It’s official: Kevin Parker is a mastermind. Now that he’s three blissful studio albums in, the greater indie population that closely follows his kind of psychedelic wanderings can now cement his musical genius status. Read more...
Photo: (Courtesy of Modular Recordings)
Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi strode across the stage of L.A. Live’s Nokia Theatre, violin in hand, illuminated by the lights, sounds and colors of the stage. As the opener for the 2013 American Music Awards, Al-Mazeedi was among the first performers to be heard that night. Read more...
Photo: UCLA alumna Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi has opened for the 2013 American Music Awards, recorded with Oscar-winning film score composer Hans Zimmer and played alongside Jason Derulo. Al-Mazeedi now plans to create her own philanthropy-based contemporary music ensemble. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin)
Three weeks ago, Long Beach rapper Vince Staples announced his debut full-length album, “Summertime ‘06,” via an Instagram post. The caption began with the phrase “Love will tear us apart” and ended with “Love tore us all apart,” framing a narrative of petty crimes the rapper and his comrades were involved in as middle schoolers during summer 2006. Read more...
Photo: (Def Jam Recordings)
The music industry died once and may be dying again, with the power shifting from music industry executives to the hands of artists. The emerging trend of artists dropping surprise albums without promotion is switching the attention from the music industry to the artists themselves. Read more...
Photo: Former Bruin Bash performer and rapper Tyga dropped his album “The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty” on June 23 without promotion. The release only sold 2,200 copies its first week. (Daily Bruin file photo)
First, Alex Ritchie’s mother lost her job. Then Ritchie and her family lost their house and health insurance. At the same time, she experienced her first heartbreak. Read more...
Photo: UCLA alumna Alex Ritchie will release her debut EP “Heart Weight” on Tuesday. Written, produced and recorded by Ritchie, the EP was inspired by the hardships she experienced such as heartbreak and getting conned out of $13,000 by a former work partner. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin)
The start of summer is usually a signal for new albums to be released just in time for music festivals. Highly anticipated releases such as Frank Ocean’s long-awaited “Boys Don’t Cry” are set to drop in the sunny interlude between spring quarter finals and zero week of fall quarter, a time when many students take a break from studying to jam out. Read more...
Photo: (Universal, Odd Future, Interscope Records, Tumblr, 4AD)
Julia Ramos’ beatboxing career began when she was 13 years old. During a routine YouTube visit, Ramos stumbled upon a video of beatboxer Joel Turner from the 2003 season of “Australian Idol” and, having never heard beatboxing before, was intrigued by his unfamiliar sounds. Read more...
Photo: Graduating fourth-year Design | Media Arts student and Random Voices beatboxer Julia Ramos was featured on a “Pitch Perfect 2” CoverGirl commercial and placed in the top 16 twice in the American Beatbox Championship. (Lisa O’Brien/Daily Bruin)
