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Music Review: Lorde, “Melodrama”

Music Review: Lorde, “Melodrama”

Featured Music Friday
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It’s no secret that Lorde is wise beyond her years. When she penned her debut single, “Royals,” she was fifteen years old; sixteen when she achieved international recognition as the leading musical talent of her generation (shortly before his passing, David Bowie took her hands in his and told her that she “sounds like tomorrow.”) With her 2013 debut album, “Pure Heroine,” the world was introduced to not only a gifted songstress, but a peculiar person who somehow understood the complexities, ironies, triumphs, and tragedies of one’s teenage years – all while still living it. To say that there was pressure for the young artist to achieve that same level of success for her next project is an understatement. For four years, the then teenager obsessed over her highly-anticipated follow-up. During this time, she moved back home to New Zealand, experienced her first heartbreak, tried to be a normal teenager, met Jack Antonoff of Bleachers and fun., moved to New York to record her album in his and Lena Dunham’s Brooklyn Brownstone, and ceberated her 20th birthday. The culmination of all this is “Melodrama,” a powerful look into young adulthood. The album centers around a raucous house party and it’s partygoers – a microcosm of all the elation and devastation experienced during one’s later teenage years. “Melodrama” is Lorde transitioning into adulthood. In the album’s first single, she gives herself the “Green Light” to let loose for one night before picking up the pieces of a failed relationship and moving on the next morning; on “Liability,” she wonders if she’s too much for other people, even unworthy of friendships and love. The album is beautifully produced by Antonoff – staying true to Lorde’s aesthetic and breaking all the conventional rules of pop music by mixing house piano with banger beats. “Melodrama” is an album about discovering one’s place amongst all the noise and chaos of the world – especially young women fighting for autonomy in a society where their voice isn’t always taken seriously.

Check out Lorde’s website here: https://lorde.co.nz/

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Throwback Thursday: Allan Sherman releases “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda”

Throwback Thursday: Allan Sherman releases “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda”

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1963, American comedy writer, Allan Sherman, released his most successful comedic-parody track “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadda,” a novelty song in which a boy describes his disastrous experience at fictional “Camp Granada” to the tune of Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours.” The lyrics were based off letters Sherman received from his son, Robert, while he attended camp in upstate New York. The song became a surprise hit, reaching No. 2 on the national charts for three weeks, even winning Sherman a Grammy Award for Comedy in 1964. Although Sherman’s success eventually faded, to this day, “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadda” remains a classic fixture in American pop culture.

   

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Throwback Thursday: Barbra Streisand, “Color Me Barbra”

Throwback Thursday: Barbra Streisand, “Color Me Barbra”

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1966, Barbra Streisand aired her second television special for American audiences. Broadcast on CBS and called “Color Me Barbra,” the program was one of the very first to be filmed in color (hence the title). The special was split into three distinct acts: the first act was filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and featured Streisand singing seven songs, including “The Minute Waltz” and “Gotta Move.” Act II was a comedic medley filmed at the CBS studios in New York. The set was designed to look like a three-ringed circus and was furnished with an array of animals, including a tiger, an anteater, a llama, a baby elephant, penguins and more. During this segment, Streisand sang (accompanied by her creature companions) “Animal Crackers in my Soup,” “What’s New Pussycat?” and “Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?” The final act was a traditional studio concert, with her fan club members selected to sit in the audience, singing “C’est Si Bon,” “It Had to be You,” and more. The TV Special was a massive success and was nominated for five Emmys that year.

 

 

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Throwback Thursday: Notorious B.I.G is Tragically Shot in Los Angeles

Throwback Thursday: Notorious B.I.G is Tragically Shot in Los Angeles

This Day in Music History
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On this day in 1997, influential rapper, Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie, or, Biggie Smalls) was fatally shot while leaving a party at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Biggie was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and rose to prominence as a central figure of the East Coast hip-hop scene in 1994 after the release of his debut album, Ready to Die. However, as his success skyrocketed, he became heavily involved in the growing East Coast – West Coast Hip Hop Feud. On September 7, 1996, West Coast hip hop rival, Tupac Shakur, was involved in a driveby shooting, where he sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died six days later. Although unconfirmed, rumors of Biggie’s involvement in the shooting of his rival were unavoidable. Six months later, while in Los Angeles to promote his upcoming album, Life After Death, and to shoot the music video for the album’s lead single, Hypnotize, Biggie Smalls was shot four times in his SUV while stopped at the corner of Wilshire Blvd and South Fairfax Ave. He was 24 years old. Biggie and Tupac’s murders remain unsolved to this day. 

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