47 CommentsIf you need a little something to accompany you on the walk to your next final, we have video evidence of people being talented at Columbia. Here’s “Empress,” the new music video from Morningsiders (a.k.a. a really cool band whose blurb is below). Enjoy! And maybe get inspired.
Morningsiders is Magnus Ferguson, Reid Jenkins, Robert Frech, Vladimir Bernstein, and Benjamin Kreitman. Initially a collaboration between Magnus (guitar/vocals) and Reid (fiddle/vocals), the band expanded in 2012 to include Rob (piano), Vlad (bass/vocals), and Ben (trumpet/drums/vocals). Their sound, a nuanced blend of bluegrass-inspired folk-pop, is the result of a collaborative songwriting process and draws from each member’s unique musical background. Morningsiders has played at the Sweet Chariot Music Festival, Pianos, Postcrypt Coffeehouse, and is the house opener for the Jenkins’ House Concert series. They are excited and humbled by the enthusiastic support from friends and fans, and hope that you enjoy their new video for “Empress.”
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47 Comments
@Twerkin Trina Ben, you make me wanna do really dirty things to you <3
@Susan Columbians are so damn talented!
@Anonymous i want punk rock
@Milo Scott OK I’ll be the only dissenting voice I guess, since this is a rare case of a student project getting too much praise instead of unwarranted criticism. I just really have one critique, albeit a big one.
Musically, there’s no denying it’s a competent + professional effort, and the band has a strong sound. All of these guys clearly have a lot of talent—the first time I heard that the harmony hit I was practically floored, and this is not a knock on them as a group, just trying to bring things down to earth a little bit here, as they inevitably continue to make music at Columbia.
The lyrics of this song are very very weak. Most of the lines make little sense (“be as you may”?) or are just rehashed from other folk tracks, which makes it a pretty shallow song altogether. I wish they had spent more time developing lyrics, it seems like they came up with a very complex violin/piano riff and there weren’t a lot of words that fit appropriately, hence the repetition of “ladyyy”. The opening riff is so impressive that the lack of substance was easy to-miss but on repeated listenings it becomes apparent it’s not A-level, but really B+.
Still, best of luck going forward and take my criticism with a grain of salt as I wouldn’t be saying this if the song wasn’t praised the way it has been these past few days.
@Dear Milo - Respectfully, I think you are a doofus. The lyrics are brilliant.
@Milo Scott @Dear Milo –: I can see how you can point to certain aspects of the song and say “this is really good” but any objective listener would probably tell you the lyrics are not sophisticated enough to match the band’s sophisticated sound. That’s probably a function of the lyrics a) not being thought out enough or b) being written after the music was already composed leaving the singer with very little breathing room. The title “Empress” is overly ambitious for a song with hackneyed lyrics like “if I should fall I really hope you call ’cause I’m not over you” I think even the band would own up to the fact the words are not “brilliant” even if most of the song is very solid musically.
@Milo Scott By the way I misheard the lyric “can’t just do as you may” which makes a lot more sense then hearing it as “be as you me”.
Does anybody know what he says after he sings “it’s all coming back” in the pre-chorus
@I asked Magnus “Dawn is when I see best”
@Anon Agreed with above and not with Milo ! We are in a studying scramble and are currently SO HAPPY THANKS TO THE MORNINGSIDERS !! GENIUS TRUE GENIUS ! Beirut + Johnny Cash + Cat Stevens + Bon Iver BUT BETTER
@question are these guys single/straight? does anyone know
@Sadness Pretty sure they all have boyfriends :(((
@The One Gay Morningsider Bahahahahaha yeah we do.
@Anonymous a more talented version of mumford and sons, yet not quite of monsters and men.
@haha i like it. usually hate bwog, but how can you hate this song?
@WOww SO MUCH SEX APPEAL (and talent) JAM PACKED INTO JUST FIVE GUYS
@Dan Mac This is pretty cool
@More music! And here’s another youtube video of Magnus and Reid performing “Lucy Anne”!
@More music! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtHlihMUMlU
@Lucy Anne @More music!: or Lucianne?
@SO GOOD Soundtrack to studying for finals.
@one word OBSESSED
@Rob Frech I’m glad Magnus and Reid talked me into playing with them last year… Thank you to everyone that has watched and shared this video! And thank you Magnus for writing a great melody and lyrics.
@Perpetual Skeptic I was all skeptical clicking on the video, but figured… what’s the worst that could happen?
Turns out it was awesome. Yay!
@Fun fact: Magnus and Rob are brothers of SigNu. (OMG A FRATERNITY) Just thought I’d put that out there, considering all the hate Greek life has been receiving on campus as of late. Go Morningsiders!
@this is really really FANTASTIC
congratulations you guys.
@Anonymous These guys have to open Bacchanal! It’d be better than the music we’ve had the past few concerts.
@Best Idea Ever Motion seconded.
@Jet Life Records @Anonymous: better than waves and big gignatic sure, but how dare you say that this is better than Curren$y’s set last year. Not only did Spitta rear it up himself, but he brought the Kush God along as a guest. These kids refer to themselves as the “Morningsiders” yet they have probably spent collectively less than 5 years in da heightz. Compare that to DZA who is from 116th and morningsidr and films videos n m-side park- see “russian roulette” with young roddy. Furthermore, DZA rocked galaxy foams on stage with curren$y. At one point, they were going for over $1000 on ebay. Lets be real tho – the kush god’s such an ny icon he probably got em for retail.
Best of luck to these kids, they do a good job for picking such a boring genre.
@Anonymous This is fantastic! My friend says that it’s like a combination of Mumford, Vampire Weekend, and Fleet Foxes, which is so accurate! You’re all of them put together in a cosmic explosion of awesomeness
@Thank you, Morningsiders After all the ridiculous comments on Bwog, it’s things like this that reaffirm my faith in Columbia. This song is actually phenomenal. Congrats to the Morningsiders and best of luck. You make this school that much more enjoyable and that much less stressful. Can’t wait until you’re famous.
Vampire Weekend part 2 (except better), anyone?
@Anon Beautiful!
@Anonymous Link to their soundcloud if you want to hear their other recorded song: https://soundcloud.com/wearemorningsiders
@Love It! Where can I download this track?
@download here https://soundcloud.com/wearemorningsiders/morningsiders-empress
@Anonymous https://soundcloud.com/wearemorningsiders/morningsiders-empress
@Antonio The soundcluod website no longer allows me to download it! Any idea where else I can get it?
@Fill this out https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dEt5dVg5bFRURGcxR3ZMNnNualA0aFE6MQ
@Anonymous Lovely song. Thanks guys.
@Anonymous This is awesome, both Ben and Vladimir lived on my floor freshman year and it was always great hearing them practice. I’m glad they are in a band together!
@Lubeen Great video, even better song
@I HAVE THIS ON REPEAT Wonderful, wonderful, song and video. I love having these talented men as my peers!
@Mm, dat 11/8, dem vocals You have TBB’s attention
@Anonymous This is great! Don’t actually know any of these folks, but I’m pretty impressed. If this were on Spotify, I’d put it on my playlist.
@Anonymous this is pretty gay.
@Anonymous where’s the video?
@Arvind what are you talking about?
@Lol Durty, Bwog. You durty.