Music thrived in a year many would otherwise like to forget

In the onset of isolation in March, it became clear that either this period of time would either give us masterpieces or some of the worst music ever made. There were definitely some duds (I’m looking at you Justin Bieber) but ultimately, 2020 was a good year for music. These five albums proved themselves the best of tough competition.

5. “Eyes Wide Open” by TWICE 

Though TWICE has been topping charts around the world for half a decade, their second full album was only released this year. The nine-member K-pop girl group took their music to new heights with their genre-pushing sophomore album “Eyes Wide Open.”

With a group like TWICE, known for bubblegum poppy earworm tracks, audiences are desperate to see various sides of them. Though the cute concept they utilize fits them perfectly, the push for them to release darker music has been with them from their beginning. With synth-pop title track “I CAN’T STOP ME,” TWICE have found a way to hear the feedback, while never straying from the signature TWICE sound that has secured them as their generation’s top girl group.

The cohesiveness of the album is unlike any of their previous works—each song showcases a different genre. The ’80s American retro influence is quite easy to pick up on in several tracks, including “I CAN’T STOP ME” and “UP NO MORE.” They venture further into Japanese city pop than ever before on “SAY SOMETHING” with incredible results. They even throw in an unexpected sprinkle of dubstep on “GO HARD,” but if anyone can pull it off, it’s TWICE.

Each track just has this ability to fill you with energy. The sweetly produced, full of feeling “UP NO MORE” is definitely the stand out of the album. “DO WHAT WE LIKE” and “HELL IN HEAVEN” are also near the top, both showcasing TWICE’s varied vocal abilities and styles.

Lyrical simplicity is not a damper on the tracks. The English hooks stick in your brain from the first listen. “I CAN’T STOP ME’s” “risky risky, wiggy wiggy this is an emergency” is modern day Shakspeare. And I don’t think any lyric has ever hit me as hard as “QUEEN’s”  “you’re a queen”—like, thank you TWICE, I needed to hear that.

Though tragically overlooked, “Eyes Wide Open” was truly one of the best albums of the year. It displays better than ever that TWICE are an ever-evolving musical force.

4. “folklore” by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is no stranger to switching genres (the transition from “Speak Now” to “Red” to “1989” will be immortalized in the history books). But “folklore” is different from Swift’s previous ventures into uncharted music territory. It represents not only the transition from her previous polished pop albums into new indie influenced sound, but also a change in her intentions as an artist. “folklore” sounds like something she needed to release: less for everyone else, and more for her.

Every song feels like its own experience. Soft production leaves ample space to explore the lyrical content, and it’s the best Swift has ever been. Lead single “cardigan’s” lyric “I knew I’d curse you for the longest time/Chasing shadows in the grocery line/I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired” captures the tragic and haunting beauty of her words. “folklore” is full of the kind of sentences that will keep you up at night.

 The more you immerse yourself in the music, the deeper your connection to it becomes. At first somewhat forgettable, “august” has become my favorite song ever released by Swift. The sweeping background and guitar paired with some of her best lyrics (“Back when we were still changing’ for the better/Wanting was enough/For me, it was enough”) prove that she is a masterful storyteller and composer.

Though it was written by one of the biggest pop stars in the world, there is something about “folklore” that is so personal. Rationally, I know it went number one on practically every chart that exists, but I still have a moment of confusion when someone mentions a song from the album they like. Like how did you hear this indie album that only I know about?

The individual feeling of “folklore” shows that perhaps the greatest example of Swift’s artistry is her ability to make a highly specific lyric or experience feel like it can apply to anyone’s life. “folklore” is delicate and complicated. Swift has created an album that is impossible to forget.

3. “how i’m feeling now” by Charli XCX 

The only album on this list that really captures the raw truth of pandemic isolation is Charli XCX’s “how i’m feeling now.” (See: “I miss them every night/I miss them by my side/ Catch my tears when I cry/My clique on me for life”). The former radio darling and current avant-garde pop connoisseur wrote and recorded the 11-track album in her home during the earlier months of the lockdown. It sounds like a compilation of her greatest hits rather than an album she made in less than six weeks.

Charil is the face of hyperpop, experimental music that relies on unconventional computer generated noises. Her songs normally feature heavily edited vocals over synthesizer so powerful it can sometimes sound a little scary. “how i’m feeling now” is her furthest venture from traditional pop yet, and it proves that the more out there the better for Charli.

Though the production is the most compelling aspect, the simple lyrics that resonate deeply are a staple of this album. For example, the first lyrics of “pink diamond” and perhaps the best album opener of all time: *unidentifiable noises* “Yeah, hahaha/ I just wanna go real hard, I just wanna go real hard” because, it’s true! It’s the truth!

She includes a gradient of emotionality throughout the album. There are her classic club bangers that were practically crafted to be blasted in some basement 50 people past its maximum capacity (“claws,” “detonate”) intertwined with tender tracks brimming with vulnerability. “party 4 u” and “forever,” two of the best songs on the album, prove she understands her genre so well that she can write tracks that cultivate a feeling of longing through words and style without having to strip them of their hyperpop production.

“how i’m feeling now” has some of the best songs of the year while simultaneously sounding like when you drop a spoon in the garbage disposal—proof that Charli XCX is a once-in-a-generation talent.

2. “What’s Your Pleasure?” by Jessie Ware

2020 has conjured up somewhat of a disco renaissance. The influence of the ‘70s sound reached everywhere with Doja Cat’s “Say So” and Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” topping the charts. It’s ironic timing considering there’s nowhere to actually dance, but that didn’t stop Jessie Ware from releasing the best disco album of the year.

The British artist’s fourth studio album “What’s Your Pleasure?” is an hour of masterfully produced dance tracks. Each song is its own experience, and builds the atmosphere of a neon nightclub. If you close your eyes while listening, you can almost see bright lights flashing behind your eyelids.

The song lengths average at around four minutes and 30 seconds, so each track feels like a composition. The more upbeat songs are brighter and faster and stand out in your first listen. “Ooh La La” feels like dance steps are hidden in the music, the moves just come naturally. “Soul Control” doesn’t take itself too seriously with lyrics like “Baby, it’s automatic/We touch and it feels like (woo!)” and uses Ware’s stellar vocals.

The other tracks are less noticeably upbeat, but still have a possessive quality that makes you need to move. The way “Spotlight’s” pulsating beat gets into your head is almost overwhelming. “The Kill” is similar. It’s romantic and dramatic and makes you feel like everything around you is moving in slow motion. The album closer “Remember Where You Are” sounds like the night is over, finishing the album with the powerful voices of a choir reminding you “The heart of the city is on fire/Sun on the rise, the highs are gonna fall.”

The album manages to balance sophistication and thrilling, consuming fun. It’s incredibly underrated but once you hear it, it will never leave your head.

1. “Ungodly Hour” by Chloe x Halle

Sister duo Chloe x Halle’s “Ungodly Hour” is the best album of the year. The duo’s vocals are their guide through these 13 songs, utilizing their voices as instruments. Older sister Chloe grounds the songs with her strong, controlled vocals while younger sister Halle’s voice floats atop the tracks. You can hear the meshing of their artistic abilities; the dynamic produces unique music while keeping the sound uniform. 

The production manages to create somewhat of a signature sound for the duo. And it’s a sound that isn’t tied to convention. One of the album’s best tracks, “Tipsy,” a song that uses off-time beats and rapping to cement itself in your brain, was produced solely by Chloe. The thumping beats of the title track “Ungodly Hour,” produced by Disclosure, are sentimentally beautiful. “ROYL,” with its inquisitive lyrics “Won’t you live tonight? (For the rest of your life)/Could be paradise (never know ’til you try)/Running out of time (baby, get up and try)” is one of the most fun songs they have ever released. At its core, it’s beautiful music that lets you enjoy yourself.

What really secures “Ungodly Hour” as the best is Chloe x Halle’s commitment to visuals and performance. They have performed various tracks off the album on the majority of recent award shows. They always match their outfits, and curate a new elaborate set and performance fitting within the constraints of pandemic performing. It’s truly impressive how they have been able to turn their album into an audio/visual experience when no one else was able to make it work.

In a year of impressive albums “Ungodly Hour” came out on top. Chloe x Halle have proved they are some of the most talented artists on the scene.
Written by: Livvy Mullen — arts@theaggie.org

The plastic surgery “Zoom boom” we least expected from COVID-19

Since the pandemic has started, there has been an increase in washing hands rigorously, eating healthier, purchasing exercise equipment and taking an interest in skin care. The COVID-19 pandemic has also seen an increased interest in plastic surgeries. People have been spending more time looking at themselves through a screen—in not the most ideal lighting—and realizing wrinkles, lines and texture that they often didn’t have the time to notice or address.

COVID-19 has given people the dangerous opportunity of too much time spent at home and inside. As people spend more time inside and on their phones scrolling through various social media platforms, personal insecurities are also likely to increase. A Huffington Post poll revealed that 60% of people who partake in social media platforms have reported that it has negatively affected their self-esteem. Fifty-one percent of participants say that social media increased insecurities about their appearance. 

As people spend more time consuming images of extremely edited, photoshopped and idealized images, insecurity increases. We begin to wonder why our faces are not perfectly symmetrical, why our stomachs aren’t as flat as an ironing board or why our skin has so many pores. It is not shocking that a plastic surgery “Zoom boom” happened after months of looking at ourselves through a screen, nitpicking every insecurity or flaw we don’t like. Since the pandemic, doctors all around the world—the U.S., Australia, the UK, South Korea and Japan—have all had an increase in bookings for both surgical and non-surgical treatments.

A survey conducted in June of 2020 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) of more than 1000 participants revealed that 49% of people who previously hadn’t had plastic surgery were interested in some form of cosmetic or dermatologic treatment. Twenty-nine percent of respondents indicated a preference for face lifts, rhinoplasties and breast augmentations. 

Another ASPS survey also showed that while plastic surgeon offices were closed, plastic surgeons continued to make use of telemedicine and virtual visits. The survey showed that the most asked for procedures  were botulinum toxin A (botox), breast augmentation, soft tissue fillers, liposuction and abdominoplasty.

Plastic surgeries like rhinoplasties usually require three to six weeks of healing time. A face lift requires at least two to three weeks for the swelling to subside. A breast augmentation takes an average of six weeks of healing time.

Most of the time the social stigma behind plastic surgery is that showing one’s swelling or bruising face to the world can be a deterrent. People prefer to keep the work they have done private. 

Limited exposure to the outside world and working from home provides people interested in any form of enhancement ample time to recover from going under the knife without ever having to let anyone know. Masks also let people hide what they don’t want the world to see and if someone has nipped or tucked something, it’s even easier to conceal. 

As we become older, some of us are able to accept and celebrate our insecurities and some of us may want to change them. Aging and beauty is subjective and forever changing in its standards. Modern medicine and plastic surgery exists not to just fan the flames of vanity but to actually give us the option to change what we do not like and be happy in the skin we live in, something many have taken advantage of in the appealing circumstances of the pandemic. 
Written by: Muhammad Tariq — arts@theaggie.org

How storytelling takes over in Taylor Swift’s new sister album

Taylor Swift has done it again. A surprise release shocked fans when Swift shared the news about “evermore,” the sister album to her previous release “folklore.” The new album has the same whimsical vibes that fans grew to love with “folklore” and more songs written by the cherished William Bowery (the pseudonym of Joe Alwyn, Swift’s boyfriend). 

When Swift posted an iconic “not a lot going on at the moment” picture, fans assumed there would be a music video to the song “exile” or “august,” but she tricked us once again. Instead of releasing a music video for one of the fan-favorite songs, she released “evermore.” She’s a liar and we love her for it. 

It was announced that “evermore” would be a sister album, so I expected it to have the same kind of tone that “folklore” brought. But I found “evermore” to be a more mature album. The lyrics emphasize the thing Swift is best at: storytelling. 

One of my favorite things about Swift as an artist is that her albums are immensely personal. Listening to her music feels like I’m reading a page straight from her diary, and this is something her fans have felt since her debut album. It was nice to know that I was hearing a personal side of her life that she chose to share with the world. 

For this reason, “evermore” didn’t quite top “folklore” for me. With a growing maturity comes a loss of the connection that I’ve grown to feel with her music. Swift has mentioned that with these sister albums, some of the stories and characters are fictional. But in “folklore,” we still have those personal stories like “mirrorball” that speak to her unending need to be liked or “mad woman” and “my tears ricochet” that express her pain when Borchetta sold her albums. There is a personal connection in “folklore” that I didn’t quite get in “evermore.” 

While there are still a few songs on the album that do relate to Swift, like “closure,” “willow” and “marjorie,” this album was more of a series of stories that fans could play out in their heads. It was a new change that I didn’t expect from Swift, but I have to admit that it is a welcome one. She’s at a time in her life where it’s normal to want some privacy and after years in the spotlight—I’m sure that it’s craved at some points. If she wants to release an album with more fictitious stories than fans are used to, then so be it. I’ll still listen and fall in love with the characters that she’s decided to give us.

Now let’s talk about my favorite songs from the album. For years, fans have begged Swift to collaborate with a woman. While we did get that with “Soon You’ll Get Better” from the “Lover” album, I can’t listen to it without having a full cryfest, so I usually steer clear of listening to the song while in the car. But with this album fans finally got a collaboration with HAIM, the pop band and long time friends of Swift. To say the least, the collaboration was genius. The song titled “no body, no crime” very clearly plays out as a murder drama scene that’s better than any Netflix mystery movie I’ve watched. I didn’t know this song was something I needed until I heard it and I officially can’t get enough of it. The song does bring Swift back to her country roots and while that would normally put me off, it’s Swift. She could just be playing with a banjo and I’d listen. 

I would like to think that “closure” is about Scott Borchetta simply because it fits so well. “Closure” starts off with loud metal clashing and sounds that don’t sit right, but the song soon falls into a beautiful piano melody as the abruptness of the clashing metals fades into the background. The song describes someone reaching out for closure, but it’s unnecessary because the other person doesn’t want it nor do they need an apology anymore. The musicality is a beautiful reflection of Swift’s storyline in the song. The healing process is reflected in the piano, but when something interferes with it, the interference is loud and unnecessary, which is exactly what the crashes sound like in the beginning of the song. With the crashes constantly playing in the background and being dulled out as the soft piano melody takes over, it’s a beautiful testament to how the healing process isn’t linear. The people who hurt you will still be in the back of your mind, they will still consume you, and sometimes the thoughts will grow louder, but sometimes they’ll be nonexistent. 

Besides the beautiful musicality, in this album, we get to see a lot of Swift’s maturity over the years. Her songs are no longer about Romeo and Juliet, but about alcoholism and a runaway bride. One of my favorite songs in the album is titled “champagne problems” which is a take on someone losing the person they love because they couldn’t agree to marrying them and everyone else blames it on the alcoholism. Songs like this are a perfect example of why Swift is still at the top of the music industry. She can tell a story about something that is usually not discussed and can do it in four minutes.

My least favorite song of the album is “cowboy like me,” but I still have to applaud the storytelling. The song describes a con artist falling in love with another con artist and they are forced to put aside their old ways  while trying to build a life with the person they love. The song is a little slow for my taste, but after a deep dive into the lyrics, I gained a deeper admiration for it. 

This goes for most of the album—it’ll grow on you. A good number of fans are having trouble deciding which of the sister albums they love more, but I can easily tell you that “folklore” is my favorite. That’s because on the first listen of “evermore,” the only song I loved was “no body, no crime,” which is unusual for one of Swift’s albums. But after a few listens to more songs, I did slowly fall in love with the album. I didn’t have many expectations for this album, especially because I wasn’t given the time to develop them. Although I did want some faster songs, I know this album is more indie pop and country. I have been craving those upbeat songs that we’ve been used to for years, but I can’t say I’m disappointed with “evermore.” 

Fans are still skeptical after Swift debunked a surprise third album, but we are grateful that she’s been with us for the mess that has been 2020. Her songs allow me to step into another world and that’s especially true with “evermore,” where we get to meet fictitious characters that are dealing with problems I couldn’t even imagine. 
Written By: Itzelth Gamboa — arts@theaggie.org

Have you ever been online?

“[re: Click],” a joint production between the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance and the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University, adapted and directed by Margaret Laurena Kemp and Roger Ellis, gave its final performance of the year on Dec. 12. It’s an experimental piece of theater—performed entirely online—that follows a group of students as they traverse the difficult and identity-disrupting realities of digital existence.

The show is based on a stage production, “Click” (written by Jacqueline Goldfinger), and was reimagined in a way that manages to capture the idiosyncratic and repetitious experience of online information gathering in a surprisingly evocative way. Through the series of embedded YouTube live streams and Vimeo links that make up the four parts of the show, viewers are fed a narrative suggesting rejection and exploitation, among other difficult symptoms of the modern flesh/internet split life.

Lines and inflections are repeated through various characters and motions are synchronized across screens, creating moments of near deja-vu that reinforce thematic ideas and concepts. The bulk of the performance, however, consists of college students staring blankly at some place just below the camera and almost unintelligible mutterings by performers off-screen. The presentation is purposely eclectic and never gives the viewer space to piece together information. Moments of clear focus are rare, but this is intentional: It’s built to mirror the cluttered informational wasteland of the internet. This is a focus that seems to be based in a boomerish fear of digital life and the implications of ownerless information, a fear many of us raised on the internet do not hold.

Furthermore, it’s easy for a viewer to wonder why none of these performers have been provided with a decent microphone, especially when so many lines are quiet and/or mixed with a chorus of others. A usable condenser mic plus audio interface is around $60.

The performance’s website is black and moody, often filled with Matrix-reminiscent hashes of binary, and generally sets a tone comparable to something off a deep web URL, which provides a fitting accent to the nebulous nature of the performance itself. The whole thing is steeped in a 2000s conception of the internet.

While definitely interesting, “[re: Click]” is an effort that in no way curbs its experimental presentation in the name of clarity. It’s an experience that requires active attention and deciphering to make a lick of sense out of what could be loosely considered its plot. It has shades of the multimedia spheres of “This House Has People In It” and co., though more limited in its capacity and less sprawling. This is an attribute that may or may not be to your taste. Live performances go on while you visit different parts of the website with no guidance, and it’s entirely possible to miss pivotal moments while on a different section (though due to their nature as embedded streams and videos, skipping back is easy).

While this year’s performances—the “alpha” version of the show—have come to an end, “[re: Click]” will have further dates with its “beta” version in 2021. 

Written by: Jacob Anderson — arts@theaggie.org