The Autumnal Brilliance of “Mingus Ah Um”

October 18, 2020

When I listen to “Mingus Ah Um”, I rarely consider the many people, events, and pieces that form this magnificent puzzle. I instead always see a pathway lined with naked trees and carpeted with orange and brown leaves stirring with the breeze, and Charles Mingus never fails to engross me in his wonderful, autumnal world. Released in October of 1959, “Mingus Ah Um” plays like fall weather. It can turn from a gentle, relaxing breeze, to a whipping, howling gale in an instant, and Charles Mingus isn’t afraid to place those two sides together in stark contrast…

Continue Reading →

This Fall’s Anthem

October 13, 2020

Erykah Badu is a certified legend in all senses of the word. She is an empathic artist who has changed the game for all to follow. Rising to stardom in the mid nineties, her pure talent of both singing and songwriting separated her R&B, neo-soul hits from her peers, and she is still creating to this day. One of my most favorite masterpieces of her’s is the mix tape she released in 2015, ‘But You Caint Use My Phone’…

Continue Reading →

Remembering Halloween with The Misfits

With their conspicuously violent, horror-core sensibilities, the Misfits confounded audiences in the late 1970s—mainly childlike onlookers come to witness the primordial fatalism of East Coast punk rock up close. The Misfits greatest songs encapsulated a minimalistic post-Ramones translation of rock ‘n’ roll invoking peculiar 1950s doo-wop harmonies delivered straight from the warm coffin of Elvis Presley…

Continue Reading →

Wolfmother: It’s Essay Writing Time

There’s something about the swooning guitar and consistent drumbeat that gets my fingers moving across the keyboard. I’ve written some of my best—and by that, I mean “most passable”—papers while listening to Wolfmother or other music like it. Something hard, fast, and not commanding enough to distract me from my paper. The ticka-ticka-ticka of my keyboard joins the clashing of the drums and the shrill guitars in an orchestral harmony…

Continue Reading →

How the Rap World Collectively Agreed to Stop Paying Attention to 6ix9ine

Tekashi 6ix9ine has always been seen as that annoying kid in school that never seems to run out of new things to annoy you about. That business model has proven to be quite effective, as 6ix9ine has become one of the most talked-about rappers in the world. I’d estimate every teenager who listens to hip-hop, the largest genre in the world right now, has heard of 6ix9ine. But with his post-’rat’ releases, most recently his 2nd studio album TattleTales, everyone seems to suddenly, finally, be losing interest…

Continue Reading →