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Thinking About Music As A Career Choice? Here’s Some Helpful Advice

Music is one of the most creative and enjoyable fields. When we think of the music industry, we can typically think of two major pathways, namely performing and teaching. However, the music industry is much more than that.

Formerly, there were no music schools and training opportunities for people who wanted to become musicians. People were either born an artist or they were trained by some experts at home. Thankfully this changed over time and the music industry has observed a major shift in both teaching and performing. Today, we will examine the benefits and career choices to be discovered, and help you decide if you want to pursue a career in music or not.

How Does Music Affect Your Mood?

Be it studying music or listening to music while studying, both offer relaxation, energy, and creativity. Listening to music, according to some studies, helps affect a person’s mood and behavior in positive ways. It allows the listeners to concentrate and acts as a soothing agent for people dealing with mental complexities.

Helpful Advice on Choosing a Music Career

  • Children Need to be Introduced to Music at a Young Age

Children who love to play and listen to music have an innate urge and develop the tendency and interest to learn music as they grow older. Providing them with musical instruments at an early age can develop their skills and polish their capabilities.

  • Choose the Right Music Degree Program for Yourself

Music is one of the disciplines that does not typically require a degree. It is an art that people are born with. However, considering the current challenges and advancements in the field, we have to boost our expertise. For that, we need to enroll in specialized institutions that offer the complete skill sets and theories that will polish our abilities. After the availability of private online music lessons, now you can even pursue an online master’s in music education if you are more comfortable studying at home and cannot afford to visit the institution for whatever reasons. Getting the right education from experienced professionals and schools combined with consistent practice will help you master your talent. To secure your place in the music field, you have to adapt yourself to the evolving trends in the music field. That is the only way forward.

  • Build connections with as many Music Experts

Connecting with a music expert offers you a path that will lead you to your desired field in your music career. They will further guide you in making the right decisions that will benefit you in the long run.

Career Paths in the Music Industry

While performing, composing, and teaching music are some of the major career choices in the music industry, many people often choose to explore new domains. With time, the music industry has expanded its boundaries and offerings creating more pathways for music lovers.

Getting into music schools and learning new crafts and techniques significantly help a person in diversifying their expertise. It saves time on learning the skills that a person cannot learn on their own. Hence, it is crucial to choose the best direction where you will be surrounded by experts who have the same enthusiasm and energy to match your abilities that will, in turn, benefit you in growing your career.

The Ultimate Underwear Guide: 4 Must-Have Models Of The Season

There are many factors to consider when picking the perfect pair of undies. Your choice should be practical, comfortable, and stylish, not to mention the innumerable other considerations that come with shopping for underwear. With that in mind, this post will help you find the perfect pair for your needs!

Why Is It Is Vital To Get The Correct Pair Of Underwear For Men

The right underwear for men is vital because it can significantly impact posture, chafing, and other parts of the male anatomy. Men need to wear the right underwear to keep better posture while they are standing or sitting. They also need to wear the right pair of briefs for their body type. For example, when choosing the correct jockstraps for men, you will need to factor in the reasons for using the kind of underwear and find the right size for your package. Anything too large will defeat the garment’s purpose, and anything too small will be…unpleasant. So without further ado, here are the four must-have types of underwear.

Boxer Briefs

Boxer briefs are underwear that provides a more comfortable and breathable alternative to traditional briefs. Boxer briefs are made with the same stitching and seam placement as briefs, but they offer more room in the seat and thighs than a brief. Boxers typically have wider leg openings than briefs, which may provide more space for movement. This style is known for providing greater comfort and mobility than other more restrictive styles of underwear.

Pros

  • More support: They bridge the gap between boxer shorts and tight-fitting briefs. Although they may not be the most comfortable, they provide the best of both worlds.
  • More flattering fit: They can accentuate your natural curves and give you a “sexier” look than other types of underwear.
  • Less bunching fabric: Underwear bunching is the bane of many a man, and this type of underwear has a slight tendency to do so.

Cons

  • Less airflow: The benefits of boxers include air circulation, and they are sometimes preferred during warm weather. Boxer briefs tend to be on the tiger side of things, thus limiting airflow.
  • They can sometimes be too restrictive: These underwear aren’t for you if you want to hang free and easy.

Boxer Shorts

Boxer shorts are a type of men’s underwear similar to a kind of underwear called briefs, except they have a larger leg opening and a fly in the front. Boxers are traditionally made from elasticized fabric such as cotton or wool with two parts but can also be made from other materials such as silk or synthetic fibers. 

Pros

  • High levels of comfort: Boxer shorts provide the feeling of going commando without the inevitable zipper chafing. You can hang free without hindrance, and they really are the most comfortable of all options.
  • Lots of airflows: Their in-built looseness provides a great deal of airflow to some of the most vital parts of a man’s body, and by doing so, you remain more comfortable.
  • Come in a range of styles: They are arguably the most common form of underwear, and they come in almost unlimited styles. From country flags to simple clock patterns, there is a lot of room to get creative.
  • Hard-wearing: Because they are not tight-fitting, they can be made with more durable material.

Cons

  • Tend to bunch up: The extra material means they are more likely to bunch up as the day proceeds.
  • Not the most flattering: Typically, comfort and sex appeal are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, and this style is not different!

Jockstraps

For years, men have worn jockstraps to protect themselves from sports injuries; they were often used with a cup to add additional protection. They also aid in keeping your package together and support their body. However, in the past few decades, they have also taken on a sexier role. They can be used by men looking to enhance their natural gifts and for purely spotting reasons!

Pros

  • They hold your assets in place: They are designed to keep all of your particulars in place during sports, and they do so admirably.
  • They enable airflow to hidden areas: Most men are unaware of the range of infections that can occur in hidden crevices when engaging in vigorous exercise. 
  • They come in a range of styles: From sports to strippers, there is a style for everyone.

Cons

  • They can be restrictive for some men: Men on the larger side of things may find them too restrictive.
  • They take some getting used to: They are unlike any other underwear you have worn before!

Y-Fronts

Y fronts are a type of male underwear with a Y-shaped opening at the front. They’re designed to be worn with an open fly and no-fly fabric. These are a standard type worn in almost every country worldwide.

Pros

  • Extremely common: You will be able to find this style globally.
  • No bunching: The small amount of material ensures no bunching.

Cons

  • Uncomfortable for some: Some men simply don’t like the restrictive feeling they offer.

In summary, underwear is a broad category, and there is something for every occasion. From plain to fancy, from sporty to sexy, people should never underestimate the importance of underwear.

EERA Unveils Video for New Single ‘The Beat’

EERA, the project of Berlin-based Norwegian singer-songwriter Anna Lena Bruland, has released a new song called ‘The Beat’. It’s taken from her upcoming album Speakwhich is out on December 3 and includes previous offering ‘Ladder’. Check it out below.

Speaking about the new song, EERA explained in a statement:

It’s about getting convinced by these voices and these people and thinking that they are right. When I say “Try to be more complete and to never repeat the beat”, that’s me trying to follow their “advice”. The big explosion in the middle of the song is a way of getting all that anger and frustration out and therefore starting afresh. Another part is me trying my best to back away from it by saying: “Do you love me even now? Come on then.” It’s my way of removing myself from these critics and saying if you can accept me for me then you can join me on my path. In recent years my confidence has been lowered and I have to work each day on not taking it as an attack, but rather as a way to have dialogue and possibly to even grow from it.

The track arrives with an accompanying video directed by Lewis Lloyd, who commented: “I wanted to create this pulsating/repeating blue imagery to mirror the shady introverted mood of the song. A world where EERA is stuck like a ghost in VCR, watching glitching broken transmissions of her inner mind on repeat.”

Album Review: Coldplay, ‘Music of the Spheres’

A single track separates Coldplay’s second-ever Billboard No. 1 hit and the sprawling 10-minute odyssey that closes out their latest album, Music of the Spheres. ‘My Universe’, the band’s chart-topping collaboration with K-pop superstars BTS, is most emblematic of the record’s intergalactic pop ambitions, serving up a burst of euphoric infatuation while adhering to the most generic template imaginable. This kind of optimism could easily come off as grating, but few acts are more capable of selling it than these two, and there are enough surprises in the production to keep it from sounding entirely flavourless. ‘Coloratura’, meanwhile, shoots for the kind of artful grandiosity Coldplay have been known to intermittently excel at, but so self-consciously pushes it to the limit – Chris Martin’s dramatic piano, Jonny Buckland’s Pink Floyd-esque guitar solo, Paris Strother’s rousing synth passages – that it falls short of being engaging or transcendent all the way through. It offers a curious last-minute glimpse of the kind of album Music of the Spheres could have aspired to be, a strangely perfect destination for a record with lots of places to be but not much to say.

Well, that’s not entirely true. Inspired by the Cantina Band from the original Star Wars, the album centers on the broad question of “what musicians are like across the universe.” Its final line – “Together, that’s how we’ll make it through” – sums up the message this fictional band goes around spreading from planet to planet, and it doesn’t get more universal than that. Musically, Coldplay make sure everything in this journey flows together seamlessly with interludes like ‘Infinity Sign’, the bridge between ‘My Universe’ and ‘Coloratura’ that features production from both Swedish hitmaker Max Martin (who co-produced the entire album) and electronic producer and former collaborator Jon Hopkins, whose ambient sonics are undercut by a bunch of distant “Olé olé olé” chants. And yet the most interesting thing about the track might be that, like the rest of the interludes here, its actual title is presented in the form of an emoji.

More intriguing still is the fact that, a few days after its release, ‘Infinity Sign’ has racked up just over a million Spotify streams, sitting between songs with over ten and a hundred million streams. Right before ‘My Universe’ is an interlude with just a few thousand, less than the most pretentiously obscure song you’ll point to after poking fun at Martin’s lyrics, which can range from notoriously asinine to absurdly cheesy. (Case in point: “I’m like a broken record and I’m not playing right” is followed by “Drocer nekorb a ekil mi,” which, yes, is just the first line backwards.) But this is obviously an album primed for commercial success, and with (Max) Martin at the helm, the band remains reliably committed to that goal even if it leaves the whole concept feeling irrelevant and disjointed.

To stick to the intergalactic theme, though, Music of the Spheres’ final stretch of songs sound light-years away from lead single and de facto opener ‘Higher Power’, another perfectly serviceable pop song that clearly emulates the Weeknd’s foray into blissful ’80s synth-pop while making sure to wipe out any sense of danger from the equation. Just like ‘Blinding Lights’ works because of Abel Tesfaye’s enigmatic persona, ‘Higher Power’ works thanks to Coldplay’s transparent, infectious positivity. There’s no doubt the same spirit permeates the rest of the album, but there’s so much filler in the space between its biggest songs that it ends up feeling oddly thin for its scope. ‘Humankind’ borrows from the Springsteen songbook in an attempt to reach those soaring heights but lacks any real substance; the vague political commentary and heavy riff driving ‘People of the Pride’ make it sound like a leftover from Muse’s Drones.

At times, Coldplay sound less like themselves even when they’re relying on formulas that have worked wonders for them in the past. ‘Let Somebody Go’, a heartfelt duet with Selena Gomez, captures none of the magic held in the best moments of 2014’s Ghost Stories. You wouldn’t expect Music of the Spheres to be as grounded and modest as an album titled Everyday Life – the band’s previous full-length effort and their best in years – but you’d imagine taking things to a cosmic scale would at least come with exploring a few different territories rather than finding the safest way to travel from point A to B – that is, from one stadium-sized anthem to another. It doesn’t have to be radically original: it could be as simple as taking an inherently corny idea, like the pitched-up vocals on ‘Biutyful’ (not a typo), and making it the reason the song clicks where others don’t. That the album’s concept is really an inconsequential one probably doesn’t elude anyone, not even the band themselves, but somewhere along the way they seem to lose touch of a paradigm unique to the Coldplay universe: for there to be light, you have to let a very human kind of warmth seep in.

Jack White Shares New Song ‘Taking Me Back’

Jack White is back with a new song. Produced at Third Man Studios in Nashville, ‘Taking Me Back’ is taken from the soundtrack of the new video game Call of Duty®: Vanguard, and it comes with a stripped-back version called ‘Taking Me Back (Gently)’. Check out both versions below.

The new song marks White’s first solo music since the release of his 2018 album Boarding House Reach. In October of last year, he made an appearance on Saturday Night Live, filling in for Morgan Wallen. Earlier this year, he opened the first permanent branch of Third Man Records in London.

This Week’s Best New Songs: Snail Mail, Black Country, New Road, Emma Ruth Rundle, and More

Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this segment.

On this week’s list, we have the second single from Snail Mail’s upcoming album Valentine, the raw and emotionally conflicted ‘Ben Franklin’, which is set against crisp percussion and flickering synths; Black Country, New Road’s fittingly chaotic yet surprisingly accessible ‘Chaos Space Marine’, the lead cut off their forthcoming sophomore LP; Emma Ruth Rundle’s strikingly minimal and evocative ‘Blooms of Oblivion’, from her upcoming fifth album Engine of Hell; Cate Le Bon’s ‘Running Away’, whose entrancing yet rigid progression mirrors the feeling of being drawn to something that’s gone; and Hamilton Leithauser and Kevin Morby’s joint track ‘Virginia Beach’, a “modern take on a dark country song,” in Leithauser’s words, which manages to be both eerie and transportive.

Best New Songs: October 18, 2021

Cate Le Bon, ‘Running Away’

Song of the Week: Emma Ruth Rundle, ‘Blooms of Oblivion’

Black Country, New Road, ‘Chaos Space Marine’

Snail Mail, ‘Ben Franklin’

Hamilton Leithauser and Kevin Morby, ‘Virginia Beach’

Watch Young Thug Perform ‘Punk’ Songs With Travis Barker on ‘SNL’

Young Thug was joined by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker during his appearance on last night’s Rami Malek-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live. Fresh off the release of his new record Punk, Thug played the album tracks ‘Tick Tock’ and ‘More Than Anything’. Watch his performance below.

Punk, which came out on Friday (October 15), features collaborations with Drake, J. Cole, Future, Travis Scott, the late Mac Miller, the late Juice WRLD, A$AP Rocky, Post Malone, Doja Cat, and more.

Halsey was the musical guest on SNL last week, where she teamed up with Lindsey Buckingham for a performance of ‘Darling’. Brandi Carlile is set to perform on the show next weekend, with Jason Sudeikis serving as host.

 

Artist Profile: Samia Halaby

The artist and academic Samia Halaby is regarded as a pioneer of Arabic modernism and a leading advocate for Palestine art in the twentieth century. Halaby’s family fled Palestine when she was 11 years old and settled in the United States. A graduate of Indiana University Bloomington, she went on to have a successful academic career, becoming the first full-time female associate professor at Yale University School of Art in 1973. Colourful geometric compositions of her work embrace elements of nature and Islamic architecture as well as Soviet Constructivism and other European avant-garde movements. 

Halaby’s early painting philosophy during her late student days was characterised by flat colour, where relationships of luminous and simultaneous contrast were inspired by other minimalist artists and, importantly, Josef Albers’ 1963 book Interaction of Color.  

In 1983, she started working with kinetic paintings as she had been fascinated with computers since her days at Indiana University and the relationship between art and technology. To create her kinetic images, Halaby used programming instead of animation software. Still today, Halaby believes that new approaches to painting can transform the way we perceive the world.

Selected Works

Near or Far, 1971
City Rain, 2015
Branching, 1994
Prancing in the Vineyard, 1982
Helical drawing, 1972

Squid Game Dethrones Bridgerton as the Most Watched Netflix series

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According to Netflix, 111 million people have watched the South Korean thriller series Squid Game, making it the most-watched show in Netflix’s history. Previously, the title was held by Chris Van Dusen’s Bridgerton which gained the title in September.

Squid Game has been compared to Hunger Games since its widespread success, even though the only fundamental similarity appears to be the theme of survival. Nevertheless, the Korean show created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, filled with a cast primarily unknown in the west, managed to tell a story that reached a broad audience, showing us that viewers are craving for a new type of content and disputing outdated claims that Asian actors aren’t marketable to western audiences.

The success of Parasite at the 2020 Academy Awards and Squid Game on Netflix will make it intriguing to see what Hollywood and the major streaming platforms will do to increase the amount of original content present on their platforms.

Best Female Biographies Everyone Should Read

We’ve compiled a list of some of the top biographies written by, or based on, the lives of women. Whether you’re interested in learning more about crucial female individuals who are already famous for how they changed history or unearthing the genuine tales of formidable women who pushed behind the scenes to demand change for the better.

Women have made significant contributions to society throughout history, yet the general public has overlooked them. The biographies of these historical female personalities deserve a space on your must-read list, from pioneers and political dissidents to innovators and astrophysicists.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks was one of the most influential figures in modern medicine, and she didn’t even realize it. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the true story of a female tobacco farmer whose cells were removed without her consent and used to generate the polio vaccine, among other critical scientific breakthroughs. It’s a fascinating monument to science’s and society’s contempt for black existence, and it’s a must-read.

This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes

Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure, an award-winning actor who has created many famous roles ranging from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout. She has now decided, at the age of 80, to narrate her incredible life story. And it’s considerably more exciting and complex than anything she’s ever done before.

Learn how she got her curly hair from being born during an air raid, how she became known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had, how she ended up posing naked for Augustus John at the age of 17, being sent to Coventry by Monty Python and The Goodies, and swearing on University Challenge (she was the first woman to say F*** on television). From why Bob Monkhouse was the finest (male) kiss she’s ever had to being told off by the Queen, this book is jam-packed with unforgettable experiences. This Much is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as she is, with a cast that ranges from Scorsese to Streisand, Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin.

Going There by Katie Couric

Katie Couric has been a familiar face in the media for more than four decades. She exposes what was going on behind the scenes of her sometimes stormy personal and professional life in her brutally honest, humorous, and tragic book – a story she’s never revealed before.

Couric’s status as one of the industry’s top lights was tainted by the shock and trauma of losing her husband to stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 42, leaving her a widow and single mother to two girls, ages 6 and 2. Three years later, her sister Emily died, leaving her with even more grief—and an unyielding devotion to cancer awareness and research, which she considers one of her proudest achievements.

If you think you know Katie Couric, you’re mistaken. Going There is the fast-paced, passionate, and gripping narrative of a modern woman’s rise from humble beginnings to superstardom. You will find a friend, a confidante, a role model, and a survivor in these pages, whose life lessons will improve your own.

Maria Montessori

You’ve probably heard of the Montessori method, a children’s educational program, but do you know anything about the woman who created it? Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, broke down barriers one by one, beginning with her education: she was the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome’s medical school in 1896. In addition to her position as an early fighter for women’s rights, she was a pediatrician who got interested in intellectually impaired children and became an advocate for their access to education.

Maria Montessori went on to develop the Montessori method. This educational paradigm promotes free play and independence in children of all abilities that are currently utilized in classrooms all over the world. We highly recommend this book about the pioneering woman behind the educational approach for educators, parents, and moderate feminists seeking inspiration from one of the most accomplished women of this or any other era.

The Diary of a Young Girl

A genuinely emotional and evocative depiction of an ordinary adolescent girl who is nevertheless remarkable; millions of young people worldwide have read Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, which was first published nearly sixty years ago. Anne Frank, thirteen years old at the time, and her family fled and took refuge in an Amsterdam warehouse in July 1942. Anne beautifully portrays the challenges of living in such tight quarters in her diary for the next two years, as well as her thoughts, feelings, and longings as she matures. Then, when they were all betrayed in August 1944, her diary abruptly ends. Tens of millions of people have read The Diary of a Young Girl since its publication in 1947.