Orange Is The New Black

Orange Is The New Black

OITNB is a Netflix series that features a fictional storyline about women in prison. The show might be one of the realest and most compelling shows on tv right now. I like the show because it doesn't sugarcoat anything and is informative, sad, and funny at the same time. It's a good show with great messages to it's audience. Season 5 comes out this month and it sees great. The show did their full research on women's prisons and how they usually work; not very well. The show has won a lot of awards and almost always gets their prison facts right. The characters go through so much and I would recommend this series to anyone who is able to watch something that could be intense but amazing. I don't watch a lot of tv anymore but this is a show I can't stop re-watching.

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone was a show produced by Rod Sterling from 1959-64. It's a very old show but it was actually amazing, considering it's time. The show was shot in black and white for five whole seasons. It introduced a lot of people to the ideas of science fiction. The show also made to talk about a lot of topics that held a lot of stigma and were commonly steered away from in that time. These were topics such as politics, racism, war, and society. It played for of the idea of another dimension where something is changed and causes something supernatural. In many episodes a lot of characters would experience an "ah-ha" moment when realizing something supernatural or weird was happening. There is no distinct way to define the show but it was extremely different and almost a little revolutionary for its time. The one really iconic episode was probably Eye Of The Beholder which was about a woman who was in hospital getting surgery to "look normal" in society's eye and it didn't work leaving her looking different (like a normal person in the viewer's eyes). But everyone else has swollen lips and huge nostrils and many features we as the audience would typically find unattractive. The episode is trying to show how everyone in society is judged based on their outward appearance. The show was mazing and though it's old it really out does a lot of today's media.

Dodie Clark

Dodie

Dodie or (doddleoddle/doddlevloggle on youtube) is a music artist (and of course youtuber) who discusses mental health, relationships, and self confidence in her music and videos. She has written a lot of her own songs and has an EP out right now. She has an amazing voice and lives in London and has shared her life on the internet for over 3 (maybe 4 or 5?) years. Her lyrics are beautiful and she has a unique style and amazing ability to play guitar, ukulele, and piano very well. My favorite song of hers are probably When, 6/10, and One For The Road. She also has a really kind of silly sounding song that's pretty shortcut really catchy called I Have a Hole in My Tooth and My Dentist is Shut.

Gorillaz

Gorillaz

The virtual band made in the UK by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn.  Jamie does the artwork for the band and contributes the their story and sound. Damon is the one behind the music, mainly writing it and being the character 2D's voice in the band. The band was made mainly to show how they thought in the 90's-early 2000's MTV's music videos and the music industry as a whole had become boring and filled with bad repetitive pop music. The band was created as a virtual band instead of with real people to stop from people liking music only because they idolize the artist/band and actually like the music for the music. The band has a deep backstory behind the virtual characters that is really fascinating to look into. They broke up in 2012 over creative differences between Jamie and Damon but have come back together and recently released an album. They've had a lot of hits over the years, Clint Eastwood, Feed Good Inc., Rock The House, etc. But my favorites are probably, Andromeda, On Melancholy Hill, Re-Hash, and El Mañana. I don't think you can categorize their sound, they don't really fit any genre, maybe electronic hip-hop rock. They have a dedicated fan base but it's hard to really get into some of the music if you don't know a lot about it. I love the band and would really recommend them.

The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes were an amazing indie punk-rock group who were formed by Jack and Meg White in 1997. The group broke up in 2011 for unknown reasons, mainly related to stress and lack of enthusiasm. Jack and Meg were married a year before they formed the band and divorced in 2000 but still made albums together. The band had a short lifetime compared to many others but made some of the best songs of the early 2000's. Jack White has gone on to still make music with other bands such as The Dead Weather, which my mom likes and had his own solo projects.

Oh Wonder

Oh Wonder

Oh Wonder is an alternative duo who began with their first album in September of 2015, releasing one track at a time. They recently, only a week ago, released a new song called Ultralife and released another, Lifetimes, this week. Hopefuly this is a new album starting up. I really loved the first album and can't wait to hear more. Their sound is very distinct and unique. The duo consists of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West. The two are not dating but connect on a musical level and produce wonderful music. in an interview they said their newest song Lifetimes is actually about global warming, it sounds on the surface like a loce song but its deeper than that. 

13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why

13 Reasons Why was an amazing and emotional book that now has been turned into a series on Netflix. The show/book centers around the topic of suicide and shows a lot of very controversial issues that normally wouldn't be shown in mainstream television. The plot of the book is that a high school girl named Hannah killed herself and left behind tapes. She left behind 13 cassette tapes for 12 people (two of the tapes were about the same person) who were, in her mind, causes to her suicide. The story starts with Clay Jensen, a shy boy who could be seen as Hannah's main love interest. The tapes are secrets between the group of 12 people and one other person who, if any word gets out about the tapes or if they stop listening or passing them on, will pass out a public copy. The story is extremely sad and beautiful. There are only 13 episodes, one for each tape. There may be a season 2 soon, as people are speculating. I think it was better as a tv show than a movie, though it left people wanting more. The show changed some names and added some stories and elongated the time it took Clay to listen tot the tapes so they could add in more storylines. Though I thought it matched my vision of the book pretty much exactly. I would definitely recommend this show/book.

AURORA

AURORA

Aurora is a swedish singer who was only 16 when she started doing music. At the age of 19, a year or two ago, she got signed to a label and put out her first real album; All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend. This album is very strong and showcases the young singer's plentiful talent. Her voice is amazing and haunting and flows smoothly. This album is amazing and calming but also very powerful. She has a very beautiful style and her song writing is very good. My favorites from the album were probably Murder Song, Winter bird, and Awakening. She seems like a wonderful person and artist and i would definitely recommend her.

Panic! At The Disco

Panic! At The Disco

Probably one of my favorite bands since I was in about 5th or 6th grade; Panic! At The Disco. I didn't really get so much into the band until 8th grade but I always loved their different styles and albums. I actually saw them in concert March 11th. Their first album showcased a really "emo" or alternative style that immediately caught people's ears and they blew up. Their next album, Pretty Odd is one of my favorite, they completely changed their style, gong from "emo" to folk rock. Some of my favorite songs off that album are That Green Gentleman and Northern Downpour. Next was Vices and Virtues, when the band started having creative disagreements. One of the main members, Brendan Urie, took over full creative control after this album and band member Ryan Ross left. Brendan Urie then came out with his next album, being the sole member making a creative contributor, this Vegas themed album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die, (after their place of origin), was probably one of my favorite. Their style turned into a more electronic alternative rock. My favorites were probably Far Too Young to Die and Collar Full. Now their most recent album, Death of A Bachelor, which Urie wrote after getting married, was a lot louder and the lyrics were a lot stronger. I think this album is amazing but could never live up to some of their older ones.

Green Day

Green Day

Green Day is one of my favorite punk bands and i would highly recommend them. While some of their songs are a little bit sad and mainstream, most of their less popular songs and albums really struck me. Like Dookie was an amazing album that I thought really expressed the groups talent and their musicality. Although they had a trilogy of not very popular albums after my favorite, American Idiot, They recently in 2016 came back with Revolution Radio which I love. It's new and still has their style while showing their internal issues and how not all music today is garbage.

The 1975

The 1975

The 1975 are a very unique band from Manchester England. They started playing together in 2002 and are still putting out music. Their first EP facedown got people talking in 2012. They went on their first tour in 2013 and have been popular and have their own rolling for years.

The 1975 has their own sound that reminds many of 70's or 80's pop but with a twist. Their songs may seem shallow on the outside but have their own meaning and are perfectly raw. Their newest album i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it was released 2015 and changed their style from black and white vintage to pastel pinks and even blues. The band gained a lot of popularity from their singles "The Sound" and "Somebody Else".

Grimes

Grimes

Grimes is an artist of many sorts, she has a very very unique style of music and is her own DJ and manager. She makes all of her cover art, all of her songs, and edits it all herself. She wanted to just be a producer but ended up making her own music and producing it. She is known for her feminist posts and actions shown on her Tumblr and other social media. A lot of people in the music industry think she is just hating on men when its just harder for a female artist to be respected. Her real name is Claire Boucher and her stage persona Grimes is only one of many.

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars, a show you've probably heard of by now, it's been going on for a long while now and is almost over. The premise is that there is a group of five teenage girls and their leader, Alison, goes missing in their sophomore year of high school. There is a person/group of people going by "A" terrorizing the girls and sending threatening messages, blackmailing them, trying to hurt them, and other horrible thing. You eventually find out who this "A" was and what happened to Alison, but along the way you get to connect with the characters and watch ordinary teenagers go through not so ordinary teenage struggles.

Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan

          Started off as a YouTuber, now music artist. Troye Sivan is a 21 year-old singer/songwriter who also is a you tuber but has not posted videos regularly since before he started touring and came out with his album.

Many wish he would start posting YouTube videos more but his music and shows are making uo for his absence online. He came out as gay in a video on his channel years ago in 2013. He grew up and still resides in Perth Australia but was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.
His music has made it to top charts and is very calming and has its own style. I would recommend it to anyone, one of his songs, "Youth" made it to the top charts las year and another one, "Happy Little Pill" also made it to the top charts.