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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Why Bo Burnham Is The Best

 



     To begin with, Bo Burnham is just flat out funny. He's clever as hell and honest and makes fun of everything, including himself. He can talk about anything, serious or not, in a lighthearted way and give a new perspective on pretty much any topic. Not to mention, he's an awesome song writer and makes everything ten times more enjoyable by turning it into a song. Basically everything about him is gold, even the fact that he's 6 foot 5 and apparently did nearly perfect on his SAT's, so here's why I love him.

     In his comedy special "What" he addresses the topics of gay marriage, religion, and rape in a song he says is written from the perspective of God. He talks about it in a way that's clear and he doesn't beat around any bushes. He says exactly what he thinks about how it's ridiculous that it has to spelled out that people shouldn't rape and how masturbation is weird but totally okay and how God created gay people but it backfired. He's funny about it and knows that there's a chance people will be offended but says what he wants to say anyway. He's completely honest and straightforward but in an interview at Duke he says that he can stand behind everything he says and that he never sets out to offend anyone. He even says that if someone were to approach him and say that they were offended or hurt by something he said in a performance that he would be apologetic and understanding about it.

     He also never fails to call people out on their bullshit whether it's just someone's beliefs that are totally out of whack or hecklers at his shows or the government or corporations taking advantage of people. In the song "Repeat Stuff" he talks about how music is made to prey on young girls who are "in love" with musicians in order to make money off of them, even though it's overdone and redundant.

     In the song "Sad" he talks about how sad it is that there is racism and sexism and war while also acknowledging that he can't possibly know how that feels because he's a privileged white male who doesn't have to go through any of it.

     He makes fun of himself constantly.

     He's punny. Just watch "I'm Bo Yo" or "New Math" which are some of his older songs from Youtube that are basically just joke after joke and pun after pun.

     He sings nearly everything. He puts all of his jokes and everything he says to some catchy tune on a piano which makes it even better and he's so creative in the way he does it.

     The moral of the story is that Bo Burnham is an awesome, hilarious, smart comedian and musician and you should go watch his videos so you can laugh and be happy and thank me later.

Awesome Mash Up Covers

     I hardly ever come across mash ups of songs that are actual covers that I really like but I've come across a few lately that are worth sharing and here they are with links to the Youtube videos.


Blank Space/Style by Louisa Wendorff

This one is super popular and Taylor Swift herself tweeted it, so if you haven't seen it yet, you need to.

Cool kids/riptide by Less is More and The Queen and King

Home/Dirty Paws by the Gardiner Sisters

Love Story/Viva la Vida by Tanner Townsend

This is a little different than the others and there aren't vocals but it's awesome and I feel like I could play it in the background of my life forever and always feel good.

We Can't Stop/Price Tag by Megan and Jaclyn Davies

Taylor Swift 1989 by Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider 

This is every song on Taylor Swift's 1989 album and it's incredible and so impressive.





Thursday, January 22, 2015

What I've Been Listening To


     All of the music here is on Spotify because I've given up on any other form of listening to music now that I have Premium. Some of it is lesser known stuff that I've gotten into and some is really well known that I just really like so I recommend giving them a listen.


Alt-J

I am completely OBSESSED with the Lido remix of Left Hand Free.

Chiddy Bang

Every song by Chiddy Bang is guaranteed to make me happy.

Hoodie Allen

Make It Home featuring Kina Grannis is one of my new favorite songs along with Fame Is For Assholes featuring Chiddy.

What So Not

I'm obsessed with High You Are (obviously) and every remix of it plus Love Theme is one of my favorites.

Portugal. The Man

I could honestly listen to the song "Sea of Air" for days at a time and not get tired of it, and I do.

Peter Bjorn and John

Apparently their music has been on Grey's Anatomy and in the movie 21, which I did not know until just now. I haven't listened to a ton of their music yet, but I have yet to find any that I don't love.

Walk the Moon

The Live from Spotify version of Anna Sun is really awesome.

Wild Belle

I have the entire album "Isles" saved on my Spotify and I don't ever remember adding it or listening to it. But I really like the album now and Spotify calls them folk, dance, reggae, psychedelic rock-tinged indie pop, which is a bit of a mouthful and kind of weird. It's good though, I promise.

The Lushlife Project

I always find myself falling asleep and waking up to the song "Wurlitzer." It's really relaxing and kind of reminds me of Nosaj Thing.

Zhu

I first heard Zhu because 3lau used the song "Faded" in a mash up and since then I just love all the songs on The Nightday EP.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Why I'm Leaving Syracuse

 
       So recently I've been having a lot of problems with financial aid (as always) and this time, it just seemed like there was no coming back from it. A lot was being expected of me that I couldn't possibly pay and although it ended up working out and I was given the aid I need to stay here, it gave me some insight into Syracuse and made me realize that this might not be the right place for me right now. Throughout the whole hassle of Syracuse telling me that I needed to pay them thousands and thousands of dollars before I could register for any classes, otherwise leave my on-campus apartment and go home, I started thinking about where I want to be in my life right now and Syracuse just isn't it. I realized that I was no longer fighting to be here and once I realized that, it was pretty obvious that I just don't want to be here as much as I used to. I found myself hoping that I'd end up somewhere else and that's basically what made me decide to leave.

     Before, it was worth working all the time and being completely broke because this was exactly what I wanted and I loved it. Now, it's just a lot of work and for something that I really could live without. I love Syracuse to death and I was excited to finally be in Newhouse but I was using Newhouse to keep me here. I was hoping that once I was in Newhouse that everything would be better and I'd be happier here and it just didn't happen like that. Everything seemed to be going even better than usual plus I found a steady job that's perfect for me and even with all that, I still didn't feel like this is where I need to be.

     I've invested a lot of time and effort and money into being here, so it's hard to just leave after everything I've done to be here, but I also am not going to spend any more time or money being somewhere I don't absolutely love being. If something isn't making me happy then I'm not going to continue doing it. I refuse to spend two and a half years working my ass off to be able to barely afford a college that I don't want to be at when I could be working my ass of somewhere that's perfect for me.

     I thought about it a lot and I talked it over with several different people, and most of them seem to agree that I don't seem to be interested in being here like I used to be. I don't think it's a bad thing, I just think I've done everything I can here and now it's time to move on. It sucks that it didn't work out but realistically, I don't even like the east coast. I hate the cold, I don't like snow, I have no desire anymore to live in New York, and paying for air fare back and forth might as well kill me. That used to all be trivial and I didn't care because I loved being here more than anything but now it makes a huge difference. I still love Syracuse, I just don't want to be here enough for it to be worth it. There isn't enough making me happy to keep me here. I think I could be a hundred times happier and more satisfied somewhere else so that's what I plan to do.

Ranking Of All The Concerts I've Seen

Going to concerts is one of my all time favorite things to do and I wish I could go to every single show I hear of, but unfortunately, my bank account and my school schedule don't really allow that. I've been to some great shows regardless and I've been to some decent ones and these are them.


1. Flume

I went to this one kind of spur of the moment with a couple friends and I am so glad I did. It was in a huge indoor space and there were different levels and I was right in the middle of the floor and there were about a million people, by my estimate. The lights and everything about it was just amazing.

2. Weezer

I went to Weezer at the Mandalay Bay beach pool and got to just sit in the sand and hang out in the water while they performed and they were great, of course. It was the chillest, most easy going show I've been to.

3. Iggy Azalea

I've never been as excited for a show as I was to see Iggy. I had planned it months in advance and went with a friend who was just as in love with her as I was and it was on the rooftop Cosmopolitan pool on the strip. Although she made us wait two hours before she finally came out, her performance was well worth the wait. The whole thing was choreographed very specifically and it worked so well and was just so entertaining the whole time.

4. Blink-182

I saw them also at the rooftop pool and they not only played amazingly and played all of my favorite songs, but they were funny and interacted with the crowd a lot and Travis Barker played an insane drum solo.

5. 3lau

I saw 3lau at Juice Jam, which is a music festival that Syracuse holds every year. I had never heard of him before the announcement of him playing Juice Jam, but I love him now. It was outdoors in the middle of the day with thousands of other students and my friends and he got the crowd involved so much throughout the show. I also learned that the pronunciation is "Blau" which is his last name.

6. Sum 41

They played Extreme Thing a while back which is a big music festival in Las Vegas and they played toward the end of the day in a big open field. I stayed near the back but even from far away it was still cool. They were just coming out with a new album at the time so they played a lot of new stuff, but they still played some of the more familiar songs and it was awesome hearing the stuff I had been listening to for years.

7. Broods

This was another one I saw at Juice Jam and I loved them. They played the smaller stage and there weren't a ton of people, but they performed so well and were personal with the crowd and it was just a really good show overall.

8. Schoolboy Q (and Tinashe)

Yet another performance from Juice Jam. Although I wasn't really familiar with a lot of his stuff, everyone loved him and he got really personal with the crowd between songs. Tinashe did one song with him which was the best part, if you ask me, because I just love her and her voice. 

9. Childish Gambino

This one was another that was at the Cosmopolitan pool and quite a few of my friends went. I wasn't/still am not the biggest Gambino fan so I didn't know some of the songs, but he still played a great show and was really energetic and funny.

10. Goldlink

This one I saw for five dollars without having any clue who they were and just decided to go anyway. There were hardly any people but I was pleasantly surprised because the main guy was really energetic and got involved in the crowd and knew how to get everyone excited.

11. ASAP Ferg

He performed at Mayfest, which was during the day outdoors at Syracuse which is basically a big party, so it was a lot of fun. I don't listen to him, and I barely knew who he was at the time, but people were really into it.

12. Dillon Francis

Also at Juice Jam, he was not my favorite. The music was good and it was a lot of fun but it was at the end of the day when I was tiring out and he didn't engage the crowd at all.

13. Trippy Turtle

This guy played with Goldlink and I had never heard of him before. He was a little strange, but the music was cool and different and you could tell he was having a great time.