january music picks

1. Surprise Yourself Jack Garratt
2. Say You Won't Let Go James Arthur
3. Castle on the Hill Ed Sheeran
4. Love On The Brain Rihanna
5. Rockabye (feat. Sean Paul & Anne Marie) Clean Bandit
6. Down Marian Hill
7. Trouble Cage The Elephant
8. Tear In My Heart Twenty One Pilots
9. On Our Way The Royal Concept
10. La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

These are the songs that I blasted on my way to school or driving home after watching basketball games.

Oh, and if you don't have Spotify, what are you doing? It's perfect for music explorers.

La La Land (2016)

I've now seen La La Land twice in theaters.

I can't think of the last movie that's made me feel the way La La Land did. I didn't know what I was getting into; I hadn't even seen the full trailer before watching the movie. All I knew was that Damien Chazelle's recent feature film had won more Golden Globes than any single movie in history and I had to see it.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone perfectly capture this modern twist on a 20's and 30's style movie. Gosling's character made me fall in love with jazz and vintage city attractions; Stone's character made me want to change my entire wardrobe and move to L.A. to become an actress. I laughed and even came close to tears. 


I will say I had a few flashbacks to The Notebook when the characters of Gosling and Stone bickered over the future of their relationship.

Other than that, everything about La La Land is cinematically brilliant. The title itself captures three different themes: obviously, the musical aspect; the setting in L.A.; and the dream-like atmosphere of the movie. If you like musicals, or can appreciate tasteful melodies, the music in La La Land will capture you immediately. I'm sad to say that my generation is losing taste in good music, when all I hear these days is what seems like the same trap music over and over again. However, La La Land beautifully appeals to any audience musically and visually.

In my opinion, La La Land will expand the musical world for my generation and others to come.

If you're interested in seeing the film thought up in 2010 by Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz during their senior year at Harvard, don't miss La La Land; and if you have the chance, watch it in theaters for the full cinematic experience.