Monthly Archives: August 2011

Dom’s website does a far more adequate job than I could ever dream of doing summing up the band in one sentence: “Dom filters a DIY aesthetic through the upbeat, sunny rhythms of pop music.” With Family of Love the five-piece succeeds in bringing back the buoyancy of their previous EP, Sun Bronzed Greek Gods.

Their second effort has a much more polished feel, but in all honesty, it is more of the same. It fails to experiment or adventure beyond their established milieu of guitar and synth-based pop tunes. Read More »

Congratulations! You survived move-in day. Welcome to college. Now what? Any glance at the news (or out your window) will tell you that you should be tearing the last non-perishables off the shelves, barricading your windows, hoarding AA batteries, flashlights, stocking up on enough bottled water to last you through the Apocalypse and perhaps investing in a gondola. All of that checked off your list? Well, once you’ve made yourself comfortable–maybe curled in the fetal position in the middle of your room in a nest made of emergency supplies–press play. This one’s for you, Irene. We’ve got nothing else to do but wait for you. Read More »

Holy moly, the Danes are charming. Even more so when we put them in the beautiful setting of the National Cathedral, our neighbor up Wisconsin Ave., where the acoustics are splendid and the neogothic architecture is lovely. And even more so when they are all smiles and cooperative, pleasant energy, even in a torrential rainstorm. And even MORE so when they play such upbeat, shambling tunes, with just enough garage-rock and psychedelic influences to back Christian Hjelm’s raw, harping vocals. Read More »

Mid-July in Pasadena, California was predictably a hot one, however I was about to get a splash of irony as I walked into Starbucks, to interview the edgy duo Thurlow. Despite the hectic landscape of the coffee house, the busy atmosphere didn’t deter the musicians from being relaxed and personable. The band, comprised of Augustus Green and Jacqueline Caruso, were authentic characters, revealing their quirky yet benevolent natures. The Washington, DC-based band, currently expanding their roots in Los Angeles, got straight to some reminiscin’ about the DC music scene.
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Dear WGTB fans, friends, staff, neighbors, innocent bystanders:

This summer I’ve been cleaning out the station’s upstairs office in the Leavey center, and in between throwing out old pieces of chicken nuggets and obscure 90′s pop singles, I have stumbled across a small gold mine of WGTB archives, which I intend to bring to life (bring to the Internet) in the hopes of exploring WGTB’s luminous past. This station has had an exciting, cutting-edge, and oft-contested existence, and there are some great stories within these papers. To catch up on the basic back-story, read our history. In the meantime, you can see the first installment of From The Vaults below. If you are a former WGTBer or neighbor with anecdotes to share, or are interested in contributing or have any information that might be of interest, please email me at gm@georgetownradio.com — I’d love to hear from you.

Caroline Klibanoff
General Manager

Now, let’s begin at the beginning, with the story of WGTB’s launch by Fr. Francis J. Heyden in 1946.

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Raise a toast to saint Joe Strummer
I think he might have been our only decent teacher
getting older only makes it harder to remember
we are our only saviors
The Hold Steady, “Constructive Summer”

Another summer day, another birthday of note. So far we’ve seen the voice of a generation, the bluesman that started it all, and even the roots of lyrical poetry. But today we celebrate the would-be 59th birthday of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most influential badasses, an A-list rebel, and a link to almost every other modern rocker: Joe Strummer, frontman for The Clash. Read More »

Reptar’s debut EP, Oblangle Fizz Y’All begins much like Tommy Pickles’s favorite dragon cartoon, Reptar would sing: grunting. Unlike the Rugrats theme song, however, instead of a nauseating xylophone pitter-pattering in the background, there lies a crescendo of mysterious synths. We hear aggressive opening vocals with melodic beats at the monster’s soft underbelly…but what is to come? A verbal attack so common in the battle of love, “I won’t call you if you don’t call me.” Graham Ulicny’s high-pitched and cuddle-able vocals may sound more like one of the Rugrat babies than their feared cartoon dinosaur, but the band’s compositional talent and undeniably catchy rhythms are just as vicious.
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Seattle-based songwriter Shenandoah Davis made her debut in 2008 with the full-length album We; Camera.  Since then, she’s toured in the US, Japan, and Western Europe, performed at major music and arts festivals including SXSW,  collaborated with Seattle Rock Orchestra and Portland Cello Project, toured with fellow Seattle-ites Grand Hallway, and was a resident musician at the Art Monastery in Umbria, Italy (Whew, just re-reading that list makes me tired). Most recently, though, Davis has released a new album, fan-funded through Kickstarter, entitled The Company We Keep.

Davis has been compared to the likes of Joanna Newsom and Regina Spektor for her singing, piano instrumentation, and introspective lyrics.  Unlike her warbly contemporaries, though, Davis has an undergraduate degree in opera performance.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect of an indie folk album from a former opera singer.  I could imagine those warbles getting really … warbly.  And fast. Read More »