Yellow Roman Candles is the brainchild of singer-songwriter Aaron Morse, and based on their first release, If It’s Right, there is a sense that this band could really make a run at achieving a certain level of national notoriety. The album certainly has shades of LaMontagne’s earlier work. Its gritty and working-class sensibilities leave the listener transported to perhaps a greater understanding of the plight of much of middle America….. If It’s Right is a decidedly raw album, which, if given a few listens can really tear into one’s soul. It’s part Springsteen and part Dylan, but certainly all Maine. Not to say that I am surprised, but this simple little album proves that Yellow Roman Candles will one day be deserving of a place among the pantheon of great Maine folk musicians.”

Phantogram took the stage next, playing songs off of their recent full-length release, Eyelid Movies. The performance featured Josh Carter on guitar and keyboardist Sarah Barthel playing and singing over big-beat inspired drum machines.  The band’s simple setup echoed the style of Matt & Kim, who proved that complex is not always best at a Bates show last fall.  Barthel mixed the performance live onstage, layering different parts to create a sound that was both expressive and danceable.  It was easy to see why the duo are known for their energetic live performances.  The night was capped off with a DJ set from Bates’ Jamie Cook, a preeminent campus DJ.

http://www.myspace.com/phantogram
http://www.myspace.com/theyellowromancandles
http://www.myspace.com/jamiemcook

Photographs courtesy of Peter Senzamici

Seabear is an Icelandic indie-folk band from Reykjavik, Iceland. Although hailing from Iceland, they sing primarily in English. They are signed to the Morr Music record label.

Seabear started as a one-man project of Sindri Már Sigfússon, but he eventually ended up taking in six other members.

In 2007/2008, the Seabear song ‘Cat Piano’ was featured in a BBC advert for Finding Neverland as well as in Season 2, Episode 2 of Gossip Girl (TV series). Seabear’s most renowned song is “I Sing I Swim” – the music video for the song was viewed more than 582.000 times on Youtube as of November 2009.

Seabear’s music has been described as “Sufjan Stevens meets an unplugged Arcade Fire” by Clash. Sindri Már Sigfússon has been called the “icelandic Beck” by Rolling Stone.

They have finished their new album “We Built A Fire” which will be released in March 2010. A song from this album has been featured on Grey’s Anatomy and been highlighted on NPR

This is the only college show of their first ever North American tour. It’s free, and it’s going to be stupendous.

In this version, you will be able to see all the captions, which will hopefully make it more relevant for you. Its available here for you below.

-Doug Ray and Bradley McGraw

Doug Ray is the Co-Host of Saltimbocca and Escargot. Bradley McGraw is the Co-Host of Randy’s Hour of Power.

The meeting will close with an election for a number of board positions that are opening up. Only person with previous WRBC experience will be allowed to run and also vote.

Click here for a copy of the show application in PDF format: WRBC Winter 2010 Application

2009 was the 51st year of WRBC on FM

2009 was an interesting year in the history of WRBC. The saw several key changes and its prominence on campus grow to a significant degree. It was a year marked by a variety of concerts, excellent programing, and a few bumps along the way. The WRBC board and the station at large has worked hard to make 2009 one of the best years in our over 50 year history on FM and hopes to build on that momentum in 2010.

Thus, here is a partial rundown of everything that was accomplished over the past year.

January 15: Winter Semester general meeting, we welcome new members onto the board and completely fill the schedule for the third semester in a row.

January 17: Concert by Black Taxi (With Class of 2010 Co-Presidents and Bates Musicians’ Union)

February 28: Concert by FM Belfast (With Bates Musicians’ Union)

March 6: 30th Annual Trivia Night

March 21: Bates Public Art Club, Musicians Union, and WRBC collaborate to bring present “DISCHARGE” featuring numerous campus electronic musicians and artists.

March 26: WRBC helps to support the Bates College Art-In to help give student art a home in the otherwise dormant Chase Hall

May 22: First Ever WRBC Field Day

May 23: Concert by Friends Academy (With Shred Club and Class of 2010 Co-Presidents)

September 10: Fall Semester General Meeting (results in forth consecutive semester with a full schedule)

September 17: The Matt and Kim Ticket Trivia Extravaganza — A miniature Trivia Night style ticket give-away event.

September 18: Concert by Matt and Kim (With Chase Hall Committee)

October 10: Concert by Glenn Jones

November 14: WRBC and the Bates Libertarians present “unDISCHARGED” featuring Anamanaguchi and other campus electronic musicians.

November 23: The Monkey is re-established as a Blog

Additionally, we made numerous upgrades to the station throughout the year including computer upgrades and other new equipment. The board is currently developing a digital music library, online playlist tracking, and a more streamlined application process. We also had a very successful t-shirt sale.

For fiscal year 2010, we were only one of three clubs at Bates to see our budget rise from fiscal year 2009. After issues in February and March, WRBC established a healthy working relationship with the Chase Hall Committee with a new liaison program, which has benefited both clubs and the student body as a whole.

Additionally, WRBC moved up to #18 in the College Radio Rankings published by the Princeton Review and got several mentions on the pages profiling Bates in their book chronicling America’s Best Colleges. WRBC events were never poorly attend and always received positive reviews from the campus media as well as the overall student body. In 2009, WRBC was featured in newspapers throughout New England and the station was even mentioned in Iceland’s #1 newspaper. WRBC expanded its internet capabilities to include a Twitter page alongside our existing Facebook and MySpace pages, and our website received over 18,000 hits with visitors coming from all fifty states and 118 different countries including China, Pakistan, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, and Australia.

It has been a busy year for WRBC, and as the station moves forward providing the best non-commercial free-format radio programming, increasing collaboration with other clubs and our role in the community, both Bates and Lewiston-Auburn, remain our top priority.

Thanks for listening.

-Doug Ray

Doug Ray is the co-host of Saltimbocca & Escargot, Sundays at 8-10 PM Eastern Time on WRBC.

WRBC Holiday Portrait, December 2009

Happy Holidays from all of us at WRBC. May the blessings of free-format radio be with you throughout the coming year!