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Most recently published stories in Beat.
80s Music Tells Us that Girls Just Want to Have Fun, but So Should We
That’s right, I’m going to defend Cyndi Lauper’s 80s music anthem Girls Just want to Have Fun. I like it now, but I was right there in 1984, hating the lyrics just like every other guy who felt put out by it.
Rich MonettiPublished 7 years ago in BeatCan Your Baby Really Hear the Music You Play?
It has long been stated among many individuals that babies can hear music in the womb, and that, by hearing certain music, they can develop faster or even better than babies that do not have the privilege of listening to Mozart.
Anthony GramugliaPublished 7 years ago in BeatSky Vettel's 'Sin From a New Perspective'
A Native New Yorker, electronic musician Sky Vettel is creating what she calls "concept music" - pieces which evoke imagery, emotions, new thoughts and feelings. "Isn't that pretty much all music? Unless it's what's being played on the radio," she says. To her, it's slightly hifalutin but it's to the point and something easy to comprehend upon hearing it. "I want people - all types - to be able to enjoy something. You can't make everybody happy. I don't want to make everybody happy. But I think there's something for everyone." The 26-year-old has a catalogue of over 30 songs - from soothing, relaxing, progressing ambient soundscapes, to gritty smoky, urban trip hop, to upbeat, disco house - and she's not slowing down. "I'm very busy writing new material right now. I'm really trying to create stuff that's improved from my last works... you can't rush organic improvement, but you can certainly work hard at it. I'm excited at the progress in this moment, as well as the anticipation of what's to come with this." What type of music styles would you expect to hear this time around? "There's a bit of hip hop, tech house, and maybe even doo wop, oddly enough," she says. "I've always loved doo wop and just the noodling around with the 50's chord progression on the keyboard made me extremely excited!" What else excites her? "Being in the moment, enjoying everything, and of course, people's response to my music and how they feel, that's great. I definitely want to keep impressing people and make more music that they love."
Sky VettelPublished 7 years ago in BeatWhy Drake Could Never Be The King of Hip Hop
Story by Tony Bueno With this past weekend's release of Drake’s “More Life” playlist, Drizzy continued his trend of stopping the music world in its tracks and forcing us to launch our music streaming apps and give listen to the latest offerings he and the OVO camp have to offer. It feels like it has been this way since he burst onto the hip-hop scene with his critically acclaimed 2009 mixtape ‘So Far Gone’. What that project had to offer other than a pair of Billboard charting singles including ‘Best I Ever Had’ and ‘Successful’, was a sonic makeup consisting of moody instrumentals and backpack rap bars dripping in Young Money influence.
Pages MagazinePublished 7 years ago in BeatListen: More Drake, 'More Life' Playlist
The OVO God is out with his new 'playlist,' More Life, now available wherever music is sold or streamed. That's right. Playlist. Not album. Drake is explicit about this (but not anywhere else in the playlist), so take heed.
Krishna PatelPublished 7 years ago in BeatInterview with Electronic Music Producer and Artist Serge Bulat
Serge Bulat, who hails from Moldova, is new to the New York music scene, but his artistry has not gone unnoticed. His debut effort, the 2016 audio visual project titled "Queuelbum," garnered critical acclaim and earned Serge his first award – an Independent Music Award for Best Electronic Album of 2016.
Beat StaffPublished 7 years ago in BeatPrince, for the Uninitiated, OR 'The Origins of Being an Obsessive Prince-Fan!'
In Art class one morning, one of the cool kids put on a Prince tape, not knowing that this small act would shape my music preferences for life. Art was a double period on a Friday, and it was unlike any of the other classes, for one you could play music, and for two the teachers treated you like equals, they were really cool mannnn. One teacher in particular Alison (you could call them by their first names wow!) I even unintentionally got into some bother, she’d shared with me that one of the other teachers had bought a video recorder and she’d found his lack of know-how in using it particularly humorous. She’d asked us not to mention it to anyone, but of course we teased him on it and he was completely perplexed at how we knew this piece of what he thought was confidential detail. When we relayed to Alison how funny it was that Mr Blake was mystified, she felt guilty and then felt the need to explain to Mr Blake that she’d told us about his video, and then I think she may have regretted trusting her class of 14 year olds after all, but it didn’t seem to change anything in Art… Art remained the home of creativity, where anything went, you could be a human being, you didn’t even have to wear your school tie.
Martin SkatePublished 7 years ago in BeatCharles Manson's Music Hits Stores
No one could have predicted that at this point in his life, 82-year-old killer Charles Manson would have an album due out in stores. Manson, known for his role in the murder of Sharon Tate and her unborn child - the father was acclaimed film director Roman Polanski - as well as seven other people, has been serving out a prison sentence which saw him living behind bars since 1971, when he was initially sentenced to death for his role in the murders. When the death penalty was abolished in California in 1972, Manson and his followers saw their death sentences commuted to life in prison.
Christina St-JeanPublished 7 years ago in BeatUnderstanding Music and the Brain
Music is something that is older than human history itself. Birds make music. Humans have, for longer than history has recorded, sang songs to appease one another, please deities, and entertain one another. If you really think about it, music is part of who we are as living creatures.
Skunk UzekiPublished 7 years ago in BeatGreatest Classic Movie Musicals
Ever since people first put sound in movies, the classic genre of the musical has thrived. It makes sense, of course. Song has always been involved in visual story telling. The Greek Chorus would sing prayers during stage productions. Opera adapted the works of Shakespeare.
Anthony GramugliaPublished 7 years ago in Beat"Long Live Rock" - The Who Announce Las Vegas Residency
British rockers The Who are heading to Sin City for a history-making, albeit brief, residency. The band, led by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, have perhaps become best known as the group whose music became theme songs for the CSI franchise - "Who Are You" was the theme for the original CSI, "Won't Get Fooled Again" introduced CSI: Miami and "Baba O'Riley" was the lead in for CSI: New York. The group announced they were heading to Vegas's Colosseum on their Facebook page on March 13 in a post that has since been shared over 1,100 times and reacted to by over 4,500 people.
Christina St-JeanPublished 7 years ago in BeatGOT7 - Flight Log Trilogy Analysis
On March 13th, GOT7 released the long awaited finale of their Flight Log trilogy. It was around this time last year, they surprised the globe with a six-minute trailer for their comeback, "Fly." This trailer, Departure, acted as the prologue to a full-length story. Six months later, they returned with Turbulence, and as of recently, concluded the tale with Arrival. Along with their colourful voices, they've released a cornucopia of astounding visuals in film, photography, and, of course, intricate dance choreographies. However, what truly makes this series an eventful ride are the gripping symbolic themes in the well produced theatrical videos. With such amazing aesthetics, it is, unfortunately, a beautifully tragic story. A story that deserves to be deconstructed into several parts before saying farewell. Thus, let us climb aboard on GOT7's journey and see where they take us.
Valencia W.V.Published 7 years ago in Beat