A note from Y2G:
Over my last two years on WPRB, I have had a number of callers tell me they like my show. I’m always a little embarrassed when I accept their complements because I didn’t really choose the music.
WPRB did that for me.
DO YOU SWEAT ENOUGH? THIS SWEATSHIRT IS GUARANTEED TO HELP YOU SWEAT AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT PERCENT MORE.
Hello listener buddy friends!
It’s our Spring Drive and we just want to reach out and say that WPRB exists because of people like you.
Also, we want to trade you this sweet, sweet sweatshirt for some of your support.
If you donate 103.3$, you not only get this sweatshirt, you get a matching magnet and an absurd and hilarious and tastefully colored shirt, plus our undying gratitude.
Thank you!
Please pledge at http://www.pledge.wprb.com
This speaker will be relevant soon.
Do you like any of the following things:
1. Art?
2. Noise?
3. Looking at things from tall buildings?
If yes, and if you’re anywhere near NYC, you should absolutely check out ‘Sound Spills’ at 1500 Broadway, Times Square at 43rd.
Whenever the lease on an office space expires, the building guts the floor and builds it up from scratch. But for two months or so, they give the space over to new media art in the abandoned, interstitial space of this corporate office building overlooking Times Square. This time around, Thom O’Nions and Richard Sides were curating the 7th and the 33rd floors.
The exhibit itself was almost as cool as the space—it focused on the blending of sounds.
Have you ever been to a museum with new media incorporated, and been frustrated by the lack of insulation between different pieces? You’ll be looking and listening at one piece but unable to tune out the six other noisy things going on in the installations around it.
This exhibit was trying to work with and highlight exactly that problem or effect.
On the 33rd floor, it worked really well– the whole thing was given over to Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S Davidson‘s project Volumes for Sound.
First, you had to get over the ridiculously amazing view from the 33rd floor of a building overlooking Times Square.
Then, sound.
A note from Station Manager Adoley–
Station Manager and Friends
Princeton University is a kind of retirement community, where all the type-A kids from high school go on convalescent leave from the world before they have to bid childhood farewell for good.
Gated–mentally, literally gated–we circulate in rivers and currents of Princetonians and close affiliates, professors and high-profile lecturers from similar institutions of similar aspirations.
It’s easy to forget, at Princeton, that the rest of the world exists.
News from the outside streams in between the grates of FitzRandolph Gate in trickles or floods, depending on how relevant it is to the campus population. But it’s all too easy, focused on papers and precepts and problem sets, to completely ignore what’s going on beyond the Princeton perimeter.
One way of subverting the stagnancy is to go underground.
Are they hands reaching out from behind a bloodhound? NO. THEY ARE BLOODHANDS.
You know what is better than a boring normal shirt for normal people?
A shirt with JUSTICE and JOY woven into its every strand.
For forty-five dollars, you can wear this shirt every day for the rest of your life with the proud knowledge that you contributed to WPRB, NEW JERSEY’S ONLY RADIO STATION.*
*besides all the other NJ radio stations, all of which we love and respect.
The tango group, 34 Puñaladas
A blog post by Pablo, from Death of Tango with Pablo (Wed 11 AM – 1 PM)
The week of April 15th was a wonderful week.
For the first time since I became a tango music freak about 5 years ago, one of my favorite tango bands, 34 Puñaladas, came to New York City to play three concerts in four days.
They are based in Buenos Aires and have now existed for 15 years, and while they have toured Europe and Australia, this is the first time they made it to the North America.
Their music and lyrics are full of references to the roots of tango music and to the way it was understood almost 100 years ago. However, they improvise about half of the music they play in their concerts, and there is also a very contemporary feeling to what they write.
Not only did I have the chance to see them in concert three times in a week, but I also got the opportunity of knowing them personally.
I chatted with them over beers and dinner after every one of their concerts, learning a lot about the music world. It was during these conversations, and the conversations I had with other people in attendance at the concerts, that I got the inspiration for this note.
“Jalousie” is the title of a tango piece by Jacob Gade, a Danish composer from the early 20th century. I first heard it played by Quartango, a Canadian tango band from the 1980′s and 1990′s. It is a beautiful rendition that reflects the style of the group perfectly. It is also the French word for “jealousy”, a concept that I couldn’t avoid considering when I noticed that of all the New York-based tango musicians I knew, only one attended any of the New York concerts by 34 Puñaladas.A well known astrophysicist from Princeton University, Jerry Ostriker is quoted as having said that if you are rushing to publish an article, then it’s probably not a great one. Although politics sometimes makes rushing a need, I think what he says has a point. If you love what you do and you are convinced that it is good, then you should not need to protect it in a zealous way like a wild bird protects its eggs. There is more to be gained from the visit of 34 Puñaladas to New York City than most of these musicians imagine. The more tango is heard, the more it will be possible for local musicians to find venues to play tango. It’s simply a case of collaborating to get people organized and build something for the future, even if it’s a short-term one.
Charity starts at home
But it was not only the local musicians who surprised me with their absence. It is also my impression that there is a sort of divide between the “academic” and the “folkloric” tango groups in Argentina. The “academics” don’t appreciate the “folklorics” because they are not as well-versed in music theory and they don’t write (in the view of the “academics”, at least) innovative music that pushes the limits of the genre. “Folklorics” don’t like “academics” because they monopolize (in the view of the “folklorics” now) the tango scene of Buenos Aires and don’t allow for others to permeate in and participate.
These two groups of people constantly engage in a battle to show what is the essence of tango music. The reader might think that his is constructive, because the competition fosters creation. However, I think that these groups take it to a certain extreme, damaging the tango community and hampering the possibility to really build something unique. Once again, collaboration between these groups, even if a hostile one, would create more spaces to play tango music, more coherent festivals, more advertisement, and overall a clearer picture of what the Buenos Aires tango community is.
Union creates strength
No matter the point of view of the discussion, tango is not as popular as it was in the 1950′s. I am sure we can argue about the reasons for hours. We can also agree or disagree about its current trend: is it becoming more or less popular in the past 10 years? Regardless of the outcome of that debate, we can be sure that a large majority of society ignores this issue completely. And that includes Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango music.
So if the market for tango is really small, we need to make a big decision: do we continue to argue about the “correct” way of making tango, and continue to grasp that little market, or do we construct a strong movement that may appeal more to new aficionados?
I choose the latter.
Let us know what you think about tango and its future at pnp@wprb.com, and listen to Pablo’s show ‘Death of Tango’ Wednesdays 11 PM to 1 AM.
Hi, my name is Jackie Cremos and I direct the News Department along with John Colon. We’re really excited about the Spring Membership Drive, and you should be, too! Here’s why:
News at work
It helps us go above and beyond the call of journalism.
The Fall Membership Drive is what keeps us operating. The station would literally not exist without it. But the Spring Membership Drive brings in pocket money that funds ambitious projects, like our brand-new tech equipment that makes producing excellent audio so much easier. We get to travel to Trenton, New York and Philadelphia to bring you stories from your communities. Stories that you won’t hear anywhere else.
We’re really thankful for all the resources we have available to us, from Princeton students to community DJs to Princeton professors and staff. We get to learn about community initiatives, new poetry, world events and so much more, and we get to learn it from the experts. Our mission is to make those terrific resources accessible to you.
-Jackie
Listeners–we love you. Please donate to our Spring Membership drive. You can get in touch with Jackie at news@wprb.com
Recording conditions weren’t entirely ideal at Communiversity, but here is an early batch of rough, not-yet-strictly-legal IDs we’ll eventually make radio-ready, featuring you:
MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET MAGNET
Do you have difficulty affixing things to metallic surfaces?
Is your refrigerator a dull and boring place, devoid of photographs and cartoon clippings for lack of an appropriate attachment technology?
Do you only own magnets shaped like figs or dalmations?
IT’S OKAY! WE HAVE A SOLUTION!
For TEN DOLLARS, you can get possession of the single coolest magnetic device EVER. You also get the sense of satisfaction that comes with donating to WPRB, my favorite radio station.
PLEDGE TO WPRB, LISTENER FRIENDS!
And thank you, thank you, thank you for your support. We couldn’t be what we are without you!
On Monday, we told you about the Big To Do, but then we realized that there are literally infinite things to do in NJ. So here are some of them:
Thursday, May 2–
The Secret Cinema is playing an awesome black and white early space movie called ‘Rocketship XM” as a part of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts “PAFA After Dark” series.
The movie starts around 7 PM, but there will a a lot to do besides the film at PAFA After Dark in general, which runs from 6 PM to 9 PM– Making self-portrait silhouettes, space bingo (!!!), Cosmos (cute), and free popcorn.
The movie costs 10$, but it’s free if you’re a PAFA member.
Thursday, May 2 –
Every quarter, the Princeton Art Organizations come together to offer a free tour of all the art that Princeton has to offer. You get to wander through everything from the Princeton Art Museum, the Historical Society of Princeton, Labyrinth Books and Small World Coffee, exploring art opportunities.
There’s art trivia with university grad students, a reception for the newest art museum exhibit, “Mimesis”, a undergraduate art exhibition and a series of self-guided tours.
Saturday, May 18th and Sunday, May 19th–
Bordentown Street Fair! This is going to be an awesome and fun street fair with merchants from all over the place, but you should be especially sure to visit
MUSICIANS, MAGICIANS AND MENTALISTS from 10 AM – 4 PM both days.
This is the booth Randy Now’s Man Cave is putting on, and it looks like the most hilarious and awesome combination of magic and music and magic again. Please, go check it out and tell us how great it is!
Friday, May 31st–
The Fire Museum has events going on all of the time, but one free event you should check out is the Carnatic (South Indian Classical) music event at the Rotunda in Philly at 7:30 PM.