Luke's Music Reviews #4: All I Need by Foxes

Foxes has easily become one of my favorite artists of all time. I can't keep track of how many times I've listened to Glorious ever since I came back to it last summer, and I've been waiting for this album with bated breath ever since Foxes unveiled the tracklist in July. I couldn't believe that just when I became attached to an artist, they had new music coming that I could be excited about.

When Foxes said that All I Need would be more personal, I was intrigued. Most of Foxes' songs come across as mystical and otherworldly while still having that raw edge, so having her stripping back the cover even more was definitely an experiment worth waiting for, Three singles and four pre-order instant grants were released before February 5th, so much of the album's sound had already been established beforehand. I was in love with pretty much everything, the only worry I had being that the toxic relationship material would become way too repetitive, especially since most of the songs were shaping up to be in that vein.

However, the instrumental choices were still wonderful, and Foxes' writing and vocals were amazing, so I had incredibly high hopes going into this record. Were those met?

The Best of 2015

Another year, another chapter of the book of life completed. Although there were some awful events that occurred (all the mass shootings, the aftereffects of Leelah Alcorn's suicide, the tsunamis and earthquakes that occurred around the world), there were still great moments, and a big one was the legalization of same sex marriage in the United States. I don't know about you, but in my opinion, 2015 was a fantastic year, one full of happy and sad moments, finding identity, of reading/listening to music/watching anime that made me emotional, but most importantly, of just finally gaining some of the confidence needed to stay true to myself.

This post is going to highlight some of the greatest things to come out of anime, books, and music this year. All of these things are held on very high pedestals in my brain, and they'll definitely be remembered for their excellence for years to come. We might as well get started, shall we?

Luke's Anime Reviews #1: Soul Eater NOT!

Prequels are an interesting case in any medium. Usually, they're released after an original series has had success. Sometimes they're focused on the same characters before the events of the main story, or the leads are completely different characters. Things like The Kill Order by James Dashner, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare (with more stuff from her on the way, much to everyone's joy and anger) are examples in the book world, and Fate/Zero sticks out as a primary example in anime. They seem to only attract people who have read the stuff that came before it, which seems strange to me. Wouldn't some people prefer to go into the work that takes place before the main book or series starts?

Soul Eater NOT! is another one of those special cases. First published as a spin-off to Soul Eater in January 2011, the series took place prior to the events in the first series and with different characters as the leads. The minute I saw the manga at Barnes & Noble, I knew it would eventually be adapted into an anime series, and when the announcement arrived, I wasn't surprised in the slightest. I managed to watch a couple of episodes as it was airing in the spring of 2014, but I wasn't able to finish the series until as of recently, when I got the chipboard box set for my birthday.

For some reason, people love to hate on this series, mostly because of its animation and because it's the complete opposite of Soul Eater in pretty much every aspect. I've only been able to watch 25 episodes of the original series in the past 3 years, which is really unfortunate (I mean, I got the series for Christmas 2 years ago, you would think that I would be caught up now). Alas, I still wanted to experience Soul Eater NOT!, and I knew I would be in for a fun ride.

So what happened? Did Soul Eater NOT! turn out to be fun? Or was it disappointing?

Luke's Music Reviews #3: Delirium by Ellie Goulding

Sometimes, people stumble upon a new artist that they immediately like randomly. It could be through a song that plays on the radio, a scroll through iTunes to look at the New Artists section (or Single of the Week, back in the day), or an ad that pops up on YouTube or on TV. No matter the case, anything can happen, and it allows people to acquire a new favorite singer or group.

My brother first stumbled upon Ellie Goulding on a random trip through the UK Amazon to see new Rainbow Magic books (we were very weird children). I immediately found her pretty (I had a blonde obsession as a child; again, I was weird) and I was interested in listening to her. I took the first step in searching up her music, found "Lights" in April 2011, and was immediately hooked. That song stuck in my memory for a while, and when it began to grace mainstream radio airwaves in early 2012, I was surprised. At the time, Goulding gaining success here in the US boggled my mind, but now, three years later, we have her third album, Delirium, and the successes of "Lights", "Anything Could Happen", "Burn", and the surprise hit in "Love Me Like You Do."

When this new album was announced, I became really excited, and the first single "On My Mind" was great. However, I felt it lacked some of Goulding's identity on the first couple of listens. Since those first listens, the song has grown on me massively, and with every pre-order single that came out, my hopes grew and grew.

Plus, Goulding herself stated that she wanted to take this record in a grandiose pop direction, and judging from all of the songs that came out before hand, she had succeeded that goal. But would a full length album deliver? And would I enjoy it as much as I had enjoyed Lights, Halcyon, and Halcyon Days?

Luke's Book Reviews #7: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Complex or high fantasies are always polarizing for readers like me. On the one hand, they could have great characters and an interesting world with hidden cracks for people to discover. On the other hand, they can be incredibly slow in terms of their pacing and not have the right elements in order to really make them pop. Series like Throne of Glass or A Song of Ice and Fire are great examples of this kind of genre, and while they can draw readers in, they can also turn them away due to their lengths.

Leigh Bardugo's debut novel, Shadow and Bone, was a shorter high fantasy novel that proved to be a disappointment. While the Grisha and the setting provided some interesting imagery and characters, most of the book felt cliche and incredibly underwhelming. The writing was all right but average, the main character was annoying, and the romance/love triangle was even more frustrating (don't get me started on AlinaxMal). For me, it felt like a stereotypical YA fantasy that was perfect for a crowd who wanted the same old tropes but repackaged.

Meanwhile, Bardugo's newest book did not seem to have the same problems. Six of Crows looked exciting and thrilling based on its synopsis, but it also looked much more complex, and based on the incredibly positive reviews coming in, people were enjoying it. I had my doubts, but mostly I was excited to see if Leigh Bardugo had improved from her first work.

So, was Six of Crows a disappointment? Or was it everything I was hoping for, and maybe even a little bit more than that?