After 2009′s Love Comes Close, Cold Cave returns with stronger vocals, bigger beats and better riffs on its second album, Cherish The Light Years. These songs show a transition has taken place and turned Cold Cave into something greater. This album is intense, exhilarating, ambitious, and pretty damn fantastic. All nine tracks are memorable, well-crafted songs that mark the band’s growth.
The Black Cat was no longer the venue that would host Julieta Venegas, which meant that attending the six-time Grammy winner’s concert would involve a trip to the State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia. Upon arriving at the box office, I was told that there had been miscommunication and my name was not on the guest list for the sold-out concert. After getting into some arguments, I felt defeated and made my way to a bar on the same block. Hopefully, a beer could convince me that my voyage on that cold Tuesday night had not been in vain. Like a broken soul, I was reminiscing on how great the talented singer and songwriter had been two years ago when I saw her play for a full house at the Kennedy Center. At that point, I decided that I was not going to give up. To make a long story short, after a series of phone calls, texts messages, more rejections at the main entrance and new friendships, a member of Julieta’s crew took me backstage. I was to trek across the stage after the opening band as if I were one of the stage crewmembers and get into the crowd. Once the D.C. area Latin rockers, “Nayas,” finished their set, I did as I was told and began anticipating the show.
Mogwai’s most recent album is different from what we have been accustomed to expect from the Scots, without sacrificing their recognizable style and delivery. Unlike much of their older material, we encounter a concise record that shies away from long songs, while maintaining a good pace. Whereas they used to depend on theatrical buildups that would culminate in wrathful explosions of sound in past efforts such as Mr. Beast, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will presents a shift toward shorter songs that not always follow that same predictable pattern, without losing their signature melodramatic guitar style. Read More »
This is it. One of your last chances of the semester to finish those Four Lokos you’ve been stocking up on ever since you heard they are going to stop distributing them. This is not a finals playlist. Leave the mellow, boring acoustic music for next week. Let’s take a breath, enjoy the present, and rejoice in the fact that it is still the weekend before you stay in to study. Enjoy yourself while the most exciting thing in your life is not the walk to Lauinger Library. Encompassing the old and the new, this playlist will get you in the right mindset. You shall not read or type when you listen to this playlist. You shall play it loud, VERY LOUD. Crank up that volume, get rowdy, get naked, get ignorant, get belligerent.
Smoke beer, get fucked.
Simply put, Nothing Fits is pure amped-up mayhem. It’s an album that demands being played loud… very loud. Tyvek has released a collection of twelve don’t-give-a-fuck raw, fast songs. The heavily distorted, frenetic sound each track gives us the impression that they raged hard with some Four Lokos, and got really pissed off and destructive after the wonderful beverage summoned the aggressive wolf that lives inside us all. Read More »
Cee Lo Green is probably best known as the man who provides the powerful vocals we can hear over Danger Mouse’s beats in their joint project, Gnarls Barkley. With Danger Mouse working on Broken Bells with The Shins’ front man, James Mercer, it seemed like an ideal time for Cee Lo to continue his solo career. ,” F*** You,” the first single off of The Lady Killer was released to critical acclaim. Upon first listening to it, I felt like someone had almost perfected the art of creating an anthemic pop song. Even with crushing, pain-inflicted lyrics, somehow it made you feel triumphant. Although The Lady Killer does not have a song more immediately exciting than “F*** You”, you will not be disappointed.
One Hundred Flowers’ debut album, Mechanical Bride, is an assortment of indie-pop songs that are kept simple and enjoyable. Coming from the “Live Music Capital of the World,” the Austin, Texas band demonstrates that they are no strangers to creating a good, concise song. They show a mastery of creating music that sound deceivingly simple, but a closer listen reveals complex layers that give the songs a certain level of depth without overcomplicating the music. Read More »
Shad is an unconventional rapper. His songs do not permeate wittiness like any track by Young Money artists such as Lil’Wayne, Drake or Nicki Minaj. He does not provide the larger than life feeling that a listener gets after going through a Kanye West or Jay-Z album. However, you can give Shad credit for doing things his own way. TSOL, Shad’s follow up to his 2007 Polaris Music Prize-nominated The Old Prince, is best described as an honest and introspective work that is initially boring, but in the end will blow you away.
