Now Playing:
Who to go see this week.

Thursday:

10:30 p.m. at The Darkhorse
Funk rock band, The Hot Sauce, will be spending the next two months playing bar shows in State College. If you haven’t seen them yet, you can check them out every Thursday at The Darkhorse and Saturday, January 26 at The Rathskeller.

Friday:

Noontime
Penn State’s Student Programming Association (@psu_spa) puts on a free show on the first floor of the HUB every Friday at noon featuring a variety of local and national music acts in the Noontime Lounge. This week’s noontime show features R&B-infused pop-rockers Talain Rayne.

Mike Wallz presents “Night at the Theatre” | Read More
7 p.m. at The State Theatre

Winter Jam 2013 | Read More
7 p.m. at The Bryce Jordan Center

PSMA Clash of the DJs | Facebook Event
9 p.m. at Heritage Hall in the HUB

Four of the Electronic Dance Music Club’s most talented DJs will face off at a student music showcase sponsored by PSMA.. You can get tickets this Wednesday and Thursday in the HUB. The bill includes Cheez Grater, DJ Desu, nvrsoft, and Partial.

Saturday:

Chords For a Cure (#C4AC) featuring Boyce Avenue and Walk the Moon | Read More
6 p.m. at the Eisenhower Auditorium

For a complete listing of bands playing at bars in Happy Valley this week, check out the State College.com bar tour page.

Breaking Concert Announcements:
Who to look forward to.

RISE with DJ Fareoh
January 23 at Levels Nightclub

Penn State music promoters Limitless Entertainment and national EDM promoters Glow announced a collaboration on the brand new RISE event series, which aims to bring national EDM acts to college audiences at an affordable price.

The RISE event series kicks off on Wednesday, January 23 with a show by DJ Fareoh at Levels Nightclub. Fareoh (@theFareoh) is a progressive house DJ based in New York but has played several festival stages and opened for national acts such as Avicii, Alesso, and Sebastian Ingrosso. Tickets are available at charged.fm.

College Town Life Rage Tour with Dougie Kent and Jbre | Read More
February 23 at Phi Kappa Theta fraternity

With exotic stage lights, a DJ that spins the dirties bass beats, and two rappers who are making waves in the PA music scene, the online guide to college lifestyle, #CTL, is promising a night that you won’t soon forget.

Penn State Music Awards presented by Open MIC | Facebook Event
February 28 in Alumni Hall

Penn State’s Open MIC (@OpenMic_Psu) will be honoring some of Happy Valley’s best musicians by hosting the Penn State Music Awards on February 28 in Alumni Hall. Nominate your favorite artist at Penn State by filling out this survey.

Penn State Artist Spotlight:
Showing off the talent of Happy Valley.

Keegan Tawa – “Nightfall”

image credit: badpublicityblog.com

Climbing through treacherous scales, traversing a commanding house beat, and inevitably crashing down in G-force heavy drops, “Nightfall” by Penn State student, Keegan Tawa, is an action-packed seven-minute adventure into the recess of a complex musical labyrinth. With the accompanying twang of a classical acoustic guitar plus haunting syncopation and melodies that have the Gothic appeal of a damp, stone castle; “Nightfall” proves the versatility of Tawa as a budding EDM producer.

If you’re a Penn State artist that wants to be featured on Onward State, drop us a line at [email protected] or @OnwardState.

Penn State Playlist:
All of this week’s hottest new music in one place.

Big Boi – “Pink Matter” (Remix) featuring Frank Ocean and Andre 3000

Members of Outkast, Big Boi and Andre 3000, have been like bitter divorcees. The classic hip-hop duo got the hopes of fans up with the promise of a reunion and then threw it back in our faces by breaking up in a public Twitter bout. But the sweet voice of Frank Ocean and the jazzy rhythm from the channel ORANGE track, “Pink Matter,” was like the glue that gives the world the only existing recording of what Andre 3000 and Big Boi would have produced — if they could have made it work like Beyonce and J.

Fuckin’ Punk Rock!

2013 has been an awesome year so far for the anarchy-lovin’, 40 oz. sippin’ punk music scene. Below are some notable releases in the world of ass-kickin’, distortion heavy, socially deviant rock n’ roll.

The Boston seven-piece Irish pub-punk, Dropkick Murphys, released their new album, SIGNED and SEALED in BLOOD last week. Though reviews are mixed, the newest release from everyone’s favorite pissed off Irish outfit remains true to the band’s punk-laden roots.

Breaking out with their debut self-titled album, California X boasts a garage-punk sound that sludges through thrashing low-end riffs and frantic yet catchy pop sympathies.

Stream full album here: SPIN.com

Punk-rock veterans, Bad Religion, released the rebellious title track, “True North”, off of the album of the same name that is set to be released on January 22.

Epitaph Records ska-punk band, The Menzingers, have been riding the wave of fame since the 2012 release of their third studio album, On the Impossible Past. This week, lead singer Greg Barnett performed an acoustic rendition of the hit single, “Casey,” on a backseat session set in Amsterdam.

If you could write a song for a Twilight movie and still be considered punk, Green Day’s three-part, 37 song album “Uno, Dos Tre” is noteworthy. But fuck them for canceling their BJC show.

Polyenso – “Cherry Life”

The band formerly known as Oceana, Polyenso, released a new song called “Cherry Life.” Beyond branching out with a new name, Polysenso also debuts a more buzz rock style that screams with bluesy power riffs and psychedelic concert hall vocals. Polysenso could be said to be maturing — not because their new sound is more technical or artistic than their scattered roots, but because they’re tapping into the old head rock of the ‘Nam years.

Future ATL – “Fo Real” featuring Drake

I know it’s only Monday, but this party anthem by Future with a cameo verse from Drizzy Drake needs to be added to your pre-game playlist ASAP.  “Fo Real” is off of the F.B.G The Movie mixtape that dropped last night.

Mashup of the week: Troika – “Teardrops” [Avicii x Coldplay x Matthew Koma x Krewella]

Evan Ponter (@evanponter), Leo Dillinger (@LeoDillingerIV), and Zack Rutstein (@zjr5009) contributed to this post. If you think their taste in music sucks, let us know in the comments or on Twitter.