Part 1:
Hi Everyone!
My name is Sean Mayle and I am a 5thyear here at Denver. I am majoring in communications as well as minoring in criminology. I currently reside in Redwood City, CA, where I was also born and raised. For my summer plans, I am currently playing in the MLL which is a professional lacrosse league for the Chesapeake Bayhawks. The season goes from early June until the end of September so I sadly don’t have any vacations or plans other than traveling weekly for my games. As for my music taste, there is no specific genre that I like or dislike more than others, just as long as it is catchy, has a good beat, or has great lyrics I will most likely enjoy it. There are certain genres I prefer more in certain situations, for example rap/hip hop for working out and prior to lacrosse games, or something like country for long road trips.
Email: Seanmayle7@gmail.com
WordPress page link: https://wordpress.com/view/seanasem.music.blog
Part 2:
Three key features of album reviews as a genre would definitely be the writers ability to be critical of the album, the writers personal experience while listening, and finally the writers ability to take in information that others may have wrote about the same album. The first example I saw regarding the critical portions of the reviews was through Powers’ article on Daft Punk. “There is one glaring omission from Daft Punk’s foray into vintage pleasures. Where is the female voice representing those who truly defined that liberators spirit?” Next, was the example that I found regarding the writers personal experience with the album that I found in Derogatis’ article on Simon and Garfunkel. “Nothing is resolved, but the musical coda of Garfunkel’s amazingly pure and soaring vocals and Simon’s soothing guitar and organ indicate that maybe, just maybe, our heroes and their many peers will eventually find what they are looking for.” Finally, regarding the writer needing to read and research using other individuals pieces, I found an example in the Powers article once more, where he specifically quoted another album review. “”It’s confusing. There are no drops,” declared a write for the site White River Rafting, referring to the moments when a fast computer-generated beat suddenly breaks and shifts its rhythm.”
Amanda Petrusich was able to add important background information regarding Courtney Barnett into her album review that allowed the reader to get a better understanding of the artist and album. The initial wave of information given to the reader simply gives a depiction of the life of Courtney Barnett and the personal issues that she went through. This shows the reader why her music may be the way that it is. An important detail that I thought about was the calmness in her voice during a particularly depressing portion of a song. Her ability to sing with such calmness makes her the unique artist that we see and hear today. Ultimately, this allows the reader to get a better understanding of the life of Courtney Barnett, and why her music is the way that it is.
Part 3:
The latest album dropped by rising star, Khalid, is titled Free Spirit and already has the world talking about his catchy beats and amazing voice. The artist has had several albums and/or singles drop prior to this, but none have been this anticipated by fans. Khalid seems to be a bright spot in modern music today, the latest releases from hip hop and rap stars seem to all be getting more inappropriate by the minute. It is changing the way we as fans view the hip hop scene. Children all over are learning of behavior that should not be condoned by society through many of these artists, their lyrics, and their media. Khalid goes against a lot of these stereotypes and has chosen a much more appropriate approach.
Khalid was born in 1998 in Fort Stewart, Georgia. As a child he moved all over the place due to his fathers career in the military. Khalid began creating his own music in high school where he used Soundcloud, the popular music streaming service, to get his music out to the world. Shortly after releasing a few songs on the app, he was picked up by Right Hand Labels and has been a sensation ever since. Prior to the newest album released, many of his popular hits have been “Young, Dumb and Broke,” as well as “Location” that definitely put him on the map. Since the rise of Khalid, he has also partnered with many other high end artists and has been featured in a lot of their work, which has only jump started his career even more.
The album is full of many hits that are sure to be sung at any local bar throughout the night. With Khalid, he sings most of his songs as if he is talking to someone that he has feelings for or longs to speak with. It is refreshing to have an artist that doesn’t objectify women and treat them as objects. Through many of these hits, he shows society that you don’t need to use profanity in lyrics to create a catchy song.
When listening to Khalid’s latest album though, I can’t help but think that the directed audience is teenagers struggling with relationships. The cleanness of the lyrics really allow the younger audiences to connect more, and for high school kids there is also plenty of relationship drama. Khalid seems to be telling the stories of his past that has troubled him through his lyrics and that can be very relatable to the modern day teen, but maybe not so much to an adult. One big issue that has been said about Khalid and his music that I will reiterate is the fact that all of his songs sound very similar upon first listen.
Khalid’s music is very safe. He is able to connect with more people than most artists because his lack of profanity and willingness to give up personal emotions and stories, but is that a good thing? Quite simply, Khalid has created many hits, but at the end of the day they all sound fairly similar. In order to continue to be successful, he may have to find a way to potentially change things up a bit and maybe use something a little more fast paced from time to time.
All and all, the album was and will continue to be a huge success, but can he continue on this upward trajectory to stardom?
Sean's Blog 