WVKR will be holding an open house from 1 to 4 PM tomorrow on Saturday June 5th inviting both former DJs and any other interested alumni to take a look at the station and see how it has developed and grown within the past few years. Alumni will have the opportunity to talk with the students currently staffing the station and be able to relive their days as the proud independent spirits that contributed to 91.3 FM. To reach the station, simply follow the signs in the retreat indicating the location of WVKR, which is situated on the third floor of the college center.

On my first day back to Vassar this fall, I was chatting with my advisor about hip hop on the quad under a scorching August sun.  He asked me if I had heard of this cat named J. Cole who was starting to get some looks for his new mixtape.  I hadn’t (wince) but looked him up that day, downloaded The Warmup and started keeping tabs on him.  His rise from that day last summer has been meteoric–his mixtape exploded onto the blogosphere, he was featured on Jay Z’s and Wale’s 2009 releases and was tapped as one of the prestigious Freshman 10 for XXL Magazine.  Now, with his debut album set to drop, J. Cole is on a college tour which stopped at Vassar last week to perform at the annual Hip Hop 101 Throwback Jam with Big Daddy Kane.  Although rain forced the concert inside and I couldn’t see him perform in the same spot where I first heard about the young rapper months ago, my co-host Hannah Yardley and I got the chance to sit down with J and ask him a few questions before he hit the stage.

Click here or on the above image to watch J. Cole Interview video

–Connor O’Neill, WVKR Hip-Hop Genre Director

New York music blog Brooklyn Vegan spotted us selling merchandise last Saturday at the Flaming Lips show in Poughkeepsie!

Check out the photos HERE.

WVKR 2009-2010 merchandise is still available! Go to our Merch page for more info.

INSTANT SUMMER – One part heat, one part (see below):

MD PICK OF THE WEEK: COOL WORLD “Gaydream Nation” [Dœs Are] – Another JUICY and (gay)dreamy release from Dœs Are that sounds like the best summer backyard afternoon this side of the train tracks from Pete and Pete.

DARIUS’ PICK OF THE WEEK: DAVID BYRNE AND FATBOY SLIM “Here Lies Love” [Todomundo/Nonesuch] – The premise is unreal. Just a teaser: it has to do with the first lady of the Philippines and a beloved child servant. It’s conceptualized as absurdist disco theatre that sounds like the artists who composed it.

ELODIE’S PICK OF THE WEEK: WOODEN SHJIPS “Vol. 2″ [Sick Thirst] - The sound crosses the icy garage rock of early Echo and the Bunnymen with the sun bleached tremolo pun of the Scientists. This has hints of Krautrock, the trance inducing organ haze of Suicide, Velvets-style dance drone, and classic desert fried garage psych.

OTHER DREAMY ADDS TO THE PLAYLIST:

AWESOME COLOR “Massa Hypnos” [Ecstatic Peace] - You know, it’s awesome and it’s color, hence awesome color. We almost had a seizure of joy when they played in the college center MPR.

COCONUTS “CoConuts” [No Quarter] – Under “Sounds Like” on their MySpace, there was this quoted comment: “Waiting to see Austin hardcore/power violence Total Abuse at 12.15pm we’re discombobulated by the arrival of gurning, staggering, dribbling Aussies, The Coconuts. They seem to further bamboozle the crowd by tuning up for longer than they actually play their horrendously loud psychedelic horseshit. The crowd, possibly put off by their unannounced arrival and level of noise, mixed with their high level of chemical induced ineptitude, doesn’t appear too impressed. Despite this, The Coconuts are actually pretty good.”

GROWING “Pumps” [VICE Records] – Full of drum machine rhythms and layers of vocal and guitar textures. It munches on a heavy diet of scattershot and deconstructed electronic snax.

JÓNSI “Go” [XL Recordings] - Jonsi is the frontman for Sigur Ros. It is the soundtrack to a beautiful creature’s face. Just play it.

Just in time for the blooming spring, here’s your best and newest music that’s getting played on WVKR this week.

MD PICK OF The WEEK: SERENA MANEESH “S-M2: Abyss in B Minor” [4AD] - Ethereal mania of distorted riffs and obtrusive rhythm, composed by Norweigans as much into pop rock as they are into noise manipulation.

DARIUS’ PICK OF THE WEEK: ZOO “Trilogi Peradaban” [Plover] - Indonesia’s Zoo plays spastic herk & jerk deconstructionist proto punk. If you like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Fantomas, or Boredoms then let this grace your playlists.

ELODIE’S PICK OF THE WEEK: ELODIE LAUTEN  ”Piano Works” [Unseen Worlds] - If you like avant garde/ modern composition then this will hit the spot for you. For fans of Philip Glass, Stephen Drury. Arthur Russell and Peter Zummo make appearances on this collection!

Other great adds to our playlists:

DUM DUM GIRLS ”I Will Be” [Sub Pop] – Britsy lo-fi garagey pop, almost coining the genre itself.  Everyone’s favorite girl band even attempts to sing in german!

TWO THOUSAND AND TEN INJURIES “Love is All” [Polyvinyl] - Jangly new wavey sounds troddle along at an english pace from these Swedish pop kids.

ROTARY DOWNS “Cracked Maps & Blue Reports” [Rookery] – NOLA barfed and then recovered this art pop rock album, which is catchy for sure.  Their tunes bounce and roll, backed by a mellow wizardry with layers and layers of poly-woven fun.

If you listened to our broadcast, please comment here and tell us your thoughts!

WIN A PAIR by listening to these shows in the next few days:

The Singularity : Sunday night : 12-1 am

Hi’s, Fi’s, and Gazes : Monday night : 9-11 pm

Punk Haus : Tuesday night : 10pm-12

Thanks for listening!

In this clip of the performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktu6daNYRr0&feature=channel), the singer (cantora) narrates what is going on before and after the bullfight, but the star of the scene is the dancing.  The bull (el toro) begins his dance to “12 Danzas Españolas” and then the matador (el torero) comes at the end of the slow part of the piece to commences his fight with the bull.  The song perfectly highlights the conflict between the bull and the matador and the way that the dancers interact with the music─slowing down in some places, moving their feet in a frenzy in another─is beautiful and evocative. 

If you’re interested in more Andalusian-inspired music check out Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s beautiful “Andalucia” from the Andalucia Suite (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9vo4ojU0Tc&feature=related─terrible sound quality, but he plays it well).

From Detroit, MI, to our PK 12604 studios come Tyvek, hailed by some as the only true punk band in the U. S. of America.  Call them what you will, but the foursome’s knack for the art of the tune, coupled with biting lyrics and breakneck energy, is undeniable.  This is it.

1. 4312

2. Prics in a Car

3. This One

4. Underwater 1

5. Frustration Rock

6. Nothing Fits

7. Animal

8. The Rift

T Y V E K    MYSPACE

1. Cage Those Pythons

2. Haze on the Mobius Strip

D I NO W A L R U S    MYSPACE