Category: Blog

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New Album Review

Album: Time Machine – The Geek x Vrv

Album: Time Machine – The Geek x Vrv

Best Tracks: Payeng’s Ark 1979, Electric City 2015, Get Funky 1933, Kanagawa Waves 1831

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Axel Rondeau & Vincent Téoulé became the funky, electro-hop duo known as The Geek x Vrv in 2013, taking their inspiration from artists like Gramatik and infusing their own funky style into their music. I recently came across their album, Time Machine, while browsing music and I am happy to say it is one of my favorite albums ever.

Time Machine takes listeners beyond genre lines and time periods with each song labelled around a time in music that was important for The Geek x Vrv, going all the way back to 1831 with Kanagawa Waves 1831 in which there are many eastern instruments that lead the track. The LP itself has influences in genres like hip-hop, future bass, electro, funk, and disco. Many tracks combine these elements to provide an even more unique sound.

Time Machine starts with Get Funky 1933 and Oh Baby 1939, excellent openers that draw similarities with Daft Punk combined with funky grooves that have inspiration from much earlier music. Songs like Roller Disco 1980 and Time Machine 1985 take from the age of disco with brass instruments and funky grooves which perfectly encapsulates the time periods The Geek x Vrv draw from in Time Machine. The future bass side of things can be heard in Payeng’s Ark 1979 and Electric City 2015. Then, the LP is tied together with some slow Jazz in Paris Jazz Club 1920 to finish off.

All in all, this is a perfectly crafted LP in my opinion that I believe has not received enough attention. I highly recommend this album.

-Tegan

Categories
Playlists

Love and Breakups

There is so much musical content relating to emotion, specifically on the topics of falling in love and breaking up. Some of the best music is tied to emotions of love and heartbreak, and I created a playlist found at this link on Spotify with songs that cover these themes, to show the contrasting nature within the wide range of romantic feelings. I’m showcasing some of my favorites below with an explanation and a little more about the songs and artists. 

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 

This album holds some seriously powerful love and breakup songs. Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You is a beautiful cover of the classic song, which Hill gives an upbeat, hip-hop style spin to. This entire album really reflects the emotions of love. 

Burst Apart 

This album has two great tracks included on the playlist, but all perfectly balance the melancholic with the lyrically deep. Its songs are a little haunting but perfectly encompass the feeling of emptiness and loneliness after a breakup. 

Darwin Deez

I absolutely love the simplistic indie melodies of these songs and they definitely reflect the anger and sadness one can feel against a former partner or love interest. I really recommend Deep Sea Divers in particular. It paints a beautiful, somber picture in your head as you listen. 

We Are Born 

Sia’s greatest masterpieces come from this 2010 album. It drives through every emotion thinkable, applicable to breakups but also for releasing past trauma and pain. It is also my favorite pop album of all time, great for easy listening but also something more reflective. 

Devotion

Beach House created something beautiful with this album, combining a multitude of emotions. The two tracks I selected, Turtle Island and Some Things Last a Long Time are perfect for a breakup or getting over a loss in general. 

Be sure to check out the playlist, and let me know what you think! 

– Miranda

Categories
Miscellaneous

Habit Change

 

A few weeks ago Dr. Nacoste sent out an email providing ‘Social Psychological Advice’ on living in this time of quarantine. He was asked by a student what he thinks of Social Distancing since, as we know from his teaching, humans are inherently social beings. ‘How will it affect us? Do you have any advice?’ the student asks. Dr. Nacoste responds with a simple but powerful message ‘Given the conditions, my advice is structure your days.’

Is it really that simple? Yes. I couldn’t agree more with Dr. Nacoste on the matter. Ever since he sent out the voice-essay I’ve been trying to follow this advice, and whenever I do I feel significantly better. On days that I don’t, well, let’s just say I agree with Dr. Nacoste that this can ‘get out of hand quick.’

What does this have to do with habits? This ‘habit change’ thing I’ve recently started is largely my attempt to keep my days both structured and exciting. The habits I am working into my days are giving my life structure and something to look forward to each day. ‘Structuring your days’ doesn’t mean you have to be doing overly demanding tasks all the time, it just means planning ahead of time so you can avoid boredom and the discomfort that comes with not knowing how to answer the question ‘what are you doing today?’ Weather it be setting time for reading, meals, movies, gaming, etc., as long as you know what you’re going to be doing you’ll feel the benefit of lessening some of that ‘free floating social anxiety’ that comes with a ‘vague situation’ like this.

This is why I encourage habit formation. If you aren’t sure what to do with your days, think of some things you might want to improve in yourself, things you want to learn, or any personal goals you have. Then think of little things you can do everyday to get closer to those ideals and use these new habits to structure your days. Habits make up over half of all of our time, having good habits provides a foundation that fosters structure.

I will link my habit video below if you’re interested in learning more about habits and the best ways to instill them, but the bottom line is, having good habits, such as taking the time every morning to structure your days with timely tasks you enjoy, can really help ease some discomfort in this time. I know social distancing is difficult, but as Dr. Nacoste has let us know, this kind of ‘focus and agenda’ is critical in ‘protect(ing) our vulnerable psychology.’

Until next time

Let’s Stay Psyched about Habit Change,

DJ Psyched

Video on Habits

To Live Woke by Dr. Nacoste 

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Baby Saw’s ABCs

What’s going on Butcher Crew? It’s ya girl, your Master Butcher, The Saw and I am back with another fun blog post! Today we are going to learn our ABC’s, but with metal!! I thought it would be fun to see what the first 4 bands that come to mind when thinking on the alphabet. I know my ABCs!!!

A: Alice in Chains, Abbath, Abdominal Putridity, Amon Amarth  

B: Behemoth, Beartooth, Boundaries, Bent Life

C: Cannibal Corpse, Cattle Decapitation, Chelsea Grin, Cryptopsy

D: Death, Dying Fetus, Debauchery, Devourment

E: Electric Wizard, Emmure, Emperor, Elysian

F: Fit For An Autopsy, Fit For A King, Fallujah, Facebreaker

G: Godsmack, Ghost, Genocide, Gwar

H: Hollow Point, Hands of God, Hypocrisy, Harms Way

I: I Am, I Declare War, I Prevail, Iced Earth

J: Jungle Rot, Judiciary, Justice For The Damned, Judas Priest

K: Kairos, Kamelot, Kataklysm, King Diamond

L: Laceration, Lamb of God, Led Zeppelin, Left Behind

M: Miss May I, Machine Head, Megadeath, Metallica

N: Necrot, Nile, Napalm Death, Nuclear Assault

O: Obituary, Opeth, Overkill, Omen

P: Parkway Drive, Pantera, Papa Roach, Pathology

Q: Queensway, Quiet Riot, Queen, Queensryche

R: Rage Against The Machine, Radiohead, Ratt, Rammstein

S: Six Feet Under, Slayer, Slipknot, Suffocation

T: Thy Art Is Murder, Testament, Typecaste, Type O Negative

U: Upon A Burning Body, Uriah Heep, Under Oath, UFO

V: Vader, Van Halen, Venom, Violence

W: Whitechapel, Wasp, While She Sleeps, White Zombie

X: Xray, Xenobiotic, X-Caliber, Xecutioner

Y: Y&T, Yngwie Malmsteen, Your God is Dead,

Z: ZZ Top, Zakk Wylde, Zao, Zealotry

Your turn!! What bands did you come up with?

Stay Metal, 

THE SAW

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Braids – Shadow Offering

ALBUM REVIEW: Braids – Shadow Offering

BEST TRACKS: Just Let Me, Upheaval II, Young Buck

FCC violations: Snow Angel, Fear of Men

This three-piece band from Calgary, Alberta is a group of friends that met over ten years ago when they were in high school, and started rehearsing in a dingy garage. In these formative years, the band had success, winning a songwriting contest and being invited to play at Sled Island Music Festival. Following this success, the band collectively made the bold decision to postpone going to college so they could continue making music together. Since then, Braids has released 4 studio albums that are all very highly regarded by their audience. With their most recent release, Shadow Offering, Braids creates a deeply emotional, heavily ambient 45-minute journey. Braids claims that with Shadow Offering , they were able to go back to their roots and take the time to slowly rediscover their artistry, and it certainly shows. Shadow Offering has personality, originality, and passion.

On Shadow Offering, Braids fully embrace their spacious, shoegaze side, which they had been restraining in their past records in favor of a more electronic-pop palette. In lead singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s voice, there is an outpour of fierce confidence. Even though she sings lyrics that are often about her own shortcomings, her voice is strong, proud, and unapologetic. Resonating piano keys and humming bass invoke a sense of deep reverie. The way that the drums sometimes pick up with a rush of flourishing guitar strums keeps the album fresh and invigorating throughout.

When listening to this album, I truly felt the pain of a poisoned relationship. The candidness in which Standell-Preston discusses the way that she wastes time on frivolous dreams in ‘Upheaval II’ is almost lighthearted but you just can’t ignore the underlying sense of dread that hints that this self-destruction is less harmless than it seems.  I recommend this band if you like Ravenna Golden, Fiona Apple, or Angel Olsen.

-Safia

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Black Contributions to Music: Jazz

We cannot continue to discuss the Black contributions to music without acknowledging jazz music. 

Jazz originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was created within the Black communities of New Orleans, influenced by blues and ragtime. Like many modern genres, jazz has roots in West African musical tradition and slave folk songs, it also is influenced by European classical music. 

Jazz and its creators also influenced music in general; the drum set was created by jazz musicians and jazz has influenced genres like R&B, rap, and classical music. Jazz has also influenced and been adopted by other cultures, resulting in new musical genres like CuBop, a form of Latin jazz invented by Cuban musician Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillepsie. It has been absorbed into many different genres, exemplified by singers like Beyoncé compiling elements of jazz within their pop style. 

The jazz genre is influential to our society not only for its contributions to other genres, but the incredible influence it has had on Americans. Jazz is instantly recognizable, but unique. The creativity of the genre and its nuanced features is known to help with focus, especially while studying. The genre also helped bring forward African-American influence to music, especially important in the polarized mid-1900s. Jazz music helped Americans across the board recognize Black history and culture as important and desirable, and furthered the position of female musicians as female jazz artists gained prominence in popular culture. 

Check out some of the best Black jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis. 

Hope you enjoyed! 

– Miranda

Sources: I, II

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Weight of the World by MIKE

ALBUM REVIEW: MIKE – Weight of the World

BEST TRACKS: What’s Home ½, Allstar, Plans

FCC violations: every track

For the uninitiated, MIKE may appear to be just another artist capitalizing on the hazy lo-fi sound that has pervaded the underground hip-hop scene. While the album certainly embraces this aesthetic – its instrumentals are chock full of obscure loops, pitched vocal samples, and compressed drums – to say that Weight of the World is just another alternative hip-hop project would be a disservice. What sets MIKE apart from his contemporaries is his knack for delivering dizzying flows and his ability to convey emotional gravity in the mundane.

As I said before, Weight of the World does not shy away from lo-fi sensibilities. Every track features a sample so distorted that even the craziest of crate diggers would be hard-pressed to identify it. Out of time drums complement these woozy loops and leave plenty of room for MIKE’s weighty, baritone voice, which he uses to spit bars built upon dizzying internal rhyme schemes. This album’s consistent sonic palette conveys a sense of unity, so much so that Weight of the World feels like a 35 minute-long rap song with dozens of beat switches.

And speaking of raps, I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on MIKE’s lyricism. Through his flows he paints fragmented pictures of isolation and melancholy. He raps with an emotional intensity as though he carries – to reference the album title – the weight of the world on his back. With bars like “I need somethin’ fast, somethin’ that’ll cut the traffic/I know nothin’ lasts, prayin’ that don’t bust the sadness” or “The only thing that I inherited was blockin’ help, it’s part of pops’ concern/Remember cringin’ at the mirror, I was not myself, that’s still a lot to learn”, it’s clear MIKE is no stranger to his demons.

Weight of the World is a record whose charm may not be entirely apparent in the first listen. As such, it does require a degree of patience to enjoy. However, when you stop and listen, you’ll find that MIKE certainly has a lot to say.

I recommend this album to fans of introspective, experimental rappers such as Milo and Earl Sweatshirt.

DJ Mango

Categories
Miscellaneous

Let’s Get Psyched About Reading: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

 

Heartstopper is a graphic novel, written by Alice Oseman, that tells the story of two boys falling in love. The characters come from the author’s debut novel ‘Solitaire’. This previously online comic series serves as a way for the author to tell the backstory of the once minor characters. The story originated on tumblr and after the artist had a large amount of the story drawn out they were able to get it self-published right before it was picked up by a publisher. The story originated in Kent, UK but is now available in most places and on a website called Tapas.

This graphic novel is shaped largely around LGBTQ+ topics and currently consists of three book volumes, or 153 episodes (if you read it online). The author has published endless content around the story including Q and A’s, short stories, and even fan-fic like crossovers (including Harry Potter and Detroit Become Human). 

The story is centered around a boy in high school who was bullied a lot after accidentally being ‘outed’ to the school. He starts the story in a secret ‘relationship’ with a boy who is in the closet and openly dating a girl. The boy he is talking to treats him terribly so once Charlie meets Nick he decides he deserves better and cuts things off. Charlie and Nick met one day in class when they were assigned seats next to each other. Nick is a slightly older student and plays on the rugby team.They slowly become good friends and soon after they become best friends… until of course they catch feelings.

The art in this graphic novel is absolutely amazing. I find the simplistic nature beautiful and the artist’s unique ‘soft’ style really makes this story visually irresistible. The US edition comes in blue-green shades, but the artist’s work originated in gray-scale using only four tones. This story is full of variety including lots of LGBTQ+ representation and different experiences all of these characters have. There is love, support, hardships, communication and much more. We get the good sides of love and the harder sides: simpler experiences with coming out and harder ones. This story is one that a large and diverse audience is likely to find some aspect of relatable, this is why I find it the perfect story for anyone looking for a feelgood love tale.

Find the story online

Until next time,

Let’s Stay Psyched about Reading,

DJ Psyched

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Ocean Alley – Lonely Diamond

ALBUM REVIEW: Ocean Alley – Lonely Diamond

BEST TRACKS: Way Down, Infinity, Lonely Diamond

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Formed by a group of friends in a backyard shed, this six-piece psychedelic funk rock band got their start playing local dive bars and house shows on the Northern coast of Sydney, Australia. 10 years later, here they are, touring all across Australia and Europe, selling out shows left and right, and playing festivals such as Lost Paradise and Soundsplash, and doing it all without a record label. It’s only a matter of time before this band starts making their presence known in the United States. Ocean Alley’s first album, Lost Tropics is youthful and beachy, their second album, Chiaroscuro is bluesy and mature, but Lonely Diamond, Ocean Alley’s third studio album, is absolutely dazzling mix of them both, taking the tropical, beachy energy of Lost Tropicsbut adding the maturity and pensiveness of Chiaroscuro to make Ocean Alley’s greatest album to date.

The first thing I noticed about this album is the incredible cleanness of the sound. The percussion is tight, the guitar is crisp, and lead singer Baden Donegal’s voice is smooth and clear. The production quality is impeccable, but if you’re used to only listening to fuzzier garage style rock, this album will definitely be a change of pace. However, an album doesn’t have to be fuzzy and chaotic to have energy. Lonely Diamond has more of a deeper, cooler intensity than what you would expect from an average psychedelic rock band. The riffs are often dark on slow, and pulling you repeatedly into crawling buildups that lead to immense, cathartic climaxes.

This entire album reminds me of the time I drove 10 hours straight through the night to New York by myself. It gives me a feeling of thrill and danger, but the knowledge deep down that everything is bound to be okay in the end, no matter where I end up, because life is good.

-Safia

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Band of the Week: Bring Me The Horizon

The first time I heard of Bring Me The Horizon (BMTH) was years ago with their debut record, Count Your Blessings (2006), when my brothers would listen to it and I loved their sound.  I got to see BMTH once at the Carolina Rebellion and boy, let me tell you, they put on one hell of a live show. They probably have one of the best stage performances that I have ever seen.

Bring Me The Horizon is a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. They signed to Columbia Records exclusively in the United States. The band released their debut album, Count Your Blessings in 2006. Their sound was new for listeners and they were met with critical disdain. Critics may not have liked their album, but I loved their heavy hitting, ass beating sound. Their second release, Suicide Season (2008), was a creative, critical, and commercial turning point for the band. With later releases, they changed their style with more influences from classical, electronic, and pop music. BMTH is easily one of the most musically diverse bands I have ever listened to. They have changed their sound so much over the years of their existence and they are the only band (in my opinion) that can change that much and still make great music. Even though I am a fan of BMTH from their album Sempiternal to their first release, they never fail to keep fans on their toes with their evolution. I am willing to bet that they can make any type of album, and it will be an awesome album.

BMTH’s earliest influences were bands like At the Gates, Carcass, Pantera, Metallica, Every Time I Die, and genres such as death metal, grindcore, and emo. Their sound has developed from that starting point and now are influenced by progressive rock, post-rock, dubstep, and electronic. With their changes in influences, it can be seen that BMTH has always attempted to grow and change with each album, believing that they should be different.

Current Members:

Oliver Skyes (vocalist)

Matt Kean (bass)

Lee Malia (lead guitar)

Matt Nicholls (drums)

Jordan Fish (keyboard)

John Jones (touring musician) (rhythm guitar)


Discography:

Count Your Blessings (2006)

Suicide Season (2008)

There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret (2010)

Sempiternal (2013)

That’s The Spirit (2015)

Amo (2019)


Favorite Songs:

Happy Song

Drown

Sleepwalking

Hosptial For Souls

Chelsea Smile

Pray for Plagues

Have you seen BMTH? What is your favorite song by them?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW