Meet Tristan

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Meet Tristan (Entry #1)

Hello Everyone, 

Let me introduce myself—I'm Tristan, in case that wasn't clear with from the title or account name. But I guess I have to share with all of you something more than just my name. One of my favorite activities is listening to music. I'm going to share with you 3 of my favorite albums so that you can better understand my musical taste and how I look at music. 

1. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

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Even though I've never played an instrument nor thoroughly studied music theory, I think that there are more ways to experience the greatness of music. For me when I listen to this album, I take into account the cultural significance of Gaye's music. This album focused on confronting the social issues of the urban black person in the 1970s, the impact/ dissatisfaction of the Vietnam war, and environmental problems. And Gaye produced this album in a time where sharing such ideas would have been career suicide for him. But he put his values above all else and risked it showing the world that you can mix political ideas and music together which is why this is one of my favorite albums. 

2. Extension of a Man by Donny Hathaway

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What I enjoy about this album is how expressive and creative it is. Although I don't know the formal terms of how his music is mixed together, I personally enjoy the hints of jazz, blues, and gospel in a lot of the tracks. In the first track: I Love the Lord, He Hears My Cry (Pts. I & II), you can see how he takes from more than just one genre and mixes the works of classical composers in order to create a beautiful orchestra introduction. But also, that this album was a reflection of his life and the time he lived in. Some of his songs were a reflection and response to his struggles with depression. And I think that's the reason the album is so expressive and creative because it is an extension of Hathaway and that he is able to insert his raw emotions and ideas into songs. 

3. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West

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The reason that I like this album is similar to my reason with Extension of Man. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy serves as a way for West to communicate to his feelings about the world and his own personal struggles. Before West created this album, he came off of one of his lowest points as this was after his mother's passing and his fiancée breaking up with him. But on top of that his public image was ruined after his outburst during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. West decided to exile himself so that he could work on this project which served to address the themes of grandiosity, romance, escapism, and insecurity. In his song, Power, we get to hear how West's sudden highs and lows as you can hear from the composition the ability for it to make the listener empowered, but at the end all the drums and    bravado is toned down and twisted into his thoughts about suicide and death. So, this is why I consider this album to be both powerful and one of my favorites. 

                                                  

Let me know if these albums are some of your favorites. Or tell me what some of your favorite albums are? And tell me what you think makes music good. 

- Tristan Cheung