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Scene

Scene’s Best Albums of 2019

Ryan Israel, Charlie Kenney, Matthew Kellenberg, Dessi Gomez, Hanna Kennedy, Jake Winningham, Ethan Utley, Mike Donovan, Sarah Kikel, Elizabeth Gregory, Willoughby Thom and Sara Schlecht | Thursday, December 12, 2019

It’s the grand finale: Scene’s official list of the top 20 albums of the year. Our writers have spent 2019 listening to countless hours of music, as our Spotify Wrappeds can confirm, and have taken this time before finals begin to reflect on the year in music by ranking our top albums. Each writer’s rankings

Scene

Who is Clairo?

Matthew Kellenberg | Monday, September 2, 2019

To some, Clairo is the lip-syncing teen in that viral “Pretty Girl” video, a serendipitous beneficiary of the mysterious YouTube algorithm. To others, she is a music industry plant, a young woman whose father’s connections paved the way for her swift rise. But through a string of dazzling hits, Claire Cottrill has proven herself to

Scene

Scene Selections: Spring Break 2019

Jake Winningham, Dessi Gomez and Cynthia Tran | Thursday, March 7, 2019

With Spring Break just around the corner, Scene is here with new singles sure to brighten up your travel — whether you’re going home or somewhere else. “Big Blue” by Vampire Weekend By Cynthia Tran, Scene Writer Vampire Weekend’s new song, “Big Blue,” is about a relationship that is as short and fleeting as the

Scene

Scene Selections: Songs to survive the polar vortex

Mike Donovan, Dessi Gomez, Nora McGreevy, Ryan Israel and Ethan Utley | Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Forecasts are bleak. School is canceled. The Office of Campus Safety recently outlined survival instructions for the week: walk in groups, dress warmly and appropriately, stay dry — basically, avoid being outside at all costs. While you’re huddled indoors, fending off frostbite and eating your way through your stores of week-old Poptarts and canned soups, Scene

Scene

Arlie’s debut ‘Wait’ — an invigorating start

Matthew Kellenberg | Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Arlie, the band, came together on Vanderbilt campus in 2016. Their early singles “big fat mouth” and “didya think” gained traction on Spotify’s curated indie playlists. And now, to much anticipation, the band has released its first EP. They call it “Wait.” There’s something very “Vampire Weekend” about Arlie’s “Wait.” A band of recent college

Scene

No new Vampire Weekend album, discover the “DEEP CUTS”

Charlie Kenney | Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Listening to a new, full-length Vampire Weekend album, absorbing it in its entirety, is a treat that their fans have only been able to experience three times — in 2008, 2010 and 2013. Sure, three albums in just over ten years isn’t anything the Beatles would be impressed with. But three is better than one.

Scene

‘My existential dread is acting up today:’ Ezra Koenig’s ‘Neo Yokio’

Maggie Walsh | Monday, October 30, 2017

If you are wondering what Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend has been up to in the four years since his band’s latest record “Modern Vampires of the City” was released, here is part of your answer. In late September, Netflix released season one of Koenig’s anime-style brainchild, “Neo Yokio,” in its entirety. The series follows

Scene

Rostam’s “Half-Light” Review

Augie Collins | Friday, September 29, 2017

In January 2016, Rostam Batmanglij announced his departure from Vampire Weekend while the band was at the seeming peak of their popularity, after having disrupted the indie rock scene with three albums marked by global music influences. The split was an amicable one though, with Batmanglij and Ezra Koenig, the lead vocalist of Vampire Weekend,

Scene

Grizzly Bear: (Not) too big to fail

Adrian Mark Lore | Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Grizzly Bear seemed like one of those bands that’s just too big to fail. The band’s painstakingly produced records have been virtually flawless in the past, as far as the indie rock scene is concerned. Grounded on perfectionism and subtle progression, records like “Veckatimest” and “Shields” were landmarks to which other indie rock bands

Scene

Batmanglij and Leithauser: a nod to the past

Adam Ramos | Tuesday, September 27, 2016

As Duke relentlessly shredded our defense with each drive on Saturday, I couldn’t help but long for the football games of years past. Feet tired and morale exhausted, my mind drifted to happier times, like our 31-0 blow-out against Michigan my freshman year or Kizer’s game winning toss against UVA last season. Yet, when reality finally

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