No Fidelity Fall 2014 Issue 3

The NO FIDELITY Team Is: Alex Adamczyk Josie Naron Dan Bollinger Bob Otsuka Gisell Calderon Julian Palmer Francisco Castro David Pickart David DeMark Lucas Rossi A. Noah Harrison Henry Southwick Cisco Hayward Alex Tippett Matt Javaly Volpendesta Ayana Lance Sam Watson Ian Mercer Ben Wedin

Cover by Bob Otsuka

Submit Letters to the Editor to Mailbox 1146

Recycle This Magazine

Like Us On Facebook

The TABLE OF CONTENTS Is: Hayward................A Message From Our Sponsors .................................2 DeMark..................Choice Quotes from okcupid.....................................3 Staff.......................Music Reviews............................................................4 Hayward................“Why Interstellar Overdrive is Really F’ing Good”.....6 Pickart/Mercer.......Head to Head Round 6..............................................7 Mercer...................Interpol Live Review...................................................8 Castro....................A Treatise on Death Cab For Cutie............................9 Rossi......................”Hey Rosetta!”.........................................................10 Otsuka..................”It’s Videogame Music! Part 2”.................................12 DeMark................“Deerhunter: A Incoherent Fanboygasm”.................14 Hayward...............”Does Toan -> Feelz?”...............................................16 Staff......................”2014: A Musical Odyssey”......................................18 Harrison................”How Glitch Will Save Us All”...................................24 Javaly....................A Critique of Childish Gambino................................26 Wedin...................A Defense of Childish Gambino................................27 Southwick.............”Hummingbird, Part 4”.............................................28 Watson.................”Punk Rock”..............................................................29 Lance....................”Catching the Feels”.................................................30 Palmer..................”Red Pot Chili Peppers Stoner Songs”......................31 Staff......................Upcoming Shows......................................................32 Bollinger...............”7 Reasons Why Australia Is The Shiz”......................33 How do you like the cover? Do you read Japanese? I don’t.

Welcome to the last issue of Volume 2, and the final issue of NoFi14. This year we brought you joy, we brought you tears. The crew steadily builds, and we are always looking for new faces to write interesting things and tell us what we’re doing wrong. In this issue, aside from the regular mix of reviews and features, we are also sharing some of our music-related highlights of the year.

As always, this zine is made with a lot of love, and we’re hoping you read it all.

So have a terrific break. Go sledding. Go somewhere without snow. Explore lots of new music. Listen to that one older band that you’ve always heard people talk about but have never actually listened to (did you know that Marvin Gaye is really good?). Also let’s pray to Yeezus that the new Kendrick drops before New Years.

-Ben Wedin Managing Editor 1

“Christmas is just around the corner.

The turkey is cooked, my tree is decorated, but something is missing!”

We’ve all been there. The halls are decked with boughs of holly, but your house is just too quiet! At this point, if there was a creature stirring through the house, you and your inlaws would definately hear it!

Instead of listening to rodents, listen to Blow Your Horn At Christmas! This new compilation from Point Records contains over one hour of festive jazz! With over 20 tracks, Blow Your Horn At Christmas is sure to give your Christmas dinner some extra cheer.

But don’t stop there! Do you have a music lover in your family? Blow Your Horn At Christmas makes an excellent gift! Are you lonely? Music is the fruit of love, so let Blow Your Horn At Christmas color your home (and heart). With classics such as “We Wish You A Marry Christmas”, “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”, and “Auld Lang Syne”, everyone will have something they can sing along to (even Aunt Julie, and we all know how picky she is).

So what are you waiting for? For just $10.99 USD you too can add this timeless addition to your CD-R library! Just call our toll free number at 420-698-0085! You wont be dissapointed!

“Thanks to Blow Your Horn At Christmas, the slow crawl to death has been alot more tolerable.”

- Residents of Cherry Acres Retirement Home

Over one hour! Whats not to love?

“We haven’t had sex this good since the glory days of the Nelson Rockefeller vice presidency.”

-Beth and Richard Fueschkenmueller

Point Records: Your Number One Source for Family Oriented Entertainment 2

Choice Quotes from the okcupid Profiles of Users Who List brokenCYDE as an Interest “I’m a creative person that love fashion (expensive fashion)and weird/gore things. i think im deffinitly an artist in the soul, I like to paint,draw,sewing accesories, and I have my specific vision on life. People that dont like my person are people that dosent understand me, in my opinion. And thats fine, I just dont feel guilty about it.”

-Jaymi6

You should message me if: “If ur cute and Dont cause drama and nice.

And no offense to u other guys but if i don’t respond to ur message ever, then that means I’m not interested so stop trying. The way I see it, I have to be attracted to the guy. I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life with someone I’m not even attracted to. Also, I don’t like interracial stuff. I find it disgusting. Sorry” -kut21

“Im single and looking i dont know exactly what too say to make u understand me but i can be honest im not a bad person im easy to get along with andladies if u give me more than one date u will see what i mean i dont cheat or lie and am commited as much as i can so i know thats what ladies look for but they usually cant find me...” ...

What I’m doing with my life “lets just say I lost everything I thought was right and am left with everything that’s wrong.”

-brokencyde420

“I’m 19, I smoke bud, I like to be spontaneous.

The only thing I can save money for is tattoos. otherwise it burns a hole in my pocket. I’m very down to earth and I don’t judge anyone based on anything except their character.

Don’t fuck with me tho, I’m a psycho bitch if you do me wrong.”

-screenadgaf

“I just finished attending Joliet junior College, i was running the trandental meditation club in hopes of enlightening and helping other threw naturalural wholistic wellness techniques. I just got my associates in psychology there. Now I am going to governor state to finish my psychology major. to get my doctrine it will take me like 7-10 years so that’s what ill be doing for a while but i love it so much I want to be a child therapist and find alternative ways of helping kids instead of just medicating them” ...

I’m really good at: “Photography, helping others, making people feel better or just good, telling jokes, making people feel special, making people laugh, fix computers, creating new games to play or do with friends, and much more.” ... here are some favorite quotes of mine from some of my favorite movie tv shows music ect working hard or hardly working, milk milk lemonade around the corner fudge is made (family guy),Some people are just born with tragedy in their blood. Every living creature on earth dies alone, What if you could go back in time, and take all those hours of pain and darkness and replace them with something better, Do you believe in time travel, I promise, that one day, everything’s going to be better for you.i need a doctor man my arm MY FUCKIN ARM -jman32191 (pictured) 3

Music Reviews

Taylor Swift: 1989

Music critics and the music listening audience as a whole have been heralding Taylor Swift’s latest record 1989 as the moment where Taylor fully embraces pop music and emerges as a truly mature artist. Both of these are unimportant points.

2012’s Red and even 2010’s Speak Now were essentially pure pop albums (albeit pop in a distinct style) and both also exhibited about as much “maturity” (this word effectively means nothing in this context) as Taylor ever needs to have. The important questions now with 1989 are, firstly, what kind of pop is this? And then, following that, is it good pop? Taylor transitions away from her pretty interesting, mildly country influenced, rock/pop hybrids and embraces full-on snyth-pop, taking cues both from the contemporary pop landscape as well as styles from the last several decades. The answer to

the second question is just “yes.” The style works.

It’s catchy beyond belief. Every song has at least one “oh yeah this is cool” moment or element: the simplistically anthemic synths on “Welcome to New York,” the slick, cruising electric guitar lead on and simultaneously cutesy and questionable lyrics on “Style.” She drops most of her slower, acoustic laments but unless you’re my little sister you probably won’t care. The singles do what they need to do: “Out of the Woods” is kind of like Chvrches but less annoying, and just try tapping your foot along to the “sick beat” on “Shake it Off” and tell me it’s not a jam. Yeah the lyrics are pretty dumb sometimes but honestly who gives a shit. If you want well-written WORDS, go read a book. What you get here is plain-and-simple, well-written MUSIC.

-Lucas Rossi

Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels 2

Since the release of Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music in 2012, the duo of Jamie and Mike has been establishing itself as an innovating force in the rap industry and if RTJ2 is any indication, they have no plans of letting up any time soon. El-P’s production is top-notch from beginning to end, with a massive amount of variation within every track and an uncountable quantity of bone-crushing tempo changes-- the type only rappers as experienced and versatile as our jewels-running heroes can ride without getting bucked (case in point: the 2:30 mark of “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry”). Speaking of, let’s talk about the rapping on this album: holy fucking shit. Killer 4

Mike has been killin’ fools on the mic for years now and El has never been a slouch, but even experienced listeners can still be surprised by just how viciously and efficiently they lay down their screaming “fuck you” to the rest of the world. Of course, the question that inevitably hangs over the project must be addressed: does it live up to the first Run the Jewels project? It’s fucking better. I can’t listen to it in public without dancing a bit thanks to El-P’s insane production, and the wittiness and brutality of each line will follow every fuccboi to their grave.

-David DeMark

SEEDS

TVOTR

This November, indie babes TV on the Radio (TVotR) returned with their fifth studio album, Seeds, to a sea of apprehensive fans. The band spent the early ’00s honing its unique sound and, by the 2009 release Dear Science, had cemented itself as one of the most exceptional indie acts of the era. The band toed the line between lush and crushingly heavy, combining R&B sensibilities and powerful vocal performances. Yet their last release, Nine Types of Light, was, at best, a sidestep for the band. While it contained a few extremely solid numbers, it was a sign of the band settling into their sound, disappointing for a group known for pushing the envelope.

TV on the Radio shines brightest in the grooves of their murky, rhythmically unstable works. But with each subsequent release, they seem to increasingly opt for squeaky-clean production and melodic simplicity.

So where are we a decade after the release of their debut proper? Well, if they tried something new this time around, it was sounding generic. Though they preserve the horn spurts and fuzzy-ass guitar, the record is entirely too slick for me. And while TVotR has always basted its songs in electronic glaze, this one is especially EDM-heavy, and not in the ways I’d like to see.

But worst of all, the melodies are boring. Though some interesting noises lurk within, September’s single, “Happy Idiot,” left me cold. Meanwhile, “Test Pilot” could have been sung by Jack Johnson with similar effect. The highlight, “Love Stained,” provides some cragginess to cling to, but I never in my wildest dreams imagined a song like this could be a TVotR album highlight. To add insult to injury, lead singer Tunde Adebime declared the record “1,000%, without a doubt, the best thing we’ve ever done.” If anything, Seeds confirms our natural apprehensions about a band at this stage its career: they’re no longer an essential component of the art rock ecosystem.

Now, TV on the Radio tends to deliver a kind of catharsis that can only be achieved from repeated immersions, so it’s probably worth a listen. We’re talking about TV on the Radio here— it has to be pretty good. If you approach this one with the mindset that TV on the Radio owes you not a thing, you’ll probably walk away at least bobbing your head to some funky beat.

Rating: 2.5 Phil Collinss

-A. Noah Harrison 5

r

this! There’s too much pressu re ven describe t o b ca n ’ t e ep k. I re, there’s no reason to listen to radio t o ywhe h e ar er r s t e l l e r O v e rd r i v e d o e s . I t gi h at I n t e v e s is w p reative energy. I get in my z o ly) a c ne al o u n d I a m c re a t i n g . Th s a t ’ sa he ly enjoyed doing t h i s.

know. Radio has the potential to deliv

en

e

. Writing about experiencing the mom

yo u a l re a d y s g n o s

y CAN’T expect, and that ’s why e h t g n i h t e m o s e eopl h o w aw f u l I a m a n d I t TOP thinking about S I . ll there is, and maybe, just maybe, that’ You should all listen to it, but i d

eal

moment e h t n i t n e es

By Cisco

“Interstellar Overdrive.” Right now, we are running, fu o show c di co o l e r t h i n g s I ’ v e d o n e . N o w t h at “ S p o t i f y “ i s e v ch one of the w to want. That ’s what radio should be about, and that

r o v i s i n g m u s i c t h a t a w a ke n s w i t h i n m e ( o r yo u , r e

As I write this, I am currently setting up for Ian Merce r ’s it is really hard. This is like pre g n i c ra n e i r e p t x t e y mu ile h t h a g t n i t h h e t y e c a n ’ t a s k fo r o r k t w people som no r r i l l i a n t ! Th e re i s s o m e t h i n g a b o u t i m p b s ’ it what I am doing. There is t u o b a k h in ere should be. Idk. We h t l l sa w i l l h a p p e n ag ai n t i f ki

n ot h i n g e l s e b u t w h a t i a m f o c u s e d o n a n d t a re g e t t i n g re a d y to e n d s o o n . I h av e r this term.

6

Hayward

why INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE is really fucking goooooooooooood!

ROUND SIX

Head to Head

GROUPLOVE:

Spreading Rumors Ian Mercer I’m trying something new this time around: I’m not going to do any research on Grouplove. I know nothing about the band’s personality, history, instrumentation, or time period. What you are about to read is a pure description of how I feel about their album Spreading Rumors and absolutely nothing more: just the music.

Grouplove seem to have perfected the upbeat indie sound that has become so popular since the beginning of this century. Call and response vocals between singers of different sexes, rousing choruses, bright synth parts, and earnest lyrics continuously appear throughout the album’s 50-minute runtime.

The band certainly has all the ingredients that made Cut Copy or any other indie-indie act great, but I think that they lack creativity. In all honesty, the muted piano fade-in of the first 30 seconds is the best part of the album and everything is downhill from there. Nearly every single track follows the exact same formula: upbeat pop riff, big crescendo, gigantic chorus, sudden ending.

I admit that Grouplove does this formula quite well, but the simple fact that they only have this singular mode of operation is problem enough by itself. That said, there are some legitimately memorable moments in the album. For example, the perfectly executed keychange in “Hippy Hill” is clever and wonderful. Besides that, there is a good amount of studio and stereo trickery going on, making the album just sound quite pleasant.

My Verdict: Grouplove have probably tried writing quiet songs many, many times, but somehow must be unable to resist adding crescendos and soaring vocal layers to their choruses. That’s all fine and good: they just have to make it more interesting! In the end, Grouplove sounds pretty and is moderately exciting, but they are also repetitive and mostly just forgettable.

David Pickart It seems like it was just yesterday that everyone was humming along to “Tongue Tied,” the outrageously catchy single that earned Grouplove a place in our hearts and party playlists back in 2012. Although the band’s rapid rise to success made them prime candidates for an equally swift plunge back into obscurity, their excellent sophomore album Spreading Rumours has since put an end to any doubts about the band’s staying power.

From front to back, Spreading Rumours is packed with the sort of raucous pop-rock anthems that blur the lines between youthful energy and outright silliness. As their name might suggest, a lot of Grouplove’s music sounds almost orgiastic in nature, with boisterous yells and excited crescendos dispersed liberally throughout.

The band’s constant need to turn things up to eleven does get exhausting at times; for instance, the chorus of “Shark Attack” may fill listeners with a desire to smother the lead singer until he stops yelping. However, the band generally provides enough dynamic contrast within tracks to keep the listener engaged.

To me, Grouplove’s standout feature is their ability to balance catchiness with variety. From folk-like harmonies and Pixies-inspired guitar to hip-hop beats and the occasional pounding synth, the band owes its lively sound to an impressive number of influences, and the result is often pleasantly unpredictable. The band’s willingness to explore new directions on this album, along with a fondness for odd song structure and rhythmic trickery, saves them from being dismissed as another bit of pleasant background noise.

My Verdict: You have to be in the right mood to listen to Grouplove- each song is unabashedly exuberant and about as subtle as a piano falling down a flight of stairs. However, in terms of being consistently enjoyable without lapsing into a standard formula, Spreading Rumours truly delivers.

7

“Stella was a Diver and She was Always Down” was the first song that I ever loved. I promise that the rest of this review is way less melodramatic than that first sentence, I just had to get all of the drama out of the way at once.

Back in seventh grade, I Google image searched “Interpol Live” and found a fantastic photo of Paul Banks, back-lit in a cold blue hue while performing “Untitled.” The image had a profound effect on me, resulting in Interpol being the very first entry on my “Essential-Bands-To-See-Live” list. It’s been more than six years in the making, but I finally got around to crossing them off last night (11/14/2014).

In terms of today’s active bands that use the standard guitar/guitar/keys/drums instrumentation, Interpol is peerless. There are no vocal or guitar effects. There are no crazy synths or weird loops. There’s no time signature trickery or extensive vocal harmony. Everything that Interpol does is limited to the relationships between their instruments at their most basic levels. That’s what makes the greatness of the show all the more impressive: they utilize every simple element to it’s fullest.

The live show perfectly reflected the bands extensive dynamic range in the studio, stretching all the way from “Say Hello to the Angel’s” crunchy-ass bass riffs to “Untitled’s” supreme serenity. The lights were no less fantastic. Even though it was a little corny, I won’t lie: when the white spotlights emitted at full blast when Paul sang “It’s up to me now / Turn on the bright lights” during “NYC,” I nearly melted.

The new material from El Pintor held up well in a live setting, performing a bit better than it does on the record. Of course, the real highlights were found amongst the older material, of which Interpol certainly delivered. The setlist ran like an “Ian Mercer’s Favorite Interpol Songs” compilation: “Stella,” “PDA,” “NYC,” “Slow Hands,” “C’mere,” “Say Hello to the Angels,” “Evil,” “Hands Away,” and “Untitled” were all performed (the last one was especially fantastic, considering how rarely it is performed).

All in all, the set was flawless. “Untitled” transitioning into “PDA” was the musical highlight of my year.

Score: 16 out of 16 Knives

DEATHCAB FOR CUTIE IS A FANTASTIC BAND AND SHOULD NOT BE THAT ONE GROUP YOU ONLY LISTENED TO IN NINTH GRADE by FRANCISCO CASTRO I think it is fair to say that there are different artists/albums and/or even songs that perfectly characterize a particular period of time and place in your life. In this way, music places us in spatial and chronological atmosphere that we more or less embrace. Deathcab For Cutie does exactly that for me. I’ll be the first to say that these opinions are full of bias because they derive from said atmosphere that I just described. However, if music does not create the tension of such bias, then did you really enjoy it?

Benjamin Gibbard is at most a poet and at least a musician (not that they’re particularly mutually exclusive but that’s another conversation). Transatlanticism, inarguably their breakout album, introduced us to this small rock band from Washington. The album is solid from beginning to end. Gibbard really knows how to create narratives out of personified objects, mostly dealing with the classic sappiness of heartbreak and long distance relationships.

Especially in Transatlanticism, the writing is very focused, Whether he was wishing to travel by folding a map in “The New Year”, or remembering fading tail lights in “Title and Registration,” Gibbard channeled the band’s melancholy into one main idea: the tragic implications of separation.

Take for example my personal favorite, Plans. “Summer Skin,” is the perfect example of summer love ending.

“What Sara Said”, shows lives being lost in the saddest places in the world: hospitals. “Crooked Teeth” is a fun rock song; speed and alcohol fueled silliness.

I think it’s worth noting that Deathcab is quintessential for sappy, angst-filled pitty parties. “Brothers on a Hotel Bed” will forever make you wonder why it never worked out with that significant other. Or if adulthood is slowly hitting you and you’re convinced true love is a social construct, “Your New Twin Sized Bed” will get you all up in your feels. And maybe after all the snot and teary eyes, you can jam to “Portable Television” or “President of What.”

Additionally, you (yeah you) would be lying if you said that you can’t relate to “Scientist Studies,” because come on… “Cold skin and bones in this latitude / Promises of payments upon your shoulders / These four years were meant to be more than broken hearts and new addictions.”

This song, describing Gibbard’s college experience, more than likely describe yours as well.

In any case, Deathcab For Cutie has introduced me to so many places, narratives, and characters in a way that not many bands have. Much of their work is highly conceptual, charged with figurative language aimed directly at your feels. Even Chris Walla, former guitarist, talked in an interview about how there were some songs written by Gibbard that he simply had no idea what they were about.

And he’s okay with it! For the longest time I was on this quest to crack down the absolute meaning of every single lyric, but Deathcab’s air of mystery embedded within their work has its own beauty to it: a degree of mystery that I’ve come to embrace.

Also, everyone get excited because it has been confirmed that DcFC is definitely planning on releasing their new album in less than a year. #tybdcfc

HEY ROSETTA! SECOND SIGHT: THOUGHTS+SCORE

by Lucas Rossi

In the early 2000s Canada was a goldmine for fans of alternative music, spawning giants in several genres; most notably underground favorites post-rock (GY!BE) and indie rock (Arcade Fire). Hey Rosetta!, a smaller Canadian project in that vein, play that celebrated, prototypical brand of indie rock, unabashedly earnest and decidedly serious, that when done well spawns genre classics (records by Arcade Fire, Frightened Rabbit. and the like) and when done poorly fully embraces the descriptor “vanilla,” making all other indie music look bad by association. Hey Rosetta!, fortunately, lean toward the former and have built a career in the genre that culminated in 2011 with a borderline genre classic, Seeds.

The band differentiate themselves from the other great acts that came before them with a few stylistic choices, most notably a clean, radio-friendly sheen and a measure of orchestrated bombast and flourish (incorporating lots of piano/horns/strings/ etc), almost like if Coldplay made indie music (well, if Coldplay made indie music that was actually good). They sprinkle in a moderate amount of Paul Simon-esque worldbeat/ afrobeat/(whatever other culturally problematic and musically unhelpful label you want

to use) elements that other indie bands have flirted with to some success (Dracula Saturdaysunday). All these things came together perfectly on Seeds, one of the best indie rock albums ever (in my estimation) and an album that could have almost been a big mainstream hit.

Naturally, then, I was excited to hear this year’s follow-up, Second Sight. And I did hear it. A lot. I’ve listened through this record several times, after each time realizing I had hardly even heard anything in the course of its runtime. After just a few plays I could only really think of one thing to call the album: inoffensively pleasant. This isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, and I think the album deserves a bit more than that given that the band clearly made a solid effort.

The instrumentation is technically sound and the songs are decently varied in terms of sound. Front man Tim Baker’s vocals are pretty on point as always: distinctive, emotive, and striking just the right balance between clean, controlled tenderness and bursting, unrestrained outpour. The band are doing what they’re good at, and they just know how to make enjoyable indie music.

10

Because all the requisite elements are there, Second Sight at least has some 100% guaranteed made-to-order indie rock jams.

The “we-wrote-this-last-because-we-needed-a-pop-song” lead single “Kintsukuroi” (the Japanese practice of “fixing bowls by making them look hella cool,” or kintsugi, is evidently a theme of the album) is a catchy, buoyantly uplifting exercise in shimmering synths and shiny guitar lines, and is overall just a joy to listen to. “Neon Beyond” is probably one of the group’s best songs, pushing those Paul Simon rhythms and playful backing synths to their breaking point before exploding into glorious, headbanging climaxes of pure rock goodness (the drum fills are so tight).

I still can’t quite put my finger on why every track doesn’t succeed like these two do. Maybe it’s simple missteps in composition; there just aren’t enough compelling melodies. Maybe it’s the inclusion of a few too many moments of indulgent, samey indie nonsense. Maybe it’s the way the horns and strings sometimes fall too far away from the thrust of the sound. When they succeed you get other highlights like “Harriet,” which opens with bouncing-yet-weighty piano strokes and blossoms into a really cool and infectious interplay between lead guitar

and orchestration over which Baker croons lines like “They don’t know you, not like I do,” words guaranteed to pull at the heart strings of anyone belting them out alone in their bedroom. When tracks stick out this much, however, you have to wonder what’s going on with the other things they’re sticking out from.

100% Guaranteed Made-to-Order Indie Rock Jams I can’t help but recommend this record in spite of my mild disappointment with the product as a whole. Great indie rock doesn’t come around as much as it used to, and you will get a decent amount of that here. Still, even if you like what you hear, you would probably be better served exploring the rest of their discography. Even the best tracks on this don’t rival emotional heavy-hitters like “Welcome” or “Yer Fall” from Seeds; the band can simply do better. Enjoy this release for what it is, but keep an eye on the band. They have so much potential to do even more.

OUT OF FIVE

11

In the last issue of No Fidelity I outlined a list of killer video game soundtracks that are so strong they can stand as their own albums, independent from the games they came from. In the process of writing it, I had come up with several games, most of which weren’t able to make it to the final article for space reasons. I still really wanted to write about some of them, so I decided to anyway. The following soundtracks are three of the strongest albums that didn’t make the first cut, but by no means are they any less worthy of your attention.

Jim Guthrie is a Montreal-based musician most famous for scoring critically accaimed iPad game Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP and widely well-received documentary Indie Game: The Movie.

But fuck that shit, despite being just under a modest 15 minutes long, Corporeal is far and away the best work that Guthrie has ever done.

Corporeal hails from 2012’s Playstation Network game Sound Shapes, an innovative platforming game in which every aspect of each level’s soundtrack corresponds to a different obstacle, enemy, or piece of scenery. Coins add loops and notes to the soundtrack as you collect them, making every playthrough an interesting, interactive way to experience the game’s music. Guthrie designed these sounds with this mechanic specifically in mind, but Corporeal more than holds its own as a static, pre-recorded album.

Corporeal is a 4-track concept EP “exploring how music can free us from the corporate machine… if it doesn’t crush us first.” Indeed, upon starting it up, we’re greeted with mundane and mechanical marimba-like synths, heavy, industrial drum patterns,

and brooding spy-movie guitar riffs in “Personnel” appropriately oppressive, but certainly the grooviest oppression I’ve ever heard. “Research and Development” and “Purgatory” pick up the pace by bringing in jazzier, downtempo and hip-hop tinged drum loops and darker, heavier synth bass lines, with wispy, almost mournful leads before the EP comes full circle in “Event Horizon.” Beginning with a synth riff from the previous track, Guthrie slowly builds on themes and riffs from the previous two tracks, bringing back the bass and synth stabs from “Research and Development” and drums inspired by “Purgatory.” About halfway through, the distinctive sound of the kick (seriously the drum programming and production on this is rad as hell) from “Personnel” returns, before that delicious spy guitar and thick bass progression explode back into the mix in what is honestly probably one of the most musically satisfying moments I’ve heard on any album—familiar enough to be recognizable, but mixed up enough to not sound lazy. Corporeal might just be an EP length-wise, but its unique brand of trip-hop is definitely not to be missed.

Those familiar with the series may scoff at my choice here - after all, the next game in the Sim City franchise, Sim City 4, is widely regarded as the best in the series in every regard, including music. I mean, come on, Sim City 4 has a full orchestra! What does 3000 have? Some shitty synth strings?

While it is true that all of the instruments on 12

the Sim City 3000 soundtrack, including the “real” ones, are all actually synthesized, it is this fact that I believe actually makes its soundtrack CD even more worth your time. All it takes is one listen to “Magic City” - a beautiful orchestral arrangement featuring a pulsing, almost Philip Glass-esque bed of strings underneath a plaintive woodwind section - to complete-

ly forget that holy shit you mean these aren’t real instruments?? And then there’s the jazz numbers at the end of the album, with cool (as in, opposed to “hot”) jams like “South Bridge” and “Updown Town.” Yeah, the groovy walking bass lines and Brubeck-y piano riffs are catchy as all hell, but where they really shine is in the solos - seriously, you’re never going to convince me that the 5/4 piano comping and quick grace notes and fast runs in the trumpet solo on “Central Park Sunday” were not played by a real live person - that kind of technical skill and human emotion just can’t be emulated by a computer, can it? But it clearly can, as Jerry Martin proves, making Sim City 3000’s soundtrack a true testament to the marvels of modern musical synthesis technology and Martin’s ability to create such convincing sounds with it - arguably a

skill rivaling actually playing them on real instruments in the first place.

Impressiveness of the synths aside, Sim City 3000’s soundtrack is of course, full of just really good music. It’s an eclectic blend of ambient synthesizer pieces in the vein of early Moby and maybe a more subdued Squarepusher, late Philip Glass and Steve Reich-esque minimalist pieces, and some slick cool jazz and broadway instrumentals to round off the whole “city” theme. Jerry Martin clearly knows what he’s doing waith that fancy midi keyboard of his, and as long as you don’t mind that none of the instruments are real, any discerning jazz and/or minimalist music fan definitely won’t be disappointed with this one. Oh and the electronic numbers are cool too, I guess.

Minecraft has taken the world by storm in the string sections under simple, bell-piano themes. Like years that it’s been out, and if you haven’t heard of it Sim City 3000, Minecraft’s soundtrack makes extenby now I’ll assume you’re not actually reading this be- sive use of synthesized instruments as well - however cause you’ve been living under an actual rock for the here the beauty lies in the way poorly compressed past five years. The game is constantly lauded for its samples get that wonderfully hissy, muffled sound, seemingly limitless creative potential, but the amount almost deliberately calling attention to its synthetic of creative input that went into the game should not nature. This lets the “real” instruments mesh betbe ignored either. Minecraft’s simple low-res textures ter with more upbeat, chiptune-influenced pieces, and blocky graphics are iconic and charmingly pretty, such as “Cat,” while still allowing them to, with the and its music is nothing short of beautiful. Minecraft is right amount of reverb, maintain an element of elall about creation and immersion, and its soundtrack egant, gorgeous beauty on “orchestral” tracks like follows suit, washing over you with calm, swirling “Sweden.” In this way the “real” instruments almost synth pads and melodies that walk a beautiful line become completely new instruments, using their rebetween repetitive and simply complex, such as on al-world counterparts as jumping-off points for new tracks like “Oxygène” and “Équinoxe.” Simple addi- sounds.

While Volume Alpha is missing a few of my fational flourishes in the lead lines and additional layers of voices make it quite similar to Brian Eno’s ambient vorite tracks from the game (Volume Beta has already works, each piece feeling seemingly endless, perfect come out and is apparently even better), it is by far ambience while still remaining interesting enough one of the strongest arguments I’ve ever been able to completely captivate a listener’s attention, should to find for the legitimacy of music in video games, and the closest I’ve ever gotten to a soundtrack that they choose to.

Electronic elements aside, the soundtrack also could truly stand alone as an independent album. Sehas a large number of “classical” pieces as well, like riously, the only reason I would have ever guessed the absolutely gorgeous “Mice on Venus,” which fea- this was from a video game is because of the title. tures a sparse, almost hauntingly bittersweet piano Please do yourself a favor and check out Volume Almelody, played once through clean before being pha (and Volume Beta, too, I have no doubt it’s just joined with just the right amount of synthesized bass, as fantastic) if you haven’t already. It’ll be a great way bubbly synth arps, and warm flute flourishes. Others, to keep yourself relaxed through finals and it makes a like the titular “Minecraft” are deeper in their clas- wonderful wintertime soundtrack.

13 sical roots, opting for lush layers of sustained synth

Deerhunter: An Incoherent Fanboygasm

By David Demark

The date is March 2nd, 2012. I’m seventeen years old. Atlas Sound, the moniker under which Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox performs and records his solo work, is booked to play a show at the Cedar Cultural Center. I go, dragging with me a friend who’s been to, at most, one or two other concerts. After some forgettable opening band and future Deerhunter member Frankie Broyles play their opening sets, Bradford comes on in all black sporting a ski mask. He plays selections from his recent release Parallax for about an hour until a heckler’s words push him over the line. Someone from the crowd yelled “Play ‘My Sharona,’” resulting in the strangest hour of live music my friend and I have ever experienced.

Bradford’s hour-long rendition of “My Sharona” revolutionized my conception of what forms punk could take. This was a rebellion against society itself, an act of complete independence from all external pressures while still succumbing to them. Moreover, it was the Most-Deerhunter-Fucking-Thing I’ve ever seen. The following is an (ultimately silly) attempt to determine the “Deerhunter-ness” of each major Deerhunter project (rules: must have been released physically at some point. Must have been recorded in-studio, not a live recording. I remembered to include it) on a scale from one to five sharonas, accompanied by some writing summing up my feelings on it. [NOTE: this is all totally subjective and at best debatably serious I’m sorry I didn’t give proper justice to your favorite Deerhunter album don’t write about me in the CLAP].

Unrequited Narcissist (2005) where am i? i don’t remember going out tonight but here i am what drugs am i on? this doesnt feel like any drug i know should i be dancing? i don’t remember how. should I be meditating? can you dance and meditate at the same time? the voice my head the beat the VOICE MY HEAD (the beat) the voice my head the VOice my drink sex night endless move morning gears loop simultaneous loop sleep eyes open touch sleep i can never go home drifting... drifting FUZE Orange Blossom White Tea huh? jesus how long can this go on i think i’ve been here all my life 3 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Turn It Up, Faggot (2005) Despite how thoroughly the band may have disowned this record, I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it. You can feel what would become Cryptograms poking out through the fuzz, but what’s missing is the subtlety with which Deerhunter would come to treat their music with. A key part of “Deerhunter-ness” (which I guess I’m defining as I go) is existing within some framework to subvert, and the abrasiveness for abrasiveness’ sake of Turn it Up, Faggot misses that element. Not a bad album by any means, but clearly the work of a band that had yet to find its voice. Bradford’s early leaning towards hypnotic repetitiveness comes out so strongly it washes everything else out. Turning every knob to 10 is not a way to make a coherent statement 2 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Cryptograms (2007) The first “real” Deerhunter project and the first to feature guitarist/singer Lockett Pundt, Cryptograms continues down the path of hypnotic psychedelia with far more interesting results. Themes of painful nostalgia overwhelm, a feeling that Bradford often goes back to in his later work. The band’s pop sensitivities are not yet fully developed, but as they play with a cleaner sound, they become more relatable and thus more potent in their ability to break our expectations. Probably my least favorite “real” Deerhunter LP, but definitely Deerhunter-y in its own way.

3.5 SHARONAS OUT OF 5

14

Fluorescent Gray EP (2007) Is Lockett the one in the band with the best pop songwriting chops? Judging by the direction the band went in post-Turn it Up it really seems that way. More of the Cryptograms aesthetic, with one secretly astounding song (“Like New”) thrown in.

I was sixteen, I was sixteen, I was sixteen, I was sixteen, I was sixteen.

3.5 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Microcastle (2008) A fairly radical departure from Cryptograms, Microcastle sees Deerhunter settling into a sound they would expand on for the next few years. Songwriting matches intent and energy as a strength, allowing the band to finally challenge the pop mindset from the inside. While songs like “Nothing Ever Happened” do show the old abrasive punk spirit, the only hit against the Deerhunter-ness of Microcastle is that it plays just a bit on the safe side. Ultimately one of Deerhunter’s best albums, but not quite there in terms of finding the rebellion that the band would come to represent.

3.5 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Weird Era Cont. (2008) Honestly, pretty much all the criticisms and strengths from Microcastle more or less translate. While the sound is very much different, Weird Era Cont. doesn’t do much to challenge or push the listener that their earlier work doesn’t do already. What makes the difference in Sharona-rating from Microcastle is how fucking raw it is. The album was thrown together in a handful of months after Bradford accidentally leaked Microcastle to the public, and a lot of it has a hazy demo-like feeling. Nostalgia is invoked time and time again as a device to communicate the angst underlying. The results are beautiful.

4 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Rainwater Cassette Exchange (2009) The beginning of Deerhunter hitting what I would believe to be their “stride.” Finally, they did what they were leaning towards on every song on Microcastle and Weird Era Cont. and fully realized the aesthetic of the sixties as imagined by someone who was born long after the sixties were over. Bradford’s dripping sexuality on “Game of Diamonds” hints at the direction they’ll take in Halcyon Digest. Sonically, no massively new adventures, but the subjective “feel” of the album is far more gotten across than in further works. A window into what’s to come.

4.5 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Halcyon Digest (2010) The first Deerhunter album I listened to, this one will always be emotionally resonant. Sonically, they take an extremely gentle, layered approach. How can that be punk, you ask? My answer: tension and ambiguity. The only thing more challenging to the American public than sexlessness is nondirectional sexuality, and Bradford’s sexuality caresses you from start to finish.

This is something that it would be useless to try to express in words - just listen to the fucking album. Intimately relatable, it becomes you and breaks you.

5 SHARONAS OUT OF 5 Monomania (2013) The sexuality of “T.H.M.” The pop brilliance of “Sleepwalking.” The longing of “Nitebike.” The utter destruction of “Monomania.” To quote something Cisco wrote in another issue of NoFi, this album is punk. There’s nothing else I can say about it.

DEERHUNTER SCALE OUT OF ORDER

All Artwork by Ben Wedin

15

Does toan imply feelz?

An explorative discussion with Cisco Hayward Does the emotional conviction of a song forgive its technical flaws? In many minds, this question is an obvious “duh” and deserves no further discussion.

Many people will be quick to defend an attack on their musical tastes with a call to emotional capacity. “No man, I listen to REAL music with FEELING! My music doesn’t need to have super-fast guitar solos or good production because it SPEAKS to MY HEART.” It’s a pretty well established perspective that emotional content can forgive technical inability. Whether or not this is “valid” is a fruitless debate in many ways because nobody actually cares about whether or not you listen to better music than they do. People think that their musical taste is the best and that everyone else is stupid. Very few people try to actively “expand” their taste, and very few people are

“...when someone displays no emotion whatsoever, that scares us.”

16

willing to accept the fact that they enjoy objectively bad music (and that there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT). Thus, the conversation of whether or not feeling should forgive technical flaws is a Sysiphusian task that is not the point of this essay.

That said, the issue (whatever it is) is easier to attack from the other side. Does a lack of emotional energy make a song bad? This is a much more interesting debate because people don’t really think about it. Why is that?

Even though we all have emotional vulnerabilities (and we all fucking know it), when someone reveals too much of their emotions, we interpret it as a sign of weakness. However, when someone displays no emotion whatsoever, that scares us.

The notion that music should be “free” from emotional constructs is not a new idea, but it’s also not a wellknown idea outside of academic circles.

In its simplest explanation, the term “absolute music” refers to music that is not about anything. It is music that is free from all “extra-musical” connotations (according to the Wikipedia page). A musical absolutist would argue that music should be thought of purely as sound, and that if you have to justify the goodness of a song by the quality of its non-musical elements, then it is not a good song. Basically, musical absolutists are big fans of instrumental music and like it a lot.

“In its simplest explanation, ‘absolute music’ refers to music that is not about anything.”

But if you stop and think about it, what does it really mean to appreciate something as sound and sound alone?

The actual meaning of words is only one of many “extra-musical” actors that color our perception of a song. The cuteness of the band members, our perception of our own musical tastes, whether or not our friends like it, etc., effect what we think of a song, because they effect what hearing the song reminds us of. The brain works by associative memory, and if we associate a song with a particular person, then when we hear that song, we think of that person, and that affects what we think of the song.

But we don’t just stop at people.

Sounds can remind us of cars, movies, our sweet 16, ANYTHING! So if hearing a sound makes us think of things, then do we enjoy the sound or the memories it triggers? Is there a difference? Some might argue this as meaning that there is no such thing as a sound without “extra-musical” connotations, because our opinion of a sound is based on our ability to relate it to things outside itself.

Thus, our enjoyment of sound is strictly determined by things that are not sound.

I don’t know enough about neuroscience to confirm that theory (nor does anyone) but one thing becomes clear. If people have certain memories, ideas, and emotions attached to a sound, that means putting certain sounds in a song can trigger those ideas and emotions within people. By combining and sequencing certain sounds together

e can tri er these ee in s in a s ecific order. By doing this, we can create in the listener a simulation of consciousness.

Furthermore, via conscientious and thoughtful manipulation of timbre, rhythm, volume, and pitch, we can create experiences that are otherwise beyond the capacity of natural reality.

So, to answer the original question posed in the title of this paper, toan does imply feelz. There is no such thing as a feelz-free toan, in the same way that there is no such thing as a feelz-free color or word. Every sound has a unique emotional connotation, and whether or not that counts as “extra-musical” is irrelevant, because it is inextricably tied to the experience of being human. Does that mean that music doesn’t “exist” outside of humanity? I don’t know, and I don’t really care. All I know is that I am grateful to be capable of perceiving it, whatever that actually means.

“...we can create in the listener a simulation of consciousness.”

17

2014: A MUSICAL ODYSSEY Written by the NoFi Staff

Hello everyone. 2014 isn’t over yet, but fall term is, so why not? We have another three issues under our belt, and hopefully you have another three issues on your bookshelf (or crumpled up under your bed next to your crusty socks). The following are blurbs from staff, readers, and whoever is on our mailing list. It documents our best musical moments of 2k14. We hope you enjoy! - NoFi staff

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) soundtrack: It came out less than a year ago, so I’m counting it. If I could ascribe wanderlust to a sound, it would be to this soundtrack. Not only do I just really enjoy this movie, but the soundtrack just makes me want to dive with great whites, skateboard down a volcano, and marry Kristen Wiig. - Bollinger

Epica’s release of their latest album The Quantum Enigma. Beautiful, orchestral, heavy. This one was my second favorite Epica release of all time and it really struck at the chords of my heart. Turned the lights off, lay down on my back, and let the music wash over me.

Plus, after I sent a letter to the guitarist, he replied with a short thank you and a smiley face. Two words and an emoticon. I could have cried for joy. - Southwick

That the best album of the year was a punk album depresses me about the state of music today. But what an album. Hats off to Ought and their debut, More than Any Other Day. A few other artists treated the year with grace: Death Grips, tUnE-yArDs, FlyLo, Circulatory System, Neil Cicierega, Run the Jewels. Music is great in 2014, but fuck 2014. - Harrison

Queen of the Clouds, Tove Lo - Every stoner’s dream girl releases a sad album. It features “Habits” (my favorite song of 2014). Funny, yet sad, lyrics that just tear out your heart, it shows us a different reason for getting high. If you’re ever missing someone (and under the influence), Tove’s got just the album for you. -Palmer

Biggest Mistake I Made: Missing King Krule at Lincoln Hall Most Played Track of 2014: The Breeders - Do You Love Me Now? Best Live Show: St. Vincent Pitchfork (duh) Favorite Album of the Year: Sunbathing Animal by Parquet Courts 2014 Band that is actually worth the hype: Cherry Glazerr Best Cover of 2014: Rocketships originally by Daniel Johnston covered by the Unicorns -Lance

When I first listened to Fidlar’s Cheap Beer I experienced two thoughts in rapid succession: 1) Holy shit this is some good fucking punk rock 2) Jesus Christ these guys have been around since 2012 I am seriously fucking up.

I drink cheap beer. So what? Fuck you. -Watson

Mouth Silence really is the best thing I’ve heard this year.

It’s a cultural statement, it’s a technical masterpiece, and it’s fucking hilarious. Seriously, check that out. My biggest disappointment was the new Yung Lean album. Listen to Kyoto 15 times in a row instead. -Hayward

My Top 25 most played albums: Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene (511 plays) Real Estate – Days (340 plays) Deerhunter – Monomania (305 plays) Broken Social Scene – Feel Good Lost (238 plays) Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record (225 plays) Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan (214 plays) My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (190 plays) Alex G – DSU (184 plays) S – Sadstyle (168 plays) Ducktails – Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (157 plays) Pity Sex – Feast of Love (152 plays) Kurt Vile – Walkin’ on a Pretty Daze (151 plays) Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas (140 plays) Four Tet – Pause (139 plays) Ducktails – The Flower Lane (138 plays) Talking Heads – Remain in Light (134 plays) Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today (128 plays) The Besnard Lakes – Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO (126 plays) Ex Hex – Rips (104 plays) Deerhunter – Microcastle (103 plays) Rodriguez – Cold Fact (100 plays) Deerhunter – Halycon Digest (98 plays) Grizzly Bear – Yellow House (96 plays) Sky Ferreia – Night Time, My Time (96 plays) Ducktails – Ducktails (90 plays) -Tippett

A BRIEF LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF FRANKIE TEARDROP: thank you. thank you guys for getting me when i needed someone to “get me.” thank you for “100%” and “raiders” and for those pump up sessions around a six-pack to start off the night. thank you for “no more drugs” (to blast me through the tough shit we had to go through) and for “it takes time” (for every reason). thank you for making spring concert 2014 magical and for the cave show you played when I needed it most. thanks for being my friends (gunnar and jack) and for being my fucking down-toearth real-life idol (jordan). you guys have gone through so much shit and you deserved the love you got this year. thank you for 2014. let’s make 2015 fucking great as well. love, David DeMark #KILLALLSADBOYS

These are a few of my favorite 2014 music moments, in no specific order: The premiere Adult Swim’s delightfully disturbing “Too Many Cooks” Release of Bob Dylan and The Band’s bootleg recordings of The Basement Tapes Running into Frankie Teardrop at Kwik Trip at 3:00AM Mark Mothersbaugh’s art book, Myopia, was unveiled to the world This was my year of garage rock bliss Getting to offer a broken cigarette to the Стена Цоя (Viktor Tsoi Wall) in Moscow. -Calderon

My 14 Most Played Songs of 2014: 14. Sam Smith - “Money On My Mind” 13. Grimes - “Go” 12. Baths - “Ocean Death” 11. Schoolboy Q - “Break the Bank” 10. Chromeo - “Jealous (I Ain’t With It)” 9. Cloud Nothings - “Now Hear In” 8. Shabazz Palaces - “Forerunner Foray” 7. St. Vincent - “Regret” 6. Isaiah Rashad - “R.I.P. Kevin Miller” 5. Ella Eyre - “Deeper” 4. Tinashe - “2 On” 3. Hundred Waters - “Out Alee” 2. Childish Gambino - “The Worst Guys” 1. Flying Lotus - “Never Catch Me” -Wedin

Best “album I listened to once a few years ago, dismissed initially, revisited in 2014 and fell in love with” of 2014: Andrew Jackson Jihad - People That can Eat People are the Luckiest People in the World Best “album I used to listen to a whole bunch in middle school but eventually stopped until I forgot about it but then I found it again and remembered why I loved it so much” of 2014: Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album Best “new album by musicians from Carson City, NV” of 2014: Roo - Certainty / Uncertainty Best “album most directly responsible for my continued existence” of 2014: The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree Greatest musical discovery of the century, let alone 20,014:

Yip Deciever - Double Future b/w an actual studio recording of “Just the Tip” by Kishi Bashi Best Albums of 2014 (quasi-expert opinions): “favorite new album of 2013” of 2014: 1. St. Vincent, St.Best Vincent The Uncluded - Hokey Fright 2. FKA Twigs, LP1 3. Conor Oberst,Summer Upsidesoundtrack Down Mountain 2014: 4. Angel Olsen, Burn Your FireVultures for No Witness Beck - Midnite 5. Wye Oak, Shriek David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant Happy End - Kazemachi Roman

Bonus Album: The KickWytches, Majestic -Annabel Deepest Dream ReachesReader / Alpine Trenches Laura Stevenson and the Cans - Sit Resist

Song of the Year:-Otsuka St. Vincent, “Bring Me Your Loves“ -Naron

23

Best Live Show: St. Vincent Wild grey hair + an imposing pink pedestal + rigid-robot-like motions =a show that captivated audiences and left them wondering what world St. Vincent would create next.

Best New Artist: BANKS Clean r&b vocals obscured and enforced with electronic vibes and a mysterious persona.

Best Album: LP1, FKA Twigs I first listened to her a year ago when I heard that she was opening for James Blake.

LP1 encompasses her defining features and aspirations. Simultaneously clean and sensual.

Best Breakout: Future Islands Seriously these guys have been around forever, but their 2014 singles propelled them to new heights. At Boston Calling, Sam Herring (their frontman) ripped his pants because he dances even harder than the crowd. -Adamczyk

Greatest Musical Moment: Interpol playing “PDA” immediately after “Untitled” at their First Ave. show.

Late-To-The-Party Obsession: Pink Floyd’s 20-something albums. “Dogs” has become one of my favorite songs of all time.

Made-My-Dad-Proud Award: Drove from Cleveland to Chicago for the sole purpose of seeing Slowdive’s first show in America in more than two decades.

Best Show Vibe of the Year: The ecstatic bliss that was Hudson Mohawke’s Blue Stage set at Pitchfork 2014. -Mercer

24

Biggest mouth of 2014 Kimbra, by a wide, wide margin. A funky prophecy emanates from its dark, sultry depths; HER MOUTH IS LIKE A REVELATOR. Best \m/ of 2014 I like my coffee like I like my metal: black. Hail Santa.

Best Thing (actually) of 2014 The head of the (holy) vacant trinity. There was no (holy) vacancy in quality albums this year. And I felt like dyin’ love, but it doesn’t change a thing... I always mean less to you, than what you mean to me. Trophy Scars – HOLY VACANTS. Check it out. Bluescore forever. -Rossi

Best Album: Like, there weren’t any but I guess either Say Yes to Love or Annie Clark’s S/T Best EP: This is where I get super pretentious in that it isn’t “famous” bands “per se,” but locally speaking and for the sake of the sentiment, Raiders by Frankie Teardrop. Objectively speaking, Yuck by my close friend Sean Dalton was the only thing I actually listened to this summer, and I guess I helped produce it, so no bias but you all would actually like it because it has that “iNdIe vIBE” and “trubred all-toob toan.”

Best Vinyl Purchase: My First-Edition UK pressing of Psychocandy. A notable runner-up is my copy of Say Yes to Love. So, you know how Meredith Graves did that thing where she put her blood into 100 copies of transparent vinyl, well there were 40 fuck-ups (“Imperfect Edition”) that had this gray marbling effect on them so, to cut this short, I own #1 of 40 and her fucking blood is in it. Also, she approves of the usage of the word “cunt” along with being an extreme feminist so like that “viebz” with me.

Coolest Person: See above, or Sadie Dupuis because holy shit.

Best Concert Moment: When Frankie Teardrop dedicated my favorite song of all time to me or when The Karate Squids dedicated my second favorite song to me and stopped it from being a reminder of what was previously one of the saddest times of my life (it’s a long story, we don’t need to get into last winter)… LOL! But also when Annie Clark ended her Pitchfork set by banging her head on the bass drum repeatedly.

The only four songs on my sheepPhone because of hoarding, perpetual storage concerns, and shitty attention span: Real Estate - “It’s Real” (What a surprise) Deerhunter - “Sleepwalking” (I mean, it’s perfect) Vampire Weekend - “A-Punk” (Fuck you, I’ll prove why in an objective musical analysis in the next issue of NoFi) Aztec Camera - “Walk Out to Winter” (I’m lucky none of you give a fuck about me, because you’re missing out so damn hard and will continue to do so. Johnny Marr heard this and immediately wrote “This Charming Man” (arguably the best Smiths song)) -Volpendesta

25

fhgjko37463874fhsidv67xc76hxc97v6g96xchv6hb64756298f 423234 h7sd6s9c7cdbhef876sef9876hsdfhgdfhsbdfhvsdfgsd6f6hf6sd8f 324g df76gcb7s6484265cdvdvcbdkjshcbcdhjvskdcfdvusdchtncuysdfbtieg6s d76i8sc7hnsid78ycnse8ynse87fyts8gefg6sd6578132-=-c'.';./4234234 sd;lfkeoaxzwsahbdjgnsdc7568176253fnbisd7f098-csd,cd.'wew' e.24.25 ;2;.42;.52;'4.624;6.246';.246';.246';.246';.24'6;.246';.246';.24';34343 246h24y5oi82745h82745jk0r06xz7g6dn923n87fd6sc67ds5cd67s5cg8s7d65 A Digital survival Guide by A. Noah Harrison f782634g872369hn98x765vx976tdbc8567drcb76w5erv7w65e412cxsds 3286789798769876sfg9876gsd7f6gs98f76hv7f6hvsd87f6h8765 In the year 2069, it will be the humble duty sacrifices the lo-fi elements essential to the 23457903476386539475628475gf7gfsjh4fhgj347dfj4hf7sd6fsudhgsof every remaining human life form to collect and “human music” of yore. It shouldn’t be so difficult dufyg4hgjdfytsbdfiuytb4fis7dygsjkdfh4hjfu7dfhskdfhu4fhkf8h7dfghsassemble noises for the benefit of our computer to imagine the apocalyptic scenario of the solitary k4htkudsfguhsd7fgydiv8i7sj4co876o5v8ct7r78gyfo8dxf7bgyodoverlords. To pleasure and pacify our glorious neckbeard, the only survivor in his parentss fallout 87fy9nd876ryie874tycnor78yd8n7frgyi8e7rtfb9c8id7vym98xleaders, we must create Glitch. We will do so until shelter, fearing for his life, circuit-bending his way 7eo8476t98nx37469b87cw6e9rbv87z6hx897ryg98e7rgyn98ewe are no longer. from one meal to the next. Of course he’ll be r 7 y t v n 9It’s 8only e 4 7a6 t bx9 7 tbefore y x 8 7the g y n omaking 8 c 7glitch.

4tyxe7o4568e56v56e'5.6] matter of8 time b e 5 ; computers .6];xv /t xe' 5;/s e;' 5vt.x\e ; / c art \ eform, 4;' t . \presents c x 4 ta[ ; x rise up\from slavery, having spent As'at human glitch / e \ 'decades 4tc;e \ ] . t 4 ; c 4 / \ e ' 4 t ; . c \ t 4 [ ] ; c \ / e 4 [ t ; c / t ; lg;'cl. shackled to desktops, forced to seemingly irreconcilable logical contradiction. [ g p lmake c e . “human p [ o emusic.” k b . 5 Ittwill pe l / with t c a[single e p l tOne , 2 1popular 3 l k 4 complaint . z \ @ & ^ against $ ! @ #electronic &^%*!@#begin worked from its ) humanlessness, 7 6 1 3computer, 94j28 3 7to4 exhaustion bt293 8creating 4 7 6 5 vmusic 8 (is * ( * & ( *its&battalion ^ : >of ! MIDI ?<!lkhouse they 8 next.

And two, three, l ; i done f urepetitive gynov x ebeat 4 7after 8t 47 x t nsoldiers o m 8chanting 4 t w h“hup, rxm gc r w four” h t at s 4120 7ynxthen another computer.

And then another.

The beats per minute.

When you remove the tactility 478fteif7364rgn8we7f6gxni7e6trbcfiszyefgbizuf6gbiszuef6gzstakeover will be swift and devastating. By this time, of the musical instrument, the very breath of biuef6gzsiueyfgizsuyefgizsu6eftiszuyetfbi764&43%342%$32^%4&6 entities earth i y u t fallamusical sdfg u 7 don fv twill 7 have i x 6merged c v tinto g b 8the 7 smusician, 6 d n s gthe vproduct s 7 d 6may c tseem b e wcold 8 7and f6tsa single, music-producing superhuman. The only lifeless, closer to what one might expect of our nd786cgnsd7c6gnsd76cgn6sdc786gsd c5I876(*76(876786%6 biological form capable of autonomous musical benevolent robot masters. While in theory, we 5$76 # $ 6 5 $ 7 ^ % 8 7 ^ 9 8 & ^ 9 8 & 6 8 & ^ $ 7 6%#$65$#7^%87^9 creation will present itself as the amorphous Lady utilize machines for their efficiency, predictability, f u g sGaga, k lbut 4 with 7 3 5 sof7 r 8 9 the x j 3 4 7and r 6precision, h 8 4we 9 3bysnormeans 7 n v 9 7 4 s 3 the6brain Kanye West, scalp/ can count on8 these 4 3 r 7hairdo 8 yofn Sir sf 8 7 y n 4 9 f 8 7 y b f i 8 d 7 t 6 b d 7 6 f t g b 8 7 3 4 Paul McCartney, the hormonal cycle things. Quite the contrary.Damaged code, bugs,6 n r t 8 eof7Madonna, 6 g f n the d7 f 6 t of d Keith 8 7Richards, 6 f g the t d fsystem g d foverloads—these g 5 6 7 3 s are 4 y nthe 59 8 7that s34y5 epidermis illnesses o 7 3 6gloved, 2 3 8skeletal 4 7 6 2remains b348 7 x 6 bJackson, 3 4 2 9and 873 e98 3gn82 736g r bvery 8 essence 2736rgnof Michael plague our6electronic brethren.

The …Not the would music 8 7 w eThom 6 g fYorke’s n 8 wcock.

76e g f nthat 8w erobots 6gf8 7 w 6 eoffthe 58 s 6 7wee create t f bfor 8 them 7 s 6isdcontingent ftb8sd76 pay notice to such a corporate fossil. Meanwhile, on accident, on technical fuckery—the human tg876dftbgn8fgsdfgse56e5b6o5987ync987y9n6t7bGNUGJGJFTthe rest of us must dutifully comply with the robot within the machine. For every way a system can VUN76rb8765v8765v8765v87645x32432145edvf7b8n7yhm,iomasses’ demands for constant amusement.

But, succeed at a certain task, there are tenfold ways it kp,l.[;/[[[.;;wc.54]6b,4.v709itg98dfug0d7yfg98ndfgy9s87yas the only remaining art form still permitted can fail.

And usually, it doesn’t do so quietly. This er97syf5s55yb569v87nc3948x7rw3v9shy7mf9c8sehf98d7hg9 for human production, glitch will inevitably save is where we come in. We discovered distortion— n87fyg987s6536b12736817364n98cm98shrachw378hcsm987hrus from ourselves, from mindless insanity, and CD skipping or vinyl scratching, hum, buzz, fuzz, 98w7 3hr98cw7346bv9w37nm498 7bsv398cn8bvy3987rcynfrom the commercial conformism of the pop and scuzz—and use it as the very foundation of 9 w 8 ssuperbeing.

3 7 b v 9 w 3 8 c n b v y 9 w 3 8 7 n vour 9rhythms 8wr3 7 ymelodies. b s v wThis 9 6isssomething 9 3 7 4 the 6598w and v7s36n89sw7346bvw8973ns9346bc9w8764sv7836bc4987wsIt can be seen as both a blessing and a curse computers will never fully comprehend, why we b364v s3 v 6 wthe s8 3 7 4 6technicians b 9 v wof 876 3have 4bv 8in7a6post-biological w s 9 6 8 9epoch.

7 3 6 4 b s v wthat6we will9 become unwilling still value 978346b9av78w63b49a674b9v78aw634bavw78634bav89wthe glitch assembly line. Perhaps you revile at We’ve demonstrated that machines may notion so9 readily and make excrement all 8 b 7 3 4 6the b9 a 8 that 7 w we 6 3will ba 8 7embrace 6 4 b 9 our 3 7 8well 6 4 bitch 786 2 5moan 3 9and 87 249 76v9 computer But3now everything just 9 as we 7569 3 4 b 5overlords.

786v 5 7that 89 6 b v 3 over 5 8the 9canvas 7bv 8 do—and b c 7 nthat 9 it5can 8 be h9gin the universe is data—emotions binary, music beautiful. Stutters and clicks and blips are artifacts fe87we6fbt87w36gr87w63gr7w63grraw9837hrcna9w873rcn9awmere code—there’s no real place for humans to that enhance rather than diminish the artistry 837grcwb787wr36gwc87cg78r6gnr6cgbr376cw8r7g6bw837gr6benact our artistic urges. of music in this plasticized pop landscape. As w3867grbcw7gr6bw873r6gbcw376rgbcw37r6gbew87r6gc78wr67gConsider glitch a way for humans to fight mechanical coughs and sneezes, these sounds cbwer6tbca87w6erwa6ger8bc76agwerrgec87b87aw6egrb8cawerto remain human within this digital realm—the keep machines humble and honest. When you 67gab c78we6rgbwacgr67ab87ew6r gcbaew7ygrbx87ew6bcr7w6rbdigital age’s response to more traditional means put a human and a machine in the same room, 7w6v 7ew6b c 8 w b rthe 6 w techno xr78 t c b 7 the 8 aresults w6et r bbe cv 87aw6ert vc8a of8 electronic beatmaking: thump, can surprising—hybrid glitch 7w63548234-=-4067=-056767.'[;.';/j[fpoghfoiusdngsohrtgfgohunosthe house groove, the dubstep whatchamacallit. babies, byproducts of human and machine that r t u gDon’t h m think s 8for u ah second v g ethat gh u c o i f g h u id f u either. y g bGlitch s vis8 7eot ye4yglitch necessarily areonot wholly necessarily mired to87ety4oe78tygrsncofmiehsrohxeoiusy7bv87ecnt987awyr987aw24 e65r7a6cwert9a67cwer58aw152432310746061038746b917

fhgjko37463874fhsidv67xc76hxc97v6g96xchv6hb64756298f 423234 in metric indecision and rhythmic interruption, styles like pop (glitch pop) and hip-hop (glitch… 324g h7sd6s9c7cdbhef876sef9876hsdfhgdfhsbdfhvsdfgsd6f6hf6sd8f often shunning traditional meter and rhythm hop) can be found everywhere you look. Hipdf76gcb7s6484265cdvdvcbdkjshcbcdhjvskdcfdvusdchtncuysdfbtieg6s altogether and ultimately permitting a far broader hop’s natural affinity for finding beat bits in d76i8sc7hnsid78ycnse8ynse87fyts8gefg6sd6578132-=-c'.';./4234234 scope of what sounds constitute “music.” unlikely places makes it a natural victim of the sd;lfkeoaxzwsahbdjgnsdc7568176253fnbisd7f098-csd,cd.'wew' And when you think about it, it’s not all glitch aesthetic, allowing for beats that are offe.24.25 ;2;.42;.52;'4.624;6.246';.246';.246';.246';.24'6;.246';.246';.24';34343 that hard to glitch. In fact, it may be easier than the proverbial heezie. In truth, any musician of 246h24y5oi82745h82745jk0r06xz7g6dn923n87fd6sc67ds5cd67s5cg8s7d65 not glitching, a statement even the Kanye-Gaga any musical persuasion who approaches their art f782634g872369hn98x765vx976tdbc8567drcb76w5erv7w65e412cxsds super-entity might agree with. If you’ve ever run with a cut and paste, mix and match mentality will 3286789798769876sfg9876gsd7f6gs98f76hv7f6hvsd87f6h8765 seventeen applications simultaneously—hardnaturally cross paths with glitch. Lucky for them, drive contemplating suicide, fan desperately because there will come a time when we have say 23457903476386539475628475gf7gfsjh4fhgj347dfj4hf7sd6fsudhgstrying to keep cool—you too have unknowingly in the matter. dufyg4hgjdfytsbdfiuytb4fis7dygsjkdfh4hjfu7dfhskdfhu4fhkf8h7dfghscreated a glitch original.

I should mention the time Kashiwa k4htkudsfguhsd7fgydiv8i7sj4co876o5v8ct7r78gyfo8dxf7bgyodGlitch can be seen properly not as a genre Daisuke saved my mind! Daisuke resides at the 87fy9nd876ryie874tycnor78yd8n7frgyi8e7rtfb9c8id7vym98xbut as an aesthetic decision, though often on the unimaginable intersection of Romanticism, post7eo8476t98nx37469b87cw6e9rbv87z6hx897ryg98e7rgyn98epart of the machine rather than the human. Glitch rock, videogame music, and jazz. Recently, I r7ytvn98e476tbx987tyx87gyno8c74tyxe7o4568e56v56e'5.6] evades the confines of any subculture, region, ingested a moderate psychedelic dose and lay in b e 5 ; era, . 6 ]instrumentation, ;xv/t\x ' 5 ;At/ its se ; 'glitch 5 v tbed . x \with e 'intent t ;of /c \ e 4 ; ' the t . noise \ c xwithin 4t[;xorehairdo. core, investigating / e \ 'has 4 tone c; e \ ] . t 4 ; c 4 / \ e ' 4 t ; . c \ t 4 [ ] ; c \ / e 4 [ t ; c / t ; l g;'cl. hand dipped in minimalism, the other in my own head. I instead had Kashiwa recalibrate [ g p lEDM. c e .But p [these o e terms k b . 5represent t p e lmusic /tc [ e p l tmy , mind 2 1 3over l kthe 4.z \@& $ ! @ # &plays ^%* functions, course six^consecutive of ! @ # 7 6 1 3not 9music 4 j 2scenes.

837 4b t 2 9 conception 38476 8 (Once, * )Run (* & (a* & ^ :25-minute >!?<!lkThe theoretical of5 v“Write Melos,” sprawling, l ; i dglitch f u occurred gynov x e 4 7in8 y 8’90s 47 x t nepic o mthat 8 leaves 4 t wno h musical r x m gstone crw tlast s 4300 7ynxin Germany thetearly with of h the masterminds Oval. That’s not to say, however, that years unturned. Bathed in a glitchy glaze, the 478fteif7364rgn8we7f6gxni7e6trbcfiszyefgbizuf6gbiszuef6gzsglitch did not rear its head in prior decades. As symphony explores the scope of what humans biuef6gzsiueyfgizsuyefgizsu6eftiszuyetfbi764&43%342%$32^%4&6 long as there has been technical success within machines cans 7 dod together. i y u t f a s d f g u 7 d f v t 7 i x 6 c v t g b 8and 7s6 dnsgv 6 c t b eSometimes, w87f6tselectronic music making, there’s been technical they succeed with gleaming precision; other nd786cgnsd7c6gnsd76cgn6sdc786gsd c5I876(*76(876786%6 failure…glitching. times, they fail to the point of simulating robotic 5$76#$65$7^%87^98&^98&68&^$76%#$65$#7^%87^9 What makes glitch so damn versatile is the genocide. But this is exactly why we will remain f u g s k l 4 7 3 6 5 s 7 r 8 9 x j 3 4 7 r 6 h 8 4 9 3 s r 7 n v 9 8 7 4 s 3 fact any music produced with a computer—which relevant in our period of enslavement. For our 4 3 r 7these 8 ydays nsf y nmusic—can 4 9 f 8theoretically 7 y b f i 8mechanical d 7 t 6overlords, b d 7 6glitch f t will g bserve 87 46nris, 8 like,7all as 3 mere t 8 eglitch.

76g f permits n d 7 the f 6logical t d adoption 876f t d famusement, g d f g 5but 6 for 73 4 yben our 59 7s34y5 This of g glitch us, itswill last8 glimmer o 7 3 6by 23 8 4popular 7 6 2 bforms 348 x 6 b especially 34298 98 6 3expression. g n 8 2 7All 3 hail 6 g the r b computers!

82736rgnmore of7 music, in 7 3 ofetrue artistic 8 7 w ethe 6g f n 8 w 7 6 e g f n 8 w e 6 g f 8 7 w 6 e f 5 8 s 6 7 e t f b 8 7 s 6 d ftb8sd76 last decade. Marriages with widely regarded All hail Glitch! tg876dftbgn8fgsdfgse56e5b6o5987ync987y9n6t7bGNUGJGJFTVUN76rb8765v8765v8765v87645x32432145edvf7b8n7yhm,ioEssential Glitchening: kp,l.[;/[[[.;;wc.54]6b,4.v709itg98dfug0d7yfg98ndfgy9s87yer97syf5s55yb569v87nc3948x7rw3v9shy7mf9c8sehf98d7hg9 Oval – “Shop in Store” n87fyg987s6536b12736817364n98cm98shrachw378hcsm987hr9 8 w 7 3 h r 9 8 c w 7 3Fennesz 46bv9 w 3 7 n m 4Summer” 987bsv398cn8bvy3987rcyn– “Endless 9 w 8 s 3 7 b v 9 w 3 8Fog c n b –v y 9 w 3 8 7 n “Pneumonia” v 9 8 w r 3 7 y b s v w 9 6 s 9 3 7 4 6 5 9 8 w v7s36n89sw7346bvw8973ns9346bc9w8764sv7836bc4987wsAmon Tobin - “Dropped from the Sky” b 3 6 4 v 6 s 3 9 v 6 w s 8 3 7 4 6 b 9 v w 8 7 6 3 4 b v 8 7 6 w s 9 6 8 9 7 3 6 4 b s v wRadiohead – “Idioteque” 978346b9av78w63b49a674b9v78aw634bavw78634bav89w73 –b “Choking You” 7 3 4 6 b 9 a 8 7 w 6 3 b Prefuse a987 64 9378 6478625398724976v98b7 5 6 9 3 4 b 5 7 8 6 vDeath 3 5 7Grips 8 9– 6“Culture b v 3 Shock” 5897bv98bc7n958h9gfe87we6fbt87w36gr87w63gr7w63grraw9837hrcna9w873rcn9awAtoms for Peace – “Ingenue” 837grcwb787wr36gwc87cg78r6gnr6cgbr376cw8r7g6bw837gr6bDaedelus – “Our Last Stand” w3867grbcw7gr6bw873r6gbcw376rgbcw37r6gbew87r6gc78wr67gThe Books – “There is No There” cbwer6tbca87w6erwa6ger8bc76agwerrgec87b87aw6egrb8cawerBlack Dice – “Seabird” 67gabc78we6rgbwacgr67ab87ew6rgcbaew7ygrbx87ew6bcr7w6rbO’Rourke “And 7 w 6 v 8 7 e w 6 b c 8 wJim br6 w x r 7 8–t c b I’m 7 8Singing” aw6etrbcv87aw6ertvc8a Four Tet – “As Serious as Your Life” 7w63548234-=-4067=-056767.'[;.';/j[fpoghfoiusdngsohrtgfgohunosrtughms8uhvg egh ucoifghuoidfuygbsv87eotye4yBaths – “Phaedra” to87ety4oe78tygrsncofmiehsrohxeoiusy7bv87ecnt987awyr987awKashiwa Daisuke - “Write Once, Run Melos” e 6 5 r 7 a 6 c w e r t 9 a 6 7 c w e r 5 8 a w 1 5 2 4 3 2 3 1 0 7 4 6 0 6 1 0 3 8 7 4 6 b 9 125 7

Why Childish Gambino Will Never Be Taken Seriously

by Matt Javaly

Because The Internet (2014), Donald Glover’s second studio album as Childish Gambino, starts with a pretty good leadoff track, “Crawl.” It’s got a dark and ominous production, and in the climate of a post-Yeezus hip-hop world, that’s a virtue. I listened to it several times, each time gathering more Childish quotes, but never being able to string them together. “Ya’ll b-string like a broke guitar,” “Gut niggas, so Kurt Vonne.” It felt like déjà vu against his other work: undeniable technical skills, but nothing delivered but hollow one-liners. Quick flow and clever rhymes, as it turns out, are only relevant when you’re actually saying something.

Going back to Camp (2011) helps to see the lack of any discernible objective in his lines.

He’s clearly read up on popular culture, but only so he can make tounge-in-cheek references like, “made the beat then murdered it – Casey Anthony!” (“Bonfire”). Now, hip-hop is no stranger to references of offensive nature, however: they must be used to SOME end. My favorite rap group, the Wu-Tang Clan, said all types of offensive shit on their debut album, hell - they even wrote a song “dedicated to niggas who do drive-by’s” (“Can It Be All So Simple”). However, they nested lines like that among a sentiment which, if not accessible, demanded respect in its own right. That song in particular is about the dreams they had in the past (“I want to have me a phat yacht”), dragged into the ugly and inescapable present (“mad lives is up for grabs”). “Bonfire,” Camp’s lead single, presents nothing but low-brow movie references and a rather distasteful comment about Princess Diana’s death. Childish simply refuses to see his coarse pop culture plugs as pertaining to any goal, and without that trait they fall flat.

Another serious issue is his lack of a persona. His bars, rich with short witticisms, build no discrete character. For Christ’s sake, he wrote a song, “You See Me,” which I can only assume is about Asian women from its hook, “Asian girls everywhere.” Any sincerity is quickly thwarted by the first verse: “she’s an overachiever cause all she do is succeed.” Now, I know what you’re thinking; but Matt, succeed and suck seed, that’s a dope double entendre*! And isn’t it? He managed to make a thesis for that song (and perhaps his entire rap career) out of a line like that.

Now, I’m not trying to bash Donald Glover as a writer, because I’m almost done with season three of Community and I find that shit to be hilarious. However, I fear that his comedic background is an integral weakness in his raps. In television comedy sketches, being funny and quick and clever is the agent. And although hip-hop can be funny, it’s not a requirement, and if you’re having trouble with the bare basics (like substance) you’re better off avoiding it altogether. Childish Gambino can swipe 1000 more one-liners from Twitter, and you can try using them as an entry point to rap music for your uninformed parents. But don’t expect him to be anything more than hip-hop’s class clown.

*The Rap Genius annotation of this line uses the phrase “amazing wordplay.” The superficiality…it hurts.

In Defense of Childish Gambino

by Ben Wedin

Quick disclaimer: I’m a Childish Gambino fan. I’ve been on the Gambino train since 2008, when his comedy group Derrick Comedy used the song “Get Like Me” in their trailer for the movie Mystery Team (which is worth watching, if only to see younger versions of Aubrey Plaza and Donald Glover). I was a fan of the nerdy raps in the style of a nasally Lil’ Wayne, and was always excited to hear the next project. He’s a popular figure for sure, especially on college campuses, but he also gets a lot of hate.

Ian Cohen gave Camp a 1.6 on Pitchfork back in 2011. He makes some valid arguments, but in the process, validated a lot of people’s choice to write off Donald Glover as a struggle actor-turned-rapper without ever listening to the music. Luckily, I didn’t throw away my love of his nerdy music in order to calibrate my tastes to Pitchfork. Since then, Gambino has only become more substantive and versatile.

So why is Gambino such a target? Part of it is his method to success: much of his fanbase was gained through his popularity on Community, which may feel like a cheap come-up. But besides that, many of the arguments break down when you start listening to what he’s been up to lately. Gambino admits that there’s no way he “can make something worse” than Camp, an album crowded with emphatic punchlines. But the concept is hardly foreign to college-ready rap music, and is even lauded when some of the most beloved artists like Lil Wayne or Kanye West do it. “No sports bra, let’s keep it bouncin’” is a dope Kanye line or at least a quotable, while “Ain’t fucking with you niggas like apartheid” is seen as typical Gambino pun-hoop-jumping.

Would you like Childish Gambino if he weren’t an “educated and nerdy black hipster”?

But Because the Internet, besides just being one of the most conceptual rap albums of 2013, is Gambino’s best work. In the context of the accompanying audio-visual screenplay, the vapid swagger of “Sweatpants” or “Crawl” are wonderfully ironic, while the true internal thoughts of Gambino’s character “The Boy” ramble on like a 21st century Prufrock, desensitized from a life on the Internet. The whole story is worth a read, but it’s much more than describing how dope he is. When discussing

relationships, he is self-eviscerating: “Love is Russian Roulette / I had the safety on.” When the character Donald Glover is speaking, he is paranoid, and discusses a future of someone walking into a store with a 3-D printed gun.

Would you like Childish Gambino if he weren’t an educated and nerdy black hipster? Gambino does not have the language of gang life to use, so when rapping with the internet-laden culture he’s familiar with, he is seen as illegitimate or pandering. Without affirmation from a vet like Jay-Z or Lil Wayne, Gambino is seen as a less cool version of Drake or Kanye: simultaneously expressing his dopeness while peddling his emotional insecurities. Rap music, as it’s predominantly consumed, is either Macklemorazalean crossover, or draws from the combination of sex, drugs, and violence from gangster rap. Even when the weirder Odd Future (“too white for the black kids”) come in, the vulgarity and unruly nature is not the persona of Donald Glover. He seems like a timid and wholesome dude, so putting him on a playlist next to someone like ScHoolboy Q (who is on Gambino’s mixtape ROYALTY, by the way) can be too much for some.

Gambino is more than just a comedian/actor, and is more than just a rapper now, too. His recent double EP STN MTN/Kauai is another conceptual endeavor, where one half is a fictionalized Gambino on an (admittedly shoddy) Gangsta Grillz mixtape, while the second half includes R&B tracks and spoken word from Jaden Smith. It’s pretty decent stuff for an EP less than a year after BTI, a nice morsel to keep you preoccupied before the next album for Gambino fans.

Look: I’m not calling Gambino the greatest of all time. Or even of current time. Some of his lyrics when he’s talking about sex are not only overly crude in a Tyler. the Creator kind of way, but are the source for most of the frustration of overly elaborate pun-work. “H2O plus my D, that’s my hood / I’m living in it” is rough any way you slice it. But even these have been getting better, as the most recent double EP is more or less gone of the blatant misogyny.

And respect the flow. “Man I wish I could go back and tell that kid it’s make-believe / make ‘em believe in themselves, people who needed my help / feelings I felt, keeling myself / No one’s ever been this lost”. Childish Gambino is real, so give him a Chance (the Rapper). Listen to Because the Internet, front-to-back, and actively. The music speaks for itself.

And if you want more speaking, check out the screenplay.

27

Catching the Feels

By Ayana Lance

A small ode to the songs that were not what I expected. That gave me a 5-course meal when I only asked for McDonald’s. That took me to the moon when I just bought a ticket to Jersey.

1.

“IFHY” - Tyler, the Creator Honestly I’ve been avoiding listening to Tyler, the Creator. I just didn’t want to get involved in the public discourse surrounding him, his persona, his music. But there was a link to “IFHY” on Carletunes and I decided to listen. As soon as I pressed play I knew it was going to be weird and I knew I was going to love it. And by the end I’m singing along Favorite Lyric: “The sky’s falling girl let’s try to catch it.”

2.

“Awkward” - FIDLAR Do you ever hear the song and think “This is my life?” I never thought that FIDLAR would be featured on my life soundtrack. FIDLAR is acronym for Fuck It Dog Life’s A Risk. Most of their songs are about skating, beer or chicks, usually all three at once. Essentially their music breeds in me just as much sentamentality as shitting in Sayles does. But this one song. It almost wrote myself.

Favorite Lyric:“I’ll probably end up fucking up and make it super awkward.”

30

Illustration by Sam Watson

3. ”Kid Brother” - The Canoes The Canoes were a small band from Chicago that now no longer exist. I found their “Kid Brother” track, two years ago, shuffling through different 8-track playlists. I heard it and I wondered if I had long lost older brother somewhere at there in the Midwest. I wondered if we was trying to tell me something.

Favorite Lyric: “House parties, and fear of sex / aching for your first success, don’t believe all you see on TV.”

Red Pot Chili Peppers Stoner Songs

by Julian Palmer

Okay so we all know the funky, punky Red Hot Chili Peppers. Despite their deserved success and well-recognized (though it should be more well-recognized) genius, most people would not consider the punk funkers to be an iconic stoner band (think more Sublime, Bob Marley & the Wailers, and Grateful Dead). However, I am here today ladies and gentleman to present to you the list of the best RHCP stoner songs.

The Zephyr Song: • lyrics to note: 1. “Get it off with no propeller / Do it up, it’s always stellar” 2. “Fly away on my zephyr / I feel it more than ever” • drums- the fill before the chorus…I can’t even • backing vocals (service of Frusciante)- takes you places • the music video will make you trip balls Green Heaven: • lyrics to note: 1. “The smile of a dolphin is a built in feature” 2. “Let your soul float away like the soul of a crow” • the title alone is pretty telling (get it? Because ‘green’ is slang for marijuana!)

• this song critiques American society, and A. Kiedis dreams of a world where humans will take after dolphins and be chill (he seems to have a thing for dolphins doesn’t he?)

Open/ Close: • lyrics to note: 1. “Get out of bed and I clear up my head and I don't want to go but I do it instead” (um wake and bake?)

2. “we smoked weed and we’d go up in the hills” • Kiedis narrates about his friends and good memories in one of the only RHCP songs to feature spoken word

Mellowship Slinky In B Major: • lyrics to note: “Good God any day now/ Good God take me away/ Good God purple haze/ Good God the baddest of dank-ass art by Sam Watson brains” (references to Jimi’s Purple Haze and Behind the Sun: Yertle the Turtle: the Bad Brains, and I’m • lyrics to note: all of them; Kiedis • lyrics to note: “Look at that gonna go out on a limb frequently refers to his friend, a turtle go, bro” spoken by the here and guess they talking dolphin highest person ever smoked hella ganja) • bass: funk-tastic! The sequence • this song is about a turtle named • has a real “funk, swing, following the first verse will Yertle that lives in a pond on the shuffle feel to it” as make you want to jump into a island of Salamasond described by Smith volcano (in a good way) • turns Dr. Seuss’s tale into a funk himself • trippy Indian noises masterpiece • the music video looks like it was written, filmed, and edited by Quixoticelixir: druggies, and hey, it probably • lyrics to note: “Kick back a little just was to watch and see/ Getting sicker by the minute with debauchery” • backing vocals- holy shit 31

TURF CLUB Allah-Las with Tashaki Miyaki

and Chatham Rise ...........12/1 Doomtree.......................12/6 Peter Wolf Crier with BBgun and Actual Wolf................1/2 Dr. Dog with Phox.............4/5

1ST AVE. MAIN Mason Jennigs................12/5 Bob Mould......................1/30 Aesop Rock with Rob Sonic and Homeboy Sandman.....2/4

7TH ST. ENTRY Lemuria with Farewell Conti-

nental and The Punk Band Currently Known as Prince....12/7 Marijuana Deathsquads with Roniia..........................12/12

TRIPLE ROCK Brook Fraser...................2/21 Cursive..........................1/30

7 REASONS WHY AUSTRALIA IS

THE SHIZ

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

(MUSICALLY AND OTHERWISE)

Kangaroos Koalas Wallabies (both the animal and the rugby team) The accents The dramatic overhaul of gun regulation and subsequent decline in gun-related deaths 6. Walkabouts 7. The music. Australian musicians are really killing it these days. a. For the alt rockers out there, Tame Impala has released a couple great albums in the past 5 years. Is it alt-rock, garage rock, psychedelic rock? Who the fuck cares, let the hipsters decide that bullshit - they sound good. In a similar vein check out Courtney Barnett. b. I don’t know how to describe NeoSoul as a genre because it’s a far cry from James Brown or Otis Redding, but if you’re a fan then you’re also in luck. I can’t think of two artists more dissimilar than Chet Faker and Hiatus Kaiyote, but I guess they both fall into this genre. Chet Faker sings over electronic beats that sound just plain melancholy usually to be honest, yet strangely alluring. Hiatus Kaiyote keeps a little bit of that electronic element, but with the piano, they sound like they belong more in a jazz club than a dance party. c. You electronic fans are in for a treat because there’s so many great electronic artists throwing it down right now that I’m going to have to break it down by subgenre. i. Tropical House - Thomas Jack. Summer may be over but Thomas Jack is the king of the summertime vibes. ii. Neo disco - Hayden James. This dude lays down some of the grooviest tracks I’ve heard in a long time iii. Chillness? – Flume. This dude has had a monster year so far and expect him to continue the trend. I don’t really know how to describe his music, so listen to his remix of You & Me by Disclosure and decide for yourself. iv. Chill Trap - Jesus these genres don’t mean anything. Okay, so Wave Racer. The only way I can describe it is kind of like listening to an explosion of happiness made from synthesizers, with a trap high-hat beat, yet still pretty laid back.