Issue 75

Staff

President

Trevor Gardemal

Editor-in-Chief

Chelsea Henderson

Art Directors

Alia Ziae-Mohseni

Sydney Tomasello

Design Coordinator

Ava Ackerman

Collateral Designer

Jessica Wax

Promotions Director

Emily Greenberg

Photo Directors

Julia Finocchiaro

Faith Nguyen

Vika Brennick

Features Editor

Ethan Matthews

Reviews Editors

Ananya Chaudhari

Henry Bova

Interviews Editor

Jess Gwardschaladse

Social Media Directors

Alexa Rand

Bella Ramdayal

Genevieve Kopp

Treasurer

Michael DeVine

Staff Writers

Ahaan Chaudhuri

Ananya Chaudhuri

Andrew Loose

Chelsea Henderson

Emily Greenberg

Ethan Matthews

Ev Ogier

Gabriel Barbier-Saiah

Henry Bova

Hero Williams

James Ryan

Jess Gwardschaladse

Joseph Brant

Julia Towne

Juliana George

Justin Guthrie

Katherine Miner

Kayli Harley

Keene Quiros

Lexa Fu

Lily-Elizabeth Zanze

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

Adeline Yu

Alia Ziae-Mohseni

Ava Ackerman

Cami MacMillin

Edzani Kelapile

Farah Caban

Haidyn Redmond

Heidy Hur

Jamie Tishkoff

Jensyn Ford

Jessica Wax

Juliana LaPara

Karlee Malcolm

Kristen Berzolla

Laura Mattingly

Maia Delagneau

Max Beckerman

Sarah Liu

Sean Drew

Sydney Tomasello

Zahra Wibisana

Promotions

Alexa Rand

Bella Ramyadal

Camille McMillan

Chelsea Henderson

Emily Greenberg

Greta Radcliff

Jess Gwardschaladse

Mica Khan

Phoebe Moore

Tabby Randlett

Trevor Gardemal

Sofie Wendell

Syd Tomasello

Photography

Alder Whiteford

Anna Kelly

Ashlynn Braisted

Ava DiMauro

Ava Russo

BellaJoli Gedeon

Charlotte Hysen

Coby Sugars

Darin Zullo

Edzani Kelapile

Elizabeth Scholl

Elizabeth Zhu

Emily Greenberg

Emily Kobren

Emily Zakrzewski

Faith Nguyen

Gwen Egan

Helen Cai

Jackson Goodman

Jacob Oshinsky

Julia Finocchiaro

Kelly Thomas

Krista Bernat

Krista Brochu

Maria Angelini

Max Rizzuto

Maya Solanki

Mia Rapella

Michael Nessralla

Michelle Wu Mukki Gill

Naser Chaouki

Nicholas Alonzo

Nivedita Pai

Olivia Watson

Peter Phelan

Piper Sewell

Praagna Kashyap

Samantha Davidson

Seha Khan

Sophie Quisenberry

Taliyah Fox

Ula Bitinaitis

Vika Brennick

Tastemakers Music Magazine

232 Curry Student Center

360 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115

tastemakersmag@gmail.com

© 2024 tastemakers music magazine

all rights reserved

Photo

Meet the Staff

Promotions Member

Tabby Randlett is listening to...

Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill

Maggie Rogers “Tim McGraw”

Radiohead “Creep”

Designer

Zahra Wibisana is listening to...

The Japanese House In the End It Always Does

Matt Maltese

Good Morning It's Now Tomorrow

Suki Waterhouse I Can't Let Go

Staff Writer

Luke Colombo is listening to...

Jeff Buckley

Grace

Harry Styles "Meet Me In The Hallway"

Kendrick Lamar “untitled 07”

Photographer

Jackson Goodman is listening to...

Djo Twenty Twenty

Cage The Elephant Social Cues

Vampire Weekend Capricorn/Gen-X Cops

Major Business Administration and Communications

Graduating Spring 2026

Favorite Venue Frost Amphitheater

Tastemaker Since Fall 2023

Quote

“When in doubt, let it linger.”

Major Computer Science and Design

Graduating Spring 2027

Favorite Venue Howard Theatre, Washington DC

Tastemaker Since Fall 2023

Quote

“So we’re all just exchanging glances, trying to tell each other who we are, trying to catch a glimpse of ourselves, feeling around in the darkness.” - John Koenig, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Major Computer Science & Cognitive Psychology

Graduating Spring 2025

Favorite Venue House of Blues

Tastemaker Since Fall 2022

Quote

“Ok, now we’re so back.”

Major Data Science and Business

Graduating Spring 2026

Favorite Venue MGM Music Hall

Tastemaker Since Fall 2023

Quote

“How will you know if you never try?”

Knox, Sinclair

Photo by Anna Kelly (Health Science)

Table of Contents

Issue 75 Specials

10

16

Peace, Love, and Disco: The 1975 Hits That Defined a Genre

In the spirit of 75, staff writer Mia Filler takes a tour of some of the most exhilarating disco from 1975, celebrating its Blackness, queerness, and dynamism as it burgeoned in popularity.

A Look into Past Tastemakers Presents Performers

Take a look at some of our favorite performers from our Tastemakers Presents concert series throughout the years, and where they are now.

24

An Oral History of Tastemakers: Issues 1-75

President and staff writer Trevor Gardemal scours the earth for key actors in Tastemakers’ foundation and development into what we know and love today, assembling an oral history along the way.

34

42

Happy Birthday

The complicated legal history of the iconic “Happy Birthday To You” is more than a fascinating ownership tale: it speaks to the power of copyright law in how music is written, owned, and received.

Discography Bracket

As an ode to Tastemakers’ longest running and most significant recurring feature, we polled our readers to decide which of our covered artists’ discography reigns supreme.

40 Features

Interviews

20

Mosh, Mix, and Mania: Genre-blending in Metal

To the display of metal “purists” and traditionalists everywhere, one thing remains true: metal will continue to defy the norm.

35

Flamenco & Franco in the World's Fair

Spain’s relationship to flamenco has changed dramatically throughout its tumultuous history, but one thing remains constant: flamenco can capture attention on the global stage.

Editorials

18

Philosophy of Deathconsciousness

American rock band Have a Nice Life’s 2008 album, Deathconsciousness, is one deeply rooted in philosophy, vocalizing the universal feeling of an inescapable death.

32

Old(ish) but Gold: On the Revival of 90s Alt

Whether it be 30th anniversary tours, album rereleases, new merch, or all of the above, 90s alternative has seen a major resurgence in recent years.

Behind the Screen: An interview with reality TV musician Ysa Fernandez

Have you ever wondered where reality TV’s music comes from? Tastemakers recently spoke with Ysa Fernandez, the wordspinner and beatmaker behind the music from shows as iconic as “The Kardashians” and “Selling Sunset.”

Reviews

8

30

Album Reviews

Wall of Eyes and VULTURES 1

Show Reviews

Briston Maroney

Etcetera

Talking Heads

Discography

Take a tour through the works of Talking Heads, one of the most consequential bands of all time.

Taste of Nostalgia: Elliot Smith’s Figure 8

Tastemakers takes another look at Elliott Smith’s final album before his untimely death, and how its themes and musical quality continue to persist today.

Dissects: “Kill V. Maim”

As a key moment in Grimes’ ever-evolving creative force, “Kill V. Maim” from her 2015 album Art Angels remains as sonically innovative as it is thematically transgressive.

Olivia Rodrigo TD Garden

Olivia Rodrigo TD Garden

Alice Phoebe

Lou The Sinclair

AJR TD Garden

CMAT

Brighton Music Hall

ROCK OMM ENDS

The Beaches

March 8 @ Royale

Mariah the Scientist House of Blues

Nicki Minaj TD Garden Remo Drive

Crystal Ballroom

Caroline Rose

Royale

LANY

MGM Music Hall

Nicki Minaj TD Garden

Busta Rhymes

House of Blues

Sarah and the Sundays

The Sinclair

PinkPantheress

Royale

Real Estate

Royale

Bad Bunny

TD Garden

Sir Chloe

The Sinclair

Canadian garage/glam pop group, The Beaches, will hit the stage at Royale this March for their Blame My Ex Tour in honor of their new album, Blame My Ex. Be sure to come down to hear their recent 70s-inspired hits “Blame Brett” and “Everything is Boring,” you won’t want to miss it!

Alexa Rand (Music Industry)

Magnetic Fields

March 15 & 24 @ Roadrunner

In celebration of 69 Love Songs’s 25th anniversary, the Magnetic Fields are performing the entirety of their magnum opus over two days at the Roadrunner. This formative concept album explores love in all its forms — hopeless love, punk love, love for the nation’s capital — through an astonishing variety of styles over its nearly three hour runtime.

Trevor Gardemal (Journalism)

lovelytheband

Brighton Music Hall

Drop Nineteens

Paradise Rock Club

Black Country, New Road

Royale

Judas Priest

MGM Music Hall

Blu deTiger

The Sinclair

Bad Bunny

April 17 @ TD Garden

Waxahatchee & Good Morning

Orpheum Theatre

Belle and Sebastian Orpheum Theatre

Puerto Rican singer and rapper Bad Bunny is performing at Boston’s TD Garden to promote the release of his newest album, nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana. When coupled with tracks from previous releases, these fresh hits compose an electric setlist that you don’t want to miss.

Genevieve Kopp (Design)

Blu DeTiger

April 25 @ Sinclair

Tastemakers Presents veteran Blu DeTiger is coming to Boston’s Sinclair this April on her All I Ever Want Is… Tour. Come see the bassist play her classics like “Figure It Out” and debut her upcoming album All I Ever Want Is Everything

Emily Greenberg (Communications)

Album Reviews

The Smile Wall of Eyes

Released January 26, 2024

Label XL Recordings

Genre Art-rock

Tasty Tracks "Wall of Eyes," "Teleharmonic," "Bending Hectic," "Under Our Pillows"

The Smile, a distant cousin to Radiohead, was born out of the 2020 global pandemic and Jonny Greenwood’s abundance of newly written riffs. Composed of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and jazz drummer Tom Skinner, The Smile made their surprise debut in a video performance produced by Glastonbury Festival in early 2021. Despite two-thirds of the band’s members belonging to Radiohead, The Smile’s songwriting and instrumentation reach into unfamiliar yet equally angsty territories. Krautrock, prog-rock, and jazz influences are woven throughout the band’s music, forming an important instrumental distinction between itself and the arena-filling grandeur of Yorke and Greenwood’s previous work. The Smile’s most recent project, Wall of Eyes, sees Yorke and Greenwood unconstrained by the scrutiny that is attached to the Radiohead name. The resulting experimentation is both a captivating venture in Yorke’s lyrical evolution and sonic divergences courtesy of Greenwood and Skinner.

Eight years after the release of the most recent Radiohead record, Thom Yorke battles insecurities stemming from his success and fame. On Wall of Eyes, a title that hints at the weight of attention, Yorke weaves these insecurities with hints of existential angst, which had served as the backbone to many of Radiohead's recent works. The title track demonstrates these anxieties; Yorke’s lyricism at its most candid, floating over bossa nova guitar chords. Yorke hints at underlying imposter syndrome symptoms that arise from insecurities surrounding his success and publicity. He invokes the feeling of helplessness as time passes by: “To the grands of sand / slipping through our hands.” Yorke once described In Rainbows as being about

“the fucking panic of realizing you're going to die,” a sentiment that continues to seep into his lyrics on Wall of Eyes

“Teleharmonic,” with its gliding synthesizers and lo-fi-influenced drumming, boasts some of The Smile’s most beautiful vocal harmonies. With its depiction of desperate love through unsettling verbiage “Hung up, pinned by hammer and nails / Somewhere you’ll be there,” the track seems related to In Rainbow’s “All I Need." Side one ends with Greenwood’s dynamic guitar arpeggios on “Read the Room” and “Under Our Pillows” laid upon complex song structures. Despite Yorke and Greenwood’s staple shifting time signatures, Skinner’s drumming manages to keep both tracks grounded yet enthralling. The distorted guitars and heavy drums that closed side one are contrasted by side two’s soft opener: “Friend of a Friend.” This Beatles-esque track is chock-full of soft piano, bouncing melodies, ghastly echoing vocal harmonies, and elegant orchestration arranged by Greenwood. The politically charged tune calls out corruption and cronyism in Britain’s Conservative Party: “All of that money, where did it go? Where did it go? In somebody’s pocket? A friend of a friend?”

Wall of Eyes’ climax comes in the form of “Bending Hectic,” an eight-minute-long ballad detailing an apparent suicidal car crash. Yorke creates the alluring image of flying through the Italian mountainside in a convertible from the 60s, as he sings softly over a walking bassline and fluttering guitar notes. There is an unsettling feeling to the track, as the guitar seems to detune itself, picking itself apart at the end of each line. “And time is kinda frozen as you’re gazing at the view,” in the narrator’s last moment before going over the cliffside, there is a sense of freedom, an untethering from the passage of time contrasting the titular track’s line about helplessly watching the grains of sand slip away. As the car falls to the ground, the narrator triumphantly says “No one’s gonna bring me down,” finally free from the scrutiny of others. The moment of the crash is signified by an orchestral crescendo, which leads directly into a frantic interpretation of the first chorus, with distorted guitar bends echoing the song’s final words. The track’s finale sees a minute and a half of some of Greenwood’s most untamed, yet precise guitar work, a talent he has not showcased on a studio recording for some time. “Bending Hectic” is a perfect marriage between Yorke’s development of the album’s themes and Greenwood’s orchestral and guitar arrangements.

Wall of Eyes sees The Smile at their most lyrically and instrumentally developed. With Yorke and Greenwood having time to personally develop their crafts since the last Radiohead record, and Skinner’s ability to build memorable rhythms even in unorthodox time signatures, Wall of Eyes sees the band at their best. Despite pacing issues in the second half of the record, with “I Quit” and “You Know Me!” being two of the slowest and most repetitive tracks on the record, the band manages to keep listeners engaged and immersed. Not just a relative to Radiohead, The Smile is proving to be a quickly maturing band with greater potential than just being a side-project.

Connor Britson (Business Administration)

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign VULTURES 1

Released February 9, 2024 Label YZY

Genre Hip-hop

6 Edible

missing since his two 2018 projects, ye and KIDS SEE GHOSTS

However, the album’s sense of completion flickers when the lyricism and production choices are scrutinized. Plenty of tracks feel like callbacks to previous albums, and are genuinely great listens.

“BURN”, far-and-away the best track, could have slotted right into The College Dropout; Ty glides over the sample with an incredibly catchy hook, while West raps on love and lust. Unfortunately, the under-two-minute song ends just as the listener gets into the track.

VULTURES 1 also delivers with its more hard-hitting songs; assisted by production from JPEGMafia and verses from Playboi Carti and Travis Scott, “FUK SUMN” is an easy crowd-pleaser. “CARNIVAL," seemingly the greatest hit of the project, incorporates a football chant reminiscent of Sheck Wes’s hit “Mo Bamba” as part of the beat. All four artists involved in the track (Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign, Playboi Carti, and Rich the Kid), deliver exciting verses that, backed with the chanting, create an unpredictable, exciting track, even after multiple listens. It’s clear Kanye West can still make great music. Unfortunately, that makes the disappointing elements of VULTURES 1 all the more frustrating.

Kanye West is no stranger to the non-sequitur. In the past, that was expected and even anticipated; when the semi-corny line came in the song, it would be shrugged off as “so Kanye." On VULTURES 1. however, his pen game is so poor that some lyrics are full-on uncomfortable, even for West. On the aptly-named “PROBLEMATIC," he raps “Wish somebody woulda warned us/When I was fifteen, my soulmate wasn’t born yet," referencing the seventeen-year age gap between him and his wife, Bianca Censori — a line that immediately makes listeners wince. Even worse are the derogatory references to Jewish people on this album, most infamously on the title track, which included the controversial line “How I’m Antisemitic?/I just fucked a Jewish bitch”, or on “STARS” where he professes he “keeps a few Jews on the staff now." These lyrics certainly do not represent any growth on the topic from West.

Mention Kanye West’s name in a public setting, and a flurry of words will fly your way; an artist, a legacy act, a visionary, an AntiSemite, a voice of a generation. As the arguably most controversial figure in mainstream music, Kanye West is no stranger to public pushback, and his musical output is perhaps at its best when his back is against the wall, fighting back; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, one of the most acclaimed albums of the century, came following a period of massive public outcry at his infamous VMA outburst against Taylor Swift — a controversy so large that even President Obama called West a “jack-ass." The Life of Pablo (TLOP) was released after a series of political statements and a music video for “Famous” that drew heat for its nude depictions of several celebrities. TLOP is Kanye at his most boastful, aligning himself with the legendary Pablo Picasso and Pablo Escobar; from that place comes some of West’s best tracks. But even for Kanye, this album cycle was atypical: in October 2022, Kanye West made horrifying Anti-Semitic comments on several podcasts, including his self-proclamation as a Nazi, and even asserted that there were “a lot of things [he] loved about Hitler." Following these comments, West lost an assortment of his brand deals and partnerships, including with Adidas, his most high-profile collaboration (which would lose the company over half a billion dollars). West has since been working on a collab album with rapper Ty Dolla $ign, which, after numerous missed release dates, listening parties, and a poorly received single, finally arrived, two months after its initial release date.

In a word, VULTURES 1 is confusing. It does feel like West intended to create a finished product, a feeling which has been

One of the most glaring issues with VULTURES 1 is how unexciting many of the tracks are. With a typical Kanye West project, the worst songs are still redeemable, or at the very least unique in some kind of way. But here, stretches of this album are a slog, as West and Ty’s banal lyrics on sex, fame, money, or being canceled are paired with equally monotonous production. Even the features, which should be opportunities for switch-ups or exciting beat switches, fall flat as often as they stick. Particularly egregious is the six-minute “BEG FORGIVENESS” with Chris Brown, who takes up almost the entire song repeating the same four lines. There was a time where West’s self-imposed removals from society would mean artistic originality — sometimes even the birth of a new subgenre — as he severed himself from the confines of the music industry he hated. With VULTURES 1, it seems that West sacrificed his inventiveness in favor of a project that feels sterilized; no different than anything his peers are putting out.

VULTURES 1 is Kanye West’s least authentic project to date. All his creativity, his ability to channel his emotion into his production and lyricism, and his skill at creating distinct soundscapes and aesthetics for each new album exist in mere traces. As part of a planned three-album trilogy, it will be interesting to see if West corrects course on further installments. Hopefully, West can go back to his roots and leverage his self-imposed exile into a more unique sound; one he undoubtedly has the potential to achieve.

Gabriel Barbier-Saiah (Criminology/Human Services)

It’s a Friday night in New York City in 1975. You and your friends are on the way to The Gallery, one of the city’s most up-andcoming nightclubs. As you enter its doors, the freshly relocated venue greets you with energy so vibrant it almost feels as if its arms are reaching out to you.

This was the essence of disco in the early 70s. For members of the Black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ communities — the trailblazers of the genre — disco wasn’t just about the music; it was a haven for self-expression, free from the shackles of racial or homophobic discrimination that plagued the era.

During the 1960s, stringent laws forbidding same-sex couples from dancing in venues with liquor licenses, coupled with the looming threat of violence against people of color, drove these marginalized groups underground to find solace in music. It was at the joining of these groups — and the subsequent mixing of the soul, funk, and salsa genres — that the disco subculture began to take shape.

Following the overturning of discriminatory anti-sodomy laws in New York and New Jersey in 1967, a wave of gay bars and dance clubs emerged in NYC in the early '70s, with disco reigning supreme. The Gallery, alongside iconic spots like the Loft and Paradise Garage, became the epicenter of this flourishing movement. Here, DJs pioneered seamless song transitions, birthing the art of DJing as we know it today. The intention behind this was to create a “neverending party” atmosphere, which contributed to the dynamism that strikingly characterized disco. Other elements of disco’s sonic profile

included a four-on-the-floor rhythm — a beat in 4/4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat, making disco so danceable and catchy — syncopated basslines, and the use of synthesizers, electric rhythm guitars, string sections, horns, and electric pianos.

Though disco had yet to reach its peak in 1975, the year marked a pivotal chapter in its evolution. The year witnessed the onset of the disco dance craze, with the Hustle emerging as its hallmark. The disco dance style was revolutionary in itself because it introduced physical touch as a norm in the practice, which prior decades had stayed away from.

Additionally, 1975 was one of the final years when disco music was primarily enjoyed by the same people who were creating it. Disco didn’t get much radio play until 1977 with the release of the movie “Saturday Night Fever,” starring John Travolta and featuring music from the Bee Gees. With white, heterosexual men as figureheads of the genre, disco gained popularity amongst white audiences, making it more mainstream. The opening of Studio 54, the most famous NYC nightclub of the disco era, further brought disco from an underground nightlife setting into a fashion setting with the rich and influential.

After 1977, when record labels realized the genre’s potential for commercial success, disco music became more mechanized and formulaic, distancing itself from its initial image of allure and novelty. To celebrate the true heart of the genre and its accompanying culture of unity and resilience, here are five disco songs from the year 1975:

“Love To Love You Baby” - Donna Summer

Celebrated for its sultry vocals, sensual lyrics, and innovative use of extended moans and whispers, Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” was one of the first disco hits to be released in an extended form, at a whopping 16:49 minutes. Giorgio Moroder's production became a blueprint for the disco sound, featuring a pulsating beat and orchestral arrangements. The groundbreaking and daring nature of the track not only catapulted Summer to stardom but also set new standards for dance music. “Love To Love You Baby” remains a timeless classic, leaving an indelible mark on the evolution of disco.

“Never Can Say Goodbye” - Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor's cover of the Jackson 5's 1971 track "Never Can Say Goodbye" marked a pivotal shift in the music industry's success dynamics, particularly within disco. At the time, radio play traditionally dictated a song's success. However, disco challenged this norm by gaining popularity through nightclub exposure. "Never Can Say Goodbye" exemplified this shift as it skyrocketed to success when patrons purchased thousands of copies from NYC record stores after hearing the track in nightclubs days before. Tom Moulton, a prominent music producer, recalled a 1975 Billboard issue that highlighted the absurdity of how "Never Can Say Goodbye" sold twenty thousand copies in NYC within a week, yet hadn't been played on any radio station. This unprecedented success forced radio stations to take notice and subsequently incorporate the song into their rotations. Moulton's observation underscores "Never Can Say Goodbye" as a trailblazer in reshaping how songs achieved success, marking a significant departure from the radio-dominated model of the past.

“You Sexy Thing” - Hot Chocolate

"You Sexy Thing” is a disco gem that not only left a mark on the genre but also on pop culture, having been featured in various media, such as “The Office,” “The Simpsons,” and even Burger King commercials. The song's irresistible blend of catchy lyrics, upbeat melodies, and Errol Brown’s passionate vocals captivated disco enthusiasts worldwide. It peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1975, losing out on the first place spot by none other than Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” "You Sexy Thing" stands as a testament to Hot Chocolate's ability to infuse disco with a distinct soulful flavor and its enduring popularity solidifies the song's role as a classic and influential disco masterpiece

“Love Rollercoaster” - Ohio Players

First emerging as a disco-funk masterpiece, Ohio Players’ “Love Rollercoaster” blends infectious rhythms with tender vibes. Known for its groovy bassline, dynamic horns, and soaring vocals, the song became a dancefloor sensation. Its success showcased the fusion of funk and disco, contributing to the genre's evolution, while its energetic tempo and irresistible hooks exemplified the genre’s spirit. Becoming a gold record in January 1976, the hit solidified Ohio Players as influential contributors to the vibrant and diverse landscape of 70s disco.

“Get Down Tonight” - KC & The Sunshine Band

“Get Down Tonight” was the first of four songs by KC & The Sunshine Band that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 throughout the year 1975, making the group the first to accomplish this feat since the Beatles. The repetitive and catchy chorus – “Oh, do a little dance / make a little love/ get down tonight” – along with its energetic instrumental breaks filled with groovy horn melodies and plucky guitars made it a favorite on the disco dance floor. Even today, it’s popular at parties, weddings, and other dance events, further exemplifying its vitality and longevity as a disco tune.

• Mia Filler (Journalism and Interaction Design)

Designer: Laura Mattingly (Communications and Graphic Design)

Talking Heads Discography

Designer: Syd Tomasello (Graphic Design)

Etcetera

What do LCD Soundsystem, Nelly Furtado, The 1975, and Danny Brown all have in common? They are amongst the seemingly infinite roster of bands and artists who have cited Talking Heads as a prominent influence on their music. Though Talking Heads were only active as a band for around 17 years, primarily in the 70s and 80s, their legacy has lasted far beyond their years.

From the beginning, it feels like Talking Heads were destined for success. After their founding in 1975, their first gig was as an opener for Ramones at New York City’s iconic club CBGB. They would go on to be an influential force in the new wave scene, combining elements of rock, punk, and funk in their music. The band’s core members — lead singer David Byrne, drummer Chris Frantz, bassist Tina Weymouth, and keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison — released eight studio albums, two live albums, and one stunning concert film.

The band broke up in 1991 reportedly due to tension and creative differences between Byrne and the rest of the band. Since the breakup, they’ve reunited a handful of times — including in 1999 for

TALKING HEADS ‘77 (1977)

Two years after their gig with Ramones, Talking Heads released their self-titled debut album in 1977. Chock full of funky basslines and Byrne’s distinctively strained vocal style, the album established Talking Heads’ early rock sound. The band reportedly wanted an album that was fun to listen to, but also shared a message about the importance of autonomy in one’s life. Songs like “Tentative Decisions” (“I wanna talk as much as I want”) and “Pulled Up” (“I was complaining, I was down in the dumps / I feel so strong now ‘cause

the 15th anniversary of their concert film “Stop Making Sense,” in 2002 for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2023 the 40th anniversary of “Stop Making Sense” — but the band’s time playing together as Talking Heads seems to be over. However, their artistry has continued on through various independent projects. Byrne himself has since released 10 studio albums, featuring hits like “Strange Overtones” and “Glass, Concrete & Stone,” while Frantz and Weymouth, who have been married since 1977, still make music together as Tom Tom Club.

Talking Heads’ influence speaks for itself: they’ve been featured on lists like Rolling Stone’s 2003 “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” and 2011 “Greatest Artists of All Time,” their eight studio albums are some of the most celebrated in recent history, and the band was constantly praised for always reinventing the wheel and producing albums that pushed the envelope of popular music at the time. Their legacy lives on through their albums and their continuing ability to provide inspiration for artists in the U.S. and around the world.

you pulled me up”) accomplish this goal effortlessly, overlaying optimistic lyrics with upbeat, catchy guitar riffs and backing vocals.

The album includes highlight “Psycho Killer,” which was not only the first track for which the band recorded vocals, but also their first charting single. To this day, it is still one of their most well-known songs, featuring an infectious, moody bassline behind Byrne’s catchy refrain of “psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est?”

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “NEW FEELING,” “NO COMPASSION,” “PSYCHO KILLER”

MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD

The band’s sophomore release, More Songs About Buildings and Food marked the first of three consecutive collaborations with acclaimed producer Brian Eno. Compared to their debut, More Songs About Buildings and Food incorporates heavier percussive patterns, but otherwise solidifies the band as a name to know in the new wave and psychedelic funk scenes. With songs like “With Our Love,” “The Girl Wants to Be with the Girls,” and “Found a Job,” Byrne’s songwriting explores themes of love, relationships, and creativity.

(1978)

The album’s only pre-release single was “Take Me to the River,” a popular cover of the classic Al Green song of the same name. Though Byrne was initially hesitant to release a cover as a single, Talking Heads truly made the song their own by slowing it down and using stronger, punchier drums and basslines than the original. It was so successful, in fact, that it became Talking Heads’ first single to reach the top-thirty charts and allowed More Songs About Buildings and Food to become a gold-certified album.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME AN ANGEL,” “FOUND A JOB,” “TAKE ME TO THE RIVER”

FEAR OF MUSIC (1979)

In many ways, Talking Heads’ third album, Fear of Music, is their darkest. While the first notes of opening track “I Zimbra” deceive the listeners into the sense that it might be an upbeat listen, the songs that follow — like “Mind,” “Cities,” and “Air” — are thematically dystopian. They discuss everything from an “unheroic urban guerrilla” character, as described by Byrne, to so-called perfection, but still manage to balance heavier subject matter with danceable discoinspired melodies.

Despite the album’s inherent gloominess, it’s rich with unusual rhythms that would shape how the band approached later albums. “I Zimbra,” for example, features tribal, African-inspired drums in a technique that would become integral to their subsequent avantgarde album, Remain in Light

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “I ZIMBRA,” “LIFE DURING WARTIME,” “HEAVEN”

REMAIN IN LIGHT (1980)

If Fear of Music is Talking Heads’ darkest album, there’s no doubt that Remain in Light is their most experimental. Remain in Light builds upon the rhythm patterns that first appeared in their discography circa “I Zimbra” and combines genres that had previously seemed incompatible. The album was primarily recorded at a studio in Nassau, Bahamas, where the band utilized looping techniques to give the album a layered and texturally rich quality. Sonically, the album balances elements of new wave rock music whilst incorporating African polyrhythms, afrofunk and worldbeat melodies, and rapinspired, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Remain in Light is considered by many to be Talking Heads’ magnum opus. Its infusion of African rock was revolutionary and

shook the very ground that modern rock stood upon. To this day, it is still praised for its innovative creative vision. Due to the album’s significance and cultural impact, it was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2017, joining the ranks of entries like Judy Collins’ “Amazing Grace” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. With only 625 recorded entries as of 2023, Talking Heads’ inclusion on the list emphasizes their revolutionary song-making. Fulfilling the registry’s criteria of a recording that is "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and is reflective of American culture, it’s no surprise that /Remain in Light/ was chosen to be preserved for generations to come.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “CROSSEYED AND PAINLESS,” “ONCE IN A LIFETIME,” “THE OVERLOAD”

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

(1983)

Following the success of Remain in Light and their first live album, 1982’s The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads, Talking Heads experienced a commercial breakthrough with their fifth album, 1983’s Speaking in Tongues. It was their first album without the involvement of producer Brian Eno in nearly five years, resulting in a record that was less experimental and somewhat more accessible to a commercial audience. In addition to housing some of the band’s most well-known tracks like “Burning Down the House” and “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” the album is full of danceable songs mixed with funky basslines and zesty instrumentation.

During the Speaking in Tongues tour following its release, Talking Heads worked with director Jonathan Demme to create “Stop Making Sense,” a concert film that captured the band’s unique performance of songs from their discography as well as their side projects, like Frantz and Weymouth’s Tom Tom Club. The film’s title comes from Speaking In Tongues’ “Girlfriend Is Better,” which has the lyrics “I got a girlfriend that’s better than this / but you don’t remember at all / as we get older and stop making sense.” To this day, “Stop Making Sense” is considered by many as one of the best concert films of all time.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE,” “SLIPPERY PEOPLE,” “THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (NAIVE MELODY)”

LITTLE CREATURES (1985)

Just a year after releasing “Stop Making Sense” and its live album, Talking Heads released their best selling album. In a departure from their previous funk rock sound, their sixth album, Little Creatures incorporates more elements of both country and pop rock music. In “Creatures of Love,” for example, Byrne croons in an Americana style, and opening track “And She Was” is upbeat and optimistic like many

modern pop rock songs. Lyrics throughout the album explore love, transcendence, and doomsday, but still manage to maintain a fairly consistent positive outlook on it all. But while Little Creatures may be their best selling record, it is arguably one of the least memorable in their discography.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “AND SHE WAS,” “TELEVISION MAN,” “ROAD TO NOWHERE”

TRUE STORIES (1986)

In 1986, Byrne directed a musical comedy titled “True Stories.”

The film is a vignette of small-town America, showcased through the citizens of Virgil, Texas. It follows Louis Fyne, played by John Goodman, who is looking for love and preparing to sing at the town’s “Celebration of Specialness” show. Byrne appears as the narrator throughout the film, but the rest of the band also make guest appearances to perform some songs. Talking Heads recorded the Byrne-written songs for the film and released them as their seventh album, True Stories, to coincide with its release.

The songs on True Stories are catchy and upbeat, especially in songs like “Love for Sale” and the album’s lead single, “Wild Wild Life.”

“Papa Legba” is perhaps the only song that maintains some of their previous use of African-inspired instrumentation, but “People Like Us” has the country and Americana feel of Little Creatures. While critics found this album to be somewhat lackluster due to its pop rock sound and lack of distinctive polyrhythms, there is one positive outcome that came from this album: English rock band Radiohead has credited Talking Heads’ song “Radio Head” as the inspiration for their band name – yet another example of Talking Heads’ formative shaping of the music soundscape through the ages.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “WILD WILD LIFE,” “RADIO HEAD,” “PEOPLE LIKE US”

NAKED (1988)

Talking Heads’ eighth and final album Naked was an attempt to return to their worldbeat and afrofunk past — to somewhat mixed results. Recorded primarily in Paris, the band tried to capture the essence of Remain in Light by shrugging off their previous pop rock and new wave sound. The band wanted the instrumentation and lyricism to materialize organically, but without the guidance of Eno as producer, the attempt to return to the creative vision of Remain in Light fell flat. At the time of its release, it received a fair amount of critical praise

due to their experimental endeavor, but it hasn’t withstood the test of time. While trying to recreate Remain in Light’s magic, Talking Heads created an album that is as disjointed and fractured as the band itself had become. The band announced its hiatus following Naked’s release, only to never release another album under the name Talking Heads again. Without so much as a tour to celebrate its release, the memory of the album itself seems to easily fade away.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: “MR. JONES,” “(NOTHING BUT) FLOWERS,” “SAX AND VIOLINS”

• Chelsea Henderson (Journalism/Communications)

Where Are They Now? A Look into Past Tastemakers Presents

Purity Ring

September 29, 2012

One of the first ever Presents brought electronic pop band Purity Ring to the AfterHours stage. After just having released their sophomore album Shrines and being signed to record label 4AD, this was an especially exciting show. The Canadian group has since released two albums, Another Eternity and WOMB, in addition to an EP, graves

Thundercat with Parkay Quarts

October 14, 2014

Thundercat headlined the Centennial stage with support from Parkay Quarts. At the time, the R&B musician Thundercat had only just released his second album, Apocalypse. He has since released two more, the newer of which, It Is What It Is, won Best Progressive R&B Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Tastemakers interviewed Thundercat after the show, where he shared just how important his music really is to him: “Everything I’ve lived, my bass is a part of that experience. It is a business but at the same time, my bass is my best friend.”

American rock band Parquet Courts performed their brand new record Content Nausea under the moniker Parkay Quarts due to two of their band members not contributing to the record. The band has not played a live show or released new music in two and three years, respectively.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Horse Jumper of Love and Palehound

October 6, 2015

New Zealand psychedelic rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra headlined AfterHours in 2015. Tastemakers reported that the band incorporated improvisational elements into their performance, as well as played old songs in a new style. In an interview with Tastemakers before the show, frontman Ruban Neilson shared plans for his next album: “It’s just kind of exciting, the idea of traveling around and talking to people, learning new stuff.” His plans came to fruition for the album released three years later, Sex & Food, which he recorded in Mexico City, Mexico; Seoul, South Korea; Hanoi, Vietnam; Portland, Oregon; and Auckland, New Zealand.

Boston bands Horse Jumper of Love and Palehound opened, both of which were founded just two years prior and are thriving to this day. Horse Jumper of Love just released an album with Boston record label Run For Cover and is about to embark on their first UK/ EU tour. Palehound frontman El Kemper has since been named one of the greatest guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone

Car Seat Headrest with TV Girl

October 2, 2016

What started as Will Toledo’s solo project became the sensational indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, consisting of Toledo, Andrew Katz, Seth Dalby, and Ethan Ives. Tastemakers sat down with the whole band after their performance on the AfterHours stage, where Toledo revealed that the show made him nostalgic for his own college experience. “I like how it reminds me of my college in Virginia,” he said. “Most of the shows I played were at my college. That was a fun-esque time in my life. I say I don’t have any fun but if I did, it was in college and this kind of takes me back to that age.”

Opening up the show was indie-pop band TV Girl, who now has 20 times the amount of Spotify monthly listeners as Car Seat Headrest. They had two albums out at that time, but their music blowing up on TikTok during the pandemic gave them a much larger audience for the release of their 2023 album Grapes Upon the Vine

Jeff Rosenstock

September 23, 2017

An AfterHours punk show is a rare occurrence nowadays – and this show may have been slightly responsible for “high energy” shows getting banned from the premises. Jeff Rosenstock is notorious for inspiring crowds that mosh and surf. In an interview with Tastemakers, Rosenstock expressed how important it is as a punk band to speak out on stage. “We all came from DIY backgrounds and house shows and shit like that, zines and political stuff, and doing all kinds of shit and anti-capitalist stuff,” said Rosenstock. “We could be wrong, but I felt like we could be a band to speak to a lot of people and say some shit.”

Lucy Dacus

March 23, 2019

Lucy Dacus graced the AfterHours stage following the release of her sophomore album, Historian. Just five years later, Dacus is performing to sold-out stadiums with her band boygenius, who just won three Grammys. Before her set, she told Tastemakers, “Super young me wanted to be a construction worker and then I wanted to be an Olympic diver, and then my third job choice was rockstar.” Now she’s officially a rockstar, far too big to ever return to our humble Starbucks stage.

There was a competition to decide the one lucky student artist to open for her. The winner was Berklee’s Grace Givertz, who has since been named one of NPR’s “Artists to Watch.” In an interview with radio station WXPN, she stated that this was the first soldout show she ever played, and it continues to shape her career to this day.

Samia

October 20, 2021

Samia showed up to AfterHours with high energy and a beautiful voice, despite her claims that she sounded awful due to being sick with a cold. She encouraged the packed room to sing along with her, and they knew every word. She had just released her EP Scout, which followed her 2020 debut album The Baby Opening for Samia was Northeastern’s own Eph See, performing their new EP g*rlhood. They have since been nominated for multiple Boston Music Awards and were just signed to the Queer Music Agency. Samia joined Eph on stage for a charming duet of “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus.

• Emily Greenberg (Communications)

Designer: Heidy Hur (Design)

Everyone is going to die. It is the one universal inevitability, yet the thing that many fear the most. The hands of a clock tick, and every second that passes is one closer to the end. Despite endless reminders, the natural individual response to death is to act like it does not exist. People live their lives in a fantasy where they will be around forever so they can avoid the immense pain that comes along with the acceptance of their inescapable demise.

For some, however, like Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga of the duo Have a Nice Life, death’s presence in daily life is so unavoidable that it constantly occupies their thoughts. They are so hyper aware of their death, and in turn, life’s insignificance, that it becomes nearly impossible to carry out their days. Have a Nice Life named this mental state “Deathconsciousness,” and made it the

concept and title of their record released in 2008. Deathconsciousness takes a deep dive into darkness, with no light at the end of the tunnel. While highly discomforting, it captures a level of intense despair and yearning for meaning that gives those in a state of Deathconsciousness something to relate to, and shows those without that experience that it does not need to be shied away from. Deathconsciousness speaks to and validates those like Barrett and Macuga who experience it as a way of life. They have reached a point where they truly believe that their eventual death provides them no reason to live, and internalize this nihilist philosophy.

The term Deathconsciousness was coined by Have a Nice Life, but they have concocted a fictional ancient religion called Antiocheanism to give historical roots to

the philosophy. Along with the vinyl copy of the record, Have a Nice Life provides a 75-page booklet that details the history of Antiocheanism and its leader Antiochus to provide context for the ideas behind the record. In the booklet, Antiochus is presented as a mysterious yet influential figure in Rome in the 13th Century. As a child, he supposedly predicted countless deaths in Rome, leading him to be exiled until his adulthood. With his return to Rome, he brought bold, new beliefs about the nature of the world that caused him to be the center of much controversy.

Antiochus’ main ideology was The Great Negation. He argued that life – which encompasses everything that creates, motivates, and inspires — and negation — which only destroys and removes — are what drive the world rather than forces like good and evil. People cling to life’s inspirational qualities and are motivated by what it produces, and thus generally want to hold that life and negation are equally balanced. However, Antiochus and his followers, known as Antiocheans, believe that experience shows negation as slightly more powerful than life, which will ultimately lead to the destruction of the universe. It is much easier to kill than to reproduce, much easier to burn a house down than build it up — Antiochus used similar examples of negation’s swiftness combined with coincidences he claimed as miracles to convince the Romans to subscribe to his belief that death is life.

As an album, Deathconsciousness sounds as dark as its concept. Its blend of punk, shoegaze, and ambient music creates an ominous and warped tone, and every noise is textured to the point of sounding like it was recorded in a voice memo. The booklet presents the record as divided into two sections — The Plow That Broke the Plains and The Future. The Plow That Broke the Plains deals with the process of entering a state

of Deathconsciousness. Songs like “Bloodhail” and “The Big Gloom” explore the dread of being trapped inside a mind that cannot help but think of its own end. A droning, anxiety-inducing wall of sound builds on “The Big Gloom,” static and unchanged with only muffled vocals to vary the eight-minute experience. Have a Nice Life brings the listener into a state of Deathconsciousness with them, begging “can you please, please relate?” Their agony envelops them and is projected onto the listener in a desperate attempt to feel less alone. Macuga spends the last half of “Bloodhail” repeating the word “arrowheads” over and over. He releases arrows into everyone he sees, killing them in his mind just as he has done to himself.

The Future wrestles with Deathconsciousness after it enters the mind and follows the transition of Deathconsciousness as a feeling to a philosophy. Antiochus believed that this transition was inevitable. He constantly claimed “Death is Life” — that those with the painful, irreversible awareness of their death would be liberated through their newfound nihilism. Stand-out track “Deep, Deep” shows Have a Nice Life at their most aggressive. It is a whirlwind of bright synths, Macuga’s scream, and hostile snares, all in hopes for an escape from the hold that

Deathconsciousness has over their mind.

The fight does not last long, and closer “Earthmover” moves to a place of acceptance. They end the album with the words “we wish we were dead.” Not only do those that follow Deathconsciousness anticipate their death — they desire it.

Deathconsciousness has a profound impact on those that listen to it because it masterfully expresses and provides a name for the foreboding feelings that everyone experiences. Most people do not follow Deathconsciousness as a philosophy — and will not because of the record — but it provides a space for moments of crisis where the world seems to go dark. The record shows how easy it can be to believe in the meaninglessness that Deathconsciousness preaches. Its stories and musicality force the listener to experience Deathconsciousness the way that Antiochus preached it on the street, and provides a nerve-wracking look into his world. However, it does not have to be as dark as it first appears. While negation may overpower life, there is significant power and inspiration to be found in fighting against the forces out to destroy. Even in a state of Deathconsciousness, people can accept the lack of meaning they are presented with and use it to fuel their future.

• TC Stephens (Political Science and Philosophy)

Designer: Maia Delagneau (Interaction Design)

Picture a typical metal concert: everyone is energized, jumping up and down. A mosh pit clears in the distance. The opener of a cult-favorite band just finished the chorus, and everyone’s ready for the breakdown. The bass heavily drones, the drums like firecrackers light up the arena, the vocalist screams their heart out, and the synths chaotically scale up and down. Wait… the synths? Yep, and it’s more common than you think. Deviating from tradition, more metal bands are embracing genre blending in their music, taking cues from the likes of rap, EDM, and pop. Yet even though these bands steer away from metal tradition doesn’t mean their music should be discounted. Bands like Sleep Token, Bad Omens, and Bring Me The Horizon have deviated from their popular metal roots embracing this genre fluidity, while artists like Electric Callboy, City Morgue, and I See Stars have built up growing fan bases around their genre-defying discography.

Bring Me The Horizon, one of the most popular, yet simultaneously hated,

metal bands in the world, are experts at genre-blending, hosting collaborations with artists from Ed Sheeran to Lil Uzi Vert. Although the band itself has its roots in deathcore, they transitioned into a heavy metal and metalcore-focused artistic expression with earlier albums like Sempiternal and Suicide Season praised highly among the metal community. However, amo, released in 2019, has drawn criticism for the band’s deviation from their tried and true methods in heavy metal. Since then, they have balanced releasing heavier tracks more reminiscent of their highly praised albums to appease their fans while simultaneously combining elements of synths and catchy choruses with popular artists from all genres. They continue to do collabs with artists from different genres, including Ed Sheeran on a remix of “Bad Habits” and on Lil Uzi Vert’s “Werewolf,” which held riffs and screams resembling many metal songs but with trap-style production. Similarly, Sleep Token’s most recent album, the seamless

Take Me Back To Eden, perfectly captures their genre blending skill. Tracks like “Vore,” which features screams, heavy guitars, and intense rhythmic sections present in many metal songs, as well as “DYWTYLM,” which features calm and bright synths and a soothing melody, reminiscent of a modern R&B song. Meanwhile, fellow band I See Stars has recently developed a devout fan base over their older EDM-inspired metal music. Songs like “New Demons,” “Filth Friends Unite,” and “Murder Mitten” all feature heavy metal breakdowns and choruses intertwined with synths reminiscent of many EDM artists. But, why do these bands blend genres instead of reverting to traditional riffs and abrasive instrumentals?

This metal genre-blending not only reaches a wider audience and adds a novel element to metal, but sometimes it's just as simple as the band wanting to go their own direction instead of following preconceived genre norms that were set when they started making music. Bring Me The Horizon’s frontman Oli Sykes commented after the

release of amo that he wanted the band to be “that gateway band for people to get into rock.” His idea was to listen to their recent, more pop-based tracks and then gradually go further back in their discography to their heavier music. This notion is furthered by collaborating with name-brand artists like Ed Sheeran and Lil Uzi Vert, who bring otherwise disparate fan bases into Bring Me The Horizon’s sphere. This paradigm is enforced with bands like Bad Omens and Sleep Token songs being featured on many social media platforms, especially TikTok, thereby creating a gateway for listeners all across the alt community to hear their pieces and delve into their discographies. Bring Me The Horizon also frequently talks about making music according to their own tastes, not what others want them to make. This is apparent in their discography’s wide diversity, especially on their newer albums where tracks like “Kingslayer” and “Dear Diary,” feature heavier instrumentals and frantic tempos while others like “1x1” hold a more pop-rock focus in the vocals and production.

Devin Oliver, frontman for I See Stars, echoes similar sentiments as he aims to exercise his “identity as an electronic producer as well as a vocalist.” This exploration from many metal artists shows the genre’s expansion in both musical diversity and popularity, yet many still find reason to criticize these choices.

Many metal “purists” harken back to the older albums of famous metal artists (think Bring Me The Horizon’s deathcoreforward “Count Your Blessings” or Bad Omens’ self-titled) where the bands were solely metal in the traditional sense. While some argue that the new music created by these bands isn’t metal at all, new-age metal artists tend to produce an even mix of heavy and experimental songs. Nevertheless, there is a form of primacy bias that is common not just in metal but across genres. Earlier albums in an artist’s discography are when they established their sound, and for many metalheads, those albums form their perception of “tradition,” which can be hard to let go of. Therefore, seeing this real-time switch into a more inclusive genre sphere for metal causes backlash because of its departure from what they’re so familiar with. Yet, popular metal bands continue to genreblend despite what some traditionalists think, and they do it to great success. For example, bands like Bad Omens and Sleep Token earned millions of Spotify monthly listeners with their most recent and experimental albums, which have earned them high praise. Bad Omens even sold out multiple headlining tours off of “The Death of Peace of Mind,"

their newest album. However, what many metal purists lose sight of with these new developments is the fact that genre-blending in metal is not new.

When one imagines a blend of metal and alternate genres, typically nu-metal comes to mind. Bands like Linkin Park, Deftones, and Korn pioneered this subgenre, combining elements of hip hop, pop, and other styles with heavier elements from rock and metal. However, early nu-metal differs from the current wave of modern metal by lacking the use of electronic instruments in production and catchy choruses. This era was most popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, and represented a turn away from metal as it was established by prolific bands like Black Sabbath and Metallica. However, even these metal greats occasionally folded in other genres into their music. For example, Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut was built on blues rock, but has nonetheless been a foundational record in the heavy metal genre. With how complex and deep metal subgenres go, sometimes there is no clear cut answer. After all, distinguishing Atmospheric Black Metal from Grindcore can be difficult after a first listen, if at all. Even still, this sentiment applies to today’s bands as they potentially create future metal subgenres, or are inspired by classic nu-metal artists who famously mixed genres as part of their sound.

Whether today’s bands are experimenting with genres for their own artistic expression, to gain a wider appeal, or to ultimately help grow the metal genre is

up for debate. However, it would be unjust to dismiss these pieces just because they deviate from the pre-established foundations of metal — this has been and will continue to happen. Ultimately, what’s important is whether the artists evolve in their own sound and continue to do what they want to do. After all, metal is all about defying the norm.

• Justin Guthrie (Data Science and Business)

Designer: Jamie Tishkoff (Business and Design)

Before there were Boygenius, Big Thief, or Sufjan Stevens, the indie/alternative rock scene’s chief visionary was Portland-based singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Alongside Fiona Apple and Jeff Buckley, his melancholy yet angsty ballads were a staple of 90s indie, and albums like Figure 8 helped propel the alternative rock sound into the mainstream. When his song “Miss Misery” was featured in “Good Will Hunting” and subsequently nominated for a Grammy, Smith’s music was broadcast to the masses. Three years later, Elliott Smith returned with Figure 8, his final album before his death in 2003.

Figure 8 is a slight departure from his earlier works like Candle and Either/Or, yet it stays true to his brand of songwriting; Smith’s intimate sound is present throughout the album, along with his trademark singing style that’s soft yet forceful. This album occupies a space somewhere in between alternative rock, pop, and folk music. There are still some purely acoustic tracks like “Somebody That I Used To Know," but on the whole Figure 8 embraces a denser sound. Instrumentations include many layers of piano and guitar, and more unconventionally, a string section complete with an organ. The increased presences of drums and bass provide an energetic, driving force, often culminating in a cinematic-sounding climax towards the end of a song. The production overall is heavily inspired by The Beatles, but with an obvious darker tone. Jon Brion, who has produced for Fiona Apple and Kanye West, is credited on many tracks.

This sonic diversity supports an equally intricate blend of emotions on the album. The first track “Son of Sam” drops us right into the complex headspace of Figure 8 — somewhat morbidly, Smith likens his experience of feeling like a misfit to the serial killer Son of Sam. Throughout the album he grapples with fitting in with the rest of the music industry. He asks himself “Wouldn’t Mama Be Proud” of his commercial success, but songs like “Junk Bond Trader” criticize pop music for selling bland, played-out ideas and placating the public. Elliott Smith never wanted to be a rock or pop star, and despite the catchy and accessible nature of Figure 8, it still has an undeniable alternative streak. Smith also explores ideas of love and loss, reminiscing over a past romance on “Everything Reminds Me Of Her," and describing a shaky, arguably toxic relationship on “Easy Way Out."

While the somber ballads that pervade the album conjure up feelings of anxiety and loneliness, tracks like “L.A.” remind us of the good in the world. With an upbeat, rock sound, Smith sings about persistence, hope and remembering that no matter how bleak life is at the moment, tomorrow can completely shift your thinking.

8 has a sort of dreamlike impression — Smith floats from scene to scene in his life, blending together peaceful memories with haunting ones, feeling both scared and grateful for the future. Despite all the symbolism and layered lyrics, Figure 8 is an undoubtedly raw journey into Smith’s mind, where a lifetime of grievances and confessions are on display. His ability to convey emotions through a blend of

metaphor and sincerity makes it perfectly clear why his cult following persists to this day.

Despite tragically passing away over 20 years ago, Elliott Smith’s influence lives on in some iconic contemporary artists. Most famously, Phoebe Bridgers has cited him as one of her biggest influences. It’s easy to hear the parallels in her soft style of singing, acoustic instrumentation, and melancholy tone of her songs. Punisher feels like this decade’s successor to Figure 8, with a mixture of pop-friendly tunes (“Kyoto”) and slow, heartbreaking ballads (“Moon Song”). The intense ending to “I Know The End” might remind listeners of Figure 8’s drum build-ups, and Bridgers’ lyrics throughout the album evoke the same heart-wrenching feelings of loneliness and anxiety.

Other fans have noticed similarities between Smith’s work and the music of Alex G, Big Thief, and Sufjan Stevens — all of whom occupy a space in the “sad indie” scene. Frank Ocean, Mac Miller, and Billie Eilish, while straying away from the acoustic rock sound, have cited him as a songwriting inspiration. All of their lyrics are reminiscent of Smith’s musings on love, loss, and finding a place in the world, with Miller specifically focusing on the topics of mental health and addiction. It’s no stretch to say that Figure 8’s themes of anger, angst, and confusion persist in the modern day. Perhaps the album title’s symbolism of the infinite, futile loop of life is more accurate than Elliott Smith ever knew.

• Luke Colombo (Computer Science and Psychology)

Designer: Kristen Berzolla ( Design )

An Oral History of

Tastemakers

The opening page of the first Tastemakers issue, published in “October-ish” 2006, boldly proclaimed that “Tastemakers is a groundbreaking new music magazine serving Northeastern University, the surrounding areas, and (within a few months) the entire known universe… We take our music seriously, and take our magazine slightly less seriously.” 17 years later, we’re operating on the same principles. Our 150 members work hard to bring you two issues and one killer show a semester. But before we became the Tastemakers you know (and hopefully love), the one that calls albums "Tasty!” and became a community of like-minded individuals, the magazine started with two freshmen – a couple to this day, Zivi Krieger and Kelsey Tucker – who met on the first day of school.

These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Origins

Zivi Krieger (founder and president, issues 1-17): I can't take credit for the idea [of Tastemakers]. The year before I got there, 2005, a subgroup of MEISA [Music Entertainment Industry Student Association] had broken off to start a magazine. They came up with a name, they came up with this idea of a crossword puzzle. Kelsey and I had both come from indie design backgrounds, so we volunteered to be the design team. We quickly realized that the rest of the group kind of wanted nothing to do with actually being productive; they just wanted a reason to hang out. No shame in that. It's college, and the reason to do anything is just to make friends and hang out and all that stuff. But we were a little bit more focused and determined and really pushed for getting things done.

We didn't have any money, we didn't have any clout. We were scraping by to print 300-400 issues off of money that the music chair just gave us out of kindness. We tried to get the people involved in the journalism department, the marketing and business departments. We went around to those schools and passed out fliers and tried to talk to professors, but it was a lot of just grassroots.

Designer: Adeline Yu (Business Administration and Design)

Kelsey Tucker (founder and marketing director, issues 1-17): One of my favorite parts for sure was standing out in the student centers and meeting people, handing things out.

Krieger: We did a series in the back page of the magazine that was like, “What are you listening to?” So we'd go and target people who had earbuds in and we'd wave ‘em down, you know. For the first bunch of issues it was just Kelsey and I–

Tucker: Accosting people. But it's just about being on the ground and talking to people especially on a college campus. What better intel to see what's cool then what 18 to 23-year-olds are listening to? So that was really fun at the time.

Krieger: A guy named Kyle Risley was the next president. A lot of people in my early generation were a little more unsure. But [Risley’s generation] really came up seeing what the magazine could be, seeing what the magazine was, rather than questioning what it could be. So I had a lot of faith in them.

Kyle Risley (president, issues 15-26): The first one I remember picking up was probably Issue 10. Actually my first week – and this wasn't Tastemakers, it was a MEISA group – they brought Girl Talk [to Afterhours], and that was wild. Everyone rushed to the stage. The stage actually broke, there were so many kids on it. And then there were kids up on the steel beams that are on the far side of the wall. I was like, “Wow, college is awesome.”

Krieger: I loved doing [shows] outside. We did one in Centennial that was one of my faves. I think it was Yeasayer, who were a really cool band. I dug them a lot.

Risley: It was a great show, maybe one of our best attended. But it was so cold on the day of the show, right at the level where instruments can't stay in tune. Our program manager got an industrial space heater and put that on stage, so the band was warming their hands in between songs, so they were not super happy. And we also made bootleg t-shirts for the show and gave them away and spray painted and then tie dyed them, and they were so pissed. But then they forgot their merch for the show, so whatever. I mean, they did a great show and that's all you can ask.

Tucker: I think the best thing about Tastemakers for me is it teaches people how to have a passion outside of just work. You know, school work is work, and you've got a trajectory for a job. Not that Tastemakers doesn't lend to that, but I think that there is an element of “What do you care about? Where do you want to spend your time doing if you're not getting paid?” Those things that really fuel your passion. It kind of painted the picture for me, and that's what I think I really hoped that it would continue to do for other students, too. Just a place to have some energy that's outside of classwork and internships or whatever.

Risley: [There were] a lot of ambitious people and creative people. They were really self-starters.

The Prom Era

Em Cassel (editor-in-chief, issues 25-29): I actually ended up going to Northeastern basically because of Tastemakers. I knew that I wanted to study journalism, and then a friend of mine from high school went to Northeastern a year or two before me and was like, “Check this out. We have a music magazine on campus.” And I was like, “Okay, well, that's a differentiating factor.”

Ben Stas (editor-in-chief, issues 37-44; photo director, issues 40-44): I joined Tastemakers my sophomore year, which would have been 2013. I had friends who were sort of in it or adjacent to it. I had known about it from the first week or two I was at school because I remember the Presents show that was Titus Andronicus on Centennial.

Cassel: I didn't have a ton of writing experience at that point. You know how it is when you're a freshman and you're like, “well, I guess I gotta prove myself.” But I just started showing up. I didn't stop showing up.

Stas: I was a staff writer for a couple of semesters. And then eventually I was reviews editor, and then eventually features editor after that. It all sort of snowballed. Once you get involved, you're just sort of in it, and it kind of takes over. And I was getting more interested in doing photography stuff sort of independently.

Risley: He was one of our photographers. He still does it, all these years later. But he was also just a machine and would be like half of every issue's content. He was a very productive and focused person.

Cassel: My first semester, I remember sitting in my dorm room interviewing musicians that I had looked up to for years and years and just being like, “This is wild.” You can really just email somebody's publicist, they will connect you. And I was like, “That is really exceptional.” The kind of magic that I don't think ever wore off during my time at Northeastern.

Stas: Not to say that like I had a hand in it, but I think during my years it became a little bit less of a 2000 Pitchfork boys club sort of thing. When I very first started going to staff meetings, people were a little bit dismissive of covering more like pop-leaning stuff. There were sort of attitudes from certain people that were a little bit derisive, and I think that started to change pretty quickly with more of a diverse membership and diversity of opinion.

Cassel: Katie Price was the editor-in-chief when I started writing for Tastemakers, and I just have a ton of respect for her. I didn't even realize how lucky I was at the time. She was someone who was really fun, really silly, really goofy, but also a really good manager of people. And when it came time for her to graduate, I was just kind of like, “I think I could step in and kind of, like, fill her shoes.” And they were big shoes to fill. I think another cool thing about having Katie in the place of editor-in-chief when I became a student at Northeastern was there were still men in music looking down on women in music, even when they don't think that they do. So to come in and have this really badass woman as my editor and my mentor was so life-affirming.

Ryan Kehr (president, issues 41-44): It was really supportive. Everybody as a collective was willing to pour our hearts into every issue. There were a lot of friend groups that spun out of Tastemakers in a bunch of different ways.

Stas: Northeastern is a pretty big school. It's not necessarily an especially artsy school. So when you first get there and you're in a general population of meeting people, it didn't feel like the place for me. But getting into Tastemakers and doing stuff at the radio station, I was like, “Yeah, these are the people I wanna hang out with.”

Cassel: I've been so impressed by the work that we did when I was there, by the work the people who came before me did, and the work that continues to get done. It was the kind of thing where it felt like you could do whatever you wanted. You could make the publication that you wanted. And I think we really felt that it mattered.

Cassel: Everyone gave a shit about the magazine. Even if we were fucking around, goofing off, blowing deadlines or whatever else, we really gave a shit about the magazine. Someone like Kyle, that's someone who's a lifelong friend of mine. I think of all the stupid stuff that we did, like we hosted Tastemakers prom and like there was no reason for that to happen. It was just a silly idea that we had. And then you say something a couple times and all of a sudden you find that you are making decorations for it.

Risley: Oh, man. Tastemakers Prom. We used to do release parties, and so this was one that was probably right around Valentine's Day, so we just called it prom.

Kehr: Issue drops are always important. We had movie nights, we had parties. We had, you know, like events on campus. I think we did like a couple of potlucks. I actually met my wife at a Tastemakers potluck.

Modern Era

Kristie Wong (president, issues 57-62): So, I saw Tastemakers at Fall Fest. I was talking to Hannah [Crotty], Justine Cowan, Rami McCarthy, and they just sold me on it. Their energy was fun, chaotic, which is very similar to mine. I was just excited to make friends my first year, and music has always been a really big part of my life. I felt like Tastemakers was kind of the perfect balance of finding community and getting some professional work in my portfolio.

Hannah Lowicki (social media manager, issues 57-72): I got involved freshman year, literally at the activity fair, just going to the table and picking up one of the magazines, like “This sounds cool, and I wanna work in the music industry.” End of freshman year, Hannah [Crotty] – who was the promo director a really long time ago – she’s like, “We need new social media directors.” I was interested in social media and in marketing in general. So I applied and I got the job, and me and Sofia [Maricevic] were the social media directors for a very long time.

Wong: I ended up being president for the last one and a half years of college. And during that time, I increased the membership by 166%. I think a big part of that was I was trying to make the organization feel a little more approachable or friendly. So I really focused on the community-building aspect and kind of that, like “anyone's welcome, anyone can like music” and emphasize how it can bring people of all different backgrounds together.

Lowicki: She became president my second year. I think she took control of the presidency in a different way that just hadn’t been done before. Her influence and her ability to plan just everything is what made Tastemakers morph under her.

I tried to fill up the academic year with other opportunities for people to connect, even if it's not strictly about music or the magazine. So we did things like, like drunken karaoke nights, like even in the pandemic, because it felt like there wasn't a lot going on on campus.

It was kind of weird because everything was really restricted for two and a half, potentially even three years. It was fun, and I got a lot of value from still being in the club, but things were different.

Wong: It was honestly devastating. Right before Covid, I felt like Tastemakers was on this really promising trajectory, like we were growing rapidly. But I think we made it work. We were pretty quick to adopt a Zoom meeting cadence. And we found ways to still connect with people through finding silly online things to do. And we were also able to do online versions of Presents. We brought Umi, Phony Ppl, Weyes Blood, and Smino.

Angela Lin (president, issues 63-74): I was temporary art director my second semester, freshman year. And then I begged Kristie to be vice president, even though there was no position like that. And she actually really didn't want me to be president because she was like, “It sucks being president. Like, you're gonna hate it.” And I was like, “Yeah, but I want it.” So she just like, let me have a vice president position my sophomore year. And then she graduated and then I became president the spring semester of my sophomore year.

Wong: She is way too modest! I definitely saw the potential of her being president very early on. I think she had very similar kinds of goals of building community, and she's really talented and was in a bunch of the departments. She was doing design work. She's done photography and obviously promotions. So like, she was all around a really strong contributor for the organization. ÷

Lin: I really loved the magazine and it was a very fun and good environment, and I think I wanted to help grow that more. I feel like during the pandemic, a lot of the social structure of what Kristie had built before kind of collapsed. It was very difficult to build that back up. And I feel like we're okay now, but it's a work in progress.

Lowicki: I look back on [my time there] positively. Honestly, I miss the vibe of Tastemakers, being a part of something where you can write about music. It was really fun to get together, having structured activities that revolved around music.

Wong: Tastemakers was such a big part of my college experience, but also my life. But I just think it gave me such an invaluable experience that I can apply anywhere. And Tastemakers shaped a lot of the friends that are in my life and how I interact with my community now.

Krieger: Tastemakers wasn’t mine, and I never, ever wanted it to be. I love meeting people who either applied to, or end up going to Northeastern since I left there and they're telling me, “I went to Northeastern because of Tastemakers.” That's always really heartwarming and cool and amazing that somehow Kelsey and I planted these seeds 15 years ago, that we built enough of a concept of an infrastructure that it was able to maintain itself.

Trevor Gardemal (Journalism)

Show Reviews

Briston Maroney

Paradise Rock Club 2.3.24

Few artists radiate as much warmth in a single set as Briston Maroney. The indie rock singer recently performed two sold out nights at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club to celebrate the release of his latest album Ultrapure, bringing “the kind of positive energy we’ve got here — from ours to yours.” But his allure goes beyond just positivity — with a single guitar strum, he captivates audiences with a vulnerability that makes him relatable, personable, and irresistible.

Phoebe Go opened the night, dazzling the crowd with her Aussie charm during songs like “We Don’t Talk,” “The Kid,” and “Something You Were Trying.” The crowd cheered her on with shouts of “go, Phoebe Go!” as she oscillated between upbeat and emotional, acoustic songs. She even played a newly released song, “7 Up,” hinting at the new music that she’s likely releasing this year.

The energy at Paradise Rock Club was electric when Maroney finally took to the stage. With a “tummy full of delicious Boston ramen,” he ambled onto a stage decorated with shimmering constructions of jellyfish and other sea creatures. This aquatic decor was perhaps a reference to the marine-related songs that appear in his discography. The mesmerizing ornamentation made the crowd feel as if they too were a “Deep Sea Diver” at the “Bottom of the Ocean,” but otherwise was just a colorful backdrop to the true artistry that was occuring on stage. Maroney was joined by bassist Zack Lockwood, drummer Nathan Knox, and guitarist Devin Badgett to play music not only from his first two albums, Sunflower and Ultrapure, but also the entirety of his career, dating back to his 2017 EP Big Shot The show beautifully balanced recent tracks with those from their early days.

The crowd — which was largely made up of indie-loving college students — was transfixed as soon as the show began. Whether newer or older songs were playing, they were singing along and dancing around. Maroney was equally energetic, rocking out on stage and having the time of his life. As a performer, he shows his true range of capabilities throughout his performance. The juxtaposition of

Maroney’s older songs with newer ones further emphasized the artist’s growth in his career thus far. While older songs like “June,” “Rose,” and “Under My Skin” are simple arrangements, relying on the pure emotion of the songs’ lyrics, newer tracks from Ultrapure like “Detonator” and “Sunshine” have a fuller sound with the use of more intoxicating guitar riffs and groovy percussive rhythms. Maroney also had a chance to showcase the breadth of his musical talent, even going so far as to get behind the drum set to play drums while drummer Knox played keys for “Sink;Swim.”

The show’s atmosphere felt deeply synergistic, like a gathering of friends around a campfire, singing universally known songs. Maroney’s music seemed to speak to the crowd on an introspective level. With songs like “Small Talk” and “Fool’s Gold,” audience members sang at the top of their lungs and clearly felt every word on a personal level. During the ultimate fan favorite “Freakin’ Out On the Interstate,” his voice was nearly drowned out with how ardently the crowd was singing along. But Maroney’s brand of introspection isn’t outwardly sad and depressing — it’s woven through upbeat chords and melodies. His performance of “Caroline” was the perfect microcosm of this: even the quieter moments of the verses couldn’t stop the crowd from dancing during the beat drops between the refrains.

After briefly exiting the stage, Maroney’s encore performance consisted of “Bottle Rocket” off of Sunflower and the titular track off of Ultrapure. While slightly unconventional to end on a bit of a softer, acoustic note, “Ultrapure” is the culmination of everything that Maroney strives to be right now: human and imperfect, but authentic and “ultrapure like a child.”

Chelsea Henderson (Journalism/Communications)

Photo by Nivedita Pai (International Business)

Tinashe, Royale

Photo by Samantha Davidson (Business Administration)

On the Revival of 90s Alt

The year is 1993, and the cool era of Gen X is in full swing. The Cranberries, Liz Phair, The Breeders, and the Smashing Pumpkins are releasing debut and sophomore albums to critical acclaim. Alt rock is breaking into the mainstream, while at the same time fragmenting into subgenres and fusions with entirely different types of musical expression. Some bands will stand the test of time, some will fade away over the coming years, and some will enjoy resurgences decades later.

Today, a veritable Y2K revival is winding down, and people are looking back a decade further for inspiration, reviving all things 90s in the process. As a result, many bands which fell apart by the early 2000s such as Ride have reformed and gone on to release new music — a throwback to their heyday with the confidence of several decades in and around the business. While this phenomenon appears to be consistent across many genres, it’s perhaps most prominent within alternative rock circles. Even artists who never went on prolonged hiatuses such as The Breeders have profited off the hype, releasing exclusive physical media with previously unreleased outtakes from the original studio sessions and embarking on anniversary tours for early albums.

The concept of an anniversary tour is not new, and yet something about it being 30 years since the mid 90s is a bit different. Maybe it’s because so many anti-establishment bands have now grown up and recognized their appeal with an older crowd, or maybe it’s the spectacle of seeing rock stars who never grew up. However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the tour — outside the obvious novelty of hearing beloved albums played front to back, sometimes for the first time ever is who acts will tour alongside. Some groups such as Ride have chosen to stick with their own, bringing along other 90s bands

— in this case The Charlatans — and bringing concertgoers back to a surprisingly vivid time and place in music history. It seems that the majority of bands on tour will choose a far more contemporary act, and in doing so bring a wider crowd for both artists. Liz Phair’s recent 30th anniversary tour for Exile in Guyville did just that, choosing Blondshell to open with a set that complemented Phair’s own style and thematic interests in the early 90s. The opportunity to pass the torch to new artists through essentially a stamp of artistic approval is incredibly important to maintaining and growing a fanbase. While this concept is certainly nothing new and truly forms a core tenet of touring success, it is particularly noteworthy at large milestones.

Titans of the alternative like Liz Phair, Ride, and most recently Sunny Day Real Estate have all committed to playing their debut albums live and in their entirety, allowing new fans to have a unique entry into their discography. As a fan, there are almost no downsides to these concerts: the album is first played front to back, and then it’s a veritable greatest hits encore you get both a deep dive and a taste of everything else. However, for bands that may have played some songs for the last time decades ago, an anniversary tour is a gargantuan production. Whether the process starts with getting the original lineup back together and into band practice or just brushing up on the composition of old tracks, playing a live album front to back is a labor of love. Hopes are high that the trend continues, especially as 30th anniversaries of some of the most iconic 90s alt albums come around.

Physical media’s resurgence over the past decade has also created a perfect opportunity to capitalize on anniversaries. Merch booths on tour stops come packed with vinyl, CD, cassettes, bundles, hoodies, tees, and pretty much anything else you can slap a band logo on. Bands

which trace their roots back to the era of bootlegging CDs, zines, and tees screen printed in sheds of friends’ houses know exactly how to market themselves for both nostalgia and the present. As a result, merchandise on anniversary tours — and really any tour within the sphere of 90s alt revival — can be enjoyed by new and old fans alike. All of this work transcends an exclusively musical level, especially as fashion has become intertwined with music and other artistic endeavors more explicitly. The result is more cultural phenomenon than musical, all of which drives a feedback loop of a larger alternative rock revival.

As we cycle through the rest of 25th and 30th anniversaries of seminal albums, one can only hope that these celebrations of alternative rock’s peak are continued and even expanded. With these anniversaries and releases, there are great opportunities for younger fans–many of whom were born after these albums’ releases — to discover an entire world of music hidden behind the major acts that defined an era. Outside of hearing early music from 90s icons for the first time, there is ample opportunity to delve into all the adjacent or lesser-known acts that surrounded artists as they moved from local heroes to international icons. At the same time, older fans who never stopped listening to 90s alt can hear albums in an entirely new light, improved by decades of musical experience and with ample time to get every aspect of early work just right. Time has replaced some of the rawness and punk attitudes which have worn away with incredible skill and far better production than could be achieved in backyards or basements.

While the full-blown alt rock craze of the 90s isn’t likely to come back around full force, shedding light on groups that lost steam too soon is incredibly important. While other genres have filled the gap that 90s rock left in the music world as it faded away towards indie rock, nothing can replace those who did it first — and possibly best. Contemporary acts seem to reference powerhouses or obscure record bin finds of the 90s more now than ever, highlighting the enduring importance of the era to music today. Credit should go where it’s due, and we should dig through the archives of alternative rock even more to find great music and new inspiration. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get an anniversary tour out of it.

• Terrance Dumoulin (Civil Engineering & Architectural Studies)

Designer: Edzani Kelapile ( Media Arts)

The Not-So-Happy Legal History of

Have you ever wondered why chain restaurants always seem to have their own unique song for when it’s someone’s birthday? Or why characters on your favorite childhood TV show never seemed to just sing the normal “Happy Birthday” song when a cake was brought out? “Happy Birthday to You” might seem simple enough, consisting of only four words repeated four times in a span of about thirty seconds, but the answer to these questions lies in a legal history that is far more complex than “Happy Birthday” itself.

When the melody of “Happy Birthday” first appeared in 1893, it was printed on the pages of Song Stories for the Kindergarten under the name “Good Morning to You.” Written by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill, it was intended to be an easy tune for schoolchildren to sing to their teachers at the start of each day. As the Hill sisters’ songs spread by word of mouth, however, the words “good morning” were eventually swapped with “happy birthday,” and the birthday song as it is known today was born.

Patty Hill, who outlived her sister Mildred long enough to witness the evolution of “Happy Birthday to You,” was not particularly interested in owning the song’s copyright. An article from TIME wrote that Patty didn’t mind the use of “Happy Birthday” without earning a profit, and that “she long ago resigned herself to the fact that her ditty had become common property of the nation.” But Mildred and Patty’s song had eclipsed the power of its original authors, and its legacy would outlive both of them. In the eyes of the music industry, far too much money was at stake for Patty and Mildred’s ditty to be left simply as unprofitable shared property.

Several parties had a vested interest in ensuring that the Hill sisters acquired copyright ownership. The rest of the Hill family, for one, could reap the benefits of Patty and Mildred’s one hit wonder so long as they kept the copyright within the family. A third sister named Jessica renewed the book’s copyright and secured her position as one of the book’s profiteers. Summy Co,

the label who published Song Stories in 1894, also wanted to ensure their enduring control over the melody used in “Happy Birthday to You.” With Jessica’s approval, a new copyright that combined the lyrics of “Happy Birthday” with the melody of “Good Morning to You” was submitted and approved in 1935. Both groups were lucky for their foresight. The Hill family continued to profit from “Happy Birthday” until the death of Mildred and Patty’s final descendent, Archibald Hill, in 1994. In his obituary, Archibald was remembered for pointing to various belongings and saying "'Happy Birthday' bought that." Record labels profited for even longer. Summy Co. sold “Happy Birthday” to Warner-Chappell in 1988, and the song rolled in about two million dollars of revenue each year by 2015.

As the legal ownership of “Happy Birthday” passed from hand to hand, its cultural relevance continued to grow. The song’s ascension from a simple children’s song to a nationwide cultural staple happened to coincide with the rise in popularity of birthday parties themselves.

“Happy Birthday” was frequently licensed for use in media and earned its various owners about fifty million dollars in total revenue, making it the highest-grossing song in music history. The price-tag associated with “Happy Birthday” became a cultural phenomenon in its own right. Licensing fees highlighted a new market that had emerged from birthday celebrations, and artists and labels alike sought to replicate the eternally profitable nature of “Happy Birthday” through a new canon of birthday-themed songs that emerged in the latter half of the century. The Beatles’ “Birthday,” New Kids on the Block’s “Happy Birthday,” and Madonna’s “B-Day Song” featuring M.I.A. sought to capitalize on birthdays. While perhaps these artists felt strongly enough about birthdays to write songs about them, it is more likely that they wanted to break into the market that “Happy Birthday” had monopolized for years.

“Happy Birthday” remained the most popular birthday song with no sign of its profits slowing down. Amidst everincreasing profits, a change to copyright law in 1990 allowed Warner-Chappell to extend ownership until 2030. This was finally challenged and overruled by a class action lawsuit in 2013, led by a production company that was making a documentary about the history of “Happy Birthday.” A judge ruled

in favor of the plaintiffs in 2015, stating that claims to “Happy Birthday” were never valid to begin with on the grounds that the original copyright obtained by Summy Co. only applied to the song’s piano arrangements. After almost a full century of licensing deals, “Happy Birthday” was entered into the public domain.

In a society where the commodification of art and music is simultaneously a byproduct of capitalism and also vital to the livelihood of artists and musicians, legal protections are necessary. These laws have the power to shape the way that art is created, shared, and consumed, and shape our culture in turn. But as “Happy Birthday” demonstrates, copyright law often works in favor of already rich industry leaders like Warner-Chappell, despite what its original songwriters hoped for. It is almost absurd to think that “Happy Birthday” just entered public domain in 2015, when Patty Hill recognized it as a public commodity before its copyright was even written. Though its legal drama has concluded, the case of “Happy Birthday” has raised more questions than it answered. How different would film, television, and music have been had “Happy Birthday” never been copyrighted in the first place? How many other songs are burdened by unnecessary restrictions? Did it really take that long for someone to read through one of the most lucrative musical copyrights of all time and determine that it only applied to piano arrangements? Frustrating as these questions are, we can only hope that by raising them, “Happy Birthday” has paved the way for a future in which laws related to the arts work for the artist instead of corporations looking to cash in on someone else’s talent.

• Jess Gwardschaladse Culture, and Law)

Designer: Sarah Liu (Journalism)

Few countries have a national identity so closely tied to a genre of music as Spain. The image of a woman clad in a red dress with a flower tucked delicately into her hair and her arms thrown high above her head has become a symbol almost as recognizably Spanish as the nation’s flag. But the dominance of flamenco is not due to a universal love for the music or dance. Although it is undeniably tied to its national identity, flamenco has gone in and out of fashion in Spain. In fact, some Spaniards resent flamenco’s cultural significance and history, revealing a complicated and sometimes contradictory relationship between the fiery, passionate styles of flamenco and the people of its native country. Spain’s relationship to flamenco has changed dramatically throughout its tumultuous history, but one thing remains constant: flamenco can capture attention on the global stage.

No one knows exactly where the word “flamenco” comes from, just as no one is quite sure where its sound was born. Flamenco is a perfect demonstration of the fruits of a culturally diverse nation like Spain, which, throughout history, included Arabs, North Africans, Jews, and other ethnic groups. Although conversations about the complicated ethnic and racial history of Spain are often focused on the Spanish Inquisition and the prejudice of Francisco Franco’s fascist government, Spanish art is a testament to the exchange and reinvention that comes from cultures interacting with one another.

Most historians credit the birth of flamenco to the Roma people, who were a migratory people that moved from India across the continent towards Spain between the ninth and fourteenth centuries. Over time, the Roma people acquired Arabic and African instruments, like wooden castanets and tambourines, and chords which would eventually be translated to flamenco’s most important tool: the Spanish guitar, the existence of which is recorded as early as the 15th century.

Flamenco began to take a recognizable shape after Jews, Moors, and Roma people were exiled from Granada City following the turmoil of the Inquisition and dispersed into the remote mountainous regions of Spain. During this period, flamenco became integral to the popular culture of Andalusia, a southern region which has remained the “hub” of flamenco since the style’s birth.

Few early theoretical texts about flamenco exist, but over time, a catalog of rhythms, structures, melodies, and songs developed, creating a tradition of art that has carried on for centuries. There are over fifty different styles, or “palos,” of flamenco, composing a body of work that covers the entire expanse of human experience.

Although flamenco originated as only a “cante,” or an unaccompanied vocal performance, the dancer is at the center of many of its styles. Through a combination of rhythmic tapping known as “baile” and hand clapping known as “palmas,” the dancers began playing an active role in creating the music they are performing to in the 15th century, often following their instincts and pushing the musician’s “toque,” or guitar rhythms, through to the song’s natural evolution. Flamenco dancers often embody the characters of their songs, but also operate far beyond a merely ornamental function. They respond to the development of the music, careful not to stomp over a delicate melody or let a dramatic moment go unpunctuated. The percussive quality of flamenco is what ties the dancer so closely to the music.

Flamenco is unique in that the dancer not only contributes to but controls the music. A flamenco performance is an interplay between dancer and musician, in which the artists use practiced cues and rhythmic

Designer: Cami MacMillin (Communications and Grpahic Design)

patterns to move on to the next stage of the song. Similarly to jazz, flamenco relies on interpretation, improvisation, and reinvention. Most flamenco dancers and musicians share a language of melodies and rhythms, but must account for and respond to one another in real time. Thus, merely listening to flamenco is not enough; it must also be felt, experienced, beheld.

The reverence flamenco is treated with today is a somewhat recent development. Upon its emergence into Spanish popular culture in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, flamenco was scorned by the upper classes. As a product of “gitanos,” a pejorative term used against the Roma people, prejudiced Spaniards rejected the style, continuing the persecution that Jewish and Roma people faced throughout Spanish history. Many upper-class Spaniards were also scandalized by the sensual and emotive nature of flamenco music and dance, finding it inappropriate and impure for the artists to express themselves so freely and publicly. However, flamenco soared in popularity as the performers formerly limited to “cafes cantantes,” the cafes and venues where Spaniards would pay to see the sensational songs and dances, were hosted in opera houses for the masses and flamenco shows were held in bullrings across the country, far from flamenco’s native Roma homes of Andalusia.

Following this “Golden Age,” flamenco continued its ascent to the peaks of Spanish popular culture until the 1936 Spanish Civil War, during which Francisco Franco came to power and large-scale flamenco performances nearly disappeared. Both the Catholic Church and Spain’s Fascist party disavowed the genre and discouraged Spaniards from seeking out flamenco shows. Because of the genre’s association with the Roma people and its hypersexualized reputation, Spanish institutions resisted its entrance into popular culture.

However, as Franco navigated his ideas of “new” Spain emboldened by the values and accomplishments of its past, he believed that Spain’s international isolation of the 1940s and 1950s was holding the country back. In an effort to intrigue Western tourists and investors, Franco began to use flamenco to promote Spain’s national identity and build a mystical, alluring persona for the nation to inhabit on the world stage. By increasing the number of flamenco performances, pandering to tourists, and bringing flamenco dancers to the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, the Franco regime jumpstarted American tourism in Spain and set the foundation for the nation’s economic success it would encounter in the 1960s — a stark contrast to the repressed, crippled economy of the young Franco regime.

Franco’s support of flamenco reveals interesting contradictions within Spanish culture. How could a dictator so brutally socially conservative not only encourage, but fund, an art form that is centered around diversity, passion, and emotional expression? To the American brain, the revered status of bullfighting in Franco’s Spain makes perfect sense, with its emphasis on masculinity, violence, and power. But flamenco’s emphasis on beauty and sensitivity demonstrates how popular culture can subvert oppressive political agendas, even as a country reels into unseen levels of social conservatism. According to dance master Matilde Coral, “flamenco is not a show of strength but of aesthetics, style, charisma, and dance discipline,” all of which seem wholly out of step with Franco’s regime. The dictator’s attempt to make flamenco emblematic of the Spanish nation may have succeeded, but his broader project of social moralization ultimately failed. Flamenco musicians and dancers waged private revolutions that allowed for the genre to retain its subversive and provoking spirit.

Flamenco is a reminder that ideology, oftentimes, is packaged to be pretty. But Franco’s abuse of the genre was unable to tarnish its spirit. Flamenco’s cultural endurance has demonstrated that it could not be used as a political tool and tossed aside, instead pulling from its ethic of constant reinvention while maintaining its core principles of purity, honesty, and beauty. As flamenco has fallen into rhythm with the twenty-first century, the genre has continued to evolve.

“Nuevo flamenco” continues the genre-fusion projects of flamenco artists of the 1980s after the dominance of rock-n-roll in Spain following Franco’s death. More recently, Spanish pop star Rosalía’s album El Mal Querer is a perfect embodiment of the spirit of flamenco, immersing classic flamenco texts, symbols, and archetypes in a world of modern values and musical genres.

Today, some believe that flamenco is regarded by the Spanish people as favorably as ever, even as it is treated as a commercial product disregarded by the masses for pandering to tourists. The evolution of flamenco demonstrates the political potential of music, and how it can be used to shift the dominant values and perceptions of a national culture. When Franco died in 1975, his bastardization of flamenco ended. But what is left behind is a web of political, social, and cultural values that pride Spanish uniquity while struggling to find ways to overcome the nation’s historical traumas. Many Spaniards still grapple with the complicated legacy of flamenco as they pass the tradition on to the next generations of artists, but in the words of legendary flamenco artist Camaron de la Isla, “Flamenco has only one school: to transmit or not to transmit.”

• Joseph Brant (Political Science and Economics)

Oliver Tree, MGM Music Hall

Photo by Kelly Thomas (Environmental Science)

mxmtoon, Cafe 939

Photo by Elizabeth Scholl (Pharmaceutical Sciences)

Winkler, Brighton Music Hall

Photo by Praagna Kashyap (Political Science & International Affairs)

Behind the Screen:

An interview with reality TV musician

YSA

Reality TV would not be the same without the upbeat pop songs used to set the tone for each scene. There are a handful of musicians behind these tracks, including Nashvillebased independent artist Ysa Fernandez.

Fernandez – who creates music under the mononym Ysa – has been producing and recording music for shows like “The Kardashians,” “Selling Sunset," “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” and many more for over two years. While she writes music for TV, she is also working on her upcoming EP. She released the first track, “Slow Down,” on Jan. 26th, 2024.

Tastemakers recently spoke with Ysa about her work as a musician in the entertainment industry, her influences, and her upcoming projects.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Tastemakers (TMM): How long have you been making music?

Ysa Fernandez (YF): I started making music in high school, when I got a computer that I could use to make beats. Then, in my first year of college, I posted them on Soundcloud. I didn’t start actually making money doing it until about two to three years ago. Making music has always been something I’ve loved to do. It’s been a passion, but I didn’t think "Oh, I could do this for a living" until I moved to Nashville.

TMM: Is that also when you started making music for television?

YF: Yeah, that’s when my songs started to get placed in TV shows. I had no idea about that world before. I was just online making beats and reaching out to other music producers,and they showed me that world.

Designer: Jensyn Ford (Communications and Graphic & Information Design)

Photo by Jesse Paul Spring 2024

Fernandez

TMM: How did you find producers that could send the music out for you?

YF: So it was a couple different things. There were some producers here in town that I really looked up to. I followed them on Instagram, and saw that they did music for film and TV. I literally slid into their DMs and said "What do you do?" and "How do you get into this?"

Also, being a female producer has both advantages and disadvantages. I was submitting to these agencies, and they didn’t have a lot of female producers on their roster. I think that kind of worked for me. I sent so many emails… I think I reached out to some 30 agencies. I only heard back from two, but you know what? That’s all I needed.

TMM: Now that you’re in the industry, do you get briefed on the shows before you write your music? Do you feel you have found a good rhythm with writing songs that will be used?

YF: It’s kind of funny, people think I’m so tapped into the tea in the shows. But I’m really blind to be honest with you. I wish I was in on it. But I just make what I think will be good for the shows. I don’t really know what they’re gonna use. A lot of the time, I just work off of what they’ve liked from me in the past. At this point, I know from watching the shows what is going to work, what’s not going to work, and what might be a little too alternative for them.

TMM: So how do you know when your music will be on a show?

YF: Sometimes they’ll let you know if it’s a big placement. Recently, one of my songs titled “Pose” aired on “Love & Hip Hop:

Atlanta." For that one, they let me know. Other times, they don’t. I found out my music was on “Queer Eye” because someone sent me a DM. They were like, "Girl, is this you?" and I was like, "Holy shit, that’s me." It’s all legal because it shows up on my royalty statement. So for some shows, I find out my music was placed when the statements come in.

TMM: Is there any difference when writing for TV versus your personal music?

YF: In the beginning, I used to think there was a difference. But now, I don’t think of it as two separate things. However, for more personal projects like my EP, it’s different. It’s more conscious, not as “made-for-TV.” I don’t think Kim Kardashian will walk out with her Lambo to “Slow Down.”

TMM: Do you ever interact with people that have criticized your music from television?

YF: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It’s funny because I’ve made about thirty songs that have ended up on the “Kardashian," but I feel like a fly on the wall. Millions of people have listened to it unknowingly. So, when I see some negative TikToks, it’s okay because they don’t know me, or that I made the music.

TMM: I listened to your newest song, “Slow Dow," and there was a lyric I wanted you to talk to me about, you were talking about “Miss Mary." ‘You know Miss Mary is callin?'

YF: That’s a reference to Mary Jane. I didn’t want to be too overt like, ‘This is my smoke song.’ But you know, that’s the vibe and sometimes Miss Mary’s calling. My manager and I have this ongoing joke because we were always on the road and we both smoked together. We would be like ‘Oh, Miss Mary’s on our line.’

TMM: How is the process of making your EP going?

YF: It’s been really exciting. Previously, I’ve only ever released singles. This has been cool because I signed with an indie label and I finally have the backing to really do a longer project. I’m really building a story out for the first time, which is awesome.

TMM: Congrats! Which label?

YF: They’re called ADA; they’re under Warner. It’s my first time being represented. Before this, I’ve been completely independent.

TMM: What is the future looking like for you?

YF: There’s so many things. I played a lot of shows last year independently. But this year, I’m going to be on the road a bit more playing shows thanks to my agency, which will be really cool. I’ve never been to Boston, but I’d love to come and play there.

TMM: We would love to have you out here!

Why more touring?

YF: Well, on Tik Tok, I have a lot of fans from all over, so being able to just connect with them at live shows would be amazing. I didn’t realize how many listeners I had out there. I remember playing in Chicago last year and it was wild. So, we are working on a whole tour plan right now.

TMM: Amazing, I can’t wait to see where you go!

• Tommy Paulus (Cell and Molecular Biology)

Designer: Farah Caban (Business and Design)

As we celebrate the production of our 75th issue, we’re paying tribute to our Discographies of past issues, the magazine’s longest-running and most significant recurring feature. Beginning with Issue 30, the recurring feature catalogs the discography of an artist, detailing their musical releases, history, and career highs and lows. Through polls on our Instagram story, Tastemakers readers voted for their favorite artists’ discographies from 32 of the top artists featured in the article’s history. Inspired by an early issue’s “March Badness” bracket, which saw “16 of the music world’s most irritating personalities” fighting for infamy, this year’s bracket was more upbeat and hopeful — but equally as cutthroat.

Due to the randomized seeding of the bracket, the first round of competition saw many unlikely pairings that truly tested the musical range of Tastemakers readers. From Kylie Minogue v. Ghostface Killah to MF DOOM v. PJ Harvey, the discographies of these artists are not only iconic in their respective genres, but within the musical canon itself. Of these battles, some results were clearly a matter of tastefulness: the discography of pop icon Britney Spears, for example, was seemingly no match for that of Scottish rock band Cocteau Twins. It’s clear that results went beyond an artist’s popularity, suggesting that readers truly took into account the breadth and depth of their discography.

In the second and third rounds, loyalties were further tested as the voting pool dwindled. The frontrunners included musical icons like American new wave band Talking Heads — whose discography appears in this issue, Issue 75 — and Irish five-piece The Cranberries. Voters were able to decide how they

voted, whether it be for their favorite artists or those they believed had better discographies, but in many of these standoffs, the bands and artists who are generally regarded as influential forces in the music industry were the ones that moved to subsequent rounds.

It’s no surprise, however, that alternative art pop darling Fiona Apple took the cake. In a close final round, Apple received 51% of the vote while up against British musician and actor David Bowie. She’s been a favorite amongst Tastemakers members for years — Fetch the Bolt Cutters was rated second in our 2020 Album of the Year discussion, and numerous articles have been written about her throughout the magazine’s history, like Hannah Lowicki’s “Death of the ‘Female Manipulator’: How Fiona Apple Took her Power Back” (Issue 69) and Joseph Brant’s “Confessional Poets to Singer-Songwriters: The Evolution of the Emotional” (Issue 74). It seems that Tastemakers readers are in agreement: Apple is one of the most prolific and influential artists of our time. The issues in which the discographies initially appeared are indicated next to the artists’ names. Go to tastemakersmag.com/issue to check out the original articles!

•

Chelsea Henderson (Journalism/ Communications)

Jeremy Zucker, Roadrunner

Photo by Julia Finocchiaro (Computer Science)

Milk Carton Kids, Paradise Rock Club

Photo by Max Rizzuto (Data Science & Philosophy)

Grimes, the unique intelligence born of former neuroscience student Claire Boucher, has traversed the throes of fame throughout her decade-and-a-half long career. Whether as a premier talent on the Montreal circuit, a critical darling, or a now-household name through her semi-questionable antics, Boucher’s music itself has remained the center of her creative vortex. Her 2015 album, Art Angels, however, remains a singular entry in her ever-evolving catalog.

Art Angels is audacious pop from the mind of an auteur, whose entirely self-produced and self-written content is immaculately composed. But none of the record’s songs shine brighter than “Kill V. Maim,” its sixth track and third single. With the song’s sheer boldness alongside its chaotic music video featuring time-traveling cyberpunk vampires in a blood-soaked rave, “Kill V. Maim” has since become an emblem of mid-2010s Grimes at the peak of her artistry — somewhere between her Visions-induced feral isolation and her billionaire social experiment escapade. It’s less a song and more a manifesto, unleashing the entirety of Grimes on the world as a futurist, feminist, and rebel.

The song immediately begins as a lurid, tinny pop fantasy — a sound well established on Art Angels after preceding tracks like “California” and “Flesh without Blood.” With its in-your-face opener “I got in a fight, I was indisposed” strutting to macho guitar, “Kill V. Maim” seems only appropriate for a gilded cyberpunk. It froths and bubbles under alien muck, impatiently waiting before rupturing into the world. As if about to collapse under its own restlessness, the track bursts with its cheerleader chant of a pre-chorus (“B-E-H-A-V-E arrest us / Italiana mobster looking so precious”), and somehow explodes again with its chorus (“I don’t behave, I don’t behave, oh eh”).

The intensity of “Kill V. Maim” is so electric as to nearly knock you over. The song was meant to be Boucher’s most aggressive yet, and she proves it with relentless lyricism and production. The repeated line “cause I’m only a man, do what I can” is simultaneously a flagrant taunt and feminist ovation, accompanied by thrill-seeking guitar in the chorus and subtle beguile when echoed elsewhere in the song. It’s somewhat of a thesis: “Kill V. Maim” is a a fuck-you to the pop power structures that be, ones that are overwhelmingly male and reliant on chewing up and spitting back out young women artists, and a tour-de-force of the Grimes charm. While she echoes these sentiments elsewhere on Art Angels — like “World Princess part II” where she disses sexist music engineers (“I know most likely

/ How I used to be a frail and silly thought in your mind”) — nowhere is she more assertive than on “Kill V. Maim.” By its final “You gave up being good when you declared a state of war” and buzzing synths, the listener has no choice but to bend to the will of such force.

Kill V. Maim as a character tells a similar story. As said by Boucher, the track “is written from the perspective of Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II. Except he’s a vampire who can switch gender and travel through space.” Boucher flips a quintessentially male figure into a non-binary intergalactic being as a simultaneous fuck-off to the canon of acclaimed media and statement of the music’s future. Other quips like the feminizing “Italiana mobster” and “I don’t behave, I don’t behave” are equally subversive, bolstering the song as one of revolution and futurism.

“Kill V. Maim” seems to have been a catalyst of sorts for where Boucher is now. Its glittery hi-fi production and cyberpunk aesthetic set the scene for her obsession with experimental computerization and speculative tech, particularly artificial intelligence and human automatism. She’s become somewhat of a futurism philosopher, speaking internationally about AI and even constructing Art Angels’ follow-up, 2020’s Miss Anthropocene, as a soundtrack to Earth’s techno-goddess of climate change. It’s not hard to imagine “Kill V. Maim” as a precursor to this obsession, both philosophically and visually, especially to 2022’s single “Shinigami Eyes.” The music videos themselves are thematic sisters, essentially imbuing the “Kill V. Maim” video with seven years worth of shimmering visuals. Without the textual clarity and critical success of “Kill V. Maim,” it’s hard to imagine Grimes as we know her today being quite as outrageous.

Since “Kill V. Maim,” “Grimes” as a mythos has arguably become more of a spectacle than anything. It was an early artistic manifestation of her future direction of transgressive social theory and equally pioneering technological commentary, all while landing on the official NBA 2K17 tracklist. But ultimately, the merit of “Kill V. Maim” as a complex, thematically profound, and sonically innovative track makes it the type of song that puts Boucher in league with the Kate Bushes and Björks of the world.

• Ethan Matthews (Architecture)

Designer: Max Beckerman ( Design )

CROSSWORD

MAKE FOUR GROUPS OF FOUR

ACROSS

4. What band released their self titled debut album in 1975?

8. This ABBA song came out in 1975.

9. What American rock band that sings "Slippery People" was founded in 1975?

10. How many Tastemakers issues are there?

11. With 5 down, this former duo released competing albums in the same year.

12. This Fleetwood Mac singer just celebrated her 75th birthday.

DOWN

1. Which American singer-songwriter released a song protesting the Vietnam War?

2. This indie rock band lead singer was the real life inspiration for Roddy from "Flushed Away."

3. What band released "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the year 1975?

5. See 11 across

6. This 1949 song by Édith Piaf came out 75 years ago.

7. Still Crazy After All These Years by this artist won Album of the Year at the 1975 Grammys.

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

It’s a blast from the past! Inspired by this issue’s Talking Heads discography, here’s a playlist full of 70s and 80s hits by the iconic new wave band and some of their contemporaries.

“Psycho Killer” - Talking Heads

“Heart of Glass” - Blondie “Heaven” - Talking Heads

“Love Shack” - The B-52’s

“Once In a Lifetime” - Talking Heads

“Just What I Needed” - The Cars

“This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” - Talking Heads

“Stephanie Says” - The Velvet Underground

ZOOMED

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

FIND DOLLY

“Girlfriend is Better” - Talking Heads

“Age of Consent” - New Order

“Wild Wild Life” - Talking Heads

“Lost in the Supermarket” - The Clash

“Making Plans For Nigel” - XTC

“Girls on Film” - Duran Duran

“Marquee Moon” - Television

“Whip It” - DEVO

“Rev It Up” - Jerry Harrison

We’ve hidden Dolly Parton somewhere in this issue. Find her and maybe something cool will happen...

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