WHRC - Radio with a Hammer -

SORRY IM SO LAAAAAME HERES A REALLY GOOD TOP 10

duncan c — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:08:29 -0500

The Humanities Centerâ€™s Top Ten Disco Re-edit/Sad-core/Kanye-hop Jams of 2007
As compiled by James Weissinger, current Post-Bac Fellow, WHRC emeritus

Ok 2007 was a really rough year: too much EdBanger French Electro-house, overly earnest Canadian junk, and weirdo-experimental-pseudo-poignant-freak-folk. Still, there were ten songs that didnâ€™t cause my ears to start bleeding. These are those songs.

10) Junior Senior â€“ Hip Hop A Lula â€“ My My Hey Hey Yo Yo
This came out in Denmark like 7 years ago and in Japan 14 years ago, but itâ€™s finally here in America so Iâ€™ll count it as 2007. Junior Seniorâ€™s second album cuts out all the awesome garage rock of their first and suffocates the remainder with fifty gallons of Motown soul syrup, but this track STILL might be better than â€œMove Your Feet.â€ â€œTake me down to the Parallel City where the musicâ€™s loud and the boys are prettyâ€â€¦

9) Cornelius â€“ Music â€“ Sensuous
Some people call Cornelius the Beck of Japan, but whereas Beck puts out a terrible album with stickers you can rearrange on the cover, Cornelius puts on a tour where all movement, video, and light on stage synch up with the music; each song has the best music video youâ€™ve ever seen projected on top of everything; and every band member gets his or her own set of chimes. Somehow he gets both the funky post-punk angular sound AND the soupy utopian vocals and pretty synths all to get along, creating something that sounds like Gang of Fourâ€™s rhythm section conducted by Super Mario 64.

8) Kathy Diamond â€“ Over â€“Miss Diamond to You
Kathy Diamond is Lily Winehouseâ€™s super-scary Addams Family replacement from Sheffield, England (home of The Human League and Throbbing Gristle). Instead of getting Mark Ronson to produce her tracks, though, she somehow dug up Maurice Fulton (Muâ€™s â€œParis Hiltonâ€) to help write the album. This is slap-bass slow-mo clavichord disco soul that cannot be played before 8 pm. â€œAll Womanâ€ might be better but it came out in 2006, so â€œOverâ€ gets the win.

7) Kanye West â€“ Champion -- Graduation

I think Kanye makes fun of Will Smithâ€™s kids in this?? The Steely Dan sample is a KILLER, can Kanye and Danger Mouse just hibernate for a year and remake Pet Sounds or something out of rhythm tracks from â€œThe Royal Scamâ€?

6) Holy Ghost! â€“ Hold On -- Hold On 12â€
DFA is pumping out a ton of â€œok, dudes, we get itâ€ spacey italo-disco-y stuff at the moment, but this one is the most memorable and dancefloor-readyâ€¦ Holy Ghost!â€™d probably hate this, but they kinda sound like if Chromeo were very old and classy and serious. Definitely the best snare hit of 2007. Smack!

5) Vastkustska Ryggdunkarsallskapet â€“Town Out of Order -- No. 1
Only 500 copies of this record exist; the band/re-editor is supposedly Swedish but maybe itâ€™s just Aphex Twin screwing with us again or something. Imagine the guitars from Daft Punkâ€™s â€œRobot Rockâ€ put on top of some old synthy-stompy disco-boogie song about how great Stockholm is.

Once you get to be Air or Daft Punk or They Might Be Giants, you probably wake up in your bunk-beds every morning and decide which revered music group youâ€™re totally going to pwn today. I think Air was trying to do that with krautrock gods Neu! on this one, but Iâ€™m unsure if they really succeeded. Still, â€œMer du Japonâ€ definitely taps into that awesome â€œMoon Safariâ€-Iâ€™m-traveling-into-space-on-Falcor-from-Neverending-Story-and-I-will-never-return-ever-again, Dad-vibe.

3) Brâ€™er â€“ Iâ€™m a Kid Again â€“Of Shemales and Kissaboos
Full disclosure on Brâ€™er: Their name is an obscure reference to an obscure reference from the comic book /MTV cartoon â€œThe Maxx.â€ A lot of their stuff sounds like if Joanna Newsom covered Liars (but this song doesnâ€™t really). They are signed to the same Austrian label (Beat is Murder) as the lead guy from XiuXiu. The crazed Phil Spector maestro behind it all is a good childhood friend, but this song is still objectively amazing. Pitckformedia.com writes, â€œ â€˜Iâ€™m a Kid Againâ€™ is a post-Emo NSFW feedback lullaby performed underwater by The Zombies in 2039: 8.7.â€

2) MIA â€“ Boyz -- Kala
Blah blah â€œPaper Planesâ€ but do any of the tracks on â€œKalaâ€ really even approach the euphoric heights reached by â€œBoyzâ€? I paid $20 to import the promo 12â€ from England and then no one knew how to dance to it. My mom and I both really like the music video.

1) Prinzhorn Dance School â€“ You are the Space Invader â€“ Prinzhorn Dance School
Prinzhorn make super-sparse Wire-esque songs with names like â€œHamworthy Sports Leisure Centerâ€ and â€œCrackerjack Dockerâ€ that all sound the same and all are great. Nothing like anything DFA (or anyone else?) is putting out right now, but this simple stupid song is the labelâ€™s best since â€œHouse of Jealous Loversâ€ (sorry Hot Chip). Essentially, itâ€™s the bassline from â€œHeard it through the Grapevineâ€ with some awful British guy yelling about beeswax on top. Saw them in France this summer; they went on at two in the morning after popular faves New Young Pony Club and Simian Mobile Disco and no one knew what to do. You donâ€™t really dance to it so much as look angry and fall in love with the bassist. They canâ€™t get visas so you will never see them ever.

WHRC IN THE YEAR 2008

duncan c — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:28:15 -0500

"i know i'm alone in this, but when they told me there was a college radio
station, i was confused and thought there was a college radio station."

-my new favorite haverford freshman

10 SONGS SAM CONALL AND GODA LIKE AND DON'T LIKE

duncan c — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:15:56 -0500

From: smkaplan@hxsdfx.ddd
Subject: Re: hey i respect your music tastes and
Date: November 19, 2007 11:06:39 PM EST

me, conall, and goda are going to do top ten songs that only one of us likes

a.k.a. we each pick three songs that the other two don't like

and then we pick one we all like

I CAN'T FIND SAM'S PART:

it has got to be around here somewhere...

CONALL'S PART:

The-Dream, "Shawty is a 10"

Sam likes this song now, but only after months of me proclaiming it as the greatest song of the millennium. I'm writing my thesis about it.

Britney Spears, "Gimme More"

All the bullshit reasons people have for not liking this song are based in the most ludicrous, outmoded notions of "authenticity," notions that this song does a superb job of destabilizing. It opens with the fantasy of a known, stable identity ("It's Britney, bitch") and spends its four minutes gloriously annihilating that identity, exposing it for the modernist fantasy that it is.

Radiohead, "All I Need"

Goda doesn't care about Radiohead, and Sam hates the new album for semi-legitimate reasons. This song is good though.

GODA'S PART:

"Declare Independence" Bjork

Sam and Conall hate strong women.

"Smells like Teen Spirit" Patti Smith

They don't hate this song though. In fact, Sam said, "Oh, this is great! I
can finally understand the words!" The things I like are just too
likable... But I feel like I like it more than they do.

"No Pussy Blues" Grinderman

Conall's mom recently saw Nick Cave at the dry cleaners and he still
doesn't like this song!

THE SONG THEY ALL LIKE:

Thieves Like Us - "Drugs In My Body"

TOP 10 WEEZY MIXTAPES

duncan c — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:48:45 -0500

BY DAGEM GABRIEL

1) Drought 3

2) The Drought is over 4

3) The Carter III sessions

4) New Orleans nightmare part 4

5) The W.Carter Collection 2

6) Lil Weezy Ana

7) King Smij & DJ Lo Present Lil Wayne - The Rapper Eater

8) Carter meets the Cartel

9) Waynes World pt 4

10) The Carter 3 mixtape

TOP 10 SONGS WE HEARD LIVE IN 2007

duncan c — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:32:53 -0500

BY EMILY ALLEN FEIGELSON & ELLEN LOUISE FREEMAN

â€œPocketful of Moneyâ€ â€“ Jens Lekman at the First Unitarian Church

Iâ€™ve never felt more like I belonged in a church in my life. After the main set Jens took the stragglers upstairs into the sanctuary and played all requests for half an hour. Someone asked for â€œPocketful of Money,â€ a glorious, sad, and somber song about loving a person you donâ€™t know. As Jens sings â€œYou set my heart on fire,â€ Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening tolls over and over again, â€œIâ€™ll come running with a heart on fireâ€ in a fuzzy, obscure sample. Jens echoes him, his voice sounding like Sierra Mist bouncing off the walls of a glass chamber. The song shoots straight to heaven. When he played it upstairs that night, everyone in the church sang the rumbly Calvin Johnson funeral march of love part togetherâ€”high voices, low, good, and bad. Boysâ€™ Choir of Harlem, eat your hearts out. We felt bad for the one hopeless unbeliever in the FRONT ROW!!! texting all throughout the chorus.

â€œA Postcard to Ninaâ€* â€“ Jens Lekman at the First Unitarian Church

d3ad c4tÂ (11:02:35Â PM): k so what should be the downstairs jens song? they were all so grrrrrrrreat!
iamthesilliestÂ (11:02:58Â PM): i liked postcard to nina
d3ad c4tÂ (11:03:07Â PM): oh yeah! that was a really great thing to hear live, too
iamthesilliestÂ (11:03:19Â PM): because it seemed like the first time he was singing it, like i thought he was making it up right there
d3ad c4tÂ (11:03:13Â PM): the story made the song so much better i thought
d3ad c4tÂ (11:03:15Â PM): yeaaaahhh
d3ad c4tÂ (11:03:22Â PM): wow what a gift from jens
d3ad c4tÂ (11:03:26Â PM): not to be a jerk or anything
iamthesilliestÂ (11:04:09Â PM): a jerk about WHAT
iamthesilliestÂ (11:04:13Â PM): you make no SENSE
iamthesilliestÂ (11:04:25Â PM): ok lets finish up the list the movie is
overâ€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:04:20Â PM): like "ooh wow what a gift" as i stroke my ironic soul patchâ€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:04:39Â PM): ohhh
â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:04:45Â PM): yeah i was being that way when i was saying mine too â€¨
d3ad c4tÂ (11:04:39Â PM): soooo should the weezer cover by us be my name is jonas or another one?â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:04:51Â PM): DON'T WORRY I'M NOT A HAVERFUCKâ€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:04:47Â PM): lulZâ€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:05:03Â PM): probably i should be no one else
â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:05:07Â PM): it*â€¨
d3ad c4tÂ (11:05:01Â PM): yeah i think so
â€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:05:17Â PM): more like probably you SHOULD be someone else so i could tolerate you!!!!!!!!â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:05:55Â PM): LOLOLLLLOLLOL MEANIE!>:O â€¨
d3ad c4tÂ (11:05:48Â PM): aaaaaaahahhahaha i'm making a list on word and it looks so good thereâ€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:06:06Â PM): #1 No One Else by Us
â€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:06:03Â PM): â€¨1.Â Â Â Â Â â€œPocketful of Moneyâ€ â€“ Jens Lekman at the First Unitarian Church â€¨2.Â Â Â Â Â â€œA Postcard to Ninaâ€ â€“ Jens Lekman at the First Unitarian Church â€¨3.Â Â Â Â Â â€œNo One Elseâ€ (Weezer cover) â€“ The Necromobenambrosallafassagossoes
â€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:06:20Â PM): i honestly think putting it in the #3 spot makes it so much more hilarious
â€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:06:26Â PM): like we thought about it intensively
â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:06:36Â PM): ok
â€¨d3ad c4tÂ (11:06:43Â PM): does he want blurbs?
â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:06:52Â PM): ok i'll come down to your apt nowâ€¨
d3ad c4tÂ (11:06:51Â PM): kkkkk i'm living in a rats nest
â€¨iamthesilliestÂ (11:07:04Â PM): i'll be ther ein 5 â€¨
d3ad c4tÂ (11:07:17Â PM): k

â€œNo One Elseâ€ (Weezer cover) â€“ The Necromobenambrosallafassagossoes in Stokes Auditorium

We did really good that night. Love to all our a cappella girls!

â€œHeart Of Glassâ€ (Blondie cover) â€“ Melt-Banana at the First Unitarian Church

â€œSinger Yasuko O. windmilled her arms like a weird, mystical conductorâ€¦They were a wall of sound like Phil Spector never dreamed: jackhammer guitars, and vocals like a child throwing a rhythmic fitâ€¦I bet youâ€™ve never seen thirty people moshing to a noise cover of â€œHeart of Glassâ€ before.â€ â€“ Emily Feigelson, â€œMelt-Banana Play First Unitarian Church,â€ The Bi-College News, 9 Oct 2007

â€œWham Cityâ€ â€“ Dan Deacon at the Starlite Ballroom

Ellen swears to god that the lyrics to this were up on a screen at the end of his set. I have no fucking idea what sheâ€™s talking about, but Iâ€™ll take her word for it because I donâ€™t think she drank any of the Welchâ€™s grape soda that strange woman gave us in the bathroom.

â€œHappy Birthdayâ€ â€“ Japanther at Lunt

It was my birthday! (From Emili) I requested it! (From Ellen) This was the greatest night of my life! I had such a good time! (From Jon)

â€œA-Punkâ€ â€“ Vampire Weekend at Lunt

This is such a sad list. We chose this song because it would be unexpected. :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( Also we came in costume, WHY DIDNâ€™T ANYONE ELSE????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (From Emili Cardiganne and Ellen Creste) This was the greatest night of my life! I had such a good time! (From Jon)

â€œMr. Emersonâ€ â€“ The Smoking Sandinistas at Circa 22

A protest song on par with other protest songsâ€”perhaps even better.
Spoken word performance of selected excerpts from Wizard People, Dear Reader (Wizard People, Dear Reader cover) â€“ The Necrobenambrosallafassagossoes and their sister group the 2D Breasts
I hate that shit! Iâ€™m here to read a top ten list, not to watch a fucking performance!!!!!!!

â€œYoung Folksâ€ (Peter Bjorn & John cover) â€“ BOOMSTAND! at the Millcreek Tavern
Ok so we werenâ€™t there. Were YOU?!

*This is a song for his lesbian pen pal. He took sweetly swinging, bass-heavy instrumental breaks to explain the story, how Nina told him straight-faced outside her dadâ€™s apartment, â€œBy the wayâ€”Iâ€™ve told my parents that weâ€™re engaged,â€ and about her red-faced, hulking German father, whoâ€™d clearly â€œhad a little too much to drink.â€ We were eating out of the palm of his hand like little rabbits in a petting zoo!

COMING REALLY SOON

duncan c — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:51:48 -0500

top 10 albums
top 10 singles
top 10 lil wayne mixtapes
top 10 songs we saw live
top 10 disco re-edit/sad-core/kanye-hop jams
top 10 thing by sam conall or goda

AND MORE

a lot of mp3s
a mix by jamezilla

END-OF-THE-YEAR UPDATES

sam conall or goda — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:47:49 -0500

this is amazing

http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-did-i-miss-this-ominous-castle.html

also, new beach house album leaked

it sounds exactly the same as the first one, which, of course, is what we all wanted

also, i was wrong about the new burial album-- it's pretty good

also, the new atlas sound velvet underground cover is great-- check pitchfork/deerhunter blog for deets

my favorite album of the year maybe

duncan c — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:56:16 -0500

DOESNT LOOK LIKE KANYÃ‰ TO ME

burial

sam conall or goda — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:27:46 -0500

new album is def not as good as old album

except ghost hardware

Remembered the password

sam conall or goda — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 03:03:35 -0400

Amerie
Vanessa

This is Conall. Since Sam's posting so much I guess I'll join in.

So I just recently saw for the first time the video for Take Control by Amerie. The song obviously is really good, but the video is nuts: for no apparent reason, it's like a homage to Antonioni's Blowup. Literally scenes from the film are re-enacted, with Amerie in the Vanessa Redgrave role and some dude as David Hemmings. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it - there's something regressive about placing the male photographer in the position of "control," when in the film (and even moreso the Cortazar story, although there he's not a photographer) he is obviously anything but. Still, that's the fascinating thing about this song also - she's both blatantly submissive and simultaneously undermining that submission.

Here's a link to the video, I don't know how to work html or anything on here yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIx2u4vBL1Q

In other news, Dorian Stuber is sad he won't be around for Vampire Weekend in a couple of weeks, which I didn't even know was happening until five minutes ago. Also, the I'm Not There soundtrack is pretty good, esp. Yo La Tengo doing 4th Time Around which was the first song we played on our show today. Also I like this: http://www.discobelle.net/2007/10/19/mixin-it-up-eli-escobar/ And I'm still addicted to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArQCkbP07Ao

Also Duncan, do you have some waffles for me?