Tag: Jonah Skeen

Sidney Gish- Coming to Campus 2/16

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The amazing and talented Sidney Gish will have a concert on Dickinson’s campus, February 16th at 8pm in the Allison Community Room.

This semester, WDCV and MOB have partnered to bring a few wonderful concerts to Dickinson, so our blog will be providing articles spotlighting the artists so you can become familiar with them before they perform. First up is 21 year old singer-songwriter-producer Sidney Gish. Gish attends Northeastern University. Her latest album, No Dogs Allowed, was released on New Year’s Eve 2017 but really started to get traction this year thanks to word of mouth on Twitter, great reviews (5/5 from the Guardian, 7.7/10 on Pitchfork), and high profile shows with Mitski, Petal, and Camp Cope.

I first heard Ms. Gish’s music because of the aforementioned Pitchfork review and was immediately hooked by “Sin Triangle”. There rest of the album is just as great. Instead of merely accompanying herself on acoustic guitar as most young singer-songwriters are content to do, Gish uses samples, offbeat percussion, jazzy electric guitar playing, midi instruments, and a healthy dose of effects to add extra flavor to her songs. Her lyrics are relatable and cleverly filled with allusions and word play. “Sin Triangle” alone references Romeo and Juliet, Japan’s foreign policy, sine functions, and the Bible. “Persephone” plays with the common mispronunciation of the Greek goddess of vegetation “I’ve called Persephone by the name of purse-a-phone”.

 

 

As a live performer, Gish utilizes a looping pedal which repeats sounds so that a single performer can command a more detailed sound. I saw her open for Mitski over the summer and she was wonderful. She even wore a cowboy hat in celebration of Mitski’s classic Be The Cowboy. I am looking forward to seeing her live again and you should be too.

 

 

 

Her concert is Saturday, February 16th at 8pm in the Allison Community Room. WDCV and MOB are very excited for this performance and we hope to see you there!

 

Review by Jonah, you can tune into his show Playing It By Ear on Wednesday’s from 10-11pm 

 

Persephone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGmJ6FOiECs

Sin Triangle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFKJbyFkgo

Top 10 Albums of 2018

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Jonah Skeen’s Top Ten Albums of 2018

 

Hey folks welcome to my second annual countdown of the best music of the year. There was a lot of great music this year and, unlike last year, I kept pretty up to date on the hot new albums. Everything on this list is truly worth hearing.

  1. Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune – Swamp Dogg

Autotune is the most deverse current sound in popular music and I love it unabashedly. I especially love when artists who I don’t expect to use it. One of my favorite uses of autotune ever was Bon Iver’s 22 A Million. I was in sheer delight when I found out that the 76 year old R&B singer Swamp Dogg had recorded an album in Bon Iver’s studio and made similar use of autotune. This album is cut from the same cloth as 22 and by is far funkier, funnier, looser and maybe even weirder in the simple fact of it existing. “$$$ Huntin’” updates the talkin’ blues formula for these trap heavy times. The most beautiful moment on the album is the cover of the standard “Stardust”. It sounds like I’m picking up a transmission from space of aliens approximating human music.

  1. Boygenius – Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers

Boygenius is a supergroup made up of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers. If that sentence doesn’t make you excited then you have some catching up to do. These women have put out a few of the best indie albums in recent memory. And now they have joined forces for a tour and an all too brief EP. Despite their variety of styles (Dacus is more fuzz rock, Bridgers is more folk influenced, Baker somewhat emo leaning), they sound like a natural fit. The highlight of this EP are the harmonies which are tear inducing. This is powerful stuff. If you’ve just gone through a break up or something of that nature, listening to this will be cathartic.

  1. El Mal Querer – Rosalía

I wish I still took Spanish so I could understand the lyrics on this. I hear that they’re great. What I can understand is the music which is groundbreaking. Rosalia uses the sound of revving motorcycles as percussion! There’s a song that does James Blake even better than James Blake does himself! The whole thing is as fun as any pop record you’ll hear this year. It’s equally at home at a house party as it is during the comedown. It’s rare to hear experimental and pop instincts balanced this well.

  1. And Nothing Hurt – Spiritualized

If Jason Pierce is to be believed, this is the last Spiritualized album. Which is sad news but what a way to go out. Unlike their earlier records, this record is not a grand statement. There’s no Elvis samples, 17 minute song about killing cops, orchestras, or gospel choirs. And Nothing Hurt is simply a set of well constructed songs recorded in Pierce’s home studio. The strings and horns come from samples from his record collection. What’s amazing is that Pierce can still write such deeply affecting music this late into his career and how lush this album sounds despite its modest origins. The lead off tracks are my two favorites: “A Perfect Miracle” starts off with ukulele and sounds like a straightforward love song before the narrator shifts from love to ending the relationship over the course of a few verses and the music builds into a beautiful crescendo. “I’m Your Man” is the ideal classic rock. There’s a guitar solo that wouldn’t sound out of place on a late Beatles record and lyrical similarities to the Leonard Cohen classic where it takes its name. This song, like the whole album, positions Pierce in the lineage of classic songwriters. I think it succeeds.

  1. Daytona – Pusha T

Back back way back in december 2015, Pusha released the clunkily titled King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude which was to serve as an appetizer for King Push, his planned magnum opus. King Push never materialized but Push did drop his opus. Daytona is all killer, no filler. Just straight bars. This record barely bothers with hooks, which normally spells disaster but with a rapper as talented as Push, this is a huge plus. And the production! Ho boy! There’s this playlist called Kanye West – Producer of The Year that’s posted on Pusha, Kanye, Teyana, and 070 Shake’s Spotify pages which clearly signals that Kanye is aiming to be nominated for Producer of The Year at the Grammys. He shouldn’t get it, but listening to Daytona made me hope that the Wyoming Session albums would be a return to classic early Kanye. I was wrong, the production on Ye is his least focused ever, but at least I got Daytona out of it.

ALSO DRAKE WAS HIDING A CHILD COME ON

  1. Thresholder – Ian William Craig

This isn’t an album. It’s a compilation of outtakes recorded between 2014 and 2016. This album doesn’t really have songs on it; it mostly has sounds. But what glorious sounds! Ian William Craig is an artist like no other. He builds his music by combining avant garde tape manipulation with his magnificent opera trained singing voice. The end results bring to mind Bon Iver at his most experimental, a more minimal Sigur Ros, and William Basinski’s classic The Disintegration Loops. This is music that is both alien and somehow deeply human. All of Craig’s albums, particularly Centres, are worth checking out but Thresholder showcases what he does best in a comfact runtime.

  1. Sparkle Hard – Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks

My love of this album started with the lead single “Middle America”. It’s a ballad which Malkmus doesn’t do often but when he does it leads to classics like “Gold Soundz”, “Church on White”, “Freeze the Saints”, and “Spit on a Stranger”. I hoped that the rest of the album would be mature and understated. I was wrong. Sparkle Hard is a little of everything Malkmus does best. It has an extended stoner jam (“Kite”), garage rock (“Shiggy”), a country duet with Kim Gordon (the hilarious “Refute”), and a two part electronic experiment that turns into krautrock (“Difficulties – Let Them Eat Vowels”). Even more astonishing is that this isn’t even the album Malkmus planned to release. He made a completely electronic album that he planned to drop before his label told him to put out a more traditional release first. These were the songs that Malkmus just happened to have lying around. I am also extremely biased about this album for two reasons 1. I eternally love Malkmus for his work in Pavement and 2. I saw Malkmus live front row and he played most of Sparkle Hard. The songs are even better live and it felt that I was sitting in on a band practice because I was so close to the band. During the encore, Malkmus sang “Freeze the Saints” directly to me and it was among the greatest moments of my life. So listen to this album but maybe listen to a Pavement classic like Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, or Slanted and Enchanted first.

            3. Knock Knock – DJ Koze

This album will take you on a journey. I know a lot less about dance music than I ought to but I do know that this record is dance music at its best. This record brilliantly uses a plethora of samples, synths, and newly recorded vocals to create a deeply psychedelic listening experience. The track that drew me in was “Bonfire” because it has vocals from Bon Iver and I will listen to anything that Justin Vernon sings over. The whole record is worth listening to straight through but the highlight is “Pick Up” which should’ve been a huge hit.

  1. Some Rap Songs – Earl Sweatshirt

To quote my roommate Jackson, this decade finally has its Madvillainy. Earl has been one of the most adored MCs in the game since way back in ‘10 when he was a wee lad of sixteen. Now he’s 24 and just ended a three year hiatus with his best, and most experimental, record. This year has been a big one for short albums. All of the five Kanye produced Wyoming albums were 7 or 8 songs in under half an hour. Earl one ups Ye. It’s 15 songs in only 25 minutes! And each one is a winner. There is not a wasted second on this record. Every verse is insightful, filled with allusions, and poetic. Earl isn’t rapping with precision; he’s rapping with purpose. He turned from the prodigy of Odd Future to a wizened philosopher. The beats on this thing are just insane. They’re more like soundcollages than traditional rap beats but hit all the pleasure points of classic old beats from someone like Dilla or Madlib. Earl’s father, South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, died earlier this year and though much of the album was completed prior, his death hangs over the project. This album is both surreal yet hyper emotional. People will be dissecting the meaning of the lyrics and trying to wrap their heads around these mind-bending beats for years.

 

Before my number one pick I’d like to shout out a few honorable mentions that didn’t make the list:

 

Iridescence – BROCKHAMPTON: BEST BOY BAND SINCE 1D! Also, “San Marcos” may be my absolute favorite song of the year.

Freedom’s Goblin – Ty Segall: a great double album covering everything from hardcore punk to folk to psychedelic rock.

KTSE – Teyana Taylor: Underrated R&B vocalist backed by old school sampled heavy Kanye beats.

Room 25 – Noname: live soul beats with unmatched lyrical wit.

Virtue – The Voidz: Strokes frontman returns with his best record since Room on Fire.

Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves: Psychedelic country recorded in Sheryl Crow’s barn.

The Longshot – The Longshot: Green Day frontman solo album in disguise. If it were a Green Day record, it’d be their best since American Idiot.  

  1. Be The Cowboy – Mitski

The first time I heard this album, it was on the train into Manhattan with two of my friends. We were all listening to it and exchanging excited looks. The second time I heard this album was about two hours later and it was live. Seeing Mitski the day this album came out no doubt influenced my opinion on it. I didn’t care for the single “Nobody” until I saw her singing and dancing and realized it was meant to be sarcastic. Now, it’s among my favorite tracks of the year. This album is Mitski’s huge leap forward. Her last record, Puberty 2, was a great breakout album that cemented her as one of the most popular up-and-coming artists in indie rock. This album loses the grungy guitars, screamed vocals, and most other indie signifiers. It cements Mitski as one of the greatest artists of our time, full stop. Not just indie. Over 14 songs, and only 32 minutes, Mitski breezes through too many genres to name and often forgos standard verse-chorus structure. Sometimes, her lyrics read more like freeform poetry than pop lyrics. Yet this does not feel like an experimental album. It is as catchy and emotional as any of the best pop records. Each song conveys an incredibly detailed story in around two minutes. It is truly hard to pick highlights on a record as great as this, but “Remember My Name” is sung from the perspective of a lonely musician who wants her audience to keep her in their mind after she’s done performing. There is no way I’ll ever forget Mitski’s name after this album.

 

 

Written by Jonah Skeen ’21

Pinegrove & I: A review of Skylight

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Pinegove & I: A review of Skylight

By Jonah Skeen (his show, Playing It by Ear, is on Wednesdays from 10-11pm)

 

Pinegrove and I are both from Montclair, New Jersey. There is no avoiding Pinegrove as an indie music fan in Montclair. For a while, that was a blessing. Evan Stephens Hall, the lead singer and mastermind behind Pinegrove, worked at the local bookstore. I grew up playing the same venues with my old punk band that Pinegrove had played when they first started out. I first heard them in 2012, back when they were solely a local treasure. I first saw them live February 12th, 2016, the day Cardinal, their sophomore album and breakthrough came out. After the show, I bought it on vinyl from Evan’s parents and he signed it and we talked for a little. They had generated buzz before Cardinal was released but when it was re-released in June, they really blew up. They opened for Into It. Over It. which at the time was a big break for them, but then they became way bigger than Into It. Over It. (Julien Baker, the other opener of that tour has also gone on to become pretty huge) They played to huge crowds at Panorama, Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, Primavera Sound and pretty much every other major music festival in summer 2017. I saw them three times on the touring behind Cardinal including the release show. The second time was also in Montclair and I took a picture with Evan and Adan, the bassist, afterwards. The third time, they sold out the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. In Montclair, you expect everyone to know the lyrics and sing along but it was surreal seeing a band I grew up with become huge nationally.

Over the summer 2017, they recorded their third album Skylight, which this is ostensibly a review of, and in November, released the first single “Intrepid”. They seemed poised to release a hugely successful indie album. Then, sexual coercion allegations surfaced against Evan. I recommend reading this piece from Pitchfork to learn the full story. Essentially, Evan made a confusing statement regarding the situation and the band went on hiatus. I remember getting ready to head home for thanksgiving break, hearing the news, and walking around a nearly empty Dickinson campus in a haze. How could someone I grew up singing along to and identifying with do something so horrible to another human being? Many Pinegrove fans felt similarly betrayed and shocked. Over the next year, the Pinegrove story was all anyone in the indie scene in Montclair talked about. I know people who know members of the band so I heard information here and there: the album was done but it wasn’t coming out, Evan was in therapy in Montclair, Nandi, the keyboardist and other vocalist and Evan’s foil, had quit to pursue a solo career as Half Waif. Many, myself included, declared Pinegrove “cancelled”. I didn’t listen to their music, as much as it meant to me, for a year until I could hear the full story. On Wednesday, I heard the full story via the Pitchfork piece. What had happened was that Evan verbally coerced someone who was in a relationship to sleep with him. There were not multiple allegations and the victim did not want their story to be public. They merely wanted Evan to go to therapy to address his issues and for Pinegrove to refrain from touring for a year. Pinegrove decided that this was the right course of action and were planning on keeping the situation private via the victim’s wishes. But the organization Punk Talks mishandled the situation and insinuated that there were multiple allegations against Evan and the situation went public leading to Evan’s confusing statement. Buried deep within the article, Evan revealed that they had parted ways with Run For Cover, their label, and were self released their third album, Skylight, on September 28th. I thought long and hard about Pinegrove’s place in my life and if I could morally listen to their album. Since the victim approved of them releasing it and all profits from the album are going to the charities Musicares, the American Foundation for Suicide PRevention, and the Voting Rights Project, I decided that I could listen to Pinegrove again.

The album was released a little over an hour ago on Pinegrove’s bandcamp page without any posts to their social media. I’m listening to it for the third time. No one tasked me with writing this and I don’t know how many will read it but it is important for me to write. The album was completed prior to the allegations being made public but some of the lyrics eerily foreshadow Evan’s period of intense therapy, reflection, and rehabilitation. The first line of the album is “I draw a line in my life/ singing this is the new way I behave now/ and actually live by the shape of that sound.” Some of these songs have been in my life for a while. “Angelina” is a re-recorded version of a song they originally released in 2015 and the higher fidelity and more forceful drums do not even come close to majesty of the live version of their Audiotree session. “Paterson + Leo” had been a live stape of the entire Cardinal tour and the new version is vastly superior to the live acoustic version that was included on the European version of Cardinal. I saw them played “Easy Enough” and “Thanksgiving” live and watched a live video of “Darkness” on youtube dozens of times. “Easy Enough” and “Darkness” both make for perfect movie montage road trip songs. “Thanksgiving” loses some of its charm in the sober album rendition.

 

Revamping old songs is not new territory for Pinegrove: Cardinal included a new version of “Size of the Moon” one of their oldest songs and Meridian, their underrated 2012 debut album, included a re-recording of what I still say is their best song “The Metronome”. Speaking of best songs, my favorite new song “No Drugs” is not on Skylight. As much as I love Cardinal, Pinegrove are best live. Though guitarist Sam Skinner is a talented mixer and producer, (his father Steve Skinner is a profession producer and worked on the hugely successful broadway show Rent. I used to be pretty close to Sam’s sister and have talked to Steve a lot and he even gave me his pocket Constitution.) Cardinal had a messy lo fi sound that I assume is intention homage to their 90s alt country and mid aughts Saddle Creek influences. Skylight is similarly lo fi, though the drums are much cleaner than on Cardinal and hints of keyboard and dreamy guitar effects creep into songs as opposed to the banjo and slide guitar of Cardinal. My biggest problem with Skylight is how similar it is to Cardinal. Obviously, the four years between their first and second albums gave Pinegrove more time to change their sound than the year and a half between Cardinal’s released and the recording of Skylight but half of the songs on Skylight sounds like they could be outtakes from Cardinal. Early single “Intrepid” is one exception, utilizing a proggier sound with less emphasis on Evan’s vocals. The title track introduces prominent acoustic guitar into the mix alongside swells of guitar feedback and brushed, muted drums and as a result is one of the highlights of Skylight. “Amulets” clocks in at a minute and uses quiet deep synth with slide guitar. It doesn’t have much of a tune though and ends before the song can build up any momentum. “Light On” embraces Pinegrove’s country and classic sixties pop influences in a way unheard on their studio albums. Evan’s father Doug contributes piano and vocals and though the piano is poorly recorded, it gives the track a bar closing vibe. I think if I came to Skylight without the moral burden of Evan’s actions and without the year long crisis of fandom that came with it, I would be much more likely to slather praise onto Skylight. It is a very good album to my ears, but seeing them debut the songs from it live like how I heard Cardinal would have made me love it. Knowing what I know now about Evan, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to connect with his music in the same way. In the year since I stopped listening to Pinegrove, I moved away from listening to the indie music that I grew up with and moved more toward hip hop, experimental, and electronic music. After diving deep into stuff like MF Doom, My Bloody Valentine, and Daft Punk, Pinegrove sound quaint by comparison. I recommend listening if you like stuff like Mitski, Hop Along, Front Bottoms, AJJ or any other emo band. Tune in next week for my thoughts on the new Kanye West album YANHDI and in a few months for the second edition of my top ten albums of the year roundup.

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First things first: I didn’t spend enough time with the Kendrick album or the Lorde album this year to justify their inclusion. In most polls I’ve seen this year they’re the clear front runners and both will deservedly face off next year in the Grammys.  So no Kung Fu Kenny but what did make the most prestigious best of list of the year?

 

  X: Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers

The title may be a Big Lebowski reference but unfortunately, this isn’t a stoner rock album about bowling.  Ms. Bridgers rights great music for staring out of car windows on a rainy day which is basically my favorite time to listen to music.  Check out “Motion Sickness” which throws heavy shade at her ex Ryan Adams (catch him later on this list). 

 

  IX: Colors by Beck

Beck original planned to release this around the same time as his 2014 Grammy winning folk snoozefest Morning Phase but the hype around the latter album convinced him to hunker down and work harder on the follow up.  Over the next three years, Beck dropped numerous singles, blew threw three release dates, and opened for U2 on their Joshua Tree tour before finally delivering an album.  Colors is his most optimistic and Pop-iest album yet.  In 2014, aka the year of “Happy”, this would’ve fit right in but in 2017 the album is jarringly escapist.  “Wow” was originally supposed to feature Chance the Rapper but it still bumps heavily.  

 

 VIII: Flower Boy by Tyler the Creator

AKA Blonde part 2.  If you liked Frank Ocean’s loosie singles this year like “Chanel” than you’ll love Flower Boy and not just the song Frank is on. It doubles as a coming out statement from one of rap’s most terrifying and often problematic voices.  Besides the previously mentioned Ocean featuring “911/Lonely Boy”, “Boredom” is a great song to start with.

 

 VII: The World’s Best American Band by White Reaper

That title is honestly not far off. If you like garage rock or power pop or whatever suburb kids make in their basements with distortion pedals then you’ll love White Reaper.

 

 VI: reputation by Taylor Swift

Is this a great album? No. Is it her worst album? Ehhhh maybe. It’s extremely entertaining and only like three of the songs are complete train-wrecks.  The more traditional second half of the album work is the best. “Getaway Car” sounds like a 1989 b-side which is a compliment coming from me.

 V. Harry Styles by Harry Styles

Who knew that Harry Styles would be this year’s’ most convincing 70s style rockstar?  Probably anyone paying attention to One Direction’s late career Fleetwood Mac fetish but back then I was too busy listening to Sun Kil Moon to bother.  Lo and behold, I barely made it through one of the new Sun Kil Moon albums this year but Harry’s solo debut has been a steady presence in my Spotify recently played. 

 IV. A Crow Looked At Me by Mount Eerie

This album is the sound of Phil Elverum grieving. It was recorded following his wife’s death from cancer, in the room she died in, on her instruments, Crow is among the most realistically sad albums you’re likely to hear.

 

 III. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty

His press antics always threaten to overshadow his music but his lyrics are still at least as interesting as his interviews, so I’ll keep listening.  The last one’s theme was marriage and sounded like upbeat NPR folk rock.  This one covers everything from religion to politics to something far scarier: Josh Tillman’s own thoughts.  Sure, it’s a 74 minute slog but the 70s soft rock production makes it a very pretty slog and the lyrics make it an extremely funny slog.

 II. Prisoner by Ryan Adams

His solo debut was entitled “Heartbreaker”, but after a divorce with actress Mandy Moore, Adams is now the one who’s heartbroken.  Following his full album cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989, Prisoner is Adams’s first album openly about his divorce with Moore and it sure shows.  Heartbreak has always been RyRy’s strong suit and Prisoner does not disappoint. By my ears, it’s his best album in over a decade. 

 

 I. Dark Matter by Randy Newman

Arriving nine years after Newman’s last album of newly written songs, Dark Matter is an absolute masterclass in songwriting. “The Great Debate”, “Putin”, and “It’s a Jungle Out There” are razor sharp satire.  “Lost Without You” and “Wandering Boy” are tear inducing. “Brothers” is an imagined conversation between Jack and Bobby Kennedy debating the merits of the Bay of Pigs.  The music sticks to Newman’s classic piano man leading a big band template, but rocks as hard as any punk record I’ve heard this year at times.

 

Written By Jonah Skeen