Music

Q+A: Stephan Pennington talks music history, cultural appropriation

Assistant Professor of Music Stephan Pennington’s most recent research studies structures of cultural appropriation in the music industry. He describes three phases of cultural appropriation, by which the appropriated sound or style is taken farther away from its roots in steps. Pennington sat down with the Daily to explain these phases, point to past and present examples and talk about ways in which cultural exchange can be accomplished without appropriation or erasure.

Boston Symphony Orchestra takes listeners on exciting journey

Last weekend’s program at the Boston Symphony used music to tell a powerful story of art, politics and fear.The concert opened with an excerpt from the Shostakovich opera "LadyMacbeth of the Mtsensk District." Several years after its opening in 1934, Joseph Stalin saw the piece and was ...

The sound of protest music in 2015

“I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015,” Kendrick Lamar began, and it only got more honest from there. Just hours after winning the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Song, Kendrick released “The Blacker the Berry,” a song that palpitated with rage and self-loathing. Just months before, Kendrick ...

27th time around, Kidz Bop refuses to grow up

In the midst of this second-wave snow storm, what’s better to warm the heart than a choir of harmonious pipsqueak voices singing America’s top 40 hits in perfect harmony? The ever-popular Kidz Bop franchise has released its highly-anticipated  27th album, surprisingly entitled “Kidz Bop 27” ...

Will Freeman's wintry EP shows off maturing sound, vintage charm

Junior Will Freeman is about to embark on his semester abroad in Uruguay, but not before gracing listeners with a chilling new EP, entitled “Dispatches from the Snowglobe Heart.” Freeman, a political science major, is a familiar face in the Tufts underground music scene as the bassist/vocalist ...

Decemberists' new LP eases up, shows cozier side

The Decemberists have never settled for simple. Instead, they’ve released album after album of far-reaching, grand concepts: progg-y rock opera on “The Hazards of Love” (2009), pastoral Americana on “The King is Dead” (2011). All were mythical, theatrical and meticulously crafted.In “What ...

Viet Cong’s self-titled LP scorches across genres

Harsh and unrelenting, an aggressive drum beat opens the first track on Viet Cong’s self-titled debut album. The song “Newspaper Spoons” sounds more like a battle cry than a welcome to the band’s music, yet its intensity does not allow the track to become cookie-cutter metal or pop-punk. Two minutes into the song, which clocks in at three minutes 21 seconds,layers of tinkling keyboard melodies come in and add an extra dimension to the piece. While the grinding gritty rock feel is established, so too is the assertion that the members of Viet Cong know exactly what they're doing. They are, in three minutes and twenty-one seconds, established as rebels in an already rebellious sub-genre of music.

Guster’s catchy 'Evermotion' fails to offer anything new to indie rock

When Guster formed in 1992, soon after its members met at Tufts Wilderness Orientation, the band did not even have a real rock drummer. Founded by Tufts alumni Adam Gardner (LA ’95), Ryan Miller (LA ’95) and Brain Rosenworcel (LA ’95), the group cultivated a unique style based around Rosenworcel’s motley drum kit of congas and cymbals. Although this sound has dissipated since the band fell into the mainstream spotlight with “Lost and Gone Forever” (1999), many of its popular albums continued to incorporate unconventional percussive and melodic elements. However, with the release of its previous album “Easy Wonderful” (2010) and now 2015's “Evermotion," Guster has shed its early raw shell.

Parkay Quarts channels digital discontent in newest album 'Content Nausea'

It’s nearly impossible to find a band today that rejects the lure of social media as adamantly as the Brooklyn quartetParquet Courts. While the vast majority of popular artists (and even those who operate under the radar, for that matter) succumb to the supposedly indisputable claim that digital ...

RL Grime's 'VOID' straddles genres and takes them for a ride

Henry Steinway began releasing smash club hits under the name Clockwork, producing remixes of songs by the big dogs of the EDM scene like Avicii. He found some success under the Clockwork moniker, but his connection to the work he produced sometimes seemed tenuous. He now seeks to establish himself ...

This Christmas

I was in New York last weekend and was completely shocked when I passed a Pottery Barn with lit-up Christmas trees and teddy bears surrounding a big white bed with billowy covers. This seemed out of place considering it was Nov. 7. And then I passed Bryant Park, totally transformed into a skating rink surrounded by kiosks selling Christmas ornaments in the shape of your home state, a taxi cab or a cowboy boot. But it’s not even Thanksgiving yet!

Sam Weiser hopes to take advantage of the music-tech boom

Sam Weiser is a rare breed at Tufts: a computer science-savvy violinist who considers arts and academics equal opportunities. In fact, he’s one of only 12 remaining five year, dual degree students enrolled in both Tufts and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. For Weiser, a junior, choosing ...

Everly Brothers tribute album is fresh yet timeless

The idea of jazz singer Norah Jones and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong collaborating on a country album is plain bizarre. The smooth crooner and the punk rocker are on opposite ends of the musical spectrum — a fusion of the two would be pure mayhem ... right?With their Nov. 25 record, “Foreverly,” ...

Lea Michele fails to break into mainstream with debut album 'Louder'

Lea Michele, once a Broadway prodigy and now the starlet of Glee" (2009-present), released her debut album "Louder" at the end of February. Michele is a well-known actress with a loyal fan base. But the album is of particular note in light of the July 2013 death of her "Glee" co-star and boyfriend Corey Monteith. After a brief hiatus from the public eye, Michele remerged in spectacular fashion, joining the rest of the "Glee" cast for the show's fifth season as well as releasing her first record.

Real Estate continues to delight with smooth rock jams

Despite an ever-increasing infatuation with newer, technologically driven styles of electronic and hip-hop music, more relaxed melody-based music continues to find success among many audiences. Few bands today do a better job of sticking with a classic sound than Real Estate. The band's most recent album, Atlas," is a testament to the group's ability to successfully continue creating the exact same kind of music that characterized their rise to stardom.

Perfect Pussy crafts fiery, assertive debut

Sometimes it is the most convoluted, indecipherable messages that are ultimately able to have strongest impact. This is where Perfect Pussy finds its strength; despite the group's often hard-to-understand lyrics, their music is both powerful and compelling. Their debut album, Say Yes To Love," is a forceful, fiery experience, a 23-minute tirade that seems to be on the verge of going too far without ever actually breaking down. And, it turns out, resting on this edge is satisfying.

'Prism' fails to show musical maturity

If there is one thing that Katy Perry is known for, it's certainly not delicacy. Her latest release, Prism," is a colossal disappointment that can only be seen as a blemish in Perry's career and otherwise stellar discography. Skyrocketing to stardom with her 2008 single "I Kissed a Girl," Perry branded herself as the peppy bad-girl with whimsical fashion sensibilities and an affection for the '80s. Coming off of a failed career in the Christian music world, Perry jettisoned innocence for raunchy hooks and verses dripping with double entendre and innuendo - a tactic that worked spectacularly for the singer. Her debut "One of the Boys" (2008) was a strong, smart pop album that generated hit after hit, including "Waking Up in Vegas" and - arguably the best pop song of 2008 - "Hot & Cold." At their core, these songs were simple and easy to love.

Jessie Ware redefines genre in 'Devotion'

Calle 13 displays maturity on superb new album

Calle 13 has once again proven themselves to be one of the most important and gifted group of musicians to have emerged from Puerto Rico (if not all of Latin America) in the past 25 years. Although many Americans might not be familiar with the group, Calle 13 is proving more and more deserving of attention with their groundbreaking and genre-defying work. Their fifth album, Multi_Viral," comes after their record-breaking "Entren Los Que Quieran" (2010), for which they racked up numerous awards. They have the record for both the most Latin Grammys won in one night and the most Latin Grammys of all time for a group, with 19 to their name. With such an impressive record, it would seem almost impossible for Calle 13 to match the highs of "Entren Los Que Quieran" with "Multi_Viral," but the Hispanic group manages to do so easily.

Arcade music takes listener on wild journey

From the beginning of Mogwai's Rave Tapes," it's clear that the band has launched itself in a new direction. Channeling the same bombastic free-spiritedness of a ball in a pinball machine, the energetic and, at times, chaotic "Rave Tapes" is worth a listen. Somehow, the Scottish post-rock band is able to combine songs about rejecting the ideals of the media through spoken word with tracks that feel like the opening score of "Rocky" (1976). Indeed, for the adventurous listener, "Rave Tapes" is a journey worth taking.