Call it inspiration from America's new changes in power but the former urban department of WOZQ is now REVOLUTIONS. Echoing Dead Prez, it's bigger than hip hop. Revolutions encompasses what links all the various genres within the department, the music is revolutionary. Before (and still for some other stations) urban was the safe term for essentially what was not white indie music or world music. Music is more than that. Yes, music like R&B, hip hop, reggae, jazz, etc. has come out of Black culture but has greatly evolved to include all types of artists, listeners, and DJs from all over, not just urban centers. From Billie to Lauryn, all those in between, all those in the game today, and the others to come, Revolutions will work to give it all to ya.
Keep it locked to wozq 91.9 or webstream to hear what revolution sounds like.
i don't pretend to know a lot about music, because i don't. but most of the time i know what i like, and music as my entire life means that what i like is determined by 1. sound 2. style and 3. level of obscurity
basically, i still listen like i'm twelve years old. but it's great; i dont' want that to change!
so in my j-term haze i've scribbled a list of "if you like______, you'd probably like ____" or a rather juvenile "_____ is really big, but _______ is way better." just my opinions, don't get too upset.
HANDSOMENESS in terms of boy-girl duo attractiveness and fierce indie whatever i would rather hear Prinzhorn Dance School over The Kills any day of the week. No recording could convey the incredible energy they have when they are on stage; they tear it up, and they've got mad style. I would argue, too, that they take themselves less seriously (plus!) Here's a video because I dig 'em so much. You "be the judge" if you'd like
WEIRDNESS/'innovative'-ness Dirty Projectors over Animal Collective, "Merriweather Post Pavilion" was great the first few times through but to be honest I think it pales in comparison to all their previous albums. But I'm constantly re-impressed by Dirty Projector projects--on aesthetic levels too. I'll let you google for yourselves.
AMBIENTNESS Takagi Masakatsu over Four Tet. The running theme is preferring acts who have a strong visual and aesthetic identity, too. Masakatsu makes great videos. Four Tet is good yeah, but haven't we all had enough Four Tet?!!!
ELECTRONIC SUPERACT-NESS Digitalism over Justice (neither less obscure than the other, I would argue) but my JYA bias and decades of musical evidence compel me to say, that no one can outdo the Germans when it comes to electronic music.
GIMMICK/MACHINE/THING-YNESS The Buddha Machine (first one! more novel than the second!) ambient loops played out of a cheap plastic box manufactured in China and sold for 1000x its value because of its hipster-appeal. I love it! It's worth it despite child labor and the toxic effects of manufacturing things out of shit plastic. Isn't this the concept of all entrepreneurial endeavors aimed at the weak-charactered among us?? (American Apparel--I'm looking at you and your reluctance to allow your workers to unionize.) Whatever, I love it! Google it. Buy it.
yet preferred overrrr
iPods, and iPod phones for that matter. I know everyone has friends whose physical and emotional attachment to these sleek things make them less human.
Last night after watching the first episode of the Real World Brooklyn I never felt so old. Though I was caught up in the "straight" Mormon boy from SLC in his cardigan with no shirt on and the other story lines I couldn't help thinking back to the 90s when I was but a wee diva and would watch MTV for the music. Yeah there would be shows not really focused on music but you'd still have your TRL (THANK GOD that's over though) and various blocks of music.
What does the M in MTV stand for again? Music? Moronic? Who knows. Looking at their online schedule for today nothing is related to music, a little Bromance (eww), Parental Control and a True Life marathon (True Life I'm a Jersey Shore Girl is glorious though). Where do we find our music now? Those little clips of music during commerical breaks or scene appropriate songs during shows? Music blogs? Radio? I'll go with radio. Maybe it's a bias but someone has been and needs to continue to pick up MTV's slack if they no longer want to provide the masses with actual music.
For me 2008 was all about old favorites mixed in with some great new albums. I kicked 2008 off obsessed with Neko Case, Blockhead and Songs: Ohia. Carribou’s Andorra and Beirut dominated as we got further away from winter and as spring came into full bloom it was She Keeps Bees all day every day. Summer meant Hope Sandoval, Crystal Castles, Dear Nora, and on my drive down to NC lots and lots of Wu-Tang. And so now I am pleased to present to you my top five loves of fall 2008, which also all happened to have been released at some point during the glorious year that was 2008. Here here!
5. She Keeps Bees - Nests: Oh how I love Jessica Larabee and Andy Leplant. If you didn’t catch them here at Smith you seriously missed out. But fear not! You can experience a bit of the magic by taking a daily dose of Nests. Gritty, emotional, and powerful from start to finish, Nests is truly great. And lets not forget Larabee’s intoxicating voice, thank you very much. www.myspace.com/shekeepsbees
4. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park: Truly a beautiful album, In Ear Park is what Daniel Rossen (from Grizzly Bear) does best. A collaborative effort with his college roommate and two other Grizzly Bear members, In Ear Park mixes dreamy lazy vocals with upbeat and infectious melodies. It’s sound art meets a full piece band complete with horns, banjos, and guitars. My favorite track would have to be “Teenagers.” www.myspace.com/deptofeagles
3. Juana Molina - Un Dia: Un Dia sounds like you found yourself in the woods at night surround by trumpeters, a drum circle, and a chorus of little girls. And there may or may not be someone banging on pots and pans. Juana Molina started her career as a Soap Opera star in Argentina. And now she writes and mixes songs that play like pieced together sound collages with a sinister undertone. This sinister element might have something to do with that chorus of what sounds like little girls. Not to mention the rather creepy album cover. But hey, that’s what she does. And she does it really really well. www.myspace.com/juanamolina
2. Beach House - Devotion: Seriously though, could anybody argue with me on this one? I don’t think so.
1. Tobacco - Fucked up Friends: I can’t really remember my life before this album. Ok ok so perhaps that’s an exaggeration, and while I will be the first to admit the album has its flaws, a few key tracks are all I need to feel this intense love. “Side 8” is a heart-breaking masterpiece, “Backwoods altar” is perfection, and “Grease Wizard” ends the album on an electrifying note. Fucked Up Friends is a mixture of dark electronic sound (think key board, synth, tape machines), it’s rough around the edges, its got Aesop Rock on one of the tracks, and it kind of makes you want to dance and cry simultaneously (what could be better?) Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself (no, really): www.myspace.com/tobacco
and so into a new year of music we go. and just in case you are curious, so far 2009 has been all about vashit bunyan, madlib, and bibio.
It's New Year's Eve! 2008 was a great year for music... so even if you had the suckiest year yet, you can celebrate all the great songs that graced blogs and airwaves this year. So tonight, go out to a club, get a ride to yr rich friend's mountain home, stand out in the cold in new york city, or pack yrself into a small, crowded apartment with all of yr drunk best friends and pop champagne for the great year we've had. And in case you've forgotten, DJ Earworm did a mashup of Billboard's top 25 songs of 2008 just to remind us that even pop music was dope this year.
And now for my top ten songs of 2008:
10. T.I. - Whatever You Like (DiscoTech Remix)
So my only rule when I composed this list was no remixes, but as you will see, there are two remixes in my top ten. That's because these remixes are perfect - they don't completely change the track to the point that it is unrecognizable, but they change a few elements so dramatically that the new version is substantially different music than the original.
Everybody loves this song! The original is one of the most downloaded songs of the year and a #1 hit for T.I. The lyrics are fun, simple, and egotistical, making it a perfect pop anthem, and the beat is fairly smooth and slow. DiscoTech makes the song a little more abrasive, replacing the bass and light synth with heavy and rough synth that seems more fitting than the original production. I think it makes it a little more danceable too.
09. Van She - Changes (G.L.O.V.E.S. Remix)
Van She has been on the scene for a while, remixing the likes of Feist and Ladyhawke, but they released their debut album V this year. This song in its original format is just okay. The 80s beat is pretty insistent and fast, despite the slow and laidback rhythm of the lyrics. And the instrumentation on the original is sort of mismatched, with thick sort of annoying snythesizer with spacey effects. It's a fine track, but G.L.O.V.E.S. remix just sounds more right. The synth on the remix is slow and glossy with an Air feel. The spacey effects are countered with sounds of car traffic. And the beat while fast and still appropriately 80s-esque is less in yr face... the kind that makes you start dancing without even being aware of it. Also this is an awesome break-up song.
08. Delta Spirit - People C'mon
Most of my top ten is electro. It's been a great year for synth and disco beats, but /i don't want to forget the amazing works of other genres. Delta Spirit is not an electro band. As the name suggests, they have harnessed the spirit of Mississippi Delta blues into indie rock, with clear undertones of anti-folk. This song is complete with ragged and soulful vocals, hand claps, a moment of singing in chorus, and revivalesque piano, atop pretty impressive drumming and noisy guitar. Everything is right in time, and no element overpowers the others. And the content of the song adds to its quality - it's basically a call to arms to everyone who doesn't know what they're doing with their life. I can almost picture a group of wanderers marching along together in celebration of being totally lost. (Sidenote: this was originally released in 2007, but was rereleased this year)
07. Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
Of the next 7 songs, I heard 4 and a half in one visit to Urban Outfitters. I'm not sure if I'm excited about this. At the time, I was, as the music (and cute girls that urban is always full of) turned the store into an oasis in a South Charlotte mall the day after Christmas. But, overall, I am undecided on how I feel about the popularity of artists like Santogold. It'd be one thing if these bands were actually gaining name recognition and such. Instead, they have this unnamed sort of popularity, where they're featured on Gossip Girl and commercials and played in stores but no one really knows who they are. I got my cousin Santogold's self-titled debut for Christmas and she said "Oh I don't know who this is," and my other cousin said, "Yes you do - you just don't know it." The kind of "Oh I loooove this song - who is it?" attitude... or the kind of popularity that eventually leads to an extremely high number of high schoolers and college students downloading a single on iTunes, but pretty low overall album sales. I think it's frustrating. This whole album deserves popularity and celebration.
Okay, that little rant aside - woo, I love this song! It doesn't get old! It's simple indie rock with a little bit of electronic support. It showcases the impressive vocals of frontwoman Santi White and is just catchy enough to stick with you, but not so catchy that you're singing it constantly and want to shoot yrself to get it out of yr head. AND it's a slam at the "poseurs" of the lower east side. Awesome.
06. Hot Chip - Ready For the Floor
Two years ago, I was waiting for a Mirah and The Blow concert at Wellesley and it sort of turned into an anticipatory dance party, thanks to some students that were playing Hot Chip's The Warning over the main speakers. My friend and I decided at that point that Hot Chip could do no wrong. They're nerdy and look like they should be awkward, but they make unique and interesting electronic pop and dance music that is as seductive as that genre can get. This song is a good example of that. They kind of dork out on certain electro elements. The synth rhythm in the background is bouncy and would be laughable if it wasn't so well done. A lot of the melody is comprised of elements that are suspiciously similar to video game sound effects. BUT IT'S SO GOOD. Everything falls in place and the vocals are beautiful and clear, with the backup vocals serving as another element in the mix. The beat of this song is probably the most accessible of all the tracks on the album, and helps make it one of the best dance songs of the year.
05. The Kills - Cheap and Cheerful
This song has a cheery rhythm, and I don't mean cheery like Christmas cheer. I mean I can picture some tough, mean, punk cheerleaders performing this track. The rhythm is comprised of coughing, slamming doors, hand claps, and marching-band drum rolls, in addition to the more typical indie rock drum riffs. The guitar is low, noisy and minimalistic, leaving room for the vocals to take center stage. And per usual, The Kills frontwoman VV gives us attitude and spunk, as she sings "I want you to be crazy cause you're boring baby when you're straight // I want you to be crazy cause you're stupid baby when you're safe."
04. Cut Copy - Lights and Music
The final Cut Copy song on my list, this tops them all. If you're looking for a dance anthem of 2008, you can find it in Lights and Music. I don't want to do the song injustice by trying to list all of the different things that make it so great, so just listen to it.
03. Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance
Marry me, Lykke Li! She's one of 2008's indie sweet hearts and all the dorky blogger boys are totally in love with her. But I suppose I am, too. Her voice is cute, but not in some empty, shallow way. This song showcases how her vocals can be simple and adorable but deep. The instrumentation on this track is very minimal, and totally really take a major role in the song until almost three minutes in. The song is about how she can't express her feelings (assumedly toward some love interest) in words, but only through dancing. But the song manages to make that sound surprisingly uncheesey. She's magic.
02. Immuzikation - All My Children
2008 gave us great pop music, nice bridges between electro and mainstream, crap-hop that wasn't too crappy, a wonderful return to disco, loads of great dance music, and much more, but one of my favorite gifts of this year was Immuzikation. He is Alfredo Lapuz, Jr. of Athens, Georgia, and does mashups similar to those of Girl Talk and Diplo, but in a less loaded way. That is, his tracks don't include 14 different samples. Sometimes they have as many as 7, but my favorite of his is this mash up of All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem and MGMT's Kids. It's just two tracks layered together in a way that makes you say "why didn't I think of that?" The two different songs sound like they were written for each other, and the result is beautiful. Two of my favorite artists from the past few years, LCD Soundsystem and MGMT have similar enough sounds that the production work probably wasn't too much of a stretch for Immuzikation, but it's done with such perfection that I imagine not just anyone could do it this well. And it's pure fucking genius, so that's my number two.
01. Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm
If you want to hear a really depressing view of sex and relationships, look no further than Scottish band Frightened Rabbit's Keep Yourself Warm. Off of their wonderful album Midnight Organ Fight, which the band says is a euphemism for sex (what a lovely perspective), this song combines the melancholic melodies of the Constantines or Smashing Pumpkins with the equally melancholic drag and depth of Okkervil River with the ballad and anthem-like rock of the Foo Fighters. Musically, a blogger at Pop Tarts Suck Toasted, described the music as "swirling guitars and sorrowful singing" that "stems from the steady beats," creating "a sound that is emotional and catchy at once." A pretty accurate description... this song is definitely pushed forward by the drums, leading it through a series of build ups, break downs, and anthemic explosions of music. Beautiful. Also, despite the occasional corny or dumb lines, this song's lyrics echo the powerful melancholy of the instrumentation, as frontman Scott Hutchinson gives a strong yet depressing "fuck you" to an ex that nearly drove him to suicide.
Runners up...
MGMT - Time to Pretend
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love & Better In Time (both tracks are endorsed by Frightened Rabbit)
Let me know if you think I forgot something
And as a congratulations for making it through my ramblings, here are some great tracks for your New Years Eve celebrations...
Ron Brown - Pop Champagne ft. Jim Jones and Juelz Santana (Electrik Cokaine Club Mix)
Justice ft. Uffie - The Party (LA Riots Remix)
Lady Gaga - Just Dance (LunyP Dance Dance Dance Bmore Mix)
Despite the snow I'm in a surprisingly good mood so I've decided to share some beautiful Black eye candy that I enjoy looking at on a regular. Plus I just wrote a paper on race and representation so it's still in my system.
Toccarra Jones, my dream woman.
This is one of my favorite images and I plan to reproduce it (with myself of course) before 2010.
Black looks and Black lungs, so beautiful.
Snoop Doggy Diva.
My godmother.
Boy you so crazy! Prince, pre Jehovah Witness status.
Outkast, so beautiful.
"Naomi Campell walk.."
Jamaican Bobsled Team. Yes, Cool Runnings was the first movie I ever watched in theaters.
Biggie, too beautiful.
Keep yo man, I want yo hair.
(Urban takeover)
One last treat (hint, this is my diva identity) MAJOR EDIT: How could I forget America's new favorite Black eye candy? The adorable Barack and the Obamas. Three images for my mistake.
WOZQ DIRT IS BORN! Get your copy now--you'll find stacks in hillyer, nielson, the cc and the station. It's free...and college students love free shit, right? They come in two colors, pink and yellow...WHAT'S YOUR FLAVOR?
