Tuesday 26 November 2013

Home

A little poem I wrote.



The yielding sofa cradles me while
Canned laughter crackles,
Flush light flickers.
You hand me a blanket
And the soft material warms between my toes.
A shadow strokes the wall as a car passes
Somewhere disregarded,
Casting the wind a pliant chord and
Leaving silent as before,
Cadence forgotten in passing. 
Our tiny home, protective and breathing
Against a backdrop of infinity, and
We in refuge of painless accord;
To be around you is enough.



Thursday 14 November 2013

Lily Allen's Weak Feminist Stand


Lily Allen attempts to exploit some kind of outdated 'feminism' by defying irrelevant female stereotypes that a woman's place is in the kitchen, while undermining her own claim that "I don't need to shake my ass for you because I've got a brain" by getting her dancers to do it for her. Don't get me wrong, I think some of her points are spot on and I like that she tries to bring the patriarchal white, male voice behind the music industry to the foreground. Unfortunately, in her desperation to appeal to some sort of 'mainstream', Robin Thicke-hating feminism, she commercialises her argument and renders it half-hearted and flawed, not to mention more than a little racist. Why try to satirise the media when you're going to simultaneously bend over backwards to reach its standards?



Unfortunately, since this video has been intended as 'controversial', criticism of it will no doubt flood the media and drown out the voices of those who make the same point but in a more intelligent, convincing and simply better way. Three guesses to who I'm on about?





Friday 8 November 2013

Power To The Vagina

Who knew that such a simple question could produce such profound answers?



Wednesday 6 November 2013

Another Childish Gambino Freestyle


I've posted one of Childish Gambino's (aka Donald Glover's) freestyles before but this one can top it. Drake's beat is incredibly beautiful and the wandering verses he delivers over it flow almost liquid-like, perfectly complimenting the improvisatory feel of the sampled vocals. 



'People say money's not everything, but you need money to do what you want to do. Money is power, honesty is power, truth is power.'

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Björk


If you've never been able to get into Björk, then TRY AGAIN. And again! And again and again. And at some point, you will have an epiphany and realise how AMAZING she is.


The Electric Lady

Gosh, I've been meaning to write about this album for FAR too long. But since I have an essay due in tomorrow, I guess I'll do it now. I'll start by shouting from the rooftops that I think Janelle Monae is AMAZING. Not only her music and her voice, but her whole image and how she sells herself. She's proud, she's confident, she works to redefine this rigid and gendered form of sexuality that overwhelms popular culture and the media. And this isn't an attention grabbing stance that she's adopted post-fame in order to sell her singles (though she definitely knows how to use it), she's radiated strength since the beginning.


Observe delicious power posing skillz

However, while it is feminism that attracts me to her as a reflection of my personal interests, her branding and self-presentation aims to overcome an entire spectrum of various prejudices concerning race, class, sex... And the reason why she can address this many issues is because of her treatment of discrimination as an idea, abstracting it in a fictional context of a dystopian future and a civil war between 'androids' and 'humans'. Like Philip K. Dick, Margaret Atwood and many others before her have done, Janelle Monae addresses today's prejudices by displacing them via science fiction. 

However, my mild idolisation of her as an artist did not make me more inclined to fall quickly for The Electric Lady, which was unveiled in September. I posted a while ago about the single 'Q.U.E.E.N.', which was the first from the album to be released and while I initially raved about the lyrics and the video (I was definitely over-excited about the presence of Erykah Badu), I have to admit the actual song never really grew on me as much as I expected. Luckily, the rest of the album was much more surprising, varied and musically exciting. 

The absolute best thing about it is how eclectic its different sounds are, while always seeming to stem out of that grooving Janelle Monae 'style' that characterised her debut album, ArchAndroid. We've got 'Dance Apocalyptic, with its rock 'n' rolling 60's vibe (all the 'smash smash' and 'chalangalangalang' did remind me of 'Grease Lightning', but that's probably more a reflection of me). We've got 'Givin 'Em What They Love' featuring PRINCE, none other! I woz not disappoint. Janelle Monae steps up to match the legend himself in rocky attitude, belting along to rousing Hendrix-esque guitar riffs (remember his album Electric Ladyland? See where I'm going here?) It reminded me of when Beyoncé covered 'The Beautiful Ones' at Glastonbury 2011. JANELLE MONAE TO HEADLINE GLASTO! Anyway, having proved that she can do rock, she then proceeds to nail the spanish-sounding 'Look Into My Eyes', the jazzy 'Dorothy Dandridge Eyes' (and anyone who knows me even slightly will know I girl crush HARD on Esperanza Spalding) and the smooth, R'n'B 'PrimeTime', which is probably one of my favourite songs on the album.

Having ranted about her image and style for far longer than necessary, I'll leave you with a brief demonstration of her songwriting excellence in the form of a few quotes from the album. Immortalise them in whichever way you please, and RESPECT to whoever gets 'the booty don't lie' tattoo-ed on their arse.

'To be victorious, you must find glory in the little things'
- 'Victory'

'Say will your God accept me in my black and white?'
- 'Q.U.E.E.N.'

'They want me locked up in the system
Cause I'm on a mission, blame it on my youth'
- 'Givin' Em What They Love'

'Don't throw no rock, don't break no glass, just shake your ass'
- 'Good Morning Midnight'