While you’ve been voting for your favorites of 2007, (and if you haven’t, click here to do so) our DJs have compiled lists of their top five songs and bands of 2007, along with their favorite albums, concerts, new bands and local bands. Click here to see what we liked!

As we’re nearing the end of the year, it’s time to start voting for your favorite songs of the year! On New Year’s, we’ll be counting down the Top 95 Songs of 2007, all according to your votes! We’ll also be reporting the Best Band/Artist of the Year, the Best Album, The Best Rookie (New Band), The Best Local Band, and Best Concert!

All based on your votes! Click here to vote for your favorites.

Happy holidays and have a happy new year from WBRU!

It seems inevitable that a good adventure would start at the local Wendy’s establishment and due to tradition our trip was no different. A dozen or so frozen beef patties and a vegetarian option later we were derailed by an episode of motion sickness. We did, however, get ourselves and the trusty BRU-mobile to Lowell in relatively one piece.

We missed mewithoutyou but Thrice put on an awesome show. The lights were amazing but they’re also one of the only bands that sounds as good live as they do on their albums. Frontman Dustin Kensrue was rocking the flannel and convinced me to go out and pick up the new album, The Alchemy Index: Water and Fire. They’ve received a lot of criticism for being too mellow recently but I didn’t hear and complaints coming from the pits that opened up during the new fire themed songs. They satiated the crowd with all the classics, opening with Artist in the Ambulance, continuing with Stare into the Sun and ending with Deadbolt.

Brand New singer, Jesse Lacey, is a man of mystery (I dare say he prides himself on it) and the show at Tsongas was an enigma of its own. Jesse’s usual heartbreaking vocal cracks and fallouts were replaced by a surprisingly aggressive set. The intensely colored mood lighting of Thrice’s set was replaced by simple white lights and flash bulbs for Brand New’s set. Despite playing mostly material from the new album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, Brand New put on more of a heavy show reminiscent of their alt/punk label. The harder notes and angrily impassioned vocals that made their appearance so frequently in earlier albums and songs such as The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows were interjected in usually mellower songs. Read More

To close off our 38th birthday month, WBRU could barely have asked for a better gift: Cake made a stop in Providence as part of their Unlimited Sunshine Tour and definitely warmed up the crowd on this chilly December night. Four jazzy and unique acts–Detroit Cobras, King City, Oakley Hall, and Agent Ribbons–opened up the show with informal and catchy sets. Then, the velvet curtains on the stage opened up to reveal, to loud claps and cheers, a giant Cake banner with the words “UNLIMITED SUNSHINE” and a picture of an elephant surrounded by trippy, light-like dots.Without missing a beat Cake started up their set with a great rendition of “Frank Sinatra”, followed by hit after hit from all of their albums–Motorcade of Generosity, Fashion Nugget, Prolonging the Magic, Comfort Eagle, Pressure Chief, and even their B-Sides and Rarities album. The crowd went absolutely wild when Cake did their own rendition of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”, which is arguably one of their best covers yet. The band also covered a Kenny Rogers song later on in the show, but mainly just rocked out to their own hits such as “Never There”, “Love You Madly”, and “Comfort Eagle”. Cake’s unique blend of rock, jazz, rap, ska, funk, and country produced one of the most unique and responsive crowds I’ve seen at Lupo’s yet, the fans singing along loudly and clapping in tune to show their appreciation for the performance. Read More