Media Querencia

Claire Geriak and Jesse Ilanes

Cantando

MUSIC:

© 2015 Aftermath/Interscope (Top Dawg Entertainment)
Alright – Kendrick Lamar
From Lamar’s quintessential “To Pimp a Butterfly” album, “Alright” features lyrics about a person’s life caught up in constant strife but in the end “we gon’ be alright.” With lyrics from Lamar and production from Pharrell Williams & Sounwave, “Alright” is practically a modern-day, hymn-sounding song regarding heavy and real-world situations.

The late Lofi hip-hop producer Nujabes mixed an orchestral jazz song featuring piano and violins with a hip-hop beat. Rapper Shing02 backs this with heartbreaking lyrics about failing to achieve true love multiple times, but “putting times in perspective” leads to a beautiful piece of music.

In the 2023 album “Be The Wheel” by Theo Katzman, the closing song, “Nobody Loves You Like Your Mother,” is a sentimental and moving song demonstrating the gift of motherly love. From cleverly crafted verses to the raw emotions of the recording, this composition provides a beautiful finish to the record.

In 1979, Joni Mitchell and her astonishing band of jazz giants took to the stage of the Santa Barbara Bowl, creating a live-recorded album titled “Shadows and Light.” In this collection of songs throughout various of Mitchell’s albums, the audience is transported from the streets of Paris through dark desert highways through her lyrical imagery throughout time.

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MOVIES:

A “hard-boiled” police inspector seeks revenge after his partner gets killed in a shoot-out involving Triad gun smugglers. The story begins with Inspector “Tequila,” as the Triad gang attempts to rule Hong Kong’s underworld, while Tequila gets help from an undercover cop rising in the ranks of this ruthless gang.

Sergeant Chan Ka-Kui leads an undercover sting operation to arrest a crime boss. The mission escalates into witness protection, high-speed car chases and a shocking frame-up that makes Ka-Kui appear guilty of murdering police officers. Comedy, action and thrills fill this film, all under the guise of Jackie Chan’s spectacular filmmaking.

Throughout Greta Gerwig’s 2017 film “Lady Bird,” Gerwig captures teenage moments from finding one’s identity to an important song with a significant memory. There are moments of continuous dialogue, then moments of prolonged silence. Gerwig’s choice to have the audience sit alongside these characters in intimate moments is compelling and moving.

The mixed distorted time and overwhelming emotions are just a few formative factors in Michel Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” It captures grief and regret in a new unseen light and shows an intimate look inside Joel Barish, played by Jim Carrey, in a moving and emotional mastery. The film allows viewers to explore the imagery of altered perceptions of life, love and loss.