€ € € €^^%%!!!!!heaven!!!!!! by Lala Lala and Baths
Golden Girls by Devendra Banhart
Pines by Men I Trust
Coffee by beabadoobee
Ivy by Frank Ocean
Stay Tru by Mereba
Sea of Love by Cat Power
Teddy Bear Rises by OOHYO
Clouds by Hiroshi Yoshimura
Bella’s Lullaby by Michele Garruti
À tout à l’heure by Bibio
You Might Be Sleeping by Jakob Ogawa and Clairo
Something Wild by Radiator Hospital
Getting It On by SALES
Ghostride by Crumb
The Moon Song by beabadoobee and Oscar Lang
Love Song by Devendra Banhart
What kind of songs inspire romance? Which songs allow the listener to absorb the kind of soothing mood only a date at a cozy café? These are the questions which inspired the playlist, and successfully carried it out. This playlist is perfect for a quiet evening or a first date. Artists like Devendra Banhart and beabadoobee bring quiet melodies with subtle, romantic lyricism perfect for this mood. Check out this playlist here.
What’s going on Butcher Crew?! It’s your Master Butcher, The Saw and I have a very fun and exciting post for you today! I will be listing my top 10 favorite album covers! I think album covers can be a really cool way for bands to show off what ~~vibes~~ they want their record to give off. Depending on the genre (for metal in particular), album covers can show you what type of style a band is. I love it when bands put in a lot of time and effort on the album covers, because visual representation can be very beneficial! My dad, the “OG Metalhead,” told me that when was my age, he would go to the record store and he would find albums with the coolest album cover and band names and buy it. This is how he found new bands and I think that is a really cool way to find different artists to expand your own musical discography.
Let’s get into my top 10 favorite album covers!! This list is in no particular order, these are all equally, badass.
1. Obituary – Inked in Blood (2014)
2.Cannibal Corpse – Eaten Back To Life (1990)
3. Whitechapel – A New Era Of Corruption (2010)
4. Pig Destroyer – Prowler in the Yard (2015)
5. Impaled – The Dead Still Remain Dead (2013)
6. Marilyn Manson – Holly Wood (2000)
7. Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction (2015)
Happy Friday everyone! Here are the songs that got me through the past week:
Plastic by Moses Sumney: The unassuming guitar progression on this track is the perfect backdrop for Moses Sumney’s ethereal voice. The combination makes for a truly beautiful meditation on heartbreak and fragility.
Trader Joe by Junglepussy: A catchy indie-rap song about a man that Junglepussy likes more than Trader Joes. Favorite bar: “We don’t f—, he just pick me up from Trader Joe’s/Carry all my groceries and lick on all my toes”.
Weight by redveil: This self-produced track by 16 year-old redveil truly showcases his potential. Be sure to check out my review of his latest release, Niagara!
HiiiPower by Kendrick Lamar: Section.80 by Kendrick Lamar is often overshadowed by his later releases. The closing track, produced by J. Cole, proves why the album is still worth your time.
Crawl by Gabriel Garzón-Montano: Every time I create a Friday Favorites playlist, I have to fight the urge to include a GGM track. This week, that urge prevailed. “Crawl” has been stuck in my head all week, and if you listen to it, it will be stuck in yours too.
Wasteland by Tierra Whack: One of my favorite things about Tierra Whack is her versatility. Every one of her songs has a distinct feel. My only question is, where is the album?
Late Nights & Heartbreak by Hannah Williams and the Affirmations: This song is a scorching soul ballad about mistreating one’s lover. Its subject matter, combined with Hannah William’s commanding vocals, made it the perfect sample for Jay-Z’s “4:44”.
If You Want Me To Stay by Ari Lennox and Anthony Ramos: On this track, Ari Lennox and Anthony Ramos team up to cover a Sly and the Family Stone classic. This rendition features modern instrumentation but just as much soul as the original.
Best Tracks: A Day Without You, This Must Be the Place, Boyfriend Shirt, Out by Myself, Thin Line (& ALL OF THEM)
FCC Clean
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.
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)
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!
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?
