Andrew Hartung, WTSC Officer

Being the host of the Saturday Night Blues show on WTSC, I am constantly in search of all types of blues music, from old fashioned roots, rhythm and soul to modern electric and Chicago styles. In my opinion, a blues album with loud piercing guitar solos and someone belting out affective and soulful vocals simply can’t be beat. These days, it is not a simple task to find the newest blues of this nature. After scouring some internet sources, I came across a blues blog, where I discovered some information on Joanne Shaw Taylor.
Taylor is a highly talented guitarist from England. She grew up playing guitar with styles heavily influenced by blues greats such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert Collins, Freddie King and Albert King. After honing her skills and becoming a very reputable guitarist, she began touring at the age of 14. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics quickly recognized her talent and got her to tour Europe in 2002. Taylor also had the opportunity to play with many of the artists she grew up listening to, including B.B. King. Jim Gaines, a producer at Ruf Records in Tennessee, contacted her and flew her to the U.S. to record her first album, White Sugar, in January.

White Sugar is everything you can ask for in a blues album. Joanne Shaw Taylor exhibits her blues guitar skill with very powerful, yet controlled solos. Her guitars of choice are the Fender Telecaster and the Fender Esquire. Following suit with any good blues album, it combines several upbeat tracks with a few down-tempo numbers that collectively create an enjoyable listening experience. Taylor doesn’t exactly belt out her vocals like similar female singers, but it seems she is being cautious in hitting every note correctly. It definitely isn’t a detriment to the songs, though; it’s hard not to appreciate the impressively skillful guitar playing. Surprisingly, the only other instruments on most of the tracks are bass and drums. Although the instrumentation is a bit thin, the songs still sound very full. On tracks such as “Time Has Come” and “Blackest Day,” the slow tempo really allows her to implement some really complex and heavy duty guitar. If you’re looking for something to get you moving, take a listen to “Going Home” and “Bones.” The songs are reminiscent of the artists that influenced her, but it definitely sounds fresh. It is easy to tell that a lot of effort was put into producing this album. With this first release, Joanne Shaw Taylor is certainly showing that she has the necessary skills to become a big name on the blues scene.

White Sugar by Joanne Shaw Taylor is definitely the “new blues” album I have been searching for. If you like blues music at all, listen to it and you’ll hear why. Included are ten original songs by a young and talented musician. It is available for purchase on the Ruf Records website (www.rufrecords.de), as well as iTunes. Happy listening!

by Dominic Bochicchio

New on the music market in 2007, Sam Sparro’s debut album is fresh, exciting, funky and fun. Sam Sparro is the stage name of Sam Falson, whose unique sound is probably the result of his father being a gospel minister and recording artist. Sam Sparro wrote and produced his very first album, titled “Sam Sparro.” This debut album has something very different to offer.

The first thing that makes this band unique is Sam Falson’s voice. Sam Falson has an exceptional voice that entrances the listener with its rhythmic, soulful melodies. His voice is clear, crisp, catchy, but not too flashy, and creates an environment where the listener can join in with the lyrics. The band’s sound is very full. The guitars, drums and synths mix in a very surprising and satisfying way. This album stands with me as one of my favorite albums. The songs are retro sounding but funky and fun to listen to.

The lyrics are very interesting to listen to. Sam Sparrow paid special attention to the messages his music creates. In “21st Century Life,” he talks about how the stressful the future is and how different it is from what he expected as a child. He talks about how a girlfriend can become too infatuated in “Clingwrap.” He also sends a message with his song “Recycle It!”. The lyrics are all so different and so fresh that I cannot help singing along. The only song I would stay away from is the last track, “Still Hungry.” The true reason this album is so good is that the band and the singer mix very well and complement each other tremendously. The music behind the lyrics reflects exactly what Sam Sparrow is singing and it creates a certain synergy about his music. If you like funk with a little bit of soul, then Sam Sparro is an awesome album for you. If you like a wide range of music, try the album Sam Sparro. I’m glad I did.

• Best Songs: “21st Century”, “Black & Gold”, “Clingwrap”, “Sally”
• Songs to Avoid: “Still Hungry”
• Great mix of Funk & Soul with a new electronic feel

WTSC interviewed Clarkson University President Tony Collins on Thursday January 29th. If you missed the interview you can listen to it at the following link:

http://radio.clarkson.edu/recordedshows/Interview_with_President_Tony_Collins-012909.mp3

By Will Kinsman

In my first music review for the Integrator, I thought it would be appropriate to review an album I accidentally discovered here at Clarkson, my favorite album of all time, Panic Prevention. I actually discovered the artist while walking through Powers, and went into a complete stranger's room to check their iTunes playlist for the songwriter's name. Despite an awkward encounter with the room's owner on my way out, I got the name: Jamie Treays, the British songwriter better known as Jamie T.

Despite being a solo bassist, the "one-man Arctic Monkey" fills his album with more sounds than you can shake a stick at, including an appearance by Lily Allen on the last track. Describing his music is tough, but I would call it "fast-paced indie that frequently stumbles over itself, without really deciding on a direction during any song." According to Wikipedia, his music is a mixture of grime, indie rock, and grindie. With very few exceptions, he wrote, recorded, and produced the entire album himself, on his own label (Pacemaker), before he was recruited by Virgin records and had his album chart at #4 in the UK.

Jamie T. recently announced that he will be releasing his second album in early spring this year, and has released a few tracks already, such as "Fire Fire," which comes across as slightly messier and more mixed up than his previous work. I would also like to note that despite my disgusting obsession with the Panic Prevention album, Jamie T is known for having sub-par live performances.

While new parodies come out every day there are very few that stand out. I believe that appreciating a parody involves not only looking at the new but also listening to the old parts of it. There are many new parodies coming out every day, most of them are mediocre, but every once in a while a good one is released. I believe that the appreciation of parodies depends upon two main things: the song the parody is based on and the new lyrics associated with it.

If one were to search "Clarkson University" on YouTube you see an array of videos pertaining to the school. I think the most interesting one is the "Clarkson University Rap", which has been viewed 1.5k times in less than a week. If you have not seen it yet, leave the lecture hall you are in and go straight to the nearest available computer. After viewing the rap, any Clarkson student will agree that this parody is easily 100% true. Do note that the video shows more than one would see on a campus tour.

When asked why he wrote this song, Will Kinsman replied, "I wrote the song because I knew a lot of kids would like it and there are a lot of things people say about Clarkson as being bad but are actually good." He also commented the "top video for Clarkson is the drug bust." Will also said it took him about a day to write and a few weeks to do the filming (you know the weather up here). He seemed excited to know that his video has been posted on studentsreview.com and on many MySpace pages.

Written by Angela Cosner, DJ SMG on WTSC Wednesday nights from 8-10

During the week of December 8th, Clarkson University will be having final exams of the Fall semester. Due to this many of our DJs will be unable to do their shows during the week. There will be some shows scattered throughout the week, so we hope you check this site often to see if a show is on-air. If not, we welcome you to enjoy the sweet tunes playing on Automation.

Friday, December 12th, is the last day of finals which is followed by our December break. During this time there will be no shows on air with the exception of a possible Howie and the Wolfman show on Saturdays. Students will start returning to campus January 7th. At that time there will be a revised show schedule posted for your listening pleasure.

Some WTSC things to look forward to next semester:

• WinterFest - A CU Outing Club and WTSC sponsored event located 20 minutes south of Potsdam.
• Battle Of The Bands - Hosted by CUB and WTSC sometime in early February.
• New Website - A new revision of our website will be going live within the next month chaulk full of new features and a new look!

Thanks for the great semester, happy holidays, and we look forward to you listening in January!