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Conan Gray was christened teen pop’s newest patron saint as early as 2018, when his EP Sunset Season was released. Tracks on the project such as “Crush Culture” and “Greek God” displayed dreamy production paired with yearning, sardonic lyrics that resonated with teenagers, his target audience.
Laufey is the savior of jazz.
Since it first reached American readers in 1971, The Bell Jar has become synonymous with feminine sadness. The novel was revolutionary, following a young Esther Greenwood, a misunderstood and depressed girl walking the tightrope between adolescence and adulthood. As she confronts the oppressive norms of femininity, the expectations of womanhood are so taxing as to quite literally drive her crazy.
With the arrival of Valentine’s Day, it’s time to ask: How do you say “I love you”? Well, other than in those words exactly. A box of chocolate–covered strawberries? A handcrafted card? An all–expenses–paid surprise vacation? (Maybe not that last one if you’re a college student.) If you’re lost, there’s even a very popular theory of five “love languages.” For a time, the mixtape was the pinnacle of thoughtfulness and accessibility in gift–giving. Burning a CD or packing a cassette with songs that perfectly described one’s feelings for their loved one was not only inexpensive but also seen as an art form. Nostalgia for this artifact of the past persists; mixtapes feature even in relatively recent films as a symbol of love. With the rise of music streaming services, it seems the art of the mixtape is dead. But Spotify Blends might be the 2020s’ adaptation of a beloved tradition.
As one of the only senior girl groups still active in the K–pop industry, Red Velvet has made a lasting impact on the genre. Title tracks like “Red Flavor,” “Dumb Dumb,” “Zimzalabim,” and “Psycho” display a sample of the group’s wide and expansive sound. No matter if the group showcases its “Red” (the bubbly, colorful pop side) or its “Velvet” (the darker, evocative R&B–influenced side), listeners know that the five–member girl group has one of the most diverse and creative approaches to the K–pop genre.
Bundles of presents under a glistening Christmas tree. Keeping up with decades–old traditions. Quality time with loved ones. For many people, these are the hallmarks of the holiday season. For others, like myself, the staple of post–Thanksgiving holiday cheer is listening to hours upon hours (upon hours!) of Christmas music.
Good grief! As finals season approaches, so does the holiday season. Synonymous with this time of year is a certain franchise: Peanuts. With five feature films and 51 television specials under their belts, Charlie Brown and company are the epitome of consistent cultural presence. Though it seems there’s a 25–minute to hour–long short for every holiday—from Easter to Arbor Day—true Peanuts primetime arises as soon as East Coast temperatures hit the fifties. The best of the best cover the three major American events of the season: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Millions have watched these specials air each year for decades (a fact that led to considerable backlash when Apple TV+ acquired them and it appeared the company wouldn’t allow the tradition to carry on). Aside from Charles Schulz’s instantly memorable characters, however, there’s another element that contributes to the Peanuts specials’ charm, and it’s all thanks to Vince Guaraldi.
The year 2023 will always be remembered for music, at least for me. I’ve had personal stakes in many of the albums that have come out this year. The prodigal boys, i.e. boygenius, reunited after five years and put out the film, directed by none other than Kristen Stewart, and Lana saved lives and served (at Waffle House). If these past few years have proven the solid foundation of artists, 2023 is about those artists taking a sledgehammer on that base and reemerging brand new.
MJ Lenderman has had a busy two years. When I first saw him perform in Feb. 2022, he was playing in the loading dock of a bar in North Philadelphia to a crowd of, generously, a couple hundred people. Sharing the stage with three local Philly bands, Lendermen lent his guitar heroics to Florry’s rendition of “Dead Flowers” and watched Hooky and Snoozer alongside the beanie and cargo pants–clad masses with whom he blended in well enough not to draw any attention. He was promoting the forthcoming release of his album Boat Songs, via Philly’s own Dear Life records, itself home to 2nd Grade, Friendship, and other local indie stalwarts.
You might’ve heard some rumbling about a new Beatles song that came out a few weeks ago. Billed as the “last Beatles song,” “Now and Then” features the voices of all four Beatles members, a curious product given the disbanded group had tragically lost two of their members within the last 50 years. However, with the help of artificial intelligence, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were able to isolate George Harrison and John Lennon’s vocals from demo versions of the tracks. Adding some additional production and a 2023 revamp, the group decided to release the song, to the shock of their fans, in tandem with a documentary film Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song that describes the process of how the song was made.
R&B singer Mariah the Scientist’s latest album "To Be Eaten Alive," is a testament to her growth and pen as an artist as she tackles her fame, life, and artistry. Released Oct. 27 off of independent label Buckles Laboratories, much of the record’s lyrical content is relevant to Mariah’s experience surrounding her boyfriend Young Thug’s incarceration on May 9, 2022, when Thug and other artists associated with music label and collective YSL were arrested on gang–related Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act charges, as well as her struggles handling womanhood and the music industry. This album is a step in the right direction, proving that her art can perhaps hold its own alongside generational contemporaries by the likes of SZA and Summer Walker. However, Mariah's work tends to reflect the tried and true motifs first developed by the genre’s predecessors, incorporating a love–letter style of writing and airy production.
There are some who complain that America has gone woke—but when has it not been? The woke mob (Puritans) have been canceling (executing) innocent Americans (“witches”) since our nation’s founding. The original colonizers of New England were among the first to promote a “politically correct” culture in the U.S., rigidly enforcing Puritanical codes of morality and behavior under threat of exile or even death. This unique founding spirit has never really gone away—from the Hays Code to the Satanic Panic to Tipper Gore’s Parents Music Resource Center, the instinct to censor runs deep in American culture. But in recent years, a new outgrowth of this horrifying urge has manifested itself in an entity so cloaked in pizazz and saccharine pop sweetness that it almost defies recognition for the beast that it is. I speak, of course, of that devil Kidz Bop.
Three tracks into Sufjan Stevens’ newest album, Javelin, he asks one of the most simple and honest questions that perhaps anybody can ask: “Will anybody ever love me? For good reasons, without grievance, not for sport?” He isn’t looking for forever, or for massive promises. He just wants someone to be able to “pledge allegiance to my burning heart.” The fittingly titled, “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” may be one of the best songs of Stevens’ long and varied career.
Why should you care about King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard? With the recent release of The Silver Cord, the Australian psychedelic rock band has released 25 albums since they formed in 2010, which averages out to almost two albums per year for 13 years straight. In 2016, King Giz frontman Stu Mackenzie shattered the minds of fans and reviewers alike when he announced that the band would release five albums in just one year and then actually followed through on that promise in 2017.
When someone tells you that a live show was “absolutely insane,” the image that comes to mind is a packed house, blaring noise, and a mosh pit that threatens to swallow you alive. On their current tour, however, Xiu Xiu presents a very different kind of madness—at any given show, you’re likely to find rapt crowds, plenty of personal space, and moments of eerie silence to balance out the wall of sound hurled out from the stage. At small, intimate venues across the country, Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo, and David Kendrick treat their audiences to not just an incredible concert but an emotional journey.
Content warning: The following text describes suicide and can be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers. Please find resources listed at the bottom of the article.
Any person semi–familiar with mainstream country music knows whiskey, beer, and dirt roads like the back of their hand. These often cliché motifs limn radio—friendly portraits of small town bliss. Their inescapable presence in the genre has been a particular point of criticism, due to the lack of originality and performative “southern working class culture” they perpetuate. But, few lyrical landmarks are better traveled in the genre than the pickup truck. HARDY’s “TRUCK BED” bemoans his actions that led his girlfriend to break up with him, as he woke up on the “wrong side of the truck bed this morning.” Morgan Wallen sings about battling alcoholism on “Born With A Beer In My Hand” and mentions that he “put some scars on some trucks, [him]self as well.” But perhaps even more dominant are trucks’ presence in female country artists’ discographies, love songs and all.
Picture this: it’s the beginning of October, and everyone around you has begun setting up spooky decor and planning their slayest costumes for Halloweekend. You go to your nearest Spirit Halloween or Target to get supplies, maybe planning to dress up as Barbie or Oppenheimer. Do you ever notice what music they’re playing on the radio?
Troye Sivan’s third album, Something to Give Each Other, is a cohesive mixture of club and dreamier pop sounds, boasting a total of three singles out of a ten–track record. Though boundary–pushing, the album shines as a healthy progression from his past singles and features, with some sonic similarities to 2020 release “Easy” with Kacey Musgraves featuring Mark Ronson and 2021 solo release “Angel Baby.”
A few weeks ago, a friend spontaneously invited me to a concert on a Thursday night in October. I had never heard of G Flip, and I would’ve probably said no on a typical night due to my studies. But I said yes, purely out of curiosity. By the end of the night, I was not only more than glad that I went, but my vocal cords were even demanding rest. It was a night of unabashed joy, pure passion, and unforgettable solidarity.
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