I stand transfixed, a vibrant display of colour adorning the pale rock in front of me. Behind me, my recently acquired American friend is asking me something but I am completely oblivious, attempting in vain to piece together the story laid out before me on this natural tapestry. We had left behind the Pyramids in the heart of Cairo for this beautifully preserved temple in Abu Simbel, and I remained in my wide-eyed existential crisis.
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Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy was alone. Not surrounded by thousands playing live, not live streaming to millions, not flocked by fans. ‘XXXTENTACION’ as he was known, this time, was alone, striding out of a motorcycle dealership. Was he scared? Did he feel vulnerable? We will never know. What we do know is that seconds later Onfroy was shot, and a life that oscillated between the sublime, horrific and confusing was ended, however you may feel about him, too soon.
Continue readingGive my playlist a spin while you read! Or see what you might like in it first below the choice is yours.
I have a friend who has the remarkable ability to recall the song that she was hooked on during a specific time of her life, to the precise month even. It’s quirky and cool, but is it unique? Or is she just able to communicate what we all subconsciously feel? Previously I tried to identify the ‘soundtrack to my rollercoaster‘, but I want to explore deeper as to why my memories and mood are intrinsically linked to a wide spectrum of music.
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I love Kanye. I love the old Kanye. I love the new Kanye. I can see you shaking your heads from here. “What is with this guy?” you ask. First Kyrgios, now Kanye- two men with personalities and egos so contrasting with mine. But still I connect with them because they’re flawed yes, but they’re real. Kanye bares all of his emotions and opinions, unpopular and downright wrong as they sometimes are, with no abandon. I would take that every day of the week compared to the PR savvy, carefully managed personas of stars like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.
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Somewhat lost in ‘Beatlemania‘ was the sheer musical genius of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. The problem was Wilson’s attempt to run from the pigeonhole of songs about surfing and poppy tunes about girls into more meaningful art was met with opposition. As his bandmate Mike Love put it, “keep to the f***** formula!”
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I might not have a great memory regarding subjects like anatomy, but in the instances where I have irked my friends it is razor sharp. After acknowledging a particular band a friend liked (I think it was Simple Plan), I added that I used to listen to them in high school. Her resulting sigh and response was not what I expected. I didn’t mean it in a pretentious way. I just associate music with different times- a product of living with a song always in my head. So what songs and albums have been a part of my soundtrack?
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My earliest recollections of music are from roughly when I was 4 years old. I was sitting down, leafing through my Dad’s vinyl collection. The soothing, melodic harmonies of George Harrison’s guitar from Here Comes the Sun break the ambience…too pretentious? Ok fair enough. Please keep on reading…
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