Issue 74: The Cranberries by tastemakers

northeastern students on music

o 52 The Revival of Pop Music N| o 74 FallN2023

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Reviews Editors Ananya Chaudhari Henry Bova

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Interviews Editor Jess Gwardschaladse Social Media Directors Alexa Rand Bella Ramdayal Genevieve Kopp Treasurer Michael DeVine

Staff Staff Writers Ahaan Chaudhuri Ananya Chaudhuri Andrew Loose Bryana Dawkins Chelsea Henderson Emily Greenberg Ethan Matthews Ev Ogier Gabriel Barbier-Saiah Henry Bova Hero Williams James Ryan Jess Gwardschaladse Jonah Seidenfeld Joseph Brant Julia Towne Juliana George

Justin Guthrie Katherine Miner Kayli Harley Keene Quiros Lexa Fu Lillian Elwood Lily-Elizabeth Zanze Lucas Cooperman Luke Colombo Mia Filler Michael Earls Olivia Leon Peter Phelan Rilyn Szabo Snehaa Ram Terrance Dumoulin Thomas Paulus TC Stephens Trevor Gardemal Wyatt DuPont Art & Design Alia Ziae-Mohseni Ava Ackerman Edzani Kelapile Farah Caban Haidyn Redmond Jamie Tishkoff Jenny Chen Jensyn Ford Juliana LaPara Karlee Malcolm Kristen Berzolla Laura Mattingly Matthew Stefanowicz Max Beckerman Megan Lam Nick Alonzo Sarah Liu Sean Drew Sophia Seremetis Sydney Tomasello Xin Li Zahra Wibisana Promotions Alexa Rand Astrid Angeles Bella Ramdayal Chelsea Henderson Emily Greenberg Genevieve Kopp Hunter Chan Jessica Gwardschaladse Lily Zanze Marin Childers Micaela Kahn Michael DeVine Michelle Wu Niko Mallias Noam Dor Phoebe Moore Roshni Subramonian Sofia Kolobaev

Sofie Wendell Tabby Randlett Trevor Gardemal Photography Adriana Olea Alder Whiteford Alejandro Hernandez Alex DuBois Anna Kelly Ashlynn Braisted BellaJoli Gedeon Charlie Bershatsky Charlotte Hysen Claire Adner Coby Sugars Edzani Kelapile Elizabeth Scholl Elizabeth Zhu Emily Boyl Emily Greenberg Emily Kobren Emily Zakrzewski Emma Lawson Faith Nguyen Genevieve Kopp Gwen Egan Hannah Bocian Helen Cai Isabella Pozzi Jace Arrigali Jackson Goodman Julia Finocchiaro Justine Tam Kelly Thomas Kimmy Curry Krista Brochu Margot Murphy Max Rizzuto Maya Solanki Mia Rapella Michael Ault Michelle Wu Muhammad Elarbi Mukki Gill Nivedita Pai Olivia Watson Praagna Kashyap Samantha Davidson Sebastian Wicke Seha Khan Sophie Quisenberry Taliyah Fox Tara Milani Thea Keene Victoria Brennick

Meet the Staff

About Bella Ramdayal Position Social Media Director Major Business Administration Graduating Spring 2025 Favorite Venue Big Night Live Tastemaker Since Fall 2022

Edzani Kelapile Position Design Major Media Arts with Animation Concentration Graduating Spring 2024 Favorite Venue The Middle East Tastemaker Since Fall 2023

Lexa Fu Position Staff Writer Major Brand Management and International Business Graduating Fall 2025 Favorite Venue Brighton Music Hall Tastemaker Since Fall 2021

Vika Brennick Position Photo Major Computer Science & Design Graduating May 2025 Favorite Venue Brighton Music Hall Tastemaker Since Spring 2023

Listening to

Daniel Caesar ft. Brandy “LOVE AGAIN”

Quote

“Get a grip.”

Rihanna “James Joint” Brent Faiyaz “Rehab (Winter in Paris)”

Lucky Daye Candydrip Victoria Monét JAGUAR II

“Granny Smith apples are the best apples. No contest.”

MICHELLE “AFTER DINNER WE TALK DREAMS”

FKA Twigs CAPRISONGS Sade Love Deluxe

“All girls do is eat hot chip and lie.”

Carpenters “Close to You”

Sir Chloe “Sedona” Pinegrove “Need 2” The Backseat Lovers Waiting to Spill

“Everything is provisional.”

Addison Grace, Brighton Music Hall

Photo by Thea Keene (Communications)

Table of Contents Cover Story

A Lasting Legacy from the Faithful Departed: The Cranberries Discography Take a peek into the vanguard of an Irish rock movement, tracing their global legacy across their timeless releases.

Features

Bloghouse: Internet Music Culture’s Common Ancestor The chronically online 2000s cultural movement may have influenced every corner of today’s online music culture and consumption.

Six Degrees of Fergie Just how interconnected are today’s artists to the 2000s icon Fergie? The rules are simple: link her to any individual in the music industry through no more than six connections.

Words are Strange to Me: Bowery Electric’s Unkown Masterpiece While many names exist amongst the canon of great 90s artists, Bowery Electric inexplicably missed out with their phenomenal 1996 album, Beat.

Troye Sivan: From YouTuber to Popstar Various YouTube personalities have achieved fame since its inception, but Troye Sivan’s ascent into mainstream music stardom charted an uncommon course.

Confessional Poets to Singer-Songwriters: The Evolution of the Emotional From Joni Mitchell to Alanis Morisette to Beyoncé, confessional lyricism has paved the way for artists to transcend boundaries.

Interviews

Following her performance in Fall 2023’s Tastemakers Presents concert, staff writer Emily Greenberg sat down with Katy Kirby to discuss her upcoming album, LinkedIn, and worship music.

Editorials

Normal, American Girls: The Politics of Desirability in Music Non-white musicians across genres seem to have a common thread: their perceived desirability in a white world.

The Rock and Roll Attitude of Boygenius Despite their indie rock sound, trio Boygenius is one in a long line of women-fronted bands breaking expectations of what rock and roll can be.

Vevo’s Artificial Popularity If you have ever watched a music video, there is a solid chance that you’ve seen the Vevo logo in white lowercase letters hovering in the bottom right corner.

Reviews

Album Reviews

Show Reviews

Drake, Troye Sivan, Sufjan Stevens, Jane Remover

Kim Petras, Genesis Owusu

Etcetera

Underrated: Jensen McRae Staff writer Kayli Harley makes the case for why singer-songwriter Jensen McRae is set to make an impression.

In Defense of: Cher Lloyd

Taste of Nostalgia: Forever by Spice Girls

Revisiting the Remix: When Creativity Collides (And When It Crashes) Remixes have a storied history across genres, but one thing seems clear: pop remixes are getting more and more substanceless.

An Interview With Katy Kirby

Maybe Cher Lloyd could have been a star, but industry organizations and stereotyping have had an outsized role in her commercial collapse.

Staff writer James Ryan takes a retrospective look at Spice Girls’ third and final album, a case study of the changing music landscape at the turn of the century.

Calendar January Su

Ski Club Crystal Ballroom

Madonna TD Garden

Oliver Tree MGM Music Hall

Grace Potter MGM Music Hall Surfer Girl House of Blues Steve Rondo Brighton Music Hall

Magic City Hippies

House of Blues O Positive Paradise Rock Club

Meet Me @ The Altar Paradise Rock Club

Rockommends

We The Kings House of Blues Travis Scott TD Garden

L’Rain The Sinclair

Winkler Brighton Music Hall Armin van Buuren Big Night Live

27 Torres The Sinclair MORTEN Royale

31 Lyn Lapid Brighton Music Hall

Meet Me @ The Altar January 28 @ Paradise Rock Club

Portugal. The Man February 22 @ Roadrunner

For a night of head-banging music, check out Meet Me @ The Altar at the Paradise Rock Club. The pop-punk trio, who have previously opened for MUNA and 5 Seconds of Summer, are sure to blow the crowd away with songs like “Say It (To My Face)” and “Hit Like A Girl.” They may even bless the crowd with their cover of “Take Me Away” from Disney’s “Freaky Friday.” It’s a show you won’t want to miss!

Known for their nostalgic 2017 hit “Feel It Still,” Portugal. The Man is performing at Roadrunner this year! Portugal. The Man is an American rock band from Alaska, that has been creating catchy hits for years. Don’t miss an opportunity to dance to their upbeat tunes and enjoy the ecstatic energy they bring to the stage.

Chelsea Henderson (Journalism & Communication Studies)

Bella Ramdayal (Business Administration)

February Su

Playboi Carti

Briston Maroney

TD Garden

Paradise Rock Club

Briston Maroney Paradise Rock Club

Tinashe Royale

No Vacation

Boyz II Men

The Sinclair

MGM Music Hall

Squid & Water From Your Eyes

Mitski

MGM Music Hall

Neck Deep

Cat Power

Roadrunner

Chevalier Theatre

Paradise Rock Club

Mitski

Portugal. The Man

MGM Music Hall

Roadrunner

Jane Remover Brighton Music Hall

Two Door Cinema Club & Joywave

Ryan Beatty

Lost Frequencies

Big Night Live

Royale

Roadrunner Ricky Montgomery

Joe P & Cold War Kids

Royale

House of Blues

Two Door Cinema Club February 27 @ Roadrunner

Ryan Beatty February 28 @ Big Night Live

If you were on Tumblr in the 2010s, you are legally required to go see Two Door Cinema Club on February 27th at Roadrunner! Two Door Cinema Club is a band from Northern Ireland that has brought us albums filled with indie, pop-punk, synth-pop, and dance tracks, with their most recent release being the 2023 single “Sure Enough.” The trio will be up your alley if you enjoy artists like Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend, or Grouplove. Don’t miss this show!

Following last year’s all-too brief mini tour, Ryan Beatty is gracing Big Night Live with his signature blend of style and introspection. Expect to hear the melancholy, guitar focused tracks of his Tasty most recent album, Calico, as well as more upbeat synthheavy songs from earlier in his career. He tends to spend time to himself between albums, so see this “Boy in Jeans” while you can.

Mica Kahn (Cultural Anthropology)

Trevor Gardemal (Journalism)

Feature

BLOGHOUSE INTERNET MUSIC CULTURE'S COMMON ANCESTOR

Fall 2023

Back before sharing your favorite music was just an Instagram story away, there was a much more complicated and intricate network. Finding and sharing interesting niche music was only possible via CD burning or tiny chat rooms across the dark recesses of the early aughts internet. Music forums in AOL seemed like exclusive clubs that only the realest of real music fans could enter. There was no easy and lighthearted way to discover and enjoy new music — that is, until Bloghouse. Back in its heyday around 2005-2012, Bloghouse was a cultural movement emphasizing an assorted self-expressive aesthetic in music sharing circles, mainly on MySpace. Visually, think of clashing neon clothing, gold lamé everything, and lots of flash photography, mainly of scandalous twenty-somethings partying. Popular users would be seen partying in garish yet every-day apparel, adorning fur hats and black sunglasses in the dead of night. Sonically, however, it doesn’t necessarily fit under a specific genre classification. Some bloggers have called it nu wave or electro dance-pop, but it’s like trying to describe profanity — like profanity, you can’t explain it, but you know it when you hear it. There were countless sounds sloshing around in the bloghouse soup — anywhere from 90s electro-pop to Italian retro-funk. With all of these genres tumbling around, the sounds that showed up the most were warping 80s synths, glitchy effects, and electro-dancepop all wrapped together in that “I made this in bed at 3am” feel. Its simplicity and accessibility opened the doors for a lot of fresh music, a new phenomenon for the music industry at the time. It made people with creative musical stylings able to let the world see just how good — or bad — their craft was. So long were the days of hoping to play on the radio, because with just a few clicks on MySpace, you could be a star. According to bloghouse veteran A-Trak, there could be new “record label ready” music in mere days from an artist.

Another characteristic of this subgenre was the prevalence of music sharing and remixing. In the new, uncharted waters of streaming, there were barely any protections for people’s music. This led to an exponential reworking of others’ music, which would lead to mutual boosts in prominence. Take, for example, “Miscommunication (Bloody Beetroots Remix)” by Timbaland. The song on its own is a mid-tempo club jam with sultry vocals from Keri Hilson, but Bloody Beetroots’ remix turned into an instant dance club banger. Many more remix hits like “Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)” or “D.A.N.C.E. - MSTRKRFT Remix” are thanks to bloghouse Myspace users with an ear for remixing. It was a truly DIY scene — quite literally anyone with an active internet modem and an affinity for music could get a bed in the Bloghouse. If you had a particularly eye-catching look or sound, you might even build an online following, which was the case for a lot of popular musicians at that time. The gap between mainstream and underground cultures in music was collapsing in on itself. Thanks to social media platforms like Tumblr and especially MySpace, the path to music celebrity was facing a fork in the road. Up and coming musicians could have their music streamed and appreciated without crossing industry red tape. Obviously, there wasn’t as much financial backing, but this was an endeavor for irreverent self-expression, not commercial success. This also lead to more personal connections between artists and their fans. Many bloghouse artists would spend time with fans on and offline by way of direct messaging each other’s pages or going to someone like DJ Cobra Snake’s infamous parties. A community was building that brought online fans closer to their favorite musicians and vice versa. One of these fan-favorites was Uffie. Dubbed the “Queen of Myspace” in a 2022 profile in Dazed Magazine, Uffie is a French American techno-pop musician who had one of the most popular

the net soon got shrouded in a sea of breakfast tacos and sepia filters. The hyper uptick in social media stars and the “influencer” persona once again brought new barricades to fans of internet musicians, so the culture then — and now — is virality for the sake of virality, making a spectacle of yourself. However, not all was lost. The ideals of Bloghouse still permeate the undercurrents of the social media sphere. In a way, it became the blueprint for online musicians now, as there are still outlets musicians can use to get their music heard – namely, TikTok. While TikTok musicians are controversial and sometimes thought to be a harbinger of cultural destruction — or just not everyone’s cup of tea — it does have its moments. A great example of this is PinkPantheress, a Bloghouse renaissance-woman. In 2020, she released snippets of music on her TikTok — under the same name — that quickly caught on. For the next year, the songs only lived on TikTok and it made her gain a strong following on the app. This online momentum gave rise to the recent successful release of her full length album Only Heaven Knows, a mirror image of the bloghouse process. So, bloghouse still lives on, kind of. This movement is the reason that the internet can be so saturated with music today. Thanks to the pioneers of Bloghouse, a conduit of internet music culture was born. With the influence of the internet’s social capabilities, this was bound to happen. However, thanks to Bloghouse there was a way for innovative and unusual music to be spread widely with just the click of one — or maybe a few — button.

Designer: Larua Mattingly (Communications & Design)

Myspace pages during her bloghouse days. In 2008, she had five million profile visits and was a part of the myspace “Top 8,” a collection of the 8 most popular pages. Uffie rose to fame in 2005 by accident when her boyfriend at the time, novice music producer Feadz, was making a song called “Pop the Glock” and he needed a vocalist. Lo and behold, Uffie’s “unusually interesting voice,” as he calls it, was a perfect fit. With a few recordings in his studio, “Pop the Glock” was a MySpace hit, circulating on everyone’s pages like a wheat-paste billboard. The track sounds almost silly at first, with an unusual combination of Uffie’s put-on British-sounding vocals, gun whirring sound effects, glitchy beats, and tinny echoes. Lyrics span from “Play the game, the game gets played” to “Do the tootsie roll,” which are tongue-in-cheek enough to let the audience in on her ironic self-obsessed persona — a large piece of the Bloghouse puzzle. This online stardom soon saw Uffie rise through the ranks and work with acclaimed producer Pharell Williams for her debut album Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. Uffie is a prime example of the bloghouse aesthetic, a quirked-up singer who stumbled into internet stardom. Bloghouse was able to democratize music for anyone who was willing to give it a shot, and the tunes kept coming. For a few strong years, this idea of electronic self-expression through strange and new sounding music took the internet by storm. But the party couldn’t last forever. Myspace was on borrowed time the moment Facebook came onto the social media marketplace in 2008. Only a year later, Facebook had double the amount of online foot traffic than MySpace. In modern terms, “it was so over” for them. The Bloghouse strongholds like Sterogum or the AV Club quickly shifted their pages to Facebook profiles and all that was left were the bitter Bloghouse die-hards. Facebook’s popularity then brought on competitors like Instagram and the distinct charm of raw music being shared across

• Tommy Paulus (Cell & Molecular Biology)

Etcetera Designer: Jamie Tishkoff (Business and Design) Fall 2023

It’s no secret that short-form content has revolutionized how people consume media. Now it’s changing how people learn about and listen to music. Musicians turn to platforms like TikTok and Instagram to market their songs, grabbing viewers’ attention by claiming they’ve just written the “song of the summer” or “the best song to scream in the car.” The production of the video itself often takes precedence over the music, with the main focus being on leaning into cinematography or dramatizing their friends’ reactions to the catchiest lyric. The music fades into the background, even if it’s supposed to be the main event. But Jensen McRae’s content on Instagram and elsewhere isn’t about the image or scene but the music itself. She doesn’t give the impression of trying to sell her music to an audience. She simply sits in a room, strumming her guitar or playing her piano in a way that invites genuine connection. Scrolling through McRae’s page reveals dozens of songs the 26-year-old singersongwriter has written. Almost every video consists of her sitting at her piano or with her guitar, singing full verses of her worksin-progress. The collection of videos almost resembles an album as she walks viewers through the pages of her journals — the atmosphere is captivating and raw. Each snippet she posts has listeners wishing in the comment section for her to release the song immediately. Her lyrical ability demonstrates a profound understanding of complex emotions and concepts ranging from heartbreak and mental illness to gender and race. She writes with the depth and grace of poetry, and each track is as intimate as it is emotive. Some of her best lines are

in the unreleased music in her reels. In a song she calls “Tacoma,” she sings, “I don’t wanna wish anyone ill / I just wish the world would wish me better.” McRae’s unwavering vulnerability and candor translate into innovative metaphors that listeners can dissect. She touches on age-old themes from a fresh perspective and with words that land just as accurately. She writes, “There’s a part of me that wishes I could point to where you hurt me, / part of me that’s wondering if it’s too late to beg for mercy” in another untitled track, further displaying her ability to share personal narratives in a relatable manner. Finding lyrics that are descriptive but not too wordy is hard, but McRae composes her storylines expertly with a steady balance between detail and ambiguity. Many say that the more you read, the better you write, so it’s unsurprising that McRae also fills her Instagram with book recommendations and pictures of her overflowing journals. She encourages listeners interested in writing music to read extensively, keep a journal, and remain persistent when the lyrics come begrudgingly. Her artistic process demonstrates an understanding of how inspiration comes from internal and external sources, and this understanding translates into songs that tell relatable and meaningful stories. In the past few months, McRae has undertaken more projects. She released a Live Visual EP on YouTube in September entitled It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This and announced her headline tour beginning this month. Mixed in with her reels now are posts promoting her professional development. But even as her career picks up and more people discover her music,

her presence on social media remains open and intimate. Part of her appeal is how consistently she shares her process and her work with her followers. As they wait for more released songs, listeners can track her journey as she posts snippets of new music weekly. McRae’s steady presence affirms her dedication to bringing others into her life through her art. With her “Fever Dream Tour” ahead and more music in the works, McRae is set to make an impression. I, for one, will continue to patiently watch her reels on a loop until she graces audiences with more of her poetic and humble genius. Kayli Harley (Communication Studies)

10 Images: Juhku via adobe stock, Pixelrobot via adobe stock, Sharpshot via adobe stock, Justin Lim via unsplash

DEGREES OF

Fergie Designer: Edzani Kelapile (Media Arts)

Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson, is most famous for her stint as frontwoman of the Black Eyed Peas, with hits like “Where Is the Love” and “Boom Boom Pow.” Her solo career began in 2006 with “London Bridge,” the lead single of her debut album, The Dutchess. Although this album saw major financial success, Fergie has only released one other album in the years since: the much less successful Double Dutchess in 2017. Although she hasn’t lived up to her full potential as a star, she has remained in the public eye and conscience by hosting New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC, singing an unfortunately memorable rendition of the national anthem, and creating a shoe brand or something. You know who Fergie is. Let’s see who she knows… In 2018, Tastemakers writer David McDevitt played the following game with St. Vincent for Issue 50. It’s based on the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a game in which players attempt to find the shortest group of connections between Bacon and a given actor. This, in turn, is based on the six degrees of separation, the idea that any person is six or less social connections away from anyone else. The rules: Connect Fergie to any individual in the music industry through no more than six connections. A connection could be a feature on a song, a joint performance, an appearance on the same tv show, or any other means of interaction. Members of the Tastemakers staff suggested end points.

Feature

BRIDGIT MENDLER 1.

2. 3. 4.

Bridget Mendler played a recurring character on Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place,” which starred Selena Gomez. Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber dated in the 2010s. Justin Bieber collaborated with Will.i.am on his song, “#thatPOWER.” Will.i.am is the former bandmate and frequent collaborator of Fergie.

ST. VINCENT 1.

2. 3.

Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent, has co-written several songs with Jack Antonoff, including Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “deja vu.” Antonoff was the producer of two tracks on Pink’s 2017 album Beautiful Trauma. Pink was one of the featured soloists in the 2010 charity single, “We Are the World 25 for Haiti.” Another was Fergie.

ICE SPICE 1. Fall 2023

Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj have collaborated twice, on “Barbie World” and “Princess Diana.” Nicki Minaj was featured on “You Already Know” from Fergie’s 2017 Double Dutchess.

ADRIANNE LENKER (of Big Thief) 1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

Adrianne Lenker is the lead vocalist of indie folk band Big Thief, of which her ex-husband Buck Meek is also a member. Buck Meek was featured on the illuminati hotties song “u v v p” in 2021. Sarah Tuzdin, lead singer of illuminati hotties, lent her vocals to “Igyah Kah,” a song featured in the Star Wars spinoff “Ahsoka” on Disney+. Another Star Wars series, “The Mandalorian”, featured Jack Black in a season 3 episode a few months prior. Jack Black hosted the 24th Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, at which the Black Eyed Peas performed.

MC RIDE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

MC Ride is the frontman of Death Grips. The first disc of Death Grips’ 2014 album, The Powers That B, features samples of Björk’s vocals on every track. Björk produced and was featured on a remix of Shygirl’s “Woe (I See It From Your Side)” in 2023. Shygirl also collaborated with Tinashe on “Heaven (feat. Tinashe)” in 2023. In 2010, Tinashe cameoed in the music video for “Baby” by Justin Bieber and Ludacris. Fergie’s hit single “Glamorous,” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, featured Ludacris.

SARAH, DUCHESS OF YORK 1.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

Sarah, the actual Duchess of York, is nicknamed Fergie (not to be confused with our Fergie or her 2006 album The Dutchess) and served as the global ambassador of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the aughts. The Ronald McDonald House was co-founded by Jim Murray. Jim Murray would later serve as general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles football team, for which Jason Kelce is the center lineman. Jason Kelce is the older brother of Travis Kelce. Travis Kelce is currently dating Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift was set to perform with the Black Eyed Peas in 2011 in New York City. Although the show was rained out, the artists rehearsed together. • Trevor Gardemal (Journalism)

Feature Fall 2023

Many names exist amongst the canon of great 90s artists, and as a decade of unprecedented levels of modern cultural influence, the very best of its musical output is quite well known. However, the diamond in the rough that is Bowery Electric’s 1996 album Beat has been relegated to the collections of the luckiest of New York record store crate diggers and savvy internet music nerds. Acquiring an LP of the album is genuinely difficult, but those who do will hear something of pure magic once the needle hits the groove. Understanding the cultural contexts of Beat is paramount to understanding its sound. By the mid-90s, shoegaze and its dissonant walls of sound were already out of favor in the U.K., with American translations having never caught on. Instead, audiences en masse preferred grunge and popularized forms of 80s alternative, consequently whitewashing the genres in a sort of popularity paradox that continually traded meaningful social commentary for glossy radio hits with each new record. In the U.K., sampling began to take hold through the work of Jungle DJs, the IDM of Aphex Twin and the TripHop of Portishead and Massive Attack. Sampling and its consequent usage in 90s electronica provided to artists a variety of doors that had never been opened before. And while much maligned by executives and industry shot-callers, sampling and 90s electronica provided the countercultural edge that was lacking in mainstream American culture. It was this foundation upon which Bowery Electric built their dark and mechanical world of Beat, aiming to directly challenge the shortcomings and moral failures of mid-nineties American culture. Describing the sound of the record is as difficult as finding it in the first place. On the surface, it seems to be a dark combination of two distinctively 90s genres in trip-hop and shoegaze. However, their fusion leaves neither element as predominant, instead creating a tone that seems distinctly new. The title track announces exactly how the rest of the album will go. Martha Schwendener, bassist, keyboardist and co-vocalist of the band provides the opening statement in plain english — “Words are just noise” — sung to hypnotic effect. These elements continue on the very next track, “Empty Words,”, where Schwendener’s dusky vocals of “All your empty words mean nothing / mean nothing” similarly combines with the drum breaks, bass, and dissonant notes of guitarist Lawrence Chandler for a consistently downhearted and cynical mood. On tracks such as “Under the Sun’’ or “Looped,” radiating yet lifeless guitar meshes with a

general backdrop of dull pressure caused by low, whirring resonance to create terrifying paralysis. Together, the intentional fusion of tone, vocals, and instrumentals is so hypnotic and pitch-black that it feels almost detached from reality. Somewhat like the muted crests and numbing lows of a depressive episode, the path Beat guides the listener down is monotonous, disorienting, and unrelenting in its hopelessness. While cursory examinations of Beat seem to show simple meshing of shoegaze and trip-hop into a form of post-rock, Bowery Electric utilizes these elements as both a weapon and a satire of themselves. They turned potentially detrimental and boring elements of repetition and onedimensional sound on their head to create something entirely genreless. In effect, the strumming and its thematic purposes serve to criticize the meaninglessness of modern rock and disassociate itself from reality. Through the eyes of Beat there exists only an indifferent world, one where the monotony and hardships of life are all that exist; musings on the sterility of the middle class and its undying deference to an American dream already long dead. Bowery Electric doesn’t need to loudly preach about the gray nature of American society and modern music — they inform listeners about this indifference through their lack of sonic color, their repetitions and their lyrics so artificial and emotionless. Where some view this monotony as constrained in nature, Beat’s sound reads as expansive in that their intentional usage becomes critical commentary on the limitations of the environment and cultural contexts they inhabit. In the final segment of the album, comprising two tracks totalling in over twenty minutes of length, the pure mental exhaustion from

mainstream in such a way that grunge had. The environment directly challenges the listener and their own perceptions of the world on a level that can be hard to digest. While popular music may sometimes challenge listeners, the discomfort forced by Beat in its relentless monotony is wildly different and in direct opposition to the pleasing nature of commercially successful music. Beat never had the opportunity to be successful because it never allowed itself to be. Still, Bowery Electric created a masterpiece in the confines of Beat’s runtime. They present an environment so lacking in variation it becomes beautiful in its many dark, reverberating synth compositions and sterile drum breaks. In one of the most underappreciated records of the 90s, Bowery Electric warns against the indifference of an altogether bleak world, but urges listeners to look for beauty within its many details. • Andrew Loose (Data Science and International Affairs)

Designer: Zahra Wibisana (Computer Science and Design)

the depression of the last three quarters of an hour weighs heavy. So when the concluding “Postscript” softly opens its doors and leads the listener into a glittering landscape of ambient bliss, Beat forces introspection. In the quietly beautiful details that betray the harsh nature of the tracks before it, “Postscript” resembles the allure of life in its minute details. The beauty in monotony becomes clear and the tenderness of the album’s pain becomes overwhelming, prompting cherished memories to float to the front of the mind. “Postscript” is unaligned with the rest of the album, as it trades the shadowy, almost sneering nature of the tracks before it for a more somber and serene feel. And in doing so, Bowery Electric suggests a light at the end of the tunnel. Our bleak reality may have purpose, our constant droning struggles may have meaning. Ultimately, it is hard to understand if Beat had any impact on anyone at all. The strangely charming yet harsh landscape reached heights not seen in many other albums of the time, and Bowery Electric themselves, nor any of their contemporaries, would ever release an album with quite the same qualities. It seems an anomaly, indicative of the counterculture of the message buried beneath the noise. Truthfully, the sounds of Beat could have never hit the

Editorial

In the music video for “Your Best American Girl,” Japanese American indie musician Mitski is primped and prodded by a pair of white women before exchanging coy glances and flirtatious smiles with a white actor who sits opposite her. He quickly becomes distracted when a white woman dressed for Coachella appears, leaving Mitski to passionately make out with her own hand as the all-American couple grinds against each other obscenely. A more subtle version of this dynamic plays out in the song’s lyrics:

Although the song mourns the irreconcilable cultural differences between Mitski and a presumably white ex-lover, the music video tells a slightly different story — it gets at an unspoken feeling shared by many women of color that they are no more than an exotic detour on a white man’s path to finding a safe, equally white bride. In the more gruesome music video for “Happy,” another song from Mitski’s Puberty 2, a female Asian protagonist suspects her white military husband is cheating on her with a white woman, only to find that he is a serial murderer of blonde, blue-eyed women. “Happy” comments on the singer’s unrealistic expectations of her sexual partners to provide her with happiness that lasts beyond

Fall 2023

temporary pleasure. The fear of being left behind and therefore losing her fleeting distraction from depression is amplified by her belief that she is nothing more than an experiment to these men. The grim fates of the white women the protagonist’s lover chooses over her suggest that domestic bliss might not be realistic even for them, but this knowledge does not save her from resentment. In recent years, many female artists of color have expressed similar sentiments. Just as Mitski worries that “your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me” in “Your Best American Girl,” R&B singer-songwriter SZA laments, “wish I was the type of girl that you take over to mama” in “Normal Girl.” For SZA, this feeling of inadequacy stems from a sense that her lovers fetishize her for her Blackness but ultimately only view demure, unassuming white women as long-term relationship material. Since men only perceive her through the fetishistic lens of the hypersexualized, feisty Black woman (“You love the way I pop my top or how I lose my cool”), the resulting sexual desire in men comes at the cost of genuine love and respect. The “normal girl” in the song, much like Mitski’s “American girl,” is an unachievable ideal for both artists. “Your Best American Girl” and “Normal Girl” are likely the product of an amalgam of negative experiences with men and

twigs desperately repeats in the chorus. Pattinson has since begun dating Suki Waterhouse, a wispy blonde model whom internet trolls don’t seem to have a problem with despite her lack of connection to “Twilight.” Disney star turned pop princess Olivia Rodrigo is another artist who is no stranger to exploring her relationship with desirability as a half-white half-Filipina woman. Her debut album SOUR is thought to be a reflection on her unconfirmed relationship with her “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” co-star Joshua Bassett, who later became close with white actress and singer Sabrina Carpenter in another rumored romance. In her breakout song “drivers license,” Rodrigo alludes to a “blonde girl who always made me doubt,” which fans suspect is a reference to Carpenter. A track from her recent sophomore record GUTS, “lacy,” sees Rodrigo confess her obsessive jealousy towards a girl with “skin like puff pastry” who resembles a “Bardot reincarnate.” Interestingly, in 2020 Carpenter posted a photoshoot in which she recreated an iconic image of actress and model Brigitte Bardot, leading many fans to guess that “lacy” is about her; others think the line could refer to Gracie Abrams, a singer-songwriter who recently opened for Taylor Swift on her “Eras” tour. Whether or not Rodrigo is intentionally invoking either of

these artists, there’s no doubt that the lyrics could only refer to a girl of a certain race. The answer to all this angst seems like it should be to simply stop dating white men, but that might be a slightly reductive way of looking at things. Desirability doesn’t just determine women’s dating lives, it also dictates how they are treated in everyday life and the opportunities that are available to them, especially in an industry as cutthroat as music. Freedom from the constraints of adhering to the male gaze doesn’t start and end with a woman of color’s choice of partner, especially when famous women are also subjected to the opinions and abuse of fans and haters all over the world. Luckily, these artists aren’t alone. The popularity of their work and the thousands of non-white woman listeners who finally see their struggles with dating and desirability represented illustrate that a niche musical movement borne of pain and unfair treatment has a positive impact — because sometimes, validation can be the first step towards healing. • Juliana George (Journalism and Sociology)

Designer: Karlee Malcolm (Design)

interracial dating, but British avant-garde singer FKA twigs’ “cellophane” is speculated to be in direct response to the artist’s very public relationship (and breakup) with actor Robert Pattinson. Pattinson, who starred in the popular romantic fantasy film franchise “Twilight” alongside Kristen Stewart, was the object of many a white fangirl’s infatuation — and these white fangirls were not pleased that Pattinson was dating someone outside of the blue-tinted, overwhelmingly white world of “Twilight.” The singer was subjected to a constant stream of racist abuse from crazed fans without much defense from her thenfiancé, so when the couple parted ways, she wrote the heartwrenching “cellophane.” The relationship between Pattinson and twigs is a case study in the pitfalls of interracial dating that artists like Mitski and SZA comment on in their music. With public relationships like theirs, twigs didn’t just have to worry about what Pattinson’s mother thought — since their love was transparently “all wrapped in cellophane,” anyone could look in on her and pass judgment. Pattinson’s failure to condemn his racist fanbase was the betrayal women of color dread and knowingly await in each of these songs;

17 17

Editorial

Fall 2023

Rebellion and rage against a patriarchal genre and culture as well as a great love for the music has always been the driving force behind women in rock and roll, despite backlash for entering the male dominated space. Even the Queen of Rock and Roll herself, Tina Turner, struggled with the abuse of the patriarchy, but she fought to find success and became an icon for women everywhere. Regardless of the countless iconic women rockers, when looking up rock and roll legends, it’s always men — Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen — the list goes on. The wild rock and roll lifestyle and the aggressive, shock-inducing performances are often thought of as part of the man’s world of rock. Men get to be aggressive and wild, while women must be passive and kind. Boygenius’s name flips this paradigm on its head. A boy genius is a man who has been praised for his ideas his whole life, heralded as a genius for even the simplest thoughts — boys who grow up to be men that are arrogant, misogynistic, and egotistical, because their whole lives they have been told they are entitled to the world. In music, men

are allowed to let loose on the stage, while women are torn down for expressing themselves. The boy genius of music gets to be wild and free, and people will make excuses for him even when the aggressive nature of his performances bleeds into other parts of his life. Phoebe Bridgers received backlash for smashing her guitar on Saturday Night Live during her solo performance of “I Know The End” in 2021, a rock and roll instinct that has been lauded in the past when done by men like Pete Townshend of The Who. Countless men took to Twitter to tweet about how “pathetic” and “stupid” it was for her to do, taken aback by her harming a musical instrument despite never criticizing a man for doing the same. It’s times like these that remind us that there are double standards for women in every industry, which music does not escape. Rock and roll is undoubtedly gatekept — as much as it builds itself on liberation and rebellion, older rockers tend to be traditionalists about the way the genre is “supposed” to be. To see women on stage tearing their shirts off is an incredibly liberating experience. It’s a classic at a male-fronted rock band concert to see men losing the shirt — Billy Idol, Phil Collen, Sid Vicious — but much more uncommon for women. In a world where women’s bodies are often viewed as taboo, it is radical for a woman to free their bodies in such a public way. Wendy O. Williams of Plasmatics was one of the women who pioneered the idea that women rockers, too, can experience that freedom at their shows, and the members of Boygenius are continuing that notion. That’s because rock and roll isn’t just about music — it’s an attitude. It’s a feeling, a lifestyle. It’s untamed and rebellious, and women should be allowed to feel that same wildness. And just as male rockers remove their shirts to appeal to young women in the crowd, Boygenius gets to have their own moment with their largely young, queer audience, who spread the images like wildfire on the internet under the hashtag #boobgenius. They are adapting the style of rock and roll to be brought to a different kind of audience and in a more explicitly queer way; it’s not about attracting women, it’s about liberation. Boygenius is one in a long line of women-fronted bands to break expectations of what a women’s band should be like. They continue the fight against double standards between male and female rockers, and build a new understanding of what rock and roll culture is — perhaps the rock and roll attitude doesn’t always need to be paired with society’s current understanding of the genre. Delivering this new era of rock and roll to a largely queer audience opens up the possibilities for who gets to participate in the culture and drives the notion that rock music is for everyone, and that rock and roll culture can be queer despite its long history of straight masculinity.

Designer: Ava Ackerman (Business and Design)

Upon first listen, Boygenius does not come off as a “rock and roll” kind of band. Their often lowkey songs are beautiful, pensive, and heartbreaking, and images of traditional rockers don’t come to mind. But when attending one of their shows, you’ll find clear influences from traditional rock music, making for performances that carry on the spirit of previous iconic women in rock and roll. Between smashing guitars, ripping off their shirts to show exposed chests, and crowd surfing, the three members of Boygenius — Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus — have been both praised and criticized for the surprisingly chaotic performances. Fans love to see them letting loose on stage, but critics argue that they are disrespecting the culture of rock and roll. But although society more commonly associates rock and roll performances with men, they aren’t the first group of women to participate in the performance culture, despite their indie rock sound. That’s why it is so important for women rock bands to pass the torch to new groups like Boygenius, allowing the space to grow bigger and become more socially acceptable as society’s harmful ideals are broken down. Women bands of the past fought so that a band like Boygenius could be born into existence. And while their music may often be soft-spoken, their shows are anything but. From The Runaways to The Raincoats to Sleater Kinney to Bikini Kill, all-women and women-fronted bands across all genres of rock have been carving out space for women in rock and roll. They differ from Boygenius in the sound of their music, but have similar rock-ified performance elements. Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, for example, would prioritize women at their shows and dove into the crowd with intent to remove disruptive men. The Runaways, headed by Joan Jett, lived the drugs, sex, and rock and roll lifestyle just as intensely as any all-men rock band. Nancy Wilson, guitarist of Heart, smashed her guitar on their tour with Def Leppard. And just as people have criticized Boygenius, these women were called “sluts” and delegitimized by men who implied that rock and roll was for men.

• Lily Elwood (Journalism)

Flo Milli, House of Blues

Photo by Kimmy Curry (Design)

Thundercat, Roadrunner

Photo by Mukki Gill (Mechanical Engineering and History)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, MGM Music Hall

Photo by Praagna Kashyap (Political Science and International Affairs)

Cover Story Local Talent

The 1990s were absolutely essential to the development and golden age of alternative rock. At a time where grunge had taken hold of the alternative scene in the USA and shoegaze was sweeping England, Ireland was brewing its own unique brand of music. At the forefront of the Irish rock movement was The Cranberries. Formed in 1990, the quartet saw Dolores O’Riordan on vocals, Noel Hogan on guitar, Mike Hogan on bass, and Fergal Lawler on drums. O’Riordan and Noel Hogan co-wrote most of the band’s music throughout its existence, allowing a female perspective to permeate much of the lyrical content in a time where female leads were still few and far between. The Cranberries were immensely popular in Ireland and beyond until the late 1990s, charting with each release. Even today, songs like “Linger” and “Zombie” are immediately recognizable and widely popular, emphasizing their lasting legacy in the global music scene.

1993

EVERYBODY

ELSE IS

doing it, SO WHY

CAN t we?

Released in 1993, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? introduced the world at large to the Cranberries’ unique sound. With leading singles “Dreams” and “Linger,” the band made their p resence known. Much of the album’s sound fell fairly squarely within the alternative rock playbook, but the edges were twinged with Gaelic and Celtic tradition. These influences are especially clear on slower tracks such as “Put Me Down” but still emerge from the sonic background on more upbeat tracks. O’Riordan’s emotionally charged lyrics and themes of heartbreak, retribution, and empowerment allowed her to take the role of a strong female lead. Her ability to deftly integrate yodeling and other Celtic musical techniques into an already incredible vocal range distinguished her as a unique singer, but developing lyrics which were unashamedly raw and personal cemented her importance to the existence of the group. She became the central pillar of their sound, even though instrumental compositions were otherwise still quite clean and technically proficient. The ideal combination of unforgettable, singular vocal performances and personal lyrics set the band up for even more success in subsequent projects.

recommended tracks:

“Dreams”

Fall 2020 2023

“Linger” “Sunday”

1994

NO NEED to

ARGUE

Upon its release in 1994, the band’s sophomore effort, No Need To Argue, was received even better by the mainstream than their debut. It helped solidify what would become The Cranberries’ signature content: gripping ballads, songs of protest, and stories of self-empowerment. No Need To Argues’s sound was significantly more complex than their debut album, leaning into dream pop territory to achieve cohesion with O’Riordan’s vocals. Tracks such as “Disappointment” fully embraced signature dream pop instrumental elements of trance-like riffs and highly repetitive compositions, further bolstered by keening and repetitive chants from O’Riordan. Even though Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? was released just a year earlier, the band’s sound had matured immensely. Songs like “I Can’t Be With You” and “Ridiculous Thoughts” exemplified the band’s golden age – O’Riordan’s lilting and powerful vocal performance melded with better instrumentals and overall production for hit tracks. No Need To Argue also contained “Zombie,” far and away The Cranberries’ most popular single ever. Where other tracks on their debut record had ventured briefly into political messages, “Zombie” was an explicit song of protest against continued violence in Northern Ireland. Its direct style of storytelling would prove itself to be O’Riordan’s signature method of lyricism, especially with emotionally charged songs. In all, No Need To Argue would go down as The Cranberries’ most popular and influential album, and rightfully so – it saw the quartet become comfortable with their own vast creative power in real time.

recommended tracks:

“I Can’t Be With You”

“Zombie”

“disappointment”

1996

T O T HE

EPARTED

The Cranberries released To The Faithful Departed coming off the incredible high of No Need To Argue. The album matched the quality and popularity of its predecessor, generating fan favorite tracks like “Free To Decide” and “When You’re Gone.” However, the media attacked the album for being too political and wide in scope. Such attention would not have even been a possibility before the release of their sophomore album, but The Cranberries suffered in the limelight all the same. O’Riordan in particular was singled out as a source of rebellious music, and with songs like “The Rebels” and “Bosnia,” the classification wasn’t entirely unfair. Outside of the negative media attention, the album was still a fantastic addition to their discography, especially as a thematic follow-up to No Need To Argue’s rebellious undertones. To The Faithful Departed was the band’s highest charting album in the US and further established The Cranberries as a groundbreaking alt-rock powerhouse.

recommended tracks:

“The Rebels”

“Free To Decide”

“Bosnia”

BURY

THE

HATCHET

After a brief hiatus, Bury The Hatchet was released in 1999. While not as energetic as To The Faithful Departed, it contained equally powerful themes and overall compositions. Rather than dealing overtly in political strife, tracks faced more toward the personal struggles of the band members. O’Riordan in particular was raising her first child, and several tracks touched upon the struggles of motherhood, as well as failed relationships and divorce. These motifs lent themselves to a more somber album, although “Promises” was among a few songs which were high energy while still covering difficult ideas. Bury The Hatchet also explicitly covered the topic of child abuse in “Fee Fi Fo” with more intensity than any previous release by the band. The heavy nature of these lyrics made listening difficult and burdensome. Fans still appreciated the raw emotion and unashamed quality of writing, but the album simply couldn’t reach the wider audience that The Cranberries had enjoyed previously.

Designer: Max Beckerman (Design)

F FAITH

1999

recommended tracks: “What’s On My Mind” “Promises” “Fee Fi Fo”

2001 Cover Story

WAKE UP MELL

S and

THE

COFFEE

Local Talent

Coming off the lukewarm reception of Bury The Hatchet, The Cranberries tried to continue developing their more mature sound with Wake Up And Smell The Coffee. However, the result was less coherent, instead sounding a bit tired out. Sales of the album didn’t live up to expectations, partially due to a weak campaign during its release. Despite strong individual songs, the record lacked the thematic power that marked earlier works. Songs of protest were replaced by introspective narratives, robbing listeners of an essential energetic aspect of The Cranberries. The album as a whole failed to flow together despite having less variation in pacing and engaging in a slower, safer sound. Well-composed and performed songs like “This Is The Day” and “Wake Up And Smell The Coffee” were lost in the rest of the fairly forgettable tracks. The album was a symptom of the Cranberries’ frustration with being pushed into the box of political music. The Cranberries themselves still appeared fairly happy with their output, but after label changes and a decade of consistently making music together, there was something lacking. The band announced a hiatus in late 2003 to work on personal projects. Rather than a blow-out fight as so many 90s rock bands separated around, the bandmates simply felt that the collective well had run dry.

recommended tracks:

“Never Grow Old”

“This Is The Day” ffee” “Wake Up And Smell The Co

2012

ROSES Roses saw the return of The Cranberries after a ten-year hiatus. All bandmates were on amicable terms during their break, and began recording again after supporting O’Riordan on a solo tour. While the album did bring the band back together, it failed to capture the spirit of youth central to The Cranberries’ music prior to the breakup. The result was an album more interested in feel good tracks and fan service than poking at hard truths or politics. “Tomorrow” stood out from the album as a rare example that both matched the energy of previous records while still allowing room for the new themes the band was interested in exploring. “Schizophrenic Playboy” conversely acted as a direct callback to No Need to Argue and To The Faithful Departed in pacing and lyrical content. However, the record still simply did not live up to any previous efforts. If Roses had been released before the hiatus, it would have been taken as a revolutionary change of pace; instead, it felt disinterested. There was a sense of starting anew hidden in the folds of the tracks – and a more positive take on the album would certainly spin heavily towards that facet – but the unfortunate fact for fans was that Roses revealed that The Cranberries were fundamentally changed after a decade apart.

recommended tracks:

“Tomorrow”

” “Schizophrenic Playboy “Roses”

Fall 2020 2023

2017

SOMETHING

ELSE

After touring Roses and continuing to work on solo careers, The Cranberries regrouped on Something Else in 2015. The album largely looked backwards, compiling their best songs into an album. While Something Else initially shaped up to essentially be a greatest hits album, the band re-recorded each track with acoustic backing. The result revitalized beloved tracks and added even more depth. O’Riordan’s vocals were the crown jewel in the project, proving that the band still had something to offer. The album also included three entirely new songs strategically placed throughout the track listing. The most unique aspect of Something Else was that it read as a studio album despite being mostly recycled content. Tracks were pulled from the band’s entire career, fitting perfectly together as a retrospective on their impact. As a result, there really wasn’t anything to criticize about the album. Faithful fans were able to experience their favorite songs for the first time once again, and previous critics of politically charged or otherwise overly crass lyrics were completely silent. Although the effort wasn’t original by default, the album read more as a gift to fans than a new creative endeavor. The fact that all tracks were recorded in Limerick, the band’s birthplace, added fuel to the theory. In returning to their roots both figuratively and physically, The Cranberries were able to finally achieve the hard reset that could have jump-started their return from hiatus in the first place.

recommended tracks:

e” “When You’re Gon “Why” “Just My Imagination”

2019

IN THE END

After the success of Something Else, the band seemed ready to develop new music again. There were plans to tour the album along with other work around the world, but the tour was canceled. In January of 2018, O’Riordan unexpectedly passed away, throwing the band into completely uncertain territory. Rather than try to continue, they pulled together her vocal demos for the new project they were working on, recording around them as a final tribute to both her and the legacy they created. The result was In The End. The great tragedy of the album wasn’t just that O’Riordan was gone, but that the album was the best work they had released since the late 90s. Every song was tight, cohesive, and catchy compared to anything released after 2000. There was certainly a sense of grief and nostalgia that made tracks like “Illusion” and “Summer Song” stand out despite mundane backing compositions, but the album truly held together. In The End did nothing to dull the impact of O’Riordan’s death on the music world, instead amplifying it with a posthumous album that eclipsed much of the scene at the time. The remaining bandmates never attempted to tour or play the album live, noting later that several of the songs were only ever performed in the studio during recording. In The End was not so much an album as a tribute to devotees of The Cranberries who had stuck it out over the past three decades, braving the tumultuous scene and the band’s ups and downs. With the final track “In The End,” the recorded content of one of Ireland’s most influential artists came to a close. The song’s gentle, acoustic performance and laid-back singing let O’Riordan’s signature Limerick accent and powerful voice take center stage one last time.

recommended tracks:

“In The End”

“Illusion”

“Summer Song”

• Terrance Dumoulin (Civil Engineering & Architectural Studies) 25

Feature

Designer: Jensyn Ford (Communication and Graphic Design) Fall 2023

i S e y o r

It’s 2014. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is in full swing, and Billboard’s Hot 100 is topped by Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.” And on BBC Radio 1, the internet’s favorite closeted gaming couple — Dan Howell and Phil Lester — are overwhelmed. In the year and half that they’d been hosting their show, they had never experienced such a surprising number of song requests for the radio premiere of a new single from a fellow YouTuber. The song in question? “Happy Little Pill” by Troye Sivan. The world didn’t know it then, but that was just the start of Sivan’s ascent into the limelight. Flash forward to today, and Sivan is a Grammy-nominated artist for his infectious dance pop single, “Rush,” and its accompanying music video. The track, which was released in July 2023, ushered in a new era of his music as the lead single from his third album, Something to Give Each Other. Its immediate virality on TikTok came as a shock to some, but for his original internet fans, there was never a doubt that he would reach the level of success he has today. For many, Troye Sivan has been a name to know in Internet culture since the early 2010s. He first began uploading videos to YouTube in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2012 or so that his audience grew past internet circles. Though the channel was first and foremost composed of song covers, Sivan also established himself as a lovable online personality through his numerous comedic videos and vlogs throughout the years. He first forayed into the music scene in 2014, releasing his EP TRXYE which featured emotional, angsty songs like “Happy Little Pill” and “The Fault In Our Stars (MMXIV).” His debut album, Blue Neighbourhood, followed in 2015, and in the years since, Sivan has continued to expand his music career with another EP, two more albums, and a handful of singles. His career has expanded so far beyond these initial releases that many new fans are completely unaware of his past online history. Sivan isn’t the first or only musician that has used YouTube for

commercial advancement. Over the years, many wannabe musicians have attempted to use YouTube as a platform to launch their careers. Since its inception in 2005, YouTube has been a place for creativity, inspiration, and innovation. As one of the first video-sharing platforms on the Internet, it provided a space for users to freely upload content and find communities. Content creators could eventually grow a following by consistently uploading videos like vlogs, skits, or song covers — though for many, this was an unintentional, if fortunate, byproduct of a channel driven by pure enjoyment and passion. Eventually, this became a way for some to establish a livelihood once monetization opportunities on videos were implemented. For others, it opened doors into mainstream music and acting as an online presence increased the likelihood of gaining attention from prospective agents, casting directors, or producers. Dodie Clark and Conan Gray are just a couple examples, but of these musicians that started as YouTube personalities, no one has managed to bridge the YouTube-to-mainstream gap as seamlessly as Troye Sivan. So, what exactly has made his rise to fame feel so organic? By the early 2010s, a single viral video could land you on a magazine cover or national television. Justin Bieber, for example, was discovered by producer Scooter Braun because of one of his 2007 YouTube covers, and Greyson Chance went on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2010 after a video of him singing Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” at school went viral. With Troye Sivan’s early emergence onto the platform, it would be easy to boil down his success to merely timing. Combine this zeitgeist of instant fame with Sivan’s association with popular internet personalities like O2L (the Our 2nd Life collaborative), Tyler Oakley, and Zoella, and it’s a recipe for stardom. But distilling his success into just timing would discredit the actual reason why fans have flocked so closely to the Australian artist: his genuineness, artistry, and talent.

n a iv

FROM YOUT UBER TO POPSTAR Since he began creating content online, Sivan has grown alongside his audience, sharing relatable stories packaged into catchy pop songs. Blue Neighbourhood recorded the feelings of being a young queer person, complete with the uncertainty, shame, and joy that is ubiquitous in the queer community. Songs like “Wild” and “Youth” are vivid examples of coming to terms with one’s identity and finding community. 2018’s dance pop record Bloom builds on these complex experiences of exploring one’s sexuality and falling in love, and breakout singles “My My My!” and the titular “Bloom” exude queer joy. His third and most recent album, Something to Give Each Other, is a natural continuation of his discography, exploring the dichotomy of life and love — ultimately desiring a long-term relationship, but in the meantime, just enjoying getting to know people and enjoying life. Through the album’s 10 songs, it chronicles a variety of experiences — from the euphoric club scene in “Rush” to the melancholy of being sexually exploited by straight men in “One of Your Girls” — without guilt or shame. In an interview on the Zach Sang Show, Sivan said the album came about organically and as a natural expression and reaction to what he was going through in his personal life. The album is “really more about that chapter of freedom and exploration” to him, and this genuine and organic attitude about the record is palpable to listeners. With such engaging releases throughout his career thus far, it really should be no surprise that Sivan reached such heights — with or without YouTube. But considering the relative success of other content creators, it’s still clear that he cracked a code. Often songs like Eva Gutowski’s “Literally My Life,” Jake Paul’s “It’s Everyday Bro,” and Jacob Sartorius’ “Sweatshirt” would go viral, but are not considered legitimate beyond the scope of YouTube as their purpose was merely to market their personal brands. Other YouTubers like James Charles, Gabbie Hanna, and even fellow O2L members Ricky Dillon and Trevi Moran have all attempted to kickstart legitimate music careers by using their platforms but were unable to achieve more than a viral video — whether due to meme-ability or actual talent is up for debate — or a few mediocre singles or records. While there are several musicians that have been able to emerge from YouTube with success stories, they’ve often been put into a box

based on genre or past social media behavior. Dodie Clark, known on YouTube as doddleoddle, gained traction on the platform by posting acoustic ukulele covers, winning over an audience with her sweet personality and even sweeter voice. Despite releasing two solo albums, however, she has been unable to achieve mainstream recognition because she has been pigeonholed into a singular genre — one of quiet, confessional simplicity. Similarly, “Glimpse of Us” singer Joji began posting videos to YouTube in 2013 under the moniker Filthy Frank. While he is arguably as successful as Sivan in the music industry — having released three chart-topping albums and headlining several worldwide tours — his success wouldn’t have been nearly as widespread if the separation had not been made between Joji and Filthy Frank. Seeing as the channel’s biography explains that the character of Filthy Frank is “the embodiment of everything a person should not be… anti-PC, anti-social, and anti-couth,” Joji has received criticism for the comments and behaviors that he’s made under the guise of Filthy Frank. By making music under a new name, Joji was able to be taken more seriously in the music industry — without the prior reputation of Filthy Frank. Troye Sivan, however, is hard to put into a box. With every new release, he shows a different side of himself. With the music videos for Something to Give Each Other singles “Rush,” “Got Me Started,” and “One of Your Girls,” Sivan showcases his artistry and commitment to the craft of music, aesthetics, and complementary audiovisuals. These videos have consistently gained high traffic, and their virality is only bolstered by Sivan’s success. Outside of his solo work, he collaborates with artists like Charli XCX, Ariana Grande, and PinkPantheress — allowing him to challenge his style while simultaneously plunging himself further into the mainstream. His presence in the music industry is truly effervescent. These days, Sivan isn’t introduced to audiences as a YouTuber, even when his songs are premiered on BBC Radio 1. In fact, his YouTube channel is almost defunct, reduced to a medium for promoting new music. But his career has grown beyond the platform, showing that the golden age of Troye Sivan’s stardom is here. His work thus far has shown that he’s unlike any other, and if you’re not already paying attention to him, you should be. • Chelsea Henderson (Journalism and Communications)

Cher Lloyd In Defense Of

7 Etcetera

X Factor” provides very little mental health support to its participants. Reality television shows like “The X Factor” are inherently exploitative, and while they claim to want to propel normal people to stardom, they also have no qualms about using footage of a contestant’s vulnerable moments to increase viewership. Lloyd fell victim to this phenomena when the show edited one of her reactions in a way that made her come off as unreasonable and a diva. Lloyd was only 16 during her first televised appearance. Along with the other inner emotional turmoils 16-year-olds have to deal with, Lloyd also had to learn to live with the fact that her entire existence was being scrutinized by the public. While her audition and subsequent performances were relatively well received, the audience tore apart Lloyd’s physical appearance and working-class past once the judges picked Lloyd to continue on in the competition instead of a more favored contestant. The public was quick to criticize Lloyd’s dramatic drawn-on eyebrows, torn jeans, and brazen attitude since those characteristics all fit into the “chav” stereotype. This derogatory stereotype has been used to mock lower class young people in Britain. As soon as Lloyd acted in a way that wasn’t mature and composed, the public rushed to make assumptions about her character in a way that completely disregarded her musical talent. When asked about the criticism she faced on “The X Factor” in a 2020 interview with the Guardian, Lloyd asked the interviewer “Would you go up to a 16-year-old girl in the street and say: ‘I don’t know you, but you look disgusting, with your disgusting eyebrows’? That’s what people did to me.”

Lloyd’s first recording contract was with Syco, the record label associated with “The X Factor.” This label has a history of overworking and dominating the creative direction of its signees while not marketing them enough. A lot of Syco’s most successful musicians, like Lloyd, were also recruited when they were in their teenage years. Most of these signees end up splitting from the label on bad terms. Lloyd was not an exception to this rule. After “The X Factor,” Cher Lloyd released her debut single “Swagger Jagger” as a response to the excessive hate she received. The combination of Lloyd’s adolescent lyricism, repetitive rapped verses, and obnoxious beat did not appeal to many people, and the song was critically panned. “Swagger Jagger” was a culmination of everything “The X Factor” made Cher Lloyd appear as: brash, bold, and lacking in class. Now, she refuses to perform the track, since it reminds her of the mistreatment she faced when she was at the start of her career. Lloyd only received universal critical success when she released “Want U Back” in the US. For the first time in her career, she was being taken seriously as a pop star. In the US, her boldness was seen as assertive, and her tone was seen as fun instead of coarse. The song is about realizing you actually wanted a boy you left, and the cheeky message of the song came across as relatable instead of entitled. Lloyd’s US breakthrough was one of the first times she was perceived without past judgments clouding her image, since many people who learned about her didn’t know about her appearance on “The X Factor” and the unsavory stereotypes that surrounded her. However, Lloyd would never reach that level of success again. After a second album that didn’t reach the success of her first and her decision to get married and start a family, Lloyd’s music career reached a stalemate. Lloyd insisted that her music career didn’t have to suffer due to her personal life, but labels were hesitant to listen to her since they couldn’t employ marketing techniques like romantically linking her to other celebrities. Cher Lloyd was repeatedly failed by the organizations that claimed to want to uplift her and was unjustly torn apart by the general public. When she couldn’t portray the character the music industry tried to force her to be, it left her behind.

• Rilyn Szabo (Behavioral Neuroscience and Design)

Fall 2023

CHER LLOYD WANT U

BACK

Designer: Farah Caban (Business and Design)

When Cher Lloyd first auditioned for “The X Factor” in 2010, she was told she was going to be a star. She had no idea that her stint on the TV show would end in various newspapers referring to her as “the most hated teen in Britain.” Lloyd was never untalented or ungrateful, she was just exploited by an industry that demanded perfection and shamed normal teenage actions and emotions. Cher Lloyd was one of the more popular acts to come out of the British version of “The X Factor,” a reality television talent show where undiscovered singWWers compete for a recording contract. Her distinct vocal style that combined elements of pop and rap quickly captured the attention of both the judges and the viewers. According to past contestants, including Lloyd, “The

Full of Hell, The Middle East

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Etcetera

freshen up their sound and image, the Spice Girls collaborated with a laundry list of songwriters and producers, namely Darkchild who produced the second single off the album “Holler.” The Girls had certainly experimented with R&B before, namely on “2 Become 1” off Spice, but “Holler” was the first song by the group clearly looking to be defined as under this genre. The music video was especially telling of this new era of Spice Girls, presenting the girls without much of the character they had used to brand themselves over the years. They wore uniform black leather pants and tops for the video — similar to the all black they wore for Forever’s album cover — distancing themselves from the cartoonish personas of the past and moving into a more individualized era. With their respective solo careers beginning to take off, it behooved them to present themselves as more than different Spices in a rack, and as their own individual artists. In terms of the album itself, Forever stands as a middle of the road R&B album. The album begins strong with “Holler,” a catchy and energetic track that stands on one of the album’s more memorable moments. The strongest points on the album are tracks that sound like they would’ve belonged on the Girls’ previous albums, but with the updated R&B production. Standout songs like this include “Get Down With Me,” “Let Love Lead The Way,” and “If You Wanna Have Some Fun.” However, the album can feel bogged down by some of its ballady moments, like “Weekend Love” and “Oxygen” which tread ground already visited on other Spice Girls projects, both on and off of Forever. Overall, the album works best when it refreshes what the Spice Girls do best- themes of friendship and girl power, with updated production. Forever is a case study in a group attempting to change with the times, and adjust to their own internal conflict, through seemingly taking the right steps; yet not seeing the desired success. Forever underwhelmed in both critic and audience reception, peaking at #2 on the UK album charts, breaking the groups streak of #1 hits.

It was a sign that fans weren’t as fond of the band’s new sound as the group may’ve hoped. It was unclear at the time if Forever would be the Spice Girls last album, yet fans wouldn’t get another output from the girls as a group till their 2007 Return of the Spice Girls world tour, which saw all five members of the group reuniting on stage for the first time since Halliwell’s departure. On this and subsequent gatherings the group has seemed to backtrack, falling back into the characters that had been their signature. It’s a response to fans lukewarm response to the album that the girls have since not referenced the era in their performances, other than performing “Holler” or “Goodbye” (Forever’s only #1 hit). They fell back into the characters they made them popular, taking off the leather and putting back on the cheetah print, at least when together. • James Ryan (Communications and Media Studies)

Designer: Kristen Berzolla (Design)

Fall 2023

What is British pop music without the Spice Girls? Luckily, we’ll never have to know. The Spice Girls is made up of five members each with unique personas — Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Melanie C (Sporty Spice), Mel B (Scary Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), and VictWhat is British pop music without the Spice Girls? Luckily, we’ll never have to know. The Spice Girls were made up of five members each with unique personas — Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Melanie C (Sporty Spice), Mel B (Scary Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), and Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice). These personas were showcased on the Girls’ debut track “Wannabe” off their first album Spice, releasing the song with an energetic music video that skyrocketed the group to the top of both the UK and Billboard top 100 charts for seven and four weeks, respectively. After “Wannabe,” it became impossible to escape the Spice Girls, with a vast musical output, a movie, a world tour, and countless paid promotions. These projects were all bolstered by the group’s young, largely female audience, who became engrossed in the Spice Girls themes of friendship and girl power. However, it was during this period in 1998 that Geri Halliwell abruptly left the group in the middle of their Spiceworld World Tour, citing burnout and creative differences. This left the four remaining girls— Sporty, Scary, Posh, and Baby — to decide on how to move on without her, all while juggling new solo careers and finishing a world tour. The first step in this came in the Girls’ 1998 single “Goodbye.” The song, the first without Halliwell, was a clear ode to her departure from the group, with the lyric “goodbye, my friend” echoing throughout. The song became the group’s eighth #1 single in the UK, proving they could find popularity without Geri in the crew. By the time the group was able to record their third album, 2000s Forever, the pop music landscape had changed. New girl groups out of America began topping the charts, namely TLC and Destiny’s Child, who helped popularize a more urban-inspired sound. Hoping to tap into this and

“Songs are like tattoos,” Joni Mitchell wrote on the title track of her 1971 album Blue. The idea that songs can function as imprints of lived experiences for both performer and audience revolutionized the way musicians approach songwriting, expanding the dimensions they can use to capture their emotions. But Mitchell didn’t create this idea on her own. Instead, she inherited the artistic project of the confessional poets of the 1950s and 60s. Although Mitchell and many women singer-songwriters resist the label “confessional,” the contributions of the literary icons who preceded them allowed them to use their art to discuss internal worlds. The confessional poets reinvented the language of the emotional, opening the form to “the challenge and promise of a whole new psychic geography to be explored,” as poet Adrienne Rich wrote in 1971. Confessional poetry, or the “poetry of the personal,” employs 31

Feature Fall 2023

colloquial language to explore taboo themes of sexuality, marital strife, and mental breakdowns. Known for its extremity in tone and use of disturbing imagery, this style was interested in private and subjective experiences previously left unexplored. By turning writing into an act of salvation, confessional poetry gives the writer the power to find absolution in their work. Conversely, by forcing the audience to participate as a confessor, this style pulls the reader into the brutal process of laying one’s soul bare in the hope of catharsis. The self-interest and honesty of confessionalism attracted audiences grappling with the chaos of the Cold War and the strict social norms of the post-war era, illuminating psychological experiences deemed inappropriate for public discussion. Because of the style’s relation to emotion, it has been a label attached primarily to women, becoming a method of discrediting their work. Although the term “confessional” is often criticized for its implication of guilt, this style of writing has built a platform and language artists can use to explore themes of womanhood, sexuality, and mental illness that are often exiled by other genres. Blue, Mitchell’s third album and one of the earliest and most influential examples of confessional songwriting, chronicles her emotions throughout her tumultuous early stardom. Mitchell’s songs reference real people, addressing her relationships with James Taylor, Leonard Cohen, and Graham Nash. In “My Old Man,” Mitchell is disarmingly tender with her lover, describing the acts of service that satisfy a person in love: “I want to shampoo you / I want to renew you again and again.” By singing about the peace she found in her limitless devotion, Mitchell illustrates the difference between a woman choosing to perform emotional labor and being forced to do so, as explored by the work of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. Mitchell’s reclamation of domestic love demonstrates how confessionalism expanded its range to confront shifting cultural conversations. In “Little Green,” Mitchell reckons with her decision to give her daughter up for adoption after being abandoned by the child’s father, describing herself in the song as a “child with a child pretending.” Mitchell’s writing addresses her child, conveying the choice many young mothers faced before they had access to birth control and abortion rights. “Choose her a name she will answer to / Call her green and the winters cannot fade her,” Mitchell sings as she wishes the best for the daughter she thought she’d never see again, admitting with full transparency that she wasn’t equipped to handle the responsibility of a child. “We all suffer for our loneliness, but at the time of Blue, our pop stars never admitted these things,” the artist said. Mitchell initially pushed back against the label “confessional,” claiming that the only poets who influenced her work were Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. However, in 1979, Mitchell conceded that she “became a confessional poet” in an observation that inverted the dynamic between audience and artist: “I thought, ‘You better know who you’re applauding up here.’ It was a compulsion, to be honest with my audience.” Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Alanis Morisette and Fiona Apple utilized confessional songwriting to resist the abuse and sexualization they faced. Listening to Morisette’s Jagged Little Pill has become a right of passage, capturing the unpredictability of being a teenager writhing against authority. Morisette, who describes her work as “hyper-autographical,” is unafraid of the messy truth, even if she embarrasses the audience in the process. In “Right Through You,” Morisette exposes the world of sleazy bosses she navigated as she rose to fame and expresses her frustration at entering womanhood during a time of hypocritical sexual politics. Fiona Apple processed

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her pain and frustration on Tidal, hinting at the abuse she faced in her adolescence on tracks like “Sullen Girl.” Apple dares the audience to judge her in the wake of her trauma: “Is that why they call me a sullen girl, sullen girl? / They don’t know I used to sail the deep and tranquil sea.” Taylor Swift, one of the most notable modern confessionalists, has provided a soundtrack to adolescence and early adulthood for millions. Swift’s ability to pull from her own life and create relatable songs has catapulted her to the apex of stardom and cultivated a base of adoring fans. On some level, you have to know Taylor Swift to listen to Taylor Swift. Throughout her career, she has woven a web of selfmythology and references that fans spend hours trying to untangle, a practice shared by the memoirist perspective of Lana Del Rey’s recent work. Embodying a type of pseudo-confessionalism on folklore and evermore, Swift stepped away from the autobiographical nature of her former work and into the perspective of invented characters to tell stories she’s imagined, inverting the form to convey messages beyond her lived experience. Swift’s influence demonstrates how singer-songwriters use their social and emotional capital to create music that distorts the boundaries of what is considered public, private, and popular. The most successful examples of singer-songwriter albums have mostly come from white women, due to the institutional and social factors that have discouraged Black women from expressing themselves and restricted their opportunities to do so. Although singers like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone wrote incredible music about their emotional experiences, their expressions as Black women and public presentations by music executives were often limited to dimensions that seemed palatable to mostly white audiences. In the 2016 album Lemonade, Beyoncé expands the form of confessionalism to harness the betrayal of her husband cheating on her and the strength she finds in Black power. In “Freedom,” Beyoncé reflects on her experience of finding liberation and relief through her resistance to oppression, a dimension of racial discrimination that was formerly unexplored by most popular confessional albums. Beyoncé infuses the album’s visuals with Black aesthetics, creating a language of sounds and imagery that reflect the variety of the music while enfranchising references that are unique to the pop star’s experience as a Black woman raised in Houston. Beyoncé confronts the range of painful yet freeing revelations that come with exposing infidelity. “Sandcastles” is a sobering retrospective burdened by feelings of abandonment, while “Don’t Hurt Yourself” is a rageful reaction to the sheer audacity of cheating on the one-and-only Beyoncè. Lemonade operates in the immaterial world that can come crashing down with a single realization, even if you’re a pop star at the peak of your career. Lemonade is confessionalism at its finest. Because of its honesty and relevance as a glimpse into the inner world of one of the world’s most exciting musicians, Lemonade demonstrates how artists use their work to transcend the boundaries set by the music industry and society and tap into the collective power of shared experience. Beyoncé and other musicians who have experimented with confessionalism continue the work of the brave women who came before them, but Lemonade set a new standard for how musicians can approach writing music without losing the mysterious allure of celebrity and a degree of personal boundaries. The power to transgress is personal, and confessional writers lead their own private revolutions each time they pick up the pen. • Joseph Brant (Political Science & Economics)

Faye Webster, Roadrunner

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Photo Page

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Emei, Rockwood

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Pierce The Veil, MGM Music Hall

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Feature

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Designer: Matthew Stefanowicz (Communications and Design)

Fall 2023

The name Vevo probably doesn’t mean much to you, but surely, it’s recognizable. If you have ever watched a music video, there is a solid chance that you’ve seen its logo in white lowercase letters hovering in the bottom right corner. The simple, sans-serif font — which is aptly titled “Plain” by Vevo’s own style guide — is easy to ignore as you watch your favorite band on screen. But even so, Vevo is seemingly everywhere when you actually look for it, leaving the question: What is Vevo? Founded in 2009, Vevo is the product of a joint collaboration between three of the four major record labels of the early 2000s: Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music, and Electric and Musical Industries (EMI). Short for “Video Evolution,” Vevo itself has evolved greatly over the years. It was founded as a platform to stream and distribute music videos but has since created and retired an app, established major licensing agreements with streaming platforms such as Apple TV and Hulu, and offered a spotlight for musicians through original content. While music videos are mostly enjoyed as creative works that expand on a musician’s artistry, Vevo highlights a music video’s subtle power as a marketing tool. The use of music videos for marketing is a storied history that begins far before record label bigwigs could even dream of Vevo. Instead, you have to look back to the 80s, when the popularity of the music video as primetime entertainment was at its height. Just after midnight on August 1st, 1981, a new era of music rose out of the static

on the TV, and MTV was born. “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to be aired on the new channel, a choice that was not just tongue-in-cheek, but prophetic of the years to come. Video did, in fact, kill radio as MTV garnered major success and established itself as a household name within the American entertainment industry. Its shows are often credited with transforming artists of mediocre fame into the superstars that they are today. Britney Spears’ rise to fame is often associated with her performance of “...Baby One More Time” on “Total Request Live (TRL),” an MTV series from the late nineties which served as a countdown of the best music videos of the week while also shining a spotlight on up-and-coming artists. MTV’s meteoric success was unfortunately short-lived. By the early 2000s, it had mostly shifted from music videos to reality television. But this didn’t mean the end of the music video as a staple in the zeitgeist; 2005 brought about a new company that would lead to yet another major shift in how music videos were distributed to the general public. This company was, of course, YouTube. The popularity of video as it existed on television in MTV’s prime would meet a murderous fate similar to that of radio. This time, the killer was the internet. For major record labels in the early 2000s, no threat to the marketing power of the music video was greater than that of YouTube. User-friendly and easily accessible, any aspiring musician could upload a music video to a wide-reaching audience, regardless of their

fame, talent, or, most importantly, record label. YouTube threatened to render the record label an obsolete middle man by reducing artists’ need for help in reaching a wide audience when it came to distributing music videos. To make matters worse, YouTube’s ad revenue mechanism did not give major labels what they thought was a fair share of the cut. Vevo was created to fight against that and put the power of the music video back in the hands of the rich and powerful leaders of the music industry. Founded with the purpose of maximizing major label profits from their artists’ content, Vevo was ruthless with its efforts to dominate the market for music videos. The goal was simple: to force major streaming platforms to license music videos through Vevo’s own platform, which would be embedded through the videos consumers find on YouTube or other platforms. It was a successful tactic, as the backing of the world’s most powerful record labels gave Vevo insurmountable leverage to negotiate favorable deals on behalf of its founders. Its negotiation strategy of choice? To pull all of the music video content created by Vevo-affiliated artists from its adversaries’ websites. In 2010, failed negotiations between Vevo and MTV led to a devastating blow to MTV’s online platform, MTV.com. Inability to reach an agreement led to an announcement that UMG would be pulling all of its content from MTV’s website. This was an enormous loss for MTV; UMG is the biggest and most successful record label in the world. Beyoncé, Justin Biebeer, Taylor Swift, and Elton John are all part of UMG and its subsidiaries’ catalog of musicians, just to name a few. Their and others’ music videos had previously been licensed to MTV without restriction for over thirty years, but now, MTV.com would lose access to some of the most popular artists of the early 2000s and 2010s. The company that curated the pop culture of the 80s and 90s and popularized acts like Nirvana and Britney Spears would no longer be able to keep up with the most famous songs of the next decade. Despite MTV’s undeniable loss in this outcome, to say that Vevo is what killed MTV would be to give the platform far too much credit. The removal of UMG music videos from MTV was more so a symptom of the platform’s decline in popularity than it was a cause. The fact is that even after losing in negotiations, the former music video hub held onto something that Vevo has always wanted but never achieved: the ability to attract consumer attention by introducing a new and exciting concept to the market. While the creation of MTV and YouTube each filled a gap in both programmed and digital media for consumers, Vevo filled a gap that

existed only for the most elite members of the music industry. The consumer has always come second to label executives’ pockets in Vevo’s business strategy, and its streaming platforms were accordingly met with lackluster response from even the most avid fans of music. If you didn’t know about Vevo’s app, you’re not alone. It was phased out of existence in 2018, after a failure to draw users away from YouTube. Vevo’s consumer-facing platform, which once acted as a streaming platform for music videos, is also now obsolete. Publications like Rolling Stone, Forbes, and Variety all reported on these shut-downs as an admission of defeat: Vevo couldn’t get users to switch from using YouTube to Vevo just because the music industry powers-that-be told them to do so. It seems that Vevo has accepted this fact and redirected its attention to creating original content. Vevo has launched several recurring performance features in a similar style to those produced by Genius or triple j’s “Like a Version” series. “DSCVR” showcases up-and-coming musicians, “CTRL” specializes in hip-hop and rap, and “Vevo STUDIO” brings artists into isolated studios for exclusive performances. These videos, which are all posted to YouTube, have been far more successful in their reception than the app ever was. Vevo’s official live recording of Ariana Grande’s Positions album has over thirty-three million views, and Vevo Footnotes’ behind-thescenes look at Taylor Swift’s “cardigan” has close to three million views. Over a decade after its creation, it seems that Vevo has learned that in order to captivate audiences, it must offer something in return. The story of Vevo can’t be characterized as the rise and fall of a media empire in the same way that MTV can — in fact, it barely can be called a story at all. To be described in such a way would require Vevo to have ever reached a peak in success. But despite its efforts, Vevo never truly established a strong foothold in the realm of music and streaming platforms. Very few have ever mindlessly scrolled through the Vevo app, or even typed in the URL for the Vevo website when they want to watch a music video. Yet anyone who watches music videos recognizes its name, since its presence is ubiquitous in major-label content. Perhaps a few performance series will focus more consumer attention on Vevo itself, but the truth remains that Vevo’s existence began and has been sustained due to the monetary interests of the industry’s most powerful labels. • Jessica Gwardshcaladse (History, Culture, and Law)

Editorial

WHEN CREATIVITY COLLIDES (AND WHEN IT CRASHES)

Designer: Sean Drew (Graphic and Information Design)

Fall 2023

“The Weeknd and Ariana Grande will release a remix of ‘Die For You’ this Friday,” reads the tweet, accompanied by two flashy pictures of some of the biggest artists on the planet. The announcement should feel momentous; a collaboration on an already inescapable song by two incredible singers with a consistent track record together. Upon release, however, the “remix” was simple — the second verse was replaced with Grande’s new addition to the track, and some interspersed vocals throughout. Grande added no substance or individuality — no reason to choose this over the original track. In the highest realms of the pop arena, this trend is not particularly new. Lil Nas X released several remixes of “Old Town Road” (likely contributing to it becoming the longest-running Billboard Number 1 song in history), Billie Eilish put out a panned remix of “Bad Guy” with Justin Bieber, and in a more unlikely collaboration, Cardi B hopped on Bruno Mars’s “Finesse.” Mainstream artists across genres partake in this rapidly growing industry pattern, creating relatively unexciting alternatives to their hits, with little change to the structure or genre of the song. There is a distinct difference between these “guest feature” remixes and more authentic, restructured remixes. Producers, especially EDM and techno DJs, often remix songs by completely altering their structure, even genre. Mike Posner’s “I Took A Pill in Ibiza,” a quintessential 2010s hit, is surprisingly a five-minute slow acoustic song originally. When Norwegian EDM producer duo SeeB got a hold of the track, they completely revamped the track into a legendary club banger. Likewise, OMI’s “Cheerleader” did not originate as a catchy house hit; it was put out years before it became a hit as a reggae-pop ode. Felix Jaehn remixed it two years after its original release to make it the infamous earworm played in department stores nationwide. It speaks to the power of talented producers and DJs to have completely reimagined this song into an unexpected smash hit — a complete sonic 180. The artists mix their sounds into a completely new product: the two versions are practically different songs. Both mainstream and underground artists do this, with the latter especially

benefitting. Smaller musicians linking up with each other can expose them to new audiences in other geographic areas or genres. Without massive label promotion, independent or up-and-coming musicians have to generate excitement for new releases on their own. In addition, remixes and collaborations can create new opportunities. Crossovers with other artists work to expand their audience, allow for experimentation with new production and genres, and let them make connections and network in the music industry. The announcements of new remixes for already massive artists, on the other hand, seem to live off the hype of the names attached; that you should be excited because of the thrill of the crossover, not the music itself. Instead, the hype should come from the talent of everyone involved in the process: the skill and expertise of the producers, for example. Marketing executives and pop artists have, in some ways, taken over remix culture by co-opting DJ production techniques — why invest in a true remix by an experienced EDM producer when you could mimic their methods, or better yet, not change the song beyond a guest verse? In the long term, this remix culture is harmful: it encourages artists to put commercial performance and streaming numbers over artistry. An artist’s personal vision can become compromised when a random feature is stuck on, with or without their consent. With some major “remixes,” the question arises if this is the wish of the artist, believing that their work would be improved with another voice, or a label calling in favors to boost a song’s exposure and chart performance. It’s doubtful that Dua Lipa personally called DaBaby to join “Levitating” because she had specifically had him in mind, nor did she believe it would enhance her concept for the song. Witnessing such prominent artists sacrifice their artistic missive for a quick stream boost is worrying, and it’s equally concerning to think about the reality that major labels probably invest heavily into these features, shelling out big bucks and calling in favors. It would be more productive to see these resources invested in the growth and success of the label’s smaller artists, those who are far more in need of exposure. For The Weeknd, an Ariana Grande

feature means little to boost his career, but for an up-and-coming artist, it could be lifechanging. It doesn’t even need to be a feature — the money could be spent on advertising, playlisting, or countless other forms of publicity. When we accept these lazy features as a “remix,” we inadvertently encourage the music industry to spend more of its resources on these high-profile guest stars, sacrificing artistic vision and the beauty of collaboration for profit. This acceptance also harms the concept and art of remixing, which has a storied history dating back decades to house music’s origins in underground clubs and warehouses. Comments already beg artists to “get [insert artist here] on a remix rn!!!!!”. And when the dream artist joins the song, it seems like pandering to the masses, just to indulge the fans or appeal to the memes. How far the term “remix” has deviated from its original definition with the new generation is evident; the term is already changing, and its historical context is tossed to the side. The future of mainstream remixes is still up in the air. This practice appears to be commercially successful; every remix mentioned here has hundreds of millions of streams, and many have skyrocketed to the top of the charts. On the one hand, the general public is eating these remixes up, but at the same time, apathy may be growing. For instance, the remix of SZA’s “Kill Bill” with Doja Cat paled commercially and critically compared to the behemoth hit that was the original. Some mainstream artists seem to be attempting to add more variety to these remixes, like Beyonce’s “Cuff It” being remixed to a slow jam, or SZA’s remix with Justin Bieber on “Snooze” reworked to an acoustic song with a completely new instrumental. There are signs of innovation and freshness in the otherwise stale music industry, but for the moment, it seems like we are left to live with a steady stream of middling sidegrades. • Gabriel Barbier-Saiah (Criminal Justice and Human Services)

Interview

An Interview With:

On October 24th, Tastemakers hosted our semesterly concert, Tastemakers Presents. Eager Northeastern students lined up in anticipation of this fall’s acts – folk artist Haley Heynderickx and alternative rock singer-songwriter Katy Kirby. Tastemakers got to sit down with Kirby after the show, which was coincidentally the same day she announced her sophomore album Blue Raspberry along with the release of a brand new single “Table.” On stage, Kirby rambled endearingly and noted that she had been feeling strange that day – but all signs of anxiety disappeared when she dove into playing her songs. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Fall 2023

Katy Kirby (KK): Every time I release a single or something, I’m realizing I get a little weird. Tastemakers Magazine (TMM): That makes sense. And because you announced the album today too, right? KK: Right. I announced a bunch of things and I was like, “It’s fine. I can just go play a show.” I don’t feel weird and I’m not thinking anxious thoughts, but I’m just doing weird stuff. And this happened the last time I released a single. So maybe I should investigate that.

TMM: Is there anything you’re most excited about people getting to hear on it? KK: There’s some lyrics that overlap on different songs that connect them and make sets of songs that relate to each other in sort of a circular way. I’m excited to see if anyone else thinks that’s cool and meaningful or if it is just fun to me. It’s a little bit of a puzzle, but it might just be me being high on my own supply. And I really can’t tell. But it doesn’t matter. It was really fun.

was cool till the end, but it really sucked, you know? It was really weird because I wrote a lot of those songs before I met her. I finished a couple after we started dating, but the majority of those songs were pretty much done by the time I met her. I was just writing using she/her pronouns as an experiment, and then it kind of came to me. Someone was like, “So you wrote your queerness into existence?” Like, that’s the most intense way of saying what I’m saying. But, technically, yeah.

TMM: How are you feeling about the album release? KK: I’m really excited. I hope people like it.

TMM: I read that the album is a lot about realizing you were queer and your first queer relationship. That’s so cool. KK: It is so cool. And then it was so uncool. It

TMM: I guess so! That’s so crazy. KK: Writing songs does tend to work like that – where I’ll be finishing something and I’m like, “I don’t know what it means, but it

Photos by Emily Greenberg

sounds kind of cool so I guess I’ll sing it!” Then later I’ll think about it and it’ll be painfully obvious what I was working through. It’s hilarious.

TMM: I also found your LinkedIn. I wasn’t sure if it’s you, but I also don’t think that there’s that many other people named Katy Kirby. KK: There’s one other person really. We met one time. TMM: You met? KK: This is a fun story. She used to work at a record label in Nashville, Tennessee, where I went to college. We followed each other on Twitter because we were like, “Oh, our names are exactly the same.” I was 19 or

TMM: Wow. What I was going to say about your Wikipedia page, was that I read that you were raised Christian and only listened to worship music growing up. How do you feel like that influenced the kind of music you make now? KK: It definitely did, because my dad didn’t show me classic rock at any point in my life. So, I do have really big gaps in my musical knowledge. I think one way it influenced me is that I really like songs with really simple structures. Where it’s like: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, done. I’ve tried to move out of that a little bit, but I think it’s good. It’s traditional for a reason. And also only listening to Christian music made things that are outside of that really precious to me. So, hearing Sufjan Stevens for the first

time destroyed my brain in a way that I’m sure Sufjan Stevens has destroyed many brains. Anything secular that was even kind of interesting was really really fascinating and exciting. And so I guess that’s cool – that feeling of like, “wow.” TMM: What music are you listening to now? KK: I have been listening to my friends, the Frost Children, who are based in New York and sound so little like me it’ll blow your mind, but they’re incredibly good. And I’ve been listening to Hand Habits a lot recently, because my girlfriend really likes that and we saw their show recently. Allegra Krieger opened it, she was amazing. And now she’s opening for us. Katy Kirby’s sophomore album Blue Raspberry will debut on January 26th, and she’ll embark on a nationwide tour shortly after. • Emily Greenberg (Communications)

Designer: Sarah Liu (Journalism)

TMM: I read your Wikipedia page today. KK: Is there still that picture of me in, like, a fucking bandana? It’s one of the best pictures I’ve ever seen of me. And I kind of like it because it doesn’t look like me. It is a picture of me, but you couldn’t recognize me from it, and I think that’s cool.

whatever, and I was like, “let’s get coffee,” because I was a little more like that at 19. She was a good sport about it, she was like, “sure.” And so we got coffee, and she gave me some solid life advice, weirdly. She was born in an extremely small town that’s like 20 minutes from the extremely small town that I grew up in. She’s a cool lady.

Olive Klug, Brighton Music Hall

Photo by Max Rizzuto (Data Science and Philosophy)

Tennis, The Orange Peel

Photo by Jace Arrigali (Media and Screen Studies and Philosophy)

Melt, Royale

Photo by Olivia Watson (Media Arts and Communications)

Album Reviews Drake For All The Dogs Released October 6, 2023 Label OVO Sound and Republic Records Genre Hip hop Tasty Tracks “First Person Shooter,” “Virginia Beach,” “IDGAF”

Reviews Fall 2023

If Taylor Swift is the ruling queen of culture in 2023, then Drake is more like its court jester. The Canadian rapper has spent the year poking fun at everything and everyone: the Kardashians, Anna Wintour, and even his own fans. His “It’s All A Blur” tour from this past summer featured visuals of floating sperms and animated sexual innuendos, and sprouted a trend of attendees tossing increasingly larger bras onto stage to Drake’s bemusement. Recognition of his off-stage persona has begun to surpass that of his musical craft, and it was up to Drake to deliver a worthy project to reclaim his oft-claimed title of “number one.” With For All The Dogs, Drake advertised a return to his old sound, a vague proclamation that excited longtime listeners. Would Drake deliver the dark and moody latenight introspection of Take Care? The more confident and airy sound of Nothing Was The Same? The pop and dancehall influences from records like Views? After numerous delays, rabid fans finally got their answer: none of the above. Drake offers up a collection of rap and R&B cuts that range from nod-worthy to sleep-inducing, most comparable to the unexciting rap that characterized Certified Lover Boy. For All The Dogs incorporates many of the same production elements and styles as his recent, often-criticized works. The beats on tracks like “Tried Our Best” or “7969 Santa” could have been reused from yearsold sessions and listeners wouldn’t be able to tell; just mid-tempo raps that quickly fade into background noise. There is nothing to distinguish these from the worst songs on Drake’s late-2010 projects — no growth — which makes it all the more frustrating to hear unique beats on the best songs. “IDGAF” stands out; it combines a BNYX-produced murky, late-night ambiance with Yeat’s deep voice to create a highlight — a modernized Take Care track. “Rich Baby Daddy” is the poppiest beat on the album, and Drake and SZA slide across with ease. Far from the dancehall Drake is known for, the production skews toward indie-pop, though Sexyy Redd’s

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4 3 2 1 abrasive and grating chorus clashes with the otherwise dreamlike track. Paired with the project’s runtime of nearly an hour and a half of runtime and 23 tracks, it’s difficult to sit through in one go when stretches in the middle feel like one long, uninteresting song. Drake has long strayed from themes of self-reflection, but there was hope that “old Drake’s” return signified semi-interesting lyrical content to come. For the most part, For All The Dogs has moderate lyrical depth. Drake addresses long-standing feuds and controversies, providing variety among hundreds of bars on his plight with women. On “Another Late Night” Drake addresses his 2018 controversy with Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown for the first time: “Weirdos in my comments talkin’ ‘bout some Millie Bobby, look / Bring them jokes up to the gang, we get to really flockin.” While his response is questionable, it’s at least some refreshing self-awareness of the meme-king status Drake holds in 2023. His half-cringe Instagram caption bars are still here — “Feel like I’m bi ’cause you’re one of the guys, girl” is one of the worst offenders — but corny lines and Drake projects have been so

intertwined for so long that they’re enjoyable regardless. Like the production, however, so many verses are generic to the point of feeling AI-generated. Comparing Drake’s lyricism to earlier projects, it almost feels lethargic, as if he’s being forced against his will to write lines for this album. Why take the time to listen to a new project if the artist isn’t building on previous work or experimenting? It’s disappointing to see the potential here and there, with the genuinely well-crafted rap songs and moodier cuts sandwiched between equal amounts of filler. If there was one word to describe For All The Dogs, it would be “average.” Nothing sets this album apart from any other Drake album, for better or for worse. With the announcement that Drake is stepping away from music for some time, there comes some hope that he can use this break to lock in his craft — but for now, the jester’s music continues to take a backseat to his antics in the public square. Gabriel Barbier-Saiah (Criminal Justice and Human Services)

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Troye Sivan Something to Give Each Other Released October 13, 2023 Label Capitol Records Genre Pop Tasty Tracks “Silly,” “Honey,” “In My Room,” “Still Got It” To Troye Sivan, pleasure is more than a principle. It’s also a prayer. Something to Give Each Other, the newest album from the Australian pop star, is Sivan’s ticket to the mainstream. Departing from the trials of adolescence explored in his previous albums, Sivan and his day-one fans have left behind the suburbs in search of the decadent adulthood they’ve always dreamed of having. The album offers an exciting new chapter, chronicling this star’s years of partying hard, falling in and out of love, and learning from his mistakes along the way. On Sivan’s dancefloor, the crowd moves to the beat of desire’s drum. The self-described “love junkie” ascribes a mystic power to the catharsis of sexual expression, painting lust, love, and longing as ways to reclaim oneself after a period of grief. Balancing tender retrospection and reckless devotion, Sivan yearns for the familiarity of his past relationships while jumping head-first into what awaits him. In the sickly sweet dance track “Honey,” the star revels in the way that love and affection animate his perception of the world: “I see love in every space / I see sex in every city, every town.” From the propulsive lust that drives the opening track “Rush” to the lamentations of a lost love on “Still Got It,” Something to Give Each Other reckons with the complexities of queer romance and long-term relationships as

Sivan transitions into adulthood and searches for permanence. As he pleads for attention and projects an impossible standard of desirability on himself in “One of Your Girls,” Sivan captures the inherent shame in pursuing relationships with questioning men. “Give me a call if you ever get lonely / I’ll be like one of your girls or your homies,” Sivan begs as he walks the thin line between friends and hidden lovers. Sivan takes his fantasy a step further in the sensational, sexy music video for the single, perfectly demonstrating the allure of the unattainable. Bringing his dreams of feminity to life, the pop star dresses in beautiful drag, works the camera like a supermodel, and dances around a shirtless Ross Lynch a là 90s Calvin Klein. Sivan dreams of a relationship without the complications of secrecy and sexuality, where he is free to be the captivating lover he has the capacity to be. Pulling Lynch’s hair and climbing onto his lap, Sivan imbues himself with the control he thinks he would have over his tormentor as a woman. As the camera cuts between Sivan as a blonde bombshell and the star singing directly to the audience, dressed as we’re used to seeing him; Sivan is torn in and out of his fantasy as he waits for his lover’s call, only pacified when he receives the attention he so desperately needs. In the viral video for the addictive single “Rush,” Sivan uses the aesthetics of homoeroticism and clubbing to communicate that he’s evolved far beyond the innocence of his previous albums. But, Sivan’s influx of popularity is no indication that the pop star has lost touch with his roots. The inclusion of a sample of indie sensation Jessica Pratt’s “Back Baby” on the emotionally stirring “Can’t Go Back, Baby” and of the 2011 track “Shooting Stars’’ by Bag Raiders, a song best known for its memeability, in the single “Got Me Started,” demonstrate that Sivan and his producers operate as consumers, curators, and creators of the music scene. Drawing from his history as an original Internet kid, he showcases his enduring connection to online culture through his judicious use of sampling. With Something to Give Each Other, Sivan expands the modern pop music lexicon, infusing it with the reference points that have shaped his identity as a queer kid of the digital age. Even as he explores new styles (and relationships) on “In My Room” or delivers an elaborate dance performance in the music video for “Got Me Started,” Sivan’s influences are most recognizable in his attitude,

channeling the coolness and self-possession of Janet Jackson, the star he cites as his biggest inspiration. Through his worship of pop’s greatest icons, Sivan taps into an ease only displayed by legends like Britney Spears and Madonna. Something to Give Each Other demonstrates a level of taste and cohesion that only a seasoned star could pull off. In an impressive tribute to the art of pop music and its potential for emotional expression, Sivan has managed to distill the chaos of gay clubs and queer love into a record that gives more on every listen. Joseph Brant (Political Science and Economics)

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Sufjan Stevens Javelin Released October 6, 2023 Label Asthmatic Kitty Records Genre Alternative/Indie Tasty Tracks “Goodbye Evergreen,” “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?,” “Everything That Rises,” “Shit Talk”

Fall 2023

It has been a year of devastating tragedy for Sufjan Stevens. Through a series of Tumblr posts, Stevens revealed that he awoke one morning this August paralyzed, with no feeling in his arms or legs. Diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, he has spent the past few months relearning to walk. In October, Stevens revealed the passing of his partner and best friend, Evans Richardson – a relationship he had concealed from the public eye. Javelin, Stevens’ most softly impactful release to date, is dedicated in his honor. Billed as his first entirely singersongwriter album since 2015’s heartwrenching acoustic-memoir Carrie & Lowell, Javelin is a return to form for Stevens, whose recent releases include a collection of ambient meditations and a handful of acclaimed collaborative efforts. This time around, Stevens combines his instinct for poetic, acoustic songwriting with experimental electronica. Past works have hinted at this direction, but this fusion has never felt more realized than on Javelin. Finger-picked guitars sit beneath the faintest vocals Stevens has ever delivered, creating lullabies with remarkably gentle delivery. Rarely, however, does Stevens maintain a consistent sorrowful tone for an entire track, as somber passages often soar into jubilant crescendos. On the opening track, “Goodbye Evergreen,” plodding piano balladry

transitions into a cascade of woodwinds. The song’s first half sees Stevens processing significant loss, while the back half comes across as a celebration of life for his late partner. Stevens drives the listener through his grieving process, with abrupt instrumental changes serving as distinct stops along the journey. Javelin does not possess a sprawling grand narrative or through line like many of Stevens’ previous albums, instead each song stands alone as a unique statement, unified by motifs of everlasting love and excruciating yearning. While Javelin may not be Stevens’ most ambitious project, its beauty comfortably holds a candle to his best work. Even in its most depressing moments, Javelin feels mystical. The pinnacle of “Shit Talk” delivers the most transcendent moment of any song in Stevens’ catalog as a choir of angelic backing vocals intertwine atop a wall of euphoric instrumentation. Cutting through it all is Stevens repeating the simple, powerful refrain, “I will always love you.” The album concludes with a complete reinvention of Neil Young’s orchestral, overlyextravagant “There’s a World.” Young’s original is foreboding and frankly overblown. Stevens’ rendition is comforting and beautiful. Young’s lyrics take a new form above Stevens’ fingerstyle melodies. He sings of his unique and valued place on Earth - an essential affirmation for someone who has experienced deep tragedy like himself. Javelin is meditative and cathartic. The lush and intricate instrumentation alone is enough to raise goosebumps. Add Stevens’ hushed vocals and poignant writing, and Javelin becomes Stevens’ most emotionally charged release till date. Twenty years after his initial career-defining masterpieces, Javelin instantly joins the ranks of 2023’s best and further solidifies Stevens’ position as an alltime great singer-songwriter. Michael Earls (Journalism)

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Jane Remover Census Designated Released October 20, 2023 Label DeadAir Records Genre Experimental/Pop Tasty Tracks “Lips,” “Backseat Girl,” “Video” It has been a year of devastating tragedy for The car speeds down the highway at dusk, and out the window, the expanse of wheat fields and nothingness is endless. The fields, like those that span the cover of Jane Remover’s Census Designated, allure those with troubles, offering an avenue to the simple life. On Census Designated, Remover pulls over and immerses herself in what presents itself as a calm escape, but in actuality, allows issues deeply buried inside herself to rise to the surface. The forced reflections turn frolicking in the fields into screaming into the void, bringing a dry, desolate, and heavy energy with them. Census Designated is a story of confrontation, where Remover battles the reality she has shied away from in hopes of finding acceptance and peace. The album is certainly not a casual listen. It depicts Remover’s mental struggle as she comes face to face with relationships that tear her down. On the slow, dark opener “Cage girl / Camgirl,” she introduces her desire to fix her broken relationships despite feeling trapped within them. She learns throughout the album that this pattern only makes things worse, but that path to the realization is nowhere near linear. The songs on Census Designated frequently surpass six minutes, often displaying little structure at all as Remover flows through periods of madness and calm. Walls of discomforting sounds built up by layers of distorted guitars immerse the listener in her turmoil, and the violent noise

is directly followed by ambient moments that highlight the softness of Remover’s voice. This contrast is best seen on title track “Census Designated,” where she blissfully sings that she is “the princess of Ocean City” right before the warped screams and piercing instrumentals reminiscent of TV static enter, and she screams that she’s “rotting in the middle of Oregon.” Remover’s relationships have her unsure of who she is. She constantly switches from extreme highs of self-empowerment to extreme lows where she is passive and puts herself at the whim of others. Album highlight “Idling Somewhere” explores the dynamics of this duality. Remover uses depictions of body horror to show that the relationship wears her down physically and mentally. Her voice is toned down from the rest of Census Designated, while the slow, powerful drums and dissonant guitars place the listener in a nightmare with her. The song suddenly explodes into mania as Remover shifts from singing to yelling, and the guitars morph into intense screeches. What was looming now feels like a direct threat, and Remover, already weak, faces it head-on. As the track’s ferocity begins winding down, the album hits its most calm point, yet the image of Remover’s “corpse online, tampered” can be found just under the horizon. Towards the end of the turmoil, the longest song on the album, “Video,” is a beacon of hope. The guitars feel light and gentle for once, communicating a sense of acceptance. Remover asks, “Do you see me in the video?” She loves the idea of being desired so much that, despite everything, all she wants is someone to see a future with her. Whether fantasy or reality, the look forward allows her to see the madness from a new perspective and gain some clarity on what she really needs. The sheen from the video quickly wears off, and Remover closes the album with the soul-crushing “Contingency Song.” She begs “Please don’t hurt me” before releasing bloodcurdling screams that hardly sound human. She has hit rock bottom in her attempt to cling to and validate the situations she has confronted throughout the album. Only after she can’t get lower can she finally accept the words that she has known all along: “I don’t think I can do it anymore.” For Jane Remover, the journey to take control of her life has just begun. Census Designated is a beautifully depicted disaster that follows the madness in Remover’s mind as she struggles to break free from abusive

situations, but so far she has only confronted herself. The sun rises, and she gets back on the road, ready to start a new chapter. She has a newfound sense of place in her life, but that is only the first step to the peace she desires. As the drive continues and the fields fade into the background, she plans the confrontation that must take place for her to truly be free. TC Stephens (Political Science and Philosophy)

Show Reviews Kim Petras MGM Music Hall 10.7.23

Reviews Fall 2023

Pulling every theatrical stop available to a rising pop star backed by the budget of a Grammy-winning hit, Kim Petras delivered a performance that was larger than life itself for her Feed the Beast tour. Dividing her show into five different acts, Petras brought her audience on a journey from the bleachers of Medieval Times to the slutty side of Wall Street, and from Wall Street to the Twilight Zone. But the artistic vision — or rather, visions — that defined the concert failed to meld into one cohesive narrative, with Petras herself often lost in the throes of her own competing ideas. All of the drama and intrigue Kim Petras hoped to elicit through her theatrics were made immediately clear by the first few moments of the show. A black and white video of Petras appeared on the massive screen, serving as the backdrop for the rest of the performance. Shrouded in fog, a massive iron maiden rose onto the stage, revealing an iron-clad Kim Petras once its doors were opened by three hooded figures. This dramatic start kicked off the first act of her performance — a medieval fairytale with a touch of demonic imagery. One of the more memorable performances of the night was her solo performance of “Unholy,” which served as the finale of her first act. In place of Sam Smith, a backup dancer joined her on stage dressed as the devil. It was the most successfully executed performance of the night; the satanic elements were a clever nod to the controversy the song originally stirred, while also enhancing the medieval world Petras had crafted on stage. Out of all of the theatrical elements Petras used to enhance her performance, her backup dancers were by far the most entertaining. They embodied a multitude of characters that enhanced each leg of Petras’ performance — including armored knights, faceless demons, and leather-clad businessmen. If done right, their talent would have brought Petras’ performance to the next level. But she couldn’t always execute her choreography with the same skill as her dancers and looked stiff by comparison. It felt like someone had worn white to a wedding —

Kim Petras was being upstaged by her own support crew. Petras regained control over her own performance after the first thematic shift for the night. After an elaborate video sequence featuring Windows error codes, Petras and her dancers reappeared for act two dressed as businessmen armed with briefcases. The next few songs can best be described as the slut sequence, and suits were stripped off throughout a medley of Petras’ most explicit lyrics. Cheeky, playful, and provocative, this part of the show featured Petras at her best. The crowd fed off of fan favorites like “Slut Pop,” and the energy in the room was at an unrivaled high when Petras led a chant of her former signature ad lib “woo ah!” Unfortunately, the acts that followed were not nearly as strong. While medieval fantasy felt thematically relevant to Feed the Beast and act two was a fun incorporation of fan favorites, the following sets felt more haphazardly thrown together. Act three lacked any theme whatsoever. She appeared alone on stage for “Claws,” falling to her knees in a melodramatic performance atop a spinning platform. Petras floundered without the fanfare of earlier segments of the show. She relied too heavily on belting lyrics as a means to express depth, straining to hit the same notes in song after song. There was an element of sincerity missing from the performance; it felt like she was emulating how other musicians express emotion through song, rather than finding a fit that was natural to her own performance style. The gimmick got old quickly, and act three accentuated just how heavily Petras relied on extravagant visuals to improve her performance. Act four, on the other hand, made a sharp pivot back into maximalist imagery as an ode to TURN OFF THE LIGHT, Petras’ Halloween themed mixtape. But unlike act two’s homage to Slut Pop, Petras wasn’t able to slide back into a former persona quite as easily. The songs didn’t seem to resonate as deeply with the audience, and so much was happening both on stage and on screen that it was impossible to focus on any one

thing. A dizzying montage of black and white videos jumped from burning windmills to the silhouettes of impaled bodies, interrupted frequently by jumpscares straight from a horror film. The backup dancers delivered one of their more impressive dance interludes of the night, and lept around stage on all fours dressed as faceless gray ghouls. Kim Petras herself was dressed plainly, wearing a gray corset and skirt set that looked as if it could have been ordered from SHEIN. In all of her efforts to make this segment of the show as opulently scary as possible, Petras failed to make herself stand out. That being said, Petras delivered a powerful performance of “Everybody Dies,” the final song from the TURN OFF THE LIGHT leg of the show. Her vocals were strong, visuals were kept minimal and interesting, and roses were thrown onto the stage at the end. It seemed like a strong note to end on, but like the rest of the show, Petras didn’t know where to draw the line. Her performance continued with a fifth act, which, similar to the third, lacked an identifiable theme. Once again, she stood alone on stage with minimal visuals on screen behind her as she performed songs like FEED THE BEAST single “brrr” and “Castle in the Sky.” With such intense commitment to certain sections of her performance, it felt odd and disjointed to end the show with an act that lacked the same dramatic effect. For the encore, Petras returned to stage with the playfulness and high-energy songs that makes her shine as a performer. She seemed less rigid than before, jumping around the stage while singing “Alone,” sans Nicki Minaj. Unfortunately, moments like this came too few and far between. Most of the time, it felt like Petras was doing the most she possibly could without pausing to consider what would actually improve the quality of her show. Her inability to execute each chapter with an equal amount of effort and storytelling made it feel like five different concerts rather than one cohesive show. Jessica Gwardschaladse (History, Culture, and Law)

Genesis Owusu The Sinclair 10.19.23 Ever since his last performance at The Sinclair in April 2022, Genesis Owusu’s stock has been on the rise. He’s toured with Paramore, had his single “Get Inspired” featured in an Apple commercial, and released a critically-acclaimed sophomore album STRUGGLER. His seemingly inevitable success can be tied to his versatility, from his seamless melding of rap, punk, and R&B to his undying commitment to the concept album (in the case of STRUGGLER: a forlorn tale told from the perspective of a roach on the run from God). The theatrical nature of his live shows have also made people take note of both his musical and his storytelling abilities. These shows — which routinely feature backup dancers, costume changes, and set pieces — serve as a continuation of his music’s narrative rather than just a vessel through which he can play the hits. On Owusu’s previous headlining tour, all of these elements were out in full force as he told the story of his struggles with depression — the conceptual throughline of his first record Smiling With No Teeth. Heading into his second show at The Sinclair, with a much larger audience to play to, the question loomed: How does he surpass the spectacle of that performance? Naturally, the answer was stripping things down. After a raucous opening set from industrial rap/rock inspired artist Godly The Ruler, Owusu crossed center-stage in a red and black cloak, with the arpeggiated synth-bass of “Leaving The Light” scoring his arrival. As the song progressed, it became clear that this show would be less visually elaborate than his previous one, with only a large strobe light and the instrumental track supplementing Owusu’s performance. However, this quality was quite emblematic of his growth as a live performer. Even when things were dialed back (by his standards), he wielded total control over the audience and delivered a spectacle, with the story of the roach threaded throughout, that few modern musicians can rival. From the minute he hit the stage,

Owusu was the show. No one else joined him and backing vocal tracks were few and far between, but his boundless charisma carried the night. He showcased his full arsenal of vocal abilities, jumping between his punkier cuts like “Stay Blessed” and softer ones like “That’s Life (A Swamp)” with ease. Just as a single narrative guided his past Sinclair show, the story of the roach was threaded throughout the performance, carrying over STRUGGLER’s themes of helplessness. In between multiple songs, the lights would cut out and Owusu would open up a Bible, illuminating his face while prerecorded snippets of the roach’s internal monologue spoke to the audience. These bits of dialogue would creatively set up the following song, and contextualized each one within his journey. They were the perfect way to segment the show — separating tranquil sets of songs from more energetic ones — and helped tell the story of STRUGGLER, where the roach’s hellish mental state slowly transforms into the accepting of his fate. Surprisingly, this narrative didn’t clash when Owusu dove into his back catalog. He kept tight rein over his setlist, allowing his past work to change meaning when placed within the context of the roach’s story. “Waitin’ On Ya,” a sensual profession of love off of Smiling With No Teeth, directly followed STRUGGLER track “See Ya There,” a song where Owusu playfully declares he’s destined for damnation, effectively turning the track into the response to the previous song’s decree of “You’re going to hell baby / I’ll see ya there.” Similarly, after a spoken-word interlude toward the end of the set about trudging forward despite the pointlessness of existence, Owusu suddenly performed “A Song About Fishing,” a serene singalong where he likens his life to “casting my net in a fishless lake” every day. Even without all the bells and whistles of his previous live performances, Owusu can still craft an unforgettable night where his unbridled creativity and showmanship shine through. It’s no surprise why his profile is only growing: There’s no sense of complacency to be found anywhere in his art. From his

studio recordings to his live show, Genesis Owusu just keeps pushing the envelope and experimenting. Refusing to rest: a roach must keep roaching.

Henry Bova (Journalism)

CROSSWORD

Etcetera

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5. This R&B artist’s daughter has become the youngest person to be nominated for a Grammy at two years old. 6. New categories for the 2024 Grammys include: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz, and Best Pop _____ Recording. 7. The Grammys has most been held the most times in this city. 8. Which artist has the most Grammys? 9. This dance pop song landed an Australian pop star his first two Grammy nominations.

1. This producer, who has worked with Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan, has been nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. 2. This record-breaking best picture received 4 of 5 nominations for the category of Best Song Written for Visual Media. 3. Jennifer Lopez is ___ awards away from an EGOT. 4. How many Grammys does Taylor Swift currently have?

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4. Twelve 3. Four 2. Barbie Olivia Rodrigo GUTS

1. Daniel Nigro

The Weeknd Afterhours

Down:

The Cars The Cars 9. Rush

2nd Row:

8. Beyonce Hozier Unreal Unearth

7. Los Angeles

Troye Sivan Something to Give Each Other

6. Dance

King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King

5. Victoria Monet

1st Row:

Across:

Fall 2023

Can you tell which six album covers we’ve zoomed in on?

LOCAL PHOTO Ariel Posen, Sonia

Photo by Michelle Wu (Music Industry and Communication Studies)

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST Inspired by this issue’s cover story, “A Lasting Legacy From The Faithful Departed: The Cranberries Discography,” we have compiled a playlist of some of Ireland’s artists today. Take a listen!

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

“Linger” – The Cranberries “Kingdom” – Joy Crookes “C.E.A.R.T.A.” - KNEECAP “Dreams” - The Cranberries “Cuppa Tea” - Malaki, Matthew Harris “Dublin In Ecstasy” - Inhaler “Have Fun!” - CMAT “Zombie” - The Cranberries

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

“Jackie Down The Line” - Fontaines D.C. “Abstract (Psychopomp)” - Hozier “Giants” - Dermot Kennedy “Ruin Your Night” - Sorcha Richardson “Small Talk” - Soda Blonde “Liffey” - Pillow Queens “Ladybird” - NewDad “Sea Creatures” - SOAK

Find the playlist on our Spotify page @tastemakersmagazine!

FIND BRUNO

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