4/30/18

Young Lean is someone who I discovered Freshman year of high school. He began his career making strange, compelling rap songs with equally confusing music videos. I listened in high school often to his albums “Kyoto” and “Yoshi CIty”. After I graduated high school I guess I just forgot about Young Lean because today was the first day in years where I listened to him! This new track “Red Bottom Sky” is so different from his older work. It is so much more developed and his lyric choices are more than just to be outrageous, they tell a story. I look forward to listening to his work in the future and am excited to listen to the work he has produced in the years between my last listen.

04/18/19

There are so many great things I could say about Kendrick Lamar. What he has done for his community, how he’s laid ground work for his genera, but most of all, the greatest thing he has done for me, is introduce me to the genera of rap. Where I grew up, listening to rap was not really an option. I remember going home this last Christmas break and playing his “To Pimp a Butterfly” album and my best friend walking into my house confused saying “Who is playing THAT?” I guess I never realized there are who generas of music you can miss out on from the environment you are raised in. Through the popularity and accessibility of Kendrick’s album “DAMN.” I was able to discover a whole new genera that was built on a community I had never been told to take the time to acknowledge. So this week and every week to follow I am listening to Kendrick. Mostly Im listening to “To Pimp a Butterfly” but that’s just my favorite album he’s dropped thus far. 

03/17/20 There is no doubt that Father John Misty enters the numinous while preforming his song I Went To The Store One Day off his album I Love You Honey Bear. This performance by Father John Misty is particularly intimate. The song is written about a chance encounter at a small street market with a woman. The song tells the life he plans to have with her and his hope for his own future. “For love to find us of all people, I never thought it would be so simple.” Father John Misty is meticulous in crafting the lyrics, vocals, and instruments used in his songs to insure the audience experiences the same deep emotions that he does while preforming.  He paints a raw and honest image with all of his music. This particular song leaves listeners feeling hopeful for their own future but also brutally aware of the present moment and how quickly it fades. “I need someone I can trust, to protect me from our seven daughters when my body says enough, don’t let me die in a hospital, i’ll save the big one for the last time we make love... all  cuz I went to the store one day... I’ve seen you around, what’s your name?” 

Loving is Easy

3/10/18

“Loving Is Easy” by Rex Orange is a lovely, simple song about how being in a difficult relationship can make it hard to remember that love should be something that comes naturally. The song works beautifully along side the stop-motion video. The video starts simply with the two men casually playing music around their own house. Slowly, the house starts to move along with the lyrics and tempo of the song. The song and the video create an atmosphere of realization and reveling in the simple pleasures of life like sitting on your couch and listening to a record. Near the end of the song, the house and instruments seem to be dancing happily along side the lead singer. Day turns to night and the lead singer is abducted by a large glowing heart in the sky. The song captures the feeling of being young and in love. I’ve chosen to include this song in my listening diary because it has been something that I keep coming back to when I am in a good mood and feel like for a moment the world is in just as good mood as I am . 

04/12/18

SUPERBODY is a local band I discovered in Chattanooga TN. A good friend of mine took me to Chattanooga’s downtown and we ended up in a really great vintage shop. The owner and I hit it off. I soon discovered that she was in a band. The band was called SUPERBODY. Patricia is one of their most recent songs off the album YOUTH MUSIC. I found this song particularly enjoyable because of its compelling beat and interesting music video. For being on such a low budget they put out a really great work. It is obvious that the musicians really enjoy what they are doing! I think being able to connect the song with the artists that I knew personally really made it all come to life. With everything so crazy with exam week approaching, sitting back and listening to a good upbeat song really calms me down. I look forward to their new album scheduled to come out in 2019 and my plan to drive up to Chattanooga and see them live this summer! 

o2/06/18

“The truth will set you free... but first it will piss you off” those are the first lines of N.E.R.D & Rihanna’s song Lemon. Cleverly disguised by a catchy beat, the lyrics to this song address a variety of historical and current politically and racially charged events. The first verse begins as many pop songs do, discussing how popular the singer is, how women want to be with them, and how much money he has. But by the last two lines of the verse the song brings up the fact that people cannot believe his race. This refers to the fact that this is a black group who have achieved a high status in society and because of their ethnicity people are surprised. The second verse is where the lyrics bring up racial and political issues. The lyrics bring up Trump and his opinions on the boarder, gun control, how people should stand up now against oppression while they still has a voice, how people are listening and accepting Trump’s words when they should have been questioning them all along. The song goes on to talk about how other people’s “eyes get acidic” meaning others are jealous, but “we aint finished/ I told you we wont stop” they will not stop until the issues at hand are addressed and dealt with. Not only are the lyrics a statement, the music video is as well. A woman with a shaved head dressed in early 2000s clothes dances with no bra. She is not sexualized, but she does often put her hands up in the air as people on the front lines of a march must do in order to not be shot. Her movements are fluid and aggressive. She dances in an abandoned market place. There are bikes, food stands, arcade games, and clothes. The lights are dark blue and pink. The music video sets an eerie scene with matches beautifully with the lyrics.

02/4/18

Best to You by Blood Orange is a song I always find myself going back to. Blood Orange, also known as Dev Hynes, left behind his previous persona Lightspeed Champion to create a series of R&B, electronica albums. Of the albums he created under the name Blood Orange, Freetown Sound, is the newest released in 2016 and winner of the British album of the year. The song Best to You is the fourth song on the album and features Lorely Rodriguez, Christopher Amoo, and Edward Amoo. The song Best to You is about a one sided relationship. The woman singing is so in love with someone that she is willing to be in an unhealthy relationship to be around him. What I love most about this song is the chorus in which Lorely Rodriguez is putting her feelings on the line saying “I can be the only one” while Blood Orange whispers “Do you really want to?” Blood Orange is attempting to question Lorely Rodriguez’s lover asking “Did he even notice?” This back and forth between the two main singers shows a real world reality of when a close friend tries to emancipate a friend stuck in an unhealthy relationship constantly hoping that it might one day get better. All that aside, the song is honestly just beautifully crafted. The backtrack is lovely and Lorely Rodgriguez has a haunting voice that not only conveys love, lust, & pain but manages to capture the audience’s attention and keep until the very last lyric.

01/29/18

I fell in love with this amazing cover of Hello by the SU Marching Band. Marching Band music was the last place I thought to find the Numinous. This group of college students are so in tune with one another and the music. The power and passion these students feel towards their instruments is incredible. The amount of time and preparation a performance like this takes is vast. I read that the trumpet players wake up at five am and run three miles in order to have wind pipes strong enough to preform this piece. I could not imagine being that committed to playing an instrument. I am in awe.