Hello everybody! This is my portfolio. I had chosen these three to focus and work on because I had felt when I initially created them, I hadn’t given them the polish they needed. I also felt like there were many little mistakes and things I could have done better with these works. I wanted to challenge myself especially with my writing to see if I could do just that. Especially in regards to music description and even my personal description of pieces. So this is the “Turtle Portfolio.” I’d also like to take a second to thank professor Tougaw for being one of the coolest and one of my favorite professors! And i’d like to thank the amazing class for the feedback and conversations about music for the semester! You guys were so dope and I appreciate all of you for giving me such a great semester
Personal Mixtape: Serene Ambiance Mixtape
Honestly I’ve never had a playlist or a specific song selection that I would listen to. I’m more of a mood music kind of person and have been like that for as long as I can remember. Yet I noticed that whenever I go for a walk, I mainly play music with less lyrics and more instrumentals. For me at least, when I walk while listening to music, I envision a random scenario that fits with the song i’m listening to. Sometimes it fits the mood i’m in. Other times it’s a scenario that’s unrelated to me, but the song itself. I’ll even sometimes see something while walking and if it fits with the song think of that exact situation but with my twist on it. I’d like to believe almost all of you can relate to that when you listen to music.
For that reason alone it made me focus more on instrumentals rather than lyrics at a point in time of my life. Though I regret it a little because who knows how many good song I missed out on having that mindset. Though being older and much more wiser, growing I live in the instrumental and lyric atmosphere now. And because of that I have decided to create a playlist that consists of songs and instrumentals that I mostly have listened to either walking or reminiscing. Some are new and some are older that my lifetime. I’m hoping some people will now some of the songs and if not then I hope you can enjoy the mix of genre beats that have helped and shaped me to be a better person.
Washed Out: Feel It All Around
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-0TYeg9Rzc
A scenario I have had with this song is me walking at night in the summer. I see all the car lights and the light posts all over town and it’s a breezy night as well. I walk and I see skaters pass by me feeling free. No worries, no stress or even a realization that things and the world gets better. For me this song is definitely a summer night kind of song that’s meant to to be a feel good song. Probably one of the most relaxing songs i’ve ever heard. From the mellow in Washed Out’s voice to the bass which is under appreciated to me. “Feel It All Around” is probably one of my top vapor wave songs to listen to.
Jean Christophe Le Saout: Butterfly
This is a trip hop instrumental. A genre that fuses hip hop and electronica originated in the United Kingdom. I enjoy this song greatly because of the smooth, laid back and old school boom bat similarity sound. At first it reminded me of elevator music for a while. I went for a walk in Williamsburg Brooklyn with this playing once and as I passed people playing basketball and passed all the graffiti and murals, I began to resonate with the song. It felt like I was being told “you’ve gotta keep moving, life doesn’t stop.” This made me more curious about Jean Christophe. I found this song randomly and loved it ever since. It reminds me of an Adult Swim bump that would play through commercials. If anyone’s watched adult swim on a Saturday night/Sunday Morning they’ll understand. It has this nice transition and 0:58 seconds that makes it feel more Lofi as well.
Eyedress: Jealous
When I first heard this song I always envisioned being chased or chasing someone in a comical way. It was the most random thought but it popped up one day. So now I have my morning runs to this song and it makes the runs much better. Then randomly I began imagining myself rollerblade or skate to this song. Similar to the skating in the video. If you have Tik Tok then you’ve probably heard this song. It became a viral hit this year. I’m a big fan and love the song because of the sonic elements. The guitar that plays from start to finish reminds me of 80’s and 90’s alternative rock. The scratchy instrumental and Eyedress’s voice that sounds like it’s fading away as he speaks makes it flow to me. The music video also screams vintage and retro. Like I said previously, I used to be more of a instrumental person and sometimes I still tend to focus on that rather than the lyrics. This song was an example of that. I hadn’t realized how deep Eyedress’s lyrics are until a few listens. Lyrics such as “Don’t tell me about your problems, if you’re not trying to solve them.” “Don’t ask me how my day’s been, I just wanna be alone.” As humans we’ve all been there so to hear it in this form was just “wow.” Negative/insecure thoughts + a alternative rock beat makes magic.
Jeff Lorber: Electric Relaxation
I was on my way to Queens College one day and I got off the N4 to the Jamaica station. This man was trying to sell bootleg phone cases and played this in the background. I listened and asked him what he was playing. The man told me it was a remixed instrumental to “A Tribe Called Quest’s” song “Electric Relaxation” which is one my favorite song from the group. The instrumental to that song is one I enjoy dearly, so hearing a jazzed remix to it was exciting. Such a smooth relaxing remix.The strings and instruments that play throughout are breathtaking. The trumpet and saxophone that plays make it feel like something is rising up. Ever since that feeling came to me, I now listen to this now when I’m either awake before the sun rises or whenever the sun sets. It feels peaceful to me to watch either happen with this happening. Makes me feel like a bad day wasn’t as bad as I perceived it to be.
Freaks & Geeks: Lindsay Disturbed Theme
I hope some of you at least have watched “Freaks & Geeks” so you’ll know what i’m talking about. Yet when I listen to this song I normally end up feeling lost or i’ll really be just wandering on a walk. Like those moments in life where you don’t really know where you’re headed or what to do next. Even when I don’t feel like that, I’ll listen to this to just remember when I did have that feeling. Maybe that’s the purpose of this instrumental. The main character Lindsay being felt lost in between the crowd of the geeks (boys on the right) and the freaks/Cool guys (3 boys on the left). It’s a gentle beat that goes from high to low on a slow tempo. I enjoy the sound that plays at the 9 second mark throughout the most. It adds on to the feeling lost theme of the instrumental.
Flying Lotus: Massage Situation
This instrumental alone to me sounds like quite a trip. Flying Lotus samples this from “Singers Unlimited’s” song “Nature Boy”. Listening to the original and hearing what Flying Lotus did with it is quite a flip. If any of you guys have watched Adult Swim on Sat/Sun you’ve definitely heard this through a commercial break. This is my one of my favorite instrumentals just because it was something I heard every week. My favorite part of this instrumental is the riff that plays in the beginning that continues throughout the song. To me it adds on and flows well with the rest of the distorted sounds that come after. The saturated bass line at the 1:17 also adds to the trip feeling. This makes me think of the 90’s and things that are retro now.
I remember I was walking down a village on a late night and I had passed a smoke shop and this was playing. One of the workers who would always see me walking had asked me if I wanted to smoke with them. I kindly declined and we ended up just talking about this instrumental and stories of life. His were mostly drug and stories of drugs haha but with this in the background playing it made it that more great to me.
Nujabes: Windspeaks
I have infinite love for the flute and the saxophone and this track just absolutely does magic with both of them. The rhythm, harmony and melody make it sound like things are just perfect. Like spirits are being uplifted. If I had to pick a ending instrumental to a movie that needed a sound that describes peace finally being realized it would be this. It’s uplifting to the fullest and is one of my favorite beats to listen to any situation. I think the 3:40 mark is probably my favorite of the beat and the saxophone gets louder and transitions with the beat. When I walk and listen to this, I always envision myself at a festival or celebration being around people that are smiling brightly and dancing. I’ll even catch myself doing a little dance as I walk sometimes. This instrumental to me is supposed to give that feeling and give that “things will get better” feeling.
Flying Lotus: An Xbox Killed My Dog
Similar to “Windspeaks” I walk and envision myself dancing to this song. Yet instead of festival dancing, I imagine dancing in a ballroom or slow dancing. I find this song by Flying Lotus to be one of the most creative things he’s created. From the title “An Xbox Killed My Dog” which already peaked my interest. When I listened to the song and heard the lyrics, I realized I can’t understand the song! I began to laugh when I realized I’d have no idea if the song is about a xbox actually committing murder. As I did research aka Youtube comments. I found out that the lyrics are in Norwegian. and the lyrics are a biblical verse. Flying Lotus sampled “Tiden” from “That’s Why.” The song has no reference to an Xbox killing a dog so that made me happy.
Joey Badass- Hilary Swank
With music, we all have a song that hits personal to us. A song that helped us get through a rough patch, a song that gets us feeling happy, or a song that just gets us hyped and ready for anything. Joey Badass’s “Hilary Swank” Is one of those songs and instrumentals for me. It’s a really fast paced lush beat that goes from low to high but what really gets me is the groove and hip hop mix of the beat. The trumpet and drums that play around the chorus are my favorite part of Ever since I got introduced to Joey Badass this has been my favorite song and instrumental from him. I played this song when I challenged myself to go to a Joey concert by myself one time. I went to Lower Manhattan to Little Italy listening to this instrumental. Mainly because in the song Joey says ” I used take walks around Little Italy now I Rome around Sicily.” I probably should’ve told him that when we met at that concert haha but next concert for sure!
A$AP Rocky: LSD
The Last song I will talk about in this playlist is “A$AP Rocky’s” song “LSD.” The song beginning with a slow melodic intro with the base. Following Rocky’s voice matching the slowness of the song. This is one of those songs I refuse to listen to a lot so I don’t get tired of it. When the beat drops it feels like the song gets more melodic and slower. As if you need to take in every second. I love that aspect dearly. To me this song is a night drive kind of song. Or in my case a night walk kind of song where there’s bright lights all over the place to get you in tune. I would actually like to walk in either New York or Japan like Rocky did with this playing to see how it feels. In my opinion, Rocky does justice with the music video which I highly recommend people watch. Definitely a trip. To Rocky, this was him experimenting with new different sounds and I would argue he did a pretty amazing job with it.
Album Review: The Problem Child Back At it Again
My name is Christopher Latortue, but you could address me as Chris, Turtle, or even “La Tortuga.” Today we are going to be listening and reviewing an album by a controversial, menace to society hip hop and rap artist. The co leader of the group “Odd Future” “Tyler The Creator.” The man who has been banned from going to the United Kingdom because of homophobic slurs will be the one to bless our ears tonight. His fourth studio album “Cherry Bomb” has just dropped and i’ve heard many mixed reviews about it. I don’t truly know what to expect. Realistically, if you’re a Tyler The Creator fan, can you really have expectations with his music? Is there really a standard with Tyler? Probably not right? Well let’s jump in and find out!
The album starts off with what parents would see as obnoxious, definitely with the aggressive rant-like song knows as “DEATHCAMP” And for the record everyone, I am not capitalizing the names of the songs for an aesthetic or to make the songs sound epic. Tyler really capitalized them like this. So please just bear with me on that one. “DEATHCAMP” in my opinion focuses on Tyler growing within his style of sound. Yet at the same time remaining the creative annoyance that people see him as. This was a perfect beginning to the album to me. Tyler stamping and telling the world that he will do the things he loves. If we don’t appreciate it nor like it then we need to piss off. His lyrics in “DEATHCAMP” “I don’t like to follow the rules, and that’s just who I am. I hope you understand.” Are a stamp on that statement. Following “DEATHCAMP” is the song “BUFFALO.”
“BUFFALO” is probably one of the most important songs on the album. The song goes deep into Tyler’s mind about the controversy that gets involved with. This song reminds me of his style when he makes song with “Odd Future.” It also reminds me of his creative style and sound on his previous album “Wolf.” The forwardness as well as pace of the beat feel like a call back to his old music. It allows you to focus on Tyler’s words more than the instrumental. If you’re familiar with Tyler’s work this song might feel similar to his song “Rusty” on the “Wolf” album. Just like on “Rusty” he addresses issues and problems he had to deal with before the album’s release. Problems like the Mountain Dew commercial he had that got pulled. His use of homophobic slurs. Even though on “Rusty” he addressed he supports people who are lesbian or gay and used his friend and artist Frank Ocean as a prime example of his support. Though still gets viewed in the dark light. Other issues that have popped up like people seeing him as a devil worshipper. And even his views on himself being a leader to his fans. In “BUFFALO” there are vocals from Shane Powers saying “Tyler, Tyler, I swear to fuck! If you fucking…. Do not fuck this up! You have the whole world in your fucking hands.”
Did you think Tyler’s aggressive type of sound was over? Well so did I so I guess we were both wrong. We go back to it with the song “PILOT.” The song has a back and forth transition with being aggressive and Tyler’s regular flow. Tyler’s voice also has a static effect due to rapping through a helicopter intercom. This to me is the point of the song with the name being “PILOT.” In the beginning I had asked if there were really expectations to Tyler’s music or is there really a standard. And the answer is still no yet I can speak for everyone when I say no one expected Tyler to have a song about gang banging and violence. Since he’s more about trolling and not involved with that type of crowd to begin with. Yet I guess in a experimental sound, it doesn’t hurt to try something new out. This is what he does with his song “RUN” featuring SchoolBoy Q. In the song there is a movie-esque crime scene. Tyler’s voice is more high pitched over a dynamic beat to fit the scene. SchoolBoy Q plays a major role in the song. He begins the song by saying “fuck you running for? Aye come here. Let me try that hat on. I told you to come over here stupid bitch. Come over here with that weak ass hat. Hats, mainly sport team hats and the color of the team are used by gangs to represent them. This might be what the hat in the song is referring to. Tyler matches the name of his songs to the main theme of them as well which I find to be very well creative and though out.
Fans, don’t worry. We all get a break from the rough and aggressive style thankfully. the album transitions to a more colorful bubbly jazz sound. The next song is “FIND YOUR WINGS.” For all you adult swim music block lovers out there, you may enjoy this one. I find this song to be similar to a Stevie Wonder or even a Flying Lotus sound. Mainly due to Stevie Wonder as well as Flying Lotus having a more bright, melodic, jazzy, and cool experimental sound. The song has a more inspirational turn to it which is unseen in the previous songs. My only disappointment came from how short the song is. It’s always the hidden gem songs on albums are that are criminally the shortest. Speaking of short, our short break from the aggressive sound ends. The next song “CHERRY BOMB” takes us back to the rough, aggressive sound that makes you think you’re in a mosh pit. A static sound overpowers Tyler’s voice for a certain extent. It moves towards a more edgy sound but is focused in a ranged transition. The pitch also goes from high to low with his voice. The song also goes from aggressive to smooth and vice versa.
As we continue our game of back and forth with the aggressive and smooth soft sound. We move on to the next song “2SEATER.” “2SEATER” is a sweet warm song that makes me think of just driving, cruising, and having a good time with friends or someone you love in the summer. A calm, upbeat, and relaxing sound that you’d hear in a movie. This trend continues with next two in one song “FUCKING YOUNG/PERFECT.” The titles of the song can already give a hint of what it’s about. With the bubbly sound of the song, I believe Tyler tries to make up for the sadness he feels. These two songs are about Tyler meeting and liking a girl who is five years younger than him. Though they like each other, Tyler can’t ignore the age difference and because of that knows they cannot be together and nothing more than friends. “FUCKING YOUNG” is from Tyler’s perspective. He says in this song “cause girl you’re perfect, but you’re too fucking young (for me). And when temptation calls my phone, I never pick up. And girl, you stole my heart but you’re too fucking young. And this is more than a crush, I just might be in love.” “PERFECT” is from the girls perspective. In the song, Tyler has Kali Uchis play the part of the girl and says “Boy I know, that we could be more than just friends, but you’re scared (I know). Both songs replying to each other show that both did have the same feelings for one another yet the age gap was too much for Tyler. When speaking about this song in a interview, Tyler stated “I wanted to make a song like Stevie Wonder’s “Innervisions” album. You listen to it in the 70’s, they get to the point. Although it sounds soft, Fucking Young is perverted and weird, but it’s true. There was this girl I liked, and we both had feelings for each other but there was a five year difference between us. It weirded me out, so I wrote a song about it.”
We end this album review with the last song. The most talked about song from the album. Featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne, we have the song “SMUCKERS.” The piano opener to the song to me screams “ending.” The song balances the piano keys and Tyler’s voice before switching to a boom bat beat. The lyricism and flow executed between the three artists is truly something fun and wacky emphasizing Tyler’s style. Kanye West is also seen matching Tyler’s lush style of lyrics making the song more playful along addition of Lil Wayne’s creativity. An example of this is Kanye saying “And the Lexus pupp up err, like hip, I hopped out, like wassup? err-err-err, step back, hold up, my nigga, you suck. Hold up (Skrrrrt). Which is something most Kanye fans would rarely see from him. It sounds he was having fun being on the track. Lil Wayne continues the trend with his playful lyricism saying ” It’s Tunechi, homie, Master of Ceremonies. I knock em down, Domino effect, no pepperoni, I swaer.” and “son you need Jesus but I heard he left sunset to go on tour with Yeezus. Well, i’m praying for the new Yeezys.” Playing the story of Jesus a little bit as well well as Kanye who raps about Jesus from time to time.
Over “CHERRY BOMB” the album is a fun back and forth set of songs. In my opinion it is Tyler The creator’s best work creatively. One second it makes you feel like raving and shoving people with it’s aggressive sound. And the next it makes you feel relaxed and hanging out with friends. It’s a roller coaster of a album.
Record Day: A Turtle Floating on a Bablo Boat
“Bablo Boat” by “Royce Da 5’9 featuring J. Cole.” is my choice for Record day. I chose this song after finding out about Royce through Eminem and their song “Caterpillar.” Youtube recommended “Bablo Boat” to me right after hearing it. I was curious to hear what J. Cole would sound like with Royce and ended up being more that satisfied. What caught my attention at first was the soft instrumental. Almost like the beat was meant to relax the listeners. The song opening with a sample of “Mort Crim’s” narration in a documentary of the Bablo Boat amusement park. I thought that was a beautiful touch to a track. The transparent background voice in the background sounded chilling and spooky esque. Almost like a ghost in talking in the background. It adds on the the smooth sound giving it a psychedelic feel. The pacing starts off slow but speeds up as the song progresses. To me, this stirs away from most rap and hip hop beats. As I listened I focused more on lyrics from Cole and Royce repeatedly and noticed they both reminisce. Royce speaks about his personal experience with being on the actual Bablo Boat amusement park with his family. From his uncle’s crack addition, to his father and brother’s addictions. Royce even talks about how he lost his virginity on the actual boat. The boat has a place in his heart and was apart of his life. J Cole continues this theme talking about his past with his mother. Also mentioning talking about going back in time to change things and not focus on girls so much. J cole says in the song “we had no Bablo Boat, but I could note those times like a bible quote. B.C. before cell phones” I loved that line as he plays with B.C. meaning before christ. Cole saying life and the world was simpler and easier when the world couldn’t focus on social media and giving their lives to a technological device. I believe we can all relate to this and reminisce over simpler times.
Definitions:
Smooth: Easy on the ears, not harsh. Flat frequency response, especially in the midrange. Lack of peaks and dips in the response.
Pace: Often assoc. with rhythm, a strong sense of timing and beat.
Focus: A strong, precise sense of image projection.
Transparent: Easy to hear into the music, detailed, clear, not muddy. Wide flat frequency response, sharp time response, very low distortion and noise. A hear through quality that is akin to clarity and reveals all aspects of detail.
Mellow – Reduced high frequencies, not Edgy.
Laid-back – Recessed, distant-sounding, having exaggerated depth, usually because of a dished midrange. Compare “Forward”.
Lush (2) – A “lush” sound has a sense of warmth and fullness. Notes are more authoritative and have a sense of life about them. It is a sound free of any sibilance or brightness. It does not mean colored, however. It is an open and inviting sound enveloping the listener into its soundstage.
Smooth – Easy on the ears, not harsh. Flat frequency response, especially in the midrange. Lack of peaks and dips in the response.
Gentle – Opposite of edgy. The harmonics (of the highs and upper mids) are not exaggerated, or may even be weak.
Saturation – The point at which a magnetic tape is fully magnetized and will accept no more magnetization.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/describing-sound-a-glossary.220770/
