Blog.WBRU

Scientists are unveiling a form of ‘wireless electricity’ that could be used to power iPods, “Crackberries,” and laptops today at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The technology means that you could charge your phone, computer or MP3 player without having to plug it in, as electricity would be sent using lasers.

There could even be ‘electricity hotspots’, similar to WiFi internet hotspots, where you could charge your gadgets in a café or bar wirelessly.

The co-founder of PowerBeam, the company behind the technology, has said: “We’re going to delete the word ‘recharge’ from the English dictionary. If your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won’t be thinking about it.”

A new single from Morrissey off of his forthcoming album ‘Years Of Refusal’ is now available online.

In a posting on his MySpace blog, Morrissey announced today that listeners can now hear the song ‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’, which he describes as his “cosmopolitan hymn to architecture.”

The album is due out February 17 in the US.

Recession, schmeschmession. Here are the top 10 priciest, bank-busting concert tickets of 2008, according to average re-sale ticket price from Ticketmaster Entertainment:

1. Madonna : $378
2. Elton John : $306
3. The Eagles : $279
4. AC/DC : $263
5. Tina Turner : $263
6. Celine Dion : $240
7. Bruce Springsteen : $235
8. Coldplay : $217
9. Neil Diamond : $217
10. The Police : $216

Hey there.  First thing, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Now onto the juicy stuff.  I’ve painstakingly compiled a list of bands who have announced upcoming albums due in the next 365 days, and I picked the ten with the most hype and that I’m most pumped for.  A few are long overdue, and some others are, well, riding the coattails of 2008 success.

10. Weezer Odds and Ends - Summer
I don’t really know how this one made the list, except that it might make up for the all-around mediocrity of their ‘08 release.  Odds and Ends is a collection of songs that didn’t quite make it onto other albums, so it’ll reach back to their early (and more successful) days of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Read the rest » »

For the second time in less than two months and a day before the release of Fall Out Boy’s latest album Folie A Deux, Patrick Stump gave WBRU a call, this time talking to GQ about the new album and what he’s been up to since he last talked to Emmett back in October. GQ’s twenty-minute interview with Pat includes an explanation of the enigmatic Folie A Deux album artwork, his take on local events like the Guinness World Record interview and secret show at Harper’s Ferry, how he got to work with the likes of Elvis Costello and Debbie Harry, and much more. Join the BRU Crew to check out this exclusive podcast.

Image by ThisIsAStory on Flickr

So, top five lists can be tricky—you don’t have to read High Fidelity to know that. Nonetheless, I decided to attempt to compile a list of the top five new artists to emerge over the past year.Long story short, I failed. Turns out there was just too much good music this year to limit myself to five. Even with ten, I felt like I was leaving some out (feel free to comment who should have made it). Anyways, without further ado, the best new artists of 2008:

10. Black Kids

Proof that the 80s can never really die. The decade we’ve all come to know and love/hate seems to constantly resurrect itself, this time in the form of four guys and a girl from Jacksonville, Florida. The band first received some recognition last year from people like NME, Pitchfork, and the Village Voice after playing at the Athens Popfest in Georgia, but it wasn’t until the release of “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” that the band really broke out.

Key Track: “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” (I dare you not to dance along; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how) Read the rest » »

Writing and coding for this website this year has provided me with a lot of time to listen to music. As a sort-of celebration of the years end, I’ve decided to summarize the best of, well, everything from this year! What follows is my top favorite songs, albums, EPs, concerts, and bands - the best music of 2008.

Top 10 Songs of 2008

Read the rest » »

When I first heard that All American Rejects was putting out a new album, I cringed.  Sure, “My Paper Heart” and “Swing, Swing” were two catchy, though unforgivably pop-y singles off their eponymous debut album, and “Dirty Little Secret” had a pretty awesome music video.  But I thought that that band had disappeared into the ranks of TRL has-beens.  Well, it hasn’t.

AAR’s newest album When the World Comes Down definitely doesn’t betray the band’s pop-tastic roots, but it is so much more sophisticated than their first two that I thought I’d been given the wrong cd.  They’ve given up the falsetto (for the most part) and turned to legit vocals (lyrics questionable) and catchy piano and guitar.  Some of the songs remind me a little bit of 90s wonderband Third Eye Blind.  While the lyrics still tend to appeal only to the recently dumped (”Damn girl, dry your eyes \ you stole my heart and then you kicked me aside”), the album as a whole surely trumps anything the band has done to date. Read the rest » »