LEGACY! LEGACY! : Jamila Woods

09/2/19

5:25 PM

Chicago’s artists have been on the up and up for the last few years, and much of that can be traced and accredited to a number of hip-hop, jazz, and R&B artists that the Windy City cultivates. A central piece of this musical movement draws from independent artists and their collaborations with one another, mainly revolving around Chance the Rapper and The Social Experiment- a congregate of artists based around Chicago that focuses on music, art, literature and the culture of the city.

-

Jamila Woods is an artist that caters to a large portion of the writing and vocals to The Social Experiment’s projects, and while commercial and mainstream success is not always present for the Chicagoan Singer/Poet/Songwriter, Jamila Woods receives critical acclaim and regard for her works. Released quietly around a month before Chance the Rapper’s much awaited and much publicized The Big Day, Jamila Woods’ cross-genre sophomore album speaks volumes about its author.

LEGACY! LEGACY! phases Jamila through the perspectives of figures that molded her views of cultural enrichment, especially those of colored and minority backgrounds that reveal many walks of life and artforms. With each track in the album titled after an esteemed artist, Jamila channels her influences, inspirations, and correlations of her life— past and present— to paint a portrait with her words. In the way that she feels, sees, and becomes multiple personas that she draws from, the listener/ reader can see the intimacy between the writer’s experiences and images depicted of these individuals that she tributes to. In an interview with Pitchfork (link below), Jamila Woods expounds on the premise of each song and what they have meant to her as a writer and a musician, as well as a minority individual living amongst the majorities that she’d faced.

The album’s tonality seems to have transcended the confines of being a singular genre collection; culminating the individual elements of genres that stem from Black Heritage such as jazz, soul, hip-hop, blues, funk, gospel, and R&B, Jamila then arrives to a mixture of all of the above. Likewise, appropriate to the many artists that the album revolves around, each track is shaped to fit the titled person’s crafts— taking their stories, personalities, quotes, and life stories, LEGACY! LEGACY! seems to tell a narrative of historical figures and connect their legacies into a methodical way of how it played a part in Jamila Woods’ own life and works.

-

Relatively quiet, reserved, and meek, Jamila breaks out of her preconceived self for what seems to be a momentary glimpse of becoming a medium as a storyteller for these notable figures in our artistic world. Her modest attitude shifts to bold, fearless, and keen as she personifies each story. The album empowers not only the history of our past artists, but the present, and in LEGACY! LEGACY!, one hopes that Jamila leaves behind her own piece to contribute to future generations as well.

Read Jamila’s interview with Pitchfork

Listen to the album below:

LEGACY! LEGACY!

Case Study 01: Daniel Caesar

6/28/19

7:18 PM

Daniel Caesar breaks the silence after two years by following up his breakout debut album—Freudian, with his second studio project titled Case Study 01.

The album— so aptly named, shows specific natures of science and how it can affect the human emotion. Tracks such as “ENTROPY” and “SUPERPOSITION” give light on how Caesar’s experiences and feelings correlate with scientific cases.

-

Case Study 01 holds merit in just the talents that are featured. Musical authorities such as Brandy, Pharrell Williams, and John Mayer bring weighted expectations upon the album, as well as credit the artist that Daniel Caesar has become over the recent years.

The development of the Canadian singer’s sound hasn’t necessarily transformed, but rather matured and developed by picking up a few more qualities while retaining its original tonal range and general feel. Caesar takes his simple, romantic, and longing impressions and compliments them with bass-heavy rings, electronic drums, and pitching his vocals in a way that faintly resembles some of Frank Ocean’s work. While implementing new components to his music, all the instrumentation— traditional and nontraditional both— are placed skillfully and executed to create a subtle complexity. In a way that seems benevolent and modest, a beautiful simplicity sums up the atmosphere of the album which has been carefully crafted. Case Study 01 in its essence is pure— the acoustic elements and the studio factors come clean, undiluted, and straightforward.

The content of this album…is a huge contradiction in and of itself. Much of Caesar’s lyrics find regards to his newfound success and fortunes, in which the young musician does not shy away from telling his listeners. Caesar mentions his past persona and minor standings and compares them to his now glorified lifestyle fabricated in sex, drinking, and fame. The pseudo lifestyle that he himself despises is made to look glamorous in his mind and is even pronounced by none other than himself. Where the sweet and serene words used to reside, has been occupied by ideas of carnal desires or empty satisfactions; motivations derivative towards others have transitioned into a self-centered inclination, which portray the change within himself.

Another contradiction commonly seen in Daniel Caesar is that of religious themes— elevating this paradox, the background inspirations of Case Study 01 draws from science, often thought to be antithesis of faith. In an album inspired by distinctive instances of theories and observations, there are just as many, if not more specific biblical references. Caesar plays with the thematic idea of ironies and a heavy portion of his writing pertains to it.

-

However, underneath all this seemingly outward change in his inspirations and character, Daniel Caesar still seems to be focused and chasing after the same end-goal: contentment and fulfillment in love (or whatever else he’s looking for).

The way that Daniel Caesar uses breaks and extended pauses within songs and between, is something that keeps the listener in suspense and supplements that style changes that occur through out the album. Overall, the album is artfully made, with the first half of the work centering around his metamorphosis to extravagance, the latter half being more profound and resolute. What started as a really nice album culminated into an incredible musical experience. I would emphatically recommend dedicating 43 minutes to listen to Case Study 01 in its entirety for the optimal listening.

Listen to the album below:

Case Study 01

Bathing Beach: Novo Amor

6/4/19

7:25 PM

I found Novo Amor by chance while I was travelling in Minnesota.

Reminiscent to be a parallel of Bon Iver’s emotive vocal tones alongside Iron and Wine or Sufjan Stevens’ instrumentation style, Novo Amor draws the listener into the music by crying out to the wilderness and into his past life.

Composed by Welsh musician Ali Lacey— known by his alias, Novo Amor— and his acoustic guitar, among other folk and traditional instruments, Bathing Beach is… quiet. Quiet as the singer wails nostalgia— of the cycle that never ends, the hurt and the embrace of love spoken so quietly, reaching deep. Each song in the four tracks of Bathing Beach represents and builds upon a different face of this unknown life that the author incessantly revisits, created by a haunting thought of a possibility.

The airy and ghosted voice of Novo Amor seems so faint, yet is striking from the first listen. In a way that is difficult to explain in writing, one is aware of the emotions seeping out in their naturality. Within utilizing simple musicality such as dynamics, tonality, and pauses or rests, Lacey demonstrates that indeed sometimes less is greatly more. The simplistic accompaniment gives this short body of work not only cohesion, but something akin to a deconstruction of the author’s perspectives and insights of his past lover and the memories tied to her. All four of the songs are written beautifully and cryptic, establishing an ownership to his personal recollections while the common theme of love and heartaches is empathized upon; behind the tranquilizing sounds of the serene music lies a hurt that Lacey cannot return to or escape from.

-

Novo Amor has since released new works such as Heiress and Birthplace, with songs such as “Freehand,” “Anniversary,” and “Repeat Until Death.”

In finding Novo Amor, I’m glad I went to Minnesota.

Listen to the album below:

Bathing Beach

IGOR: Tyler, the Creator

5/18/19

11:37 PM

"IGOR. THIS IS NOT BASTARD. THIS IS NOT GOBLIN. THIS IS NOT WOLF. THIS IS NOT CHERRY BOMB. THIS IS NOT FLOWER BOY. THIS IS IGOR." 

Yeah, okay, Tyler.

Tyler, the Creator gives us an introspect to yet another one of his personalities— this time, specifically, IGOR.

As the LA producer-rapper continues to make music, it’s been a journey that encompasses weird, euphoric, and upsetting moments. From Tyler’s straight-forward “I don’t care what you think” attitude, to the soft spoken and candid moments in his musical career, the young artist has grown up a good amount in his own right.

Turning from the volatile and vain outlook of his music into more tame and enamoring content, Tyler’s IGOR was something that he himself wanted the listener to become intimate with, in hopes that they listen in its entirety with undivided attention, forming their own interpretation of the album. However, the overarching theme and sequence of this album is an episode of falling in love, engaging into a relationship, falling out of love, and then trying to maintain a level of friendship after the fact. The narration by comedian Jerrod Carmichael in between songs add a nice subtlety, helping listeners get a more in-depth idea of what Tyler is trying to convey through the process.

-

Musically, this album is a mess. The album isn’t really rap, or soul, or limited to one genre, but rather an experimental album with plenty of samples from various fields with many features from artists like Kanye, CeeLo, and A$AP Rocky. The main source the sound makeup is composed of the heavy usage of synths, and waves, as well as using loops that give off a hypnotic and grungy feel to the music; topped off with an array of pitch tuned vocals, this album becomes equipped with a new wave vibe to it. The synths and waves themselves help create a love filled atmosphere on some tracks, mixed with the rough, hard, and noisey qualities of the album give IGOR a unique design, giving the work itself a fulfilling re-listen value.

I would probably have to say the most impressive part about this album and and Tyler’s production end is that while the album does include a lot of irregular and dense elements, the transition to the more soulful and charming sounds are not at all sudden, or questionable. The production of IGOR doesn’t seem choppy or out of place, but rather in its full blown chaos, seems perfectly attuned and planned out. The cohesion of the two stark types of beats are marked by their interesting rhythms and modes, and creates for a very direct, yet delicate unison between dark and whimsically pleasant.

Listen to the Album below:

IGOR

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?: Billie Eilish

4/11/19 

7:19 PM

This whole album seems like a really intense joke told in a cheerful manner. 

Dark, deep, and dreamy— Billie Eilish’s. album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? catches the unsuspecting listener in a fun and/or a creepy way. The 17-year-old’s debut album after her success in multiple careers as multiple personas in music, modeling, and pop personality is explained through something that resembles sleeping and the reactions that we experience as we sleep, lucid dreams, night terrors, sweet dreams, nightmares, they’re all just little pieces to a whole which reflects in the album as individual songs.  

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? is a weird culmination of today’s musical elements coming together to create something…. alien??? The mixture between pop progressions with trap drums and EDM-ish components, many of the tracks come strangely familiar while still being fresh in terms of genre configurations. The album comprises of dark and gloomy productions beneath Eilish’s innocent and calming vocals, creating an unlikely cacophony that somehow manages to work out anyway. The writing in her songs is actually quite nice too; albeit some content seems a little too tense for someone so young to have written about. Top that off with some really subtle ASMR level details in the tracks and you have 2019’s top notch production quality. Nevertheless, the cryptic atmosphere of her music and her lyrics add to her character and sound, and while the album starts off more defiant and galvanic, it does end up being more somber and yearning towards the end to bring the collection to a nice quiet finish, which is a really nice note to end on. 

- 

A good amount of discussions have popped up over the young artist’s start and continuing career, rumours of her connections within the industry being the reason for her stardom turns her off for many people. While it’s interesting to look at, who cares? It’s her actual talent may be questionable at this point of time and such, but the product is quite nice still, and the care that she displays for music and her work in general is notable. Billie herself quotes, “If you put 14 people who like different genres into a room and plop WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? in front of them, I want every single person in that room to like at least one song.”  

Thanks Billie, I liked a few songs. 

Listen to album below:

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Art & Music: and how they correlate

3/26/19

3:35 PM

March has been really busy for me— between projects, spring break, deadlines, work, and my recent addiction to Pokémon games, I’ve been pretty lax on this blog (also taking time to listen to a lot more content to write about in the recent future).

Sorry.

To compensate for the lapse from posts, here’s a short bit about me.

-

For those of you who may not know, I’m currently a senior at the University of North Texas, working towards a Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts with a concentration in photography. Being in art school was something that I’d never expected in my steps, but life is pretty crazy. This whole website was actually made for a class and for my photography, and the music aspect was something I thought of while designing the page. It’s fun.

Anyway, having almost finished my curriculum and preparing for my senior exhibition, (Apr 25th, come support! lol) and having kept up with this blog for about half a year, I looked back at my processes and inspirations. I noticed a lot of my work revolves around moods or emotions like fun, lethargy, reminiscence, or the lack of emotions as well. Music affects my mood and energy level a lot— the relationship of how I take in music and transfer it into my work is very direct. From listening to something that makes me want to make some “dope” work, to being reminded of past recollections, music and art both have faculty to invoke the sense. I feel that visual art and music in their essence, are both so intricate and variable which make both easily accessible and/or appreciated; fine details are nice, stuff that is more noticeable is too, things are cool and crazy when you stop to take a deeper look and think about them.

Music has taught me about different cultures and lifestyles, as well as people to a lesser degree. Art taught me a lot about histories and to look at perspectives. What I learned from both aspects helped me to appreciate artwork notably, I consciously or unknowingly involve those ideas into my craft often, this translation of one form to another seems very mercurial and it’s great.

In conclusion, this was a really jumbled up post I wrote during my advanced art history class about some thoughts I had the last few weeks or months. I guess if I wanted anyone to take something from this whole deal, it would be to really think about doing something that you enjoy every now and then. For me, those things just happen to be music and art; it matches up and makes sense to me. Hopefully, you all find things in your relationships, work, and in life to make every day fun too, whatever they may be.

Thanks for reading friends, I’ll be back soon with more content.

Artists I can't get enough of: February 2019

2/28/19

3:44 PM

While I try my best to listen to a wide variety of new music across various genres, there are definitely songs and artists that I find myself favoring more often. And within those favorites, lies a handful of artists that have found a place in my heart with only a few projects out. I’m patiently waiting on releases from them and here’s a short list of artists that I’ve been hoping to see some more songs from soon. …Real soon.

Sunday Moon

The first thing that comes to my head when I think about this topic— Sunday Moon. One of my current absolute favorites with only five songs, which is pretty crazy because in the past year that I’ve been following them, they’ve released three out of those five songs. With that said, it’s a super nice feeling when they do release a single because it adds to the mystery and the completion of their sound profile. Comprised of two or three persons, singer Sarah Lee and the group brings a nice air of a peaceful, yet melancholy mood, and paired with Sarah’s enticing voice, it’s really nice, check them out, forreal.

Listen to Sunday Moon

Chance The Rapper

Chancellor Bennet, better known as Chance (the Rapper,) has been relatively quiet since his 2016 Grammy award winning album Coloring Book. Other than a handful of features and a couple of glimpses into what possibly seem like singles to his upcoming album Good Ass Job— which has yet to be confirmed— Mr. Bennet has stayed low-key in the music scene. The reason being that the young Chicago independent rapper has claimed to take a break from music and society to read his Bible, and as controversial as the topic is, it’s definitely admirable of him to do so, making sure he still has his personal values and priorities concrete.

Go Chance.

Listen to Chance the Rapper

Samm Henshaw

Has a sound quite similar to Chance who was listed above, but with more choral and singing elements involved. Spanning his discography for a little over two years, the young Londoner still manages to impress with fun and outgoing music that seems cleverly cheerful. Samm has also been working with a range of interesting artists such as EARTHGANG and a few DJ’s and such. Some of them seem like unlikely features, but surprisingly, Samm blends with them effectively; showing that his music is capable of adapting and evolving. His music is really feel-good, and fits well for a late afternoon cruise on the road.

Listen to Samm Henshaw

Bruno Major

I feel like British artists are blowing up in the music scene recently, and I can always back that statement up with artists like Bruno Major, Tom Misch, Lianne La Havas, and a myriad of others.

Acoustic R&B singer-songwriter Bruno Major has begun to release music again after his acclaimed album, A Song For Every Moon. Additionally, while working on a possible new project, Bruno has also announced his North American tour, (which he weaved Texas altogether) and although not much is confirmed on upcoming releases, its definitely something to hope for. Come to Dallas plz bruno.

Listen to Bruno Major

Daniel Caesar

Pretty self explanatory, I’m dying to see what Daniel Caesar’s music will be like after being influenced by his rising popularity and successes. No news of upcoming content or activities, Caesar plays the silence in staying relatively stealthy in his agendas. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see what Daniel Caesar has in store following his brilliant breakout album Freudian.

Listen to Daniel Caesar

Village: Jacob Banks

2/21/19

6:06 PM

I actually only found Jacob Banks because I won some free concert tickets, a day before the concert, so I had to rush listen to his material, but I’m really glad I did.

It’s cool to see how music makes a way into my life without me even realizing.

-

At first listen, Jacob’s voice was reminiscent of a more raw and rougher tone of John Legend’s voice and musical style. The gospel and R&B genre that utilizes electronic components seem familiar, but in a way that isn’t overdone or excessive; the repetitive nature of his music would seem tiring or too duplicated, but instead has a way of being easy to take in and delivers the intent of his writing to the listener thoroughly.

Sincere and reflective— Jacob Bank’s Village seems to take from the many experiences of the multi-ethnical (Jacob was born in Nigeria, but grew up in Britain) 27-year-old singer’s life and condenses them into an album which paces the listener through recollections, hopes, and heartbreaks. Recently, I’ve begun to appreciate simplicity within lyrics a great deal and hence I feel like that’s a large factor of why I’m drawn to Jacob’s music— it’s simple yet, contains an intricate thought that’s expressed in a unique sense every so often that makes you lost in wonder to keep you listening.My personal favorite is “Peace of Mind,” that ends with a snippet of bonus track: “Pilot,” both of which seem minimalistic, quiet and straightforward, directly driving the emotions.

He’s pretty good live too, catch his concerts if you get the chance.

Listen to the album below:

Village

Being So Normal: Peach Pit

2/7/19

3:11 PM

Shoutout to my good friend J. Lewis for putting me on to this album, heh.

Every so often I change my paradigms for musical preferences, and it seems like I’m in the  indie/alt/rock mood this season. Having stated such, I feel like Peach Pit’s Being So Normal  has definitely contributed a good amount to that.

This album reminded me a lot of some older indie rock from some years back while utilizing the musical advancements made throughout the years to maintain contemporary qualities in their sound. The calming voice of Neil Smith is accompanied by conventional drum beats and bass lines that the band builds on, but the real fun starts with the not-completely-somber electric guitar tones. Peach Pit was unique for me in the sense that I usually find vocalists to be one of the most drawing pieces of a band, but the sound of the lead guitar rings real goooood and I felt that it was the main attraction for the listeners, and they capitalize on that very cleverly, emphasizing the riffs, licks, and solos with volume and accent.

The album itself and the band’s sound feels paradoxically deconstructed— while you can pick apart each instrument and focus on one part, the whole band feels orchestrated into a compound mixture to create an atmosphere of cacophonous harmony. The track listing to the band’s first LP  starts out in a more moving pace, and slows down a little after the halfway mark and finishes on some nice slow jams, which was really nice and traditional; as the album plays on, I felt like I was in a 90’s dance party that you see on TV.

-

The lyrics feel like those teenage struggles, the guitar solos  inspire some really really light head banging, and Neil’s voice is nice and easy to sing along to, making this album feel like a classic that you can coast up the highway to.

It’s nice.

Listen to the album below:

Being So Normal

Prospekt's March: Coldplay

1/22/19

3:56 PM

Really never thought that I’d write a post about Coldplay, but here’s a lesser work from them that a good number of people don’t know about, probably.

Prospekt’s March is an EP that comes a few months after Coldplay’s fourth studio album— Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. In what seems to be a continuation and an elaboration of the album apropos of life, war, and the aftermath of the two, Prospekt’s March includes songs that sound familiar from previous records as well as songs yet unheard; From the cover artwork to the full and exciting orchestral sound that the EP produces, many similarities can be found and related back to Viva la Vida, and to no one’s surprise, as the artists have stated that any one of the songs in Prospekt’s March could have been included in the studio album. However, the interesting aspect of this EP is that even the songs that come from Viva la Vida are tempered with a little bit to be fresh to the listener.

Akin to its studio album correlative, Prospekt’s March deals closely with the themes of life and death. Written and inspired during a time of war in the world, many of the songs jump thematically between life to death, back to life, into the idea of heaven and eternity. Prospekt’s March and Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends both are a celebration of life, as well as a reminder that death is around us always. The transition from each track is noticeably distinct as to characterize the tempestuous nature of the human life. The usage of subtle symbolism and metaphors made this EP really intriguing to research, finding more meaning in the writing and understanding words and symbols were probably what made this record worth the while to listen to/ write about for me personally.

One of the most interesting aspects of this album is the line “Now my feet won’t touch the ground.” Like most of the album, context is so very important to decipher the meaning behind these words, the fluidity of this line is seen throughout the work and can be taken interchangeably— from the author having been liberated from gravity and heading upward towards heaven, to the mystery of having control over one’s footsteps taken away, and even to the idea of death and not belonging to the earth. All of these thoughts and questions add to the enigma of life to which the listener is left to question, “What is life and where am I going?”

After traveling the world, seeing so much, and becoming observers, Coldplay answers our question. In form of song, where we are all asking ripples in the water for answers and guidance, they answer—

“Son, don’t ask

Neither half full nor empty

Is your glass

Cling to the mast

Spend your whole life living

In the past

Going nowhere fast”

-

“And what are we drinking when we’re done?

Glasses of water”

Listen to the album below:

Prospekt’s March