#and this is like... maybe 2% of my favorite Joni lyrics

[fanchonmoreau]

When Joni Mitchell said just before our love got lost you said I am as constant as a northern star and I can be cruel but let me be gentle with you and all good dreamers pass this way someday, hiding behind bottles in dark cafes and laughing and crying you know it’s the same release and will you take me as I am? will you? and I want to renew you again and again and love is a story told to a friend, it’s second-hand and it’s life’s illusions I recall, I really don’t know life at all.

#joni mitchell #yes I'm still crying about her at newport #and this is like... maybe 2% of my favorite Joni lyrics #songs in order are: #a case of you #the gallery #the last time I saw richard #people's parties #california #all I want #conversation #both sides now #a case of you actually has the best opener of any song I have ever heard #brave of anyone to write songs after Joni did that tbh

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

What is it about BTS’ music (and them in general) that does it for you? I feel like you’ve mentioned before that you aren’t really a fan of many other, if any, K-POP groups, so I was just curious what exactly it is that attracted you to them? There are so many other talented groups out there, but it’s almost like BTS has a stronghold on the industry and K-pop fans. I’m a huge fan of BTS, but I’m also a fan of all of NCT’s subunits, BP, Stray Kids, etc., and in many aspects, they’re just as talented as BTS. So for you specifically, what’s so special about BTS?

I think there's been a misunderstanding here and maybe you're confusing me with someone else, but I don't remember saying I'm not a fan of other K-Pop groups. I think I actually answered a question a few months ago specifically about that. I do listen to other K-Pop groups and solo artists, it's just that I'm not talking about them extensively on this blog and I don't have the amount of knowledge on them, compared to BTS. It has nothing to do with them being talented, but me ignoring them because BTS is more special. I'll get into why I stuck with BTS, but before that, I'll explain how I decide to get into a group and it has nothing to do with a so called reluctance to K-Pop in particular.

I mentioned this before, but the previous band I really got into was Pearl Jam, way back when I was in college. Of course that meant my primary focus was on that band, but it also introduced me to grunge and the other bands that emerged during that period. I automatically got my history lesson, I had songs from other bands in my playlist, but 80 percent of it was Pearl Jam, 10 percent Nirvana and the rest were other songs. It had nothing to do with my reluctance or dislike of other bands. It was just that my mind was set for like 2 or 3 months only on one band and that was it. I couldn't get out of that. And then it slowly faded and I moved on to other stuff and I went back to my usual playlist which is more diverse.

The same thing happened with BTS. The reasons why I stuck with it and didn't grew out of it after a couple of months it's because they're an active group with an incredibly big library of intermedia content. That's what kept me here, not just the music. If it were just that, I'd have probably forgotten about BTS by now. Just look at the focus on this blog. I may answer random questions from a fan perspective, but the topics in my bio are the ones that actually interest me here.

And I'll be honest with you. BTS's music is not special to me. It doesn't impress me, just like the majority of pop songs don't. I still like pop music, I listen to it on a daily basis. I'm not some stuck up purist that stays away from everything that's fun, but at the end of the day, if someone would ask me to make a top 10 of my favorite songs/artists/bands, BTS wouldn't be there. Nor Lady Gaga, Beyonce, The Beatles or whatever big name is out there that everyone knows. This has more to do with my personal taste and what I believe is the type of music that has an impact on me as an individual. Not an objective statement about the quality of that music. I like songs where I can clearly hear the instruments and I don't mind a 5 minute guitar or drum solo. Lyrics that tell a story, closer to prose. If I want a commentary on societal issue that is close to my own beliefs and the shape in which I want to hear that, I'll listen to Pink Floyd. If I want a story that could instantly make me cry I would play some Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel. If I want a good guitar solo, I will choose Prince, David Gilmour, Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix. I think you get my drift. That's were my affinities lie in terms of the music that I will listen to until I get old because it's the type that speaks to me. I don't even listen to it daily. I usually choose a basic pop songs playlist that can include BTS, other K-Pop groups and Western Pop.

And now that I got that big chunk out of the way, no, I don't believe BTS is the best out there and I don't think their music is the most special out there. I never did and that's not something that ever crossed my mind. Not even when I used to listen to them daily. They have good albums and others less than good, just as any other group. Their lyrics don't speak to me, but that's once again, a personal opinion. It doesn't mean I don't see why they have an impact on other fans and how they can be incredibly complex in some of the songs. I can give credit where it's due. I think they can put on some amazing performances and stages, without any doubt, but not all of them are. They're not perfect or special to me in terms of their music.

I think what contributed a lot to their success is their use of social media and the intermedia content. Big Hit was smart and knew how to use that in order to build a strong bridge between the group and their fans. As with other groups as well, but particularly with BTS, the parasocial relationship is crucial. Fans are not actively engaged every single day only because they like the music, but because they like the men behind it. Because they're nice guys and they're funny and cute and relatable and a miriad of other reasons which are clearly not just about music.

BTS has a stronghold on the industry because they made it big, including in the West, on a scale that other groups can now pursue as well. BTS didn't open the gates, but they clearly broke down some walls and made the door bigger. But this is just in terms of breaking out in the West and having that type of validation in mind which in my opinion, should not be the number one indicator of success or quality of music. BTS are the gateway to K-Pop. They are the mainstream and some fans get stuck at the entrance and others choose to explore other rooms. And perhaps it's difficult or they simply don't want to move on because the relationship with BTS is already deeply established and it's stronger.

#bmt asks #bts #kpop #bmt personal qs

[ifuckinglovestvincent]

NY TIMES: St. Vincent Is Trying to Understand People

As she releases her sixth album, “Daddy’s Home,” the musician expounds on the lengthy documentaries, Janet Jackson bust and Joni Mitchell album that feed her creativity.

By Olivia Horn

May 4, 2021, 10:00 a.m. ET

Despite the hardships of the past year, Annie Clark’s sixth studio album came together with remarkable ease. “Maybe I earned a fun one,” Clark, who records under the name St. Vincent, mused. “Usually there’s some kind of ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ moment. And there just wasn’t.”

Clark, 38, spent much of 2020 shuttling between her home in Los Angeles and her family’s in Texas. But the record (“Daddy’s Home,” due May 14) was born at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan, where she and her repeat collaborator Jack Antonoff landed on 1970s New York as their lodestar. The resulting songs ease away from the angular art-pop of “Masseduction” from 2017, opting for gentler, slouchier rock. The relative softness corresponds to Clark’s effort to treat the troubled, complicated characters that populate her record with care. Among them are the broke and lovelorn protagonist of the lead single “Pay Your Way in Pain,” Nina Simone, Marilyn Monroe and her own father, whose release from prison in 2019 inspired the title track.

Clark confessed that she did not meet her quarantine goals of learning conversational Italian or writing a tour bus cookbook, but she did read some books about the gulag. Calling from her “utilitarian” Los Angeles studio, she detailed 10 of her favorite things to watch, read and hear — many of her picks reflecting a fascination with history and an eagerness to unpack social and aesthetic violence. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

1. William Scott Sculptures

I discovered William Scott’s work through David Byrne, at his place in New York. And when we were on tour with “Love This Giant,” we went to Creative Growth in Oakland [a nonprofit that supports artists with disabilities]. I had my eye on this bust of Janet Jackson. And then when I was back, I went and bought a bust of CeCe Winans. So I have these busts in my library.

A lot of the artists whose work I collect are people who are marginalized from society in one way or another. What I like about it is that the expression feels very pure. These are people who might not have all of the tools at their disposal or the education, or any of that, but they are compelled to make work. That kind of irrepressible urge in people — that I just find so inspiring and heartening and cool. And it’s completely divorced from any of the status of the quote, unquote, “art world.”

2. Adam Curtis’s Documentary Series “Century of the Self”

The way his work has been described is as emotional history or impressionistic history. The lines that he draws between events and trends are not exactly “A plus B equals C,” but the general thesis is like, “the collective consciousness is saying this.” As a writer, I’m always trying to understand systems and understand people.

3. Ric Burns’s “New York: A Documentary Film”

I used to live in a rent-controlled place in the East Village. But it was shady how I lived there, so I was never able to get utilities in my name. I lived there for 10 years and I didn’t have the internet, so I had DVDs. I used to go to Kim’s Video all the time and buy DVDs so when I would wake up hung over and be like, “Oh, just can’t quite make it out of bed today,” I would have something to put on. If I wanted to watch something it wasn’t like “Netflix and chill.” I associate that Ric Burns documentary with being either hung over or tired or both, and watching it in my bed.

4. Joni Mitchell’s “Hejira”

This is one of those Joni Mitchell records that I didn’t hear until I was in my early 20s. Everybody knows “Blue” and “Ladies of the Canyon,” but this is when I became a Joni Mitchell fan, with a capital F. This record’s just so deep. Her lyrics are … Cubist. I’m thinking of the one where she’s like, “In the mirrors of a modern bank/From the window of a hotel room.” And it’s all wiggles, you know? It’s like water, that record. And I don’t mean to make it about me, but I feel like I can understand some of the things that Joni talks about, like the refuge of the road, or watching the world from an airplane or being in a hotel room.

5. Maggie Nelson’s “The Art of Cruelty”

This is one of those books that I picked up six times and would get through a few pages and be like, “This is really brilliant,” but it felt impenetrable at first. Then I had this one weekend where the clouds parted, and I just could see it and plowed through it. It talks about the ethics of being an artist in a way that is so brilliant, and so not orthodox or finger wagging. I think it’s one of those books you can revisit at various points of your life.

6. Her Own STV Signature Series Guitar

Part of it was inspired by Klaus Nomi’s tuxedo. And I wanted it to hit my sternum in a particular way. I am cis female, so the way that it hits the sternum and then has a little bit of a cutaway, it makes room for my breast. But just one of them. There’s only room for one! I love it. It’s the only electric that I play, with very rare exception.

I saw people’s pictures of it from the Met [in the exhibition “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll”], because I never got a chance to go and see it in real life. Most of the time, I just kind of like quietly put my head down and work — and then every once in a while, I look up and see something that I’ve made, and it’s mysterious that it’s in the world.

7. Wim Wenders’s “Pina”

I love Pina Bausch’s work. I was really inspired by “The Rite of Spring,” where the virgin dances herself to death. There’s this one particular movement that was like, drawing your hand above your head, and then when you pull it down, your elbow goes into your stomach — sort of like you’re open and then you’re impaling yourself. It just moved me to tears. So when I worked with my friend Annie-B Parson to choreograph the Digital Witness Tour, I was like, “Can we please incorporate this?” Another big thing: I was obsessed with falling. That was another big part of the Bausch work. How do you fall and make it look violent but not hurt yourself? I’d get a rehearsal room with Annie-B and just practice falling.

8. Vintage RCA 77-D Microphone

It’s an old ribbon mic, and it just sounds so good and warm. I know these are words that might not mean that much — when people describe sound as warm, it’s reductive. But it makes things sound and feel true. I don’t mean that it has perfect fidelity. What I mean is that when you sing into this microphone, what comes back at you feels honest. My friend Cian Riordan, who mixed “Daddy’s Home,” hipped me to this mic.

9. “Hidden Brain” Podcast

There was one recently about the idea of honor culture. You know, if someone is insulting someone’s masculinity and masculinity is tied up with honor, you have to avenge that insult. A lot of these “honor societies” end up with more violence because you have to save face and there’s less ways to assimilate conflict. The premise of so much of “Hidden Brain” is that we live by the stories we tell ourselves. And as a storyteller, that idea is very liberating to me, because if we live by the stories we tell ourselves, it means that when we get new information, we can assimilate that information and tell ourselves new stories.

10. Piazza della Signoria in Florence

The first time I was there was with my mom and sisters. I remember just walking through this piazza and having a wonderful time and wonderful conversation, and really being awe-struck by the architecture and the history, and just that life was beautiful. Another time, a number of years later, I was on tour with David Byrne and we had our last show in Florence, and I remember walking through with band members and then having the best dinner of my life after. It’s one of those places where, at very pivotal points of my life, I’ve been there and only beautiful things have happened to me.

#st vincent #annie clark #interviews #i like when interviews/articles contain lil nugs no one has heard about before #such as this one with the shady living situaish in the rent controlled apt #and KIM’S VIDEO #WHICH I ALSO WENT TO WHEN I LIVED IN NY #I feel like we’d always go there to get weird obscure hard to find movies #also: #re:re: ‘warm’​ think the term she is looking for is ‘like butter on tiddies’ #’WELL ITS WARM’ #are those m&ms ive done those #nice brain btw #🦦

[tillidontneedfantasy]

‘Fine Line’ - Harry Styles REVIEW: Finding His Balance

“When I played it for the label, I told them, ‘This is the first single. It’s two minutes, thirty-five. You’re welcome,’” Harry Styles recalls when discussing “Lights Up” in a track-by-track breakdown of his second solo studio effort, Fine Line, with Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield. Thank you, indeed. “Lights Up” was an excellent first single choice for a number of reasons, now all the more clear in the context of the album. Though oddly structured and not particularly radio-friendly, it’s interesting, catchy, short and to the point: as much as you try to hide who you are, once the lights are up, those watching will know, so you might as well shine; but do you know?

Just as importantly, does Harry? Fine Line is a vague exploration of the self, both personally and musically, filled with cryptic platitudes and slick guitar riffs. However, the one aspect of himself Styles seems to be most acquainted with, and thus most comfortable sharing, is the “dark running through” his heart that cannot be extinguished by all the lights; in fact, it is amplified. Perhaps Styles finds it difficult to be honest in his relationships, but Fine Line is sprinkled with dark confessions, most notably in a series in the middle of the album (immediately following “Lights Up”): “I can tell that you are at your best / I’m selfish so I’m hating it” in “Cherry,” a track of spewing bitter jealousy; “There’s no one to blame but the drink and my wandering hands” in “Falling,” a heart-wrenching ballad for the books; “I’m just an arrogant son of a bitch / who can’t admit when he’s sorry,” in the pleasant-sounding yet morose ditty “To Be So Lonely.”

Those confessionals are the strongest demonstrations of Styles’s songwriting potential, and are the meat and bones of Fine Line’s takeaway: losing someone you once loved can cause you to almost lose yourself. Hopefully, you find yourself along the road to healing; but Styles often leaves the listener wondering if he really does know who he is now or not. What we do know is two things: 1) The end of his last relationship caused a lot of pain and introspection and 2) The man likes to have sex. Understandable points. Good equation for a successful album.

BEST TRACK: “Fine Line”

The title track and closer, “Fine Line” immediately invokes emotion as soon as it begins, and it only intensifies throughout its six-minute and eighteen-second duration. As the song moves along, new elements are subtly and meticulously added, layered in with his low and almost careful singing in a way that sounds like nature. Around four minutes in, the song really starts to come alive, the instrumentation building and building towards an outro that reaches a crescendo at Styles’s final “we’ll be alright,” and then perfectly finishes with high-pitch vocal notes that feel like freedom before it drifts out with a few light piano notes. While its message about maintaining balance on the fine line between the extremes of love resonates, the real victory of this song is its ability to move you with just the music. Despite its length, it always feels like it ends too soon.

WEAKEST TRACK: “Golden”

While a pleasant-sounding opener and a good tone-setter for the rest of the record sonically, “Golden” could have been cut in half, with about twenty fewer repetitions of the title, and used as more of brief introduction or interlude instead. In contrast to the closer, “Fine Line,” which is the longest song on the album and includes just as much- if not more- repetitions of its title, it serves a purpose in that song, whereas in “Golden” it feels like filler. This monotonous track is the most prominent example of how often Styles’s lyrics seem to be lacking; he surely has the ability to improve, he just needs to access it.

THE IN-BETWEENS

Luckily for Styles, the production on this album is so outrageously good that it’s enough to keep you interested throughout. “She,” a six-minute psychedelic rock song is an epic trip (I mean, Styles’s guitarist, Mitch Rowland, wrote it on mushrooms, go figure) into a daydream with the perfect woman who doesn’t exist. “Canyon Moon” is a road-trip-ready, light, feel-good song where his musical influences are rather apparent; Styles cites Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills, and Nash as his muses, and another idol of his, Steve Nicks, claims it to be her favorite track on the record, a lovely feat. The pre-released singles “Lights Up,” “Watermelon Sugar,” and “Adore You” are sincerely all pop perfection, more mature and refined from his 1D days. The most experimental track, “Treat People With Kindness,” is interesting but falls short for a song that feels like years in the making, considering it has been a phrase Styles and his fans have claimed for the past few years. Although it is clear that Styles’s intention with the song was to spread a positive message which focuses on being kind and not taking life too seriously (though he proclaims that “if our friends all pass away / it’s okay,” and…I don’t know, is it really okay, Harry?!?) it feels like he could have done more with it. One particularly good line is towards the end of the track when he sings, “all we ever want is automatic all the time,” and perhaps he could’ve taken his own advice and given a song with such a grand title a bit more effort.

BEST PROSPECTIVE SINGLE: “Falling”

A close second to “Fine Line,” “Falling” is one of the strongest in Styles’s solo discography and more impressive considering he wrote it in about twenty minutes in a towel. In this beautiful ballad, Styles opens his heart, grabbing the listener’s in the process. “What am I now? / What if I’m someone I don’t want around?” he sings in a panic. This moment of self-reflection after the end of a relationship truly settles in as reality and you can no longer look away from your mistakes is painfully relatable. This track is the most honest of the bunch, and thus feels necessary. With all the previously mentioned pop jams already aptly released as singles, “Falling” feels like the wisest choice going forward to keep the momentum; listeners love a man openly grieving a heartbreak and taking responsibility for his actions (even cheating, I suppose, as is mildly implied in the first verse…I mean, this is your mans? Good thing his regret sounds sincere at least), and the unbelievable tone of his voice when he belts the last word of the bridge, “and I get the feeling that you’ll never need me again” is just the icing on the cake.

                                                                   ***

It is always a difficult task for a former group member to come into their own as a solo artist, and very few have done so with the admiration and reverence that Styles has accrued thus far. With his self-titled debut solo record in 2017, Styles made it clear, as most group-departing members do, that he had a sound different from that of his claim to fame in One Direction. His seriousness as a musician was now established through the positive reception of his debut, and thus his success allowed him to have a little more fun on Fine Line. It also allowed him to get a little more candid and authentic, knowing that the world has accepted him with open arms and has been begging for more. Styles mostly delivers with Fine Line, but in some ways it feels unfinished. The musical production is intriguing and exciting, and by far the best thing about this album, but is still somewhere between a regeneration of classic inspirations and a sound unique to Styles himself; all he needs is a little more time to find his own signature style (no pun intended) rather than just creating a conglomerate of musical elements from his influences and signing his name. But in the meantime, the music still holds up. The real conundrum is the lyrics, which are well and fine, but do not effectively communicate the truth hiding behind the sentiments yet give you just enough to let him get away with it. If he had given us just a bit more, Fine Line could have been a true triumph. However, this is only his second album, and being a confessional songwriting superstar while still preserving your right to privacy is, well, a fine line to walk (I had to, I’m sorry!), but I’m sure he’ll find his balance in no time. Grade: 3.5/5

DISCLAIMER – REVIEWER’S BIAS: I was a very casual One Direction fan during their peak of fame. I think Midnight Memories is a great pop album and I stand by that. I’ve always been more of a Niall girl, but I have never been able to completely resist Harry’s charisma; I’m only human. I listened to his debut album in 2017 maybe twice, three times at most, and just thought it was fine, but not particularly impressive. But since then it’s been impossible to deny his talent and star power. I was very intrigued by “Lights Up,” and with every single release I had found myself enjoying the songs more than I wanted to admit. I think Fine Line is a really great album. Sonically, it is in my exact sweet spot of the kind of music I absolutely love, so I was doomed to like it from the start. What stopped me from giving it a grade of 4 or higher though was that even with multiple listens I struggle to understand what the hell this guy is trying to say in his music. Many times, it takes me reading what die-hard stans say to understand what message he’s trying to send. Unfortunately, that is a failure to me. I know plenty of people love cryptic and ambiguous lyrics or poetry, but as a consumer, I want to be able to understand the story or the message with at least a couple of listens. Of course, lyrics can and should be left up to interpretation, but sometimes I don’t even know what he wants me to interpret! From my perception, this is just a reflection of Harry holding back from truly saying what he wants (with few exceptions, such as “Falling”). I think he is so talented and has so much potential but just needs a little more time unlocking it. I’m excited to see what he does in the future.

#harry styles #fine line #one direction #golden #watermelon sugar #adore you #lights up #cherry #falling #to be so lonely #she #sunflower vol. 6 #canyon moon #treat people with kindness #tpwk #music #pop #stevie nicks #joni mitchell #crosby stills and nash #1d

[independentartistbuzz]

7 FROM THE WOMEN: LIZA GRABOWSKI FROM THE NORMAL LIVING

7 From The Women is a segment here on Independent Artist Buzz where we ask some of the industries finest seven questions. During this time of accusations and the lack thereof, we think it’s important to give women a voice. We chose to ask seven questions to honor the seven Wiccan clans.

Liza Grabowski is a vocalist and guitarist in one of our favorite bands, The Normal Living. From NJ on the edges of NYC, the band blends urban ideas and images with rock and roll, Americana, and folk-rock sounds, while summoning the fun of pop. With singer-songwriter roots and bar-band beginnings, their influences are eclectic, ranging from Carole King, Springsteen, and U2 to the Killers, Arcade Fire, Jenny Lewis, and Neko Case, from Fleetwood Mac, and Heart to Patty Griffin and the Dixie Chicks, helping to carry on the story of American rock and roll songwriting in the millennial age.

What have you been working to promote lately?

First of all, thank you so much for having me for this interview! I love what your site does for independent musicians, and I love how this series features and supports women artists.

Right now, my band (The Normal Living) is about to release some tracks that I’m really proud of as a woman, as a thirty-something, and as an independent artist. The first single from this new record is called “How It All Went Down,” releasing on Oct. 25. This song is really special to us. It was a full collaborative effort in writing, arranging, and eventually producing this track (with producer Chris Badami of Portrait Recordings in NJ). It’s a powerful, up-tempo song, with a big rock sound, driving guitars, beautiful piano, and female vocals and harmonies. It’s told in part from the perspective of a mother, and it’s mostly a portrait of a family after a crisis, and how you move on from that. The song kind of builds emotionally, with sort of a cathartic release at the end, when the floodgates open and you can finally attempt to deal with unfathomable grief you’ve held inside for so long, for years and years maybe. Motherhood was central to me emotionally while writing it—my favorite line in the song is “Holding up to the light everything that I taught her”—but it’s also broader than that. It’s really about how any community struggles to come to terms with trauma, loss, and grief. As a band, with this new set of songs that we’ve been working on, we’re trying to explore themes of storytelling, narrative, and memory.

Please tell us about your favorite song written, recorded, or produced by another woman and why it’s meaningful to you.

I think if I had to pick one song that was my favorite song by a woman, I think I might go to Carole King’s “Natural Woman” for that. I remember my mom and dad bought Tapestry for me for my birthday when we first got a CD player. I’m pretty sure it was 1987, because they also bought me True Blue, Tiffany, and Out of the Blue at the same time. And I guess I was a little bit young for the themes, but I remember just loving it. Not in the same way I loved True Blue—which also felt grown up to me, but in a more salacious, edgy way—with Tapestry, I loved it the way you love an old doll or a cozy bed. I loved her raw vulnerable voice—and I remember that it stirred something in me about womanhood that the pop music of the day wasn’t doing in the same way. When I listened to Tapestry for the first time, I already knew the Aretha version of “Natural Woman.” But King’s vocal on that song, on the album, just sort of blew my mind in a way. It was the first time I realized that a “song” was not equivalent to the recording of a song—that a song is this living breathing thing that could be a vehicle for extremely personal intimacy. Even though I knew the lyrics and the melody already from the Aretha version, when I listened to King sing it, I felt like I was hearing something so brand new. Both versions are so amazing; that’s what I think was so mind-blowing to me at the time.

What does it mean to you to be a woman making music / in the music business today, and do you feel a responsibility to other women to create messages and themes in your music?

I do—more so now as a mother, I think. My daughter is 4, and as a writer and a singer, I think about her all the time. What do I want for her, and what would I tell myself if I was 4 again? To every woman, young or middle aged or older, I feel a responsibility—both in my songwriting and in my own persona—to represent women as strong and empowered. But I also think it’s really important to show women characters as vulnerable and flawed and real. Maybe some days you feel like a queen, but maybe other days you feel hopeless and messy and frazzled. It’s ok. It’s ok to feel both and inhabit both spaces. You’re a real person with real feelings, and you’re not made to be looked at or objectified—you have agency and emotions and ideas that have value. I think that being a woman artist, you do have to step back sometimes to be aware of all the crap we’ve internalized from growing up in a patriarchal society. There’s one song of mine that always triggers a self-reflexive feminist critique. It’s called “Time Out, New York,” from our first EP, Less Radio. On the surface, it’s very much a portrait of a woman sitting on the sidelines, cheering on her boyfriend on stage from the back of the bar. But when I perform it now, I try to be wry and sort of ironically meta about it, knowing that I’m the one on stage singing the song. From the song’s inception, I have always imagined doing a video in which the gender roles are reversed, depicting a woman on stage, singing about a man on stage, while her partner watches her from the bar. I also sometimes imagine queering it a bit and changing the lyrics to be a woman singing about another woman. I’m not sure if I’m trying to salvage a not-so-feminist lyric that I’m a little self-conscious about, or if there are really genuine layers of irony in the song about a male performer, viewed through a female gaze, that’s written and performed by a woman. (I’m hoping it’s the latter!) In any case, yes, it’s something I’m always thinking about, and growing as an artist as I grow as a human being navigating adulthood.

What is the most personal thing you have shared in your music or in your artist brand as it relates to being female?

Honestly, I think sometimes just being onstage in and of itself as a woman musician is one of the most personal things to share. It makes you vulnerable and takes courage, especially if you don’t fit the traditional mold of a pop star or a rock star or a celebrity. I consciously battle my insecurities about my body, my age, how I look, and how I sound every single time I go on a stage or in front of a camera. I try to remember what’s important as an artist is being brave and doing the things that scare you, to put your art out into the world, to tell stories, even if you have to go out of your comfort zone to do that.

What female artists have inspired you and influenced you?

I’m trying to think back on my musical journey as a child, because I have been alive to witness four decades of music. And I watched MTV from the very beginning, so music videos and images of rock and pop stars were extremely foregrounded for me. I also was fortunate to be raised by music lovers, so I was introduced to a lot of previous decades of rock and pop as well as a child. This is a long and rambling way of saying that I’ve had a ton of female musical influences from all different eras and genres. As a young child, I remember Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Heart, The Bangles, The GoGos, Pat Benatar, Patty Smyth, and Debbie Gibson—all of those women were on my horizon when I was a kid from MTV and the radio. From my parents, I was exposed to Carole King, Patti Smith, Joni Mitchell, and 60s girl groups—my mom was a huge fan of the Supremes, and so we listened to a lot of those records.

MTV was really huge in my house in the 80s. I remember singing “Stand Back” by Stevie Nicks with my sister. I remember dancing to Laura Branigan and Whitney Houston songs, belting out “Gloria” and performing “The Greatest Love of All” in my second-grade talent show with a Fisher Price microphone. I embraced all kinds of genres and styles as a child. I just loved the female voice having such a platform, giving representation to women. I obviously didn’t process it in those terms at the time, but I think looking back, that’s exactly what it was that resonated with me. Then as I moved into adolescence, really the 2 biggest influences for me as a musician were Alanis Morrisette and The Dixie Chicks. I just felt that they were writing and playing and performing in ways that broke boundaries for women. Then into my 20s—Jewel was huge for me. I remember really connecting with her story about how she was down to her last dime and playing in cafes and on sidewalks, and I was so inspired by that tenacity. I also really connected with some American folk singer-songwriters at the time too. I was obsessed with Patty Griffin; I discovered her mainly through the Dixie Chicks and just started listening to everything I could of hers. And then I realized that she had done a cover of “Stolen Car” by Bruce Springsteen, who was my favorite artist growing up, and when I heard Patty’s version of it, I just kinda melted into a puddle. I just thought it was so gorgeous, and her take on it from a female perspective just took me to another place. The other person was influential for me in my 20s was Dar Williams; she truly influenced my songwriting in terms of telling stories and also just writing an album that’s cohesive and meaningful. Sheryl Crow was huge for me as a rock vocalist. I think I sang Leaving Las Vegas hundreds of times in my dorm room as a college student, trying to get it perfect and trying to get that mournful but strong rock vocal. Now in this decade, I am really looking to women like Brandi Carlile, Elle King, and Grace Potter as examples of women who are keeping rock alive.  

Who was the first female artist you saw that made you want to create music / be in the business?

The first concert I ever saw was Debbie Gibson when I was six, I believe—or maybe eight, I think, because it was actually the Electric Youth tour that I saw, so maybe I was eight or nine. I had basically memorized Out of the Blue, and then Electric Youth was also a smash for me too. I remember reading articles about her and being so motivated that she arranged, wrote, produced, and performed all of her songs. I said, I want to be like that. I want to DO that. So my sister and brother and I had this black-and-white composition notebook when we were little, and we used to write songs in it. We’d have songwriting sessions where we would write lyrics and jot notes down about the instrumental arrangements, and then we’d perform them for our parents and grandparents. That was one of the earliest times I can remember getting into what it means to produce a song or think about the structure of a song.

If you could form an all-woman super-group who would play in it?

I love this question, because I’m really loving The Highwomen album that came out in September; it’s just so beautiful and all of the women are such powerful energies. I think in my fantasy world, my all-woman super-group would be Elle King, Miranda Lambert, Natalie Maines, and of course me.

Connect with Liza and The Normal Living online via:

https://www.facebook.com/thenormalliving/

https://www.instagram.com/the_normal_living/

https://twitter.com/thenormalliving

https://soundcloud.com/thenormalliving

https://www.youtube.com/user/lmz27

https://www.bandsintown.com/a/2970646-the-normal-living

https://www.songkick.com/artists/6404764-normal-living

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ftWbprw62ADY9lchhlITg?si=UvY74t_XQj2VnjWvZ3lufQ

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-normal-living/592223705

[spiritual-aesthetiic]

Thank you @ur-dreaming for tagging me!!! ☺️💛

Rules: put your entire library on shuffle and name the first 5 songs and your favorite lyrics in those songs (if it doesn't have lyrics, shuffle again!)

1: Astrovan // Mt. Joy

“He said son you're famous in heaven

Maybe you're famous in heaven

Maybe there is no heaven

Maybe we're all along together now”

2: Darling Be Home Soon // Joe Cocker

“Come

And talk of all the things we did today

Here

And laugh about our funny little ways

While we have a few minutes to breathe

Then I know that it's time you must leave”

3: Urge For Going // Joni Mitchell

“I'd like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so

But she's got the urge for going so I guess she'll have to go”

4: Bless The Telephone // Labi Siffre

“It's nice the way you say my name

Not very fast or slow

Just soft and low, the same

'Cause when you tell me how you feel

I feel the same way too

I'm very much in love with you.”

5: Eclipse // John Denver

“There's a heavy smog between me and my mountains

It's enough to make a grown man sit and cry

It's enough to make you wonder

It's enough to make the world roll up and die”

I tag anyone who see’s this and wants to do it!!! 😌

#personal

[wtfy-cyzj]

*SPOILERS* CYZJ Subbed Ep. 9 reaction

Episode 9 is finally out with subs, so you know what that means: another play-by-play reaction text post! And it’s another 2-hour episode, so we’re back to the super long format.

As with previous installments, each major section of the show has a header so you can scroll if you’re looking for something specific. And, of course, spoilers and foul language kinda come with the territory.

Mission reveal and song assignments

Another two performance mission assignment – picking the third finalist pair and then establishing a ranking for the finalists – because they just gotta be ranked going into the finals *rolls eyes* - I could rant about how much I wish the producers would stop pushing the competitive aspect of the show while talking about it being about “breakthroughs”

Hao’s little goddamnit-esque laugh when the 1v1 mission is announced  :/

Anybody else get the feeling Victor’s the reason Eric & JC are worried about the other team picking their song? Like Hao might give them something out of left field because he wants them to show a new side or because he thinks it suits them, but not to torpedo them – Victor, however, seems a bit of a wild card

…! I seriously thought Eric had the card down the front of his pants for a moment there!

Aw, Hao’s smile is so sweet – I already knew Eric/JC got to do one of Eric’s songs – that little “you’re welcome” bow & Victor being totally checked out makes me think that was all Hao’s doing

So, yes & no – I expected Victor to at least playfully push to mess w/ the other team – he seems kinda disengaged though

Wait, is that Hao’s handwriting?! I was admiring it when Eric first revealed the card – I know people who only know English who don’t write that nicely – kid’s definitely an artist

“How can I not be satisfied with my own song?”  XD

Aw, that was really sweet of Victor to say he hopes they don’t mess w/ the song too much

I love that when Victor asks “by who” Eric & Xiao Wu both go “Drake” w/ a very soft “duh, who the fuck else” feel – and then Hao gets stoked when they start singing it

Yes! I’m so glad Jiacheng said that about Hao & Victor’s performances not being them together! I thought it about the last 2 performances, but since I didn’t really see anyone else talk about it, I wondered if it was just me. Plus there’s the whole cultural disconnect & not being part of the target demographic that added to it. It’s good to see someone who’s in the thick of it with them recognize that same thing

I want to talk about the warm fuzzy feelings I get from Eric & Jiacheng being so thoughtful about their choice and how this reinforces my desire for the show to stop leaning into the competition narrative, but Eric mimicking both Hao & Victor is too cute

I love that Jiacheng doesn’t know how to process Eric’s goofiness for a second – same Xiao Wu, same

Aw, the doodles!

Hao’s “don’t say anything” is great! – take a stand & make Victor dance!

“Okay fine, alright, I’ll dance. I’ll dance” – damn straight!

Second mission reveal

“Sprint Out” Attack? And that means…?

Meh… Another drawn out process to pick a collaborator? - it was cute w/ the ladies but since I haven’t seen anyone talking about the guests and the tease at the beginning of the episode was blah, I’m not really looking forward to it

Trying to ignore the elevator talk and not roll my eyes too hard

Meeting the musicians

Oh dear god, Yanan is so fucking cute watching Liron Man play! – tell me someone’s giffed that doofy expression and weird little wiggle! *heart eyes*

Ooh, Liron Man’s got a great smile – has nothing to do w/ anything but I couldn’t leave it unremarked upon

“The sound produced is very cute […] like a tortoise who lost its soul” – say what now, Yanan?! – that does not seem like a “cute” sound, sir!

Once again, being thoughtful and aware of the other contestants – brownie points to Jun

I’m so glad dude knows some Chinese! We don’t need another person stranded behind the language barrier even if it’s just one episode

Apparently, I love the pipa and didn’t even know what it was – now that I have a name, research will be done!

“My mother’s profession is also in the pipa” – poor girl stepped in it!  XD

Here I was thinking they reacted much better than with the previous lady guests, but no, still shy as fuck

I realize that as an apparently internationally-recognized musician, Wangtao probably plays the clarinet in ways that I never could imagine – unfortunately I took band from 7th through 9th grades, including marching band, so I cringed when I saw what he plays – and I immediately had to go look up this Eddie Izzard bit because my brain wouldn’t stop going “clahr-en-ahrt” and “WEzul WEzul” until I did

Watching Jun & Yanan discuss their options is a really interesting look into their personalities – “are we choosing calm or movement?”

“You decide” – brave words, Jun – I wonder where this fell on the timeline of Yanan deciding to leave the show

It’s not going to be a famous Western artist, Samuel – it’s never going to be a famous Western artist – sorry to burst your bubble, kiddo

Bahahaha! For all Zhennan’s “leave us a good one” in the elevator, Jun & Yanan picked the most obvious choice for the kiddies – …yes, I know I’m an asshole for finding that so funny

…Does Zhennan’s shirt say “same shit different day”?!

They completely lost that whole “working w/ musicians will be hard” thing real quick

“I feel like I tortured little kids”  XD

Someone’s setting himself up for a headache confusing jazz with jazzy, especially when picking a classically trained accompanist

It’s really cute seeing Eric & Xiao Wu being a little awkward with the pipa player after they seemed to calm with the previous female guests – they both barely look at her

I love arrogant!Eric, especially when he’s immediately replaced by embarrassed!Eric – I am, however, more than a little creeped out by the cartoon bull being blown around by, what, an umbilical cord?!

Aw, Jiacheng immediately defends his “arrogance” *heart eyes*

Wait, did Xiao Wu’s lyrics sound bad? Eric said it could “be a little better” so maybe the phrasing was awkward, but the translation of “lately, I’ve been scared of sleeping alone” grabbed my attention and made me wonder what prompted those words

They’re dorks and I love them

Poor Hao being left to talk to their musician alone

…! I totally blanked that this could be Minghao’s first chance to really do a traditional Chinese sound – aw, yay!

Hmm, Victor really agreed to do purely traditional? I guess “purely Chinese” doesn’t have to mean traditional instead of modern

And then we flash back and I stand corrected!

Performance day

Wait, they’re not gonna show how they chose the performance order between MH/Victor and Eric/JC?! I feel so cheated! thank god

Minghao & Victor are up first – 1v1

“I’m always ready!” *heart eyes*

Hao accidentally proposed confessing to the other contestants  XD – just because you think something is meaningless doesn’t mean it really is!

What’s cuter: Hao’s reaction when he realized putting in the other contestants’ names wasn’t the best idea or Hao’s reaction to the thought of name-dropping exes?

I love MH’s logic! Victor’s trying to downplay any romantic intention behind calling out a female artist by saying it’s about respect & admiration, so Hao throws out Jony J & Gong Ge - if it’s about respect & admiration he’s not wrong, but Victor’s face says otherwise – I laughed so hard I had to stop the video and go calm down by doing a load of laundry

I’ve gotta say, as someone who liked both JJ & GG from the beginning & still really likes them and as someone who started watching specifically for Minghao, I love that he brought them up again and in such a positive light. Fans can – and do­ – hate on them, but he’s got every right to continue to look up to them. He’s the one who was directly affected by their actions, yet he continues to admire them and voice that admiration. I don’t get how people try to drag them on his behalf when he says things like this.

Aw, it breaks my heart a little that Victor thinks making the song about the show is “limiting” their creativity – Hao’s had a lot of fun and had made connections on the show that he obviously values – how is making an ode to that a limitation?

I love when Hao speaks in English – it always surprises me how rich & deep his voice is – like I usually chalk it up to being an artifact of the language, but it’s genuinely appealing – does that make sense? Just me?

Am I the only one who thinks changing the names to their own makes it about self-doubt, not narcissism?

Victor’s so American!

I feel like Victor having to dance is a little bit of karma for being a pain in the ass  >:D

That little intro clip is adorable!

Aw, Victor did MH’s 8 hand sign!

Overall thoughts: I loved that! It wasn’t perfect, but I think, after Clap, it was Hao’s best performance by far. He definitely had fun and loosened up with Supernatural in ep.8, but this was a whole other level and I think a lot of it was from actually playing w/ Victor during the performance. I love that they switched it up and Victor had the vocal parts; he’s a talented singer so it was nice seeing him step out of the rapper role. And I was really impressed with Hao’s English. A lot of times, non-English-speakers do odd things with their emphasis on words, but he was pretty damn spot on. It makes me wonder just how fluent he actually is since we don’t see him speak it much beyond simple phrases. The one thing I wasn’t entirely feeling was Victor’s rap. It felt a little rushed? Cramped? It’s understandable since he’s working within a pre-existing song, but it did stick out to me. I don’t know why Victor was worried about dancing. That bit was less choreography and more conscious swagger, if that makes sense, and he pulled it off swimmingly. I wish they hadn’t cut to the audience during Hao’s dance break because it was my favorite one he’s done so far – less artistry and more simple fun. Can we take a moment to thank Eric & Jiacheng for making this gem happen?

“And we were constantly laughing at Victor’s attempt at dancing” – Eric! I’m glad he finally has someone else’s dancing to pick on but also smh

Eric & Jiacheng’s 1v1 prep and performance

Aw, Jiacheng gushing about the comradery on the show and wanting to help each other show their best sides  XD

The idea of them singing acapella is actually really cool – if anyone on the show could pull it off really well, it’s these two

I love that Xiao Wu seems to throw out more English the longer he’s w/ Eric – he’s gaining experience and confidence in other areas – why not English, too?

Back to Eric’s crush on Dilireba  XD

Aw, JC says they got close – of course they’re (probably) going to in a situation like this, but it’s cute that he’s talking about it – I know I’ve said it before, but I love that he’s so open with talking about stuff like that

Xiao Wu really looks like he’s about to cry reading those comments – and then Eric ruins the moment telling him not to cry

I already saw @bathtubofdonuts​’s post talking about them incorporating the fan comments in the stage but seeing them get to that point is so sweet

Wait, so why is it important to tell us the screenwriter lady is in the audience? Was it the OST for her drama?

Aw, Hao’s so touched already

I was starting to worry the editing was going to lose the comments to those close-ups

It’s not weird to comment on how pretty Jiacheng’s hands are, right?

Wah! JC’s teary-eyed!! I was already tearing up – don’t make me cry!

Ah, okay, so she helped Eric write the song

Overall thoughts: I was sniffly & teary, but I managed not to cry. That was beautiful. This is why I was worried when they were talking about making a more impressive set design in ep. 8. They do simple so, so well, and they really don’t need a bunch of extras. Just having that one element of the comments playing behind them was so gorgeous and impactful. I’m really glad that they didn’t have accompanists on stage with them because they’d just be a visual distraction. I know I’ve talked about it in previous reactions, but the combination of their voices is incredible. I doubt Eric has ever sung a sour note in his life, and I wish Jiacheng knew how gorgeous his voice really is. His little power vocal moment toward the end? Ugh! So good! I’m gonna keep saying how happy I am that they got to work together because of this show.

“I feel that this bundle here is trembling” – I’m going to be so sad not to see this sweet kid after the show ends! TnT

1v1 performance results

Nooo! I know what’s about to happen – I’m not ready for the angst!

Poor Jun looking so nervous over there w/o Yanan

I hate this fucking setup so much. I’ve said that I think the way Jony J left the show was probably at least partially prompted by the production staff. Knowing that Jun was given options after Yanan left and that, for all his extraness, Jun is super shy, I have a hard time believing the production staff didn’t go, “So you don’t want to be in the running anymore and ~play by the rules~? Okay, so how about we make it look like there’s gonna be an elimination then you come out and dramatically withdraw? Wouldn’t that be awesome!” Jun’s never been my favorite because his playfulness can come of really childish to me, but I highly doubt he would put Minghao this scenario again for funsies.

Having seen translations of this weeks ago when the episode aired, I was not prepared to tear up. It hurts to see Hao so freaked out again and try to pull Jun back bodily. And seeing the distress on Jiacheng’s face as he says “no!” at him, my breath caught in my throat. Ugh! I’m seriously starting to cry watching JC panic more as Jun compliments them all. X(

Oh god that whole bit after the interview section was… weird. It’s pretty obvious the way Eric & Jiacheng are smiling in the background that things were cleared up. But that audience reaction… It’s so cold? This weird sort of idea that idols “betray” their fans is something I’ll never understand in kpop. (This is taking into account all the chaos that happened because of Jun’s decision, not just what made the edit.) Disappointment I get, but there’s no compassion for the grace he displayed in a shitty situation or relief that he’s going to continue performing. This whole situation was made so much worse being in front of a live audience.

The interviews after Jun’s reveal are so sweet, but why does it feel like a memorial? It’s just shy of saying “in loving memory of Wen Junhui”

Top 3 ranking performances

I love when the show has to blur someone’s phone because it’s not the sponsor phone – it’s usually Samuel, but this time Eric’s the culprit

And there’s the performance order ceremony

Minghao, Victor & Lian Pieru (pipa) are up first

Interesting thoughts about the Mechanical Era – it seems like Peiru’s a good match for Hao

So the interview thing is the only lead up we get? I don’t want to episode to be 3 hours, but they’ve got such an interesting story they want to tell and Peiru seems like such a character, I was really looking forward to the preparations – now I do actually feel a little cheated

Overall thoughts: I may have actually liked this performance better than In My Feelings. It wasn’t as entertaining, but it was a cool concept that was executed really well. I’ve gotta say before I go on though, I’ve seen people complain about the editing of other performances, but this is the first one that’s been distracting to me throughout.  :/  If I didn’t know before going in that Victor was supposed to be the narrator, I don’t think I would’ve gotten that. The harsh stage whisper sort of effect in the beginning comes off kind of judgmental and, well, harsh where I was expecting more of an impartial observer style narrator. I wish his character had either done less interacting (to be an observer) or done more (to show his investment in the storyline and justify the judginess). It was a nice change of pace to see him being subdued while Hao was the higher energy partner. Hao’s rap in both performances this episode was great. They felt more natural and less stylized, which I really dig. He also showed his vocals more here than I think he really has in a while. At least it was more impactful than past performance. I would love to see a purely vocal song from him – no rap, light choreo – because he does really interesting things with his voice and we don’t get enough of it. [I just got a flash of him singing w/ Susu O.O] The choreo was impressive even if the edit made it hard to get the full effect. The end was great with the angry faces and the final little trill of the pipa.

It weirdly warms my heart to see them acknowledge they’ve been kind of at odds in their partnership up til now

Eric, Jiacheng & Lian Peiru (pipa) perform second

Uh, does Jiacheng’s overcoat have Donald Duck smack in the middle of a traditional tapestry?!

Not gonna gush about the VCR, but these two are so damn cute

We don’t even get an interview lead-in for them?!  >.<

Ooh, pop-style pipa is really cool…

Somebody put Xiao Wu in a musical please - even my theatre-hating ass would pay to see that

Aw, Liron Man reacting to them  uwu

Overall thoughts: I really enjoyed that. It was soft and sweet, and of course their voices are amazing. The set design was really pretty with all the florals. For some reason, thought, for most of the song Eric seemed strangely pulled back? Maybe it was because Xiao Wu was still on a high from the previous performance and the pipa is so distinct, but his parts just got overpowered to my ear. It was still beautiful.

Huh, Samuel really hasn’t gotten much screentime in this episode, even for reactions

Zhennan, Samuel & Wangtao (clarinet) are up third

Maybe it’s because he’s a good bit older, but I really appreciate the way Wangtao talks about Zhennan here – at least I assume he’s referring to Zhennan since Samuel seems pretty cool with being a kid – it doesn’t soften me to him, but it’s a needed reminder that his bravado may be more façade than arrogance – still find it annoying though *shrug*

Anyone else have to look up what an elaphure is? – it’s a Père David’s deer

Excuse me, mister clarinet man, don’t make me start thinking clarinets are sexy – I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that I’m probably gonna look up your music but that’s just taking it too far!

Overall thoughts: For anyone who thinks I’m just going to shit all over this because it’s Zhennan and Samuel, you’re wrong. I actually kind of dug that. It’s not really my bag, but I don’t dislike it at all. First off, the stage design is impressive with that cube setup. It’s really interesting having Wangtao on top of it (but also, get off the tall thing!). I would love to see a fixed cam of the performance to get the full effect. I really liked Zhennan’s solo in ep. 2, so seeing him go back to that sleepy, almost lazy delivery style is really nice. I’ve complained about him leaning too hard into his imagery (or did I cut that bit because I was being an ass?), but it was used beautifully here. Samuel really impressed me. His rap style still sounds a little like he’s trying to be someone else, but it didn’t sound awkward this time. It’ll be really interesting to see where his style goes as he comes into his own. And these are his best lyrics yet. Yes, I snorted at the LeBron reference in the otherwise whimsical song, but I really liked the honestly and depth. The dance break was beautiful and a nice escape from the more stock mainstream choreo Samuel’s been showing us. He does hip hop well, but I’m glad he gave us something more contemporary here and showed off his range. If I have a complaint it’s that Samuel’s voice gets lost in the “I don’t want” bits. I wish they’d at least brought him forward so you hear him more, or better yet, given him something a little more ornate to weave around Zhennan’s more drudging sound. His little vocalization before ZN’s final part was a pleasant surprise, and I would’ve liked more of that. They’ve made the best use of the accompanist so far, too. The whole thing was lovely and haunting and understated. Of all their stages, I think this performance has been the most effective in delivering the message they wanted to get across.

Jun & Liron Man (handpans) are up last

Why are the lead-ups getting shorter?! We’re going straight into the performance with no interview or VCR. I get that he’s not eligible for votes anymore, but I still want to see something, man

Total Pure Moods vibes here – fun fact: I wanted that CD so badly that both of my (divorced) parents got it for me for Christmas that year – I was a weird kid

Aw, is he singing along with Jun?! So cute! *heart eyes*

…off the tall thing, please…

Overall thoughts: If you’d told me before this that I would eagerly watch a Jun solo three times in a row, I would’ve laughed in your face. His style just isn’t for me usually. And yet, I watched this three times in a row (I zoned out and just listened to first time, watched the second, and read the lyrics the third). Thank you, Yanan, for picking the handpan. I never would’ve thought the distorted ring of a handpan would complement Jun’s very unique vocal quality as well as it does. This is the most at ease we’ve seen Jun on the show, and I don’t mean relaxed or confident. It didn’t seem at all like he was performing or was “on” but like he was singing for the sheer personal pleasure of it. After his stress in previous episodes, it was so good to see. As for the song itself, I have no fucking clue how to describe it. It reminded me of the weirdest things without really sounding like any of them. I mentioned Pure Moods, but also The Little Mermaid and “What Is Love” – as in the song from A Night at the Roxbury (listen to it, young’uns, and be confused). There were others, but I’ve blanked because that last one was a little too wtf.

“He was definitely enjoying it, really” – you know it’s true when the guest is saying it

Wait, no contestant reactions even?! Why are we getting robbed of the good stuff in this episode, goddamnit!?

Points reveal for the finals

This is for the ranking going into the finale – plus starting points which seems weirdly unnecessary?

Hao & Victor got 66 votes – why so low?

Xiao Wu & Eric got 73 – better but still really low considering the stages & past scores

Zhennan & Samuel got 72 – why so low?!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad my boys are leading, but they all gave incredibly good, polished stages and those scores really don’t seem to reflect that. I mean, they’ve given out 80s before – are the panelists given criteria or is it purely a matter of preference? – the contestants all look a little disappointed with the scores, too

After show nonsense

“passionate teens Zhou Zhennan and Samuel, gentle warriors Wu Jiacheng and Zhou Xingzhe, mood players Xu Minghao and Ma Boqian” – I don’t know why those labels amuse me so much but they do

I’m glad we get to see Samuel & ZN react to the handpans because they were so cute with the other instruments

Damn, Samuel really is a quick learner

Did he mean to play Eric’s song? He’s definitely got a bit of an artist crush on Eric, but that’s adorable if he was trying to play it. And impressive that he did it well enough on something he just learned how to get a sound from that the others recognized it!

  My personal rankings

MH & Victor

Jun

Eric & Xiao Wu

Zhennan & Samuel

Usually picking my rankings is super easy. My favorite and least favorite have been leagues away from the others, but I really liked everybody this week  :D

And now, another long wait until the subs come out for the finale...

#cyzj #cyzj episode 9 #cyzj episode 9 spoilers #潮音战纪 #chao yin zhan ji #my opinion #jun #junhui #yanan #eric chou #zhou xingzhe #wu jiacheng #jiacheng #xiao wu #minghao #the8 #victor ma #ma boqian #zhennan #zhou zhennan #samuel #kim samuel #lian peiru #wangtao #liron man #jony j #gong ge

[stairway-to-loopzoop]

I was tagged by @shadowsonoureyes! Thank you so much!!!! ♥

post the rules

✰ answer the questions given to you by the tagger

✰ write eleven questions of your own

✰ tag eleven people

1. Top five female vocalists? In no particular order: 1. Joni Mitchell 2. Janis Joplin 3. Ann Wilson 4. Taylor Momsen 5. Amy Lee (Yes, Bring Me To Life is a giant meme but she still has an impressive voice) 2. Do you believe there is life on other planets? Definitely. The universe is so extremely huge that there’s bound to be some sort of life somewhere. It actually scares me more (or makes me feel weird) to think that with how huge this universe is, and with the incomprehensible number of solar systems out there, that we’re totally alone. 3. Is there an instrument you don’t know how to play but want to learn? I don’t think there’s an instrument I don’t want to learn. That being said, I’ve kinda wanted to start with the drums. Or maybe the mandolin. 4. What are your five desert island albums? 1. Physical Graffiti- Led Zeppelin 2. Meddle- Pink Floyd 3. Yield- Pearl Jam 4. Badmotorfinger- Soundgarden 5. Hunky Dory- David Bowie 5. What scares you the most? I have a lot of really strange fears but I guess my biggest fear is failure. The whole fear that I’ll never really become something I want to be and I’ll just be a failure is kinda  big one for me. Rejection is another big fear, though I’m slowly getting over that one. That and large spiders. Jesus. 6. Have you ever seen a shooting star? I’ve seen a few, actually. A couple summers ago, my dad and I went night fishing during a meteor shower and I saw a handful of them. I’ve seen a before then too while camping or just being outside.  7. The last song you listened to? Currently listening to Starman by David Bowie. 8. An unpopular opinion you have? I don’t know if I have any super unpopular opinions. At least any serious ones. I guess one would be that I think Eddie didn’t like half bad when he had a mohawk (dare I say, he rocked it). 9. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be? Anywhere but where I live now, honestly. Though, I’d like to live somewhere warm.  10. +11. Your favorite songwriter? And your favorite lyrics of theirs? I think Roger Waters, probably. He writes some of the most beautiful, and real lyrics I’ve ever heard. I’m gonna be cliche and say that, ‘We’re just two lost souls/ swimming in a fish bowl/ Year after year/ Running over the same ground/ and how we found/ the same old fears/ wish you were here,’ is probably my favorite. (Though honestly, that entire song is amazing, and I bawled my eyes out when Roger played it live last summer)

My Questions: 1- What’s your favorite season/time of the year? 2- If you could go back in time to see ONE concert, what concert would you go see? 3- Are you any good at makeup? 4- What’s a song that holds a lot of meaning to you? 5- Do you believe in ghosts? 6- What’s something embarrassing that you’ve done in the past that you still think about? 7- Did you have a movie that you watched repeatedly as a kid? If so, what is it? 8- Are you superstitious about anything? 9- Are you the type of person that keeps collectibles in boxes/perfect condition? 10- Is there a song that you inexplicably can’t stand? 11- What is something you’d say to your thirteen year old self?

I tag(if you want to, of course): @zelda4infinity @thisblogwillselfdestructin54321@toomanybandstoomanybands @this-could-b-the-day @johnpornjones and literally anyone else who wants to do it. I mean it.

#long post #tag

[rookieforlife]

If someone could listen to 10 songs that would help them understand you (your past, your personality, whatever) what songs would you tell them to listen to, and why?

Hi! I LOVE this question and I hate it because I’m a music nerd lol. It’s difficult but I’ll try to answer. I change all the time. This year I’ve been listening to Kendrick, Frank Ocean, SZA, Maricka Hackman, so I don’t know.I have a lot of favorite bands and artists but I have untouchable favorites like Cat Power or Patti Smith which I mentionated before. They’re more than music to me and their songs often have a social meaning and I feel touched by that.The order doesn’t mean anything.1. “Maybe Not” - Cat Power (it’s one of my favorite lyrics, I always cry when I listen to her singing this song live, It’s like an anthem of freedom, she marked me a lot. Other songs I love are “The Greatest” or “Say”)2. “People Have The Power” - Patti Smith (not my favorite musically, but I’ll go again with the lyrics. She’s a poet and an activist so her lyrics have a lot of social meaning, and this one moves me to tears, and more in these moments)3. “Gymnopédies & Gnossiennes” - Erik Satie (this calms me, simply as that)4. “Undertow” - Warpaint (my favorite band, not my favorite song tho but one of the first ones I listened)5. “Jams Run Free” - Sonic Youth (another of my favorite bands, I don’t listen to them as often as I used to, I love this song because it makes me want to dance in a weird way. Other songs are “Sunday” or “The Diamond Sea”)6. “Sophia” - Laura Marling (one of my favorite singers/songwriters, a friend of mine always says this song is “my song” because of the name, silly, but is still one of my favorites of her. I admire Laura a lot, she’s inspired by faves like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, etc.)7. “Hong Kong Garden” - Siouxsie and The Banshees (Siouxsie is a queen, she inspired a lot of artists. I love her and The Cure and that 80s post-punk era)8. “I’m Set Free” - The Velvet Underground (again with the freedom theme, I guess is more important to me than I thought, anyway, one of my favorite classic bands, like The Stones or my man David Bowie)9. “Where Your Mind Wants To Go” - Blonde Redhead (another favorite band, I love the lyrics and the music of this song)10. “Nights” - Frank Ocean (This past year I’ve been listening to him a lot, and Kendrick, SZA, J Cole, etc.)I tried… not even close but it’s a little bit of what I listen/used to listen. I would add a lot of folk and indie like Kurt Vile, José Gonzalez, The Smiths, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Fleet Foxes, I could go on forever…Thanks for your question, I loved it.

[pinupgalore-lanadelrey]

SONGWRITER & PRODUCER RICK NOWELS EXPLAINS HOW LANA DEL REY’S ‘LUST FOR LIFE’ CAME TOGETHER 

Veteran writer and producer Rick Nowels has worked with the greats; from Madonna to Adele, Santana, The xx, Fleetwood Mac, and Sia, the San Francisco native has served as an important force in the music industry for decades. Over the past few years, he’s been one of Lana Del Rey’s key collaborators, working on tracks from Born to Die, Ultraviolence, Honeymoon, and now playing an instrumental role in Lana’s new album Lust For Life.

Genius caught up with Nowels to break down his songwriting process, his rapport with Lana, and the creative relationship behind Lana’s latest album Lust For Life.

You’ve been working with Lana for a long time now. What’s your songwriting process like, and how has it evolved?

Our process has not changed over the years. Lana always comes in with a concept and often, a melody and lyrics on her iPhone. I listen to it acapella, find the exact key she’s singing in and start to create a chord progression around it. We start playing together and define the exact chords and melody. Then she finishes the lyrics. I’m always knocked out by how incredible her lyrics are and how effortlessly she seems to write them.

After that, we solidify the verse and chorus. We usually write the middle eight from scratch—that’s the section that comes after the second chorus. It is a construct of classic songwriting sometimes called the bridge. You don’t see a lot of middle eights in songs anymore. I love that we write them because I think they make the songs more timeless and satisfying. Lana usually records her vocals right after the writing process. I play piano or guitar with her and we do live takes. This gives the songs a performance aspect, and I think it contributes to the intimacy in her vocal delivery. I work out my piano or guitar part and accompany her voice. I follow her mood and together we get a feeling in the room. She doesn’t do many takes. She knows when she’s got the master take.

After she gets her lead vocal she immediately starts arranging and singing her background vocals. This is a very exciting thing because she’s completely unique in her approach to it and it’s all a part of her songwriting process. When the backing vocals are complete you essentially have a finished Lana Del Rey record. The song speaks with minimal instrumentation and just her vocals. After that we begin the process of building the backing track, which can take some time and experimenting and inviting some great musicians to contribute.

Many people have said this album feels like a return to Lana’s earlier sound (i.e. the Born to Die era). Do you agree with that assessment and if so, was it an intentional choice on Lana’s part?

Not at all. It’s a constant moving forward. Lana is a prolific songwriter. I see every new song as the next Lana Del Rey song. I’m honored to be the first person to hear many of them in their early form and one that she trusts to help construct them. There’s no other thought than to write the best song we can and then to capture it in a recording. For me, it’s song by song, and because she’s so prolific we have a wealth of really strong songs. The big picture emerges and I know she’s always thinking about it.

You and Lana flipped what was originally the verse of “Lust for Life” into the chorus. What was that process like and how much did the song change from what it sounded like originally?

The original “Lust For Life” is a beautiful art song, it’s quite touching. Maybe someday Lana will release it. We did a rewrite of it during the making of the album. It turned out great and It was a thrill to have The Weeknd and Lana singing together.

What was it like working with A$AP Rocky for “Summer Bummer” and “Groupie Love”? Did Lana always intend to have a rap element on the track, and does that change the way you approach writing a song or handling production?

“Groupie Love” was one of the early songs we wrote for the album. Lana had the idea to bring in A$AP Rocky. He’s a great guy; very smart and creative. His producer Hector Delgado came in too and did the beats on the song and co-produced it with us. It was a lot of fun being in the studio with them. They are super creative souls.

I wasn’t really involved with “Summer Bummer.” Lana went in the studio with Boi-1da and wrote that one. It’s a great addition to the album. I asked Zac Rae, who is a brilliant keyboard player and musical mind, to do some overdubs on it. We spent a few days with Boi-1da and T-Minus working on it together. I believe Rocky and Playboi Carti recorded their parts with Hector Delgado. That was one of the last songs written for the album.

What are some of your favorite songs on the album?

I would say “Tomorrow Never Came” is a really special record. We asked Sean Lennon to sing on it and when we sent him our track, he got so inspired that he ended up playing all the instruments on it. He recorded it in his studio in upstate New York. It was good talking to him over Face Time during it. He did an amazing job and he and Lana sound great together. I’m assuming he used some of his dad’s vintage instruments on it, but you’d have to ask him.

“Change” really touches me. We were mastering the album and had to turn it into the label the next day. Lana called me that afternoon and said that she had one more statement to make for the album and that she wanted to record a new song that night. That song turned out to be “Change”. We started it at 8 p.m. and by 2 a.m. the record was done. We knew it could only be a voice/piano song because that was all the time we had. I think it’s a gem on the album.

“Beautiful People Beautiful Problems” was special because we got to spend time with Stevie Nicks and have a collaboration with two of the great female poets of songwriting. I’ve known Stevie for a long time and I wanted Lana and Stevie to know each other. I love hearing their two iconic voices together. I think a real friendship has formed.

Where do you feel this album fits into Lana’s catalog overall?

Lana is a career artist, a defining artist of her generation. I see her as a link on the chain along with Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, and all the great once in a lifetime singer/songwriters. She’s created her own language and her own genre. She’s always inspired and actively creating her body of work. This album is her next offering.

#interview #Lust For Life #lana del rey

[lanadelreyfiles-blog]

Songwriter & producer Rick Nowels explains how Lana Del Rey’s ‘Lust For Life’ came together. He's worked with Lana on some of her biggest tracks. By Chris Mench. Veteran writer and producer Rick Nowels has worked with the greats; from Madonna to Adele, Santana, The xx, Fleetwood Mac, and Sia, the San Francisco native has served as an important force in the music industry for decades. Over the past few years, he’s been one of Lana Del Rey’s key collaborators, working on tracks from ‘Born To Die,’ ‘Ultraviolence,’ ‘Honeymoon,’ and now playing an instrumental role in Lana’s new album ‘Lust For Life.’ Genius caught up with Nowels to break down his songwriting process, his rapport with Lana, and the creative relationship behind Lana’s latest album ‘Lust For Life.’

— You’ve been working with Lana for a long time now. What’s your songwriting process like, and how has it evolved? Rick Nowels: Our process has not changed over the years. Lana always comes in with a concept and often, a melody and lyrics on her iPhone. I listen to it acapella, find the exact key she’s singing in and start to create a chord progression around it. We start playing together and define the exact chords and melody. Then she finishes the lyrics. I’m always knocked out by how incredible her lyrics are and how effortlessly she seems to write them. After that, we solidify the verse and chorus. We usually write the middle eight from scratch—that’s the section that comes after the second chorus. It is a construct of classic songwriting sometimes called the bridge. You don’t see a lot of middle eights in songs anymore. I love that we write them because I think they make the songs more timeless and satisfying. Lana usually records her vocals right after the writing process. I play piano or guitar with her and we do live takes. This gives the songs a performance aspect, and I think it contributes to the intimacy in her vocal delivery. I work out my piano or guitar part and accompany her voice. I follow her mood and together we get a feeling in the room. She doesn’t do many takes. She knows when she’s got the master take. After she gets her lead vocal she immediately starts arranging and singing her background vocals. This is a very exciting thing because she’s completely unique in her approach to it and it’s all a part of her songwriting process. When the backing vocals are complete you essentially have a finished Lana Del Rey record. The song speaks with minimal instrumentation and just her vocals. After that we begin the process of building the backing track, which can take some time and experimenting and inviting some great musicians to contribute. —  Many people have said this album feels like a return to Lana’s earlier sound (i.e. the ‘Born To Die’ era). Do you agree with that assessment and if so, was it an intentional choice on Lana’s part? RN: Not at all. It’s a constant moving forward. Lana is a prolific songwriter. I see every new song as the next Lana Del Rey song. I’m honored to be the first person to hear many of them in their early form and one that she trusts to help construct them. There’s no other thought than to write the best song we can and then to capture it in a recording. For me, it’s song by song, and because she’s so prolific we have a wealth of really strong songs. The big picture emerges and I know she’s always thinking about it. — You and Lana flipped what was originally the verse of ‘Lust For Life’ into the chorus. What was that process like and how much did the song change from what it sounded like originally? RN: The original ‘Lust For Life’ is a beautiful art song, it’s quite touching. Maybe someday Lana will release it. We did a rewrite of it during the making of the album. It turned out great and It was a thrill to have The Weeknd and Lana singing together. — What was it like working with A$AP Rocky for ‘Summer Bummer’ and ‘Groupie Love’? Did Lana always intend to have a rap element on the track, and does that change the way you approach writing a song or handling production? RN: ‘Groupie Love‘ was one of the early songs we wrote for the album. Lana had the idea to bring in A$AP Rocky. He’s a great guy; very smart and creative. His producer Hector Delgado came in too and did the beats on the song and co-produced it with us. It was a lot of fun being in the studio with them. They are super creative souls. I wasn’t really involved with ‘Summer Bummer.‘ Lana went in the studio with Boi-1da and wrote that one. It’s a great addition to the album. I asked Zac Rae, who is a brilliant keyboard player and musical mind, to do some overdubs on it. We spent a few days with Boi-1da and T-Minus working on it together. I believe Rocky and Playboi Carti recorded their parts with Hector Delgado. That was one of the last songs written for the album. — What are some of your favorite songs on the album? RN: I would say ‘Tomorrow Never Came’ is a really special record. We asked Sean Lennon to sing on it and when we sent him our track, he got so inspired that he ended up playing all the instruments on it. He recorded it in his studio in upstate New York. It was good talking to him over Face Time during it. He did an amazing job and he and Lana sound great together. I’m assuming he used some of his dad’s vintage instruments on it, but you’d have to ask him. ‘Change’ really touches me. We were mastering the album and had to turn it into the label the next day. Lana called me that afternoon and said that she had one more statement to make for the album and that she wanted to record a new song that night. That song turned out to be ‘Change.’ We started it at 8 p.m. and by 2 a.m. the record was done. We knew it could only be a voice/piano song because that was all the time we had. I think it’s a gem on the album. ‘Beautiful People Beautiful Problems’ was special because we got to spend time with Stevie Nicks and have a collaboration with two of the great female poets of songwriting. I’ve known Stevie for a long time and I wanted Lana and Stevie to know each other. I love hearing their two iconic voices together. I think a real friendship has formed. — Where do you feel this album fits into Lana’s catalog overall? RN: Lana is a career artist, a defining artist of her generation. I see her as a link on the chain along with Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, and all the great once in a lifetime singer/songwriters. She’s created her own language and her own genre. She’s always inspired and actively creating her body of work. This album is her next offering.

#Lana Del Rey #Rick Nowels #Genius #Interview #Producer #Lust For Life #Album #2017 #July 2017

[flamingstairway]

“Music Shuffle” Tag Game

Rules: Put your music on shuffle, list the first 9 songs and your favorite lyrics from each. Then tag 9 other people to participate! 

1. Why Worry by Dire Straits

Baby I see this world has made you sad Some people can be bad The things they do, the things they say But baby I'll wipe away those bitter tears I'll chase away those restless fears That turn your blue skies into grey

2. Veteran Of The Psychic Wars by Blue Öyster Cult

You ask me why I'm weary, why I can't speak to you You blame me for my silence say It's time I changed and grew But the war's still going on, dear, and there's no end that I know

3. Amelia by Joni Mitchell

Maybe I've never really loved I guess that is the truth

4. The Battle Of Evermore by Led Zeppelin

Dance in the dark of night, Sing to the morning light The dark Lord rides in force tonight, And time will tell us all

5. In The End by Rush

Well, I can shine like you shine It don't make me brighter But if I think like you think It don't make my load much lighter

6. Today by Jefferson Airplane

Today, you'll make me say That I somehow have changed Today, you'll look into my eyes I'm just not the same

7. Soldier Of Fortune by Deep Purple

But I feel I'm growing older And the songs that I have sung Echo in the distance

8. Wasted Years by Iron Maiden

But now it seems, I'm just a stranger to myself And all the things I sometimes do, it isn't me but someone else

9. Epitaph by King Crimson

If we make it we can all sit back and laugh But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying

I was tagged by the lovely @inveritaserum. Thank you so much! I’m tagging anyone who wants to do this.

[thesnhuup]

Pop Picks – January 2, 2020

What I’m listening to: 

I was never really an Amy Winehouse fan and I don’t listen to much jazz or blue-eyed soul. Recently, eight years after she died at only 27, I heard her single Tears Dry On Their Own and I was hooked (the song was on someone’s “ten things I’d want on a deserted island” list). Since then, I’ve been playing her almost every day. I started the documentary about her, Amy, and stopped. I didn’t much like her. Or, more accurately, I didn’t much like the signals of her own eventual destruction that were evident early on. I think it was D. H. Lawrence that once said “Trust the art, not the artist.” Sometimes it is better not to know too much and just relish the sheer artistry of the work. Winehouse’s Back to Black, which was named one of the best albums of 2007, is as fresh and painful and amazing 13 years later.

What I’m reading: 

Alan Bennett’s lovely novella An Uncommon Reader is a what-if tale, wondering what it would mean if Queen Elizabeth II suddenly became a reader. Because of a lucked upon book mobile on palace grounds, she becomes just that, much to the consternation of her staff and with all kinds of delicious consequences, including curiosity, imagination, self-awareness, and growing disregard for pomp. With an ill-framed suggestion, reading becomes writing and provides a surprise ending. For all of us who love books, this is a finely wrought and delightful love poem to the power of books for readers and writers alike. Imagine if all our leaders were readers (sigh).

What I’m watching:

I’m a huge fan of many things – The National, Boston sports teams, BMW motorcycles, Pho – but there is a stage of life, typically adolescence, when fandom changes the universe, provides a lens to finally understand the world and, more importantly, yourself, in profound ways. My wife Pat would say Joni Mitchell did that for her. Gurinder Chadha’s wonderful film Blinded By The Light captures the power of discovery when Javed, the son of struggling Pakistani immigrants in a dead end place during a dead end time (the Thatcher period, from which Britain has never recovered: see Brexit), hears Springsteen and is forever changed. The movie, sometimes musical, sometimes comedy, and often bubbling with energy, has more heft than it might seem at first. There is pain in a father struggling to retain his dignity while he fails to provide, the father and son tension in so many immigrant families (I lived some of that), and what it means to be an outsider in the only culture you actually have ever known. 

Archive 

Posted on November 25, 2019

My pop picks are usually a combination of three things: what I am listening to, reading, and watching. But last week I happily combined all three. That is, I went to NYC last week and saw two shows. The first was Cyrano, starring Game of Thrones superstar Peter Dinklage in the title role, with Jasmine Cephas Jones as Roxanne. She was Peggy in the original Hamilton cast and has an amazing voice. The music was written by Aaron and Bryce Dessner, two members of my favorite band, The National, with lyrics by lead singer Matt Berninger and his wife Carin Besser. Erica Schmidt, Dinklage’s wife, directs. Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play is light, dated, and melodramatic, but this production was delightful. Dinklage owns the stage, a master, and his deep bass voice, not all that great for singing, but commanding in the delivery of every line, was somehow a plaintive and resonant counterpoint to Cephas Jones’ soaring voice. In the original Cyrano, the title character’s large nose marks him as outsider and ”other,” but Dinklage was born with achondroplasia, the cause of his dwarfism, and there is a kind of resonance in his performance that feels like pain not acted, but known. Deeply. It takes this rather lightweight play and gives it depth. Even if it didn’t, not everything has to be deep and profound – there is joy in seeing something executed so darn well. Cyrano was delightfully satisfying.

The other show was the much lauded Aaron Sorkin rendition of To Kill a Mockingbird, starring another actor at the very top of his game, Ed Harris. This is a Mockingbird for our times, one in which iconic Atticus Finch’s idealistic “you have to live in someone else’s skin” feels naive in the face of hateful racism and anti-Semitism. The Black characters in the play get more voice, if not agency, in the stage play than they do in the book, especially housekeeper Calpurnia, who voices incredulity at Finch’s faith in his neighbors and reminds us that he does not pay the price of his patience. She does. And Tom Robinson, the Black man falsely accused of rape – “convicted at the moment he was accused,” Whatever West Wing was for Sorkin – and I dearly loved that show – this is a play for a broken United States, where racism abounds and does so with sanction by those in power. As our daughter said, “I think Trump broke Aaron Sorkin.” It was as powerful a thing I’ve seen on stage in years.  

With both plays, I was reminded of the magic that is live theater. 

October 31, 2019

What I’m listening to: 

It drove his critics crazy that Obama was the coolest president we ever had and his summer 2019 playlist on Spotify simply confirms that reality. It has been on repeat for me. From Drake to Lizzo (God I love her) to Steely Dan to Raphael Saadiq to Sinatra (who I skip every time – I’m not buying the nostalgia), his carefully curated list reflects not only his infinite coolness, but the breadth of his interests and generosity of taste. I love the music, but I love even more the image of Michelle and him rocking out somewhere far from Washington’s madness, as much as I miss them both.

What I’m reading: 

I struggled with Christy Lefteri’s The Beekeeper of Aleppo for the first 50 pages, worried that she’d drag out every tired trope of Mid-Eastern society, but I fell for her main characters and their journey as refugees from Syria to England. Parts of this book were hard to read and very dark, because that is the plight of so many refugees and she doesn’t shy away from those realities and the enormous toll they take on displaced people. It’s a hard read, but there is light too – in resilience, in love, in friendships, the small tender gestures of people tossed together in a heartless world. Lefteri volunteered in Greek refugee programs, spent a lot of interviewing people, and the book feels true, and importantly, heartfelt.

What I’m watching:

Soap opera meets Shakespeare, deliciously malevolent and operatic, Succession has been our favorite series this season. Loosely based on the Murdochs and their media empire (don’t believe the denials), this was our must watch television on Sunday nights, filling the void left by Game of Thrones. The acting is over-the-top good, the frequent comedy dark, the writing brilliant, and the music superb. We found ourselves quoting lines after every episode. Like the hilarious; “You don’t hear much about syphilis these days. Very much the Myspace of STDs.” Watch it so we can talk about that season 2 finale.

August 30, 2019

What I’m listening to: 

I usually go to music here, but the New York Times new 1619 podcast is just terrific, as is the whole project, which observes the sale of the first enslaved human beings on our shores 400 years ago. The first episode, “The Fight for a True Democracy” is a remarkable overview (in a mere 44 minutes) of the centrality of racism and slavery in the American story over those 400 years. It should be mandatory listening in every high school in the country. I’m eager for the next episodes. Side note: I am addicted to The Daily podcast, which gives more color and detail to the NY Times stories I read in print (yes, print), and reminds me of how smart and thoughtful are those journalists who give us real news. We need them now more than ever.

What I’m reading: 

Colson Whitehead has done it again. The Nickel Boys, his new novel, is a worthy successor to his masterpiece The Underground Railroad, and because it is closer to our time, based on the real-life horrors of a Florida reform school, and written a time of resurgent White Supremacy, it hits even harder and with more urgency than its predecessor. Maybe because we can read Underground Railroad with a sense of “that was history,” but one can’t read Nickel Boys without the lurking feeling that such horrors persist today and the monsters that perpetrate such horrors walk among us. They often hold press conferences.

What I’m watching:

Queer Eye, the Netflix remake of the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy some ten years later, is wondrously entertaining, but it also feels adroitly aligned with our dysfunctional times. Episode three has a conversation with Karamo Brown, one of the fab five, and a Georgia small town cop (and Trump supporter) that feels unscripted and unexpected and reminds us of how little actual conversation seems to be taking place in our divided country. Oh, for more car rides such as the one they take in that moment, when a chasm is bridged, if only for a few minutes. Set in the South, it is often a refreshing and affirming response to what it means to be male at a time of toxic masculinity and the overdue catharsis and pain of the #MeToo movement. Did I mention? It’s really fun.

July 1, 2019

What I’m listening to: 

The National remains my favorite band and probably 50% of my listening time is a National album or playlist. Their new album I Am Easy To Find feels like a turning point record for the band, going from the moody, outsider introspection and doubt of lead singer Matt Berninger to something that feels more adult, sophisticated, and wiser. I might have titled it Women Help The Band Grow Up. Matt is no longer the center of The National’s universe and he frequently cedes the mic to the many women who accompany and often lead on the long, their longest, album. They include Gail Ann Dorsey (who sang with Bowie for a long time), who is amazing, and a number of the songs were written by Carin Besser, Berninger’s wife. I especially love the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, the arrangements, and the sheer complexity and coherence of the work. It still amazes me when I meet someone who does not know The National. My heart breaks for them just a little.

What I’m reading: 

Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls is a retelling of Homer’s Iliad through the lens of a captive Trojan queen, Briseis. As a reviewer in The Atlantic writes, it answers the question “What does war mean to women?” We know the answer and it has always been true, whether it is the casual and assumed rape of captive women in this ancient war story or the use of rape in modern day Congo, Syria, or any other conflict zone. Yet literature almost never gives voice to the women – almost always minor characters at best — and their unspeakable suffering. Barker does it here for Briseis, for Hector’s wife Andromache, and for the other women who understand that the death of their men is tragedy, but what they then endure is worse. Think of it ancient literature having its own #MeToo moment. The NY Times’ Geraldine Brooks did not much like the novel. I did. Very much.

What I’m watching: 

The BBC-HBO limited series Years and Years is breathtaking, scary, and absolutely familiar. It’s as if Black Mirrorand Children of Men had a baby and it precisely captures the zeitgeist, the current sense that the world is spinning out of control and things are coming at us too fast. It is a near future (Trump has been re-elected and Brexit has occurred finally)…not dystopia exactly, but damn close. The closing scene of last week’s first episode (there are 6 episodes and it’s on every Monday) shows nuclear war breaking out between China and the U.S. Yikes! The scope of this show is wide and there is a big, baggy feel to it – but I love the ambition even if I’m not looking forward to the nightmares.

May 19, 2019

What I’m listening to: 

I usually go to music here, but I was really moved by this podcast of a Davis Brooks talk at the Commonwealth Club in Silicon Valley: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/archive/podcast/david-brooks-quest-moral-life.  While I have long found myself distant from his political stance, he has come through a dark night of the soul and emerged with a wonderful clarity about calling, community, and not happiness (that most superficial of goals), but fulfillment and meaning, found in community and human kinship of many kinds. I immediately sent it to my kids.

What I’m reading: 

Susan Orlean’s wonderful The Library Book, a love song to libraries told through the story of the LA Central Library.  It brought back cherished memories of my many hours in beloved libraries — as a kid in the Waltham Public Library, a high schooler in the Farber Library at Brandeis (Lil Farber years later became a mentor of mine), and the cathedral-like Bapst Library at BC when I was a graduate student. Yes, I was a nerd. This is a love song to books certainly, but a reminder that libraries are so, so much more.  It is a reminder that libraries are less about a place or being a repository of information and, like America at its best, an idea and ideal. By the way, oh to write like her.

What I’m watching: 

What else? Game of Thrones, like any sensible human being. This last season is disappointing in many ways and the drop off in the writing post George R.R. Martin is as clear as was the drop off in the post-Sorkin West Wing. I would be willing to bet that if Martin has been writing the last season, Sansa and Tyrion would have committed suicide in the crypt. That said, we fans are deeply invested and even the flaws are giving us so much to discuss and debate. In that sense, the real gift of this last season is the enjoyment between episodes, like the old pre-streaming days when we all arrived at work after the latest episode of the Sopranos to discuss what we had all seen the night before. I will say this, the last two episodes — full of battle and gore – have been visually stunning. Whether the torches of the Dothraki being extinguished in the distance or Arya riding through rubble and flame on a white horse, rarely has the series ascended to such visual grandeur.

March 28, 2019

What I’m listening to: 

There is a lovely piece played in a scene from A Place Called Home that I tracked down. It’s Erik Satie’s 3 Gymnopédies: Gymnopédie No. 1, played by the wonderful pianist Klára Körmendi. Satie composed this piece in 1888 and it was considered avant-garde and anti-Romantic. It’s minimalism and bit of dissonance sound fresh and contemporary to my ears and while not a huge Classical music fan, I’ve fallen in love with the Körmendi playlist on Spotify. When you need an alternative to hours of Cardi B.

What I’m reading: 

Just finished Esi Edugyan’s 2018 novel Washington Black. Starting on a slave plantation in Barbados, it is a picaresque novel that has elements of Jules Verne, Moby Dick, Frankenstein, and Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad. Yes, it strains credulity and there are moments of “huh?”, but I loved it (disclosure: I was in the minority among my fellow book club members) and the first third is a searing depiction of slavery. It’s audacious, sprawling (from Barbados to the Arctic to London to Africa), and the writing, especially about nature, luminous. 

What I’m watching: 

A soap opera. Yes, I’d like to pretend it’s something else, but we are 31 episodes into the Australian drama A Place Called Home and we are so, so addicted. Like “It’s  AM, but can’t we watch just one more episode?” addicted. Despite all the secrets, cliff hangers, intrigue, and “did that just happen?” moments, the core ingredients of any good soap opera, APCH has superb acting, real heft in terms of subject matter (including homophobia, anti-Semitism, sexual assault, and class), touches of our beloved Downton Abbey, and great cars. Beware. If you start, you won’t stop.

February 11, 2019

What I’m listening to:

Raphael Saadiq has been around for quite a while, as a musician, writer, and producer. He’s new to me and I love his old school R&B sound. Like Leon Bridges, he brings a contemporary freshness to the genre, sounding like a young Stevie Wonder (listen to “You’re The One That I Like”). Rock and Roll may be largely dead, but R&B persists – maybe because the former was derivative of the latter and never as good (and I say that as a Rock and Roll fan). I’m embarrassed to only have discovered Saadiq so late in his career, but it’s a delight to have done so.

What I’m reading:

Just finished Marilynne Robinson’s Home, part of her trilogy that includes the Pulitzer Prize winning first novel, Gilead, and the book after Home, Lila. Robinson is often described as a Christian writer, but not in a conventional sense. In this case, she gives us a modern version of the prodigal son and tells the story of what comes after he is welcomed back home. It’s not pretty. Robinson is a self-described Calvinist, thus character begets fate in Robinson’s world view and redemption is at best a question. There is something of Faulkner in her work (I am much taken with his famous “The past is never past” quote after a week in the deep South), her style is masterful, and like Faulkner, she builds with these three novels a whole universe in the small town of Gilead. Start with Gilead to better enjoy Home.

What I’m watching:

Sex Education was the most fun series we’ve seen in ages and we binged watched it on Netflix. A British homage to John Hughes films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink, it feels like a mash up of American and British high schools. Focusing on the relationship of Maeve, the smart bad girl, and Otis, the virginal and awkward son of a sex therapist (played with brilliance by Gillian Anderson), it is laugh aloud funny and also evolves into more substance and depth (the abortion episode is genius). The sex scenes are somehow raunchy and charming and inoffensive at the same time and while ostensibly about teenagers (it feels like it is explaining contemporary teens to adults in many ways), the adults are compelling in their good and bad ways. It has been renewed for a second season, which is a gift.

January 3, 2019

What I’m listening to:

My listening choices usually refer to music, but this time I’m going with Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast on genius and the song Hallelujah. It tells the story of Leonard Cohen’s much-covered song Hallelujah and uses it as a lens on kinds of genius and creativity. Along the way, he brings in Picasso and Cézanne, Elvis Costello, and more. Gladwell is a good storyteller and if you love pop music, as I do, and Hallelujah, as I do (and you should), you’ll enjoy this podcast. We tend to celebrate the genius who seems inspired in the moment, creating new work like lightning strikes, but this podcast has me appreciating incremental creativity in a new way. It’s compelling and fun at the same time.

What I’m reading:

Just read Clay Christensen’s new book, The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty. This was an advance copy, so soon available. Clay is an old friend and a huge influence on how we have grown SNHU and our approach to innovation. This book is so compelling, because we know attempts at development have so often been a failure and it is often puzzling to understand why some countries with desperate poverty and huge challenges somehow come to thrive (think S. Korea, Singapore, 19th C. America), while others languish. Clay offers a fresh way of thinking about development through the lens of his research on innovation and it is compelling. I bet this book gets a lot of attention, as most of his work does. I also suspect that many in the development community will hate it, as it calls into question the approach and enormous investments we have made in an attempt to lift countries out of poverty. A provocative read and, as always, Clay is a good storyteller.

What I’m watching:

Just watched Leave No Trace and should have guessed that it was directed by Debra Granik. She did Winter’s Bone, the extraordinary movie that launched Jennifer Lawrence’s career. Similarly, this movie features an amazing young actor, Thomasin McKenzie, and visits lives lived on the margins. In this case, a veteran suffering PTSD, and his 13-year-old daughter. The movie is patient, is visually lush, and justly earned 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (I have a rule to never watch anything under 82%). Everything in this film is under control and beautifully understated (aside from the visuals) – confident acting, confident directing, and so humane. I love the lack of flashbacks, the lack of sensationalism – the movie trusts the viewer, rare in this age of bombast. A lovely film.

December 4, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Spending a week in New Zealand, we had endless laughs listening to the Kiwi band, Flight of the Conchords. Lots of comedic bands are funny, but the music is only okay or worse. These guys are funny – hysterical really – and the music is great. They have an uncanny ability to parody almost any style. In both New Zealand and Australia, we found a wry sense of humor that was just delightful and no better captured than with this duo. You don’t have to be in New Zealand to enjoy them.

What I’m reading:

I don’t often reread. For two reasons: A) I have so many books on my “still to be read” pile that it seems daunting to also rereadbooks I loved before, and B) it’s because I loved them once that I’m a little afraid to read them again. That said, I was recently asked to list my favorite book of all time and I answered Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. But I don’t really know if that’s still true (and it’s an impossible question anyway – favorite book? On what day? In what mood?), so I’m rereading it and it feels like being with an old friend. It has one of my very favorite scenes ever: the card game between Levin and Kitty that leads to the proposal and his joyous walking the streets all night.

What I’m watching:

Blindspotting is billed as a buddy-comedy. Wow does that undersell it and the drama is often gripping. I loved Daveed Diggs in Hamilton, didn’t like his character in Black-ish, and think he is transcendent in this film he co-wrote with Rafael Casal, his co-star.  The film is a love song to Oakland in many ways, but also a gut-wrenching indictment of police brutality, systemic racism and bias, and gentrification. The film has the freshness and raw visceral impact of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. A great soundtrack, genre mixing, and energy make it one of my favorite movies of 2018.

October 15, 2018 

What I’m listening to:

We had the opportunity to see our favorite band, The National, live in Dallas two weeks ago. Just after watching Mistaken for Strangers, the documentary sort of about the band. So we’ve spent a lot of time going back into their earlier work, listening to songs we don’t know well, and reaffirming that their musicality, smarts, and sound are both original and astoundingly good. They did not disappoint in concert and it is a good thing their tour ended, as we might just spend all of our time and money following them around. Matt Berninger is a genius and his lead vocals kill me (and because they are in my range, I can actually sing along!). Their arrangements are profoundly good and go right to whatever brain/heart wiring that pulls one in and doesn’t let them go.

What I’m reading:

Who is Richard Powers and why have I only discovered him now, with his 12th book? Overstory is profoundly good, a book that is essential and powerful and makes me look at my everyday world in new ways. In short, a dizzying example of how powerful can be narrative in the hands of a master storyteller. I hesitate to say it’s the best environmental novel I’ve ever read (it is), because that would put this book in a category. It is surely about the natural world, but it is as much about we humans. It’s monumental and elegiac and wondrous at all once. Cancel your day’s schedule and read it now. Then plant a tree. A lot of them.

What I’m watching:

Bo Burnham wrote and directed Eighth Grade and Elsie Fisher is nothing less than amazing as its star (what’s with these new child actors; see Florida Project). It’s funny and painful and touching. It’s also the single best film treatment that I have seen of what it means to grow up in a social media shaped world. It’s a reminder that growing up is hard. Maybe harder now in a world of relentless, layered digital pressure to curate perfect lives that are far removed from the natural messy worlds and selves we actually inhabit. It’s a well-deserved 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and I wonder who dinged it for the missing 2%.

September 7, 2018

What I’m listening to:

With a cover pointing back to the Beastie Boys’ 1986 Licensed to Ill, Eminem’s quietly released Kamikaze is not my usual taste, but I’ve always admired him for his “all out there” willingness to be personal, to call people out, and his sheer genius with language. I thought Daveed Diggs could rap fast, but Eminem is supersonic at moments, and still finds room for melody. Love that he includes Joyner Lucas, whose “I’m Not Racist” gets added to the growing list of simply amazing music videos commenting on race in America. There are endless reasons why I am the least likely Eminem fan, but when no one is around to make fun of me, I’ll put it on again.

What I’m reading:

Lesley Blume’s Everyone Behaves Badly, which is the story behind Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and his time in 1920s Paris (oh, what a time – see Midnight in Paris if you haven’t already). Of course, Blume disabuses my romantic ideas of that time and place and everyone is sort of (or profoundly so) a jerk, especially…no spoiler here…Hemingway. That said, it is a compelling read and coming off the Henry James inspired prose of Mrs. Osmond, it made me appreciate more how groundbreaking was Hemingway’s modern prose style. Like his contemporary Picasso, he reinvented the art and it can be easy to forget, these decades later, how profound was the change and its impact. And it has bullfights.

What I’m watching:

Chloé Zhao’s The Rider is just exceptional. It’s filmed on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which provides a stunning landscape, and it feels like a classic western reinvented for our times. The main characters are played by the real-life people who inspired this narrative (but feels like a documentary) film. Brady Jandreau, playing himself really, owns the screen. It’s about manhood, honor codes, loss, and resilience – rendered in sensitive, nuanced, and heartfelt ways. It feels like it could be about large swaths of America today. Really powerful.

August 16, 2018

What I’m listening to:

In my Spotify Daily Mix was Percy Sledge’s When A Man Loves A Woman, one of the world’s greatest love songs. Go online and read the story of how the song was discovered and recorded. There are competing accounts, but Sledge said he improvised it after a bad breakup. It has that kind of aching spontaneity. It is another hit from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, one of the GREAT music hotbeds, along with Detroit, Nashville, and Memphis. Our February Board meeting is in Alabama and I may finally have to do the pilgrimage road trip to Muscle Shoals and then Memphis, dropping in for Sunday services at the church where Rev. Al Green still preaches and sings. If the music is all like this, I will be saved.

What I’m reading:

John Banville’s Mrs. Osmond, his homage to literary idol Henry James and an imagined sequel to James’ 1881 masterpiece Portrait of a Lady. Go online and read the first paragraph of Chapter 25. He is…profoundly good. Makes me want to never write again, since anything I attempt will feel like some other, lowly activity in comparison to his mastery of language, image, syntax. This is slow reading, every sentence to be savored.

What I’m watching:

I’ve always respected Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but we just watched the documentary RGB. It is over-the-top great and she is now one of my heroes. A superwoman in many ways and the documentary is really well done. There are lots of scenes of her speaking to crowds and the way young women, especially law students, look at her is touching.  And you can’t help but fall in love with her now late husband Marty. See this movie and be reminded of how important is the Law.

July 23, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Spotify’s Summer Acoustic playlist has been on repeat quite a lot. What a fun way to listen to artists new to me, including The Paper Kites, Hollow Coves, and Fleet Foxes, as well as old favorites like Leon Bridges and Jose Gonzalez. Pretty chill when dialing back to a summer pace, dining on the screen porch or reading a book.

What I’m reading:

Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy. Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson tells of the racial injustice (and the war on the poor our judicial system perpetuates as well) that he discovered as a young graduate from Harvard Law School and his fight to address it. It is in turn heartbreaking, enraging, and inspiring. It is also about mercy and empathy and justice that reads like a novel. Brilliant.

What I’m watching:

Fauda. We watched season one of this Israeli thriller. It was much discussed in Israel because while it focuses on an ex-special agent who comes out of retirement to track down a Palestinian terrorist, it was willing to reveal the complexity, richness, and emotions of Palestinian lives. And the occasional brutality of the Israelis. Pretty controversial stuff in Israel. Lior Raz plays Doron, the main character, and is compelling and tough and often hard to like. He’s a mess. As is the world in which he has to operate. We really liked it, and also felt guilty because while it may have been brave in its treatment of Palestinians within the Israeli context, it falls back into some tired tropes and ultimately falls short on this front.

June 11, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Like everyone else, I’m listening to Pusha T drop the mic on Drake. Okay, not really, but do I get some points for even knowing that? We all walk around with songs that immediately bring us back to a time or a place. Songs are time machines. We are coming up on Father’s Day. My own dad passed away on Father’s Day back in 1994 and I remembering dutifully getting through the wake and funeral and being strong throughout. Then, sitting alone in our kitchen, Don Henley’s The End of the Innocence came on and I lost it. When you lose a parent for the first time (most of us have two after all) we lose our innocence and in that passage, we suddenly feel adult in a new way (no matter how old we are), a longing for our own childhood, and a need to forgive and be forgiven. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll understand. As Wordsworth reminds us in In Memoriam, there are seasons to our grief and, all these years later, this song no longer hits me in the gut, but does transport me back with loving memories of my father. I’ll play it Father’s Day.

What I’m reading:

The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin. I am not a reader of fantasy or sci-fi, though I understand they can be powerful vehicles for addressing the very real challenges of the world in which we actually live. I’m not sure I know of a more vivid and gripping illustration of that fact than N. K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award winning novel The Fifth Season, first in her Broken Earth trilogy. It is astounding. It is the fantasy parallel to The Underground Railroad, my favorite recent read, a depiction of subjugation, power, casual violence, and a broken world in which our hero(s) struggle, suffer mightily, and still, somehow, give us hope. It is a tour de force book. How can someone be this good a writer? The first 30 pages pained me (always with this genre, one must learn a new, constructed world, and all of its operating physics and systems of order), and then I could not put it down. I panicked as I neared the end, not wanting to finish the book, and quickly ordered the Obelisk Gate, the second novel in the trilogy, and I can tell you now that I’ll be spending some goodly portion of my weekend in Jemisin’s other world.

What I’m watching:

The NBA Finals and perhaps the best basketball player of this generation. I’ve come to deeply respect LeBron James as a person, a force for social good, and now as an extraordinary player at the peak of his powers. His superhuman play during the NBA playoffs now ranks with the all-time greats, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, MJ, Kobe, and the demi-god that was Bill Russell. That his Cavs lost in a 4-game sweep is no surprise. It was a mediocre team being carried on the wide shoulders of James (and matched against one of the greatest teams ever, the Warriors, and the Harry Potter of basketball, Steph Curry) and, in some strange way, his greatness is amplified by the contrast with the rest of his team. It was a great run.

May 24, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I’ve always liked Alicia Keys and admired her social activism, but I am hooked on her last album Here. This feels like an album finally commensurate with her anger, activism, hope, and grit. More R&B and Hip Hop than is typical for her, I think this album moves into an echelon inhabited by a Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On or Beyonce’s Formation. Social activism and outrage rarely make great novels, but they often fuel great popular music. Here is a terrific example.

What I’m reading:

Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad may be close to a flawless novel. Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer, it chronicles the lives of two runaway slaves, Cora and Caeser, as they try to escape the hell of plantation life in Georgia.  It is an often searing novel and Cora is one of the great heroes of American literature. I would make this mandatory reading in every high school in America, especially in light of the absurd revisionist narratives of “happy and well cared for” slaves. This is a genuinely great novel, one of the best I’ve read, the magical realism and conflating of time periods lifts it to another realm of social commentary, relevance, and a blazing indictment of America’s Original Sin, for which we remain unabsolved.

What I’m watching:

I thought I knew about The Pentagon Papers, but The Post, a real-life political thriller from Steven Spielberg taught me a lot, features some of our greatest actors, and is so timely given the assault on our democratic institutions and with a presidency out of control. It is a reminder that a free and fearless press is a powerful part of our democracy, always among the first targets of despots everywhere. The story revolves around the legendary Post owner and D.C. doyenne, Katharine Graham. I had the opportunity to see her son, Don Graham, right after he saw the film, and he raved about Meryl Streep’s portrayal of his mother. Liked it a lot more than I expected.

April 27, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I mentioned John Prine in a recent post and then on the heels of that mention, he has released a new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, his first new album in ten years. Prine is beloved by other singer songwriters and often praised by the inscrutable God that is Bob Dylan.  Indeed, Prine was frequently said to be the “next Bob Dylan” in the early part of his career, though he instead carved out his own respectable career and voice, if never with the dizzying success of Dylan. The new album reflects a man in his 70s, a cancer survivor, who reflects on life and its end, but with the good humor and empathy that are hallmarks of Prine’s music. “When I Get To Heaven” is a rollicking, fun vision of what comes next and a pure delight. A charming, warm, and often terrific album.

What I’m reading:

I recently read Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, on many people’s Top Ten lists for last year and for good reason. It is sprawling, multi-generational, and based in the world of Japanese occupied Korea and then in the Korean immigrant’s world of Oaska, so our key characters become “tweeners,” accepted in neither world. It’s often unspeakably sad, and yet there is resiliency and love. There is also intimacy, despite the time and geographic span of the novel. It’s breathtakingly good and like all good novels, transporting.

What I’m watching:

I adore Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth, and while I’m not sure his Shape of Water is better, it is a worthy follow up to the earlier masterpiece (and more of a commercial success). Lots of critics dislike the film, but I’m okay with a simple retelling of a Beauty and the Beast love story, as predictable as it might be. The acting is terrific, it is visually stunning, and there are layers of pain as well as social and political commentary (the setting is the US during the Cold War) and, no real spoiler here, the real monsters are humans, the military officer who sees over the captured aquatic creature. It is hauntingly beautiful and its depiction of hatred to those who are different or “other” is painfully resonant with the time in which we live. Put this on your “must see” list.

March 18, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Sitting on a plane for hours (and many more to go; geez, Australia is far away) is a great opportunity to listen to new music and to revisit old favorites. This time, it is Lucy Dacus and her album Historians, the new sophomore release from a 22-year old indie artist that writes with relatable, real-life lyrics. Just on a second listen and while she insists this isn’t a break up record (as we know, 50% of all great songs are break up songs), it is full of loss and pain. Worth the listen so far. For the way back machine, it’s John Prine and In Spite of Ourselves (that title track is one of the great love songs of all time), a collection of duets with some of his “favorite girl singers” as he once described them. I have a crush on Iris Dement (for a really righteously angry song try her Wasteland of the Free), but there is also EmmyLou Harris, the incomparable Dolores Keane, and Lucinda Williams. Very different albums, both wonderful.

What I’m reading:

Jane Mayer’s New Yorker piece on Christopher Steele presents little that is new, but she pulls it together in a terrific and coherent whole that is illuminating and troubling at the same time. Not only for what is happening, but for the complicity of the far right in trying to discredit that which should be setting off alarm bells everywhere. Bob Mueller may be the most important defender of the democracy at this time. A must read.

What I’m watching:

Homeland is killing it this season and is prescient, hauntingly so. Russian election interference, a Bannon-style hate radio demagogue, alienated and gun toting militia types, and a president out of control. It’s fabulous, even if it feels awfully close to the evening news. 

March 8, 2018

What I’m listening to:

We have a family challenge to compile our Top 100 songs. It is painful. Only 100? No more than three songs by one artist? Wait, why is M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” on my list? Should it just be The Clash from whom she samples? Can I admit to guilty pleasure songs? Hey, it’s my list and I can put anything I want on it. So I’m listening to the list while I work and the song playing right now is Tom Petty’s “The Wild One, Forever,” a B-side single that was never a hit and that remains my favorite Petty song. Also, “Evangeline” by Los Lobos. It evokes a night many years ago, with friends at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA, when everyone danced well past 1AM in a hot, sweaty, packed club and the band was a revelation. Maybe the best music night of our lives and a reminder that one’s 100 Favorite Songs list is as much about what you were doing and where you were in your life when those songs were playing as it is about the music. It’s not a list. It’s a soundtrack for this journey.

What I’m reading:

Patricia Lockwood’s Priestdaddy was in the NY Times top ten books of 2017 list and it is easy to see why. Lockwood brings remarkable and often surprising imagery, metaphor, and language to her prose memoir and it actually threw me off at first. It then all became clear when someone told me she is a poet. The book is laugh aloud funny, which masks (or makes safer anyway) some pretty dark territory. Anyone who grew up Catholic, whether lapsed or not, will resonate with her story. She can’t resist a bawdy anecdote and her family provides some of the most memorable characters possible, especially her father, her sister, and her mother, who I came to adore. Best thing I’ve read in ages.

What I’m watching:

The Florida Project, a profoundly good movie on so many levels. Start with the central character, six-year old (at the time of the filming) Brooklynn Prince, who owns – I mean really owns – the screen. This is pure acting genius and at that age? Astounding. Almost as astounding is Bria Vinaite, who plays her mother. She was discovered on Instagram and had never acted before this role, which she did with just three weeks of acting lessons. She is utterly convincing and the tension between the child’s absolute wonder and joy in the world with her mother’s struggle to provide, to be a mother, is heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. Willem Dafoe rightly received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. This is a terrific movie.

February 12, 2018

What I’m listening to:

So, I have a lot of friends of age (I know you’re thinking 40s, but I just turned 60) who are frozen in whatever era of music they enjoyed in college or maybe even in their thirties. There are lots of times when I reach back into the catalog, since music is one of those really powerful and transporting senses that can take you through time (smell is the other one, though often underappreciated for that power). Hell, I just bought a turntable and now spending time in vintage vinyl shops. But I’m trying to take a lesson from Pat, who revels in new music and can as easily talk about North African rap music and the latest National album as Meet the Beatles, her first ever album. So, I’ve been listening to Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy winning Damn. While it may not be the first thing I’ll reach for on a winter night in Maine, by the fire, I was taken with it. It’s layered, political, and weirdly sensitive and misogynist at the same time, and it feels fresh and authentic and smart at the same time, with music that often pulled me from what I was doing. In short, everything music should do. I’m not a bit cooler for listening to Damn, but when I followed it with Steely Dan, I felt like I was listening to Lawrence Welk. A good sign, I think.

What I’m reading:

I am reading Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Leonardo da Vinci. I’m not usually a reader of biographies, but I’ve always been taken with Leonardo. Isaacson does not disappoint (does he ever?), and his subject is at once more human and accessible and more awe-inspiring in Isaacson’s capable hands. Gay, left-handed, vegetarian, incapable of finishing things, a wonderful conversationalist, kind, and perhaps the most relentlessly curious human being who has ever lived. Like his biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, Isaacson’s project here is to show that genius lives at the intersection of science and art, of rationality and creativity. Highly recommend it.

What I’m watching:

We watched the This Is Us post-Super Bowl episode, the one where Jack finally buys the farm. I really want to hate this show. It is melodramatic and manipulative, with characters that mostly never change or grow, and it hooks me every damn time we watch it. The episode last Sunday was a tear jerker, a double whammy intended to render into a blubbering, tissue-crumbling pathetic mess anyone who has lost a parent or who is a parent. Sterling K. Brown, Ron Cephas Jones, the surprising Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia are hard not to love and last season’s episode that had only Brown and Cephas going to Memphis was the show at its best (they are by far the two best actors). Last week was the show at its best worst. In other words, I want to hate it, but I love it. If you haven’t seen it, don’t binge watch it. You’ll need therapy and insulin.

January 15, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Drive-By Truckers. Chris Stapleton has me on an unusual (for me) country theme and I discovered these guys to my great delight. They’ve been around, with some 11 albums, but the newest one is fascinating. It’s a deep dive into Southern alienation and the white working-class world often associated with our current president. I admire the willingness to lay bare, in kick ass rock songs, the complexities and pain at work among people we too quickly place into overly simple categories. These guys are brave, bold, and thoughtful as hell, while producing songs I didn’t expect to like, but that I keep playing. And they are coming to NH.

What I’m reading:

A textual analog to Drive-By Truckers by Chris Stapleton in many ways is Tony Horowitz’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning Confederates in the Attic. Ostensibly about the Civil War and the South’s ongoing attachment to it, it is prescient and speaks eloquently to the times in which we live (where every southern state but Virginia voted for President Trump). Often hilarious, it too surfaces complexities and nuance that escape a more recent, and widely acclaimed, book like Hillbilly Elegy. As a Civil War fan, it was also astonishing in many instances, especially when it blows apart long-held “truths” about the war, such as the degree to which Sherman burned down the south (he did not). Like D-B Truckers, Horowitz loves the South and the people he encounters, even as he grapples with its myths of victimhood and exceptionalism (and racism, which may be no more than the racism in the north, but of a different kind). Everyone should read this book and I’m embarrassed I’m so late to it.

What I’m watching:

David Letterman has a new Netflix show called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” and we watched the first episode, in which Letterman interviewed Barack Obama. It was extraordinary (if you don’t have Netflix, get it just to watch this show); not only because we were reminded of Obama’s smarts, grace, and humanity (and humor), but because we saw a side of Letterman we didn’t know existed. His personal reflections on Selma were raw and powerful, almost painful. He will do five more episodes with “extraordinary individuals” and if they are anything like the first, this might be the very best work of his career and one of the best things on television.

December 22, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished Sunjeev Sahota’s Year of the Runaways, a painful inside look at the plight of illegal Indian immigrant workers in Britain. It was shortlisted for 2015 Man Booker Prize and its transporting, often to a dark and painful universe, and it is impossible not to think about the American version of this story and the terrible way we treat the undocumented in our own country, especially now.

What I’m watching:

Season II of The Crown is even better than Season I. Elizabeth’s character is becoming more three-dimensional, the modern world is catching up with tradition-bound Britain, and Cold War politics offer more context and tension than we saw in Season I. Claire Foy, in her last season, is just terrific – one arched eye brow can send a message.

What I’m listening to:

A lot of Christmas music, but needing a break from the schmaltz, I’ve discovered Over the Rhine and their Christmas album, Snow Angels. God, these guys are good.

November 14, 2017

What I’m watching:

Guiltily, I watch the Patriots play every weekend, often building my schedule and plans around seeing the game. Why the guilt? I don’t know how morally defensible is football anymore, as we now know the severe damage it does to the players. We can’t pretend it’s all okay anymore. Is this our version of late decadent Rome, watching mostly young Black men take a terrible toll on each other for our mere entertainment?

What I’m reading:

Recently finished J.G. Ballard’s 2000 novel Super-Cannes, a powerful depiction of a corporate-tech ex-pat community taken over by a kind of psychopathology, in which all social norms and responsibilities are surrendered to residents of the new world community. Kept thinking about Silicon Valley when reading it. Pretty dark, dystopian view of the modern world and centered around a mass killing, troublingly prescient.

What I’m listening to:

Was never really a Lorde fan, only knowing her catchy (and smarter than you might first guess) pop hit “Royals” from her debut album. But her new album, Melodrama, is terrific and it doesn’t feel quite right to call this “pop.” There is something way more substantial going on with Lorde and I can see why many critics put this album at the top of their Best in 2017 list. Count me in as a huge fan.

November 3, 2017

What I’m reading: Just finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, her breathtakingly good second novel. How is someone so young so wise? Her writing is near perfection and I read the book in two days, setting my alarm for 4:30AM so I could finish it before work.

What I’m watching: We just binge watched season two of Stranger Things and it was worth it just to watch Millie Bobbie Brown, the transcendent young actor who plays Eleven. The series is a delightful mash up of every great eighties horror genre you can imagine and while pretty dark, an absolute joy to watch.

What I’m listening to: I’m not a lover of country music (to say the least), but I love Chris Stapleton. His “The Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” is heartbreakingly good and reminds me of the old school country that played in my house as a kid. He has a new album and I can’t wait, but his From A Room: Volume 1 is on repeat for now.

September 26, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo. It took me a while to accept its cadence and sheer weirdness, but loved it in the end. A painful meditation on loss and grief, and a genuinely beautiful exploration of the intersection of life and death, the difficulty of letting go of what was, good and bad, and what never came to be.

What I’m watching:

HBO’s The Deuce. Times Square and the beginning of the porn industry in the 1970s, the setting made me wonder if this was really something I’d want to see. But David Simon is the writer and I’d read a menu if he wrote it. It does not disappoint so far and there is nothing prurient about it.

What I’m listening to:

The National’s new album Sleep Well Beast. I love this band. The opening piano notes of the first song, “Nobody Else Will Be There,” seize me & I’m reminded that no one else in music today matches their arrangement & musicianship. I’m adding “Born to Beg,” “Slow Show,” “I Need My Girl,” and “Runaway” to my list of favorite love songs.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J from President's Corner https://ift.tt/35nYiyk via IFTTT

#President's Corner #SNHUblogs

[petlover18-blog1]

Is the Era of Hotel-Trashing Rock Stars Over?

New Post has been published on https://www.petlovers.shovelnews.com/is-the-era-of-hotel-trashing-rock-stars-over/

Is the Era of Hotel-Trashing Rock Stars Over?

Being a fly on the wall for a rock star’s hotel-trashing shenanigans may sound fascinating, but in the video for Joe Walsh’s “I Can Play That Rock and Roll,” it’s just plain dangerous. In the slapstick 1983 clip, the guy who helped make “Hotel California” a classic-rock staple takes a fire ax to his hotel room door, “Here’s Johnny!” style, before wrecking the place with the help of a chainsaw, sledgehammer, golf club, and more, all while trying in vain to kill a single damned fly. By the end of the video, after sinks have been broken and TVs shattered, it looks like Walsh finally squashes his buzzing nemesis—but the destructive spirit of the rock debauchery and hotels is left very much alive.

By providing a respite from everyday life, hotels present the illusion of consequence-free living: Maybe you’d balk at crumbing up your own sheets with a box of crackers, but what’s stopping you from enjoying a three-course meal in a hotel bed, brought directly to your door with a simple phone call? Figure in the fact that many musicians spend much of their lives trying to fill time while traveling from place to place—and that the most famous ones have plenty of cash to burn—and the tendency to lean into such lawlessness can go up exponentially.

The list of such incidents is as endless as it is entertaining. A curated sampling: Keith Richards throwing TVs off balconies; Britney Spears’ alleged food-fight frenzy at fabled L.A. haunt the Chateau Marmont; Florence Welch accidentally setting fire to a suite at Manhattan’s Bowery Hotel after “about 17 dirty martinis” with Kanye West and Lykke Li; Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt reportedly taking a shit off the side of West Hollywood’s Sunset Marquis—the wayward turd landing on the balcony of none other than French actress Juliette Binoche. Describing his own hotel-smashing tendencies, Oasis’ Noel Gallagher once opined, “Those plate glass windows are just saying, ‘THROW A CHAIR THROUGH ME!’”

But such debauchery has historically carried dark undercurrents, too. It’s impossible not to think of New York City’s Chelsea Hotel without recalling Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious’ alleged murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen in one of its rooms. Perpetually troubled Doors frontman Jim Morrison’s on-and-off relationship with the Chateau Marmont included several alleged life-threatening instances, including a substance-abetted jump from a fourth-floor window. And then there’s one of the most legendary and repulsive rock-star urban legends of all time, in which members of Led Zeppelin (or, depending on who you ask, Zep tour manager Richard Cole, or the members of Vanilla Fudge) allegedly sexually assaulted a young woman with pieces of freshly-caught fish at Seattle’s Edgewater Inn in 1969.

When it comes to translating the room-hopping lifestyle through song, many artists have offered a dreary and desolate outlook—dating all the way back to Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” which likely drew inspiration from a news report involving the tragic death of a petty criminal. Beyond the bitter isolation of Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel No. 2,” artists ranging from Chris Isaak to Ella Fitzgerald have cast hotels as personal sanctuaries—a place to run from your problems, or to further close yourself off in the face of loneliness and malaise. While the Jackson 5 and Slade have songs in their repertoire casting hotels as dangerous hellmouths of sin, Joni Mitchell’s “Blue Motel Room” (what is a motel room if not a sad version of a hotel room?) finds a contemplative melancholy in the titular hovel’s cerulean walls, asking, “Will you still love me/When I get back to town?”

In more recent times, as the idea of rock star hotel mayhem has further hardened into a cliché, artists have taken the songwriting concept of hotel-as-metaphor to places simultaneously surreal and hilariously mundane. Last year, Jarvis Cocker teamed up with pianist Chilly Gonzales for the conceptual Room 29, a decadence-demythologizing project envisioning the perspective of a piano situated in the Chateau Marmont and featuring the indelible open-ended query, “Is there anything sadder than a hotel room that hasn’t been fucked in?” On Bon Iver’s heady 2016 LP 22, A Million, Justin Vernon reached towards spirituality on “33 ‘GOD’” by “staying at the Ace Hotel,” a thunderous and celestial crescendo accompanying the boutique-hotel namecheck.

And then there’s Father John Misty’s latest self-excoriative effort, God’s Favorite Customer, which presents the hotel room as a place of no escape. The record was partially the result of FJM mastermind Josh Tillman’s two-month stay at NYC’s lavish Lafayette House, a five-room brownstone with marble fireplaces and rates scraping $500 a night. But Tillman casts the lap of luxury as its own moneyed prison, and the record’s first single, “Mr. Tillman,” reflects the dizzying after-effects of such isolation.

The accompanying video, with Misty doppelgängers and a guestbook-flipping “you can’t check in if you never left” vibe, only adds to the song’s eerie sense of slow despair. The bad dream of a clip is not unlike a stay at the Great Northern Hotel from “Twin Peaks”—if said stay ended when the guest leapt from the roof onto the top of a taxi. On another recent Misty track, “The Palace,” bags of speed and a steady diet of room service are but a veneer for the type of malaise that causes him to openly muse on taking in a pet turtle. “I’m ready to come home,” he says near the song’s end, before eliding into an unresolved falsetto, “I’m in over my head.”

If God’s Favorite Customer uses real-life lavishness as its setting, Arctic Monkeys’ admirably bizarre new LP, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, dreams up an empty elegance represented by its titular lunar luxury-spot stop. Spanning soft-focus psych-pop and French lounge music, the album practically sounds like a dark corner of an empty hallway, nothing but vacant rooms lining all sides. Embracing a surreality that was only hinted at in the band’s previous work, frontman Alex Turner waxes lyrical on imaginary lounge residencies and day-spa appointments made by Jesus Christ himself, non-sequitur marginalia that nonetheless conjures a strong image of dystopian hospitality.

On the album’s centerpiece, “Four Out of Five,” Turner pitches the listener on a moonbase taqueria called Information Action Ratio. But there’s no toasted tortillas to be found in the song’s video, just Turner and a cavalcade of assistants, sprucing up the imagined hotel the album centers around while crafting ads to sell “virtual lifestyle packages.” It’s a strange full-circle moment—instead of trashing the hotel rooms, here’s a rock star making sure the pillows are fluffed and the grounds are well-tended-to.

The clip for “Four Out of Five” was influenced by the work of Stanley Kubrick, but it’s a far cry from Joe Walsh’s goofball, ax-wielding spin on The Shining. Instead, the trapped tunnel of on-the-road living that Turner and Misty conjure recalls the infamous utterings of that film’s uncanny, undead twin girls: Come play with us, forever and ever and ever… we’ll just need to hold a credit card at the desk, for incidentals and damages. Enjoy your stay.

Source: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/is-the-era-of-hotel-trashing-rock-stars-over-fjm-arctic-monkeys/

[independentartistbuzz]

7 FROM THE WOMEN: JENNY KEEL

Based out of Virginia's scenic Shenandoah Valley, bassist Jenny Keel spends most of her time on the road. This year alone, she's toured nationally with bands the Larry Keel Experience and Keller and the Keels, playing multiple major festivals and appearing on co-bills with artists like Tyler Childers and Billy Strings. Comprised of Keel, her internationally-acclaimed flatpicker bandmate and husband Larry Keel, as well as mandolin player Jared Pool, The Larry Keel Experience has continued to grow a cult-following with their energetic performances and skilled musicianship. The group's newest release, One, follows the trio from the philosophical to the supernatural to the sardonic to the unapologetically romantic. The band had a clear vision for One: to create an album without distractions and to give listeners a hard copy of exactly what they would hear at a live show. The album was then mixed by Jeff Covert of Wally Cleaver Studios and mastered by legendary Grammy award-winning engineer Bill Wolf (Grateful Dead, Doc Watson, Emmylou Harris). Not only does One illustrate each member's honed talent at their respective instruments, it embodies the unique cohesion, energy, and magic that is sparked when the three combine forces.

Jenny, Larry, and Keller Williams make up a power-trio side project called Keller and the Keels. On November 22, they released their acclaimed new album Speed and will continue to tour the country in support of the album in 2020. Read more and view full tour dates here: https://larrykeel.com/home?

What have you been working to promote lately?

Professionally, I've had an incredibly busy and gratifying year with music. Our band, The Larry Keel Experience, has toured all over the country playing major festivals and theaters from coast to coast; we've toured with so many great acts and artists and I've done 2 recording projects this year that I'm extremely proud of. In June, we released One. It's all of Larry's original music, performed completely fresh and 'live', without using any studio tricks or overdubs... just pure, in-the-moment music, expertly recorded in our road manager's basement and mastered by industry legend Bill Wolf. It's an exquisite musical ride, concocted by maestro Larry Keel and myself on upright bass and our mandolin-playing and singing phenom, Jared Pool. Just recently we released our third recording project with our long-time friend and jam hero, Keller Williams [known collectively at Keller and the Keels]. This latest album, Speed,came out in late November and it's so us! It's Keller and the Keels at our best, captured on recording. The song choices are fantastic, and we love the way Keller leads us in creating fresh interpretations of ultra popular pop and country tunes that we Keels may never have heard before, cause we're just intentionally backwoods like that! We'll be doing lots of shows with Keller this coming year and touring this new album. 

Personally and on a day-to-day level, I'm really into promoting mindfulness. In ordinary activities and routines and then expanding into giving thought and attention to larger matters. Hopefully I'm promoting this by example! I feel it really starts with each individual's intention to focus and 'be present' with whatever is going on at the moment... from the first thoughts of the day, to the way we greet the first people or animals in our day, to the way we listen, to the way we navigate traffic or move around and interact with the general population around us, to how we present ourselves in our work and at play, etc. It's a huge undertaking to always try to consider all the elements of my surroundings in every moment, but I really do want to promote that kind of mindfulness and attentiveness to what's going on around me and who is involved. It's sort-of like the 'golden rule' teaching of 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' in the way that everything we pay attention to (or neglect paying attention to) is directly affected by us. 

Please tell us about your favorite song ever written, recorded or produced by another woman and why it’s meaningful to you?

It's hard to pinpoint... but maybe it would be something from Joni Mitchell, like the whole album Blue. When I heard her music in my teens, I just thought she was so incredibly strong and confident and fearlessly artful and original. Her lyrics are gorgeous and Beat-poet-esque, and her singing is athletic and refined at the same time. I love every song on that album, and I listened to it a million times when I first got wind of it. Her musical landscapes took me places, deep into nature, travel, romance, sorrow, and reveling in just being alive.

What does it mean to you to be a woman making music/in the music business today? Do you feel a responsibility to other women to create messages and themes in your music?

I can't begin to express how grateful I am to have had a career in music for most of my adult life. Once I started 'burning' to learn to play music, and then actually started to play live performances for pay (!) I have never wanted to do anything else, so I consider myself very fortunate to be following the dream path I set out to accomplish (against all odds, I might add! But that's another story, and nothing at all to do with being a woman!) I absolutely encourage other women to do exactly the same thing: pursue the dream that burns inside of you. And you can't just bail because things get hard or overwhelming, without sticking with the grind of it all for a good several years until you start to see the results you're interested in. It's just like the adage "If you look really closely, most overnight successes took a long time." My feeling is that this message applies to anything a person (man or woman) burns to do with their lives.  

Who was the first female artist you saw that made you want to create music/be in the business?

If I go waaaaay back, it probably began seeing so many awesome Broadway musicals with my family when I was really little. Both on stage in the theater and on the big screen with motion picture versions of the hit musicals like "The Sound of Music", "Funny Girl", "West Side Story", "Annie", etc. The unbelievable talents and strength of character beaming from women like Julie Andrews, Barbara Streisand, Natalie Wood and the child actress Aileen Quinn (who played Annie), just thrilled me and inspired me from an early age. I'm sure I felt the urge to be an entertainer from having seen so many of those epic musical performances. 

In the realm of radio rock and pop music that I listened to and went to see in concert, I'm thinking the women who really impressed me and fired me up to play would have been artists like Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Linda McCartney, Annie Lennox and Blondie. 

What female artists inspire you and influence you today?

Susan Tedeschi, Mimi Nadja (of Fruition), Allie Kral (of Yonder Mountain String Band), Lindsay Lou... all badasses.

What was the most challenging thing you have had to face as a female artist?

For me personally, this is probably the same stuff that male musicians face... which is mostly that along this whole journey/quest/pursue-my-dream thing, the challenge has always been to seek as many opportunities as possible in which to play the best music I can, and have the music that my bandmates and I play come across with all the magic and heart and energy we know we can create as long as the sound equipment and the venue environment and our combined efforts all line up. Sometimes that's a big challenge – getting all the conditions right! The challenge of keeping up a steady drive to continue to grow and expand musically, and the challenge of hopefully always being in demand booking-wise! In other words, the continuous challenge to do all it takes to have a long, satisfying career in music.

If you could form an all-female supergroup, who would play in it?

If I could time travel, I'd go with Ella Fitzgerald, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Mother Mabelle, Mary Ford, Mimi Nadja, Allie Kral. I really could go on and on!! Thanks for inspiring me to think about this one along the way!

Connect with Jenny Keel online via

https://larrykeel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LarryKeelFishinAndPickin/

https://twitter.com/LarryKeel

https://www.instagram.com/larrykeel/

https://www.youtube.com/user/Larrykeelmusic

[mikiefresh]

In my last post, I promised to produce another list of artists and groups that I either missed entirely, didn't listen to very much, or whatever. All of these albums were released in 2017, so consider this to be an augmentation of my Best Of list. Had I known about a few of these albums earlier, I would have changed up my Best Of 2017 List to include them, thus reducing the heavy hip hop content. Anyway, again in no particular order, here is some more great music to check out from last year... Priests - Nothing Feels Natural

I am not sure why, but I have always loved poppy, post-punk/indie rock a la Karen O and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Maybe it is the memory of seeing Blondie live in concert at The Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1999. Anyway, this band fulfills that in ways that the female-fronted groups from the Best of 2017 list did not. Where Alvvays and The Courtneys had a garage essence to their poppy, punky indie rock, Priests is even more raw, with spoken word lyrics, layered over faster melodies and crunchy guitars. This album is on 6 Best of 2017 lists, including Pitchfork, Billboard, Stereogum, and NPR.  Chicano Batman - Freedom is Free

I love the earlier Chicano Batman stuff, and it physically hurt me to not be able to include this album on my list. It just doesn't have the strong essence of funky, latin rock that I love from the other albums - instead focusing on lighter melodies and softer songs, albeit with lyrics about social issues. However, some other best of lists probably include this album. I say if you like this one, go listen to the older stuff and you will be blown away.  The Weather Station - self-titled 

A self-titled album as your fourth is a bold move in my opinion, however, she seems to have hit her stride with this one. Love songs and ballads presented in a bold, powerful way make up most of this self-titled album. Moody and introspective, the folksy alt-country draws the listener in; "Thirty" is a highlight on the album. She brings to mind Joni Mitchell and Jewel, but is not to be confused with either one. Charly Bliss - Guppy

I don't know how I missed this band - they combine fuzzed out, orchestrated guitars somewhere between Weezer and Radiohead, with sweet, sugary female vocals. I think they really rock. While comparisons to Veruca Salt and Paramore can also be made, it doesn't cheapen the greatness that is Charly Bliss. The music is so fun, I would most definitely have included this album on my Best Of 2017 List.   Tyler Childers - Purgatory

Another artist that I am sad to have missed out on, Tyler Childers plays new country that sounds like the Appalachian mountains, where I spent time every summer of my childhood. Fiddles, bluegrass melodies, and production by Sturgill Simpson brings us yet another great, authentic country artist. I hope this album inspires many new listeners that love old Willie Nelson- and Waylon Jennings- style country. He, also, would have taken a spot on my 50 Best List of 2017. Zola Jesus - Okovi 

Dark, intense, operatic, and stunningly beautiful at times, the newest release by Zola Jesus is not my favorite album; however, the musicality, production, and content here are astounding and notable. Urgent, emotional, compelling, and gothic, this album is for those looking for something that satisfies the darker urges.  Yaeji - EP2

Again, an artist that completely slipped by me...that after discovering, I really like. She sing song raps slowly and methodically, in this hushed, subtle, Korean-English combo that is uniquely catchy and interesting. She is kind of a rapper, it is kind of techno-ish, but her music is hard to define. If you like genre-bending new sounds, check her out. Her version of "Passionfruit" is incredibly dope, possibly better than the original, and has earned a spot on my faves playlist on Spotify. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me

Certainly the most death-centered, morbid, intensely sad album that I have ever come across. The artist recently lost his wife, and the whole album is dedicated to songs about her life/that loss/the aftermath. If you need a good cry, give this a listen. It sounds like sparse, stripped down Ben Gibbard/Postal Service -esque vocals and music, while maximizing the melancholy simplicity of that sound. This album is sad. It is about death. Listen with caution. I'm sure it will pop up on many best of lists this year.  Danay Suarez - Palabras Manuales

This album is freaking amazing. I don't even know where to start. She sings and raps in Spanish with so much fluidity that listeners will be drawn in immediately. Straddling the line between rapper and singer, jazz and hip hop, she brings out many aspects of her Cuban heritage in her songs. Modern reggae and reggaeton can be heard, but also classic Afro-Cuban rhythms a la Buena Vista Social Club; the mixing of the modern and classic is dope, and will delight listeners of many types of music. If you are into Spanish-language music at all, listen to this. Parquet Courts - MILANO

Finally, a male-fronted post-punk/indie-rock group! Perhaps the most interesting combination album of last year, Italian composer Daniele Luppi's work with Parquet Courts and Karen O produced a throwback sound that is reminiscent of the early NYC punk ethos. The album hearkens back to Velvet Underground, but makes it this new noise, mostly due to Karen O's strong vocals. As stated above, I love Karen O and pretty much everything she does musically. Benjamin Clementine - I Tell A Fly

Benjamin Clementine put out an album in 2016 that absolutely blew me away. I found out about him through an interview with David Byrne (of Talking Heads), and was immediately drawn to its theatrical vocals, piano-driven melodies, and curious song orchestrations. This album makes that album look boring by comparison, full of overly theatrical, cinematic themes, with incredibly powerful, intense vocals, and strangely complex and equally cinematic instrumentation. It would have been on my Best of list for sure, so check it out for something totally unique.  LOOPRAT - In < No Time

I know I hinted that there was already enough hip hop on my Best of 2017 list, but I had to shout out these homies. LOOPRAT is a St. Louis born-and-bred hip hop collective, consisting of over a dozen members. They are 5 MC's, a full band, and a backup singer, and their live shows are incredible. A live hip hop band, most similar to The Roots, but incorporating other elements of hip hop and jazz as well, they play regularly at small colleges in the midwestern region. I've had the pleasure of getting to know 3 of the MC's in the group, and they are on the path to greatness. Watch out for this crew - they are coming for your ears. White Reaper - The World's Best American Band

It is a damn shame that I didn't listen to this album more over the course of the year. It should have been on my Best of 2017 list for sure, especially due to the fact that it is the only true rock and roll album that I listened to all year. These guys play good, old-fashioned American rock and roll, rocking out with party anthems and rock ballads alike. You will see this album on other best of lists for sure. If you like this one, check out both of their earlier albums - you won't be disappointed.  I'm not sure what I've got coming on next week's blog, perhaps something non-music related, considering I have reviewed over 60 artists in the past 2 posts alone. Please feel free to comment below! #musicreviews #showreviews #moviereviews #entertainmentreviews

#IFTTT #Blogger