A&E

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

The MarqueTTe Tribune Arts & eNtertAiNmeNt

Page 8

Music of midterms: students’ favorites for studying

Songs include ‘Pluto Projector,’ ‘MerryGo-Round of Life’

By Izzy Fonfara Drewel

isabella.fonfaradrewel@marquette.edu

Midterms are upon us. Every nook and cranny of the library is packed with students studying, reviewing and praying for a good grade. With every study space on campus completely full, it can be difficult to focus and block out the noise.

A lot of people listen to music to block out the noise, including myself. However, when I’m studying there are certain songs I try to avoid, such as music with words because I will, without a doubt, begin singing and no one needs to hear that.

Some people prefer songs with words because they feel like it blocks out the world better, and others don’t even listen to music. But for those who do, I am on a mission to create an ultimate study playlist for the week of midterms.

Minecraft Soundtrack- Literally any song from the original Minecraft album, “Minecraft, Volume Alpha,” but I included “Mice On Venus” and “Minecraft.” This whole album hits me with the nostalgia factor, and it just helps me get into the zone when I’m working. I listen to this soundtrack so much that it normally ends up in my Spotify Wrapped at the end of the year. Video game and movie soundtracks can be great to listen to while doing homework because they are designed to keep you focused and engaged.

Pluto Projector- Tabitha Czarnecki, a first-year student in the College of Education, recommends this song because of its chill vibes.

Tongues & Teeth- This song from The Crane Wives comes from Mary Oates, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, who explains that she likes the instrumentals of the songs, along with the voices of the singers. Oates also mentioned that the folk-type feel of the song makes her nostalgic for another life she hasn’t lived.

While these are only a few of the songs on the Marquette University Radio playlist, there are plenty more where they came from. Ranging from French pop to video game music to folkrock, there is a wide spectrum of songs to listen to while you try to memorize every little fact

The next time you curl up to read about cell transportation or review the intricacies of stock markets, remember to turn on the top studying tunes of Marquette’s students.

“I know it well enough where I can focus more on homework than the actual lyrics but it’s not so crazy of a song that it distracts

me,” Czarnecki said.

This song was released in 2019 by English singer Rex Orange County. The artist also has a new album coming out on March 11 called “Who Cares?” which will hopefully feature more studying tunes.

Merry-Go-Round of Life- This classical piece from the 2004 animated film “Howl’s Moving Castle” allows me to romanticize my own life while still completing my homework. Additionally, a recent study found that students who listen to classical music while studying occasionally perform better on exams. (Shiki no Uta)- The title roughly translates to “Song of Four Seasons,” and is sung by Japanese artist Minmi. This suggestion comes from Ethan Masarik, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, who said that he listens to Minmi because she sings in Japanese, which keeps him from being distracted by the lyrics.

“I know it well enough where I can focus more on homework than the actual lyrics...

TABITHA CZARNECKI

First-year in the College of Education

Kim’s Land of Unread Stories: ‘Unnatural Magic’

C.M. Waggoner’s debut fantasy novel is for beginners

By Kim Cook

kimberly.cook@marquette.edu

Sixteen-year-old Onna is the brightest student in her class and is able to write the parameters of spell faster that any of the sound men her age. Despite her profound abilities and willingness to learn, she is denied admission to the top magical university in the country and is sent back home to accept the life of provinciality waiting for her. Stubborn and determined, Onna instead fixes her eyes on the city of Hexos and soon finds herself engrossed in solving the murders of four trolls.

Tsira is a half-troll that never really fits into the mold that her clan leader mother had for her. Now out on her own and away from her clan, she hopes to make a life for herself in the human world. That is, until she finds a half-dead human soldier in the wilderness. Over time, an unlikely partnership grows between them, their bond being tested when an attempt is made on Tsira’s life.

Unknowingly, Tsira and Onna end up on the same trail to finding the murderer loose in the city before the fate on their home is put in jeopardy.

Rating and Review:

This book has been sitting on my TBR (to be read) list for about a year and a half now. Before I opened it, I was pretty sure that I was going to love it because it had magic and mystery — two of my favorite things in a novel. And while the premise of the story and the alternating perspectives of the novel were something that I was looking forward to, the book as a whole ended up being a little flat for my liking.

Don’t get me wrong, C.M. Waggoner’s world building and character development were strong, especially with this being her debut novel, but her concentration on building the characters and giving them dialogue together distracted her from the plot of the novel. Because of this, the ending that was almost entirely predictable and jam packed into the last 20-orso pages of the book.

The three main perspectives in this novel confused me at first, but eventually I got used to the scheme in which Waggoner was rotating. The first character I met, Onna, is a teenage girl that is too bright for her age and excels in academic magic. Onna ends up being one of my favorite characters in the novel. She is insanely smart, but is also courageous in a way that I didn’t think she would be. In times throughout the novel, she didn’t even seem like a magic student, but a character who had more power and ability than they knew what to do with.

The novel’s other perspectives, Tsira and Jeckran, the soldier that Tsira saves from the brink of death, are relatively square characters in the long run that never really seem to click together as love interests. Waggoner takes a lot of time throughout the novel to build Tsira and Jeckran’s relationship and gives them a happy ending, but I would have liked to see them have a little more of a back-andforth, will they/won’t they type of relationship. They are written together from the get-go and there never seems to be any substantial tension between them.

And let’s not forget about the plot. While I usually love a good fantasy mystery novel like “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo or “These Violent Delights” by Chloe Gong, it disappoints me to say “Unnatural Magic” offers a mystery that is half-baked. There is a lack of immediacy that I think is needed to make the troll’s murders more of a dire situation and problem in the story. The idea was there for suspense and stakes, but there came a point where I was 280 pages into the 388-page book and I had no clue how Waggoner was going to tie off all of her loose ends. When I finally came to the conclusion of the book, I wasn’t surprised by the way it ended at all, I wasn’t even close to the edge of my seat.

While the novel isn’t necessarily a must-read, I would recommend “Unnatural Magic” as a beginner fantasy novel. Getting exposed to the world of magic can sometimes be a big adjustment for fiction readers, so I think this novel would give readers that are unsure about the genre something to dip their toes into. For a debut novel, Waggoner does a very nice job at world building and developing a magic scheme that is unique to the genre.

I give “Unnatural Magic” by C.M. Waggoner 3 of out 5 stars.

Photo by Kim Cook kimberly.cook@marquette.edu Kim Cook gives “Unnatural Magic” a three out of five stars.

Rashad’s Records: King Von’s posthumous album

‘What It Means to Be King’ deserves proper treatment from fans

By Rashad Alexander

rashad.alexander@marquette.edu

When his debut album “Welcome to O’Block” dropped in November 2020, I knew the ceiling was high for King Von’s future. Not only did he showcase his versatility and creative storytelling, but you can tell he was really living the life he spoke on so heavily in his music. Von was suiting up to be the next rap star out of Chicago, even dubbing himself as the new “King of Drill” at one point.

But everything changed when Von was killed in Atlanta a week after “Welcome to O’Block” dropped. It was a shock to the world considering his rising stardom at the time and the quality of music on his debut project.

Nearly a year and a half later, his posthumous album arrives, showing what should have been with the then 26-year-old.

“What It Means To Be King” continues the storytelling that Von was so well known for during his lifetime. It starts off with “Where I’m From,” where he tells the story of him learning about a close friend’s death while Von was in jail.

“How the f*** you gon’ die on us, n****? O just died, we need you. / Now I’m on the overtired on the deck with n***** I don’t even know. / And n****, I over cried, I can’t lie, I’m a gangster but that s*** hurt,” the Chicago native rhymed.

His ability to paint a picture with his lyrics was and continues to be unmatched. You can feel what he was going through and you know he was living what he rapped, something that I feel makes him different from other rappers.

One thing that can ruin a posthumous release is the inclusion of features that just don’t belong on the album. For example, Pop Smoke’s second posthumous release, “Faith,” was riddled with unnecessary features to the point where you can tell most of the songs were simply unfinished and needed additional verses.

But with WIMTBK, it had features with people who were friends with Von, rather than big name stars who never worked with him. G Herbo, 21 Savage, Fivio Foreign and his best friend Lil Durk all had features and were all associated with him during his career. The backend of the album sees smaller artists that Von was close with, like Dreezy and OMB Peezy. I liked this touch because it allowed Von’s close friends to be a part of this project, making it more like a King Von album.

Nineteen songs were picked out of the 300 tracks Von allegedly had left for his team to decide what to include on WIMTBK. It can be extremely difficult to grab the best songs without the artist’s presence, but his team definitely chose right. However, I feel like the order of the songs could have been done a little better. For example, Pop Smoke’s first posthumous album, “Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon” saw four straight love songs from tracks 13 to 16. This made the album very consistent with the track list and made it feel sectioned, rather than it being all over the place. For WIMTBK, I felt like the songs “Don’t Play That,” “My Fault” and “Hard To Trust” could definitely had been a great three track run, considering they show off the more romantic side of Von.

And the stretch from tracks three to seven where there were features definitely could have been switched up to where there was a solo Von song in there. Albums are supposed to paint a picture and the track order has to be well done in order to create that image.

The Chicago music scene is at an all time high with artists like Lil Durk, Polo G and G Herbo flourishing in their stardom. But King Von had every right to be up there with them. His musical contributions helped put Chicago drill music back on the map, and “What It Means To Be King” reminds us of what could have been one of the biggest stars out the windy city.

I rate King Von’s “What It Means To Be King” a 7 out of 10. My favorite songs were “My Fault,” “Get It Done” and “Rich Gangsta.”