Music
Penn's Own Musicians On The Rise
This campus is full of alarmingly qualified individuals, so it comes as no surprise that a number of accomplished musicians and potential stars walk among us.
This Is The Afterparty
In 2008, Made in the Dark catapulted Hot Chip to the forefront of electropop, capturing the attention of hipsters across the country.
Finding Themselves
Spoon has never paid much heed to consistency. The band’s first four full-length albums were grab bags of indie-pop sounds, as if they weren’t quite ready to settle down with a style of their own.
Understanding GaGa
Whether you love or hate GaGa, take a listen to some of these influential tracks to discover what she's all about. 1.
Puntal/ Contrapuntal: Lady GaGa
LADY GAGA IS USHERING IN A NEW, FAR MORE REFRESHING, ERA OF POP I am an outsider to pop.
One Track Mind
With their new single, “Good Morning,” Rogue Wave have taken all of the things they had going for them — beautifully layered guitars, mellifluous vocals, a healthy sense of introspection — and completely obliterated them, opting instead for the same sort of sugary pop their original music seemed to be a reaction against.
Major (-Label) Flop
We’ve really tried to understand the acclaim surrounding Motion City Soundtrack’s major-label debut.
Guilty Pleasures: Rascall Flatts
There are a lot of reasons I hate myself for loving Rascal Flatts. It really bothers me that the lead singer, the appropriately named Gary LeVox, is fat, spikes his hair and doesn’t play an instrument.
We Were Wrong About You
In a December 3 review of “Cousins,” the first of two somewhat mediocre singles from Vampire Weekend’s new album, we were not impressed: “It doesn’t sound like Contra will expand [the band’s] preppy East Coast sensibilities too much.” This thinking seemed logical at the time.
Music News You Missed
We don’t blame you for not keeping up with music news over break. But now that you’re all caught up on sleep and Jersey Shore episodes, check out some of the info you may have missed.
Defibrillator:Pearl Jam “Ten” (1991)
There’s a deodorant company that claims that smell is the strongest sense tied to memory. This may be true, but in my mind sound is a close second.
One Track Mind
In her 13 years as a solo artist, Missy Elliott has never before made fans wait this long for an album.
Artists To Watch
The xx This indie-pop outfit from across the pond exploded onto the scene in 2009 with their self-titled debut album.
Letter From A Fan
Dear Britney and Christina, True fact: I have now spent 173 hours learning the choreography to the “(You Drive Me) Crazy” video (speaking of which, Brit, are you really friends with Sabrina the Teenage Witch?). And every night after practicing the part with the chair — which really hurts my ass, by the way — I fall asleep listening to “Reflection.” Mulan is the best!
Defibrillator: Green Day “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” (1997)
As embarrassing as this is to admit, I wasn’t always a seventh grader. The truth is, I used to not even be in middle school.
Battle Of The Boys
Awesomest Concert: The No Strings Attached Tour is showing a lot of promise as a top-rating concert series.
Study Jams
Math/Science: Trip Hop A number of us at Penn agree: math and science can be scary.
Defibrillator: Oklahoma! by Rogers and Hammerstein (1955)
Musicals are the worst. Nothing makes me want to dish out wedgies like a Broadway showstopper. Road trips are great, though — so great that they can make things like Roy Rogers and show tunes digestible. Every summer, my family drives 10 hours to visit my grandparents in Maine.
One Track Mind: 12.3.09
Vampire Weekend, “Cousins” Hear the first several iterations of “hey hey” in the beginning of “Cousins,” the new track from Vampire Weekend's forthcoming Contra, and you may be reminded of something very familiar: the band’s last album.
