Nicholas Harding (Australian, B. 1956, Based Sydney, Australia) - Underground, 2012  Paintings: Oil

pale

Post STRFKR Coffee I look like shit

Last Dinosaurs

Australia delivers once again

Personally, I only really enjoyed their first album “In a Million Years”. Great band regardless. Check them out

Obligatory wing picture (at LIFT Coffee Shop & Cafe')

Still can’t believe I was this close to the one and only arzE.

THE SYMPOSIUM SELF TITLED RELEASE

    Skipping class, smoking cigarettes, sneaking out and going to the beach, it seems like the entirety of my sophomore year was soundtracked by The Symposium. Composed of guitarist Sam, singer Charlie, drummer Brian, and bassist Benny, the Chicago bred band has been the soundtrack of my life since discovering their debut album, Drugs, released in 2014. Drugs, though released almost 3 years before their new self titled album, introduced their laid back blend of stoner pop rock.

    The Symposium, appropriately released on 4/20, took that established sound and elevated it with more developed sounds and insightful lyrics. The first of the two singles released for their new album, “Red River,” was absolutely infectious. With it’s slow tempo and sleepy vocals it conformed to the band’s previous style whilst also giving subtle hints about what the future held in store. The second single, “Synth Song” continued with the mellow feel and true to it’s name was synth heavy. Both tracks have this effortless quality that enables them to be played in any situation for any amount of time while still retaining their initial captivity.

     Accentuating the psychedelic side of the album, “Soft Love” is almost reminiscent of early Tame Impala with it’s dreamy guitars and dazed lyrics. The song ends with a distinct outro, a quality shared among most of the songs on the album. “Nino 2” has that same gossamer quality while throwing in some distorted elements. The track is an easy listen with an optimistic melody and relatable lyrics.

     “The Physical Attraction,” is the embodiment of the slacker-pop movement. With it’s disdainful lyrics urging people to “take your time, listen to the song we wrote and it could change your mind when you hear it on the radio.” The song expresses the want for a break in reality, to just play video games instead of dealing with the the complications of relationships and adulthood. Featuring high reverb and lengthy instrumentals breaks, its outro brought a more grounded, undefined element to juxtapose the dreamy tune.

     The closing track, “Starfall,” uses the trademark ethereal vocals from the psych side and some intense guitar solos. This track has this effortless cohesion that effectively showcases the best of both genres. The outro circled back to the first track “Streems,” dripping in dreamy vibes and keeping the album in a continuum of sorts.

    Sofian Zapf on Bandcamp encompasses my thoughts on this album perfectly: “holy fuck yo this shit is crazy.” It’s true, with their garage rock and dream pop the band has created the perfect casual masterpiece. Just as Drugs seems to be the background noise to all my best moments sophomore year, I know that The Symposium will hold that nostalgia soon.

LISTEN TO THE SYMPOSIUM HERE

written by SAMANTHA SULLIVAN

Daily Routine (9/14/17) - Coffee Break

I went to a local coffee shop called The Lab at Alchemy (Alchemy Coffee for short). You will probably see me post about this place often, as it is one of my favorite coffee shops in Richmond. Today’s experience at The Lab wasn’t really any different from any other day (except for the barista thinking I ordered a mocha instead of a normal coffee - only mildly infuriating). I ordered my coffee and muffin and sat down to be productive. 

Productive in a sense at least. 

I usually go to coffee shops to do homework, usually reading from my various textbooks or writing a paper on my laptop. Alchemy is different though. For some reason I can’t do anything academic while sitting in this quaint college student hangout spot. I’m not sure if it’s the people coming in and out, the buzz of drinks being made, or just being so close in proximity to people (if it’s crowded, space to breath can be pretty tight). It may be that I always have associated the place with de-stressing, but I add in stressors that prevent me from working. So now Alchemy is no longer a place where I can do “work” in an academic manner. I now see at as a place to unwind, and let my creativity sprawl in a different way

Creative writing.

I have determined that Alchemy is now my go to place when I want to write. Poetry, short stories, journal entries, and other forms of short prose - I feel safe and comfortable writing it there. Which leads me to this picture I’ve included. It’s an off kilter shot of my coffee mug and personal journal where I write all of my ideas for everything. I try and write in it at least once a day, whether it be a journal entry or something creative. Shown above is a series of short poems I came up with while listening to the song “Visiting Friends” by Animal Collective. In short, it’s a hypnotic, ambient, and drawn out acoustic guitar track with odd voices and sounds sampled into the background. While repetitive and long, the song is able to put me into an odd feeling where I make can write these unique dialogue poems that I’ve never been able to do unless I’m listening to this song. I now have 4 full pages of content while listening to this song. I’ll post them separately someday, probably with edits and rewrites in order for them to flow better. I also transcribed a short story that I wrote in my journal into a word document. It’s currently a mess, but I’m happy that I did it. I’ll post that story someday too when it’s ready.

It was quite a time at The Lab today filled with lots of creative energy and much needed de-stressing. I hope to be able to find a lot of other places in Richmond that have the same effect, hopefully free, as money can be tight for a college student. Honestly, any place that can get the creative juices flowing is fine by me. If you’re an RVA native and you write, please comment/PM with your go to places (oddly specific and far reaching I know, but one can hope). 

my granddad just called me to tell me how big his cauliflowers are growing and it was so cute theyre “TWICE as big as the ones you get in the shop”

Classic