The spring semester is coming to a close and the BIRN is proud to announce our upcoming 1 year anniversary! We've grown a lot this year and we hope you found a show that fits your musical style, or maybe an interview on BIRN2 has caught your interest. With artists like Allesandro Cortini (of Nine Inch Nails) or our career chat with George Massenburg and Linda Ronstadt. Listen to BIRN2 to hear more great content. Soon we'll be launching our newest channel, BIRN 5: BIN on the BIRN, broadcasting from Berklee's International Network partner schools in Mexico, France, Brazil. Spain, Ecuador, Malaysia, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Greece, Finland, Israel and Korea. Unfortunately, our new studios in Boston are still underway due to construction difficulties, but they will most definitely be up and running this summer and we will have many pretty pictures for your viewing pleasure.

In other news, the BIRN hosted this year's New Music Festival concert series and Singer's Showcase at the Berklee Performance Center, and spread word of the BIRN to an eclectic and receptive audience. Also, our latest BIRN t-shirts devised by Edward Loveall are now in print and will be on sale for $15 at the Berklee bookstore this summer. The design, reminiscent of the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign, poses the question, "Got Crossfade?"
The satisfaction of every successful semester is always wrought with grief and angst when we must bid our graduating DJs farewell. Many of our most dedicated DJs and management members are graduating this spring, so be sure to catch their last few shows before they thrown in the towel. From everyone at the BIRN, we hope you have a warm and sunny spring and as always, thanks for listening!

Tokyo Police Club

After riding the buzz and hype waves surrounding their debut EP, A Lesson In Crime, Tokyo Police Club have returned with a proper full-length debut. Once again, they keep it short, with the album clocking in at just under 28 minutes. And every single song finishes in less than three minutes, with one exception. So, as it would seem, they keep it simple and to-the-point; this is not an album of musical genius. What it is, however, is fun. It's catchy, upbeat pop that will stick in your head. That being said, I think the album is not quite up to par with A Lesson In Crime. The strongest song on the album is certainly "Your English Is Good", and I feel like that is one of the only songs that matches the immediate attention-grabbing qualities of every song on that first EP. But, what Elephant Shell trades out for in immediacy, it gains in consistency. This album shows a band that is more comfortable with itself and its songs. One could even say they're more mature, but this is still Tokyo Police Club we're talking about. It's a pretty good album, and it will please Tokyo Police Club fans, as well as certainly earning them many more.
Elephant Shell will be released April 22nd via Saddle Creek.
review by Keith Nelson