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The Best Releases of August: Music Staff Picks

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Tropical Fuck Storm – Deep States Aussie noise rock band Tropical Fuck Storm’s third album, Deep States, is as messy and disorienting as the doomed political landscape it was birthed out of. Reflecting mind-poisoning social media discourse twisted through the filter of a distortion pedal, vocalists Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin deliver some of their most compelling melodies over lacerating guitar and synth lines. The opening track, “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, writes from the perspective of Jesus’ second coming to Earth to proclaim in a grand chorus “There ain’t no end of days.” Even at its loudest, a sense … Continued

Music
The Best Releases of June: Music Staff Picks

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Spellling – The Turning Wheel The Turning Wheel, Chrystia Cabral’s third album under the project Spellling, offers bewitchingly captivating progressive folk and neo-soul songs. A shift towards natural instrumentation marks a stark change from 2019’s synth-heavy Mazy Fly, giving these songs a new liveliness, and pushing Cabral’s songwriting towards the theatrical. The sonic palette on its own can be bewildering at first–veering off without warning into performances of soul, hard rock, classical, folk, and of course, synthwave. It’s no surprise that the personnel list reveals more than thirty performers–all of whom sound great. The songs are left with an enchanting … Continued

Sports
JT Ward

5 Songs to get you back into the Baseball Mood

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Iowa City, IA– After a warm winter, the grass is starting to become green again. The birds are chirping outside my window, singing sweet songs of spring. April showers are bringing May flowers. I could drone on about spring cliches, but no one wants another cliche misplay. Be that as it may, the baseball regular season is finally back and fans across America (and Canada for us Jays fans) are jubilant to see the ballparks open once more. We now live in an era where the Cubs are no longer the lovable losers. An era in which the New York … Continued

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Comparing the 2017 NFL Draft Class to 2002 Backyard Football Players

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Video games in the recent age have had a very small number of companies control the entire sports market. EA Sports and 2K Sports are juggernauts in their own rights. But there was once a company that made games that were simple, fun and uber-competitive: Humongous Entertainment. They made “Pajama Sam” and “Putt-Putt” as well as many other franchises. However, the one franchise HE is widely known for is their “Backyard” sports editions. Baseball, Football, Basketball. All sorts of sports full of kids that are short and from port to port. A particular game that I grew fond of over … Continued

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Sometimes the Empire Wins, and that’s okay

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I was wrong. And that’s okay. Tom Brady was named MVP yet again of a Super Bowl. And that’s okay. The underdog was just that, the underdog. And that’s okay. In the spectacle of sport, the one cardinal rule that overcomes all others: Win. And that is exactly what the New England Patriots did Sunday night. Atlanta, however, had a collapse unbeknown to be possible in sports. In a Golden State-Cleveland Indians fashion of doing things, The Atlanta Falcons blew the largest lead in super bowl history. What a feat of destruction. What went wrong? The answers are never quite … Continued

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Three Reasons Why Either Team Can Win The Super Bowl (And A Fourth For Who Will Win It)

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February 5th is a bittersweet date for football fans like myself. While we finally get the matchup of the #1 defense versus the #1 offense, we have to say goodbye to another great season of football. Greatness, of course, is the name of this historic game. The Super Bowl has consistently captivated the attention of Americans from coast to coast. Whether it was the first Super Bowl ever; Where the Green Bay Packers took home the first Lombardi trophy, or Super Bowl 49, where minds were boggled nationwide by the decision to not give Marshawn Lynch the ball on the … Continued

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