GOOD Orion Sun: It was Orion Sun’s first time in Nashville, and she came out dressed for us: cowboy hat, Lacoste polo, and boots, just oozing swag. Her enthusiasm was palpable, and I definitely felt the love. She seemed almost surprised to see so many folks in the crowd going absolutely crazy for her and […]

Amelia Day is a singer-songwriter from Sumner, WA and a senior at Vanderbilt University. Citing queer folk titans like Tracy Chapman, Brandi Carlile, and The Indigo Girls as influences, Day presents confessional songwriting with an indie pop-rock punch. On Wednesday, April 17th, she makes her major venue debut at EXIT/IN with her backing band, The […]

I’m a Playlist-making hobbyist. Translation: I often avoid my myriad responsibilities by surfing through music streaming accounts. A month ago now, during a customary playlisting-procrastination sesh with a friend, I pulled up “Verses 24,” the most recent annual collection of rap and R&B I had listened to from January on. Though I was obnoxiously late […]

Each week, Aneesh (Roster Chair) delivers his takes via a tier list of the best, average, and worst tracks for the week. First, here are his bite-sized reviews on April 5th’s new releases. Afterward, read on for more Amp writers’ thoughts on recent albums. Good “After Hours,” Kehlani: There are some beautiful production choices in […]

There’s nothing memorable about “Madden 16,” with its over-designed cutscenes and main menus distracting you from a lazy reskin of the same game they’ve been feeding us for decades at this point. But I’ll never forget the heavily reverbed wubs that filled my basement speakers when I booted the game up for the first time, […]

It’s 3 a.m. and I’m hearing colors. The sheen of billboards and buildings flashes before my mind’s eye as the deliciously funky basslines and peppy trumpets of Mariya Takeuchi’s “Plastic Love” worm into my ears. All signs point to a session of easy listening, yet I find myself desperately clinging to memories that aren’t mine— […]

My Navy-enlisted friend texted me one morning back in September. This usually means quickly debriefing each other about daily random inconveniences, but today was a special occasion. The text read “Bro jojis coming to Denver,” and I immediately made a decision: fly out to the Mile High City to see Joji’s “Pandemonium Tour” concert on […]

I know, I wasn’t expecting it either. I didn’t even know Usher was still releasing new music— let alone a 20 song album the same week as his Super Bowl Halftime performance. This coincidence of timing made me think the album exists just as a precursor to his performance on the big stage. But on […]

With an almost thirty-year-long music career, Marcus Hummon is a star-studded veteran of the Nashville country scene. But from the way he discusses music – the intricacies of a piece, his old favorites and newer artists to watch, and his song-writing strategies – you’d think he was a bright-eyed ingénu, unsullied by the industry’s grueling […]

Sufjan Stevens has always been an achingly raw writer, bringing universal themes to life through metaphor in a way that reads like a story. With Javelin, his thirteenth studio album, he’s released an accompanying essay collection of ten meditations on love.  My first love was an involuntary sound – the music of the spheres. . […]

The world of R.A.P. Ferreira is the most fascinating rabbit hole I’ve ever fallen into. It was like finding the final piece of a puzzle: one read-through of a Reddit album review turned into hours of diving deep into his art museum of a discography. With four distinct musical personas, he assumes the role of […]

Brennan Wedl has been working in Nashville for years as a recording singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Simultaneously they’ve been taking on several solo and full-band regional tours, expanding their fanbase and tugging at heartstrings with vulnerable lyricism in the coldest states in New England and the most humid areas of the South. Yet, the biggest […]

From the second it was announced she would be releasing her own music, Disney-actress-turned-pop star Olivia Rodrigo has become wildly successful. Her first single, drivers license, went viral almost immediately, and the hype didn’t dwindle following the release of her debut album, SOUR. Two years later, Olivia Rodrigo has returned with yet another record for […]

Before answering that, you have to know what a concept album is. Essentially, it is an album with tracks that hold greater meaning together than individually, usually revolving around a central theme or narrative. Got it? Good. No? Reread it. Now, has the concept album died? No… That sums it up. No, it hasn’t died. […]

As a bona-fide classical music nerd, I spend a majority of my time around music in some sort of way. But outside of the opening chords of the piano arrangement of “Danse Russe” from Petrushka and the iconic bassoon solo introducing “The Rite of Spring,” I’ll admit that I am completely unfamiliar with Igor Stravinsky’s […]

After a two-year gap from her last studio album “Plant Her”, Doja Cat’s comeback was a much anticipated release. The hype mainly came from the artist herself, who repeatedly distanced herself from her Grammy-award-winning previous album,  denouncing her old music as “fake,” while promising fans and news outlets that “real music” was on the horizon. […]