Opinion Pieces – Communiqué

Song/Video Review: “Stare At The Sun” by Eleanor Friedberger

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74-iyAoMa6Y]

By Shannen Gaffney

Eleanor Friedberger is back with a new single, titled ”Stare at the Sun”! It’s an upbeat springtime track that will make you want to ditch your work and go play frisbee with someone’s dog. Friedberger’s unmistakable voice will likely be stuck in your head for awhile after listening, but you probably won’t mind. The funny video seems to be mocking typical hipstery video production of late (in a loving way, of course). As she sings, “If that was goodbye, then I must be high / You know I’ll be seeing you soon,” a cute teenage girl loosely translates in sign language, then plays air guitar in between verses. I’ll definitely be adding this song to my ‘Wake Up’ playlist!

Friedberger has a pretty extensive tour planned for the month of June (though sadly there are no dates in Philly), along with her second solo album, titled Personal Record, coming out on June 4th.

Album Review: Langsom Dans by Gliss

By Shannen Gaffney

Victoria Cecilia and Martin Klingman of L.A. band Gliss have created something truly beautiful with their third studio album, Langsom Dans. A sort of middle ground between the straight-up pop melodies of a Dum Dum Girls hit and the harmonic fullness of a Beach House song, Langsom Dans is filled with a mix of attention grabbing drums and synths on the first two tracks, and moves to more calming waves throughout the bulk of the album. The blending voices of Cecilia and Klingman is seemingly effortless, both singing lead vocals on different tracks. Klingman’s voice on the heartfelt ballad “Waves” evokes a theme of helplessness, while “The Sea Tonight” is an uplifting pop song about hanging out by the water. Still, the most captivating song is “A to B,” with swirly synths and bouncy keyboards as well as heavy bass. Cecilia’s vocals here are reverb-covered, yet desperate and very human all the same as she sings, “I’m standing here naked, with doubts on my mind.” Neither of these songs are the single, which speaks to how good the album is as a whole. The single, “Hunting” is an addicting dark pop tune, Cecilia’s voice reminiscent of a more subtle Shirley Manson. Langsom Dans is definitely an album to check out this month, recommended for fans of shoegaze and dream pop.

Top 10 Overlooked Albums Of 2010

By Paul Brown

A list of my favorite albums no one seemed to care about during my first year as Music Director of WKDU

To this day, I have no idea if I think of 2010 as a great year for music because it was my first year exposed to EVERYTHING that was coming out (and I still had a wide-eyed enthusiasm for the concept of infinite free music), or if I just lucked out gaining the responsibility of MD during this amazing year for music. Either way, I fell in love with countless albums that year, many of which eventually got some national attention / blog love. Even some smaller bands ended up signing to big indie labels and getting attention that way (such as Happy Birthday and Avi Buffalo releasing their respective fantastic debut albums on Sub Pop and getting fancy Pitchfork reviews, etc).

There were, however, dozens of albums that went completely unnoticed, even by my fellow DJs at WKDU. Because of this, and because of my nostalgia for the music that came out in 2010, I’ve put together a list of my favorite albums that seemed to have been released into some kind of vacuum:

Continue reading “Top 10 Overlooked Albums Of 2010”