Very few artists can effectively do what I call "world building" with their music. King Krule proved with The OOZ that he is one of those rare talents. I define world building as the ability to create a sonic landscape; a little universe that a specific song or album exists within. But the perception of... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "Nothing's Going to Keep Me Down" "Hurt in Love" "A Bag of Dutch" If the color yellow had a sound, what would it be like? How can the center of a daisy or a school bus be translated into music? The average person can hear flower petals rustling in the wind or... Continue Reading →

What follows is a series of journal entries from a trip I took to Italy. I started with two full days in Palermo, Sicily, then I flew to Rome for two days. After that I took a bullet train to Florence to meet up with four friends from my study abroad group. We took a... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "Faded Heart" "Bye-bye Darling" "Tension (Interlude)" BØRNS is back! The trickle of singles he's been releasing since "Faded Heart" on July 28th, 2017 have finally culminated with a full-length album: Blue Madonna. There's quite a bit to like here, but forgettable lyrics keep Garrett Borns from the upper echelon. He is an... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "I'm Just Snacking" "Gum, Toe, and Sole" If you don't like Gus Dapperton, it's because you don't like him. It isn't because his lyrics lack complexity. It isn't because his musical style is underdeveloped. It isn't because his songwriting is amateurish. And it certainly isn't because his music videos are boring. At the... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "Czech One" "Vidual" "Half Man Half Shark" King Krule (Archy Marshall) is a remarkably transparent artist. He leaves his listeners all the clues they need to determine where exactly his bizarre blend of alt-rock, hip hop, soul, and jazz comes from. In his Amoeba Records "Whats in My Bag" episode, he selected... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "Nikes" "Ivy" "Nights" "Self Control" "Pink + White" I exit the library and head south. It’s early evening. In the fresh darkness, lightning ripples across a facade of distant clouds. With this stunning view, I cue up Blonde, the newest release from R&B auteur Frank Ocean. “Nikes,” begins and immediately fills the... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "Dang!" (Feat. Anderson .Paak) " "Skin" "Congratulations" (Feat. Bilal) Mac Miller has come a long way since the 2011 album Blue Slide Park. Although that album reached No. 1 on Billboard’s albums chart, it received an abysmal 1.0 out of 10 from Pitchfork. Following his commercial peak, Mac Miller used his popularity... Continue Reading →

Must Hear Tracks: "Tessellation" "Homage" "Skiptracing" This is the age of the bedroom rock star. Anyone with some ambitious compositions and an eight-track recorder can engineer a demo tape that the masses will stream. Interestingly enough, the artists that gain prominence this way generally have a certain look about them. The longhaired, dirty looking, quiet,... Continue Reading →