Reviews
Netflix Strikes Reality Television Gold with Season Two of the Trendy, Bubbly The Circle: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-18T19:50:25+00:00“>April 18, 2021 | 3:50pm ET The Pitch: Against all odds, in one of its many, many endeavors to try and become the premiere destination for streaming content, Netflix has ended up as one of the most surprising forces in reality television. Between the national treasure/’90s revival Queer Eye, the Malibu moguls on Selling Sunset, and the charmingly inept Nailed It, Netflix hosts a remarkably diverse array of reality shows at its viewers’ fingertips. There’s one reality series, though, that rises above the rest — the rare bird that’s not only a great reality show, but a timely, vibrant one with a truly exciting premise. I’m talking, of course, about The Circle, whi...
Netflix’s Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! Falls Short as a Hip Family Sitcom: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-14T23:51:28+00:00“>April 14, 2021 | 7:51pm ET Meet the Family: Before Netflix’s new sitcom Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! premiered today, early trailers provided high hopes for the premise. At an initial glance, the series — created and starring comedian Jamie Foxx as Brian Dixon — revolved around a widowed father attempting to catch up with his Gen-Z daughter, Sasha (Kyla-Drew). Sure, it relied on a common-but-true trope of young women viewing their aging, out-of-touch parents as humiliating, but it also appeared to highlight impactful and sweet moments between them. Foxx’s relationship with his daughter, Corinne, now 27, served as the inspiration for the show’s scenes. While Corinn...
El Clásico’s impact on La Liga title race
In the 246th competitive fixture between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday, it was Los Blancos who came out on top at the final whistle. First-half goals from Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos were enough to claim three points at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano despite a second-half consolation for the visitors by Óscar Mingueza. With little over a month left of the season, we look at just how their 2-1 victory has impacted the La Liga title race. Which teams are battling it out? There are three teams left fighting for the title at this stage – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. Since Valencia in 2003/2004, these three are the only teams to have won a La Liga title. Atlético have done so on one occasion in that time frame, pipping Barcelona on the final day of the 2013/14 campa...
Concert Review: Philip Anselmo Celebrates Pantera Classics and Deep Cuts with Livestream Show
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-10T16:53:18+00:00“>April 10, 2021 | 12:53pm ET Setting the Stage: Before worldwide touring was shut down due to the pandemic, Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals provided hard-hitting support on Slayer’s farewell tour in late 2019 by offering up a set full of Pantera classics. But for obvious reasons, the band was unable to build upon the buzz in 2020. So, how about a streamed concert performance dubbed “A Vulgar Display of Pantera Live”? Sadly, the idea of a Pantera reunion is no longer feasible following the tragic deaths of legendary brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul. The band’s iconic singer, Philip Anselmo, has opted to keep the band’s spirit and music alive with these...
BROCKHAMPTON Get Introspective on the Soul-Searching ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T16:21:05+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 12:21pm ET The Lowdown: We’re now deep into the heart of hip-hop’s psychedelic era. As modern-day rappers and producers have begun to embrace the use of psilocybin and LSD, the mind-altering effects are starting to bleed into the music. But for the same reason that shrooms are being legalized for therapeutic purposes, these drugs, if taken in the right doses and circumstances, can inspire deep reflection and serious psychological growth. Not that BROCKHAMPTON needed any help to gaze inwardly. This Texas crew opt for introspection over braggadocio and thoughtfulness over arrogance. But the tone of their sixth full-length and the subject matter wi...
Taylor Swift Honors Her Own Vision on Fearless (Taylor’s Version): Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-09T21:50:09+00:00“>April 9, 2021 | 5:50pm ET The Lowdown: “For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work,” Taylor Swift wrote in a 2019 social media post after her longtime label, Big Machine, sold her master recordings without her consent. Swift had been unable to gain control of her first six albums through contract negotiations, and then Scooter Braun, who’d demonstrated public enmity with the singer-songwriter, was collecting the checks. (Braun’s company has since sold the masters to Shamrock Holdings for $300 million.) What’s one of the world’s brightest superstars and the preeminent pop poet of a generation to do? The answer: Do it all again. Swift has begun to re-...
Taylor Swift’s Fearless Re-Recording Is a Thrilling Timewarp
Before we start, a note: There really is no precedent for what Taylor Swift is doing. Sure, artists have re-recorded bits and pieces of their catalog over the years. Frank Sinatra, Def Leppard, DMX — they’ve all redone at least some of their greatest hits due to prior contract disputes or other financial incentives. In 2018, JoJo re-released new versions of her first two albums, after years of label quarrels and not owning her masters — troubles not so foreign from Swift’s contentious ending with Big Machine Records and feud with super-manager Scooter Braun, who acquired the pop megalith’s first six albums in 2019 and flipped them to a private equity firm for a cool $300 million in November. No artist in their prime, let alone one of the best-selling singers of the last 20 years — fr...
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Charge Forward into the Unknown on G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-07T16:31:02+00:00“>April 7, 2021 | 12:31pm ET Editor’s Note: Our review looks at the physical version of this release, which consists of four total tracks — two long, two shorter. On many streaming services, the longer tracks have been broken down into a total of eight tracks. The actual music remains the same. The Lowdown: Godspeed You! Black Emperor have always played at being impenetrable. The Montreal post-rock cooperative give their albums and songs difficult, often poetic names (Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, “[…+The Buildings They Are Sleeping Now]”), and the group would much rather hide in the shadows of large, projected images at their live shows than drink in the sp...
Idahams ft. Falz – “Man On Fire” Remix, Resonates Better Than The First
“Man On Fire” remix, featuring Nigerian rapper and award-winning lyricist, Falz, explores deeper and then it creates a stronger sense Idaham’s core listeners could relate to apart from its initial singing and chorusing sections on the first and original creation from his sophomore 7-track, EP – “Man On Fire”. This remix is designed to keep Falz’s native listeners who understand his art of storytelling reality and entrenches to save Idahams, on his mainstream journey. Meanwhile, “Man On Fire” EP, is Ham’s stellar extended play released in 2020 that served as an experience of his musical edge; in between was released singles and his former EP “Amayanabo” in 2019, and his partnership with Universal Music Group in the same year. He is taking over the mainstream market and has been making excel...
Demi Lovato Rises Again on Dancing with the Devil…The Art of Starting Over: Review
The Lowdown: With a voice as big as the sky, it’s hard to figure out where to go first — but that’s not going to stop Demi Lovato from trying. It never has. Dancing with the Devil…The Art of Starting Over is the seventh full-length album from the child actress turned teen phenomenon turned pop star and arrives almost four years after 2017’s often sultry, R&B-infused Tell Me You Love Me. Her discography has effectively captured many parts of the rollercoaster she has endured: even in her earliest efforts, Don’t Forget and Here We Go Again, her vocal prowess is undeniable. (Demi Lovato could still put out a great pop-punk album if she were to so choose.) She is a remarkably gifted natural vocalist. Lovato has also had a lion’s share of trials and tribulations, almost all of which have un...
Julien Baker Brings Us Close to Little Oblivions at Nashville’s Analog: Review
Got Enough Gas: There’s music that makes you think and music that makes you want to move, and there’s Julien Baker. The songwriter has an uncanny talent for considering the underlying motivations for her own feelings and actions, and the result is often visceral music that hypnotizes the attention of the listener and prompts self-reflection, sometimes feeling deeply difficult and deeply healing at once — which is maybe part of the point. Baker released Little Oblivions last month and received instant praise for its bold and self-conscious digs into complex questions of addiction, survival, mental illness, and second chances. The album marked an evolution for Baker’s music into a fuller band sound, after she probed the depths of acoustic alt-folk in her first two albums and united her talen...
Artist of the Month serpentwithfeet’s DEACON Is a Bountiful Collage of Love and Care: Review
The Lowdown: Serpentwithfeet first gained attention in 2016 with his EP blisters, and then more broadly in 2018, when his debut album, soil , earned praise for its complex and subtle portrayals of love. Born Josiah Wise, he grew up in a religious family and sang in the church choir, and the influences of classical and gospel have long made themselves known in his music. DEACON isn’t quite a departure, but it is a move forward into more expansive territory; the sound serpent has taken on feels like it can accommodate more, and indeed, it does. DEACON is full of songs that wrap around the listener, showing in full resolution serpent’s expertise in using his music not only to portray love, but to extend it. [embedded content] The Good: The influence of religion feels present again here; along...
