#albumanalysis

[mediamonarchy]

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240223_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 The ABCs of book banning, Blockheads unite and Vultures signals + this day in history w/drone strikes as solution and our song of the day by Alais Clay x Prezence on your #MorningMonarchy for February 23, 2024. Notes/Links: Image: If you’re a mass shooter at a Pfizer Chiefs parade, the media protects your identity because you’re “under 18.” If you’re a fan in face paint at a Pfizer Chiefs game, the media tries to ruin your life calling you a racist at 9yrs old. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/414599738147602433/1209580714421518376/img.png?ex=65e770d3&is=65d4fbd3&hm=8bf9ea340aa652c99877aa8ca8ca1813a5f451adb964ba91db9d957ff73156df& ‘The ABCs of Book Banning’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_ABCs_of_Book_Banning Video: ‘The ABC’s of Book Banning’ trailer (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97H-2d2VAcc Sheila Nevins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Nevins Fubo files antitrust lawsuit against ESPN, WBD, Fox, over joint venture https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/02/fubo-lawsuit-espn-fox-wbd-antitrust/ An About-Face in D.C. As Lerners Pull Nationals From the Market https://frontofficesports.com/an-about-face-in-d-c-as-lerners-pull-nationals-from-the-market/ MSNBC Guest Asserts White People Stole ALL MUSIC From Black People https://modernity.news/2024/02/21/msnbc-guest-asserts-white-people-stole-all-music-from-black-people/ Video: MSNBC guest nonchalantly claims that whitey stole ALL forms of music from black people, except classical (which is where the vast majority of modern music stems from anyway). (Audio) https://vxtwitter.com/modernitynews/status/1760272704559518092 The Kinks’ Ray Davies: ‘If I die suddenly, I’ll start a worm farm’ https://archive.ph/18eLp Rod Stewart sells back catalogue for near $100 million https://www.nme.com/news/music/rod-stewart-sells-back-catalogue-for-near-100million-3588728 New Kids on the Block Set New Album With BMG: ‘New Label, Big Tour’ https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/new-kids-block-bmg-deal-new-album-nkotb-tour-1235611265/ Image: @Hybrid’s Cover Art – The Blockheads’ ‘Another Magic Summer’ https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/983208466481029191/1210458492377243660/20240223_MorningMonarchy.jpg?ex=65eaa251&is=65d82d51&hm=e8db389e472485a6da98c0a3d5be7bb654d5751d8d3df09fa213af3377c8cbe9& Was the Whitney Houston Movie Out of Sync? https://archive.is/aR9eJ Sync Licensing 101: What is a Sync Deal? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sync-licensing-101-what-deal-tyler-schurb #AlbumAnalysis: Kanye West Scavenged for Samples on ‘Vultures.’ Should He Have Been Allowed To? https://www.billboard.com/pro/kanye-vultures-album-samples-music-song-clearance-problem/ #AlbumAnalysis/Video: Kanye West first Independent Album grossed over $1m in its first week (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Pf45n44Weiw #AlbumAnalysis: Kanye West Speaks Out After Ozzy Osbourne Blasts Him for Sampling “War Pigs” https://americansongwriter.com/kanye-west-speaks-out-after-ozzy-osbourne-blasts-him-for-sampling-war-pigs/ #AlbumAnalysis: Kanye West’s First Independent Album Grossed Over $1M in Its First Week; Vultures 1, the rapper’s full-length collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign, earned close to 169 million on-demand streams in the United States. https://www.billboard.com/business/streaming/kanye-west-vultures-grossed-million-first-week-1235611938/ #AlbumAnalysis/Video: Hollywood Executives Still in Shock After Kanye West Exposed Their Move To Shutdown His Album (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTOq3GSWP2M February 2014 – Page 2 – Media Monarchy https://mediamonarchy.com/2014/2/page/2/ Flashback: U.S. Air Force Reveals ‘Neighborhood Watch’ Spy Satellite Program (Feb. 23, 2014) https://mediamonarchy.com/us-air-force-reveals-neighborhood-watc/ Flashback: Soweto Girls Found Dead Amidst Allegations of Satanic Sacrifice (Feb. 23, 2014) https://mediamonarchy.com/soweto-girls-found-dead-amids/ Flashback: NASA to Send Robotic Doctor to Space (Feb. 23, ...

[howtothenow]

SOPHIE And Transcendent Nothingness

The philosophy of ‘Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-insides’.

Look at the cover of SOPHIE’s debut Album and you will see written on her plastic covered arm, “Nothingness”. This image features the Artist perched in an ethereal landscape of liquid and clouds, facing out with as blank a face as possible. With this in mind consider the lyrics of the jarringly disconnected bridge of Track 3, Faceshopping:

So you must be the one That I've seen in my dreams Come on, touch me Set my spirit free Oh, test me Do you feel what I feel? Do you see what I see? Oh, reduce me to nothingness Yes, yes  

These lyrics are partly a knowing cliche thats serves to highlight the arbitrary quality of the bridge, but I believe there’s two very significant lines here: “set my spirit free” and “reduce me to nothingness”. All over this Album we find freedom in nothingness; liberation from constraint, from boundaries. The most upfront example of this is ‘Immaterial’ a poppy celebration that ponders topics of Transhumanism ( the theory and speculation of what a future where A.I and human consciousness interact would be and how that would effect our notions of identity). After the seemingly-formless genesis of previous track ‘Pretending’ we have this absolute revelry. it is curious that there can be liberation in nothingness; however this is not a new idea nor is it “nothingness” exactly.

The use of “spirit” is particularly telling. I’ve described this nothingness in relation to transcendence. Transcendence is, put crudely, the experience of an interaction with or view into a reality outside of our usual ability to comprehend (or perhaps ever comprehend); it is talked of as being immensely powerful and great value. The word ‘transcendental’ has religious origins. People sometimes have what they may call religious experiences – described, in religious terms as ‘encounters with the Holy Spirit’. This is an interesting description, metaphorically speaking as, out of the trinity (the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit / Ghost), it’s the Holy Spirit that a person feels that they encounter in these experiences. The word ’Spirit’ is telling because a spirit is by definition, something that “transcends” it’s limitation and embodiment e.g. when a person dies we may say that “their spirit lives on”; a spirit is abstract and in the ether. The spirt is the part of someone that is not bound to their body, it’s their soul, some might say their essence. Does SOPHIE think people have an essence? i’m not sure.

The transcendental can be regarded as a kind of nothing and is in many cultures and schools of thought; It is discussed as simultaneously a place of no-things and the source of all things. It is not clear when people talk of there being a “nothing” at the core of things if they don’t believe in truth or if they adhere to the idea that truth is elusive. So again, this “nothingness” is not necessarily “nothingness exactly”, it may be thought of as just existing beyond the body, beyond the material, so it’s not clear exactly in what way it exists, if it exists, which is why “Immaterial” is posed as a question, not a statement.. ‘Oil Of Every Pearls Un-Insides’ is not a work of ideology, it’s a work of exploration.

There is a surface of ideology obviously. It is easy and probably reasonable to associate SOPHIE with a kind of contemporary Post-Modernism, it is ’PC’ music after all…(thats a joke by the way) Yet SOPHIE’s consciously Po-Mo sprinklings cover a more fundamental axiom: Go into the unknown and prosper (possibly). 

We can liken SOPHIE’s production style to a kind of musical deconstruction where sounds clash, genres collide and sometimes feel like they are literally being destroyed. The musical arrangements and sound design trigger the senses as well as defy expectations, the Album tracks this process as a journey into chaos.   To some extend this is the oldest story; it’s the hero myth, it’s the ancient role of the artist to extend the domain of the known into the unknown. SOPHIE’s musical approach may be “deconstructive” but in the sense that it is seeking something new, something potent, going back into the ocean of potential and forming something from it. The thing here though is the emphasis on “possibly” prospering, for this pursuit is littered with anxiety and conflict (or perhaps it’s “glittered�� with it.) I admit though, that some of this may be a consequence of the album format itself, but every artist’s work is shaped by the medium to some extent.

Consciously or unconsciously, the truth that SOPHIE seeks in this album is an evasive kind; perhaps truth is always evasive. This truth (for want of a better word) is the kind that evades categorisation and slips from grasp. Chaos, the unknown, the transcendental are all over this album. The “oil” in the title, the water in ‘Is It Cold In The Water?’ the liquid on the cover (is this the oil/or the water, or both?) - I would consider these the central themes of the album. Obviously it is the oil of every persons “un-insides”. The title is an obviously jarring contradiction; that a person has no real inside and yet they have an oil, an essence. The buddhist notion of “The Self” comes to mind, it is a concept that describes the truest part of oneself while representing a state of consciousness that requires recognition of the illusion of self in the sense we might think of; “The Self” is not the Ego, its almost the opposite. While some reviewers have referred to this Album as an embrace of Identity (on a personal level it may be), in many ways its a rejection of it or at least a struggle through it. And this struggle is key to why this contradiction works; it is an honest exploration, it’s all “pretending” but we can “synthesise the real” and yet maybe we can’t because the sound design tells us this is a dangerous and terrifying endeavour. Again and again the superficial is embraced and then falls away, either to the beautiful or to the uncomfortable. Freedom is sought in the undoing of limitation and the knowledge of it’s falseness. The problem is we are very much a product of our limitations: imagine life without gravity, imagine paying attention to something without not paying attention to something else or finding a way through life without not doing something else; SOPHIE is well aware of this. SOPHIE’s music can be thought of a kind of interplay of celebration and anxiety (which is essentially what music is anyway). The anxious quality is partly a result of the visceral nature of her music but it is also very much to do with the dive into this notion of “nothingness”. Anxiety, as slightly separate from fear, is associated with nothingness or the absence of a specific problem, in other words anxiety is the state in which the threat is everything. Fear requires specific threat, anxiety is the presence of threat without the comfort of specifics; you’re direction is non existent and you’re problem undifferentiated. It’s a deeply uncomfortable state.

Sometimes this anxious element collides with the element of celebration on a track like ‘Immaterial’ where an auto-tuned vocal momentarily sounds slightly tortured and occasionally menacing. Though, if there is a definitive example of this collision, it is the final rack. One might expect a title like ‘Whole New World’ to indicate optimism but the sense I get about this new world is that it’s fucking terrifying. Why is it so terrifying? Is it because it’s “pretend’? Is it because we don’t know it’s rules so we are doomed to perish? I think it’s partially all of these. it’s a delve in to the unknown that gets there and bludgeons you into a state of awe and confusion. Maybe liberation is here, maybe this is where we find truth, wisdom, freedom and whatever else we might seek; but getting there is scary and perhaps when we find this “place”, we won’t know what to do there, yet still we go.

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: March 24, 2023

#MorningMonarchy MP3: March 24, 2023 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by #SUIT!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230324_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Falling child stars, alleged serial pooper and the tunnel under Ocean Blvd. + this day in history w/the Brandenburg Concertos and our song of the day by SUIT on your #MorningMonarchy for March 24, 2023. Notes/Links: World Athletics bans transgender female…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: February 24, 2023

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #February24, 2023 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @IamMEDIAbear!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230224_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 TV detectives, the animation purge and rumours of war + this day in history w/Andrew Johnson impeached and our song of the day by Media Bear on your #MorningMonarchy for February 24, 2023. Notes/Links: Sam Smith corrects Alex Jones after BBC One Show blunder; They appeared on the One Show following…

[mediamonarchy]

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/20240726_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Political actors, how music got free and trainwreck concerts + this day in history w/KickAssTorrents owner arrested and our song of the day by Remy on your #MorningMonarchy for July 26, 2024. Notes/Links: All the Musicians Supporting Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election; Ariana Grande, Cardi B, John Legend and more have all spoken in favor of the VP’s bid. https://www.billboard.com/lists/musicians-endorsing-kamala-harris-president-2024/ Vice President Kamala Harris Showed Off Her New Vinyl Records & They’re All Classics (May 9, 2023) https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/vice-president-kamala-harris-showed-233527981.html The Kamala Bump: Presidential Candidate Spurs Gains for Beyoncé, Charli XCX & Chappell Roan; This week’s Trending Up looks at the pop impact of Kamala Harris’ assumed presidential nomination, as well as the controversy over Kyle Gass of Tenacious D’s inflammatory Trump comments. https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/kamala-harris-charli-xcx-chappell-roan-beyonce-streaming-trending-up-1235740053/ Universal Music Group Revenue Up Nearly 9% on Taylor Swift Sales, Publishing and Merchandise Gains; Subscription revenue continued to grow, but other streaming revenue — including ad-supported streaming — declined in the quarter. https://www.billboard.com/pro/universal-music-earnings-q2-2024-revenue-up-taylor-swift-merch Kamala Harris’ media strategy right out the gate is young, fun, and unburdened by what has been https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kamala-harris-media-strategy-right-out-the-gate-is-young-fun-and-unburdened-by-what-has-been/ar-BB1qqlgM Video: Top Ten Reasons Joe Biden Dropped Out Of The Race | Letterman (Audio) https://youtu.be/DeT3KpN2Ol0 Franz Ferdinand – “Fresh Strawberries” (Vinyl // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/4849298-Franz-Ferdinand-Right-Thoughts-Right-Words-Right-Action // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Strawberries // https://search.brave.com/search?q=Right+Thoughts%2C+Right+Words%2C+Right+Action+occult&source=web&summary=1&summary_og=59af4961ace562e80bcebf // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAbPx_-IJBI Aging sports voices, 80 and above, deserve more attention and should retain more consideration https://www.sportsbroadcastjournal.com/aging-sports-voices-80-and-above-deserve-more-attention-and-should-retain-more-consideration/ As Broadcast Radio Struggles to Compete, Morning Show Hosts Are Losing Their Jobs; Amid heavy debt loads, advertising declines and competition from streaming, stations are eliminating often highly paid a.m.-drive talent. https://archive.is/uiYse SAG-AFTRA is going on strike against the video game industry. https://x.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1816558665991688553 Fired ‘Mandalorian’ actor Gina Carano ‘moved to tears’ after victory against Disney in her Elon Musk-funded lawsuit https://nypost.com/2024/07/25/business/gina-carano-scores-victory-against-disney-after-mandalorian-firing/ CBS’ Bob Newhart Tribute Special Hits 4.1 Million Viewers on CBS https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/bob-newhart-tribute-special-ratings-viewers-cbs-1236082340/ How music lost its value https://archive.is/QfD3D Video: How Music Got Free | Official Trailer | Paramount+ (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYUKEiLGHpQ #KINKmornings: Stephen Witt on ‘How Music Got Free’ – June 23, 2015 (Audio) https://soundcloud.com/kinkfm/kink-mornings-stephen-witt INXS – “Old World New World” (Vinyl // Audio) https://www.discogs.com/release/395063-INXS-Shabooh-Shoobah // https://genius.com/Inxs-old-world-new-world-lyrics // https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdSuHxYGKX8 #AlbumAnalysis: Ticketmaster warns customers to take action after hack https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ticketmaster-warns-customers-to-take-action-after-hack/ar-BB1pF9Qh #AlbumAnalysis: Creed’s Reunion Tour Return: Inside Their Mega-Selling Comeback; Ticket demand for the band’s just-launched reunion tour makes frontman Scott Stapp emotional...

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: September 22, 2023

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #September22, 2023 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @GoRemy!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230922_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Crying apology videos, getting 200 wins and selling your catalog + this day in history w/Red Coats hang American patriot and our song of the day by Remy on your #MorningMonarchy for September 22, 2023. Notes/Links: House descends into chaos as GOP rebels again sink key defense vote a second time this…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: August 25, 2023

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #August25, 2023 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by #TomMacDonald/#AdamCalhoun!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/20230825_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Arrested embellishment, best time to be alive and conservative punks + this day in history w/the National Park Service and our song of the day by Tom MacDonald on your #MorningMonarchy for August 25, 2023. Notes/Links: Image: Discord says Media Monarchy’s server is spreading medical misinformation – to…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: July 28, 2023

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #July28, 2023 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @BloodedTheBrav1/#BloodedTheBrave!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/20230728_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Fight the real enemy, Zionist retcons and blackbox life recorder + this day in history w/fingerprint scientism and our song of the day by Blooded The Brave on your #MorningMonarchy for July 28, 2023. Notes/Links: Women Say Top Canadian Radio Promoter Is a Longtime Sexual Predator; Their allegations…

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#MorningMonarchy: August 26, 2022

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #August26 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by #LindaDraper/@LDraperMusic!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/20220826_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Release the flight logs, racist compilations and California burning + this day in history w/the death of Neil Simon and our world premiere song of the day by Linda Draper on your #MorningMonarchy for August 26, 2022. Notes/Links: Image: When the new current thing comes…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: June 24, 2022

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #June24 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @NealFox!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/20220624_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 The flash of fame, hero worship and miracles from molecules + this day in history w/the UpStairs Lounge arson attack and our song of the day by Neal Fox on your #MorningMonarchy for June 24, 2022. Notes/Links: Video: “America is a nation that can be defined in a single word, hasefute efade eh spad” –…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: March 25, 2022

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #March25 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @IamMEDIAbear!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220325_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Harassing friends, RIP Jordan Maxwell and original pirate material + this day in history w/make my bed, maid, so I can continue protesting the system and our song of the day by Media Bear on your #MorningMonarchy for March 25, 2022. Notes/Links: Viral cheerleader chest-touch video turning into March…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: May 28, 2021

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #May28 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by #Diogenesquest!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/20210528_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Mega allegations, woke-a-cola and a musical exodus + this day in history w/the death of Gil Scott-Heron and our song of the day by Diogenesquest on your #MorningMonarchy for May 28, 2021. Notes/Links: #NewWorldNextWeek: Take Me To Your…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: March 26, 2021

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #March26 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory, #TruthMusic by #Mindseed & cover(t) art by @CitizensGateway!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/20210326_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Soap opera propaganda, play Gangie for me & alchemist collaborations + this day in history w/Heaven’s Gate and our song of the day by Mindseed on your #MorningMonarchy for March 26, 2021. Notes/Links: Dang I’m starting to think the satanists should’ve gone for the libraries instead of lame statues,…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: October 28, 2022

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #October28 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @GoRemy!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221028_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Wonky one-eyes, leaving California and Halloween at home + this day in history w/the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis and our song of the day by Remy on your #MorningMonarchy for October 28, 2022. Notes/Links: PREORDER – Corbett Report 2010 Data Archive (USB Flash…

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#MorningMonarchy: September 23, 2022

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #September23 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @Oi_Polloi!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20220923_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Little demons, rock family trees and the noise of struggle + this day in history w/Ceefax and our song of the day by Oi Polloi on your #MorningMonarchy for September 23, 2022. Notes/Links: Thousands of Fans Booed Queen Elizabeth During Moment Of Silence At UFC…

[mediamonarchy]

#MorningMonarchy: July 22, 2022

#MorningMonarchy MP3: #July22 w/#MediaMemes/#AlbumAnalysis + #ThisDayInHistory & #TruthMusic by @FaithlessTown!

https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/20220722_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Ivana stumble, golden eras and based plant music + this day in history w/the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes and our song of the day by Faithless Town on your #MorningMonarchy for July 22, 2022. Notes/Links: J.T. Realmuto said he consulted with doctors he knew and decided he did not need a COVID…