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Mile-Long Mixtapes Ep. #7

Kellie M Beck Leave a comment

 

“Mile-Long Mixtapes”: Ep. #7

Guess I’m Grown Now

by Kellie M. Beck

 

Stephen Day has quietly been writing R&B-inspired acoustic tunes since 2016, with his debut EP, Undergrad Romance and the Moses in Me. He’s come a long way since then, recently releasing a live album and a new EP in 2021, but his only full length album, Guess I’m Grown Now, in my opinion, is his finest work. With one leg in acoustic singer-songwriter folk, and the other in bedroom pop, Day shows listeners the future of pop-writing techniques, borrowing from a variety of genres to create a sound uniquely his. 

 

Guess I’m Grown Now is my favorite kind of album– it explores a single concept, with great dexterity, texture, and tone. What can I say? I’m a sucker for musicians who use their albums to ask specific questions about their lives. Catharsis and reflection, for me, create importance. 

 

With a mixture of love songs and songs that self-reflect on Day’s “twenty-two years and some change”, the album creates a multi=layered view of what feels like a hot summer week in New York City, where the night gives in, and we all take a breath of relief as the humidity is lifted off our shoulders, if only for a moment. 

 

Day gives listeners a brief intro track that I’ve always appreciated– the title song of his album. But after, it jumps into a song with easy guitar grooves and a beat made for strutting down the sidewalk. From this track, entitled For Life (Take You Out, Treat You Right), Day detours into a series of songs that seems to tell the story of a relationship from different points of perspective and time. The next four songs have the same groove, relying on funky background guitar riffs, and melodies that stray a little left of center– in the best kind of way. Whatever you do, DON’T MISS OUT ON Dancing in the Street. God, what a good song. 

 

If John Mayer had a cooler, more interesting, and less problematic brother, it would be Stephen Day. He has that sweet crooning voice we all love from Mayer, and a similar style, but Day elevates his work with more production and layers of instrumentation, and a stronger build toward his musical climaxes. 

 

After our foiree into relationships, Day brings the spotlight back to him. Twenty Two and Some Change, as well as Back to Georgia, address what it means to find your own voice, and how lonely, yet empowering it can be. Day drops down the production for the last two tracks on the album, that are sentimental, bittersweet, and lush. 

 

There is also an acoustic version of the album– a great counterpart to the fully produced album and a reminder that Day knows what he’s doing when it comes to songwriting.

Encore Company Spotlight

Sara Fox Leave a comment

Encore is a hip hop student run company here on campus. In a normal year they perform at bar nights, other company shows as guest performers, and Dance Mix. Bar nights are exactly what they sound like. The company performs a set at a bar and asks other companies, traditionally hip hop companies to perform at the bar night as well. A set is a dance that is about ten minutes long and is curated of about six choreographed dances, essentially it is like a music mash-up but for dance. This year their company, like many others have operated differently. I was able to meet with one of the presidents, Dana Dean, and ask her how Encore has been affected and how they have preserved.

I know that Dance Mix is still occurring this year, it is just looking a little different, so keep your eyes open for that wonderful performance!

Adventure (song lyrics in progress)

Josie Faith Leave a comment

You make me wanna take a train to you
when the weather man says it’s too cold to fly
and I
know it’s not right

you make me wanna take a risk or two
and figure out a better way to live my life
oh you
make me want to

you spin me round on my kitchen floor
playing country songs I’ve never heard before

it’s those crazy ideas that you have in your head
you grab my waist throw me onto my bed
all the checked-off boxes on my bucket list
those once-in-a life-times you don’t wanna miss
it’s the blood rush to my brain when I see
you looking over your shoulder smirking back at me
I can’t remember what life was before
with you by my side it’s always an adventure

You’re covered in flags and I know that they’re red
but my heart is so convinced that they are green
you see
you’re no good for me

you make me wanna change the way I’ve lived
every day of my life until the day I met you
I know it’s wrong
but I’ll still go along

you wash my hair when I’m just too tired
and though I know that I am playing with fire

I love those crazy ideas that you have in your head
when you grab my waist and throw me onto my bed
all the checked-off boxes on my bucket list
those once-in-a-life-times you don’t wanna miss
It’s the blood rush to my brain when I see
you looking over your shoulder smirking back at me
I can’t remember what life was before
with you by my side it’s always an adventure

They say time flies when you’re having fun
it seems our time is over before it has begun
they say don’t risk it all or you are bound to lose
but all I think about it how I’m missing you

and those crazy ideas that you have in your head
when you grab my waist and throw me onto my bed
you’re checking boxes off my bucket list
so many once-in-a-life-times that we haven’t missed
I miss the blood rush to my brain when I see
you looking over your shoulder smirking back at me
I can’t remember what my life was like before
it was a shadow of the life entwined with yours
with you by my side it’s always an adventure

 

 

 

Round green shapes of varying sizes glow against the black background. The text reads, "Immersive."

Immersive #5: Hades

Liana Leave a comment

Even though many centuries have passed since the decline of Ancient Greece and Rome, the mythology of the time still exerts a significant influence on present day works ranging from classic books to popular films. As such, it is to no surprise when the “forbidden romance” between Hades and Persephone or even the struggles of Sisyphus appear in our daily conversations and in the media that we consume. But while these mythic figures and legends are often spun into fresh new stories that adopt different perspectives, these adaptations often fall into the trap of generalizing their allusions, lacking the nuance and depth that the original stories hold.

As a result, it’s not often that we witness retellings of myths that spotlight lesser-known stories or figures, which is often a result of the lack of substance or conflicting narratives surrounding these tales. But, in the rare occasions that these neglected narratives are brought to light, our understanding of the mythology shifts for the better, a change particularly witnessed after the release of Supergiant Games’ Hades, a roguelike action role-playing game.

In Hades, players follow the story of Zagreus, a son of Hades who attempts to escape the Underworld by defeating enemies and bosses, all of whom originate from Greek mythology as well. And through playing as Zagreus, each player is able to interact with the various personalities of the gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters through the branching narrative structure of the game, which customizes the dialogue of non-playable characters to the actions of the player, resulting in a personalized gameplay experience.

Achilles responds to Zagreus talking about Zagreus' love of history.
A Conversation with Achilles

It is through this ambitious branching narration style that allows for every character, familiar and unfamiliar, to be introduced to the player as if for the first time. Here, players are able to converse with Achilles, a mentor figure who slowly opens up about his relationship and separation from Patroclus, fight against Megaera, a potential love interest who is forced to battle Zagreus on behalf of Hades’ orders, and even barter with Chaos, a patron who offers various “power-ups” throughout the game, among many other storylines written for the player to gradually uncover over time.

Overall, the rich variety that Hades offers the player in terms of a unique experience with the Greek mythos is something to truly commend. It’s ability to balance the different stories of each character in a manner that closely resembles a charmingly dysfunctional family dynamic presents a fresh take on its mythological content that allows for players to endlessly replay the game without ever encountering the same narrative plot twice. Thus, it is because of this masterful adaptation that I must commend Hades for crafting an increasingly nuanced experience that goes beyond our present understanding of Greek mythology and its presentation in popular culture.

Experience Hades: HERE

the rose vine – “I Go by She”

Ezra Rose (she/ they) 1 Comment

“I Go by She”

I wear sunflower dresses

and draw black triangles on my eyes.

I love the smell of vanilla and honey

and the sparkle of stars in the moonlight.

So how can I blame anyone for assuming

my apparent femininity equates to womanhood?

I refer to myself as she not out of identity but out of 

passivity. Of course I’m a woman, I look like one.

 

I’m not a man but I don’t think I would complain

if tomorrow I awoke in the body of one.

Rather I think I’d feel the same; a stark indifference

to the very concept of my identity would not be new.

Perhaps that is my identity, indifference.

Because man I don’t think I feel like a woman

but nonbinary is reserved for short hair and androgyny.

 

I wonder

If I cut my hair and wore loose clothes

threw out my dresses and stopped wearing makeup

would I feel comfortable identifying with the identity

that I feel comfortable with? Would I feel comfortable 

escaping the binary and asking to be called they?

Would shedding my identity allow me to be true to it?

But I love my hair, my tight clothes and flowing skirts.

I enjoy my femininity yet feel disconnected from womanhood.

So I don’t have a clue what my preferred pronouns are,

but I go by she.

 

+KHAOS+ EP.17: TRAP

Kat Leave a comment

+KHAOS+ EP.17: TRAP

+KHAOS+ EP.17: TRAP

Right when Kira charges for Ingenium, she is ambushed by bullets from within the walls of Ingenium’s room that is designed and programmed to safeguard whoever is present in the room. Although Ed rushes to defend Kira, it was too late, as the bullets struck her.

+Author’s Comment+

Fight scenes are always interesting to draw. Also, Ingenium’s room is designed so that nobody can get harmed as long as they’re inside. This means that even if Ingenium tries to harm somebody, the room will automatically aim for Ingenium–just like what happened to Kira.

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