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aaaaaawwwwhh yeeaaah! We done it again y’all! Feast your eyes upon the 2nd edition of WVAU’s physical music zine, “The Stream.” Beyond this preface lies content that will boggle your audiophile imagination and tickle your most musically inclined curiosities. This issue is coming in hot with a whole mess of original content; Album reviews, concert photos, Dj spotlights and more await you within. At WVAU we believe in DOING IT YOURSELF. Everything about this zine was created by students and DJs with a passion for music. As you browse the pages, feel free to “ooh” and “aah” out loud as to let other people know that what you’re reading isn’t just your everyday publication. This zine is a window into the life of the musically obsessed. Just think, years from now when the world is nothing but a post-apocalyptic wasteland and a lone human stumbles upon a copy of this very zine strewn amongst the rubble decades after the rapture, they’ll browse these pages and think: “holy shit, once upon a time the world was so cool. Wow.”
That’s the very same magazine that you’re holding, RIGHT NOW. This zine contains the blood, sweat and tears of DJs, writers and artists that have tirelessly worked to produce something for everyone to have and enjoy. All those music reviews, photos and drawings you see? All of them are by our very own DJs and staff members. Let’s give a big ol’ hug to the wonderful staff that has worked to put this zine together and give us something physical and eternal to demonstrate how great WVAU is. If you haven’t heard yet, WVAU won Best Student-Run, Internet-Only Station at this year’s CMJ College Radio Awards in New York City. The award is a result of the hard work over the last few years put in by so many students, DJs, e-board members and faculty advisors. We’re so happy to have the zine to further prove WVAU’s excellence. Show it off to all of your friends and family. Now enough from us, turn the fucking page! WVAU forever! -Brendan Principato & Hyunjin Park, WVAU General Managers
Cover: Photo by Nicole Brunet Illustration by Andrew Gelwick, Luke Palermo, Maddy Fetzko, and Eli Fosl
by Andrew Gelwick
Music is becoming universally free and accessible whether we like it or not. Instead of manually putting a physical vinyl onto a turn table, or a disc into a CD player, most music listeners now freely stream or download music from their computers, phones, and other electronics by the simple tap of a screen. The last few months in particular have only mirrored the direction in which the music industry is heading. During the release of Taylor Swift’s “1989” album last month, Swift made the controversial decision to pull all original content from her profile on the free massive music streaming app Spotify. Swift’s dispute over allowing free streaming of her album was apparently linked to the artist’s lack of cut in royalties shared between the Spotify company, the publishing rights holders and herself. According to Spotify’s breakdown of royalties per artists, musical artists earn between $0.006 and $0.0084 per each streamed play from its customers. In addition, Spotify claims that it only collects 30% of its revenue, which comes from both their paying premium customers and interrupted streamed adds for free users of the app. According to the Spotify Company the rest of its revenue, amounting to 70%, is in return given to the publishing rights holders and record labels. Among other notable artists who have pulled content from Spotify are the Black Keys the garage rock group. While some artists are beginning to boycott music streaming sites and apps, the band U2 recently pulled a daring stunt in collaboration with iTunes. Instead of reg-
ularly releasing their album “Songs Of Innocence” on the iTunes marketplace the band teamed up with Apple to share their new album ont o the iTunes Libraries of many Apple users without asking for consent. However, instead of rejoicing in the ir free download of U2’s newest album, many iTunes customers, along with the media, replied with backla sh, claiming the pre-down loaded album was a breach of customer privacy. In today’s market, the status of a product being free does not always mean the product is actually free of charge. Internet sites and app s that offer free entertainment come with the pri ce of forced advertisement, like on Spotify or Pandora radio. Because music apps and sites have the power to breach a costumer’s security or determine an artist’s popularity based on their free streaming services, the roles of the music industry could possibly be altered. Ins tead of record companies and producers determining how popular an artist is, music sites and apps could possibly hold the power to an artist‘s popularity in the future. With the growing business of advertisement in the free music industry, music streaming apps and sites could possibly cut out or purchase the middleman (record companies) and produce their own exclusive artists and music. Right now it seems that the music industry is still caught up in playing Chinese Checkers between the artists, record companies, music distributo rs and illegal downloading industry, however it ma y not take long for music streaming business to ditch the marbles and start playing monopoly instead. by Zach Ewell
FKA T WIGS: Live in Review
It
goes without saying that despite her petite size, FKA twigs is a really big deal right now. Since 2012, the music industry has been watching twigs’ every move, patiently waiting for her next release like kids anticipating the familiar ring of the ice cream truck in the summertime before it swings down the block. Hailed as one of the most interesting artists of 2014
by music critics at large, 26-year-old Tahliah Barnett has stepped out of the shadows and into the limelight as the media’s most covered star on the rise. (Believe it or not, this was happening way before Robert Pattinson was spotted in public with her.) With a nickname that started as a joke regarding the eery sound of her joints cracking, it’s clear that the timing of twigs’ career isn’t one of those happy accidents.
Based in East London, twigs has been doing everything on her own terms for years, exploring a more experimental path than most have ever dared. Similar to a few other emerging artists in her lane, twigs has been writing songs for the past 10 years, which has certainly allotted
By Sydney Gore
Graphics & Layout by Isabella Lucy and Andrew Gelwick
her enough time to establish a solid foundation for her creative process. Her attention to detail is remarkable as she examines every inch of her work in depth.With a background fundamentally rooted in dance, twigs has always known how to put on an impressive
performance on stage, but her delicate voice carries its own weight to add a flair of intimacy. No doubt that her mix-raced roots have also given her a clearer perspective of what it means to be “different” in today’s broken, socially constructed hierarchy system as well. twigs’ ascension into the electronic R&B realm began after she released EP1 and EP2 under Young Turks, discographies
that showcase her versatility as an artist. Earlier this year, she also collaborated on an exclusive 7” with inc. Back in April, twigs embarked on her first mini-tour across Europe, only stopping in four cities. I had the honor of attending her soldout performance at Carreau du Temple in Paris, France. It was my 21st birthday and I couldn’t imagine celebrating it any other way. That night, I was exposed twigs in her most vulnerable state on a stage in front of a crowd of spectators that didn’t know what to expect
from her. We didn’t know what to do-should we sit or stand? Did she want us to dance or stay still? (Halfway through, she gave us permission to get up and dance. Everyone remained seated.) The showcase was special because of the intimacy the space provided. There was no opener, just twigs. Even though she gave her all, I left the building spellbound. A few weeks later, twigs made her U.S. debut with small showcases in NYC and L.A. Leading up to the release of her highly-anticipated full-length debut LP1 this summer, twigs headlined five sold out shows in North America. A few days prior to the album’s release, I went to her show with a few friends at Webster Hall in NYC on August 6. This time, she had more of a fan base-- people
styled their hair to look identical to hers and everyone knew the words to most of the songs. Still, she had to prove herself to the world. Was this British singer really worth all the hype that the industry had created? twigs overdid everything from hitting every high note with perfection to dancing so exquisitely that she threw herself on the floor. She was excited, taking small breaks in-between songs to express her candid appreciation for the crowd and their energy. twigs rarely speaks, so when she does the room is completely silent, hanging on her every word. In those moments, she bounced from twigs to Tahlia, and it was exhilarating to watch her in the flesh. twigs is multitalented in a manner that doesn’t feel forced because she’s humble about it. That night, twigs had confidence and it illuminated the entire room. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her; I felt hypnotized and she was the only one with the ability to snap me out of it. “Seeing her live was a very spiritual experience,” said Teta Alim. “And it wasn’t like her dancing was particularly arresting but paired with her ethereal voice, it was truly like she was performing a blessing on us. I’m still reliving that experience even now.” On the evening of November 6, twigs
“Her movements gave me life, and her voice sent me to heaven,” said Jack Fitzpatrick
“He told me I was so small I told him water me”
graced the 9:30 Club audience with her presence. She had been through this before, but D.C. brought out a new crowd with a different vibe. And yet throughout the entire show, I could tell that twigs was holding back. I recalled the part in “Lights On” when she usually broke out into a choreographed sequence. She went through all the motions, and she executed beautifully, but it didn’t have the usual flare to it. For me, it came off as a small part of a routine to be repeated, but then I realized that this was what it looked like when she was in complete control of everything. “Seeing twigs live was a truly special and incredible experience,” said Izzi McDonnell. “You could tell she had put so much preparation into this tour through her choreography, and not only that but also her performance was so striking as she exhibited so much power onstage. Her contorted performance was mesmerizing and often left me mute and paralyzed.” Since this was my third time seeing the star, I decided to withdrawal myself from the environment and avert my attention elsewhere for a minute. It’s difficult to
take your eyes off twigs, but I wanted to see how others were reacting to the experience. I knew exactly what it was like to take her in for the first time, and as my eyes darted from one person to the next, I smiled as I realized how focused they were on her. From the balcony to the floor, everybody was there in the moment, completely in sync with twigs. It’s like watching an initiation of some sort where every person’s soul had been awoken to something pure. Andrea Panting relayed her experience: “Seeing FKA Twigs live was a completely immersive experience that played with all of my senses. watching her tweek her little body around the stage was clearly not only mesmerizing for me, but for everyone around me as I saw mouths wide opened and a complete hush fall upon the audience as they too fell into a trance. Her D.C show being my second time seeing her, I was able to focus more on her vocals than on her fascinating dance moves. Her ability to sound like a powerful independent woman capable of owning the verse ‘when I’m alone I don’t need you/I love my touch’ yet also owning her cute child-like babbles in ‘numbers’.” Nothing compares to seeing FKA twigs for the first time. It is literally life changing and an experience like no other. The beauty of twigs is that she is fully aware of her unusualness, but she embraces these natural abilities and characteristics of hers with grace and poise. FKA twigs is a living, breathing work of art, and she’s the contemporary artist that our society needs in today’s complex post-modern world. I am honored to have seen her three times, and I look forward to many more experiences with her in the future. -Sydney Gore
WVAU had the pleasure of attending CMJ again this year and taking home the title of best Internet only, student run radio station. Besides all the conferences that AU’s DJs attended, the music journalism conference also hosted official showcases, which then prompted some unofficial showcases. Exploding in Sound Records celebrated their third birthday with a 12-hour unofficial showcase at the Silent Barn, a DIY punk venue in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY on October 25th. The day was filled with fan favorites such as Kal Marks, Two Inch Astronaut, Krill, Palehound, and Pile. Although the day was long and seating was limited the audience showed their commitment and stayed strong the entire time. Along with the incredible tunes, employees of the Silent Barn showed their hospitality with water, snacks and haircuts for those who needed to clean up their grunge or shape the madness. Crowd members walked away with tired feet, ringing ears, and the sense of community that Exploding in Sound creates.
g” Fosl Eli “Pepe The Fro
ts” Palermo Luke “Stop Rivers Cuomo At All Cos
ts” Zach “Khaki Pan
Ewell
Sydney “Champagne Papi Pacify” Gore
Isabella “Bella” Lucy
Nicole “The Angsty Angel” Brunet
Meghan “Eat My Casserole” Nash
Maddy “Maddy-Shack” Fetzko
Genevieve “Razzle Dazzle” Kotz
Arshum “Shroomy” Rouhanian
Andrew “Trap Lord” Gelwick
Fall 2014 - WVAU.org