With the hot sun beating down in West Texas, Class Actress braved the heat for a just as hot afternoon performance. After the set, we found some cold drinks and air conditioning and hung out with frontwoman Elizabeth Harper to talk about the group’s standout album Rapprocher , the wonder of Depeche Mode and Madonna, and how to write good dance music. How would you describe your music, the ethos of Class Actress if you will? · Well, good dance [...]
A blank canvas, oddly square, looming over the stage. Two colorful strobe light pillars spewing lava. A set of small stone cherubs idle beneath a tangle of chords and the ever-present glow of a Mac. Was this Balam Acab, the ghost behind the digital machine? Of course not. It’s Alec Koone, a 20-something college kid with a trucker hat and wide-rimmed glasses. Yet, despite his modest set up, which quite frankly resembled something from a DYI art school talent show, the guy knows how to make bodies mooooooove. Opening for the long-awaited [...]
It’s that time of year again. The "road trip to the beach, wish you had a convertible, instead of a mid-90s S.U.V., and plug in the summer mix-tape" time of year. And in Berkeley California, my hometown, everyone’s summer mixes include some amount of local rap and hip-hop favorites. From Watsky to Kreayshawn to Zion I, we love to rep our town; and last February, the mother of Bay-Area pride (born in Oakland, CA), summer mix-tapes dropped: G-Eazy’s Endless Summer . “Endless Summer” is an oddity in the underground rap world. [...]
For nearly a decade Mr. (Nicholas) Jenkins has enticed listeners through a unique meshing of millennial electro-folk laced with his distinct poetic prowess. As a self-described multi-tasker, he tackles audio and visual art simultaneously. Being far from quiescent, Mr. Jenkins, both a musical and visual artist, produces multiple albums, EPs, and illustrations yearly. Although hailing from South Carolina, he is currently grounded in Brooklyn, NY, but he creates his works up and down the East Coast, recording within a transient studio which remains limited only by his laptop’s battery charge. His freshest [...]
Neon Desert Music Festival, run by El Paso, Texas and Austin, Texas based Splendid Sun Productions, is in its second year as West Texas’ major alternative music festival. Like so many others who have followed in the footsteps of major music festivals around the world, organizers have brought the festival experience to El Paso as a way for the budding music community to experience its full potential. The festival included five stages and featured indie, electronic, and Latin artists and with its setting just down the street from the Mexican border in idyllic downtown El Paso. Headliners included Moby, a [...]
Tapped by MTV as the best thing since pregnant sixteen year olds, Alabama Shakes has made quite an impression on the music industry since their self-titled EP dropped in 2011. Indeed, Jack White, former White Stripes frontman, record producer and diehard ICP fan, has corralled the quartet into producing a number of singles under his Third Man Records label. The band has also performed live on Conan – playing “Hold On”, and my personal favourite track off their album, “I Ain't the Same”, very convincingly - as well as a birthday special on David Letterman earlier this month. In their [...]
Ben Kweller performed at Union Transfer promoting his new album, Go Fly A Kite , on March 21 st . While Kweller may have been attempting to promote his new work, those gathered that night seemed much more enthusiastic about his old hits. The crowd was certainly nostalgic, as cheers rang out at the start of old favorites, such as “Wasted and Ready” or “On My Way.” Mouths moved along with the lyrics, bodies swayed to Kweller’s pulsing guitar and melodious piano. Concert-goers seemed at more of a loss with the new [...]
I recently heard a song that had me completely stunned instantly, and I have since not been able to stop listening to it. I speak of LP’s “Into the Wild”. Maybe none of you have heard this song, or maybe all of you have and I am way behind the curve; I can’t really tell with this artist. The song was featured on Citibank’s commercial ad campaign, which is how it and its artist have gotten recognition. But whether or not you have heard this song, if you have not seen her sing it live, watch this video immediately. [...]
Who would have thought that some of the top pop artists are females! No longer is the rap game strictly for the fellas. Years ago there were a small selection of females such as the ladies from TLC, MC Lyte, the amazing Queen Latifah, and Salt and Pepper, but overall the rap game remained dominated by the guys. [[MORE]] Likewise, the game is still dominated by the men, but there are an unsuspecting number of female pop artist that are creeping in on the likes of Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim, such as Taylor Swift, who [...]
It’s been 5 long years since the Shins have released an album, but with Port of Morrow , the indie-rock staple returns to the spotlight like no time has passed at all. Supported by front man James Mercer’s trademark vocals, the Shins’ fourth studio album delivers a powerful earful of soothing, harmonious tracks. You won’t find much growth or evolution in Port of Morrow , but who said that’s a bad thing? Despite the hiatus and the absence of two original band members, James Mercer still captures the same quirky, youthful energy found on Oh, Inverted World [...]
You may have heard the, for lack of a better word, swagtastic sounds of TheeSatisfaction on Shabazz Palaces fantastic 2011 album Black Up. They bring those same neo-soul, hip-hop sounds to their own great debut awE naturalE. The members of the group, Catherine Harris-White and Stasia Irons have fantastic chemistry, the former's voice and the latter's verses intermingle and flow around one another like wisps of smoke. The two complement one another beautifully as any neo-soul group of recent memory. Their sound is a collage of jazz, hip-hop and R&B, if tUnE-yArDs and Erykah Badu had a baby it would [...]
Jon Iwry (J-Boy to his fans) is a hip-hop artist from right outside Washington, D.C. A sophomore in the College, this four-time winner of Penn’s Got Talent will be performing original music and freestyle rapping at this year’s Spring Fling in the Quad. He also has a radio show called “Check the Rhyme” that airs every Tuesday at 6. And Jon is starting an on-campus group called the Penn Hip-Hop Initiative, which he discusses below. [[MORE]] Q. Tell me about the club you’re starting. What’s it going to be like? A. This [...]
Radio Music Society is the latest album released by jazz singer, bass player Esperanza Spalding, who was released to many of us during the 53 rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011 where she won Best New Artist, which was the very first time in history this award was given to a jazz artist. Yet, Esperanza came on the music scene years prior. Esperanza Spalding was introduced as a solo artist in 2006 on a Spanish label where she featured her many sides of her musical personality. In 2008, she made her international debut as a new jazz artist when she recorded with [...]
Jon Iwry (J-Boy to his fans) is a hip-hop artist from right outside Washington, D.C. A sophomore in the College, this four-time winner of Penn’s Got Talent will be performing original music and freestyle rapping at this year’s Spring Fling in the Quad. He also has a radio show called “Check the Rhyme” that airs every Tuesday at 6. And Jon is starting an on-campus group called the Penn Hip-Hop Initiative, which he discusses below. [[MORE]] [talking about group] This semester I’m starting a music appreciation club called [...]
Katy Perry's latest video is neither feminist nor patriotic I’ll open with a disclaimer: until now, I had no beef with Katy Perry. I think she has a good voice buried under all the cloying production value (I’ll admit to kind of liking “E.T.”), and at the end of the day, whether or not she shoots whipped cream out of her bra is entirely irrelevant to my existence. But since she debuted the breakup- and military-themed video for “Part of Me” in the past couple weeks, I have genuinely felt [...]
Don't miss out on Road to Ruin II presented by Evil Weevil Records, Chikara, and Dead Industry April 20-22! For a full list of bands and venues, check out their website here . Stay tuned for coverage of their Saturday lineup as well as an interview!
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. [[MORE]] While T he Church of Rock and Roll lacks the experiential power that comes with [...]
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
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. [[MORE]] It was a beautiful - as sexually-charged as the song and very dream-like. Some [...]
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 [...]
WQHS-The Blog
[Listen] Daft Punk - "Horizon" (Japanese Bonus Track)
MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
