10. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm [Amazon; 2020]By Kwase Lane, Features Editor Reprising his role as everybody’s favorite bumbling Kazakhstani reporter, Sacha Baron Cohen took a second go at a Borat film, and he stuck the landing even more flawlessly than he did in its predecessor. The first Borat movie does what it sets out to well,…
Tag: lauren mccain
Album Review: Ariana Grande – Positions
By Lauren McCain, Columns Editor [Republic Records; 2020]Rating: 7.5/10 Key tracks: “positions”, “34+35”, “safety net (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)”, “pov” After the whirlwind of her albums Sweetener and thank u, next less than five months apart in 2019, in 2020, Ariana Grande brings a more intimate, sultry R&B sound to the table with Positions. Positions makes…
Group Feature: ACRN’s Favorite Quarantine Tracks
2020 has had its fair share of twists and turns, but at least we still had music to keep us sane. Here are ACRN’s favorite tracks that we listened to while locked inside.
Album Review: Kesha – High Road
By Lauren McCain, Contributor [RCA/Kemosabe; 2020] Rating: 6.5/10 Key tracks: “Tonight”, “Kinky (ft. Ke$ha)”, “Summer” Ah, welcome back to the gaudy, paint-splashed, sparkling chaos that is a quintessential Kesha album. Kesha’s fifth studio album, High Road marks a return to the same pop sentiments of her early dollar sign days. And weren’t those the days? …
ACRN Celebrates: Jackie Wilson
By Lauren McCain, Contributor [Photo via Spotify] “To a rough stone that I am polishing into a diamond,” reads a signed photograph that Billy Ward gave Jackie Wilson in the summer of 1952. Known for his impressive four-octave range, Wilson was a dynamic powerhouse performer, earning himself the title of “Mr. Excitement” in the 1950s and…
ACRN’s Top 10 Disappointing Albums of 2019
10. Avril Lavigne – Head Above Water, [BMG; 2019] By Maria Lubanovic, Copy Editor If you told me Avril Lavigne would release an album with cover art of her naked behind a guitar as a way to show a raw and emotional edge, I wouldn’t have flinched. That’s a classic comeback move for a lot of…
BROCKHAMPTON’S ‘SATURATION II’ vs. ‘GINGER’
BROCKHAMPTON is one of the most prolific and influential pop-rap groups to sprout in recent years. The group garnered a loyal fan base and critical success through the SATURATION trilogy and later matured with iridescence and GINGER. Despite widespread approval for all of their projects, there has to be a magnum opus. So, SATURATION II or GINGER? Two passionate…
ACRN’s Top 25 Albums of 2019
25. Big Thief – U.F.O.F., [4AD; 2019] By Jonah Krueger, Staff Writer Big Thief’s U.F.O.F is just like it’s accompanying album art—dreamlike, deceptively simple, beautiful and packed full of details that are just obscured enough to avoid being fully grasped. It’s an album of compelling folk rock that pulls you in with some of the…
Group Feature: ACRN’s 2019 Summer Bangers
Before the leaves turn red and we shift our gears into the chilly fall, here are ACRN’s certified summer bangers of 2019. Add them to your Back-to-School playlist while summer extends its stay! Emily DiAlbert, Editorial Director: Tyler, The Creator – “GONE, GONE / THANK YOU” The most iconic breakup song of all time, Tyler,…