Hello everyone! In this new blog post I will tell you about a life-changing event that happened a long time ago. Scientists thought this is like the 'big bang of biological explosion'. Yes, I am indeed talking about Cambrian Explosion (if you couldn't tell already by the title lol).
First of all, what is Cambrian Explosion? To
put it simply, it’s an event where major animals phyla started to appear. Here are some comparison. These are the organisms from Precambrian era, which were mostly
consists of bacteria, protozoa, and the most complex one being Cnidaria or jellyfish.
Ocean life before Cambrian explosion
However,
after Cambrian explosion somehow these organisms had evolved to a much more
complex one.
A diverse ocean life after Cambrian explosion
The ocean life had changed, from simple, abstract, multi-cellular
organisms to something that resembles the current phylum in the animal kingdom,
mainly arthopodes and molluscs. The animals weren’t the best depiction of the
current living species of animals, of course, most of these looked very
bizarre. However, there is no doubt that Cambrian explosion was the foundation
of modern animal kingdom.
You will not found most of these species in the ocean, but they're still similar tho!
Cambrian period itself, which started after
Cambrian explosion, obviously, happened back in 541 MYA-485.4 MYA. It was the
first period of Paleozoic era, which means “ancient life”. It also started the
Phanerozoic eon, which is the eon for the first phase of animal and plant life.
Timeline of Earth
Here we have some examples of the animals
living in this period. First and the most famous example is Trilobite. This
fossil is a Walliseropstrifurcatus. This creature is considered to be the
earliest known Arthopods because it matches the general description of that
phylum. Physically, you can clearly see that this creature has segmented body and
exoskeleton or hard shell that protect its body.
Walliserops trifurcatus' fossil
We also have Anomalocaris. This is a part of
Arthopod due to the segmented body and exoskeleton as well. However, what makes
this and Trilobite different is that this thing is massive. Here’s a scale of Anomalocaris
to a 1.8 m human. It’s about 1 metre long, have 32
overlapping plates, and also have mouth that could crush prey. It’s no wonder
that this creature is the one of the biggest predator of Cambrian period.
Illustration of Anomalocaris
Last but not least, we have Conodonts. This organism is one
of the first vertebrate that ever existed. This belongs to Pisces phyla, also
known as fish. It’s a part of Agnatha superclass. An example of Agnatha that still lives
to this day is Lamprey fish.
Left is Conodonts, right is Lamprey fish. Very similar
Now you might wonder how Cambrian explosion happened. There
is still no conclusive conclusion to this, however there are several theories
about it. The most popular one is the rise of oxygen in the sea due to
phytoplankton booming in the ocean. Changes in the chemistry in the ocean
caused by erosion allowed animals to develop things like shells and
exoskeletons. However, some studies found that the oxygen rise has no
significance at all. Some scientists even argued that Cambrian explosions
happened because of the lack of oxygen.
Regardless of the cause, there’s no doubt that this event
changed life on Earth. It’s still the biggest “biological explosion” event that
happened in the history, comparable to Big Bang. It’s even more revolutionary
than dinosaur era despite that it’s relatively unknown to the masses. Without
Cambrian explosion, who knows how life would look like? Would humans event
exist without it?
Thank you so much guys for reading this post, I know it's very rushed but I hope that you will gain some knowledge from this! See you next time!
Hello everyone! A while ago, me and the whole 3'2020 did the Bakti Desa program. This is an annual program by the school's curriculum. Basically, the 11th graders will be going to a village and help citizens there to work. We also live in the villagers' home for 3 days and 2 nights. For our year, we went to Cibeureum village.
In the first day, we went from school to the village by angkot. We were separated into groups in the village. I was in the same group with Tiara, Helena, and Ichi. The purpose of such groups is to live together in the villagers' home. After we went to our new home, we met the family and introduced ourselves. After that we were free to do anything we want as long as we were respectful to the villagers. In the evening, Mr. Ramdhani and Mrs. Dety gathered our class to discuss what shall we do to teach the children in TPA (for those of you who don't know, it's a religious 'club' for kids). After that, we played with the children and be happy in general. Then we went to our home and sleep.
In the second day, we followed our host family to work. Our family's job was a farmer. We went to the hill and take care of the plants there. It was very tiring, but an experience indeed. We learned about the effort the villagers take to make a living, and it was touching. In the evening, we played with the children again then in the night we went back to sleep.
Last day arrived. Our class went to some lake (I.. actually forgot the name of the lake. I'm sorry). It was the source of Citarum river. It was very huge! I had a good time there. Then we went back to the village, say goodbye to our host family, and leave Cibeureum village.
There are a lot of things that we can take from Bakti Desa. Mainly, it's to show that there are people around us who live in a poor condition and work really hard to make a living. We must be grateful, but also help them and treat them as equal. It's an important lesson.
I had a decent time here and learned a great moral. Thank you Cibereum village for the experience!
Hello people! I just got back from Turbud 2019 to Bali and I had a really great time! It lasted for 5 days, from 17 March to 21 March. I have a lot of things to tell from this amazing experience, so here's my attempt to condense those memories in a simple blog post.
SUNDAY, MARCH 17 2019 The Departure
The day had finally arrived. We were finally going to Bali after so many tiring school days! We gathered together on Husein Sastranegara Airport. My class and two others were the last to go, unfortunately, at 13.15 if I remember correctly. On the other side, we didn't have to worry about luggage since we used AirAsia. To give some context, recently Lion Air announced a new policy that the free baggage are gone. So, we must pay some cash if our luggage is over 7 kg, or the limit of cabin luggage. The first two group used Lion Air, so we were very lucky to use an airline that still have free luggage up to 15 kg (at least domestically). However, our victory did not last well since our plane was delayed for 25 minutes. It wasn't really long, but it still sucks.
My plane ticket
In the flight, I read The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (sorry for a bit of shilling here lol) and listening to various songs. Self promoting a bit, but here's a link to my playlist. Check it out if you're interested in my mediocre music taste!
A poorly taken picture of the seat in front of me
After a 1 hour flight, we finally arrived at the long awaited destination. But first, we have to take our luggage in Ngurah Rai Airport. This took quite a while. Because our plane were delayed, we didn't get to go to Tanah Lot, sadly.
Jimbaran Bay Dinner
The first destination for us was Jimbaran since we didn't go to Tanah Lot. What makes this place unique is that we get to have dinner right in the beach. It's a beautiful experience to enjoy sunset, seafood, and the sound of waves crashing in the sea at the same time. Our dinner menu is fish (I don't know what kind of fish it was I'm sorry), shrimp, deep fried squid, and roasted clams. It was all very delicious, however we didn't get to enjoy the meal for long since suddenly rain pours really hard. It's only been the first day and the trip already took an unexpected turn... nevertheless, I'm still happy that I did get to see a beautiful sunset and great dinner.
Jimbaran Beach
Quest Hotel
Because it was raining, we went to the hotel 2 hours earlier. Thankfully, the hotel was very nice and comfortable. I shared the same room with my friends Faza and Shabrina. Unfortunately, our room didn't have a hair dryer for some reason. We already complained to the receptionists, however this issue wasn't fixed at all. Not to mention that the hotel's wi-fi didn't reach our room. I guess I have to accept the fact that I was very unlucky at that day. On the bright side, since we arrived at the hotel early, we could watch Ready Player One from beginning to end! It's not an amazingly written movie, but it's pretty fun.
MONDAY, MARCH 18 2019 Tanjung Benoa Watersports
The first place to visit in the second day of Turbud was Tanjung Benoa. Here we can play many variations of activities to do on the sea, such as parasailing, banana boat, and much more. These activities are quite pricey, sadly, so most of us only played once. Me and my friends decided to play Flying Fish. Basically, a speedboat will hold a rubber boat resembling a fish really fast so that the boat will fly around 2-3 meters above the sea. It was adrenaline-rushing in a great way. The ride lasted for 10-15 minutes. After that, we walked around the beach and enjoying the chilling sea water under the sun.
Green algae!
Pandawa Beach
According to our tour guide, this beach is considered to be new in Bali. At first Pandawa Beach was only used for Hindu ceremonies, however the locals saw a tourism potential in the beach and decided to work together with the government to make this movie more accessible to tourists, since it was located near a cliff. The beach itself was very beautiful. There were five Pandawa Gods statues in front of the beach, hence the name. Those statues were really huge and impressive. But since we arrived there in the middle of the noon, it was very hot! Most of us, including myself, was sweating like crazy. But the sight of the beach made this visit worth it.
The beach was so hot that this picture looked very saturated
Garuda Wisnu Kencana
After a trip on the beach, we visited Garuda Wisnu Kencana. There was a very huge statue of Hindu God Vishnu and Garuda in that place. The Vishnu statue was so large that it was even visible back in Jimbaran. On GWK, we took pictures of each class and 3'2020 as a whole in the Lotus Pond, in front of Garuda statue. After that, we can do everything we wanted, like taking selfies or walk around the site. Some people even rented a bike. I would've rent it if I'd known how to use one.
Vishnu statue in Garuda Wisnu Kencana
Devdan Theater
The last place that we visited was Devdan theater in Nusa Dua. Before watching, we were given a Hoka Hoka Bento for dinner, but our bus' meal was invaded with a bunch of ants somehow. I still don't understand where those ants came from, but we ate it anyway since we didn't have any other choice for dinner. After eating dinner, we finally went to Devdan theater. The show started around 19.00 and I was amazed by it. The show was about two tourists discovering the wonder of Indonesia by opening some magical treasure chest. However, that plot wasn't the main focus here, what makes this show so mesmerizing was the choreography, the properties, and dance. We also learned some cultural knowledge from this, since the show took us to various Indonesian islands along with their famous cultures. Props to all the crew for making this show an amazing experience. Too bad that we weren't allowed to take any pictures, so I didn't have any photos this time.
TUESDAY, MARCH 19 2019
Pura Tirta Empul
Our first destination of the day was Pura Tirta Empul. This pura is famous for its natural water springs. According to our tour guide, there's also a myth that if you see a really huge fish on the spring, you will be a lucky person. Before entering this sacred place, you must wear a piece of cloth. It's a custom. Anyway, other than water springs, this place also have a pure bathing place. We weren't allowed to bath there though. There was also a fish pond that was filled with so many koi fish. The size varied, from small to really huge. Man, it's such a shame that I caught a bad flu this day so I didn't get to enjoy it to the fullest.
Fish pond in Tirta Empul
Pura's sign in front of the place
Panglipuran Village
Next, we went to Panglipuran Village. This village is known for being one of the cleanest village in the world. The size of the village was around 45 Ha from what I remember, and it was split in half. The first half is for the residents to live, and the rest of it is untouched. Other things that makes this village stood out from the rest is that every house had the same gapura. It was a really unique village, so it's such a shame that around 15 minutes of sightseeing, the rain pours really hard. We had to take shelter to local residents (which was very nice by the way) and wait for the rain to be over for like half an hour. Thankfully, someone in my class brought us raincoats and umbrellas so that we could go back to the bus.
One of the house in Panglipuran Village
Makrab 3'2020
We went back to Quest Hotel around 17.00 to prepare for Makrab 3'20. Makrab itself is short for Malam Keakraban, or "Solidarity Night" in English. The main point of this event is to make 3'20 more solid and close to each other, and in general have fun together. We arrived at Nirmala Hotel on 19.00. Before the main event, we had dinner at the hotel. It's such a shame that the dinner tables were limited, so we had to wait in turn to eat. After dinner, Makrab started. There were various performances from extracurricular such as Musik Klasic, Tiloe's Theater, and Band 3. Other than performances,there were also games and award shows, which were costume contest and miscellaneous award with various categories. Makrab ended (well this wasn't really the end, just near the end I guess) with giveaways, from 32 GB flashdisk to Samsung phones. I didn't win, of course, and I really didn't expect to considering how bad my luck is on giveaways. Congrats for the winners though! The event ended at 01.00 in the morning. We were all tired and desperate to sleep, especially me since this horrible flu was killing me. After we arrived at the hotel, I immediately jumped to sleep. Well, after packing because tomorrow is the last day we traveled in Bali. Time flies so fast :/
The stage of Makrab 3'20
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 2019 Kuta Beach
After check out from the hotel, we went to Kuta Beach. Because the road couldn't be passed by bus since it was way too small, we had to use a smaller transportation to go there. It was similar to angkot, but instead of green or cream, the transport was colored blue. After 10 minutes, we arrived at Kuta. One thing that makes Kuta famous is the huge waves. It was still morning yet the waves was much bigger than other beaches that we visited. It was also full moon, but still. This is why many surfers love going to Kuta. There were even some surfers there in the morning. However, it's very disappointing that this beach had plastic waste problem. Thankfully, Bali has a new policy to stop using plastic bag in hope to reduce the waste.
Pollution is ruining Kuta!
Since we wouldn't want to just walk around the beach for like 2 hours, we went to the beachwalk. We bought some frosty from Circle K since the day was really hot. Around 11.00, we went back to our bus.
The ocean waves
Cute doggo really loved the beach
Bedugul
After buying some merchandise for the loved one in hometown, we went to Bedugul. Bedugul itself is a pura that is located in a lake. It's located in the higher part of Bali, so it was much cooler than the beach. Other than pura, there was also a vihara. I didn't see the vihara itself but I saw a lot of monks in the site. One thing that I didn't expect from Bedugul was the size. It was really huge! I thought the place only had pura, but there was even a huge park with some kids playground in it. I really enjoyed my time here since my flu was getting better. My friends thought I was really weird since yesterday I stayed quiet, but whatever. What matters is that I'm very happy to be here, despite that Bedugul was our last tourism destination... :/
Pura in the lake
Pura from a different perspective
First time I saw Hepaticophyta in person. Take me back to 10th grade biology please
Weird SpongeBob statue
After visiting Bedugul, we went to Gilimanuk port to go to Surabaya. Yes, Tur Budaya is over. Just like that. It's so... melancholic.
THURSDAY, MARCH 21 2019
Goodbye Bali!
It's really over. The long awaited holiday... gone. After arriving at Ketapang using ferry ship, we went to some restaurant that also provided bathrooms. I had a horrible experience here since when I showered I saw a gross cockroach. I consider myself to have severe Katsaridaphobia, so when seeing this horrible creature, I just can't help but pray to God so that it will leave me alone. Long story short, after surviving the cockroach tragedy, we went to Gubeng Station. The train left Surabaya at 16.30 and arrived around 05.00 in Bandung. And this is the official end of Tur Budaya 2019.
My train ticket
I can't believe it's already over and I had to go back to reality and face the horror that is Research Based Learning (next post is probably about this), but as the wise Dr. Seuss said, "Don't sad because it's over, smile because it happened.". Overall, Turbud 2019 in my opinion is a positive experience that I will never forget. Thank you guys for reading this blog post!
From:
Figlia Sophia
Headteacher of XI Science 6,
SMAN 3 Bandung
Bandung -- 40553
To:
Mr. Anthony Fantano
Dean
Bandung Institute of Technology
Bandung -- 23056
5th May 2019
Dear Mr. Fantano,
It's my absolute pleasure to recommend Alfina Fuji for a scholarship in Bandung Institute of Technology. I am Alfina's headteacher at SMAN 3 Bandung for three years, and she's a wonderful student. I really enjoyed my time teaching her in this school.
Alfina is very optimistic and diligent. She really likes to take notes during her studies, which results in her excellence in academics. Not to mention that she often helps her friends for studying, so that everyone can benefit from her excellence. She's truly an inspiration for others. Despite her shyness, I am amazed for her achievements throughout these years.
Without a doubt, I wholeheartedly recommend Alfina Fuji for a scholarship in your school. As a hardworking and all-around great person, I believe she will be a great addition to your school. She's been passionate about going to Bandung Institute of Technology as well, so this will be very beneficial for you and Alfina both.
Feel free to contact me at sman3bdg@sch.id should you like to discuss Alfina's qualifications and experience further. I'd be happy to expand on my recommendations.
My name is Figlia Sophia Azzahra. I was born in February 2, 2002, which means that currently I am 17 years old. I have 1 sibling, which is an older brother.
I consider myself to be a creative person, since I enjoy drawing, even though in the last few months I kinda stopped making finished artwork. I tend to procrasinate a lot when making art and I feel like that's why I am not really interested in a steady art career.
I'm also dilligent, at least on things that I like. For example, I really like writing notes on Biology outside from school. However, in terms of things that I don't like, I prefer to ignore them. Like Physics. It's a very hard subject to learn, so I don't study at all, even though there may be a test in the next day. This mentality is really bad, especially in the job industry, so I really want to remove this habit out of my mind.
If you ever met me in real life, you might realize that I am really quiet. Having social anxiety is really challenging. While public speaking, I often stutter a lot, tend to be shaky, and sweat a lot. It's not just limited to public speaking, in a social situation I am extremely awkward. I don't know what to talk or act when I interact with someone that isn't very close to me, even though I actually know them. I really want to "cure" my anxiety by preferably going to theraphy or psychiatrist. Maybe later.
I'd like to spend my free time by watching YouTube. Usually I watch cooking channel like Binging With Babish or any Gordon Ramsay's show. I think watching people cook is very relaxing. I also like to watch people reviewing stuff like movies and music. Anthony Fantano, TheRealJims, and RebelTaxi are some of my favorite review channels, so you should check them out. Other than YouTube, I really like drawing (as I told you before) and reading Sherlock Holmes. I am planning to read other mystery novels as well, such as works by Agatha Christie. Speaking of writers, I really like writing as well. However, I prefer to write reviews, essay, or real life events over fictional literature. I've written some reviews in this blog, while it's not perfect since my vocabulary is limited, you should check them out.
I participated in a social science quiz contest with 3 of my friends, but unfortunately we lost. My poem was featured in Bobo magazine back in 3rd grade, so there's that.
My dream is to study in FTI ITB in Chemical Engineering, since so far chemistry is my favorite subject even though it can be difficult. To achieve this, I must study dilligently. After that, I want to work in a food engineering industry. My biggest dream is to have a cat adoption center. I consider Indonesian people to be very picky about choosing a pet cat. They always want a selectively breeded cat like Persian cat and buy them on shady pet store in the street. I want to change that mentality. I want to spread awareness that a lot of domestic cats are just as loving and cute as breeded cat. I also really want to rescue stray cats from potentially harmful environment. It's always sadden me when I see stray cats dead on highway when it could've been loved by a loving owner. That's the reason why I want to open an adoption center for cats, at least when I retire from my career.
That's all that I can tell about me. I hope now you have a better insight at myself. Thank you for reading!
Hello people! Today I will share my experience in Edu Passion 2019 on Thursday, January 23rd 2019. There was no schedule for study at that day, so the whole day was indeed reserved for Edu Passion event. If you don't know already, Edu Passion is an event where various colleges and other education-related company present their best qualities to educate high school students about their future.
Me and my friends
As regular event goes, there were a lot of food stands. This time, you have to buy them with coupons. You can trade your money to coupons in a stand near the principal's office. I bought Taiwan chicken rice box and a cotton candy ice cream. While it was a bit expensive, I think it was worth it. Especially the ice cream!
Taiwan chicken from the food stands
Me and my friends went to various colleges stands. Eight, to be exact, however I will only tell several of them. The first booth that we visited was Unjani. It stands for "Universitas Jendral Ahmad Yani". It's located in Cimahi, which is not far away from here. Their medical school is popular, and their acceptance quota is 178 for medical school and 60 for faculty of dentistry.
After that, we visited UIN, which stands for "Universitas Islam Negeri". Because they are controlled under two ministries (Ministry of Religion and Ministry of Technology and Research), they offered 5 ways to enter the school, much more than other colleges in which usually only offer three at most. It was also based on Islam, so there are additional Islam-based study program, however, to enter this school, you don't have to be extremely religious. But if you are, you might have more advantages.
Then, we visited Maranatha. It's located in three location: Surya Sumantri, Ciumbuleuit, and soon Kota Baru Parahyangan. They offer 9 faculties and 26 study programs. The new place in Kota Baru Parahyangan will have 3 new faculties, two of them are hotel management and food engineering.
Last but not least, we visited UNPAD, which stands for Universitas Padjajaran. It's also located in three location, which are Dipatiukur, Jatinangor, and Pangandaran. However, from what I remember Dipatukur is only for S2. The favorite faculties are faculty of economy and medical school. Speaking of medical school, UNPAD also have veterinary school. They will build a vet hospital soon for the students to practice, which is exciting. I want to go to veterinary since I love cats but at the same time I'm very clumsy and gets very emotional seeing sick animals. I'm so conflicted...
At almost the end of the event, I went to ITB's FTI presentation with my friend. I went to the second presentation since we were late. At first I wanted to visit ITB's SF, which is a pharmacy school, but since we have to interview several stands for Indonesian's task, I was too late. Maybe some other time? Ah, but anyway, FTI stands for "Fakultas Teknologi Industri". It's a school that study how various industry works and how to manage them. I went to the presentation because I was curious about this school. We left early for reasons, but upon leaving I felt more enlighten about the faculty itself. There are several study programs for this faculty, which are Physics Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Industry Engineering, Chemurgy, and MRI (I don't know the English version of that study, sorry). Check it out!
FTI's presentation at XII Science 4
And that's the end of my Edu Passion 2019 experience. I left out some details, but I hope you will gain more knowledge after reading this post!
Hello everyone! Today is the first day 2019. I should be happy, shouldn't I? But tomorrow I already have to go to school, which means more stressful studying and anxiety... Two weeks holiday honestly is not enough for me... But, to cheer up the atmosphere, let's talk about good things, like music!
To be honest, I have not listen to much albums. I feel like my music taste is extremely narrow. I mean, I barely listen to anything outside of Gorillaz in the middle school! So now I'm trying to broaden my knowledge of music. In the meantime, here's some of my all-time favorite albums. Enjoy!
a. Kali Uchis - Isolation
If you consider yourself as a person who like Gorillaz, then you might know Kali Uchis. She was a guest singer in their 2017's album Humanz in 2 songs, Ticker Tape and She's My Collar. I found out about her from Gorillaz as well. The next year, Isolation was out, which at first it didn't really interest me, until a lot of Gorillaz fans pointed out that there was an unused Humanz song in Isolation, which was In My Dreams. I decided to check it out, and hoo boy the album was fantastic.
Isolation is an album that mixed various music genres, however it's mostly focused on the RnB or neo-soul genre. Theoretically, this album shouldn't work due to how varied the genres were. It could've been a mess that is similar to Humanz. However, thanks to the tight production, Isolation is a delight from start to finish. It's very catchy, the lyrics are beautiful, and the instrumentals are on point. Check this album out, and I'm definitely looking forward to Kali's next project.
FAV TRACKS: Your Teeth In My Neck, Feel Like a Fool, Just a Stranger, In My Dreams, After the Storm, Dead to Me, Miami, Tomorrow
b. Kero Kero Bonito - Time n' Place
The british band Kero Kero Bonito took a surprising departure from their signature bubbly cheerful music after Bonito Generation was released in 2016 (which you should check it out as well, it's very cute). The first sign of change was in their 2017's single Only Acting, which was a j-rock inspired song with a very... glitchy and distorted production. The lyrics were much more mature as well. In their previous album and EP, KKB usually wrote about the mundane things in life like graduation, flamingo, or taking a break. Only Acting, however, was about the struggle of being a star and how hard it is to separate your real emotions from the stage life. Definitely way more detailed and emotional. Some fans were disappointed by this change, however I've grown to like it and I found myself to be enjoying Time n' Place as well.
Time n' Place is a j-rock inspired album that mostly about overcoming the struggle of living. The highlight of this album is definitely the lyrics, I love how detailed it is. It makes the song much more emotional. The production is much more experimental and distorted, especially in the song Rest Stop. However, we still get some bubbly vibe that KKB had on their previous project like in the song Swimming. Overall, it was a great comeback album despite how different it was from their usual vibes.
FAV TRACKS: Dear Future Self, Swimming, Only Acting, Make Believe, Time Today, If I'd Known, Visiting Hours
c. Ariana Grande - Sweetener
At first, I didn't really like this album. I thought the songs were okay, but it's not something that I would listen again. However, I started to appreciate it more after seeing the horrible state of last year's mainstream pop music. I feel like Ariana had taken a risky move by releasing a more conceptual album than most pop albums, which were usually obvious Top 40 materials and some forgettable fillers. I really like the simple RnB production on this album, it's a refreshing break from the generic EDM stuff or overproduced pop songs. It's not a perfect album, I feel like some of the songs are samey, but it's worth listening. But I bet you already listened to it since it's freakin' Ariana Grande... oh well.
FAV TRACKS: God is a woman, pete davidson, no tears left to cry, breathin, R.E.M.
d. Rina Sawayama - RINA
Do you like late 90's to early 00's pop music? Do you wish it to come back? Then Rina Sawayama got something for you! RINA is Rina Sawayama's first EP and it's just so good. Thanks to Clarence Clarity's amazing production and Rina's vocal performance, this EP is a pop masterpiece. It's extremely catchy, but the lyrics are still written well. Usually pop songs on that era was about boys who don't like you back or generic positivity advice. There's nothing wrong with that, I mean I am still listening to Baby One More Time to this day, it's just that it tends to be a little bit repetitive. However, the songs on RINA is not like that. It's about the many sides of being a superstar and how technology has changed relationship or our daily life. It's very detailed and deep! In conclusion, this is a must-listen EP and I guarantee that you'll love it in an instant.
FAV TRACKS: Tunnel Vision, Ordinary Superstar, Take Me As I Am, 10-20-40, Alterlife, Cyber Stockholm Syndrome, Through the Wire, Time Out
e. Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy
Tyler previously was known for his harsh and edgy lyrics, especially in Goblin and Bastard, which was so vulgar that it made him banned in the UK. That's why many were surprised for the direction that this album took. While he still didn't let go completely of his past personality such as in the track Who Dat Boy, as a whole Flower Boy is a soft synth funk hip hop album with a much more toned down lyrics compared to his previous work. And by toned down I didn't mean that it's bad, it's in fact the opposite. There are a lot of clever lyrics throughout the album, one of them is in the song See You Again.
"20/20, 20/20 vision Cupid hit me, cupid hit me with precision I wonder if you look both ways When you cross my mind, I said, I said I'm sick of, sick of, sick of, sick of chasing You're the one that's always running through my daydream, I I can only see your face when I close my eyes"
I really enjoyed Flower Boy, it was a beautiful LP and you should definitely check it out.
FAV TRACKS: 911/Mr Lonely, Foreword, See You Again, Who Dat Boy, Boredom, Garden Shed
f. Bjork - Post
Bjork's music takes time to fully appreciate, at least in my experience. When I first listened to Bjork, I was extremely confused. I thought, "Why do people like this? It's very confusing.". Structurally, her melodies are really jarring, especially in her later albums like Vulnicura and Utopia. But, as I listen to it more and more, I began to see her appeal and now I'm a huge fan of Bjork.
This album is a great introduction if you want to know more about Bjork. It's a quirky alternative electronic album with a great writing. Bjork's delivery was also fantastic, it definitely match the mood of the song perfectly. She wasn't afraid to go "all out" on her vocals, a great example is this is on the song I Miss You where she straight out screamed in many parts of the song. It may confuse you in the first listening, but it matched perfectly with the song's instrumental. Overall, this album is an interesting experience that I deeply enjoyed.
FAV TRACKS: Possibly Maybe, Isobel, Headphones, Hyperballad, It's Oh So Quiet, I Miss You, Army of Me
g. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Oh boy, here's an obligatory Gorillaz post... but for real, this album is fantastic. Let me try to keep this short. I know fans back then were expecting a second Demon Days, so when this album was released they were disappointed, but I love Plastic Beach despite that it's completely different from that album. While Demon Days' instrumental were dark and used a lot of traditional instruments, Plastic Beach was the opposite. It used a lot of electronic synth. This turned off a lot of people, but the great and clean production made it all works. I love how conceptual the album is, even more than Demon Days. I really wish Gorillaz's newer album is more conceptual since I feel like they just abandoned it all together, especially in Humanz. The Now Now was fine, but it was way too safe and didn't really felt... gigantic like their first three albums. But rant is for other days...
I really like the lyrics of this album as well. Some are abstract like Empire Ants, however there were a lot of songs that surprisingly had lyrics about romance, which is something that Gorillaz didn't focus much. And it felt really personal too. Here's an example from the song To Binge.
"I'm caught again in the mystery
You're by my side, but are you still with me?
The answer's somewhere deep in it, I'm sorry but your feeling it
But I just have to tell you that I love you so much these days
Have to tell you that I love you so much these days, it's true"
To wrap things up, Plastic Beach is a great conceptual record that you must listen. Like, right now.
FAV TRACKS: Empire Ants, To Binge, Some Kind of Nature, On Melancholy Hill, Stylo, Rhinestone Eyes, Pirate Jet, Plastic Beach
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And that's all I can recommend for today, I might make a part 2 on this! I hope you'll like those albums as much as I do. Do you have any recommendations? If so, leave it in the comments below. Thank you for reading!
