Category Archives: Review

Monday Feature: Blogs on Blogs

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Impassable Nights

Yo, tag this! Post that! Like this! Tweet that! Instagram it! You all know what these one-liners mean simply because we use this jargon everyday. We are the kids who have fostered a highly mobile and interactive culture that’s driven by social media, and as a generation of social media connoisseurs, we have managed to make the commonplace, mundane–things we do daily seem like the extraordinary. And yet, this isn’t a bad thing. It’s the world we live in. We’re Facebook gurus, Twitter addicts, and Instagram zealots. We’ve ingrained an online culture into our lives because of all the DOPE benefits we reap in return. To highlight one, we have discovered a culture of blogs. When we travel somewhere, see something cool or do something hilarious, we can blog about it. And as bloggers, we can share our stories, pictures, and videos to people anywhere (cue cliché: It’s so easy, even a cave man could do it!).

In honor of my love and appreciation for the WUD Music blog, I want to dedicate this Monday Feature to sharing the love for another music blog: Impassable Nights. A friend of mine introduced this blog to me a few months ago (Hey Martang) and it ROCKS. The beautiful human beings responsible for this music goldmine are Chich, Scooter, JD, and AC. They’re Chicago and LA natives who have created this blog to “provide the masses with an array of music, spanning all genres, from the obvious to the not so.” These boys have provided their friends, family, and complete strangers, like me, with an incredible source for discovering new music and new artists.

The boys cover everything from The Weekend, Sol, Andrew Bird, and Edward Sharpe to Urban Cone, Intergalactic Lovers, and Simon and Garfunkel. Whether they’re just feeling nostalgic and giving a familiar artist or song some renewed love or giving an underrated, promising newbie some recognition, the boys of Impassable Nights never cease to present their readers with music that inspires and moves them. Whenever I check this blog, I’m fully enlightened by the new songs, artists and bands that the Nights’ boys have discovered. Without a doubt, Chich, Scooter, JD, and AC know how to keep your mind focused on the music they’re savvy about. On top of posting videos and songs in all different genre categories, the boys also post playlists that will make your iTunes and Spotify look fresh and stay rad.

So in the spirit of the social media obsession, check out their blog. Like them on Facebook. Follow them on Twitter. Go wild and instagram some pictures. But for the love of all the Rap gods, don’t be a musical boner! ….(Pitch Perfect)

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Impassable-Nights/159512807493905
Twitter://twitter.com/#!/ImpassableNight

Club 770 Week 14

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Aaaand we’re back! It’s been a while, but never fear, Club 770 made its grand return.

In addition to music, I talked about the Bonnaroo College Comedy tour… which you should go to.

But here’s the music that happened:

[download]

Upcoming Shows

  • Captain Video – Conrad Plymouth
  • Crutch & Crance – Peter Wolf Crier
  • Fast Forward Regrets. – The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt
  • Taking Control – Alberta Cross
  • In The Dark – Whigs

On Rotation in the Office

  • All Around and Away We Go – Twin Sister (by request of Kevin Stockert)
  • Bang Pop – Free Energy
  • Ring Ring – Sleigh Bells
  • Animal Arithmetic – Jonsi
  • Mouthful Of Diamonds – Phantogram
  • Shadow People – Dr. Dog
  • Georgia – Yuck
  • Snowmelt – Weed Diamond

Affectionately until next week,

Brigid

Club 770: around the world in 60 minutes

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My fellow Americans,

At 0900 Monday, Club 770 returned the air for some fun and games. We had some requests, I blundered some segues, and all in all, it was grand.

Let me recap:

playlist download [here]

Upcoming…

  • Every Little Bit Hurts – Title Tracks
  • The Only Ones – Lookbook
  • If You Let Me Be Your Anchor – Dawes
  • Born Again – Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons
  • Catholic Pagans – Surfer Blood
  • The East Coast – The Daredevil Christopher Wright (I rewound a couple weeks and played this.)

On rotation…

  • You Know – jj
  • Tiger Mountain Peasant Song – Fleet Foxes (…for my friend Kellie in Ireland)
  • The High Road – Broken Bells
  • Shine Blockas – Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane (…for Matt Forrest, duh)
  • New Theory – Washed Out
  • Don’t Ask (Final Fantasy mix) – Grizzly Bear
  • Vice Rag – A.A. Bondy (…go see him at the High Noon tonight!)
  • Just A Song Before I Go – Crosby, Stills & Nash (…appropriate, no?)

Review — Teen Dream by Beach House

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I can't see this.

I really want to love Teen Dream. Don’t get me wrong, I like the album. I like it a lot. I’m a big Beach House fan. I think that nobody does dream pop as well as they do. But I don’t love it. I don’t want to listen to it on repeat all day (this kind of happens when I love an album). But then again, I don’t love many albums. And I may learn to love it eventually. But I really want to get this review out in the public, and it was supposed to come out Monday, but I felt like I needed more time to consider the album. And I feel like I’ve got a good enough feel for the album to say some words about it. So here we go.

Teen Dream is an album that, first and foremost, rewards multiple listens. At first listen, a lot of the songs fail to differentiate themselves, but once you become familiar with the material, the songs become much better. So much of what Beach House do as a band relies on atmospherics to create a hazy, lush, almost-but-not-quite-dark mood, and Teen Dream is the best example of this in their catalog. See “Better Times”. By no means one of the best songs off the album. But one that expertly and effectively creates mood, the kind of mood that reminds you of lazy summer days. Or look at “Real Love.” The minimalist instrumentation brings Victoria Legrand’s singing into focus, and the longing in her voice leads to a stunning song. The instrumentation in general is stellar, especially Alex Scally’s guitar playing, providing enough support where they don’t have to rely on Victoria Legrand’s singing, but also not taking the focus away from Legrand. Take “Silver Soul,” where Scally’s lazy guitar line compliments Legrand’s singing, both slow, both seeming to stretch on to infinity, both magnificent. Or “Lover of Mine,” which relies on Legrand’s keyboard playing to provide a gloomy and chilling undertone that sends shivers down you back.

Not that Teen Dream is without its complaints. Legrand’s vocals on Teen Dream aren’t as solid as they were on Devotion, Beach House’s 2008 album. Some of this can be blamed on production – on Devotion, there was an more of an echo effect than on Teen Dream, and that echo effect added to the atmospherics of the songs in general. In Devotion, that echo was played to be haunting. On Teen Dream, without the echo, the songs don’t have quite as dark of a demeanor. Another issue is that, although there isn’t a bad song on the album, there also isn’t a song that blows you away. “10 Mile Stereo” comes close, but doesn’t quite get there. The when the chorus kicks in at about a minute and a half is purely radiant, and it builds slowly throughout the song, but it seems like Beach House don’t devote themselves to making this song all it could be.

The Internet seems to want to shape early 2010 to be Teen Dream vs Odd Blood, much like how 2009 essentially became Merriweather Post Pavilion vs Veckatimest. That comparison is unfair, not only because there’s a bunch of other really good albums coming out, but because these two albums are pretty much incomparable. Teen Dream is insular while Odd Blood is dynamic. Teen Dream is minimal while Odd Blood is definitely not. Teen Dream is an album that lingers in you, while Odd Blood exists in the here and now. Teen Dream is an excellent album, maybe one of the better ones I’ve heard in a long time. But to start throwing around your “>” before 2010 has even started is a bit ridiculous.

-Dylan Hill

Club 770 Week Three

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So I have managed to be at WSUM by 5 AM three weeks in a row. Online listeners to Club 770: The WUD Music Hour doubled this week, so I was pretty pumped about that.

Here’s how it went down. [download minus the Surfer Blood track which for some reason won't go to my desktop]

The Upcoming Stuff Part:

  • Beach Comber – Real Estate
  • Death By Dust – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
  • Just Broke Up – Smoking Popes
  • The Freshest Kids – Toki Wright, Brother Ali, and Evidence

In honor of Bangerville becoming Fun Cartel and probably becoming something else by the time Friday gets here:

  • What You Know x One More Time – Matt Forrest

Okay, so it’s the “On Rotation in the Office” part!! The first track here is probably going to get me kicked off committee… whatever. The second one obviously makes up for it. This week featured what essentially turned into a “recently leaked” section…

  • Half Of My Heart (ft. Taylor Swift) – John Mayer
  • Catholic Pagans – Surfer Blood
  • Horchata – Vampire Weekend

By request, for Brandon Clementi:

  • Crown on the Ground – Sleigh Bells

By request of Ethan Berlin, but also kind of for Peter Truby because of, you know, the whole “in love with Angel Deradoorian” thing:

  • Two Doves – Dirty Projectors (also check this out, it’s an excellent article)

Way too many play counts in my iTunes, but I really, really like this one:

  • Instruct Me – The Drums

My parents were listening, and if you realized how many times I made them listen to this CD in the car before I could drive… you’d understand:

  • New Slang – The Shins

Okay! That was this week! I’d love to hear YOUR requests for next week.

- Brigid

it is november 4th

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and they’re already trying to sell me holiday crest whitestrips. seriously, i’ve already seen a few holiday/christmas commercials. another thing they’re trying to sell this holiday season: bob dylan singing christmas carols. i’m not buying it. i love bob dylan, but only when he’s singing nonsense like the entire highway 61 revisited album. ok so the lyrics on highway 61 revisited do make sense in their own weird way, but they don’t have a concrete message like “silver bells” or “o’ come all ye faithful”.

anyways, back to the christmas album. it’s called christmas in the heart. it kind of reminds me of that crazy great-uncle or weird third cousin we all have that chain smokes, drinks too much, and decides to serenade the whole family at the annual holiday party. if you think you don’t have a relative like that, you’re lying to yourself. i’ve posted two of my favorites from highway 61 revisited. listen and compare to christmas in the heart courtesy of lala and pitchfork.

i personally think bob dylan is much better off singing about paul revere’s horse, jezebel the nun, and abraham than santa. but maybe that’s just me.

rock on folks,
margaret kaye

a friend shared this link with me

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thanks lizo!

dj-moondance-the-crash-album
i’m not sure if i like this or not. it’s a mashup of dave matthews band and jay z by dj moondance. click here to check it out yourself. i like dave matthews band and i like jay z, i just don’t know if these were the best choices of songs to “mash” together. i was at the dave concert that the roots opened for at alpine valley in 2007. the roots came out for jimi thing and it was amazing, so the combination of rap and dave is possible. i just don’t think this effort by dj moondance cuts it. any thoughts?

rock on folks,
margaret kaye

Getting Green with Paul Cebar

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Thanks to Engineers Without Borders, WUD Music was able to bring you a show powered entirely by bike power! As part of the Madison community, we are constantly aware of the impact we have on the environment. But in addition to being conscientious world citizens, we are also committed to bringing you great music, so eliminating the carbon footprint of a show like Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound seemed only natural…

cebarstage

Cebar’s band, the present incarnation of the R&B Cadets and Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans, got the whole Terrace crowd on their feet and dancing with their soulful version of world music. From funk to zydeco, including their “one that sounds like a ska song,” their lively music was the perfect complement to a gorgeous midsummer night.

saxcebar

dancerscebar

The best dancers to ever grace the Terrace

brandoncebar

Brandon Clementi doing his part

If you didn’t get to hear it, I suggest you do so now.

- Brigid Hogan

Phoenix: “This is your time”

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I’ve been feeling the pressure to post something insightful about summer music here in Madison, but I have been coming up short. Definitely wasn’t enough “whiskey in my whiskey” to truly appreciate that the Felice Brothers had a washboard player who doubled as an MC or psychedelic drugs to fully get in touch with Ozric Tentacles, and the even sadder part is that I have been to more shows outside of Madison than actually on or around campus.

Probably letting someone down because of that, but it isn’t me because I have gotten to see some fabulous acts in Milwaukee and Chicago so far this summer. The rumblings on the fifth floor of the Union have led me to believe, though, that there are even better things heading to much closer venues in the very near future…

But because I can’t write about shows I’ve yet to see, let me share with you one I did get to see! Last weekend, I trekked down to Chicago to fulfill a dream I have carried for a very long time: seeing Versailles-based pop band Phoenix live.

deck d'arcy

Phoenix, while fun and accessible, never really garnered the critical acclaim in the US earned by closely related acts Daft Punk and Air. That hasn’t gotten in the way of the crowds who have flocked to see them all perform all over the country following the release of their latest album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which fueled appearances live on MTV and numerous late night night talk shows. (And let’s not forget the “Brat Pack Remix” video of “Lisztomania” with footage from everyone’s favorite 80′s high school films… even vocalist Thomas Mars thinks it is the best Phoenix video.)

I was lucky enough to attend the sold out show last week at Park West in Chicago. I’m not sure I can say enough how surprised I was at the sheer talent they brought to the stage. Phoenix is a band that I have enjoyed – even loved – since roughly 8th grade, but I never realized the high level of musicianship they possess. Each song was perfectly transitioned into the next with lingering notes and lyrical flow – until the very end of the set when “1901″ dropped into silence in a single note. It seemed raw in the moment, but when the band reappeared for the encore and segued seamlessly back into the song to finish it, the intention was clear and effective.

Even more surprising, and wonderfully so, was the mid-set feature of “Love Like A Sunset,” a nearly-epic, almost entirely instrumental piece. The band was vibrant, and Mars took the opportunity to lean back and appreciate their tight, energetic sound.

mars naps

The whole show was vivid and electric in a way that could have made even Five Times August covers seem like a treat to hear. The band interacted with each other and with a participating crowd, breathing life into every note and turning the venue, which at first felt like a disco converted into a cabaret bar, into the perfect setting for their particular brand of Euro pop.

thomas mars and laurent brancowitz

And any show that closes with the frontman singing from the middle of a sold-out house, standing on a table – that’s got to be a great night.

Hopefully those planning to catch them on their remaining tour dates have a night as good as mine (which would include helping Mars from the stage during the encore and shaking hands with Laurent Brancowitz as well).

- Brigid Hogan