Another election season means, as always, another round of politicians being told to stop using artists’ music without permission. Most recently, Pharrell Williams issued a cease and desist letter to President Trump after rally organizers used his song “Happy” at a campaign event in Indiana. In his letter to the president, Williams’ attorney Howard King denounced the song choice in the wake of October’s fatal shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. “There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose,” King wrote. The same week, after “Don’t Stop The Music” played at another rally, Rihanna...

American singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Kishi Bashi will perform at the Cat in the Cream this Saturday, Oct. 13. He will be showcasing songs from his critically-acclaimed 2016 album Sonderlust, described as “frantic, unpredictable, digital, and danceable” by NPR. In an interview with Bandcamp, Bashi said Sonderlust “chronicles the life, death, and possible re-birth of a relationship.” The whimsicality behind the album title comes from John Koenig’s blog Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, the title of which captures the theme of the album perfectly. His work takes an eclectic approach to the indie-rock genre, with noticeable inspirations from ’70s pop. Hints of influences behind Sonderlust ra...

Although the first World War ended 100 years ago, a lot of emotions still permeate our collective memory of the monumental conflict. These emotions were channeled through music when Oberlin Conservatory hosted the two-day public event “Creative Arts and Music in the Shadow of War: Commemorating the Centenary of World War I.” The event included several activities around campus to memorialize the end of the war, including four concerts, a panel presentation at the Conservatory, and an exhibition at the Allen Memorial Art Museum. Commemorating the Centenary was the brainchild of Professor of Violin Sibbi Bernhardsson, OC ’95, whose favorite period of music is the early 20th century — especially the music written...

When I went to attend the Oberlin Improvisation and New Music Collective’s latest performance at the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space on Wednesday night, I had no idea what to expect. I had never seen the OINC before, and when I thought of improv shows, I imagined fast-paced jokes on a dimly-lit stage or silly songs composed on the fly — the sorts of things that friends sometimes do together when everyone is bored and has had a little too much to drink. The OINC’s performance was unlike anything I had imagined. The show consisted of two main acts. The first improvisation was carried out by two musicians, who used synthesizers to engineer a variety of innovative sounds together. These were not songs ...