The idea for Big Green Beats, the music blog created by alums Miles Suter ’11 and Adam Boardman ’11, originated from an email thread between the members of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and the Men’s lacrosse team. The site, now in its fourth year, was the solution to “giant email chains sending back-and-forth music,” said Zac Koufakis ’14, a current Big Green Beats writer. Suter designed the website to centralize and consolidate all the music that his friends were sharing and Boardman headed up promotion efforts outside of their friends, said Boardman. Four yearslater, the website receives 5,000 daily unique visitors and up to 75,000 unique visitors a month, according to Koufakis and Boardman. The blog’s reach is by no means limited to the Northeast. The Big Green Beats creators and staff writers “brought the website home to their friends,” said Koufakis, and the site has “a big contingency in Southern California and San Francisco.” The website’s design and content have evolved as it has grown in popularity. Big Green Beats “originally started out as West Coast and underground rap,” but has experienced “a huge shift to the [electronic dance music] side,” Koufakis said. Boardman said that Big Green Beats posts covering… Read more »
When I was a kid, the radio stations local to my Appalachian hamlet frequently intermingled nineties pop and rock with country ballads — the latest from the likes of Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Since the region’s unofficial mantra was John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” this was hardly surprising.
Nevertheless, it came as a shock to me when I moved to New England, where country music was considered decidedly uncool (it was Santana and Lil’ Jon all the way). Since living further north, I’ve heard plenty of rants about country’s lack of sophistication — such as how it is only ever about a significant other leaving the singer, guns and drinking — that can be unfair and misinformed. Sure, much of what you hear on popular country stations incorporates these themes, but they do not characterize a vibrant genre that encompasses everything from Appalachian folk to traditional Cajun music…. Read more »
We’ve all heard the bells in Baker Library Bell Tower ring to the tune of the Dartmouth Alma Mater among other songs as we rushed to our 10A or threw frisbees on the Green. For new students on campus, including members of the Class of 2016, hearing the bells for the first time chime to “Hi Ho! Hi Ho!” and “Lean on Me” induces smiles and pleasantly surprised expressions. Visitors, students, and faculty alike are naturally curious to know how the bells work…. Read more »
So I don’t want to give away any institutional secrets here, but since Janet Reitman already told the world that we feed our freshmen green eggs and ham on Trips – which by the way, is adorable and NOT hazing, thank you very much Rolling Stone – I figured it’s okay to talk about what I am about to talk about. It’s something that’s at the very heart of Dartmouth…. Read more »
Dancefloor Diplomacy, a musical project founded by Yale University senior Jakob Dorof, released its debut music video, “We Are Ready” on March 12. The nine minute-long video has received over 40,000 views on YouTube, which prompted some to deem it a viral sensation.
“We Are Ready” takes 38 songs of various genres, including Britney Spears’s “Toxic,” Beyonce and Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”, P. Diddy’s “Bad Boys For Life” and Ratatat’s “Seventeen Years,” strips them to their instrumental forms, and uses the piano to reincarnate the songs as eerie, chill-inducing melodies whose familiar riffs teeter on the edge of recognition…. Read more »
Friday Night Rock is back and bigger than ever for Spring term. They’re kicking off season tonight with a show featuring artistic and indie performers Japanther and Doe Paoro…. Read more »