A couple of months ago, I wrote an article for the Review about queer tropes in the music video for Ariana Grande’s song, “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” (“Ariana Grande’s Music Video Perpetuates Queer Stereotypes, Tropes,” March 8, 2018). Writing under the assumption that Grande was straight, I criticized the video for utilizing Grande’s kiss with a girl as a “plot twist.” This portrayal, I argued, fed into a common trope that delegitimizes and fetishizes queer women. The article was written a month after the video was released, prior to any sign of Grande coming out. Then, at the beginning of April, Ariana released a song titled “Monopoly” with her friend Victoria Monét, who is bisexual....

Preacher & Daisy, an Oberlin student folk group, will be releasing its debut EP Over Lake Erie next week. College senior Sam Bailey released his solo record Preacher & Daisy in the summer of 2017. Soon after, he began playing with College sophomore Eva Hilton to form an electric guitar and bass duo. Over time, Cody Edgerly, OC '17, and Conservatory senior Maddy Baltor filled in on the drums and electric guitar, forming the indie-folk-rock group, Preacher & Daisy. Bailey found the name for his fledgling group after reading a short story titled “The History of Rodney” by environmental writer Rick Bass. “In the story, Daisy, is an old woman who has dedicated her life to waiting in the Mississip...

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...

Indie folk-rock artist Laura Stevenson will appear at the ’Sco tonight at 10 p.m., featuring Blankat, Oberlin’s very own shoegaze group. Stevenson has been perfecting her craft since 2006, when she released Laura Stevenson: A Record. The album showcases a poignant voice, dynamic percussion, and distorted rhythmic guitars — all of which Stevenson has worked to develop as her signature style. Some of her influences include The Lemonheads, Liz Phair, and The Replacements. Not one to stray away from genre exploration, some of Stevenson’s early tracks, like “Baby Bones,” feature harmonizing vocals led by a fingerpicked guitar, segueing into eclectic compositions featuring brass and strings sections. Stevenson’s lyrici...