Tunezday!...aka New Music Tuesday!

This is your weekly source of info on the anticipated album releases of the week and where you can stream each in its entirety!

POP: Fanfarlo released their debut album, Reservoir, three years ago, and this week they finally return to the scene with their second LP, Rooms Filled with Light.  This time around, Fanfarlo seems to have dropped the softer, folkier elements of their previous sound, and instead have amped up the orchestral crescendos, heavy brass melodies, and mysterious synths.  Rooms Filled with Light boasts a bigger, more complex sound than we’ve heard from Fanfarlo, and while it isn’t as immediately accessible as Reservoir, when given a little time it proves itself to be a stronger and more satisfying listen. 

 Stream Fanfarlo – Rooms Filled with Light

FOLK: Middlebury College alum Anaïs Mitchell releases her fourth full-length album, Young Man in America, today on her brand new independent label, Wilderland Records. Mitchell has always been known for her musical storytelling and this is no less true on her new album, whose title character she describes as “a restless character on a feverish hunt for pleasure and success.”  Unlike her previous albums, Young Man in America features two percussionists, who add the heaviness necessary to create Mitchell’s part-modern, part-mythical world.  Because this album is not as concept oriented as her last release, the epic folk-opera Hadestown, each song on Young Man in America seems more individually accessible, while still cohering beautifully into an album worthy of listening to from start to finish.

Stream Anaïs Mitchell -  Young Man in America

ELECTRONIC: Mouse on Mars is known as perhaps one of the most prolific bands in electronic music.  I don’t think I can even try to explain them better than they did on their own website so, for fear of failing, here is how they describe themselves (in the third person): “Mouse on Mars is one of the few electronic bands to stand the test of time. Constantly reinventing themselves, they have taken electronica to new heights with a unique blend of sound annihilation, fragmented melodies and an impassioned hatred of conformity. For nearly two deacades, Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner have sweated over burning consoles to create a new musical language, only to twist it again into thousands of myriad distortions.”  Now, after an uncharacteristic six-year break, Mouse on Mars is releasing their 10^th LP, Parastrophic.  The album is 46 minutes of pulsating synths, looping vocals, and heavy, but not overpowering bass all brought together and presented seamlessly such that you barely have time to process what you are hearing. 

Stream Mouse on Mars - Parastrophic

Stream a few more of this week’s best new releases here:

School of Seven Bells – Ghostory

Geographer – Myth

Beth Jeans Houghton – Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose

Willis Earl Beal: Wants To Be The Black Tom Waits

And the bits and pieces of his story over the past couple of years make him seem cool enough to maybe pull it off. For one, Beal will sing to you if you call him (773-295-2135), or at least that was the case before Pitchfork recently posted an interview with him, as he was relatively unknown. The feature on Pitchfork probably changed the game for Willis Earl Beal, perhaps forcing him to leave his identity as a truly 'outsider artist' in the past to some extent, but the attention was deserved. 


Check out Pitchfork's feature and some of his songs here.

Virtual Virtuosos: Daniela Andrade

Hello and welcome to "Virtual Virtuosos," a weekly column devoted to up-and-coming Internet musicians.

This week's featured artist is Daniela Andrade. This 19-year-old singer/songwriter hails from Canada, and has one of the most soothing voices I've ever heard. Seriously, check it out:

Daniela recently won $10,000 in the WhoInspiresU.ca video contest and used the prize money on new recording equipment and a trip to San Diego to record her first EP, "Things We've Said." No release date for the album so far, but hopefully it'll be within the next couple of months.

If you want to see more of Daniela, you can find her on YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr. You can also stream all of her music for free here.

That's it for this week. See you next Friday!

Santi's Back

Okay, so maybe that's not news, but it's definitely worth mentioning. Santigold, the artist formerly known as Santogold, broke out in '08 with her debut album that included major hits "L.E.S. Artistes", "Creator", and "Lights Out". She was basically absent from the music scene for the following 3 years until last year when she came out with "Go" featuring Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She also recently appeared on a new Amadou & Miriam track titled "Dougou Badia". Now she's officially back and with a slew of new singles. She released "Big Mouth" earlier this month and "Disparate Youth" just a few days ago, and it's literally all I've been listening to. Her long-awaited second album, Master of My Make-Believe, is reported to be out on May 1st via Downtown/Atlantic. Listen to the new single here. (That's a command.)

GRIMES takes over GVB!

Hey DJs and blog readers --

Yesterday, underground pop star au moment, Montreal's Grimes, "took over" esteemed music blog Gorilla vs. Bear all day long. Check out the links, videos, tracks, etc. she posted during the takeover to discover some new music and hear a brand-new track from Grimes herself, entitled "Angel." That song is available on the bonus-track version of her brand-new, absolutely INCREDIBLE new album, Visions. Follow that link and listen to the album in its entirety if it's the last thing you do -- it's a keeper to be sure, a fever dream of creepy, trippy, self-described "post-internet," rigorously anti-nostalgic (thank god) electronic pop that, in true postmodern fashion, is influenced by everyone from Cocteau Twins to Gang Gang Dance to Salem to Mariah Carey to Aphex Twin. It's not to be missed.

And while we're on the subject, here's an interview with her via Pitchfork; here's "the best thing you'll read all day" (just do it); here's a new track by Canadian rapper and music journalist Cadence Weapon that samples/was produced by Grimes via I Guess I'm Floating; and below you can watch a video for her single "Crystal Ball," off last year's also excellent Darkbloom EP:

Stream the new Sleigh Bells

It's what you've all been waiting for. Sleigh Bells' forthcoming sophomore album Reign of Terror is streaming now at the NYTimes.com. The band had the near impossible task of following up their phenomenal debut Treats, but I think they've exceeded expectations. Go ahead and read the full article while giving the album that first listen. (Alexis Krauss chose Sleigh Bells over a Rhodes scholarship!) Also, watch the band make their network TV debut on SNL last night via Pitchfork. Reign of Terror is due on February 21. What better way to kick off spring semester?

WRMC History Lesson

Back in 1981, Middlebury student Don Kreis penned a two-page feature for the Campus on the history of radio at Middlebury. Although it's not current, it's interesting both on its own and in comparison to the way things work now, radio-wise. You can access all past issues of the newspaper, including this one (from March 27, 1981) via the library's digital archives. Go to this link: archive.middlebury.edu/cdm4/search.php and type "history of radio" into the second search line, labeled "exact phrase." The one result should be the March 27, 1981 issue. The article is on pages 12 and 13. Enjoy!

Seasonally Appropriate

As 2011 winds down, you may be taking a moment or more in the next couple of weeks to reflect on all the great music you heard this year. Remember James Blake's debut LP? That was in January! Everything since then has all been this year! Many, many great albums and singles were released in 2011. I've never tried to compile a list of favorite songs from a year before, but I decided to do a two-week special highlighting my top 50 songs of the year on my radio show this January. Making that list turned out to be a lot harder than I'd expected -- firstly, because I couldn't believe that songs I was really into by solid artists such as Lykke Li, Blouse, Radiohead, the Rapture, Tennis, Dirty Beaches, and Panda Bear didn't make the cut; secondly, because qualitatively ranking songs turned out to be really hard. How is any music fan supposed to reconcile that music which falls nearer to being "high art" with music that's satisfying because it's just dumbly glorious pop? In others words, do I really like Colin Stetson more than Beyonce? Or the other way around? Why -- and how can I justify that? Then I remembered reading, a little over a year ago, this essay by Mark Richardson, and I reread it, and realized that such dilemmas just plain don't matter. If you, too, have anxiety about compiling a year-end list, or if you enjoy perceptive writing about pop music, you may find it of interest. It's also very concerned with the meaning of sharing music you love, which ideally any DJ with a music show is doing at least once a week (on his/her radio show, get it?), so it's probably of interest to everyone who might for some reason be reading this blog.

Speaking of the art/pop dichotomy that may or may not exist, you may also want to read this excellent review of Fuck Death, the new album from Frog Eyes/Swan Lake frontman Carey Mercer's side project Blackout Beach, by Cokemachineglow's Conrad Amenta. It's extremely well-written and contains some important thoughts that pertain to the practice of music criticism in general, not just to the record at hand (which is amazing -- listen to one of the best songs here). It makes for an interesting pairing with the same website's review of Drake's newest full-length, Thank Me Later.

Lastly, on the subject of year-end lists, here's an unusual one for 2010, from I Was Young When I Left Home, a strange and beautiful (aesthetically, poetically, sentimentally) little music blog whose posts are rare but often deeply gratifying to read. If you're working on a "Best of 2011" list of your own, perhaps it will provide inspiration for a new way to go about an old project.

Best of luck with Finals Week!

MONDEGREEN: New issue out now!

Hey DJs and WRMC blog enthusiasts!

The brand-new Fall 2011 issue of MONDEGREEN, Middlebury College's very own music and culture magazine, hit the stands (?) today! You can find stacks of Mondegreens in strategic locations all over campus. Take one, read it cover to cover multiple times, tell all your friends how great it is, and then lend it out, bring it back for another to enjoy, or covet it for its interesting contents and gorgeous binding until it's worn to tatters. This issue features: interviews with Chamberlin and Apollo Run; reviews of new albums by current WRMC rotation favorites such as M83 and Real Estate; a helpful map; pretty pictures; essays on subjects you care about like teen angst and censorship; Eminem's face; and Goat Pack. Don't miss it!

mon·de·green

  [mon-di-green]

noun

a word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard.

Compare eggcorn.

See also malapropism.

Origin:
1954; coined by Sylvia Wright, U.S. writer, from the line laid him on the green, interpreted as Lady Mondegreen, in a Scottish ballad

Interested in contributing to Mondegreen? We accept writing of all kinds about music and popular culture, as well as 2D visual art. OR are you interested in helping out with the publication process next semester? In either case, email the editorial staff at mondegreen@middlebury.edu!

The Future Is Not What It Used To Be

Once simply a (frighteningly addictive) anonymous mix exchange, Tiny Mix Tapes is now one of the foremost online publications about independent music and popular culture currently running. Its contributors' broad-ranging tastes run more toward the experimental and esoteric; this, as well as their seriously well-read, probably college-educated (hey!) backgrounds in philosophy, sociology, and literary theory (references to thinkers from Freud to Foucault abound in their reviews), set TMT writers apart from their colleagues at other major online music publications. TMT can be counted on to remember, when other music publications do not, that true cultural criticism is a serious intellectual endeavor, not -- as their review of Lars von Trier's new film Melancholia argues -- the "simple criticizing" of a cultural text, despite the apparent kinship between the two concepts.

I bring this up now because, as it happens, TMT contributor Jonathan Dean has just published an incredibly intelligent, perceptive, and rather bleak essay on TMT entitled "2011: Dispatches From the Pop Museum: The Future Is Not What It Used To Be." The essay sharply assesses the state of contemporary popular music/culture -- and if you're not a regular TMT reader, take note of how much more substantiated its criticisms are than those of essays posted on more popular, less theoretically well-versed music sites such as Pitchfork. "The Future Is Not What It Used To Be" follows in the wake of preeminent British pop music historian Simon Reynold's excellent new book Retromania as an academically credible work unenthused by pop culture's recent obsession with nostalgic reenactment of itself. If cultural theory interests you -- and if you play pop music on the radio, it probably should at least a little! -- I recommend Reynolds' book. It'd be a good pick if you've got time over the upcoming break...but in the meantime, please check out Dean's truly wonderful essay (note: I am not proposing that these two works make the same points) here.

PS. And here's Pitchfork (I know I just kinda said they're intellectually inferior writers who pander to the masses but whatever) editor-in-chief Mark Richardson's interview with Simon Reynolds about his book Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past. AND here's a now-notorious anti-chillwave article by Wire journalist David Keenan that deals with similar themes and was one of the most talked-about pieces of music criticism during the summer of 2009, when what Keenan calls "hypnagogic pop" was initially in ascendancy -- featuring, among other things, a few words from Zola Jesus' Nika Roza Danilova, which is reason enough to read anything! Although, really, Keenan is a distressingly reactionary critic unwilling to grasp the pervasive postmodern logic described by Dean, and Reynolds' book does little except clarify a very interesting but ultimately obvious problem...so just read the Dean essay! It's great, I prooomise. It's only three pages. That's a mere fifth of the length of the paper I should be but am not writing right now! So short!