Scales

Suggested Two Months Ago

Scales ft. Kelela by Solange

Recommended by Sam C.

"Solange's head voice is hypnotic and Kelela's harmony takes it to a-whole-nother level. Honestly, you should listen to the entirety of her new album titled A Seat At the Table; it's very meaningful, genuine, and authentic."

I agree with your vocabulary choices here: There's nothing catchy about the quiet voice that carries on with a rambling melody over the sparse accompaniment, yet there's still something about it that draws you in - hypnotic is a good word for it.

The tone of the track is intense and pensive, and you have to be in the right mindset to fully digest it. This isn't mainstream; this isn't pop. This isn't even entertainment, not primarily.

Scales, and the entire album from which it comes, is art, and it doesn't necessarily have to be enjoyed in order to be appreciated. (I'm not saying it can't be enjoyed - but it certainly isn't as easy to consume as many of the manufactured hits we hear on the radio.)

On the topic, Solange says:

A Seat at the Table for me is an invitation to allow folks to pull up a chair, get very close and have these hard uncomfortable truths be shared. It's not going to be pretty, it's not going to be fun, you may not get to dance to it, you're not going to breathe easily through it, but that is the state of the times that we're in right now. (source)

Scales takes on such themes as racism (your world is kind, but your world ain't blind) and, on a related note, cultural appropriation (look on the TV; they all want to be me). (x)

The big message, though, is a warning "against letting others determine your self worth," especially when the streets say you're a king and the world says you're a failure (x).

You have to decide for yourself what to believe.

outro

Overview:

Genre:

Neo Soul / R&B

Favorite Lyrics:

Ain't no apologizing for all of the things you want.

Verdict:

"not the kind of music that is supposed to be readily understood by everyone" (x)

Don Quixote

De La Mancha

Don Quixote by Richard Strauss

Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character

I wrote about this piece for class last semester, and it seems like it would be a shame to let all that thinking and writing go to waste. Plus, it's a nice, long composition that's easy to throw on for a killer study session.

Don Quixote is a tone poem, which means that it was created to tell the story of a written work. In this case, it's based on Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

If you read up on it, the piece is composed very thoughtfully. It begins with the statement of the theme, followed by ten variations that correspond to chapters of Cervantes's novel, and finishes with an epilogue.

Each instrument is tied to a certain character. Sancho Panza is represented by the solo viola, Dulcinea by the oboe, and Don Quixote himself by the cello. The rest of the ensemble, made up of not only traditional orchestral instruments but also strange noisemakers such as wind machines and odd techniques on brass that mimic the bleating of sheep, build the scenes in which the characters live.

When it was first performed, the piece was given a hard time for these experimental sounds, but I think it aged well.

If you're familiar with Don Quixote, I highly recommend listening to the whole piece and trying to follow the story. Hint: Variation I depicts the famous windmill scene.

Overview:

Genre:
Tone Poem / Orchestral

Verdict:
pretty amazing

Lemonade

Not THAT Lemonade

Lemonade ft. Baba Stiltz by Yung Lean

Recommended by Tim

First things first, this is not a pure song about kids selling their wares around the neighborhood for loose change; rather, Lemonade refers to "a specific strain of weed with a lemon scent...to it" (x). Though, it's also possible that Young Lean is not talking about these designer drags. Maybe it's about that juxtoposition of the "childish and innocent" lemonade with the drugs (x).

And then, as I'm sure you can imagine, Coke up in my swisher is not talking about soda in a sippy-cup.

The song literally starts off with its thesis statement: I can buy you lemonade, buy you drugs.

Thanks, man.

Other highlights from Genius include that fact that Young Lean is apparently considered to be a "meme rapper" (nothing could make me want to investigate his music more) and the picture of a guy buying multiple containers of Arizona tea at a gas station, which is set as the "explanation" for the line Arizona tears.



Take this song for what it is, lyrically, and try to enjoy it, instead, for Young Lean's unique voice and the dreamy elecronic accompaniment swimming around behind it.

Overview:

Genre:
Hip Hop
"'loosely affiliated' with the cloud rap movement"

Favorite Lyrics:
I make no sense,
make nonsense.

Verdict:
hard to follow, sounds cool though

Here Comes the Sun

Why Am I Like This

Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

This has actually been recommended a couple of times.

I felt like it was finally the right time to do this song. Because I have stayed up way too late for a majority of the last two weeks, and so the whole here comes the sun thing really resonates with me. It has been my mantra, really, as I work on projects and finish essays well into the wee hours of the morning.

I'll be in bed working on my concluding paragraph, and I see the sky getting brighter outside my window, and I'm just like it's all right...it's all right...this is fine. (And then, of course, after I finish the classwork, I have to write a post for this blog.)

Actually, though, this song is pure and lovely.

The melody is based in the pentatonic scale, and the rhythm does some wild things involving the time signature that I can't even attempt to explain. The sun sun sun, here it comes part "has been described as taking 'on the quality of oa meditator's mantra'" (x).

Despite all that, the song's charm lies in its simplicity. You're not thinking about the tri-plagal progression with an extra V7 or the way it switches out of 4/4 time into a sequence of 11/8 + 4/4 + 7/8 in the bridge (x). You're just like...Wow, sounds nice. Sun is warm. Makes me happy.

Overview:

Genre:
Folk Pop

Favorite Lyrics:
It's all right.

Verdict:
so pure

Barro tal vez

For Her

Barro tal vez por Luis Alberto Spinetta

Recommended by Marcela

Though it seems a little early for existential crises, Spinetta wrote Barro tal vez when he was only fifteen years old. It discusses the significado existencial of composing music, in which the musician actually becomes song, or maybe mud (barro tal vez).

It's pretty deep. Poetic.

Musically, Barro tal vez is a subdued number that's stripped down to only Spinetta's emotive voice and the strum of an acoustic guitar...and a background of crickets (it was recorded in a garden).

(On purpose.)

It leaves you with a hollow feeling. 

Melancholia.

Overview:

Genre:

Rock

Favorite Lyrics:

Si quiero, me toco el alma

pues mi carne ya no es nada.

Verdict:

rest in peace <3

I'll Fall for Anything

My New Hero

I'll Fall for Anything by Projected Twin

''I'm impressed by this guy's vocal range every time I listen to his songs.''

I'll Fall for Anything is the song that was recommended to me, and I'm going to get to it. But OH MY GOD, Shaun Holton (the guy behind Projected Twin) did a mashup of Adele's Hello with Linkin Park's In the End, and I can't even believe it. You hear that, and you think ''why?'' but it's actually amazing:

I love a good mashup no matter what, but it's particularly exciting when it's something that you expect to be a disaster.

Anyway, onto the original song, I'll Fall for Anything.

Both this track and the cover reveal this guy's stellar musicianship. He's got some solid vocals, and he rocks hard on that guitar. It's a pretty cool song.

I think the lyrics are about his children? Maybe?

Hear me out. It talks about how the next generation is going to blame everything on the previous one. Near the end, he says I just want to see them love, and I don't want to see them hurt. And the band page says this man is father of three kids, so it's not too much of a stretch.

Bonus: Acoustic Version

Overview:

Genre:
Rock

Verdict:
what a talented man

A United Front

I Love Political Dramas

A United Front by Jeff Beal

Recommended by Tim

This is a piece from the original soundtrack for the Netflix original series House of Cards.

"Jeff Beal's music is like the skin that covers the flesh and bone of this masterful TV show" (x). That quote is taken from a very detailed review of the House of Cards soundtrack. If you've watched through season 4, you might want to click on that (x) and check it out.

I can't find anything about this track in particular, but the soundtrack in general won the Creative Arts Emmy award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic).

Unfortunately, I've never watched this show, which limits my enjoyment of the piece significantly. I still appreciate the driving rhythm of the drums and the tense strings, but I can't imagine any scenes in my head.

From Wikipedia, a united front is "a form of struggle or political organization that may be carried out by revolutionaries or communist political struggles." Given what little I know about the show, I'd imagine this takes place during some of the political scheming that goes on.

Not too specific. I don't know.

I love how it's only 2 minutes long, but it takes you on a journey from something dark and suspenseful to something that's actually kind of sweet. It shifts from fearful suspense to hopeful suspense and finally ends on a purely optimistic note.

Overview:

Genre:
Film Score

Verdict:
I feel like I need to watch this show now.