Video: Ra Ra Rasputin and Ticket Giveaway

Posted by Igor on October 7th 2010 31

As we walked back from the radio office to Brock’s car, he asked me, “So, you mentioned ‘Fit Fixed.’ Was there anything else you liked on the album?” And before I could finish replying, ‘Electricity Through the Heart,’ he shot his bandmate, Anna, this look. This look that in one glance captured the endearing eagerness of a band putting out their first album. It was a look that said, “AH HA! We did it! Remember all those choices we were making? Remember when we chose to leave this line out and this in? Those were the right choices. I knew it!”

Review: Sufjan Stevens, All Delighted People EP

Posted by Catherine on September 15th 2010 3

If I was crying in the van dorm with my friend, it was for freedom because last October, I stumbled upon an article on Pitchfork in which Sufjan Stevens’ musical world seemed to be crashing down on him. He questioned the point of making music—the relevance of the album, the song, his grand conceptual productions. It was jarring news to hear after nearly five years of waiting since his last proper release (and no, we’re not counting outtakes, Christmas songs or musical scores about crowded expressways in New York).

Re: Stacks – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Posted by Caroline on August 11th 2010 1

Re: Stacks – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by WGTB Blog

Catherine takes a look at the Wilco mega-hit Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in this first installment of ‘Re: Stacks,’ an article where we learn about the intimate relationships between listener and performer.

Review: Blitzen Trapper, Destroyer of the Void

Posted by Igor on August 9th 2010 0

Blitzen Trapper
Destroyer of the Void
A-

On long family car rides, before the advent of portable MP3 players with headphones, we used to listen to classic rock and oldies stations on the radio. My dad would inevitably start a game to channel our frustration about being crammed in the backseat away from each other and towards something marginally constructive. Every time a song would come on, he’d call out “Who plays this?!” and badger us (“No, not Lenny Kravitz. What decade were you guys born in? This is classic!”) until we got it right. In the interest of keeping our sanity, we learned to match certain sounds, riffs and vocal styles to bands very quickly. Listening to Destroyer of the Void, the newest release from Oregon beard rockers Blitzen Trapper, it felt a bit like my dad should pop up every 30 seconds or so with his trademark question.

Re: Stacks – An Introduction

Posted by Igor on July 29th 2010 0

Re: Stacks – An Introduction by igorgerman

Welcome to ‘Re: Stacks,’ an audio column by incoming Music Director Catherine Degennaro that explores not the story that an album tells, but the story that an album creates by its relationship with the listener. Take a listen to this introduction to the column and get excited for some great features to follow.

Review: Jamie Lidell, Compass

Posted by Caroline on June 15th 2010 0

by Catherine DeGennaro

Rating: B

Sometimes it’s all too tempting to pigeonhole the beardy and bespectacled gentlemen of alternative music. Each crafting his own brand of the thinking man’s pop song. All crooning those literary lyrics. But despite blending in inconspicuously with his contemporaries, Jamie Lidell’s sound stands out, sitting more comfortably among the likes of Stevie Wonder and Sly & The Family Stone. It’s clear from the video for “The Ring,” the single from his newest release, Compass, that Jamie has a lot of soul. Or perhaps that he has a lot of sand in his pants. Maybe both. That being said, his manic twitches and convulsions are not at all ill suited to the feel of Compass as a whole. All written and recorded in a few frantic fell swoops, Compass plays like an album that was, well… all written and recorded in a few frantic fell swoops. Coasting in on the tailwinds of his collaboration with Beck, Wilco and Feist on the Record Club’s recreation of Skip Spencer’s Oar, Lidell’s work on Compass draws from the same manic, experimental energy with many of the same players contributing. And as with most things done with manic, experimental energy, the results on the album are exciting, if inconsistent. Read More »

Review: The New Pornographers, Together

Posted by Caroline on June 2nd 2010 0

by Catherine DeGennaro

Together has been lauded as the triumphant return of the New Pornographers after the lull of 2007’s Challengers, but after a few listens, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit underwhelmed. Maybe it’s easy to expect too much of The New Pornographers, a band that has churned out several critically acclaimed albums in the past ten years and stars four very talented and individually successful musicians like A.C. Newman, Dan Bejard of Destroyer, Neko Case and Kathryn Calder. We expect chugging guitar riffs and infectious pop hooks sung in perfect male/female harmonies, so sugary that we can easily swallow down those abstruse lyrics. Most of all, we expect them to sound as fresh and energetic as they did when we first blasted Mass Romantic over our speakers ten years ago. Not that I should be projecting all my expectations on to you—maybe it’s just me holding on to the sounds of “Letter From An Occupant,” “Electric Vision” and “Sing Me Spanish Techno” a little too tightly. But it’s difficult to say exactly what’s missing on the new album. It’s more mid-tempo than earlier albums, but no more so than 2005’s Twin Cinemas. There are the high-energy numbers of old like “Crash Years,” “Up In The Dark” and “Your Hands (Together).” There are breezy hook-filled tracks like “Silver Jenny Dollar” and “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk.” So what’s the problem?

The District Dialect: Ben’s Chili Bowl

Posted by Caroline on June 2nd 2010 3

Welcome to ‘The District Dialect,’ a column about the distinctive sounds of Washington, DC. Our writers are going out into the District and capturing the sounds that make our city unique, and showing us where music exists in ways subtler than we often notice. All audio pieces are recorded, edited, and produced by the authors’. This week Catherine Degennaro went to Ben’s Chili Bowl:

District Dialect: Ben’s Chili Bowl by igorgerman

If you live in DC, you may know the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl as a great place to grab a late bite after a night out at the Black Cat or the 9:30 Club. If you don’t, you may know it as that place where Bill Cosby and the Obamas eat free. But beyond being a hotspot for hungry college students and DC royalty alike, the restaurant is steeped in U Street and Washington history. Catherine DeGennaro and Christina Crisostomo, resident connoisseur of all things chili, stopped by to explore Ben’s storied history, food and atmosphere over a blasting jukebox and the sound of halfsmokes sizzling on the grill.

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