rant time!

kpop reaction content isn't exactly new (at least as far as I know) but it does seem to have kind of boomed in the last... two-three years I think. I remember there being only a handful of relevant kpop reaction content creators on youtube, some more popular that the others, but still there weren't a ton of them around. and I guess it makes sense because kpop itself has gotten much more popular and widely known outside of just [REDACTED] and among a wider age range I'd say.

but nowadays if you look up “X group - Y title track reaction” you will find tens, if not hundreds of reaction videos (especially if its a well known group) ranging from channels with hundreds of thousand subs to small account with a couple of hundred views on their reaction videos. and I just find that so weird.

like... especially for channels that do reactions as their main (and only) content, I find it extremely difficult to believe that after a certain point there is any authenticity behind these reactions. these big reaction channels are out there reacting to damn near every relevant kpop group's comebacks (and there are a LOT of them) and every single reaction is generally positive and often very enthusiastic.

aside from the fact that logically and statistically it's impossible for someone to like every title track being released, even if they're all objectively good (which they're not), because no one likes every genre and every style of music, there is basically no creativity involved in creating this type of content which makes it very dull both for the creator and the consumer after a while.

on top of that, this type of content has created a really toxic environment around expressing opinions and criticism toward kpop groups and kpop music. I just came across a video from one of these bigger (while also being newer) creators talking about how she's not happy with the content she's been making for the past year. she said that it's extremely overwhelming trying to keep up with every comeback when everyone expects you to react to their fave's CB and after a while sitting and reacting to music videos becomes repetitive especially when you're not even allowed to truly be yourself and express your opinions. she said she can't even talk about having a bias in a group because she would get tons of hate comments and dms about ppl bashing her for not having a different bias. I can't imagine how people would react to a reaction video creator saying she doesn't like a comeback or even a certain element in the song/mv.

I used to love kpop reaction videos back when I had just discovered them and they were not as big. like I genuinely get the appeal. seeing someone who's not a teenage girl (which is what stereotypically the general public thinks kpop stans are) is pretty validating. and back then there were like 'vocal coach reacts' or 'producer reacts' etc. seeing the reaction of "experts" analyzing different parts of a song/mv was really interesting for someone like me with zero knowledge of any of the technical stuff. and I also understand that they do contribute to promoting groups and comebacks to a certain degree. but it has just gone too far, in my opinion.

idk maybe I’ve just gotten old and lost the will to enjoy the small things that used to bring me joy but I genuinely don't enjoy reaction videos anymore. most of those older 'exerpts' (except for two I think) aren't active anymore (I'm guessing at least to some degree bc stans didn't want to hear that their fave was not that legendary of a vocalist or their fave song wasn't as layered and complex as they thought it was) and instead there are just random people reacting to kpop and some of them you can just tell that all their reactions are completely faked out. Youtubers are jumping on this trend bc it’s easy (in terms of not having any kind of real substance) and gets u good views if you’re a little charming and funny.

TL;DR : everything is fake and authenticity is dead. kdjfdjf I'm mostly joking but in the end, as per usual with my rants of this kind, I don't have a specific point or a solution. I'm just starting a conversation. so if any of you have something to add or just want to chat about this send me an ask!! (plz don't reply in the comments because I want this to be on my dash so everyone else can read too.)

Support Palestinian Musicians & Artists :

Here is a list of Palestinian musical artists, musical groups & bands, to make it easier for you to stop supporting musicians and artists who support genocide and occupation…

Faraj Sulieman : a solo musician who makes musical works that are very piano & jazz infused with a hint of rock n’ roll. He has performed in many countries in Europe and the Middle East. He has released 10 albums in the last 10 years, one of them being a children’s musical album called “Faheem” that found major success with the voices of the 2 kids, Faheem Abu Hilu and Hala Qassis, that were very dominant in the album alongside the sound of classical piano played by Faraj Sulieman himself. He also made the soundtrack for the Palestinian movie “200 meters” directed by Ameen Nayfeh. (Recommended Works : Better Than Berlin / Second Verse / Upright Piano)

DAM : a rap band founded in 1999 by the 2 brothers Tamer and Suhel Nafar along with their friend Mahmoud Jrere, the 3 rappers who came out of the city Lod [a mixed city that has indigenous Palestinian citizens & zionist Israeli settlers] make songs mostly about the inequality in the authorities’ treatment towards Palestinians, and songs criticizing the Palestinian society living in occupied territory under the Israeli Government… They primarily rap in Arabic, yet they sometimes use English & Hebrew as well. In recent years the female artist Maysa Daw has joined the band replacing Suhel Nafar and adding a feminine perspective to the band’s niche. It’s also important to mention that DAM was the first ever hip-hop band in the entirety of the Middle East. (Recommended Works : Ben Haana Wa Maana / i don’t have freedom)

Tamer Nafar : as mentioned before, he is a Palestinian rapper and actor and one of the founding members of DAM. Besides his works with DAM he also produces music under his own name, sometimes collaborating with various Palestinian & international artists. He also participated in making the soundtrack for the film ‘Junction 48’. (Recommended Works : The Beat Never Goes Off / Johnnie Mashi)

Maysa Daw : a solo musician, singer & songwriter, and as mentioned before the freshest and newest member of the band DAM, and a member of the newly formed female group called Kallemi, She was featured in Vogue Arabia 2019 as one of 5 Arab stars setting the world of art, culture and entertainment. She is also the daughter of the actor and director Salim Daw. (Recommended Works : Asli Barri / Between City Walls)

47SOUL : a group of four men who are all originally from Palestine that have created a new music genre called “Shamstep” which is an electronic dance movement mixed with the sound of Palestinian & Middle Eastern folklore. The musical group was formed back in 2013, and since then they’ve become pioneers in that unique style of theirs and have been on tours all over the world from the US to the UK and of course the Middle East. They’ve performed in NPR’s tiny desk in 2019 which helped them gain even more international recognition. (Recommended Works : Shamstep / Semitics / Shireen)

El far3i : he is a Palestinian-Jordanian rapper, singer, songwriter, and percussionist. He is currently a member of the Shamstep band 47Soul, and was formerly a member of the Arabic rock band El Morabba3. He started his career in 2012, and has since released six solo albums. (Recommended Works : Tghayarti)

Shabjdeed : Straight out of the restless town of Kufr Aqab, Palestine, emerged a talent by the name of Abu Othaina. With his controversial takes and raw skills Shabjdeed was an instant addition to the Palestinian rap scene. After gaining traction from his self-titled track, he caught the attention of Al Nather, a local producer, and worked with him to create the alter-ego Shabjdeed; an act that can easily be considered one of the most influential and popular in the region. The duo developed their own niche dark hip-hop and trap style combining Shabjdeed’s nihilistic and daringly personal delivery style with Al Nather’s colourful and rhythmic instrumentals. From the beginning they have been able to build a dedicated fanbase, grossing over 1.5 million total streams on Soundcloud across two years whilst only relying on word-of-mouth advertisement. The duo have created together a record label and named it BLTNM Records which was brought to it’s biggest success with the release of Shabjdeed’s first full length album called “Sindibad el Ward”. And today Shabjdeed’s music is the modern voice for not only the Palestinian revolution, yet for the entire revolution in the Middle East caused by youth that dream of a better future and go against their capitalist and money hungry governments. (Recommended Works : Fi Harb / Aadi / inn ann / Ko7ol w 3atme)

Daboor : A Jerusalemite rapper to the bone, Daboor’s debut single “Liter Black'' was released in 2020 to much fanfare and critical acclaim. His unique style and raw talent cemented his status in the rap scene and he was soon signed to BLTNM Records. Daboor’s words touch on the violence of the occupation, and his delivery mimics it with brutal bursts of staccato. (Recommended Works : Inn Ann / Dolab)

Lina Makhoul : an independent American-born Palestinian singer-songwriter & producer. She was raised in the city of Acre in occupied Palestine since the age of 4 and according to her she has showed interest in music and dance since a young age. She started her career in 2012 and has since released 1 full length album as well as a number of hit singles, She also opened for Queen+ Adam Lambert in 2016 and toured with Little Mix in 2017. (Recommended Works : Shway Shway / Fish Masari / 3 sneen)

Elyanna : a Palestinian-Chilean singer-songwriter who started her career in 2018 and has since released 1 full length album and a number of singles, and she has collaborated with artists with significant recognition such as Massari. She performed in Coachella 2023 to become the 1st ever Middle Eastern & Palestinian artist to perform in Coachella in Arabic. (Recommended Works : Ana Lahale / Ghareeb Alay)

Noel Kharman : She is best known for doing mashup covers where she mixes Middle Eastern and Western music, creating a unique bridge between these two worlds through her powerful and angelic voice. She started her career on Youtube with covers of viral songs, but her big breakthrough happened in 2015 when she published her first mash-up cover which was a mix of ‘Hello’ by Adele with Fairuz. The cover went viral overnight and since then, she became an instant internet sensation. The cover has gained over 30 million views on YouTube. Today she has released many songs of her own after being signed to a record label and has collaborated with various artists and went on tour in many cities in the Middle Eastern region. (Recommended Works : Ya Lali)

The Synaptik : This Palestinian-Jordanian artist based in Palestine started making music at the age of 17. The Synaptik studied medicine for 7 years and graduated. His stage name is derived from his fascination with the nervous system, neurotransmitters and his personal experience with ADHD, which led to calling himself The Synaptik: “…because that’s where things happen.” The Synaptik has pioneered a new wave of sound for the Arab youth. His honest and potent lyrics are highlighted by his songwriting style that merges singing and rapping effortlessly. With a tsunami of a first album under his belt, dozens of local, regional, and international shows and a much-anticipated second album, The Synaptik has cemented his status as one of the pillars in the Hip Hop scene in the region. The Synaptik has collaborated with numerous artists from all over the Middle East such as rap superstars Abyusif, Wegz, Marwan Mousa, Chyno with a Why?, Shabjdeed and more. (Recommended Works : Sabelek)

Apo & The Apostles : Apo & the Apostles started out late 2013 in Jerusalem-Bethlehem with their first release in March 2014. Since then, they've been taking their music to whoever and wherever they are welcomed. The band is known for their energetic performances that turn to parties and after-parties. (Recommended Works : Baji Wenek)

Jensen Ackles Solo Panel | JIBCon 2023 (June 17, 2023)

(NuttyForAckles)

Jensen was headbanging to Smells Like Teen Spirit with Jason, then mentioned that he has that "writer‘s strike hair flow". (x)

jensen will be at the monday concert (x)

‘Take the guitar away, I’ll just sing on Monday!’ (x)

Monday‘s band will be called "No Rob". (x)

Jensen has always wanted to go to Brazil. But when he finally got there, they had so much work to do that he had to stay in the hotel and he never left. He didn’t get to meet locals or see anything. In his mind he hasn’t been there yet. (x)

His prep for Beau Arlen & Ben? Since he didn’t have the history he had with Dean, he had to dig into personal feelings. (x)

Jensen has a major short term memory to learn lines but his long term memory isn’t as good. He has intense scenes and then purges the feelings. (x)

As Beau, he took what he’d feel if the things were happening to his daughter and then tailored it a bit. A lot of Dean was him. As Soldier Boy, for the scene with Butcher about his dad, he dove into Dean and John, because he has a good relationship with his dad. (x)

And in the end he just pretended. Some people can do it and some can’t. Some can paint, some can write, some can do Math. He can’t draw a stick figure, but he can *play* (x)

Dean and Soldier Boy were both just looking for their father’s approval. Jensen jokes that he wondered if he was being type cast. Ben had an opportunity to make it better with his son & grandson, but in the end he reverted back to his DNA. (x)

jensen said that for emotional scene he filmed for soldier boy (about soldier boy's father) he leaned into dean's relationship with john (because jensen has good rs with his own father) (x) he joked about getting type casted for characters with basically daddy issues (x)

Jensen and Jared have both been invited to Hot Ones and wanted to do it years ago, but they couldn’t work it out. And now they have stars so big, he probably won’t get invited anymore. (x)

someone asked about the rumors about batman and jensen was like “i don’t know” “even i know about it i’m not telling you” and he started laugh. (x)

What about being in a top 3 list to play Batman? He doesn’t know, but even if he would know, he wouldn’t tell us. Could he do it? Sure. Does he want to? Yes. (x)

‘When I’m Batman, does my voice have to be… much different?’ (x)

Musical interruption. Jensen is confused and wants to keep answering questions. (x)

The music indicated that he had to spin the wheel. It lands on “drink” and he hugs the wheel, “it’s like it knows me”. He doesn’t actually pour one though but goes back to answering. (x)

(NuttyForAckles)

There were many scenes surrounding the Impala where Jensen had to become Dean and he’d yell at the team when they were driving it or when Jared banged against the car or fart in it. “Not on the seat, she’s been through enough.” So he knew he had to own the car. (x)

One of his old friends got offered Eric Brady on DooL and he called Jensen before accepting. Jensen said “great, knock it out of the park.” (x)

Apparently Mr Rhodes, his first job, was a multicamera sitcom. It was the best schedule he’s been on so far. Soap Opera is next because they have 40+ actors. They will shoot all 80 pages his character has consecutively, shoot an hour or two. They produce one episode in 1hr (x)

You start by 9 am and get a few short breaks, end of the day, 7:30 pm, 80 pages done and he can go home. Daytime actors don’t get enough credit for having to jam in so much story in a short time. On The Boys they get 15 days for 1 episode. (8 on SPN). (x)

One of the actresses on DooL told him first day „hit your mark, say your lines, stay out of my light“. He said „yes ma’am“, earned her respect and she took care of him big time later. (x)

When he went to lunch with Alison Sweeney, who played his evil twin sister, she got heckled and Jensen defended her immediately. She told him to stop because if people hate her, that means she‘s doing her job. (x)

Rich tells us that Jensen is a sitcom and he has his own catchphrase. He plays Jensen entering the set at morning or any room late. "What are we doing?" He has developed a special greeting with Richard out of it. (x)

(NuttyForAckles)

Jensen spend several birthdays in Brad Creasser‘s house, with his wife cooking him dinner. He‘s a good friend of Richard‘s too. Rich acts out a scene on set one day and Jensen is in tears. (x)

When Jensen walked on set of Big Sky, he also went "What are we doing?" Nobody answered, so he repeated it louder. (x)

(Julie_Fleming)

Did a bit of research on Diego Luna’s Kiss of the Spider Woman movie, currently filming. Putting some little factoids behind the cut because there are minor spoilers.

Honestly: I'm super excited.

They are filming in New Jersey (Elizabeth, to be precise).

They are filming in April and May.

They are expected to be done by mid-June, as JLo starts her concert tour at the end of that month.

The movie is updated slightly to take place in Buenos Aires in 1981 during/after the Dirty War. (The novel took place in 1975.)

Diego is playing Valentín Arregui Paz, the role made famous in the last version of the film by Raúl Julia.

Valentín is a Marxist political prisoner.

Valentín has less solo songs than the other main characters, but still does quite a bit of singing.

Valentín spends a lot of time recovering from torture and beatings inflicted on him by his jailers. He is a bit of a morally grey character (I’m intrigued to see what choices they make in this go-round).

Tonatiuh plays Molina, a hairdresser jailed for "corruption of a minor" (usually read as having a relationship with a younger man, though in the past Molina has also been portrayed as fairly young — the homosexuality is more the crime than the age difference).

JLo plays Aurora, an actress Molina has been obsessed with for years and who gets him through his imprisonment via his fantasies/imagination of her roles and her power.

Molina and Aurora are the main narrators of the film and carry the most musical numbers.

Diego is an Executive Producer on the film (along with JLo and her team; Ben Affleck; and Matt Damon).

There's no expected release date just yet, but likely aiming for an early 2025 premiere.

I was thinking about the Harry Styles/ Ben Winston CBS sitcom, Happy Together.

When I was a Larrie, the show seemed like a vehicle to erase any trace of Louis: the show was saying, Harry and Louis never lived together; Harry always brought girls back to the Winston attic to bang (or as Ben Winston heavily hinted in the GQ Australia interview, Taylor Swift hung out nude in his kitchen).

In retrospect, the show was HSHQ’s transparent myth-making propaganda. Its purpose was to establish the myth that One Direction might have been a passing teen fad, but Mr. Harry Styles was the real deal, the rock ‘n roller, the genuine It Boy, the natural star. He was the looker, the talent, the charisma. He carried it all; the rest were hangers-on.

[btw this strategy is still HSHQ’s modus operandi, and most of the public bought it hook, line, and sinker.]

Unfortunately, Ben Winston’s hamhanded incompetence with the show’s storytelling crippled any chance of popularity with the general public, and of course 1D fans hated this myth (Harry’s fandom was still majority OT5 and Larries back then).

But they tried. How they tried!

Harry had the urtext rock journalist, Cameron Crowe, writing his first Rolling Stone cover story. Rob Sheffield and Shirley Halperin followed up. Harry had one of the decade’s biggest and most accomplished producers, Jeff Bhasker, lushly delivering a blend of Laurel Canyon/ White Stripes lite sound for his first album (Harry’s fandom still can’t tell that HS1 was a complete Rock Lite ripoff). Bhasker invented Harry’s protean musical taste.

The old money men behind Harry Styles tried to fabricate a rock star legend before there was any actual product. They tried to establish the bandleader-boyband-breakout myth before Harry had released a single solo song. Eight months before Harry’s first single, he was interviewed by Sir Paul McCartney, an actual living legend with sixty years of music lore behind him, as if they were already on par.

And yet…

And yet…

Harry just couldn’t land it. He just didn’t have it in himself, not without the hoopla, without the window dressing, without hands inside the puppet moving the wooden parts. He couldn’t get the big awards or sufficient numbers his first round. Harry failed. He was an embarrassment. He couldn’t do it until Louis was sidelined for two years, and Zayn disappeared from media, and Liam’s mental health destroyed.

With dramatic irony, the go-ahead for Happy Together was discovered on the same day (July 14, 2018) that Louis made his Twitter video, announcing he would be a 2018 X Factor judge, and specifically mentioning that this would, in no way, interfere with his musical career. What an interesting, transparently sad way to announce a judging gig.

What an interesting coincidence, as well, that Louis’ very first solo interview was with Dan Wootton, back in 2017, specifically for the purpose of denying Larry— a fact that Wootton heavily promoted. This took precedence over the discussion of Louis’ solo music, his album, his tour, One Direction dirt, his personal history— of anything else, really.

Denying Larry is something that Harry Styles has never done. Not once in 13 years. (Interesting, as well, that Harry had to do an interview with Wootton for the release of HS1, but neither audio nor video were ever released.)

What an interesting coincidence that when offered the chance, during the Cooper Lawrence interview for Sweet Creature, Harry clumsily tried to play both sides instead of denying Larry. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. It took him six full years to explicitly dedicate it to his sister. Six years! Baiting his fans is far more important to Harry than Gemma ever will be lol.

What an interesting coincidence that Jeremy O. Harris tagged Harry in the infamous Euphoria episode depicting Larry fanfiction, which made Louis angry enough to tweet about his lack of consent, yet Harry stayed silent. Throwing Larry, and by extension Louis Tomlinson, as fresh meat for Harry’s fetishizing, fantasizing, mostly heterosexual female fans was, and is, a major HS marketing strategy.

I think about Harry’s new-found “best friend” Mitch Rowland, the pizza-parlour story sticking around long enough for Harry’s fans to forget he had 1D bandmates, about Harry’s never mentioning 1D except as “the band,” his mocking tone calling Zayn “Ringo.” “They’re not here, are they?” he had said smugly, triumphantly on SNL, “I am.”

I think about Harry’s statement that making his first album in Jamaica was the “happiest” he had ever been in his career. About Sir Paul McCartney “interviewing” Harry in 2016 (for Another Man) as if Harry were already in the pantheon of legends.

In 2023, Harry’s 1D bandmates are supposed to be gone and buried because they are no competition whatsoever for his natural genius, the entertainment supernova, the quadruple threat to music and movies and stage and television, this one-man theme park, a soulful poet and universal gift to womankind. One Direction was supposed to be just a back story for Harry, the way NSYNC was for Justin Timberlake (the parallels), or The Police for Sting, or Fleetwood Mac for Stevie Nicks (same management tricks).

[And yet, despite the industry shutting him out, despite BBC Radio pretending he doesn’t exist, or Billboard’s misleading headlines, or Greg James saying fans bring tomatoes to throw at his concerts, or Roman Kemp making fun of Louis and 1D, despite Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and many other media outlets never reviewing an album that debuted No. 1 in the UK and No. 5 in the USA, despite all of that, Louis Tomlinson has survived. He’s made it. He is an industry presence. He’s thriving, with indie artists and bands appreciating his generosity and genuine support. Louis’ opinions and person are respected. Fans pay attention to what he has to say. Critics can no longer ignore his actual value. His judgment has weight. He has gravitas, personality, intelligence, creative talent. And most important to the music industry— Louis brings with him a big fanbase, and the potential for impressive revenue.]

In retrospect, the contortions Harry went through to be an entertainment juggernaut are both gristly and amusing. His chosen personal friends: James Corden, Ellen Degeneres, Kim Kardashian, Rande Gerber, Irving and Shelly Azoff, Lizzo, Jann Wenner so influential in rock journalism— embody a list of the most entitled, narcissistic, abusive traits of the Hollywood rich, but Harry, famously, habitually, lamentably— stays silent. He sides with the abusers and colonizers, because that’s where the money and fame are.

Has it been worth it for him? Harry is certainly one of the most famous entertainers in the world at the moment, surrounded by hype, desired by millions, someone every media outlet wants to interview. His career is lava hot, yet in the midst of this glory, Harry’s story is built on a core of brutality and cruelty, underhanded behavior, an amoral, depthless hunger for fame, transparent sexism and misogyny, a willingness to smear colleagues and partners on his way to the top, good old classism, a talent for politicking and sucking up to power, and an unblinking drive to steamroll everything and everyone in his way. And his worshipful, gullible, obsessive fanbase often imitate Harry Styles’ ethos. His H/Larrie fans have persistently tried to snuff out solo Louis fans and paint Harry as a victim. Multiple Tumblr, Twitter, IG Harrie accounts follow Louis’ every move and stalk solo Louies and Larries by the second. They attacked Liam Payne to an extent that made him feel suicidal. Harry is still young, but has the face and body language of a middle-aged industry player. How long can he be sustained by negative, rather than positive, motivators for his work? How much is enough for him? For a person who craves to be loved (his TPWK motto is aimed mostly at himself), how long can Harry Styles be satisfied with a manufactured, datamined, inauthentic, pretentious façade of a life, where his every thought and action are aimed toward marketing?

In retrospect, Harry has achieved everything he set out to achieve, and seems very happy with the bed he made for himself. One can argue that nothing is consequential in the world of some celebrities except fame, wealth, and power. We know so little about their motivations other than a tiny fraction of the outcomes of their actions. But we do see this fraction, and the fractions add up over time, no matter the data scrubbing and the Google search manipulations and the second-to-second Columbia Records datamining. One Direction is old history, which also means there are lots of fans who have been here forever, and 1D fans do not forget.

Whatever history has in store for Harry, it can never change Harry himself. Throughout his solo career, Harry has made a habit of passing off other people’s work as his own, conflating personal and business relationships, and siding with oppression and greed. That is a truth— good or bad— he’ll have to live with.

Can someone please translate into English? 🙏

Hello dear anon, here's a translation of the interview. I used deepl as usual and made some changes to fit the messages Richard wanted to convey better. The interview was published on the 2nd of December, 2018.

Here's the german link again as the interview source and comparison for the german-speaking folks:

Richard Z. Kruspe presents his third album as part of the band project - Till Lindemann contributes vocal part

On November 30, Rammstein guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe released his third solo album "A Million Degrees" (Universal) as part of the band project Emigrate. Among others, Till Lindemann, Ben Kowalewicz (Billy Talent) and Cardinal Copia (Ghost) are represented with vocal contributions on it. Christiane Wohlhaupter spoke with the 51-year-old about the collaboration with the singers, his daughter and the interaction with Rammstein. They say all good things come in threes. Do you have this thought in mind for your third album as well?

I used to say that I would make three albums with Emigrate. But in the meantime I can also imagine a fourth one. Maybe in a different constellation, maybe in a completely different musical environment. I've been thinking about how it would be if I were to write a purely electronic album. Or an album with a completely different singer. As long as the world of Rammstein exists, there will probably also be the world of Emigrate. Emigrate puts me in a good balance to let off steam musically. From the age of 50, you also generally think about: Where does life still want to take me? Is there something else that could inspire me? Or just music? I think to myself, maybe there is also a completely different challenge. Creation can also be found elsewhere - perhaps in film. I'm a cineaste who watches two or three films a day. What was the last film that really excited you? So about a year ago, "Fences" with Denzel Washington. I went to the movies last week and saw "Bohemian Rhapsody" and was a little disappointed because I thought it was a Queen movie.

But then it was more like a Freddy Mercury movie ... Yes, the others came a bit too short. If I had known that from the beginning, I might have gone in with a different expectation. What's the story behind "A Million Degrees"? The basic idea comes from 2015, from the time when I was completely burned out for the first time in my life. Hence this text "A Million Degrees." This state then changed when I rewrote the album. I thought about how "A Million Degrees" could be represented visually and came up with the idea that you can also understand it geometrically with the degrees. This versatility, these "Million Degrees" - exaggerated - is what Emigrate is all about.

One of your guest vocalists on the album is Cardinal Copia from Ghost. How did this collaboration come about in the first place? The meeting came about for a completely different reason. We were looking for a producer at Rammstein. I actually wanted to ask Cardinal Copia about a producer. He then said, "I'll be in Berlin next week, let's meet." I asked him if he was interested in a collaboration, and he said he didn't do that on principle. I asked him anyway if he wanted to hear the song I was thinking for his voice. And then when he heard it, he was like, "I'm in, I'm in." He was completely influenced by the music. That's what makes it fun for me, to work with so many artists. I don't have that in my Rammstein world.

Someone who was also influenced by the music was Serj Tankian. He said about "War", the song you thought of for him, that your voice would fit much better. Will you write another song that fits his voice better?

No, I don't work that way. I write first, and then the song tells me where it wants to go. The song takes on a life of its own. It's like cooking. You have to taste it. And with the song, you have to listen very carefully. So you didn't think of Till Lindemann when you wrote "Let's Go"?

That's another story. This song was already created at the time when Till and I wanted to do something together - ages ago. The original idea of Emigrate was, Till and Richard want to do this together. The other bandmates didn't like that, so we put it on hold. But there was the idea of this song - with a different lyrical statement. I then rewrote it again, because this very, very intense time after the fall of the Wall came in mind, when we commuted between Berlin and Schwerin. That was such a wild time.

You dedicated the song "You Are So Beautiful" to your daughter Maxime. What does she think about it? She doesn't take it so seriously at seven years old - maybe that will come later. We shot a video for the song together in Los Angeles. That was a risk, of course, and there was some thought about shooting it with another child. But she did a great job. With Emigrate, I also live out the personal-emotional part. Something I don't do at all with Rammstein. How well can you reconcile rock star life and father duties?

I think the majority of artists generally struggle with themselves. And the majority of artists realize at some point that they can write better under the influence of pain. Of course, there are moments when you enter that zone as an artist. I don't think you can cut that out completely, and a child always feels that, too. My daughter is with me one week and then with her mother the next week. So I live that out in the week that she's not with me. I'm a very moody person, my mood changes sometimes by the hour. But she has such a fun character - it just melts you. I became a father for the first time at 23, and I'm a father now at 50. That's when I gained a certain maturity and experience. Taking the family on tour - we don't do that with Rammstein as a matter of principle. That would be another experience. To what extent does your musical work with Emigrate affect Rammstein? In the past, it was completely separate. Now things are merging - and I think "War" would have fit Rammstein as well. A lot of ideas that come out on Rammstein now were Emigrate ideas - although I actually make sure that Emigrate sounds different. But, of course, you can't split yourself completely. But because there are also five other strong individuals in Rammstein, it's not that noticeable.

Today is the day we've been waiting for. Geddy Lee has released two demos in a double-A single entitled Lost Demos. (Available where ever you consume music). They were originally written and recorded for his solo record My Favourite Headache. They were shelved. People were first able to hear them in the audio version of his memoir My Effin' Life. Here is what Geddy said. I'm excited to see these 2 'lost demos' released," said Lee in a press release. "I loved the songs when they were written and in some ways they feel as fresh and perhaps more relevant all these years later." In a recent interview on Out of the Box, Geddy spoke on both songs. "Gone" was written about just after the loss of Neil's daughter Selena. "When you lose somebody, you relive a lot of your other losses and I was thinking about how does one deal with a sudden disappearance of someone form your life especially a daughter. I wrote this song with Ben (Mink). It was the first song we wrote for My Favourite Headache and we demoed it, it just felt beautiful. I felt it was too raw, too close to the bone. I didn't think it was appropriate to relase it out of respect for Neil and the way he was. I didn't think it was right. So we shelved it." Geddy on "I Am... You Are." "The other one was a song we had left sort of incomplete, but most of it had been recorded. It was called "I Am... You Are." It was about relationships and about me in the midst of a difficult conversation with my wife which happened more then once in my life. I think the personal nature of that made it also something that I wasn't prepared to follow through with." One both songs. "Hearing them last year, when I discovered them again, I was like 'wow.' I was amazed how they stood up. So I asked my friend and part-time Rush producer, David Bottrill, to come in a have a listen to them. He came over, sat down, and loved them. He loved how raw they were and loved how honest he thought the vocals were. Very different from the other things that are on the album. He said 'just leave it with me. Let me play with them and see if I can clean them up without changing too much.' He didn't want to lose all. The gutiars are original, my vocals are original. They were done almost 24-years ago. We put now drums on it. Got a friend of mine to play drums on one song. Then we called Benny up, Ben Mink, and said, because David thought the song really needed a violin solo, and Ben is amazing. Ben is so amazing. He's like the Jeff Beck of violin and he pulled off a corker of a solo. "Anyway. He mixed them and sent them to me and I was really shocked. It really lifted me up and made me remember how much fun it is to make records." Geddy is a superb and wonderful human. Humble and genuine. Enjoy.

by all means pls just ramble about whatever you’ve currently been working on w kingdom come! personally i’ve been very intrigued by the record label side of things so i’d love to hear connections you have to the story w characters like harry and anita

lately i’ve been trying to piece together an overarching plot, something that lingers in the background throughout until its dragged out into the light. taking inspiration of course from the insane plot of sr1. so far i’m thinking that the following people are all involved in something: the DA (sharp’s father, bill), whoever’s supplying the carnales with drugs, a union boss (there are volatile strikes going on, protesting deindustrialisation and the closure of the city’s factories), chief of police, etc. it’ll probably occur to me in time, a eureka moment :3 for now i know that as the kings rise in notoriety, they become the target of those in power. angela takes the fall, ben gets freaked and swaps sides.

okay okay so !! when the cops start to crack down on the kings, ben realises he needs to start making moves to go (seemingly) legit. if kingdom come were actually a game, you’d be able to hear harry washington’s music on the radio, hear djs mention him being a stilwater native, hear them talk about how he wants to return to his home city to make his debut solo album. then he does! with ben king footing the bill! the news is kind of a surprise to jules who (though he likes to think himself ben’s partner) is kept mostly in the dark wrt ben’s plans. ben rents out a little space and some equipment and hooks up with harry, who has roots in sunnyvale. anita (her stage name, stylised in all caps) comes along with harry and spends time with angela. jules is not really involved with any of this, at this point it’s obvious to us that ben is treating him as an errand boy. ben and angela are hanging out with superstars, making music and going on shopping sprees, and he has to run around doing their dirty work? it’s one of many clues that things have strayed from their original purpose, that things are going to fall apart. it just provokes this feeling of alienation, that all of this is some kind of injustice.

some background info on harry: he left stilwater to join a male vocal group, inspired by motown and philly soul acts. even though the group isn’t named after him, he’s kind of the standout member, like a teddy pendergrass situation. so him going solo is highly anticipated, especially in his hometown where people burst with pride over him. harry returning to stilwater to reconnect with his roots and release an album with lyrics and sounds inspired by the city is a huge moment in the city’s music history, especially with its creation sparking the birth of kingdom come records, who would produce at least locally famous artists for years to come. harry is pierce’s uncle. pierce’s dad is a trained musician and played on most of harry’s albums and followed him on tour until he retired. shortly before sr1, harry calls in a favour with ben and gets pierce a job at kingdom come. pierce ends up joining the vice kings and the rest is history! well, in my canon anyway 😭 i just love adding richness to the world in my own way

Sly5thAve - Liberation - leading a whole orchestra on his new album

‘Liberation’ is the third solo LP from composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly5thAve. Layered with orchestral arrangements, jazz improvisation and Hip-Hop production, ‘Liberation’ is an accomplished record of courage, musical conviction, and growth. Known for his sophisticated compositions, Sylvester Uzoma Onyejiaka II AKA Sly5thAve’s first experiences with large scale arranging were with the Club Casa Chamber Orchestra and recording instrumental covers of popular modern songs. Notably, his orchestral tribute to Dr. Dre, ‘The Invisible Man,’ garnered widespread praise and attention, even earning the admiration of Dr. Dre himself. Through these recordings Sly5thAve felt he had found a way to make people connect with orchestral music; “I’ve long felt orchestras around the world are inaccessible to most people – whether it be the programming or the cost, or the location”. The LP is Sly5thAve’s first full album of original orchestral arrangements and features the musicianship of Sly5thAve’s collaborators and Ghost Note bandmates - headed by Snarky Puppy's multi-Grammy–winning percussion duo Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth, alongside previous collaborator Roberto Verástegui. MUSICIANS Sly5thAve – Bari Sax, Tenor Sax, Flute, Bass Clarinet, Aux Keys, Synth Bass, Drum Programming Roberto Verástegui – Keys (A1, B1, B3, C1, C3, C4, D2, D3) Todd M. Simon – Trumpets (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Robert “Sput” Searight – Drums (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Peter Knudsen – Guitar (A1, B1, B2, B3, C1, C3, C4, D1, D2, D3) Nate Werth – Percussion (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Jelani Brooks – Tenor Sax (A1) Michael Campagna – Trumpet (A1, B1, B2, C1, D1) Marío Cortés García – Contrabass (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Malik Taylor – French Horn (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Lemar Guillary – Trombone (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Jonathan Mones – Flutes & Sax (B1, B2, D1) Jay Jennings – Trumpet & Flugelhorn (A1, B2, B3, C1, C4, D2) Ibanda Ruhimbika – Tuba (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) MonoNeon – Bass (B3, C3, D2, D3) DominiqueXavier – Keys (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Domenica Fossati – Flute & Piccolo (A1, B1, B2, C1, D1) Dave Richards – Trumpet (B2, C4, D1) Daniel Wytanis – Trombone (B2, C4, D1) Ben Burget – Flutes, Clarinet & Alto Sax (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Antoine Katz – Bass (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) Alex Wasily – Trombone (A1, B1, B2, C1, C4, D1) MacKenzie – Vocals (C3) Kyle Rapps – Vocals (B3) STRINGS (A1, B1, B2, B3, C1, C4, D1, D2) Salomón Guerrero Alarcón – Cello Israel Torress Araiza – Violin Carols Roberto Gándara García – Violin Anna Arnal Ferrer - Viola

Peter Tork in the studio with Lowell George, Reine Stewart, Judy Mayhan, and others; photos by Nurit Wilde.

“Shortly after the [Factory and] Fraternity [of Man] party ended, [Lowell George] took on a job for Peter Tork of Monkees. Tork quit the group early in 1969 [ed. note: actually late 1968], was doing some teaching, formed a production company [ed. note: Breakthrough Influence Company (BRINCO)], and managed a folk singer, Judy Mayhan. One of his students was a cousin of Lowell’s, and Peter gave him a call, inviting him to help with the music for a demo for Atlantic Records. Mayhan got the deal, [but] Tork was soon out of the picture.” - Ben Fong-Torres, Willin': The Story of Little Feat (2013)

“I had a group called Release, which I couldn’t keep together because I didn’t know enough about management. [We recorded] just a few basement tapes. Actually they were attic tapes.” - Peter Tork, Goldmine, May 1982

“Tork did form a group after The Monkees, named Release, but none of the band’s records efforts managed to escape Tork’s hillside mansion practice room. ‘We recorded some demos,’ Peter says, ‘but I think they’re lost. It was just a garage band, no particular skill or charm. I also did a demo for Atlantic Records. Ahmet Ertegun gave me a session to see how I would do, but it wasn’t good enough.’” - Head 1994 liner notes

“Briefly last year I considered putting together a RELEASE forty years later retrospective article; it never happened, and I only got as far as speaking with Reine Stewart on the phone (I had also spoken with RELEASE 'fourth' member Judy Mayhan in 2002). According to Stewart, RELEASE were supposed to go to Muscle Shoals as the backing band for Judy Mayhan's Atlantic Records solo album (a record deal brokered by Peter Tork). I can't remember who she told me had kaiboshed this plan, possibly Ahmet Ertegun, whom she described as a longtime friend. Anyways, she expressed this with regret -- said the album would have been much better with her, Tork and Riley Wildflower backing her up (the album is still worthy of a listen -- I have a copy somewhere: Judy Mayhan Moments)...She also told me that Riley Wildflower died many years ago, so a full RELEASE reunion is not a possibility. Tork had denied the existence of RELEASE demo tapes as early as a 1982 interview in Goldmine; he had said that there had been ‘attic tapes,’ I recall, but when I asked Reine about this, she said they didn't use the attic but the main room in the house. She had planned to speak with Peter about these tapes' whereabouts...” - "djbh35," "The Peter Tork 1969/1970 Thread," Steve Hoffman Music Forums, July 19, 2010

More about Release here.

"These pictures are not from my sessions with Atlantic, for I recorded most of it in Mussel [sic] Shoals, Alabama...Rather they are pictures from sessions that Peter produced himself BEFORE I got that opportunity...and it was Peter that made that opportunity possible to begin with...He was a very important person in my life and did his best to guide me...Nurit Wilde is the photographer and sent me these originally. The reason I shared this [first] pic with you all is that Lowell George was one of the many musicians that were on these experimental sessions and even had a hand at the engineering hat in my memory, while playing many other instruments as well..tabla, sitar, and flute along with guitar and vocals...Peter told me many years ago that he had no clue as to what happened to all those recordings." - Judy Mayhan, via Forrest George on Facebook, February 21, 2019

Stuff I'm Looking Forward to in February

Can't believe we're now into the middle of the first quarter of 2024. In addition to Black History Month (2/1-2/29), Groundhog Day (2/2), Lunar New Year (2/10), Valentine's Day (2/14), Ash Wednesday (2/14), Presidents' Day (2/19), and Leap Day (2/20) here is what's on my radar this month:

Movies:

Orion and the Dark

What got my attention about this animated feature is that it is written by Charlie Kaufman. Yes - the writer of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind wrote this! Premieres on Netflix on 2/2.

Lisa Frankenstein 

This horror comedy from director Zelda Williams (yes - the daughter of a legend) and writer Diablo Cody looks promising. Opens 2/9 (review to come).

Madame Web 

The newest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is also the next installment of the Spider-Man Universe as this gets into multiple Spider-Women and they filmed in Boston too. Color me curious! Opens 2/14.

Kiss the Future

During the Zoo TV Tour in 1993, U2 shined a light on the crisis in Sarajevo in an effort to support the besieged Sarajevans. This documentary about their efforts was produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. After playing festivals last year, it is being released exclusively by AMC Theaters on 2/19.

Drive-Away Dolls

I was a huge fan of the Coen brothers, but after The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, they began working solo. After Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, I’m excited to see Ethan Coen’s solo feature, an action comedy about inept criminals, which is his wheelhouse. I first was looking forward to this in September 2023 and I still am. Opening 2/23.

Music:

Paul McCartney & Wings Band on the Run 50th Anniversary Edition

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Paul McCartney's greatest non-Beatles album, a new special edition is being released. The timing happens to be a few weeks after the passing of Wings guitarist Denny Laine as well. Re-release drops on 2/2.

J. Mascis What Do We Do Now

In addition to Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis has done some great solo work. His last solo album Elastic Days had some bangers and I was lucky enough to see him do a live solo show in 2019. Looking forward to his newest solo album, which drops 2/2.

TV:

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 premiere

The 12th season of one of the most brilliant TV comedies of all time is going to be the final season (or so they say). Even though it's only at season 12, each season has been spaced out over the past 24 years. I named Season 11 my Best TV Show of 2021. Hopes are high for Larry David's social assassin going out on a high note! Season premiere on 2/4 on HBO.

Awards Season:

We're in the midst of awards season now! This month we have Grammy Awards (2/4), DGA Awards (2/10), SAG Awards (2/24), and Independent Spirit Awards (2/25). Not exactly an awards show, but the biggest competition of the year is the Super Bowl (2/11) as well.

The Rolling Stone article (I can read it without subscruption...):

Mitch Rowland could have been designed in a mad scientist’s laboratory as the prototypical soft-spoken guitar dude. He’s a shy rock geek from small-town Ohio who just won a Grammy for Album of the Year, for his work on Harry Styles’ global blockbuster Harry’s House. When he met Styles, he was washing dishes at an L.A. pizzeria, a complete unknown with zero professional experience. All he had was his guitar and his ideas. He didn’t even quit his pizza job until two weeks after he joined Harry, and he still ducks the spotlight in live shows. As Harry has playfully introduced him onstage, he’s “Mr. Mysterious!”

But Rowland might have to finally get used to people noticing him. On his gorgeous solo debut, Come June, released through Styles’ Erskine Records, he ignores pop trends and finds his own voice. It’s all introspective acoustic beauty, a deeply personal song cycle inspired by his hero, the British folk legend Bert Jansch. Rowland is still adjusting to the idea of stepping out on his own. As he admits, “I still feel like I’m walking off a building going onstage to play.”

Come June is full of hushed, gentle ballads, in the mode of Nick Drake or Elliott Smith. Songs like “When It All Falls Down” show off his trademark delicate melodies and breathy vocals. But it’s a real guitar album. “Bert [Jansch] was the dartboard,” he says. “I hit the paint on the wall, but that’s what I was aiming for.” The music has a homemade feel. “I wanted it to sound as wood-y as possible,” he says. “I hope we achieved even a quarter of the way [Neil Young’s] Harvest sounds when you put it on.”

If this talk sounds strange coming from the guy who co-wrote hits like “Watermelon Sugar” and “Golden,” that’s just a sign of the times. Rowland has a unique feel for walking the line between different music worlds, gliding back and forth between mega-pop flash and meditative folk. He and Harry have always made a funny duo — the most flamboyantly charismatic starman in the glam galaxy, next to the shy Midwest boy who’d rather let his guitar do the talking. Onstage, Rowland plays the Mick Ronson/Wendy Melvoin strong-and-silent sidekick to Harry’s Bowie/Prince. But he has his own mystique and his own following. When Styles played London in the summer of 2022, there was fan graffiti on the wall outside Abbey Road, with a drawing that depicted Rowland as George Harrison. It’s the highest compliment any guitar-weeper could ask.

As Harries already know, Rowland has always been brilliant at saying a lot with a quiet sound, as in ballads like “Matilda” or “From the Dining Table.” He co-wrote gems like “Sign of the Times,” “Canyon Moon,” and “Keep Driving,” and his psychedelic guitar freakout steals the show on “She.” He plucks the guitarlele on the fan favorite “To Be So Lonely,” a song that Harry called “the articulation of Mitch’s brain.” Styles sings back-up vocals on Come June, in “Here Comes the Comeback.” But he’s always been Rowland’s most shameless fan. “Super inspiring,” Harry once described him to Rolling Stone. “There’s a magic to Mitch, past him being so good. I feel like he represents a kind of magic to me.”

Come June is the album everyone hoped Rowland would make, except even better. He takes inspiration from contemporary indie-rock guitarists like José González and Jonathan Wilson — not to mention Ben Harper, who contributes lap steel and vocals to “All the Way Back.” Some people might think it’s a pop guy trying to cross over to an indie-rock folk sound, but it’s the other way around: These are his roots. He took an old-school approach to the album, thinking of touchstones like Nick Drake’s Pink Moon. “I wanted it to be under 30 minutes,” Rowland says. “I wanted a quick album, where it doesn’t take long to get into it. It ended up being 37.”

He cut Come June with producer Rob Schnapf, who made classics in the Nineties with Beck and Elliott Smith. The band is minimal — Schnapf, engineer Matt Schuessler on upright bass, drummer Sarah Jones. Rowland and Jones are both in Styles’ band, which is how they met, fell in love, and got married. They now have a toddler son. “If I couldn’t figure out a drum part, Sarah would come down,” Rowland says. “Our son came over one day. It was very cozy. We were always in a groove.”

Jones got to know Schnapf when she drummed on Kurt Vile’s latest album, (watch my moves). When she introduced her husband to the producer, it was a full-circle moment, since Vile was a pivotal influence on Rowland. “When I first played with Harry, I had this voice note on my phone, this slowish riff,” he says. “We sped it up in the end, but it sounded pretty Stones-y slowed down. I was trying to squeeze an idea out of Kurt Vile’s Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze.” The result was the Styles banger “Only Angel.”

Rowland and Jones’ toddler has grown up around Harry Styles shows, so he’s already witnessed plenty of fan hysteria. “We took him to the Green Man Festival in Wales, with all these folk acts, really chilled out, and he’s the only one screaming,” he says with a laugh. “He thinks that’s what you do. So he’ll probably be the only one screaming at my show.”

Growing up in Ohio, Rowland’s first musical love as a kid was his older brother’s drum kit. (He later played drums on “As It Was,” which spent 15 weeks at Number One.) He taught himself guitar, and moved to L.A. in 2013, where he had enough trouble just finding a pizzeria dish-washing gig. He and Harry were from very different worlds — Styles was a global superstar making his solo debut, looking to find his voice after breaking free from One Direction. Rowland had never even heard a One Direction song. But they had an instant chemistry, sharing a fresh, eccentric sensibility.

Their collaboration didn’t make any commercial sense, and people weren’t always shy about letting them know. Rowland grins as he recalls Swedish superproducer Max Martin coming into the studio to hear one of the tracks from 2019’s Fine Linetracks early on: “He gave a list of all the things that were wrong and needed to be changed.” They didn’t take his advice. The song was “Watermelon Sugar,” which became Styles’ first Number One hit as a solo act.

Rowland and Jones were indie rockers, blissfully ignorant about the pop scene. (They’re both obsessed with Guided By Voices.) Then they each met Harry — and suddenly found themselves playing arenas. It was a baptism of fire for both of them. But Jones was a road-seasoned veteran of U.K. bands like Hot Chip and New Young Pony Club, while Rowland had never toured at all. So he experienced some serious culture shock. The first time he ever played New York, it was the legendary Radio City Music Hall. “I went missing,” he admits. “I think I was feeling squirrelly, and I must’ve found an open bar on a different level of the venue, but I was late to getting dressed.” Five or 10 minutes before showtime, manager Jeffrey Azoff pulled him aside. “He said, ‘Do you want to meet Donald Fagen?’ I was like, ‘Fuck you, telling me that Donald Fagen is here! The marquee was scary enough.’”

Rowland calls his pop career “a nice accident,” but he’s authentically fluent in both these worlds by now. “I never wanted to win a Grammy,” he says. “I just never thought about that. How could that even possibly enter my brain?” When he gets star-struck, it’s usually meeting indie-rock heroes like Jonathan Wilson. “Going back to 2012,  when I heard Jonathan Wilson’s Gentle Spirit, I thought, wow, this is something else, and it’s happening now. That was my musical lifeline.” He notes that he met the great indie singer-songwriter Kevin Morby back at the pizza shop, when serving him a birthday pie. “I arranged the pepperoni,” he says proudly.

His first gig at a solo artist was opening for Harry at Dublin’s Slayne Castle — in front of 80,000 people. No pressure. “We were the first one on the bill,” he recalls. “It was us, Annie Mac, Inhaler, and Wet Leg. Like a festival day. So we went on first thinking, ‘They’ll be trickling in,’ but it was already full. That was freaky.” How did the gig feel to him? “I don’t know. I couldn’t look at anybody onstage or out there. I looked at the white dots on the side of the guitar neck until it was over.”

It’s a great rock & roll story — from slanging slices to conquering castles. But in typical understated style, he refuses to take any credit. “I’m only prepared to play a place like Slayne because of all the places Harry’s taken me, and then I’m only playing my music to anyone because of him,” he says. He also won’t accept credit for the meteoric Styles phenomenon, despite co-writing and playing on so many hits. He’s still the same dude who didn’t want to quit the pizzeria. (“I needed the check for the rent,” he says.)

“Harry could have picked any group of people when he decided he was going to go solo,” Rowland continues. “He was massive — he was larger than life. I still can’t believe he wanted to make music with someone who had zero credit to their name, when he could have done the opposite so easily, and everyone would’ve said yes. I’ll never quite get over that.”

But Harry’s gut instincts about Mitch turned out to be justified, to say the least. “He just had a feeling, which says a lot,” Rowland says. “I’ve learned a lot from Harry, but a lot of the most important stuff is to just trust the people around you, and let something be whatever it’s going to be.”

A few years ago, it might have seemed weird to cross over between pop and folk, as Rowland does on Come June. But it’s a sign that pop audiences have gotten more broad-minded. Whenever Styles sings the intensely emotional ballad “Matilda,” with Rowland on acoustic guitar, you can hear a pin drop in the room, even in a stadium. The hush is poignant — nobody even sings along. “Well, everybody’s crying,” Rowland says. “I never play that song facing the crowd. One night I thought, ‘Why don’t I just try it one time facing the crowd?’ But it was too much. It was deep into the tour, and all of a sudden, I’m paying attention, and I almost stopped playing. I thought, ‘God, this is what we’ve been playing every night?’”

He’s hitting the road next spring with the same tight-knit group that made the album. “Sarah’s on drums, Matt’s on bass, and Rob on guitar,” he says. “Everyone who did their bit on the record has said yes to playing live, which is ideal for me. It makes it feel more like a band. When we played Slayne Castle, Rob told me, ‘The last show I played was in ’98 with Elliot Smith.’ So I thought, ‘That’s a nice trajectory.’”

But the toughest audience to impress? His young son. As Rowland says with a smile, “His new thing is putting his hand over the guitar neck when I’m trying to play. He says, ‘No, daddy. No ’tar. Play cars. Come.’ I’ll be in the middle of playing something, but it’s hard to argue with that.” 

Thank you for this! Absolutely lovely. Mitch comes across as so humble still. Really liked this description of Harry:

He and Harry have always made a funny duo — the most flamboyantly charismatic starman in the glam galaxy, next to the shy Midwest boy who’d rather let his guitar do the talking. 

Basquiat: A multidisciplinary artist who denounced violence against African Americans

John Harbour, Université Laval

The exhibition Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music, currently running at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, demonstrates that the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, which is usually associated with painting, also calls upon other media, including music — the main theme of this exhibition — literature, comic strips, cinema and animation, a much lesser-known aspect of his work.

Basquiat was born in New York in 1960 to a Haitian father and a mother of Puerto Rican descent. In the late 1970s, in collaboration with Al Diaz, he drew enigmatic graffiti under the pseudonym SAMO. The artist quickly made a name for himself in the New York art world (becoming friends with Andy Warhol and Madonna, among others). He then produced solo paintings and achieved international fame that continued to grow until his death in 1988.

At the time of the Black Lives Matter movement, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work is more relevant than ever. It highlights racial inequalities and the lack of representation of racialized people in the media, but also the violence suffered by African Americans.

Love/hate for the cartoon

As a child, Basquiat dreamed of becoming a cartoon animator. When he became a painter, the television was always on while he worked in his studio, and regularly ran cartoons. These programmes and films were a great source of inspiration for the artist, who integrated several references to animation and comic strips into his paintings.

One of these works, which can be seen in the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, is called Toxic (1984). The painting depicts a Black man with his arms in the air, with a collage in the background that mentions several titles of animated shorts made between 1938 and 1948.

Could we say that the films are considered toxic by Jean-Michel Basquiat, despite his admiration for them? In fact, I think there is a certain duality in this picture: the artist loves the cartoon, but he hates it at the same time. The dictionary definition of the word “toxic” can mean someone or something that likes “to control and influence other people in a dishonest way.” The term therefore implies that the toxic element (the cartoon in this case) is dangerous in a way that isn’t apparent.

The violence of cartoons

The cartoon is often associated with childhood, pleasure, eccentricity.

This is a universe where anything is possible: in Gorilla My Dreams, directed by Robert McKimson in 1948, for example, the character Bugs Bunny talks, dresses up as a baby and imitates a monkey. It appears innocent. However, the cartoon can also represent the worst of humanity in a very sneaky way through the incredible violence it contains: the characters hunt each other, chase each other, hit each other, cut each other, kill each other and then start again. https://www.youtube.com/embed/G-fpqSdSnD0?wmode=transparent&start=0 Robert McKimson, Gorilla My Dreams, Warner Bros., 1948.

In Porky’s Hare Hunt, a film directed by Ben Hardaway in 1938 and quoted in Toxic, the character of Porky is injured by dynamite, abused even though he is in his hospital bed and tries to kill a rabbit. Basquiat, who consumed cartoons every day on television, knew that they were a reflection of 20th century American society.

The violence that Basquiat denounces is so present in the cartoon that it seems, to a certain extent, to have become commonplace, like the violence seen on television newscasts (which he probably watched while he was painting).

Denouncing racial stereotypes

These cartoons are also violent because they often perpetuate racial stereotypes (not to mention the many stereotypes related to sexual orientation, gender, sex, body appearance, etc.).

Bob Clampett’s 1940 film Patient Porky, which is also mentioned in Toxic, features a scene in which a elevator attendant grossly and monstrously parodies a Black character. In Untitled (All Stars) (1983), Basquiat cites Max Fleischer’s 1920 film The Chinaman, which features a highly caricatured Asian character and Koko the Clown putting makeup on to impersonate him. https://www.youtube.com/embed/_WXrrOIWZKo?wmode=transparent&start=0 Max Fleischer, The Chinaman, Bray Studios, 1920.

By placing elements referring to animation in his compositions, Basquiat attempts to denounce a stereotypical and unfair worldview where racialized people are portrayed in an unrealistic way. Basquiat said that if he had not been a painter, he would have been a filmmaker and would have told stories where Black people were portrayed as human beings, not negatively.

So, the title of the painting Toxic carries several meanings. It refers both to the main subject (Torrick “Toxic” Ablack), but also to its relationship to popular culture and to animation, in this case.

This hypothesis is very likely since Basquiat produced several works denouncing police brutality against African Americans, including The Death of Michael Stewart (Defacement) (1983).

Basquiat died prematurely in 1988 at the age of 27. Other artists from the Black community, such as Montréal painters Kezna Dalz, aka Teenadult, Manuel Mathieu, and animation filmmaker Martine Chartrand have, in their own way, taken up his struggle and continue to fight for greater visibility of Black people in the arts.

John Harbour, Doctorant en littérature et arts de la scène et de l'écran (concentration cinéma), Université Laval

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Music Industry AU

This is one if my all time favourite AUs/tropes, whether it's Rockstar or Pop reylo I need it, and since I realised that I've read quite a lot of fics set in the music industry, I figured I had to share them with everyone! 😈🎤🎸👑

The Great Big No by @dietplainlite: Kylo Ren is third generation rock royalty, a reigning brat prince starting to feel the burn of the fame he reached for with both hands. Rey is an aspiring singer on the verge of a big break, provided her A&R guy still has a job by the time she reaches LA. Their paths have crossed briefly, disappointingly, before. What happens when they collide?

Like A Technicoloured Hue by xxredwineandambiencexx: Rey Kenobi is an up and coming country singer looking to make the transition to pop. Kylo Ren is one of the biggest singer songwriters in the world, and he’s looking to capture a new fanbase. Set against the backdrop of a star studded Los Angeles, the two collide in the most spectacular way possible, producing a partnership that surprises everyone, herself included. In the City of Angels, anything goes.

Chasing Lightning by gutlesswonder: Not long after arriving in the States on a student visa, looking to flee her grim childhood, Rey's found a passion bigger than what brought her to college in the first place: playing lead guitar in a rock band with her best friends. Naturally, the local college rock band scene is abuzz with interest when Rebel Scum is asked to open for the critically acclaimed noise-band-on-the-rise STARKILLER. Rey and her bandmates are all nerves, hoping to land an indie record deal, while avoiding the ire of STARKILLER's front-man: a notoriously unfriendly tour-de-force drummer who goes by the stage name of Kylo Ren. Luckily for Rey, she doesn't scare easily.

i only lie when i love you by @dankobah: Rockstar Kylo who is a M E S S (Drug/Alcoholic past). Rey is an actress who takes none of his shit, agrees to a fake relationship to improve Kylo’s public image.

shatter out loud by neonheartbeat: Kylo Ren, the frontman of KORE, is the most famous rock idol ever signed to Empire Records and First Order Management: notoriously reclusive, silent, and talented. Rey Niima is a reporter for Rolling Stone assigned to give his first-ever press interview, along for the ride on the band's tour of the United States, despite the fact she loathes him. But both have secrets they need the other to hide.

still learning (to love myself) by @dankobah: editor/director Ben Solo gets hired to make a documentary about Rey, a famous pop star. They fall in love along the way. (Miss Americana AU)

It's a Long Way to the Top by @mzladybird: Kylo, Rey, Finn and Hux are in a Rock Band. Rey is newish to rock n roll.

Off Script by elle_reads: The plan isn’t that complicated, really. Pretend to date. Get media attention and the album sales that go with it. Amicably split — conflicting schedules, different goals, whatever. It’s a simple storyline. The only problem is that Rey goes off script.

Can you tell me who Ben Winston is and how he knows the boys? Is he actually nice? Or is it just for show? I'm a baby larrie!!!

Hi, love. Ben Winston is a producer/director that worked with One Direction on several projects over the years… most of their music videos, 1D day, This Is Us. He was always around, he also did a couple of things with Harry when he first went solo and seems to be really good friends with him. His daughter Ruby (from AIW) is Harry's goddaughter.

This side of the fandom is not particularly fond of him though, he was always involved in a lot of stunt talk, the stupid tv show about Harry’s love life, the stupid story about him living in his attic… I think the bottom line for a lot of people was during the Four livestream when he interviewed the boys and was a complete dick wanting them to say the “right thing”. It’s hard to compile everything that happened over a decade in one post and everything that makes people like/dislike him. I don't know if he's a good person or not, but I don't like most of the things he says. And most importantly: he did the You and I music video and this is something I think we should never collectively forget.

To me 2014 was the year of the weed video. There was a reason that it was important to start the character assassination of the two guys in the video. All of my friends hated on Louis and Zayn. The cross wearing Harry who was already the most popular now became the can’t do no wrong personification of morality. This image has been carved into the brains of the 1D fans which can never change no matter what he does. This is the reason they will keep calling Louis a liar but will not for a moment consider Harry’s greed and selfish ambition. It was a platform being built for a Harry to go solo without repercussions. Suddenly the drunk Harry walking out of nightclubs of 2013 disappeared and instead came the notebook and guitar carrying Harry with his stupid hat. He was the Nashville singer songwriter instead of the London socialite he was months before. The others were put more and more in the background. The interviewers would ask 5 questions to Harry and 1 question to all the others. The cameras would be trained on Harry. It became blatant.

Do you remember the Four Hangout and the way that Ben Winston framed the questions for each of the boys, and the way that difficult questions about band rumors were targeted to Louis, never to Harry?

And of course, all the brilliant music videos Ben directed, as prequel to all the hamfisted, derivative, second-rate crap he would eventually produce. Even in 2014, Ben chose to hang out with Harry (see: Rio De Janeiro and Machu Picchu). From the Christ The Redeemer candids, Larries choose to remember the one photo with Harry and Louis standing together, but 90% of the time, Harry was separate from the other boys, choosing instead to hang with Ben Winston and his own entourage. Louis and Zayn were the two friends always together.

The character assassination also started with Syco/ Sony’s image of Zayn as the “dark, mysterious one” because of his ancestry, and the emphasis on Louis as the annoying disrupter instead of the intelligent leader. Both Dan Wootten’s 2015 article and Savan Kotecha confirmed that Louis spoke up for greater autonomy and creative control for the boys, and hence was a thorn in the side of the music label.

Even now, fans (Larries, OT4 and OT5, Harries, and others) can’t differentiate between those who hold real power— Sony and its affiliates— and hacks like Simon Jones and Modest Management. They do so because they will do everything to avoid connecting Harry to the players that broker the success and failure of him and his ex-bandmates.

This leads to a slippery slope where the men’s success was predetermined by access, power, and money, as everyone in the industry knows— rather than merely merit or talent. And every veteran Harrie is very aware that Harry was hand-selected by the powerful, and his rise was predicated on the fall of the others.

Otherwise, Harry wouldn’t need to make petty public jokes about Zayn, and Harries wouldn’t need to camp out on Louie blogs or send a billion copy-paste gnats into Louie inboxes (still!). Harry would rely on his talent alone. After nine years being solo and three Grammys, shouldn’t Harry have earned his own credibility? Besides the women and men who want to sleep with him, I think it’s pretty clear to everyone else that Harry hasn’t. In retrospect, he looks like a mean kid who grew into a soulless man.