Lumineers keep signature folk sound on sophomore album

Indie music has experienced a surge in popularity over the past few years—and in the forefront of this movement have been The Lumineers. The Denver trio’s 2012 self-titled debut album was a widely popular commercial success and produced many fan favorite songs—from “Ho Hey” to “Submarines”—that have become indie radio mainstays. After a three-year hiatus, The Lumineers returned with their anticipated sophomore album Cleopatra on April 8. With 11 songs and just over 30 minutes in length, Cleopatra is a tight album. It successfully hits its Americana target with an aura of folk rock that is accessible and doesn’t overstay its welcome—a common issue with some music of that genre.

As an album, Cleopatra is a mixed bag. Many songs have the classic Lumineers sound that fans love, such as “Ophelia,” the album’s first single. The song contains melancholy lyrics, but also includes an upbeat, catchy instrumental that gives the listener a number of ways to find meaning in the song, as well as have a very pleasurable listening experience.

With other Cleopatra songs, however, this formula is not nearly as successful. The juxtaposition of feelings in some songs can come across as forced at times. Some lyrics fall flat and fail to stir the emotions that they aim for, making the songs seem like generic versions of earlier Lumineer hits. On the less impressive songs, the band tends to sound like a generic folk-rock band, which is unfortunate because they are much more than that.

In the vastly popular genre of indie music, it’s imperative to stay ahead of the curve sonically; if you don’t, you run the real risk of fading into obscurity. This was seen with popular folk rock band Mumford & Sons, who changed their sound completely with their most recent album in an attempt to avoid pigeonholing themselves into a certain sound in which they may not have been able to escape from.

The good outweighs the bad on Cleopatra, though, with many standout songs. “Ophelia,” the title track “Cleopatra” and “Long Way from Home” are all songs that manage to find the magic with the music that made The Lumineers a popular band in the first place. It is songs like these that make up for those that don’t quite live up to the listeners’ expectations.

Though offering some new sonic pathways not explored before, Cleopatra is not the standout sophomore effort fans may have expected. In some respects, it feels as though the band is keeping their cards too close to their chest instead of exploring a new sound. The pure talent of The Lumineers, however, helps save this album, making it a very pleasurable listen overall—despite the times when they seem to miss their mark.

The Lumineers are undeniably good—even on Cleopatra’s lesser offerings—and they have set themselves up for quite a successful career. It’s likely that they will be making enjoyable music for years to come and it will be interesting to see what they have learned from their work on this album and what direction they take their music next.

Orchesis spirited spring showcase inclusive of styles, skill levels

Orchesis’ spring dance performance “Now That’s What I Call Orchesis” took place on Friday April 1–Saturday April 2 in Wadsworth Auditorium. The performance not only showcased the depth of the club participants’ inspiration with nearly two dozen dances—which ranged from slow and subdued to up-tempo hip-hop—but the creative mix of dance styles and attitudes also made for a very engaging performance. Boasting over 300 members as Geneseo’s largest student-run organization, Orchesis gives students the opportunity to choreograph and perform dance routines that reflect all types of styles. As a result, Orchesis is open to anyone who wants to dance, regardless of prior experience.

In addition to Orchesis members, competitive Indian dance team Geneseo Bhangra performed, celebrating the Punjabi culture from Pakistan and India. Slainte Irish Dance showcased their incredibly talented dancers—many that are regional, national and World Champion performers. Geneseo Knightline also performed a dance that included their famous high kicks.

The recital started with a performance called “SWUGS Can Dance,” a comical reference to seniors not being too washed up and done with school to dance. Other standout performances included senior Danielle Hartnett’s “Moving On” and junior Alex Weber’s “Big Spender Mashup.”

“Moving On” was a contemporary dance composed of nine dancers. The third dance of Saturday night’s performance, “Moving On,” was a slower piece that still managed to keep viewers on the edge of their seats with constant action and well-choreographed moves. Whereas “Moving On” succeeded in its subtlety, “Big Spender Mashup” featured an upbeat, bass-heavy song and hip-hop influenced dance moves that complimented the fast-moving pace.

From there, each piece did an excellent job at maintaining the audience’s attention, with dances often going from slower tempo to faster tempo and preventing the recital from growing monotonous.

What made each performance feel special and fun was the excitement that read so clearly on each performer’s face. There wasn’t a single dance where it seemed as if the performers had somewhere else they would rather be and, because of that, there was nowhere else the audience wanted to be, either.

The showcase ended with two dances that celebrated the students who had worked to bring this spring performance to the stage. The Orchesis officers choreographed the penultimate dance “Celebs Gone Wild,” featuring short dances to pop tunes, such as Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” The performers were incredibly enthusiastic in imitating the celebrity antics.

The final performance of the night was a senior dance that featured all Orchesis seniors dancing together before the rest of the club joined them onstage in a celebratory conclusion to the show. This positive, upbeat note was the perfect way to end the night.

Indie rock artist channels 90s grunge sound

Freddie’s Extra Teeth is a new album from South Dakota native and indie rock artist Von Zimmer. The album’s title is an allusion to a story about Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury and his unwillingness to have his extra teeth removed for fear of losing his ability to hit his trademark high notes.

Though the album’s title would imply a musical connection to the Queen front man, Zimmer’s coarse vocals and lo-fi sound on Freddie’s Extra Teeth seem to have been inspired more by artists such as Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who helped cultivate the famously grungy, lo-fi sound.

Accompanying Zimmer’s vocals are an electric guitar and drums, with pianos and strings occasionally peppered into songs. The guitars and drums often seemed muffled and distorted, almost feeling un-mastered and mixed at times. This allows the pianos and strings to really shine during their parts in the songs, however. Along with Zimmer’s raw vocals, this gives songs a garage-like rock feeling.

Where Freddie’s Extra Teeth lacks, however, is in the repetitiveness of the songs. For instance, the guitar riffs often repeat over the length of any song. Furthermore, the drums and vocals feel flat at times, causing some of the songs to become stale and boring very quickly.

Despite this, there are a number of bright spots on Freddie’s Extra Teeth, including “The End of the World” and “Where Were You”—two tracks that benefit from the raw sound. Zimmer’s vocals blend well with catchy guitar riffs and the solid percussion is very audible on these two songs.

John Golden—a respected producer who has worked with industry elites—mastered Freddie’s Extra Teeth. Golden’s experience in the industry leads one to believe that it was a conscious decision on his part to keep the songs sounding lo-fi and demo-like, perhaps in an attempt to give the album a grungier personality and sound.

Where Freddie’s Extra Teeth succeeds is also where it unfortunately fails. The album attempts to channel its inner Cobain—and it does achieve this at times. It doesn’t achieve this consistently, however, which can create a disjointed listening experience.

Despite this, Von Zimmer is an undeniably talented young artist who delivers a few solid tracks with this album, making it worth a listen.

Freddie’s Extra Teeth is available for listening through Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud and YouTube. Rough mixes and demo versions of the songs are also available at Von Zimmer’s SoundCloud page, which offers listeners some insight into the creative process behind the music and how the songs came to fruition.

It will be very interesting to see where Von Zimmer goes from here—and it’s always fun to brag to your friends that you heard an artist first.

Orchestra celebrates renowned composers

Conducted by lecturer in music Jim Tiller, the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra—composed of current students and faculty—offered up a spirited and, at times, stormy soundtrack to the early spring afternoon on Sunday Feb. 28 in Wadsworth Auditorium. The orchestra opened with “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso,” composed by Camille Saint-Saens in 1863. This performance featured a solo violin performance by adjunct lecturer in music An-Chi Lin. In addition to her work with the Geneseo orchestra, Lin has performed in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s Educational String Quartet and the Hochstein String Quartet.

“Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” was written in honor of the incredibly skilled violinist Pablo de Sarasate. Saint-Saens wrote the piece to showcase de Sarasate’s talents and the piece is often used as an opportunity for a solo violinist to showcase their own skillset.

Accompanied by the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra, Lin’s stellar solo performance set the tone for the main performance of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Opus 64.” Tchaikovsky composed “Symphony No. 5” in 1888 while he was nearing the end of his life. When Tchaikovsky first performed the symphony, it received mostly negative reviews from critics, but audiences loved it. To this day, it remains one of his most popular works.

The symphony has four movements, each characterized by different cadences and power. These four movements are tied together by a melody that Tchaikovsky called “fate,” which is present in each movement. The fate theme begins in the first movement, which gives the feeling of a funeral. From there, fate appears in the next three movements, but increases in tempo and feeling until it reaches its climax in the fourth movement, ending as an upbeat march.

Reminiscent of cold, grey winters, the concert started out moody and dark, slowly moving toward an exciting, warm finish. The performance by Geneseo Symphony Orchestra encapsulated the desired feeling for the symphony—and, in likelihood for its Western New York audience for a warmer season.

The Geneseo Symphony Orchestra skillfully executed the performance. Each change in mood was accentuated by individual and group performances and each movement flowed well, coming on strong and powerful when needed and clean throughout.

“Hip-Hop Symposium” insightful on inspirational graffiti

As part of the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services’ weeklong “Hip-Hop Symposium 16–The Revolution Age” event, Rochester-native Shawn Dunwoody spoke to students on Tuesday Feb. 23, describing his artistic endeavors by noting the purpose of his current initiative: “Creating is about being there with people.” To begin his presentation, Dunwoody discussed the historic significance of graffiti—typically regarded as an act of vandalism—as an important form of self-expression and personal “branding” for the artists who create it.

Dunwoody’s current art initiative transforms urban buildings and objects into canvases featuring positive sayings, words and decoration designed to foster a greater community spirit in areas that desperately need it.

Working in conjunction with the Rochester community, Dunwoody was initially asked to paint portraits of prominent members of the community or those with historical relevance, such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X. He soon realized, though, that communities evolve quickly and that these types of portraits would lose their significance once the people who had requested them moved on. Furthermore, new generations would come along with fewer ties to these types of portraits.

Taking this into account along with the evolved perception of commercialized graffiti––both in mainstream advertising and in art pieces with expensive price-tags—Dunwoody decided to create his own version of graffiti advertising for positivity with “words to live by.” In Dunwoody’s mind, words don’t lose their meaning like images do and they will have a longer-lasting impression.

Dunwoody has done projects all over Rochester, which he said helped him expand happiness and increase a sense of community connections. He told a story about one of his murals—the words “Believe in U” on a simple blue background—which he was asked to paint on a building located on a street corner that has a reputation for being dangerous.

During its creation, people in the neighborhood informed Dunwoody that the area he was painting in was Blood territory—a gang whose color is red. Their rival gang—the Crips—identifies with the color blue.

Despite this, Dunwoody said he witnessed a lot of positivity in response to the finished artwork, with people on the corner repeating the saying by using it as a greeting to other people they met on the street. He also talked about watching a mother read the mural to her young child, a prime example of the positive impact that Dunwoody hopes to have with his work—especially with youth community members.

Dunwoody explained that he is interested to see if he can “tip the scale” in dangerous neighborhoods by applying his art to what is already present in the community. He is currently working in some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Rochester, making graffiti art while also working on other projects such as a community fruit garden and glow-in-the-dark crosswalks that will improve visibility on dangerous streets at night.

For Dunwoody, his work is about using movement and shape to give meaning to the simple things around us—such as blank walls and empty lots—and creating connections where they may not exist. While change such as this is not always easy, Dunwoody’s commitment to creating art that radiates happiness, positivity and a willingness to make communities stronger is a way of making these changes stick.

Kanye’s album dynamic, reminiscent of older work

“A gospel album with a whole lot of cursing on it” is how Kanye West described his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, which was released on Feb. 14. This sparked excitement amongst the many fans that favor West’s first album The College Dropout, an album known for its soulful feel. Though reminiscent of the spiritual sound associated with earlier West, the final product is something much more than anything a younger, College Dropout-era West could have made. The album is a beautiful mess. It opens with one of West’s best songs ever, “Ultralight Beam,” which features Chance The Rapper and a full chorus. This song is reminiscent of “Jesus Walks” from The College Dropout.

Following “Ultralight Beam” are what can only be described as gospel-trap songs titled “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 2,” produced by Metro Boomin. This pivot in musical style foreshadows the rest of the album.

After its upbeat beginning, the album moves into a more somber tone with “FML” featuring the Weeknd, “Real Friends” and “Wolves” featuring Frank Ocean. Each of these songs retain the album’s gospel feel, but also focus on heavier subjects such as failed relationships, bad friendships and depression. An intermission titled “Silver Surfer Intermission” and four bonus tracks—with guest appearances from artists such as Kendrick Lamar and André 3000—follow.

Though the gospel vibe remains constant throughout the album, West layers this with other music styles and with lyrics that reflect his own personal experiences with the pitfalls of fame and past relationships—which some people consider to be controversial and misogynistic.

With the release of his sixth studio album Yeezus in 2013, West offered a new, minimalistic sound that won over many listeners who were initially skeptical about this sound. Making musical departures has been commonplace for West, as he excels at making music that is sonically ahead of the game. The Life of Pablo is no different.

West took the non-traditional tactic of inviting the public into the creative process that led up to the release of TLOP. West changed the album’s title multiple times and tweeted out multiple track lists, then added and removed songs seemingly at will.

On top of this, West—unafraid to speak his mind—unleashed a Twitter tirade on fellow rapper Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose—West’s ex-girlfriend and Khalifa’s ex-wife—after Khalifa tweeted his displeasure at one of the previous album titles.

An early version of the album was unveiled during a fashion show at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 11, where West also launched his third clothing line. Following an erratic performance on “Saturday Night Live,” the full album was released for streaming to eager consumers three days later on Tidal.

While the changing styling from song to song on TLOP can seem as if it is haphazardly thrown together, it’s almost certain that this was an intentional move by West. Ever the perfectionist, West continues to tweak the songs daily on Tidal.

With its sonic highs and lows, The Life of Pablo perfectly encapsulate what seems to have been West’s mindset when making the album. Religion ties together the offerings, whose themes range from depression to pure elation.

With Paul the Apostle—a teacher of Christianity in the first century—as the album’s namesake, West seems to signal that he, too, is bringing Christ’s teachings to the modern world in his own strange, beautiful and twisted way.

Musically adept family band brings warmth, versatility to Geneseo

Fresh off touring as the opener for O.A.R, up-and-coming indie-folk rockers The Hunts lent some heat to a freezing cold Geneseo night with a spirited performance on Saturday Feb. 13 in Wadsworth Auditorium. This concert was part of the Limelight and Accents Performing Arts Series. Since the 1960s, bands with leanings toward folk traditions have held an important place in the music industry. Folk music has recently risen to new popularity with bands such as The Lumineers and The Head and The Heart achieving commercial success with their unique takes on the classic folk music style.

The Hunts—a seven-member band of brothers and sisters who hail from Chesapeake, Virginia—are part of today’s indie-folk music wave whose style and instrumental leanings combine classic folk with an alt-pop sound.

At the start, The Hunts seemed to be settling in for an old-school folk performance; the five brothers and two sisters lining the stage poised with banjos, mandolins, violins and drums. Once the music started, however, the concert felt anything but old-fashioned. The Hunts’ pure joy for their music—along with their grinning and dancing for the entirety of the concert—created a warm and fun-filled feeling for the show.

In addition, each of the multi-talented Hunt siblings sing and play a variety of instruments; keeping things fresh and adding a degree of intrigue about who will be playing next and showing their range of talent.

Accompanying The Hunts on tour are the performers’ parents, both of whom are musicians in their own rights. During the show, The Hunts talked to the audience and explained how as each child would grow up, they would join their parents at shows until they all started to play together.

The majority of songs that were performed came from The Hunts’ debut 2015 studio album Those Younger Days. The album includes “Make This Leap,” which has been in rotation on many indie radio stations and is currently the band’s most streamed song on Spotify. The band also played a number of songs they said would be on their next album, which they expect to release sometime this year.

The show also featured two “intermissions.” In the first, sisters Jenni and Jessi Hunt performed a timely, Valentine’s Day-themed version of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with a ukulele accompaniment. This got the crowd singing along with them, adding to the homey feel of the concert.

The next solo featured the band’s chief songwriter and vocalist Josh Hunt soloing on a song he wrote. Josh Hunt admitted—surprisingly—that he typically didn’t have a good history with audience reactions to his solos. To his observed relief, the song was a great hit with the Geneseo audience of both students and locals.

The band’s live performance offered a unique perspective on just what the musicians are capable of. Without all the voice enhancers and production found so commonly in today’s music, the artists are reliant on their skills and showmanship. This can either be an eye-opening introduction to the depth of the artist’s talent or it can reveal how superficial the band really is—the former being the case for The Hunts.

The Hunts did not disappoint. They warmed the auditorium on the blisteringly cold night with their music, showcasing what’s earned them a place in the ranks of today’s successful American folk revivalist musicians.

Handler falls short in Netflix series “Chelsea Does”

Netflix debuted the first of a four episode “docu-comedy” entitled “Chelsea Does” on Jan. 23. The show features comedian and author Chelsea Handler as she tackles tabooed, challenging subjects such as marriage, Silicon Valley, racism and drugs in the ground breaking new program. Handler rose to fame as a reality talk show host on the E! Network show “Chelsea Lately” with her unique brand of brash comedy, celebrity gossip and news. Handler also infamously posted a photo last summer on Instagram that showed her riding a horse while bare-breasted, jokingly mimicking a seemingly legitimate photo that Russian President Vladimir Putin had circulated of himself. Handler’s photo “commentary” caused minor controversy and was removed by Instagram for showing her exposed breasts. This led to Handler advocating for the “Free the Nipple” campaign.

Handler lays it all bare in this series, with all of her imperfections as fair talking points. She openly discusses her own drug and alcohol abuse as well as her inability to find someone whom she loves or can see herself marrying.

She even goes as far as to take Ambien—a sleeping pill—and drink at the same time to display the unnerving reality of self-destructive behaviors. The result is a painstakingly long scene where Handler—in a drug-induced stupor—plays Twister and draws a barely comprehensible picture of her family. While the scene was included to add humor to the episode, the result is a sight that seems very out of place and should have been left out of the episode all together due to its lack of relevance to the issue at hand.

Furthermore, Handler—who is known for not shying away from touchy subjects—puts her own personal spin on the world through one-on-one interviews and roundtable discussions with friends and public figures such as Al Sharpton, Khloe Kardashian and Willie Nelson. During these discussions, they touch on personal anecdotes that relate to the topic of each episode.

Handler’s show also includes interviews with non-traditional subjects, including young children. She asks for their opinions on topics such as marriage, as in the episode where she tries to come to grips with her love life—or lack thereof.

At times, the show’s strengths are also its shortcomings. Handler incorporates her brand of comedy into serious topics and while that may be appealing to some, it often ends up feeling like the final product doesn’t do the topics the justice they deserve.

Despite her intention to add her own spin to the series by showing herself off without “fakeness”—the very fakeness that is often prevalent in reality television—Handler’s behavior often seemed forced. This distracts from the exploration of the serious nature of the topics she’s attempting to tackle.

This is not to say the show is a failure, however. The interviews with Sharpton and Nelson are fairly compelling and Handler’s willingness to show her real self is refreshing in an age of reality television that focuses on the fabricated. Admittedly, the show does struggle due to its looseness, with many segments feeling inauthentic.

Handler has made a name for herself by always staying true to who she is and never faking it. She continues that trend in “Chelsea Does,” but this time, Handler doesn’t necessarily hit her mark.

Cymbal app grants new space for sharing music

With the tight grip that cell phones and technology have on our society, social media applications are more popular than ever. Additionally, the desire to cash in on the creation of the next Snapchat or Instagram is higher than ever—Snapchat co-creator and CEO Evan Spiegel and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom each have a net worth well over $100 million. This desire to create the “next big thing” and profit handsomely has spurred a huge increase in the production of apps. One such individual hoping to capitalize on this movement is Gabriel Jacobs, who, along with Amadou Crookes and Mario Gomez-Hall, launched an app called Cymbal in spring 2015. Cymbal was created when all three were undergraduates at Tufts University and is now gaining mainstream traction.

Cymbal is an app that allows the user to post one song—your “Cymbal”—at a time, which can then be seen by all those who follow you. Along with their personal Cymbal, users are able to see the postings for all the people who they follow and they can listen to, like and save other users’ Cymbals. Currently, the app has integration with music apps Spotify and Soundcloud, allowing users the option to search the catalogs of these apps to find almost any song out there.

Cymbal is fairly straightforward with three main components: a music search page, a personal profile page and a homepage where users can view others’ Cymbals. This simplicity resembles that of Instagram, but instead of sharing photos, users share songs—represented by corresponding album artwork on the app. Cymbal’s basicness makes it easy to use; avoiding the clutter and learning curve often found in other social media apps. Cymbal also gives users the option to connect with their Facebook and Twitter accounts, making it simple to find and follow your friends.

Many verified accounts have joined Cymbal since its release in spring 2015, most notably rapper Pusha T, music reviewer Anthony Fantano—also known as The Needle Drop—and record label Def Jam—all of which regularly share music with the app. There are also many accounts dedicated to posting music from different genres such as hip-hop and indie, allowing users even more avenues to discover music.

When a user posts a song, you are also able to see who else posted the song; then you can get recommendations on who to follow based on that song. If you are the first person to post that Cymbal, you get a trophy and your profile will pop up as the first person that posted the song whenever someone else posts the song. This feature adds to the social aspect of the app by allowing users to connect with people on the app who they may not know, but who share a common musical taste.

Cymbal’s premise as a place to share, discover and interact with friends and favorite musicians about music makes this an appealing new addition to the world of social media. As it was released under a year ago, the app is continually being updated to fix issues and to add new features. With a growing community of users and interest from companies that have also invested in Snapchat and Yik Yak, it seems that Cymbal is on the path to success.

Cymbal is currently available on the Apple App Store and is beta for Android, meaning it will soon be available for that platform as well. With Cymbal, you don’t have to tell your friends that you heard that song before it was cool—now you can actually prove it.

Bowie’s death untimely, leaves lasting inspiration for future musicians

My introduction to David Bowie’s music was rather unconventional. I was in middle school and had recently started listening to Nirvana. Like many Nirvana fans, I was drawn not only to the rawness of Kurt Cobain’s voice, but also the pure emotion that you could feel in the band’s music. Soon after I started listening to Nirvana, I came across their MTV Unplugged in New York album. Cobain is at his purest on that album and the one song that really stuck out to me was “The Man Who Sold the World.” Although the lyrics seemed like gibberish to me, the song was undeniably beautiful and I was instantly hooked.

At the end of the song, Cobain references that it was a Bowie song, so I figured that I should listen to that original version. Once again, I was blown away. Though my preferences in music have changed many times since middle school, I have always had Bowie’s songs on my “go-to” playlist.

David Robert Jones—better known as David Bowie—passed away on Jan. 10 after an 18-month battle with cancer. Just two days prior, on his 69th birthday, Blackstar—Bowie’s staggering 25th studio album—was released.

In typical Bowie fashion, the album was very concept-driven. With Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly among its influences, Blackstar was a jazzy, dark album that garnered critical praise with its release.

After Bowie’s death, Blackstar gained a deeper meaning. Lyrical references to death and what comes with it are scattered throughout the songs. Death is a common motif in music, but few artists come close to what Bowie achieved with this album.

Blackstar not only explores the notion of death, but tackles it head on. This gives the album a feeling reminiscent of “Hurt” by Johnny Cash, a song he recorded as he was dying. It speaks volumes to Bowie’s love for music that he would spend the last 18 months of his life recording this album.

Bowie was a perfectionist with his music. In a 1993 interview with Bryant Gumbel, he summed up his work ethic: “If I don’t put my all into something that I’m writing, I inevitably feel regrets about it.” This attitude and his view of music as more than just a career allowed Bowie to thrive. Twenty-five studio albums is an impressive feat, but what makes that even more impressive is the sheer amount of good music on each of his albums. He never became stale or boring.

While his songs alone are enough to make Bowie a music legend, he was much more than that. Bowie was famous for his chameleon nature and the flamboyant way he often dressed and acted. He was always himself through and through and never changed to appeal to people.

Bowie illustrated to generations of people that it is acceptable to be your authentic self. His influence in this regard can be observed in musicians like Madonna and Lady Gaga, whose personas are as integral to their music as it was for Bowie.

Bowie’s influence can be seen across the musical spectrum, but to me, the most important of his influences lives within the music of Cobain. Through Cobain’s heartfelt cover of “The Man Who Sold the World,” I was able to find Bowie and all the beautiful music he created. The best part about music is that it allows the artist to live on forever through it.

Thankfully, Bowie left us with an incredible catalog of songs to remind us of his diverse creativity and is sure to inspire generations to come.