get less messy and the sound would expand. But through the process of diversifying, Fall Out Boy would let go of some of the youthful hatred that makes this first album so imminently listenable. I, for one, blame Ashley Simpson; she Yoko’d the band into the saccharine pop-punk territory of 2008’s Folie a Deux. Essentially, by removing the puerile pain from Wentz, she totally removed the soul from his music. And if Stump’s solo career has taught us anything, it is that he does not have the stuff to carry the band alone. Still, at least Fall Out Boy left their fans with one, basically perfect, specimen of pissy-melodic rage. Take This To Your Grave: Lest we forget.

- Sumi Naidoo; S & N (Fridays from 2-3 pm @ WQHS.org)

Rest in Beats: A Tribute to Nujabes

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 22:23:27 -0500

The art of DJ-ing has been an essential feature of hip hop since the genre’s birth. Whether through scratching, sampling, or producing, these multitalented musicians provide a steady yet groovy backbone to any performance or recording. Unfortunately, many producers on today’s scene fail to be inventive. Too often their songs are the same 10-second loops found in the basic version of FL Studio. What separates a studio producer from the pack is his or her ability to integrate disparate musical influences in a meaningful, often funky collage. In my opinion, Nujabes is the prime example of a master producer because of his ability to sample a diverse array of influences in order to create music that ranges from upbeat to melancholy, with a keen eye for perfection throughout.

A primary source of the depth found in all of Nujabes’ work is his tendency to look at the entire portfolio of music that preceded him. Samples found in his albums are taken from a diverse collection of musicians ranging from Miles Davis and Bill Evans to Yusef Lateef and Luiz Bonfá. In fact, his widely respected “Aruarian Dance,” composed for the Japanese anime show Samurai Champloo, heavily samples a live recording of Laurindo Almeida, a legendary Brazilian jazz guitarist. Nujabes’ ability to reach into a wide history of music and string together influences such as Almeida is truly stunning. What truly makes him top caliber, however, is his ability to transform these samples into a unique, touching collage. “Aruarian Dance” is a stunning example of this skill - it is nothing short of a serene, nostalgic masterpiece, prompting an old friend of mine to label it “one of the ten songs that everyone needs to hear before they die.” For a wider exhibit of Nujabes mastery, I recommend the album Metaphorical Music because it is a genius concatenation of a wide array of music.

Weaving intricate elements requires perfectionism, an essential quality of any producer-pioneer. The notorious example of a DJ gone mad scientist is Dr. Dre, who allegedly can spend years sifting through the same loops. I greatly admire Nujabes’ ability to rhythmically and thematically syncopate the moving parts of his music. Within themselves, the samples maintain beauty while surprising the listener by integrating interesting progressions. This even flow is maintained with the MC, causing the disparate elements in the music to flow like one cohesive movement. The ability to create a perfectly synthesized masterpiece requires more than intuition; it is a product of an unsurpassed work ethic. Nujabes was a truly ambitious musician: beyond his stunning personal collection, he founded his own independent record label (Hydeout Productions), composed the majority of Samurai Champloo’s stellar soundtrack, and worked with a multitude of MC’s including CL Smooth and the members of Cise Starr. Nujabes is proof of the dedication required in any talented musician.

The progression of music has depended on the leaps forward instigated by brilliant innovators. Nujabes certainly changed the landscape of both hip hop and jazz forever. Though a deeply private person, the emotions he was able to convey from his studio captivate a diverse audience. Unfortunately, Nujabes was tragically killed in a car crash in his native Tokyo on February 26th, 2010 at the age of 36. This post is dedicated to his memory. As a radio host, music lover, and a person, I have never been so deeply touched by a musician. Both his music and messages about life powerfully stick with me to this day. Jun Seba, thanks for everything and rest in beats.

- Alex Aronovich; Jazzmatic (Wednesdays from 10 - noon @ WQHS.org)

Rachmaninov in Philadelphia: A Concert Review

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:51:00 -0500

Rachmaninov’s music is a curious blend of heroic grandeur and wispy nostalgia; his musical language somehow fuses stately solemnness with desperate passion. On top of that, Rachmaninov always finds a way to negotiate between long melodic phrases and the decorative filigree, between macro structure and micro delicacy. His genius, I suppose, is his mastery and integration of all of these easily separable elements. As a result, there is never a poverty of drama in any of his pieces. After all, drama makes great fodder for art!

A good Rachmaninov performer, by corollary, should be able to convey these contrasting elements to the audience. By this measure, Dennis Matsuev provided the audience with an outstanding performance of the composer’s third concerto this past Friday. The bold parts bordered on violence, and the delicate parts had a rare feeling of intimacy. In a concerto as improvisational and virtuosic as Rach’s third, the soloist and orchestra often have difficulty playing together; this was evidently not a problem for either Matsuev or the Philadelphia Orchestra. Every turn of phrase and poignancy by Matsuev saw a corresponding response from the orchestra. In fact, during instrumental solos, there seemed to be a chamber music-like collaboration between soloists and the pianist. Matsuev, however, tends to put in awkward accents in the middle of a phrase, which I thought interrupted his otherwise sensitive musicality. The cadenza started off more quietly menacing than what I’d been used to, but quickly built up to an outpouring of violent chords. The violence, however, was calculated and not destructive. The slow movement covered a wide gamut of emotions, although the last bit sounded more akin to a Siberian bear dancing along to a clarinet than a graceful waltz. (It isn’t for nothing that Matsuev is nicknamed the Siberian Bear…) The finale was bombastic and celebratory, in a larger-than-life sort of way, precisely as a Rachmaninov finale should sound. The audience gave a well-deserved full standing ovation.

The second symphony was also played with an attention to contrasts; the strings, for example, easily alternated between angular toccata-like sections and long melodies. The brass chords were also perfectly together, a rare occurrence even among top orchestras. On top of this, Gianandrea Noseda, the conductor, was a notable visual presence on the podium. He did not hesitate to physically crouch to coax a sudden diminuendo from the orchestra. Judging from the stellar performance, the orchestra responded well to his style of conducting. The slow movement is the most well-known of the four movements; unfortunately, the orchestra somewhat overpowered the famous clarinet solo. The finale, though, was nothing short of spectacular. Noseda’s careful attention to the contrast between the frenzied opening theme and folksong-like second theme came shining through. I had the sense that he asked the lower strings to play much softer than anticipated, resulting in a sudden shift in atmosphere. Once again, the audience gave a wild rush of enthusiasm as the orchestra delivered a conclusive series of chords, drawing the performance to a close.

- James Kwak; Encore Classics (Tuesdays from 6-8 pm @ WQHS.org)

A.C. Newman – “I’m Not Talking” Music Video

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:58:39 -0500

Only A.C. Newman would star as a talk show guest in a music video for a song called “I’m Not Talking.”

That’s because it’s never been Newman’s nature as a solo artist or New Pornographers frontman to open up as a lyricist, instead settling for nonsensical lyrics or impossibly cryptic messages. (For instance, who would ever thought on first listen that “It’s Only Divine Right” was about George W. Bush?)

But by introducing autobiographical songs into his repertoire and dealing with the birth of his son and the death of his mother, Newman’s latest solo album Shut Down the Streets was supposed to be a different story. It was supposed to be more introspective and less opaque.

And yet we get “I’m Not Talking,” in which Newman sings, “Until there’s a reason to think I have a shot at redemption/Until then I’m not talking.”

And in the video for the song, that’s exactly what happens. Newman just strums his guitar nonchalantly, going through the motions and leaving the emotional response to the Zach Galifianakis-like talk show host.

There are enough acoustic contemplations and sober waltzes throughout the album to convey the thoughtfulness and maturity that Newman intended, but we only hear that through the music. The lyrics are as opaque as ever, resulting in an album that opens the door to Newman’s emotional center but doesn’t let us in. Maybe Newman needs to hit the talk show circuit more.

-Mike Tony; Popscene (Sundays from 10 - noon @ WQHS.org)

Dwight Yoakam: 3 Pears

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:54:25 -0500

With 3 Pears, his first studio album of original material in seven years, Dwight Yoakam has reestablished himself as one of the greatest genre-blenders in music.

Sure, the record won’t please country music fundamentalists, but it’s got a little something for everyone: Hints of power pop, cowpunk, straightforward rock and roll, blues and beat music all abound here, signaling Yoakam is never going to be willing to follow the honky-tonk formula of Hillbilly Deluxe again.

Yoakam’s lyrics shift plenty of gears too, as we go from the clear desperation of “I lusted for love, but love is so blind” in opening track “Take Hold of My Hand” to the nonsensical “If I had a big giraffe, he’d have to take a real long bath” of the very next track, “Waterfall.”

Even Yoakam’s collaborators bring varied dynamics to the table, with Beck co-producing “A Heart Like Mine” and “Missing Heart” at his home studio in Malibu and Kid Rock co-writing “Take Hold of My Hand.” It’s no wonder all of Yoakam’s musical ideas on 3 Pears sound fresh—he’s had a long time to create and the best co-creators to get back on track with.

And the characteristic lack of repetition is why 3 Pears is well worth the seven-year wait—pop music missed Yoakam’s artful twang while he was away.

- Mike Tony; Popscene (Sundays from 10 - noon @ WQHS.org)

Peter Buck: Peter Buck

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:50:51 -0500

We’ve heard a lot about “the R.E.M. way” over the years, but what’s “the Peter Buck way”?

The R.E.M. guitarist was the one always pushing the band to record faster and more often, and he was probably behind the group’s furiously prolific ‘80s output (six albums and one EP from ’82 through ’88).

So “the Peter Buck way” is to get it done, get it on vinyl and then get it out. At least that’s what Buck did with his self-titled solo debut, which was recorded entirely in five days on analog tape with R.E.M. bandmate Mike Mills and R.E.M. associates Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin.

The album was released last month on vinyl only, ranging from the familiar jangle-pop of “Nothing Matters” and “Nothing Means Nothing” (sung by Corin Tucker) to the sludgy garage rock of “10 Million BC” and the blues presence of Hound Dog Taylor’s “Give Me Back My Wig.”

Buck’s voice is a revelation of its own, cackling and howling on eight of 12 tracks in total. You may have to work a little harder than usual to get Peter Buck since there remains no download planned for it, but Its “go raw or go home” mindset is totally worth the trouble.

-Mike Tony; Popscene (Sundays from 10 - noon @ WQHS.org)

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:03:53 -0500

I will go to about anything with a free ticket, so while I would not call myself a Marina and the Diamonds fan, when my best friend called me out of breath 30 minutes before the show to ask what I was “doing tonight,” I couldn’t turn it down, and about an hour later we were standing in the back of Union Transfer.

As I have said, I would not consider myself a Marina fan. I like when her music comes on at a club and everyone is dancing or on the radio in my car back in San Francisco, but I have not really listened to her on my own. When we first walked in to a sea of gay men and 17-24 year old girls, often with hearts painted on their faces to mirror Marina’s iconic make-up choices, I suddenly witnessed the dedicated (albeit specialized) fan base that she enjoys. While I did not know that she had two albums, I found myself singing a long to most of her songs.

Whether one knows her music or not, it is undeniable that she puts on quite a show: lasers, costume changes, toys, wind-machines, a chaise lounge, the whole shebang. She wins over the audience with her bubbly stage personality and her energetic dancing. More surprising, she is actually a good live singer. I had almost assumed that she, as a pop star and a dance music artist, would not have the kind of power or range that I have come to expect from other maybe “more serious acts.” Marina breaks this preconception; even with a slightly sore throat from either illness or the tour schedule, her range was nothing short of amazing.

All in all, she had me dancing all night and puts on one hell of a show.

-Rosa Escandon, Meet Me on the Radio with Dawn and Rosa (Sundays from 8-10 pm @ WQHS.org).

Raging Saturday Night, Kimmel Center Style

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:11:32 -0500

I know absolutely nothing about classical music. I used to sometimes go the orchestra when I was young, but I hadn’t been to the orchestra in years. This weekend, I went to the orchestra and I am a little ashamed to say it was mostly because of a free ticket and an excuse to wear a new dress. But what I didn’t realize was I needed the orchestra.

I should backtrack, on Saturday night I went to the Kimmel Center to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Orchestral Highlights from Wagner’s The Ring. I was pretty much the opposite of my usual scene. Rap shows and orchestras really have nothing in common and in some ways I was grateful for that. At my concerts of choice every one is usually jumping around and yelling, the whole thing can seem like a blur. I often leave sweaty, exhausted, and panting. The orchestra gave me a place to think, meditate, relax, which I must say was perfect in this crunch time before finals. Furthermore, it was a great opportunity to see what Philly has to offer and get out of the Penn bubble.

For more information on upcoming concert from the Philadelphia Orchestra, check out their calendar of events here.

- Rosa Escandon; Meet Me At The Radio w/ Dawn (Sundays from 8-10 pm @ WQHS.org)