WSAM's SAM CRAM This Saturday! December 5th.

WSAM Album of the Week 11-17

Where The Wild Things Are, Soundtrack.

Karen O. and The Kids.

One of the most anticipated films of the fall came and went, but the powerful sentiment of the film and its music still rang loud. When Spike Jonze (director of Where The Wild Things Are) approached the front woman of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to score a highly influential film, she tapped into more of the moving, emotive sounds that were evolving from her band. From the punk sounds of "Fever To Tell" to some of the heartbreaking songs featured in their latest, "It's Blitz!", she learned a lot and implemented it into this score, emphasizing the movement in character from Max, and the Wild Things, and the whole construct of discovery.

This soundtrack is calm, yet can be frantic and it plays on the behaviors depicted in the film as well.

A winning soundtrack.

(Another soundtrack recommendation from this year: (500) Days of Summer!)

LA's Silversun Pickups Play Local Radio Gig at the Webster

(view of the crowd to an horse's set. hartford, ct. taken from @anhorse's official twitter.)

Radio 104.1, based in central Connecticut, utilized Hartford's premier rock venue to put on a show for the masses of Hartford. Headlining was Silversun Pickups, a 4-piece explosive alternative rock band, and was supported by Aussies, An Horse, and Cage The Elephant.

Once news came around that Silversun was gracing Hartford with their presence, I knew this was an event that was not to be missed. Artists like these appear to be a rarity coming through our small little town and this was something we, here at the university, had to get used to ever since the renovations at Hawk's Nest killed the stream of constant live entertainment. Luckily, as the rebuilding goes on, the Webster provided a source that was local enough from our university to provide quality live performances.

It seemed natural to have a band of Silversun's caliber play given their high-octance performance that the crowd seemed to slowly ache for as the show and openers progressed. Fortunately, the openers did the justice with the transition from awkwardly entering a venue not knowing what to expect, to being warmed up to just the right temperature with the first opener. An Horse is a couple team with harmonizing vocals and heartbreaking honest lyricism that speaks of the pains of being uncertain and bold. What kills me the most of this band is the accents that they are not ashamed of when addressing the audience, and the 'zombies' over at the drinking portion of the venue. An Horse did a fantastic job of swooning (silversun pickups reference) with most of their first album entitled, Rearrange Beds. And they managed to sneak in a new song in the set which I confirmed when I shared words with the main vocalist on my way out of the show! Readers: look out for a new An Horse song!

After the short break, the crowd promised they were prepared for Cage The Elephant's performance, but they were not. They were not ready for the exponentially louder band, the seemingly drunkenness of a rock star, and deliberate crowd surfing from members of the band no less. This was truly a show, spectacle to see. The prancing of the stage by all the members in complete unison with their blaring music and the distraction in their movement is talent in its essence. Vocals and noises and guitars were thrown, and this was all in efforts to prepare for Silversun (and gain so many more fans in the process!). Personally, I never was a fan, or have heard of them prior to this show, since I had come mainly to see both Silversun and An Horse, but I walked away sheerly impressed by the performance they put on, much in the vein of a small band called Gym Class Heroes. Readers: watch out for the debut of Cage The Elephant on our automation in the near future!

Finally, Silversun was introduced to the stage after a fair amount of wait and a major announcement. Humbled they were since they had not been to Hartford and were welcomed with a major round of applause. And to define the round of applause for everyone who was not there, it was one of those which felt very prolonged and neverending, but to the degree of conveying that it had been far too long for them to come to Connecticut. Silversun repaid the audience with an astounding and lengthy set, playing mostly from their second full-length release, Swoon, from Dangerbird Records. (as heard from WSAM! ..and also MTV) Since their tour was in their second wind, after previously touring with Manchester Orchestra all over the Mid-West, this performance was finely tuned without skipping a single beat in terms of transitioning from songs and keeping harmonious when straying from the concrete CD sound everyone had memorizes. The only times they decided to take a break in their musicianship was to thank the audience so much for propelling them to endure in their long performance. But as always, the audience wanted even more.

So Silversun cooked a jam session so epic to end their set during Lazy Eye. Witnessing a stretched melody that the entire crowd grasped on to is what embodies the live performance. And they delivered tenfold.

*check out Radio 104.1's gallery of the event

*silverun pickups

*an horse

*cage the elephant