Blogs

I remember when I first started playing drums, they were the only thing I’d look for in music. I wanted to learn everything I could from the icons of my instrument. At this point in time, I was listening to music like a student in a classroom. I was there to gather...

Let me preface all the following adulation I have for this song with something I should just get out of the way in advance: I’ve never done acid, nor do I plan to. Today I will be venturing to veer myself ever so slightly in your general, psychedelic direction because...

Dating back to the 1970s, indie music has been criticized and celebrated for a variety of reasons. Today, we dive into the history of indie music and consider the future of the genre. Originally, indie was used to describe musicians who were independently financed and...

The experience of listening to music as a musician is something I want to explore. Being involved in some activity gives one a different perspective when watching others engage in said activity. One may be more critical watching others perform when they know the...

Before we start, I just wanna say that I hate being alone, so having to spend more than eight months living in solitary confinement was the worst thing ever. Heck, I was so scared I didn't even leave my apartment for more than two months, and the first time I really...

The influence that Tupac’s music, artistry, talent, and style has had on the next generation of rappers is easy to spot. Considered to be one of the most influential rappers ever, Tupac was the foundation for most if not all rappers. However, there is one modern-day...

Things are so strange and different these days, it can be difficult to accept or even understand what the new normal is. Social distance has become such a familiar state of mind to us, but it’s completely reasonable to feel frustrated with this newfound solitude and...

I wanted to start this article with something along the lines of “I couldn’t put my finger on why I love this record” but that would be disingenuous both to you, the reader, and to me, the author. Not only do I love this record, I outright adore it. Thanks to perhaps...

Chart-topping, mainstream hits are seldom acknowledged within the intersection of cross-genre ingenuity. Folk, alternative, and rock elements are at the core of every pop song, and the dismissal of the pop genre as a commodity rather than an art form is entirely...

A couple of months ago, I wrote a piece about ​Cats (2019)​ and how sometimes, stories should simply be left in the hands of live performance. When it deals with something as whimsical and strange as cats in a junkyard competing to be the subject of their annual...

My Favorite Tracks:​ August, At All, How Can I Know You?, Last Week If you’re looking for a lofi, indie-folk experience, ​Know it All​ by Carmen Canedo is for you. Canedo, a student at AU, is no stranger to the music scene. Apart from already having an album under her...

I have mad respect for Aghiles Ahmim. For one thing, the dude’s my friend. For another, he’s stupidly efficient at making his art. I can’t say I have ever met someone as determined to invest such an insane amount of effort and passion into their work as this kid is,...

The order of songs on any given album holds some importance to varying degrees. This order is extremely important for a concept album or anything that tells a story from start to finish. In these cases, songs can be like scenes in a movie or chapters in a book; the...

Well, I'm very sorry for that TikTok reference, but I just can't help it (I think I really ruined my life the moment I downloaded that cursed app though our time together has been concerningly fun). Anyways, today is officially the last day of my self-quarantine...

10APART is a local hip-hop duo from Montgomery County, Maryland, who has a growing fanbase in the DC metropolitan area. After releasing eight singles on Spotify, Jonny Zeleke and Mike Getachew plan to keep dropping songs and establishing their online presence. They...

For those of us who feel like stir-crazy wild animals right now, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a perfect escape from reality. In a symmetrical stop-motion world, Mr. Fox is trapped within his unfulfilling life and, along with his woodland family and friends, must face the...

Fountains of Wayne was the first band I ever saw live. I was still a kid, not even ten yet, but they had already been playing in my head for years. As a kid growing up in NYC, some of their songs felt prophetic. Lyrics from “No Better Place” and “Survival Car” felt...

Astrology is a complex study of the relationships between the sun, moon, stars, and planets that ultimately come together to influence human’s actions. There are 12 different signs and each individual has a specific zodiac sign and horoscope depending on when their...

I've written before about the great communal experience of going to concerts. Being in the same place with others who share your love of a particular artist can be a powerful experience. On a good night, the audience can meld into one being, dancing and singing along...

Reflecting on a time when movie theaters were still open, I have spent a substantial amount of my free time thinking about a film I saw earlier this year, Uncut Gems. Following their previous hit Good Time, visionary brothers Josh and Benny Safdie collaborated once...

The past couple of weeks have truthfully been some of the most alarming and paralyzing weeks of my life with leaving my life at college to move back home amidst the largest public health crisis of our lifetime. However, even when the world is turning upside down,...

In March of 2015, Thebe Kgositsile aka Earl Sweatshirt gave the public a look inside the mind of a tortured isolationist in his darkest and most honest work yet, “I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside.” Now, five years later, the album is more relevant than ever in...

With recent developments regarding COVID-19, many states have been placed on lockdown, and the federal government has started to recommend “social distancing,” which entails staying at least six feet apart from others, as well as not attending events or gatherings of...

Though The Stooges and Cage the Elephant do not sound remotely similar to each other, the lead singers of both bands are cut from the same cloth. For a Respect the Classics first, the lyrics and sounds of these two bands will not be compared; instead, let’s talk about...

Since I was about 12, I’ve had some pretty nasty on-and-off periods of major depression. It becomes kind of blurry when it would stop and start up again, but I know for certain that I only really started coming out of it in a major way a little over a year ago. It’s a...