Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Beat.
The Struggles of Being a K-Pop Fan
I love K-pop. K-pop is life. I started listening to K-pop back in 2010/2011 when I stumbled upon a Girls' Generation video titled “The Boys.” It was the English version, so I thought they were an up-and-coming girl group here in the US. Then I found out there was a Korean version of the song. That’s when I discovered they were a Korean girl group, one of the most popular girl groups in South Korea. They’re so popular, they were given the title of “Nation’s Girl Group.” I began discovering more and more groups until K-pop became the only genre of music that I listened to. I watch every music video for the group I like, I routinely watch their performances when they make a comeback, I try to watch whatever variety show they’re guest starring on and I follow a lot of them on social media.
briana okayPublished 5 years ago in BeatChristian Rap EP Review
South London Rapper, R-Scar, recently released his new EP Diverse. The Christian artist, fearlessly expresses and embeds heavy beats into music.
Maxine HarrisonPublished 5 years ago in BeatFor the Love of Lars
I was introduced to punk rock in 2004 by my now husband. He showed me SLC Punk and, at 21, it instantly changed my life. I had felt lost and alone for years, even if I was surrounded by people that loved me. I was not whole. SLC was like getting punched in the gut while having the brightest light you can imagine flashing in your face. It was loud, violent, chaos... It was beautiful and my missing link. Punk rock had been hiding inside me waiting for the right person to wake up the beast.
Kathlyn DownsPublished 5 years ago in BeatReview of "Skeletons" by New Years Day
Rock group New Years Day have released a haunting new graveyard bop titled nothing other than “Skeletons,” and it's one of their best. This song was likely inspired by vocalist Ash Costello's recent engagement to Jimmy Trigger, of A Trigger Within. In this song, Costello hints that she wants the intended audience to tell her their secrets, to confide in her. She wants them to open up to her about all of their wrongs, their lies, and deepest secrets, no matter how deep and dark they may be. She wants all of the audience's trust, to really get to know the subject in the deepest way possible.
'Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'
In early 1975, an exhausted Elton John, Bernie Taupin and their entourage returned from an exhilarating world tour to Caribou Ranch in Colorado to put down their next album. The tour was highly successful; it featured the reemergence of one, John Lennon at Madison Square Garden and the Elton John Band at the top of its game and Elton at the top of his fame.
Sean CallaghanPublished 5 years ago in BeatHow Hybrid Artist Hitslut Is Twisting up the Metal Genre
The other day I had the pleasure of interviewing hybrid terror metal guitarist Mr. Slut aka Hitslut. He has been bringing a unique sound over on the blockchain's Musicoin and combining styles of genres with elements not often heard together like Terror, Metal, Acoustic, and electronic music. Read on to find out Why music may never be the same.
All That Remains - 'Victim of the New Disease'
Formed in 1998 in the booming east coast metalcore scene All That Remains is a five-piece metal-core band from Springfield, Massachusetts. Started as a more melodic death metal style side project of then Shadows Fall vocalist Phil Labonte and Guitarist Oli Herbert. The band has since evolved from its melodic death metal roots to one of the forerunners of the 2000’s wave of metal-core. With the release of their second album This Darkened Heart and the addition of now longtime guitarist (and Oli Herbert student) Mike Martin, this group really started to help form what we now know as metal-core!
Rip MitchellPublished 5 years ago in BeatThe Overlooked Solo Career of Baby Spice
In October of 2018, the Spice Girls announced a huge UK arena tour. Media reaction to the news was vivid proof that interest in the Spice Girls is still very much intense (even after more than 20 years). Fan reaction was immediate too, as the news of the tour sent their greatest hits album back to the #1 spot on the UK iTunes charts. But aside from being immensely successful as a group (with close to 100 million records sold and nine #1 hits), the girls have each enjoyed varying degrees of success as solo artists.
Sean DixonPublished 5 years ago in BeatWhy Did Moose Blood Go on Hiatus?
Moose Blood was a pop-punk band from the UK. They formed in 2012, and released their first demo CD that same year. They started gaining some traction in the local music scene. By 2014, the band had announced that their first full-length album would be released on No Sleep Records. That album was called, I’ll Keep you in Mind, From Time to Time, and it charted at number 45 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart. In 2016, the band had already gained a worldwide following. They were touring the world and were selling out shows in which they were the headliner. They seemed to be heading for big things, and their popularity was only getting larger. Then, in 2016, they announced they would be signing to Hopeless Records (an esteemed and popular record company in that scene), and releasing their sophomore album. That album did even better than their first. The single, "Honey," was nominated for a Kerrang! award. I would not consider myself a fan of this band, but I was happy to see how well they were doing. Any band in the modern alternative scene having success gave me hope for the future of the genre. Then seemingly out of nowhere, they kicked Glenn Harvey, their longtime drummer, out of the band. They clarified that he was accused of sending an unsolicited picture to a woman back in 2015. The band released a statement, saying,
Nathan RicherPublished 5 years ago in Beat'Transparency': Why Brockhampton Is So Important
I've been thinking a lot about Brockhampton. And no, not in that way. As opposed to dreaming about Kevin Abstract holding me close at night, rather I've been thinking about what they mean—what they're trying to tell us. With their fourth album Iridescence having come out last month to both critical and commercial acclaim (it went so far as to debut at number one on the Billboard chart), it's clear that the Saturation trilogy wasn't just a flash in the pan for this large group of boys living out of LA (or more recently London), but that the internet are clearly connecting with them musically.
Tom PrendergastPublished 5 years ago in BeatAlbum Review: State Champs - 'Living Proof'
State Champs album Living Proof has a slightly different sound than their previous releases. During my first listen, I found the new style a bit unsettling. It sounds more “produced,” and “shiny,” and contains more “open space.” Far too often, the vocals take over and the instrumentals take a back seat. This takes place during quite a few verses throughout the album, and although strong instrumentals do certainly kick in during a lot of the choruses, I just can’t help feeling that too many verses are missing something. Now, I am not saying the album lacks quality guitar because there are some great guitar parts, but the guitar just seems to be used in a different way.
Nathan RicherPublished 5 years ago in BeatWhy Turning Fear into Distorted Art Can Save Your Soul
A few days ago I had the pleasure of interviewing at an underground artist from The Anthropophobia Project. I discovered him from a friend on SoundCloud and was impressed with the dirty, groovy riffs and introspective lyrics. If Black Mirror had a soundtrack this would be it. His music is very raw and pure, just how I like it. I can tell it is made from his heart. Let's hear what he has to say about his project and the process he goes through to bring you this distorted art.