Somewhere only we know

Part One

© Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko/ARS

The Black on Gray paintings were Rothko’s final series. Like the Brown and Gray works on paper, color has been extracted to a dark upper and a lighter lower section. Most striking is the painted white edge within which the composition is circumscribed. In all of Rothko’s earlier work the edges of his paintings folding around the stretcher had been meticulously painted. In marked contrast, the white surround of the Black on Gray paintings sharply demarcates the painted surface and collapses the pictorial space into a much flatter picture plane.

Previously, Rothko had used a mixture of rabbitskin glue and pigment to douse his canvases in a first layer of colour. The Black on Gray paintings, however, were primed with white gesso which shows through in various areas, further contravening any illusion of pictorial depth. Unlike the Brown and Grays, where the variations occur within a fixed format, the Black on Gray paintings substantially vary in size and orientation, each offering a completely unique exploration of scale and ‘weight’.

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summer is almost over ;-; but these 10 albums made this summer v special for me and i highly recommend all of them :)

10. Aminé - Good For You

I’m not a big fan of Aminé but this album proved that he’s not a one hit wonder and has a LOT of potential. the album is very colorful, at times it sounds like the band fun. made a rap album tbh. also i personally care a lot about album covers and they actually affect the way i judge & listen to music, and this cover art is absolutely one of my favorite album covers of the year as it perfectly visualizes how the music sounds.

9. Haim -  Something to Tell You

ok maybe this album is not as strong as their first album but it’s the most “dream-girl-californian” type album that I’ve heard in a very long time, it’s like a soundtrack for all these tumblr blogs dedicated to highly stylized pictures of California and California girls and it’s amazing.

8. Calvin Harris - Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1

honestly, i never expected to like this album as much as i do but it’s like literally the definitive American summer album. and like it’s like one of those albums that no matter how much they tried to fuck it up, they couldn’t make it any less good than it is with the list of artists that are featured on it. i mean Frank Ocean on the first fucking track?? and then the rest of the album being equally good? double amazing! “Faking It” is one of my fav song of the year despite the fact that i almost threw my headphone the moment i head Lil Yachty screech at the very end of it to compliment Kehlani, smh.

7. Brockhampton - Saturation

Kevin Abstract is amazing. American Boyfriend is an amazing album and Saturation is like Brockhampton’s take on that album and beyond. extremely fresh sounding, the rapping of every member is unique and exciting, the band knows their audience and so their lyrics resonate extremely well in a genuine way which makes the album very relatable for people in their late teenage years/early 20s.

6. Mura Masa - MURA MASA

the cover art is great but clearly a rip off of The Life of Pablo. but that doesn’t change the fact that Mura Masa is consistently amazing. despite releasing half of the album before the official release, the non singles - particularly “Who Is It Gonna B” , “Nothing Else!” and “Messy Love” - are phenomenal and it has such a London sound, and he even described the album as a love letter to London. every time I hear it, it makes me wanna move to London <3

5. Queens of the Stone Age - Villains

okay i can’t really judge this yet because i only listened to the shit quality leak, but MAN, even with that shit quality, this album fucking RIPS. less accessible and more experimental than “…Like Clockwork” and heavier too. lyrically and conceptually, though, it sounds like it comes from the same headspace that resulted in “…Like Clockwork” but this album to me is like a very epic epilogue to the previous album. “Villains of Circumstance” is a masterpiece and a strong contender for the best closing track of any album this year.

4. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

i’ve talked about this album before but the more rap albums i heard these past few months, the more amazing this album became for me. i mean just go listen to Mike Will Made-It’s new album (or any other generic trap album from 2017) and Big Fish Theory back to back, and the difference in production and atmosphere says it all.

3. Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy

i’ve also talked about this album before but this album this summer is what Blonde was last summer for me. it’s Tyler’s most defining work, and it only makes me excited to see how he will follow it up.

2. Lorde - Melodrama

this masterpiece soundtracked a lot of my sad & happy summer afternoons and nights. every time I listen to it, it reminds me what’s like to be 20 years old, and “Supercut” is the ultimate Lorde song ever tbh; amazing dance beat + intensely emotional lyrics. and that applies for most of Melodrama, every single emotion and feeling that Lorde expresses is actually felt.

1. Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Portrait Of Jamie Wyeth, 1976, Andy Warhol