There were a few days after Donald Trump was elected where artists formed themselves into two camps — There were a few days after Donald Trump was elected where artists formed themselves into two camps. The first was the “Business As Usual” camp. They avoided overtly political takes on the election and opted for generic comments about unity despite difference or — in the case of the quasi-Christian…

A Belgian artist elevates how I think about art — Artists like Stromae helped me realize that your deepest meditations can still light up the dancefloor if you know what you’re doing. Stromae’s songs sound massive. They’re meant to pound through stadiums, arenas, and dance floors. His epic production is balanced out by lyrics you can sink your teeth into…

On that cold Baltimore night in 2018, the rich people were thankful that Walmart wasn’t there. I squirmed brokely. — We had met for drinks in Clavel, a somewhat posh neighborhood cocktail bar. Charles Marohn was there, as well as leaders of the Charles Village neighborhood association. In the course of the conversation, someone mentioned that Walmart has tried to build a superstore in the lot across the street. Shivers…

Don’t be a snob. P.O.D.’s got some bangers. — Chalk it up to the pop-rock production prowess of Howard Benson, Marcos Curiel’s unique guitar tones, and Sonny Sandoval’s guy-you’d-like-to-crack-a-beer-with charisma, but they’re just the parts of the machine that are showing. Dig a little deeper and you find Traa Daniel’s riffs that might be nu-metal but are influenced by…

(Part 2 of the quasi-Christian/Christian adjacent trilogy. For part 1, click here.) — U2’s reputation peaked in 2004. The events of 9/11 propelled the band into a commercial renaissance in the 21st year of their career: they performed at the Super Bowl Half Time Show in 2002, and their brand of transcendent arena rock hit just right. Their relationship with Steve Jobs also…

This band helped me survive Nebraska. — When I was 19, two things happened that changed the course of my life: 1: I got a labor-intensive job at a warehouse. 2: I committed to joining the Air Force. 2.5: I got into Killswitch Engage. All my talk about the negativity of metalcore and screaming music goes out…

The screaming music trilogy part 2. (For part 1 click here) Lest I come across as someone who doesn’t respect the role of extreme emotion in art and music, let me explore two more artists who sometimes scream, starting with Flyleaf. The problem I have with a lot of metal-adjacent…

The screaming music trilogy, part 1 — So now we get to the first artist that shaped me for the worse. I remember the day metalcore died. I was at Warped Tour in Columbia, Maryland. There were so many screamo bands who had identical hairstyles and outfits I couldn’t possibly have told them apart. Literally everyone, their…

Erykah Badu has become one of the patron saints of the #woke twitterati with roses, rainbow flags, and upraised fists in their bios. A lot of words can be used to describe her image, music, and message; the most used one is “weird”. She sells crystal-embedded water bottles for $80…