Alli's Articles
INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
The other day I was innocently scrolling through YouTube when I got a notification from Animal Collective's channel. "NEW SINGLE??" I yelled, clicking vigorously. The song was called Kinda Bonkers and I loved it. The EP, the sibling of their 2016 release Painting With, came out on Friday and I was so excited that I didn't have to wait that long after they announced the song two days before.
Finally, after the long, hard, disappointing school day that was Friday the EP was dropped. And even though it was only four songs, I. Loved. It. Why don't I explain my love for it, track by track, you know, like I usually do in a Vibe and Review. It's been a while, I know you guys have probably forgotten how it goes. The Album Cover - At a glance, this cover just looks like a bunch of scribblies, but I liked the color scheme and how it was connected to the color scheme of Painting With. Also, there's a lot of symmetry. I'm taking this as this EP will be a reflection of their recent album, and I'm excited. 1. Kinda Bonkers - After reading the comments on this song, I totally agree with everyone who said this song gave them a real Fall Be Kind vibe. It really captured the Post Merriweather Post Pavilion sound. Wow, that was a really confusing sentence. On Centipede Hz, I feel like they experimented with more fast and rough sounding songs, so this is kind of a return to the chillwave late 00s sound they had. The lyrics are my favorite part of the song, though. They mention my favorite word! Obscurity! I know this song is most likely about being on a drug with your friends and realizing how crazy the world is, but I don't need a drug to realize that. Life is kinda bonkers, and I realize it more every day. This song just put the weird, crazy, fun stuff about life in words, and I love it. 2. Peacemaker - Going back to the MPP connection this EP has, I instantly thought of Daily Routine when I heard this song, if it was recorded during Painting With. It's probably just because Panda is singing it, and he has that cool echoey effect like usual. I really like the beat of this song, and now that I mention it, Kinda Bonkers had a cool beat like this one, too. On Painting With, the songs were usually so upbeat, and there weren't a lot of drawn out slow beats like these. I'm beginning to interpret this EP as sort of an official ending to PW, possibly because the story the album had to tell needed to wind down a little. 3. Goal Keeper - WHY WASN'T THIS SONG ACTUALLY ON PW??? IT'S PERFECT FOR IT. It's like if Golden Gal and FloriDada had a child. But then again, this EP needed a fast-paced song to balance out all of the calmess. Balance, equilibrium, symmetry... As an athelete, I could relate to a lot of these lyrics. you can't blame the goalie, it's not like he planned it you can't blame the goalie, he's down on his knees all the weight of the world Sports are rough. And even though most of the leagues today preach putting respect for the players first , there's always going to be that one person in the crowd that will throw you off. We're taught to ignore that, but when you mess up, you're already scolding yourself enough and your coaches or bystanders in the bleachers aren't helping. Even though you're working as hard as you can, some people won't see that. I feel like this could be related to real life, somehow. 4. Jimmy Mack - Another PW reject. We don't appreciate Avey's yelling vocals enough, and I learned that in this song. His voice is very expressive. It reminded me of what he sounded like on Strawberry Jam, strange enough. A lot of songs had his weird, wonderful, talking, yelling voice. (I'm indirecting Fireworks. This song reminds me of Fireworks.) I really liked the beginning sound of this song though. The instrumentals in the back behind that "Jimmy...." in the beginning..OMG. So cool. Also reminds me of MPP. ALL OF THESE CONNECTIONS ROCK. Wow, it's been another long week. But guess who has this whole week off?? THIS TEEN MUSIC BLOGGER!! I'll try to write...some things. I don't know. I've been uninspired lately. Now that I have more time, I'll probably do more things. Have a beautimous off day tomorrow, fellow Americans.
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Don't get me wrong, when it comes to liking stuff on the radio, I'm very basic. I know all the words to Ed Sheeran's new songs and will admit, yes, I kind of like The Chainsmokers. (Even thought they've been called the "Nickleback of EDM. That's pretty low, but hey, give them a break.) Yes, I know that most of the songs on Hits 1 and Z100 are repetitive and low quality. I can't even tell the difference between anyone anymore! And I'm part of the demographic all of these artists are trying to reach!
There was a more simple time in my life where I knew all of the singers, and it was basically everything from 2008-2011. Possibly my 4 favorite years in music ever. I even made a spotify playlist from songs from it. This era saw the introduction of EDM, and a more electronic sound, but since it was the beginning of this genre, the songs were new, original, and not annoying. It may be hard to believe, but before 4th grade, I hated music. I don't know why, but I just didn't like the radio. The first CD I ever bought was Animal by Ke$ha. I rushed upstairs and listened to it on this gigantic stereo my parents let me keep in my room. I loved EVERY SINGLE SONG ON THAT ALBUM. From Stephen (which is apparently about a guy Ke$ha stalked when she was my age, and plays in my head whenever I hear someone being introduced as that name) to Your Love is my Drug (When I first heard it, I thought that by "drug" she mean like, Ibuprofen or something) to her smash hit Tik Tok (How can someone NOT love that song??) Another element that added to my sudden music obsession was Music class. Every day before class ended, our teacher let us sing along to popular songs. I felt left out because I never heard these songs before, so I couldn't sing along. I went home one day and printed out the lyrics to Firework by Katy Perry and glued them to a piece of purple cardboard paper. It was a hit and I had all the girls crowding around me to sing when Firework came on next class. I should bring that back.... Paper Planes by M.I.A. is another one. I LOVED this song so much when I was 8. I used to act out the chorus. Oh gosh, I still remember it by heart. "All I wanna do it *fist pump* *fist pump* *fist pump* *fist pump* and a *pretends to open a cash register* and take ya money" So yeah, that song was a milestone. I actually sung for once. Not all of the songs I liked back then were pop. I listened to Coldplay, Kings of Leon, and that one B.o.B. (loved him!) song that Rivers Cuomo was in. Does Hot Chelle Rae count, too? To learn more about the songs I had on my dad's old iPod classic that I covered in Duck Tape, check out that playlist I linked up there. Have a nice week, I'll try to update more. I've been swamped with schoolwork, and since I'm slipping in Chemistry, I might have to get tutored :( Wish me luck, and I wish y'all luck if you're in the same boat! Ok, so I have to kinda make this quick. I jammed my finger in basketball and it's a struggle to type.
I just saw the movie Rocky, and I was kind of surprised at its soundtrack. Of course, it included the famous Rocky theme, but besides that and a few other instrumental tracks, there really wasn't a song after each scene, like a lot of modern movies have today. This is a good element in developing the dialogue, in my opinion. Without any musical interruptions, we have a chance to see the conversations go one for longer, which lets us see the characters in a more normal way. Real life doesn't have music play at random times! Even though, I feel like it does in some situations. I noticed this specifically in the scene where Rocky and Adrian go Ice Skating. It could have easily been a montage showing their conversation with a song playing in the background, but we really got to see what they were talking about. Then again, without music, some people could get bored more easily. Not me, but maybe someone out there. In some movies, the soundtrack is the best part, and yes, I'll admit that one of my favorite parts of movies is when they play a song that just PERFECTLY fits the situation that the characters are in. In other movies, it's the lack of music that makes the movie. Ok, so yeah. Just thought I'd put that out there. Have a good weekend everyone. |