Winding down on the year from hell, let’s check out some of the high points of the month by keeping an updated account of the best new songs of the month. December 2020, you might be the last month of an otherwise difficult and weird year, but we’re going to remember you for the good stuff.
Cool k thanks bye.
(Headline lyric from Sara Bareilles’ “December.”_
by: tiffany czech
In a world where material possessions meet spiritual growth, one may find themselves just as conflicted as the character in Sir Sly’s music video for “Material Boy”. Here, the material boy is someone who appears to be in a state of distress as he works through his emotions to leave behind any care in the world about material items. Through watching him chew up wads of cash and hide from all of the expensive things he owns; the viewer comes to understand that he yearns for more in his life. He yearns to be free from the material chains that are constraining him. The catchy chorus of the song reminds the listener that our material boy has found a spiritual void within himself and he strives to fill it.
What is great about what we see in this video is that it doesn’t need to follow one meaning for everybody who watches it. It could mean struggling to come to terms with the current political landscape, as the second verse alludes to, just as much as it could represent the struggle to leave an unfulfilling job that pays well. The common theme amongst the profuse number of possible interpretations is the yearning to find something that makes one feel whole. “Material Boy” both fascinates and perplexes, as well as provides the best form of entertainment for the viewer. Lead singer Landon Jacobs notes: “My highest hope is that this video can mean something a little different for anyone that watches it, but at the very least, I hope it is entertaining.”
In true Sir Sly fashion, new track “All Your Love” brings a certain type of beauty out within its melancholy landscape. Listening to Landon’s voice does that to you most of the time, perhaps, because the delivery of each line is so riddled with obvious emotion. Though the new track has a very romantic title, don’t come looking for a love song with this particular single.
Discover what we mean with a listen below, and be sure to let us know what you think!
Keep up with Sir Sly here.
For those of you who are not yet privy to the rising music scene in Kansas City, now is the time to do your research. Boulevardia – the midwest beer and music fest that started to call Kemper Arena and the West Bottoms home five years ago – has exploded into a much bigger event, drawing crowds from all over the United States to tap brand new and limited run beers, check out bands in both rustic venues and in front of a very spacey-looking building (Kemper Arena, about to become HyVee Arena), and to ride a ferris wheel in an undoubtedly urban and growing area. This year featured forty bands – including, but certainly not limited to Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Radkey, Manchester Orchestra, Sir Sly, Guster, Bleachers, and Kansas City’s own Tech N9ne -, craftspeople and artists from around the metropolitan area, and a silent disco experience. (The best part about that? It was outside, instead of in a tent, so looky-lous could stop and watch for a bit if life called for it.)
2018 featured an array of additional rides – you know, besides that vibrant, beautiful ferris wheel – and a Royals outfield experience. And even though this event seems to happen on the hottest and muggiest weekend of the year every single year, we were too busy watching numerous parades of contortionists and acrobats and clowns and people full of PRIDE and enjoying the midwest’s best in beers that we almost didn’t even notice it.
But that’s the magic of Boulevardia. Enjoy these Day 1 photos, and check back in to see some highlights from Day 2 as well!
The amount of times we have seen Sir Sly is pretty impressive, and we have yet to be bored by a single set of theirs. Perhaps this time – at Bonnaroo 2018 – Landon’s openness with the audience is what made us connect. Regardless, the band revived the crowd after a massive thunderstorm hit the campgrounds earlier in the day. We got a few closeups.
Keep up with Sir Sly here.
On Saturday, February 10th, Sir Sly made an appearance at recordBar in Kansas City as the headliner of Afentra’s VD Show. The room was at capacity, and the energy was absolutely insane. Check out the photos we could get from side stage, while the crowd went wild.
