Miguel Gonzales

Boston, Kansas City

Contributing Writer and Undergraduate Student at Freelance

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Articles

Listening Offline

1 month ago | thebubuzz.com | Miguel Gonzales

Ditch the streaming services and embrace tradition—as in bringing back traditional ways of discovering music. by Miguel GonzalesRecommendations feel artificial now. There’s no magic in having an algorithm suggest music based on what you listen to. That isn’t any fun. When someone says they’ve discovered a new artist, there are two ways to interpret their statement. One: they trudged through Google, browsed through Bandcamp, heard about an artist from a friend, or read a review they were persuaded by.
The Trap of Genre Labeling

Nov 14, 2024 | thebubuzz.com | Miguel Gonzales

My personal argument against pigeonholing artists to one genre by Miguel GonzalesWhy do we need to assume someone’s genre, let alone claim that some musicians, bands, or artists make only one type of music? The tendency to label music by genre is deeply ingrained in how we talk about and consume music. It’s an easy shorthand to say a band is rock, a solo artist is pop, or an ensemble is classical.
So Much Music, So Little Time

Oct 2, 2024 | thebubuzz.com | Miguel Gonzales

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of albums released each year. by Miguel GonzalesI didn’t have my brat summer. I had the MJ Lenderman singles that dropped over the summer playing repeatedly, along with some other newly released albums. Make of that as you will. Charli XCX had everyone and their mother by the throats with BRAT – my feed was flooded with brat green and profile pictures of mutual’s first names written in the brat font. Being brat was unavoidable.
One Flegacy: Patrick Flegel’s impact on underground rock

Sep 11, 2024 | dailyfreepress.com | Miguel Gonzales

About two years ago, I was fortunate enough to catch the Canadian post-punk band Preoccupations perform at The Sinclair. Before the concert began, I was busy observing the stage set-up. The stacked amplifiers and guitar pedals sitting on the stage made for cool eye candy. An electric guitar was placed flat on its back on a stool chair, while two vintage cardboard cutouts of Hollywood female actresses were displayed behind a microphone stand.
New Jersey shoegazers all under heaven drum up pillowy catharsis at Encore

Jul 31, 2024 | thepitchkc.com | Miguel Gonzales

It is no secret the shoegaze revival hit its stride over the last few years. Fresh new acts are multiplying in the ever-growing generation of shoegaze bands, left and right. The four-piece New Jersey band all under heaven is dubbed a central part of this new wave of shoegaze bands, carving a moment for themselves.
Miggy's Digest: Volume 1

Jul 12, 2024 | hazyalternatives.substack.com | Miguel Gonzales

A perfectly amateur logo for this personal column was created by yours truly. HousekeepingNobody asked me to make this. I wasn’t egged on to create a Substack, start a blog, or craft a fancy-looking newsletter. Though I receive compliments from close friends and family about my published articles, they haven’t convinced me enough to create one. That day has come, and now this Substack exists. There are many other ways to put the masses on things you love.
Chicago slam band Torture and Sacramento hardcore act Hoods deliver a punishing beatdown at Howdy

Jun 26, 2024 | thepitchkc.com | Miguel Gonzales

Across the block from the industrial setting where Howdy is located, a line of semi trucks buzz by Stadium Drive with multiple trucks strapped tight onto their bodies. An old man drives by with a pile of ripped tire rubber in the back of a gray truck, swerving off in the distance in the direction of train tracks. It is humid, the sun looming in and out through the gray clouds.
Outside the box: R&B’s experimentalist embrace

Apr 18, 2024 | dailyfreepress.com | Miguel Gonzales

I was completely obsessed with Justin Timberlake’s music as a kid. There’s no exaggeration about it, I can admit that his old material still has a soft spot in my heart. You know the shelf of random, eclectic CDs that sit in front of the entrance of a thrift store? My mother bought one, specifically a compilation of 2000s R&B hits. She played the compilation in the car — a compilation so fitting in the humid, summer afternoons of downtown Kansas City.
America’s shoegaze explosion: A brief timeline

Apr 4, 2024 | dailyfreepress.com | Miguel Gonzales

Hearing my bloody valentine’s “Loveless” for the first time was life-changing. The crushing and viscerally disorienting guitar tones along with the dreamy vocals changed my perception of what rock music could be. Cuts like “Sometimes” and “When You Sleep” still resonate with me, both as equally riveting and evocative as when I first listened at 15 years old.
AMBIENT’S EVOCATIVE FUTURE

Mar 21, 2024 | thebubuzz.com | Miguel Gonzales

An immersive sound spearheaded by Huerco S., mineralism’s unique, earth-like sound redefines ambient music. By Miguel GonzalesAmbient music has had a major resurgence in the 2020s. The concept of playing “background music” has risen in popularity — blissful melodic drones and brown noise songs are now widely available to listeners.