Ever made your way over to Lerner's iconic ramps for a midday break only to be inundated, upon arrival, by the wafting of piano scales? Bwog has also encountered those mysterious etudes on a number of occasions, but today we were in for quite the surprise.

While taking time away from surveying the cracks and stains in the ramps this afternoon, Bwog had the pleasure of nestling down on the far end of the large, red, and suede swirly chair in the Lerner Piano Lounge to take in, for a brief moment, the second incarnation of "Music on the Ramps," (the first was last week).

Last night (tonight?) at the intersection of Broadway and West End, friends of the Kitchen Cabinet, Raul, and the Ceiling packed into a room scarcely larger than a Carman double to witness an unlikely succession of bluegrass and rock that satisfied every taste and craving. Perched on a table, Bwog tapped her toe to the lyrical stylings of campus character Ashraya Gupta and covered her ears to the cacophony of the former Wizards of the Coast.

So college, and yet so glorious.

Beginning at noon today, a strange face-off between Columbia activist-types and artist-types went down under Alma's nose. First, the student council-sponsored Arts Fair unfurled on Low Steps, offering free hamburgers, pizza, models (clothed!) and music. Meanwhile, a clot of more than 100 anti-Columbia protesters with home-made noisemakers (corn kernel-filled plastic bottles) marched onto campus and coalesced at the sundial.

The Student Coalition on Expansion and Gentrification, who had originally sponsored the protest, pulled out last night when they heard they wouldn't get a permit to demonstrate on the Steps--because the Arts Fair had claimed the space long before. Admins offered the activists the Pupin lawn and told them to come in at the 120th entrance, but community groups refused to take the space bargain.

And so the unofficial, ad hoc protesters, led by the Coalition to Preserve Community, the Coalition to Save Harlem, and the Mirabal Sisters, gathered a group of SCEG-ites and bystanders. While Tom "Peter Pan complex" DeMott ululated into his bullhorn, the bands on the steps--including the Kitchen Cabinet and a funk band (we didn't catch the name) drowned out the addresses. One old man, spittle flying from his mouth, tried to rush the stage to stop the "fucking kids" from playing--there are also reports some protesters pulled their amp cords. "Surreal," said one bystander. "This is hilarious," quipped another. More pics after the jump.

Bwogger Justin Gonçalves weighs in with words and pictures from last night's ESC Battle of the Bands.

Last night, on the storied stage of Roone Arledge Auditorium, the Engineering Student Council capped off its annual E-Week celebrations with the ESC Battle of the Bands. After five bands ran through ten-minute sets, Crown Victoria and the Kitchen Cabinet were crowned winners, leaving this reviewer wondering whether the university's lack of dedication to undergraduate "underground arts," as discussed today in the Spec, has had any impact on the music scene's creative spirit. Has the creative spirit had been replaced entirely by a (not entirely mutually exclusive) desire to entertain?

The night began with eventual winners, Crown Victoria, whose Teddy Geiger-inspired alt-rock set an early tone for the musical portion of the evening. The band, fronted by Alexander Howard C'09, rollicked through a very tight series of tunes that might eventually find their home in a Budweiser commercial. And for that, they received the highest score of the evening.

Columbia's current favorite sons, Vampire Weekend, seem to be doing pretty well for themselves lately. With their full-length album coming out in three days and two sold-out shows at Bowery Ballroom kicking off a national tour next week. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was Rolling Stone's 67th best song of the year, and a snarky Pitchfork review can't be more than two weeks in coming, considering the backlash that we've seen -- without an album even having been released!

On the local front, Columbian Jared Hecht passed along his interview with the group, over at Jambands. The phrase "Upper West Side Soweto" appears more than once.

(If you still haven't heard VW, there are some pretty good free samples on Daytrotter.)

Last night, a Columbia band called The Stolen Cars played a show at the Lower East Side bar Fontana's. Bwog ventured 45 minutes south-east to catch them play with five other bands as part of a larger battle of the bands-type competition. The all-Columbia, all-Beta Theta Pi band is composed of John Luna (SEAS '08), Matt Pruznick (CC '09), Taylor Eichenseer (SEAS '09), and Danny Ferarro (CC '09).

They specialize in catchy alt-rock, and Luna's idiosyncratic and poppy vocals engender comparisons to Something Corporate. The Stolen Cars played a handful of songs, the best of which was "Home Run", a crescendoing homage to ska that features a clever mix of electric guitar (Luna played both electric and acoustic at the show) and electric piano. The band ended with "Abbey and Audrey"—at which point, Matt Pruznick had removed his shirt that helpfully read "Matt"—a favorite among the growing group of CU students in the crowd, many of who started singing along.

The Stolen Cars were followed by a band called Cocaine, the members of which resembled a terrifying cross-pollination between Don Johnson circa 1989 and Perez Hilton (see documentation at left). The lead singer began throwing baby powder at the audience, at which point Bwog left. Later that night, The Stolen Cars were announced as the winners of the competition and they were invited to play again in the next round of the contest.

- JNW

Jeremy Sean and Celtic Warriors brought their own electro-acoustic Celtic pop to the Lower East Side's 169 Bar last night. The band, led by Jeremy Blackman, C'09, tore through a half-hour set of sweet, succinct pop tunes. The rhythm section, comprised of Jacob Brunner, C'09, and Coleman Moore, C'10, lived up to their name as the Celtic Warriors, providing a subtle, appropriate accompaniment. (If you're interested, Brunner writes ethereal electronic compositions under the pseudonym rice; Moore records dance music as Young.)

Blackman spent much of his summer performing at various antifolk venues solo and with another project, the Proud Decades, even playing some shows with Columbia favorites (and Yale alums) the WoWz. You can catch Jeremy Sean at Goodbye Blue Monday on the first of November (don't worry, we'll remind you).

Vampire Weekend is having a moment. Just today, Kelefa Sanneh of the New York Times wrote a glowing piece about them, and they've recently appeared in Rolling Stone, L Magazine, and on hundreds of indie-rock blogs. (Also, they played Bowery, like, omg!)

In case you've forgotten who they are (and if you missed their hot beats at St. A's and ADP during the year), here's an old Bwog interview to jog your memory (and perhaps induce indie fan-girl squeals).

ALSO: Genre magazine did a fabulous cover and spread on Jake and Marty LaSalle: brothers, Adonis-like figures, jugglers, and soon-to-be Columbia seniors recent graduates. They can show us lunges any day.

In 1997, Men in Black was a monster of a hit. It would soon be near- forgotten in the society's collective consciousness, but later became the inspiration for The Tycho Treaty. Bwog took a load off with the band, Sam Rosenthal C'079 on bass and vocals, Mason Felton-Reid NYU '09 on guitar, and Miles on percussion, who perform and record songs inspired by aliens, bug extermination tactics, and Edgar.

Tell me where the band name came from.

It's from the end of Men in Black, the first one — we pretend the second one never happened. So at the end of the movie, after they shoot down the spaceship of Edgar, the bug, the big villain, at the end. He gets out and they cite him for being in violation of Section 4153 of the Tycho Treaty so we just took it from there. We spent a day going through the movie and looking at everything and looking to see if this is a good band name. We thought that was the coolest one.

So the entire concept of the band came out of Men In Black?

I mean. I'd been in a previous band with the guitarist, Mason, and our other band dissolved so we were kind of sitting around. I wish I had a good story about where the name came from but we just like cool, let's write a concept album about Men In Black. There's really little deviation from the plotline, if any.

In anticipation of their first fall show, Bwog sat down with two members of Ava Luna, a band that bends genres even as it redefines them. Carlos Hernandez C'07 does guitar and vocals, while Nate Tompkins C'05 plays bass.

Can you describe the band's birth? Who was the midwife?

Carlos: My mother is a professional midwife. Go to hell.

Nate: Interestingly, we were conceived at the same moment as Nikolai Fraiture's baby. Most people don't know that.

Carlos: The night we were born, the sky turned a disco red.

...okay...what's your complete fall lineup?

Carlos: Well we've got the same old crew, split nicely between Columbia and NYU, plus Siheun [Song C'08], another Columbia student, who recently joined us on keyboards and vocals.

Nate: Wool cardigans are big this year.

Carlos: And linens.

And who closes?

Carlos: Closes what?

Nate: As the drummer, it's Julian [Fader NYU '09]'s job to open and close the door to every room that Carlos might step in to. So in a sense, he's our opener and closer.

What's with the stupid name?

Carlos: It means "go to hell" in Gaelic. Actually, we just like the way it sounds.

Nate: Carlos is a werewolf.

The Midnight Hours don't belong in New York City. The band, fronted by Michael Harper C'07 and Lauren Marie Hunter '07, manages to throw its listeners back to Austin circa 1973 while avoiding any cliché. Rounding out the group of not-so-Texan Texas outlaws are Chris Tomson C'06 on lead guitar, Chris Baio C '07 on bass, and Izumi Devalier C'07 on drums. BWOG music correspondent Justin Gonçalves sat down with them at Chipotle on 8^th and 34^th to discuss Blogs, Digby Sellars, and Madison Square Garden.

How did The Midnight Hours come to be?

Harper: Lauren and I went to high school together in Texas. We were making our own songs and then it came to not be a two-person thing.

Marie: We wanted more of a full band sound.

MH: Then Chris joined on bass. We've been friends since freshman year. We're roommates now.

Tomson: Michael hit on me at a party.

Devalier: Michael hit on me at a party, too!

MH: Really? (Laughs).I don't remember that. Sorry.

Where did the name come from?

MH: We went through 5 other names that no one hated: The Young Rushes, the Railway, The Midnight Specials.

Baio: That's a sandwich too. I thought it was fine, but no one else did.

LM: It's also a lyric from a Ray Charles song.

In a world where college bands seem to be perpetuating the same ol' indie trend, Beilis serves as a refreshing reminder that not all college bands want to be The Walkmen 2.0. The band, fronted by Matt Beilis SEAS '07, is composed of guitarist Pete Couto C '07, drummer Matt DeWit NJIT '07, and bassist Dylan Shemat MSM '09. Bwog music correspondent Justin Goncalves speaks to front man Matt about Teenybopper love songs, fractions, and touring with Teddy Geiger.

First thing's first, I noticed Teddy Geiger of LoveMonkey and TRL semi-fame is listed as one of your friends on MySpace. I've heard some rumors you were on tour with him?

Yeah, last August I went on tour with Teddy Geiger's band to perform keyboard, organ, and back-up vocal duties.

How did that happen?

A friend of mine got me an audition with his manager. I tried out though they wanted a guy that was more organ centered. I did my best and even though I'm predominantly a piano player I got it. I toured with them for month playing for crowds of 500-1000 people every night. It was an amazing experience.

Being in SEAS, there's a misconception that a lot of students aren't all that creative. Have your studies had any impact on your music?

It hasn't really affected my playing directly. I've always thought of math and music as similar entities. A measure is nothing more than the whole and the notes are just parts: it's all fractions. For me, music made me interested in science and math.

Read more after the jump!

Vampire Weekend is not a bunch of hipsters, puh-lease. The band, comprised primarily of the most recent batch of Columbia graduates, is preparing to break out beyond the campus music scene. Sure they all live in Brooklyn but, come on, they love Africa and LaCoste. Just last spring they played at a Yacht-themed party at Saint A's - that's about as un-hipster as you can get. Bwog music correspondent Justin Goncalves recently had the opportunity to talk with the band in between the recording of drum loops in Park Slope.

First things first, who is Vampire Weekend?

Ezra: Vampire Weekend is traditionally me on guitar and vocals, Chris [Tomson C'06] on bass, Rostam [Batmanglij C'06] on keyboards, and Baio [C'07] on bass. John Atkinson [C' 00] is going to be joining us soon. You might know him from his stuff with Aa (BIG A little a).

Where did the name Vampire Weekend come from?

Ezra: Some might think it's a weekend where you sleep all day and stay up all night, but that's not what we're going for. Me and my friends from home made a movie after summer vacation with a plot that someone's country is being taken over by vampires. Walcott has to go to Cape Cod to tell the mayor that vampires are coming.

Rostam: And the song's actually about Walcott leaving.

Ezra: Yeah it works on a bunch of levels.

What is the ideal Vampire Weekend?

Ezra: The ideal avatar, preppy African with equal parts of fresh and clean. Preppiness with West African guitar pop, a perfect fusion of happy world music with Western, New England preppiness.

So who would you cite as your influences?

Ezra: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kanda Bongomen, Reggaeton. I want to call it bodega music but I'm pretty sure that's not politically correct. It's called Bachata, I think.