Author - Sam Tardif

Miley debuts video for "Wrecking Ball"

September 9, 2013

Miley Cyrus bares it all in her brand-spankin’ new video for “Wrecking Ball.” If you weren’t keen on the fact that Miley likes to show as much skin as possible… you are now. The video alternates between a naked and a barely clothed Cyrus as she either rides a wrecking ball or we see it destroy a concrete wall. Though maybe stretching the idea that she is super in-charge of her sexuality, the nudity Miley chose to display represents the sense of vulnerability of being emotionally wrecked. She has clean makeup on her face, with white clothes (when she does choose to cover up), and this contrasts against the black wrecking ball — which oddly seems to suggest some innocence, who knew she had any left? I think this video is a great compilation of what Miley is — still a great pop artist but a new-coming-of-age version of herself. All sexual acts on a wrecking ball aside- this video is still less weird than “We Can’t Stop” so let’s all just take a second to appreciate that.

My "Red Tour" Experience

July 25, 2013

Sam Tardif

Mainstream Music, Music

So without any disbelief on my end, the higher being or greater power or whatever controls luck in the universe sent storm clouds my way last Saturday. Where was I? Taylor Swift’s Red Tour at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly. The day began very happy and exciting as we proceeded into the venue and I learned that Austin Mahone was one of the openers. For those of you who aren’t me or 11 years old, Austin is the new J Biebs — but much better looking. Swoon. After Austin was that adorable ginger Ed Sheeran. Powerful voice, powerful hair and a powerful performance. He is literally just amazing. Alright, the concert has been flawless at this point… nothing can go wrong. WRONG. The sky grows dark but hello, WE WANT TO SEE TAYLOR. Well the kind folks at Lincoln Financial tell us to go to the concourse for safety, which is a-okay by me because I don’t want to die. This is where the lightning starts. And we got a lot of this going on:

So the seats have been evacuated and we’re all waiting in the concourse… which would be fine until we had a lot of this going on:

I’m not one to usually harp on someone for belting some tunes in public because that’s basically half my existence. But at this point I’ve heard about 40 pre-teens sing the same Taylor songs for an hour an a half so forgive me if I couldn’t deal.

So, 10:15 p.m. rolls around and we are allowed back in. So napkins-to-dry-my-seat-off in hand, I strut back to seat 16 in section C and proceed to deal with the condensation left on my chair. 10:30 p.m. — No Taylor. 10:45 p.m. — No Taylor. 10:50 p.m. This girl is finally on stage.

The delay for the storm was worth it in the end. Taylor is awesome live, and her concert is definitely more of a performance than just her singing songs off Red and other hits from past records. She seems like she genuinely cares about her fans and she tried to make it a little extra special because of the delay and because Philly is her “hometown.” All in all I give it an A-.

here’s Taylor live (not in Philly in Omaha) in case you haven’t experienced it:

Also here’s Austin Mahone. You’re Welcome.

Fifth Harmony Drops New Summer Hit – "Me and My Girls"

July 16, 2013

Sam Tardif

Mainstream Music, Music

So far this summer we’ve added many tracks to your summer playlist that we feel encompass what summer is all about. Well Fifth Harmony made us aware of a void we didn’t even know we had. This dancey-pop mix is the perfect windows-down-dancing-in-the-car-with-your-friends song. The X-Factor stars are releasing their first album this fall and I have high expectations after their collab with Boyce Avenue covering JT’s “Mirrors” and this instant hit. The girls also just debuted their music video for their song “Miss Movin’ On” which is your typical breakup anthem. It’s clear that we need to keep an eye on Fifth Harmony, because they are going places.

Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" video is probably exactly what you thought

June 19, 2013

Sam Tardif

Mainstream Music, Music

From giant bears and golden grillz (circa 2002) to lots of bread, french fry skulls and twerking, Miley Cyrus’s new video has EVERYTHING. The odd collection of these items and dance moves is completed with Miley’s need for attention. This vid is screaming “LOOK AT ME I’M GROWN UP.” And if she has to make a video like this and get a Macklemore-like haircut to prove that, we know it just can’t be true. I understand the need to shed the Hannah Montana image that has followed her around, but this video is a little over the top. But on the other hand, if Miley’s path to find herself involves pool parties and watching the sunrise on cliffs I wouldn’t mind going for the ride. This video plays up her new found sex appeal, thanks Maxim, and she seems to be missing pants for the majority of the scenes. Clad in her unitards, Miley is selling us Beats by Dre and lip balm while singing about the woes of trying to party with no rules. All in all, the video itself seems like it’s trying too hard to be different– like come on you have people eating money and stuffed, dead animals wearing sunglasses and being walked on leashes . I for one love this song, but I think you can party without any taxidermy. Take a look and tell us what you think!

Karmin releases new "Acapella" song

June 13, 2013

Sam Tardif

Uncategorized

It seems like acapella groups are gaining popularity as fast as vampires and werewolves did after Twilight. Karmin’s taken a page from Pitch Perfect and hopped on the “sans-instruments”- band wagon. Like literally ANYTHING else Karmin does… I love it. Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan bring the Karmin-sound were used to, but this time there is minimal use of instruments. The sounds in this track are mostly all human made… from their mouths. Which is impressive in itself, and totally compliments Amy’s usual rap/singing style featured in the song. The only thing I dislike about this new release is that Amy is blonde. It’s a little aca-awkward. But as per usual I’m obsessed and this track only makes me more excited for their new album to drop this summer. Take a listen this metaphor-packed jam… it won’t be a hard pass.

Also I don’t apologize for all the Pitch Perfect references 🙂

Penn State DJ Mitch V drops "Summer 2013 House Mix"

June 5, 2013

Sam Tardif

Music, Penn State News Reviews and Interviews

To all you house music and well… summer fans:

Mitch V, a sophomore here at Penn State, has released a summer mix that everyone should add to their pre-party playlists. It’s a 50 minute mix full of mash ups and his own edits, and there’s something for everyone in this mix. Personally, I’m a fan of the Kelly Clarkson mash up. Of the track he says “It features 7 of my own edits mixed in with house music anthems from top DJs such as Sebastian Ingrosso, Nicky Romero, Alesso, Bingo Players, Porter Robinson and more. It contains everything from big room house to dubstep to TRAP.” Mitch really packs all of our expectations of summer fun into this mix, and it’s a must-add to your summer favorites.

Mitch V isn’t new to the Penn State DJ scene, you may have caught him playing at a frat this year. Though very grateful and proud of these opportunities, he doesn’t just want to be known as a frat DJ… but we can all imagine how fun those parties were. This ambitious and talented young DJ says that if he can make one person dance with one of his songs then he’ll be happy.

Mitch V will be circling the frats again this year, so if his summer mix isn’t enough look for him when school starts on frat row. We expect big things from him and are excited to see where his career goes this year!

This is his songcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/mitchell-v