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WGSU Playlist: Week Ending Feb. 22, 2016

by WGSU Music on Feb. 22, 2016


WGSU's top 30 played albums, by artist, for the week ended Feb. 22, 2016:

1. Ra Ra Riot
2. Stevans
3. POP ETC
4. Jimkata
5. The Ready Set
...

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Walk the Moon at Geneseo

by Kris Kielich on January 12, 2015

The crowd buzzed with excitement all around me. The moment was finally here, and the face paint was everywhere. Hype had been building for this show ever since Walk the Moon had been announced as the first concert in Geneseo’s new two smaller concert plan, which had recently ousted the one large spring concert from years past. Walk the Moon is the definition of college-friendly rock, with an indie pop sound that's perfect for dancing, which is something that I can tell you from experience most college students like to do.

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Run the Jewels -- Run the Jewels 2

by Mehdi Elmouchtari on November 8, 2014

Killer Mike is pissed. Or, at least it would seem so from the opening seconds of "Jeopardy," the opening track of this new offering from Brooklyn-based duo Run the Jewels. "Let's go, El-P," he hollers, clearly excited for all the "history being made." A synthesizer hums a low, blunt, simple bass line. Killer Mike delivers his opening lines. A drum beat joins him, then a series of surf-guitar fills, and finally a highly distorted clarinet (oboe? some sort of wind instrument). Everything fits, every sound, beat, squeak, sample has its place. El-P is a brilliant producer, and he delivers on this record. With the exception of "Close Your Eyes," which we'll get to, every beat on this album hits hard.

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Panda Bear -- Mr Noah

by Sara Munjack on November 8, 2014

As per usual, Panda Bear comes through with a surprise new EP that is psychedelic as ever. Set up your slow-moving strobe light lasers and bob your head to the highly rhythmic four-track Mr Noah. The short EP is a taster for his anticipated album Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, which drops January 13.

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The Districts -- Self-Titled EP

by Kevin Callery on February 15, 2014

The Districts' latest EP gives us a look at a band that is sure to make an impact in the future. The wide breadth of their songs illustrates all that they are capable of, from the driving opening track 'Rocking Chair' to the folksy 'Funeral Beds,' they clearly have broad songwriting capabilities. Every song on the album sounds like a band itching to reach the national stage.

 

 

Trouble -- Hospitality

by Arthur Dorrington on February 9, 2014

Trouble is the Brooklyn based indie pop three-piece Hospitality's second studio album. As a fan of three piece bands in general I was excited to hear how Hospitality would choose to arrange their songs and approach their overall sound on this LP, and I'm happy to say they did not disappoint. The album's first track, 'Nightingale,' is a sweeping array of songwriting styles and ideas, starting off with a heavy and fuzzy guitar riff, traveling through stripped down synth pads and ending with a true-to-the-word poppy full band outro. Hospitality set the tone early on, their songwriting chops are clearly in the forefront of their music.

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Xiu Xiu -- Angel Guts: Red Classroom

by Alex McGrath on February 3, 2014

Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Xiu Xiu's 9th studio album, is named after the 1979 Japanese erotic film, notorious for its gratuitous use of violence alongside pornography. The album very much lives up to its title. Xiu Xiu has made a pitch-black album, one that takes the side of the aggressor more often than the victim. Tracks like the churning "Stupid In The Dark" and the horrific "El Naco" insist upon their malicious nature, imploring the listener to step further into the night. Angel Guts is a relatively large shift in style from Xiu Xiu's previous work: it is dark and graphic; it does not mumble; it is self assured. It is the sound of Jamie Stewart adopting a more muscular sound, one where noise comes off as more powerful than painful. And seeing as Jamie Stewart usually operates on a spectrum of not-OK to very not-OK, it is a fundamental shift in tone of the Xiu Xiu project. This is most visible in "New Life Immigration," a love ballad in which Stewart actually sounds like he's in control of the situation, and the guitar-and-synth-vomit that defined 2002's Knife Play is relegated to a background role.

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Los Campesinos! -- No Blues

by Arthur Dorrington on November 17, 2013

Los Campesinos! fans, fear not, the hooks are alive and well, and maybe even better than ever on the Welsh indie-pop's fifth studio album, No Blues. I was a big fan of the band's 2011 release, Hello Sadness, a typically twee and supremely catchy bunch of songs for L.C., but an album that seemed a little more subdued than the anthemic Hold On Now Youngster..., the band's 2008 debut, and I was curious to see where L.C would head next, and how their sound might change. After listening to No Blues, it's safe to say the L.C apple doesn't ever fall far from the tree. L.C.'s six-person sound is simultaneously epic and saccharine, and as danceable as ever.

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Blood Orange -- Cupid Deluxe

by Alex McGrath on November 17, 2013

"I had a lot of fun making this album", says DevHynes on his blog, "so I hope you have a lot of fun listening". Cupid Deluxe, Hynes' latest offering under the Blood Orange, comes after a year of production for SkyFerriera and Solange, among others. One definitely gets the feeling that Hynes enjoyed making this album: the fluttering, slinky production and R&B influenced vocals are energetic and passionate, and there are plenty of duets and features.

Cupid Deluxe begins with its two excellent singles, "Chamakay" and "You're Not Good Enough" back to back, giving the album a ton of momentum right off the bat. With this in mind, it’s a feat that this album is so well-paced: there is a diversity of moods and voices represented, all of which inform and enforce each other. Cupid Deluxe is an excellent album, one that whole-heartedly invites you into its glowing, emotional world.

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Son Lux -- Lanterns

by Alex McGrath on November 10, 2013

While listening to Son Lux's Lanterns, I had a lot of fun imagining a physical orchestra playing his compositions. The idea of the impossibly fast interplay between instruments, the comically bombastic horn breaks, or the effects-laden choir that populate Lanterns existing in a real-time performance is an absurd notion. Son Lux writes big music. Much of it is Phillip Glass-like in its execution, particularly one album highlight "Lost It To Trying", where dizzying horn lines slash across the piece in alternating rhythms. However, the songs on Lanterns are more often aspire to be anthems than experiments. They are imbued with a sense of forward motion and bombast, and sound best when they are at their most frantic.

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Aloa Input -- Anysome

by Arthur Dorrington on November 10, 2013

Anysome is the debut full-length album from German trio Aloa Input. Before even listening to the album, the title, even the band's name, should give some clues as to what you're in for. The idea of an 'anysome', seems to point fingers in every which way to the myriad of influences present on this album, ranging from The Postal Service, to Animal Collective, to Boards of Canada to Stereolab, etc, etc. Aloa Input has certainly crafted a unique sound for themselves, however, they control their tastes, and blend them into a surprisingly lush album.

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WALK THE MOON at Water Street Music Hall

by Jenny Keller on January 23, 2013

I've seen WALK THE MOON twice now. The first time I booked them through the Mac's Place position on Activities Commission with two other Special Event Coordinators for Spring Fest two years ago. Out of the thirty-something bands I've had the pleasure of seeing come through Geneseo, WALK THE MOON is definitely in my top three.

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Death Grips Live in Toronto

by Dan Magorrian on December 5, 2012

If I could use one word to describe trip-hop hardcore rappers live show, it would be Epic; which is Ironic because that is the name of the record company that just dropped their contract.

After releasing their second album of the year NO LOVE DEEP WEB to the public, for free, and before the scheduled release date, Epic understandably dropped the ambitious duo.

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Avett Brothers -- The Carpenter

by Rob Rubsam on September 20, 2012

Given their relatively short time in the spotlight, the Avett Brothers have been around a surprisingly long time. Originally formed in 2000 as something of a non-traditional bluegrass band, the group released 5 studio albums and 4 eps before striking it big in 2009 with the ballad "I and Love and You," off the album of the same name. Since that breakthrough, the brothers Scott and Seth Avett, as well as stand-up bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwoon, have moved towards a rootsy sound firmly planted in pop form, and on their new album The Carpenter, they seem intent on consolidating their place in popular music.

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Jens Lekman -- I Know What Love Isn't

by Nathan Kahn on September 8, 2012

Jens Lekman had a really cool thing going on for a while. He'd sing about asthma and break ups over four chords, pretty much consistently for the last eight or nine years. It was great. 2007's Night Falls Over Kortedala was easily one of the best records of the last decades. He was, however, pretty well known also for doing the same thing over and over again. Luckily, his newest LP, I Know What Love Isn't, is (while still clearly maintaining a Lekman aesthetic) a whole different animal.

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Cloud Nothings with a Classic Education and Sleepy Hahas

by Dan Magorrian on April 6, 2012

There's nothing better than an $8 show. Except, maybe a really good $8 show.

The Cloud Nothings' performance at the Ninth Ward at Babeville in Buffalo last Monday (4/2) was fast, loud, and nothing short of amazing.

The show started off with a local band from Buffalo of the name Sleepy Hahas. This quirky, openly communist foursome delivered a strong, in your face performance that started off what would become an energetic night. The keyboardist was the coolest cat in the club with his aviators and leather jacket, and added a unique classic rock vibe to the performance.

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Say Anything -- Anarchy, My Dear

by Ben Cosman on March 27, 2012

On March 13, Say Anything released their fifth studio album on Equal Visions Records. Titled Anarchy, My Dear, the album was promised as a return to Say Anything's Is A Real Boy style. Front man Max Bemis hailed it as a “true punk record” and assured the die-hard fans of Say Anything's early records they would see this album as a return to form. Anarchy, My Dear, however, is anything but reminiscent of Is A Real Boy-style Say Anything.

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Baritone Poets Lambchop, Tindersticks Release New Albums on Same Day

by Oliver Horowitz on February 21, 2012

Today Nashville based Lambchop released their eleventh studio album, Mr. M on Merge records. Lambchop is a truly original, and delicately experimental band that is rooted in alternative country, but incorporates post-rock, soul, and lounge music influences. They act as a large and changing collective of musicians that orbits around singer/songwriter Kurt Wagner. Wagner's understated, croaking bass and cryptically poetic lyrics are arguably the most distinctive components of the fluid and innovative group.

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The Chieftains -- Voice of Ages

by Nathan Kahn on February 20, 2012

I really wanted to love this album. Voice of Ages, by the Chieftains, is a collection of collaborations between the Chieftains -- one of the most prominent Irish folk bands of the last half-century -- and various folk luminaries, including the Carolina Chocolate Drops and the Decemberists. I was ready for it to be one of the best folk albums of the year. While there are some fantastic tracks on the record, there are too many disappointing ones for me to recommend this album to anybody who doesn't have a vested interest in folk music.

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Sharon Van Etten -- Tramp

by Nathan Kahn on February 12, 2012

Sharon Van Etten is a pretty good lady singer. The Internet tells me she writes folk songs about breaking up with people and then being sad about it; rather like a whole other bunch of pretty good lady singers. It's a good shtick I hear, but it seems to insinuate lack of breadth (narrative, instrumental, whatever). And some of those criticisms have been levied at her previous works, and some of those criticisms were valid. So let me begin the review proper with this: Tramp is a great record.

Let me try to tell you why.

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