Music has proven to be such a determining factor in how my mood is affected on a day-to-day basis, having developed such a fervent attachment to the songs which filter through my everyday life. Having mentioned in a previous piece that I often find myself in cycles of music and memories, I have coupled this with a newfound desire to use the relationship between music and mental health as an experiment to explore mood and state. This week has been one of firsts, in tackling that challenge head on and cleansing my musical palette.
How Rex Orange County Broke Me Out of My Musical Cycle
Chloë Moloney is a student and writer from Surrey, United Kingdom. She is a staff writer and curator at Luna Luna Magazine, and a reviewer for MookyChick. Chloë has had short stories published with Moonchild Magazine, Occulum, Sick Lit Magazine and more. She is also a culture writer and biographer at the award-winning news platform Shout Out UK, and has also written for Epigram, B24/7 and the London Horror Society. She also acted as a reviewer for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in 2017. You can find Chloë at @ChloeMoloney98.
5 Songs Eerily Revamped Using the Theremin
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (Operating System, 2017), Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and is the editor of A Shadow Map: Writing by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is the founder of Yes, Poetry and the managing editor for Civil Coping Mechanisms and Luna Luna Magazine. Some of their writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, BUST, Spork Press, and elsewhere. Joanna also leads workshops at Brooklyn Poets. joannavalente.com / Twitter: @joannasaid / IG: joannacvalente
Love Songs to Make Your Heart Sing & Cry
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (Operating System, 2017), Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and is the editor of A Shadow Map: Writing by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is the founder of Yes, Poetry and the managing editor for Civil Coping Mechanisms and Luna Luna Magazine. Some of their writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, BUST, Spork Press, and elsewhere. Joanna also leads workshops at Brooklyn Poets. joannavalente.com / Twitter: @joannasaid / IG: joannacvalente
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How the Cure Helped this Cambodian Refugee Survive America
Bunkong Tuon is the author of Gruel (2015) and And So I Was Blessed (2017), both poetry collections published by NYQ Books, and a regular contributor to Cultural Weekly He is also an associate professor of English and Asian Studies at Union College, in Schenectady, NY.
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A Playlist for the Strange & Unusual
Joanna C. Valente is the author of Sirs & Madams, The Gods Are Dead, Marys of the Sea, Xenos, and the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault.
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A Playlist for People Who Are Told They Internalize Too Much
...maybe this playlist is a small gift I can give that helps, that heals.
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The New Ambient Album You Need to Listen To
Joanna C. Valente is a ghost who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018). They are the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017), and received a MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, a managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM, as well as an instructor at Brooklyn Poets. Some of their writing has appeared in Brooklyn Magazine, BUST, Them, Prelude, Apogee, Spork, The Feminist Wire, and elsewhere.
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This Music Playlist Will Make You Feel A Million Times Calmer
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016), and Sexting Ghosts (Unknown Press, 2018). They are the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). Joanna received a MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, a managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM, as well as an instructor at Brooklyn Poets. Some of their writing has appeared in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, Apogee, Spork, The Feminist Wire, BUST, and elsewhere.
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David McCliste
My Brandi Carlile Liner Notes
I think I heard her song "The Story" for the first time during a car commercial. It’s hard to actually pin it down now when I think about it. I’ve been listening to Brandi Carlile for a while now. Unlike Aimee Mann, I can’t recall when I found her music. However, like Aimee, I listen to her every day and her work has always been the kid I think about often. I had the opportunity to see her in concert once in Charleston. It was sometimes last year and I was looking forward to it very much. At the last minute, however, she cancelled the show. It was never rescheduled and I was depressed over it. Later, Brandi released a statement about it and said that she cancelled it because she was having troubles with her chronic illness, her endometriosis. I have endometriosis and cried when I read that. One of my musical idols, a woman who has accomplished so much, suffers from the same thing I do. In many ways, it made me feel closer to her.
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Lateef Dameer's Album 'First Kiss' Is a Must-Listen
When it comes to music, I'm always listening. Music isn't just a song someone produced, it's the footsteps down the hall, the rain on the roof of a bus, the clicking of laptop keys. When musicians truly understand this, and understand the poetics to every sound that happens around us, and realizes it's music, you know you're about to get a gift.
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Jeff Kravitz
The Death of an Artist - Kurt Cobain
In his final letter to humanity, Kurt writes at the end of the letters, “I’ll be at your altar.” If he is speaking to humanity he must be referencing the altar of religion, of fate. If he is speaking to his wife he must mean the altar on which they built their lives: the one filled with drugs, rehab, and guitars. But maybe he’s speaking to his daughter, just a two year old girl at time of her father’s suicide, and he means he will be at her crib, her bedroom altar, waiting for her like a father feels he should. Kurt was a mystery for most of the world. Though many of us would argue we knew him all along.
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9 Ella Fitzgerald Songs That Will Leave You Breathless
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016) and the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). Joanna received a MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, a managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM, as well as an instructor at Brooklyn Poets. Some of their writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, Apogee, Spork, The Feminist Wire, BUST, and elsewhere.
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via The Current
18 Retro Love Songs to Make You Feel Alive
This is for the people who would live and love in retro music if they could; this is for the people who are truly, madly, deeply in love with love; this is for them who pick up on the musical vibrations and can easily tap into feelings of sadness or madness, elation and exuberance, that passion and fire that lives within them all along. May these songs soothe you, energize you, relight you, make you fall in love all over again.
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8 Billie Holiday Songs That Will Crush You
Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016) and the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). Joanna received a MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, a managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM, as well as an instructor at Brooklyn Poets. Some of their writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, Apogee, Spork, The Feminist Wire, BUST, and elsewhere.
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