Below are staff the 2023 staff picks for music, tours, and videogames:
In early January, Lil Yachty announced he would be releasing his 5th studio album, but explained that it would not be a rap album. The album, Let’s Start Here, displays the musical versatility of Lil Yachty and how he isn’t just a “mumble rapper”.
In 57 minutes and 16 seconds, Yachty dips into the genre of psychedelic rock and funk pop. He is also joined by artists like Teezo Touchdown, Fousheé, Diana Gordon, Daniel Caesar, and Mac DeMarco to add on to the angelic tone of the project.
The opening track is “the BLACK seminole.” displays an ambiance of the likes of Pink Floyd, all while keeping the uniqueness of Lil Yachty’s creativity.
Other tracks like, “IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!” and “drive ME crazy!”, the 8th song on the album, highlight the lover boy persona shown by Lil Yachty in a more retro disco sound. Fousheé starts off the song with a verse, then later joins Yachty in the chorus. The
Songs like “sAy sOMETHINg” and “sHouLd i B?” give off more of an euphoric feeling with instruments all lapsing over each other
The project consists of the message of how falling in love can cause someone to be in a delusional state.
The album was listed as 4th best album of the year by Rolling Stones as well as it ranking number one on both Billboard’s Top Alternative and Top Rock albums of the year charts.
-Domin Kim
One of the year’s most widely anticipated and successful entertainment events was undoubtedly Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The tour, which is only one-third complete, has materially boosted revenue in every city it has touched thus far due to fans traveling, booking hotel rooms, and paying for food and other necessities to attend her shows. According to TIME Magazine, the tour has a projected gross revenue of $2.2 billion from her North American ticket sales alone.
In fact, because of all the buzz surrounding the blockbuster tour, Swift was named “Artist of the Year” by Apple Music and Spotify, as well as TIME’s Person of the Year.
The Era’s Tour is Swift’s most extensive tour yet, spanning five continents and 151 shows. Each concert, which consists of a 45-song non-stop performance with a segment of two surprise songs, includes music from nine out of her ten eras/albums: Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, Lover, folklore, evermore, and Midnights.
For fans, preparation starts long before attending a show. There is much more to attending a Taylor Swift concert than your typical concert. Many fans dress as eras, lyrics, or Swift herself and pick out their concert attire months before the show. Some fans even make their outfits, purchasing the proper materials and finding fitting inspiration to make their visions come to life.
Preparation for the show includes learning the chants. Several Taylor Swift songs, such as “Delicate,” “Bad Blood,” and “Anti-Hero,” have fan-made chants that are essential for all Swifties to know. Fans attending the Eras Tour memorize the chants by heart to scream them with Swift and the rest of the fans in each packed stadium. Singing and screaming in unison with tens of thousands of fans makes attending a Swift concert an unforgettable experience.
Trading friendship bracelets is a staple concert experience at any Taylor Swift event. Trading bracelets with fellow Swifties is considered a signal of friendship and camaraderie, ultimately unifying the Swiftie community and promoting inclusivity. Fans typically bring homemade friendship bracelets to trade with fellow Swifties at the concert.
The Eras Tour has been a wild ride of fun, exciting, and bittersweet events. Just two months into the tour that began in March, Swift announced the re-release of her third studio album, Speak Now, which she released in early July, leaving fans in a state of excitement and shock. Later in the year, on August 9th, the last date of the U.S. tour’s first leg, Swift announced the re-release of her fifth studio album, 1989.
However, these were not the only two notable moments of the tour. Shortly after the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) announcement, American rapper Ice Spice joined Swift on stage to perform “Karma (feat. Ice Spice)” on May 26th, 27th, and 28th. On the first night Ice Spice joined Swift on stage, Swift also premiered the “Karma (feat. Ice Spice)” music video during the concert.
Around a month later, a trap door underneath the stage intended to lower Swift into a room where she could undergo an outfit swap malfunctioned, forcing her to run across the length of the stage to use an alternate door. Among numerous other mishaps, this has led fans to dub the tour “The Errors Tour.”
Swift’s tour includes many heartfelt moments, endearing her to die-hard fans for years to come. One such example is the tradition of the “22 hat.” In each show, one fan is selected to receive Swift’s fedora during the performance of “22” during the Red era, coming face-to-face with the legendary pop star herself. In early August, at her August 3rd Los Angeles show, former Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant’s young daughter, Bianka, was selected for this unforgettable moment. In light of his passing, this moment was special for both fans, Kobe’s family, and Swift herself.
Swift has added and removed numerous songs to the North American leg of the tour to keep fans guessing. After the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Swift added one of the album’s songs, “Long Live,” to the setlist. She also added “no body, no crime” to the setlist, replacing one of the songs in the evermore segment when HAIM joined her on the tour, as they have a feature on the song. Lastly, “invisible string” was replaced by “the 1” during the folklore set in late March, returned once on May 6th, and was replaced yet again the following day. A few months later, Swift sang “I miss you, I’m sorry” in a duet with opener Gracie Abrams during her surprise song segment. Needless to say, Swift continues to find ways to spice up her shows and make them more attractive to fans.
During Swift’s South American leg of the tour, tragedy struck. 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevidos Machado died before one of Swift’s Brazil shows. Brazil’s extreme temperatures and lack of water provided by the stadium likely caused her death. Swift postponed the following show and spoke on Instagram about the tragic event, expressing her condolences to the 23-year-old’s family and loved ones.
After completing the first North American leg and the entire South American leg, the artist will go on break until early February, when she returns to Tokyo. In the meantime, Swift will likely be spending her time off with her new exclusive boyfriend, Chiefs football player Travis Kelce.
In the meantime, Swift is releasing her film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour on streaming platforms, available for the public to watch. She initially released the film on October 13th. Still, the extended version, which includes a few extra songs that didn’t initially make the cut, will become available to fans on December 13th.
–Lauren McNulty
One thing that changed for everyone this year was music. Music is a life-changing rhythm and beat. This year, there was one band that changed my life drastically.
TV Girl is now my most listened-to artist. It has a melancholy feel and lyrical value. Obviously, everyone who is a fan of TV Girl will have a different opinion, but these are my top five songs by TV Girl this year.
“Blue Hair” had to be at the top of this list. It’s a song about change and getting older, which we all feel at some point. Lyrically, this song spoke to me like no other has this year. Lyrics such as, “And she cried over nothing, so there was nothing I could do to stop her from cutting her beautiful blue hair off. And I guess I’ll just miss her even though she isn’t even really gone. Things are just different ever since she cut her blue hair off.”
“Lovers Rock” is another lyrically beautiful song coming in second place. I love everything about the vibe it gives off; this song never fails to make me smile immensely. The chorus is just immaculate. “ But if you’re too drunk to drive, and the music is right, she might let you stay, but just for the night. And she grabs for your hand and drags you along. She might want a kiss before the end of this song because love can burn like a cigarette. And leave you alone with nothing.”
“Birds Don’t Sing” is coming in third place. The upbeat feeling and unique beat must be the most creative things I’ve ever heard. Lyrics are a huge part of this art, especially in this chorus. “Birds don’t sing; they just fall from the sky. Girls don’t call, and they never tell you why. That’s just how they say goodbye.”
This song is tough for me to put in fourth place only because the lyrics constantly pull me in. “Not Allowed” has to be one of my favorite songs this year. The lyrical value of this song for me is too high for it not to be on here. “Did he ever make you cry? Do the wires in your mind get sewn together, rubbed, and severed by the heat, and you don’t know how long I could stare into your picture and wish that it was me.” Another favorite lyric is “All by yourself, sittin’ alone. I hope we’re still friends. Yeah, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Lonely Girls” came in last in fifth place. The beginning of this song is gorgeous. “From the moment that he looked at you and walked your way.” The chorus is most stunning: “I guess you’ll always be some lonely girl. And if you fall in love, you’ll still be living in this lonely world.”
-Anabella Araya
After the highly loved and well crafted first entry in the series, Jedi Fallen Order. The developers had very large shoes to fill with the success from the first game. I was a big fan and played through Jedi Fallen Order multiple times and loved each one, so I was ecstatic to play the sequel Jedi Survivor. On the day it was released I rushed to buy and download it. When I opened the game the first mission was smooth as butter and had incredible visuals and new game elements, and did a wonderful job of immersing you in the action. However, soon after reaching the first planet, the game froze and crashed. I tried multiple times but the game just didn’t run. After waiting for a few updates I tried again, but no luck.
Finally, after almost four months of waiting the game was playable, I will repeat, playable not smooth. Soon, the developers patched many of the bugs and the game was soon in full swing. The game creates an incredible environment, great combat, wonderful combat, and a pretty good story. Another great addition from the first game is a vast cast of endearing characters that make the environment feel alive. After all the fixes the main town area is still quite buggy, but I would highly recommend this game to any lovers of the Staar Wars franchise. Hopefully this doesn’t set the trend for buggy releases, fingers crossed!
–Matthew Sadler
