We’re going to start this off with a little mental exercise. Think back to the first time you felt cool. When I say cool, I don’t mean the mass-produced coolness that gets sold back to everyone in an attempt to sell you the next hot product. I mean the real feeling, the one you get when you sneak into your first “grown up” concert or when you and your friends decide to raid your older sibling’s room for all of the goodies that felt forbidden to you then, even if they seem like such mundane paraphernalia now that you’re older. Got that image in your mind? Good. Keep it there until it feels like it is going to spill out the side of your skull. With this exercise, you would think that I am preparing to tell you all about a movie that places weight on that inherent coolness. In that sense, you could also think I stand at 6 feet tall and have shiny white teeth. But I’m a short angry man with teeth the color of lemons here to let you know that we're talking about being uncool. We’re talking about Almost Famous, the 2000s film directed by Cameron Crowe about a 16-year-old baby faced William Miller coming of age while in the midst of following blooming band Stillwater in the rocking 70s, getting the once in a lifetime chance to write for Rolling Stone Magazine. 

Before we digress into that, however, a quick little note. This is the first part in a weekly series covering the favorite music centric movies of the writer, yours truly, and the things we can at least try to glean from any of them. Next week's diatribe will be on the 90s cult classic Empire Records. When it comes to this piece though, at least half of this will be incoherent. A quarter of it will be downright idiotic. Who knows what the last quarter of this will be, but somewhere in there is some kernel of truth I’m trying to pop. Now that I have finished my expository drivel, let's get onto the rest of the show.  

This past April, a thunderous EP came crashing into U92’s rotation, injuring one DJ and strewing the studio with broken glass and goat hair. Created by Saint Louis, Missouri area punks Inner City Witches, HOOF! presents a unique blend of punk, post-punk, and jazz all fusing together into a sound equally cohesive and coercive. The band describe themselves on Spotify as “Post-Punk/Post-Hardcore,” but this barely scratches the surface. “One Hoof To The Head” opens the album with a heavy, energetic verse featuring hardcore punk drumming and a slower, heavier chorus. “Witch On Film” continues the heat, amping the manic energy up to eleven. “Cloven Hoof” has a calmer energy at first, but slowly builds to a climactic ending. Of the five songs on the EP, four are all time bangers in my heavy listening rotation, with the remaining one likely to join them. Clocking in at just over 16 minutes, HOOF! wastes not a single second or song, with each track unique enough to stand on its own while still sounding cohesive. Channeling equal parts post-punk and hardcore, this EP is one of my favorite releases of the year so far, and I’m excited to see the band’s next move.

Examining the history of rock music, it’s easy to identify some of the folks who belong on the “Mount Rushmore” of the genre. Such a topic has been found amongst music fans from record stores to bonfires to everywhere in between. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent debating between friends who the best drummer of all time is (I’ve established a solid top three: Neil Peart, Dave Grohl, and Karen Carpenter, in no particular order, but that’s not why I’m writing this post). But during such discussions, many fail to bring up one of the most crucial cogs in the music machine: the engineers and producers. 

For my two cents, I’d have to tip my cap to the late, great Steve Albini. Although known for his musical contributions, I actually first found out about Steve from his viral interaction with someone questioning his engagement numbers, but once I heard his songs, I could immediately point them out. The distinctive sounds of drums, the meticulous layouts to achieve some of the crispest sounds known to man. The sketch below is of the layout from the studio recordings of Songs: Ohia’s The Magnolia Electric Co. seems like that of a madman, but if you listen to that record, you’ll understand why such attention to detail was necessary. 

A mere four hours after dropping the lead single, Bladee dropped his latest album at 5 p.m EST on a Tuesday. The shockingly consistent 30-track long Cold Visions is his longest release to date, clocking in at just over an hour long with an average track length of barely over 2 minutes. Despite the shortness of the tracks, none of them ever feel underbaked, with just about every non-interlude track sporting a few memorable lines or awe-inspiring production. Cold Visions is a move away from the happier, more whimsically meditative sounds of recent albums like 2022’s Spiderr and Crest, returning to the vibes of projects like Eversince, Red Light, Icedancer, and most noticeably Working on Dying, the 2017 mixtape built around production from the music collective of the same name (as said on the second track “WODRAINER,” “Working on Dying 2 - You thought I was lying it’s true”).

16 of the 30 tracks on Cold Visions feature production from Working on Dying member F1lthy, best known for the “rage” style beats he has produced for artists like Playboi Carti and Ken Carson, provides some of his best beats possibly ever, including the disorientingly aggressive “KING NOTHINGG” and the throbbing “ONE SECOND.” Other producers present on the album include RipSquad member Lusi, James Ferraro, and Drain Gang affiliates Yung Sherman and Whitearmor. Skrillex is also featured as a producer on the track “D.O.A,”  providing a poppier beat that seems to sample “Trendy,” a track from Bladee’s 2021 album The Fool.

U92 will be broadcasting the Backyard Brawl baseball game from PNC Park on Tuesday, April 30th.

West Virginia (26-16) is coming off a series sweep against the Baylor Bears, WVU was scheduled to play Penn State in a midweek game on April 24th but it was canceled due to field conditions after weather. 

The 21-year-old Connecticut-based producer and artist, ericdoa, electrifies on his latest album,“DOA.” Following previous success as an emo-rap, hyper-pop artist, ericdoa decided to blend more of a pop-rock soundscape in “DOA.” Opting towards more rhythmic tracks rather than experimental bass lines, ericdoa tends to trade memorable songwriting for a catchy mixtape.Songs like “lastjune” and “dancinwithsomebawdy” make you want to get up and dance, while also showcasing a slower, more emotional side with tracks such as, “biga**bearman” and “crisisactor.”

For a while now, Morgantown has fostered creativity and artistic freedom. While we see new artists emerging all the time, this town’s recent wave of musicians shows promising security for the revival of the DIY scene. To name just a few of the bands that have contributed to this scene, and sparked my interest in it, there’s American Boxer, The BedHeads, Wizards Is Crazy, PorchCouch, Where Wolf, and so many more. As the scene continues to flourish, Morgantown’s sense of community and innovation will only grow too, as it has over the past few years. The ball’s rolling, we just have to keep pushing it, and at U92, we intend to do so. This one goes out to the bands keeping this town on top.

“Wisecrack” is Haley Blais’ confessional sophomore album released back in September of 2023. The album is dark and emotional and covers themes such as nostalgia, anxiety, morality, and ego. The Vancouver based singer-songwriter has just released the deluxe version of the album earlier this month with the newly added songs, “Somebody’s Son”, “Concrete 2”, and a live version of “Survivor’s Guilt”. 

The album starts off with the song, “Soft spot for monarchs” which is a repetitive yet captivating song with haunting harmonies. It uses many echoing and overlapping effects to represent what’s to come in the album. The opening song then leads into one of the singles, “Survivor’s Guilt”. The title itself tells us what the song is about, the feelings of guilt we face when dealing with loss. The song uses vivid imagery to evoke the same feelings of grief she has. The next song, “Coolest f****** b**** in town” is one of the other singles released for this album. The song talks about her emotions following her parents divorce and her ego. The line “Coolest f****** b**** in town” is repeated over and over again at the end of the song and in her live performances she has the crowd scream this line with her. It is a powerful moment that promotes self-love and confidence. 

On April 26th, The West Virginia Mountaineers will begin a three game set against the Baylor Bears at Kendrick Family Ballpark in Granville, West Virginia. The Mountaineers hold a 23-16 record overall with a 11-7 record in conference play. 

The Mountaineers are coming off of a series sweep at the hands of Texas Tech. Prior to that series the Mountaineers were 7 of their last 8 with the only loss being to Marshall in extra innings. 

Fresh off the heels of the latest blockbuster release for producer Jack Antonoff, Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department, I am convinced that the only creative music Antonoff is capable of producing is for his own group Bleachers. His trend, not only with Swift, but with every pop artist he's collaborated with including The 1975, Lorde, and Lana Del Ray, involves stripping away everything from music and refusing to play into the musician's strengths to create a generic, a-melodic, spoken word poetry album. This approach is guaranteed to only further jeopardize the jobs of other musicians since he has made it a hundred times easier for AI to write a pop hit now. This is not to say that Antonoff is unoriginal, uncreative, or a disservice to music: just to those he collaborates with. 

His latest release with his group Bleachers, the January Bleachers album, features more of the creativity than can be heard on the 90+ minutes of Swift's Midnights. My first listen of Midnights came on a drive home from Ohio with my sister in tow. I was vastly underwhelmed, almost asleep at times from the ambient, tonal background with little instrumentation and trackable melody. Swift's early music has power for a reason: it can be sung.