Gadgets and gizmos make up a hefty chunk of the average student’s budget, from those pesky graphing calculators you need to make it through Math 95 to the software you might need as a Cinema Studies major with an interest in documentary production. Here’s a guide to some of the tech — functional and recreational — you’ll need during your time here and some resources.

Laptop

A luxury less than a decade ago, the laptop is now perhaps the most essential item a college student could own before starting school.  Sure, there are a plethora of UO tech-oriented organizations and services which enable students without their own computer to succeed — however, limitless computer access allows for more academic freedom, as well as the ability to connect effortlessly with friends and family.

External Hard Drive

External hard drives are a must if you own a laptop. Depending on the size, they can allow you to backup your entire computer. They are also portable and thus easy to take to class if you need to give a presentation or to a friend’s house if you want to share files. Unfortunately, theft and accidents happen on campus and so it is always better to play it safe and backup your files — there is nothing worse than not only losing your expensive laptop but all of your files and documents as well.

Free software alternatives

You’ve likely grown up with Microsoft Word and know how to weave your way through the program in order to pump out an essay four hours before it’s due. But Microsoft Office software doesn’t come cheap, and Google offers a free solution to the student who can’t afford the word processor and its spreadsheet-creating cousin. If you create a Google account, many of Word’s and Excel’s basic features are a mere click away. You can even download them as .docx and .xls files.

Clubs and activities to look out for

The UO has a bevy of official and unofficial student groups that cater to inner tech nerds, from the University Film Organization to Think.Play, a club that meets to critically analyze video games and hosts two-hour play sessions every other week. There’s a League of Legends league to look out for and groups of students regularly carpool up to Corvallis for the Civil War LAN in May. Each of these groups and activities can easily be found on Facebook.

IS Hardware Repair

The UO Hardware Repair shop offers extensive computer hardware support and repair services for students with complicated tech issues. The Hardware Repair Shop is in its third decade of operation and only hires professional and knowledgeable technicians. It’s an Apple-authorized Level 1 service center, can perform non-warranty repairs on all desktop and laptop models, and are able to implement modifications and upgrades on nearly any computer. The IS Hardware Repair Shop is located in 151 McKenzie Hall and operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

DuckLife is the Emerald’s magazine for incoming freshmen, made available during IntroDucktion. This story has been reprinted from the magazine in its original form.

If you just moved to Eugene in preparation for your first term at the University of Oregon and you haven’t had the time to scout out anything outside campus, we’ve got the perfect guide for you.

Downtown Eugene can be a strange and intimidating place — it’s a melting pot for all different types of “unique” individuals. It’s also a hub for homeless people, an oasis for those who love to drink 40s at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday. And yet, a few brave business owners have been able to forge awesome little pockets in this wasteland for the rest of us Eugenians to enjoy. Here is a little list of Eugene’s downtown “diamonds in the rough.”

The Barn Light: Barn Light owners Dustin Kinsey and Thomas Pettus-Czar came to Eugene from Kansas with a mission: to create a cool place where people could simply relax and enjoy the company of their friends. If you’re looking for a change of pace from the common rambunctiousness and belligerence of the campus bar scene then look no further than The Barn Light. The on-tap selection, trendy décor, and contemporary tunes bring a Portland vibe to downtown Eugene.

Lazar’s Bazar: Counter-culture shops are considered a staple here in Eugene, and Lazar’s Bazaar could probably be considered the Mecca of Eugene counter-culture. This place has everything a new Eugenian could possibly need — stickers, posters, tapestries, incense, smoking supplies, lava lamps and everything in between. If you’re looking for a unique gift, or just want to be entertained for an hour you should hop into Lazar’s Bazaar.

Shoryuken League: The Shoryuken Lounge is all about variety. Humungous flat-screens line the walls and traditional arcade machines smatter the floor and its hours of operation are both kid-friendly (before 5 p.m.) and 21 and over (after 5 p.m.) The barcade features a number of unique drinks, including 19 different Pokémon-themed cocktails — bottoms up Charizard!  The best part? Five bucks at the door will get you unlimited play until they close.

The Bijou Metro: Formerly a funeral home, the Bijou is the perfect example of an independent theater.  The staff chooses films they believe are the best in their respective genres. The largest current location is on the corner of 13th Avenue and Ferry Street, however they have now expanding a new theater downtown on 42 West Broadway Street. The new location provides more intimate seating and themed weeks where the staff plans to showcase particular genres of film, like horror or kung fu. 

Voodoo Doughnut: There isn’t a place on the planet quite like Voodoo Doughnut. From the “Captain my Captain” (a donut topped with Captain Crunch cereal) to the infamous Bacon Maple Bar, this unique donut shop has just about any bizarre and comical type of donuts you could possibly dream of.  This is the perfect place for a late-night downtown drunchy, or just a cool place to cap even the most intense sugar craving.

DuckLife is the Emerald’s magazine for incoming freshmen, made available during IntroDucktion. This story has been reprinted from the magazine in its original form.

Zsuzsanna Eva Ward, better known simply as ZZ Ward (mastermind behind the hit album “Til the Casket Drops”) discusses her Oregon roots, the rap game and her obsession with Voodoo donuts.

Growing up, how often would you say you were in Eugene?

I lived in Roseburg but I would go up to Eugene all the time. The first time I went up there and got involved in the music scene I was 16. Me and my girlfriends would go up to this club right by The Hilton, and it was 16 and older on some nights, and we were all so excited because we got to go out to this club! There were these awesome hip-hop shows and dance troupes — and now it sounds so silly, but we had never seen anything like that before. I reached out to Michael K who was just getting started in the Eugene hip-hop movement and started writing choruses for him, and for other rappers up there.

One thing you love and one thing you hate about Eugene?

I have a new-found love for Voodoo Donuts. My least favorite thing is probably the rain; it just rains too damn much here in Oregon.

Hell yeah! What’s your favorite donut?

I can’t even tell you, they are all amazing. Whenever we tour through Portland or Eugene I can’t help myself — it’s really bad!

Well it sounds like you’ve been in Eugene quite a bit.

I can’t even count how many times I was in Eugene. Between doing hip-hop shows we would open for Bone Thugs and Harmony and Mike Jones and whoever else would come through the McDonald Theatre. And I would also go up onto campus and sell demos. I would drive this like green 1990 Dodge Ram around and sell CDs out of the back of my truck.

Did you ever try your hand at rapping or were you mostly producing and writing?

No, unfortunately I can’t rap. My opinion was always if you were a white rapper who can’t freestyle and back it up you aren’t going to make it.

Well, that collaboration you did with Kendrick Lamar was awesome. How did that happen?

I was a huge fan of Kendrick and Freddie Gibbs and I ended up doing a mix tape where I flipped hip-hop songs and then wrote my own songs over them. They heard about what I was doing, believed in what I was doing and wanted to be on my record.

Coming home from Sasquatch! is a lot like waking from those rare, blissful dreams that are more of an ephemeral feeling than a set of linear points in time. Images of smiling faces, bright beaming lights and crisp early morning PBRs flash through your head; but like a dream, it’s often hard to truly grasp the fleeting memories of four days in the Gorge. Nevertheless, there were a few stand-out performances bright enough to pierce through the haze that is Sasquatch! Festival.

An apparently new addition to the festival this year was the Captain Morgan-sponsored acoustic tent, which featured a select number of private acoustic performances from artists who were playing a full set later in the day. Those who were lucky enough to find a ticket were greeted by intimate performances from groups like Chvrches, Alt-J and Vampire Weekend. However, the most impressive set came not surprisingly from Kristian Matsson of The Tallest Man on Earth, who strung together three beautiful songs in front of an elated audience of about 300 people. After his performance his manager handed him a Marlboro cigarette before he left the stage to interact with fans in the most endearingly awkward way.

The most surprising show, and arguably the best of the entire weekend, came from Killer Mike on the Yeti Stage. Mike bottled up all the anger, precision and focus of El-P’s performance earlier in the day, with the added humor and charisma of Danny Brown’s set. After two songs, the audience was so elated that even Mike could hardly believe it. At one point he shot a look of disbelief at his producer — which quickly turned into a warm smile when he turned to face the crowd again. The audience’s reaction fed off of itself taking everyone by surprise (Mike included), and after his third track a few tears snuck from his eyes as he genuinely thanked the crowd for being so supportive.

During his set Mike said he doesn’t use a hype-man because he doesn’t need one — the audience is all the hype he will ever need.  His superb performance comes from the way he interacts with the crowd — in fact, he very well may be one of the most sincere and authentic performers in all of hip-hop right now.

Another performance worth noting from the Yeti was Tame Impala’s set, which came after Empire of the Sun apparently booted them from the Bigfoot stage, (due to complications with their elaborate set design). After about an hour of moving equipment, an initially eager audience turned increasingly restless, (keep in mind this was a headlining band that had just gotten bumped to the second-smallest stage in the venue.) When Tame Impala finally did emerge from behind the stage, they met a thunderous applause. The whole set was superb if not for Kevin Parker playing the majority of it with his back to the audience. The band was as explosive and bright as the rainbows of light beaming from behind them. After their first song, Parker quietly let slip the best punch line of the day with, “Hey … you made it.”

This brings us to the worst performance of Sasquatch! which goes to none other than Empire of the Sun. Everything about this set was sub par and not in the least bit memorable. The production was terrible, the sound was far too quiet and the performance had the deflated energy of a band that seems content with simply cashing in on a well-received 2008 album.

The Bigfoot and Sasquatch! stages had a few standout performances — most notably Alt-J‘s Monday night beauty and The xx‘s soul-crushing Saturday night set. Alt-J played with the precision and confidence of a band which can only be destined for greater things. Their ballad of “A Real Hero” was an unexpected breather from the layered, folk-inflected dub-pop that the crowd had been completely losing their shit over (one especially animated fan was so exuberant about the performance that he tore his shirt completely in half, Hulk Hogan style.) Conversely, The xx’s metronomic beats pulsed in time within thick smoke and splitting beams of light. Just when it seemed the tension from a song was about to explode into a heart-wrenching crescendo, the bottom would drop out into a massive expanse of emptiness. Near the end of the set, pieces of the audience’s souls could be seen floating into the dead air above the Columbia River Gorge.

Thankfully, we can all take comfort in knowing that we can go back to the Gorge to gather the pieces in less than a year, and share that same indescribable feeling that is Sasquatch! once more.

Sasquatch! is here and there is so much to be thankful for this year. With so many bands to choose from it may seem overwhelming at times deciding who to see. Here is a breakdown of bands that might not be on your radar, but should be.

Friday:

ZZ Ward (4:00 p.m. – 4:40 p.m. @Sasquatch!): Zsuzsanna Eva Ward’s musical palate ranges from blues to country and R&B to hip-hop. Hailing from Roseburg, Ore., and beginning her professional career in Eugene, this multi-faceted singer/songwriter has collaborated with rappers Kendrick Lamar and Freddie Gibbs, received praise from NPR and recently performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Check out the track “Cryin’ Wolf,” featuring Kendrick Lamar.

Youth Lagoon (8:30 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. @Yeti): Youth Lagoon is a window into the minimalistic mind of Trevor Powers. Powers uses relaxed electronic melodies centered on lo-fi pop and folk instrumentalism. Check out the song “Cannons.”

Matthew Dear (9:45 p.m. – 10:45 p.m. @El Chupacabra): Matthew Dear is the experimental producer responsible for the track “Dog Days” (voted one of Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade). He is also a founding member of the prolific Ghostly International, arguably the most innovative electronic labels in the US. Dear’s beats are multi-layered and funky and impossible not to dance to. Check out the track “Dog Days.”

Saturday:

Andrew Bird (5:55 p.m. – 6:55 p.m. @Sasquatch!): Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird melds New Orleans jazz, gypsy, folk and rock into one distinctively beautiful sound — the type of timeless music that’s hard to find in today’s music scene. Since ’97, Bird has released an impressive 11 albums, played Coachella and Austin City Limits and has even contributed music for the new “Muppets” movie and the film “Norman.” Check out the song “Three White Horses.”

Yppah feat. Anomie Bell (7:55 p.m. – 8:40 p.m. @El Chupacabra): Yppah (pronounced “yippah”) is the work of Ninja Tune artist Joe Corrales, Jr. and classically trained violinist Anomie Bell. Corrales, Jr. and Bell produce a soothing soundscape that jumps from rock-instrumentalism to atmospheric-electronic — a balance between energetic and mellow. Yppah is as much of an electronic artist as he is a psychedelic rocker. Check out the track “D. Song.”

Tame Impala (10:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. @Honda Bigfoot): Tame Impala epitomizes late ‘60s psychedelic rock without ever sounding too much like one band in particular.  Their debut album “Innerspeaker” balances an obvious respect for their sonic predecessors with subtle contemporary production tweaks — the band makes straddling two disparate eras feel like the most effortless and relaxed thing in the world. This year saw the release of Tame Impala’s “Lonerism” which received high critical and popular acclaim. Check out the song “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.”

Sunday:

Kingdom Crumbs (2:20 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. @Cthulu): Kingdom Crumbs is composed of Mikey Nice, Jerm D, Jarv Dee and Tay Sean, a quartet of rappers and producers based out of Seattle, WA. The group released a self-titled last year that melds relaxed electronic beats with forward thinking, post-underground rap. Kingdom Crumbs harkens to a younger, less serious Shabazz Palaces. Check out the video “Evoking Spirits.”

Danny Brown (3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. @Sasquatch!): Danny Brown’s rap style is about as unorthodox as his haircut. Described by MTV as “one of rap’s most unique figures in recent memory,” Brown personifies a type of unrestrained and uncensored weirdness that most artists shy far, far away from. Check out the track “Grown Up.”

Azari & III (10:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. @El Chupacabra): The Toronto, Canada-based quartet is bringing their ’80s throwback house music vibes to the Northwest and their presence should not be missed. With original vocals and tasteful collaborations with quality international producers, Azari & III will no doubt impress anyone looking for some dancing grooves. Check out the track “Reckless (With Your Love).”

Monday:

Dirty Projectors (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. @Honda Bigfoot): David Longstreth, a former Yale student who left college to become a musician, formed Dirty Projectors in 2003 and released seven albums under the moniker. The band’s 2009 release Bitte Orca was their biggest success, landing them on more Album of the Year lists than I can count. Dirty Projectors have collaborated with The Roots, appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and sold out New York’s 3,000-cap Terminal Five with 20-piece chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound. Check out the track “No Intention.”

Alt-J (8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. @Honda Bigfoot): Alt-J reached near instantaneous success with the release of their debut full-length album, An Awesome Wave, which challenges what exactly constitutes folk, hip hop, indie and pop music. The Cambridge-based quartet’s signature blend of layered folk and euphoric alt-rock is comparable to bands like the Wild Beasts, Hot Chip and even Coldplay. Check out the track “Matilda.”

The WOW Hall will host KWVA’s Betterfest this weekend, featuring an arsenal of music ranging from the face-melting stoner-rock of FUZZ to the chilled-out indie outfit Ducktails. All shows are free for UO students.

Thursday: FUZZ

According to KWVA music director Thor Slaughter, “FUZZ is the loudest live band of all time.” Little else is known about this proto-metal side-project other than that it is the rad creation of multifaceted San Francisco native Ty Segall.

What little material has been released by FUZZ reveals that the band lives up to their name. Segall and company produce intense, psyched-out ’70s stoner-rock likened to the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Black Sabbath.

FUZZ features Segall on vocals and drums, as well as lifelong pals Roland Cosio on bass and Charlie Moonheart on guitar. FUZZ will kick off the first night of KWVA’s Betterfest alongside Colleen Green and You Me & Us this Thursday, May 16.

Friday: Ducktails

Ducktails is the side project of Matthew Mondanile, a member of New Jersey based indie-rock outfit, Real Estate. Mondanile produces a sound which could best be described as one lingering between a recent Wes Anderson soundtrack and a Polaroid picture taken somewhere in southeast Portland. It’s the type of music that suggests introspective nostalgia and yet, does so in a way that never comes across as pretentious or frustratingly hipster.

Ducktails is easy-going, yet exploratory, composed of Mondanile’s close friends and colleagues, as well as a number of other artists — from the backing of popular east coast band Big Troubles to contributions from Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never), Madeline Follin (Cults) and Noah Lennox (Panda Bear).

You can catch Ducktails at the WOW Hall on Friday, May 17 alongside The Beets, The Memories and White Fang.

Saturday: Naomi Punk

It’s unfortunate that “post-grunge” is used to describe bands like Creed and Linkin Park, who commercialized grunge’s foreboding obscurity in the early 2000s; because now, contemporary bands like Naomi Punk, who take the style’s basic tenets and send it in a far more interesting direction, are sometimes associated within the same genre. While Naomi Punk uses the genre’s basic elements, their songs aren’t even remotely comparable to the cheaply synthetic recreations of Puddle of Mudd or Staind.

The Washington state trio’s response to grunge signifies that the genre has not been destroyed by your dad’s favorite 2000s band.

The trio will play alongside Weed, Cascadia and The Helio Sequence for the final night of Betterfest on Saturday, May 18.

Popular Pacific Northwest electronic groups Beat Connection and ODESZA will bring two distinct brands of shimmery, glitched-out electro-pop music to Eugene Thursday night at the WOW Hall.

ODESZA produces the type of music that screams summer. The group is made up of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, two college friends who reached instantaneous Internet success after dropping their 2012 LP, “Summer’s Gone.” The album is driven by sweeping bass lines, bright guitar keys and lyrical samples evoking a sense of blissful nostalgia. It’s the type of music best served with a cold beer atop a friend’s roof or driving solo up the coast on a summer day. It would take a truly cold individual to contain him or herself from bobbing their head to these infectious melodies. This is ODESZA’s second appearance at the WOW Hall this year (they recently opened for Emancipator), and it will likely not be their last.

Beat Connection is similarly composed of two college buddies. Reed Juenger and Jordan Koplowitz met as freshmen at a party on the University of Washington campus and started mixing music together shortly afterward. In July 2010, the duo self-released their debut EP, “Surf Noir.” The album epitomized the type of contagious chillwave music many groups would make their own in the following year. After the buzz surrounding their debut EP subsided, the group grew from a duo to a trio, adding a full-time rhythm section. Their brand of electronic-driven pop music is more tropical sounding than ODESZA’s, but both encapsulate the sound and energy of summer.

Beat Connection played at Sasquatch Music Festival last year and revitalized a tired and hung-over afternoon crowd. It looks like ODESZA will follow in their footsteps this year — if you can’t catch ODESZA this Thursday, you can find them on the El Chupacabra Stage at Sasquatch! on May 27.

Beat Connection plays with ODESZA May 9, 2013, at the WOW Hall. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Cozmic may be the coolest venue in Eugene right now, but owner Alec Cox believes there are even greater heights to be reached.

“This place has already undergone some pretty incredible expansion — and it will continue to grow. If need be, we will raise the ceilings and expand the walls, so long as we can bring Eugene the music it deserves,” Cox said.

Eugene businesses on Sunday afternoons are normally sorely slow. But not Cozmic. The sounds of marimbas, drums and xylophones emanated from the front door as Kudana Marimba, a multi-instrumental group inspired by the sounds of Zimbabwean folk music, performed in front of a diverse group of people. And yet, whatever the audience’s differences may have been, they certainly had one thing in common — a genuine smile covered everyone’s faces.

As a birthday party catered by Cozmic came to a close and a weekly Pokémon league commenced (that’s right, Pokémon is still around), the busy owner who was furnishing all this unexpected Sunday excitement revealed what makes Cozmic such a special place.

Cox brings a Las Vegas booking attitude to the Eugene music scene. “My goal is to keep the stage busy all the time,” he said. “I try to book somewhere around 35 to 40 shows a month.”

He wants Eugene to know that Cozmic is not just a pizza place. It’s a venue and a location where the community can gather and enjoy good music together. “While there is a necessary relationship between the pizza and the venue — neither could exist alone — together they are a force to be reckoned with,” Cox said.

In light of his recent sold-out Built To Spill show, Cox mentioned that the concert was not just his doing. Rather, it was the result of his entire staff’s efforts. When Cox started at Cozmic he asked his staff to write down ten bands they would like to see in their venue, and that Built to Spill was a unanimous favorite. “Even if I only broke even with this show I knew I had to book Built to Spill. I owed it to my staff,” Cox said.

Cozmic may end up having to “raise the roof,” so to speak, with such a bright future ahead. There’s plenty happening at Cozmic this month, including Javelin with Helado Negro and Jamaican Queens on Tuesday, May 7 and the KWVA Record Swap Party on May 18 to name but a few.

Philadelphia songsmith Kurt Vile will be in Portland at the Doug Fir Lounge on May 10, showcasing his fifth and strongest studio album “Wakin on a Pretty Daze,” acclaimed by many as 2013′s best thus far.

This new album provides a window into his comfortable, lonely universe. Yet, what makes it so fascinating is he doesn’t hold the listener’s hand while guiding them through his spacious mind. Discovering the deeper, melancholic meaning of his songs, shrouded beneath airy guitar riffs and sharp drums, is what makes this album amazing.

He began making his mark on the music scene in 2005 when he and Adam Granduciel founded the band The War on Drugs. The band released critically acclaimed album “Wagonwheel Blues,” and successfully toured across the U.S. and Europe. At the time, Vile was splitting his work with The War on Drugs and his solo projects until 2008, when he left the band fearing their growing success would waylay his solo career.

His departure didn’t drive a spike through the friendships of the band members, like it often does when one band member leaves in order to pursue a solo-career. Rather, the band remained close — some members even appear on parts of his solo albums; he occasionally makes special guest appearances at The War on Drugs shows.

Signing with Matador Records in 2011 and after the release of his fourth and most popular album, “A Smoke Ring for My Halo,” Vile has proven that while his work might not be stylistically innovative, he has mastered the ability to effortlessly produce introspective and melodic tracks. His solo works feature lo-fi productions, jagged drum rhythms, fuzzy live instrumentation and song writing influenced by the likes of Dinosaur Jr. and Bruce Springsteen.

“Wakin on a Pretty Day” takes off where its predecessor left off. He covers the listener in a wistful interplay of electric and acoustic guitar tones, wise yet mumbled lyrics and an overall emotional sense caught between regret of past events and whimsical content for life. In some ways, his puzzling pairing of sad lyricism with upbeat tones echoes works by Belle & Sebastian or Elliot Smith. Tracks like “Wakin on a Pretty Daze” and “Too Hard” reveal Vile’s escapism into his own head (and his music) in order to avoid the seriousness of everyday life. He hides the underlying gloom of these lyrics beneath melodies, which seem composed and even upbeat at times. In a sense, he puts on a happy face for his listeners while deep down struggling against some very serious personal issues. At times, he has a hard time articulating these pains, like in the song “Girl Called Alex,” where he quietly says “I wanna —” before being drowned out by a stinging guitar, which won’t let him finish his thought.

Vile crafts this album effortlessly, allowing his line in the song “Was All Talk” to ring poignantly: “Making music is easy, watch me.”

And there are people watching him. “Wakin on a Pretty Daze” has captivated popular music critics: The album received an 8.5/10 on Pitchfork (along with “Best New Music”) and was selected as Stereogum’s album of the week on April 9.

Howard and Guy Lawrence, of popular electropop outfit Disclosure, are children of the Internet; but even though they are only 18 and 21 years old respectively, I would hesitate before calling these two “kids.” Disclosure has reached a level of success that many artists only dream of — and they’re showing signs of getting bigger, fast.

The Lawrence brothers have created a name for themselves as one of the most exciting young groups coming out of the UK — with recent singles receiving well over a million SoundCloud hits and invitations to play at both Coachella and Ultra Music Festival, some of the biggest festivals in the world.

However, the ability to play in front of their fans is sometimes hindered by their young age. Although Disclosure’s youth sometimes overshadows their musical talent, they are quickly proving themselves as astute performers all the same. Disclosure’s live performances reach beyond simply tapping play on their laptop keyboards and monitoring their monitors. While the prerecorded productions handle the bulk of the work, the brothers also busy themselves on stage with an array of percussion and bass instrumentation.

When considering their age, Disclosure’s success seems a testament to the state of the shifting Internet music industry, which is gradually allowing up-and-coming artists to make a legitimate mark within their respective genres.

Disclosure’s aesthetic has developed considerably as their listening habits change. Their sound has moved from moody, ethereal styles (akin to Burial), to the blissful euphoria which marked the flourish of 2-step and UK Garage — evidenced by their recent EP, The Face, as well as their stunning single “Latch.” Disclosure’s tracks — while catchy on their own — are often structured around strong vocal support from artists like Jessie Ware, Ria Ritchie and AlunaGeorge which keep their songs focused and approachable.

Mixing live performance with pop-influenced dance music, come Wednesday, Disclosure will prove just how talented they are.

Disclosure plays at 9 pm Wednesday, April 17 at the WOW Hall. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 at the door.