Tag: music

Neon Bible

“See that silver shine” Arcade Fire’s debut album Funeral ends with the soothing image of a backseat nap. “I like the peace in the backseat / I don’t have to drive, I don’t have to speak / I can watch the countryside, I can fall asleep.” But where Funeral is driven by the urge to… Continue reading Neon Bible

Janelle Monáe Retrospective

First ListenI recently read Janelle Monáe’s book The Memory Librarian. It’s a collection of short stories building upon the dystopian society the self described singer/songwriter, actress, producer, fashion icon, and futurist built through their album Dirty Computer and its accompanying “emotion picture.” I’ve been a fandroid since 89.3 The Current broadcast Tightrope into the truck’s… Continue reading Janelle Monáe Retrospective

Edit Edit

Initial Sketch Beyoncé’s album Renaissance came out a couple weeks ago and I’ve been listening to it for the past few days. The spectacular work deserves a whole volume of analysis but I want to focus on one particular aspect of Renaissance: its string of rebirths and their implications for streamed media. Beyoncé and Lizzo… Continue reading Edit Edit

Brooklyn Renaissance

First Listen I really enjoy the new Beyoncé album. No work is perfect and neither is Renaissance but it’s beautifully crafted, infinitely danceable, and effortlessly fun. But until this week I’ve been enjoying it primarily solo, putting it in my headphones while I walk to the office or clean my room. The one exception has… Continue reading Brooklyn Renaissance

Opportunities

First GlanceLast month I got the opportunity to participate in a music residency at the Gaudeamus festival in Utrecht. I want to spend this column unpacking that sentence, particularly the words opportunity and residency. But first, the bare-bones details about what this opportunity entailed: I was given €800 to make a piece of music with… Continue reading Opportunities

The Climate Catastrophe Waiting Room

I.This weekend I had the opportunity to go see the Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s premiere new-music ensemble, perform the climate catastrophe inspired piece Extinction Events and Dawn Chorus, composed by Liza Lim. The piece contains some incredibly evocative musical tableaus: In the first movement, Anthropogenic Debris, the ensemble spins around a series of buzzing cicada-like instruments… Continue reading The Climate Catastrophe Waiting Room

Eurovision Statecraft

Television personalities Graham Norton and Hannah Waddingham stand behind a desk on a stage in their glittery outfits. They are listening to the representative from the Lithuanian broadcasting jury who announces via satellite that they are giving twelve points to Sweden. A chant starts up from the crowd, “cha cha cha! cha cha cha! CHA… Continue reading Eurovision Statecraft

Immaterial Girl

Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter The world lost a beautiful human and a visionary queer voice this weekend when 34 year old musician and producer Sophie Xeon died in Athens. SOPHIE’s uncanny hyperpop has been associated with the London experimental pop label PC Music, but her notoriety and the depth of her… Continue reading Immaterial Girl

Take it UP!

Originally published as part of the Digestable newsletter. Okay nothing hard hitting from me this week, just a little bit of corny fun to finish out the year. I don’t really have any desire to engage with Dirty Projectors beyond the album they made with Björk but the song Up In Hudson from their last… Continue reading Take it UP!