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(11/14/19 3:02pm)
Students from the Ball State University theatre programs will continue performing the musical "A Little Night Music" this week at University Theatre. The musical debuted last Friday, but the show still has two more 7:30 p.m. shows: Nov. 15 and 16.
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(11/12/19 6:06pm)
by Brandon Carson
The thought of Bob Dylan, who has proved to be a masterful lyricist/musician/poet/artist for over 50 years, playing in Muncie, Indiana, is a thought I’m sure surprised everyone in the city. Emens Auditorium at Ball State University was packed with people on the night of Nov. 2. There was one merch booth and one bar with a mile-long line. The band started playing promptly at 8 p.m., without an announcement or introduction. At 78 years old, Bob Dylan and his Band managed to play an incredible 19 song set, with a surprisingly good stage presence and performances.
(11/02/19 9:43pm)
by Brandon Carson
Kanye West needs no introduction. Coming out of one of his biggest and most controversial years in 2018, West announced the album Yandhi, similar to his 2013 record Yeezus. After delay upon delay, Yandhi never saw the light of day. Flash forward to 2019, and West has rebranded himself as a born-again Christian, leading many Sunday Services and eventually touring it. Throughout 2019, speculation started for when West would release his next record to follow 2018’s Ye. It was then announced on his website that Jesus Is King, an entirely new record, would release on Sept. 27, but it was also delayed. The album kept being delayed while West held listening parties in various cities, probably testing the audience reception of this new sound. The album ended up releasing Oct. 25 alongside a short film that shows his Sunday Service choir. At a short 27 minutes, Jesus Is King fills its role as a gospel album. Great production can be found throughout, but its length and missing potential makes some tracks feel unfinished, leaving holes throughout the record.
(10/31/19 8:42pm)
by Brandon Carson
Coming from the crumbled ashes of Creed, Alter Bridge took mainstream rock by storm in 2004 with songs like “Metalingus,” “Broken Wings,” and “Open Your Eyes.” Since then, they’ve put out one album every three years, keeping their releases pretty consistent, which is a good quality to have in a band. 2007’s Blackbird released to critical acclaim, taking the band further away from the stigma that they’re the same as Creed. Throughout their career, the band has come further into their own sound. AB III (2010) found the band experimenting with song structure, different musical styles, and having lead guitarist (Mark Tremonti) on vocals. Their magnum opus, Fortress (2013), featured the band’s strongest songs one right after the other, collecting every great aspect of the band into a single record. But, the band has not been without missteps; 2016’s The Last Hero was a record of clear intention that unfortunately fell flat with the songwriting. While it had some interesting and unique songs, a few others ended up sounding generic. On their latest album, Walk the Sky, the band continues to bore with bland songwriting and a safe, radio-friendly sound; however, there is still good to be found in this mixed bag of an album.
(10/21/19 2:13pm)
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/user-519363288/remixed-s4e1-all-mirrors-album-releases[/embed]
Welcome back to Remixed! This week, we discuss the latest album from Angel Olsen. How has her music changed with this recent release? How does this music reflect the artist's beliefs? Find out all of this and more on this week's episode of Remixed!
Hosted by: Jack Gillespie, Tanner Kinney, Matthew Yapp
Edited by: Katie Buchholz
Graphic by: Jack Gillespie
Thumbnail by: Katy Szpak
(10/18/19 9:37pm)
Photos by: Tt Shinkan
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(10/16/19 3:00pm)
by Tt Shinkan
(10/10/19 9:00pm)
by Arianna Sergio
Whether it’s the videos being spread on TV and online or people making their immediate snap judgements that are fueling an irrational fear of moshing, moshing is a dance that many people are intimidated by. However, nobody at PUP’s performance on Sept. 26 at the Old National Centre was intimidated by it. Throughout PUP’s performance, each of the band members mirrored the crowd’s energy. Each one was feeding off of the crowd’s moshing and rambunctious attitude. Despite a few errors, PUP delivered an extremely high energy and entertaining show from start to finish.
(09/27/19 3:42pm)
by Brandon Carson
Blink-182 have always stuck out from the great 90s pop-punk bands. Their immature wit and knack for writing great hooks sets them apart from others like Green Day and The Offspring. The band became a sensation with 1999s Enema of the State, a fun, tongue-in-cheek, and insanely catchy album that cemented the band a one of the best pop-punk bands. Over the years, the band matured with each record, eventually coming to 2003s Untitled record, still catchy yet the songs were serious, and the songwriting was tight and unique. After 2011s flop Neighborhoods, singer and lead guitarist Tom DeLong left the band after some more years of touring. The band then recruited Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba for touring, and later made the 2016 disaster that was California, a record that was trying too hard to feel nostalgic that came off generic and bland. Nine finds the band improving greatly upon California, but still falling into the same songwriting traps of generic lyrics, generic structures, and an over-produced sound.
(09/26/19 9:00pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
(09/25/19 5:57pm)
by Brandon Carson
There is no denying that Korn changed metal music back in 1994 with their self-titled debut album. Their completely raw approach to sound and inventive, groovy riffs were groundbreaking for the genre. The tracks were full of hard-hitting riffs mixed with atmospheric guitars and instrumentals. Jonathan Davis’ demented voice and twisted lyrics shook the metal world. One could say that it was Korn that introduced the world to “nu-metal,” a late 90s and early 2000s fusion of groove metal and hip-hop. By the time their third record Follow the Leader came out, Korn was on top of the world. However, once the band started to pander to a more radio-friendly audience, their sound gave way to a clean, straight-edge production that made the band lose their edge.
Now, 13 albums in, Korn has cemented itself as an essential metal band of the 90s and 2000s. Their early records have aged well and still sound great. But after their fifth record, Untouchables, in 2002, each album has been average, boring, and has added nothing new to their discography. Of course, there are some great ideas and songs on each of these records, but as whole albums, the pieces just don’t fit. The Nothing sees Korn back in a dark place, as Davis has gone through many traumatic experiences in his life, especially as of late. The record explores this trauma while still making average songs with no edge, forgettable riffs and hooks, and production that sounds like every other metal song on the radio.
(09/24/19 4:24pm)
by Jack Gillespie
Charli XCX’s career trajectory since 2015 has been incredibly thrilling to see unfold. Just one year after being a part of two of the biggest songs of the year (Iggy Azalea's “Fancy” and her own “Boom Clap”), she put out her EP Vroom Vroom in a collaboration with experimental producer SOPHIE that still stands as some of the darkest, out of left-field, yet enthralling projects to ever come from an artist as big as her.
Since then, with the help of the likes of producers SOPHIE and A.G. Cook (co-executive producer of Charli), she has been consistently putting out some of the most forward-thinking, extraterrestrial pop music out there right now. From her collab-heavy mixtapes ‘Number 1 Angel’ and ‘Pop 2’ in 2017 to a spew of singles released in 2018, and even an entire scrapped album, Charli hit the ground running in this new direction.
(09/19/19 5:30pm)
by Blake Chapman
Hip-hop, when compared to other genres of music, is probably the most diverse and unique for multiple reasons. The culture and history of rap has been paved by visionaries from the Jamaican immigrants of the Bronx in the 1980s, to the polarizing gangsta rap movement of the 1990s by groups such as the N.W.A. Today, artists like Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole speak to the injustices that the African American community still face while crafting some of the greatest lyrical masterpieces of the 20th century. One of the most prominent differences that hip-hop experiences over other forms of music is production.
A single rock band could produce the vocals, instrumentals, and proper mixing necessary for a platinum record in house. Rappers, on the other hand, create music in a much more team-oriented atmosphere. Even though the growth of Soundcloud has given rise to much more independent artists, most major stars still surround themselves with audio engineers, studio technicians and most importantly; producers.
Much like a movie director, the music producer is tasked with making the major decisions when it comes to how a project will sound and how to achieve the best performance out of the artist. While that may be a generalization, the role of producer encompasses everything from song writing to financial management. With that in mind, it should not come as a surprise that many signature musical artisans choose to tag their songs with lyrics synonymous with their style.
(09/17/19 9:00pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
(09/16/19 4:15pm)
by Katherine Simon
Disclaimer: While this review does not contain spoilers for Steven Universe: The Movie, it contains spoilers for the events of Steven Universe.
When one thinks of influential children’s cartoons from the 2010s, Steven Universe is one of the first that comes to mind. Since its debut in 2013, Rebecca Sugar’s brain child has been praised for its three-dimensional cast of characters, beautiful soundtrack, and wonderful handling of mature themes. Despite its inconsistent airing schedule and occasional rough moments, Steven Universe’s strengths really outshine its weaknesses and is easily one of the best children’s shows ever made. As is the case with most successful cartoons, a TV movie was pretty much inevitable, and what better place to do it than after the end of a major story arc? Being the show’s first feature-length outing, Steven Universe: The Movie is a phenomenal addition to the show’s narrative and does a wonderful job bridging the gap between the earlier seasons and the upcoming post-time skip season.
(09/16/19 1:30pm)
by Olivia Weinzapfel
Hollywood’s Bleeding is the third full-length album from Post Malone and arguably his most respectable one to date as far as themes and motives go. While keeping his familiar trap vibes prevalent, Malone also tries new sounds and even genres on for size in a select few songs, which ends up working out really well for him. The album is an insightful master work that’s all about taking risks—both on a surface and introspective level. In it, Malone opens up and shows off more than we’re used to, and in most ways, it deems itself outstanding, but not in all respects.
(09/13/19 5:15pm)
by Ben Sapet
(09/09/19 4:00pm)
by Brandon Carson
Fear Inoculum just might be the most anticipated album release of all time. The alternative metal masters, Tool, have not only returned to the music scene but entered the streaming era for the first time. Fans of the band have been waiting 13 years for a new release (about the length of Taylor Swift’s entire career) and have finally been given a 90-minute epic consisting of seven tracks and three interludes. But the question remains: Is Fear Inoculum worth the 13-year wait? The answer is: It’s complicated.
Tool’s discography is massive and very complex. In their early days, the band took progressive metal and redefined it. Tool took psychedelic components and mixed them with heavy, progressive riffs and catchy, unorthodox hooks. Songs like, “Schism,” “Sober,” and “Forty Six & 2” took the metal scene by storm and even had an influence on non-metal listeners.
The problem is that, with albums like theirs, it takes time to fully grasp the ideas that are present. Their entire catalog has aged to perfection, Ænima (1996) and Lateralus (2001) being the most significant of the original four releases. Fear Inoculum should receive the same treatment and reviewing it feels like a monstrous task. So, to answer my question from before: yes, Fear Inoculum is very much worth the 13-year wait. However, it is not the best Tool album by any means. Some of the passages within the seven tracks are engaging and the best in their discography, but the album as a whole fails to capture the same quality of the Tool of old.
(09/06/19 4:52pm)
by Jack Gillespie
A big aspect that has made Lana Del Rey’s music her own since Born to Die has been the selling a fantasy. The character that Del Rey has created within her records of the innocent, demure girl always looking for dangerous men has always been the most alluring quality to her fans and the biggest annoyance to her detractors. Music that sounds as grounded and personal as hers coming from an artificial persona, an unashamedly feminine persona at that, was unlikely to receive unanimous acclaim from a predominantly male music media press.
However, some of the greatest early tracks (i.e. “Ride,” “Born to Die”) paint a beautiful scene of this emotionally detached yet dangerously sexy fantasy she has become known for embodying. As captivating of a persona and a writer that Del Rey is, especially in her first couple projects, a lack of development in her persona and her sound resulted in diminishing returns on records such as Honeymoon and especially Lust for Life.
(08/28/19 4:00pm)
With 23 categories and 24 performers this year, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco hosted the 2019 MTV Music Video Awards. Nominees for the awards were released July 23, and winners were announced August 26.