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.

Professor Hooglund is one of the leading American scholars on Iranian politics and culture.  He discusses his experiences in Iran during the revolution, his insights on the political climate, and examples of a changing culture in Iranian cinema and television.

Trivia Night is coming up. The game to end all games will be played on the night of February 26, 2010 beginning at 8 PM. Here is a video some of us made to get you into the spirit. For more information, click HERE

More details coming soon, but this show, this musical experience if you will will make all others seem like a poor attempt at entertaining you.

WRBC presents Hey Mama

Hailing from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hey Mama is a contemporary rock ‘n roll four-piece band, featuring Avi Salloway and Celia Woodsmith, formerly of the aptly named Avi and Celia. This show will be held in the Benjamin Mays Center.

From Myspace:
“Originally a powerhouse duo, Avi & Celia found an outlet, literally, and have plugged into Hey Mama, a contemporary rock n’ roll band. The ever evolving Avi & Celia have been a professional band since 2005. They have released two captivating records; Let it Rise (2008) and Off the Floor (2007), have played over 400 shows, building a loyal fan base and have received acclaim from Yankee Magazine, the Boston Globe, and NHPR.

Hey Mama features Avi & Celia with Jared Seabrook and Ben Kogan on drums and bass. The rock & roll vibe of the band explores the groups deep influence in blues and roots-country music. Avi Salloway and Celia Woodsmith hold a special chemistry both with song writing and performing that is accentuated by the talents of Seabrook and Kogan.”

From their website, on the subject of their self-titled record:
“Hey Mama was recorded with Grammy nominated producer Jack Gauthier. We weaved in recording sessions throughout our summer tour, when we jazzed up from the energy of the live shows. While proudly displaying its rock vibe, it’s hard to miss the undercurrents of blues and roots-country music that run throughout the songwriting. The album resembles an art collection, providing a many-textured look at contemporary experiences, political and personal. Launching off the band’s fiery synergy is Celia Woodsmith’s explosively emotive voice, powerful but at times peacefully tender. The record also features guest appearances from The Tecumseh Strings, a chamber group of Boston’s finest string players.”

Hey Mama have been touring since early January and are playing at Bates shortly before they perform at SXSW in Austin, TX.

The most fun you will have on a Wednesday, hands down.

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

When completed, this application should be returned to Doug Ray (dray@bates.edu or Box 660). If you feel like you need more room to answer a question, please staple anextra piece of paper to this one with the rest of your answer on it. Applications are due January 22, 2010. Late applications will be considered after all other applications have been considered.

The Monkey Blog by WRBC Editorial Staff 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.