A Letter From The Editor Hey Beat Besties! OH MY GOURD! I cannot believe how fast this semester is passing by. With the leaves and the temperature falling, I am so excited to enter the holiday season. I hope that as the weeks go on you can indulge in your favorite fall activites like cozying up with a good book (and a cup of tea) or going for a hayride. To all the students, I hope your midterms continue to go well. You'll get through this! Anyways, Happy Fall Y'all! <3 Grace Lumley
The Great Pumpkin Waltz by Vincent Guaraldi 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins Lingering by Allegra Krieger Act Natural by Margaret Glaspy Elbow Stress Rash by Gorgeous Cherub Rock by The Smashing Pumpkins Pumpkin by The Regrettes Pumpkin Soup by Kate Nash My Lady’s On Fire by Ty Segall Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo Lone Ranger by Matt Duncan Harvest Moon by Lord Huron
Sunday
Monday
5. Jeremy
6. Yeah Yeah
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Zucker Roadrunner @7:30pm The 1975 TD Garden @7:30pm
Men I Trust Roadrunner @8pm
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Yeahs - MGM Music Hall at Fenway @8pm
Tuesday
Romeo Santos TD Garden @8pm
Zopa (18+) - Shakey Graves Brighton Music - Roadrunner @8pm Hall @7pm
Scene Queen Paradise Rock Club @6pm
Pierce The Veil - MGM Music Hall @6:30pm
Lucifer 27. 28. w/ Coven Baroness LP Giobbi (18+) The Sinclair Royale Boston - Brighton Music @7pm Music Hall Hall @7pm @7pm
Wednesday
Thursday
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2. Addison
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Friday
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Carbon Leaf Quicksand Grace Dear Hunter - The Royale Brighton (18+) Sinclair Music Hall Music Hall Boston @7pm Paradise @6:30pm Rock Club @8pm 8. 9. The 10. ELAINE 11. Cadillac LP - House ELIAS Costa Three (18+) of Blues Scullers The Grand - Paradise @7pm Jazz Club @9:30pm Rock Club @7pm & 9pm @7pm
18. Coral 17. Moons - Puma Blue Tool Worakls The Band - Big TD Garden Middle East Sinclair Night Live Upstairs @7:30pm Music Hall @6pm @7pm @8pm 24. This
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Anthologue Poze Do NGHTMRE Wild Life - Middle Rodo (18+) - Brighton (21+) - Big East - Zuzu - Big Night Music Hall Night Live Live @9pm @9pm @9:30pm @6pm bea miller Hunter - Paradise Hayes (18+) Rock Club - Paradise @7pm Rock Club @7pm
Bandcamp Review of Gourd in the Act In perfect tune with this month’s theme is the album Gourd in the Act by the Australian band Totally Gourdgeous. The folk group was formed in Melbourne 25 years ago and is composed of Andrew Clermont, Carl Pannuzzo, Penelope Swales, and Mal Webb. The distinctive feature of Totally Gourdgeous is that all the instruments of the band are made of gourds by Swales. Band members take turns singing vocals and playing instruments, their song verses are witty and funny, and the tunes are a mix of rough and refined. The band’s album “Gourd in the Act,” released in 2020, is playful but also engaged, activism to right societal wrongs being a main theme. “I Have a Dream,” for example, rhapsodizes portions of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech. “I had always been obsessed with taking melodies from natural speech patterns,” Webb stated. After securing copyright from the King Foundation, the group made every effort to arrange the pattern of the speech to the tune of the music, “with subtle tempo changes to allow the groove to sit until the speech like it belonged there,” Webb also recalled. Another song, “Pizza Resistance,” starts with the following recitation: “This song is for a restaurant I’ve long visualized/ An imaginary franchise for the disenfranchised/ A fictional kitchen, which for globally framed / Fearless leaders of love it is nobly named / In these slices of life, find kindness entwined / Like “Like Water for Chocolate,” through the stomach to the mind.” <3 Alexia Nastasia
<3 Julia Brukx
Pumpkin Hotteok Hotteok is a popular Korean street food - a doughy fried pancake usually filled with peanuts and brown sugar. The outside is crispy and the sugar melts from being on the griddle, it’s something you can’t go wrong with. The most enjoyable part of making hotteok is kneading the dough, filling it up, and forming them into balls. Definitely put some gloves on so your hands don’t get all sticky and oily. Grab some friends and form an assembly line! Ingredients: 1) Q.One Sweet Pumpkin Korean Pancake Mix (H-Mart!!) 2) Water Steps: 1) Invite some friends over 2) Put on some music (check out my favorite albums on the next page!) 3) Follow the instructions on the box 4) Cook! Enjoy the sizzle 5) Munch! Put on a movie or just sit and gab with your friends! Happy Fall! <3 Serenity Lai
Favorite Albums Currently Lahai by Sampha: You may have heard of Sampha from his collabs with various artists like Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Solange, and Drake. This is Sampha’s second album, which just came out on October 20th. I would put his first album, Process, but I’ve been listening to this album on repeat. His voice is so incomparable to any other artist when paired with his lyrics and instrumentals. My favorites on this album are Satellite Business, Jonathan L. Seagull, and What If You Hypnotise Me? A Seat At The Table by Solange: A classic album. Best listened to during the summer at the park with a friend or two in my opinion, or honestly any time of the year. I recommend Don’t Touch My Hair, Mad, and Borderline (An Ode to Self Care) on this album. Free Nationals by Free Nationals: There are only 13 songs on this album, so it’s a quick listen that is so worth your time. Almost every song on this album is collaborative, so maybe you’ll recognize an artist you already know! I love Beauty & Essex with Daniel Caesar, Shibuya with Syd, and The Rivington with Conway the Machine. I also recommend Time with Mac Miller and Kali Uchis. Speedrun! -The House is Burning by Isaiah Rashad -Bad Influence by Ojerime -Process by Sampha -Ego Death by The Internet -Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy by A$AP Mob -And Then You Pray For Me by Westside Gunn
<3 Serenity Lai
November’s Promise by Tate Ham Under dim moonlight and a stale alcohol sweat, we remember Autumn is the time for shedding. Slough off the old! dance it away
write it away
sleep it away scrub it away Out damned spot! When the sun returns in March’s unforgiving stare, you’ll hardly recognize us.
Aftermath by Tate Ham I’ve been cracked open, mushy center exposed, tumbling forth from me. Set adrift across days weeks months, I’m an almost imperceptible wash of color, only the faintest of sounds. I’ve been hollowed. Still, I gather pieces of myself from the damp sidewalk, in stranger’s café conversation, perhaps a once-ignored lyric. I seek a rich soil maybe it seeks me in a steaming mug of tea a diagonal slant of sunlight the smooth draft from a window agape. I dig into these spectacles, these shrines, these temples, and I burry the seeds deep into the cold damp dark. I tend to my wounded earth with soft hands and low voice. The stems will reach for the sun again, that slant of light. The harvest will be plentiful.
Boston Music History: The Lemonheads
A notable band which has originated on Boston’s music scene is The Lemonheads. This fall, the band has celebrated the 30th anniversary of its iconic album “Come on Feel the Lemonheads” with a tour on the East Coast which has included, of course, Boston. Last year, the band also celebrated the 30th anniversary of its most popular album, “It’s a Shame About Ray,” with a national tour which ended in Boston. According to The Patriot Ledger, The Lemonheads began as a punk band in 1986, but “had morphed into a quirky sort of alternative rock” by the time they became popular. According to Boston Herald, the band was formed by three high school students from suburban Boston, Evan Danko and Ben Deily, who were both in charge of vocals, guitar, and drums, and Jesse Peretz as the bassist. The initial name of the band, The Whelps, was changed before they launched their debut EP “Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners.” Based on this EP, the band was signed by Boston-based label Taang! Danko quickly became a teen idol. . The band has changed members throughout the years, except for Danko who has been a constant. The Lemonheads had huge success from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, launching seven albums and multiple singles including a cover for Simon and Garfunkel’s “Ms. Robinson.” The Lemonheads were dismantled in 1997 but came back in 2006, and have been recording and touring since. The albums Varshons and Varshons 2, released in 2009 and 2019, received critical acclaim and were followed by successful tours with various guest celebrity performances. <3 Alexia Nastasia
<3 Julia Brukx
Midterms in Fall; The Aesthetic Mutiny Waking up to a gush of wind hitting his face. Smack! An amber leaf hits his window upon its descent from a wilting tree. As he realizes he has overslept his alarm, he pushes his quilt off from his plaid pajama pants. The rush of cool fall air surrounds his lower body and legs. As each hair on his legs perks up and prickles, the shivering student immediately regrets his decision to wake up. Rubbing his eyes with his cold clammy hand he reaches for his circular frames resting on his bedside table next to his new pine and sandalwood scented candle his roommate gifted him from the fall section of the local drug store. With reluctance he peels himself from his homely auburn sheets. He looks at the old clock on the wall, it reads 8:00 am, exactly one hour before his midterm
One Hour Before: He lights his candle and opens his window letting the freshly cool fall air make way through his nose and nip at his brain. Dragging himself to the bathroom he splashes his face with steamy sink water, brushes his teeth, then runs his hand through his ginger brown hair until it’s exactly messy. If it were summer he would take the time to shave and brush his hair but it’s not. It’s the time of year to let your stubble grow into thicker scruff and to wear your eyebags as a trophy for all the late nights spent in the local library. As he makes his way back to his room, he gathers his belongings scattered around his room from the studious night before. With all of his papers and textbooks in order, he looks for his shoulder bag. Where did he leave it? He looks under the bed, one the coat rack, on his chair and then his head slowly turns to the candle fully aflame, now moist with wax, resting on his bedside table. Hanging just above it, also aflame is his book bag. Shit
Thirty Minutes Before: As he stomps his way down the narrow road the student clutches his bag freshly charred yet still functional. He grinds his teeth as this morning’s events add to the stress pimples on his already speckled freckled face. How could his favorite fall candle betray him so? The student has always held fall in the best regards, yet this morning’s events have caused him to reevaluate the friendship. It’s times like these in which caffeine is crucial. He stops grinding his teeth as he thinks of the warm, sweet, tangy pumpkin spice latte awaiting him at his local coffee shop. He recites his order in his mind like a prayer as he waits in the long line. As the time passes he recites... Extra large; Extra Whip; Low fat milk; Extra Pumpkin Syrup. He looks at his watch. 8:42. Extra large; Extra Whip; Low fat milk; Extra Pumpkin Syrup. Several cycles later, he looks again. 8:49. He begins to tap his foot impatiently. By the time they call his order it’s 8:52 and he has already tightened the laces on his clogs ready to make the sprint to class. As the barista hands him the drink wishing him a happy fall he peers down at a small black iced coffee and then back up at her smiling face. Thanks, he says silently wincing with defeat.
Five Minutes Before: At this point the student is heaving. The chilled fall air now stabbing at his septum as it rushes in and out. He whips past the rusted brick buildings he normally admires on his fall strolls. The crunch of leaves under his feet normally gave him a warm bubbly feeling in his chest. But now the bubbles have migrated south into the pits of his stomach resulting in waves of nausea. As he treads his way down the road to his class, the piles of crimson foliage seem to thicken probably due to a street cleaning that happened the night prior. But he plows on given that he is twenty paces away and his watch is reading 8:58. Just as he reaches the lecture hall’s first cobblestone step he hears a twig snap, feels his foot slip as he falls victim to gravity. Smack!. As he hits the ground and peers up at the sunlight peeking through the gracefully decaying trees, he feels the coffee seeping through his white cable knit sweater. One Minute Before: Unfazed, he pops right back up and heaves up the rest of the steps. Shoving through the heavy wooden doors, he catches a glance of his reflection in one of the display windows. His hair is no longer strategically messy and the most recent sleepless nights have begun to show under his eyes. He continues tearing down the twists and turns of the hallway reminding him of the corn maze at his local pumpkin patch. Turning the final corner he reaches his lecture hall. Finally opening the door, he arrives only one minute past the beginning of class. Breathless and relieved he peers up at the blackboard in front of the long rows of empty desks. In thick white chalk the board reads: Midterm is Canceled, Go enjoy Fall!
<3 Liz Plese
<3 Serenity Lai & Shanzah Rafiqi
A Brief Analysis and Review of TV Girl’s French Exit When I opened the door to my friends’ dorm in late September, I was greeted with a question. “What are you doing on October 10th?” “Nothing. Why?” “There’s a TV Girl concert.” I paused for a minute. My only thoughts about TV Girl were that their music was for incels and they wrote the song “Not Allowed”. They weren’t a band that I would picture my five male friends (who had since moved on from discussing the concert and were now arguing about their fantasy football league) being extremely excited to see. Nonetheless, I agreed to go and bought my ticket. I asked the most devout TV Girl fan in the group which album I should dive into first. I didn’t even initially remember the title he gave me, just that it was “The red one with the people hugging on it.” My expectations admittedly were not particularly high, but much to my surprise, French Exit became a favorite album for me shortly after my first listen. This album revolves around messy, dysfunctional, and horribly painful romance. Each song is filled to the brim with gnarly lyrics, hidden beneath deceptively catchy instrumentals and cute vintage samples of women with transatlantic accents. Without paying attention to the words being sung, I could almost interpret it as an imitation of an old-timey feel-good love story from the fifties. Which it is, to some extent,
but not in the way that a first time listener would expect. Rather than being cheesy and sweet, the album spends most of its 41 minutes detailing the fleetingness of authentic love. This idea is presented to listeners just in the title alone, as the term ‘french exit’ is used to describe a person leaving abruptly, and without warning. The juxtaposition between the 50s romance movie-esque instrumentals/ sampling and the true meaning of these songs is what sets this album apart from other indie music of the past 10+ years. None of the characters in French Exit find themselves faced with an explicit happy ending, which is why it’s such a standout. The first song, “Pantyhose” is a perfect opener to the album thematically. Loosely inspired by Tim O’Brian’s 1990s book The Things They Carried, the song follows the story of a soldier who uses his lover’s pantyhose as a magical good luck charm while fighting, only for her to send him a letter saying that she is leaving him. The arc of this song immediately tells the listener exactly what they’re in for over the course of the rest of the album - heartbreak over and over again. Even “Lovers Rock”, an iconic hit among the indie community that seems to be revered as a love song, actually becomes very melancholy when you consider the lyrics to the chorus.
“But if you’re too drunk to drive and the music is right she might let you stay but just for the night.” It can be easily determined that the pair in this song are not genuinely in love and their relationship is not going anywhere. They’re with each other for one night only because of mutual loneliness, because of a craving for affection that neither of them quite know how to satisfy. The lyric “Love can burn like a cigarette and leave you alone with nothing” is particularly biting. The implication here is that love can give you a buzz for a short period of time, like smoking nicotine. Love is addictive, to the
point where you become dependent on it. But like a cigarette, love burns out. And leaves you alone with nothing but ashy remnants in your hand. That’s an extremely depressing metaphor. The closing song of French Exit, much like the opener, works fantastically. Unlike the rest of the album, which has a bedroom-pop feel, “Anjela” is stripped down with its primary instrument being an acoustic guitar. It even ends on a slightly less cynical note, the last lyric being I haven’t seen the last of her, implying that love may not be an entirely hopeless concept, and won’t always end with a ‘french exit’. My personal favorite song on the album is “Her and Her Friend”. The music reminds me of a water level in an indie video game and the lyrics cut like a knife. Other standouts on this album include “Birds Don’t Sing”, “Louise”, “Hate Yourself”, and “Talk to Strangers”. Overall, I would rate it an 8.5/10. The lyrics are clever, the music is pleasant to listen to, the samples used are thoughtfully cohesive, and the overarching theme of the album is fantastic.
<3 Morgan Oakes
Upcoming November Films I am Excied For The Holdovers (dir. Alexander Payne) - Rated R Comedy/Drama - 2h 13m Even though I haven’t seen this film yet, I know I will love it just from the old-school-style trailer. Below the traditional narration lies very emotional, coming of age, and found family highlights from throughout the film. With the cozy vintage vibes and Paul Giamatti starring, I anticipate this as my favorite of the year. Priscilla (dir. Sofia Coppola) - Rated R Drama/Romance - 1h 50m Sofia Coppola is one of my favorite directors of all time. She regularly produces amazing content and I know this film will be the same. With a strong cast and permission given by Priscilla Presley, I know Coppola will pair this with her stellar skills to create a transformative story of someone who is so much more than Elvis’s wife. What Happens Later (dir. Meg Ryan) - Rated R Romance/Drama - 1h 45m I am so pumped for Meg Ryan’s return to romance films. I think what’s even more exciting is the fact that she is directing the film. Ryan and David Duchovny star as exs trapped in an airport during a snowstorm. The wintery vibes and forced proximity trope have me wishing November 3rd would come sooner. Thanksgiving (dir. Eli Roth) Horror/Slasher - 1h 46m This fake trailer-turned-feature is coming out in anticipation of the holiday season. The film parodies the horror genre like Scream did in the late ‘90s. Starring in the slasher is TikTok influencer (and multi-hyphenate) Addison Rae and Grey Anatomy heartthrob Patrick Dempsey. Along with many other notable faces, I believe this film will be the spooky story I need. Trolls Band Together (dir. Walt Dohrn) - Rated PG Animation/Comedy - 1h 31m An *NSYNC reunion? Yes, please. I truly enjoyed the first film in the Trolls franchise, so I am looking forward to this one as well. The concept is fun and the boyband throughline feels like a great way to blend content for both kids and adults. Better Place has already been stuck in my head since it came out a few weeks ago so I just need to see the movie at this point. <3 Grace Lumley
An Interview with Sam Maurer I sat down with local Boston artist, and Berklee College of Music student, Sam Maurer to talk about his single that comes out October 27th, 2023 at 12 a.m. You can listen to the song “Ghost” on any music streaming platform under his artist name Dog Cage. The following interview has been edited for clarity and to fit the length and format. Liz Plese: Starting from the beginning, how were you introduced to music? Sam Maurer: When I was thirteen or fourteen I found my sister’s old electric guitar and I had been listening to the Beatles. I remember I found it in the basement and the first song I learned was “Drive My Car” to start out. I just remember the feeling was nice because I had never experienced that art form. It felt fresh to me. The whole song was basically one riff repeated and it took me about a day to learn. LP: How would you describe the most recent project you’re working on? SM: Basically me and my guitar and a tape recorder. It’s definitely a folk project. I have had some of my friends call my work lofi but I would disagree. LP: If you wouldn’t describe yourself as Lofi, what genre would you categorize the new song under? SM: I actually have never considered this before. When listening to my songs I consider it stream of consciousness music. It would mostly be categorized as folk, but more so poetry based folk music. I think that’s a good way to say it. LP: That is such a specific subsection of music, who are your artistic influences?
SM: I could think of a lot actually. I guess Harry Nilsson has to be a big one. Randy Newman is one of my idols. Almost all the blues guys from the 1920s, everyone in that genre is included. I’m not trying to compare myself to the gods or anything but Bob Dylan. I know it sounds like a lot but Blaze Foley, Sibyle Baier, Daniel Johnson are some of my biggest inspirations when I’m creating music. LP: Is the fact that the song is recorded at home on your tape recorder important to you? SM: Yes, definitely! Bands are great, but once I disconnect myself from a group setting it allows me to be more passionate about what I am creating. A good comparison is like how a writer writes a book. Sometimes they write with other people but the core process is alone. LP: Do you plan on performing your projects once they’re released? SM: If I could have it my way I feel like I would never do shows because I mainly looked at [the song] as a recording project. But if I want more people to listen to it I think I should do shows. If I did do shows I would like to do some rock shows: specifically a slow core rock concert. When people listen to the song initially though, I want them to digest it alone as an individual thing. LP: Finally, What was the motivation behind this project in particular? SM: I guess I have a lot of songs that I’ve written but there was this one movie that made me think to myself “I’ve got to do something.” I saw a movie called Killer of Sheep by director Charles Burnet. In that movie he had so much to say and he did it all in an hour and a half and I already had the songs written but I never really thought about releasing them. I thought that even if these songs don’t have that great of an impact [...] there is still something for each song to say. <3 Liz Plese
Bandcamp Review of Chloё and the Next 20th Century As Fall 2023 has kicked into full swing, I’ve had the pleasure of revisiting my pride and joy, my fall playlist. I curated this selection of songs last year in an attempt to capture the autumnal energy of a small town I visited in North Carolina. I returned to the playlist this year where one song in particular stuck out to me, “Goodbye Mr. Blue” by Father John Misty. Although the song was released in April of 2022, the lyrics and underlying acoustic guitar echo the energy of October. The song has a familiar beat as it pays tribute to Everybody’s Talkin’, the theme of the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. Chloё and the Next 20th Century, the album on which “Goodbye Mr. Blue” is located, sounds as though it was produced in both 1922 and 2022. Misty, known outside the music industry as Josh Tillman, honors Old Hollywood and 20s jazz while still using fresh, comedic lyrics that relate to listeners today. The third track, “Kiss Me, I Loved You,” describes a yearning to return to a past relationship. This is a feeling that somehow always finds its way back to me in the fall, along with all sorts of introspection. Whether or not you can relate as the colder months roll around, the calm track is still a must on any -rainy day autumn- playlist. So, if you’re looking for an atypical, dynamic album that will break you out of a music rut, this one’s for you. I hope you enjoy listening and it inspires you to explore other tracks by Father John Misty (I personally love “I Love You, Honeybear”), and may this album accompany you on all of your fall related activities this season! <3 Jenna Avery
This Month’s Contributors: Edited by Grace Lumley Front & Back Cover by Sadie Shelkey Writing Team: Serenity Lai, Grace Lumley, Alexia Nastasia, Taylor Olson, Shanzah Rafiqi, Jenna Avery, Liz Plese, Julia Brukx, Morgan Oakes, Megan Sharon & Tate Ham Graphics Team: Sadie Shelkey, Taylor Olson, Megan Sharon, Grace Lumley, Sophia Hebert, Julia Brukx, Shanzah Rafiqi & Serenity Lai
Thanks for reading! <3 The Beat Crew