Music

In a music rut? Or want to know what’s hot in the college music world? The KWVA music blog is your solution!

The KWVA music blog is a creative space for all musically curious folks. You’ll find coverage of station and local events, album reviews, interviews with local bands, oh-so-perfectly curated playlists, the weekly charts so you know what’s cutting edge, and more music-related topics.

KWVA Top 30 Chart: Week of April 14th, 2015

Top 5 Album Adds of the week. Click to hear a preview of the artist! 1. LAPALUX - Lustmore 2. YOUNG FATHERS -   White Men Are Black Men Too  3. MOON KING - Secret Life 4. BOP ENGLISH (White Denim project) - Constant Bop  5. VILLAGERS - Darling Arithmetic

Listening Forward

Hey hey, KWVA fanatics! Here's what's going on here, there, and everywhere this week: On Wednesday, you've got your option of shows around town. Scroll to explore. Into good-time, folk/americana music? Down with the motto of "sharing a common love of music, whiskey and life on the road"? Then Cozmic is your place Wednesday night with the band Fruition. This past weekend they sold out Wonder Ballroom in Portland - here's to hoping they bring down the house in Eugene, too! Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 pm, 21 and over. If you're feeling more on the dreamy side of life, check out indie pop group White Violet on Wednesday at Sam Bond's Garage. The band is touring the country with their latest album, Stay Lost, which… Read More

DJ Spotlight: DJ Icarus from The Sun

On the blog today, we've got DJ Icarus, host of the show The Sun! Scroll on to see how she redefines the label "indie" and what makes her unique as a DJ.  DJ name: DJ Icarus Show time and day: Wednesdays 10-11am, Spring 2015 Show title: The Sun Hometown: Portland, OR How would you describe your show? This show explores what the label "indie" means now through multiple genres and styles of music. No one specific genre is played and you can listen to all types of rock, folk, pop, electronic, hip-hop, and rap.  What made you want to be a DJ? I often drive to school and as a freshman I found KWVA just by scrolling through my radio in my car. I thought the idea of playing… Read More

KWVA SoundCloud & Native America Interview

Have you checked out KWVA's SoundCloud account yet? If you haven't, you're missing out on exclusive interviews and live sessions! Check it out here: This week, take a listen to DJ Tesla's interview with the band Native America. Hear about inspiration behind songs off their latest album Grown Up Wrong and what's in the future for this psychedelic garage pop group.

KWVA Top 30 Chart: Week of April 7th, 2015

Top 5 Album Adds of the week: 1 DINNER - Three EPs 2 WAXAHATCHEE - Ivy Tripp 3 VERY BEST - Makes A King 4 TORO Y MOI - What For? 5WEED - Running Back

KWVA Goes to Burgerama

Burgerama is very intriguing. Spawned by the most explosive record label in the last few years, it creates an atmosphere of busy confusion, body heat and loud music. It’s very crowded, frequented mostly by teenagers. Burgerama is like taking every group of drunk high schoolers at various parks on a Friday night in July and putting them in a fenced in parking lot in 90 degree weather, with access only to shitty burgers and $3 water bottles. But against all odds, it works. Even more importantly, upon closer inspection, this is a diverse group of supportive young minds with an ear for current and up and coming art in their community. The whole operation works because the people who care about this music were there. It wasn’t as much about being wacky, dressing weird, and taking hallucinogens as other festivals are, it was for the music and also it was only 90 bucks. The event is produced by Burger… Read More

King Toby's Interview with Tessanne Chin

We've got something really cool for you today, listeners! Over Spring Break, KWVA DJ King Toby from Roots'n'Kulcha Radio had an interview with world renowned reggae artist and previous winner of The VoiceTessanne Chin. There's a lot of good to be heard, so we recommend listening to the full interview below - but if you're short on time, scroll down the page to read a bit of the interview. Read More

KWVA Top 30 Chart: Week of March 31st, 2015

Listening Forward

Aaaaand we're back! Missed us? We missed you too, here in the Music Dept. Here's what you can look forward to this week: This Wednesday at Cozmic, singer-songerwriter Zach Heckendorf will be throwing down a lively set. 18 years old and known for his charisma and rapid-fire lyrics, Heckendorf focuses on putting on an entertaining show while showcasing his skills on the acoustic guitar. Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 pm. In case you missed them on air, check out videos of our live in-studio sessions with Trucks Go Easy and Gilberto Rodriguez below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvTqkU40Nvw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F-KZpaQF-8 For more of these artists, visit our YouTube page @kwvaradio. Later on this week, we'll give you more information about our upcoming KWVA Spring Cleaning Record Swap! Mark you calendars for this Saturday from 12-4 pm at Cozmic. Additionally, we'll have some DJ Spotlights and tight… Read More

Clara's Review of YamaYama's Party Dog EP

KWVA DJ Clara is comin' at you today with a review of YamaYama's Party Dog EP! Scroll down to check it out.  Yama Yama gives ‘college bands’ a good rep. This group of four musicians assumed their connection over a shared appreciation of strangely compatible elements. Drummer Merlin Showalter, entering the group with nearly a too broad breadth of music articulate, bass Milo Fultz “exploring every idiom in the music world he can find”, Pianist and keyboardist Dario LaPoma perorming with salsa and funk bands alike, and saxophonist and composer Scott Mitchell ranging from free jazz to funk. The genre of their music is in no way generic, and it fuses jazz and funk with the realm of electronics and video games. They claim to take influence from a broad spectrum of performers including Mark Guiliana, Parliamente Funkadelic, Dave Holland Group, and many others. These influences… Read More