Most people recognize that art is pretty cool. Whether we’re talking about hyper-realistic portraits and still lives that one can often find on Facebook or about some priceless works in a museum, everyone enjoys art in some way. Something else people really enjoy in this age of the all-powerful internet is memes.
There’s a scene in Donald Glover’s new television show Atlanta that speaks to me as a black male specifically.
Wikipedia classifies Bon Iver’s newest album, 22, A Million, as Folktronica. That is one way to describe it I guess. I think calling it Bon Iver’s Yeezus is a more comprehensive portrayal. The cover of the album itself should reveal the reductionist, modernist step that lead singer Justin Vernon takes on this project, infusing his folk roots with a new, exciting electronic backing. The tracklist supports this view. It looks like an e. e. Cummings poem infested with inexplicable numbers and figures.
In the last few days, the nation has shown itself to be incredibly divided after the results of the recent presidential election. Many of Americans are in shock, while others are celebrating what they see as a return to the values that make America great.
Poetry
You might not know who Son of Nun is and, to be honest, neither did I until about a month ago. That is more likely a result of our personal failings as sheltered college students, though, because in both the Baltimore music scene and amongst the city’s revolutionary movements, his name carries some weight.
Bond St. District, a group made up of rapper DDm (aka Emmanuel Williams) and producer Paul Hutson, released their first full album, A Church on Vulcan, on Nov. 4. The launch party was held last Saturday at the Ottobar.
The 29th annual Culture Show, sponsored by the JHU Office of Multicultural Affairs, took place last Saturday in Shriver Hall. A celebration of the diverse roots and vibrant backgrounds of the students on the Homewood Campus, the show featured performances from many Hopkins dance and a cappella groups.
October has come and gone, with a host of great music releases left in its wake. Here’s a few that’ll be talked about for the rest of this (short) year.
1. Electron microscopes
1. Awaken, My Love! by Childish Gambino
As an English major, I’m often irked by people who assume I’m headed to med school to become a doctor as soon as they learn that I’m at Hopkins. Since making my final college decision during senior year, I’ve found myself in this situation all too often, and I’m sure my fellow students who make up the “arts” of Arts and Sciences would agree.
Throat Culture presented Sketchcom to a packed audience in Arellano Theater last Saturday night. The showcase was directed by junior Joshan Bajaj and sophomore Michael Feder and featured both the new and returning members of Hopkins’ only sketch comedy troupe. The 12 hilarious scenes entertained a full house of Hopkins students.
In a serendipitous, some might even say spooky, coincidence, the Hopkins Film Society’s screening of Beetlejuice took place on none other than starring actress Winona Ryder’s 45th birthday, Oct. 29.
I had to fight to get into the Compound’s Halloween Party. My group and I arrived shortly after it had sold out. They were prepared to close the gates on us, and we only managed to enter after pointing to a few people departing the event and convincing the bouncer that they were exiting permanently. And so we snuck in right as the chain link fences were closing behind us.
Oct. 21 marked the release of the original cast recordings for Lazarus, a stage musical written and composed by David Bowie and Enda Walsh.
Up and coming band Royal Teeth creates music that can delight anybody. The band consists of four members, Gary Larsen, Nora Patterson, Thomas Onebane and Josh Hefner, all from Louisiana. They are currently touring with alt-rock band Rooney in anticipation of their Nov. 18 release of their new EP, Amateurs, from Round Hill Records. The News-Letter’s Hayley Bronner was able to sit down for a phone interview with singer Gary before their Baltimore concert. Here is what he had to say about touring, New Orleans and their new EP.
Meek Mill is coming off a horrific year. He was stuck in jail for months over a parole violation. He started a legitimate fight with Drake over a ghostwriting allegation that he backed up with hard evidence and still lost. He’s beefing with both Game and Beanie Sigel who released some vicious diss tracks (update: Game and Meek have squashed the beef) and the release date of his project was postponed by a stipulation in his probation that prohibited the release of new music.
Editor's Note: The first paragraph of this article has been deleted. The writer has apologized for the insensitive tone of the piece. Read his statement here.
