What’s New @ KZUU 10/31/11

The Beets – Let the Poison Out

Dirty Projectors & Bjork – Mount Wittenberg Orca

Dntel – Life is Full of Possibilities

Wavves – Life Sux

The Decemberists – Long Live the King

USF – The Spray

KZUU Top 30: 10/28/11

Happy Halloween weekend everybody! There’s not a whole lot of spooky tunes in the preview rack, but we’re still playing the fall jams to pair with this cold weather. I personally can’t stop listening to Real Estate‘s new album Days. It’s been in heavy rotation since they were named Band of the Week, and because of that they rocketed to #1 on the charts this week. They’ll be playing in Boise next Saturday, if anyone wants to accompany this excited Music Director. Neon Indian, who was steadily resting near the top 5 for the last few weeks drops completely off the charts (weird), Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin debuts in the Top 10 with their massive rarities album Tape Club, and Cataldo is still riding the hype wave from the recent show at the Belltower!

-Adam

KZUU Top 30, 10/28/11

1. Real Estate – Days

2. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation

3. Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams

4. I Break Horses – I Break Horses

5. Shimmering Stars – Violent Hearts

6. Sleep Over – Forever

7. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Tape Club

8. Zola Jesus – Conatus

9. Mates of State – Mountaintops

10. Megafaun – Megafaun

11. Nurses – Dracula

12. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

13. The Big Scary – Four Seasons

14. Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing

15. Case Studies – The World is Just a Shape to Fill The Night

16. Cataldo – Prison Boxing

17. Feist – Metals

18. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

19. Tallahassee – Jealous Hands

20. Twin Sister – In Heaven

21. Big Troubles – Romantic Comedy

22. Born Gold – Bodysongs

23. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical

24. Correatown – Pleiades

25. Emperor X – Western Teleport

26. Jens Lekman – An Argument With Myself

27. NewVillager – NewVillager

28. Pallers – The Sea of Memories

29. Prince Rama – Trust Now

30. Active Child – You Are All I See

Band of The Week: Phantogram

Phantogram’s new EP “Nightlife” marks a new direction by New York duo Josh Carter (guitar, vocals) and Sarah Barthel (keyboards, vocals). This electronic rock act thrives on innovative samples, crunchy hip hop beats, and dreamy guitar rifts to accompany the glossy production that “Nightlife” has to offer. While their debut album achieved mixed levels of critical acclaim, this EP showcases the attributes that made their debut successful while drawing in a more accessible sound.

Phantogram’s latest EP makes an obvious choice for KZUU’s Band of The Week, spanning six tracks, this record resembles more of an mini LP. It seems hard to view this as a creation from only two members with tracks as strong as “Make A Fist”, “A Dark Tunnel”, and the irresistible “Don’t Move.” Each track offers an exciting array of sound with Carter’s swirling guitars shifting in and out of lively beats and Barthel’s spacey keyboards creating such playful melodies. “Nightlife” makes for an intriguing listen.

“Don’t Move,” the first single from the EP is definitely one of the bands major  career highlights. It’s a track that has the listener on the edge, waiting to see where each second will take you next. With Barthel’s vocals offering a breathy and seductive atmosphere it accompanies the track in just the right way, not overpowering but not understated. Carter’s guitar rifts swirl in and out of the track hidden underneath glitchy samples and crunchy beats. While the song itself is begging the listener to nod their head and twitch every limb, the lyrics provide a subtle contradiction. Barthel vocals insist “All you do is, shake, shake, shake, keep your body still, keep your body still.” Don’t Move is the perfect entry way into a flawless EP.

-Brennan

 

Blue Scholars hop on KZUU!

Check out the interview done on KZUU earlier today with Geo & Sabzi of the Blue Scholars!

And don’t forget to come out to the BellTower this Saturday to see them on their tour with Grynch & Bambu!

 

What’s New @ KZUU: 10/24/11

Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind of Fix (indie pop)

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Wolfroy Goes to Town (folk)

Chill Mega Chill Records – “The Chiller” Halloween Compilation (various, electronic)

Class Actress – Rapproacher (indie pop)

M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (dream pop, electronic)

Mark Sultan – Whenever/Wherever (garage rock, doo-wop)

Phantogram – Nightlife (electronic)

Spectrals – Bad Penny (lo-fi surf rock)

Strange Boys – Live Music (garage rock)

Surfer Blood – Tarot Classics (indie rock, surf rock)

 

NW Hip-Hop is coming to Pullman

Geo & Sabzi of the Blue Scholars

Coming off their most recent LP Cimemetropolis, the Blue Scholars have set off from Seattle on country wide tour. 4 years since their last album Bayani, Cinemetropolis was released his past June completely independently. Sabzi expands on his production style from the OOF! EP, providing heavily synth based instrumentation, while Geo’s rhymes combine to keep the traditional Scholars sound. The duo is returning to Pullman next weekend; the last time the 206 group made a visit to Wazzu was last August for CougFest, where they rocked infront of 4,000 students on Terrell Mall.

Traveling along with Geo & Sabzi are fellow northwest artist and CougFest performer Grynch, and Los Angeles legend Bambu. Fortunately this time around this heavy hitter tour is stopping by the east of the state and making tour stops here in Pullman & Spokane on back to back nights.

The Pullman show is at the BellTower Concert Hall in downtown Pullman on Saturday October 29th, and they’ll be rocking Spokane the night before. The Seattle hip-hop scene has been making a name of itself for good-while now, and there is no end is sight as the quality, true hip-hop continues to be created. So go get your tickets and come out to what will be a great night of music, and support local, independent Hip-Hop! Check below for ticket info:

You can check out & listen to Cinemetropolis here: 

http://bluescholars.bandcamp.com/album/cinemetropolis

Pullman

FB group: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114223395346522

Buy tickets: http://belltowerpullman.com/bluescholars.html

or locally at Atom Heart Music, Prune Orchard, Palouse Falls Brewing, or Deadbeat Records.

Spokane: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111470178951700

Buy Tickets: http://holdmyticket.com/event/27934

Music video for ‘Fou Lee’ from Cinemetropolis

-Bryce P.

kzuu 90.7

Band of the Week: Real Estate

As the weather in the Northwest turns crisp and dry, all those summer albums full of beachy lyrics and surf-pop guitars become kind of irrelevant in our atmosphere. They’re nice because of the memories we associate with them, but it’s almost laughable listening to such sunny music when outside our windows leaves are turning brown and the grass is hardened by frost. Real Estate then, should be the last band to hype up at this time of the year. Their 2009 self-titled album was a lo-fi splash of sun-soaked riffs and songs about rivers, beaches, and summertime. Contradictory then, because it came out right as snow was blanketing the Northwest.

Days, their second full LP, released in similar circumstances, bears a lot of similarities to the first record but with a more polished and mature sound than before. Lead singer/guitarist Martin Courtney has referred to their earlier work as sounding “like shit.” The lo-fi aesthetic wasn’t so much an artistic choice as it was a technical limitation. On Days, every beautiful layer of shimmering guitar is produced immaculately, and Courtney’s voice doesn’t rely so much on reverb, instead wistfully dancing alongside the jangly riffs from guitarist Matthew Mondanile (also known as Ducktails).

The early standouts on Days are the early singles “It’s Real” and “Green Aisles”. The former is about the fastest you’ll hear Real Estate play, punching through 2 minutes of bliss with one of the most singable choruses of the year. “Green Aisles” is a slower, nostalgic tune about living in the suburbs. But repeated listens reveal more layers of depth to the band. All of the subtle guitar pieces, bass riffs, and subdued melodies reveal themselves each play through, and by the time the band has reached the seventh minute on closing (literal) jam “All the Same”, you start to realize this isn’t music made for sitting on a beachtowel.  Days is this year’s most appropriate soundtrack for a brisk walk through an autumn afternoon.

-Adam

What’s New @ KZUU: 10/17/11

No charts last week or this week because CMJ is going on! Here are your new albums for this week. I’d recommend Real Estate.

New Adds, 10/17/11

Deer Tick – Divine Providence

Icarus Himself – Career Culture

Paley & Francis – Paley & Francis

Real Estate – Days

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Tape Club

Terra Lightfoot – Terra Lightfoot

Water Borders – Harbored Mantras

Xeno & Oaklander – Sets & Lights

 

What’s New @ KZUU: 10/10/11

A whole bunch of new albums this week!

New Adds 10/10/11:

#13 The Asteroid Shop – The Asteroid Shop 

#52 Casiokids – Aabenbaringen over aaskammen

#89 Crooked Fingers – Breaks in the Armor

#96 The Field – Looping State of Mind

#95 Future Islands – On the Water

#56 My Brightest Diamond – All Things Will Unwind

#54 Radical Face – The Family Tree: Roots

#40 Sun Wizard – Positively 4th Avenue

#7 We Were Promised Jetpacks – In the Pit of the Stomach

KZUU Top 30: 10/7/11

We’ve got a shake up in the charts this week! Neon Indian, who were sitting steadily at #1 for the last two weeks were barely bumped out of the top slot by Boise’s own Youth Lagoon. The Year of Hibernation just edged out Era Extraña to see it’s first week at #1 here at KZUU. Cataldo, riding the hype wave from their most recent show at the Belltower, bumped up to #3, and both Born Gold and Girls reached their highest chart spots this week at #4 & 5, respectively.

1. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation

2. Neon Indian – Era Extraña

3. Cataldo – Prison Boxing

4. Born Gold – Bodysongs

5. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

6. Idaho – You Were a Dick

7. Yellow Ostrich – The Mistress

8. Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain in the Cloud

9. Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong

10. Gem Club – Breakers

11. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin

12. Nurses – Dracula

13. Pajama Club – Pajama Club

14. Robbers on High Street – Hey There Golden Hair

15. Run DMT – Dreams

16. Teen Daze – A Silent Planet

17. Widowspeak – Widowspeak

18. Wilco – The Whole Love

19. Active Child – You Are All I See

20. Beirut – The Rip Tide

21. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical

22. The Drums – Portamento

23. The Horrible Crowes – Elsie

24. Iceage – New Brigade

25. Male Bonding – Endless Now

26. Twin Sister – In Heaven

27. Young Man – Ideas of Distance

28. Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing

29. Brian Keenan – Today This Year

30. CANT – Dreams Come True