Byre Here in Dead Lights Byre (2018) Review by Ben Goldstein 

Byre, an indie collaboration between veterans in their respective genres, features Aaron Tanner (Off-Ox), Zach Zint (Thunder Dreamer), Ryan Grisham (Mock Orange), the prolific Rob Crow (Pinback), and Spencer Seim (Hella) — who actually plays drums on Byre’s debut EP, “Here in Dead Lights,” and in doing so demonstrates that his musical genius isn’t limited to guitar.

This review is long overdue considering “Here in Dead Lights” dropped in 2018, but having recently stumbled upon the band, I thought I’d share my thoughts. The instrumentation on this EP is mesmerizing. Crow’s vocals cascade over the sonic textures offered on Object Permanence, while synthesized melodies sweep beneath the instrumentals on Gallagher III in the most beautiful way. With a Hammer starts off simple and unfolds into an enigmatic, immersive soundscape that’s easy…

Black Marble It’s Immaterial (2016) Review by: Jonathan Roensch 

I chose to review It’s Immaterial by Black Marble because it’s something I’m listening to during this quarantine. I’ve really enjoyed rediscovering Black Marble, I had known a few songs from this album but I hadn’t heard the album in entirety. The album is a fantastic, dream pop, nostalgic, time capsule with 80s synthwave undertones. It has eleven tracks that encapsulate a range of emotions and sounds that I’ve really come to adore. The album begins with a bizarre introduction song filled with different noises and sounds. After that, a fast tempo fades into a more mellow, relaxed track. Each song paints a picture in its own way and strikes a different emotion in every chord change. The songs have an overall mellow, nostalgic tone with glimpses of joy hidden in the keys. It’s Immaterial is a melodic echo chamber of an album, each track within the album holds…

This is an exclusive interview with DJ Zombie Zeth. His show, Songs for the Dead, is noon to 2 PM on Sundays

How long have you been a DJ at KWVA and why’d you start?

I’ve had a show since Fall term of 2019 but my friend had a show last year and they’d always invite me to come and be a guest so I had a good sense of the studio when I officially started. I feel like I have a pretty unusual taste in music and think its fun to share with people. I really like finding old cuts of music that are harder to find or might not be at the forefront of what people want to listen to. Being able to expose the deep cuts, the remixes, and the cool covers keeps being a DJ interesting.

Do you stick to a particular genre? 

I play a lot of different stuff on my show but it’s usually pretty heavy. For a while, it was fairly eclectic but mostly consisted of rock music I liked. I only played vinyl records from my…

Written by Sam Mondros - photos by Jeff Jacobus (IG: @lostversesphotography)

I talked with Geordie Greep (center), frontman for London's most exciting new art rock quartet, Black Midi, at The Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon.

“Please stop all of this strange fantasy”

These are the words that open up Black Midi’s debut album “Schlagenheim”. An Ironic omen of what's to come? Or just tongue in cheek? Black Midi are a four-piece from London, England who have gained popularity on the underground scene in the UK since 2017. All the band members are between the ages of 20-21 and have thus far released one album back in June prefaced by five singles. They gained most of their foreign popularity in the last 10 months after Seattle based radio station, KEXP, released a 26-minute video of them playing a hostel in Reykjavik, Iceland. To try and categorize Black Midi is not an easy task, and would seemingly go…

This week's DJ Spotlight highlights Karl, AKA The Kranky Kowboy! He hosts "Blood On the Saddle," Mondays, 8-10 pm.

KWVA: When did you get involved with KWVA and why?

K: Around 2000, my friend who was already a DJ talked me into becoming one, too. I started doing a show called "Radio Unfriendly" from 3-7 am Saturday mornings. After a year, I had enough of an interest in Country music (the "insurgent country" thing was going into full swing at that time) that I decided to take the leap and apply for a "Specialty Show," which was a distinction we had then for shows with specific themes, usually genre-based. That show became "Blood on the Saddle." It started as a 7-9 pm show on Mondays, then when the news hour blocks became a thing, it settled in its forever home: 8-10 pm Monday nights.

Soon after, I also started engineering for John…

Thanks to DJ Alright for submitting this week's blog post, an interview with PNW band Drowse, and Japan-based group, Kelp! Listen to the interview above.

DJ Alright is a fan of any and all experimental music. The content of their KWVA show "Museum" (showtime at Wednesday 12-1 PM) ranges from black metal, to early electronic music, to ambient.

Drowse is the project of Kyle Bates along with a few collaborators, notably Floating Room's Maya Stoner on the upcoming album "Light Mirror." Drowse is a product of the Pacific Northwest -- the guitar swells, tape distortion, and echoing, soft vocals call to mind endless rain and clouds (they have even been self-described as "gray pop"), and would appeal to fans of Grouper and Mount Eerie. Make no mistake, though -- Drowse's output stands in a class on its own. The detailed metaphors and concepts lyrically woven throughout the track "Cold Air," (Drowse's second-most-recent release) and "…

Thanks to Bobby Schenk, AKA Reggae Rob, for submitting this week's blog post--a review of the Max Romeo concert last month at WOW Hall!

When Max Romeo took the stage at WOW Hall this past month on April 4th, I had three things running through my head:

One: I am in the presence of a reggae legend.

Max Romeo is not just any reggae artist; he is a part of the cadre of musicians that helped innovate and found the roots-reggae genre in Jamaica in the 1960s and 1970s. His music, with songs like “Wet Dream” and “Let The Power Fall”, is famous in its own right, as well as in other records that sample Romeo's work. The song “I Chase The Devil,” off of his seminal album War Ina Babylon (released in 1976) has been sampled in more than 30 songs according to whosampled.com, with rappers such as Jay-Z and The Prodigy building off of Max Romeo's talent.

Now, combine this legendary status with his physical presence: Romeo is around five…

Lilyana Rain Molyneaux is a junior at University of Oregon studying journalism and multimedia. She is the host of Queens Radio, which plays strictly female hip-hop and rap music. Queens Radio also features interviews and discussions about female empowerment, hip-hop music & culture, and ALL news related to female hip hop artists! Catch her show on Sunday mornings, 2am-4am on KWVA.

Lilyana recently had the opportunity to interview one of her favorite hip-hop artists, Yung Baby Tate, which she aired on her show. Here's the transcript!

Want to gain some fantastic leadership experience, boost your resume, and get paid for doing what you love? You've come to the right place! KWVA has a few student job openings for positions that start next fall. Check out the descriptions below! Applications are due by noon on May 22nd.

Position # Position Title (On Handshake)
2717702 KWVA Music Director
2717716 KWVA Music Blog Director

KWVA Music Director: $475 per term

Purpose: To establish and maintain relationships with national music promoters and record labels; To chart the KWVA top music played list weekly, provide to DJs and submit to NACC; To maintain and develop the KWVA music library.

Principle Functions/Requirements:

I.    Administrative Duties:

• Recruit, train and coordinate staff of…

For this week’s DJ Spotlight, get to know Luigi Ghersi, host of “Shocker In Gloomtown,” every Friday from 11 am-noon on KWVA. His show features mostly '80s, '90s, and contemporary indie/alternative rock. Luigi moved to Eugene during the Summer of 2017 and is currently working towards a masters degree in architecture at the UO. He was born in Lima, Peru, but lived most of his life in Salt Lake City, Utah before coming to Eugene.

KWVA: How did you choose your show name, “Shocker In Gloomtown”?

L: "Shocker In Gloomtown" is the name of a track by one of my favorite bands, Guided By Voices. Oregon weather can be pretty gloomy, and since I usually play pretty energetic, loud music, I thought it would be fitting to the context of the show.

KWVA: When did you get involved in KWVA and why?

Luigi: I figured it…