Arts & Life Music Beat writers – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Tue, 30 Jan 2018 21:57:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Arts & Life Music Beat writers – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Tree-Mix, Volume 6: Old, but new to you https://stanforddaily.com/2018/01/22/tree-mix-volume-6-old-but-new-to-you/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/01/22/tree-mix-volume-6-old-but-new-to-you/#respond Mon, 22 Jan 2018 08:05:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1135338 There is altogether too much music in the world for anyone to ever listen to. We’re not complaining, though; the vast archives of sound on the Internet – whether on streaming services, the depths of Youtube and SoundCloud or shared on music blogs both obscure and well-known – have made tapping into those histories easier […]

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Tree-Mix, Volume 6: Old, but new to you
CRAIG ONEAL/Wikimedia Commons

There is altogether too much music in the world for anyone to ever listen to. We’re not complaining, though; the vast archives of sound on the Internet – whether on streaming services, the depths of Youtube and SoundCloud or shared on music blogs both obscure and well-known – have made tapping into those histories easier than ever before. This playlist celebrates those incredible songs from decades past that we’ve recently discovered or rediscovered.

The Blue Nile, “From a Late Night Train” – Jacob Nierenberg, contributing writer

Since its inception in 2016, Pitchfork’s Sunday Review series has been a treat for a specific set of music nerds who don’t consume music so much as archive it. It’s given the site an excuse to write at length about masterpieces (Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks”) and overlooked classics (Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”) from before its time, along with the occasional out-of-left-field pick (Sarah McLachlan’s “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy”). “Hats” – the 1989 sophomore record from the Scottish sophisti-pop group The Blue Nile – could easily fall into either of the latter two categories. I can’t remember how I first came across the album four years ago, but I loved it at the time, only to put it on my shelf and quietly forget about it. When Pitchfork wrote a Sunday Review of “Hats” earlier this month, I listened to it again for the first time in years and fell in love with it all over again. As with most ‘80s pop, the music is polished and icy, almost sounding synthetic, but the lyrics are warm and poetic ruminations on love. While that’s true of pretty much all the songs on this album, “From a Late Night Train” is when things slow down and the feeling becomes impossible to ignore. Rain douses the lyrics, putting out cigarettes and dampening magazines, even seeping into the sound of the music; a piano and a trumpet, both blurred by reverb, are all there is to console vocalist Paul Buchanan’s heartbreak. I’m grateful to Pitchfork for not just reminding me that this album exists, but hopefully helping others discover it for the first time.

 

Starlight, “The Supermen Lovers” – Trenton Chang, staff writer

Starlight’s disco-inspired vibes and gentle vocals are a nostalgic journey. It’s a uniquely 2000s take on the ‘70s disco sound: It sounds vaguely quantized and punchy like the electronic music of today, yet there’s that grooving disco bass line and cheesy strings that give disco its musical fingerprint. A break in the middle gives us a synth solo – that’s nothing special by today’s standards, but it’s quite the flamboyant choice for 2001. Perhaps the most memorable part of the song, however, is the wholesome story in the lyrics; it’s the tale of someone seeking fame and success in the big city. It’s a vial of undisturbed hope, a fresh moment of possibility before reality sets in. You can’t help but dance; you can’t help but smile and feel, for four minutes, that everything is going to be alright.

 

Björk, “Isobel” – Nick Burns, staff writer

I’m still not sure how I managed to get through 21 years of life without becoming a deep admirer of the music of Björk, especially despite the repeated exhortations to listen to her made by countless friends of good taste. In any case, it finally happened this month. I particularly appreciated the song “Isobel,” from Björk’s 1995 album “Post.” The song features the colorful, freely associative lyrics that form a hallmark of modern Icelandic pop-rock, paired with an Afropop-influenced syncopated drum beat and soaring strings. “When she does it, she means to,” Björk darkly suggests, as the strings crescendo around her words. The fierce independence of the song’s protagonist, a girl named Isobel who lives alone in the woods, parallels Björk’s own refusal to hitch her wagon to anyone else’s star over a decades-long career characterized by relentless innovation.

 

Madeleine Peyroux, “La Javanaise” – Hamza Zahurullah, contributing writer

Full disclosure, I do not speak French, so I only found out what the lyrics to this song meant roughly three weeks after first hearing it. I heard it during “The Shape of Water,” and now I am simply in love with the song. I think I just have a soft spot for French music from the middle of the 20th century (despite the fact that this is a cover from the 21st century). The song fit the look, feel and story of “The Shape of Water” so well that every time I hear the song I just think back to seeing the movie and how happy and in love I felt.  

 

Black Eyed Peas, “Joints & Jam” – Dylan Grosz, staff writer

“Not The Black Eyed Peas, just Black Eyed Peas,” said Stephen Colbert as he introduced will.i.am, all.de.app and Taboo. The group, absent Fergie, who left them in 2017, played their new single “STREET LIVIN’.” With conscious verses overlaid on jazzy beats, their new single couldn’t help but feel disingenuous. The BEP I know from the 2000s and early 2010s is the BEP that made “Boom Boom Pow” and “Pump It,” relatively mindless club and pop sugar that existed as rap for pop fans. However, comments on their performance were anything but cynical, many pointing to it as a return to form. To what form? After a bit of research, I found a Black Eyed Peas that existed before Fergie. Their 1998 and 2000 albums “Behind The Front” and “Bridging The Gap” featured the very production and lyrical style found in “STREET LIVIN’.” As their debut LP, “Behind The Front” is anything but artificial, featuring almost solely acoustic instrument sounds. One of its singles, “Joints & Jam,” features a sample-heavy beat with bright, bell-y keys. The trio address race through a positive call for harmony – maybe over some some joints and jams? Though I never got into their Fergie-era music, these older albums, especially songs like “Joints & Jam,” help me appreciate the legitimacy of will.i.am, app.de.app and Taboo as conscious rappers.

 

Blur, “Tender” – Jacob Kuppermann, desk editor

Despite their absolute dominance of the alternative rock scene of ’90s Britain, Blur never became quite as popular here in America – unlike their rivals in Oasis, they never had an American hit as big or defining as “Wonderwall,” and most Americans are more familiar with lead singer Damon Albarn’s performances with cartoon band/multimedia performance group Gorrilaz. As such, Blur has reached American music nerds, especially those who grew up after their mid-90s heyday, only fitfully – a song here or there, but never the full consideration that a band of their stature deserves. Case in point: Despite falling in love with Blur’s self-titled 1997 record in high school, I never was exposed to its follow up, 1999’s “13,” until I picked up a used CD of it from Amoeba records over winter break. God, was I missing out. While the whole record is a revelation, its opening track “Tender” is the most beautiful song on the album. While you would normally expect a song of its epic length – it pushes eight minutes – to build to a climax, “Tender” is genius in how it avoids that “Stairway to Heaven”-esque trope, so commonly copied by 80s power ballads and their ilk. Instead, “Tender” wallows in itself, its blend of electric and acoustic guitars and gospel choir lending the track a certain sublime and bittersweet feeling. Its lyrics, delivered by Albarn and electric guitarist Graham Coxon in a sort of call and response and anchored in the simple refrain of “Oh my baby, oh my baby/Oh why?,” match that feeling, capturing the weird, ambiguous heartbreak of falling out of love with someone dear to you.

 

Contact the Music beat writers at music ‘at’ stanforddaily.com.

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Tree-Mix, Volume 5: Songs of 2017 https://stanforddaily.com/2017/12/28/tree-mix-5-songs-of-the-year/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/12/28/tree-mix-5-songs-of-the-year/#respond Thu, 28 Dec 2017 09:50:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1134623 Sometimes, things are simple. These are straight up, no qualifications, four of our favorite songs of the year.   Lorde, “Green Light” — Jacob Nierenberg, contributing writer In 2013, Lorde conquered the radio by breaking all the rules. In 2017, she conquered the radio by following them. On her breakout “Royals,” Lorde was the sly, insightful […]

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Tree-Mix, Volume 5: Songs of 2017
KRISTS LUHAERS/@Kristsll

Sometimes, things are simple. These are straight up, no qualifications, four of our favorite songs of the year.

 

Lorde, “Green Light” — Jacob Nierenberg, contributing writer

In 2013, Lorde conquered the radio by breaking all the rules. In 2017, she conquered the radio by following them. On her breakout “Royals,” Lorde was the sly, insightful teen who watched her classmates from the edge of the house party; “Green Light,” her long-awaited return, saw her grow into both a vibrant young woman and the life of the party. Lyrically and musically, “Green Light” is a far cry from the “incorrect songwriting” and minimalist beat of “Royals.” It’s a kiss-off to a noncommittal ex over a maximalist, technicolor pop instrumental, with a chorus that demands to be shouted at the top of your lungs. It’s at once ironic and totally fitting that Lorde matured by embracing her teenage years. Before, Lorde sounded wise beyond her years; on “Green Light,” she sounds forever young.

 

Fleet Foxes, “Kept Woman” — Nick Burns, staff writer

Fleet Foxes’ new album takes its name (“Crack-Up”) from a 1936 essay by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in which the author explains that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” Fitzgerald confesses that his own inability to pass this test has led him to suffer a mental breakdown— within four years, he would be dead. On this album, as on its predecessor (2011’s “Helplessness Blues”), singer Robin Pecknold senses the high stakes of these personal crack-ups. But unlike in 2011, he seems aware they don’t happen in a vacuum. While pursuing this “first-rate intelligence,” do we fail to be  first-rate friend, lover, brother, daughter? “Anna, you’re lost in a shadow there,” Pecknold calls to his interlocutor on “Kept Woman”: “I’m just the same as when / You saw me back then / And we’re bound to be reconciled.”

 

Kesha, “Praying” — Ugur Dursun, staff writer

After nearly five years without releasing any solo projects, Kesha made her triumphant return to the music scene in early July with “Praying,” a song directed mainly towards her abuser and ex-producer Dr Luke. The lead single off of “Rainbow,” her third full-length album, is a cleverly written track with lyrics that represent Kesha’s self-reflection and hurt instead of hatred and anger, with a chorus that goes “I hope you’re somewhere praying / I hope your soul is changing.” Furthermore, the song showcases Kesha’s vocal range unlike any other project of hers, going as far as belting a whistle tone right before the last chorus. Undoubtedly Kesha’s most critically-acclaimed work ever, “Praying” and its parent project are definitely worth a play if you have not already.

 

Lil Uzi Vert, “XO TOUR LLif3” — Jacob Kuppermann, desk editor

On paper, it’s easy to dismiss “XO TOUR LLif3” as just another pop-trap novelty song, a faux-edgy earworm of a hook about dead friends with no song supporting it. After all, Lil Uzi Vert dropped it on SoundCloud unceremoniously last  February on the short stopgap mixtape “Luv is Rage 1.5”, and only gave it a commercial release after the song became inescapably popular on that platform. Yet as soon Uzi’s voice starts to croak over TM88’s cyber-goth beat, it’s clear why “XO TOUR LLif3” is special. Cloaked in layers of autotune that nevertheless serve to accentuate the raw human emotion of his performance, the Philadelphia rapper uses his limited range and insouciant affect to cut to the core of his insecurities. The line that everyone focuses on here is “all my friends are dead, push me to the edge,” which admittedly is one hell of a unique hook, but it’s in the song’s second verse (roughly speaking) that the song reveals its heart, a swirling mess of megalomania and fear: “I cannot die because this my universe.”

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Tree-Mix, Volume 4: Songs to warm you (because the weather isn’t helping) https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/17/tree-mix-volume-four-songs-to-warm-you-because-the-weather-isnt-helping/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/17/tree-mix-volume-four-songs-to-warm-you-because-the-weather-isnt-helping/#respond Fri, 17 Nov 2017 22:10:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1133647 When we started making this playlist, it was cold. Now, it’s cold and also rainy, which is a fun combination. While you wait out the weather and the days until break in your questionably-heated rooms, take this care package of cold-weather themed songs to heart. Kendrick Shen, contributing writer (kshen6 ‘at’ stanford.edu) Fleetwood Mac, “Landslide” – It’s […]

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Tree-Mix, Volume 4: Songs to warm you (because the weather isn't helping)
nicadlr/FLICKR

When we started making this playlist, it was cold. Now, it’s cold and also rainy, which is a fun combination. While you wait out the weather and the days until break in your questionably-heated rooms, take this care package of cold-weather themed songs to heart.

Kendrick Shen, contributing writer (kshen6 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Fleetwood Mac, “Landslide” – It’s that time of year again, when the days grow colder and my heart grows heavier. The change is not a gradual process, but it surprises me by coming in spurts as I start to reflect on the happenings of the past year. “Landslide” is an undeniable icon of early winter, and the undulating guitar backing with Stevie Nicks’ rich vocals makes it a staple when you’ve got the feels. Picturing a landslide down those snow-covered hills from the safety of my dorm room has got me holed up in warmth and gratitude, blessed to be here even as I quietly suffer through the California “cold.”

 

Tyler Dunston, contributing writer (tdunston ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Joni Mitchell, “River” – I’ve listened to this song more than any other this quarter, and now the cold weather makes it feel more appropriate than ever. Everything in this song creates an atmosphere of cold – from the intro piano evoking Christmas carols to Mitchell’s moving lyrics (“I wish I had a river I could skate away on”) to her voice which pierces and chills like ice. When she hits the high note on the word “fly,” she embodies the sense of longed-for escape and transcendence in the image of the river. You can’t hear this song without feeling it deeply. I can’t say it’s meant for idle listening. But when you have the time and energy to meet it on its own terms, its restorative power is indisputable.

 

Jacob Nierenberg, contributing writer (jhn2017 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Leonard Cohen, “Anthem” – It’s been just over a year since what was the single darkest week of my life. On a fateful Tuesday last November, a close friend confided in me about a traumatic experience; hours later, I watched as CNN broke the news that America had succumbed to its most vindictive, self-destructive impulses and chosen a monster to be its president. When it was announced just days later that Leonard Cohen had died, it felt like a cruel joke, like 2016 was taking one more thing we loved in a year that had already taken so much from us. I didn’t want to listen to music in the days after the election, but Cohen’s songs were a balm, especially “Anthem,” which I frequently saw quoted on social media. Every time I saw the words “There is a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in,” it was one more crack in a monolith of despair, reassuring us that one day our personal and political tragedies could be overcome. When we are cold and broken, “Anthem” offers us a hallelujah that is anything but.

 

Jourdann Fraser, staff writer (jourdann ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson, “Winter Song” – One of my favorite songs when it starts to get cold outside is “Winter Song.” It’s kind of a Christmas song, kind of a song about heartbreak. The harmonies between Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles warms me up and makes the cold a little more bearable. The bridge, especially, features overlapping harmonies between Michaelson and Bareilles that brings the song to its beautiful climax. I also enjoy the jumpy melody during the verses that makes the song fun to bop along to.

 

Dylan Grosz, staff writer (dgrosz ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Hiatus Kaiyote, “Laputa (Taylor McFerrin Remix feat. Anderson .Paak)” – To calm the existential dread of my first winter quarter last year, I constantly played this song during contemplative showers, speaker-less. Since Apple hasn’t yet discovered technology that would make their phones louder than the average shower, I would be forced to hold my ear to my phone’s speaker. I had stepped out of the shower stream at this point, but I now found myself intimately listening in on Nai Palm’s vivid imagery, her crystal clear delivery cutting through the shower’s white noise – “Mystic catacomb creeper/Who whispers stone cold / And as the mind follows deeper.” To offset the ethereal Nai Palm, Anderson .Paak’s grounding rasp continues to paint a marshy spectacle – “That’s my city lifting overboard / The queen in tattered clothing/She dreams of music overtures/She’s drifting over fog.” As the song closes out with distant howls, I begin to feel chills; I’ve been kept from the hot shower for four minutes now.

 

Trenton Chang, staff writer (tchang97 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Ruck P, “Rise Up” – There’s something about the downtempo, lazy beat that makes this track perfect for the cold. Perhaps it’s the lonely electric piano that opens the track, or maybe it’s the plaintive vocals that ring out over the sparse arrangement. There’s no warmth to this track – the voices, the chords, the trumpet all sing in solitude, joined in rhythm tenuously as the beat keeps moving. It’s not an energetic track – the beat trudges through the music, but it manages to keep moving forward, prodded by the bass line bar after bar. This isn’t a track for bright and carefree days, but it will keep you moving and working through the end of the quarter as the days grow colder.

 

Nick Burns, staff writer (njburns ‘at’ stanford.edu)

U2, “The Unforgettable Fire” – The Edge’s guitar is always arctic and clean, but this song is especially wintery among U2’s catalogue, opening as it does with the line, “Ice – your only rivers run cold/These city lights, they shine as silver and gold.” The lyrics are vague rather than preachy (these being Bono’s two main lyrical modes), but in the right mood – a nighttime solo drive always being a good time for a tingly U2 sing-along, the song conjures up a kind of rich, dark, dangerous emotional landscape with unexpected, unsettling lines, like one about “red wine that punctures the skin.” U2’s songs, “One” being the most famous example, often do a good job of describing relationships as the cold wilderness they sometimes are, and this the title track from one of their best efforts is no exception.

 

Jacob Kuppermann, Music desk editor (jkupperm ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Belle & Sebastian, “If She Wants Me” – “If She Wants Me” belongs to a cold distinct from the one we’re currently braving, not that of overcast grey and a night-time that comes earlier every day, but of crisp winter mornings borne in on blue and cloudless skies. It’s a more romantic cold, one that lends itself more to a thoughtful melancholy than the weather we have now, which mostly has inspired complaining. The clean guitar tones and immaculately appointed piano and organ combos of “If She Wants Me” swirl like early winter breezes, but it’s Stuart Murdoch’s vocal performance, delivering his lyric with the exact degree of wistful angst to prevent them from devolving into the maudlin, that truly stands out here. It’s a delicate balancing act, but he pulls it off, with his voice cutting through the track like the pale sun on a late December morning.

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Tree-Mix, Volume 3: Post-midterm revival https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/04/tree-mix-volume-3-post-midterm-revival/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/04/tree-mix-volume-3-post-midterm-revival/#respond Sat, 04 Nov 2017 19:42:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1132433 Midterms are — well, not over technically, as midterms are never really over, but — over. If you’re reading this, the worst is through (Note: this is known as the reverse-Drake formulation), and the weekend has finally come. What you do with this freedom is up to you — unless you don’t believe in free […]

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Tree-Mix, Volume 3: Post-midterm revival
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Midterms are — well, not over technically, as midterms are never really over, but — over. If you’re reading this, the worst is through (Note: this is known as the reverse-Drake formulation), and the weekend has finally come. What you do with this freedom is up to you — unless you don’t believe in free will — but we hope that the range of moods covered on this playlist cover as many of the options as possible:

Nick Burns, Staff Writer (njburns ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Sleater-Kinney — “A New Wave”: As my life lately collapses around me, I’ve gone nuts for Sleater-Kinney, the iconic all-female, late-90s three-piece who both emblemize the transition between punk revival and indie and perfectly suit my tastes in rock bands with female vocalists: loud, overdriven guitars and aggressive vocals just this side of melodic. “A New Wave,” from their 2014 comeback album “No Cities to Love,” has the familiar sinewy vocals and a pretty, gripping harmony on the chorus. The song has the band feeling simultaneously irrelevant and free: “No one here is taking notice / No outline will ever hold us / It’s not a new wave, it’s just you and me.” Translation: They’re not the icons they were in the late 90s, but no one’s holding them back anymore. Right now I also read this last line—“It’s not a new wave, it’s just you and me” as a call to reject the urge to doubt one’s personal relationships when they experience a shock and instead to trust in the rapport: After all, what is a relationship but “just you and me.”

 

Omar Rafik El-Sabrout, Contributing Writer (omarel ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Seu Jorge — “Rebel Rebel”: This song is made for lying down vibes: lying down in your hammock, on Meyer green, in a pool or, if you have no other options available, in your bed. The track comes off “The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions,” which are all covers of Bowie tracks (sans “Team Zissou”) recorded for “The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou.” The guitar riff is simple but moving, and the lyrics are infectious. The sweet, soft sound of Seu Jorge’s Brazilian Portuguese is not just soothing; it’s downright healing. That bliss plus the somber memory of Bowie’s greatness is enough to imbue anyone with a strong calm. And if you need a little more, the rest of the album should satisfy that craving.

 

Kendrick Shen, Contributing Writer (kshen6 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Pink Floyd — “Comfortably Numb”: If you’re a die-hard Roger Waters fan, or you simply enjoy good ambient music to vibe along with, consider adding this number to your playlist this week. It’s a classic, and if sheer nostalgia doesn’t take you back to less stressful times, then perhaps David Gilmour’s sensual guitar solos will do the job. If you’re not about that, “Comfortably Numb” will also get you swaying and grooving before you know it.

 

Jacob Nierenberg, Contributing Writer (jhn2017 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Carly Rae Jepsen — “Run Away With Me”: Fuzzies don’t really have midterms. Instead, we have a steady stream of essays or assignments of comparable difficulty, and you either chip away at them over the course of a week, or you learn to get good at writing them overnight. This is just a roundabout way of saying that I went to the record store last week when I probably should have been writing. While there, I found Carly Rae Jepsen’s “E•MO•TION,” which I’d been meaning to pick up for the better part of a year. I paid five dollars for a used copy of that album, and it’s probably the best purchase I’ve made in the last month. The album is drunk on ‘80s-inspired production, right from the opening number “Run Away With Me.” The first sound you hear is a saxophone that has been processed to within an inch of its life, and it’s both the cheesiest and the most euphoric thing you’ve ever heard. It only gets cheesier and more euphoric from there with its massive chorus, featuring a choir of Carlys chanting the song’s title. A friend of mine on Stanford Concert Network told me that they were eyeing her last year as a potential headliner for the Frost Music & Arts Festival; if that’s true, it’s our own damn fault for letting her run away without us.

 

Dylan Grosz, Staff Writer (dgrosz ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Anna Burch —  “2 Cool 2 Care”: Though the title is enough of a statement on my study habits around midterm season (minus the cool), Anna Burch’s only solo track to date is making waves in the indie rock community and my study playlist. The laid-back vibe of “2 Cool 2 Care” allows you to close your eyes and imagine a world where there’s no stress to outperform your peers, no grade proportions, no scary curves. Though midterm season leaves us learning to forget, Anna Burch’s 60s homage leaves you with the memory of an escape from the basement of Green Library, albeit briefly, to ride away on Burch’s jangly guitars.

 

Damon French, Contributing Writer (damonf ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Brian Eno — “On Some Faraway Beach”: I want to live in the world of a Brian Eno song; everything this man touches comes away intricately detailed and enjoyable. “On Some Faraway Beach” is a great song even among a career’s worth of great music. Emerging with synths and echoey vocals swirling, the song gains force with an inevitability like the tide coming in. It continues to rise, achingly beautiful, and just when you think you can’t handle any more — Eno’s voice breaks in and carries you to sweeter dimensions yet. As you move on from midterm season, consider taking a moment, lying down and letting the warm water of Eno’s music carry you, like its narrator, away.

 

Jacob Kuppermann, Music Desk Editor (jkupperm ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Crying — “There Was A Door”: I know what freedom sounds like, and it is Crying. There’s no other way to explain exactly how a track like “There Was A Door” comes together, with its instant alchemy of instrumentalist Ryan Galloway’s faux-Van Halen riffs and death-defying synth lines and Elaiza Santos’ perfectly serene vocal performance, which carries a lyric that speaks to the power of sudden realization, of seeing the door that will take you away from your self-doubt. While these two halves may seem too much to sew together, their shared paths towards the unknown, whether sonic or personal, create a strange cohesion. It’s a balancing act of a song, but I can’t help but be rejuvenated whenever I hear it.

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Tree-Mix, Volume 2: Songs of a long-ago summer https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/30/tree-mix-volume-2-songs-of-a-long-ago-summer/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/30/tree-mix-volume-2-songs-of-a-long-ago-summer/#respond Mon, 30 Oct 2017 08:02:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1132004 Every week, The Daily’s Music Beat comes together to make the Tree-Mix, a playlist of the music that’s been on our minds. This past week’s theme focuses on songs of the summer, a season that, despite this week’s weather, was an entire month ago. The vast span of time elapsed since those days of September, so […]

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Tree-Mix, Volume 2: Songs of a long-ago summer
French indie pop band Phoenix. (Courtesy of Atwood Magazine)

Every week, The Daily’s Music Beat comes together to make the Tree-Mix, a playlist of the music that’s been on our minds. This past week’s theme focuses on songs of the summer, a season that, despite this week’s weather, was an entire month ago. The vast span of time elapsed since those days of September, so dearly gone away, deserves some nostalgia, doesn’t it?

Jacob Kuppermann, Music Desk Editor (jkupperm ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Carly Rae Jepsen — “Cut To The Feeling”: Explaining Carly Rae Jepsen is maddening in its impossibility. I can list the wonderful things that “Cut To The Feeling” does, from how the opening, Madonna-biting synth glissandos draw you in immediately, to how the handclaps and rhythm guitar keep the tension high during the verses to allow for the supreme release of the chorus, all synth sustains and vocal joy. I can’t quite explain, though, the sum of the parts here — “Cut To The Feeling,” like all of CRJ’s best songs, is an experience beyond just the song, an artificial pop confection that manages to convince you of its authenticity by sheer joy. It’s summer, or at least the parts of summer that we selectively remember, distilled into slightly more than 200 masterful seconds, an instantly compelling shard of pure energy.

 

Nick Burns, Staff Writer (nburns ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Phoenix – “J-Boy”: Phoenix’s new album “Ti Amo,” released in early June, was a little too saccharine and superficial to really merit serious critical scrutiny. Former Music Desk Editor Tyler Dunston, my roommate at Oxford at the time, and I felt jaded enough towards their French Riviera sellout-chic aesthetic that we started compiling a list of made-up Phoenix tracks, with titles like “Cotton Candy,” “Prosecco” and “Santorini.” Somehow, the opening track of the album – with its deep synth opening followed by a single falling note, over-the-top drums, and hysterical vocals – still lodged so firmly in my head that I played it on stereos all over Europe, from a loft off the Boulevard Raspail in Paris to an English bed-and-breakfast near Hadrian’s Wall, until my traveling companion begged me to find something else to listen to.

 

Paulina Campos, Contributing Writer (pcampos ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Bomba Estéreo – “Amanecer”: This summer was a pretty great time for music discovery. I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites of the season (which are well represented on the rest of this playlist) but decided to go with a song by Bomba Estéreo, a Colombian band that specializes in cumbia-inspired alternative dance music. If that description doesn’t scream “summertime party vibes,” I don’t know what does. “Amanecer” is the perfect song to dance to with friends, or play while you’re getting ready for a night out. Lead singer Liliana Saumet’s rapping is slick, while her singing on the chorus sounds like she’s doing it with all her might. I was lucky enough to see Bomba Estéreo live at Outside Lands music festival in August, and their performance was surprisingly one of the highlights of my weekend. They turned the Panhandle stage into a nightclub and energized the freezing festival attendees on that foggy night. If you’re looking for fun Spanish-language music, but mainstream hits like “Despacito” aren’t really doing it for you, I’d highly recommend giving Bomba Estéreo a listen.

 

Damon French, Contributing Writer (damonf ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Kishi Bashi —“Honeybody”: Indie pop violinist Kishi Bashi released his third album “Sonderlust” in September 2016; winter and spring came and went and found me still listening. “Honeybody,” the final track, is many things at once: electric, orchestral and rhythmic, a love song, ode to board games and possible product placement. It’s the perfect example of what makes his music so great, an intricately layered pop song that can be listened to over and over and that feels musically erudite without taking itself seriously. When Ishibashi goes for the chorus in his glossy falsetto, “Ooo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-o, Honeybody want your body,” it sounds almost like a parody, but all the same it’s the enjoyable sound of a talented musician having fun, pop music like nothing else out there.

 

Dylan Grosz, Staff Writer (dgrosz ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Tyler, The Creator – “911 / Mr. Lonely”: When Tyler, The Creator dropped the gory music video for his lead single “Who Dat Boy,” it seemed as if he had just released more of his signature aggressive, horrorcore influenced hip hop. As “Who Dat Boy” closed out with an engine rev, the video jumps to multiple copies of Tyler crooning “Call me, call me, call me,” all their vocals coalescing in a unified plea when Tyler tells us his number, “911.” The video cuts abruptly. These final 30 seconds were unlike anything I had ever heard from Tyler. They evoked a sunny sense of desperation, a smile turned sour with too much time under the sun. Further Spotify research taught me that this snippet came from the B-side of “Who Dat Boy,” formally known as “911 / Mr. Lonely.” The two parts of this song are inexplicably linked melodically and thematically, evoking a sense of loneliness within a crowd when summer days just get too lazy. “911” is easily the brighter of the two halves, featuring a desperate Tyler and a Steve Lacy-led chorus repeatedly asking you to “call [him] sometime.” With chirps from Frank Ocean, “911” almost seems to answer Tyler’s pleas. However, when the song makes the call for you, the number is busy. The song changes gears. As we enter “Mr. Lonely,” Tyler grapples with letting go of his hope of companionship and turns to his material possessions for comfort. Tyler is just authentically sad. No gimmick. No “psyche!” He truly believes that he should blame himself for his lack of true friends. Ending on a foreboding note, Tyler hopes for someone to genuinely ask him how he’s doing, or else he’ll have to call 911, a number doubling for himself and the actual authorities. While “911 / Mr. Lonely” directly deals with Tyler’s loneliness despite his fame, this song’s consistent shifting of emotional lanes doubles as a reflection on the dark underbelly of the stereotypically bright days of summer.

 

Jacob Nierenberg, Contributing Writer (jhn2017 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Fleet Foxes – “Third of May / Ōdaigahara”: On June 16, Fleet Foxes returned — finally — with their third album, “Crack-Up.” On June 18, I was sitting in the sweltering heat of Stanford Stadium, ready to leave for the summer. My senior year was marred by political and personal devastation. I’d lost my sense of focus and my sense of purpose. I’d grown insecure about my relationships, sometimes feeling like I was the only one invested in them and other times feeling like I wasn’t doing enough to maintain them. On June 19, I was back home with a diploma and a mess of unanswered questions: Where did my best self go? What do I mean to people? Was I too slow? Did I change overnight? Those last two questions are sung by Robin Pecknold on “Third of May / Ōdaigahara,” the lead single and beating heart of “Crack-Up.” I still don’t have the answers to those questions. I still wake up some afternoons and wonder when I’ll see my best self again. I still look at an unanswered text and wonder if its recipient cares as much about me as I do about them. All of this is to say, there are few lonelier places to be than lost inside your own head, and few heavier realizations than that you are the source of your own torment. “To be held within one’s self is deathlike.” I know.

 

Kendrick Shen, Contributing Writer (kshen6 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Queens of the Stone Age – “The Way You Used To Do”: If grunge rock or any sort of groovy distorted guitar is your jam, then I highly recommend that you check out Queens of the Stone Age’s newest album, released in the summer: “Villains.” The new songs take a trip from the band’s previous signature sound, driven by crisp edgy bass guitar, and instead take up a retro-electro-swing sound. “The Way You Used To Do” is the lead single of “Villains” and finds its beat in a fast, borderline stressful riff played on a guitar with the bottom string intentionally snapped off. Many songs have the ability to flip your mood entirely, making you feel happy, excited or dreamy; this song is no different, and I assure you that after listening to “Villains,” you will be out to conquer the world. Good luck!

 

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Tree-Mix, Volume 1 https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/21/tree-mix-volume-1-3/ https://stanforddaily.com/2017/10/21/tree-mix-volume-1-3/#respond Sat, 21 Oct 2017 22:59:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1131427 Every week, the Daily’s Music beat comes together to make the Tree-Mix, a playlist of recommendations of the music that helps us get through the week. Here are our picks for this week: Jacob Kuppermann, Music Desk Editor (jkupperm ‘at’ stanford.edu) Julien Baker – “Appointments”: Julien Baker’s music is sad and beautiful, but not, per […]

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Every week, the Daily’s Music beat comes together to make the Tree-Mix, a playlist of recommendations of the music that helps us get through the week. Here are our picks for this week:

Jacob Kuppermann, Music Desk Editor (jkupperm ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Julien Baker – “Appointments”: Julien Baker’s music is sad and beautiful, but not, per se, beautiful in its sadness — none of her songs valorize pain or suffering, make glamorous the things that gnaw at you and try to destroy you. “Appointments,” the lead single off her sophomore effort, “Turn Off the Lights,” is the most fully-formed thing she’s made yet; the beauties and sadnesses here are that much sharper as the arrangement builds, with her multi-tracked voice carrying her simple, effective lyrics with an honesty and clarity that very few singer-songwriters possess. Baker’s first album was lo-fi, mostly just her and her guitar, so the pianos and orchestral tinges of “Appointments” are almost jarring to hear around her. Yet the rawness and passion that Baker has always carried are heightened, not diminished by her new trappings.

 

Dylan Grosz, Staff Writer (dgrosz ‘at’ stanford.edu)

King Krule – “Dum Surfer”: Submerged, “Dum Surfer” is built on grime, recorded while floating down sewer. While he goes by many names, King Krule features singer/producer Archy Marshall’s voice front and center, scoffs and all. His seething baritone vocal timbre is rough, and on its own, it might turn off listeners; however, the song’s ominous imagery pairs perfectly with his gritty snarls and apathetic delivery. As the undeniably post-punk song fades in and out of all-out brass jazz, Marshall vividly barks about winning bets against a dumb surfer, taking multiple pisses and nearly crashing a cab, all while severely crossfaded at some grungy bar. Nearly every line ends in an “ah” sound — -ash, -ab, -at — allowing Marshall to leverage his voice’s grit to essentially scream the end of every line and increase the urgency of the track. By end, all the instruments converge into a free jazz section as Marshall toggles between the similar sounding “dumb surfer” and “don’t suffer.” As the second single from King Krule’s divine new record, “The Ooz,” “Dum Surfer” evokes a stormy mood, with flashes of genuine fear emerging over its thunderous rhythm.

 

Nick Burns, Staff Writer (njburns ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile — “Over Everything”: I listened to this song walking down from 680 in the golden evening past the mushroom-shaped pine trees by FloMo Field, which always remind me of Rome’s Palatine Hill. Kurt Vile’s trusty old casual half-clever shrugging delivery opens with a line laden with internal rhyme: “When I’m all alone, on my own, by my lonesome / And there ain’t a single other soul around / I wanna dig into my guitar, bend a blues riff that hangs / Over everything.” Halfway through the song the line is repeated with Courtney Barnett’s voice luminous in harmony. I’m happy to see this collaboration because Vile and Barnett share a love of the quotidian, a resignation but also a sense of acceptance of both failures and unexpected moments of joy. They’re over everything in the nihilistic sense, but they’re also believers in something unifying that spreads itself over everything — even if it’s just a blues riff played in solitude.

 

Trenton Chang, Staff Writer (tchang97 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Pat Lok – Oh No (feat. mar|co) [JNTHN STEIN Remix]: This is a song for lazy afternoons and carefree days. Pat Lok’s track “Oh No,” featured on his debut album “Hold On Let Go,” is already a post-disco, downtempo masterpiece, but JNTHN STEIN’s take brings the music to a new level. It feels so slow that it borders on the lethargic, but the sloppy piano chords keeping time in the back keep the groove moving just enough. Mar|co’s ambiguous lyrics tell a story of passion and restraint, but the soulful delivery feels surreal here, anchored to reality only by the occasional, plaintive  “Hold on / Let go.” There’s no electronic trickery, no cheesy hooks on this track. The piano is slightly off, and the constant ticking of the hi-hats ebbs at times — but those qualities only give the track an intimate, honest feeling. It’s still certainly electronic music — yet it doesn’t feel electronic at all. On the contrary, it feels human; it feels live. The music is mundane, and that is its value: it doesn’t pretend to be celebratory or festive. It’s a timeless track, because it effortlessly orchestrates everyday moments, the blank caesurae between memorable moments.

 

Damon French, Contributing Writer (damonf ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Andrew Bird – “Echolocations: River”: “Echolocations: River” is the second in a series of albums recorded in the field by American violinist Andrew Bird, albums which move away from the lyrically playful folk rock of his more well-known music to focus instead on pared-back violin compositions. The resulting LP is perfect for studying; some pieces (“Ellipses,” “Black-Crowned Night Heron”) feel more contemplative and involved than previous entry “Canyon,” but as a whole it neatly balances this and the floating, carefree spirit present in its other tracks. The peaceful sound of the Los Angeles River undergirding several tracks pushes “River” in the direction of ambient music and transports the listener to a simpler, more organic place in the way the best study music should without ever feeling contrived. Give “Lazuli Bunting” a listen and you’ll fall in love, I promise.

 

Jourdann Fraser, Contributing Writer (jourdann ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Fenne Lily – “Top to Toe”: Fenne Lily’s fragile voice accompanies this song, and the fragile relationship at its center, well. It’s not a relationship in the sense of a girl and a boy, but in the sense of her relationship to her younger self. The song documents an uneasy relationship that results from her growing up, upheld by the bumpiness of the guitar swinging back and forth between a few notes. The song is simply an easy song to listen to when you want to want to feel like you’re tip toeing around in a flower garden.

 

Hamza Zahurullah, Contributing Writer (hamzaz98 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Beck – “Wow”: Cowboy trap. This is the best term I can come up with for the song. Beck appears to be rapping, but it’s hard to say given that his flow isn’t especially impressive. Nevertheless, it really does complement the simplistic trap beat. That beat is matched with the Cowboy-movie whistles that find an old meets new balance between the Old West and the Dirty South. On “Colours,” Beck’s latest and an album of excellent synth pop and alt rock, this song is a welcomed change of pace. Beck’s use of the term “Wow” in the chorus sounds earnest, but maybe so much so that it unintentionally parodies itself. I won’t lie though, I have been changing the pace of my walk to match the beat of the song, “Baby Driver” style, which can only be a compliment from me.

 

Paulina Campos, Contributing Writer (pcampos2 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Alice Merton – “No Roots”: Listening to this song during my commute to campus in the morning is what’s getting me through midterm season. As I sing along and play the drums on my steering wheel, I feel like a total badass. Merton’s deep, haunting voice (think Florence Welch, but with a bit more grit) lends itself to a chest-thumping chorus that repeats like a self-affirming mantra. I feel like I should be marching down a dusty road in a pair of combat boots, looking for my next adventure, ready for anything. The song is all about wanderlust, but with an edge, an undeniable toughness. At 23 years old, Merton has no roots and isn’t letting anything hold her back.

 

Kendrick Shen, Contributing Writer (kshen6 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Langhorne Slim – ”Life is Confusing”: After listening to “Life is Confusing” for the first time, you’ll probably remember only one line in the entire song: “life is confusing, and people are insane.” With an acoustic riff interlaced with strings lending the song a folky feel, Langhorne Slim’s new single encourages us as listeners to step back from our computers, look around and simply enjoy. The song captures the mood shared by many on campus — in the urgency of college life and the stress of approaching exams, how can we make the time to slow down once in a while and notice the changes happening around us? To those ends, I suggest “Life is Confusing,” with its relaxing acoustic riffs and concise yet remarkably sage lyrics. After all, who wouldn’t want to just “sit here, shut up and smile” for a little while?

 

Jacob Nierenberg, Contributing Writer (jhn2017 ‘at’ stanford.edu)

Moses Sumney, “Plastic”: I, like Moses Sumney, have never been in a romantic relationship. I could think of a few excuses why — I’ve never really made the time for one, hookup culture never appealed to me — but probably the most honest answer is that I would want to form a deeper emotional connection with someone before starting a relationship. It takes time, and someone has to want that connection as much as you do. That doesn’t make the feeling that love is happening all around you, without you, any less isolating. (See also: Yorgos Lanthimos’ jet-black satire “The Lobster,” about love and the societal expectation to find it.) Sumney understands this feeling. “I know what it’s like to behold and not be held,” he sings on “Plastic,” a standout from his long-awaited debut album “Aromanticism.” I’ve heard Sumney compared to Radiohead and Dirty Projectors, but after about a month of spinning the album, I still can’t hear it. There’s no political paranoia or conceptual overload in Sumney’s lovelorn lyrics, and there’s no mistaking Thom Yorke’s falsetto or Dave Longstreth’s yelp for Sumney’s androgynous, soulful croon. Instead, Sumney is closer to Frank Ocean, another elusive, genre-defying Black artist who sings about love in ways that are as intangible as they are relatable.

 

Catch the Daily Music beat’s week five playlist next Friday, October 27.

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