Best Tracks: A Day Without You, This Must Be the Place, Boyfriend Shirt, Out by Myself, Thin Line (& ALL OF THEM)
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Although this EP came out about a year ago, I still find myself listening to it almost every day. If you haven’t already listened, drop everything now– stop reading, open your Spotify or Youtube or whatever, and listen to this EP. After the tragic passing of Chelsea Faith Dolan, aka Cherushii, friend and music partner Maria Minerva took over the reigns to finish 6 tracks they had once started together. Out of the 6 songs came this incredible EP, that keeps Cherushii’s legacy alive despite the tragic loss.
Choosing my “best tracks” for this EP was almost impossible. Every song on the EP is SO good. “A Day Without You” has to be my absolute favorite, maybe because it was the first I heard from the EP and it truly drew me in. The synth, driving beat, and catchy lyrics in “A Day Without You” and “Out by Myself” make you want to sing and dance and get mad at a shitty boyfriend who doesn’t exist. “This Must Be the Place” reminds me of going to clubs and parties and the thrill and boredom of going out. The lyrics “Night life, people are having fun. Everyone is looking for something or someone. I don’t feel like playing this foolish game, cause every Friday night the story is the same,” repeat throughout the song with Minerva’s mesmerizing vocals. What I would give to go out to a club and be bored again!! :’( Until then you can find me dancing to this EP alone in my bedroom:)
“Cherushii & Maria Minerva” really doesn’t compare to anything else I’ve heard before. It’s so uniquely them and clearly has a lot of love and care behind it. It makes you want to dance, despite the tragic loss. Listen to this EP! Share it with your friends! It is so perfect.
Tierra Whack’s 2018 album Whack World is something of a sample platter: that is, it gives you a taste of everything but leaves you hungry for more. The project is composed of 15 one-minute tracks, each with their own distinct flavor. Of course, the enjoyment of any dish relies on its visual presentation as well, which is why Whack World is best enjoyed while viewing the video that goes with it.
In just 15 minutes Tierra Whack invites the viewer into a bizarre world of cable repairmen (“Cable Guy”), puppet cemeteries (“Pet Cemetery”), 80s fitness trends (“Fruit Salad”) and so much more. Tierra Whack’s visual storytelling is on par with her lyrical storytelling: vibrant colors and set designs are paired with eccentric tales about relationships, loss, and self love. Songs like “Hungry Hippo”, and “Pretty Ugly” showcase her knack for catchy, off-the-wall vocal inflections, while “Sore Loser” reminds us that she is a capable emcee in her own right. My favorite song has got to be “F*ck Off”, which finds Miss Whack singing with a cartoonish affectation: “I hope your a– breaks out in a rash/You remind me of my deadbeat dad.”
I think Tierra Whack’s decision to make each song one minute was very clever – just as you are drawn into the world of one track, it abruptly ends and you are thrust into the next. This is what keeps me coming back to this project time and time again, and why you should check it out for yourself!
November 3rd is right around the corner, so you know what that means: It’s voting season! No matter what your political beliefs are, voting is an incredibly essential part of sustaining our democracy. It is one of the only ways that we can have a direct say in who gets to be our political leaders.
This year, voting may look a bit different because of the current circumstances surrounding the virus. More people than ever are turning to absentee voting to avoid crowds at the polls. There has been a lot of turmoil and misinformation spread around voting by mail, so let’s break down the process and terms:
Absentee Ballot/Voting: This refers to a mail-in ballot that can be requested by an individual who cannot make it to their polling place for whatever reason. To request an absentee ballot in NC, you DO NOT have to be out of your state, county, or polling area. You can request an absentee ballot for any circumstance and you do not have to provide a reason.
Mail-In Ballot/Voting: This is a BROAD TERM that refers to all forms of sending in ballots by mail. In some states (not NC), voters are automatically sent a ballot through mail and they can send this back or drop it off at their local election office. In those states, absentee voting means a person is out of the state or country. However, in most circumstances absentee voting and mail-in voting are interchangeable terms.
How to Vote in NC:
Step 1: Register to Vote (First-Time Voters)
You can register to vote online! There are several ways to do this and many websites that assist with this. You must submit these applications 25 days before an election, or October 9.
1. Method One: Fill out this application and mail it to your local election office. All the addresses are on the last page of the application.
2. Method Two: You may already be registered to vote if you have a NC Driver’s License. You can also fill out an online application through the DMV’s website as well.
3. Method Three: Lots of third-party websites have voter registration tools as well. Vote.org is a great place to register to vote online the same way you would through the NC voting website. Using reliable websites like these creates the same outcome as using the first two methods.
4. Method Four: If you decide to do in-person early voting, you can register on site. You must have an ID or a document that shows your full name and current address to register to vote in person early.
Step 2: Update Your Registration (Experienced Voters)
1. If you are unsure if you are registered to vote or if your address is updated, you can look up your registration using this tool.
2. If you need to update your address, you can use the DMV’s registration tool or the mail-in application tool (both mentioned above).
3. You can also update your address on site if you decide to do early voting in-person.
Step 3: Voting
If you decide to vote IN PERSON, there are two way to do so:
1. Early Voting: Begins 19 days before the election (October 15) and ends 3 days before the election (October 31)
2. Election Day Voting: This is November 3!
(Note that you DO NOT need any sort of ID if you vote in person, unless you are registering to vote on-site. You can only register to vote on site during early voting.)
If you decide to vote ABSENTEE, here is the process for that:
1. This year, you can fill out an absentee ballot request form online here. You can also fill out a paper copy here and return it by mail, email, or fax to your local election office OR drop it off in person. Whichever you choose, they must be received seven days before November 3, or October 27 at 5pm.
2. Starting September 4, absentee ballots will be mailed to voters who requested them. Fill out your ballot.
3. You can return the ballot to your county board of elections office through the mail, in person, or at an early voting site. These must be received by 5pm on November 3.
All information from this blog was found from these sources. For additional information, you can visit these links!
I know that voting may seem like a trifling thing to do when there is so much systematic injustice in America, but our country is at a crucial turning point.
Vote like it.
– DJ butter
(Image: Tom Arthur from Orange, CA, United States / CC BY-SA link)
Recently my friends and I had a conversation about what layers of the earth we thought we would be. So, I thought it would be fun to pass on the idea, but with music. So here are five albums that I feel truly represent the layers of the earth.
Kids by Mac Miller: Crust First up we have K.I.D.S. by Mac Miller. This album is totally the crust. It’s light, upbeat and like the mountainous terrain of the crust has a wide range of melodies throughout the album. It’s god-tier Mac Miller music, of course, but it also talks a good deal about growing up and changing all while keep a light and upbeat tone throughout the album.
Play With Fire by L.A. Witch: Asthenosphere The asthenosphere is the layer that rests right below the crust and is made basically of magma. It’s hot, but because the magma needs to reach the crust it flows a lot. Just like magma, Play With Fire is hot (I mean they even titled the first song Fire Starter) but it also has some great flow to the songs on the album. What I’m trying to say is, I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw L.A. Witch standing on a piece of cooled magma playing Play With Fire as they rode down the side of a volcano in a river of lava. It’d just be fitting.
By and By by Caamp: Mantle The mantle is the largest layer of the earth. It’s incredibly wide and I imagine travelling through it would be comparable to a mid-July day in North Carolina. Hot, humid, and nowhere to go. That’s why I think it’s so fitting that By and By by Caamp would be perfect for this layer. When I think of this album, it reminds me of hot summer nights with friends, sitting outside around a fire with nothing in particular to do but let the time pass by.
Goosebumps by Boyscott: Outer Core Honestly this might be my favorite album of all time. Every song on this album is a Certified Bop, and with its dreamlike guitar and echoey lyrics it’s able to have a deeper tone while somehow still staying rather upbeat. In fact, the whole album makes you feel like you’ve astrally projected right into the center up the outer core.
French Exit by TV Girl: Inner Core This is another great album. There is hardly a bad song on here and it’s actually quite similar-sounding to Goosebumps by Boyscott. However, French Exit brings in an older feel for its musical style, with 80s-style synths and movie dialogue throughout the album. In my mind, it is undoubtedly the inner core.
Being an avid listener of music, I still have a relatively short list of albums that I can truly listen to straight through, again and again, and continue enjoying them the same amount as my first listen. I’ve compiled a list of albums from multiple genres and multiple themes. While they are perhaps not universally loved or recognized, these are the albums I consider to be the best of all time.
La Maison de Mon Rêve – Cocorosie
The Casady sisters have created an entire discography of incredible experimental albums and this one is no exception. This is the single most unique album on this list, with soft vocals and harmonies, narratives that draw you in, and samples of really interesting sounds such as a creaking door or the sound of a shower flowing.
Blonde – Frank Ocean
An avant-garde album that is still widely loved by fans of rap, R&B, pop, and so on; this album had to make the list. I listen to this one at least every month and I continue to enjoy each song. The lyrics are beautifully constructed, the album is well produced, and the musical arrangements are languid but memorable. There’s a reason for the acclaim this album received, and if you haven’t listened to it in entirety, you need to ASAP.
Bitchcraft – Spooky
I won’t get into too much detail for this one since you can check out my full review of the album, but this is definitely one of my top albums of all time. Each song flows together perfectly, and it’s short enough to listen to and enjoy in a short listening session.
The College Dropout – Kanye West
This album is filled with songs that are forgotten or underrated in the first place. The album chronicles West’s early life in his first foray into music produced by a label. The narrative is compelling: it follows his choice to drop out of college to pursue a career in music, his life-altering car crash, and his experience navigating the music industry.
I’ll likely have a part two for this topic since I’m pretty passionate about certain albums. Hopefully, you’ve been able to learn about a new album or are compelled to check out a classic album. Thanks for reading.
With the proliferation of cameras, satellites and other technologies that collect biometric data, it is easier than ever to track the location and behavioral patterns of individuals. The internet has made it possible for millions of people to spy on each other at will through social media and applications like Google Earth. This is the premise for the music video by rapper Vince Staples.
This video was produced as though we are watching through Google Street view, with some shots being stills and others containing movement. It takes place in “Norfy”, California, which is Vince’s nickname for his hometown of northern Long Beach. The camera follows Vince as he passes by other residents who are seen doing a variety of activities. In the end of the video, it is revealed that a teenager identified as “Lucas” has been watching these events unfold from his computer screen – when his name is called, he quickly closes his laptop and leaves the frame.
There are some details about Lucas that shed some light on the intersection of race, class, and the vicarious life of the hip-hop fan. Lucas is portrayed as a teenage white male; based on his room we might assume he is somewhere in the upper-middle class, and based on the “Free Kodak” poster on his wall we can deduce he is a hip-hop fan. Vince Staples knows his audience quite well – though hip-hop is one of the most diverse genres of music, people like Lucas make up a considerable chunk of its demographic. When a genre of music that is rooted in the struggle of an oppressed people is consumed by those who have not experienced that struggle, it becomes commodified as entertainment.
There is an irony in us watching someone watch someone else. To this end, I think “FUN!” serves as a criticism of not only Lucas, but the viewers themselves. After all, are we not spying on Vince as well?
We are all familiar with the steady 4 beat pulse that permeates much of today’s music. This is called common time or in time signature notation, 4/4. However, not all popular music uses this rhythm – other popular time signatures are ¾, often found in waltzes, and 6/8, often heard in soul music. Some popular songs even use time signatures that are asymmetrical or irregular, or time signatures that change! I’ve put together a playlist of notable songs that employ these odd time signatures.
Tom Sawyer by Rush (Moving Pictures, 1981): Prog rock legends Rush are known for their extensive use of odd time signatures. Tom Sawyer is no different; it features grooves in 4/4 and 7/8.
Nosferatu Man by Slint (Spiderland, 1991):This track by post rock band Slint features sections in 5/4, 6/4 and 4/4.
Money by Pink Floyd (The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973): By far the most popular song on this list, this track’s famous opening riff occurs in 7/4 time with its solo sections in 4/4 time.
Pyramid Song by Radiohead (Amnesiac, 2001): This song by Radiohead is famous for its seemingly nonexistent rhythm – fans can’t seem to reach a consensus on what time signature it is in. Interestingly enough, the song’s rhythm can actually be conceptualized as a heavily syncopated 4/4 groove. Listen for yourself and tell me what you think!
Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet (Time Out, 1959): The best selling jazz single of all time features a memorable piano vamp in 5/4 time.
Never Meant by American Football (American Football, 1999): The subject of many a music meme, this track’s opening riff is most easily described in terms of 6/4 or 12/8 time.
By Fire by Hiatus Kaiyote (Choose Your Weapon, 2015): Like many Hiatus Kaiyote songs, By Fire changes time signatures like nobody’s business. This track alternates between ¾, 2/4, and 4/4 and is tied together by Perrin Moss’ drumming.
That’s all for this playlist! What are some of your favorite songs in odd time signatures?
If you listened to redveil’s intricate production and confident delivery you might not guess that he isn’t old enough to vote. As it turns out, the 16-year old rapper is already an industry vet who began releasing mixtapes at the age of 12. His latest release, Niagara, is a display of the talents he has already cultivated, as well as the potential he has as an artist at the beginning of his career.
The album opens with “Campbell”, a brief, two verse affair that showcases redveil’s ability to flow over a soulful sample loop. It serves as an appetizer for what’s to come on the rest of the project. It is followed by “Weight” which features a woozy vocal sample squashed underneath trap drums. Lines like “I remember when I was 11 and watching my blood on the TV get spilled out/Now I got a lil older, no love for the system and I’m reaching back for the grip now/And it’s really f— twelve I done grown in myself to the point I can see that they hate us” paint redveil as a jaded kid forced to grow up too quickly. Another highlight is “Fastlane” which finds veil reflecting on the trials and tribulations of his childhood over a jazzy piano loop.
Written, produced, and recorded (almost) exclusively by redveil in his bedroom, Niagara is a testament to the power of the DIY artist. It has established him as a budding artist who is wise beyond his years and has quite a lot to say. One thing is for sure: I’ll be listening.
One of my greatest loves, that I really could talk about forever, is album cover designs. Get ready. This is going to be a weekly series of my favorite album covers of all time, simply because there’s too many to fit into only one blog post.
I am a graphic design major and designer for WKNC, so you can imagine that aesthetics is very important to me. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but I think this foolish. Who wants to read a book that’s title is in Comic Sans? Not I.
Album covers help to communicate a lot about an artist and the message behind their music. There is something so beautiful to me about having one type of art inform another, and album art does just that. One of my favorite things to do is peruse Nice Price Records on Hillsborough St. and find a record with the coolest cover I can find. Even if it’s in completely random genre section that I would normally never listen to, this has been a great way to find design inspiration and new music.
Both a mixture of classics and newbies, here’s my top five for this week’s installment of Album Art Gems:
1. Freetown Sound – Blood Orange
If you’ve read any of my blogs, you know that I am a big Dev Hynes fan. His album covers are always so beautiful, but “Freetown Sound” is the most standout to me. The colors are divine, and it pairs wonderfully with his album’s message to highlight Black relationships and love.
2. Axis: Bold as Love – Jimi Hendrix
I LOVE JIMI HENDRIX. He was a musical god and his genius on the guitar and as a poet is timeless. I had the “Axis” cover as a poster in my freshman dorm for an entire year. With Eastern philosophy and psychedelics gaining popularity in America right around the time “Axis” was released, the Jimi Hendrix Experience reflected this cultural revolution in this insane album art.
3. DHL (Single) – Frank Ocean
Frank is known for his simplicity and anonymity. To be entirely honest, I have no idea what’s going on in this cover, but I like it a lot. The type design for DHL is really fun and interesting, along with the colors overall.
4. Vacation in Hell – Flatbush Zombies
This album cover is mm *chef’s kiss*. FBZ are the dark, expressive rap group we all need right now, yet this cover really contrasts their normal undead vibes. During an interview, they said that this shoot was scheduled on a day when it was completely overcast and rainy. Just when they were about to call it quits as the day was ending, the sun burst through the clouds and they were able to take the perfect shot.
5. Let it Bleed – The Rolling Stones
Finally, we have a great classic from the Rolling Stones. Like the “DHL” single, I really have no idea what’s happening, but whatever it is, it’s working. If you look closely, the bottom layers of the “cake” seem to be made up of a bike tire, a pancake, a clock, and a film reel canister. The colors and strange simplicity of this cover will always make it one of my favorites.
You, walking down the street: “Wow what a perfect day. I’m seeing all my friends and doing all my favorite things. You know what would make this day even better? Some music playing in the background that fit every action I was doing as if I were in a movie.”
Well now, thanks to the power of Playlists, I bring you 10 songs that make you feel like you’re in a movie.
1. Peace Blossom Boogy by the Babe Rainbow Turn on the lights, pan the cameras, and play this song. Here we find you, the main character, driving your convertible with the top down along an unadulterated stretch of beach road. Dressed in bright colors, the sun reflects off of your yellow sunglasses as the wind rolls through your hair. A great introduction scene like none other.
2. Chapstick (Demo) by Hippo Campus You know those summer days when you’re with a few close friends, you’ve got no worries, and you feel like things could stay that way forever? Well boy have I got a song for you.
3. Dedicated To the One I Love By The Mamas and The Papas This one is for Quarantined Lovers, separated by a pandemic that has forced them to be apart from one another. The screen would split between the two, each in their different rooms, trying to distract themselves from thinking about each other.
4. Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan This song is perfect for a day when you’re just running around with a million things on your mind, you have a million things to do, and there’s more caffeine running through your body than blood. It’s one of those songs that says get out of my way, I don’t have time for chit chat, there are things to be done.
5. European Vegas by Mac Demarco To set the scene: you’re sitting at a bar, late at night, drink in hand. You’re nicely dressed but in a bit of a distressed state. This would be the part of a movie where the main character has had enough. Maybe they risked something and lost it all, or maybe they just had their heart broken. But whatever the case, they’ve somehow found themselves in this dimly lit, antiquated bar, thinking about all the mistakes they’ve made.
6. Weak Hearts by Felly Perfect for a time in your life when you, the main character, are going through some major changes and you’ve finally come far enough to look back on how you’ve changed and the decisions you’ve made. You can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.
7. Heroes by David Bowie This song would totally be in the climax of the movie, where the main character realizes their true potential and finally faces whatever was troubling them.
8. Ooh La La by Faces This would be a great ending scene song. Similar to driving through a pretty place and looking back on a long week, the main character looks back on everything that has happened throughout the movie and realizes how they have grown.
Well there you have it, eight great songs perfect for their respective situations, that really make you feel like the main character in a movie.
