By Max Newman In a 2017 interview with The Guardian, esteemed artist DJ Shadow discussed the current state of sampling in music. Defined by the Abbey Road Institute as “including an element of a pre-existing recording by someone else in a composition”, sampling is something that Shadow is no stranger to. The veteran DJ (real… Continue reading Why Sampling In Music Is Dead (Or Not)
By Max Newman Natalia Lafourcade is an intriguing artist. Born in Mexico City, she started off her career in the early 2000s with a distinctly poppy sound. Towards the end of the decade, she began to move towards more indie sonic themes, and then to straight-up folk. It was a lengthy musical journey for the… Continue reading Album Review: Natalia Lafourcade, ‘De Todas Las Flores’
By Max Newman “We are the laboratory for sonic experimentation.” This is how Ross Karre described the Oberlin Percussion Group (OPG), who will perform on Wednesday, May 3, at 7:30 PM in Warner Concert Hall. I sat down with Karre, who serves as the group’s director, and associate professor of percussion at Oberlin, in his… Continue reading Pushing Auditory Limits With the Ross Karre and the Oberlin Percussion Group
By Max Newman On April 15th, I attended Gabriel Baskin’s brilliant and emotionally cathartic senior recital in the TIMARA department. Intimate and sensually engaging, Baskin’s 45-minute piece My Finger was a celebration of beautiful idiosyncrasy. The recital took place in a TIMARA basement studio at the Oberlin Conservatory, with all of the lights turned off… Continue reading Concert Review: Gabriel Baskin’s Senior Recital
By Max Newman If there’s one thing you can say about Edinburgh-based music group Young Fathers, it's that they certainly never lack creativity. The band, consisting of Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole, and Graham ‘G’ Hastings, has pushed pop and r&b music to its limits in their earlier work, cultivating a unique and memorable sound. However,… Continue reading Album Review: Young Fathers, ‘Heavy Heavy’
By Max Newman Nothing brings out feelings of bliss quite like a performance of live jazz. These displays, when performed with exceptional proficiency, soothe the soul. For those who funneled into Finney Chapel on the evening of February 19, the Oberlin Jazz Faculty concert that they were about to witness would have this effect, and… Continue reading Review: Oberlin Jazz Faculty Concert
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