#i have to reinvent the wheel every time i color this scene and yet i Continue to Do It

[generalsolo]

The silly old universe. The more I save it, the more it needs saving.

#dwedit #doctorwhoedit #doctor who #twice upon a time #mine #gifs #i have to reinvent the wheel every time i color this scene and yet i Continue to Do It #rewatched this episode this morning and the last 15 minutes took me out as usual

[yinzhengs]

xia talks about 绅探 | detective l

— where i’ve been watching detective l: eng sub (YT) || raws (maplestage)

— so i’ve finally made my way thru all 8 eps that have been released thus far. i know some people have been asking for my opinion, so here’s a post that’s meant to hopefully sum up everything i’ve been feeling about this show, personally. any spoilers in my review are very minor!

if you’re not familiar with the show, it’s a sherlock holmes inspired mystery/crime show set in the shanghai french concession during the republican period, starring bai yu, you jingru, and ji chen. at the moment, the show’s at a 7.3/10 on douban, and it was trending at #5 for web-series, so it’s definitely enjoying popularity.

disclaimer: this is just my personal opinion — no matter how i feel about the show, i heavily encourage everyone to check it out for themselves before coming to a conclusion!

+ setting

you know, if there’s one thing i do dig about this show (in theory), it’s the setting. while i’m not a big fan of the set, for reasons i’ll go into below, i think the time period lends itself to some interesting setups and unique cases. as mentioned, it takes place in the republican period in shanghai’s french concession. if i had to guess, it takes place in the 30′s — but my chinese history is shaky, and this is entirely based on some throwaway details mentioned in later cases. suffice it to say that it's a pretty cool setting, and while i was skeptical at first, i did find myself getting into it.

+ characters

another thing i like about the show is the character concepts — in theory, if not always in practice. we have a kind of triumvirate in the main trio. 

first, we have luo fei, the sherlock of the series and arguably its main character, who serves as a consulting detective for the shanghai police department. while he’s occasionally (mostly accidentally) an asshole, he’s generally likable and a far cry from the more eccentric/socially inept portrayals of sherlock holmes in modern adaptations. we start seeing a hint of his backstory in recent episodes, and cases soon start getting tied into his feud with an elusive “captain,” likely the show’s moriarty.

next, we have qin xiaoman, a rookie officer newly assigned to the dept, who has a fiesty temper and a fierce passion for making sure justice is served. in an enjoyable twist, she’s generally the one that does the heavy lifting: chasing perps down, aiming down sights, slamming suspects to the ground — she also soon learns to make deductions of her own, as well. 

finally, we have........................benjamin (本杰明). his name / its transliteration makes me laugh a little bit whenever i see it, so generally i just refer to the poor guy as ben. anyway, he’s a reserved forensic examiner who also serves as the department’s forensic analyst — he pretty much lives in the morgue, and is more comfortable with the dead than with the living. (also, he has a pretty cute bromance with luo fei...) his backstory’s interesting, and i like his character a lot because it plays perfectly off of the other two’s preexisting dynamic — here’s hoping that he gets more screentime and development! 

(ot3? ot3.)

+ cases

there are mixed opinions about the cases, but my personal take is that they’re pretty enjoyable to watch. while they’re not super hard to figure out / generally don’t have a whole lot of killer twists, they’re also not terribly unrealistic. they can get a little convoluted, but such is the eternal curse of mystery shows, i suppose. a lot of the smaller puzzles that luo fei solves are also contingent on some Pretty Chinese elements, which i found very cute (麻雀/麻将, 简谱, to name two). so yeah, they do a pretty okay job of taking classic mystery cases and making them fit in the setting given. more importantly, the process by which they unravel the cases is generally fun to watch, which is really the crucial part of any good mystery/crime show.

that being said, as someone who’s watched quite a few crime shows, i’m entirely not convinced that the writing for the cases is sufficient to keep me watching — even though they’re fun, i haven’t seen much so far that makes me feel like the show’s doing anything different from the usual formula. of course, that’s fine — crime shows don’t need to reinvent the wheel, they just need to make themselves worth watching, one way or another (normally thru character chemistry/acting, etc).

- some familiar sights/sounds...

why did they use the cinemasins stock sound effect multiple times

anyway, that aside, there are obvious nods to sherlock (bbc) — the main theme, luo fei’s initial appearance, the deduction scene in the car...

well, is it plagiarism? i guess not (or well, sina doesn’t think so), but what detective l’s doing here is less reinventing the wheel and more... repainting tires, if you catch my drift.

also, if you’re someone who pays a lot of attention to film ost’s, you’ll be assaulted with a LOT of familiar sounding melodies, be warned. this isn’t necessarily something that detracts from the drama, but it’s definitely something that’s thrown me for a loop / broken my immersion multiple times.

? tone

here’s where i start getting a little hesitant about the show, one of my main gripes: i’m really not sure what kind of tone the show is aiming for. while it’s clearly not a show that takes itself too seriously, and certainly not a dark/hard-boiled noir, occasionally there are moments included where characters rail at, for example, the imperfection/injustice of their supposedly impartial justice system — and while i’m not saying that the show can’t go there, it came off to me as just very thin attempts to increase the show’s depth while also not elaborating on those issues at all. and that’s what’s bothered me the most: the illusion of depth. 

i’ll be the first to admit, though, that this is probably because i’m watching this directly after OS, which definitely tackled those issues from the start and had a radically different tone — i just feel like detective l, at least so far, hasn’t settled into one yet, and so i felt like there were some definite moments of tone incongruity / moments when i thought the show would continue with issues it’d raised ... but it didn’t.

- cinematography / lighting

take this with a disclaimer: i think the lighting and design in this show is gorgeous... for stills.

for a moving film? not so much.

i’ve said earlier that i felt like some of the lines felt scripted — but if anything enhances that artificiality, it’s definitely some of the set design. it’s clearly a studio set, and i can’t really begrudge them that part, but some of the lighting is so clearly artificial that it’s been starting to get to me — characters inside a normal room (lit by an innocuously dim overhead lamp) shouldn’t have three separate colors reflecting off their faces like a hobbyist artist’s color study sketches (though it does do a good job of highlighting bai yu’s jawline unnecessarily, in like, every other scene). 

they’re clearly trying to create a mood through coloring / lighting, but ... often, i find, it’s at the cost of realism and could definitely be toned down a bit. (i find that over-the-top coloring is pretty common in cdramas, though, so this is probably also very subjective.)

(also, as with most cdramas.. they could probably do with less cgi.)

- acting / directing

alright, i’ll be honest: i’m not a fan of the acting in this.

in my personal opinion, something about the leads’ acting comes off as overly dramatized (esp. in xiaoman’s case) or slightly forced/artificial (in bai yu’s case). this could just be me not really being used to these two actors, but there were multiple times when i was surprised at how overdramatic/unrealistic some lines were delivered. same goes for minor characters, as well — something about the entire show just strikes me as extremely scripted, to the point where it breaks my immersion a lot. this might just be me, though, because i’ve def. heard some praises of the line delivery in this that i couldn’t wrap my mind around: take my words with a grain of salt, i suppose. 

(also, of course, i’ve been watching this directly after coming from white deer plain — which has some really down-to-earth acting and a setting/tone that’s worlds apart from detective l. maybe i’m drawing too many direct comparisons: white deer plain definitely has some amazing acting, and it’s a high bar to set, esp for a drama filled with more younger actors.)

directing-wise... i definitely wish i could ask why they made some of the choices they did. while the subs haven’t reached that point yet, there are definitely some cliche tropes that they start throwing in around ep. 6 that heavily detracted from my enjoyment of the show, esp. with the show’s (perhaps over-the-top) use of slow motion at times + (imo) forcing chemistry before it’s had time to develop.

as a result though, i really can’t find myself getting attached to either of the main two (i like ben, probably because he hasn’t had enough screentime for me to be turned off yet, though) — i think that the acting choices for qin xiaoman definitely made her more unlikable for me despite me being a fan of her character in... theory. similarly, luo fei often feels too thin as a character — i’m constantly searching for depth there that i’m not sure i’m finding. so far, while these two are foils, they really feel like nothing more. maybe it’s too early to tell (but hey, i’m a third of the way through, aren’t i?), but i’m definitely finding myself wishing at almost every turn that there was more to the acting there — though they’re definitely being stingy with releasing characters’ backstories / hints to their backstories, which could help contextualize their behavior a little more. 

overall: would i recommend it?

my very eloquent answer is... it depends. if you’re looking for a fun mystery romp that doesn’t always take itself too seriously with a unique setting and some interesting cases, then by all means: detective l might be up your alley!

that being said, i think it has a lot of flaws — notably, veteran crime show fans might not find enough flesh on the show’s bones to justify watching it for the cases alone — but if you can overlook them, it’s a fun show to watch: just don’t go in looking for stunning acting or dark moral quandaries. 

#bai yu #白宇 #绅探 #cdrama #detective l #can we talk about how ben got relegated to third wheel in these posters tho lmfao #xia reviews #tragic really

[fieldsofplay]

Top Albums of 2019

Top Albums of 2019.

25.  William Tyler – Goes West

For those of you reading along, I want to thank you for sticking with this blog for basically an entire decade at this point. Jeez, where does the time* go? To that end, I’m gonna put out a decade list sometime next week, so to keep my sanity somewhat in check, this years tops list is going to be a little more abbreviated than usual. A few less records, a few less words, but still the same self indulgence you’ve come to know and expect.  To that end, William Tyler.  Tied for my favorite cover art with IGOR.  This is beautiful finger-picked cosmic acoustic guitar music with some nice flourishes added by Brad Cook and the usual suspects.  Perfect for fall days.  I accidentally heckled him at a concert about the Andy Griffith show, but I was only trying to say he shouldn’t be ashamed about liking that program.  The shame still haunts me, much like this music. *A fictional social construct

24.  Floating Points – Crush

Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know much about electronic music.  I don’t know the deep history, I don’t know the technical lingo, but like pornography, I know it when I hear it.  Much has been made about the impact opening for the XX and being limited to minimal gear while doing so had on Sam Shephard, and I’ll admit the differences from Elaenia is palpable.  Where that album felt minimal, Crush is maximal, bursting with colors and ideas, not unlike the beautiful painting that adorns its cover.  I never quite knew what the phrase Intelligent Dance Music was supposed to mean, but to me, that’s precisely what this is. You could dance to “LesAlpx” if you wanted, or you could just throw it on headphones and drift away to its unceasing pulse. Find you a man who can do both.

23.  Nerija – Blume

Let me be the first to tell you that jazz is back! Centering largely in London, there is thrilling music being made by the likes of Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, and this year, by Nerija. Breathing new life into a long moribund form (at least until Kendrick Lamar started featuring jazz musicians on his albums), Blume literally does just that, unfurling jazz from a long dormancy.  While I’m not normally a fan of the guitar in jazz, here it keeps the whole thing moving forward, as the horns swirl around in a supportive role and the percussion cooks.  “Riverfest” is the best exemplar, as the guitar chimes with joy while the cymbal-crashes enliven the vibe.

22.  Florist – Emily Alone

A tale as old time (song as old as rhyme): member of ambient-electronic band puts out solo acoustic album, about the sadness of moving to LA and finding oneself.  No one is reinventing the wheel here, but I can’t help but feel little touches of Florist’s electronic full-band output in Emily Sprague’s solo record—the way the words repeat, subtly, but building meaning with each little phrasal repetition. Plus, the ocean is a recurring image, and dear lord do I miss the sea. If you want to listen a sad girl sing sad songs accompanied by acoustic guitar, you aren’t going to do better than Emily Alone this year.

21.  Kevin Morby – Oh My God

Possibly the best Kevin Morby record?  No one else would say that, but I will.  If so, why is it so far down the list? Well, when you consistently put out amazing records year-after-year it becomes difficult for any individual album to make an imprint on the “culture.” I think “Seven Devils” is possibly his finest tune.

20.  Sacred Paws – Run Around the Sun

My friend David turned me on to this band right before I was about to embark on a road trip up north in the middle of the summer, and let me tell you, that was the perfect time to first experience Run Around the Sun.  Noodly guitars burst out of every seam on this record, as bubblegum lyrics tie the whole shebang together.  If you ever wondered what the Shangri-las would sound like if Johnny Marr played lead guitar, I give you Sacred Paws.

19.  Jamila Woods – Legacy! Legacy!  

On Legacy! Legacy! Woods takes the R&B of the excellent Heavn and applies a jazzier sheen, to excellent results.  One need look no further than the track titles (“Frida,” “Miles,” “Basquiat,” “Baldwin,” “Sun Ra” etc.) to see that Woods is consciously engaging with the titans of history, and here, while she doesn’t exactly reach the heights of those innovators, she certainly begins to carve out a legacy of her own as one of the best voices in a currently thriving R&B scene.

18.  Mt. Eerie & Julie Doiron – Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2

On Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2 Phil Elverum (of The Microphones) and Julie Doiron (of Eric’s Trip) recapture the magic they bottled on the first Lost Wisdom back in 2008.  It is hard to imagine sparer music than this, but the duo make so much of a pair of voices and few plucked guitar or banjo lines.  As with all of his music of late (for obvious reasons), loss hangs all over Elverum’s output, but here, the loss is more mood and less of a literal presence (with the exception of the blistering “Widows”).  Few songs I can think of capture a single, specifically odd phenomenon quite like “When I Walk Out of the Museum.”

17.  DIIV – Deceiver

As capital-G guitar music recedes further into irrelevance, it’s good to still have a band like DIIV kicking around, who make shoegaze like it’s still 1991.  And it’s a good thing they are still making their beautiful walls of feedback, as heroine has repeatedly knocked this band off the rails of what appeared to be a very promising career.  This is ominous, portentous music, that swirls with white noise and black despair.  Shoegaze is premised on making beauty out of the squall of overdriven electric guitars, and DIIV make beauty of the squall of 21st century opiate addiction.

16.  Earl Sweatshirt – Feet of Clay

Earl continues the excellent experimentation of Some Rap Songs in the (slightly) more structured Feet of Clay.  Whereas Some Rap Songs felt like fragments, the tracks on Feet of Clay (almost) feel like “songs” proper.  Earl continues to quickly sweep the ground out from underneath you, whether it’s in the form of oddly woozy backing tracks that can’t really be called “beats” or the sub 2-minute run times, but he seems to pack slightly more structure into those abbreviated entrants, even if there are a lot less of them than there were on Some Rap Songs.  Right now no one is pushing the boundaries of hip-hop like Earl, and each new release, even if the total run time is under 15 minutes, is a thrilling event.

15.  Better Oblivion Community Center – S/T

Yes, last year I had Boygenius as my number one record, but if I’m being frank, and I am, this is the better collaborative album put out by Phoebe Bridgers.  At first blush a record between the up-and-coming Bridgers and the largely has-been Conor Oberst seems like a desperate grab at continued relevance by the latter, but having seen them live, I must admit the pairing makes perfect sense.  The energy between the two is infectious, and while they share a common fascination with emo, they really draw the best out of each other.  Bridgers plays the Emmylou Harris role from I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning to perfection, and Oberst plays the Kenny Rodgers in “Islands in the Stream.”  For a period I could not turn on Radio K without hearing a song from this album, which is strange because, as a college radio station, every hour is usually completely different.

14.  Chromatics – Closer to Grey

In a certain way, Chromatics are victims of their own tendency towards self-mythologizing.  Their last two official albums were absolutely perfect slices of Italo-Disco, equal parts late night ennui and seething dancefloor longing.  There was way more guitar on those albums than most anyone would appreciate on first glance, and yet Ruth Radelet’s smoky vocals were unquestionably the star.  In the interim Johnny Jewel (the mastermind behind the band and basically everything on Italians Do it Better) famously destroyed all the copies of the long teased Dear Tommy after a near death experience, provided essential music to Twin Peaks: The Return (which included multiple Chromatics performances at the dear Road House), and then suddenly dropped Closer to Grey out of the sky, with neither warning nor fanfare.  This record is everything you would want a Chromatics record to be, but perhaps that is part of the reason it didn’t really make a major impression. It felt a little Chromatics-by-the-numbers, right down to the cover of “The Sound of Silence” to open it up.  I absolutely love this album, and if it weren’t for the incredible quality of albums put out this year, it would certainly be a top-10 or top-5 in any other year (hell, in the terrible-for-music 2018 it would have been number one by a mile).  Perhaps the biggest frustration is just how fucking good “Light as a Feather” is.  It hints at a version of Chromatics influenced by Portishead, and now that’s all I want more of.

13.  Thom Yorke – ANIMA

Doubt it if you will, you sneering youngsters, but Thom Yorke and his more well-known band are currently making some of the best music of their careers.  Just as A Moon Shaped Pool was a much needed return to form after the completely forgettable King of Limbs, with ANIMA Yorke gets back to what made The Eraser so compelling all the way back in 2006.  While a fondness for Aphex Twin is no longer at all exceptional in rock music in 2019, it was in 2006, and with ANIMA, Yorke gets back to the creepy, clicky, paranoid distrust of modern consumer culture that is solidly his wheelhouse.  Bonus points for using Netflix and a pairing with PTA to make America care about a long form music video again in 2019.

12.  Black Marble – Bigger than Life

I would call black Marble my favorite new band of the year, but the thing is, they aren’t new, just new to me.  Bigger than Life is their third record, and first for Sacred Bones (whose distinctive album art is what first caught my eye).  Because their music is comprised solely of arpeggiated synths, melodic bass, and clinking drum machines, overlaid with melancholicly narrow vocals, it is easy to accuse Black Marble of being a little same-y.  However, if you, like me, worship at the temple of New Order, than this is the band for you.  I have lived with their three extant albums the last couple months (the second, It’s Immaterial, being my favorite), and in reality, this is really the only music I want to listen to.

11.  Big Thief – U.F.O.F. / Two Hands

If you’re reading this than you likely already know how much I love Big Thief, and you might be a little surprised that one, if not both, of the records they put out this year is not sitting atop this list based on how much I’ve professed my love for this band over the course of 2019.  So here’s the thing, the highs on both of these albums--“U.F.O.F.” “Not”--are better than anything else anyone has done this year, but to my ear both records suffer from a flew blah-ish passages that prevent either album, on its own, from achieving top status.  However, if you borrow a few tracks here (Cattails, Contact) and a few tracks there (Shoulders, Two Hands) and made one album out of the highlights of both sessions, you would unquestionably have the album of the year.  That Big Thief gave us two records brimming with amazing folk rock ideas is a blessing.

10.  Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow

Hey, do you remember Sharon Van Etten put out an amazing record in 2019? I bet you don’t.  The culture moves so fast these days that albums from January might as well have been released five years ago, and it seems to me like this record slipped off a few peoples’ radars as the year progressed, which is a shame, considering how damn good it is (her best imho).  There are few runs on an album I’ve enjoyed more this year than “Jupiter 4’s” electro-throb into “Seventeen’s” Springsteen chug into “Malibu’s” comedown.  Bonus points for being my dear friend Hadley’s downstairs neighbor for all those years.  Ah Brooklyn, how I miss thee.

9.  Black Midi – Schlagenheim

Yes, that most reliable of music-critic tropes: the hot young band from London.  Black Midi made waves with a legendary youtube video of their live show, and having seen it in person, let me tell you, even that now infamous video doesn’t do them justice.  Much like its gobldy-gook made up title, Schlagenheim is an amalgamation of strands of music that don’t really fit together but somehow they pull off with aplomb.  At times they play with the hardcore fury of Minor Threat, while at others the proggy interconnectivity of Rush at their most arena-rockish, all with a weird dash of David Byrne wiry energy holding it all together.  If they come to your town, go see them, just don’t stand in the front unless you want to be swept into the maelstrom.

8.  Helado Negro – This is How You Smile

Did you love Little Joy (the Strokes sideproject) but wish it was occasionally electronic and periodically in Spanish? If so, I give you Helado Negro. This is the prettiest record of the year; it never goes above a certain emotional register / decibel range, but it inhabits the spectrum in which it lives like a ghost in its occasional electronic flourishes.  This is a record for someone with a long drive with something to think about. “Seen my Aura” is simultaneously funky and restrained, acoustic and electronic, and emblematic of the joys of This is How You Smile.

7.  Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury

Each of Sturgill Simpson’s last three records have been fundamentally different from one another, and each has been excellent, which is almost impossible to accomplish.  Metamodern Sounds in Country Music introduced many, like myself, to a new voice in an often overlooked medium, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth dusted off the horns from Elvis’s stax-era and romped around, and now with Sound & Fury Sturgill looks to the outlaw tradition (and ZZ freakin Top) he’s so-often been associated with, but rarely resembled, to crank out an incredible record that is far more “rock” than it is “country.” Throw on a heaping of 80’s-era Springsteen synths and you have the recipe for a record that makes me very, very happy.  The two halves of “Make Art not Friends” have little business coexisting within a single track (the first half sounds like Tangerine Dream, the second half Arcade Fire) and yet it is precisely in this tenuous cohabitation that Sturgill has produced his best record to date.

6.  Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride

Vampire Weekend started out their career being accused of stealing from Graceland and ended up becoming Paul Simon.  Funny how that works out sometimes.  Modern Vampires of the City has become, next to Sound of Silver, the definitive record about life in New York during my era (2005-2016).  On the follow up, the band, newly shorn of Rostam Batmanglij (whose solo record is also phenomenal, even though he’s maybe one of the worst performers I’ve ever seen), decamped to California, and Father of the Bride revels in both the California sun and a well earned sense of accomplishment.  “Hold You Now” is my favorite song of the year, it is simply stunning.

5.  Bill Callahan – Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest

There is a bit of theme developing here at the top of the list: established artists putting out arguably their best work deep into storied careers, and no one on this list is deeper into a more storied oeuvre than Bill Callahan.  Between Smog and under his own name, Callahan has been releasing consistently great albums since 1992, and to me, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is his finest work to date.  Having found domestic bliss, so the press materials state, Callahan is content to sit back and let that world-weary baritone spin out all the comforts of a well-worn chair near a fire in a hearth.  This is the type of record that gives you hope that happiness isn’t the exclusive provenance of the young.

4.  Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains

If I were to really sit and write out all of my thoughts about David Berman this blurb would probably be 10 pages long, at least, so rather than spill a bunch of digital ink lamenting the loss of a true inspiration, I’ll just try and stick to the album itself, which is almost impossible now in the wake of his suicide shortly after its release.  Even on first blush this was a difficult hang, clearly the product of someone who lost their wife to a series of poor decisions / mental difficulties, and who hadn’t come to terms with it.  Understandably so.  Berman remains endlessly quotable, right up to the very end, and “we’re just drinking margaritas at the mall” remains emblematic of his ability to compress the tedium of middle american misery into a single haunting, yet, hilarious, image.  While “Nights that Won’t Happen” lives on as his suicide note directly to the fans (“The dead know what they’re doing when they leave this world behind” ; “all the suffering gets done by the ones we leave behind”), and it is hauntingly beautiful, it still makes me cry every time I hear it. As does most of this record. So the song I’ll carry on with me, and can still actually listen to, is “Snow is Falling in Manhattan.” Just a beautiful song from a beautiful man.  

3.  Tyler, the Creator – IGOR

I really don’t have the words (well, clearly I have some) to express just how impressed I am by the arc of Tyler’s career.  The one-time shock-rap flash in the critical pan quickly turned into forgettable homophobe who perfectly fit a description of Eminem’s fan base I once heard: kids who call their mom a bitch to their face.  The first startling change came with Flower Boy, which came right on the heels of his step out of the closet.  Flower Boy is a really great record, but it still largely sounded like Tyler, just a more mature version who stopped saying cringe worthy shit.  IGOR is something entirely different.  I honestly don’t even know what to call it. It’s not a rap record, and there are honestly entire tracks on it where I’m not sure what it is he does on them, but my god, this thing is incredible.  It’s basically a Parliament album for the end of the world, and if the earth is going to burn down around us, we might as well dance our way out, which is precisely the party Tyler has orchestrated here.  I cannot wait to see what he does next.

2.  Angel Olsen – All Mirrors

All Mirrors isn’t just clearly Angel Olsen’s best album by a clear margin, it is the best pop album made by anyone in sometime.  Just like black clothes make anyone a little slimmer, orchestration can make any pop song sound symphonic, but most pop acts don’t have the power of Angel Olson’s voice to match the bombast of the string section and percussion.  It feels like the term Beatlesesque has started to fade from the critical lexicon, but this music is truly akin to the orchestral richness of “I am the Walrus” or “A Day in the Life.”  People celebrate Lana del Ray for her torch songs (and I really liked Norman Fucking Rockwell, even if it didn’t quite make this list in a stacked year) but no one carries a torch like Angel Olsen.  I was initially reticent to catch her live show this tour, it was on a weeknight, it was cold, I had to go downtown, I’d seen her a couple times already, yadda yadda yadda, but I knew deep down I really wanted to see if she could recreate the power of these songs on stage (the inverse of how that equation usually goes).  Reader: she did.

1.  (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar

House of Sugar may not be quite as experimental as IGOR, or as pop-perfect as All Mirrors, but it takes those two impulses and melds them together into what is my favorite album of the year, even if strictly speaking it may not be the “best” as measured against the other entrants in this top 3.  “Hope” was actually a “hit” song on the local college radio station, and understandably so; it sounds like Elliott Smith and tells a comprehensible story about a friend who died from an overdose.  But “Hope” is jut one facet of House of Sugar, which is a veritable hall of musical mirrors.  “Walk Away” is hypnotic in its repetitions, “In My Arms” is a legit straightforward acoustic love song, “Sugar” sounds like The Knife (no joke), “Sugarhouse” could have been on The River, and while I already said “Hold You Now” is my favorite song of the year, “Gretel” has something to say about that.  I saw a show right when this album came out, and as the band left the stage for the final time the soundguy cued up “Gretel” not, I’m guessing, because the band requested it, but because it rules and he just wanted to share it with everyone as they receded into night.

#top albums of 2019 #best records of 2019

[brentwatchesmovies]

John Wick: Chapter 2

John McClane. Jason Bourne. James Bond. Ellen Ripley. These guys (and gal) better watch their backs, because there's a new action hero on the scene, and for my money, he could take all three of them, no problem. With 2014's 'John Wick', director Chad Stahelski created an original, authentic, and relentless tale of revenge without a dose of modern-day irony most action films contain these days. It came out of nowhere, and added yet another budding franchise to Keanu Reeves already impressive catalogue of hits. With the sequel, Wick 2 improves on the original in every possible way. The action is better, the directing is better, the story is more complex and interesting (even if the stakes aren't as relatable this time). Writer Derek Kolstad also continues the series tradition of building a hugely interesting world that these mysterious assassins inhabit. John Wick 2 solidifies this series as the best new mid-budget action franchise to hit theaters in at least a decade.

So if you know anything at all about the John Wick series, you know that some bad dudes killed his dog, and he wasn't too happy about it. After getting his revenge the first time around, he's back to being somewhat out of the assassin game at the beginning of Wick 2. It doesn't last long, as an old associate of his comes around to have John make good on a blood oath he'd made years before. This forces him reluctantly back into the fold, and things get more and more complicated from there. What I love that this series does, and continues in spades in Wick 2, is build the world of these international assassins with so many details, almost like it's based on a pre-existing property. I told some friends that it feels like the best comic book movie not actually based on a comic book. I can't wait to see how the series expands even further in the (hopefully never-ending) sequels, especially with the completely insane way this movie wraps things up (or doesn't).

There's a reason why this series is resonating with people (and this one more than doubled the originals opening box office gross.) It's an action series that knows exactly what it's doing, who it's audience is, and how to please them from start to finish. I talked up top about the post-modern irony that a lot of modern action films suffer from (or thrive in). What John Wick does so well (and why I think it clicks with people) is that it's so damn authentic and sincere about what it wants to be. This isn't an insanely self-serious Michael Bay movie, or even an unabashedly ridiculous romp like the Fast and the Furious movies. The creators of John Wick just want to have a badass dude doing badass things, and to do it with style. No more, no less.

When it comes to style, this movie is overflowing with it. The first already established this universe as a sleek, well-dressed and colorful world of assassins, and the sequel doubles down on that aesthetic. So many sequences of this movie are intoxicating for the senses, especially the catacombs/concert battle in the first act, and the final showdown, which I'm trying my hardest not to talk about and spoil. This movie doesn't reinvent the action movie wheel, but it's a damn vibrant and beautiful wheel. Stahelski hadn't directed prior to the first John Wick (having a long career as a stunt man and choreographer) and that's why it's so surprising that he speaks the language of cinema so fluently. While the action scenes are understandably gorgeous and easy to follow, even the character moments in between (however brief) are interesting and loaded with subtext. The scene between Wick and Cassian (Common) at the bar stands toe-to-toe with the best action scenes the movie has to offer. This guy is a director to keep and eye on, whether he's doing a John Wick sequel, an established franchise (he wants to do a Bond film!) or eventually another new action franchise. If John Wick 2 is any indication, this guy is going to blow our minds for years to come, and not just with a bullet to the head.

That's about it for John Wick 2, and I honestly can't wait to check it out a second time. I've seen the first probably 5 or 6 times and I'm sure the sequel wont be any different. I also wanted to say, this will likely be one of the last posts on the blog...BECAUSE I'M MOVING TO MY OWN WEBSITE YEEEEEEUHHHH! I'm getting all that set up and looking professional, and when it's done, you'll definitely hear from me about it. As far as upcoming reviews, keep an eye out for Logan, possibly Lego Batman, and I'm considering doing an Oscars article after that airs on the 26th. As usual, I'd appreciate you telling your friends about the blog, and thanks for reading my review of John Wick 2!

#john wick #keanu reeves #action #movies #movie review #Movie Reviews #gunfu #chad stahelski #headshot #ruby rose #common #ian mcshane

[siliconwebx]

How and Why You Should Market to Generation Z

Generation Z is defined by those born between 1995 or ’98 and 2010, but to simplify, let’s just say that Gen Z was born between the mid-90s and 2010. That means Gen Z is made up of guys and girls between the ages of 9 and 24.

According to this study from WP Engine, 55% of Gen Z is dying to get online at least every five hours; many can’t make it longer than an hour without squirming. (To compare, Baby Boomers – born between 1946 and 1964 – can go at least a week before missing the Internet too much.)

When it comes to Generation Z vs. millennials, the main difference is that millennials watched the advent of digital media, while Gen Z grew up with it – they don’t know anything else. All of the innovations that millennials saw unfold in real time were givens once Gen Z was born. And because they’re so used to it, they’re less impressed by it (yet still heavy users and, in some cases, reliant on it).

It’s interesting to note that Gen Z prefers face-to-face communication in some instances, especially when it comes to business and entrepreneurship. According to WP Engine, “Gen Z gravitates toward a unique mix of trends, which both embrace the future and respect certain aspects of the past. Communicating with this generation successfully requires taking the time to understand those nuances then acting accordingly.”

Everything from website design to marketing campaigns must suit Gen Z’s demands and expectations. Here’s what you need to know about Generation Z marketing:

It’s a globalized generation.

Millennials were technically the first global generation, but Gen Z is the first generation to have always had the world at their fingertips. Because of that, they’re more comfortable with and adept at interacting with international peers and following global news.

The recession created deeper concern for the future.

Generation Z grew up during the recession, which made them realistic about their future. They’re hard workers, similar to how some of our grandparents were influenced by the depression. They care about money, savings and retirement, and they don’t want debt.

They still spend, and will spend, a lot.

Don’t let that fool you. They are spending ($143 billion globally), and they’re influencing household spending decisions.

Social media is a go-to for researching buying decisions…

Generation Z is turning to social media to discover brands, research products and finalize their purchase decisions, with Instagram and YouTube being popular platforms-of-choice for these purposes.

…and so are friends and family.

According to the Center for Generational Kinetics, 48% of Generation Z says they tend to get input from friends and family before buying something. The study explains, “This could be a generational statement about who Gen Z most trusts or it could be related to their current life stage. It will be interesting to see if this changes as Gen Z gets older and accumulates more consumer experience.”

Either way, brands need to know that the customer experience and word-of-mouth are important. If more customers review and recommend your products and services, you have a better chance of influencing Gen Z to buy.

Those Gen Z shoppers will also provide the feedback you’re looking for. According to Accenture, “40 percent said they provide feedback often or very often compared to about 35 percent of Millennials.”

Actually, they want to partner with you.

Gen Z is unofficially dubbed “the influencer generation.” They’ve had a camera pointed at them since birth; some have had social media accounts since they were still in the womb. They each need to feel special, a unique snowflake worthy of attention. They want to work with their favorite brands as social media #ad partners or brand ambassadors.

Decide if affiliate partnerships or influencer campaigns are right for your brand. If they’re not, there may still be a way to get Gen Z involved by asking them for contributions. You can have them name a new product, create graphics for a marketing campaign or suggest a limited-time flavor.

A happy medium may be sharing customer posts on social media. It’s less time-consuming than creating a branded contest and you won’t have to place your trust in influencers. You can simply re-post the content you like the most and give a shout-out to the original content creator. American Eagle does this on Instagram with their #AExME campaign:

They care about value, quality and realness…

Gen Z cares much more about quality than quantity, and they don’t want to waste their time figuring out what you can do for them. They want to know the end game from the get-go. Brands should lead by answering the question, “How will we improve your life?”

They also want reality. (A reality in which they’re treated as a social media celebrity, but still.) In content and marketing, use Photoshop-free images as much as possible, and try to feature real customers, not models.

P.S. You also have to stand for something: Gen Z cares if you’re socially conscious or not. Dedicate an entire website page to how you give back or how your customers can give back via your brand, and make sure to use that messaging in your marketing, too.

…but they really care about entertainment.

WP Engine says that 66% of Gen Z uses the Internet mainly for entertainment. To reiterate, more than half of Generation Z’s primary goal when going online is entertainment.

You don’t need to create a branded video game; you just have to give them something unexpected and interesting.

Skittles has a social media presence as colorful as the candy itself:

Old Spice has a lighthearted website, evoking the same bizarre humor its commercials are known for:

What’s especially great is if you can inject entertainment into even the most basic website components, like Oreo did with their cookies warning:

When entertaining, brands should stay true to their personality. If you have a serious presence, you don’t need to jolly it up for the sake of Generation Z – that will come off as inauthentic.

For example, Intel has a Meet the Makers series to show how people are using tech to create cutting-edge experiences. The videos entertain without turning Intel into a company it’s not.

Entertainment doesn’t have to be complicated.

Unless you’re designing a website from scratch, don’t start panicking that you have to do a full-scale redesign to incorporate entertaining aspects, or shoot an entire web series, or rebrand to be more fun and joyful. Here’s an easy hack: discover what’s most engaging about your social media accounts and then replicate that elsewhere.

Gymshark does this on their blog. The comments section at the bottom of a post has emojis so readers can offer super quick feedback in a way they’re familiar with:

If your Facebook is especially engaging when you post a live video, consider doing that on Instagram as well, and maybe create behind-the-scenes or day-in-the-life posts for your blog. If surveys are a big hit on Twitter, add one to your next newsletter. Don’t reinvent the wheel – take what’s already working and maximize its potential.

Brands should know what customers want before customers even know what they want.

That WP Engine study showed that 68% of Gen Z believes that websites will know what visitors want before they tell them. In order to get that type of customized experience, 44% of Gen Z is happy to hand over their data.

Gen Z wants customized offers that meet their buying preferences, habits or location. Brands need to recognize the customer’s identity immediately and tailor the on-screen experience to them.

You know how you’ll be talking about something with your friend, an upcoming vacation to Hawaii, for example, and then you’ll go onto Facebook and there will be ads with discounts for hotels in Hawaii, or you’ll log in to Amazon and see luggage as a suggested purchase? And how everyone over the age of 20 will go, “See, they’re listening, take all of your personal information offline and live in a bubble”? Well, Gen Z loves that. They love going online and seeing an experience that’s meant just for them.

For brands, it’s really about paying attention to what customers are doing and then catering your products, services or offers to them. The customer-brand connection should be partially completed so the rest of the process is simplified. Even something like a “find a store” search bar on a website removes a barrier to entry.

You can have a mobile app, but it’s not necessary.

WP Engine reports that 61% of Gen Z would rather use a website than an app when making an online purchase. If you have a mobile app, you don’t have to get rid of it – just make sure your website is also user-friendly. If you don’t have a mobile app, don’t prioritize it – they can be pricey and difficult to make, and it’s not a must-have right now.

Wrapping Up

Even if you have a slightly older demographic, Generation Z is coming. Knowing what you need to do and what you don’t have to worry about right now can help you create a highly targeted marketing strategy. For brands that have mastered the art of marketing to millennials, some of these tips will sound familiar, while others will require new thought processes and a strategy refresher.

Once you get your new strategy or campaigns up-and-running, you’ll want to measure effectiveness. Familiarize yourself with KPIs to keep your marketing on track.

It should also be noted: I purposely left customer loyalty programs off this list because I just wrote all about it – you can see the article here.

If you have any questions, please drop us a line in the comments section below!

The post How and Why You Should Market to Generation Z appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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[itsworn]

Backstage in 1962 With Shelby, Breedlove, Roth, Stanley Mouse, Mickey Thompson, Jet Cars, Dobie Gillis, and the First Ford Mustang

Boom!

The first wave of post-WWII Americans was flooding DMV offices with license applications. Millions more of us were right behind, pacifying ourselves with model kits and slot cars and go-karts and magazines until that magic 16th birthday made the real thing possible. Tri-Five Chevys were just used cars, cheap and abundant. Networks of indoor winter shows brought California’s latest customs to enthusiasts across North America. Automaker dollars flowed freely to motorsports for the first time in five years, since spooked automakers and suppliers pledged to stop supporting racers and promoting speed. Henry Ford II personally announced his factory’s return while mocking secret skunkworks programs that enabled rival manufacturers to win races on Sunday and sales on Monday during the so-called ban. Ford Motor Company simultaneously dispatched an elaborate Custom Car Caravan of modified new cars and display engines. Most of Detroit’s new, lightweight compacts were optionally available with small V8s. The species of muscle car was not germinated just yet, but the gleam was in the eye. What a great year to be a gearhead!

Archive images exposed outside and inside L.A.’s long-gone Great Western Exhibit Center support Tex Smith’s Apr. 1962 HOT ROD appraisal of NHRA’s second Winternationals Rod & Custom Show as, “The major hot rod exposition in the nation” and “the biggest show ever staged that we know of.” The hit-making bands of guitarist Dick Dale and drummer Sandy Nelson undoubtedly contributed to four-day admissions exceeding 65,000, according to HRM. Later, the vast City of Commerce facility hosted the 1968-1979 L.A. Roadsters Shows prior to its demolition.

It’s impossible to imagine such a cohesive hot-rodding world evolving without the media network created by the Petersen Publishing Company. Even after two ex-PPC employees opened Argus Publishers and launched Popular Hot Rodding this year, Petersen monthlies had virtually no competition on a national scale (with the exception of Road & Track, which always stayed ahead of Petersen latecomer Sports Car Graphic). News-hungry enthusiasts had no reliable alternative to coverage arriving two, three, or more months late, sterilized in Hollywood to portray the hobby positively (and ignore drag racing outside of NHRA’s). On paper, Robert “Pete” Petersen appeared to be printing money. Editors never let on how close he—and we—came to losing it all.

There’s a business expression about how strong cash flow will invariably cover up mistakes—until it won’t. Early employees have said that the fledgling company thrice fell perilously behind on printing bills in the 1950s and survived only by the grace of sympathetic, patient printers and bankers. “Pete got a little carried away with his spending,” recalled photographer Bob D’Olivo, who was hired on in 1952 and stayed for 44 years. “The company was growing, and Pete wasn’t seeing all the figures. He hired a general manager to take some of the load, but if you wanted to talk to him in the afternoon, call the bar just down the street, and he willtake your call!”

When Car Craft’s Bud Lang stopped by this Sherman Oaks upholstery shop to report on a T-bodied AA/Modified Roadster under construction out back, Tony Nancy happened to be building a custom oxygen mask. We know that “The Home of Bitchin’ Stitchin’” did its usual fine job because later, when Spirit of America crashed into the water, Craig Breedlove feared that he was trapped and doomed until realizing that the breathing hose was keeping him connected to the submerged cockpit.

D’Olivo said the “major change came in the early 1960s, after two financial guys named Doug Russell and Fred Waingrow came aboard. Tighter control was needed on salaries, projects, travel, and so on. A management-and-numbers guy was needed, and that job went to Fred. All publishers and directors would now report directly to him, about 28 or so. This is when I was given the title of photographic director.”

A tradition of acquiring competitive titles and spinning off experimental ones was paused. As strict formulas were imposed upon individual publications, unprofitable or inconsistently profitable titles were either killed off (e.g., Kart and Rod & Custom Models) or reinvented (e.g., Motor Life became Sports Car Graphic) to free up operating capital and reduce debt. The painfulprocess worked: President Waingrow steered the ship back into the black, and the founder retained full ownership of a company that he would ultimately sell, in two installments, for nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.

Since setting up shop at the 1958 Michigan State Fair at age 18, Stanley “Mouse” Miller drew crowds and eager customers wherever he appeared in the Midwest and Northeast. If $6 seems like too little to charge for a custom airbrushed sweatshirt, that would be about 55 bucks today. The kid could whip out one every hour and do it in color, instead of the basic black outline drawn by competitors. His operation must have impressed Wally Parks, who waded through the sea of ducktails to get the shot. Burned out on monsters by 1965, Mouse returned to his native California (where his animator father used to work for Walt Disney) and found work creating posters for San Francisco music promoters and album art for local bands, most notably the Grateful Dead. Mouse is still painting at 80, and still offers prints of Freddie Flypogger and other lovable “weirdoes” (MouseStudios.com).

Sure, had this virtual monopoly come apart early, competitors would have tried to fill the abandoned niches, but how well, and for how long? Just like the tree that falls in a forest with no one around to hear it, how else in 1962 could all of us, together, have followed Zora and Shelby, hot rods and customs, Roth and Mouse, Tony Nancy and Craig Breedlove, Cobras and Sting Rays, model cars, slot cars, sports cars, old cars, new cars? No way would the photo archive that Bob D’Olivo organized in 1955 and protected had stayed intact, in which case the most complete pictorial record of hot rodding and American motorsports would not exist for us to study and enjoy in a magazine directly descended from Pete’s first one. We’ll be feeling lucky all over again as each coming issue digs deeper into the 1960s.

Decades before IRS became commonplace in domestic cars, Pontiac chief engineer John DeLorean attached this exotic suspension, two-speed-automatic transaxle, and torque tube to entry-level 1961-1963 Tempest compacts with just a few bolts. How convenient for Mickey Thompson’s busy skunkworks, which the factory commissioned to hurriedly convert a stocker for the NHRA’s Winternationals introduction of Factory Experimental classes. Regular visitor Eric Rickman obviously had his run of M/T Enterprises—and a hunch that future readers might appreciate a peek at the world’s fastest man’s junk pile. We are left to wonder how the faded body panel wound up here, and whether some magazine staffer was responsible for separating the piece from an unknown open-wheel race car. (Help, longtime Car and Driver followers?)

Here’s the kind of historical image that could easily go undiscovered without the magnification enabled by modern scanning and digitizing. Only after zooming in to confirm the identity of Zora Arkus-Duntov (with helmet) did we realize that his waiting ride was a test mule made by joining the front half of the upcoming second-generation Corvette with the back half and roofline of a first-gen Vette. Sports Car Graphic tech editor Jerry Titus was granted exclusive access to private January tests at Daytona and Sebring on the condition that he ignore the “blue disguised prototype” that joined a red ’62 model and Zora’s baby, the CERV I single seater, for some brake development. Titus snapped the photo literally behind the distracted engineer’s back in late January, nearly a year before most folks saw a new Corvette in person. (See Apr. & May 1962 SCG.)

Jerry Titus was probably the best racing writer or writing racer ever employed by Robert E. Petersen. At the conclusion of Chevy’s Florida testing, Zora offered a few laps of Sebring in a priceless test car previously driven only by Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, and Duntov himself. In the May 1962 SCG cover story, Titus described his 172-mph straightaway speed as “conservative” in a 1,700-pound package pushed by at least the 380 hp conceded by Chevrolet. Later, Titus was tabbed by Carroll Shelby to shake down and race the G.T. 350.

Help, readers: Does this scene ring any bells? None of our sources can recall a movie or TV production involving the channeled, 283-powered ’31 highboy that New York transplant Bill Neumann (not pictured) brought to L.A. prior to joining Car Craft and, ultimately, taking over Rod & Custom after PPC editorial director Wally Parks fired the whole staff. Neumann’s classified ad in R&C’s May 1962 Bargain Box mentioned “over 90 trophies,” but no asking price. A born promoter, he helped organize the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association in 1963 (later renamed the Specialty Equipment Market Association, or SEMA) before opening Neuspeed Performance Systems.

Leave it to George Barris to add life-size TV stars Robert Young and Dwayne Hickman to a Barris Kustoms display that brought three famous hot rods to the Winternationals Rod & Custom Show. Barris’ own AMBR-winning ’27 T played a role in Young’s short-lived Window on Main Street series, while the former Chrisman & Cannon competition coupe costarred with Hickman and beatnik sidekick Bob Denver in an episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Behind them is the Ala Kart, the roadster pickup that survived the 1957 Barris Kustoms fire to become the first repeat winner of Oakland’s tall AMBR trophy. (See Apr. 1962 HRM; May 1962 R&C.)

Yes, slot car racing was both a participant and spectator sport at its peak. Model-maker AMT staged regional competitions on elaborate tracks like the setup at the NHRA’s February show. This showdown matched up winners from 1,100 West Coast hobby shops. Later in the year, AMT cheerleader Budd Anderson unveiled the gamechanging, steerable, 1:8-scale Authentic Model Turnpike system for home use during a six-month, fulltime modeling stint at the Seattle World’s Fair. (See May 1962 CC.)

Pontiac stockers prepared by factory contractor Mickey Thompson enjoyed another dominating season, starting with February’s second Winternationals. What appears to be a late round of Mr. Stock Eliminator—a bonus, heads-up showdown bringing back the quickest 50 stockers, win or lose—finds S/S Automatic champ Carol Cox, the first female allowed to enter an NHRA national event, out in front of stick-class-winner Jess Tyree, an M/T mechanic driving the same 167-mph Catalina that set multiple international speed records over the winter at March Air Force Base. Waiting to run at Pomona are previous-round winners Lloyd Cox, Carol’s husband (Pontiac, right); Gas Ronda (Ford); and eventual runnerup Dave Strickler (Chevy), who would fall in the Mr. Stock final to Don Nicholson (not shown). The barn across the street is long gone, but last time we looked, the two-story house remained. (See May 1962 HRM, MT & CC.)

The ragtag bunch of drag and dry-lakes racers that test-fired Craig Breedlove’s $500 military-surplus engine at Los Angeles International Airport in June, just two months before this homebuilt tricycle’s scheduled Bonneville Nationals debut, must have seemed unlikely to make the builder-driver a household name worldwide. The official team truck’s wooden signboards announced the “Spirit of America World Land Speed Record Attempt.” The low-buck team made it to Speed Week, but the semifinished car/trike was limited to static testing at the adjacent Wendover airbase. (See Sept. 1962 MT.)

Despite the convergence of five jet-powered vehicles on the salt during and immediately following Speed Week, a piston-powered streamliner remained the world’s fastest land vehicle all year—to the certain relief of Revell, which had entered the hot rod market by miniaturizing the 406-mph Challenger I and Ed Roth’s revolutionary Outlaw street roadster. Rather than follow the shady example of fly-by-night model makers that blatantly reproduced identifiable race cars without attribution or remuneration, Revell licensed and heavily promoted the men along with their machines. Revell’s national advertising blasted Roth’s brand and zany image far beyond the hot-rodding press and car-show circuit. (See Nov. 1962 R&C.)

It didn’t take long for an unidentified slot car hobbyist to power one of Revell’s snap-together streamliners. Reader Rick Voegelin, the former Car Craft editor and a lifelong slot racer, squinted at the photo through old eyes and semipositively identified the dual motors as Pittmans, likely swapped out of powerful locomotives.

It’d be a stretch to suggest that muscle cars and Funny Cars were invented here, but the roots of both American inventions run through this very engine compartment. Two years before the second-gen Tempest begat the GTO, Pontiac assigned the Super Stock Division of Mickey Thompson Enterprises to create a prototypical factory hot rod for the NHRA’s new A/Factory Experimental class. Beyond a mandate to stick with genuine Pontiac hardware wherever visible, in-house engineers Hayden Proffitt and Lloyd Cox (pictured) virtually rewrote the rulebook as they converted a four-cylinder ’62 Tempest into the year’s quickest and fastest late model, a runaway A/FX champ at both of the NHRA’s national events. By the time this photo was snapped in late June, displacement of M/T’s Super Duty 421 had soared from 434 to 487 cubes, according to Motor Trend, and Cox had assumed the wheel vacated when Proffitt took a 409 Chevy deal and opened his own shop. Meanwhile, Holman-Moody and Dragmaster were secretly developing 480-inch strokers for Ford and Chrysler, respectively. Understandably alarmed, Wally Parks halted drag racing’s arms race—temporarily—by capping 1963 displacement at 427 for NHRA-legal competition. However, the horse had left the barn, and the Big Three’s monster-motor lessons would not be lost on so-called “outlaw Super Stock” racers running independent meets and run-what-ya-brung match races. (See Sept. 1962 HRM; May & Dec. 1962 MT; June 1962 R&C; Jan. 2017 HRD.)

If you remember being faked out by this photo, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger; so were the rest of us subscribers and newsstand browsers. Art director Al Isaacs’s clever positioning of the car’s shadow and of editor Don Evans’s right forearm clinched the delusion that Monogram’s 1:8-scale “Big T” was a real roadster. Inside, the description of Bud Lang’s cover shot joked that because the car is only 16 inches long, Evans and his “lovely cousin, Sharon Huss … were shrunk for photo.” Either way, such juxtaposition was a neat trick when Xacto knives, layers of physical film, and steady hands were required to do the layout work done digitally now.

Staff photographer Pat Brollier shot the B&W photos for CC’s inside story, which Isaacs laid out like a typical car feature. Despite a steep retail price of $10.98—10 times that of the usual $1.98 kit—strong sales inspired Monogram to rush-order a fullsize running version for use as a promotional vehicle. Customizer Darryl Starbird delivered that bigger-yet Big T to the model maker’s booth at NHRA’s late-summer car show in Indianapolis. (See Oct. 1962 CC; Dec. 1962 R&C.)

This one had us baffled until a regular research source, the American Hot Rod Foundation, came through in a big way. AHRF director David Steele recognized the back wall from later photos of Carroll Shelby’s Cobra factory, while AHRF curator Jim Miller instantly identified the last Scarab that Phil Remington built just before Reventlow Automobiles Inc. was shut down under IRS scrutiny. Its all-aluminum Buick V8 shared technology and major components with similar engines that Mickey Thompson developed for this year’s Indy 500. The suspiciously empty Venice, California, space and much of Reventlow’s workforce were taken over by Shelby not long after photographer Pat Brollier visited in early July. Lance Reventlow personally debuted the sports car in September with an impressive second-place SCCA finish at Santa Barbara and made at least two more starts before selling to John Mecom, who installed a small-block Chevy. Augie Pabst eventually acquired this rarest of Scarabs and still has it, as far as our AHRF friends know. (See Dec. 1962 SCG.)

Lance Reventlow was the husband of actress Jill St. John and the son of infamous heiress Barbara Woolworth Hutton. Mom’s fortune financed the boy’s dream of all-American sports cars, built and driven by homegrown hot rodders to beat the best European factory racers. His trio of front-engined Scarab roadsters did exactly that starting in 1958 with a shocking upset at Riverside’s International Grand Prix and the national SCCA championship. Two subsequent attempts at building formula cars and competing in Europe were expensive failures, however, and the Internal Revenue Service was unconvinced that the cash-burning business was really a business. Lance fatally crashed a private plane in 1972, at age 36. His alcoholic, drug-addicted mother followed in 1979, leaving behind just $3,000 of a trust fund that had once been the equivalent of nearly $400 million in today’s money.

Wally Parks became HOT ROD’s first fulltime editor in 1949, cofounded the NHRA in 1961, and simultaneously guided the publishing company and the sanctioning body through the end of this year. In early 1963, he resigned as editorial director of Petersen’s automotive publications to run the NHRA fulltime.

Two years after designer-builder Athol Graham was killed chasing the unlimited LSR in the homebuilt Spirit of Salt Lake, his widow, Zeldine, and former helper, Otto Anzjon, brought the rebuilt streamliner back to Bonneville to prove that Graham’s design was sound. The inexperienced driver followed officials’ instructions to gradually build speed to the 225-mph range before attempting this first full pass, which lasted about 100 feet before Allison-induced wheelspin exploded the right-rear tire. (See Dec. 1962 MT; Jan. 2017 HRD; Jan. 2019 HRD.)

NorCal drag racers Romeo Palamides and Glen Leasher didn’t get to Wendover until the last day of Speed Week, in August, which is normally restricted to prequalified record runs. They were granted one low-speed shakedown run that reportedly revealed “unexpected chassis problems.” The monstrous Infinity went home to Oakland to prepare for a private session on September 10. Leasher, who’d acquired jet-car experience in Romeo’s busy Untouchable dragster, made a troublefree checkout pass and turned around. On the return trip, he unexpectedly accelerated on “full ’burner,” veered off the course, flipped repeatedly, and was dismembered. (Later that day, Romeo called another Bay Area slingshot driver about fulfilling his jet dragster’s commitments and created a colorful career for “Jet Car” Bob Smith, who miraculously survived crashes in a whole

In late August, the original Ford Mustang was captured in the L.A. shop of famed bodybuilders Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes. Barely a month later, the tube-framed, midmounted-V4, front-drive, 1,480-pound prototype made exhibition laps and fans at both the Watkins Glen and Riverside Grands Prix. Ford described it as a “study vehicle for possible production of a sports car.” Motor Trend predicted that its “Impact should hit squarely and cause excitement in three or four or five years,” adding, “Unlike so many styling projections and dream cars offered so far, this one is crammed full of usable ideas.” (See Nov. 1962 HRM; Dec. 1962 SCG; Jan. 1963 MT; Feb. 1963 CC.)

Judging by other film negatives documenting Robert E. Petersen’s fall hunting trip, the boss got the last laugh by bagging both an elk and a bear.

The day before the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix in Riverside, Carroll Shelby (right) and Ford upstaged Zora Arkus-Duntov (left center) and Chevrolet by sneaking the second Cobra ever built into a so-called Experimental Production class and race that SCCA conceived for brand-new Sting Rays; in particular, the fearsome foursome of Z06 fastbacks entered by Mickey Thompson. Despite Bill Krause’s sizable horsepower handicap, his spunky, 260ci roadster swapped leads with Dave MacDonald’s 327ci Corvette (background) until the Cobra’s rear hub carrier failed an hour into the 300-mile enduro. (See Jan. 1963 SCG; Jan. 2017 HRD.)

These had to be the trickest transporters at Laguna Seca for October’s SCCA showdown. Meister Brau beer outfitted one of the earliest tractor-trailer rigs in the photo archive for hauling the high-dollar Scarabs and Chaparrals campaigned by Harry Heuer, a member of the brewing family. Norm Holtcamp had other ideas and started from scratch on his Cheetah, sliding an electric-load-leveling Mercedes sedan chassis under a ’60 El Camino cab purchased at GM’s Van Nuys Boulevard plant. A hot-rodded ’57 Corvette 283 and three-speed Chevy trans mount amidships. We don’t know whether Holtcamp hit his target of 112 mph fully loaded, but you can be sure that second-owner Dean Moon wrung top speed out of the Cheetah before parking and neglecting it for years at Moon Equipment Company. Longtime HRD readers will recall a small color snapshot in our May 2013 issue of the disembodied remains in the yard of collector Geoff Hacker, who tells us that full restoration is scheduled to start later this year at JR’s Speed Shop (Venice, Florida).

Longtime PPC photographer Bob D’Olivo identified art director Art Smith, but neither the blonde nor the legs. Not much work was getting done the day that SCG editor John Christy wandered by, two weeks before Christmas.

The Mysterion signaled the beginning of Ed Roth’s asymmetrical (some would say dysfunctional) stage. The dual-engined gas dragsters that proliferated during these fuel-ban years might have inspired the twins that buddy Budd Anderson procured from Ford (said to be 406s, but probably ordinary 390s). During transport between shows, their combined weight repeatedly cracked and ultimately collapsed the Swiss-cheese frame, which was stripped and junked along with the body. Reader Don Baker saw the HOT ROD Network preview of this article and sent in a memory of riding bikes with his childhood pals to a show at Devonshire Downs (San Fernando Valley). Lacking money for admission, they arrived early that morning and sat outside, watching the show cars arrive, “when Big Daddy rides in, towing Mysterion. He was alone and asked us to help getting it off the trailer. We pushed it right onto the show floor. Pretty cool at that time.” We found the image on one of the final rolls exposed by staff photographers this year, yet the Mysterion was completed in time for the start of the indoor show season in January. (See Dec. 1962 & Sept. 1963 R&C.)

The post Backstage in 1962 With Shelby, Breedlove, Roth, Stanley Mouse, Mickey Thompson, Jet Cars, Dobie Gillis, and the First Ford Mustang appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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[radiohere-transcribed-blog]

Eclectic Sound: Danami

DJ KAM: Welcome guys to radio here! I'm here with the Danami, a local artist, a rapper, who is originally from Detroit.

Danami: Yes.

DJ KAM: And, he's going to be talking to us about his journey through music. And, his inspirations, and how he came to the Twin Cities. So, would you introduce yourself?

Danami: Yeah! As you said, my name is the Danami. I am a solo and hip hop recording artist, originally from Detroit, like I said. I moved to the Twin Cities back in 2007, straight out of high school. Came up here to go to McNally Smith College of Music. Studied Music Business for four years. Graduated with my Bachelor of Arts 2011. From 2011 to 2012 I was like a full time musician, just doing graphic design and teaching and speaking. Went on tour in 2012. Then, Americorp in 2013. And, then I’ve been like just hitting the ground running ever since 2013 up until now. That year was the year that I started performing with my band The Blue, which is a seven piece group of individuals who I met through McNally. And, we have been rocking. I went on tour last year. So, a lot of cool things has been happening.

DJ KAM: So cool. You're one of the many vocal R&B and hip hop artists that I was looking at to interview. And, you sort of struck me as a really good person to interview because I saw that you had music that really touched me because I'm originally from Atlanta Georgia.

Danami: Oh yeah? 

DJ KAM: Yeah. So, being from there, where it's really a lot of soul music, soul food, and a lot of like good vibes. And, I saw that you had a you have a song called “Hip Hop Isn't Dead?”

Danami: Which one is that? Oh, you're going way back!

DJ KAM: Yeah, way back. I did a lot of research.

Danami: That's cool. That's cool. Yeah, I don’t remember the title of that song, but it was the first project that I released Successes Is Intentional.

DJ KAM: Yeah. So, with that song, you sort of just proved that hip hop is an art form that isn't dying and it's really hard to find because more like mainstream. Music is leaning more toward indie and more like eclectic sounding music. So, you don't see a lot of hip hop artists who are tackling everyday issues. So, when I saw your music, that's sort of what drew me to you know.

Danami: I appreciate that.

DJ KAM: So, can you tell me growing up in Detroit, what was your first introduction into music? For me, it was Patti Labelle Like, the first thing I ever heard was Patti Labelle. And, it just sort of like struck me. I was like, “I want to sing like her.” But, I am tone deaf, really badly. So, I always loved listening to music like old school, like jazz. So, what was your first introduction to music?

Danami: My first introduction . . . I would say, it was really all around me just growing up in Detroit aka Motown. And, having the Motown catalog played throughout my household and it be the soundtrack of, you know, my friends parents, and just all around you. You know? It's like being here and not hearing Prince. So, Motown artists was always playing. And, so, I felt like that was kind of the the backdrop or the setting. But, I didn't really recognize music in a context of like, “this is what I want to do,” up until 1996 that's when I saw Puff Daddy and Biggie driving backwards in this music video. And, I was like, “yeah, that's what I want to do.” And, every since then I've been trying to pursue that, and learning what that was, and learning, “oh, this is rapping and this is a career.” So, I've been literally writing since 1996 1997 when I was like in the third grade. So, that was the foundation really.

Danami: As I grew as an artist, my sound started to be more influenced by the music that was playing. Like I said, in the background which was the Motown. So, a lot of my music is inspired by soul music. You know, that's why I always say I'm a soul and hip hop artist first. Soul comes before the hip hop piece, I just happened to rap. And, that's how we classify things. Like if you rap, we are going to label that as hip hop, you know? But, to me, rapping is just a tool for me to communicate my message and what you said that you was drawn to, my message. And, I feel like in my journey of life and the things that God is putting my heart to even share and even write, these are like personal things and I want to make sure that I'm connecting with the specific individuals to change their lives. So, soul music, to me, is one of the greatest forms of music that might change people's lives. And, if you really do the research and really go study, you can actually see how soul music back in the 1960s was also a part of the civil rights movement. And, how music was also helping break down color barriers. You know, in the south when these artists like The Temptations or Diana Ross will go down there perform. You know, one month, there was a line separating the blacks from the whites, and then they come back six months and they're all intermingled. So, music, and especially soul music, is at the forefront of what I do.

DJ KAM: So, when you moved to the Twin Cities, was it hard to get into the Twin City music scene?

Danami: Because I moved here in 2011, I've been recently just getting into all the different genres of music that are in the Twin Cities. Do you do music yourself?

DJ KAM: No, but I like local artists. In Atlanta, I always listened to local artists, not just always the mainstream artists, because local artists are people in your community you know them personally. Or, you don't. Or, you see them in the subway. They're like normal people that you can interact with and see, but are also influential. So, that's how it was in Atlanta. And, here it sort of is the same way. So, when you came to Minnesota, was it hard to get into that scene? Was it already established or was it all inclusive?

Danami: Right. I would say it was all inclusive. You know, the Twin Cities just have a history of being in this large community of musicians, writers, actors, and, you know, just the Arts here in general is very big. And, by me going to a music college, that put me in the circle of musicians and other artists. And, actually, the individual that really helped me get my break in the Twin Cities music scene was Sean McPherson, who's the bass player of one of the most popular hip hop bands in town, which is Herisupecs. But, he also he does on-air stuff for the current now. But, he actually put me on a bill with Sims and Paper Tiger of Doomtree at the Turf Club. And, this was like 2008 or whatever 2009. And, you know, ever since then, that was like my foot in the door. And, meeting other artists who were bigger than me and being able to share stages with them. From there, you realize that this scene is very small. You know, everyone knows everyone. Or, at least, if I don't know you, I know my best friend knows of you. So, very all inclusive.

DJ KAM: What is some advice older artists like yourself can give younger artists? I know a couple of girls on campus who want to be artists and go into the music scene.

Danami: What do they want to do?

DJ KAM: Some are into rock, some are into other music. But, when I do interviews they always ask for me to ask the artists what advice would you give they can give someone who isn't in the music scene yet, but wants to get their foot in the door.

Danami: Yeah. It's challenging to give general advice, you know, because everyone is different and everyone has their own unique journey and is in that unique place. So, some general advice that I would give is the same thing people hear all the time. I'm not going to try to reinvent the wheel. You know, work hard, really work on your craft, and be passionate about what you're doing. And, discover your “why.” I'm going to say that. Discover your “why.” Like, “why do you want to do music?” Or, “why do you want to dance?” Or, “why do you want to act?” And, really hone in on that. And, promote that, promote your “why.” Because, as I'm learning on my journey, the people who you want to connect with are going to connect to your “why,” you know? People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Martin Luther King [Jr.] said, “I have a dream,” not, “I have a plan.” So, people were identifying with his dream because they share that same value. So, even as an artist, hone in on your “why” and don't be afraid to say, “this is what I believe, this is what I'm standing on,” and just continue to move forward. I think that will really help separate you and set you apart from a lot of other artists. And, once again, put you in this category of finding your lane and finding your specific audience. So, not trying to go and cast a wide net and get everybody to listen to your music. No, just only get, you know, that that few who's going to support you 100 percent. Versus, getting the thousands who going to support you half the time.

DJ KAM: Yeah. What sort of message do you try to convey in your music? Or, is there a not a message, you just want to give people hope in what they are looking for?

Danami: My messages are very different in my music, but I think ultimately, like you said, it is to give hope. It is to inspire. It is to change people's lives. You know, I want people to feel greater than what they did prior to listening to my music. And, when you come to a show, I want you to feel greater leaving than what you did when you entered the show. I truly believe in the power of music. And, I also know that that is my calling that God has had has on my life or has on my life. So, I have a responsibility to make sure I'm not leading his people astray. There's people out here that need love, man. They need the hope that you speak about. They need to feel connected to someone, to something, to be a part of a community. And, I remember music, and especially soul music, did that for me. When I would listen to these artists like Marvin Gaye, and I’d be going through what I was going through, a breakup or whatever, and these songs would really speak to me and speaking to my soul, and help me through that time. So, I want to change people's lives through my music. And, that's what I'm passionate about. And, that's what I'm moving toward. That's like, that's my “why.” You know, I'm here to uplift the people, you know, for Jesus sake.

DJ KAM: So, when you got into rap and hip hop, what would you say are the top five artists that inspire you? It could be the greats or someone who is not that well known.

Danami: Now, are we only speaking hip hop?

DJ KAM: Yeah. Or, you can do hip hop and soul.

Danami: So, I'm leaning more towards the soul. I would say I don't really listen to a lot of hip hop these days. Once again, because I'm focused on my lane, which is soul music. But, when I started off rapping it was DMX, Jay-Z, and Nas. Like those were my top three. Later on, Lupe Fiasco became a big influence on the music that I create. And, nowadays when I listen to hip hop it's like . . . I'm liking artists for a specific reason. Like, I like J. Cole because he's very transparent in his music. I feel like he's capable of writing a song and being so honest about the everyday things that we're going through. And, he just puts it into a song and it just seems so tangible, that we can just truly relate to it. So, I like J Cole. You know, obviously Kendrick. He's one of the greats. Nas is still one of my favorites. We'll leave it there on a hip hop standpoint.

DJ KAM: How about soul artists?

Danami: Soul artists . . . 

DJ KAM: !t's very difficult, I know.

Danami: Nah, man. You know, when it comes down to soul artists that inspire me . . . Like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder is a big one, like his whole catalog of music. I think he's someone that truly inspires me, especially when it comes down to song writing and writing songs with concepts. The temptations. I love those guys just because I like their style and grace. And, they're just like just true men, you know. And, with professionalism and being gentleman like on stage. I love that. Who else? Oh, Otis Redding. You know, Al Green. The Dramatics. The list goes on. I listen to a lot of soul music.

DJ KAM: What is one thing, that if someone met you, wouldn't know about you? Like, something that they wouldn't necessarily guess from your parents or your music?

Danami: I think if you just meet me . . .

DJ KAM: Yeah. Like I just you.

Danami: This is this is a great question to flip on you. But, I think a lot of individuals when they first meet me, you know, they think I'm like I'm very quiet, and it's true that I am an introvert, but I know when to be an extrovert. And, I guess it’s like a light switch for me, I turn it on and off. You know, you can’t be introvert on stage. 

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: That just looks whack. You know, the stage gives you, you know, you have this power and you got to know how to use that power. You know, for the good of the people in a room. So, for me, I'm very much the introvert. However, I know how to be an extrovert when it's time to. So, I think that's one of the biggest things that individuals wouldn't be able to grasp when they first meet me. “Oh he's quiet,” but nah. I do a lot of talking, just asked my wife. Yeah, I will leave it there.

DJ KAM: Okay. You wanted to put the question back on me? 

Danami: Yeah. What was your first impression?

DJ KAM: For me, my first impression about you was . . . 

Danami: Because you heard the music first, and then you met the man.

DJ KAM: Um, for a lot of artists . . . You don’t get to know someone through email real well.

Danami: Yeah. 

DJ KAM: Yeah. So, when I listen to your music, I was thinking more of someone who was like super extrovert, like high energy. But, when I met you, you're really chill and then I was like, “Oh, that's how people see me too.” Because I, outside of when I'm on the radio, if you come up to me in real life and say, “hi,” like I'll say, “hi,” back. But, I'm not the person who can like hold like a 20 minute conversation, or can be like the super outgoing person all the time. Like, the one hour a day that I do my radio show is the time that I can use all that energy, but still be in a really calm environment.

Danami: Yeah. So, is it draining for you?

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: Yeah, I understand. 

DJ KAM: Even though I'm in a lot of clubs and activities on campus, I'm just not the person who will be like, “hey let's go to a party, let's do it.” I'm not that person. And, yeah. So, I can see where people would see that. But, I just knowing myself, I didn't actually just think of you that way off the bat.

Danami: Gotcha. 

DJ KAM: Because, I met a lot of artists last year. So, some of them were really quiet. And, some of them were really extroverted, and the music was very like somber. So, you never know.

Danami: Yeah. Yeah. You know, it’s interesting because you know, as artists, you can create in your room by yourself. So, you have the opportunity to explore like a whole different side of yourself, and expose that sort of world. But, when you meet them in person, it's the opposite of what you might of thought, like what you just said. So it's cool. I know. . . I can't remember who said this but, I've heard it where individuals loved the music, met the person, hated the person. Or, like, “You're wack. I think I'm just going to only listen to your music, I don’t want to hang out with you as a person.”

DJ KAM: It's just, if you meet the person you may not like them, but if you like the music that's the most important part of the person. Because that's what they give their time and their energy to, to like give you that music. So, that's how I judge a person sometimes. Like, what content can you give out? It is more important than, sometimes, how you react. Because some people are just really quiet, and maybe not able to express themselves.

Danami: So, what are your thoughts on like separating talent versus the human being? We're speaking about that a little bit, but more so in the context of, like, social dynamics. You know, you take for example, someone who has released like really great music or released release great films, but they're a jerk in real life. What are your thoughts about separating talent versus the person?

DJ KAM: If you made a great film, I appreciate the film. But, if you're a bad person, I just don't like you as a person. So, that's the line that I have.

Danami: So, you're able to separate.

DJ KAM: I'm not the person who . . . if I don't like you as a person, it doesn’t affect how I look at your work. So that's why, usually, I just try to see the person for what they can do. Like, I see the talent before I judge the person because what you're passionate about, sometimes, speaks volumes about who you are, more than how you act.

Danami: No doubt. Now, I’m going to throw a curveball. What about Bill Cosby?

DJ KAM: He's a great comedian, but a really bad person.

Danami: Okay. That's cool. It's cool that you're able to separate the two.

DJ KAM: Like, I still watch the Cosbys. It's a good show. I let my nephew watch it. I'm raising him, and I let him watch it because it's a good quality show.

Danami: Right.

DJ KAM: But, I'm not going to let him emulate the person that Bill Cosby actually is. 

Danami: No doubt.

DJ KAM: I’ve always told him, “this is the person that they're portraying, but they might not be the person who you'll meet.” So, always have that divide. 

Danami: Yes, I like that.

DJ KAM: There are some people who can’t do that, and that's how the brain operates. To each their own. 

Danami: True.

DJ KAM: Yeah. And, you know, you and me have a mutual point of connection, which is BrandLab.

Danami: Yes, yes.

DJ KAM: Yes. So I never actually got to ask you. How did you know about BrandLab, and Brian, and how do we connect in that way?

Danami: Yeah. I mean, I’d be curious how the connection happened as well. But, I know I didn't share this with you in email because it would have been a whole bunch of typing.

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: In short there's an organization called the YNPN, which is the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. So, I'm a member of that. And then he [Brian] was on the board of YNPN. So, we met through that organization. Fast forward, the company I'm working with, Community Blueprint, he came into our office one day was chatting about BrandLab, because we're a marketing agency. And, for those who don't know about BrandLab, what they do is help young people, especially young people of color, get into marketing agencies in town, which is predominantly white. So, he was coming in to speak to our organization about what they do, you know, and the internship program. So. I like was like, “hey, you’re Brian! You’re that guy.” 

DJ KAM: And, Brain is high energy. He tires me out most of the time.

Danami: So, that's how we reconnected and stayed in contact, through Brand Lab.

DJ KAM: And, I met Brian through BrandLab when he came to my high school. He, actually him and my teacher, sort of like, not bullied, but sort of convinced me to apply for the internship. Because I didn't think I would be fit for it. So, I did it. And then they . . .

Danami: Where were you placed? 

DJ KAM: The Mia, The Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

Danami: Oh!

DJ KAM: Yeah. And, I still work there. Which is nice.

Danami: Sweet!

DJ KAM: And, I'm an artist instructor with little kids. 

Danami: Dope! Congratulations.

DJ KAM: So, then they he connected me to them, and then I figured out that I liked art, I liked music I liked. . . Well, I always liked music. But, through the Mia they host a lot of local artists and musicians, so it connected me more to my creative side. Which, I never knew I had done. 

Danami: Dope. Self-discovery.

DJ KAM: Yeah. Like, I never knew that I had more of a creative side than I already did. So,  that's how I met Brian. And then, he he also taught me about his gelato bike.

Danami: Heard about it, but I don't know too much about it.

DJ KAM: He has the only food bike in the Twin Cities, which is just like a gelato bike he rides around in the summer. It's really adorable. Yeah, he's always in, like, the parks.

Danami: Okay.

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: Does he ever make his way to St. Paul?

DJ KAM: Yeah, he does. And, it's really good gelato.

Danami: Oh, man.

DJ KAM: Yeah. So, that's how I met Brain. And, he told me about you because I told him that I host a radio show for a local artist. And, he connected me to you. And then, yeah. That's how I reach out to you.

Danami: Well, thank you Brian for making the connection. Sweet.

DJ KAM: Sometimes you don't know. You may not know that you know someone through someone else, unless you actually try [to reach out].

Danami: Yeah. That was pretty cool.

DJ KAM: So, you finished all my questions and answer them all thoroughly. 

Danami: Does that make me a good interviewee?

DJ KAM: Yes, you are.

Danami: I'm actually like trying to get better at being a an interviewee because I feel like in the past I've been short with answers. Like, “what inspired you?,” and I just give you, “blah blah blah.” But, I will never expound on the answer. So, I'm learning to like just give you as much as you need.

DJ KAM: Which is nice because the audience also gets to hear more of you. It is not me talking 95 percent of the time. Because of my voice on recording is horrible. 

Danami: Ah, you're not used to your own voice yet?

DJ KAM: No, I'm not. I just started DJing last year. I'm still getting used to hearing my voice on recording.

Danami: I mean if you want, you can always run it to Auto-Tune.

DJ KAM: We have it on the sound, but I don't think I can do that.

Danami: Hook it up, Rocky.

DJ KAM: *laughs*

Rocky: *laughs* Can you talk about that?

Danami: Yeah. I can only, once again, I can only speak from my experience. I think that my first recordings, they sound wack. After I recorded them and listened to them back [that’s what I thought]. But, I think it's just a matter of just continuing to record, and getting used to your voice, and just accepted it. Like, “hey, that’s what I sound like,” you know, “that's just my voice.” But, one of the things that I've noticed, like for me, is when you have a recording of your voice you're able to, in a future, make changes about how you want to project. It is basically just like that homework assignment, and you just get the look at yourself objectively. And, like, “oh, I don't like that, I can tweak that, I can make that better.” So, listening to yourself is always helpful because then you get to critique it and make better. But, at the end of the day, you’ve just got to accept it.

DJ KAM: Yeah. I'm learning to enunciate more.

Danami: Yeah, that's a big one. Me too. You heard me earlier. That's a big one for me.

DJ KAM: I'm learning to enunciate my words more. And, since I’m from Georgia, I had really bad really bad accent. Like really bad. So, when I talked on the phone people expected someone else [in contrast] to the way I looked. 

Danami: Can you give us an example of that?

DJ KAM: Yeah. I came up here and you say “pop” and I just kept saying “Coke.” Because in Georgia, you know, everything is a coke even if it's like a Pepsi.

Danami: For real?

DJ KAM: Yeah. 

Danami: Like, an orange pop?

DJ KAM: Yeah, Fanta is a Coke. 

Danami: Oh. I never knew that.

DJ KAM: So, in the south they are like, “what kind of coke do you want?” And, they don't mean actual Coca-Cola. So, when I came up here I was like, “can I get a coke?,” and they get me a coke and I was like, “I didn't want a Coca-Cola.” So, it was like getting used to like a regional thing.

Danami: Okay. So that's like regional slang.

DJ KAM: Yeah. But, I also couldn't [talk about] a male significant other without sounding like I just came straight out of a western. So, I just avoid it because I still can't. So I can't say husband [”husband” said with an overemphasis on the “u” sound] like correctly.

Danami: *laughs*

DJ KAM: So I’m like, “husband,” and they are like, “what?” It doesn't work out right. So I don't even. Like, I just try to avoid the ones where my accent just comes out. And, if I meet another person from the south it just comes out. 

Danami: It just comes out naturally?

DJ KAM: Yeah. 

Danami: I can dig it.

DJ KAM: And, my family is from Africa. So, when I'm with them my English turns into African English. So, it’s like a broad spectrum. So, it's sort of like . . . 

Danami: A chameleon.

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: You know, you blending in, which makes sense. I mean, let’s just keep it real. When I'm around my white friends, I definitely got to talk a certain way. You can’t be speaking in certain slang because they just don't know what it is. And then, I find myself being the human dictionary or something, you know. And, it’s the same thing, you just speak to different folks. You speak multiple languages, without it being like Spanish or something like that.

DJ KAM: Yeah. In Somali there is no word for cousin. There's just brother and sister.

Danami: That's dope to me, because I call everybody brother and sister. Like, “what’s up my sister?/ what’s up my brother?”

DJ KAM: I had a bait of calling people . . . So, in the south they always say “sweetheart” or “honey.” And, people actually, like in high school, guys thought I was flirting with them when I wasn't. It was just like a form of speech. 

Danami: Yeah.

DJ KAM: And, I was like nope, that's just how I talk.

Danami: Has anyone ever thought you was being condescending?

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: For saying “honey.”

DJ KAM: Yes. [And,] “sweetheart.”

Danami: Yeah.

DJ KAM: They were like, “why are you being condescending?” And, I'm like, “I'm not.” They are like, “are you belittling me?” I'm like, “nope, that's how we talk.”

Danami: I feel like . . . Rocky, this doesn’t go to you. But, I feel like a lot of white people speak that way, in Minnesota, in a condescending way. Not all! I didn’t say all. I said a lot.

DJ KAM: But, Minnesotan people are way more friendly than a lot of people I've noticed. Like when . . .

Danami: Fill me in. Like, in what contex?

DJ KAM: I mean, like in the supermarket.

Danami: *laughs* Only in the supermarket they are friendly.

DJ KAM: Like, in the supermarket, when you walk past someone they say, “hello,” when you make eye contact.

Danami: Word?

DJ KAM: Yeah! Or like, when you are at the supermarket and the cashier has a conversation with you

Danami: Which supermarket do you go to?

DJ KAM: Cub Foods.

Danami: Oh.

DJ KAM: *laughs* I don't know. I think it’s just what I've experienced, but people have just been really friendly. Not like your face, like, “we'll be friends.” But, just like, “hello.” And, in Georgia, Southern hospitality is, if I know you we're going to be hospitable. But, if I don't, let's just move on with our day.

Danami: See, I feel like I passed people who don't say hi often. I mean, cause I catch the bus. So, I'm always seeing different people. And, sometimes I want to just say, “hi.” Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

DJ KAM: Yeah. I always say, “hi,” to my bus driver.

Danami: You’ve got to.

DJ KAM: Yeah, because he’s always there every morning. And, he picks me up and I’m like, “hey, how are you?” And, I know everything about him. I don't know, I'm just super friendly.

Danami: And, your life is in his hands.

DJ KAM: Yeah. I’m just like, “might as well be friendly to everyone.” But, I'm not like the person who goes up to everyone and says, “hi, how are you?”

Danami: There's this guy gets on a bus. And, as soon as he get on he says, “great morning everybody.” And I'm like, “man, I want to do that.”

DJ KAM: Me too!

Danami: And then, I get on the bus, my next my connected bus, and then I chickened out. Or, I’ll be like, [mumbles] “’Morning Everybody.” *laughs* Just say it so myself. 

DJ KAM: Yeah. I always want to do that, but then I think about maybe someone's having a bad day. Or, I just think of the worst case scenario in my head, and I'm like I can't.

Danami: Well, we should do it. Are you catching a bus this evening?

DJ KAM: No, I'm getting a ride.

Danami: Alright, the next time you catch the bus, let's make this a personal challenge to vocally, enunciate . . . 

DJ KAM: Say hello to everyone. 

Danami: Not individually, but . . . 

DJ KAM: Just in general.

Danami: You know, just “what’s up?,” head nod, however you want to do it. But, “sup, everybody?”

DJ KAM: I want to do that.

Danami: Let’s do it.

DJ KAM: I'm going to try. That's going to be on my bucket list.

Danami: I going to do it after we finish our interview. I’m going to go catch the bus.

DJ KAM: So, what are some of the things that you want to achieve in your career? Like, goals. They don't have to be like really big goals. I had a band that said they want to sell out the U.S. big stadium.

Danami: Oh, sweet!

DJ KAM: And, I'm like, “that's a really good goal!” But, let's not go that far ahead yet.

Danami: I mean, they are shooting for the moon.

DJ KAM: Yeah,

Danami: Can’t knock that.

DJ KAM: I'm like, “you should go for it, but let's just go one step at a time.” Because, in my head, I’m like, “let's go for, like, in the in the next 10 years.”

Danami: Right. No doubt. Um, so much of my goals are changing. Especially like, just with my faith, and as Jesus is working on me, and I'm really learning to submit more of myself to him, and what he wants for me to do. That’s sort of changing and a lot of different things. But, ultimately, it is always for the upliftment of his children. So, I want to tour more. I want to be able to tour two times a year. You know, 30 days each. Travel overseas and perform and tour. I think that's where my heart lies right now. Just touring and being able to get in front of new people, meet new people, exposed to music to them, and then, you know, changed their lives. So, that's where I am right now. I think super long term, these are more so like personal goals, being able to leave a legacy for my grandchildren. I have a daughter, she's six months now. So down the line, I want to make sure that I’m able to give an inheritance to my grandchildren. And, pass on financial inheritance and then pass on this legacy of who we are as a family. Those are some of the personal goals that I'm really focused on, in addition to that music stuff. Yeah. I can go on about that kind of stuff, man. You know, just different aspirations.

DJ KAM: Those are some amazing goals. I wish I had some very specific goals. My goal is just to graduate, at this point. 

Danami: Nah, that's that's very specific.

DJ KAM: My mom says I always think to short term. Like, I just go try to get to the next ring up, and then just go from there.

Danami: Nah, short term it's great to me. I'm an individual who . . . I don't like doing a 10 year plan. Just so much can happen within 10 years. So, five years is like, like I rock with that. But, I think where you are right now, the biggest thing in your life is probably school. And, that's a huge undertaking. School is like a full time job. 

DJ KAM: Yeah.

Danami: Then you work in there as well, man. Much props to you for having it just be a goal, and knowing, “I accomplish this, scratch this off, and then move on to the next thing.” So . . . 

DJ KAM: Thank you. We're coming to the end of our time together.

Danami: This is like the “good night” portion of the date.

DJ KAM: *laughs*

Danami: Like, [yawns] yep I’m ready. 

DJ KAM: I have never had the end of an interview referred to in that way. 

Danami: *laughs*

DJ KAM: But, it’s coming towards the end. 

Danami: You’ve got to rub it back up in my face.

DJ KAM: What? *laughs* Do you have any events or shows coming up? Or, an album release or anything you want to plug?

Danami: Yeah. This Saturday, my band The Blue and I, we are performing at the Cedar Cultural Center. And, we're opening up for this Sweden hip hop slash swing band. They're on their U.S. tour, so we get to open for them. So, that's going to be really dope. Outside of that, you know, you can just go to my Web site danamionline.com to learn more about my graphic design work, my music and then more upcoming events.

DJ KAM: Well thank you for coming. I really appreciate it.

Danami: I appreciate you for having me. Great chat!

Aired September 20th on Eclectic Sound, DJ KAM interview local Soul and Hip-Hop artist Danami.

#radio here #DJ KAM #Eclectic Sound #Danami #college radio #st kates #Rocky Pierson #hip hop #soul #podcast #transcript

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What Harry Styles and Zayn can tell us about life after boy bands

One Direction is accidentally the best named boy band in the history of coordinated turtlenecks. Legend has it that Harry Styles picked it on a whim because it sounded cool after Simon Cowell gave the five boys a second chance to compete on X Factor if they were willing to go at it as a team.

For about five years, it worked remarkably well, and then the tears fell.

There’s a line in Zadie Smith’s The Autograph Man, a book about the the trappings of idolization published when Harry Styles was eight years old, that seems oddly prescient for the current situaton. Just after a line that happens to be about a character’s ruffled shift, Smith writes, “All fandom is a form of tunnel vision: warm and dark and infinite in one direction.”

And yes, there are plenty of horribly original “different directions” jokes to be made about the lads’ respective solo careers. But the truth of the matter, is that separating was the only way they could all head upwards.

Before 1D, the *NSYNC model was the best case scenario for life after a boy band’s prime years. Justin Timberlake was the one who got to keep the music career, and lives happily ever after in the A-List while the rest are relegated to TV hosting gigs. Joey Fatone’s Live Well Network show, My Family Recipe Rocks, is delightful, but it can’t be what he envisioned for himself. Or you have the Backstreet Boys, tethered together for eternity in Las Vegas playing the old hits. Harry Styles’ solo debut, out today, makes it clear that it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

SEE ALSO: Harry Styles hasn’t quite mastered the stage dive yet, but his solo music sparkles live

Zayn Malik was, of course, the first to go. He exited the group in flames with some comments about wanting to be a normal 22-year-old but quickly came back with bold promises of #realmusic, as opposed to whatever he considered One Direction.

ZaYn

Image: MIKE WINDLE/GETTY

Malik wasn’t content to fall into traditional boy band roles and be “the shy one” when he was actually experiencing severe anxiety. Plus, he favored R&B over the classic rock influences that were beginning to dominate One Direction and he has the voice for it, so he left the band to make music that was more his speed, working with M.I.A., PartyNextDoor, and even Styles’ ex, Taylor Swift.

It’s no surprise that fans, despite some very harsh words on Twitter when he split, responded positively to the new music. One Direction was the first major boy band to treat young women with respect as music fans instead of just assuming they want washboard abs and a Max Martin hook, as great and necessary as those things can be to young fans coming of age.

When Styles was recently on the cover of Rolling Stone, Styles explained as much to Cameron Crowe, who just happened to be profiling him.

“Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music short for popular, right? have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Music is something that’s always changing. There’s no goal posts,” he said. “Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act ‘too cool.’ They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick.”

Malik echoed the sentiment in his book. (Oh yeah, he has a book, some fashion collaborations and a TV show on the way, NBD.) “I think we need more women in positions of power across the world,” he wrote. “I think a lot of the world’s problems could be solved if we allowed more contribution from women.”

Instead of making the music they thought girls wanted to hear, they put a little faith in their fans and tried to make the best music they could. It paid off.

Instead of making the music they thought girls wanted to hear, they put a little faith in their fans and tried to make the best music they could. It paid off.

For Louis Tomlinson, that meant the sunny “Just Hold On” with DJ Steve Aoki, and if there is anything that’s a fairly sure bet, it’s a handsome boy with a devout social media following dipping his toes into EDM. Sometimes, I imagine I’m in a The Graduate situation, at pool party. Instead giving the tip “plastics” to a lost boy unsure what to do with his potential, I whisper, “EDM” into his ear. While Aoki is a veteran of the scene at this point, “Just Hold On” is actually his highest charting single in both the UK and the USA, where the song hit #2 and #52, respectively.

Liam Payne, meanwhile, signed a record deal with Republic in 2016. Like Tomlinson, his ambition has some EDM leanings, but he’s got his eye on hip hop, as well. He previously released a single with Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa and has a new single with Migos’ Quavo out on May 19.

Niall Horan and Styles were always the most likely to hit the ground running with One Direction’s ’70s rock influence. Horan, the guitar-wielding Irish man, was the most involved in the group’s songwriting process and Styles baked a damn carrot cake for Stevie Nicks on her birthday. Horan beat Styles to the punch releasing his first solo single, the sweet acoustic number “This Town,” but Styles’ solo album came first.

A good suit.

Image: mike coppola/Getty Images

He considered calling it Pink, because The Clash’s Paul Simonon once said that, “Pink is the only true rock & roll color.” Nearly every review of Harry Styles has focused on Harry Styles, the rock star, in an age when the form is limp. “Sign of the Times,” the lead single, is a bold statement of intention to fill that void. Styles announced the Bowie-channeling tune exactly 20 years after the Prince album the song borrows its name from was released.

But he ended up simply going with Harry Styles instead, and it’s a fitting choice. In interviews, he’s wants to make it clear how honest the lyrics are as he avoids getting into details about just about everything. “I didn’t want to write ‘stories,'” he told Rolling Stone. “I wanted to write my stories, things that happened to me. The number-one thing was I wanted to be honest. I hadn’t done that before.” Styles knows he’s not reinventing the wheel, but what he can offer that no one else can is a direct line into his psyche.

“Mature” details of the album will inevitably be sensationalized, sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll were never really absent from One Direction (sample lyric: “waking up beside you, I’m a loaded gun.”) The main difference is that now it doesn’t have to be sung with a wink.

Communication, or lack thereof, is the album’s focus. Styles desperately wants people to say what they mean. “Tell me something I don’t already know,” he begs and begs on “Ever Since New York.” Hell, he doesn’t even use emoji, as he confessed to the crowd at his very first solo show.

At his most confessional, the soft, Eliott Smith-indebted, “From the Dining Table,” Styles begs for resolution. “Woke up alone in this hotel room. Played with myself, where were you? Fell back to sleep, I got drunk by noon,” he confesses. “I’ve never felt less cool.”

The mumbling masturbator is, of course, not a traditional boy band archetype, and definitely not what would be expected of “the cute one.” But thanks in large part to the infinite feedback loop of fandom online, it’s what we know fans needed to hear. The boy they worship (and the subject of their own erotic fan fiction) gets lonely, too.

It’s too early to tell what the longevity of the One Direction boys solo careers will be, but they’re already tipping towards a higher success rate than any previous boy band. Their increasingly web-savvy fans seem poised to ensure a decent run.

Pop groups are no longer a survival of the fittest. They’re better prepared to service the passions and desires of their young, predominately female fanbase better than ever and even grow up with them after they grow up and start running the world.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2r1SQB5

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2r3n5aI via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

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Visual Flow – How to Get the Most out of Composition

In photography terms, composition can make the difference between a good image and a fantastic one. Yes, you need all the other components; the light has to be dramatic, the subject compelling, and the colours vibrant. All of these will add to the final result. If you have all that, but your composition is not great, the image will fall flat.

Jay Maisel has a quote that goes like this, “As the photographer, you are responsible for every inch of the frame”. This is true, and one of Jay’s other mantras is that he prefers to speak about framing and not cropping. His view is that framing is done at the time of making the image. Cropping is done afterward in post-production. He maintains that cropping changes the original intent of the image. If you frame an image in a particular way and then crop it afterward, it really is a different image.

  Frame your scene correctly in camera

I don’t think Jay is saying that you shouldn’t crop, but rather that you need to compose with intent and purpose, not simply hope for the best and try and “fix” the image later by cropping. Good composition can really be impactful on your image. Changing your composition is free. You don’t need any special equipment or lenses. There’s no need to wait for a specific type of light. You can shoot at any time of day. Composition is the one thing in photography that is easiest to fix, yet it is most often overlooked.

There are many articles on DPS and other sites about composition and the best techniques for improving composition, so I won’t try to reinvent the wheel. What I want to talk about here is visual flow. This is more about the visual journey you are taking your viewer on than the destination. In this article, we aren’t going to discuss the rule of thirds and powerpoints, but we will discuss how framing, removing distractions, and how light, shape, and texture will all contribute to your composition.

We will look at how someone’s eye will travel through your image. You want the viewers of our images to look at them longer, to find them interesting and to be captivated and inspired by what they see.

Framing not cropping

As the photographer, you need to take responsibility for everything in the frame. That means, you decide what will be in the shot and sometimes more importantly, what will NOT be in the shot. Your subject needs to be in the frame obviously, but what else absolutely needs to be included? Ask yourself if all the elements in the frame are adding to the narrative or story you are trying to tell. If not, get rid of what is not working.

In this case, less is definitely more (and usually better). Be aware of visual clutter in the frame, objects that are distracting or drawing the viewer’s full attention away from the subject. This is really tough to get right and it takes time and practice. But once you become aware of this and work hard on fixing it, it will become much easier.

Focus on your subject

Remove distractions

This sounds obvious but is not always easy. There are many things that can cause your viewer to be distracted when they look at your image. Any words in your photograph will automatically draw they eye. Signposts, graffiti, street signs…anything with words or letters will cause the viewer to look at that part of the image. If the wording is not the reason for the image, then try and remove that item from the frame as it may be distracting.

Color can cause the eye to wander. If your scene is full of color, that’s great, but if it is largely monochromatic and there is only one color in the frame, that color will become the focal point. Warm colors like yellow or red will very quickly pull the eye across to them, so be aware of the colors in your image.

The human form will also draw the eye. Again, if the person in the frame is a key part of the image, that’s great, leave them in the shot. But if not, then wait until they leave the scene or reframe the scene without them. As humans, we tend to find the human form in an image very quickly and this will become the main focus of the image.

Be aware of distractions, words, powerlines etc

Using light, shape and texture

These three elements (there are more) will greatly help you in your visual flow.

Light is key to making any image. Without light, we cannot do photography. Light also informs so much in your image. You can use side light to emphasize texture in your image. You can use front light to create a silhouette, which will emphasise shape. These three elements are important tools in making sure your image compels people to look at it.

Shapes in your image add a dynamic feel. Get in close and emphasize the shape of an object. If it has a curve, make that curve fill the frame. Shapes can make a great subject too. They are all around you too, you just have to start looking.

Texture is a great way to emphasize your subject. To get great texture images, your light needs to come from the side. Side light enhances texture and each granular detail can be seen if the light is right. Texture will make your images seem three dimensional. Using texture is a great way to communicate more information about your subject.

Use side light to emphasize texture.

Get in close

To make sure that you get the most out of the scene, you can do a few things. First, move in closer and fill the frame with your subject. This is especially useful if you are doing abstract or creative images. If you are not going to fill the frame, then decide where to put your subject. Yes, you can use the rule of thirds for this (this would be my last choice), but you can also use the Fibonacci Spiral (Golden Ratio) or any number of other compositional techniques.

The most important part of an effective composition is to make sure that your viewer knows what they are supposed to look at in your image. If your subject (the reason for the image) is unclear, your image will have little impact. You have likely seen this happen. You show someone photos from your last trip and they simply glance at them in passing. Then suddenly, something catches their attention in a particular image and they stop and look intently at the scene. That’s when you know your image has hit the mark.

As I said earlier, all the elements need to come together to make a great image, but if you have good light, great exposure and bad composition, chances are, people will just flip past the image.

Fill the viewfinder with your subject.

Conclusion

So, how else can you improve your composition? It is deceptively simple but easily overlooked. Some of the things I do is get inspiration from the top photographers in the genre I want to shoot. If it is street photography, then I am looking at Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jay Maisel, Ernst Haas, and others. If it is landscape photography, then I will be looking at Ansel Adams, Charlie Waite, and Koos van der Lende. I look at photographers who inspire me. I also make a point of visiting art galleries whenever I can.

Photography is not even 200 years old as an art form. Much of the techniques we use as photographers have been learned from the painters and artists of old. Spend time looking at the composition of master painters. Look at how they placed subjects in their scene. See how the light works in their paintings, is it hard light or soft light? Spend time taking note of how they used color and shapes in their images. Then, go out and apply that to your photographs. Over time you will begin to see your eye and your images improve.

Work hard at improving your compositional eye.

The post Visual Flow – How to Get the Most out of Composition by Barry J Brady appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School https://digital-photography-school.com/visual-flow-composition/

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What Harry Styles and Zayn can tell us about life after boy bands

One Direction is accidentally the best named boy band in the history of coordinated turtlenecks. Legend has it that Harry Styles picked it on a whim because it sounded cool after Simon Cowell gave the five boys a second chance to compete on X Factor if they were willing to go at it as a team.

For about five years, it worked remarkably well, and then the tears fell.

There’s a line in Zadie Smith’s The Autograph Man, a book about the the trappings of idolization published when Harry Styles was eight years old, that seems oddly prescient for the current situaton. Just after a line that happens to be about a character’s ruffled shift, Smith writes, “All fandom is a form of tunnel vision: warm and dark and infinite in one direction.”

And yes, there are plenty of horribly original “different directions” jokes to be made about the lads’ respective solo careers. But the truth of the matter, is that separating was the only way they could all head upwards.

Before 1D, the *NSYNC model was the best case scenario for life after a boy band’s prime years. Justin Timberlake was the one who got to keep the music career, and lives happily ever after in the A-List while the rest are relegated to TV hosting gigs. Joey Fatone’s Live Well Network show, My Family Recipe Rocks, is delightful, but it can’t be what he envisioned for himself. Or you have the Backstreet Boys, tethered together for eternity in Las Vegas playing the old hits. Harry Styles’ solo debut, out today, makes it clear that it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

SEE ALSO: Harry Styles hasn’t quite mastered the stage dive yet, but his solo music sparkles live

Zayn Malik was, of course, the first to go. He exited the group in flames with some comments about wanting to be a normal 22-year-old but quickly came back with bold promises of #realmusic, as opposed to whatever he considered One Direction.

ZaYn

Image: MIKE WINDLE/GETTY

Malik wasn’t content to fall into traditional boy band roles and be “the shy one” when he was actually experiencing severe anxiety. Plus, he favored R&B over the classic rock influences that were beginning to dominate One Direction and he has the voice for it, so he left the band to make music that was more his speed, working with M.I.A., PartyNextDoor, and even Styles’ ex, Taylor Swift.

It’s no surprise that fans, despite some very harsh words on Twitter when he split, responded positively to the new music. One Direction was the first major boy band to treat young women with respect as music fans instead of just assuming they want washboard abs and a Max Martin hook, as great and necessary as those things can be to young fans coming of age.

When Styles was recently on the cover of Rolling Stone, Styles explained as much to Cameron Crowe, who just happened to be profiling him.

“Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music short for popular, right? have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Music is something that’s always changing. There’s no goal posts,” he said. “Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act ‘too cool.’ They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick.”

Malik echoed the sentiment in his book. (Oh yeah, he has a book, some fashion collaborations and a TV show on the way, NBD.) “I think we need more women in positions of power across the world,” he wrote. “I think a lot of the world’s problems could be solved if we allowed more contribution from women.”

Instead of making the music they thought girls wanted to hear, they put a little faith in their fans and tried to make the best music they could. It paid off.

Instead of making the music they thought girls wanted to hear, they put a little faith in their fans and tried to make the best music they could. It paid off.

For Louis Tomlinson, that meant the sunny “Just Hold On” with DJ Steve Aoki, and if there is anything that’s a fairly sure bet, it’s a handsome boy with a devout social media following dipping his toes into EDM. Sometimes, I imagine I’m in a The Graduate situation, at pool party. Instead giving the tip “plastics” to a lost boy unsure what to do with his potential, I whisper, “EDM” into his ear. While Aoki is a veteran of the scene at this point, “Just Hold On” is actually his highest charting single in both the UK and the USA, where the song hit #2 and #52, respectively.

Liam Payne, meanwhile, signed a record deal with Republic in 2016. Like Tomlinson, his ambition has some EDM leanings, but he’s got his eye on hip hop, as well. He previously released a single with Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa and has a new single with Migos’ Quavo out on May 19.

Niall Horan and Styles were always the most likely to hit the ground running with One Direction’s ’70s rock influence. Horan, the guitar-wielding Irish man, was the most involved in the group’s songwriting process and Styles baked a damn carrot cake for Stevie Nicks on her birthday. Horan beat Styles to the punch releasing his first solo single, the sweet acoustic number “This Town,” but Styles’ solo album came first.

A good suit.

Image: mike coppola/Getty Images

He considered calling it Pink, because The Clash’s Paul Simonon once said that, “Pink is the only true rock & roll color.” Nearly every review of Harry Styles has focused on Harry Styles, the rock star, in an age when the form is limp. “Sign of the Times,” the lead single, is a bold statement of intention to fill that void. Styles announced the Bowie-channeling tune exactly 20 years after the Prince album the song borrows its name from was released.

But he ended up simply going with Harry Styles instead, and it’s a fitting choice. In interviews, he’s wants to make it clear how honest the lyrics are as he avoids getting into details about just about everything. “I didn’t want to write ‘stories,'” he told Rolling Stone. “I wanted to write my stories, things that happened to me. The number-one thing was I wanted to be honest. I hadn’t done that before.” Styles knows he’s not reinventing the wheel, but what he can offer that no one else can is a direct line into his psyche.

“Mature” details of the album will inevitably be sensationalized, sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll were never really absent from One Direction (sample lyric: “waking up beside you, I’m a loaded gun.”) The main difference is that now it doesn’t have to be sung with a wink.

Communication, or lack thereof, is the album’s focus. Styles desperately wants people to say what they mean. “Tell me something I don’t already know,” he begs and begs on “Ever Since New York.” Hell, he doesn’t even use emoji, as he confessed to the crowd at his very first solo show.

At his most confessional, the soft, Eliott Smith-indebted, “From the Dining Table,” Styles begs for resolution. “Woke up alone in this hotel room. Played with myself, where were you? Fell back to sleep, I got drunk by noon,” he confesses. “I’ve never felt less cool.”

The mumbling masturbator is, of course, not a traditional boy band archetype, and definitely not what would be expected of “the cute one.” But thanks in large part to the infinite feedback loop of fandom online, it’s what we know fans needed to hear. The boy they worship (and the subject of their own erotic fan fiction) gets lonely, too.

It’s too early to tell what the longevity of the One Direction boys solo careers will be, but they’re already tipping towards a higher success rate than any previous boy band. Their increasingly web-savvy fans seem poised to ensure a decent run.

Pop groups are no longer a survival of the fittest. They’re better prepared to service the passions and desires of their young, predominately female fanbase better than ever and even grow up with them after they grow up and start running the world.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2r1SQB5

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2r3n5aI via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ