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Matthew Kellenberg | Monday, April 20, 2020
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” — Walt Whitman Eight songs into “Aporia,” Sufjan Stevens changes course. The album, a collaboration with Stevens’ step-father and label manager Lowell Brams, begins in a characteristic vein. Meditations on familiar discord, fatalism, the end of times. Rather than
Matthew Kellenberg | Tuesday, February 25, 2020
“Venite ad me omnes” — “Come to me all of you,” reads the base of the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue on God Quad. The statue extends its arms toward Main Building, a symbol of our multicultural family. Yet, despite Notre Dame’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, our student body is visibly homogenous. With this in
Matthew Kellenberg | Thursday, February 13, 2020
The sun has set off the coast of Miami, Florida and Khaled Mohamed Khaled is lost at sea. On a jet ski. “Aight, it’s dark,” Khaled tells his Snapchat audience in one video. “In a minute, there ain’t gonna be no lights to navigate us to where we need to go.” As the sky darkens,
Matthew Kellenberg | Monday, February 3, 2020
You know your favorite indie band has made it when you hear them in a car commercial. Maybe it is a spot for the practical-yet-fun Nissan Quest. Or the classic-yet-fresh Cadillac SRX. Or the sustainable-yet-hip Toyota Prius. For whichever car it may be, a commercial spot not only confirms a band’s marketability, but it also
Matthew Kellenberg | Friday, January 17, 2020
Music critics tend to disagree. However, when they do so, they tend to agree on why: Music taste is subjective. That is, when it comes to judging music, we are individual subjects making independent judgments. I disagree. To a certain extent, our judgments of music are determined by the cultures in which we live and
Ryan Israel, Charlie Kenney, Matthew Kellenberg, Dessi Gomez, Hanna Kennedy, Jake Winningham, Ethan Utley, Mike Donovan, Sarah Kikel, Elizabeth Gregory, Willoughby Thom and Sara Schlecht | Thursday, December 12, 2019
It’s the grand finale: Scene’s official list of the top 20 albums of the year. Our writers have spent 2019 listening to countless hours of music, as our Spotify Wrappeds can confirm, and have taken this time before finals begin to reflect on the year in music by ranking our top albums. Each writer’s rankings
Matthew Kellenberg | Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Kanye West’s latest album, “Jesus Is King,” is a deeply spiritual, if equally controversial, project. Religion is a common theme in West’s music, from his 2004 song “Jesus Walks,” to his controversial “I Am a God,” to his gospel-infused “Ultralight Beam.” But never has West’s focus been so defined as on his latest album, “Jesus
Matthew Kellenberg | Monday, November 18, 2019
Liam Dacey, a Notre Dame alumnus (’04), gave a talk about the past, present and future of LGBTQ+ acceptance at Notre Dame on Friday in DeBartolo Hall. As an undergraduate, Dacey co-founded the University’s Queer Film Festival. Today, he is a board member of Gay & Lesbian Alumni of Notre Dame & St. Mary’s (GALA-ND/SMC),
Matthew Kellenberg | Thursday, November 7, 2019
Three albums, two collaborations with Tyler, the Creator and one record deal in, Rex Orange County has hit his stride in the music industry. But the 21-year-old is in no hurry to grow up. “Pony,” Rex’s third and latest album, sees the singer-songwriter reining himself in as he rounds the corner on adulthood, yearning for
Matthew Kellenberg | Thursday, October 17, 2019
Fans of indie rock band Big Thief were surprised last July to receive unmarked, unannounced packages at their doors. Those fans had purchased vinyl copies of the group’s third album, “U.F.O.F.,” back in May, but these new packages contained something different: a two-song record, etched only with the date 10/11/19. The first song on the