Brett Dennen with Forro in the Dark

A friend at a music festival, hearing Brett Dennen for the first time, remarked that he was “the hipsters’ answer to the bros’ Jack Johnson”.  Indeed, the analogy between the two singer-songwriters makes sense.  Dennen, like Johnson, is easy to listen to and hard to not like.  Both sing light, guitar-focused songs in major keys, but achieve depth through their biting, soulful lyrics addressing issues of people, poverty, and society.

Dennen’s 2004 album, So Much More, was his first breakthrough on the music scene, reaching Number One on eMusic, but Dennen truly burst on the scene in 2008.  He played at festivals such as Bonnaroo, Rothbury, Austin City Limits, and the Newport Folk Festival and toured with O.A.R. and then with Jason Mraz.  His album, Hope for the Hopeless, achieved mainstream success, especially the single “Make You Crazy,” which was recorded with Nigerian star Femi Kuti and featured Mandy Moore in the music video.  Recently, he re-released one of the songs from Hope for the Hopeless, “Heaven,” as a duet with Natalie Merchant.

Now, Dennen has continued exploring the possibilities of “world music” begun with his collaboration with Femi Kuti by recording an iTunes live session with the Brazilian band, Forro in the Dark.  Forro in the Dark has previously worked with David Byrne, the Brazilian Girls, and Thom Yorke. Read the rest of this entry »

The only thing redeeming about this is that new book smell.

What. The. Heck. Is. This?

Here on Noice, we love free things. We love them so much we devote an entire tag to it. We love them so much that we bring you copies of The Voice for free every month. Heck, we’ll even give you two copies if you like! HOWEVER, we do not like to get free crap if it’s actually just crap. This blogger’ll take a free slap in the face over what she and many others received yesterday coming into the yard.

Man, they really had us fooled! We saw some man peddling The Origin of Species 150th Anniversary Edition and grabbed it thinking “Hey! One less thing I’ll have to buy for my Science core!” But alas, a few hours later in the comfortable Snuggie™-fied glory of a common room we discovered… aghast! “THIS ISN’T WHAT WE THOUGHT IT WAS! TROJANS, THIS IS A HOLLOW HORSE! ”

Complete with a “special introduction” by some d-bag named Ray Comfort, this version of the out-of-copyright 19th century classic includes gems like:

After much research, I do concede that you won’t find anything in Darwin’s writings that would indicate that he in any way felt blacks were to be treated as inferior or that his views of them were do to their skin color. He just thought that they were closer to gorillas than whites (33).

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a recession, Dorothy. But online, we can all escape the dull grey of Kansas. So enjoy the fully saturated, and much sexier version of this month’s issue right here on the interwebs!

CLICK HERE to download the PDF version of our new issue.

Also, stay tuned for an updated version of thehvoice.com website. Coming soon, we promise!

Praise be to GaGa, it’s what you’ve all been waiting for. The second Voice issue of the year is out tomorrow! Check out the Science Center, your dining hall, or online for your copy.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF THIS MONTH’S ISSUE:

- A Guide to Harvard-Yale: Not your mama’s guide to the Game this weekend.
- MOAR Talented Freshmen: Okay, someone needs to calm down the Class of 2013, ’cause they keep finding themselves in our pages.
- How To: Dress Like a Harvard Stereotype: Bro, WASP, athlete, hipster? Gotta catch ‘em all.
- An Interview with Professor Maria Tatar: Popular “Childhood Literature” professor gives us the dish on Where the Wild Things Are
…and more!

OMG THE VOICE!!!!!!1111!!

Those who won’t be playing pre-finals academic catch-up after returning from Yale this weekend will have the opportunity to take part in a bizarre farce instead. This Sunday, the MP3 Experiment, apparently a silent and digitalized version of Simon Says, will take place in the Yard at exactly 1:15pm. Included in the informational email was an audio file that participants should download onto their iPod and bring to the event but not listen to prior to the event. Thrown by students from the Graduate School of Education, the event calls to mind October’s flash mob. According to the hosts, it offers a similar kind of spirit.

The Harvard MP3 Experiment is modeled after those of Improv Everywhere, the masterminds behind such youtube classics as the Food Court Musical and No Pants Subway Rides. This event is being run by students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Don’t worry, we’re not going to teach you anything.  Except possibly how to be more awesome.

Wait–why aren’t we doing the no-pants thing instead? Next time, Harvard.

RSVP to the Facebook event here.

Photo courtesy of Robert Southers.

Jesus take the wheel. Just watch it.

“Yale: The Retarded”

[courtesy of On Harvard Time]

See On Harvard Time’s Fuck Yale 2008 video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Who: Anna Murphy ’12, social studies concentrator
Where: Harvard Yard, outside of Sever

1) Floral Shirt: Salvation Army
2) Black Pants: American Apparel