Sample Fall 2014 by KWUR 90.3 fm

fall 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

In the spring of 1991, many DJs observed the lack of decent music literature on the Washington University campus. In an attempt to remedy this, an extremely dedicated number of staff members converged to produce a new music magazine: SAMPLE.

CONCERT CALENDAR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

KWUR DJ SPOTLIGHT NOAH ROWLETT

EXECUTIVE BOARD

MIXTAPE REVIEW PUEDO ESCRIBIR LOS VERSOS

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PHOTO GALLERY PUFEST

CAPTION CONTEST

POETRY COLUMN

ARTIST REVIEW JIMMY SMITH

CONCERT REVIEW

TRAKTOR

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ALBUM REVIEW TOO BRIGHT

A YEAR IN ELECTRONIC TOP ALBUMS OF 2014

ALBUM REVIEW ...AND STAR POWER

T-SHIRT CONTEST SUBMISSIONS

GENRE REVIEW BLUEGRASS

RETROSPECTIVE NO ABSOLUTES IN HUMAN SUFFERING

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COLOPHON

Art by Teddy Wenneker

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Arvind Srinivasan General Manager “Your mom goes to college!”

Nathan Port Electronic Director “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.”

Noah Rowlett Webmaster “I have seen a llama do a similar dance move.”

Abbey Bush Station Manager “Well, dude, sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, well, he eats you.”

Will Matalene Events Director “Melancholy. Aviation. Chocolate. Perfume. Cigarettes. Frequent flyer.”

Katie Shin Personnel Director “But Larry, I’m a broom.”

Teddy Wenneker Training Director “You can Beyonce, but you can’t Beytwice.”

Eleni Anas Events Director “My shoe is off/My foot is cold/I have a bird/I like to hold.”

Nick Machak Prog Council Dir “Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.”

Anya Venezia Training Director “Airbud: A movie about more than just a dog, it’s a film about a hero.”

Maddie Wells Local Director “Click here for more information.”

Abby Kerfoot Comm Relations “A baby’s heart is beating after only 3 weeks.”

Jared Skoff Folk/Blues Director “Progress is not possible without deviation.”

George Yeh 7 Classical Director “Ohana means family. And family means nobody gets left behind.”

Hanna McCrum Music Director “Those pizzas I ate were for medicinal purposes.”

Arya Nair Music Director “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.”

Danielle Korman Production Coord “God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.”

Henry Osman World Director “Cheezybutt chugging 4 lokos 4 life.”

Adam Banker Audio Services “I’m applying for Metals Director. You know, like aluminum, tin, zinc.”

Scott Blackwell Audio Services “Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?”

Alex Berger Promotions Dir “Bake em away, toys.”

Ellie Ford Promotions Dir “Not the fruit of experience, but the experience itself, is the end.”

Ted Lin Hip Hop Director “Hop into this backpack. Vote for me for Mr. Wash U!”

Stephanie Aria Treasurer “Love is a friendship set to music.”

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CONCERT CALENDAR

November 19 Shaggy 21 The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die 22 Dads 23 The Mavericks 24 Street Sects 26 RDGLDGRN 28 Jay Farrar 29 Rusko 30 Battlecross

December 2 Bush 3 Joey DeFrancesco Trio 4 Yelawolf 5 Netsky 6 Lil Debbie 7 Amy Grant 8 Skinny Puppy 9 The Black Keys 10 Say Anything 12 Pokey LaFarge 13 Blue October 16 Royal Southern Brotherhood 17 Joe Sample

19 Glass Animals 20 Patterson Hood 23 Compton Heights Concert Band 26 Trampled Under Food 27 Pixar In Concert 31 The Schwag

January 7 The Bad Plus 18 The Boogers 21 Arturo Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Farrill Sextet 23 Alarm Will Sound 28 Africa: Will James 31 George Perris

February 4 Kenny Barron & Stefon Harris 6 Leo Kottke 8 Todd Wilson 9 An Evening with Brandford Marsali 14 The Beach Boys 18 Jeff Lorber Fusion 19 Celtic Thunder 22 Ladysmith Black Mambazo 24 Hozier Art by Maddie Wells

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25 Asia 27 Ed Kowalczyk 28 Byron Stripling

March 4 René Marie 7 Miss Jubilee & The Humdingers 17 Kevin Buckley 18 Kneebody 21 Pomerium 22 Cherish The Ladies 25 Fleetwood Mac 27 Los Folkloristas

May 2 Cécile McLorin Salvant 7 The Who 8 Arianna String Quartet 9 Tom Russell 12 Milky Chance 13 Regina Carter 27 Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio 28 Alarm Will Sound 29 John Mellencamp

April 1 Freddy Cole Quintet 8 Central & South America 10 Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors 15 Kurt Elling 19 Matsutoyo Kai 21 Swing Set 24 Suzy Bogguss 29 Benny Green Trio

Art by Will Matalene

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KWUR DJ SPOTLIGHT This issue’s featured DJ is Noah Rowlett, a senior Computer Science Major and the Great Savior of Unicron. After the transfer from the basement of the Women’s Building to the third floor of the DUC, Noah worked tirelessly to get the station’s technological aspects back in working order. Additionally, Noah created

the KWUR app for iPhone and Android. Sample recently interviewed Noah to pick his brain about KWUR and music in general.

“KWUR DJs...are people who love music, appreciate music, and are always searching to find more music.”

Noah R 1) How did you originally get involved with KWUR? What are your favorite things about the station/the group? I started KWUR as early as possible, I was a pre-o bb way back in fall of 2011. If I remember correctly, Catylne, Natalie, Cord, and Mickey were our counselors. Our pre-o group was the bomb, we all hit it off and had extremely

uncomfortable rap battles. That was back in the old station in the Women’s Building basement. The place was kind of a dump, but it was charming and was a great home for KWUR. The best part of that station was the history on those walls; there were probably dicks on that wall older than me.

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Overall, my favorite part about KWUR is how knowledgeable people are about music. KWUR DJs have an incredible breadth of knowledge when it comes to music, as well as significant depth for their specific music interests. These are people who love music, appreciate music, and are always

largely play Folk and Americana, but Indie Rock and Blues aren’t too rare either. I came to KWUR with a taste primarily based in Indie Rock with bands like The Shins, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, and The Morning Benders. I got a lot of exposure to Country and Americana by doing a show

Rowlett searching to find more music. I think that’s admirable, and also a very unique thing on our campus. 2) Tell us about your show. What kinds of music or genres do you generally play? I do a solo show is called “Re: Re: Stacks”, titled as a nod to the phenomenally beautiful and sad song “re: stacks” by Bon Iver. I

called “The Bruised Orange” with Eden the last two years. “Re: Re: Stacks” is representative of how my music taste has evolved since I started KWUR. If you tune in, you’ll likely hear a lot of Mandolin Orange, Bahamas, Rayland Baxter, and Dawes.

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NOAH’S TOP TRACKS 3) If you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose five songs to listen to for the rest of the foreseeable future, which would you choose? 1. re: stacks - Bon Iver Always will be my favorite song. The soft guitar and heartbreaking lyrics always get me. 2. All I’ve Ever Known - Bahamas The ending track on Bahamas’s latest album, Bahamas is Afie. This 6-minute lazy jam is the perfect capstone to the album. 3. Lusitania - Andrew Bird It would have to be the version of the song of him and Annie Clark playing it live. They’re DEFINITELY dating, just look at how they look at each other in that video. If you aren’t convinced, also watch St. Vincent playing “What Me Worry” at a Soiree de Poche for La Blogotheque (that video is the definition of musical flirtation).

re: stacks - Bon Iver All I’ve Ever Known - Bahamas Lusitania - Andrew Bird Bushwick Blues - Delta Spirit Textbook Love - Fleet Foxes 4. Bushwick Blues - Delta Spirit Definitely more upbeat than the previous songs. I saw Delta Spirit live a few years ago, and their performance of this song was awesome. 5. Textbook Love - Fleet Foxes One of the best songs from their self-titled EP. The definition of cool. 4) Are there any album releases you’re currently anticipating? Any artists you’d recommend to watch? I know Aidan Knight has been recording something, so I can’t wait to see where that goes. I also can’t wait for Jose Gonzalez’s new album due in February. Other than that, I really have no idea which of my favorite artists are releasing stuff soon; I usually only find out the week of its release.

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Keep an eye on: D.D Dumbo. Check out the NPR field recording of him in Austin, really cool stuff.

5) If you could interview any one person on your show, who would you choose?

Listen to: “Tropical Oceans” by Poor Moon A side project of two Fleet Foxes members, think the indie-rock side of early Fleet Foxes with a touch of Kings of Convenience and some Simon & Garfunkel harmonies.

100%, without a doubt, it would be Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Gayngs, Volcano Choir, etc). That man can do no wrong, and I’d love to pick his brain. His influences and taste are so varied and interesting, it’d be great to have a closer look at where he’s coming from.

Listen to: “Holiday” Aaron Embry Super interesting folk artist, alumnus of Elliot Smith, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes.

Ellie Ford

Listen to: “Reven’s Song” Rayland Baxter Folk/Americana, this guy is goofy (kind of a Mac Demarco/Edward Sharpe combo personality), but he makes quiet and thoughtful folk stuff that is really touching.

Art by Teddy Wenneker

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MIXTAPE REVIEW

Puedo Escribir Los Versos Más Cochinos Esta Noche by La Planta Carnivora

Straight from Santiago LA PLANTA CARNIVORA released some of the funkiest tracks of this academic year like “Vagina Dentada” and the ~heavenly~ “I Have Four Eggs.” Potty mouthed and profound, she’s a little crazy and doesn’t always make sense. But don’t worry, she has enough attitude to make it work.

Henry Osman

RIYL Mariah Carey, Lil Kim, Adrianigual

TOP TRACKS Peo Trasher Vagina Dentada I Have Four Eggs

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PÜ FEST Pü Fest on September 5, 6 & 7 at Empire Hall on Cherokee St.

Art by Maddie Wells

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POETRY COLUMN

Anniversary It was that night when you wandered lonely in the darkness, that night when a single snowy mare on the ridge emanated angelic light from her sturdy frame, swam with the light of the full moon, a votive flame before you Approaching as her muscles created a harmony of waves on her flanks, the incoming tide silently upon the shore, your diminutive body, and you felt the racing hooves of Roman chariots trampling by And you, as if on your knees, shrank before her glistening celestial body. She warmed you like grace with the wind of a gentle sigh and you heard a warhorse snorting through battle And in her eyes reflected the shimmering night, her hills and valleys, the surface of the moon.

Art by Marina Peng

Harry Hall

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On Leaving Together we lay, Still amid the sinking night, Our bodies intertwined Like the crossings of the stars, Your head on my chest, Breathing the beating of my heart. The words we shared Floated up into the darkness, A fog ascending From our mouths to leave everything clear. And the words then came to rest, Condensing upon our fevered bodies, Cooling us like a sunset, Or the chilling waves of I and Love and You. Feeling you against me, I stared with misty eyes upward, Through the darkness of the descending night, Through the floors and ceilings standing Heavily above us. Even below all that was looming, Still, still I knew the presence of the stars.

Harry Hall

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CONCERT REVIEW For a $15.00 show, it is hard to get much better. The lineup included several of the top up-and-coming pop-punk bands of the past few years: co-headlined by State Champs and Handguns, both of whom have a new record out. The first band I saw perform was Heart to Heart, starting off the night right with a fast, hard, in-yourface (literally screaming the lyrics two inches from my face) set. The highlight of the set was lead singer Nick Zoppo hopping off the stage to get down with the crowd during “Hellbound.” Next came a distinct change of scenery as the heavy guitars and moshing was exchanged for the acoustic guitar and emotional lyrics of Front Porch Step, singer-songwriter Jake Mcelfresh. After a somber, yet no less enjoyable set, came Forever Came Calling, a band that is now infamous for their role in Warped Tour documentary No Room for Rockstars as they followed the tour hawking CDs, sleeping in their van, and every day making an effort to get a slot to play. Their pop punk

set was definitely well-received with the crowd, yet was nothing memorable. Some people, myself included, were anxiously waiting for the headliners to come on at this point.

“Heart to Heart, start[ed] off the night right with a fast, hard, in-your-face (literally screaming the lyrics two inches from my face) set.” State Champs was next to take the stage, a surprise as they have a much larger following than Handguns. The young pop-punk band did all they could on the small stage with a poor sound system. They played a set of exclusively newer songs off the album “The Finer Things” The young crowd was into the set from the start and began the crowdsurfing from the first note and kept their energy up the whole set. The young band and young crowd were receptive to every song, from the big singles like “Elevated” and “Deadly Conversation” as well as some of the lesser known mid-set songs like “Critical” and “Over The Line”

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CAPTION CONTEST

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“Hi Antwan, where is the party at?” –Adam Banker “Bark bark woof, I am a dog” –Noah Rowlett At the end of the State Champs set the Fubar cleared out quickly. Not many people wanted to stick around to watch another great up and coming band: Handguns. Despite the crowd of about fifty people, Handguns brought the energy that may be otherwise reserved for a headliner. The set of mainly new songs off of Life Lessons was a treat for the people who did decide to stick around.

“Where the bitches at?” –Isabelle Metz

Be sure to keep your eye open for these bands the next time they are in town, though chances are they will no longer be playing an intimate venue like the Fubar.

Patrick Koenig

Art by Eva Nip

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ARTIST REVIEW Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith redefined the Hammond B-3 organ as a centerpiece of soul-jazz, rather than part of the accompaniment. For those of you who don’t know, the Hammond was the first commercial electronic synthesizer, and its signature gritty, organic sound is produced from the crude turning of gears and tone wheels. The sound is utterly impossible to replicate digitally. Perfect for jazz.

In all of Jimmy Smith’s work, the soothing growl of the B-3 and vibrating hum of the Leslie speaker are brought to the forefront, demanding a mellow mood, and emanating a soulful “Hammond” quality. Smith’s virtuosity in composition, improvisation, and technical skill brought this Hammond sound to prominence through his Billboard-charting records, and led to a generation of Hammond jazz players mimicking his sound. Jon Lord of Deep Art by Abby Kerfoot

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Purple and modern Hammond master John Medeski were both heavily influenced by Smith’s style. Later in his career, Jimmy Smith played B-3 on the title track of Michael Jackson’s Bad. “Back At The Chicken Shack” is his magnum opus. Backed by the great Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax, this 1960 record defined Smith’s blues-based, bebop-influenced, soul jazz style. Keep in mind, no bass player on this re-

cording; Smith is playing the main musical line with the right hand, and the bassline with the left hand and foot pedals. As a final note, Smith has some of my favorite album covers in the biz, often vibrant, heavily-saturated photos of mundane life.

Jared Skoff

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TRAKTOR This past semester, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about a DJ software called Traktor. At first, I used it to audition for the KWUR DJ showcase. For the audition, a minute sample was played from my set. This sample included a sample from Swedish cloud rapper Yung Lean and then transitioned into a loop from Evian Christ’s “Salt Carousel”—an industrial-sounding club banger. Anyways, despite my general ineptitude with Traktor at the time, one of the members on KWUR Exec –Nathan— helped me learn new aspects about Traktor. This helped push me to fine-tune my

setlist and make a seamless mix of songs that I liked and wanted to present at the showcase. Over the course of the semester, I made a Soundcloud page (*shameless plug* follow me: https://soundcloud. com/dj-mile-5) and uploaded the KWUR DJ showcase mix and decided to upload another mix that I did that uses Hudson Mohawke’s “FUSE” and incorporates a segment from an interview of Kanye West on Sway in the Morning. The name of the mix is called “You Ain’t Got the Answers, FUSE” and features Kanye’s classic rant in which he claims he is “the number one most impactful artist of our

Art by Sachi Nagase

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generation” and flips out on Sway, saying “You ain’t got the answers, Sway!” Additionally, Nathan and I worked on a spooky Halloween KWUR Space Race mix together. The mix is about an hour and forty minutes and was played during the KWUR Space Race on Halloween night. The set was completely done on-the-fly although we had set up cues and loops in songs where we thought would be good to transition. We used the same computer, but we switched off every two to three songs. Using Nathan’s controller, I had the chance to practice DJing using an external device also. In general, this se-

mester I have had the opportunity to explore something that I never thought I would do. This newfound hobby has been especially fun to explore for me this semester, and I encourage all KWUR DJ’s or anyone that’s remotely interested in decent electronic music to explore DJing using Traktor, Ableton Live, or some other DJ software. Nick Machak

Art by Alex Berger

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ALBUM REVIEW

Too Bright by Perfume Genius

One of the better new releases of this new semester, Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius released an album able to span technical and emotional boundaries. Armed with a classical beautiful voice and beautiful piano melodies, Hadreas can masterfully evoke melancholy and discomfort as well as any Adele or Sam Smith. However, then he contrasts those familiar, technically beautiful pieces with harsh, buzzing synths, screams, and anger in stand out

tracks ‘Queen’ and ‘Grid.’ The multifaceted nature of this album is what keeps you coming back for more. Somedays, you’ll want to wallow in the beauty of “Don’t Let Them In” and others you’ll want to scream in anger along with “Grid.” I highly recommend giving Perfume Genius and Too Bright a chance. It will leave you thirsty for more.

Hanna McCrum

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ALBUM REVIEW

...And Star Power by Foxygen

...And Star Power is pretty good, I guess. I don’t know, I like it. I think.

Reviewer’s score: 22 Adam Banker

Art by Will Matalene

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GENRE REVIEW

Bluegrass For People Who Don’t Like Bluegrass

Five Song Recommendations for Beginning Listeners

First of all, let it be known that there were dark ages before I discovered really good bluegrass. I assumed that bluegrass was limited to the Flatt and Scruggs dinga-ding-ding-ding kind of intense banjo picking observed in early examples of the genre. I didn’t know how to approach the music, as I found the selection intimidating and seemingly inaccessible. Five-piece bluegrass instrumentation (which, to me, is what distinguishes bluegrass from FolkAmericanaRoots, etc.), is capable of much more than tinny riffs and indecipherable lyrics that I and many others believed defined the genre (although, after an introductory period, I began to enjoy these, too). Often described as possessing a “high lonesome sound,” bluegrass doesn’t shy away from the more melancholy bits of the human experience, distinctly setting modern bluegrass apart from the modern “country” genre.

Steep Canyon Rangers: “Come Dance,” from Tell The Ones I Love. A standout song on their most recent album, this song features the smooth and polished instrumentation these titans of the genre, received popularly for their collaboration with Steve Martin (yep, that Steve Martin), have come to be known for. Crooked Still: “Little Sadie,” from Shaken By a Low Sound. One of their most popular tunes, “Little Sadie” sounds dark and low, exhibiting Aoife O’Donovan’s melancholy vocals. The outfit disbanded after their 2011 album, but their supple discography is worth a listen.

Art by Lia Lankford

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5 SONG RECS FOR BEGINNING LISTENERS Come Dance - Steep Canyon Rangers Little Sadie - Crooked Still Let It Go - The Infamous Stringdusters Letter from Down the Road/And Other Things - Della Mae Rye Whiskey - Punch Brothers `The Infamous Stringdusters: “Let It Go,” from Let It Go. The title track from the Stringdusters’ most recent album showcases the vocals of the group, deemphasizing the instrumentals. The harmonies are strong and display the fusion between traditional bluegrass and modern folk that the band pursues.

“Bluegrass doesn’t shy away from the more melancholy bits of the human experience, distinctly setting modern bluegrass apart from the modern ‘country’ genre.”

Della Mae: “Letter From Down The Road / And Other Things,” from This World Oft Can Be. Della Mae, an all-female (!) bluegrass group, consistently creates beautiful, fiddle-heavy tunes with driving tempos and melodies that stick. The band’s members, for the most part, did not begin their careers with bluegrass, and their myriad of influences show in their pieces.

Punch Brothers: “Rye Whiskey,” from Antifogmatic. Originally more chamber-music oriented classical bluegrass artists, the ultra-talented members of this group (Chris Thile, their mandolinist, recently received the MacArthur Genius Grant for his work) create fresh, experimental bluegrass while managing to stay (mostly) accessible. This band is worth a listen for their fancy fingerwork alone. Ellie Ford

These DJ’s featured at the KWUR DJ Showcase on October 3: Nick Machak: Émile Elijah Gimbel: Is Skrillex Taken? Henry Osman: PLF PEACE LOVE FLIRT Maddie Wells: CUSTOMER SERVICE Nathan Port: DJ Shishigami

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A YEAR IN ELECTRONIC

Top Albums of 2014

As a note, I generally listen to quieter albums than I do mixtapes or singles, I find the LP format much better suited for at home play. After these four albums, I have some other recommended ones that I thought were great but not fantastic, others I may just have missed: Call Super – Suzi Ecto Houndstooth, the label that put this LP has been doing big things. Its A&R arm is run by Rob Booth who head the Electronic Explorations blog. According to him it is “a deviously crafted patchwork of carefully sewn rhythms, sonic contortions and delicate melodies where you’ll hear artists pushing the boundaries of global electronic music.” I’d say this certainly fits

the bill – it sounds like it belongs on an alien world. There are tracks on here that evoke a Pikmin-like feeling, an exploration of the foreign, ecstasy and achievement, yet as the album develops it gets darker and more spotted with harsh noise and snares. The music is hard to categorize, lacking a particular rhythmic structure or backbone and spotted with a sonic palette reminiscent of Aphex Twin’s warmer works. One of the most intriguing aspects of the entire thing is the cohesiveness, achieved through the repetition of similar sounds that change slightly to reach its darker end.

Art by Eva Nip

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Efdemin – Decay Hypnotizing is the best way to describe Efdemin’s third album. Whereas Linear S. Decoded [see below] uses the techno and 4/4 frameworks as rough guidelines Efdemin wholeheartedly embraces this steady beat and uses it without much variation throughout the entire LP. While, at first, that

“There are tracks on here that evoke a Pikmin-like feeling, an exploration of the foreign, ecstasy and achievement...” may seem demeaning it is not. It was part of a conscious decision to make music that obscures the passage of time and brings about the theme of decay, of how sounds change, of how bodies change. This is made explicit by the opening sample of the album my body isn’t listening to me anymore and makes one think of permanence and impermanence. While this all seems like a serious affair (and the album certainly is), there are

lighter moments as well, supplied by Efdemin’s interesting use of vocal samples, especially Salvador Dali on the game show What’s My Line? For some this might be too repetitive, even so, it is impossible to not appreciate each track’s ability to sooth and mesmerize, gained from Efdemin’s incredibly discerning ear when it comes to sound design and synthesis. Leon Vynehall – Music for the Uninvited I don’t know how people title albums (or songs for that matter). What does it mean that this music is for the uninvited – does it imply that we are uninvited into a musical world that Leon Vynehall has created? And, perhaps, that this world is a door to a side of himself that he rarely shares with people he doesn’t even know? Perhaps. The music is emotive enough for me to believe it. It opens with a warm and serious few minutes of cello and violin with twinkling

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keys. It meanders through oddball house that begs you to dance, to have a drink, and to have a good fun time. Perhaps the uninvited is just people who stumble upon this music accidently, implying that it is as rewarding for the stragglers as it is for the invited. Perhaps. Either way, it’s beautiful, accessible, and funky. SHXCXCHCXSH – Linear S. Decoded On their sophomore album, the second in just more than a year, this unpronounceable Swedish duo succeeds at delivering another trance inducing spacey techno album. Linear S. Decoded is less chilling than the previous but equaling enthralling. It opens with a warm yet sad ambient wash and continues from there proving that the duo is here to stay. While techno is the framework that this album operates under none of these songs devolve into DJ tools – an issue that many techno and house LPs suffer from – in fact many of them aren’t even suitable for a dark basement sauf at the latest of hours. The few exceptions on this album, with “Elocution” being

the most potent, are slotted in with the rest of the album and simply represent peaks in intensity instead of breaks in continuity. What makes this album even more engrossing is the frequent sampling of running water to give a natural feel to otherwise artificial sounds. All together it presents a consuming trip.

Honorable Mentions: Abdulla Rashim – Unanimity Wintery techno from another mysterious Swede. Strong club tracks mixed with chilling ambient. Andy Stott – Faith in Strangers A combination of dark ambient and industrial intermingled with Stott’s old piano teachers haunting voice.

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Caustic Window – Caustic Window The better of the two Aphex Twin albums released this year. Yea that’s right, he wasn’t on a long ass hiatus – he just had stuff released (or found as the case may be) under different names.

Terre Thaemlitz (DJ Sprinkles). Its edginess is its own downfall – on some tracks biting more of Gry’s vocals. Be on the lookout for Francis Harris’ project Frank & Tony which has an album coming out in a hot minute.

Christian Loffler – Young Alaska Downtempo to chill too. Melancholy music made even more so by the use of Danish vocalist Gry.

HTRK – Psychic 9-5 Club Another downtempo album, of a similar emotive quality to Young Alaska. Think M83 but sadder and more intelligent.

Fatima – Yellow Memories Floating Points produced soul and R&B. At times it sounds like Monae and at others Badu, but all the time it sounds good. Francis Harris – Minutes of Sleep Luscious deep house from Francis Harris. It’s about as soulful as it gets, featuring live instrumentation and a phenomenal remix from

Art by Will Matalene

Kassem Mosse – Workshop 19 Leftfield and eclectic house line this relatively unfurnished works grooves. Each track is untitled, using only the side of the record to identify it, and the album name itself is naught but a catalog number. “A3” is the standout on this release. Lone – Reality Testing Dusky hip-hop and house inspired music. When I say inspired I mean Lone uses these genres as loose drafts for making beautiful lush music.

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SD Laika – That’s Harikari Dark and guttural grime. Could give you nightmares. Some of this is way out there but overall it feels pretty together. Has a fascinating old ragtime melody as well.

EP of the Year Suicideyear – Hope Building A Sad boyz. You might know Suicideyear as one of Yung Lean’s producers, but he’s a whole lot more than that. If I told you this album was ambient and trap you’d be up in arms yelling “that ain’t possible” but it damn well is. This is beautiful sparkling synths with lush beats, yea maybe the 808 sound isn’t super pronounced but that doesn’t mean the composition is any less trappy. Suicideyear goes to show that he is a master at pulling at heartstrings – the EP (and it’s a long one at that) covers sorrow and joy as well (as well as a cover of My Bloody Valentine). Overall this is a unified piece that is as suited for playing in a club as it is for playing while cuddling under the covers. I listen to mixes more frequently

when I’m on the go, heading back home after a night out, or biking around, and, as you can tell, they tend to be much heavier, harder, clubbier sounds. Some of the previously listed albums just don’t sound good when there’s traffic in the background. These mixes don’t give a fuck. Without further ado, here are 6 club mixes I’ve been rinsing nonstop this year + 1 more for the a chiller setting: Pinch & Mumdance – Pinch B2B Mumdance The new dark sound of the UK Underground. Tectonic label boss Pinch, who previously was a pioneer in the dubstep scene brings something even darker to the table in this absurd mix with Mumdance, who oddly enough used to make europop for MadDecent (hint: you can’t tell anymore). These sounds are grating at times but they bang. I think an apt way to describe how I feel listening to this is to borrow a quote from a Fact Magazine contributor “If someone told me three years ago we’d be giving it gunfingers to music that sounded like a malfunctioning arcade machine I’d

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KWUR DJ’s favorite places to poop and favorite textures of poop: “Cube pellets, like that furry animal.” -Luis Goicouria “Sandy.” -Stephen Pianin “Dysintary.” (sic) -Teddy Wenneker “Elijah’s room.” -Phillip Underwood “Phillip’s bed.” -Elijah Gimbel “Wet, wild, n’ runny.” -Jules Rader “Arvind-colored brown.”-Jon Luskin

probably have laughed, but here we are and I can’t get enough of it.” (Scott Wilson). But that’s how it is, the beats are unconventional, frequently lacking anything that can be recognized as a drum, and driving and you can’t stop from dancing. Ruckazoid – EXTENDED KLIPZ VOL 1 I first heard Ruckazoid on Machinedrum’s Essential Mix last year as the lyrics “I give her a condom / watch her unwrap it like Christmas” echoed after a “Mars needs women” sample and I was immediately hooked. This mix is chalk full of his work, with a few standout and downright crude contributions from others. This is the music I wished people played in frats if I still ever wanted to go to frats. Either way you’ll get down and loose to this.

Mumdance – Mumdance’s Mahraganat Mixtape Dummy Mix #205 I’ve already featured Mumdance but he deserves another mention here. Mumdance and some other fellows in the scene went to Egypt to collaborate with a group of street musicians associated with the Mahraganat scene there. Think the Pinch B2B Mumdance mix but with Middle Eastern flair and MCs that you can’t understand. There’s a whole lot less cohesion here but it’s a fascinating collision of sonic worlds. Kode9 – RA.400 Kode9 is the label boss of Hyperdub, which if you don’t know is the label that has released Burial, DJ Rashad, and so so so many more. This mix gets off to a fascinating start, choosing the early 80s song “Bamboo Houses” by David Sylvian & Ryuchi Sakamoto. This choice is interesting because Kode9, just as much as Pinch, has helped promote forward thinking electronic and dubstep. “Bamboo Houses,” despite its age, could have been made today and serves an interest jumping off point for the footwork and fast paced club

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music that Kode9 delivers. You’ll some names, Cashmere Cat, Rustie, and the TekLife crew, but many of them were new to me – which is just the way I like it. The mix ends just as it started, on a high note, with an ethereal remix of one of Kode9’s more famous songs – “Time Patrol” by Maschine. VesperTown – One Night In VesperTown for DISMagazine PC Music That’s the title of this new sort of saccharin glitch music infected with weird computer samples and high pitched vocals. I usually am not a huge fan but this entry by the Israeli-born VesperTown takes all the best parts and brings it together for an emotive rollercoaster Captain of the varsity kickball team of his high school, General Manager Arvind Srinsivanana pitches to KSLU’s batting lineup. Ultimately, the combined efforts of the entire KWUR team won us sweet victory, breaking a 9-year losing streak. Afterwards, the team celebrated with Uncle Bill’s.

ride of 17 tracks in 25 minutes. This mix succeeds because it manages to bring the girly charm of PC Music together with bonafide club sounds from DJ Sliink and others. It’s an interesting collection because, looking at the tracklist, it seems like it would be a flop. VesperTown’s own productions cement the mix together and provide for a chiller 3 song outro that is drippin’ with feels. Make sure to scoop VesperTown’s VIP of “Fancy” it’s a free download along with the mix. Fracture – XLR8R 351 For whatever reason, the genre DnB (and its precursor Jungle) is

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often relegated to the toilet when electronic music is discussed. I think it’s because there was such an upsurge, as there frequently is during periods of popularity, of shitty DnB, and not enough quality productions to shine through the muck. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t existed since its peak in popularity - just the masses haven’t heard of it. Fracture delivers a ridiculous ride through all things 160, be it footwork, juke, or the new futuristic sound of DnB, more open to interpretation than its previous narrow iteration, sprinkled with a fair amount of crude Jamaican sounding vocals from Rider Shafique. The most annoying thing about the mix is that the best joints are as of yet unreleased, so you just have to sit on your ass until you they are. In particular I’m thinking of MP’s U Dont Know Me, which features a stunning sample from Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman,” and Overlook’s “Empires.” Bézier – Native Lovers BIS Radio Show #724 Part of the charm of this mix is that you will never have heard a single song on it before. Bézi-

er took the time to go to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan to dig through old disco there and he brought back this mix. This is made more impressive by the fact that Bézier doesn’t actually speak any of the Chinese dialects one would need to communicate there – he had his mom translate though. It’s a fun tour through a different time and a different place, yet the disco thread gives it a sense of comfort and certainly conveys Bézier’s stated theme of “freedom and love.” Nathan Port

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T-SHIRT SUBMISSIONS

er!

n win

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Top row from left: Arvind Srinisanavn, Sarah Davis, Alex Berger, Katie Yun Second row: Katie Yun, Robert Kapeller, Sunny Feinstein, Serena Fang Third row: Isaac Howell

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RETROSPECTIVE

No Absolutes In Human Suffering Occasionally, we are confronted by hopelessness. That feeling we experience when we look up at the top of the metaphorical shit pile that constitutes our lives, and come to the realization that we’re at the bottom. The traditional response is despair - the sappy, heart-on-sleeve bullshit that we all deflect onto other people, or use to justify our own lack of self-worth. The other option is to get mad. Not just upset, but really fucking pissed off. It was at this junction of self-draining despair and wrenching anger that I first heard Gaza’s masterpiece, No Absolutes in Human Suffering. Here’s a band that took the left hand path – instead of internalizing their angst as most of us would, they crafted it into a megaton bomb and dropkicked it into your face. On the surface, Gaza played grindcore, the hyper-kinetic punk/ metal bastard child that consists of extreme tempo shifts and little to no recognizable song structure.

Getting angry at things is almost passé in punk these days, and thankfully Gaza threw in the best parts of sludge metal (the riffs, dear god, the riffs) and even post rock to change up the formula – there are microgrooves and motifs that pop up here and there, little bits of corrupted rock n’ roll, to remind us that these 4 musicians are truly excellent at what they do. But all of these are just details – what really matters is what’s under the music, and in Gaza’s case, it’s pure unfettered rage, directed at whatever’s in front of them at the moment – politics (see: the band name), other people, the inevitability of death, and the tiny moments of sheer irritation that grind on the psyche like so many pins and needles.

“And beneath this there’s a sense of futility – anger is a temporary solution to a permanent problem.”

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The moments where this record hits hardest are those that balance the rage with the hopelessness – “The Vipers” opens with Jon Parkin’s throatshredding roar and proceeds to grind and smash for two and a half minutes before suddenly relaxing into open, melancholy tones, a reminder that beneath the anger underlies a sense of restlessness, a discontent with the everyday minutiae of living. And beneath this there’s a sense of futility – anger is a temporary solution to a permanent problem. It’s this constant push and pull of lethargy and fury that keeps bringing me back to this record. It’s a whirlwind of emotion condensed into song-size parts, and the maelstrom speaks to a thought that the worst of us constantly experience: I am unhappy with what I am, and no matter how much it pains me, it will never be absolute. The title track encapsulates this idea – a simple riff, coupled with the repeated title phrase. It’s uncompro-

mising and brutalizing, a hammer to drive home the nail of discontent, followed by a plaintive guitar moment and a fade into obscurity. This is echoed in the closing track, “Routine And Then Death”, which opens with titanic slabs of sound, deliberate and methodical, and closes on whispered guitar. It’s difficult to put into words how this record has affected me. Gaza was the first metal band that I ever saw perform, and they have been in constant rotation in my listening library ever since. No Absolutes turned out to be their final moment, as the band would implode later among questionable circumstances. As it turns out, their suffering most certainly was not absolute, and that really fucking pisses me off. Arvind Snivranasn

ZINE COMMITTEE This edition of Sample was made for the Washington University in St. Louis college student-run radio station KWUR 90.3 FM during Fall 2014. It is set in Roboto. The pages were designed by Alex Berger and the cover was designed by Eleni Anas. The content was provided by the KWUR excutive board and general body.