1 AVEY TARE Down There
2 TOM WAITS Bad As Me
3 THEE OH SEES Carrion Crawler/The Dream [EP]
4 SLOW CLUB Paradise
5 BEACH BOYS The Smile Sessions
6 REAL ESTATE Days
7 M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
8 ATLAS SOUND Parallax
9 KATE BUSH 50 Words For Snow
10 NEIL YOUNG Harvest
11 DIRTY PROJECTORS AND BJORK Mount Wittenberg Orca
12 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN born in the u.s.a
13 MAGNETITIC FIELDS 69 love songs
14 JOHN MAUS We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves
15 HANK WILLIAMS lovesick blues
16 ARCADE FIRE The Suburbs
17 TYCHO Dive Ghostly
18 STILL CORNERS Creatures Of An Hour
19 WISE BLOOD These Wings [EP]
20 GIRLS Father, Son, Holy Ghost
21 JOAKIM Nothing Gold
22 ST. VINCENT Strange Mercy
23 R.E.M. Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011
24 TWIN SISTER In Heaven
25 BJORK Biophilia
26 FRIENDS College Sampler
27 TY SEGALL Singles 2007-2010
28 JUSTICE Audio, Video, Disco
29 OLOF ARNALDS Olof Sings
30 SUMMER CAMP Welcome To Condale
As the last album to feature founding member and drummer, Bill Berry, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, released in 1996, has the most diverse set of songs by R.E.M. The process of the album is unusual in that most the songs were written while R.E.M. was on tour for their 1994 album, Monster, and were recorded live with eight-track recorders. As a result, most of the album centralizes itself on themes of motion and travel. This album mixes the country sound found in their previous albums, Out of Time and Automatic for the People, with more of a rock feel found on Monster and Lifes Rich Pageant. I believe that although critics had mixed dispositions about the album, New Adventures in Hi Fi is one of R.E.M.’s best efforts, especially from the 1990s.
The album begins with the pleasant groove of “How The West Was Won and Where It Got Us”. This is probably the catchiest tune from the album with its highly recognizable and memorable piano staccato riff. Michael Stipe’s yell at the end of each chorus gives the song most of its power. The next song takes the listener to a fast pace run with “The Wake-Up Bomb”. It carries itself with a hard rock guitar riff. “New Test Leper” plays with religious themes with more of an acoustic sound. The band takes another turn to a light groove with “Undertow”. The bass carries this song as the guitar riff guides it towards its climatic chorus. This song also uses religious references that are subtle, in which Stipe contemplates about life. The chorus is surprisingly in a major key as Stipe yells “I’m drowning….” The most well-known song off this album is “E-Bow The Letter” and for a good reason. It is one of the most charming tracks from the album with Patti Smith featured as a guest vocalist behind Stipe’s echoes of sadness.
Read More →
On November 13th, Shahida Nurullah performed live in front of a full house in Afrikan Heritage House’s Lord Lounge. The event was organized as a part of Kuumba Week, a celebration of the arts and culture of the Oberlin Africana community organized by the MRC. Shahida Naurullah, a veteran Jazz vocalist and native of Detroit, was accompanied by the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble directed by Dennis Reynolds. The two-hour event was hosted by longtime WOBC DJ Meeko Israel and broadcast live on The World Famous Meeko Show. The event was the first live broadcast on WOBC this year. -Will Floyd
Shahida Nurullah and OJE with Meeko Israel – Part One 50:09
Shahida Nurullah and OJE with Meeko Israel – Part Two 1:04:11
tuesday is a generally nasty day of things, so here’s something to clear your main mind-thing. it’s a cover of ghost town dj’s classic hit, “my boo”, off of the college sampler by friends. this was one of our top 5 adds this week, so when you’re trying to figure out how to play it on your show (which, trust me, you will be), grab it from the digital library. i’m feeling tranquilized by these horse-diva vibes. check it out for yourself, and stay strong for wednesday!!
Friends – My Boo
-devra
 Real Estate - Days #2 this week 1 BUILT TO SPILL There Is No Enemy
2 REAL ESTATE Days
3 TORO Y MOI Freaking Out [EP]
4 GIRLS Father, Son, Holy Ghost
5 BEACH BOYS The Smile Sessions
6 ST. VINCENT Strange Mercy
7 M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
8 ATLAS SOUND Parallax
9 JAMES BLAKE James Blake
10 BJORK Biophilia
11 NEIL YOUNG
12 PURE X Pleasure
13 KATE BUSH Hounds of Love
14 COCTEAU TWINS Heaven or Las Vegas
15 ZOLA JESUS Conatus
16 CANT Dreams Come True
17 WASHED OUT Within And Without
18 TWIN SISTER In Heaven
19 BEIRUT The Rip Tide
20 DUM DUM GIRLS Only In Dreams
21 FEIST Metals
22 BONNIE PRINCE BILLY Wolfroy Goes To Town
23 WISE BLOOD These Wings [EP]
24 NEON INDIAN Era Extrana
25 JOHN MAUS We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves
26 BRILLIANT COLORS Again And Again
27 ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI Moment Bends
28 OTIS REDDING Dreams To Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology
29 WILCO The Whole Love
30 EMMYLOU HARRIS Hard Bargain
stay tuned for next week’s charts!
No one could really know what Pearl Jam would come up with next with the releases following their 1994 album, Vitalogy. Binaural, released in 2000, follows Pearl Jam’s tradition of attempting to explore new grounds with their music. Binaural was the first album to include the drummer, Matt Cameron, who at the time was a former member of Pearl Jam’s grunge contemporary, Soundgarden. The departure of Jack Irons inevitably lead to a change in the band’s music. However, albeit an amazing drummer, Jack Irons departure did not leave Pearl Jam in the dust. Matt Cameron brought a new ingredient, making Pearl Jam more focused and stronger than before. Cameron ultimately added a new back bone to the band without any sacrifice. At this point, Pearl Jam was ahead and matured from their grunge years during the early 1990s. Maintaining what makes Pearl Jam unique, they continued their string of experimentation with the introduction to binaural recording, which attempts to use 3-D stereo sound in order to place the listener in the same room as the performers of the music. Binaural recording is used for the intent of listening to it with headphones, rather than stereo speakers, hence the use of the technique, “Dummy head recording”. Pearl Jam also integrated sounds of psychedelic and post-punk sounds into this album. In addition to Pearl Jam’s progression to new grounds, bassist, Jeff Ament, and guitarist, Stone Gossard, contribute their own lyrics to the album, making it the second album that singer, Eddie Vedder, gives lyrics rights to other band members since their previous album released in 1998, Yield. Along with the new experimental sound to the instrumentation, the lyrics featured in Binaural are darker and focus on social criticisms. Lyricist and singer, Eddie Vedder explained that the album is about the importance of freedom in humanity and how people should be comfortable with their own existence. Risking the loss of fans, Pearl Jam wanted their audience to listen with new ears without any expectations.
Read More →
I recently had the pleasure of catching up with saxophonist and composer Bobby Selvaggio. Bobby’s playing is well known in the Cleveland area for being fresh and innovative, as well as being highly emotional and athletic! I was beyond pleased to see that as of recent, Bobby’s music has begun to reach a wider audience through his most recent recording Grass Roots Movement on Arabesque Records.
What I have always enjoyed about Bobby’s playing is his deep appreciation for and understanding of the jazz tradition. I also admire his ability to capture the creative and courageous essence of jazz and his way of placing it within the context of his own personality and the whims of the present moment. Bobby does not play solely for his own enjoyment, though it is easy to hear and see the joy that can come from his music. He is a leader of numerous ensembles, a mentor to many students, and is also a good friend.
An Interview with Bobby Selvaggio
Aidan Plank: Is there anything you would like the WOBC audience to know about your music?
Bobby Selvaggio: Most everything I record is original music and very personal to me. I’ve always been a composer and an improviser that let’s the music guide me, hearing shapes and sounds and reacting to those shapes and sounds. The tag line in my email signature sums it up best:
Be soft in your practice. Think of the melody as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in it’s course. It will go on it’s way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you.- Sheng-yen
With Grass Roots Movement in particular, it’s similar to other things I’ve done, but from the standpoint of being electric in nature versus being acoustic.
AP: I really enjoy both your strengths as an improviser and composer, and I’m curious what your process of composing is like? Do you have a method to your composing? How does the process differ from your improvising or how is it the same?
BS: My composing process really varies. I’m a big fan of letting the music guide you and letting it take you where it wants to go, both with composition and improvisation. But, there are times I’ll start with a bass line, build a harmonic structure around it, and build a melody around that like with Return to Sender and Fish Food (from Grass Roots Movement). Sometimes I’ll take a simple melodic theme like the first 4 bars of movement and build a whole tune around that. I started Dust Bunnies with an opening vamp, with the harmonic progression, and the tune flowed from that. I mostly compose at the piano, not my saxophone. And rarely do I have a compositional technique in mind that I try to fit in. Usually when I try and make something fit in, it doesn’t work.
|
|
