#she asked if my rock playlist i was playing is a public playlist (aka could she listen to it herself)

[orcelito]

Got the local 16 year old employee to listen to Muse today. She's one of the most normal ppl who work at the store. Super sweet, but Super sheltered.

I mentioned how my "modern rock" tag on Spotify is like 80% Muse, Des Rocs, and Nothing But Thieves, & she was like "I have heard of None of those". And I told her "you Probably have heard Muse, even if you didn't know it" & mentioned they have a song in Twilight. & she was like "Wait, really????"

So I played Supermassive Black Hole & she looooved it. & she asked for me to play more of Muse, so I did :')

She's still almost painfully normal overall, but I can at least help spread some new music tastes to her

[aili]

Valentine’s Day Music Newlsetter 2019!

Welcome to the 13th Music Newsletter! Short intro for the newbies - I love music. I love sharing music with other people. In college I started a "music newsletter" email with some playlists (aka mixtapes) I've made and some song/band recommendations. Why Valentine's Day? Because I think this day should be about love in many ways - including love for music!

That brings us to today. The first Valentine's Day mixtape I put together was actually a physical mix CD that I mailed to my home friends while I was away at college. That was in 2008 (11 years ago!). A lot has changed since then, but my love of music has not. While I feel sometimes too busy or too old or too out of touch to know what I'm even talking about, I hope you'll get some enjoyment out of this - as much as I've been enjoying listening to these songs and picking them for you! 

*Click here to download Valentine's Day 2019 mixtape!

Click here to play Valentine's Day 2019 on Spotify!

*Note that the file downloads as a zip file, double clicking on it to open it up should give you the individual songs. Then move the songs to iTunes into a playlist!

1.) "Happy Unhappy" - The Beths New Zealand indie rockers The Beths debut album, Future Me Hates Me, is full of catchy, energetic sad-twinged songs. This song feels like it could have come out back in the 00s when we had to find new music by reading blogs and actually downloading MP3s - it feels closer to the Garden State soundtrack era of indie than the recent moody electronic vibe. It's a lot of fun! Sounds like Courtney Barnett by way of The Wombats, with a splash of Los Campesinos.

2.) “City Looks Pretty” - Courtney Barnett Courtney’s 2018 album “Tell Me How You Really Feel” is only her second studio album, but somehow it feels like she’s been around forever. The album features a “fuller” sound and more production, which may appear dulled next to 2015’s “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.” However, I feel excited by Courtney exploring a more mature sound and think it accurately reflects the albums depressive theme. “Sometimes I get mad / it’s not all that bad” is sung with a definite apathy compared to her shout-singing past record. As the bridge settles in, Courtney captures the depression symptom of lack of interest in things you used to enjoy. The city looks pretty when you’ve been stuck inside isolated for two weeks. 3.) “Screwed” - Janelle Monáe feat. Zoë Kravitz Janelle’s 2018 album “Dirty Computer” is an anthology of songs (and truly, poetry) that tell of reckoning with being a queer woman of color in an oppressive, violent society. It’s an incredibly personal album with her fans in mind - “I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you. This album is for you. Be proud.” (Rolling Stone, 2018). My favorite part of this song is “See, everything is sex / except sex / which is power / you know power is just sex / now ask yourself who’s screwing you.”

4.) "BAGDAD - Cap.7: Liturgia" - Rosalía 25-year-old Rosalía Vila Tobella from Catalonia has an excellent 2018 album El Mal Querer. The album combines traditional flamenco with modern R&B. The album is a story of love and heartbreak over the course of 11 chapters/songs. This particular one might sound familiar due to the sampling of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River."

5.) "Gun" - St. Lucia St. Lucia's first release off of their 2018 album Hyperion caught my attention with its connection to a more traditional rock sound and the heavy-hitting, one-word title. The production and sound almost reminds me of Oasis or U2. Turns out that the album is indeed produced by someone who worked on records with PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode, and U2. In interviews, Jean-Philip Grobler talks about how this song is generally about both gun control and power. "You said you wanted to feel a gun in your hands" in Verse 1 transforms to "You said you wanted to feel the blood in your hands" in Verse 2, highlighting the fact that guns are designed to kill. 

6.) “Apathy” - Frankie Cosmos With a catchy bass line, gorgeous lyrics, and endearing vocals, this song and entire album are not to be missed. As you may notice on this year’s playlist, this year I was super into what I would describe as punk-influenced, low-fi indie female vocalists. Pretentious enough for you? Haha. I just mean that there are a ton of young women blowing up in the indie music scene with a huge crossover in sound. As demonstrated in “Apathy,” many of these songs are short, lack a traditional pop music format, use low-fi production, and have a storytelling aspect of almost speak-singing. These elements are all found in traditional punk music, so it’s interesting and exciting to see these artists shaking things up and challenging the punk genre. Frankie Cosmos has a long history of creating music, under various projects using Bandcamp as a teenager. Her 2018 album “Vessel” is nothing short of delightful and another one of my favorites of the year. 7.) “Your Dog” - Soccer Mommy Soccer Mommy is Sophie Allison, singer-songwriter based out of Nashville. She opened for Paramore on their recent tour and she has launched into the indie music scene with a lot of attention in the past couple years. I love how her voice clearly carries so much anger as she sings about an emotionally abusive relationship. Her lyrics describe the agony of small, sweet gestures pushing her back to her ex, despite her wanting desperately to end it. Using the metaphor of being a loyal, sub-servient dog, she describes the way her SO treats her like she’s his property. Because the song lacks a traditional “pop” format (verse 1 / chorus / verse 2 / chorus / bridge / chorus), there is a sense of the story ending unresolved. Fortunately, she has an excellent album (one of my favorites) from 2018 called “Clean” where you can learn more of her story. 8.) “Pristine” by Snail Mail A stunning debut from 19-year-old Lindsey Jordan, “Lush” is a 2018 release not to miss. “Pristine” perfectly encapsulates teenage life and love - “it just feels like the same party every weekend. Doesn’t it?” There is such a sense of genuine hormonal angst that she is almost joyfully celebrating. Her album reads more like a diary - and how lucky she is to have these future memories and be able to approach them with such wisdom.

9.) "Uncomfortably Numb" - American Football feat. Hayley Williams Paying homage to Pink Floyd, legendary emo band American Football joins with Paramore's lead singer Hayley Williams for a devastating track about losing emotional sensation. "I blame my father in my youth / Now as a father, I blame the booze." I couldn't find too much information on the exact inspiration behind the track, but it's the second track released off their upcoming album out March 22nd. Hayley is usually front and center as a singer, and it's interested to hear her take more of a backing role, as well as explore a bit of a lower vocal range than she usually does.

10.) “Geyser” - Mitski Mitski absolutely killed it last year with “Be The Cowboy,” which was consistently rated not only in the top 5 best albums, not only top 3, but making MULTIPLE end of year lists as the number one album of 2018. It’s easy to see why, given the incredible breadth of music she wrote for her album. I see Mitski's influence reflected in the rise of fame in other punk-inspired female vocalists in the indie scene, building off her ability to capture the attention of a wide audience. Which is also very interesting because she incorporated elements of many other genres on this album (spot any disco on “Nobody”?) While it was difficult to pick one song for my playlist, “Geyser” stands out to me as not only an excellent album opener, but a fascinating look into Mitski’s own relationship with the art she creates. In an interview, she explains that this song is about her feeling like she has to create music because she would never be satisfied in life without it, but feeling sometimes stifled, stuck, and resentful when she puts music above basic needs such as her health and self-care. She needs her art to survive but it simultaneously kills her.

11.) “Me & My Dog” - boygenius It’s impossible to pick just one song of this album. Boygenius is the supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker - who each could also have one of their incredible solo songs on my playlist. Partially because they enjoyed each other’s creative energies and partially as a response to constantly being compared to each other as “women in indie,” the trio came together to create an EP of emo-influenced, folk-inspired gorgeous tracks about grief, loneliness, identity, and heartbreak. This particular song features Phoebe Bridgers in the verses and is a beautiful representation of the embarrassing and frustrating feeling of being in love with an ex. Please check out the individual work of these artists too!

12.) "bless ur heart" - serpentwithfeet Serpentwithfeet, aka Josiah Wise, has a gorgeous, intimate voice throughout his 2018 debut album, soil. This song starts off with a question of how his art will be received by the world. The rest of the song is a tender message of gratitude to his first love. It seems like Josiah questioned the choice to speak about his experiences with his ex in such a public fashion - with complexities of privacy, being open about sexuality, and possible painful memories on the table. Josiah's writing is very much like poetry, and his raw, unfiltered, un-autotuned vocals match the beauty of his words.

13.) "Bury A Friend" - Billie Eilish 17-year-old Billie Eilish is set to release her debut album, When We Sleep, Where Do We Go? next month. This song matches her goth aesthetic with a creepy story from the perspective of the monster under the bed. We learn that the monster is part of Billie herself, who is struggling with her own demons. 14.) "Loading Zones" - Kurt Vile A gorgeous guitar track, Kurt Vile paints a picture of his hometown Philadelphia and feeling on top of the world exploring his city's streets. He included a hilarious marketing strategy of sending fake parking tickets to fans in the mail to promote the song. Kurt Vile talks about the metaphor of "I park for free," which is how he sometimes lives his life - breaking the dumb rules because it's his life, his streets, his town. 15.) "Dylan Thomas" - Better Oblivion Community Center Is it possible to already be nostalgic for the late 2000's? Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers released this surprise collaboration last month and this is the standout track for me. Conor Oberst's incredibly recognizable voice is hard to match in terms of strength, timbre, and uniqueness. While Bridgers is young enough to be from a different generation than him (she also grew up listening to Oberst's music), he saw something in her that resonated with him. I love how they sing in unison on this track (and much of the album) and think their voices sound really good together.

16.) "Butterflies" - Kacey Musgraves Kacey Musgraves is bringing a breath of fresh air to country. After self-releasing three albums, she tried her hand at reality TV through Nashville Star over a decade ago. Golden Hour is her fourth album using a record label, and she just won Album of the Year at the Grammys! Her voice is beautiful and has an earnest, authentic approach in joining elements of country pop. 

17.) “Prior Things” - Hop Along “Bark Your Head Off, Dog” is Hop Along’s third album, released in 2018. Singer/songwriter Frances Quinlan has the ability to transform the themes of her songs. Layered with a multitude of different sounds and instruments, it could easily sound scattered and busy, but instead feels like we are huddled around a campfire with an enthusiastic, stream-of-consciousnesses storyteller. “Prior Thing” is the last song on the album and crosses time, space, and memories with the start of a hallucinogenic drug trip. She has the ability to take a phrase and transform the expected - pausing or elongating notes at unexpected places. This method keeps you invested in figuring out what the song is really about or what the conclusion is. 18.) "Kids" - Pup Emo/pop punkers Pup have a new album Morbid Stuff coming out on April 5th. Their songs are made for live shows - shouting/singing alternates, sing-a-long catchy lyrics reminiscent of the Hold Steady, and unison whole-band lines. Pup frontman Stefan Babcock said this song is about finding someone who agrees with your view of the world being a fucked up place, and enjoying small moments of solace in spending time with them. 

SPOTIFY

Don't forget to subscribe to my playlists on Spotify! Here is the link to listen to this year's mixtape on Spotify.

I try to add new songs at least once a week to this playlist: What I'm currently lovin' (updated freq)

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I hope you guys enjoy the new music and feel free to send me recommendations of anything you like!<3 aili

Previous Mixtapes:

Autumn Love mix | Autumn Love Spotify

Copenhagen mix | Copenhagen Spotify

Valentine's Day downbeat 2010

Valentine's Day upbeat 2010

Valentine's Day 2011

Philadelphia mix | Philadephia Spotify

New Crime mix | New Crime Spotify

The City mix | The City Spotify

Drive mix | Drive Spotify

Valentine's Day 2012 | VDay 2012 Spotify

King's Myth mix | King's Myth Spotify

Hold On mix | Hold On Spotify

Valentine's Day 2013 | Vday 2013 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2014 | Vday 2014 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2015 | Vday 2015 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2016 | Vday 2016 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2017| Vday 2017 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2018 | Vday 2018 Spotify

[kangnuest]

introduction into nu’est

debuted March 14, 2012 with “Face” under pledis entertainment

fandom ㄴ.ㅇ.ㅅ.ㅌ (pronounced LOVE from the way you spell Nu’est in Korean 뉴이스트) fandom color hot pink

did pretty well during debut promotions but popularity kept declining due to shitty promotions from company and lack of comebacks  

many thought Nu’est was near disbandment

4 members (Jonghyun, Minki, Minhyun and Dongho) joined Produce 101 Season 2 in hopes of proving their skills and saving Nu’est

all four members made it to the finale but only Minhyun made it into the top11 (#9) and got to debut with wanna-one 

other members ranked 13 (Dongho), 14 (Jonghyun) and 20 (Minki)

but they did not fail because they did prove themselves throughout the show and gained a lot of popularity internationally and nation-wide 

in hopes that they continue to gain popularity I am making an introductory to the members of Nu’est for the new and upcoming ㄴㅇㅅㅌ’s :)))

firstly Nu’est’s Leader

Kim Jonghyun (JR) 06.08.1995

Leader, Main Rapper, Main Dancer

talented affff

3 S’s Shy Sweet & Sensitive

extremely caring

blames himself for Nu’est’s lack of popularity

looks like onibugi 

cries a lot 

but only bc he loves his members and p101 children so much and he wants to do his best for them 24/7

wayyy too selfless

Nation’s Leader

cried bc other p101 trainees did a hidden camera on him on his birthday

plays like almost every instrument ever

speaks japanese

loves eminem

says he’s living his father’s dream by becoming an entertainer

too shy to speak english

humble affff

video game addict

brought a potato to school and talked to it like it was his child

says sorry too much

ren is his gf

camera slut always has to be in the shot

hates tomatoes

always gets way into karaoke 

wants to marry aron :))

next is the oldest 

Aron Kwak (Aron) 05.21.1993

ft hungry Minhyun

Lead Rapper, Lead Dancer, Vocalist

real name is youngmin 

but he fucking hates it

from LA

is the oldest but isn’t the leader

for good reason

hes a fucking mess

an adorable mess but a mess

does radio shows

sometimes says things without thinking and gets himself into trouble

smart af

got accepted into NYU but chose to become an idol instead

learned Korean in 9 months

is a slut for his members

prob a closeted alcoholic

conceited 

high key gay for ren

mommas boy

ladies man

checks out girls even while on camera

thinks he’s cute and tags pictures of himself as #cutie

king of fan service

loves skinship

gets banned from twitter all the time bc all he does is follow fans

can actually cook 

has kissed ren and acted like he kissed baekho and minhyun

can’t ice-skate but claims he’s good at it

can’t say nu’est after all these years

hates horses and seagulls

can’t jump rope

has a crush on minhyun’s sister

is always 200% done with his members

“when I feel lonely at night I like lonnnggg hairrrr” 

ren: “rrreeaallly?”

claims he teaches the other nu’est guys english but has progressively given up

started the jr looks like onibugi thing

next is my bias :)))))))))))

Kang Dongho (Baekho) 07.21.1995 

Main Vocal

thiccc

can barely dance 

but has an amazing voice

looks scary but isn’t at all until he’s irritated

doesn’t get irritated easily but when he does gtg

is prob scared of ren

kang daddy

sexy bandit

really close to his dad

his dad has leukemia and dongho went to Instagram to ask people to donate blood to help his dad out

sweet pie

also hates horses

likes tacos

says he likes girls with “long hair, cute and sexy…. and a lot of money”

got his stage name bc he looked like Kang Baekho from SlamDunk

his stage name means white tiger

has a tiger tattooed on his forearm

2 more tattoos on his chest 

its hot af

has abs 

but gets too shy to show them 

knows kumdo and did it in his solo teaser before debut

again hot af

hates cleaning

won’t do it

has the most wholesome laugh I literally have a playlist of baekho laugh comps

if his laugh doesn’t make you smile idk what will

fought a drug dealer in Mexico bc he tried to start a fight with his members

strong af 

(saying hello on a radio show) “hello I’m baekho I’m fine thank you and you?”

has to hug someone to be able to sleep usually ren

sweats all the time 

he can breathe and start sweating 

a lil gay for Aron but kissed Minhyun on the cheek and is all over ren sooo

wants to be a comedian but only tells dad jokes

broke the lock on the bathroom door in their dorm once

says whats on his mind/what he feels

competitive but sucks under pressure 

sucked in school

lazy af

prob has the best English pronunciation out of the members besides Aron obviously

“I remember me”

has to pet every dog he sees 

called his parents just to ask to buy something worth like $6

talks shit to anyone and everyone

didnt mean to audition for pledis but went to support his friend in their audition and got casted lmao

is basically naked in the dorm all the time

but in public covers up like a nun

plays piano

always dies from secondhand embarrassment from ren

next is the model

Hwang Minhyun (Minhyun) 08.09.1995

Lead Vocalist, Visual

tall af

skinny but buff

should and could be a model

can hit high notes like nobody’s business

extremely innocent

still hasn’t had his first kiss

at first pledis only wanted him bc of how handsome he is 

speaks japanese

has an older sister that Aron has a crush on but he said she’s out of his league

low key savage

(saying hello on a radio show) “hi I’m minhyun, I like you *kiss noise*”

loves jr

is in Wanna-One (p101)

only pledis trainee to make it 

cried when minki jonghyun and dongho didnt make it 

didn’t even celebrate his victory bc all he could think about was leaving his brothers I’m crying

doesn’t drink

“perfect perfect perfect”

don’t ask him to improv dance

ren said baekho was the most handsome in nu’est and he accidentally blurted out “no he’s not” lmaoo

likes american-korean accents aka aron’s accent

got lost in turkey

rlly likes elephants

always has body lotion wyd boy ;););) 

loves things to be clean

always fighting with the members especially baekho bc nobody cleans except him

bribes baekho with food

hes a picky eater bc hes a child

sucks at bowling

said “this is your mistake” to Aron bc Aron didn’t know their English titles

sings everywhere

“thats no-no”

skips practice all the time

sleeps with earphones in how tf

cried when pledis scouted him 

next is the maknae

Choi Minki (Ren) 11.03.1995

Vocalist, Face of the Group, Maknae

is beautiful dressed as a boy and a girl

can rock long hair

actually any hair

made aron’s heart flutter when he was dressed as a girl

extra af

sassy af

on the topic of Mexican food he responded with “u know i luv u gurl I like mexican” and everyone in the room died

impersonated people drowning in an elevator from movie

minhyun said he had a lot of charisma and he said he was crying

ranted on how amazing and beautiful jr is for like 5 min on live radio

(saying hello on a radio show) “nice to meet you I’m ren thank you very much I love you too”

lady gaga’s number one fanboy sent her fanmail once

knows he’s pretty

can model walk

flexible

can play piano

thinks he can speak English

can’t

loves everyone

is actually terrifying 

does this thing with his shoulders 

so now he’s called shoulder gangster

not afraid to be embarrassed

can and will do any girl dance

can’t raise animals they all die

used to get mistaken for a girl all the time

members rlly love him

has a twitter

made jr sit in a trash can once

sucks at games like any game

amazing dancer

fell in love with baekho when he did kumdo for the solo teaser like same

is a lil bit of a loner

loves fashion

is a diva

likes nail art 

loves the movie titanic

hogs the bathroom bc he’s an ass

makes the members question their sexuality 

“how old are you” 

“I’m fine thank you”

likes skinship

says his older brother is terrifying lmao

snores

thats everything I can remember about the nu’est members pls support and love them

[safasaf2018]

Day 7 - 6/8/18

9:36 AM

SO MANY ANIMALS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! I woke up early this morning to pack for our weekend trip, and went to the café to get a quick breakfast. The worker there recognized me from going in so often, and this morning asked me in French how I was today, starting a conversation which is pretty rare and a huge milestone for me, but I wanted nothing to do with his French because now I know how to order in Arabic! So I looked at him and said "bghit…" which means "I want" and his eyes lit up as he realized that I was going to attempt to order in Arabic for the first time!!! "Ahhh!!! Shnu bghiti?" (What do you want?") he asked me with a huge smile. "Bghit… khawa." (coffee) "l’ma" (water) he got those for me and asked if I was French or American. "Ana Amrikia!" I responded. He then told me in French that he couldn’t tell because my French accent was very French, so I explained that I had lived in France for 11 months. Then my friend Victor came up and also ordered in Arabic. He wanted the same thing I got (an espresso, a water bottle, and a croissant) so he said "hahta ana" (Me too) and the worker taught us how to say "the same thing". The worker was in such a good mood and so happy because we were ordering in Arabic, it was so great!! We’re leaving until Sunday right now and I’m already going to miss the campus while we’re gone. Anyways now we’re on the bus, and our professor told us we may see some monkeys on the way to the hotel. Well guess what! We not only saw monkeys, but were able to pull over, get out, buy a bag of peanuts for 10 dirham ($1) and feed the monkeys!! There were a bunch of mother monkeys carrying newborns either on their back or hanging from their chests, there were younger monkeys independent of their mothers but still smaller than the rest, there were obviously alpha males, monkeys fighting in trees, monkeys coming up to us on the ground, it was an insanely great surprise. The students joked that I should pick them up and see if they bite me, but I was seriously considering it! Kidding. But I did pet a few. After about 15 minutes of a group of 13 kids from around the world in absolute bliss and bewilderment, we’re not back on the bus passing by herds of sheep, donkeys, cows, wild birds, dogs, huge markets, people riding horses with packages on their backs, it’s amazing. Herders gathering their animals, mothers leading their children through the fields, beautifully vibrant yellow, purple, and red flowers, rugged mountains with gorgeously soft looking valleys, rocks covered in some purpley moss that for some reason makes me think of the trolls in the movie Frozen, huge storks nests on every telephone pole and roof, rock formations that make me think of the inukshuk at our family lake, it’s breathtaking. Tonight we’re staying at a hotel, and then tomorrow we overnight in the desert!!!!!! This is the first year the program has done a full on overnight in the desert - most years the students go to the desert, eat, go back to the hotel, and then wake up super early to go back to the desert to see the sunrise, so this year the professor is just letting us overnight (although he said we probably won’t be sleeping much) while he goes back to the hotel.  As I’m writing this we’re passing by so many more sheep, goats, donkeys, it makes me so happy to see so many animals - some wild, some with their owners, we’re seeing small makeshift nomadic type shelters alone in vast valleys with two people tilling land a short distance away from them. I’m listening to my traveling playlist looking out the window imagining I’m in a travel movie/vlog, as my friend and I used to say when we felt completely at peace and happy, "I’m set".

2:50 PM

About an hour and a half left of driving! We stopped at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere for lunch, which was in the most beautiful restaurant. The outdoors were full of colorful mosaics and green trees, and the inside was beautifully furnished with upholsteries and chandeliers, all of equally impressive color. All of the small towns we drive through are filled with color. I ordered my meal in Arabic and said "thank you very much" in Arabic which made the waiter smile, and afterwards the professor asked where the bathrooms were so we could go before we got back on the road. Even though he’d already asked I said "Wait I want to ask in Arabic!" and asked the owner who smiled and told "to the right" in Arabic. Across the street from the restaurant was a man selling "meteorites", aka cool rocks, geodes, and fossils so I ran across with two other students. He brought out a special case with perfectly fossilized snails and spiders that were beautiful, and those were 170 dirham. So I asked him what I could get for 10 dirham which is all I had, and he gestured towards everything on the bigger table. I picked up a black rock with purple crystals inside, and he agreed to let me have it for 10 dirham, and then gave me a plant fossil for free. Then we got back in the car and I fell asleep for a quick nap. When I woke up we were in one of the vast valleys with very little plants. Then we went up another mountain where trees started reappearing, but only very small ones. We passed a small river that was absolutely gorgeous - there trees and flowers, grasses, bushes, green and colors everywhere, surrounded by dry barren yellowy rock and sand. A little later on we saw a pretty small lake, but very big for its location, with surprisingly little greenery around it like the river, but still an impressive body of water to see in the middle of the dry mountains. Then we stopped at a convenience store where we bought water and snacks, stretched our legs, and got back in the bus onto our next destination. One thing I’ve noticed about Morocco is that almost everyone you see seems to be working - painting a wall, throwing bricks up to someone on a roof, repairing a sign, working in a field, etc. We’re getting closer and closer to the desert now which means that it’s becoming harder and harder to see things far away because of the sand in the air, and we’re seeing less green except in towns wealthy enough to afford sprinklers and irrigation, and near natural bodies of water, but it’s very spotted and spread out. But everywhere we drive there are people sitting on the side of the road, napping in the shade, for fear of appropriating anything, it’s really cute.

5:17 PM

After quite a drive through mountains and valleys we finally stopped above the oasis where we’ll be staying tonight. We all got out and met two guides who live in the oasis village, with a population of about 350 people. The bus drove down one way and we took another route - about an hour long walk through palms, wheat, bamboo, alfalfa, over irrigation and the Ziz river which is the source of this oasis. We found frogs and turtles and one donkey who one of the guides tried to catch so I could pet his ears, but failed so we moved on. The walk itself was absolutely crazy. Imagine some fake safari you’re walking through with natural palm tree canopies, wide open fields, winding creeks you have to jump over, wild flowers, it’s exactly like that only it’s NATURAL it’s real and made naturally, not made up out of the imagination. Pictures I took while walking today resemble so closey pictures I’ve taken at zoos and theme parks who try to imitate it. At the end of the walk we finally came to the very small village where the guide invited us into his home where he and his entire family live. They served us tea, dates, and bread with fig sauce and olive oil. We met his very young children, sat on the couch, and ate and drank for a bit. The house had a flat roof made of bamboo and a dirt floor with a beautiful rug, and thick dense clay walls with only one window to keep the heat out. We all talked to the very young girl who was very shy, asking her what her name was, telling her she’s beautiful, etc. and we finally took a picture and now we’re back in the bus on our way to the next location! The village seems very peaceful, little boys riding donkeys to the river to swim, a father teaching his son to ride a motorbike, daughters with their mothers making scarves. Oh shoot we’re getting out of the bus, gotta go!

5:37 PM

Back, we just got off at an older part of the village to see where our guide and his family used to live. We saw a donkey! He was tied to a tree so this time I just went up to pet it and everyone watched from a safe distance. They’re so weird about animals.

6:10 PM

Arrived at the hotel! The boys are on the second floor and the girls are up on the top floor which is essentially a roof with rooms coming out of it. The view is absolutely beautiful - we can see the tops of the trees of the oasis and the mountains behind them. We were told there’s wifi but it’s really weak so hopefully I’ll be able to publish my blogs still!

10:23 PM

After unpacking we had a few hours until dinner which was at 8:30 so that those who were fasting could eat with us. We spent that time in the lounge on the second floor playing cards, talking about racism and colorism, some students were teaching each other how to stretch certain muscles, it was a nice time. Then we went downstairs for a "fashion show" at 8:00. The women who run this hotel also run a weaving business where they make scarves, pillowcases, rugs, tapestries, etc. so they dressed us all in traditional marriage/post-wedding dress which consisted of an ornate underdress that went down to our feet, a huge piece of fabric wrapped around us like a shawl tied with a belt, a head scarf with bells around the border, and an additional small black shawl to put around our shoulders. The black shawl had a colored checkered border that she explained was the specific colors and order of colors of her tribe so that in public if they come into contact with another tribe, they’ll know immediately what tribe they belong to. They then marked our faces with saffron oil to mimic tattoos that tribal women used to get before they converted to Islam where tattoos aren’t allowed. The men then got in a thin overdress type thing with a small turban looking scarf on their heads called a "tarbush". We then all lined up girls on one side guys on the other, and the mother of the hotel’s owner led us through a traditional wedding dance while her grandson filmed us. After that we all peeled off our layers and sat down to eat a delicious meal of a traditional Moroccan salad and rice and vegetables. The traditional Moroccan salad consists of cooked or raw vegetables all at room temperature separated on a plate, each one with its own unique subtle spice or sauce added to it. After dinner we all went to the common area and sat down with the owner, a woman. She explained to us that in her tribe women have always had more freedom than men. She explained that if a woman is sexually harassed, her abuser has to take his family and move out of the village - no council or anything, if a woman says something happened, people take her word for it. Because the consequences are so severe, false accusations are practically nonexistent. She told us that men can’t have more than one wife, that in a divorce the women can remarry, that men take care of children during marriage, that they’ve historically had women leaders, etc. And since converting to Islam they’re disappointed to see that women have less freedom. The owner is on her tribal council, has been for 9 years, and she’s the first and only woman ever to do so! She said that even now, 9 years later, they’re constantly analyzing her every move, trying desperately to find something she’s doing wrong so they can kick her off, but that she has a lot of supporters who encourage her which she will never forget. When she was younger she went to university and studded Moroccan politics and law, and when she came home she didn’t want to sit idly by waiting for the government to find her a job, she wanted to start her own business, so she started the weaving and then eventually opened the hotel and worked in tourism, where the English and French she polished in college came in handy. She was really so impressive, and said that she and the other women of her tribe are working hard to share the ideals of their tribes in terms of women’s freedom and rights. After that we all went upstairs, and since the girls have the third floor which is just a roof, we all laid down and looked at the stars. After a while we invited the boys up to join us. We challenged ourselves to five minutes of silence which was tricky at first, but eventually we got it and then decided to stay silent for longer. The light was on and we couldn’t figure out how to turn it off but the front desk worker, the owner’s son, came up and turned it off for us. After a while people started to go downstairs, and three of us decided to sleep up on the roof. We brought our blankets and pillows out and made a bed on the roof. I was worried we’d get in trouble for that, but the owner’s son apparently offered to bring us up a rug! So he brought one up, I practiced introducing myself in Arabic which he apparently thought was pretty funny, and now we’re all lying under the stars on a rug underneath the thickest softest blanket I’ve ever experienced. The breeze is the perfect temperature, there’s almost no noise except for the occasional dog bark or donkey in the distance. I wish I could capture the exact feeling of sleeping on this roof like you can capture a picture. I even wish I could just take a picture that accurately portrays what I can see here, but my camera can’t capture the subtle light differences like my eyes well enough to show anything but a black screen. Oh well. Tomorrow we ride camels!!!

[tyleroakley-obsessed]

Ed. Note: Want to dig deeper with an up-and-coming Memphis artist? Today, contributor Wesley Paraham does just that with Danielle Sklar, aka Magnolia. I’m now obsessed with her entrancing music and can’t stop listening. Also, the video is gorgeous in its simplicity. Definitely give her a listen, then read Wesley’s take on her music and a quick look at the electronic music scene in Memphis.  Meet Magnolia Magnolia is 24-year-old Danielle Sklar, and she is not here for your labels. Her music has already found loyal fans locally due to its slick production and exploration of race, womanhood, and society’s stereotypes. Her debut album perspicacity over paradox, which she released in December, is exactly the kind of music I look for to write about, so I was pretty hype when a link to her SoundCloud landed in my inbox. It’s an album that foregoes metaphor, innuendo, and otherwise flowery language in favor of a direct, digestible message: I am a person, no matter how hard you try to say otherwise. Recently, I was able to talk to her about her music, her life, and the the current electronic music scene in Memphis. The album was recorded in a home studio and produced by Daniel Horton, who used elements from trap, ambient, and trip-hop to create tracks that grow and blossom, with soft synths climaxing into playful samples and dance beats. Sklar has an Erykah Badu-like coolness to her voice, which turns the instrumentals into an abstract neo-soul experiment that would sit well in a playlist between Solange Knowles and Sampha. “You just close your eyes and feel it,” Sklar said. “It takes you so many places.” I caught one of her shows in the small room at the Hi-Tone on April 1st, and it was nearly packed out. It was a refreshingly intimate performance. Her music is wavy enough to get people moving, and sultry enough to get people moving together. She closed the set with “watch out”, which is actually my favorite track on the album. It felt like the fan favorite, too,  seeing as the crowd went nuts everytime the beat dropped. There was a particularly energetic group at the front of the crowd that knew every word, which can be a bit overwhelming for a local musician less than four months out the gate, especially considering how unprocessed and personal Sklar’s lyrics are. I asked her about it after the show, and she was shocked. “I had no idea who they were,”she said. Sklar with Horton, performing at the Hi-Tone for Bleeding Love: The Flow Must Go On, a charity event sponsored by Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality. On “watch out”, Sklar recognizes the trappings of labels and how useless they are. But, “It’s not a political album,” Sklar said. “It should be something everyone understands.” When you’re an artist of color, anything that you make that brings awareness to race is immediately labeled as political, but Sklar aims to shed that label as well. Because for her, and many other artists like her, race isn’t political — race is everyday life. “These are my observations. It’s my experience,” she added. “I want to be seen as a human being, instead of a being stripped down.” It’s here that the album’s title, perspicacity over paradox, reveals its strength: Sklar’s experience with racism affords her insight into why achieving a “post-racial society” by ignoring race is, well, a paradox. Listening to her music, I really appreciated how her songs speak so bluntly about these issues. “There’s no love in this place / if you can’t accept my race,” Sklar sings on “um, no thanks” over lullabye synth washes, as if these concepts are simple enough to rock a baby to sleep. Which, you know, they are. perspicacity over paradox was released on Rare Nnudes (not a typo!), a music label founded in 2013 by Memphians Michael Wheeler, Charles Gray, and Clifton Anthony — all of whom are also artists on the label. In the five years since its creation, it’s become home to electronic music artists locally and nationally and 104 releases. Memphis’ Electronic Music Scene Rare Nnudes is positioning itself to be the next chapter of Memphis’s cavernous and criminally under-recognized electronic music scene, which cropped up in the late 80s with industrial and club music. It changed hands from the underground to DJs like Lorin Vincent in the club scene and Dave Silver at warehouse raves in the 90s. Then, Congress passed the Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act in 2003, a bill which essentially made it illegal for the owners of warehouses to knowingly rent them to ravers. In other words, the entire country was turning up so hard that the United States government was like, “Come on y’all, calm down.” From there it was forced to move into actual venues and club spaces, where it largely remains. Today, you can hear Ben Bauermeister spin records pretty much weekly at Bar DKDC as DJ Damp Velour. If you’re lucky, you could catch Parks Perdue at a show or a house party creating “intelligent freak music” as Intimacy. This is a family of Memphis artists and producers who are thinking big. People who realize genre is becoming more myth than tradition. People for which diversity, inclusivity, and intersectionality is paramount. Danielle Sklar was right for adoption. “Things are looking good here. It’s unfolding, she said.” She loves this city and the sense of urgency with which Memphis artists create. But sadly, she doesn’t belong to us. “I love Memphis, it’s home. But, of course I want to go to L.A. I want to go to Atlanta. I want to grow,” she said. This should not only be expected, but applauded. One, because she didn’t say New York (take that, yankees!), and two, because you want the good ones to leave. You want them to get out there and spread the gospel so more people will come to the church. How To Listen/Support/Go To A Show Here’s the link to perspicacity over paradox for purchase and download on Bandcamp. From there, you can also check out other Rare Nnudes releases on their Soundcloud and upcoming show dates on their Facebook page. Be warned; this is music for adults, unless…you want your kids to be woke. Magnolia has three upcoming shows: April 29 – Doula The Right Thing benefit at the Hi-Tone ($10, 18+) May 5 – LeMoyne Owen College “1st Annual” Festival (details TBA) May 20 – GRRL Fest at the Hi Tone ($15, 18+) About The Author Wesley Morgan Paraham loves the 901 so much that his cat is named Belvedere. If playing RPGs were a full time job, he’d be a rich man. He’s currently seeking a degree in public relations at the University of Memphis, and does freelance writing for I Love Memphis and graphic design in the meantime. Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout http://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

http://ilovememphisblog.com/2017/04/music-feature-magnolia-and-memphis-electronic-music-scene/