Trigger warning: Sexual assault, abuse. Author's note: This piece isn’t enough but it’s a start. I cannot speak to narratives that are not my own. I can only offer my unconditional love and support to any individual whose safety is threatened by this imminent future presidency: female-identifying ...
Alabama Shakes opens the title track of its second album, “Sound & Color” (April 21, 2015), with a melodic chime sequence. A kick drum slinks its way into the track and then powerhouse lead singer Brittany Howard breathes life into the song with her voice that sounds like a blend of poblano chiles and “Tupelo Honey” (1971). The track “Sound & Color” is sensual and repetitive, proving to be an easy introduction, a soft hello before the album kicks into high amped, no-holds-barred wild energy.
Looking to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events!
Looking to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events!
The band Young Fathers challenges the restraints of genre definition. On its latest album, “White Men Are Black Men Too,” released April 6, the Edinburgh-based trio switches from blues to funk to soul to R&B to hip-hop to trip-hop to rap to rock so quickly that the multidimensionality should be dizzying. The combination is, in fact, intoxicating. To categorize Young Fathers into one musical genre is to not give their work the full sweeping arc of praise that it merits. To allocate their lyrics into the specifications of either realms of political or personal, is to deny their full scope. The lyrics take personal tales and magnify them, at times making uncomfortably personal tales into digestible, danceable tracks. The combination should not be a shock. The band’s label, Big Dada recordings, reps artists known for their propensities to blur the lines between danceability and narrative, most notably Run the Jewels. But while RTJ’s stunning self-titled LP "Run the Jewels 2," released October 2014 last year, addressed race with an unyielding hard-hitting powerhouse collection of tracks, Young Fathers takes a subtler swipe at handling the conversation. Lyrics are hidden under trumpet solos, hiding in plain sight on songs that rattle on with a danceable pop undercurrent of potential Top 40 popularity.
In the glory days of pop-punk, Hot Topic-clad, angst-ridden teens would bob their heads to Blink-182, layer on too many rings of black eyeliner and complain about their parents. Now, those teens are in college with no music to satiate their desire to stir up their rebellious days and make them feel like they should sneak out and cause trouble. With Fall Out Boy going mainstream and the days of Cute is What We Aim For and Jimmy Eat World long behind us, it may seem that a modern punk princess has nothing to listen to that combines both the self-aware snarky social commentary of punk, the infectious dance hooks of pop and the power chordage and wailing vocals of emo.
Even if you’re not a part of the tribe, chances are you have friends who have stopped eating all things delicious (aka any food with grain that has leavened aka BREAD) for that time of the year known as Pesach. We can skip the Hebrew school stories because you can Google why chametz is chazerei (no good). What you do need to know is how to avoid breaking Passover. Or maybe just how to help your Jewish friends through this difficult, bread-free, dark part of their lives.
Looking to make your weekend artsy? Check out these events!
For sophomore economics major and communications and media studies minor Mika Sanger, every day offers a new artistic opportunity. In an email interview with the Daily, the Los Angeles native discussed her artistic accomplishments so far at Tufts and the goals she wants to achieve before graduation.
With an intimacy that is at times both jarring and comforting, Sufjan Stevens once again lets listeners into his private, imperfect world, allowing flaws to shine through to create an album with dimension and honesty. On his seventh studio album, “Carrie & Lowell,” released March 27, Stevens spends 43 minutes addressing themes of his youth and dissecting family relationships with a calculated hand that is often unforgiving in the portraits it paints. The album cover itself features a photo of Stevens’ mother and stepfather, and he spends the majority, if not the entirety, of the album delving into the relationships he had with both. Most specifically, the album addresses Stevens' complex relationship with his mother, who died of stomach cancer in 2012.
