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Sorry for this being a day late (and a couple of bucks short).
Well folks, today was my final day of classes at this institution. And it's more than safe to say that it was my final "legit" day of classes of my life. Maybe sometime down the road of life, I'll attend a few seminars for my job, or I'll attend meetings and get assigned "homework", but this is definitely the end of what young people consider "classes". It's a bittersweet feeling, like with most growing-up-type events that happen to soon-to-be graduates. I can't believe I'm graduating in a week and a half. Where did four years go? I'll spare you what I said in my speech to all the members of 88.3 FM KUR on Tuesday's (final) meeting. That's wasn't an easy thing to get through. I'll write a HUGE post sometime after I graduate next Saturday about my feelings towards college radio, Never Mind the Mainstream and KUR specifically, and the "college rock" genre of the past four years. It should be pretty heartfelt. After final exams, I'm sure I'll be fed up with writing, but I'll muscle out something poignant for all of you. In the mean time, here's some great new music that came out since last Wednesday. Enjoy it with a beer and the anticipation of summer on the horizon, just like I am. Disregard my exclamation points for Interpol and Kele. I'm just really psyched to hear their new tunes.
From Pitchfork From Stereogum
(Photo taken from MySpace.com)
It's been a while since I've done a straight forward news post, even thought I rarely do any hard reporting on this site anyway. You know, some the links I post here aren't even that specific to the term "indie rock". However, I do get most of these stories from web sites that appeal to an alternative rock audience, so I'll keep calling these posts "Indie Rock News". Some interesting developments have happened since last Thursday. Mainly a lot of buzz has been going around about this year's Coachella festival, which looks to have a better line-up than Bonnaroo. Sucks to be on the east coast. So there's that, and some unfortunate and untimely deaths, which isn't good. And hey, how about this volcano in Iceland? That thing really caused some travel problems. Okay, here are some of the headlines making waves in the world of popular music.
- Broken Social Scene to release a bonus EP with new record.
- The Flaming Lips bring Pink Floyd's "Breathe" to Fallon.
(Photo from NerdsattheCoolTable.com)
Deciding to do this while I wait for my over-charged laundry to finish it's cycle at the laundromat up the street.
How was everybody's 4/20? What a weird holiday, you know? Not like it's an official "holiday", but some people I know really do take off from school and work to celebrate. G4 Network was playing a marathon of stoner flicks and I saw a lot of red-eyed and hungry people roaming around town like zombies. Hey, wasn't Hitler born on 4/20? Just saying.
The weather is still beautiful around these parts. There's nothing like sunshine and good music. A ton of album's have leaked on the internet since last week, including some of the big name albums we've been buzzing about here on NMTM. But for those who play by the rules, here are the legal newbies that came out in this week's New Music.
From Pitchfork From Stereogum Indie Rock News and the NMTM Weekly Update comes tomorrow. See you then.
(Photo from NerdsattheCoolTable.com)
Another sunny Wednesday (so meet me at the cemetery gates). No, but really, this weather is really making for up for all the snow we took on in February here in the Northeast. It all seems like a distant memory now. Spring is in full bloom and now my groundskeeper wakes me up every Tuesday morning with his lawnmower. That's a clear sign that the seasons have changed. Things at KU are picking up academically, as I have my hands full with papers and projects and club events. Isn't senior year supposed to be easy? I guess not. Here's some great new music that came out at the end of last week/early this week.
From Pitchfork From Stereogum
From 88.3 FM KUR's website:- Thanks to everyone for making KUR's first large birthday party, celebrating 5 years on-air, the raging success it was! Thanks to all our supporters at KU, all the students, & community listeners, all of the KUR members who give the station personality, the decorating crew, to Mike McVicar & Brian Darling for pulling off an amazing remote broadcast, to the Fish Relics for an amazing show, and to anyone else we're missing. THANK YOU!
We're truly amazed at the stellar turnout and having a ton of people we didn't even know knew about us show up to say they are faithful listeners and fans of the station. We're bigger than we even realize and it couldn't be possible without all of you! Thank you!
We'll get some pictures of the great event posted soon.
Also, elections for the 2010-2011 Executive Board were held today during our Tuesday 11:00 AM General Members meeting. Here are the results:- NEW President: Jim Adair (!) (Senior; Production Director of KUR; Co-host of Never Mind the Mainstream. Congratulations, Big Jim.)
- NEW Vice President: Kevin Rose (Junior; Host of a blues and folk show on Thursday nights.)
- NEW Secretary: Enzo Carrante (Sophomore; Host of an oldies show on Friday afternoons.)
- Treasurer: Blake Kepner (Senior; Co-host of a variety show on Thursday nights.)
Congratulations to all the new leaders. It appears the males in the station will be running the machine next year. I, sadly, will be graduating. But this crew is great and I am expecting big things from them.Finally, there will be a KUR Car Wash, this Saturday (4/17) at The Kutztown Fire Company, from 9 AM - 3 PM. If you're a local, come by a get your car washed and ready for Spring, all for $5. Hope to see you there!
That's right. 88.3 FM KUR is having it's 5th Anniversary Party and the airwaves have been cleared for on-the-spot programming. We'll be live TOMORROW, 2-4 PM ET. So tune in then for some great college rock. See you then.
(Photo from NerdsattheCoolTable.com)
It's a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon, high around 87 degrees here in lovely, green Kutztown, PA. A few weeks back, I wouldn't be saying this. My jackets have officially been shoved to the end of my closet and my sandals are now seeing the light of day, or more like the back of my feet and the ground. This kind of weather makes me want to skip all my classes, go swimming, and listen to songs that have the words "sun", "spring", or "warm," in their titles. After looking through my iTunes library, there's a surprisingly good amount of songs that those words fit into. Here's some new music for you on this beautiful hump day. Personally, I can't stop listening to the new Band Of Horses tune and "In The Sun" (ah) by She & Him.
From Pitchfork From Stereogum
(Photo taken from MySpace.com)
Hey, folks. After making my rounds through the web's most prestigious web sites recently (news-related and music-related), I found some pretty unique links that I'd like to share. This could be a new segment, but it may not be. Things are getting a little wild here in Kutztown as I begin to wrap up my college career, so you'll have to excuse me for my lack of posting. I generalize a lot of things here nowadays. The show posts are still pretty tight, though. Anyway, here's what I found. Look forward to New Music Wednesdays tomorrow. This week has been great. The Spring 2010 music release season looks better with each passing day.
(Photo from NerdsattheCoolTable.com)
Every Wednesday, we've got a list of new music from some of our favorite artists right here on Never Mind the Mainstream. It's also a bit of a spoiler fest for our show Friday. This week is a little different, as we have some great new music videos for you to view. I know what you're thinking: "What are music videos?" Well maybe these can enlighten those confused. Enjoy the clips and tunes.From StereogumFrom Pitchfork (Videos)
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Currently listening to: Fever Ray - "When I Grow Up"
Thank you everyone for hanging tight as we get the blog updated with it's new look. How about that new banner? It's not exactly "new", but it is longer than the previous one. How about sourcing our pictures, adding bigger pictures, sticking fewer labels on posts, and jotting down what we're listening to at the moment? Just something new, we'll see how it works. I've been a big advocate of Blogspot-bashing and I'll continue to do so just because it's so primitive and restricting. However, and here's the kicker, it's free, so we'll deal with it. World keeps on spinning.We've got about five weeks remaining until we get into one of the most anticipated months of the year, music-wise. It's May. Here's a list of notable NMTM favorites that will be releasing albums in the month of May.
- Band Of Horses
- Broken Social Scene
- Josh Ritter
- Minus The Bear
- The Black Keys
- The Fall
- The Hold Steady
- The National
- The New Pornographers
- Tokyo Police Club
- UNKLE
- and maybe ... Arcade Fire? Radiohead? Who knows...
And if you can't wait until May, you don't have to worry about going insane or being a pirate to hear new material from some of the artists listed above. There's been some new music leaked this week on the blogs that have paid staff members. Here's what we've gathered. Enjoy the fresh tunes:From: StereogumFrom: Pitchfork
Quarter til 6 - is it night yet? Who decides these things. I'm sure someone does. Whatever. Man, I'm so tired.+ Stereogum has changed the format of their website. It looks weird. I kind of hate it. Not a fan of change.+ The Hold Steady will release their fifth studio album Heaven Is Whenever on May 4th. Sweet.+ Joanna Newsom releases Have One On Me tomorrow. Woo!+ Jim will take on the Treadmill Trackstar album review in the near future. Their latest release is i belong to me.+ New Vampire Weekend video: "Giving Up The Gun". Came out last week. Features a star-studded cast.
Hey all, hope everyone's week was great. Mine was. I saw really crazy things around the community. College kids get a little wild after a few drinks. I saw that first-hand. All in all, good clean fun, for most of us. Here are some quick notes as we start the week (one day late):
+ Our first show of the year was awesome, in my opinion. We had a great time. Check out the recap here.
+ Joanna Newsom. Pretty hype for a pretty chick. Check it out here (all of it).+ KUR participation, including volunteer work from veterans and newbies, is on the rise. I'm a proud President. More information on we're up to can be found at our web site: kur.kutztown.edu.
+ My review of Vampire Weekend's Contra has made it to the Kutztown campus newspaper, The Keystone. I'll have a link up here to that piece a little later this week. I favorite the record, as if you've been following the blog, you are well aware. It was my first crack at a legit music review so I hope it came out okay in my readers' eyes. You be the judge. Soon.+ I've really been getting into some Whitest Boy Alive, Kings Of Convenience, and the latest from Tycho lately. SPOILER ALERT: they'll be making their way onto the show, no doubt.+ I'm starting to become more of a morning person. Weird, I know. But I just turn on some acid jazz, lace up my running shoes and I'm out the door, ready for the day. Try it sometime, it's a great wake up.That's all for now. Talk to you soon.
New stuff galore. Includes things I've gathered from other blogs since the weekend. Enjoy the links/tunes/videos while I catch up on some much needed sleep (beginning of semester, beginning of work 'til you drop). An update to come tomorrow regarding the first NMTM episode of the year coming up this Friday. Keep it here.
+ Pavement has a greatest hits compilation coming out on April 17: Quarantine The Past. Link.
+ The National has announced a new LP, tour dates in May. Link.
+ The Temper Trap will tour North America this spring. Link.
+ New Goldfrapp tune: "Rocket". Link.
+ New Joanna Newsom tune: "81". Link.
+ New Justice tune: "Beginning Of The End". Link. UPDATE: This is fake.
+ New Suzanne Vega tune: "Gypsy". Link.
+ Spoon cover The Damned: "Love Song". Link.
+ New Yeah Yeah Yeahs video: "Skeletons". Link.
+ Radiohead played a sick set for Haiti relief benefit. Link.
By now I'm sure you've heard about this latest fiasco. Minnesota electronica boy-wonder Adam Young, aka Owl City, released his first major-label album Ocean Eyes in the summer and all of a sudden, many music fans consider it to be a complete ripoff of the Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello project, The Postal Service. What we loved about Postal Service is now hated in Owl City. Gibbard and Young sound a lot a like, but Owl City's music is definitely more poppy. Just listen to hit single "Fireflies". It's so bubblegum. There's a distinct difference between 2003's obscure electronic music to 2009's everywhere electronic music. All in all, fans are pissed. Yet the album has reached number one on Billboard's Top Electronic/Dance chart.
Here's my take: Young's a fan of The Service. He's said so in interviews regarding the backlash. The album is number one. So what's the big deal? It's not like he covered all the Postal Service songs or stole lyrics, though some of the content may be similar. I've heard the record and it's OK. Certainly not ground-breaking like the way Give Up was considered. But it's getting that #1 nod because that's the music that is in now. Rap is on the back burner and rock is barely breathing. Electronic music has shown its prominence in our music culture since the dawn of the millennium and if my assumptions are correct, it's going to get crazier and more popular. I respect Young's music, though it's formula seems to be copied. But in the end, it's not, and nobody can sue. It's just the way it is. It's not like R.E.M. was sued for acquiring jangle pop from The Byrds. Same with Interpol and Joy Division and so many others. Artists mimic other artists. It's called being influenced by. And that's what all this is about: influence. Nobody needs to listen to it. Nobody needs to listen to anything. Take it or leave it.
(Photo from NerdsattheCoolTable.com)
