Review: Tyler, The Creator - Goblin

Written for The Print (NUI Maynooth's student paper) for the 13th of December 2011 issue. This was a 2011 retrospective issue, the following review was part of the Best of 2011.

5/5

            After the old school stylings 2009’s Bastard, the release of Tyler, The Creator of OFWGKTA’s Goblin was much anticipated. This album, released this May, saw the return of not only Tyler himself, but also his characters Dr. TC (his fictional therapist) and his evil white alter-ego Wolf Haley. There is also a return to the sick lyrical themes of his first record, such as the ever popular necrophilia. With this album, Tyler and OFWGKTA saw a huge influx of interest and acclaim, particularly after the video for the single Yonkers dropped in February and Tyler appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon performing Sandwitches - the first television performance of any Odd Future member.

            On this record, Tyler tries to explain himself quite a bit after the controversy that came with his first album due to the lyrical themes. The opening and title track begins his second session with Dr. TC, who taunts him about being a fake, pretending to be a murderer. The backing track is eery as Tyler expresses his suicidal feelings and hatred for life, wearing his flaws on his sleeve unlike most rappers of our time. After Goblin ends, the distorted filthy beat of Yonkers starts up and we are introduced to Tyler’s flawless flow. As Tyler battles with his alter ego Wolf, each line contradicts itself: “I’m a fucking walking paradox - no I’m not”. The rhyming is at its most clever in this track and he delivers lines with a musical patter and staccato syllables: “Rapping as I’m mocking deaf rock stars”.

            Goblin meanders through hip-hop styles during its hour long duration. Tyler’s grungey-rock influences can be heard in the vicious Radicals, but right after it there is the pop-rap sound of She about stalking a girl until he finally kills her and has his way with her body in the forest. Though Tyler goes out of his way with this record to make a disclaimer saying this is all a fiction, at times it seems like he’s going too far out of his way to deliver distasteful lyrics. Tron Cat opens with a pop piano chord sequence, leading into a heavy dark beat, only to drop back to the sequence to deliver the line “Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome”.

            This album shows Tyler’s masterful flow, such as in Sandwitches, and lyrical skills, like the musical delivery in Her. Though the album might be long, it is an astounding example of modern day rap. Well worth a listen for hip-hop fans. Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. 

http://issuu.com/MSUVPSEC/docs/the_print_volume_3_issue_6/17

Retrospective of Miles Davis

Written for The Print (NUI Maynooth's student paper) for the 13th of December 2011 issue

            Miles Davis has been considered by many to be one of the most influential musicians the 20^th century has seen. With 48 studio albums, 61 session compilations, 53 live albums and 72 collaborations set to vinyl, the trumpeter was no stranger to the world of mainstream jazz. Throughout his career, Davis had his finger in every jazz-pie imaginable, recording albums delving into be-bop, cool jazz, Spanish-folk fusion, psychedelic and even hip-hop. With his music aside, Davis is known to have had an interesting life and is often described as something of an odd character. Earlier in the year, George Tillman Jr. was named as director of a Miles Davis biopic set to go into production soon, separate to the Davis biopic that Don Cheadle has been developing for some time. The film is to portray the jazz icon’s addictions, penchants for women as well as the hugely important musical career.

            Miles Davis III was given his first trumpet at the age of 13 by his father, despite his mother’s wish for him to take up violin. He became an apt player within a  short amount of time, and had developed his signature full-bodied, clear tone by the age of 15 as his teacher, Illinois trumpeter Elwood Buchanan, insisted he played without vibrato. This provided his sound with strong, yet calm notes. At the age of 18, Davis made his recording debut as trumpet player in Charlie Parker’s bebop quintet, with whom he was recording until he was 21. In 1945, Davis made his debut recording as band leader, but this was not released until 1990, under the title First Miles. His debut release as leader came in 1951 with Blue Period under Prestige Records. By this stage, it was already believed that Miles Davis had developed a serious addiction to heroin. Davis returned to his father in Illinois in 1954 to cure himself of his addiction, which he managed to do.

            By this time, the entirety of the seminal compilation Birth of the Cool had already been laid down, but was not released until 1957. His recordings up until then received unimpressed criticisms, this being one of the reasons for Davis’ deep addiction, so it came as a huge relief when his 1957 releases achieved acclaim. Those releases were Birth of the Cool, which is considered to be the forerunner of ‘cool jazz’ and one of his best known works, and Cookin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet, the first of four hard-bop session recordings from 1956 (the others being Relaxin’, Workin’ and Steamin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet). These recordings were the first with legendary saxophonist John Coltrane in the Davis Quintet, who would remain in the band during some of the most famous rounds. Already showing he could span genres, with his move from bebop to cool jazz, he released Miles Ahead under Columbia Records in a Big Band setting, playing a flugelhorn instead of a trumpet, and then the Spanish folk themed Sketches of Spain. In 1959, he went into studio to record what is considered by many to be his masterpiece, the improvisation lead by Miles Davis that is Kind of Blue.

            As Davis moved into his electric fusion stage with his second great quintet in the 1960’s, he began to lose any traditional aspects that remained in his sound and delved into a purely modal ‘freebop’ style of improvisation. This can be heard in 1967’s Nefertiti and 1968’s Filles de Kilimanjaro, the latter beginning to use electric instruments and also portraying his new wife, gritty funk singer Betty Davis. Though the pair divorced a year later, Betty (née Marbry) influenced Davis’ work to a huge degree, leading him to release his most controversial record, the psyche-jazz Bitches Brew. Originally entitled Witches Brew, Marbry convinced him to be more edgy with the title and pushed him deeper into the funk and psyche scene. The record contained two bassists, at times three drummers and three keyboard players. The sound, though hugely innovative and well regarded by some, alienated a lot of his followers, including many important jazz musicians, some feeling it wasn’t jazz at all. Despite this it influenced many; in particular, fusion group Weather Report.

            Through the 70’s and 80’s, Davis went on to record many forgotten collections, some wonderful compositions such as the R&B styled Tutu and his tributes to Jack Johnson, but Davis sealed the end of his recording career with his hip-hop album Doo-Bop, with rapper Easy Mo-Bee, generally forgotten for good reason. In September 1991, Davis died due to respiratory failure and pneumonia after having a stroke. He is still considered one of the most influential musicians in modern music.

http://issuu.com/MSUVPSEC/docs/the_print_volume_3_issue_6/9

12 Year Old Chris Whitehead Shortlisted for Human Rights Award

Written for The Print (NUI Maynooth's student paper) for the 13th of December 2011 issue

            The Liberty Human Rights Award is a prestigious achievement given to honour those who inspire and stand up for human rights throughout the world. This year, 12 year old school boy Chris Whitehead was nominated simply for turning up to school in a skirt. Whitehead wore the skirt in protest against what he felt was a discriminatory uniform policy. The young attends Impington Village College near Cambridge, England.

            The protest came during the Summer months when the weather was hot and the students were sweating in their dark, long trousers. Girls in the school started arriving wearing their dark school skirts, in line with the uniform policy, but boys were refused allowance to exchange their slacks for shorts. However, Whitehead, who is part of the school’s ‘student executive’, found a loophole in the system.

            In the college’s code, it states that students must dress “smart”, they must dress in “plain black tailored trousers or knee-length skirts without slits”. This is as much as it says for this article of clothing, never specifying gender with regard to skirts. Young Whitehead grabbed his opportunity to use this as means for protest and with backing from his classmates, he arrived in May wearing his younger sister’s knee-length skirt without a slit.

            In November, The Daily Mail reported that Chris Whitehead won the Liberty Human Rights Young Person of the Year, however this was false. He came runner-up to a Cerie Bullivant who ran a full campaign against the controversial Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures bill in the UK.

            Impington Village College, after Chris Whitehead’s courageous protest, have decided to review their uniform policy. 

http://issuu.com/MSUVPSEC/docs/the_print_volume_3_issue_6/5

Review: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town

This article has not been published. 

5/5

            Under the moniker of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Will Oldham released his 17^th studio LP ‘Wolfroy Goes To Town’ in October of this year. This record is as densely packed as Oldham has ever released in some parts, but there is still quite a bit of space between the instruments, giving them room to manoeuvre at those times. Wolfroy is a very communal album, his band are far more apparent here than ever before. It feels like a family; there is as much emphasis at times on the instrumentation as on Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy himself. Lap steels and organs sing beside him, Angel Olsen wails with vocals just as demented as Oldham’s own, unlike in the past when the female singers were the antidote to his absolute oddness.

            Wolfroy Goes To Town continues Billy’s alternative country legacy, with his signature style of delicate, yet rough vocals and sparse arrangements with contemplative, often slightly cryptic lyrics. But this album offers more still, from the tribal rhythms of New Whaling to the revolution-starved march of Quail and Dumplings. The latter is perhaps one of the most memorable on the record; it is ominous until the joyous chorus, the harmonies are unstable, Olsen comes in with Siouxsie-esque ululations leading into a heavy pounding guitar solo reminiscent of the late dirty rockabilly sound.

            Though on first listen Quail and Dumplings is what stands out afterwards, on further inspection there are plenty of tender moments of pure soft country. I say “soft” country, but that is with regard to the music. His lyrics, as always, range from beautiful to harsh and jarring. The album opens with the defensive No Match, with sauntering guitar and soft vocals, in which he claims “Age may be a match for you, but it’s no match for me” after tenderly stating “You can be a match for me, I’ll be a match for you”. Oldham explains in New Tibet how he and his friend “shook [their] God” when “As boys, we fucked each other”. He grasps attention with this before leading us to a beautifully simplistic melody before a chorus of suddenly empowered voices.

            This album was not only one of the best of 2011, but possibly the best Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album since Master and Everyone or perhaps even I See a Darkness. It is up among the best alternative country records in the last decade. Oldham never fails!