"Enough is enough. Our pain, our cries, and our need to be seen and heard resonate throughout this entire country. We demand acknowledgment and accountability for the devaluation and dehumanization of Black life at the hands of the police. We call for radical, sustainable solutions that affirm the prosperity of Black lives. George Floyd's violent death was a breaking point - an all too familiar reminder that, for Black people, law enforcement doesn't protect or save our lives." - Black Lives Matter #5/30/20 Statement
Evermore, Taylor Swift's surprise sister album to Folklore, just hit the streaming shelves last night, and we've curated a review of the album from some of Taylor's loyal fans. While every song on the album is good, our favorites are: 1) happiness, 2) no body, no crime, 3) dorothea, 4) ivy, 5) cowboy like me
Music and Historical Essay by D. Craswell
Although the election is over, there are still two monumental, run-off campaigns happening in Georgia. Since neither of the Republican candidates drew a majority, Georgia's system prompts a rematch race where the top 2 candidates face off. The races are between Reverend Raphael Warnock vs. Kelly Loefler and Jon Osoff vs. David Perdue.
Christmas time is fast approaching. O! Where did the time go?
Images add an artistic touch to your blog posts and will help draw in your readers. The first image from your content will automatically be used as the thumbnail for the blog post. The perfect opening image can increase the attractiveness of your article.
I feel like covers are having a little bit of a moment these days (or maybe it's just that all the artists I listen are releasing covers of songs, I don't know...). Regardless, I wanted to hop on the bandwagon and highlight five stand-out covers that have on been on repeat for me. Happy Saturday, everyone.
Quarantine has had me reflecting on friendships, how they form, and why they are so important to one's life. These months in lockdown have allowed me to form my own opinions, and as always, I thought that music would be a good medium through which to explore and meditate on this topic further.
The UK has a solid history of producing some of the most talented singer-songwriters and musicians in the indie music industry. When it comes to songwriting and playing anything with strings, some of the most unique and impressive musicians have hailed from across the Atlantic: Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, David Gray, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, James...
When I returned home last night, it was 7 pm, getting dark, and I was out of energy. I quickly climbed into bed and spent the rest of the evening looking for music. As I've mentioned in other posts, finding new music is a challenge for me. I don't know how you guys find new music, but I use a variety of ways to discover new bands: ...
Today's post is a curation of songs named after women (and some men). Before we begin, let's discuss what a muse is. The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines the word "muse" as a "person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist". Musicians, like all artists, produce a lot of art about the people they...
I penned this little essay for my mother, who like so many others, suffers from a sleeping disorder. Whether or not her condition turns out to be chronic is yet to be seen. But right now she's in the middle of the storm, and fortunately for her, she can take solace in the fact that she's not alone in the fight....
When I first heard 'Harvard' earlier this summer, I genuinely thought I was listening to a track by a band member of a group like Dire Straits or the Bee Gees who launched a very quiet solo career somewhere. I soulfully admit that I had never heard of Will Westerman (who goes by Westerman) until June this year...
The band begins work at 3 p.m. They start by breaking down their equipment from the rehearsal space. All the mics, speakers, monitors, cables, amps, and god forbid - the drums - have to be taken apart and packed up. We have to lug it all up the dreadful basement stairs, to our drummer's truck. Depending on the weather, we...
"I learned the truth at seventeen, that love was meant for beauty queens and high school girls with clear skinned smiles who married young and then retired".
Been listening to a lot of music featuring marimba lately. I love its mellow, yet percussive sounds. You may remember the marimba - big brother to xylophone (both have wooden keys) and cousin to the vibraphone (metal keys). Playing it puts you somewhere between a piano and a drum - you're hitting a keyboard with sticks (usually called 'mallets',...
Over the last ten years, the Detroit post-punk band, Protomartyr, has cultivated a very passionate fanbase, which is especially remarkable considering the group has a very limited social media presence. One of the consequences of this cult fanbase is a "protomartyr bot" who - as you might be able to guess - tweets a potpourri of lyrics from the...
Written for anyone who's ever dated someone.
My relocation to New Orleans in 2015 coincided, oddly, with an old friend's arrival in town. He'd hauled his upright bass down south from Massachusetts to break into the NOLA jazz scene. His plan was ambitious: conquer "New Orleans in my twenties and New York in my thirties."
I've been embarrassingly out of the loop on pianist/composer Lafayette Gilchrist, and since he's currently a resident of Baltimore (just up the road from me, here in DMV) I felt I should catch up. You may already know him from his tune "Assume the Position" (2004):
The last two years were interesting for Oxford-based alt group Glass Animals. In the summer of 2018 their drummer Joseph Seaward was critically injured in a cycling incident in Dublin city. Joe's future, along with that of Glass animals, were uncertain. The group supported Joe through his long & arduous rehabilitation, with group lead singer &...
The word they use for his voice is "bleating". Born in Bournemouth, raised in Norfolk, Peter Bellamy (1944-1991) sang like it. His style is cutting, bardic, a strong old calf-like waver on the high notes and an expressive sense of personality emerging from his devotions to local folkways. One critic has said that he sang "like a master fencer...
During this never-ending summer of sobering events for our nation, Haim's new album, Women in Music, Part III (aka, "WIMPY"), is one of the antidotes we needed. This time, their 2020 album is an old fashioned plate of sadness and faith, served with a side of realness, grittiness and sunny-side optimism.
In Metamorphosis, a 15 book epic first published in 8 AD by the Roman poet, Ovid, lies the short, but memorable myth of Atalanta, a gender non-conforming, female warrior who eventually becomes tricked into marrying a man. The narrator first introduces her, saying, "Perhaps you have heard of a girl who beat the fastest men at running: that...
