'Almost Famous' is not real life

Big Day Out held a media accreditation competition with the prize of interviewing the artists and in the description they said "like Almost-Famous style". With this film reference, I assumed they were allowing 16-year-olds to enter since the protagonist of 'Almost Famous' was sixteen and writing for Rolling Stone. The requirement was to write a music review of Arcade Fire's 'Afterlife' and at that time I knew nothing about Arcade Fire but I thought I may as well give it a go. I worked hard on this review with 'Afterlife' continuously on repeat.  I also delved into the background of Arcade Fire through wikipedia, youtube and other magazine articles. There were moments where I just thought, "do I even bother?", and I hadn't even finished the review by the day entries were closed. On the day I planned to submit it, I read the terms and conditions where I discovered I didn't meet the criteria. I wasn't 18 years old and I wasn't living in Australia. I was conflicted, "Do I or do I not send it in?", but I realised it would have been a waste if I didn't submit it. 

Heres my review:

Afterlife - Arcade Fire

The veterans of alternative music have effortlessly revived the Internet hype once again with their dance-rock fusion, Afterlife, clocking more than 1,000,000 youtube views in less than 2 weeks of its release. There’s been immense pressure for Arcade Fire to meet the high expectations of fans and critics after the release of the Grammy award winning album, The Suburbs. Patient fans shall be in for a pleasant surprise with the unpredictability of Afterlife and its genre-bending disco beats, Haitian inspired rhythms and resonating 80s synth. The song’s energetic pulse is complimented by the angelic backing vocals and Win Butler’s hushed voice that could easily be mistaken for Morrisey’s.  The ascending sequence of punchy French horns leads to the pinnacle before it suddenly dies down to the outro.  As Afterlife closes, Arcade Fire cleverly mimics a heartbeat as if someone is on life support, relating back to the song title. Butler’s melancholic singing comes into play, “its just an after life”, while he comes to terms with death over the minimal instrumentation – leaving a haunting impression on the listener. In 2013, we live in a culture obsessed with dance music for some unexplainable reason and Arcade Fire has showcased their ability to adapt to the current market in order to remain competitive and relevant. They have done this without selling their soul to the devil but with integrity as they remain loyal to themselves and their fans.

Almost a month later, I received an email informing me that I was finalist for the competition but I had to give them my details. 16 years old and living in Auckland. Obviously ruined my chances of winning but I'm proud that I was even a finalist since the entries would have been works of university students. They haven't announced the winners yet but I'm kind of hoping/wishing that they think my review is too good to dismiss and then they would give me the opportunity to be 'Almost Famous'.

- freak out

p.s. I know music journalism is dying. 

M.I.A is back with power, power!

Rating: "wow, this is even better than the day I met Justin Bieber"

No matter how many lawsuits, album setbacks and disagreements with Interscope, M.I.A IS BACK AND KILLING IT. Matangi has proven that the three years of strenuous work and wait has been worth it.  This album's release date has been pushed back by almost 12 months and during this time M.I.A got so sick of Interscope delaying the release date that she threatened to leak the album herself  - talk about bad ass, am I right? I love M.I.A so much.  I don't care how Hirschberg portrayed her in "that" 2010 article. She's one of the very few artists that has a strong message  and makes us think about the issues in our world. As a coloured young woman, I can easily relate to her and therefore she is someone I really look up to in the music industry.

M.I.A delivers Matangi with her signature abrasive production while she displays ability to create variations in her vocal presence. The album opens with Karmageddon, a meditational track with whispering vocals and resonating drum beats - the calm before the storm. Throughout this album, M.I.A has cleverly repeated a motif of a wavering sitar and the hypnotising sound of "om" (a hindu mantra), which connects certain songs together such as Karmageddon and Warriors. However M.I.A's overuse of repetition has caused me some confusion as track 7, Exodus, and the closing track, Sexodus, are near-identical. Maybe she's trying to reinforce the message or maybe its suppose to be an encore sort of thing. Since M.I.A has signed to Interscope, I can see the influence of major record label on this album as there are more "hits" for radio compared to her previous albums.

My top picks of this album are Boom Skit, Come Walk With Me and Y.A.L.A. I enjoy these songs the most mainly because they are super catchy, which is shallow of me but at least all of M.I.A's songs have some sort of message anyways. 

Boom Skit is a short and sweet track that sits just above the one minute mark in length. Over a cheerful sample loop, M.I.A directs our attention to the occurrences of racism in our ignorant society.

Come Walk With Me is an obvious "radio hit" with its simple melodies and dance production as well as its lack of controversial content that M.I.A is known for. It is a "feel-good" song where you don't have to be a good singer to sing along with M.I.A. The song closes with a sample from M.I.A's 2007 song, Bamboo Banga, that insists "M.I.A is coming back with power, power!" and I agree - she is back with power and stronger than before. 

Y.A.L.A (you always live again - a spin on the popularised #YOLO) is another contender for radio play as it verges towards the dance genre instead of alternative. I'm going to be honest here; this song actually reminds me of K-pop and I am fascinated by K-pop at the moment so that probably contributes to my enjoyment of this song. M.I.A believes in Karma (a prominent theme throughout Matangi) and suggests that we should consider the consequences of our actions since "you always live again", instead of doing stupid things and "the same shit" because "you only live once".

I adore M.I.A and I reckon Matangi truly showcases her skills as a musician, messenger and artist.  I predict this album will help push music forward with its innovative production as I know it has inspired me and therefore will have inspired many others. 

-freak out

Never thought I was going to say this... I like Lorde

Ever since NZ radio started playing Lorde, I despised her with a passion. I hated the fact that a 16-year-old girl was doing extremely well in the industry I plan to be apart of. I thought "damn, how am i going to make it big now?" because lightening doesn't strike twice. Listening to the radio was risky. I snarled each time I heard the entrance of the muffled drumbeats of Royals. I thought she was some serious try-hard-tumblr-teen-angsty girl.  

Rewind to January 2013 - I discovered Lorde on here (before Royals hit the radio) and I absolutely loved her. I linked her soundcloud to all my friends so lets say she owes part of her success to me. I even messaged her on tumblr in which she replied back and I doubt she would be able to respond to any tumblr messages now. Then the radio came into play and everyone was like "oh my gosh, can't believe she's sixteen!"- this got on my nerves like a fat kid on a trampoline. Her age has contributed a lot to her success - Would people still be in awe of her if she wasn't sixteen?

I hated having Lorde's success rubbed in my face because I felt as if I was going nowhere (and I still feel this way). How can this girl thats so similar to me and my friends reach #1 on the US Billboard charts? She's making a living from music, travelling around the world and meeting all these interesting people, while we're stressing out about NCEA exams and hoping that New Years will meet our high expectations. I also hated the fact that Lorde was developed for 4 years making me question if she was manufactured to not be manufactured. Maybe it was the label's tactic to appease the teenage community that is "alternative" obsessed? You can say that I was jealous. 

She's grown on me. 'Team' is by far my favourite song of hers as it helped softened my distaste for her. Being an Auckland teenager as well, I identified so easily with  'Team' as she speaks for all of us.

We live in cities you'll never see on screen / Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run free

 I like her now since I've realised that if we met we would get on pretty well. She admitted in an interview that she was "pretty arrogant" and thats what made me relate to her. Odd, huh? I know I'm "pretty arrogant" as well and I don't even care that its a negative connotation (thanks to Kanye).  I'm confident and comfortable with myself, which people misinterpret as "arrogant". Call me a hypocrite though - I don't usually like other arrogant people.

 Lorde is everywhere. If I can't escape it then I'll embrace it.

- freak out

p.s I didn't talk much about her music but I'll add that her songs' productions are my favourite aspects of her music. I think her producer, Joel Little, deserves a lot more credit than he has received.

Directioners are going to hate me

When I was fifteen, I made the impulse decision to buy One Direction tickets for their Sunday 13th October 2013 concert in Auckland, taking a risk as there was a chance that within the 18 months I would out grow my obsession with them. Now I'm 16 and I don't have that intense desire for them anymore as I did when I was 14-15, which worried me so the 24 hours leading up to the concert I did my best to waken the 'directioner' inside of me. I had high hopes for the concert and I was genuinely excited. However, I went to the Auckland concert last night and I'm not entirely sure if it was a good concert or not. I'm not sure if my $130 was well spent.

To me, a good concert is when you (the audience) feel connected to the performer in some way, whether they make you feel special or they inspire you.  One Direction didn't make me feel that way. In saying that, I was dancing, singing and screaming along with fellow teenage girls and just going crazy. I mean, how could you not go crazy over Harry's voice? And luckily for the boys, it's almost impossible to forget lyrics when theres around 12 000 girls singing every word in unison. The main reason why I didn't think it was 'top notch' concert is that I felt as if they didn't mean what they were saying like "Auckland, you just may be the loudest concert we've ever played!" I know every performer says the city they're playing in "is the best ever" but at least most of the time its believable. It just seemed like they were saying the exact same thing at every concert like it was scripted. 

They somehow managed to looked like they were enjoying themselves while being bored at the same time. I don't blame them though, last night was their 118th concert of their Take Me Home tour. I can imagine every show, every crowd and every city all becomes the same to them. Nothing stood out to me apart from Liam's impressive beat boxing and that Harry looked 'damn fine'. I have a theory that they didn't put all their efforts in last night because they know they can make girls go ballistic by just doing the pettiest of things such as touching their hair.  

I do have a lot of respect for them as they have come a long way since their  X Factor days. I remember being obsessed with them when they only had two songs, What Makes You Beautiful and Na Na Na, and so I just had to watch their X Factor performances and interviews over and over again to give me satisfaction. I can't help but feel proud of them even though its not about the music anymore. 

Maybe if I had better seats I would be saying different things. 

Although I wasn't 100% pleased by their concert, I still can't stop listening to Little Things.

- freak out

(photo source: http://www.3news.co.nz/Entertainment/Photogallery/tabid/768/articleID/317119/Default.aspx)

interviews are so under-rated: Kanye West and Zane Lowe

"If you're a Kanye West fan, you're not a fan of me. 

You're a fan of yourself. You will believe in yourself"

So BBC Radio 1 has recently finished releasing  4 parts of an one hour interview with Kanye West. The interviewer is a radio personality called Zane Lowe and may I say that he is the best interviewer I've ever seen? And a big bonus that he's from Auckland! He's unlike any interviewer. He doesn't shove two-dimensional questions in Kanye's face and it's like he's a friend or a therapist to Kanye, who is overly aggressive and so "in-your-face". I love the beginning of part 3 where Kanye sheds his ego for a moment to inspire us, his fans (or his haters) to be ambitious and he's the "espresso" to get us "going". I don't even drink coffee (I'm more of a green tea person) but I'll let Kanye be my caffeine boost. 

Zane also did an interview with Jay-Z a couple of months ago in the same set up of an one hour interview divided into four parts. It's so interesting to watch because Jay-Z and Kanye are so contrasting. Jay-Z is so humble and chill, which allows the interview to become an informative conversation rather than an interview. It seriously feels like two friends just talking to each other and when they laugh, you laugh with them. Heres part 1 of the interview:

I'm really impressed by how Zane handles these interviews with these massive stars. Seriously, how was he so calm and composed? And his appreciation and knowledge of music is so vast!  It's always great to see a Kiwi being successful outside of New Zealand.

- freak out

Heres a playlist: 'Screw Stress'

What do most of us do when we are stressed?

Listen to music

From here and beyond until I finish my last NCEA exam of 2013, I know I am going to be extremely stressed and I know heaps of other people will feel the same.  So heres a playlist that could be played while you're relaxing in the bath with a burning vanilla scented candle or you can play it while you are studying your arse off.

1. Up in Flames - Coldplay

A fairly slow song with repeating piano chords and a constant drum beat complimenting Chris Martin's almost-a-whisper voice, which make this song more intimate and soothing.

2. No Surprises - Radiohead

One of my favourite songs of Radiohead with its tinkling glockenspiel making it almost dream-like or like a baby's lullaby.

3. Across the Universe - The Beatles

The Beatles were inspired by their time in India which is obvious within this song through the chant 'jai guru deva om' (which translates to 'I give thanks to Guru Deva') and also heard through the Indian guitar - the sitar and, which allows this song has a meditational sense to it.

4. Yayo - Lana Del Rey

This is a classic Lana song as it features in her first e.p Kill Kill, her debut album (Lana Del Rey a.k.a Lizzy Grant) and also in the Paradise edition of Born To Die - truly shows how far she has come. It has a more acoustic sound with the simple plucking of the guitar strings and the echoing of her vocals.

5. Chelsea Hotel No.2 - Leonard Cohen

Cohen wrote this song in memory of Janis Joplin, whom he was close with, and it has a sense of romanticism without being cheesy. I think Cohen's lyrics truly standout from the minimal production and you can definitely feel his grief through each note.

6. Dream A Little Dream Of Me - Doris Day

I love this version of this song as its jazzy and cool. The improvisation and trills of the piano compliments Doris' breathy, low voice. The subtleties of this song such as the tapping drum beat and strings really hold this song together.

7. Strawberry Swing - Frank Ocean

A great rendition of Strawberry Swing, which was originally written by Coldplay, it was re-written by Ocean as he showcases his song-writing talents over another musician's backing. The driving rhythms and electric guitar riff makes this song uplifting and just makes you feel good.

8. Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

For anyone thats read 'Perks of being a wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky will know that 'Landslide' is the tunnel song that helped create the feeling of 'infinite'. Need I say more?

9. The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

Always gotta have a bit of folk to relax the mind haha. This song is quite a percussive piece but it beautifully opens with the harmonisation of whispering vocals.

10. Claire de lune - Claude Debussy

"Classical" music is perfect for studying as it doesn't have lyrics that may distract you from your studies. Debussy's works aren't classified as 'classical' but it is actually impressionist music which relates to the impressionism movement in art. Debussy was inspired by impressionist art and mainly aims to paint a picture for the listener. Just listen to the colourful harmonies and think about what Debussy is trying to portray (if you aren't trying to memorise Shakespeare quotes for your English exam).

Magna Carta Holy Grail

There has been a lot of hype on the release of Jay-Z's latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. And holy crap, I have been saturated with excitement and I'm currently listening to the album as I'm typing. Let's just say, Jay-Z has not let me down and lived up to the hype. I have "mad respect" for Jay-Z.

I even had a dream last night that I tried to get a job at a record store and as I was there to hand in my CV, I came across Magna Carta Holy Grail on the stands for $80 and almost all sold out. I freaked out so I had to buy it for $80  but it wasn't just a music album, it was also like a film told by the songs. Then I just remember videoing myself on vine whilst listening to it in my New York apartment that had brick walls. Now back to reality, this album has seriously been haunting me I swear. Today I was walking home and where there was previously a poster for Engelbert Humperdinick's Auckland concerts or something, there was a minimalistic poster that focused on the letters MCHG, which was a reminder for me to listen to this album.

If you think about it, not many rappers have lasted as long as Jay-Z in the rap game as a successful rapper, like seriously, he's 43. I think why he has had a longevity is because he is not just a rap artist, he's also a business man with an ethic to be "the best" by being innovative. Looking at his career as a whole, Jay-Z has gotten better with age like some fancy wine.

Anyways, the standouts on MCHG in my opinion is Holy Grail ft. Justin Timberlake, Oceans ft. Frank Ocean and Somewhereinamerica.

Holy Grail is the perfect opening track. For the fans that have been following the samsung promo videos then they would be familiar with the piano and guitar riff, which allows the excitement to arise like "wow, this is what I've been waiting for". Justin really hits the spot with a his yearning, soft tone and flowing melodies but he adds attitude when he says "Holy Grail", which introduces Jay-Z's verse. Justin's voice truly compliments and contrasts Jay-Z's vocal presence.

Oh how I love Frank's voice. I think thats why I like this song but then also Jay-Z's verses are sizzling hot and always relating back to the title and theme of Oceans. I think Frank really carries this song and Jay-Z is probably just giving the singers most of the spotlight, which is something that is rarely done in hip hop song as singers mostly just sing about 8 bars or something like a chorus.

 Somewhereinamerica, at a glance, seems to be an overview of pop culture as Jay-Z mentions Miley Cyrus and twerking, which really made me giggle. This song is just a fun song with a saxophone riff accompanied by piano chords and a heavy drum beat. It almost could be a possible reference to Jay-Z's work on the Great Gatsby soundtrack as it has a very jazzy sound and he also mentions "new money" which is a direct reference to the book. The Great Gatsby is about the "American dream" whereas this song is pretty much about living his "American dream".

Despite all these positives, I feel that this album shows no development in Jay-Z's artistry and his rapping style remains the same. In my opinion, an album should be reflect the growth of the artist. The production and beats are the only aspects that indicate the difference between this album and his previous album. Apart from the three songs that I think are the stand outs, most of the other songs are rather weak. The album as a whole has its great moments, its mediocre moments and forgettable moments so therefore its quite an unbalanced album.

I also found out the other day that Jay-Z used a beat produced by a 16 year old girl and the end result can be heard as track 8, 'Crown'. I'm happy for that girl, go her! I am a little bit jealous but I think its so cool.

I give this album my rating of 'man, this is almost as good as peanut butter chocolate'


- Freak out

Hip Hop Hooray

I live and die for Hip Hop

This is Hip Hop for today

I give props to Hip Hop so Hip Hop hooray

-Naughty by Nature

What would you respond if I asked you; what comes to your mind when you think about the term 'hip hop'? 

When we think about the term 'hip hop', we often just think about Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem or if you are a 'hip hop enthusiast' then you would probably say Tupac, Biggie or possibly Nas. 

Either way, its most likely to be a rap artist. Today, hip hop is mostly known as a genre of music so we often forget it is also a culture, a movement. 

The hip hop movement is so great because music, art, dance and language move together and are apart of the same culture. Its like how the impressionism movement consisted of art influencing music. However, it is so unique that under that one name, 'hip hop', it can consist of so many things. 

Jay-Z once explained the hip hop influence on the Great Gatsby soundtrack saying something along the lines that we currently live in the "hip hop age" as in the 1920s it was in the "jazz age" and that by having the hip hop influence on the soundtrack, it allows the audience to feel how the people felt about jazz in the 1920s. Hip hop has been a growing genre/movement/culture since the 80s and continues to grow with possibly the fastest rate out of the "genres" (except for the techno/house/dubstep/electro/dance genre as that is currently dominating the top40 charts). If we just talk about the rap artists; you can see a big difference and development in rapping ability if you compare a rap song from the 80s such as 'The Message' by Grandmaster Flash (I love this song) to one from today such as .. hm, lets just say... Ten Thousand Hours by Macklemore. I'll talk more about rap and rap artists at a later date. 

The "N" word is often associated with hip hop as many rappers use this word and it has become a popular word in today's culture even though its origins are very offensive. However, the hip hop community have been saying it as a way to desensitise and wear out the meaning of it, it's almost as if their rubbing it into people's faces (mostly white people's faces - not being racist, just referring back to history). With hip hop's world domination, I even hear rich white boys saying it, which really makes me cringe. 

Hip hop has truly dominated the world as it has broken barriers of race as it is acceptable for a hip hop fan/dancer/rapper to be white, hispanic, asian, european, etc. However, there aren't many asian rappers and I feel that barrier still has not been fully broken and I've noticed that successful rappers are often either black or white, nothing in between. I recently saw an instagram photo of A$AP Rocky on stage with many white arms reaching out to him and I thought this photo was so interesting as it showed a total reversal of roles.  

This movement/culture/genre has developed so much since its humble beginnings in South Bronx in the 1970s. Hip hop seriously consists of so many things that i can't all cover in this post or you would get bored and not read everything but I will most likely talk about it in the future. 


If someone asked you, "what comes to your mind when you think about the term 'hip hop?"

I hope your answer would be different to what you would say before you read this post. Hopefully now you see hip hop as more than a genre but also a movement, a culture and an influence on today's society.



That's all for today, folks.
- Freak

P.S.This post was mainly aimed to set out a basis of my future posts but I hope it shows you the greatness of hip hop. 

under the influence of LDR

It's insanely difficult to find music like Lana Del Rey's or even anyone remotely similar to her. Trust me, I've tried searching because I want to find other music like hers just so my 'Top 25 Most Played' on my iTunes isn't all Lana Del Rey, (rather sad, really). However, when she made her breakthrough in 2011 with her flower crown and 'tumblr-esque' photos, I absolutely hated her. I researched her and I found out her father was a millionaire so I thought she obviously must have used connections to get to where she was and I was like "oh my gosh, who does she think she is?". Look at me now, I'm on the other side of the spectrum as she has totally grown me and 'turned this hater into a lover'. I even do a pretty good Lana impression that I showcase often.

I love how she is an artist. She has said "I just want to make my life a work of art" but I reckon she is a work of art, the "Lana Del Rey" masterpiece. She has carefully and thoughtfully created her image and persona that she portrays in her songs and the public eye. She is not just a musician but an artist because she not only focuses on her music but she considers other factors to create a whole "work of art". She is not overly-sexualized which allows girls to be able to relate to her and want to be her. Seriously, Lana is pure class. She has gone through a number of transformations to get to where she is now. She was not blessed with the name of Lana Del Rey but she was Elizabeth Grant, daughter of a millionaire (apparently). She roamed New York, living in a trailer park as Lizzy Grant tried to pursue her musical career by singing in bars and open mic nights. By the sounds of it, Lana has made her life a "work of art" as she has created and altered her life to live her fantasy. As much as I love Lana, I slightly disagree with her persona of a Lolita character with a desire for passion and love from a man even though she makes it sound romantic but I believe that it's important to be a woman that doesn't need love from someone else to feel worthy. Although Lana is a strong, independent woman in her own right.

If you think about it, Lana has influenced today's pop culture and trends. Lana is Queen of tumblr.There are countless references to Lana lyrics, music videos, and flower crowns (let me just add that flower crowns are "so last year") on the typical-teenage-tumblr community. You may say flower crowns are "Frida Kahlo" not Lana but Lana brought it back in style and made today's generation aware of Frida's flower crowns. Haven't you  noticed that people are really into 'old hollywood' these days? Well, Lana obviously started that trend. We all must know that famous photo of Lana leaning on a wall with her hair in vintage curls, wearing a white "Hollywood" T-shirt and a gold chain necklace has set off a wildfire of trends in 2011 and 2012, think about it. Before Lana, I don't think I've ever heard that kind of singing over the top of a hip hop production and now i've noticed that more and more singers are using heavy drums and hip hop beats in their music but then again I guess we are living in the "hip hop age". Its odd to think that she only started song writing when she was 18, i think her poetic skills definitely benefited her as she initially wanted to become a poet, she cites Walt Whitman as one of her favourites as she also has a song called "Body Electric" where she borrows a line from his poem "I sing the body electric".


Heres a look at the transition and development of Queen Lana:

I've watched so many videos of Lana being so kind to her fans as well. She is truly a respectable woman and carries herself with dignity and grace. As an aspiring musician, she shows me that art is not just my music but I, myself, am a work of art that delivers the message to others... ( I guess. I'm trying to think of something cool but I have no time because I really should be doing my school work)

I have to go now.

Laters, my pals!

- Freak