May 2015 - The Cut Magazine

TOPS
DAN DEACON
volume8.issuE6.MAY2015
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LETTER FROM THE ED
YURY
TOPS
DAN DEACON
SENIORS’ EXPERIEN
CONCERT REVIEWS
ALBUM REVIEWS
ESSAY
DITOR
PHOTO BY LINDSAY CORRY
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MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief
Samantha Ward
Assistant Editor
Arun Marsten
Design/Layout Director
Kathy Lee
Photo Editor
Lindsay Corry
Copy Director
Max Harlynking
Marketing and Publicity Chief
Katherine Martinez
Public Relations Chief
Nicole Marrow
Web Editor
Danielle Maly
Writing Staff
Ben Alderoty, Rachel Asbel, Sid
Bhaeuria, Jake Cohen, Lindsay Corry,
Alexis DeLaRosa, Toby Francis, Drevin
Galentine, Kyle Henson, Charles
Hutchinson, Dhruva Krishna, Jake Lee,
Kathy Lee, Will Lush, Nicole Marrow,
Katherine Martinez, Donovan Powers,
Christopher Schuler, Chris Skaggs, Naomi
Sternstein, Imogen Todd, Alex Voskuil,
Jeremy Wheeler, Stephen Yamalis
Photo Staff
Rachel Asbel, Chloe Chia, Will Lush,
Lindsay McClary, Chris Skaggs, Imogen
Todd, Samantha Ward, Lucy Denegre
Editing Staff
Rachel Asbel, Jill Bellovin, Drevin
Galentine, Geneva Jacson, Bronwyn
Kuehler, Danielle Maly, Lindsey
McClary, Donovan Powers
Design Staff
Imogen Todd, Anqi Wan, Sharon Yu
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
It’s so strange to be writing my last “letter from the editor.” Will I ever be editor-inchief of anything again? Do you people even read these letters? My experience
with The Cut has been exciting, at times harrowing, and thought-provoking.
Every meeting I am impressed with the extensive range of music knowledge that
The Cut staff brings to the table. I question how hip I thought I was at the end of
every meeting, and look forward to reading everyone’s articles towards the end
of the month (as long as everyone pays attention to word count…) It’s sad to
say goodbye, but I know that this publication will be in the capable hands of my
former Assistant Editor, Arun, and soon-to-be Assistant Imogen.
Anyways, this issue is ending the year on a high note. Nicole Marrow presents
us with a touching piece defending music criticism in her last ever “In Defense
of” column. In a similar vein, Max Harlynking writes about the history of music
critics in his essay at the end of the issue. The staff gives high reviews to the new
albums out this month (so many 4s! Is it the nice weather?), and also enlightens
readers about our favorite Top Songs/ Albums this month. Finally, in the spirit of
Carnival, our Mixtape revolves around “Songs to Listen to Hungover.”
I’m pleased to present talented electronic musician Dan Deacon as our cover
story, as well as to introduce you to fantastic Montreal-based indie-rock group
TOPS. We also kept it local this month: The Cut sat down with up-and-coming
Pittsburgh rapper Yury, checked out Sofar Sounds’ secret show in Bloomfield,
and talked with ModernFormations about their DIY artists space.
Truth be told, I’m still not an expert in the Pittsburgh music scene. Can you
ever really be? There’s so much to find here to share with you guys. I’m glad that
even as I move on (sort of… I’m staying in Pittsburgh), The Cut will continue to
explore and reveal the musical nooks and crannies of this exciting city.
Hey people! Wow, it feels so odd to be talking to you like this, but bear with me.
I may have joined The Cut my freshman year, but I’d made my mind up about it
long before. When I was still applying to colleges, my older sister, knowing how
much I loved concerts, told me that I should try to join a university newspaper
and write for a music column so I could get free tickets (sneaky, right?). So, when
I was researching CMU I ran across The Cut’s website and noticed that some
students had recently interviewed both Bombay Bicycle Club and Tokyo Police
Club (R.I.P), two of my favorite bands at the time. Naturally the first line of my
application was “I WANT TO JOIN THE CUT THANKYOUPLEASE.” Here I am,
three years later, preparing to be the new Editor-in-Chief, mainly, I’m assuming,
because no one’s realized I’m just a six foot tall child.
While I may have joined all those years ago to get tickets, I’ve stayed because
helping CMU and all of our readers learn about music means more to me than
anything I can imagine.
Next year, I’m hoping we can integrate coverage of Pittsburgh’s illustrious
local music scene even more. As a WRCT member, I want to increase our
collaboration with the radio station, to hopefully reach even more people on and
off campus, and maybe even throw another great dance party. That being said,
I’ll count this coming year as a success as long as The Cut helps even one person
think about music in a new way.
Our staff this year has been better than I could have ever hoped. From hilarious
mixtapes, to insightful essays, to defending the silliest of things, they’ve done a
fantastic job. On top of that, being Sam’s assistant editor this year has been one
of my greatest college experiences. She’s got big shoes to fill, but I’m sure with
the help of my amazing assistant editor, Imogen Todd, my admin dream team,
and our fantastic staff we’ll be able to take The Cut to bigger and brighter places
from her shoulders.
We’ve got a great issue for you this month; I hope you’ll join us next year for
more.
Samantha Ward
Editor-in-Chief
The Cut Magazine
Arun Marsten
FutureEditor-in-Chief
The Cut Magazine
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rECOMMENDEDALBUMS
10songsyouneedtohear
(1) “Kathleen” - Catfish
and the Bottlemen
(2) “Comedy of Errors” Alesana
(3) “Your Fool” - Natalie Prass
(4) “Scott Get The Van,
I’m Moving” - Cayetana
(5) “Cold Cold Man” Saint Motel
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(6) “All Night” - Jai Paul
(7) “Cheerleader” - Omi
(8) “Find Your Wings”
- Tyler the Creator
(9) “Sunday Candy” Chance the Rapper
(10) “Still Want You” Brandon Flowers
THE CUT
MAGAZINE
MUSIC NEWS
BY RACHEL ASBEL
ONLINE
ON THE SCREEN
Jay Z’s new music service, Tidal, promises
to bring a new ethos to music streaming.
The company claims to compensate artists
and producers better than competitors,
but the monthly subscription is almost
double. We will have to wait and see if
listeners are willing to shovel out $19 a
month to make sure Beyoncé is able to
make a living.
Cobain lives in the new HBO documentary
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, released
in April. The film reveals heartbreaking
details from the music legend’s family life,
and includes a previously unheard Cobain
original song.
Blur will only tour the US if we promise
to be nice. The British rock group was not
impressed with their touring experiences
in the states in the 90s, and lead singer
Damon Albarn says they won’t be back
unless record sales are good… hint hint.
Jon Bon Jovi’s new reality show If I Wasn’t
a Rock Star will follow various rockers as
they return to their roots and consider a
life outside of the spotlight. For those of
us who are literate, however, it might be
difficult to overlook the glaring grammar
gaffe.
Mumford and Sons’ new single confirms
what we suspected all along—that they
were just a pop band with vests and a
banjo. In “The Wolf,” they’ve dropped the
folksy get-up and embraced a truly radiofriendly sound.
Someone made a Drake-themed search
engine, whatever that means. Figure it out
for yourselves at lemedrakethatforyou.
com.
Coachella attendees no longer have to
rely on the lineup order to decide who’s
hot at this year’s festival. A new app will
rate artists by social media buzz in real
time.
Jack White will give us a history lesson
in his documentary American Epic, which
tells the story of how a 1920s early
recording technique sparked a musical
and cultural revolution. In the film, some
of today’s high-profile artists such as Elton
John and The Avett Brothers take a stab at
recording using the early technology.
FYI
This year’s round of inductees into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame includes
recently deceased Lou Reed, Beatles’
drummer Ringo Starr, and even the
relatively young act Green Day. Rock
purists may be offended to learn that
legendary badass Joan Jett will be
inducted by none other than today’s
“badass” pop star Miley Cyrus.
In an interview, Brian Wilson of the Beach
Boys revealed that he apparently doesn’t
know what punk rock is, and had to have
the term explained to him. Kokomo must
be a few decades behind, culturally.
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IN DEFENSE OF: MUSIC CRITICISM
BY NICOLE MARROW
When I started this column two years ago, I had every
intention of utilizing my final installment to fight for justice
for Taylor Swift. Fortunately, most of the world has finally
embraced her for the goddess that she is, so that is no longer
necessary. While I’m not operating under the delusion that I
would have changed the minds of millions, I believe that our
words, infused with passion and appreciation for the work
of artists that we admire, are much more powerful than we
are aware of.
Without getting too meta and saying that The Cut and
its peer magazines provide much-needed opportunities
for students to creatively express themselves about topics
outside of academia that actually interest them (oops, I
guess I did say it), some may argue that the articles we
produce are inherently problematic. Music journalism
is getting a bad reputation for focusing on the cultural
significance of musicians rather than the quality of the
music that they create. However, music is an intensely
personal medium, both for the creator and for the listener,
and it doesn’t make sense to listen to it in a cultural vacuum
that completely ignores the tabloid fodder that contributed
to its creation. In my estimation, there’s no better way to
educate yourself about the more nuanced aspects of
music than by listening to a ton of it and thinking critically
about what it means to you.
Beyond a metaphysical journey of self-discovery, music
criticism has evolved into a stream of conversations
surrounding a musical object as opposed to a static
judgement call from a seasoned reporter. Perhaps it’s
the egalitarian nature of present-day music journalism
that has so many old-school critics cursing the names of
blogs, Twitter accounts, and ordinary people offering their
opinions on all things music. You don’t need to have a
degree in journalism to be heard anymore, and criticism
that comes from a place of love is often more meaningful
than that of jaded pundits. So join the conversation,
challenge your beliefs about what makes music so special,
and stand up for your right to love music that other people
think is terrible.
MODERN FORMATIONS
BY VANESSA FRANK
DIY shows can tend to look like the same amalgamation
of punks in a basement every Saturday night,
but ModernFormations gallery provides a venue
for an underground show of any variety. When
ModernFormations opened 14 years ago, it was
one of the first open performance venues of its kind,
combining the functional art gallery with a space to give
emerging performers and artists an avenue for getting
their work seen. In the beginning, performances were
largely populated by punks and college kids from the
underground music culture.
“We used to have shows every night of the week,”
says Jennifer Hedges, owner and founder of
ModernFormations.
Due to crowd control issues, this model has since
changed, but they have since found an audience for new
kinds of small concerts. ModernFormations now houses
some of the most eclectic shows available in the area.
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“It’s evolved into classical music, four piece musicians–
violins, cellos. Some jazz as well. It’s a pretty wide range
now,” Hedges says. As always, the space can also be
used for poetry readings, theatre pieces, cabarets or
film screenings.
ModernFormations has also been
integral to the larger Pittsburgh art community. The
space has been used as a location for art and music
classes, as well as a resource for the Environmental
Charter School. The gallery is also a site for the
upcoming Geek Art/Green Innovators festival, which
promotes environmental technology and art projects of
any medium. At any time of the year, you can catch art
and performances at the gallery as part of the Unblurred
Gallery Crawl, which takes place on the first Friday of
every month on Penn Avenue. For those who are tired of
the typical basement scene and are looking to support
artists of different genres, look out for upcoming shows
at ModernFormations.
Is Tidal Vital or
a Little Entitled?
BY CHRIS SCHULER
At the end of March, Jay-Z and a number of other
famous musicians announced the debut of a new
streaming service called Tidal, and I didn’t watch
the launch event. Can you blame me? It was over
two hours long, and a streaming service seemingly
pops up every other month after changing a tiny
detail to separate itself from the last one. One
has a red background, another takes bitcoin--for
an extra dollar a month one will let you stop your
friends from listening to “Uptown Funk.”
This time, for $20 a month (the cost of about
four fifths of a gallon of Vlad), you can stream in
lossless audio. But for those of us who can’t tell a
FLAC from a quack, the service also isn’t fighting
with Taylor Swift and lets us stream her music. All
this for the price of every single one of her albums
on Amazon every month.
If you want to listen to music in the digital age
and want to avoid hearing an advertisement every
other song, you’re eventually going to consider
paying for one of these services. Maybe you
care about how much money goes to the artist,
maybe not. Either way, Tidal hasn’t come up with
a business model that pays more than Spotify, and
it seems pretty likely that they never will. If Jay-Z
can marry Beyonce, it seems like he can do pretty
much whatever he sets his mind to. At this point,
though, Tidal is half-baked at best. For the past
few weeks, more and more artists like Steve Albini
and Ben Gibbard have told the media that they
just don’t see the point. Save your money and buy
a record, an mp3, or even a latté – the money is
more likely to go to an artist that needs it.
sofar sounds pittsburgh
BY SAMANTHA WARD
You’re invited to a concert, but it’s a secret. The location and
time are revealed the day-of, and you RSVP’d a month in
advance. You don’t know who’s playing, and you certainly don’t
know who is going to be sitting in the audience with you.
There’s something about a sense of insecurity that makes
people afraid, but for others it’s an enticement. For the
adventurous audience of Sofar Sound’s recent Pittsburgh
shows, it was the latter.
Sofar, short for “Songs from a Room,” is a five-year-old
company founded in London that specializes in “secret gigs”
held in over 100 cities all over the world. They curate pop-up
shows in unique locations that encourage audience members
to sit down, pay attention, and genuinely enjoy the music. It’s an
oddity- and one that Pittsburgh has welcomed with open arms.
The Pittsburgh chapter was founded by 22-year-old Gabe
Wolford with the help of Dean Davis, Sofar’s spunky community
manager. When Wolford began the Pittsburgh chapter of Sofar,
he was surprised at the high turnout right from the get-go.
Pittsburghers have been receptive and supportive of tiny shows
crammed into living rooms, lofts, artist spaces and galleries.
To challenge and appease the wide crowd that attends these
shows, Wolford tries to include a mix of genres.
“You’re inclined to branch out and explore a different genre
that you might not have given a chance before,” he explains.
Wolford and Davis look ecstatic as they host the Bloomfield
show on April 19th in Runaway Studios. It’s hard work to
coordinate music, sound, audience, and a video crew, but the
two appear to be relaxed conductors of the evening. But that’s
what happens when you’re crafting something that you care
about.
“I do this because I really like it. The feeling after the show is
really, really great,” Wolford says. This isn’t his full-time gig. In
fact, it’s completely volunteered time.
Want to come to one of these shows? The wait for the next
get-together isn’t long: The date for the monthly show will be
released in early May to the email list.
Sign up here: www.sofarsounds.com/signup
Read the full version of this article at www.thecutmagazine.com
9
YURY MERMAN
PGH BASED RAPPER
Interview by Arun Marsten
Photos courtesy of Adam Mercadante
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The other day we got the chance to sit down with Yury, a
Pittsburgh-based rapper who’s currently studying audio
production at CMU. We talked about music, his background,
and his new album Entropy.
The Cut: Are you originally from Pittsburgh?
Yury: No, I was actually born in Minsk, Belarus. I moved to
Israel when I was a toddler, then Toronto when I was four,
Little Rock, Arkansas in fifth grade, and then finally here
right before high school. I’ve been here ever since.
TC: Did your family support you pursuing music?
Yury: Well, my dad’s pretty well known in Belarus as a folk
singer and a poet, so maybe it runs in the family.
TC: Coming from that, did you expect to end up rapping?
Yury: I actually wrote my first rap lyrics when I was like ten.
I still remember some of them, but I think I’ll keep them
to myself [laughs]. Then in high school I wanted to try,
but back then you’d need a lot of equipment that I didn’t
have. I decided to start making beats because it was more
accessible; all you needed was a laptop. I guess I’ve always
wanted to make hip hop, but now I make electronic and
beats as well.
TC: What do you usually try to rap about?
Yury: I really just try to show who I am as a person in
my lyrics, and in that there’s a good mix of songs about
motivation and struggles, contentment, and searching
for purpose. I like to think that sets me apart from a lot of
rappers. When it comes to hip hop, I wouldn’t say my beats
and sounds are “underground.” They’re definitely closer to
mass appeal, so I like to think that my lyrics help me stand
out.
TC: So, what’s the creation process like for you, from start
to finish?
Yury: Well, I start by writing the instrumentals first and
then writing the lyrics. Then I record myself, and finally I
mix and master everything. So, on my upcoming album,
Entropy, I did essentially everything in the creation process
from start to finish, which is great because it allows me so
much more control over what the album will ultimately
sound like.
TC: Which song on the album are you most proud of?
Yury: Well, I’m always most excited about my newest
releases, so I’d probably have to say “Growing Pains.” I really
like the instrumental that I made, mainly because it doesn’t
have any samples, so I had to make the whole thing from
scratch. Also it’s the first track I’ve released that I’ve done
entirely on my own from start to finish, which was a really
great feeling.
TC: What kind of music do you listen to in your spare time?
Yury: I guess the best way to put it would be, electronic
producers making hip hop beats, or maybe even electronic
producers remixing your favorite hip hop song. I listen to
a lot of that. I also listen to a lot of ambient music and a
decent amount of jazz. I do listen to more popular hip hop,
but mostly for assessing the state of the genre as opposed
to regular listening. I honestly listen to WRCT a lot just
because I’d rather hear something new than feel like I’m
hearing the same thing again and again.
TC: Plans for the future?
Yury: Right now I’m mainly focusing on Entropy, but I’ve
got an electronic album coming out soon which will be
more European-influenced electro house, so definitely
keep an eye out for that!
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( TOPS )
Interview and Photos by Samantha Ward
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TOPS is a Montreal-based four-piece indie rock group that mixes
a fuzzy 70s sound with soft indie pop. Singer Jane Penney’s
voice is resonant of a 50s starlet, and guitarist David Carriere’s
simple and subtle guitar lines add the perfect touch to the chilledout tunes. The band is rounded out by drummer Riley Fleck and
bassist Madeline Glowicki. The Cut sat down with Penney and
Carriere before their set at Cattivo to chat about touring and
recording their most recent album titled Picture You Staring.
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The Cut: Where does the name TOPS come from?
Jane Penney: We wrote down a bunch of names, and a bunch
of them were really, really bad. I remember that I once wanted
to call the band “hula.”
JP: We like to play instruments but not be really showy about
it. The skill is in the way that the songs come through. Not that
we’re, like, constantly doing crazy solos or something.
TC: Are you going to do that for your next album? Same selfeverything? Or try something new?
TC: Like, hoop?
DC: Maybe. I don’t know what we’re doing yet. We’re going to
JP: Like hula hoop, yeah. I’m glad we didn’t call it that. I don’t
know; TOPS is good because it doesn’t really mean anything.
I like the idea that people would have to listen to the music to
understand what’s going on with it, but it also sucks because
you can’t search it online.
TC: Your last album was totally self-produced. Can you walk
me through your songwriting and recording process?
David Carriere: Yeah, so we wrote it and recorded it in the
same place. Our label gave us a room to work in for as long as
we wanted, so we didn’t really have to worry about time shit.
It was wicked.
JP:
we wanted to.
that we’re playing live where it feels like nothing’s happening at
all. Like, the most basic, repeating part forever. But we’ll see
what happens when we start recording. Because we might be
like, ‘This is so boring.’
TC: Do you write when you’re on the road?
DC: Today we were in some town in New York to have lunch
and were in a secondhand store and I bought like a stack of like
12 burned CDs that all had the same handwriting on them. And
been a girl’s collection of her favorite songs.
JP: It was pretty girly.
DC: So we listened to a bunch of her music today.
DC: We were able to record songs and then realize that they
were kind of wack, and then make them better. I mean, we
probably recorded quite a few songs over the course of a year
before it was done. But yeah, usually Jane and I would write
tunes and then Riley would show up and he would get the feel
really good. The main thing was just working on everything so
it feels kind of chill and like it’s not even happening. That was
the goal.
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JP:
room and have private time to work on things. There’s been a
couple of times where we’re staying in somebody’s house and
will be out on the porch singing songs that we have- that kind
of thing. But it’s more about inspiration, I feel like.
DC: That or we’re going out partying all the time and we’ll write
songs that way.
JP: I feel like I’ve gained a lot more experiences touring as
much as we have. Things that I’d never get insight on from
TC: So you spent a good part of February in Japan. Do you
have a pretty big fan base there?
more fun to play live. Because if you write songs that are just
fun for you to play, it can really bore the hell out of people.
JP: It’s a balance.
DC:
enjoy when you see people respond to the way you do things.
JP: We also get to listen to a lot of music in the car. We get to
DC: It was pretty good. We played 14 shows in 13 cities, so we
played Tokyo twice.
JP: Our show in Tokyo would be like when we were in New
York. It was a major city kind of vibe.
TC: If you could describe the band in three words, what would
it be?
DC: How about: ‘Wait, there’s more?’
DC: There were some kids that came to multiple shows on the
train.
JP: Maybe like, ‘chill new perspective’
JP: Yeah, there’s this whole community of kids that play
TC: What’s coming up next?
have friends, so we ended up hanging out with a lot of people
multiple nights. It’s actually really similar to the states where
you have your Rhianna or Miley Cyrus’s, but they have their
equivalent there. And then there’s a lot of kids who are like,
‘That’s not really my thing. I want to do something else.’ So they
have that concept of an indie scene. They’re really passionate
about doing that kind of thing, so that was really cool. I felt like
we related a lot on that level.
DC: We’re playing around the states until the 18th. Then we’re
going to Europe for a month and a half. We’re doing a bunch of
shows in France, which is fun.
JP: And after that’s done we’re going to go back to Montreal and
recording for a month, and then maybe go record somewhere
else.
TC:
DC: Yeah. Well, it makes it so you want to write songs that are
15
ma
monday
4
Ben Folds
Carnegie of Homestead
Music Hall
11
tuesday
5
6
of Montreal
Mr. Smalls
7
FIDLAR
The Altar Bar
Toro Y Moi
Mr. Smalls
12
The Antlers with
Mutual Benefit
Mr. Smalls
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thurs
wednesday
13
14
Matt Pond PA
Club Cafe
In Flames
Stage AE
Kill Paris
The Altar Bar
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19
20
21
25
26
27
28
Smallpools
The Altar Bar
Marina and the
Diamonds
Stage AE
ay
sday
r
friday
1
sunday
saturday
2
3
Steve Gunn
Spirit
8
9
10
16
17
Pop-Up Beats
and bubble:PGH
present: space,
sea, state
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Streetlight Manifesto
Mr. Smalls
Interpol
Stage AE
Rhett Miller
Club Cafe
Beauty Slap
Cattivo
22
23
24
Davon Magwood
Club Cafe (21+)
29
30
31
Clap Your Hands
Say Yeah
Mr. Smalls
17
D A N
D E A C O N
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Photos by Jonathan Leung
A N
I N T E R V I E W
B Y
Dan Deacon is an electronic musician from
Baltimore, Maryland known for his energetic
live performances. He recently released a new
I M O G E N
T O D D
that we can assemble. In the same way that my
voice, a piano, a saxophone, a vibrating sheet of
metal can all have the same pitch, they all have a
Deacon before one of his shows to chat about
texture, trombones, and relaxation.
that I really like. And then the second aspect of it is
rhythm: applying rhythm and rhythms that I haven’t
heard before and ones that I have heard before
and am trying to reference. And
then from there I think everything
experience with electronic music?
"And I kept thinking else comes after. I’m trying to get
more ambitious and interested with
that if I opened
harmony and lyrics but I still think
making it was this program called
up USA Today and they take a back seat to my focus
MidiSoft. I just found it on the
on texture and rhythm.
family computer that we bought
they were like,
from a family friend so it was a
Oh, trombones are
How does this play into your
used computer that had all this
weird software on it. I was a bored being melted down songwriting process?
teenager. Before the internet
by 2017, I would
I think I start with a sound
computers were kind of useless,
you know? And then I found this—it start writing music and I try to sculpt the sound and
then I try to turn it into something
was a lot like MS Paint, but instead
for trombones."
harmonic and rhythmic. I’d say it
of like brushes and colors it was
notes and instruments. And I just
kind of fell in love with it and that’s when I kind of most part. “Feel the Lightning” started with the
stopped doing anything else. My biggest and main
hobby was playing music or writing tunes.
of ten I start with a texture that I like and then I try to
In the kind of music that you make now, you expand upon that.
use a lot of “micro” samples. What attracts you to
I’ve noticed that your most recent album
those?
includes more lyrics and vocalizations. Is there a
I think texture. I think the texture of sound particular reason behind that?
is what I’m most intrigued by. I like hearing new
Well I lost my voice in early 2014. I just blew it
sounds that I haven’t heard before. There’s only so
many notes, while there are endless frequencies out at a show and I did a weird seminar at Sundance
19
where there was a lot of screaming. It was a group
piece for audience interaction and there was a lot
And it didn’t come back for months and months
and I was like, what if I never speak again? I had
this instrument this whole time and I never really
exploited it! And I kept thinking that if I opened up
USA Today and they were like, “Oh, trombones
are being melted down by 2017,” I would start
writing music for trombones. So I started thinking
that I should take advantage of my own voice and
I started thinking about how the voice is unlike any
other sound which is limited to pitch, duration,
amplitude, duration, and texture. The voice also
has lyrics. It’s the only instrument that can have an
additional layer of sculpting of sound. So it seemed
so stupid to not do it.
a musical term that I really like that means to slide.
So when you rake your hands up and down a piano
it’s a gliss- or when you slide down the neck of a
guitar. My music has a lot of this sort of cascading
sense. But I sort of just like the alliteration more
than the musical connotations.
What do you want people to get out of your
music? Or what do you get out of making it?
I guess if you’re saying something then you want
music I didn’t care. I was a very stubborn, ignorant
kid, which I liked being. It was fun. I
"I like working hated metaphor and I liked absolute
So how do you go about naming
music and I wanted the sounds to
on a loop and
your songs, which for the most part
only be the sounds and for there to
are still usually instrumental? Which listening to a loop be no message or for the message to
Most of the time the working title
is like “0 3 2 5 2 0 1 4 dash number.”
With “Meme Generator” that was just
endlessly until it
sounds radically
different from
when it started."
was on meme generator and falling in
love with how many crazy niche memes there were.
I really like going into Instagram and searching for
that I just can’t comprehend at all. And I was in love
with that so I was like, “Oh I’ll call this song meme
generator” and then when the record was coming
out it was like, “Well, this song doesn’t have any
lyrics. It can be called anything! Might as well call it
meme generator; might as well make it un-googleable.”
And what’s the story behind the title of your
newest album:
?
Well, I really like things that have that alliteration,
like I have a side project called Stint Riddler and I
words that sound like words but aren’t. But I like
20
life and the universe. But now I don’t
know… When I make music I like
getting lost in it. I like working on a
loop and listening to a loop endlessly
from when it started. After that, I like
working on a song and getting lost in that song,
almost like meditation. It’s like a way to escape
reality for a bit, and escapism I think can be healthy
to a certain extent if you can come out of it feeling
like you can work through what was bothering you
prior. I used to attach a lot of anxiety to my work,
but I don’t anymore. I feel like it was because I was
getting lost in a record and getting really anxious
and just not knowing why. And then I just started
relaxing, and it really helps.
Photos by Kathy Lee
21
(Seniors’ Experience) A
CMU with you to preserve some of our best and worst moments. But this is a music
magazine, so we’ve summed up our time here as a series of album reviews.
Album: My Heart Is In The Work: Live from Struggle City
Artist: Kyle Henson
My Heart Is In The Work
listening at all, but I’m glad I got to track four, “Second Semester Sophomore Year.” Though it’s a raucous and
disjointed tune, it represents a point of clarity on the album. From there, each track grows in both authenticity
as well as artistry. You can’t help but dance to, “WRCT” and “SXSW 2013,” as well as follow-ups “SXSW
2014” and “SXSW 2015.” “Studying Abroad in Dublin” shows immense growth and sophistication leading into
the relatable ballad, “Relationships Are Hard as Fuck.” “4821,” is clearly the highlight of the album, though
of producer, DJ Salem, pervades each track, and though the album ends sooner than expected with, “CoFounding Nebulus,” it’s an altogether satisfying endeavor that feels like a shared growth experience between
the listener and artist.
4.5/5 Scissors
Album: Carnegie Mellon to Lindsay Corry
Artist: Lindsay Corry
If my time at Carnegie Mellon was explained like an album review I would say it takes you along a pretty crazy
ride. Don’t expect there to be any rhythm throughout this album- each song is unique in tempo but by the end
it’s worth listening to. Just when you think the album is coming to an end, songs begin to ramp up again. The
second half of the album reaches a new extreme, and the album leaves you with a calming, euphoric sense of
relief.
5/5 Scissors
Album: Tweeting My Way To A Carnegie Mellon Degree
Artist: Nicole Marrow
Don’t let the airy beats and tween pop sensibilities fool you: Tweeting My Way To A Carnegie Mellon Degree
doesn’t seem to be a sense of purpose to some of the earlier tracks, and even the upbeat songs can get a bit
sentimental. Those missteps are quickly tempered by the input of trusted collaborators, which puts Marrow
right back on target. Some tracks, like “The Nic and Woj Show” and “Weeknights at William Penn Tavern,” have
found mainstream success, but hidden gems like “#prayfor1071” and “Doing the Orientation Counselor Dance
In Public Places” deserve recognition as well. This album will be pretty hard to top, but I trust that Marrow has
some tricks up her sleeve for the next installment.
4.5/5 Scissors
22
Album Review
Album: Pittsburgh Skyline
Artist: Rachel Asbel & Friends
For the most part, this album is an easy listen—indie folk songs with simple but pleasant arrangements. There’s
little nostalgic. “Senior Capstone Blues” is a seemingly endless and pretty unenjoyable ballad, but the tension
is relieved by “Binge Watching Bob’s Burgers,” an upbeat pop tune that wins you over with its simple melody.
4/5 Scissors
Album: pburgh
Artist: Kathy Lee
pburgh makes you cringe. “freshman concepts studio” is a mash of Christian alternative
the pool of sub-bass and dubstep, “joined the radio.” The third track, “illegally ripped traktor,” is a harmonized,
eight minute long cacophony of experimental bass, future R&B, and hip-hop. After that is “bike ride to that
show,” a track comprised of techno beats with smooth and subtle synths. This genre-ignorant album ends with
a calming minimal house remix of Jessy Lanza’s “Kathy Lee,” marking an end to Kathy Lee’s Pittsburgh—or
pburgh
5/5 Scissors
Album: College? College.
Artist: C. Skaggs
College? College. is more or less your classic American garage rock band track, full of
teenage angst and the desire to leave a small town. But as the album progresses it takes all sorts of twists
trance, classical jazz, and straight pop. Notable tracks include “Crapital Hill” and “Amsterdam Bicycle Nerve
Damage.” Make no mistake, the stylistic confusion and relentless energy carry you through to the end with
“Belle of Belfast” and “Moving to Europe Part II.” This album largely ignores rules, conventions, and genre
constraints as it barrels toward the dream of potential adulthood.
4.3/5 Scissors
Album: I Moved To Pittsburgh and Now I’m Staying
Artist: Samantha Ward
I Moved to Pittsburgh and Now I’m Staying is a funky, fun R&B album with some indie rock thrown in the mix.
The album starts with a couple of fast tracks that are a little disjointed, and a bit hard to remember. However,
other musicians throughout the album, most of whom strengthen the artistry of the tracks and add some
interesting electronic parts that otherwise would not have existed. Standout tracks include “Carnival 2013,”
“Getting my fake ID,” and “Ivy Street.” Despite its ups and downs, I can’t stop listening to this CD.
4.5/5 Scissors
23
via a tweet to an iTunes link this
past February, selling over 500,000
digital copies within three days.
What began in 2013 with Beyonce’s
overnight release of seventeen songs
and music videos has been adopted
by the biggest stars in hip-hop. The
traditional, lengthy album release
process that often includes radiofriendly singles gaining consumer
attention before a marketing blitz
around the album release date is
clearly being replaced.
Even smaller hip-hop acts have
abandoned the traditional album
release and opted for something
unique. Nipsey Hussle’s past two
projects have been priced at $100
and $1,000 respectively. Wu-Tang
Clan shocked everyone when they
came out and said there would only
be a single copy of their next album
that would be put up for auction.
Currency released his latest album
this month for free, but also offered
fans a $100 package that included
the album, a look book, and clothing.
This odd behavior surrounding
albums and their release has been
a long time coming. While albums
have historically been the cash
cow of the music industry, music
sales have fallen to account for only
6% of musicians’ yearly earnings.
This number is likely even lower in
hip-hop, where the release of free
mixtapes is the norm.
Today’s music world exists as
a part of social media, a place
where Drake can reach 22.3 million
followers with a single tweet, all of
whom can spread the news to their
friends (the release tweet currently
has over 110,000 retweets). The
ridiculousness of Nipsey Hussle
and Wu Tang’s album releases are
designed to be blogged about and
turned into click-bait headlines
all across the Internet. For many
hip-hop artists, the time and effort
involved in a formal album release
is increasingly diminishing. With the
success of J. Cole and Drake’s recent
albums, it has become clear that
how rappers release their albums is
changing.
In an era where a song by the
unlikely trio of Rihanna, Kanye
West, and Paul McCartney exists,
it seems appropriate to take a look
at the benefits of collaboration
as a growing trend in music. Like
“FourFiveSeconds,” most hit songs
these days involve multiple artists
who would not immediately be
expected to work together. This
definitely contributes to a shock
factor: people tend to be interested
in hearing unexpected combinations
like this just to see what it would
sound like.
In the case of the Rihanna/Kanye/
McCartney track, releasing a song
like this had its advantages. In
general, collaborating with a popular
artist brings another artist into the
music scene, especially if the song
attracts significant airplay. In this
case, it brings Rihanna and Paul
McCartney back into the music
scene, as they both have been
absent for some time now. Another
example of this pattern is the recent
smash hit “Bang Bang” featuring the
female superstars Jessie J, Ariana
Grande, and Nicki Minaj. Grande
and Minaj have been dominating
the charts with massive hits such
as “Break Free” and “Anaconda,”
however, Jessie J has not been
as relevant. Choosing to promote
her new album with a lead single
featuring two of the hottest names in
music definitely helped her to make
a huge comeback.
However, unlikely collaboration
does come with the risk that the
artists are selling out to sound
relevant rather than staying true
to their music style. Zedd’s recent
single “I Want You to Know,”
featuring pop star Selena Gomez,
Does it Always
Take Two?: The
Art of Music
Collaborations
If You’re
Reading This,
Rap Has
Changed
Ben Alderoty
J. Cole released his most recent and
most successful album, 2014 Forest
Hills Drive , this past December without
a single and with almost no promotion.
Drake released the Internet-shaking
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
24
Stephen Yamalis
has received a lot of praise from pop
music fans, while Zedd has garnered
ample criticism from EDM experts
for the track’s lack of originality.
Thus, while many artists find most
success from their own solo tracks,
it may be beneficial to join up with
another artist to produce the next
hit.
mixtape
hangover
music
“Banana Pancakes”
by Jack Johnson
“Forever Young” by Alphaville
A good reminder that feeling like death every Sunday
morning will eventually stop being socially acceptable
All I want to do is stay in bed and eat banana pancakes.
- Katy McKeough
“Tattooed Heart” by
Ariana Grande
-Catherine Kildunne
“Turn Me On” BY Norah Jones
Ariana Grande is living proof that good things happen to less-Chris Skaggs
-Nicole Marrow
“Farrah Fawcett Hair”
by Capital Cities
“This Too Shall Pass” by OK Go
This song can take your mind off of anything because
-Donovan Powers
-Kyle Henson
“Lump Sum” by Bon Iver
No one settles the calm after the storm like Justin
-Max Harlynking
25
Photo by Chris Skaggs
Alt-J
Alt-J brought Pittsburgh one of the best
shows that it will see this year. Despite
the fact that earlier that week they had
performed to a sold out show at Madison
Square Garden, the band brought their
A-game to the Benedum Center. It is rare
that an audience is able to engage with
a show of that degree of sophistication
in a setting that is both intimate and
elevated. The band made incredible use
of the space to provide a concert that
was both cathartic and deeply earnest.
I am friends with members of Alt- J’s
crew, and the tech and lighting featured
significantly in my experience of the
concert. It is difficult for bands like Alt-
Cn
Rv
By Chris Skaggs
J, who perform all over the world in
venues like the O2 arena and Madison
Sq. Garden, to adapt to smaller stages
without appearing crass or dismissive
of their more humble gigs. This was not
the case with the Pittsburgh show. The
tech was clean, the transitions between
songs were snappy, and the show was
brilliantly adapted to the audience here
in the Steel City. Anything more and the
band would have overwhelmed their
audience, anything less and Pittsburgh
would not have gotten the show that it
deserved.
Full disclosure: This show is not normally
my scene and it’s a great example of
what happens when you reach outside
of your musical comfort zone. The band
played a satisfying mix of their first and
second albums, leaning more toward
This is All Yours. My favorite track from
their set-list was “Tesselate.” The song
translated to a live performance that
managed to connect with everyone in
the room, including those of us who
were not as invested in the band or their
discography as others in attendance.
There’s no question that the relatively
understated, earnest performance was
powerful and I hope to see the band
back in Pittsburgh again soon.
The Decemberists
By Katherine Martinez
When I first heard that The Decemberists
were playing a large, seated concert, my
suspicions were immediately raised. I’m
generally not a fan of big concerts - it
never feels quite as intimate and there’s
often more attention paid to the lights
show than the music. But when I walked
in to the Benedum Center, I realized that
this grand stage was the perfect venue
for a band like The Decemberists. Their
performance lacked neither intimacy
nor musicianship. When their opener
got stuck crossing the Canadian border,
various members of the band came out
to perform their own things, resulting
in a fantastic set that began with
Jenny Conlee performing her recent
compositions “Kayak Music #4 and #5”
26
and ended with Colin Meloy singing the
last verse of The Magnetic Fields’ “Papa
Was A Rodeo.”
Their set was a good mix of the old
and the new, playing several songs
from their new album, while still
playing a solid chunk of the “folk opera”
Hazards of Love and bringing out old
favorites like “A Mariner’s Tale,” even
including an impressively sized confettishooting whale that “ate” the band. The
biggest issue I had was sound balance.
A distractingly loud guitar often
threatened to sour the set for me and
was never resolved by the sound crew.
Meloy struck just the right balance of
humor and music. That’s not to say that
the rest of the band was lacking: in fact,
everyone, including the performers only
there for the tour, displayed such great
personality and musicality that I found
myself deeply impressed by the band as
a whole.
After seeing The Decemberists’
performance, I might have to adjust
my stance on large concerts. Clearly,
I’ve been seeing all the wrong bands
because The Decemberists were never
overly theatrical and always fantastic
musicians. Aside from minor technical
problems, this quirky, folksy band may
have just taken their rightful place as
one of my favorite live acts.
ncrt
vws
Earl Sweatshirt
This is the second time I have seen
Earl Sweatshirt live. The first time was
not long after the Doris release and it
was undoubtedly the most ignorant
experience of my life. I say that in the
most loving way possible. I went into
this concert at Mr. Small’s on April 4th
expecting to leave covered in other
peoples sweat after being beat up by
strangers and smelling like any variety of
illegal substances. I wasn’t disappointed
- within the first few minutes of the show,
a girl came up to me to show that she
had OFWGKTA tattooed on the inside of
her lip, only to be interrupted by a guy
diving off the stage and onto us.
The thing that surprised me about
this show, however, was that while the
audience hadn’t changed from a year
ago, Earl most certainly has. When I
last saw Earl, he was miserable and it
showed. He openly spoke about not
wanting to be performing that night, he
only did an hour set, and was very low
energy. The Earl I saw this year was in
his prime. He entered the stage with an
energy that completely controlled the
crowd. As wild and crazy as everyone
was, when Earl demanded silence
before starting a track the crowd quickly
fell to a hush. At one point he parted
the crowd like a teenaged red sea. All
it took was one move of his hand and
the sweaty masses pushed and shoved
Stevens twice previously; she was a
longtime and dedicated fan.
“Even though I’ve seen him twice, I
still don’t know what he looks like,” she
mused as we were stuck in rush-hour
traffic. “You see that guy across the
street? That could be Sufjan Stevens,
and we wouldn’t even know. He’s just an
everyman.”
I didn’t know what Sufjan Stevens
looked like, and the picture I recall in
my head is fuzzy at best. I was skeptical
of her usage of “everyman.” But sitting
under spinning lights and blown up
childhood videos in the concert space, I
understood more what she was getting
at. The audience sat transfixed in their
seats, because I think everyone had
By Donovan Powers
to clear a path for their messiah. His set
ran just over two hours without losing
intensity for a single song. Even slower,
more somber tunes from his new album
I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside had
an anger and power behind them that
stuck with me after the show.
I know this is what every review/
interview involving Earl has been saying
for the last few months, but believe
me when I say Earl has grown up. The
awkward lanky kid I fell in love with has
been replaced with a something much
more developed and refined. Earl has
found his stride, and I think everything
he does from here on out will only
continue to get better.
Sufjan Stevens
I took a Greyhound bus to Philadelphia
to see Sufjan Stevens. It wasn’t the first
time I had made a big trip in order to
see live music, but this was definitely
the largest travel time to number-ofconcerts ratio. We had left at 9:30am
that morning to arrive in the city right
before the concert began, and I had my
fingers crossed that missing a recitation
in order to see him live was worth it.
Considering all the weird circumstances
surrounding this particular adventure, it
seemed fitting that we were going to
see a musician whose poetic narcissism
often transforms into ethereal nihilism
without warning. The mother of
someone I barely knew picked us up
at the bus station. She had seen Sufjan
Photo by Lucy Denegre
By Catherine Kildunne
that feeling where you feel like you’re
looking at everything you’ve ever felt,
but only the most beautiful version.
The performance at the Academy of
Music in Philadelphia is one of the first
tour dates after releasing his new album,
Carrie & Lowell. The songs are artful and
quiet, sounding more like his debut
than recent works. And yet, the sounds
never felt too small for that towering
space. During “Fourth of July,” a woman
in the row ahead of me was tearing up
and sniffling in her seat, and she wasn’t
alone. The audience was entranced with
every bad thought, every lonely feeling;
romanticized and reflected back at us.
27
C O U R T N E Y
B A R N E T T
S o m e t i m e s
S o m e t i m e s
I
I
S i t a n d T h i n k ,
J u s t S i t
If you haven’t heard of Courtney Barnett, you should probably
recalibrate your indie rock radar. The twenty-somethingSometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit and a ground
shaking performance at this year’s SXSW, Barnett’s name is all
over the place. It’s understandable, though—she has a striking
ability to wrap the most mundane themes in beautifully poetic
lyrics and charming garage rock ambience. On this new album,
she bounces back and forth between rushed high-energy rants
wisdom.
The earlier tracks are almost frantic. In “Pedestrian at Best,”
Barnett walks us through a spiraling, self-loathing stream of
consciousness. It’s a perfect representation of an “internal
diatribe.” She’s yelling rather than singing, getting through
each unpunctuated verse in one breath. Eventually she settles
into some more relaxed tunes, including the daze-like “Small
Poppies,” but for the most part it’s an unabashedly high-energy
album.
Despite the heavy electric instrumentation, Barnett’s lyrics
are prominent in each song. She proves that a powerful line
doesn’t have to be all-encompassing or abstract. Her best are
descriptions of mundane activities that are amusing in their
plainness but also surprisingly insightful in her self-conscious
perfectly describes the clumsiness of trying to impress the
hottie in the other swimming lane, and in “Depreston,” she
contemplates the money she’s saving by making her coffee at
home.
Maybe it’s because of the unexpectedness of her themes that
Barnett’s able to have such a great effect. Or maybe it’s just the
charming Aussie accent that wins us over. Either way, the album
is an impressive debut.
4.5/5 SCISSORS
SUFJAN STEVENS Carrie and Lowell
An album that is at once understated and verbose, Carrie
and Lowell is the perfect addition to Sufjan Stevens’ eclectic
discography with a raw glimpse into the bruised soul of the
acclaimed musician. The intensely personal nature of his
deserves to be treated with care and gratitude due to its insight
The album’s sparse production creates a vulnerable aesthetic,
but it is Stevens’ signature lyrical content that makes Carrie
and Lowell so visceral and haunting. Stevens is in a state of
mourning- not just for his recently deceased absentee mother,
in childhood memories, and for the relationships that leave us
irrevocably damaged.
As showcased in “John My Beloved” and “No Shade in the
Shadow of the Cross,” Stevens’ voice drips with a desperate
death can usher us into. Another standout, “The Only Thing,”
is a melancholic confession about the importance of life’s small
wonders in getting Stevens through his darkest thoughts of
suicide. The album closes with a yearning for a steadfast source
of support in “Blue Bucket of Gold,” a blessing that Stevens
isn’t sure exists in a world full of missed connections and
broken bonds.
Stevens weaves together the concepts of family, faith, and fear
in a contemplative masterpiece that is almost too intimate for
public consumption. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about
5/5 SCISSORS
28
Nicole Marrow
Rachel Asbel
REVIEWS
O N LY
R E A L
J e r k
a t
t h e
E n d
o f
t h e
L i n e
Jerk At The End Of The Line, Only Real’s debut album, is a record for both house-party Friday nights and
voice repeating the phrase “you gotta twist it up” and only getting better from there on out. Though the
record contains numerous previously released tracks, it still feels refreshing and pleasantly cohesive,
making for a good listen all the way through. While some sections do start to blend into one another, a
couple of tracks stand out. Wistful lyrics about youth and nostalgia lazily weave their way through the
woozy melodies and reverb-drenched guitars of songs like “Yesterdays” and “Cadillac Girl,” while darker
yet still satisfyingly catchy undertones emerge on “Break It Off.” The best song on the album, though, is
“Can’t Get Happy,” a slower, melancholic take on bad moods.
TL;DR: A groovy album about nostalgia and getting high.
Imogen Todd
4/5 SCISSORS
D E A T H
G R I P S
T h e
P o w e r s
T h a t
B
Ex-military over and over to keep myself awake. Since that tape, Death Grips continued
to evolve their original sound, fusing hip-hop, hardcore punk, and electronica. The Powers That
B
niggas on the moon, continues their
incorporation of electronic music and uses a half-second long sample of Bjork’s voice, pitch shifted
and otherwise distorted, to build every track. The long-awaited second half, Jenny Death, explores
rely on a guitar for the bulk of their sound. Though intended as a double album, each half works
better as a standalone piece.
Chris Schuler
niggas on the moon: 3.5/5 Scissors
Jenny Death: 4/5 Scissors
The Powers That B: 3.75/5 Scissors
B R I A N
W I L S O N
N o
P i e r
P r e s s u r e
No Pier Pressure
entirely to original content in nearly a decade. Wilson still has an innovative ear for harmonies and
Highlights on the album include “The Right Time,” featuring a chorus hook that sounds like it
came off Panda Bear’s Tomboy, and “Saturday Night,” with Nate Reuss, the lead singer of Fun.
“This Beautiful Day” and “Whatever Happened” remind listeners of Wilson’s earlier work from
Pet Sounds and S.M.I.L.E. with their introspective lyrics and sentimental tone. However, the album
is not without its weaknesses, as songs such as “Guess You Had To Be There” feel like a contrived
pull for younger listeners.
TL;DR: Overall, this album is a great retrospective from a cultural icon, and a must-listen for any
Beach Boys fan.
Dhruva Krishna
3.5/5 SCISSORS
29
ESSAY
The Importance of Music Criticism
By Max Harlynking
We had just left Jerry’s Record store in Squirrel Hill when my friend and I continued an ongoing debate about the current quality of
The Strokes. My friend, an avid fan, had been defending their recent departure from rock towards an electronic sound. “Their new
stuff sucks,” I said, remaining staunch in my opinion that The Strokes always have been and always should be a rock band. At this,
my friend recoiled.
“How can you say one song is definitively better than another? It’s all just a matter of opinion.”
“Haven’t you read the reviews?” I asked. “The first few albums are rated much higher.”
“But what are reviews anyway? Just a bunch of people with opinions. It doesn’t mean anything,” he said.
“Not just opinions,” I assured him. “These are educated, well-written opinions. Also I usually agree with them.”
“Well I don’t, so clearly they can’t always be right,” my friend insisted.
I began to think about the music reviews I surround myself with every day. Pitchfork. Rolling Stone. The New York Times.
Time Magazine. AV Club. NPR. Surely there must be something that separates the music critic from the everyday music listenersomething that makes their opinion worth reading. Was it possible that these reviews, from which I had gained so much knowledge
and entertainment, were nothing more than people’s opinions written down?
It is said that music criticism began in mid-18th-century Germany in magazines that discussed new classical pieces and operas
for the public. With the debates that surrounded French and Italian opera at the time, it is not surprising that music criticism quickly
took a turn towards readability through a more casual tone. Reviewers soon realized the influence criticism could have on public
opinion. With the rise of newspapers and recorded music, having someone to sort through and give a trusted opinion on the new
releases became a necessity. The music critic had a job set out for it- to help form and guide the public opinion on modern music.
In the 1960s, it was music critics that legitimized the public opinion of what became pop music, and it was music critics that again
legitimized punk in the mid 1970s, indie-rock in the 1980s, and alternative-rock in the 1990s. Now, with over 30,000 albums being
released by labels every year, the role of critic as curator is more important than ever. Nowadays, between playlists, blogs, and any
number of music sharing websites, anyone can be their own “music critic,” selecting what music they enjoy and sharing it with the
rest of the world. So what is it that distinguishes “real” critics from any blogger or music reposter online, other than a title?
In Cameron Crowe’s film “Almost Famous,” music critic Lester Bangs gives the lead character invaluable feedback to help him
on his quest to become a music critic. “Be honest,” he says, “and unmerciful.” While criticism is an expression of opinion, it is only
effective if that opinion is completely honest. It is not a critic’s job to lie in order to impress an opinion on a reader, nor would it be
accurate to display favoritism towards any group or style of music. To be completely fair in music criticism is to be harsh. While this
can lead to a general dislike of criticism, giving the impression that reviewers are pretentious for the sake of pretension, the best
critics are simply being honest.
Sure, anyone can have an honest opinion on music, and it has become exponentially easier to express and share that opinion
with others. If a person becomes popular enough, it would even be possible for them to change public opinion. But still, there is one
universal characteristic shared between all critics- that is a true love of music. Like musicians, good critics care about music to such
an extreme degree that they want to spend their life finding reasons to celebrate it and watch it develop as a response to society,
personal struggle, and the growth of humanity.
Everyone has their own opinion- and despite what I may have thought in the conversation with my friend, he was right. There
is no “right” answer when it comes to personal taste. But next time you read a review, think about the critic. They are sharing their
opinion in an effort to explore parts of the musical world that have never been reached, expanding the reach of music out of pure
devotion. I can’t think of a reason to criticize that.
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bubble:PGH
and
Pop-UpBeats
Presents:
Space
Sea
State
May 8 (Friday)
Friendship Park
Doors at 8p
Performance 8:30-10p
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