Blogs

Hello, and welcome to the very first issue of my column– The 411. I’m very happy to have you! My name is Miranda, and I’m a sophomore in the Business & Entertainment program here at American. It just so happens that I also love to write. For this column I’ll be...

The first time I heard fredo disco, I felt seen as an insufferable teenager. His music was the perfect blend of pop punk, midwest emo, and the weird (yet slightly funny) guy from your calculus class who makes sarcastic comments. This is to say: he was a relatable,...

Throughout the endless search to discover new music, a common Google search of mine has often begun with these words: "Music that sounds like ___.” Typically, inserting the name of an artist that I’ve been most recently obsessed with easily yields a plethora of...

The late, great Mac Miller had the right idea in his fourth studio album The Divine Feminine. To be honest, I had never heard of the term before its release in 2016, and I had no idea what it  meant. It’s a quite beautiful sentiment: the existence of the divine...

Now more than ever, the expanse of musical possibilities feels infinite. With so many sounds and arrangements possible thanks to modern production technologies, it seems like the only limit music can have is the human imagination. Why is it, then, that some sounds are...

Whether you are tuning in for one of the biggest sporting events of the year, to watch the extravagant ads, or to see the iconic halftime show, the Super Bowl has something for everyone to enjoy. If you’re anything like me, the most exciting part of the Super Bowl is...

Alternative dad rock. What is this genre you ask? It’s not modern. It’s also not classic. It’s the kind of music that your parents have playing on the radio in the car when you’re a kid on your way to the grocery store. It’s sung by a middle aged man alongside some...

As someone who has struggled with depression and is obsessed with music - listening to sad songs has probably done more harm than good. But the feeling of listening to raw vocals singing heart-wrenching lyrics is a feeling that almost brings comfort to the sadness....

Hello everybody! Welcome back to another Color Theory article! Quite frankly, it has been a bit gloomy out. I’m counting down the days till finals are over, it gets dark before my 4:05 class is let out, and everyone seems to be lacking in motivation. Thus, as I...

“Create Playlist.” The button is tempting, sitting at the top of my already packed Spotify library including over 50 public playlists, but, yet again, I decide to click on it. As I get started compiling songs together in order to emulate the emotion I’m experiencing...

December is a weird month. It doesn’t quite feel like winter, but the leaves have fallen off the trees and there is a definitive chill in the air. Putting together a playlist dedicated specifically to winter seems wrong in December because the season lasts until...

Hi everyone! Welcome back to Notes with Nicole. The semester is coming to an end, which means we will be returning home. For some that’s great, for others not so much. Here is a playlist that catches both sides. The bittersweet feelings of returning home from college:...

I was a casual fan of Indigo de Souza when I saw her perform this past April, but by the end of the night I was obsessed. She was one of those artists that is somehow even better live, delivering an indie rock performance full of emotion, passion, and heartfelt...

I think one of my favorite things about this column is that I can write about quite literally anything I want, so long as it pertains to music in some sort of way. Which is why I can go onto a tangent or two that should just stay in my head, because they really don’t...

Rina Sawayama performed her Hold The Girl Tour at the Fillmore Silver Spring on November 29th. Blessing the DMV with a concert that incorporated several genres, a high-energy performance, and a show to remember. Rina started the concert off by sharing her confusion...

Before his official album release of Actual Life 3, Fred Again.., a London-based electronic, pop, house DJ and producer, decided to go on a releasing spree in any way he could. On social media, Fred Again.. began to reach out to many different avenues for streaming...

It’s the time of year where you just can’t escape Spotify Wrapped—the app itself is bombarding  us with their own Wrapped propaganda, Instagram and Snapchat stories are flooded with  everyone posting their stats, and Twitter is rotating mockeries and memes on its...

Coming off of Thanksgiving break, all I want to do is go back home at the end of the semester. For me, coming off of a nice visit with my family only makes it harder to come back to AU. Feeling the warm nostalgia of the area I grew up in and having friends and family...

Combining rock and singer-songwriter elements, Julia Jacklin’s album PRE PLEASURE invites listeners to examine their own lives as Jacklin gives a voice to deeply personal yet common experiences and thoughts. PRE PLEASURE, released in August of this year, is Australian...

Three years ago, I received tickets to see Dermot Kennedy at the Upstate Concert Hall, a tiny, whole-in-the-wall venue outside of Albany, New York that prides itself in featuring artists on their way up or on their way down. In the case of Dermot Kennedy, he was on...

Before he was Cannes festival award winner, before he was a critically acclaimed producer, and before he worked with pop juggernauts like The Weeknd and Rosalia, Daniel Lopatin was just some guy in a New York basement apartment playing with a synthesizer. During the...

Nomenclature: 5 Songs For A Week In November Hey folks. Welcome back to another edition of Nomenclature. For this edition, we’re gonna be doing something a bit different. So if you came to read up on a heart wrenching indie track, I suggest checking one of my previous...

A few days ago I was, as many of us have been, listening to the 1975’s “About You” from their most recent album Being Funny In A Foreign Language. There are many reasons to love this song, and I agree with a lot of them: the nostalgia, just the overall sound, and...