Justin Stephani

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Almastat: Why are Students Excited To Be Back On Campus?

By Justin Stephani and Brett Klinkner | Sep. 17, 2014

—All of the beautiful construction cranes.

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Supergroup remains unbroken with age

By Justin Stephani | Jun. 2, 2010

Indie rock staples the New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene each recently released their first album in years without much fanfare. While their last respective releases were anything but disappointing, it points to the rapid pace of the Internet-run indie world to consider how over-the-hill it feels to desperately want to praise this release; mostly because you have to miss the exhilaratingly vibrant indie rock benchmarks set on 2002's You Forgot It In People and their eponymous follow-up in 2005. But in more than one way BSS are showing the effects of their age, or perhaps just the loose nature of the supergroup, through compromised results. Where there were fluid melodies walking you down a beach and introducing oceans of cymbals and fuzz guitar to swim in, there are now quirks and affections hidden in walls of sound that are too often more transparent than they are shoegaze.

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Justin says bye in 'High' fashion, citing the ultimate music movie

By Justin Stephani | May. 4, 2010

It's my last chance to talk about music for The Daily Cardinal, but I'm going to use it to talk about movies instead. Specifically, a movie that presents the picture of music intellect that so many have subconsciously tried to replicate. This movie is ""High Fidelity,"" and the film's protagonist, Rob Gordon, stands for what audiophiles today both strive for and are hindered by.

From record stores to Gayngs: what's left of the shattered recording industry

Lorenzo Zemella, Lorenzo Zemella

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From record stores to Gayngs: what's left of the shattered recording industry

By Justin Stephani | Apr. 26, 2010

Rock shows and record stores. That is what touring was all about according to Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore in ""I Need That Record!,"" a documentary that was streamed on the Pitchfork website on the heels of Record Store Day. It profiles various record stores as they shut down and the audiophiles who depended on them for sustenance, and interviews industry veterans for perspectives reaching back to the early prominence of the recording industry. It laments the decline of independent music stores and the creative side of the industry. Yet out of all of the dejected faces seen, hope can be found when the undertones of those laments point to industry-defying artists of today.

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Rapper Trigg prepared in pursuing his passion

By Justin Stephani | Apr. 21, 2010

Young rappers are often filled with as much naiveté as they are ambitious, let alone a young rapper who is a white full-time student from ""Chicago... well, north Evanston, Ill."" Their eagerness to talk about smoking weed and grinding on the streets often dilutes any uniquely personal perspectives and quirks. A giddiness to make every line rhyme leads a new rapper to grasp at the beat like a drowning man at a life preserver floating by. Their lack of preparation can lead to amateur observations of the local grocers, while preparedness can quickly become an awkward inability to adapt in the booth. At some point or another, all of these plagued Jeff Trigg's solo rap debut, Through the Window... To My Soul; naiveté equaled passion and ambition. For his follow up, The New Era Mixtape, Trigg attempted to leave some of those barriers behind.

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Gibbs true to world of rap

By Justin Stephani | Apr. 19, 2010

""You are now about to witness the power of street knowledge,"" is the line that introduced the world to gangster hip-hop. It demonstrates the necessity of a background on the streets to spit true gangster raps. It establishes street cred and makes reputation an inherent concern for rappers. The eventual suburbanization of the genre into mainstream forms of R&B and rap—ranging from radio-made hitsters like Lil' Jon and Akon to gangsters who moved up to middle- or upper-class society, like Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Common, or Kanye, who has brought the most credibility to suburban rap with his polos and troubles in college—is a response to rappers finding it easier to keep a somewhat clean image and avoid the ire of concerned parents and other more active opponents of potty-mouth lyrics. With labels shrinking and forced to sign artists like the ones mentioned above (who tap into the easiest market to make money off of: suburban kids), gangster rappers who relied on street knowledge to survive only to depict their troubling lifestyles through verses and beats have been relegated to mixtapes.

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Since his passing, Jackson has come to be thought of as a genius, not a joke

By Justin Stephani | Apr. 19, 2010

I know I'm jumping the first-anniversary gun or maybe just missing the farewell boat by the better part of a year, but a career of such transforming polarizations is beginning to complete its form for me. Michael Jackson transcended cultural and artistic barriers, which has been conflicting a large majority of the general populace since the beginning of his career. Reflecting on the last year, the last pieces of his career have fallen securely into a safe place for him, as his death has prompted a 360-degree turn among fans. Just a year ago, most saw him as an alleged pedophile who had become more deformed than the zombies in his ""Thriller"" video from 30 years ago. However now that he has passed, somehow the dark secrets in his closet are forgotten entirely while everybody stands in awe of the glistening garments that masked his vices and drew roaring applause throughout his career.

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Tallest Man still growing

By Justin Stephani | Apr. 14, 2010

All of Matsson's prior work proclaimed his apt songwriting and guitar abilities. He has always been notable in every sense of the ideal behind traditional singer-songwriters. With The Wild Hunt, he manages noticeable improvement.

Lorenzo Zemella, Lorenzo Zemella

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Records and recontextualization

By Justin Stephani and By Jessica Phan | Apr. 12, 2010

Apparently, history often forgets to question the separation of church and state, assert the presence of Russian spies in the U.S. government during the Cold War, glorify Ronald Reagan above Lincoln and unwrite hip-hop as a contributing part of American culture. Such are the (generalized) recommendations coming from the Texas Board of Education as it awaits the final vote on what has become a buzz-worthy topic over the last month: revisionist history, a touchy subject when it comes to mixing seemingly historical fact with how certain factions may prefer to view history subjectively. What Texas' Board of Education is really trying to do is take the rules of recontextualization—the refitting or reassigning of a work of art into its greater context because of enhanced or simply new perspectives reached over time—and apply them to history.

Lorenzo Zemella, Lorenzo Zemella

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Unveiling gets unconventional

By Justin Stephani | Apr. 5, 2010

Lollapalooza releases its full lineup today, and for some diehard fans and annual attendees, that makes today something of a holiday. To take advantage of this anticipation, summer music festivals across the board have been creative in their unveiling methods. First it was Bonnaroo, and now Lollapalooza represents the extreme. Apparently, the new thing for festivals to do if they want to be cool and exclusive is reveal their lineups in some creative way—or in the case of Pitchfork, lengthen the process and aggravate future attendees.