Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Despite Marty's review of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black in last semester's issue, there was something about her that simply creeped me out; something that, rather vapidly, stopped me from listening to her.

But this weekend, I had to sort through her record in a desperate attempt to find a song to sing for November's Tufts Burlesque Troupe performance.  As I flipped through the tracks - first, the two singles, "Rehab" and "I'm No Good" - I was extremely surprised to find that some of the tracks actually spoke to me.  It's true; there's something extremely genuine and strangely authentic about her voice.  The juxtaposition of the idea of modernity and the current state of pop music against Winehouse's soulful croon and the Daptones' backup makes the record not only rich, but deep.

While some of the tracks were difficult to get through and ultimately lent me to skipping them, "Me and Mr. Jones" quickly became a favorite for me.  It's become the song I'm going to (try) and sing for the show.  Though I'll certainly never be Amy Winehouse.  And you know, while I'm sad about the fact that my pathetic attempt to belt like her will never match up at all, I'd never want to end up in rehab.

I say no, no, no. 

Daydream Nation

Today I helped Thurston Moore buy an iPhone case.

Cool.

Hello Internets

Am I the only one who has a pet jazz record that I trot out whenever the genre comes up so that I won’t seem like a total philistine? Mine is Money Jungle, and I actually think it’s a great session. Just don’t get too deep into the matter with me or I’ll probably end up covering my ass by saying that I only really enjoy fusion and free jazz, which is true, but it implies that I’m versed in the more traditional forms, which would be a bit of a stretch. The previous three sentences are dripping with false humility and are obviously designed to inform the reader about my musical knowledge, not my lack thereof.

:]

Emerging Thoughts: Anna Deem

A friend of mine with whom I went to high school, Anna Deem, was just hired as a writer for the indie staple EmergingThoughts.com.  She, too, is a blogger and writes about some of the weirder things in indie culture: a very Melisma-esque kind of thing.

Head over to the Emerging Thoughts Entertainment page to read her blog entries.  They're fabulous!  And you've always wanted to know the worst lyrics in indie, n'est pas?

This Week's Obsession: Black Kids

What's up internet.

Lately I've been listening to the Black Kids, a band from Floria somewhere. I really like their sound, two parts Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me one part Go Team fuzz. I have more to say about them later but for now here's an mp3 myspace link. Solid gold.

www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

Moving Mountains - Pneuma

Moving Mountain's Pneuma was my summer romance.  While everyone at Insound jammed along to their Panda Bear and Belle and Sebastian - or ironic 80s music (of which there was a lot) - I immersed myself on repeat with this small, local band from suburban NYC, my stomping grounds.

Every track on Pneuma is a veritable harmony of perfection; each note, perfectly placed.  Composition flawless.  And it's one ball of somewhat unintentional genius.  From the resounding prowess of "Alastika" to the sweeping splendor of "8105,"  I can barely think of a single record in my collection that makes me so excited to listen to straight from start to finish.  No skipping tracks.  Every song better than the last, culmintaing in the categorically epic "Ode We Will Bury Ourselves," my current favorite 8 minutes in music.

I heard back from Mitch of Moving Mountains last night on our MySpace. He confirmed an interview with Melisma for our Fall issue, which totally rules.  On top of that, it looks like they're going to be playing here this semester as long as I can get some dates worked out for them.  I'm trying to grab them for our Halloween show (Circle Takes The Square, Transistor Transistor, and Junius).  Updates as they come.

In the meanwhile, go listen to them and fall in love, too, so I don't seem like a creepy obsessor.  That's an order.

Welcome to the new Melisma blog!

Welcome to the Melisma Magazine blog!

This is something new we're trying this semester to add a live and interactive piece to our print magazine, which comes out twice a year in conjunction with Tufts University.

In this blog, we're aiming to provide live show reviews, CD reviews, and whatever indie musings we feel like writing (or bitching) about as they strike us.  All Melisma staff members have access to contribute.  We'll also use this space, along with the MySpace page, to announce administrative happenings and publishing dates.

If you'd like to become a contributer to the blog or the magazine, make sure to shoot us an e-mail at melismamagazine@gmail.com.

Happy blogging and happy reading!

-Meredith Turits

Editor-in-Chief, Melisma Magazine