Last show of the semester! Who else thinks finals came too soon?

We’re starting the show with a song that’s named after one of the only weather events we haven’t experienced in the last week. Hurricane by Bridget Mendler is one of the newest outputs from Disney Channel. It’s a great up beat and sunny song! What happens After the Storm? Mumford & Sons can tell us! One of the complaints I’ve heard about Mumford & Sons is that when they try to be reverent, they come off as angsty (and frankly, I can see that at times!), but they really can show off their talent in their songs and even stand out in their collaborations. One of my favorite Mumford & Sons collaborations is their song Learn Me Right which they performed with Birdy. Birdy is so incredibly talented that I was so happy to hear this song in the movie Brave.

I love collaborations between artists, so we’re going to listen to another collaboration. This one is called Wonderman by Tinie Tempah and Ellie Goulding. This song is definitely different than what typically gets played on this show. We’re going to follow that up with another song about a man. Man Like That by Gin Wigmore is one of my favorites that I’ve ever heard in a commercial. She has a husky and strong voice and she really makes an impression. Gin Wigmore is from New Zealand, just like our next artist, Anika Moa. Thinking about Tomorrow by Anika Moa is a wonderful song about new beginnings. It doesn’t have anything to do with their musical ability, but Anika Moa is openly gay, just like both the twins in Tegan and Sara. Tegan and Sara had a free download at Starbucks recently and that’s a song called Closer.

What’s the opposite of close? Far. We’re going to listen to a song called Dance Anthem of the 80’s off of Regina Spektor‘s album Far. What better to follow that up than an actual song from the 1980’s? Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes came out in 1983. All of the sunburned people on campus were probably thinking that they wouldn’t blister in the sun, but rather Soak Up The Sun like Sheryl Crow. Sheryl Crow and her contemporary Liz Phair have performed together before, so we’re following this up with a Liz Phair song. Phair has been criticized for her changing of musical styles, but she has always done incredible work. Never Said off of her album Exile in Guyville is one of the prime examples of her early musical style. Lily Allen takes a note from Liz Phair’s book and tells a guy that they are not exclusive, nor are they a thing in her song Never Gonna Happen.