Mount Hood

Review: “Bobby Tarantino II”

Kevin Reed | Entertainment Editor

Logic started off his rap career in Rockville, Maryland, growing up a biracial child with a dream. He was able to rise out of his hometown and become one of the most inspirational rappers in the game today. He’s grown his career not only by rapping about his life growing up, but also how he wants to spread a message of equality through his music. He recently put out a new mixtape album as a follow up to his “Bobby Tarantino,” released in 2016, called “Bobby Tarantino II.”

In contrast to his past music, his newest album “Bobby Tarantino II” was produced to be a more lighthearted theme in a trap mixtape style. It may be more fun, but the album is still full of meaningful messages. Logic reinvents how to settle disagreements with competition in “Yuck,” with lines such as, “Anyone that hate me, I wish you success.”

Logic has always been big on celebrities making cameos in his music, including world renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, amazing voice actor Steve Blum, Killer Mike, Lucy Rose and many more. In the intro track to “Bobby Tarantino II,” you hear the voices of popular Comedy Central characters Rick and Morty. I couldn’t help but smile when I listened to their voices in “Grandpa’s Spaceship.” It was, in my opinion, the best way to open up a feel good album. He also collaborates with artists like Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz, Big Sean and other hip-hop artists.

Logic has a motto he follows throughout all of his recent music: “Peace, Love and Positivity.” He aims to send this message in many of his songs. In “Bobby Tarantino II” he works out the positivity side by making tracks that are feel good jams and not as heavy as some of his past music. Even when addressing his own conflict with other rappers, he takes the higher road. This approach is unheard of to many other rappers in the game currently. Hip-hop has a reputation of people like Drake and Meek Mill fighting it out in a series of roast tracks, or other rappers getting into fistfights at concerts. However, Logic wishes his competitors success in the future.

“Bobby Tarantino II” is a great feel-good hip-hop album. Logic’s overall flow and lyrics combine in a great way with the trap beats. I personally jam to this on my way to classes all the time. I was impressed with how Logic showed he could create both serious tracks like “1-800-273-8255” and more fun tracks like “Indica Badu.”

“44 more” is an absolute masterpiece and I recommend listening to that track first. I always look forward to Logic’s new music and I’m very impressed with this new album. I am excited for when he releases his upcoming projects.

Contact the author at kreed17@mail.wou.edu

Photo by: Genius.com

The West of Us debuts at Western

Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief

On March 8, members of the community piled into Smith Hall for a 30-minute recital put on by the campus’s renamed and rebranded a cappella group, The West of Us.

The West of Us is comprised of members from the groups that were known as Suspended and 15 Miles West. Though the two groups joined together at the start of this academic year, March 8 was their first recital on Western soil. Last term they were busy preparing for the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella — “if you’ve seen ‘Pitch Perfect’, that was the competition,” noted Chloe Miller, a first-year in the group, during the event.

For their performance, The West of Us sang a total of six songs.

“What we sang at the concert is 100 percent of our repertoire; we’re working on building it back up,” commented Brianna Williford, a history major who finished her degree during fall term.

The group began the night with their renditions of “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green and “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel, followed by two songs that were part of Suspended and 15 Miles West’s individual setlists.

After introducing themselves to the audience, the women went on to perform their “Destiny’s Child Melody,” an arrangement which was part of their set last year as well. Following the women, the men took the stage to perform their “Disney Melody,” which is a mashup of songs from “Mulan,” “Hercules,” “Moana” and “Frozen.”

The members regrouped to perform a mashup that included songs by Kanye West, Estelle and Daft Punk. They ended the night by performing “Bet on It” from “High School Musical.”

The group is led by Eli Schenk and Brianna Williford, who have been involved in Western a cappella for six and four years, respectively. Schenk is in charge of most of the musical arrangements, while Williford handles group organization and personnel.

The groups had considered joining forces for the past couple years, and finally did so because the timing felt right.

“Through ASWOU, we’re one club. We’re ‘A Cappella club’ so we’ve been working together, we’ve done all of our retreats together, we usually sing mixed group songs,” explained Williford. “Mixed group songs are more dynamic, you have more range, more ideas that are all going to be different. We were already doing so much together, and this year we reached a point where it made sense.”

As next term begins, The West of Us will be gearing up to learn more songs for their spring concert, which is tentatively scheduled to take place in the amphitheater at Main Street Park.

As part of their preparation for the event, the group is adding more songs to their repertoire.

“I’m arranging a medley of [“The Greatest Showman”] for us to sing next term,” commented Cole Aldred, a junior communications major and three-year member of the group.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

 

Recital showcases student talent

Byron Kimball | Staff Writer

As the rain hammered outside, Smith Music Hall played host to 15 music students on Thursday, March 8. Though the 11 a.m. recital received little advertisement, students who attended had the chance to enjoy musical feats across a variety of genres and grade levels.

Vetted by Dr. Diane Baxter, students participating in the recital were not required to perform as part of a class. Instead, participation was voluntary and, for many students involved, it became a chance to practice for upcoming recitals of their own. In tubist and music senior Josiah Glaser’s case, the performance was one of his first at Western.

“Going into today’s performance, I was looking for a solid first performance, not necessarily an extremely refined or polished performance, but a performance reflective of my progress thus far and a checkpoint towards my senior recital,” Glaser said.

The tubist performed “The Effervescent Ballroom,” a piano and tuba duet, but other students attempted varied genres — voice student Shaohao Wang took on opera; performing in the musical theater genre was Chuming Jiang, performing “I’ve Got a Lot of Living to Do” from “Bye Bye Birdie”; and classical music pianists Faerynn Glasscock, XuDong Yang, Lingyu Zhu, Levi Polasek, Li Jing and Yuzhou Huang played pieces from their collective wheelhouse. Pianist and professor Jackie Morelli provided piano accompaniment for the singers who performed: Marissa Sanders, Mengyuan Chan, Chuming Jiang, Jenny Yang, Virtue Cornelison, Shaohao Wang, Olivia Preciado and Scotti Matney.

Percussionist Sam Wheeler closed out the show by performing a duet with a Macbook: a performance art piece titled “Stop Speaking,” which featured rhythmatic snare drumming alongside a speech-to-text program.

Huang, described preparing for the March 8 performance, saying, “I was not nervous until I was staying at the small room that is a path through to the stage. Then I got a little bit (nervous). But when I was walking into stage and seated at the bench, I was calm. Then I started to play with my heart.” Huang will be performing a solo graduate recital in spring 2019.

Glaser, who will be graduating in spring 2018, said of performing “The Effervescent Ballroom”: “This piece feels like the perfect ‘goodbye’ piece, sending off the previous chapter in my life (my undergraduate experience) and ushering in the next chapter in my life”.

Contact the author at bkimball16@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Music from the unknown

Darien Campo | Designer

As an insufferable music snob, my hunt for even more obscure artists to listen to never ends. Over the years I’ve padded my iPod collection with a large collection of albums from unsigned and little-known bands. From indie artists to solo bedroom producers: here, I’ve collected some of my favorite albums that deserve much more attention than they get.

“You and I, Animals” – Black and White Envelope

Black and White Envelope is a solo artist from Connecticut, recording music in his own bedroom studio. “You and I, Animals” is a fun-filled record of bright pop-rock and catchy-as-hell tunes. His music sounds so much like a collection of lost Vampire Weekend tracks, a comparison he gladly boasts on social media. The upbeat rhythms, angular melodies and bright instrumentation make every track fun composition. So, if you’re looking for more Vampire Weekend-style Baroque pop, Black and White Envelope is there for you.

Recommended track: “Conversation Aviation”

Photo by: Blackandwhiteenvelope.bandcamp.com

“Anywhere That’s Wild” – Adventure Galley

The Portland-based group Adventure Galley bring an energetic mix of synth-pop and dance-rock to the table. “Anywhere That’s Wild” perfectly mixes the best parts of upbeat rock music and cool synthesizers. With a cutting punk edge to the lyrics and vocal delivery, Adventure Galley is what the Arctic Monkeys would sound like if Alex Turner had grown up listening to nothing but synth-pop. The powerful dance beats and enormous harmonies are sure to get anybody moving.

Recommended track: “Diane”

Photo by: Adventuregalley.bandcamp.com

“The Coast is Never Clear” – Beulah

Though Beulah is no longer together, they are one of my all-time favorite bands and there’s no way I could leave them off a list like this. The Elephant Six rock group brings punk eclecticism along with dense orchestration, poetic lyricism and infectiously catchy choruses. Where most bands use orchestral instruments as flavoring for their track, Beulah has an almost cinema-like quality in their use of brass and strings that makes their music feel totally massive. “The Coast is Never Clear” is an album of winners, with not a single filler track to be found.

Recommended track: “A Good Man is Easy to Kill”

Photo by: www.beulahmania.com

“Nostalgia” – Wren

Photographer and poet Cody Weber’s side project, Wren, has released some great experimental music over the years, but, for me, “Nostalgia” is his most powerful record. “Nostalgia” makes use of a bizarre twist on alternative hip-hop and trance that feels utterly unique. The samples are strange and otherworldly, the synthesizers are gritty and warped and the beats pound you in the chest with every hit. I completely credit this record with opening my mind up in high school to more experimental and electronic music. “Nostalgia” is uncompromising and powerfully personal.

Recommended track: “The Shakes”

Photo by: Iamwren.bandcamp.com

“Sincerely, Future Pollution” – Timbre Timbre

Canadian freak folk group Timbre Timbre released their newest album “Sincerely, Future Pollution” in the spring of 2017, and it’s a great starting point to their haunting, groovy sound. Timbre Timbre sound like a scary twist on Bowie-like pop with a great focus on atmosphere. Filthy instrumentation, drenched in reverb, with hauntingly beautiful atmosphere to wash over it all – Timbre Timbre is worth a listen if you’re looking for a stranger, slower burn of a record to explore.

Recommended track: “Grifting”

Photo by: Timbertimbre.bandcamp.com

“Tsunawatari” – Hako Yamasaki

Hako Yamasaki’s 1976 record “Tsunawatari” is a strange journey through a world of psychedelic folk-pop. Yamasaki channels the singer-songwriter power of artists like Bob Dylan on this album, with gorgeous acoustic ballads that give way to oddly textured folk tracks. Even as a native English speaker, I can still feel the strength in Yamasaki’s soaring vocal hooks and skillful lyrical rhythms. “Tsunawatari” is a subtle record that invites you to intimately explore it’s musical complexities.

Recommended track: “Himawari”

Photo by: www.albumoftheyear.org

 

“Dialects” – SNOWMINE

Brooklyn five-piece SNOWMINE have their own take on what pop music should sound like; they strike a perfect balance between electronic soundscapes and soaring orchestral strings. Singer Grayson Sanders’s smoky tenor deftly handles the complex poetry of SNOWMINE’s lyrical content, leading to music that is sometimes hard to sing along to, but always easy to get stuck in your head. “Dialects” is SNOWMINE’s sophomore effort, and an incredible triumph for such a young band.

Recommended track: “Plans”

 

Contact the author at dcampo13@wou.edu

Powers wows with performance

Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief

Smith Hall opened to a nearly full house on March 2 as senior Kathryn Powers took center-stage. Powers was there for her junior music recital, and spent the next hour filling the music hall with a selection of soulful songs.

For Powers, who’s working toward achieving a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, a junior recital is integral to her degree; she’ll be performing her senior recital, a capstone performance that will primarily consist of original songs, in fall 2018.

During her performance, Powers was joined on stage by numerous peers, including drummer Cole Johnston, bassist Jacob Marsh, guitarist Connor Johnson and pianist Ethan Keleher, as well as backup vocalists Brandon Franko, Julia Miller, Amanda Mahaney and Hannah Williams.

The night kicked off with a performance of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie,” which set the tone for a catchy night of primarily well-known songs and plenty of soul.

Before the start the fourth song, “Lost” by Anouk, Powers took a moment to bring out Johnson, who served as the piece’s sole instrumentalist, joining her on stage and momentarily dismissing the other stage members. Prior to the start of the song, Powers took time to reminisce about her first experience with “Lost,” noting that, “(she) thought it was the most beautiful song in the world.”

When deciding what songs to include, she was conscious of the the way each piece of the setlist interacted with one another.

“I wanted them to be able to fit well together and be almost like a collection of songs,” Powers said. “I wanted them to be some of my favorite songs — songs that I already knew pretty well so that they would be easier to memorize, and I wanted the audience to be able to connect with them.”

Powers began attending Western in fall 2015 as an elementary education major, however, regular walks through the music building ultimately changed her mind. “I figured out that my heart wanted to be in the music department so I changed my major back to music,” Powers said — before attending Western, she studied music at Umpqua Community College.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot since changing my major when it comes to songwriting, performing, and transcribing music,” said Powers. “I can also say that meeting my friends in the music department has probably been just as impactful to me as a musician as taking classes with my professors. All of them are such amazing musicians and they help me to become a better one as well.”

Powers’s performance was one of the first in the end of term rush of student recitals. The shows continue on March 7 at 7:30 p.m. for the chamber ensemble performance, as well as another student recital on March 8 at 11:00 a.m.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Music while you dine

Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief

Valsetz was bursting with the sound of acoustic guitar on March 2, when Cooper Anstett came to campus as part Valsetz Live, hosted by the Student Activities Board and Weekend Programs.

Anstett, a Michigan-based folk singer, found himself performing on the stage of the dining hall by way of the National Association for Campus Activities.

“We usually hire all of our performers from NACA,” said Matthew Ciraulo, Director of the Student Activities Board. “So, that’s just a whole weekend where people are performing and getting people riled up.”

Anstett’s performance was part of a push by the board to bring more musical events to campus.

“My executive board really wants this campus to be a musical campus — for people to really want to listen to music,” said Ciraulo. “We came up with the idea of Valetz Live.”

For Valetz Live specifically, they wanted to bring an artist who was both talented and dynamic — since the bustle of Valsetz can yield a hesitant audience.

The show boasted a moderate, but lively audience, who joined along with Anstett’s singing. The performance was centered around narrative nearly as much as it was music. Throughout the set, he interacted with the audience as well as provided commentary on each piece he was performing.

Anstett’s most famous song, “Move,” first appeared in a 2016 Chevy commercial. The song, though used to promote vehicles, was originally inspired by him having to take care of an intoxicated friend.

“The funny thing about this song is that it was in a Chevy commercial, which was really cool for me. But they had no idea it was about taking care of your turnt buddy,” noted Anstett before the performance.

Anstett’s latest album, “Cooper,” came out in 2016 and can be found on most digital music platforms.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Additions to your next game night

Sam Dunaway | News Editor 

Caity Healy | Lifestyle Editor

Game nights are often a cheap and exciting way to spend an evening with good friends. But, if you’re anything like me, you might be looking for new activities to add to your repertoire besides “Cards Against Humanity.” Read on for my personal favorite games and enjoy them at your next game night.

Codenames

This four to eight player game is one of my absolute favorites. A grid of codenames, or random words, are placed in front of the players. The group splits into two teams and elects a spymaster for each team. The spymasters are the only ones who know the secret identities of the cards and must try and get their team to guess the correct codenames to win. This game is a ton of fun and the random placement of the cards means that combinations are endless. And even better, “Codenames: Deep Undercover” is the mature version of the game and usually costs less than $20 at most department stores.

Photo by: Codenamesgame.com

Jackbox Games

Jackbox Games are probably my favorite way to spend a Friday night. With four party packs to choose from, Jackbox Games are easily downloaded from a Playstation, Xbox or Steam and each player connects to their game through their phone. Trivia games like “You Don’t Know Jack” provide you and your friends with the opportunity to battle it out to see who knows the most useless information. “Quiplash” generates ridiculous prompts and allows you to come up with your own responses. “Drawful,” similar to Pictionary, challenges your drawing skills and awards points to the players that guess correctly. For less than $25 a pack, these party games are versatile, convenient and not your average board game.

Photo by: Jackboxgames.com

Heads Up

Board games can be expensive, but this classic app provides hours of entertainment for only 99 cents at the App Store. With different decks such as Act it Out, Animals Gone Wild and Accents and Impressions, this charades-like game involves one player guessing what’s written on the hidden card by using hints from the rest of their team. This inexpensive and simple game can be played anywhere with family, friends, or coworkers.

Photo by: warnerbros.com

Ticket to Ride

This game requires at least an hour or two of invested time, energy and strategy. Players take turns attempting to claim railway routes that connect cities on a map of the United States, and the longer the route, the more points you can earn. But unfriendly players may choose to sabotage your routes in process. I’m the type of person that gets discouraged with intense rules and confusing plotlines but, fortunately, Ticket to Ride is fairly easy to learn and jump right into. This game is a little more expensive, usually $25 to $35 depending on which edition you buy, but it also provides hours of entertainment that makes it worth the price.

Photo by: daysofwonder.com

Dutch Blitz

Prepare to be stuck playing round after round of this addicting card game. Incredibly fast-paced and at times fairly challenging, the objective is to essentially get rid of all of your cards by creating “Dutch Piles.” Prepare to feel the stress of looking for that one card you need in time before someone yells out “Blitz!” which signals that they have beat you to the point. While the game is designed for four, expansion packs can also be purchased if you want to include more people.

Photo by: Dutchblitz.com

The Oregon Trail Card Game

For this game, we’re traveling back to 1848. It’s time to see if you and your party can hitch up your wagons and make it all the way to Oregon. This card game is based on the original computer disk game and will leave you feeling nostalgic with every “Broken Axle” or “You Have Died of Dysentery” card you draw. Pulling cards from the deck that will oftentimes frustrate you, this game can be a lot more difficult than one would assume.

Photo by: pressmantoy.com

Contact the authors at journalnews@wou.edu and chealy16@wou.edu

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