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(11/05/15 10:31pm)
NASA is looking for recruits to apply and go through training to become an astronaut. In a video accompaniment to the official NASA press release, former astronaut and current NASA administrator Charles Bolden said "You see, NASAs on a journey to Mars. And we're on the look out for a new generation of space pioneers". Much of the world - at least above water - has been explored so we turn now again towards the skies for exploration to learn more about the solar system we call home.
The press statement went on to say "The space agency is guiding an unprecedented transition to commercial spacecraft for crew and cargo transport to the space station. Flights in Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon will facilitate adding a seventh crew member to each station mission". The goal of this is to be able to effectively double the amount of time astronauts are able to be in space.
To be qualified to apply to the astronaut program you must
Have earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics (advanced degrees are desirable)
Have at least three years of related professional experience or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft.
Must pass the NASA long-duration spaceflight physical.
If you are ready to live by the Astronaut Code of Professional Responsibility, have a sense of adventure, and are qualified under the above requirements, this might be the job for you.
Want more information about the astronaut selection process? Go to NASA's website
(11/01/15 10:41pm)
Local Bloomington bluegrass group The Underhills has released a video of their song "Blown Away" in support of their debut full length album that is due this Spring 2016. Although their sound has evolved from their first EP Songs From Delong, which was self-produced and released in 2012, The Underhills have kept the same friendly home filled vibe. The band has a 4 song sneak preview CD that they will have at a few of their upcoming show for those curious as to which direction the wind is taking BTowns' bluegrass sound.
To hear more from The Underhills check out the session we did with them Live From the Blockhouse or take a look at their twitter. @UnderhillsMusic
(10/28/15 9:19pm)
5/7
One of the best things about Ben Folds is that he is constantly innovating his sound. Rocking the Suburbs (2001) is very different than Songs for Silverman (2005) which is different than Way to Normal (2008), and So There (2015) is just as different. It is more subtle, the entirety of the album has more of a chamber music feel lulling and comforting the listener. For this album Ben Folds collaborated with with New York City's classical ensemble yMusic for the first eight songs of the album. The last three being a 22 min long piano concerto which was recorded with the Nashville Symphony and has been broken into three segments.
So There opens up with "Capable of Anything" whose uncertain intro transforms into a flighty and shimmering wind instruments is a sets the tone for the album. Fold's voice is sweet, honest, and wholesome while singing of uncertainty and certain fault. "Phone In A Pool" - which is a favorite from the album- and "the title track "So There" are the most recognizable of Ben Folds - retaining some of the feel of his 1990's group Ben Folds Five. In "So There" he bitterly asks "How could I forget you//when there's nothing to forget?". "F10-D-A" is a short track that with a joking feel of teaching others a new song. Although these songs deal a lot with the downturn and demise of relationships, it is the exuberance with which Folds and yMusic performs that prevents this album from becoming depressing.
Despite being at the end of the album the three movement, three track long "Concerto For Piano and Orchestra" is a clear centerpiece for the album. It is majestic, beautiful and shows Ben Folds multi-genre musicianship. Following the typical rules of classical concertos, but with piano finesse we have become used to hearing form Folds, there is a likelihood that these songs will open up the wold of classical music to a whole new group of music listeners who hadn't thought of enjoying their beauty before.
The track list is as follows:
Capable of Anything
Not a Fan
So There
Long Way To Go
Phone in a Pool
Yes Man
F10-D-A
I'm Not a Man
Concerto For Piano and Orchestra, Movement 1
Concerto For Piano and Orchestra, Movement 2
Concerto For Piano and Orchestra, Movement 3
(10/26/15 9:50pm)
You might be thinking "wow I'm not even sure what has come out this past autumn", but don't worry. Have a quick catch up on the album we reviewed here. Now that we have that settled, lets look towards the future. There are quite a few albums coming out in the next few months that we are excited about, and you should be excited about too. Here is just a handful of them!
Band: ELO (Electric Light Orchestra)
Album Title: Alone in the Universe
Release Month: November
***Of note this is the first album from ELO in almost 15 years***
Lead Single: "When I Was a Boy"
Band: Mutemath
Album Title: Vitals
Release Month: November
Lead Single: "Monument"
Band: Frankie Cosmos
Album: Fit Me In EP
Album Release Month: November
Lead Single:
Artist: Ellie Golding
Album: Delirium
Album Release Month: November:
Lead Single: "On My Mind"
Band: Coasts
Album Title: Coasts
Album Release Month: November
Lead Single: "Oceans"
Artist: Lil Bub
Album Title: Science & Magic: A Soundtrack To The Universe
Album Relese: December
***Yes this is a cat, but he lives in Bloomington so he is local music***
Previous Song: This is Lil Bub featured on Run the Jewel's Meow the Jewels
Band: Cage the Elephant
Album Title: Tell Me I’m Pretty
Release Month: December
Previous Track: "Take it Or Leave it"
Artist: Bonnie Raitt
Album Title: Dig In Deep
Release Month: February
Previous Song: "Right Down the Line"
(10/26/15 7:40pm)
Third Eye Blind is coming to The Bluebird this Monday as part of their tour to support their most recent album Dopamine which was released earlier this summer. Donpamine is the band's first studio album they have released in 6 years and has had a warm reception, but many people remember Third Eye Blind from their 1997 self titled debut album that featured songs like "Semi Charmed kinda Life" and "Jumper".
Not many rock bands from the 90s have lasted quite as long as Third Eye Blind. Partly due to their supportive and huge fan base but also the sing-along quality to their songs that make them timeless in a sense, the band will be playing for a crowd that was just around three or four when they dominated the charts.
Here is track #1 from Dopamine "Everything is Easy"
Here is "Semi Charmed Kinda Life" from Third Eye Blind
The show is 21+ and tickets are available online and at the door for $30.
Doors at 7 p..m and the music starts at 8 p.m.
(10/22/15 1:54am)
On Oct. 21, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and the National's Aaron Dessner have announced that Eaux Claire Music Festival will return for its second year next August 12-13, 2016 at Foster Farms which is just outside Eaux Claire, Wis.
It'll be an exciting challenge to beat last year's line up which included Bon Iver, Tallest Man on Earth, The National, Spoon, Low, The Staves, Sufjan Stevens and Blind Boys of Alabama among many others.
This year's lineup will be announced in early 2016 but a limited amount of presale tickets will be available tomorrow morning (Oct. 22nd) at 10 AM CST. According to their website "Presale purchasers will receive the lowest price tickets, as well as a guaranteed right to purchase a campsite before they go on sale in early 2016."
To add to the excitement, they also released a video trailer featuring footage from last years festival.
Just as Bonnaroo is colloquially referred to just as "the farm" it seems like Eaux Claire already gotten it's own casual reference as "the River".
(10/21/15 11:19pm)
In 2008 the American indie rock band The Format called an indefinite hiatus. It was a sad day and many fans have held out hope that Nate Ruess and Sam Means would reunite in music. But the two of them have been very busy. Nate Ruess went on to form and be the front man for fun. whose fame has sky rocketed much more than The Format's ever reached. The Format only had two studio albums, Interventions & Lullabies and Dog Problems, but boy were they great ones, full of witty lyricism and upbeat depression. In the mean while Sam Means has been following a solo career and has just released the lead single, "We're Alone", to his upcoming album 10 Songs which is due this January.
According to his website "I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE MY NEW ALBUM 10 SONGS WILL BE RELEASED ON JAN 22ND VIA HELLO RECORDS."
The all uppercase letters truly epitomizes his excitement. Frankly after listening to the shimmering soft rock single "We're Alone" I'm excited too. Listen to the track yourself.
Sam Mean's "We're Alone" below:
(10/16/15 3:30am)
For hour 7 of Pledge Drive 2015's Pledge A Thon 24 hour broadcast WIUX is doing a fast track musical flashback on the history of campus radio at Indiana University. With over 50 years under our belt we condensed this musical montage down into a pure student power hour where each year in our history gets one song that will be played for 1 min. The song was either released or was top charting that year.
Unlike the typical rules of a power hour, the pure student power hour encourages you to donate $1 to WIUX once we reach a song from the year that you were in school for or a song that has meant a lot to you.
Here is the playlist so you can play along.
1963 - "Please Please Me" - The Beatles
1964 - "Chug-A-Lug" - Rodger Miller
1965 - "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
1965 - "Wouldn't it Be Nice" - Beach Boys
1966 - "I Can See For Miles" - The Who
1967 - "Waterloo Sunset" - The Kinks
1968 - "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" - The Beatles
1969 - "Love Her Madly" - The Doors
1970 - "Brown Sugar" - The Rolling Stones
1971 - "I Can't Quit Her" - Blood Sweat & Tears
1972 - "Crocodile Rock" - Elton John
1973 - "Money" - Pink Floyd
1974 - "Midnight Flyer" - The Eagles
1975 - "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
1976 - "Blitzkrieg Bop" - The Ramones
1977 - "Don't Stop" - Fleetwood Mac
1978 - "Instant Replay" - Dan Hartman
1979 - "London Calling" - The Clash
1980 - "Black in Black" - AC/DC
1981 - "Jessies' Girl" - Rick Springfield
1982 - "Sexual Healing" - Marvin Gaye
1983 - "Come on Eileen" - Dixie's Midnight Runners
1984 - "Dancing in the Dark" - Bruce Springsteen
1985 - "Can't Fight This Feeling" - REO Speed Wagon
1986- " You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon
1987 - "Sweet Child of Mine" - Guns and Roses
1988 - "Like a Prayer" - Madonna
1989 - "Man in the Mirror" - Micheal Jackson
1990 - "I've Got The Power" - The Snap
1991 - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
1992 - "No Rain" - Blind Melon
1993 - "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
1994 - "I Only Want to Be With You" - Hootie and the Blowfish
1995 - "She's Electric" - Oasis
1996 - "Devil's Haircut" - Beck
1997 - "New Way Home" - Foo Fighters
1998 - "C'este La Vie"- B*Witched
1999 - "American Women" - Lenny Kravitz
2000 - "Salty Dog" - Flogging Molly
2001 - "Anything You Want" - Spoon
2002 - "Heavy Metal Drummer" - Wilco
2003 - "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" - The Postal Service
2004 - "Wake Up" - Arcade Fire
2005 - "16 Military Wives" - The Decemberists
2006 - "I Bet You Look Good on The Dance Floor" - Arctic Monkeys
2007 - "Electric Feel" - MGMT
2008 - "Campus" - Vampire Weekend
2009 - "Liztomania" - Phoenix
2010 - "Airplanes" - Local Natives
2011 - "Dead and Gone" - The Black Keys
2012 - "Cooking Up Something Good" - Mac Demarco
2013 - "So Good at Being In Trouble" - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
2014 - "Home By Now" - Bombay Bicycle Club
2015 - "Gibraltar" - Beirut
If you think you know a song that works better for a certain year, tweet @wiux with the hashtag #purestudentpowerhour and let us know!
(10/08/15 9:29pm)
Have you dreamed of more WIUX Spirit Wear? Well now your dream has come true!
Designed by WIUX’s own Ashley Bates and available only during Pledge Drive 2015. All proceeds go towards WIUX’s 2015 Pledge Drive Fundraiser. There is no shipping at this time.
Pre-order your sweatshirt here!
(10/06/15 9:20pm)
“First coffee. Then space.” - ISS Instagram
The International Space Station has a new expresso maker thanks to the collaboration between the Italian Space Agency, Italian engineering firm Argotec and coffee company Lavazza. Now authentic Italian espresso is no longer an earthly comfort. The expresso makers, cleverly named ISSpresso, was delivered to the space station on April 20th by SpaceX. According to the ISS Instagram account “It’s a little tricky to play barista in microgravity, so the pouches come premixed with different combinations of cream and sugar depending on the astronaut’s preference”.
The expresso machine came is new microgravity cup that “will do more than lift expresso to astronaut’s lips”. These cups and the information acquired by those using them on ISS will provide data on the passive movement of complex fluids as part of the Capillary Beverage investigation. This investigation will help those back on earth, whether to be the most fuel efficient for rocket fuel or get the last drop of medicine for the patients. These types of research will help prevent disasters on long duration missions like the human trip to mars roughly planned for 2030.
Although there is incredible research being done with this ISSpresso maker, you can tell the astronauts are having a lot of fun with it too.
Follow the International Space Station on instragram @iss
(10/04/15 11:51pm)
4/7
Home town heros of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Tallows is back with Waist Deep after a brief hiatus while man bunned front man Josh Hogsett was abroad. Waist Deep is Tallow’s second full length album after their 2013 release Memory Marrow and there seems to be energy from the water motif that is present throughout the record.If you look at Tallow's band webpage home page you'll see a loop of synchronized swimmers that frankly suits the album in a quirky and engaging manner.
Waist Deep is album of both ends of the spectrum. Both chaotic and calm. Both soothing and aggressive. It holds you captivated and occasionally startled by the 180 degree turns that it can spin. An opening track that sprinkles slowly like the first rain of the springtime with a synth that trudges through creating a surface for the frenzied vocal loops that emerge. For a four piece band Tallows sounds full. Layering on rhythms and harmonies - adding to the seemingly uncontrolled but measured chaos.
The entire album has hectic cacophonies that materialize out of the laid back base line. “Shrink” retains the bizarre but appearing sound of water droplets that were showcased in the first track. “Sprawl” which was the lead single of Waist Deep is a calming ballad that lulls like a sailboat on a shallow sea. It is elegant and slow burning, like the moments before you fall asleep. This track is a collaboration with Samantha Crain, along with her personal discography she has collaborated with Ali Harter, Matt Hopper and Bloomington’s own Murder By Death. The next track “The Dead Sea” brings back the electro-pop rain drops that have become so familiar throughout the album. The intro to “I Can Feel You Looking at Me” builds an exciting exotic instrumental dream that is infectious in attitude. Unfortunately the vocalist that cuts in occasionally sounds like Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse put on an odd affected accent in one of their grittier songs. The album closes out with the 6.5 min long "CLORA" which has humming guitars that trimble at the speed of of a humming bird.
The track list is as follows:
When Your Clothes Still Fit
Shrink
Birdbath etc.
Waist Deep
Sprawl (feat. Samantha Crain)
The Dead Sea
I Can Feel You Looking at Me
Longlegs
Generalism
CLORA
Listen to their song "Shrink" below:
(10/01/15 8:27pm)
College Radio Day is this Friday, Oct. 2, and while we at WIUX are celebrating with a free porch concert on our front lawn, a few students from stations nationwide who are involved with the College Radio Day organization went to the White House . last week and were presented with a letter from President Obama wishing all those participating in College Radio Day success. Part of the letter included:
"By keeping the legacy of college radio stations alive and strong, students on campuses from coast to coast experience the thrills of sharing and discovering media and creating stimulating programming. In doing so, they are lending their talents to a tradition that has been unfolding for generations and inspiring others to join in the work of shaping our future’s course."
The students met with the Assistant to the President and Press Secretary, Josh Earnest in the Roosevelt Room on the importance of college radio and the role of media in today's society. During their time at the White House the students representing college radio also interviewed members of the Obama administration about issues of importance to their campus like tuition affordability and sexual assault. Some of these interviews will be part of a podcast that some stations nationwide will be simulcasting on Friday during the College Radio Day festivities.
(09/29/15 7:53pm)
Bloomington-based band Dietrich Jon will be performing live at this year's College Music Journal Music Marathon in New York City. 2015 marks the 35th annual CMJ Music Marathon, where bands across the nation are invited to New York to play at local independent venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Marathon is part of CMJ's annual fall conference and awards ceremony, which will be held from October 13th - October 17th.
Dietrich Jon, a favorite local band in Bloomington and a part of Culture Shock 2014's lineup, will be performing at the Pine Box Rock Shop on Tuesday, October 13 from 10:30 to 11:15 p.m. Some of the other bands that are playing on Tuesday include Caveboy, Caged Animals, Twiga, and Wet Leather.
In Dietrich Jon's interview with CMJ, which included favorite road trip song and whats on their NYC must do list, the band listed WIUX as their favorite college radio station.
Check back to the blog later this week for our interview with the band and the video from the Live in Living Room session we did with them a few weeks back.
(09/27/15 4:59pm)
This Sunday, from 8 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. EST on NASA will be providing a live stream of the super moon from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. There will also be a live feed from the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. This is the first super moon in more than 30 years where a super moon also corresponds with a solar eclipse. The super moon eclipse is estimated to last about 1 hour and 11 mins and will be visible in North and south America, Europe, and Africa. The eclipse is expected to start at 8:11 p.m. with the total eclipse to start at 10:11 p.m. NASA solar physicist Mitzi Adams will be answering questions from twitter that have the hashtag #askNASA during this event. The live stream - which will be useful for those in light polluted areas or places with poor weather for star gazing- will be accessible from this site. The next super moon lunar eclipse will occur in the year 2033.
Curious what a super moon eclipse is? NASA has created this educational video for your viewing pleasure.
(09/24/15 9:45pm)
Released 9/25/2015
5/7
b’lieve i’m goin down is the newest addition to Kurt Vile’s extensive discography, released on Matador Records, and yes you read that correctly - it includes no capital letters. Recorded across the country, Vile described the album in an interview he did with Spin as "all over the place. Everything you can imagine I've done... That's where I'm at now, that I can sort of tap into every world and make it cohesive”. The album is more acoustic, featuring banjos and piano throughout it is a turn from his work with War on Drugs.
Kurt Vile and the Violators' 2013 album Wakin On A Pretty Day was uplifting ending to a dreamy and happy day, but Kurt Vile’s b’lieve i’m goin down is the following morning when the dream has lifted up leaving reality behind. While Wakin On A Pretty Day was the peak in life, b’lieve i’m goin down shows the valley. This album has a dark edge to it, veering right on this side of unaware unhappiness. Named best new music by Pitchfork this past week, it is artistically interesting, simplistic and created as an entity.
b’lieve i’m goin down’s opening track “Pretty Pimpin’” might be the most addicting song I have heard in months, unconventionally so. Despite being about sudden lack of identity, not recognizing oneself and being unable to shake it off week in and week out, it has sounds that fit your heart for action. Kurt Vile sings “Didn’t recognize the man in the mirror, Then I laughed and I said, ‘Oh silly me, that’s just me’ Then I proceeded to brush some stranger’s teeth, But they were my teeth, and I was weightless”. The depressing yet witty lyrics of isolation from himself have a humorous tone as Vile sings “he was sporting all my clothes, I gotta say pretty pimpin” about his own strange reflections appearance. “I’m an Outlaw” is a cowboy track, the retelling of the western world.
“Wheelhouse” is a mid-album song that reflects the western tone of “I’m an Outlaw” into a track that wanders through a desert. In an interview with Consequence of Sound Kurt Vile said that the track “captured this moment of pure, real music”. “Life Like This” is an extensive track, that while repetitive is not monotonous. “Bad Omen” is a soothing largely piano track that drags and pulls like a slow tide.
b’lieve i’m goin down addresses the cold morning before the sun has risen, cabin finger picking and home played piano. The album feels new, it is a slight turn apart from his classic music styling yet appearing to appease both his Kurt Vile and the Violator and War on Drug audience. The multifaceted album grows, telling a dynamic story the develops and dives deeper track by track.
A deluxe edition titled b'lieve i'm goin (deep) down... will be released later this year featuring an additional six tracks.
The track List is below
"Pretty Pimpin"
"I’m an Outlaw"
"Dust Bunnies"
"That’s Life, tho (almost hate to say)"
"Wheelhouse"
"Life Like This"
"All in a Daze Work"
"Lost my Head there"
“Stand Inside"
"Bad Omens"
"Kidding Around"
"Wild Imagination"
Listen to “Pretty Pimpin” below.
(09/24/15 9:38pm)
The 10th anniversary of the Cloud Appreciation Society, a division of Great Britain's' Royal Geographical Society, is this Friday Sept. 25. This milestone will be marked by a day long conference entitled Escape into the Clouds with 6 outstanding speakers as well as live music interspersed throughout the day. The speeches include "Cloud Spotting for Beginners" by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, who is the founded of the society, and "The Namer of Clouds Lived Here" which will be a speech by Richard Hamblyn on Luke Howard who was the 1800's meteorologist who devised the naming system for clouds we still use today.
The Cloud Appreciation Society is for exactly that, appreciating clouds. Together the society shares photos, art, poetry and news of clouds in the meteorological world.The event runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm and will be located at Royal Geographical Society - which is right next door to Royal Albert Hall.According to the Cloud Appreciation Society website the event "is open to all – so long as they like clouds (otherwise they won’t be allowed in)".
(09/21/15 10:47pm)
In a sarcastic, yet amazing, turn of events J. Tillman covered Ryan Adam's cover of Taylor Swift's album 1989 and released some of the songs to be streamed online from his SoundCloud account. Unlike Ryan Adams, who said that he aims for his album to be in the style of "The Smiths", Father John Misty's iconic album cover art implies that he is going for the style of The Velvet Underground.
We can only hope that this cover-ception (the wonderful musical version of inception) continues on because it gets increasing intricate and thorough.
Listen to his cover of "Welcome to New York"
Listen to his cover of "Blank Space"
If you want to learn more about ol' Father J check out the WIUX album review of I Love You, Honeybear.
(09/21/15 10:13pm)
The internet was in a frenzy earlier this week when Ryan Adam's released the lead single "Bad Blood" from his upcoming back to front cover album of Taylor Swifts' 1989 which will be released this Monday September 21st. Ryan Adams originally announced his plan to cover the album on August 5th via his Instagram account stating his aim to cover it "as played by The Smiths" later Instrgramming that the album would include the "Guaranteed saddest version of Welcome to New York ever - or your tears back". Whether we get our tears back is still up in the air, but I reckon that Ryan Adams will be correct.
This is not Ryan Adams' first foray into the cover game. In fact he frequently likes to rework and create his own versions of songs including The Rolling Stone's "Brown Sugar", Elton John's "Daniel", The Stokes "Last Nite", The Grateful Dead "Wharf Rat", Madonna's "Like a Virgin", and Oasis' "Wonderwall".
The track list is:
Welcome to New York
Blank Space
Style
Out of the Woods
All You Had To Do Was Stay
Shake It Off
I Wish You Would
Bad Blood
Wildest Dreams
How You Get the Girl
This Love
I Know Places
Clean
Wanting to listen to more Ryan Adams right this very instant but don't know where to start? WIUX has a list of the 20 essential Ryan Adams songs for your own convenience.
Listen to the cover of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" below:
Listen to his cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall" below:
(09/16/15 7:20pm)
Released: 9/11/2015
6/7
My love affair with Beirut started right before The Rip Tide (2011) was released, when I saw them at the Grove stage at Lollapalooza – I believe they were competing against Eminem for festival goer’s attention – so it is easy to say that their fourth studio album No No No has been long anticipated. This indie-rock world fusion group that was founded by Zach Condon in 2006 never seems to disappoint. Although No No No is considerably different, more subtle and laid back than the full frontal more orchestral songs fans got used to in March of the Zapotec (2008) or even The Rip Tide. It is the retelling of adventures to friends, and the new adventures of back home.
This album is for sitting on your front porch with old friends, enjoying the afternoon dipping into evening. A surprising lack of accordion in the entire album is made up for by the closeness of the vocals and the home like vibe from the piano. The album kicks off with a bongo into that go lucky piano layers on top of on “Gibralter” that immediately sets the tone for No No No. This is an album that warms you up from the inside out. It is an album of joy, and if it doesn’t make you smile you need to listen it again but louder. The next track is the lead single and title track, which sounds the most like typical Beirut than anything on the album.
Uke layers on top of strings on the intro to “As Needed” creating an air of growing passion that breaks away into melodically minor piano with hovering strings. It is an instrumental ebb and flow of intensity. Upon first listen “Perth” is the stand out track, if there is such a thing on such a thoroughly enjoyable album. The horns on the track are inviting you to join in the festivities with the vocals.
“Fener” is an up-tempo track with a mid-song breakdown that contains intricate vocal layering that simply grooves. Unlike many of Beirut’s past compositions and albums No No No seems set more firmly in the 4/4 time signature, not drifting into a dense waltz as Condon tends to do. It simply breathes and is worth the listen.
The track list is as follows:
Gilbraltar
No No No
At Once
August Holland
As Needed
Perth
Pacheco
Fener
So Allowed
(09/15/15 1:51am)
5/7
Initially the 2006 solo project of Real Estate’s guitarist, Matt Mondanile Ducktails released their 5th studio album, St. Catherine, this past summer. The dream-pop band that formed in New Jersey has grown to a four-piece that now includes Luka Usmiani, Alex Craig, and Samuel Franklin. The band’s name is a play off of the old Disney animated series Duck Tales which featured Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, and his grand nephews Huey, Dewy and Louie.
In the hippest vibes of the cassette resurgence, this eclectically indie-psychedelic group has released over a half dozen EPs and demos on cassette only. Although I personally no longer own a cassette player, I have utmost confidence that those who are in the cassette game would enjoy listening to Ducktails songs in this specific audio technology. In an interview with Tiny Mix Tapes Mondanile talks about his love of recording on cassettes "I like the idea of everything being as raw-sounding as possible, with nothing covering up the sound. It's like the only thing covering it up might be the quality of the recording." Although St. Catherine was released on multiple audio platforms it still has the slightly lo-fi live feeling.
St. Catherine shimmers in hazy nostalgia, thoughts of neighborhood BBQs and simpler times. It seems to slow thoughts, like a lazy afternoon. With an instrumental opener entitled “The Disney Afternoon” that calls back to their band name’s origin, adding a cartoony intro to the lulling album. A highlight from the album is “Headbanging in the Mirror” which in lulling tones sums up the feelings of the album with the lyrics “just let me come down from this speedy afternoon interior dream.” It has a guitar part that is reminiscent of the timbre from Kurt Vile and the Violator’s Waking on a Pretty Daze. The song “Surreal Exposure” has twinkling instrumentation that is reminiscent of medieval times harpsicord, but perfectly suited for the 21st century. It sounds awake. If anything “Church” wakes you up further. Julia Holter’s contributed vocals float across a harmony, bringing a soft comfort to the monotonous march of the pulsating synth. Overall St. Catherine is a pleasant album.
The track list is as follows:
The Disney Afternoon
Headbanging in the Mirror
Into The Sky
Heaven’s Room
Catherine
The Laughing Woman
Surreal Exposure
Church
Medieval
Krumme Lanke
Reprise
Listen to "Headbanging in the Mirror" below.