Impact 89FM

WDBM-FM 88.9 East Lansing, MI

Student Radio at Michigan State University

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Album Review: Marina and the Diamonds: The Family Jewels

She is (if we must make a comparison) Regina Spektor meets Lady Gaga, maybe a little bit YACHT. Marina Lambrini Diamandis (Marina and the Diamonds) on her first album, The Family Jewels, offers an addicting take of social commentary with poppy hooks and a stunningly bold and orchestral voice. Maybe you’re familiar with tracks like “I Am Not A Robot” and “Hollywood,” but these don’t do the album justice. Because, while these songs give a fair synopsis of what Marina seems to be about (I have a big dream, I’m true to myself), they don’t cut in the way “Oh No” does or explore the enveloping quality of her art as in “Numb.” Read More…

Album Review: The Black Keys: Brothers


A few months back I played one of my favorite songs of the year, “Rockabilly Party” off of the newest Quasi album on Sit or Spin. The song, a Neil Young style guitar rave up, is nothing revelatory or new but it’s a great SIMPLE rock song. Read More…

The Impact Chats With… Local Natives!

5/10/2010 at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor

Nick Van Huis: I know Gorilla Manor was named after the house you guys lived in. How did the experience of living in that house influence the album?

Ryan:I think it definitely shaped the way that we write songs together.I’ve come to find that we are very weird, in that we are so collaborative.I think a lot of bands are centered around one guy who just writes all of the songs and tells everyone what to do. But we would wake up on Saturday morning or whatever and literally just get together in the main room of the house and just write songs together around a piano and two acoustic guitars and we did a lot of the songs that way just hours and hours on end of everyone just putting in their ideas and shaping the song that way. Read More…

Minus The Bear: April 25th, 2010 at St. Andrew’s Hall


The Detroit area has been buzzing over the past few weeks in high anticipation of indie group Minus the Bear making a stop in town on their current tour. The Seattle based band is in the process of promoting their forth full-length album, Omni, and played at the infamous St. Andrew’s Hall on April 25th, to much enthusiasm from local fans. Read More…

The Impact Chats With… Dr. Dog!

Recorded at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor on Thursday, April 15th

Nick Van Huis: You guys are from Philadelphia, and usually when bands reach a certain level of fame they tend to defect to bigger cities like L.A. or New York. Has there ever been that temptation for you guys?

Scott McMicken: No. We’re not that kind of people. I think there’s way more than enough going on in Philly for dudes like us. If anything, we would probably be more inclined to leave “the city” altogether. There’s nothing really that compelling to go to like L.A. or New York. We’ve been in the area of Philly so long, we have so many friends and history there that there’s never a shortage of things to do. I think we’re all pretty content in Philly. Read More…

Album Review: Kate Nash: My Best Friend Is You


Gosh I’ve missed this girl. Her sophomore full-length album, My Best Friend Is You, dropped April 19th and her North American tour begins July in Chicago. And in case you were worried that Kate went off and grew up, don’t be. It’s been a while, but she is still throwing tantrums and making slanderous remarks about girls that she thinks are prettier than her, and I still love it. Read More…

Gogol Bordello: April 21, 2010 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre

Jimmy Malkin opened up the concert with a powerful performance by dancing much like Thom Yorke and dressing much like Jack White. However, the crowd was obviously Gogol loyalists and only displayed meager enthusiasm before the second act Devotchka revved up the crowd to a slow hopping jaunt as they swayed to the haunting howls and chanting vocals of Nick Urata who seemed to make the audience inhale and exhale on command as he would lean back and forth on the microphone. The group combines a mixture of Eastern European traditional folk songs with the theremin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, trumpet, violin, bass and percussion to produce a sound that is all unique and still projects the attitude that is so uniquely gypsy punk. The highlight of Devotchka’s act came from two lovely young ladies who did scarf acrobatics during one of the band’s longer instrumental pieces. I had a chance to meet these young women after the concert who say they have always looked forward to working with such high energy acts after graduating from Boulder Circus School (I had inquired where I could learn how to do that.) Read More…

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