Editorials
Grammys 2021: Music’s Biggest Night Finally Makes Music the Focus
The 2021 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and the pop culture landscape both look vastly different from years past. The show, which has often overlooked contributions from women and people of color, is working on course correction, and this year’s program certainly reflected these efforts. While band-aids on gaping wounds aren’t always enough, the choice to focus on the reason for gathering — the music — was a wise one and paid off due in part to the “in the round” stage setups that recalled Jools Holland’s BBC format. Executive producer Ben Winston pulled off one of the cleanest, smoothest awards shows of this era, working to create some of the moments that make shows like this memorable. As always, though, the Grammys are a frustrating paradox. They correctly spotlighted some of the best art...
The Pioneering Women of Philly Soul
Fifty years ago, the sound of Philly Soul was born out of the legendary Philadelphia International Records. With the talents of The O’Jays, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees, McFadden & Whitehead, and others, the label rewrote the standards of soul music by blending in R&B, funk, and doo-wop with massive orchestral arrangements. To celebrate all P.I.R. contributed to the world of music, we’re giving away a Best of Philadelphia International Records prize pack, which includes vinyl, turntables, and headphones. Click here for more information on these prizes and how to enter this exclusive giveaway. The face of soul music as we know it might have been completely different if not for the ambition and drive of a Columbia imprint, once housed in the vacant offices of C...
The Artist-Superfan’s Brave New Superstore
Primary Wave, run by long-time music executive Larry Mestel, may steal the headlines. His company uses billions to buy the music publishing and masters of mega-artists like Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, Bob Marley, Prince, and Whitney Houston. But Twitter shaman Jack Dorsey’s recent acquisition of Jay-Z’s streaming service, Tidal, by his company, Square, is equally tantalizing. And it points to something that is bubbling up in the business right now that is still early, but ultimately will build into a huge, new movement of massively monetizing direct artist-fan connection and engagement. Dorsey’s rationale for buying Tidal is to give artists a direct path to easily transact with their fans (think merchandise, for example), much like retailers use Square to cut out the credit card middlema...
Understanding Trauma, Grief, and Resilience In WandaVision
It’s a tale as old as time: young woman is traumatized, radicalized, and experimented upon; A.I. takes physical form as a robot before evolving into something more traditionally, distinctly human. Woman and humanoid robot fall in love before humanoid robot is killed and woman, in her grief, semi-accidentally takes an entire town of people hostage. Explaining the concept of WandaVision to anyone not familiar with the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe presents a bit of a challenge. Perhaps the even bigger challenge is then trying to communicate the way that the show so effectively becomes a truly emotional story. Over the course of nine episodes, WandaVision shares more about the two titular characters than the five movies that featured Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff or the seven in whi...
David Gilmour Transformed Pink Floyd into the Most Beloved Progressive Rock Band of All Time
There’s little left that needs to be said about Pink Floyd’s astronomical run in the 1970s. Undeniably, the creative, commercial, and critical prosperity achieved by their final four LPs of the decade — The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979) — have rarely, if ever, been matched by any other rock band. Likewise, their musical and cultural influence were just as expansive and enduring, so it’s no wonder they remain almost as prevalent and adored today. (Of course, their output in the 1980s and beyond is also worthwhile, but those ’70s LPs are easily their most significant.) However, the process of getting to that point was far from quick or easy, as their earliest years were filled with crises of artistic identity and potential. Due m...
Is the Media Still Cashing in on Britney Spears’ Trauma?
In the past month, the steadily growing #FreeBritney movement became a mainstream phenomenon following the release of The New York Times Presents documentary Framing Britney Spears. The documentary dissects the pop star’s controversial conservatorship, which placed her under the strict supervision, financially and personally, of conservators like her father, James “Jamie” Spears, among others since 2008. Acting as a thorough introduction for newcomers, Framing Britney Spears provides a heartbreaking portrait of both the rise of the wide-eyed teen singer from Louisiana and her fall from grace, including that infamous head-shaving, umbrella-wielding night anyone who lived through 2007 saw footage of at least a million times over. Framing Britney Spears casts a much kinder, more sympathetic l...
WandaVision Dusts Off the Comics to Tease Vision’s Future
The following editorial is heavy on spoilers… “Previously On”, this week’s eighth episode of Disney+’s WandaVision, is enlightening in many ways. It explores the details of Wanda’s (Elizabeth Olsen) tormented past, re-writes the origin of her powers, and yet also tells the backstory of the villainous Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn). By far the most interesting reveal, however, is the resurrected, colorless version of Vision (Paul Bettany), which is unveiled during the post-credits scene. Not only does this suggest an emotional series finale, it also has some interesting links to the comics that could hint at Vision’s future within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Vision being drained of all color is an unsettling sight, not just because of his cold appearance, but because it speaks to t...
The King of Limbs Remains a Crucial Piece of the Radiohead Puzzle
Editor’s Note: Radiohead’s The King of Limbs came out on February 18th, 2011, to strong sales but mixed criticism. A decade later, our own Jordan Blum revisits the band’s eighth studio album and its gradual journey toward the heart of many fans. For more articles like these, check out our Are These Classics Yet? series. People have often said that Radiohead are the last great rock band. While that may be an unfair and hyperbolic assessment — especially since they frequently defy categorization — it’s certainly an understandable one. After all, no other group in the last 30 years have managed to fully sustain their integrity amidst achieving endlessly admirable evolutions and perpetually outstanding commercial and critical reception. In that sense, they’re like a modern-day Bea...
Happy Gilmore’s Shooter McGavin Is the Perfect Comedy Villain
Editor’s Note: This op-ed originally ran in 2016 for the 20th anniversary of Happy Gilmore. Today, we’ve dusted it off for the 25th anniversary of the Adam Sandler blockbuster. So, grab your clubs, your gold jacket, and meet us in the sand. Happy Gilmore is basically perfect. Disagree with me? That’s your right, but I’m going to stab you with this skate. There’s a lot that makes Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler’s 1996 golf-idiot-savant comedy, so wonderful. Part of it is that it’s almost gleefully simple: failed hockey player discovers that his lousy slap shot could be good for golf and uses his newfound power to save Grandma’s house in a battle of homegrown hero versus rich prick. Part of it is that it’s just funny, made before Sandler started to exhaust his schlumpy charms. But more than anyt...
All Eyez on Me Captured 2Pac’s Last Moments of Peace
Editor’s Note: 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me originally dropped on February 13th, 1996. The double-album, the last record released while 2Pac was still alive, would go on to change the rap game forever. To celebrate the record’s 25th anniversary, Jayson Buford takes a look back at the album’s indelible legacy. In October 1995, Death Row Records boss Suge Knight paid the $1.4 million bail that was on the head of rap superstar Tupac Amaru Shakur, whose name had increasingly been in the papers for both his talent and troubles. Shakur was serving a sentence of up to four years for sexual assault, a crime that he maintained he did not commit. Alongside that black mark on his reputation, the night before the judge announced the verdict to the world, back in November 1994, 2Pac was shot outside of Quad S...
Jazz Great Milford Graves Drummed and Lived to the Rhythm of His Heart
There’s a rhythm inside all of us. Not of the sort that makes some people naturally gifted dancers or at least gives them the sense to clap on two and four. It is the irregular, yet constant, beat that resides in our chest. The first sound we become aware of in the womb and, if we are lucky, the last sound we hear before we die. For all his talent as a drummer and percussionist — skills that require a deep-seated feel for rhythm — Milford Graves listened to his heart more closely than any piece of music. During the past few years of his life, which came to an end on Friday January 12th at the age of 79, Graves was working with some biologists in Italy to create a device that would measure the human heartbeat and convert it into a melody. By sending that same sound back into a person’s body...
What the Cecil Hotel Reveals About Toxic True Crime Fandom
In 2013, the body of 21 year old Elisa Lam was discovered in the rooftop water tank of Los Angeles’ infamous Cecil Hotel. What was eventually ruled an accidental drowning took on a life of its own due to law enforcement’s decision to release surveillance footage of Lam’s final moments. Netflix’s new docuseries Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel pieces together this mysterious tragedy by examining Lam’s life and the complicated history of the hotel itself. Yet it also exposes the harmful nature of Internet sleuthing by questioning the ethics of true crime fandom and highlighting the line between compassion and exploitation. Morbid Obsession <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104713" data-attachment-id="1104713" data-permalink="https://consequen...
