Melissa Kacar

Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years? To celebrate the massive anniversary milestone of Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album being released, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite vinyl in my collection alongside the full album review I also shared. This is such a special album in Taylor's catalog, as it really is the foundation that all of it is built upon. It is such an underrated gem of her earliest work and showcases some of the earliest sparks of the generational talent she would go onto shape and refine with each subsequent release.  My vinyl copy of Taylor Swift  is the rarest and most valuable record in my collection, which I somehow managed to get not only for face value, but also completely by chance one day while randomly browsing online. I purchased it online sometime in late 2018 or early 2019 from Turntable Lab in New York City , alongside the gold Fearless Record Store Day pressing, which is another cherished piece in my collection. This editio...

Apart from the legendary artist she would become in the years that followed, Taylor Swift stands out as a true reflection of a young teenage girl simply trying to find her place in the world. In doing so, she ended up completely redefining the parameters of what country music could be and who it could be for. Not only did she help open country music to a new audience and new perspectives, but she also set the stage for young singer-songwriters to have a place within an industry that had long been closed off to them. Taylor Swift 's self-titled debut is one of the defining albums of the past twenty years, showcasing the earliest sparks of the generational talent she would go on to shape and refine with each subsequent release. So many artists who have debuted over the past two decades have been able to succeed because of the precedent Taylor set so early in her career. She created space for young women and girls' experiences to be heard and taken seriously in an industry that h...

If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power is a largely dark and brooding exploration of femininity, identity, body autonomy, and gender exploration beyond the framework of traditional stereotypes and conventions. There are many aspects of Halsey 's life that informed this conceptual project, but perhaps the most pertinent influence is their own path to motherhood. She has been very open about her health and fertility journey throughout her career, especially in bringing awareness to her endometriosis diagnosis and the miscarriages she has experienced. This album became a bold and honest confrontation of all that society and the world at large place on women, as well as the limitations of her own body as someone living with chronic illness. In January 2021, Halsey announced she was pregnant with her first child, and she gave birth just a month before the album was released. So much of this album is rooted in reclaiming autonomy over her body in the wake of illness, pregnancy, and the ...