December 2015 - The Cut Magazine

December 2015
Danny Brown
Neon Indian
blistering fists
5
IN
THIS
ISSUE
10
12
14
16
24
28
30
2
Letter from the Editor
Neon Indian
Concert Reviews
My Night with The Chainsmokers
Danny Brown
blistering fists
Album Reviews
Essay
3
MASTHEAD
Editor-in-Chief
Arun Marsten
Assistant Editor
Imogen Todd
Design/Layout Director
Photo Editor
Lucy Denegre
Copy Director
Danielle Maly
Public Relations Chief
Web Editor
4
Sharon Yu
Donovan Powers
Christopher Schuler
Writing Staff
Arun Marsten, Paige O’Riordan, David
Dwyer, Izzy McCarthy, David Dwyer,
Evelyn Pandos, Brooke Ley, Andrew
Kim, Kabir Mantha, Catherine Kildunne,
Donovan Powers, Daniel Deluca, Chris
Schuler, Imogen Todd, Alex Voskuil
Photo Staff
David Perry, Lucy Denegre, Imogen Todd
Editing Staff
Danielle Maly, Emily Porat, Julie Heming,
Izzy McCarthy, Lawrence Xu, Vicki Long,
Chris Schuler, Genevea Jackson, Charles
Hutchkin, Danielle Maly, Sonia Del Rivo
Design Staff
Jasmine Lim, Emily Porat, Allison
Auyeung, David Perry, Imogen Todd
LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR
So ends another great year at The Cut
Magazine. Many of us have just gotten back
from the break and are in the home stretch
for the end of the semester. Unfortunately
the dropping temperatures and postThanksgiving lethargy are also making it
that much harder to get to your last few
classes. Personally I’m a fan of the colder
weather, but I’m finding it hard to type
about it with my hands frozen to my bike.
month’s mixtape of “dealbreaker” songs
that absolutely everyone must love before
we can love them. For those of us who are
feeling out of touch, Catherine Kildunne
has an update on the state of the cultural
zeitgeist via her experience at the recent
Chainsmokers concert. If you’re trying to
keep up to date Chris Schuler and yours
truly have got you covered with the best of
this month’s music news.
This month, The Cut is bringing you in
depth reviews of the Danny Brown fall
concert as well as the Neon Indian concert at
Mr. Small’s. We’ve also got concert reviews
of Sufjan Stevens and Jukebox the Ghost.
For those of you who are more classically
inclined, we made it out to see Igudesman
and Joo, a comedy and classical music duo,
as well as The Dark Horse Consort, an
ensemble dedicated to reproducing 17th
century music.
For this month’s essay, David Dwyer
decided to break down the quality divide
between rock and pop, vis a vis the Beck/
Beyonce Grammy contention. Speaking
of pop, we’ve also got some great articles
ranging from a critique of Adele’s sadness
to a commentary on the hypocrisy of onehit wonders. To top it all off, we’ve got
an exclusive interview with Pittsburgh
shoegaze act, blistering fists.
If you’re looking for something new
to listen to, we’ve pulled together this
It’s been a good year, what better way is
there to end it than with a brand new issue?
- Arun Marsten
5
Recommended Albums
Top Row from Left to Right: Garden of Delete by Oneohtrix Point Never, Agitations by Lotic, Behold.Total.Rejection by Revenge, Clean by The Japanese
House, Dopamine by Borns
Bottom Row from Left to Right: Fit Me In by Frankie Cosmos, Art Angels by Grimes, Sometimes by Goldmund, Sore by Dilly Dally, Thumbs by Busdriver
10
Songs
You
Need
To
Hear
1
Most Wanted Mark Kozelek and John
Dillinge Sun Kil Moon, Jesu
2
Flesh without Blood Grimes
3
Ch-Ching Chairlift
4
You’re Out Wasting Andy Shauf
5
Coral Castlez Rustie
6
Sticky Drama Oneohtrix Point Never
7
Young Frankie Cosmos
8
Leaving the City Joanna Newsom
9
Half The World Away AURORA
10
6
In Now and Then Cataldo
Music News
By Chris Schuler
✂✂ With the launch of their Apple Music
app for Android, the company shut down
the last of their prototypical Beats Music
streaming service. Now more than ever
we’ll have to be careful not to forget about
Dre.
✂✂ Killer Mike gave a speech at a Bernie
Sanders rally Atlanta, and was also seen
eating with him at a nearby diner. It’s
looking like Trump supporters better be
ready to close their eyes and count to Fuck,
cause Bernie and Mike are gonna run the
votes.
✂✂ Bill Murray and Phoenix are teaming
up to release a 7” Christmas single, “Alone
on Christmas Day.” The song is a cover of
an unreleased Beach Boys track from 1977,
which Murray apparently also contributed
to with a vocal sample, “No one will ever
believe you.”
✂✂ Thom Yorke compared Google’s
hold over the music industry to the
Nazi party’s hold over European art in a
recent interview. For any other artist, this
might have been a mistake, but we all
know Radiohead fanboys will let him say
whatever he wants as long as LP9 comes
out soon.
✂✂ After just three days of sales, Adele’s
25 became the best selling album of 2015.
So no, you can’t give this to your mom for
Christmas - she already has it.
✂✂ Animal Collective released their first
single in over three years, “Floridada,”
combining the only two things crazier
than the band themselves into one
portmanteaued title. The single is leading
up to a new album due out in February
2016, Painting With.
✂✂ Adele recently offered to remix
Drake’s recent hit, “Hotline Bling.” Drake
responded, “I’d do anything with Adele.
I’d literally go to Adele’s house right now
and do laundry for her.” I wonder if he’d
be willing to do the same for my “Hotline
Bling” remix.
✂✂ In a recent interview from his island
fortress, MF DOOM told HypeTrak that
2016 is going to be a big year for him. He
addressed his lack of recent activity, saying,
“I know I’ve been off y’all’s scope for awhile
because I’ve been in the cut. I’ve been
healing and resting up and shit. Getting
ready to fuck y’all up.” In other news, MF
DOOM HAS AN ISLAND FORTRESS?
✂✂ Kanye West announced that Pusha-T
would be taking control of his label
G.O.O.D. Music, presumably so Yeezy
could focus on his upcoming presidential
bid.
7
INDIE WHAT?
By Arun Marsten
We’ve all done it before: called a band
“indie,” because how else would we
describe that fun, quirky sound they’ve
managed to produce. I’d try to describe
this fictional band to you, but they could
honestly be anything from rock, to twee
pop, to emo, to dream pop. God bless, they
might even have a banjo.
I understand that this all sounds very “get
off my lawn”, but the truth is that we’ve let
the word indie become a meaningless term.
I can hear you say, “But Arun, language is
made to evolve,” and I understand. That
being said, we could choose to start calling
all animals “birds”, but that wouldn’t mean
that all animals are now birds. It would
only dilute the impact and meaningfulness
of the word “bird”. Language that classifies
can only change the idea it describes, not
the objects that it’s applied to. “Indie” has
generally been used as a qualifier, since
indie bands have historically spanned a
number of genres, but until recently it’s
managed to mean something. The English
language is already famed for its inability to
properly express ideas, so by getting rid of a
word we could say we’re making language
more interesting, but I’m pretty sure we’re
just making everybody’s life harder.
So why did we start calling everything
indie? Put on your tinfoil hat really quick,
because the truth is that big business will
always capitalize on what the kids think is
edgy. We say things are “indie” because it
makes us feel cool, in the same way we buy
all the Indie™ shit, from albums to designer
scarves, because maybe it will help us be
different.
The idea of independent music is actually
pretty important. There are musicians
who have decided to ignore what those
who controlled the means of production
wanted them to play. If you’re genuinely
interested in indie music I’d suggest you
look at the roster of any of the hundreds
of existing independent labels, or better
yet, go to a DIY show that’s guaranteed to
be happening right off campus any day of
the week. If that’s too much effort, I can
only ask that you use the word “mulch”
next time you want to say “indie”, because
the amount it will tell me about a band is
about the same.
THE MYSTERY OF
“BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY”
“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?”
With just these opening lines, you can have
an entire venue singing along. I’ve been
at concerts where they play “Bohemian
Rhapsody” over the speakers before the
artist comes out, and I swear, more people
sing along to this than they do the actual
concert. What is it about this song? Why
do we all know it? Most of the people at the
concerts I’ve been to aren’t old enough to
have been alive when Queen was big (save
for the occasional self-sacrificing parent).
Yet somehow, we all know the words to this
one particular song by them.
I never sat down with the intention
of learning the words to “Bohemian
Rhapsody.” In fact, I don’t even know when
I learned them. At this point, it just feels
like something that I’ve always known.
No one I’ve ever talked to can remember
learning the lyrics either. And it’s not as
8
if “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a particularly
large part of daily life. I can’t even recall
it being in any major movies or television
shows when I was younger. It just sits
there, quietly in the background of life,
until it comes on the radio and everyone
begins to sing along.
I’m not saying that Queen isn’t talented,
or that “Bohemian Rhapsody” is bad. I
just wonder why, out of every hit to come
out of the 70s, this is the song that stuck
in society’s collective subconscious. “Tie
a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak
Tree” by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
was apparently popular at roughly the
same time, and I’ve never even heard it.
So why did a six-minute-long, somewhat
nonsensical song with an operatic interlude
become a cultural cornerstone? Honestly,
I’ve got no idea, but it’s something to think
about the next time you inevitably hear it.
By Paige O’Riordan
THE PROUD NARCISSISM OF
THE SAD SONG
Were you worried your joy was too
overwhelming? Your happiness too
rampant? Your love life too successful? Were
you concerned your constant satisfaction
with life would conflict with your ability
to cry? Worry no more: Adele has come
to deliver us from our misguided bliss.
And while years ago the public may have
believed such success from somber ballads
was unlikely, today, society revels in Adele’s
saddest tunes, happy to drown in their
own tears for the sake of a heart-wrenching
song. But where does this obsession with
wallowing come from? Why are people so
happy to be sad?
When I first saw the attention Adele’s
new song “Hello” was getting, I thought
nothing of it except that everyone was
happy to have such relatable heartbreak
infiltrating pop culture. But then, pictures
of tear-stained pillows began flooding newsfeeds. People’s tweets bravely declared that
Adele made them feel as though they had
just endured the world’s most devastating
breakup. Buzzfeed quizzes like “Which
Adele Song Should You Sob To Tonight?”
began cropping up. Perhaps relatability has
played a role in “Hello” topping musical
charts, but these social media reactions
suggest far more than just a sense of
camaraderie with the vocal powerhouse.
By Izzy McCarthy
While it’s great to see Adele doing so
well, the fact that people are so ready to
display their devastation online these days
is somewhat shocking. People’s eagerness
to depict themselves as the most distraught
or the most depressed makes a mockery of
real depression. These tweets and quizzes,
which so hurriedly rush to label people as
sad for what seems to be purely comedic
reasons, ridicule the emotions of the singer
herself. In our race to determine who
finds “Someone Like You” or “Hello” the
most relatable, we have made the “sad
song” yet another commodity of social
media narcissism. Call me a skeptic, but
I am willing to bet that few people have
actually shed unstoppable tears to Adele’s
music. This desperation to be the depressed
underdog is stripping sad songs of their
actual emotional value.
ONE-HIT WONDERS
By David Dwyer
“Call Me Maybe.” At the mention of
these three simple words, I’m confident
that most of you are groaning. Carly
Rae Jepsen is our generation’s one-hit
wonder, and we saw her become one - we
<ital> wanted <ital> her to become one.
Most one-hit wonders are born from a
popular single. Despite their popularity,
we want to deny enjoying them, and
it fills us with extra guilt that we have
contributed to their popularity. We
simply hate that we love these songs, but
why do we torture the artists that seize
upon catchy melodies? Why do we make
their fame laughable or their success a
mere punchline, effectively putting their
career in an inescapable box?
“challenging” sounds, we reject them
because we know they are trying to avoid
that unfortunate title: “one-hit wonder.”
It might be because one-hit wonders
are bound by time. They define culture
to such a degree that any time one is
mentioned it takes us back to the year it
was released.
Maybe it’s because we can’t imagine
them topping their initial success. We
don’t want to accept any new images they
may attempt to create for themselves.
Their identity is forever connected to
that pop-culture movement we helped
define. We want things easily classifiable,
and thus when these “wonders” come
out with more “mature” or “eclectic” or
Whatever the reasons may be, I find this
cycle slightly unnerving. We tear down
the artists that once brought us pleasure
because they brought us, well, too much
pleasure. However, I am fighting this
issue, song by song, wonder by wonder,
until there are no one-hit-wonders left
– trust me, I am currently the biggest
Carly Rae Jepsen hypeman.
We may have also forgotten what drew
us to these songs in the first place. They
used to be endearing or innovative or
just incredibly effective at getting into
our brains. Now, their perpetuation in
pop culture is annoying and tacky and
insincere; based on their overexposure,
they aren’t personal anymore.
9
N
O
E
N DIAN
IN
avid
By D
er
Dw y
Neon Indian at Mr. Small’s
Photos by David Perry
10
Before the Neon Indian show, I was
apprehensive. For one thing, I haven’t
heard much about the band’s live
performances and I refrained from
looking up videos online so it wouldn’t
spoil my fun. But my apprehension
stemmed from more than just that.
Their latest album Vega INTL. Night
School has quickly become one of my
favorites, and I was worried that with
all of its intricacies and subtleties, it
would not translate well to a solid live
performance.
It turns out that I had no reason to
worry. As soon as Alan Palomo started
singing in Mr. Small’s Theatre, my
nervous energy transformed into
exuberance. His voice hovered front
and center, and it matched up perfectly
with the studio-recorded version. His
dancing was also incredibly awkward,
endearing, and great: think Drake’s
moves in the “Hotline Bling” video,
but more energetic and less meme-y.
He strutted all over the stage, twitched
his shoulders and rolled his hips,
infecting us with his energy until it
reverberated throughout the venue.
After a few songs, they performed “The
Glitzy Hive”, and it was even better
live, as the song glided along its clean,
laidback groove. The song was not an
invitation to dance, it was an order,
and the crowd instantly reciprocated
Palomo’s confident dance moves.
With their new album taking on an 80s
pop aesthetic, Palomo’s voice now rises
to the ear whereas in the past it was
buried beneath the production. With
a new, radical focus on the flow of the
album, songs transitioned and melted
into each other. However, when older
hits were played, including “Deadbeat
Summer” and “Polish Girl,” this shift
didn’t seem that jarring -- in fact, it
made sense. The band’s music is more
focused than it has ever been.
the performance, his dancing became
a bit more uncontrollable as he belted
the chorus. The clash of the dark
lyrics and the lively production on the
album made more sense after seeing
Palomo feel the music and lyrics. He
hid his turmoil through movement. In
his case, he dances because it’s better
than breaking down or spinning into
a cycle of despair. He communicated
this message to all of us in the crowd:
dancing might not solve any of your
problems, but at least it makes you feel
more connected to yourself and the
people around you.
As much as the synths were made to
inspire us to dance, they were also
meant to portray Palomo’s disillusions
and hardships through their mangled,
twisted notes. On the album, they were
exuberant, coagulated, and deeply
layered, but in the live performance,
there was a new duality in them I
hadn’t realized. During the night
you learn about yourself and human
nature, when our more indecent and
crude selves come out to play under
the moonlight. The performance was
a celebration of this fact, yet it also
highlighted the inner turmoil that
accompanies finding ourselves in the
dark. The idea of the “night school”
that Palomo based his album on made
more sense upon discovering this.
When the concert was over, and I
came down from the adrenaline high,
I felt even more attached to the album
I had been listening to exclusively for
the past month. Being immersed in
the album helped me understand its
finer points and see it as an overall
more complex statement than I had
previously thought. Although I went
in with apprehension, Neon Indian
delivered a truly cathartic experience.
Between songs, Palomo’s short yet
endearing comments about his music
emphasized how meaningful this
album was to him. As the name implies,
Vega INTL. Night School details dark
and sometimes scandalous experiences
drawn from Palomo’s own night-time
explorations during the past couple of
years. Before launching into the ecstatic
“Street Level,” he briefly mentioned
the dilemma that the song implies
- fast-paced city-life can overwhelm
you until it becomes unbearable. He
explained that he was trying just to get
by, to survive on the streets. During
11
CONC
REVI
Sufjan Stevens at Heinz Hall
Photo by Lucy Denegre
Sufjan
Stevens
Sufjan Stevens took no time to set the mood for
his show on November 3rd at Heinz Hall. As
he stepped to the mic and whispered the first
lines of “Death With Dignity”, a quiet halo of
light shone down on him and his bandmates,
all dressed in nondescript black outfits, and
childhood home videos were projected onto
thin, church-like windows behind them. After
his most recent release, one couldn’t expect the
night to begin any other way.
Singer-songwriter and ultimate sadboy Sufjan
Stevens took the audience on a wistful,
introspective, and nostalgic walk through
most of Carrie and Lowell, the excruciatingly
intimate album that explores a sprawl of
heartbreaking narratives about family, grief,
depression, loneliness, childhood, and faith.
By Evelyn Pandos
Dark Horse
Consort
One of the most dolorous moments of the
night was the swelling repeated chants of
“we’re all gonna die” at the end of “Fourth
of July,” a teary confession and lament to his
dying mother. Stevens slumped his head in
his hands, appearing to wipe away tears after
singing, “fuck me, I’m falling apart” at the end
of “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross,” the
climax of sorrow for the night.
The second half of the night was spent playing
On November 14th, the Dark Horse Consort,
an ensemble dedicated to the performance
of 17th century music, was featured on
Renaissance and Baroque’s season. Titled “The
Sound of St. Mark’s”, the concert gave us a
taste of the music from St. Mark’s Basilica in
Venice, one of the most vibrant and innovative
musical institutions in Europe during the
high Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
The group performed this repertoire on
period instruments including the cornett,
the sackbut, the theorbo, the violin, the
harpsichord and the renaissance organ.
Synod Hall, beside the imposing edifice
of St Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland, was the
perfect venue for such a concert. The period
architecture, the mellow lighting, and the
bright sound of the CMU brass quintet
playing before the concert, all made it seem
almost as if we had entered a portal into
another century to catch a brief glimpse of
an era of shimmering violins and iridescent
cornets, of virtuosic melody lines and lush
polyphony.
By Arun Marsten
12
The composers in the concert, ranging from
Giovanni Gabrieli in the tail end of the
some of the more downbeat tracks from his
eccentric electronica album Age of Adz, such
as “Vesuvius” and “Futile Devices.” During
these, Stevens bopped around awkwardly
yet endearingly in front of the microphone,
a gentle break from the emotionally severe
songs that he had been performing the hour
before, but still in the spirit of the ominous
and contemplative atmosphere of the evening.
The set ended with “Blue Bucket of Gold,”
swelling and morphing into a twelve-minute
jam of My Bloody Valentine-style noise and
two mirror balls swarming the hall with
harrowing beams of existential-crisis-inducing
light.
Stevens spoke for the first time during
the encore, thanking everyone for coming
and bantering about his day walking the
city’s bridges and visiting the Andy Warhol
Museum. He treated the crowd to light and
rapturous versions of some classics, including
“Chicago,” and closed with a blithe rendition
of Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” saying beforehand,
“Drake is my spirit animal.” The encore was
a light-hearted and generous way to end what
was a haunting and memorable show.
Renaissance, to Marco Uccellini, firmly in
the Baroque, represented more than 60 years
of the music that made St. Mark’s a musical
hub. The concert opened with Giovanni
Gabrieli’s Canzon per sonar septimi toni, a
classic in the transition style of the late 16th
century. Across the next couple of works, we
saw all the hallmarks of the Venetian style:
the polychoral and antiphonal techniques in
which the instruments would split into two
symmetrical groups and echo each other’s
parts. Sometimes the echo group would be off
stage, an antiphonal technique whose origins
were facilitated by the multiple choir lofts of
the St. Mark’s Basilica, essentially the 17th
century equivalent of stereo sound. As the
concert progressed, the style morphed into
the strong rhythms and florid ornamentation
of the Baroque which were most pronounced
in the solo harpsichord work by Giovanni
Picchi.
The concert left our heads spinning and
our hearts racing. The music was filled with
vitality and vigor to a degree that I had not
expected and the performance left nothing to
be desired.
CERT
IEWS
Dark Horse Consort at Synod Hall
Photo by Imogen Todd
Imagine a standard classical performance.
All the men are sophisticated penguins. Polite
conversation hums in an elaborate hall as the
audience settles respectfully into their seats to
shut up for
Two.
Suffocating.
Hours.
Do you have the image in your head?
Good. Now throw it all out.
If you’ve ever heard of Igudesman and Joo, you
know they are nothing short of crazy. They’ve
been taking “class” out of “classical” since
2012, when they became Youtube sensations
with over 40 million hits, displaying their
musical virtuosity and creative lunacy.
Their performance in Heinz Hall started
out weird. From the moment I entered the
majestic music hall, I could tell this wouldn’t
be a normal performance. Onstage sat a
Steinway with a skeleton hanging from it and
witch hats on the double-basses. If that wasn’t
odd enough, Supergirl was the principal
second violin.
When everyone settled down, the standard
announcement began, asking the audience to
Jukebox the Ghost, who played on campus
this Halloween, did not put on their typical
show. The campus audience was much
smaller than their usual crowd, but the the
energy that they brought did not change.
Their enthusiasm showed a level of passion
for performing that can’t help but get you
excited. Their songs are fast paced and made
me, normally neither a singer nor a dancer, get
on my feet and shout the lyrics along with the
band. This band was made to be listened to
live. For example, member Ben Thornewill’s
classical piano training becomes clear when
he is able to add improvisational aspects to
their pop pieces. The concert experience was
highlighted even further by their playfulness.
They exchanged candid insults about each
others’ costumes and reflected upon the
Halloween experiences of their youth, which
really exemplified their personalities and
added to their charm. They even played one
of their less commonly performed songs,
“Static”, as it was “the only spooky song”
they had, and although its dark tone is much
different from their typical upbeat sound, it is
a great song to belt out in a crowd.
turn off phones and refrain from photography.
As I moved to do so, Igudesman and Joo stole
the mic and encouraged the audience to do the
opposite. An interesting move considering the
program explicitly said “PHOTOGRAPHY,
AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING OF
THIS PERFORMANCE ARE STRICTLY
PROHIBITED”. Move aside N.W.A.
Igudesman
& Joo
The concert itself was amazing. As a musician
with classical roots, I couldn’t help but laugh
as they incorporated awkward coughs and
sneezes into Winter Polka. I was also impressed
by Joo’s sense of touch on the Steinway in Le
Gibet. After intermission, the entire audience
roared as they “Halloween-ified” the classical
Ride of the Valkyries, followed by a Best
Audience Halloween Costume contest judged
by Igudesman and Joo. I nearly died when
they performed Decomposing Composers,
an ode to famous dead composers in the
Halloween spirit.
Everything about the show was hilarious.
The Scary Concert had everything that
you wouldn’t find in a standard classical
performance: theatrics, jazz, electric guitars,
Halloween costumes, and more.Thanks to
them, I am one of few who can proudly say
that I have laughed out loud during a classical
music concert.
As it was Halloween, the band added a special
segment of the performance that they dubbed
“HalloQueen”. Dressed as members of
Queen, Jukebox the Ghost spent the second
half of the concert performing covers of
Queen songs, which was more dramatic than
their usual poppy sound. It was incredible to
see my favorite song “Killer Queen” sung live,
and the excitement was palpable when the
band started playing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Thanks to the band’s phenomenal energy, they
were able to capture not only Queen’s sound,
but also their dynamic performances. For a
moment, you could almost forget that you
were in a small auditorium watching a band
covering Queen, and feel instead like you were
watching Queen themselves, that is, until you
remembered how fake Tommy Siegel’s “Brian
May” wig was or heard the band trying to
banter with terrible British accents.
By Andrew Kim
Jukebox the
Ghost
Overall, the band put on an extremely
entertaining performance that made me even
more excited to see them again in the future.
by Brooke Ley
13
My Night with
The Chainsmokers
By Catherine Kildunne
Do you ever feel like every face is a
familiar one? Or that vodka redbulls
taste like water? Or that you really like
electronic music but you still can’t
deny that there’s no reviewing how
the music was played because well…
it wasn’t? I had a rollicking time
at the Chainsmokers concert, but
I’m still trying to figure out exactly
what I (and apparently everyone I
know) was so excited about. I can’t
comment on the songs as performed
by duo Andrew Taggart and Alex
Pall, because every song was exactly
like I had heard on the album, except
the bass was... bassier. Don’t mistake
this for disdain; the concert was fun.
I mean, fun in the excess. One of my
friends threw up, and I have vague
memories of being scolded towards
the end of the night, “Catherine! Get
in the Uber!” Some dude I know got
bubblegum in my other friend’s hair.
I think as a reviewer I’m supposed to
chalk this up to cultural zeitgeist, but
let’s be honest: a bunch of Carnegie
Mellon students finally spending a
Tuesday in somewhere that isn’t the
library is hardly zeitgeist-y, it’s just
sloppily blowing off steam.
The Chainsmokers concert wasn’t
about me (duh), but I definitely
feel like it was. Upon listening to
my friends recap their experiences, I
realized that everyone did. It wasn’t a
musical performance, it was an event.
14
It was about what you wore, who
you went with, who you ran into,
who bought you a drink, etc. Which
are perfectly valid criteria to measure
an experience by (I am deeply basic,
after all). This was not about a musical
performance. The Chainsmokers
provided a soundtrack.
Before they played their last song,
while everyone held their breath for
#Selfie, Pall grabbed the microphone
and shouted that they were “not
gonna play #Selfie. We’re done
with that shit!” They might be done
playing it, but we’re definitely not
done living it. Say what you will but
I’m sure the criticism will just bounce
right off because we’re #shameless.
We’re
done
with
that
shit!
- Chainsmokers
15
DA N N
BR
16
NY
ROWN
By Donovan Powers
Danny Brown at CMU
Photos by Jason Chen
17
Danny Brown is the kind of guy who
is hard to ignore. He has such a unique
and recognizable brand that he stands
out and steals the spotlight anywhere
he goes. I listen to a lot of hip-hop, but
I admit that I can’t always distinguish
between rappers. Often my friends
will turn to me at the gym and ask me
who’s spitting on the radio, and I have
to guess about 40% of the time. As
ashamed as I am, there have even been
a few Das Racist verses (my favorite
group) where I have confused Kool
AD and Heems until I rap geniused
the lyrics. Danny Brown is not one
of those rappers. His high pitched
nasal attack stands out no matter what
production is behind it, and when
you have done as many features as
him that’s high praise. Like a machine
gun, his aggressive flow is instantly
recognizable, you can almost hear his
big goofy toothless grin, fluffy hair,
and creepy mustache in every verse he
drops.
With such a distinct vocal style you
would think all Danny Brown music
would sound similar, but diversity
is where Danny Brown shines. If
you like rap, (why wouldn’t you) (no
but seriously don’t give me that “I
listen to everything - except rap and
country” thing, all that tells me is that
you actually don’t like music) Danny
Brown has made something that you
will like. He was worked with a huge
number of artists and the diversity
among his collaborations is insane. He
has dropped singles with Purity Ring,
BADBADNOTGOOD, Das Racist,
Vampire Weekend, and Insane Clown
posse. Let me repeat that, he worked
with Vampire Weekend AND Insane
Clown Posse. But no, you are right,
“all rap sounds the same.” K.
Danny Brown’s ability to simultaneously
have a distinct brand and be one of
the most flexible artists in the game
is incredible and should really be
appreciated, but on top of all that, he is
just a lot of fun. I was lucky enough to
get to see him live this last week when
he performed at Carnegie Mellon
for the Fall Concert. Going into the
show, admittedly I had pretty low
expectations. Not because I don’t like
Danny Brown, but because Carnegie
Mellon crowds and rap artists don’t
necessarily go hand in hand. I’ve been
to a lot of rap concerts in Pittsburgh
and everyone in the crowd falls into
one of two categories:
18
1. Upper class white kid who is into
hip hop semi ironically, wearing a floral
shirt and bucket hat, and smoking
weed for the first time to seem cool.
2. Really, really drunk white kid who
thinks they grew up on the street and
has to prove it to everyone there by
being belligerent
It may be hard to believe, but this
often isn’t conducive to a good show
experience. The artists feel it too, and
unfortunately when the crowd isn’t
vibing the artists tend to let it impact
their performance.
As the Danny Brown show started, I
feared this was going to be one of those
“I want to
personally thank
Danny Brown, not
just for making that
night amazing, but
for being a constant
force of art and
positivity in the rap
community.”
shows. Even as a Danny Brown fan I
hadn’t really wanted to go to this show,
but 30 minutes before doors opened
our lovely editor-in-chief graciously
informed I needed to write a 2 page
spread on the show. The venue really
wasn’t that full considering how big
the Fall Concert normally is, and the
front of the crowd was exclusively
frat kids who only knew “Smokin &
Drinkin.” I worked my way towards
the front and prepared myself to be
surrounded by people who symbolised
everything I don’t believe in.
And I had a really really good time.
Danny Brown’s energy was incredible.
He exploded on the stage and fought
tooth and nail to make the audience
invested. It was no easy feat, but by
the third track the crowd had shifted
from standing with arms crossed and
taking snapchats to show their friends
how much fun they were having to a
throng of bodies pushing against each
other to the rhythm of “Kush Coma.”
He did the impossible; he made
Carnegie Mellon students have fun.
One of my favorite moments of the
night was when he took a break to tell
the crowd how grateful he was that we
would invite his “goofy retarded ass” to
perform for us. As the set drew to a
close he stopped one more time to poll
the audience about where he could get
drunk tonight, and asked if anyone
had some molly. We, as a collective,
ate it up.
I left that night with my ears ringing
and echos of airhorns twirling around
my head. I want to personally thank
Danny Brown, not just for making
that night amazing, but for being a
constant force of art and positivity
in the rap community. Go listen to
“Old,” go see him live, and grow out a
gross mustache.
Thanks Danny.
Xoxo,
Donovan “grown up” Powers
19
Decem
Sunday
20
Monday
Tuesday
Wedne
1
2
6
7
An Evening with Todd
Rundgren at The Carnegie
of Homestead Music Hall
8
9
13
14
15
The Gotobeds at Brillobox
16
20
21
22
23
27
Skull Kid at The Mr. Roboto
Project
28
29
Tracksploitation at Spirit
30
Lotus at Mr. S
mber
esday
Small’s
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
3
Perfect Pussy at Brillobox
Iron Butterfly at The Altar
Bar
4
5
Yury at Cruze
10
Emerson Jay w/ Eastend
Mile at Club Cafe
11
12
Joanna Newsom at The
Carnegie of Homestead
Music Hall
17
18
19
24
25
26
31
Rusted Root at The Rex
Theater
21
Sufjan Stevens at Heinz Hall
Photo by Lucy Denegre
22
mixtape
Dealbreaker
Songs
“Your Pain Is Mine Now”
by Title Fight
It may not be the most romantic song
to play while you sit and silently stare
at someone, but I’ll be damned if I date
anyone who doesn’t love the new Title
Fight album.
Arun Marsten
“Linger”
by the Cranberries
“Get Me Away from
Here, I’m Dying”
by Belle & Sebastian
If Dolores O’Riordan’s crooning on this
track does nothing for you then I’m pretty
sure we’re looking for different things in
this relationship. Let’s cancel that coffee
date now, shall we?
Lucy Denegre
Until I can make Stuart Murdoch love me,
I’ll settle for loving someone who loves
Stuart Murdoch. Besides, what’s the point
of dating anyone if you can’t get twee every
once in a while?
Christopher Schuler
by King Harvest
“Paranoid”
by Black Sabbath
If you don’t dance to this, you’re a liar or
probably just real sad.
I just can’t vibe with someone who doesn’t
appreciate the best of heavy metal.
“Dancing in the Moonlight”
Julie Heming
“Oblivion”
by Grimes
Catherine Kildunne
If you don’t like this song I will throw you
into it (this sounds more aggressive and less
sassy than intended).
“The Soul is the Arena”
by Mario Diaz de Leon
> 2015
> still listening to music
Well, we have some real problems here.
Alex Voskuil
David Dwyer
“Pancho & Lefty”
by Townes Van Zandt
We have nothing in common. We can’t be
friends. Please, just go.
Christopher Schuler
23
blistering
fists
An Interview By Arun Marsten
Photos by Imogen Todd
24
After seeing blistering fist’s
solo performance at The Mr.
Roboto Project, we decided
to sit down with guitarist
Alex Fredericks to find out
more about his music. He
currently has a shoegaze
EP out called “tall poppies”
and was happy tell us more
about his background and
what it takes to build a
song.
The Cut: So what is blistering fists?
Alex Fredericks: blistering fists is a
solo project that I started in the middle
of this summer to try and work on a
new kind of music, something a bit
poppier. When I started recording, I
recruited my friend Nick Butto, who
lives in Ohio and plays in a surf rock
band called Younger Still. He was
my studio drummer, and then we
started playing shows together after we
recorded the EP. That’s how it started,
“... I got really into
some romantic
writers, William
Blake, Keats, W. B.
Yeats, so my poems
are coming from a
lot of that, which
influences my lyrics
as well. Most of the
lyrics are very brief,
very simple, and to
the point.”
and right now we’re just working on
more music.
TC: What have your influences been
as you’ve been writing?
AF: That’s pretty hard to say. I listen
to a lot of different music. I grew up
mostly listening to hip-hop and punk.
Some really stable artists for me have
been UK Subs, Cocksparrer, Public
Enemy, Jurassic 5, Aesop Rock, MF
Doom, Eyedea & Abilities, and Carbon
Carousel, which is a cool grunge band.
With this project I’m trying to take
a lot of that kind of stuff and put it
all together in a nice synthesis. You’ll
have some grunge roots, some hip-hop
elements to it, and some pop elements
to it. As far as inspiration goes, it’s
definitely influenced by a lot of early
90s, late 80s shoegaze, Jesus and Mary
Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau
Twins, stuff like that.
TC: What have you learned in the
process of performing and recording
this kind of music?
AF: For me, blistering fists has
largely been a process of learning
sequencing. That’s also translated
into my live music and how the songs
develop. Rather than going all in for
a song, right off the bat, I’m trying to
architecturally construct songs when
I play live. It typically goes from a
kind of quiet, atmospheric beginning
to a swelling wall of noise. In that
sense, the most important thing that
25
sequencing has taught me is how to
work in steps, work in motion, and
work independently through that.
TC: What’s your background in music?
Do you have any classical training?
AF: I’ve been playing guitar for eleven
years now. I started out playing four
chord shit, just kind of remedial music.
Then I started taking jazz lessons when
i was twelve. I took them for four
years, broke off and did some other
instruments, including percussion,
piano, bass, cello, and some other
stringed instruments. My musical
career has been a lot of experimenting,
not a lot of solidifying, so blistering
fists is kind of a step for me to solidify
a practice and a method.
TC: Where do you get most of your
inspiration for songwriting?
AF: Well, that’s the other thing about
blistering fists. For the first time in my
life I’m writing these very minimal love
songs. I’m in a really good relationship
right now, things are going really
well, so most of my subject matter,
both musically and lyrically, has been
about the person that I’m seeing. As
far as lyric writing goes, I got really
into some romantic writers, William
Blake, Keats, W. B. Yeats, so my poems
are coming from a lot of that, which
influences my lyrics as well. Most of
the lyrics are very brief, very simple,
and to the point. I’ve got a track called
“Gentle Touch” and the refrain is
“Take me down / When will you say
/ Let’s go soon / Let’s go alone”, and
it’s just about longing and yearning. A
lot of these songs are about missing the
person you love and care about.
TC: So the lyrics aren’t necessarily
central to your songs?
AF: Yeah, if I’m focusing on creating a
mood or engulfing moodedness, then,
in my opinion, it’s more important
to have a very brief set of lyrics that
are almost instrumental, rather than
this whole ode to someone that will
make you lose track of the feeling of
the music.
TC: So what’s next?
AF: I’m recording an album called
“Leaning Against A Wall.” There are
going to be nine or ten tracks, four of
which are finished. Hopefully it’ll be
out before 2016. Unlike the EP, I’m
working on this album essentially by
26
myself. I’m using a drum machine and
a sampler for most of the percussion,
and I’ve been experimenting with a lot
of sounds that I’m interested in. I’ve
also been listening to a lot more hiphop; a ton of MF Doom and Jurassic
Five. So there’s a much more rhythmic
feel to the album than the EP.
TC: From hearing the EP, it’s hard
to imagine integrating hip-hop into
your current sound. What got you
interested in exploring that?
AF: The EP was heavily guitar-focused,
but for the album that won’t be the
case. When I listen to hip-hop it’s
almost impossible for me to not move
my body at the same time. It’s very
rhythmically focused and rhythmically
driven. Sometimes the percussion in a
hip-hop track is the only thing there
other than the voice and I think that
that’s really amazing. Good hip-hop is
also really witty. It’ll make you smile.
Particularly in the mid-90s a kind of
boom bap hip-hop that had stopped
changing away from R&B came into
play, so you have this very liminal
moment of really soulful hip-hop,
and I think that’s really beautiful and
something that I want to cultivate.
TC: Since the sound of each of your
shows ends up being somewhat
“architecturally” unique, do you have
any show that has been particularly
special to you?
AF: The first show that we played was
at this tiny house in Oakland. There
were 60 or 70 people there; it was
super crowded and really hot. Before
the show, I’d had very rough ideas for
a few songs that I had recorded on
my phone and sent to Nick two days
before. I’d also made a video to show
on a projector using a fresnel lens that
I had ordered. To practice, we had
played the songs one time through
as one solid song. So we start playing
while the projection is going. It’s a film
of a bunch of different kids playing
and doing gymnastics and swimming;
doing all these jovial things in these
clips that I’d found. Most of them came
from different Maoist propaganda
films. A quarter of the way through
the set this kind of moment happened
where Nick and I were on this plane
together. To my memory there was no
error, it just kind of came together. At
the end of the set we found ourselves
singing this line over and over again,
which was completely unplanned, and
the line was soft and slow. The show
ended with Nick and I completely
covered in sweat, stoned out of our
minds, and just yelling these words.
That was really special for me. It was a
point for me musically and poetically
where those two things really emerged
hand in hand. It was also an incredible
growing experience for my relationship
with Nick. It really solidified that
while this is a practice that I’m largely
“A lot of these
songs are about
missing the person
you love and care
about.”
doing by myself, if I want anybody
to be a part of it, it’s somebody that
I have a relationship with like I have
with Nick. It was definitely a point of
artistic maturity and artistic growth,
and then we just went home.
27
Grimes Art Angels
By Daniel Deluca
Like most fans of Grimes, I was shocked when I initially heard Art Angels, her
newest album. Unlike anything she had ever created, it exuded pop. The album
was released on November 6th, following a two year hiatus. Most of the reviews I
read claimed Grimes had “sold out” on the album. However, after listening to the
album, I can now say that I was mistaken.
Art Angels is Grimes’s most ambitious project yet and it shows throughout.
Starting with “Laughing and Not Being Normal,” Grimes shows a more complex
side to her musical personality as the song’s playful spirit sets the tone for a
slightly strange view into the inner workings of her mind. The country-tinged
track, “California,” is completely different than what any fans would expect and
expands the boundaries of her repertoire. She follows with “Scream,” where howls
can be heard over a driving guitar. After “Scream” comes arguably the best song on
the album, “Flesh Without Blood,” which sounds like it could make the Billboard
charts with its powerful beat and aching vocals. With the incredible production,
it’s impossible to not want to dance along.
Grimes shows her ability to create incredible melodies, and that carries out with
the next few songs, especially on “Kill V. Maim,” which drives like a true club
anthem, showcasing her astounding vocal range. Intriguingly, this is also her
angriest song to date. The next few songs are far from filler and continue to push
boundaries. “Venus Fly” is the most mainstream Grimes has ever been, exhibiting
a glaring trap beat and a guest performance by Janelle Monáe. And despite its
mainstream aspects, the song manages to avoid being meaningless, something
trap songs often struggle with, through its ferocious rhythm.
✂✂✂✂
/5
On “Butterfly,” Grimes concludes with an entrancing sound representing all the
album tries to be – innovative and rebellious. While it may not be the second
coming of Visions, Grimes shows she is still at the top of her game, as unique and
special as always.
Songs for the Casual Listener: “Flesh without Blood,” “Kill V. Maim,” “World
Princess, Pt. II,” “Venus Fly,” and “Butterfly.”
Songs for Fans: “Scream,” “Belly of the Beat,” and “Easily.”
Beach Slang The Things We Do to Find
People Who Feel Like Us
By Chris Schuler
What do we look for from punk now that we’ve squeezed almost everything we
can out of it? I don’t mean to imply that there won’t be bands that come along
and surprise us with a fresh new sound, but by now it’s safe to say we have a pretty
broad spectrum, stretching from the icy minimalism of Suicide or Joy Division to
the 90-minute, hot-blooded rock operas of Titus Andronicus.
This is a roundabout way of saying that you can tell what Beach Slang sounds like
by looking at their influences. The Replacements are one that the band wears on
its sleeves, with powerful jangly guitars and lyrics bursting with drunken, youthful
angst. They’ve also brought up acts like Ride in interviews, and you can hear the
noisy shoegaze creeping into the mix as they let the guitars feedback through any
quiet moments that come along or when they build and cascade over the vocals.
Just a bit cribbed from the emo standards too, you can tell, as the chug-a-lug riffs
suddenly give way to buzzing amps or crashing drums.
I’ll put it more simply: Beach Slang is one of dozens of new punk bands that exist
in the laminar space between “alternative” and “indie”. Do they stand out? Yes,
but not because they sound all that different. Still, the 10 songs they manage to
bang out in the 26 minutes of the album are all tight, bursting with spirited guitar
and earnest lyrics. “Throwaways,” the first song on the album, opens with “These
streets don’t feel like home.” And “Dirty Lights” closes the album with a shouted
“Stay tough, dirty punks.” In between, you’ll find the same sentiments, the same
underdog energy. Even “Too Late To Die Young,” a quieter track, manages to
incorporate violins without sacrificing the band’s music-straight-from-the-gutter
authenticity.
The album title, The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us, is apt: they
are committed to making music for anyone who feels alienated or downtrodden,
anyone who needs to let loose for half an hour. When I’m looking for punk, I’m
looking for that.
28
✂✂✂✂/5
album reviews
Gum Glamorous Damage
By Imogen Todd
Glamorous Damage, Jay Watson’s second solo effort released under the name GUM, toes
the line between experimental and just plain goofy throughout its nearly 45-minute span.
At times frenetic and overwrought and at times relaxed and melodic, many of the songs
evoke a Diamond-Dog-era David Bowie, while others are more reminiscent of MGMT on
Oracular Spectacular with a little early Gorillaz mixed in. As with its apparent influences, this
album’s strongest aspect is its vocals: they drift in and out of tracks in a haze of synthesizers to
accompany, supersede, or be replaced by their swooning electronic counterparts.
My personal favorite songs are the slightly more mellow ones like the somber “She Never
Made It To Tell,” but even the more sonically playful tracks, such as “Anesthetized Lesson,”
are enjoyable. So if you like your shirts tie-dyed and your music slightly psychedelic, this
album is worth a listen.
✂✂✂/5
Kate Boy One
By Catherine Kildunne
Is there anything in this world as good as Swedish dance music? Seriously, does anything even
come close? One sticks to a formula that works. Think some of the angstier stuff by Robyn or
Oh Land, but remove the eye-roll-worthy lyrics. All six tracks from Kate Boy’s eponymous
EP were on this album, making it seem more like a thematic extension of that rather than
entirely its own work. That’s fine; the world could always use some more truly excellent dance
music. Fears that Kate Boy was going to strike out after the phenomenal single, “Northern
Lights,” were proven unfounded. The tracks “In Your Eyes” and “Run As One” are excellent
candidates for filling the shoes of that gold standard. My recommendation: get some big
speakers, turn off the lights, and dance badly with all your friends.
✂✂✂✂✂/5
Electric Light Orchestra Alone in the Universe
By Brooke Ley
hen I heard that a new album from Electric Light Orchestra was going to be released I was
W
excited for their return. I prepared myself for the strings, the harmonies, the synthesizers. I
was ready for a trip back to the 70s! But this album was not the ELO I had expected. Rather
than a return of the whole band, it was more of a solo album by the founding member, Jeff
Lynne, under the guise of being ELO. This is not necessarily bad, but the album missed much
of what I enjoyed so much about their earlier works. For example, without the catchiness of
“Evil Woman,” a song with a similar theme of wicked, deceiving women, “Dirty to the Bone,”
just seems excessively mean-spirited and misogynistic. Although I might be biased -- I was
expecting 70s prog rock and got country rock instead -- overall the album was a let down.
Gnaw Their Tongues/Dragged Into Sunlight
N.V.
✂✂/5
By Alex Voskuil
Blackened sludge metal outfit Dragged Into Sunlight come together with experimental
noise musician Gnaw Their Tongues to create one of 2015’s most extreme and punishing
releases, N.V..
The album was announced as one that “took heavy inspiration” from Godflesh’s Streetcleaner,
and there certainly is a prominent industrial influence in the cold, sharp production,
heavy sampling, and mechanized drum beats of the opening track “Visceral Repulsion.”
N.V. is an abyssal collage of music at the periphery of metal and noise music. Tracks like
“Strangled With A Chord” and “Omniscienza” display a raw, fast-paced black metal sound
that progresses in and out of Merzbow-like harsh noise passages and drone metal riffage
accompanied by dark ambient textures, while “Absolver” and the outro of “Alchemy In the
Subyear” chug on with an old school Obituary death metal sound.
✂✂✂
/5
The record swells and drops the listener from one hellish soundscape to another, and while
the samples get a little tiresome and needlessly edgy, at a little under 35 minutes N.V. doesn’t
overstay its welcome but remains engaging and crushing throughout.
29
Pop Song Writers by David Dwyer
essays
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
I’m still upset about Beyoncé losing
the Grammy for Album of the Year last
February. Yes, this was almost a year
ago, but Beyoncé remains one of my
favorite albums: it transformed me into
a dedicated member of the Beyhive. Let
me clarify: I am not sad because I feel
that the winner, Beck, is terrible, but
because of many people’s justification of
his success. Their justification hinged on
inherent differences between genres, and
how different artists make their music.
Beck is supposedly better because he plays
the instruments featured on the album,
whereas Beyoncé just sings on top of
sounds she does not engineer. However,
does the system of pop production
automatically make pop music worse
than less-manufactured genres? Some
would answer yes. I don’t necessarily
think that this answer is wrong, but I feel
that we need to approach this situation
differently.
This perspective feeds into the age-old
divide between rock and pop. Modern
pop, as everyone knows, usually takes a
village to produce. Countless people are
credited with writing, producing, and
sound engineering on any given song.
Artists typically sing lyrics that are not
entirely their own and have melodies
that were engineered to be as catchy as
possible. On the other hand, rock music
is traditionally handled by the band
itself. Authenticity reigns supreme: there
are actual tangible instruments. As the
30
status quo dictates, the words sung are
written by the singers themselves.
“How can I listen to rock and pop and
reconcile the inherent quality issue
between them?” you ask. Well, it’s not as
complicated as it seems. Sure, Beyoncé
has many cowriters and producers listed
on her eponymous album, but does that
mean her music is less valuable? I don’t
think so, not when the end product is as
fully-realized as Beyoncé. In order to get
that fantastic of an output, she had to
carefully plan and create music with her
collaborators to achieve and fulfill her
own artistic vision. She could not have
made this album herself, but that just
means that she firmly executed an album
by knowing exactly what she wanted.
She did not write every single lyric she
sings on that album, but it’s not like
she passively pumped out other people’s
lyrics to put the album together. She put
effort into an album by curating talent
to suit her needs. The album is as daring
as any album of more classically accepted
or praised genres of music.
In rock, the band members have been
practicing their instruments since they
were little kids. Pop singers have been
singing for just as long as the rockers
have been playing. Therefore, both pop
and rock stars are all musicians of varying
ability. However, does musicianship
mean the music is good? Not necessarily:
the meaning and intention of the music
are important factors in the empirical,
dry assessment of music quality. If a
pop song had great lyrics (written by a
production team), is it inherently worse
than a rock song with bad lyrics (written
by the lead singer)? If a pop song was
engineered to be a hit and becomes a hit,
should we despise it?
Nonetheless, these questions don’t
matter; I don’t consider them when
listening to music. I’ve listened to
Azealia Banks’s “212” dozens of times
in a row, just to feel the visceral thrill
of all the curse words flying out of her
mouth. I’ve listened to Arcade Fire’s The
Suburbs while traveling away from them,
going off to college. I’ve listened to The
xx at night when I’m feeling particularly
lonely. I’ve listened to Britney Spear’s
“Toxic” with and without irony, all the
while sporting a big, goofy grin on my
face.
So, I counter anyone that says that
rock is better than pop, or that playing
instruments makes a band’s music
infinitely better, or that singing other
people’s words decreases a singer’s merit.
This is terribly cliché, but music is made
to connect and to give meaning to
personal experience, and if it does that
for you, great.
I am still bitter that Beyoncé lost,
though.
Danny Brown at CMU
Photo by Jason Chen
31
Chris Schuler
Web Editor
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