Rap – the Addison Recorder

ALL The Genres: The 2015 Album of the Year Nominees

December 11, 2015 by Andrew Rostan Leave a Comment

Here’s one of the biggest surprises of 2015 for me: one of the organizations best reflecting the American people is the NARAS. The five nominees for the Album of the Year Grammy each come from a different genre: pop, rock, rap, country, and the blend of soul and electronica that Abel Tesfaye creates. Moreover, for the first time in the three years I have written this round-up, every nominee topped the Billboard album charts. What you’re about to read is truly populist representation. You might agree it’s among the best of the world’s music. You also might find some of it pandering, annoying, or unlistenable. Me, I would have added Florence + The Machine, Father John Misty, and the first bootleg of the Grateful Dead’s Soldier Field shows—but who wants to carry the mantle of American taste on their shoulders?
That said, comments welcome!

[Read more…]

“Moving at a Meteor Speed:” Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”

April 6, 2015 by Andrew Rostan Leave a Comment

27 year-old Kendrick Lamar’s first major-label LP, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, was one of the best albums of recent memory (in my opinion). Lamar’s poetic gifts blended perfectly with an ultra-minimalist backdrop appropriate to his complex tale of gangs, struggle, and redemption in Compton. On To Pimp a Butterfly, the lyrics are still the same superb quality, but the music has gotten larger to match a concept that demands even more attention and asks more demanding questions.

[Read more…]

Respecting the Artistry: A Beginner’s Guide to Beck

February 10, 2015 by Travis J. Cook Leave a Comment

If you’re like many people, you watched the Grammy Awards on CBS last Sunday night. If you’re like even more people, you paid attention as the Internets blew up about some media-fueled spontaneous feud that may or may not lead directly to causing World War III.

Long story short: on Sunday, in a huge upset, alternative rock musician Beck’s Morning Phase won the coveted Album of the Year trophy over Beyonce’s self-titled silver lion of death that was widely expected to take home the tiny record player.

[Read more…]

The Grand Budapest Pharrell and Other Matters: The Best and Worst of the Grammys

February 9, 2015 by Andrew Rostan Leave a Comment

This happened.

One key idea I’ve always stressed in writing about the Grammys for the Recorder is that the awards themselves are nonsensical. Just go back to my Album of the Year reviews and tell me how to compare Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. It’s impossible. We care about these awards not for what gets given (as in the Oscars) but for the performance factor, the chance to see all the biggest names in music on one stage, seeing who rises to the occasion and who…doesn’t.

With that in mind, here’s our official recap of the best and worst moments of last night’s show. And congratulations to Beck for winning Album of the Year for the difficult, but lovely, Morning Phase! And for getting all Simon and Garfunkel with Chris Martin on a lovely “Heart is a Drum!”

[Read more…]

Thoughts from the Dugout: Rockin’ the Postseason

October 14, 2014 by Travis J. Cook 1 Comment

Royals-Orioles was rained out last night. So here’s a filler column!

We’re three and two games into the respective League Championship Series, and already, it’s as if everything we expected (NLCS) and didn’t expect (ALCS) is happening. However, there are multiple things which I’m interested in writing about this year, so we’re expanding to another field I love – music. Specifically, rock music. Even more specifically, a completely arbitrary way to honor past acts with a designation which may or may not actually mean anything in the long run.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot was released last week, and it’s an interesting pool of candidates, bringing together a diverse and completely unrelated group of acts that may or may not actually have to do with rock itself. In order to fully analyze the ballot, I felt that the best way to do it was to look at their blurb on Wikipedia, listen to a song on YouTube, and then compare them with a player/manager from the four teams remaining in the postseason to which they (somewhat) relate. This is why I get my own column – sheer genius and ultra-spontaneous collaborations. Behold, my breakdown of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2015 ballot!

[Read more…]