Following Asher Roth’s general post-secondary hit “I Love College” and Mike Posner’s general success comes Duke’s very own hip-hop anthem from a mysterious Trinity ’07 graduate by the name of Anthem. The track, titled “Dear Duke,” mentions every part of undergraduate life at the Gothic wasteland wonderland from Campus Dr. to Shooters II to drinking on Duke’s dry East Campus to Brodhead bobbing his head to Anthem’s very own track on the Quad. Anthem also serves up some shout-outs to successful Duke grads like Dan Abrams, Reggie White and J.J. Redick (OK, not all of them are successful). Check out the track here.
Rumor has it that Anthem will be handing out mixtapes at Tailgate this homecoming weekend. But one question remains: how did Duke get so into hip-hop?
UPDATE: Anthem is Anteneh Addisu, now living in New York.
Mike Kinsella could give Elliott Smith a run for his money. The middle Kinsella brother’s four Owen albums are beautiful if terribly sad solo works, dwelling on relationship failures. They are the one-artist soundtrack for the broken hearted.
And now, on his fifth album and first in three years, Kinsella is focusing on something new. New Leavesis, just as the title says, a new leaf for the singer/songwriter. More sonic in production, Kinsella’s is dealing with the same melancholy relationship songs. But here, he shows signs of moving on, forward-looking in his approach. On the titular opener, he sings, “I’m tired of painting over the past.” Indeed, this album is forward looking.
But the album is more than thematically different. Much as the Kinsella brothers various projects have barely sounded alike (OK, American Football sounds kind like Owen, but they’re both Mike Kinsella solo), New Leaves stands apart from earlier Owen albums. Working with the likes of Tim Iseler (whose resume boasts Wilco credits), Brian Deck (mid-Modest Mouse, the past two Iron & Wine albums), Graeme Gibson (Califone, Joan of Arc) and brother Nate, Owen’s latest sounds more collaborative. Less a man working it out alone and more a cohesive project. (more…)
Sophomore Price Davidson, a Duke Student Government Senator, made an appearance on this past weekend’s episode of Army Wives. In this very special episode of the Lifetime drama, we learn about life at the Charleston fort during World War 2 and get a special message about racism. Oh, and what’s Davidson’s role? Western Union Messenger. In his dramatic turn, Davidson rings the death knell, announcing a fallen soldier and inciting the birth of a Greatest Generation version of a wife.
You can check out his appearance in the below video at 33:20. We can’t wait to see what news you bear on next week’s episode. Until then, keep broin’.
NOTE: A lot of records are being released this week. More than we have room for in our eight-pages every Thursday. As such, we’re running some reviews online this week. Check back here throughout the week for reviews of the new WHY?, Owen, Times New Viking and more and don’t forget to pick up the paper Thursday for those other reviews.
Perhaps most famous for being on Pitchfork’s list of best songs of the decade before even releasing an album, the Big Pink’s debut, A Brief History of Love, should be a wretched affair. A post-shoegaze, electro rock, indie pop release with a hefty title not to mention the band’s name, it’s the perfect fodder for some big in 2009, gone in 2010 band.
But Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell do one better. A Brief History of Love is a wholly enjoyable confection. The two approach their music with an all-too-British earnestness, endearing themselves with four-plus-minute pop songs about, what else–love. But what matters on these tracks is not that they are about love but how they sound. In fact, the duo could go Sigur Ros on these lyrics and it wouldn’t make a difference. (more…)
Shayne O’Neill came down to Durham from his new home in BK, NY to preview some new material from his forthcoming album and long-awaited split EP with the Never as well as play some old songs. Check out the video below of the three-person version of the Future Kings of Nowhere playing some new and old tracks (this is also the second time “Paper Napkins” has appeared in video form on this blog.)
