MEET THE EXEC BOARD – MADDY GOODHART (’19)
by Maddy Goodhart on August 9, 2017
Posted in: Music
Hey kids, I’m Maddy (she/her). I’ll be your Programming Director for the spring semester. This summer I’m living at home in Newburyport, MA and interning at a branding firm where there are multiple greyhounds that roam freely around the office. When I’m off the 9-5 grind you can find me lying on the beach listening to Lana Del Rey or at concerts befriending girls with light up sneakers. Other current pastimes of mine include loitering at the local 24 hour CVS and trying to understand the “athleisure” trend. I’ll be studying abroad in Madrid this fall, so if any of you guys wanna send some music recs my way and save me from repeatedly typing “Spanish Hits” into Spotify, I would really, really appreciate it. Here are a few of my favorite tracks of 2017 thus far, and be sure to check out the playlist at the bottom if you want a more extensive rundown. Come say hi to me at Gen Board meetings next spring, and get excited for more “Meet the Exec Board” blog posts in the coming days and weeks.
In Undertow – Alvvays
Alvvays is probably my favorite band, so I am really ridiculously excited for their upcoming sophomore album, Antisocialites. “In Undertow” and “Dreams Tonite” are the two singles that have been released so far, and they both carry on the band’s tradition of hauntingly beautiful dream pop. This song feels like a wave slowly growing and then breaking in catharsis at the bridge.
Lucid Dreams – Cherry Glazerr
spotify:track:3VbBFXhGt2aYczdEdKv1i2
The guitar riff on this song!!! Cherry Glazerr adopted more of full-bodied rock sound for their January release, Apocalipstick, and it’s really working for them. “Lucid Dreams” radiates darkness from the period of numbness that follows heartbreak, and is a verifiable ice queen anthem.
Kill Jay Z – JAY-Z
The opening track of 4:44 is a standout Jay-Z moment and a direct response to Kanye’s 2016 song “I Love Kanye.” Kanye’s song is a self-aware and satirical sermon that speaks directly to the listener without any musical backing. Meanwhile, “Kill Jay Z” is a more pained and unclouded reflection. The song gains emotional urgency through the intensely layered background track, which expertly samples elements of The Alan Parson’s Project song, “Don’t Let It Show.”
Traicionera – Sebastián Yatra
So, just to point out the obvious; Sebastián Yatra is absurdly sexy. But while Sebastián may look like a world-class sadboy in this video, these lyrics are actually pretty ruthless. Due to this truly winning combination,“Tracionera” is decidedly the banger of the year in my playbook.
ELEMENT. – Kendrick Lamar
“ELEMENT.” is a song about standing at the top of the game and peering back down over where you came from. When DAMN. first came out I smoked a spliff and listened to it on top of a mountain. I got to watch falcons fight to this song. Tight.
Gyalchester – Drake
spotify:track:6UjfByV1lDLW0SOVQA4NAi
“I don’t take naps / Me and the money are way too attached to go and do that.”
This song is so extra. That said, it helps me to maintain morale while I sit at my minimum wage internship sipping out of a Nalgene that smells like tequila even though it has only ever contained water.
Boys – Charli XCX
This song is basically Charli XCX talking about boys as though she is lying in a warm bath with a silver platter and picking out which Michelin star dessert she wants to sample first. Then, as if that didn’t already solidify her status as God’s gift to earth, she went on to direct this iconic music video. It is a fireworks show of pop culture princes that leaves you wanting to declare a favorite but constantly changing your mind. So with that preface, I’m just gonna leave this screenshot of Flume and A.G. cook here.
Bobby – Alex G
“Bobby” brims with the passion of new love and the pain of inevitable change. With a full array of fiddles and acoustic guitars, this song gets a rating of two thumbs up on the “Will Febs Like It?” scale.
Forest Fire – Mount Eerie
“And I remember thinking the last time it rained here you were alive still / And that this same long heat that I was in contained you”
On A Crow Looked at Me, Phil Elverum quietly recounts the death of his young wife Geneviève. The album is sparse, honest, and one of the saddest but most genuine works of art you will ever listen to.
Want more? Here it is:
