Recommended if you like: Angel Olsen, Fiona Apple, Mitski
Lila Blue is not your average hippy dippy folk singer. Leave Me Be is by far the darkest, eeriest, most macabre folk album that I’ve ever heard. Music is Lila Blue’s entire life, and she has even traded her childhood for this, writing music since the age of 8. Now, at the young age of 20, she has released her third album, containing a power and intensity that would have made you think it was written by someone much older.
Blue’s voice changes styles astonishingly quickly, multiple times within the same song. In the first track, Grown Bones, Blue sings the line “hurricanes and lukewarm soup” with a sweet and beautiful intonation, but the way she growls the lyrics two lines down, “mama pushed you down the river in her favorite basket” sounds downright insidious. Adding to the frightening mood of this album are the suspenseful, discordant strings and deep, booming, rhythmic drums. This music makes me think of acres of burning cornfields and demonic symbols written in blood on the walls.
In this album, I feel the sweetness of youth and the pains that come with growing up and having to take on different roles in life. I especially felt this in the 5th track, Somber Silence, in which you’ll hear Lila Blue helplessly wailing “I can’t stop and I can’t go, I can’t go on, I can’t go on…” over and over again in the chorus. I appreciate that this song ends on a strong note: in the last chorus, the lyrics are changed to “I will go on”. The 8th track, Indigo, is about the apprehensions of growing old with someone, and then falling out of love and losing touch with your children, and forgetting what it was like to be young.
This album will bring out your deepest anger and fear.
Happy finals season everyone! I totally believe in you all, but, as I suspect most people feel, I just can’t wait for this time to be over. I’ve tried countless methods in an attempt to make this time better: study breaks at the bistro, going to those end of year events, and procrastinating with people who are also procrastinating so I feel less bad about it… Anyhow, I know finals are a bit different this year, but there is one tradition I have that I’ve been able to continue. I’s pretty reliable and always makes me feel good so I figured I’d share: hype music.
We all have those songs that make us feel like total hype beasts, so I made a short, but sweet, playlist of my favorite hype songs. I always listen to at least two or three of them before I go into an exam. I believe we’re self-fulfilling prophecies, so I think if we go into an exam feeling confident and strong we’re setting ourselves up for success.
I’m going to share my hype tracks with you, but I’m curious, what are your hype songs? What would you listen to to get yourself in the ‘I’m totally going to pass this thing’ mood?
Freaking Out by The Wrecks – Don’t let the title fool you, this track is definitely more uplifting to me then nerve wrecking. It makes me feel way better when I am freaking out, like the chorus says ‘I’m freaking out, but I feel fineeeee’.
What You’re Made Of by Arrested Youth – ‘Show me what you’re made of’ being shouted at me before an exam always makes me feel oddly empowered, makes me want to point out that mama ain’t raise no… coward. If you think that would work for you too, I highly recommend this track.
Ballin by Logic – This song is where this tradition came from. One year during finals the track came on and I just felt my mood go up about 100% and well after that, for like two weeks straight, it was all I listened too. Favorite line ‘I made a promise to my mama Ima turn these zeros into tens and commas’. If you can’t tell I’m very motivated to make my mother proud.
Baby You Got This by Cecil Frena – My absolute favorite hype song right now. The title says it all really, it’s a big part of the chorus, and hearing Cecil yell it at me, sounding like my hype man in the corner, really lifts my mood up every time.
Nothing Personal by Night Riots – This one’s kind of aggressive, but sometimes I find getting a little angry and arrogant before an exam is nice, it really forces all the nervous energy away. How can someone be nervous while also claiming their the best thing? It’s not energy I carry all the time, but we must do what we need to get through these exams.
You’re The Best by Joe ‘Bean’ Espositio – This track doesn’t need an introduction, if you’ve ever seen a Rocky movie you know that this is like the most hype song of all time, and a total must for any hype playlist (in my opinion of course).
I call this playlist ‘Exam time bb (Let’s get this A). Do you have a hype song playlist? If so, what’s it called and what’s on it? If not you should definitely give it a try and let me know!
If you want to join the discussion, have any thoughts/ comments, or want to suggest a book you can do so through the book club at Goodreads. Get Psyched intro music was created by PME, used by permission. Find PME on Spotify.
BEST TRACKS: Who Can Be Loved In This World?, Let’s Break Up The Band, New Love In The Summertime
FCC violations: Who Can Be Loved In This World?, Let’s Break Up The Band
This experimental pop band hails from Asheville, North Carolina! You might have heard of Elvis Depressedly from their most popular song ‘Weird Honey’, from the album Holo Pleasures / California Dreamin’. This band is characterized by their soft, cloudy, sad boy hours aura.
Depressedelica sounds fuzzy, muted, and autotuned. It sounds like grittier, anxious dreampop. Like shoegaze if shoegaze was pushed down a flight of 20 stairs and then told that its dog was being held hostage. That’s okay because I always like my music burnt with a side of dinge. I prefer the less-autotuned, more acoustic-sounding tracks on the album such as ‘Who Can Be Loved In This World’ and ‘Let’s Break Up The Band’ because Mathew Lee Cothran ’s unfettred voice feels so genuine and vulnerable. These non-autotuned songs feel more heartfelt and personal to me than the more autotune-clounded songs on this album such as ‘Jane, Don’t You Know Me?’
I was drawn to this album because I’ve been feeling pretty low lately and wanted some music to wallow with. Depressedelica is perfect because even though I can’t make out the lyrics for half the songs unless I concentrate really hard, the music itself and Cothran’s quavering voice make this album effortlessly heartbreaking. I can, however, understand the lyrics of my favorite track on the album, Let’s Break Up The Band. This song is, obviously, about breaking up the band and moving onto life’s next adventure, but the underlying theme here is how lost you feel after trying so desperately hard to make something important work out and having it crumble apart in your hands anyway. It resonates so deeply with me.
I reccomended this album to you if you like teen suicide, dandelion hands, Starry Cat, or any other bleak-mood band that sounds like the singer put a sock over the microphone.
To be quite honest, I woke up and didn’t know that today was Earth Day. Of course my Instagram timeline was saturated with Earth Day appreciation, so I’m hopping on that train too. Check out my best Earth Day Recommendations below!
Listen to Earth Crisis
One of my forever favorite hardcore bands and a true legend in the scene. This group has been together since 1989, minus a six-year separation from 2001-2007, and have released eight studio albums in that time. My personal favorite is their first full-length album from 1995, Destroy the Machines. This album, a torrential downpour of rage and revolution, focuses on calls to direct action against environmental destruction and animal consumption. The band both supports and embodies the vegan straight edge mentality and has inspired future generations of hardcore fans for the last two decades. So give this record a spin and read the lyrics if you’re not pre-disposed to metal music. See if anything resonates with you on this beloved Earth Day.
I recommend tracks 1(Forced March), 5 (The Discipline) and 7 (Inherit the Wasteland).
Other good nature-based songs (but perhaps not environmentally focused) are below:
Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris by Hayley Williams
Houseplants by Squid
Leaf by Title Fight
honestly the entire album A Healthy Earth by Peaer
Cities Under Water by Short Fictions
Repot Your Plants
We’ve all done it. After winter’s depressive spiral everyone flocks to Home Depot and other gardening stores to buy bucketfuls of succulents, ivies and other plant babies. For the first month or two you’ll love those things like your own children and feel really good about it but as the semester ramps up, the plants wither (much like your desire to look after them). If they haven’t completely shriveled, give those plants some TLC. You’re stuck at home with them so give those big leafy babies the space and nutrients they deserve. ProFlowers has some guidance.
Respect the Bees!
This is been common knowledge for several years now, but bees are dying at an alarming rate. We need these bees. This semester I took Horticulture Science 201: The World of Horticulture and was truly amazed by the vast impact that horticultural practices have on a long list of industries and daily functions. What you eat, the clothes on your back, the landscape you live in, the fields our athletes play on and even the materials we use to build our world all come back to horticulture. Do you know what comes before all of that? BEES! Pollination is a key component of plant propagation and without pollinators, that can’t happen naturally! Respect the bees today. If you see one fly by, blow it a kiss and thank it for its service.
Here is a bee-autiful fun fact for you.
As reported by LiveScience.com, “The honeybees’ stingers can’t penetrate a hornet’s thick outer skin, so the bees swarm around an attacker instead, forming a spherical bee ball, and use their vibrating flight muscles to create heat. The mass of bees will heat the area up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius), enough to kill the hornet.”
Bees are amazzzzzzing.
Support a Local Farmer
My roommates and I have recently reoriented our shopping cycles to match those of the NC Farmers’ Market. We happen to source meat, eggs, and dairy from a local farmer outside of that list of vendors, but are currently trying to get produce from the Farmers’ Market. Supporting a local farmer is not only more ethical, as it is likely that you could speak directly to the farmer and inquire about their environmental practices– but you may even be able to tour the farm with their permission! Eating local also contributes funds directly to the surrounding community, instead of grocery corporations. This practice makes my roommates and I feel better about our consumption, and I encourage others to explore this resource themselves.
How are you celebrating Earth Day? Reach out to WKNC on twitter (@wknc881) to tell us about your day.
I already did a list of my favorite tracks released (so far) in April last week, and we already have enough amazing new releases for another post. Not to be biased, because I definitely am, but this month has been my absolute favorite for releases this year (well so far). That being said I’ve continued updating my playlist with music released this month and while doing so I noticed something really cool, not only have a lot of my favorite musicians dropped tracks this month, but the vast majority have dropped videos with them as well. So this list is going to be a review of my favorite videos and tracks of the month so far, I highly recommend you check them out!
‘The Key to Life on Earth’ by Declan McKenna
As implied by the song title ‘The Key to Life on Earth’ focuses on what people value most in life, the unimportant trivialities. He showcasts this theme in the video by having two characters, one being the artist himself and one a look alike version of himself, who live mundanely together and seem to be in a feud over every boring event they do together. There seems to be a lot of focus on materialism as well, but I can’t explain why they are dressed in roach costumes in the end… so if you know please let me know.
‘Everyone blooms’ by The Front Bottoms
This video is full of blooming, both metaphorically and literally, and is insanely visually pleasing. The song is a sweet blend of the idea that we all grow and change at our own rate, and that there is no time frame for it, while also having undertones that acknowledge a relationship. The video shows a lot of faces on their own, but ends with two of these ‘blooming flower people’ dancing together. The message that comes across is one of self growth and what it’s like to bloom with another person, the beauty of what it’s like when those two things happen at the same time. The song is full of similar themes and it’s incredibly uplifting and thoughtful, really shedding light on the growth of the band.
‘XS’ by Rina Sawayama
I’ve talked about Rina a lot recently in anticipation for the release of her record SAWAYAMA, and I was very pleased to see she dropped a video for this track. I never really stopped to think too much about what this song meant, as it’s music and vocals are just extremely enticing on their own, but the meaning is made very clear in this video. Rina, much like Declan’s video, is mocking materialism, though to a much greater extent. ‘Rina water’ is the perfect way to symbolize the unnecessary and ridiculous things people long for, and I loved that she turned out to be a robot who got the life force sucked out of her in order to make this product. It’s a fun and original way of spreading her message that we sell ourselves, our energy, and our humanity when all we chase is more.
Some ‘Honorable Mentions’ worth checking out: Level of Concern by Twenty One Pilots, My Friend by Hayley Williams, and Aries (feat. Peter Hook and Georgia) by the Gorillaz.
I’m really excited to see what the rest of the month has in store for us music-wise. I recently realized that I don’t watch a lot of music videos anymore, but after viewing these releases I’ve started to really appreciate them more, so I’m going to be doing a lot more watching in the future. Until next time…
Artist Record Label 1 FIT FOR A KING “Breaking The Mirror” [Single] Solid State 2 AS I LAY DYING “Destruction or Strength” [Single] Nuclear Blast 3 ASKING ALEXANDRIA “Down To Hell” [Single] Sumerian 4 CURRENTS “A Flag to Wave” [Single] Sharptone 5 INGESTED “Impending Dominance” [Single] Unique Leader 6 THE ACACIA STRAIN “C” [Single] Rise 7 THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Verminous Metal Blade 8 METAL CHURCH From the Vault Rat Pak 9 TESTAMENT Titans Of Creation Nuclear Blast 10 AUGUST BURNS RED Guardians Fearless
