INSIDE THE BUZZWORTHY 4 You Want it Darker: A Contributing Writers Year of Death in Music Jason Klaiber 5 A Very Indie Christmas Lauren Zazzara 6 A Year in Review: The Josh Svetz Best and Worst Albums Mark Ventrice 10 The Weeknd Sean Lynch 11 Childish Gambino Amber Canbek 13 Time to Say Goodbye Matt Tyssee 14 Interview with Natalie Joe Fulmore Hello readers! Letters from the I can’t believe this is the last Hey Buzzworthy readers! Buzzworthy I’ll ever be a part Editors of. From being a writer for Welcome to the last issue of the the department since my frst fall semester. I had a lot of fun semester to becoming a director reminiscing about 2016. The this past year, this magazine has movies, music and moments been a huge part of my will be something to remember Bonaventure career. I hate to forever. I think it’s important that leave it but I’m so excited for we all set aside our differences the new directions it’ll go. I and remember the good things in want to say goodbye to all the life. other seniors leaving the Buzz This issue is particularly special and good luck to the new board as we say goodbye to our senior of directors ready to make their board members. I’ve formed very impressions on this wonderful special bonds with them and it’s radio station. And thank you to safe to say that the board will not all the readers, we wouldn’t be be the same without them. here without you! Dan Leopold Haley Schrenk Public Relations Director Public Relations Director 2 December 2016 The Buzzworthy From the STATION MANAGER... Six semesters ago, I walked into the RC conference room for my frst Buzz board meeting. I remember feeling nervous, excited and somewhat unsure of what lied ahead of me. I felt honored to be considered for a director position as a freshman. Since then, several of my classmates were hired. They have accompanied my extensive journey at The Buzz. I know that each one of us has something incredible to be proud of. Personally, I have never had the pleasure of such a great experience like this one. From reading Bona News Now stories on air to directing the entire station, every moment has proven to be worth it. I remember being a timid freshman during offce hours one day. Mike Arena, a former station manager, was throwing an absolute tantrum over the Comrex. I was the only staffer in the station while he was kicking furniture and yelling at the inaudible broadcast machine. He looked at me, apologized and said, “This shows you how passionate I am for this station.” I will never forget that moment. I am grateful for the friendships, the hardships, the laughs, the music and the memories. I also have to thank Jackie Roberts, another former station manager, for taking me under her wing since I stepped foot on campus. I was blessed with an extended family through this radio station. I think I can speak for all of the Buzz seniors when I say that this place Natalie Kucko will hold a place in our hearts forever. Station Manager Now, I would like to offer a monologue from The Perks of Being a Wallfower that I believe holds true to 88.3 FM. I thought about how many people have loved those songs. And how many people got through a lot of bad times because of those songs. And how many people enjoyed good times with those songs. And how much those songs really mean. I think it would be great to have written one of those songs. I bet if I wrote one of them, I would be very proud. I hope the people who wrote those songs are happy. I hope they feel it’s enough. I really do because they’ve made me happy. And I’m only one person. So, thank you to everyone who has been affliated with The Buzz during my time here. You have made me happy, and I am only one person. wsbuthebuzzworthy.com 3 You Want it Darker: A Year of Death in Music -Dan leopold The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Donald Trump will become the next president. We all said “lit” a little too much. By all accounts, 2016 was a strange year. Though, when considering all the music legends that died in the past twelve months, 2016 becomes a truly craptastic year of unparalleled proportions. The frst death hit hard. David Bowie, the timeless, gender-bending iconoclast, passed away Jan. 10 after a long and un-publicized battle with cancer. Not two days before, the legend released Blackstar, an amazing album in its own right transformed into an ultimate swansong delivered by music’s greatest provocateur. Separating Bowie’s death from the songs on the album is impossible. You understand the singer’s prescience about his impending death, especially with lyrics like “I know something is very wrong” and “look up here, I’m in heaven.” It’s a mandatory listen, if only to appreciate Bowie’s fnal sonic transformation. We were all still collectively reeling from the death of the thin white duke when news came around that Prince had joined him, on April 21. The enigmatic musician occupied a unique and rarifed perch in the industry. No one could touch his guitar playing in popular music. No one could be so simultaneously sexy and tender and endearing. No one could change their name to an unpronounceable “love symbol” and avoid all pretensions as effortlessly as he did. Whether it’s through the undeniable funky power of “I Wanna Be Your Lover” to the unmatched storytelling and use of metaphor on “Little Red Corvette,” Prince proves to any posthumous listener that he was probably the single coolest individual in the history of the universe. “No more!” we exclaimed. “We can’t handle much more!” But the universe didn’t listen. It laughed in our faces as it stripped us of Leonard Cohen on Nov. 7. Cohen seemed above popular music. His style wasn’t ever infuenced by trends. He never made a jazz or electronic album. He was simply Leonard Cohen, and he simply played Leonard Cohen’s songs. I think that level of artistic purity isn’t as appreciated anymore, especially when you consider how many different sounds Cohen’s fellow songsmith Bob Dylan displayed over the course of his career. Starting from his debut album, and perhaps best work, Songs of Leonard Cohen and continuing up through 2016’s phenomenal You Want it Darker, Cohen’s somber aesthetic explored life, relationships, death, religion and a lot more. And it always sounded like Leonard Cohen This doesn’t even take into account the deaths of other musical masterminds, like A tribe Called Quest emcee Phife Dawg or soul crooner Sharon Jones. Although the year’s been divisive, I think we can all agree in giv- ing a consummate “f*** you” to 2016. 4 December 2016 The Buzzworthy A Very Indie Christmas: -Lauren Zazzara This albumLesser is a fun and Known folksy compilation Holiday of well-known andAlbums original holiday tunes. Stevens enlists his guitar and his soothing voice for covers of favorites Sufjan Stevens - such as “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” “Hark! The Heralds Angels Sing” and “Songs FOr Christmas” “Silent Night.” But the best part of this album is the rather humorous names he has given to his original songs, the themes of which aren’t necessarily very merry. A personal favorite: “Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!).” This song is about a lover who considers Stevens to be inadequate and is constantly critical of him. He sings, “The bed that isn’t made/ The broken window shade/ The radiator’s on…/ You always tell me how / I could do so much better.” Although the lyrics are melancholy, the instrumentation is rather festive, with piano, acoustic and soft electric guitar and sleigh bells. Another great original song on the album: “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!” This song features a slightly twangy banjo-backing to some rather depressing lyrics: “Our father yells / Throwing gifts in the wood stove, wood stove/ My sister runs away.” But because Stevens also throws in some more upbeat and positive songs as well, the album is perfect for whatever mood you’re in, whether you’re feeling more like a friendly elf or more like a Scrooge. Completely switching gears, this album was produced by Death Row Death Row Records - Records, which created some of the best gangsta rap of the 1990s. The “Christmas on Death Row” album opens with “Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto” by Snoop Dogg, featuring Nate Dog, Daz Dillinger, Big Tray Deee and Bad Azz. The song begins in a fairly traditional holiday way: a sweet piano melody, bells, strings, etc. Around 40 seconds in, the beat drops. It’s a rather sad story; those in the ghetto can’t afford the materialistic holi- days. “Where do hungry and the needy –greedy’s got to eat? (But who cares?) / Life is so crucial and cold [it’s worse] for the children in this world they hopes and dreams can’t afford.” The album also features some Christmas classics, reinvented into soulful R&B hits, such as 6 Feet Deep’s cover of “Frosty the Snowman” and B.G.O.T.I.’s rendition of “O Holy Night.” This is a great album for a twist on traditional holi- day music, especially if you are a fan of the artists represented by Death Row Records.