By Shane Hisner
“The hip-hop scene here is fucking taking off.” –Rene Kamm ‘12, a.k.a. Anti-Thesis
The ‘Sco was packed last Thursday for the Wilder Hip-Hop Collective’s first show of the semester and the second of the year. Andrés Feliciano ’12 (a.k.a. Rican Havoc) made it all happen. The night consisted of something like 20 rappers collaborating with some of Oberlin’s finest beatmakers. Continue reading
By Shane Hisner
This is a memo to all of you Obies that shiver at the sight of the quadratic equation and grow uneasy when the terms meiosis and mitosis are mentioned in conjunction. There is no need to fear. There is a simple, easy, and—god forbid—interesting path through all this. And along the way you will have had the privilege of being taught by three of Oberlin’s finest professors. I know, it sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Without further ado, here is a step-by-step guide to knocking out 9-9-9 and quant in one school year.
By Shane Hisner
Inevitably, many of us will be driving home these next few days. There are certain albums that just hit the spot when you’re trucking down I80 at about 85mph. Here are a few to keep you company on that long, lonely toll road.
Maps by Tunturia
For the contemplative night driver. These Canadian post-rockers mastered the concept album in their first attempt. If Explosions in the Sky is thunder and lightning, Tunturia is a steady rain on the roof of your house. The album’s third track, “Satellites,” samples transmissions from astronauts in space. Listening to Tunturia, I find the road before me somehow becoming more than a road, and everything I look at seems to contain some metaphorical value I can’t quite sort out.
Willy and the Poor Boys by Creedence Clearwater Survival
For the southbound driver. CCR’s 1969 release starts things off with radio classic “Down on the Corner” and never loses speed. Tom Fogerty’s rhythm guitar plays something like a ’69 Mustang–a little kick here and there, but you just know she ain’t breaking down anytime soon. This is the sort of album I find myself setting the cruise for and jamming along on harmonica.
Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones
Please, take your foot off the gas petal, set the cruise at 70, and quit treating your steering wheel and dashboard like it’s a drum kit. You’re going to kill someone acting like that.
The Rolling Stones – “Rip This Joint”
Sing! by The Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank
Really this one may actually be music for hopping a train, but most people that find themselves in such a situation don’t have the liberty of setting a playlist on their iPods. In 2007, this was the Hobos breakout album. Breakout, of course, is a relative term, but gaining recognition within Minnesota folk-bluegrass circles has to count for something.
Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank – “Go On Back Home”
The Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon
The beats are impeccable. This one somehow got forgotten in the wake of Graceland, but you could argue that with the 1990 release of Rhythm, Paul perfected what he was going for in 1986 with Graceland.
By Shane Hisner
To me, it seems odd that I would even have to make a case for this. Tickets to most good orchestras cost more than any of us would be willing to pay, yet, about once a month in Finney Chapel, a fleet of musicians that could be appropriately called the future of American classical music plays for free. This post comes a little late for those hoping to catch them this semester; they played just last week. Listed below are a few reasons you should go see them every time they play:
By Shane Hisner
It is that time of year again. When each Oberlin student gathers up all his or her necessities—MacBook, headphones, several packages of Sour Patch Kids, and a case of Starbucks frappuccino—and stakes out some remote corner in Mudd Library as their own. A flag is planted, a written statement read, and the hours of facebook creeping and iTunes sorting are ahead. From time to time, this ritual procrastination is interrupted by brief periods of study.
Whether studying or just chilling out like the worthless slacker you are, you should at least do it to good music. Below is a list of albums that, during my time at Oberlin, have proved to be great study music:
Specifics by Midwest Product
This 2002 release is prescribed to the student on a deadline. Subdued yet danceable electro-rock from the now defunct Ann Arbor band. Coupled with the 40mg’s of Adderall you just snorted, your heart rate should have no problem staying above 100bpm (ideal for studying) for the rest of the night. Here’s the opener:
Midwest Product – “Still Love in the Midwest”
Machinarium Soundtrack by Tomáš Dvořák
Machinarium is a puzzle/adventure game available for download here. It comes highly recommended—an artistic masterpiece, really. The visuals are out-of-this-world, and the music is the dopest—maybe somewhere between Four Tet and Bjork. I have no idea who Dvořák is, except for that he’s Czech and that at the time of his last photoshoot he was sporting a bowl cut.
Tomas Dvorak – “Mr. Handagote”
Dreamcatcher by Andy Mckee
Mckee is the artist behind one of the first viral videos in the history of Youtube. His video for Drifting has claimed over 35 million views and has been on the tube since 2006. He plays his guitar almost exclusively open-tuned, and gets more noise out of it than one would guess is possible. For some reason the sound of harmonics being played on a guitar makes me feel like I should be thinking. It’s the natural soundtrack of the active brain. Here he is playing some mass of an instrument beautifully:
Self-titled, 13 & God
This album is for a long night when the lights go out on the fourth floor, and you’re pretty sure there’s something living behind the wall you’re propped up against—something large.
This is the only album on this list that is not strictly instrumental. Generally I find studying to music with lyrics intolerable. Once, after turning in a paper that I never bothered to proofread, I got it back with question marks surrounding an errant Springsteen lyric. 13 & God is somehow different. It’s a collaboration between the German recording wizards from The Notwist, who you may know for their 2002 cult-classic Neon Golden, and California-based hip-hop group Themselves. Here’s a strange video:
Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada
My absolute go-to in a crunch. If you are searching for inspiration for your surrealist fiction final, this is it. Some music has a way of inspiring writing’s creative process. Boards of Canada falls into this category. The Scottish duo changed the path of electronic music forever when they emerged in the 1990’s. Eerie vibes, eerie vibes.