Reviews
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Lana, Come On: A Review of Lana Del Rey’s Latest Releases
Ever-infamous for her delayed releases and unpredictable timelines, Lana Del Rey finally dropped “Henry, Come On,” the lead single of her 10th studio album. Originally entitled Lasso, then The Right Person Will Stay, Del Rey first teased the album in 2021 when she announced that she had recorded an entire cover of country music songs based on two singles she released in the 2010s: “Ride” (2012) and “Video Games” (2011). In an interview with Mojo, Del Rey stated, “I went back and listened to ‘Ride’ and ‘Video Games’ and thought, you know, they’re kind of country. I mean, they’re definitely not pop. Maybe the way ‘Video Games’ got remastered, they’re…
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Like an Awkward First Kiss: Bon Iver’s “SABLE, fABLE” Review
A meet cute. Those first sparks. Infatuation as a high like no other, like wanting to get to know everything about a person, like wanting to turn them inside out and understand, really, everything that makes them who they are. I’m not an expert on the feeling, but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never experienced anything like it. When I first heard Bon Iver’s “SABLE, fABLE” I didn’t expect it to be an album about love — or, more accurately, obsession. Originally released in Oct. 2024, Bon Iver’s three-song EP “SABLE,” struck me as absolutely introspective; raw, sparse and inexplicably vast in sound, “SABLE,” sang of self-realization and…
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Salvaging the Soul of Feminist Art: Reviving Suzi Ferrer’s Legacy at The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Just as most creatives are forgotten, Suzi Ferrer’s name and artwork were confined to the storage closets of history. Cornell’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art presents this legendary artist’s brief yet prolific time on the art stage. The exhibition, set to run from Jan. to June of 2025, showcases the profundity of Ferrer’s work. In doing so, the exhibit demonstrates how the twin themes of second-wave feminism and gender roles manifest in society through dissentient artwork. The Johnson Museum masterfully presents a dazzling array of the artist’s unique works. The careful curation of this exhibit allows us to rethink Suzi Ferrer as a woman whose artwork conveys vital themes…
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TEST SPINS | Roberta Flack: ‘Killing Me Softly’
Newsletter Signup I was sitting in my room doing work on Feb. 24 when my phone lit up with a notification: “Roberta Flack, enduring songstress, dies at the age of 88.” My heart dropped; for me, Roberta Flack is one of those people whose voice you imagine as soon as you hear their name, and Flack had one of the most powerful voices of her time. “Killing Me Softly With His Song” is iconic in its own right, but any time I hear it, I am transported to the passenger seat of my mom’s car, Flack’s voice thundering through the speakers as I quietly sing along, careful not to get…
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Nujabes’ Artistry: A Musical Snapshot of His Seminal Tracks
Hailed for his work in the celebrated anime Samurai Champloo, Nujabes was more than a typical Japanese producer. Alongside J Dilla, Nujabes essentially pioneered the lo-fi hip-hop genre and bolstered it to the musical prominence it has today. Shall we let his work speak for itself? Here is a compilation of five songs that I believe best serve as an introduction to the creative maestro that is Nujabes, a brief snapshot into his extensive catalog. Allow me to kick off this register with a track that never falls short of greatness. A highlight of Nujabes’ many hip-hop feats, “Feather (feat. Cise Starr & Akin from CYNE)” is unapologetically jazzy, flexible…
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Twin Court’s ‘Forgotten Turns,’ Indie-Gamelan Fusion After University
Dawn opens on calm lapping waves in the voice of Gracekelly Fulton, or GK, the frontwoman of Twin Court, who debuted their first album on Saturday afternoon at Argos Warehouse. The first track off the album, “Buka (Opening)” brightens in the milky grace of the gong, paying homage to the culture that supplies half of their instrumentation. Their studies weren’t for nothin’ — Buka means open in Indonesian, often referring to the beginning of a Gamelan orchestral piece. The initial group formulated in Professor Christopher J. Miller’s Gamelan ensemble, experimenting with the sounds of the dozens of instruments in the basement of Lincoln Hall. Walking into B24, the room is…
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Finding ‘Eusexua’: To Give the Body Up to Musical Experience
I am woefully unfamiliar with FKA twigs. I was tugged into Eusexua through its visuals — contorted bodies, geometric patterns on twigs’ face, her bald haircut and unwavering gaze. “Eusexua is a practice. Eusexua is a state of being. Eusexua is the pinnacle of human experience,” twigs includes in the music video for “Eusexua.” How do I describe this state of being, this album’s sounds and where they are taking me? To describe Eusexua is to describe a bodily experience, the rhythms taking hold of my body and compelling me to move and feel. Listening to the titular album opener, I felt the pulsing beat snaking under my skin like…
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Inspiration and Grandeur: Cornell Ballet Club’s ‘Swan Lake’
Newsletter Signup Before Feb. 22, the extent of my experience with ballet was watching Barbie movies as a little girl. So, I went into the Cornell Ballet Club’s performance of Swan Lake with an open mind and no expectations. The theater was small, every seat sold out with a row of people sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the chairs. The stage was closer than I’d anticipated it would be. I had considered bringing a notebook to jot down ideas for this article as I watched, but I’m glad I decided against it. From the moment the lights dimmed and the murmuring crowd quieted, I was transfixed. Nathan…
- Arts & Culture, bill skarsgard, dracula, gothic, gothic horror, lily rose-depp, Movies, nosferatu, Reviews, robert eggers
‘Nosferatu’: A Gothic Horror for the Modern Age
While gothic fiction has been prevalent since the 18th century, it reappears as a staple of popular culture during moments of social and political transition. It makes sense, then, that the gothic has reentered mainstream culture now, with shows and films like AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn gaining popularity. To me, however, no recent entry into the gothic canon has revitalized the genre for contemporary audiences quite like Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. An adaptation of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 classic (which in itself is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”), Eggers’ Nosferatu immediately distinguishes itself from previous iterations through its protagonist. At the heart of the film…
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What ‘Flow’ Has to Say: The Movie Without Words
Language is critical to human existence. From signed speech to spoken words, language shapes our lives by providing us with the ability to share ideas. Equally critical to our existence is the environment we live in. Often, speech and our world can be taken for granted, making it interesting to question how necessary human speech is and how important nature is to us. These questions were recently explored in the film world with the release of the animated movie Flow. Flow is like any other animated film, complete with adorable animals and stunning visuals, yet with one notable exception. With a runtime of 1 hour and 25 minutes, set in…