Sure to delight English teachers everywhere, Taylor Swift has released a literary analysis of her “Cardigan” music video. A Vevo Footnotes exclusive, the singer long known for her hidden Easter eggs revealed them all at once. She also shared how she prevented the song from leaking, a rare feat for a pop star of her stature.
The video begins in a dark cottage, with Swift sitting at a piano containing a C. S. Lewis-style magical woodland inside. Two pictures are hanging on the cottage walls, both of which she explained to Vevo Footnotes. The man in the photograph on the left is her grandfather, Dean, who landed on the beaches at the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. Later on in the album, Taylor tells his story on “Epiphany.” As for the painting of a white house on the right, Swift worked on it herself in the first week of quarantine. Also, the clock’s hands point to 1 and 3, representing her famed lucky number, 13.
Swift wrote and directed the video herself, playing the song solely through an earpiece so the crew wouldn’t be able to hear it during filming. Highly discreet about the entire project, she didn’t add the “folklore” logo to the central piano’s fallboard until release day via special effects.
Speaking on the album as a whole, Taylor said, “I view Folklore as wistful and full of escapism. Sad, beautiful, tragic. Like a photo album full of imagery, and all the stories behind that imagery.” Of course, “Sad, Beautiful, Tragic” is also a song from her 2012 album Red.
In addition to spilling the secrets of “Cardigan,” Taylor released a lyric video for Folklore’s bonus track, “The Lakes.” The song references Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and partially grapples with being a public figure in the social media age. The themes and lyrics mirror those explored in her 2017 Reputation album, except softer and less embittered.
“Cardigan” is the first single off of Swift’s eighth studio album Folklore. Both the single and album debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts to critical acclaim, with praise citing their lyricism, atmosphere, and mature direction. Folklore, including “The Lakes,” is now available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.
Randall Craig Fleischer, Maestro of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic (HVP), passed away suddenly Wednesday night at his home in Los Angeles, CA. Fleischer was much loved by all who knew him and were fortunate enough to create music with him. Fleischer was considered the heart and soul of the HVP.
Fleischer became music director of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic in 1992 and was a leading force in the classical music scene all over the United States. His charismatic personality and contagious love of music ignited orchestral brilliance in every concert he conducted.
He was an active guest conducting career with many major orchestras in the United States and internationally including repeat engagements with the Israel Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and Houston Symphony, among others.
Active as a composer, Mr. Fleischer was also a national leader in the area of symphonic rock and world music fusion. Pioneering these new and growing genres for more than 20 years, he had worked with artists such as John Densmore (The Doors), Natalie Merchant, Blondie, Ani DiFranco, John Cale (Velvet Underground), Garth Hudson (The Band) and Kenny Rogers. Mr. Fleischer’s arrangements and orchestral works have been performed by major orchestras worldwide.
He also composed several new works focusing on the interrelationship of Native American music and culture and the symphonic realm. He collaborated with artists R. Carlos Nakai, Burning Sky, The Hawk Project and The Benaly Family. Mr. Fleischer’s work “Triumph” premiered in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2005. His work “Echoes” premiered in Washington, D.C. in November of 2008 at the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian). Fleischer’s most recent work entitled “Symphony in Step” features the dance ensemble “Step Afrika” and is the first and only orchestral work featuring the African American dance tradition of “stepping.”
Mr. Fleischer first came to international attention when, while serving his first of five years as assistant and then associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), he conducted Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist during the NSO’s 1990 tour of Japan and the U.S.S.R. Mr. Fleischer again had the honor of being chosen to accompany Maestro Rostropovich, once more conducting the NSO, this time in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall in a performance of Prokofiev’s “Sinfonia Concertante” in celebration of the composer’s birth. In December of 1992, he conducted an ensemble of over 70 cellists, including Yo-Yo Ma, and a 190-voice chorus in the Kennedy Center Awards tribute to Rostropovich, televised nationally on CBS, with President and Mrs. Bush presiding.
Mr. Fleischer studied with Leonard Bernstein as a conducting fellow at Tanglewood in 1989. He served as the assistant conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1989. While working toward his master of music at the Indiana University School of Music, he served as chorus master of the I.U. Opera Theater program from 1983 – 1985. Fleischer received his bachelor of music education from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has studied conducting privately with Otto Werner Mueller and in master class with Seiji Ozawa, Ricardo Muti, Gustav Meier and others.
COVID got you down? Having some relationship troubles? Or maybe there’s a hankering for some good ol’ 2010 nostalgia? Take a listen to State Champs new album Unplugged and let it all out, in a true pop punk fashion. This collection was released to celebrate 10 years since the bands’ start in Albany. In their press release, they declare their change of pace as a “healthy growth spurt,” that will “set the table for the next ten years of their career.” They definitely have grown since their start a decade ago, but it’s arguable that they may have just aged out their genre, rather than growing into a new one.
This six-track album, with four original songs in their newfound acoustic sound, also features two covers of their highest rated songs, transposed into their new style. What’s fascinating is they’re able to keep that drive going in such a ‘low lit’ environment. This is their saving grace because, on its face, this album might not sound so appealing. How can you have a chill version of pop punk music about how your hometown sucks and you hate your ex-girlfriend? Well this is one way to do it. This feels highly multi-layered throughout. It’s not just a softer version of the songs you like, some are reimagined in creative ways.
“A Thousand Hearts” really sets the scene as to how laid back they’ve become. It has decent drive and motivation, but it’s not at all parallel to their original work, with one of the only similarities being Derek DiScanio’s voice and lyrical theme. That’s fine and all, being that the band wants to move in a new direction. It might be a bit of a shock to long time listeners, as will the smooth as butter saxophone solos. “The Recipe” falls into the similarly romantic space, but presents a better sense of direction and drive, as well as more relatable lyrics about how relationships don’t need to follow a ‘recipe.’
“10 am” has a very unique, self proclaimed EDM sound, mixed with well produced, natural sounds. It’s got a catchy hook to it, but again, not the most revolutionary word-smithing going on in this one. Musically though, this is very well executed. Fun fact: the song was birthed by Evan Ambrosio, who was messing around with an automated drum loop, and ran with the idea, creating a song with a synthetic drum loop that has a natural sound to them. Most of the song sounds completely acoustic and man-made, but fades out with the drum beat, which slowly morphs into a more computerized, 8-bit sound – a fun nod to the muse of the song.
“Crying Out Loud” is the best original on the album. The hook is super catchy, the energy created both lyrically and musically is moving and it should resonate well among Champ fans. This could easily be transposed into their original style perfectly, but again, that’s not their vision.
“Criminal” is the first acoustic version of an original song and it feels more natural compared to the first four tracks on the album. They’ve thrown in a very poppy, bluegrass feel to it, which takes some getting used to but it’s still a fun song if you’re a fan of the original.
“Dead and Gone” is the perfect song to cover. The lyrics are edgy enough to give it the drive it needs and the music follows to help propel it even further. It’s not too busy, or trying to be something other than what it is. The most extreme change is a twangy guitar that pops in and out of the song. The double time effect that we hear during the verses, (that feeling of the music getting faster) comes through perfectly in this too – a cornerstone of pop punk music.
Pop punk is a culmination of a lot of music, so the logic should be sound – why not just add another genre in there, and we should sound different. But pop punk is already so many things: Emotional, energetic, silly, dramatic, loud. There aren’t many genres that can say they have all of those things and still be palatable to the masses. It’s also quite the challenge to change a group’s entire attitude, let alone pulling from another genre of music. This is a definitely a sensible direction to go for State Champs, as the pop punk area of music may start to trail off soon, if it already hasn’t. But if State Champs find that golden ratio, as they did in their “Dead and Gone” cover and “Crying Out Loud,” then they themselves will be golden and “set the table for the next ten years of their career.”
Soapbox Gallery, the intimate Prospect Heights performance space that grew out of the studio of sculptor Jimmy Greenfield, will present three nights of live streaming performances, from August 26-28 at 8 PM. Each performance will be dedicated to adventurous electronic looping sounds paired with video narratives.
Globe- and genre-trotting percussionist Will Calhoun will headline and close out the festival. The lineup will also feature the acclaimed sound painting jazz saxophonist and film composer Hayes Greenfield and Guitars A Go Go, the ambient guitar duo of Sal Cataldi (aka Spaghetti Eastern Music) and Rick Warren, who are supporting the release of their buzzed about record, Travel Advisory.
According to founder Jimmy Greenfield, the festival grew out of the success of the Immersive Surround Sound Experiences performed by his musician brother, Hayes Greenfield, since the beginning of the COVID quarantine. Here are the details on the festival’s lineup:
August 26 – Guitars A Go Go – This is the edge-pushing improvisational partnership of two very “switched-on” Hudson Valley-based guitarists, Sal Cataldi (aka Spaghetti Eastern Music) and Rick Warren. Armed with a plethora of effects pedals and a quest for meditative and melodic adventures that span a galaxy of musical influences and attitudes, the duo has swung for the fences with the June 2020 release of their debut album, Travel Advisory.
August 27 – Hayes Greenfield with Ikuo Nakamura – With electronically tweaked sax, flute, kalimba, and voice, Hayes Greenfield creates lush lines and emotionally charged melodies layered into compositions that are both healing and liberating. Accompanying images of sometimes collaborator 3-D filmmaker, Ikuo Nakamura, Greenfield enhances the visual thematic explorations of the human connection to nature by creating sound waves that stop time, and inspire fields of memory and a collective awareness, unlocking a sense of the natural world at once from above, below, inside, and out.
https://vimeo.com/224740378/d75ac01151
August 28 – Will Calhoun – With an array of indigenous and electronic percussion instruments, flutes (some sacred) and his drum kit, Calhoun weaves together ever more densely packed rhythms, ones that conjure an alternate reality no less transcendent than the multi-layered sounds of nature, people, thoughts, and relationships. Performed along to images he’s taken on his journeys to places as far flung as Mali, the Australian outback, and the heart of Brooklyn, Calhoun’s compositions unify the pulse of the ancient and modern worlds, revealing the hidden and underlying connections between the sacred and the everyday. electronic looping sounds
Over the past month, illegal raves have continued to spark anger throughout Brooklyn as rave organizers claim they’re not doing anything wrong.
The event on Aug. 15 lead to testers and tracers being dispatched.
According to Gothamist, Brooklyn had a reported 200 positive cases from the last two weeks. In response, test and trace teams were dispatched to the Sunset Park area.
Regardless of the positive cases, rave organizers continued to hold two parties in the same area on Aug. 8. Being illegal, the Sheriff’s Office broke the two raves up the early morning after.
One rave took place on 47th street in a warehouse with 200 people. There was alcohol, even though the event didn’t have a liquor license. Police arrested and charged multiple people.
8/16/2020: Deputy Sheriffs investigate illegal rave @ 266 47th Street, Brooklyn: over 180 gathered inside. Organizers were arrested & charged with multiple alcohol beverage control law offenses, narcotics possession & violation of local emergency law. Alcohol stock was seized. pic.twitter.com/oRraL0iWxl
In a statement made to reporters the following Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said no one should be putting others’ lives at risk.
“I want to be abundantly clear: you cannot organize a large gathering that’s going to put people’s lives in danger or you will suffer the consequences,” said de Blasio.
The other rave happened only a few blocks away and also had alcohol without a liquor license. Police busted the event shortly after the 47th Street rave at 2 a.m.
8/16/2020: Deputy Sheriffs investigate illegal rave @ 214 51st Street, Brooklyn: over 100 gathered inside. Organizer was arrested & charged with multiple alcohol beverage control law offenses and violation of local emergency law. Alcohol stock was seized. pic.twitter.com/lWehv5Gttw
According to sources, the events had different organizers, but they coordinated the timing together.
Nocturnal Radio Live hosted the 47th Street rave, but it wasn’t their first. On July 4, multiple raves throughout the city popped up, including one thrown by them.
Although the events were highly illegal, the group had no problem promoting them on their social media pages.
Nocturnal Radio Live posted this on their Instagram page, but took it down along with their whole page.
From a Chainsmokers concert in July to a secret rave under Kosciuszco Bridge a few weeks ago, rave organizers don’t seem to want to back down from hosting these events.
Ulitsky and Simms, the head of Nocturnal Radio, said they provided “unity.”
“Everything we’ve done and plan to do in the future is out of unity, not about separation and depression,” said Simms.
Ulitsky added, “As far as people attending, we’re getting a lot of positive feedback. As long as that’s happening, we don’t feel like we’re doing anything wrong.”
It is with great sadness that we announce that Todd Nance, a founding member of Widespread Panic, passed away early this morning in Athens, GA from sudden and unexpectedly severe complications of a chronic illness. There are no services being planned at this time, but information will be shared as decisions are made regarding the best way to honor Todd’s extraordinary life and career. The Nance family appreciates the love and support of all and requests that their privacy be honored during this hard time.
Along with the Nance Family, the Widespread Panic Family shared these sentiments:
With heavy Hearts and Loving memories we say good bye to our Brother Todd Alton Nance. Widespread Panic was born the night of Todd’s first show. He and Mikey had played music together in High school (maybe Junior high) and with a lucky thought, Michael tracked him down and asked him to join us – because we had a gig, but needed a drummer. For thirty years Todd was the engine of the Widespread Panic. He wrote great songs, and was a giving and forgiving collaborator. T Man was the epitome of a “team player.” Drove the Band and drove the van.
Funny, adventurous, and a very kind Soul, we wish Todd and his family peace during this sad time after so many happy times.
Safe travels, Brother Todd.
With Love, the Boys and Girls of Widespread Panic
Todd Nance was born in Chattanooga, TN, where he received a drum kit for Christmas at age 13, and then formed a high school band with Michael Houser, with whom he would go on to found Widespread Panic, along with John Bell and Dave Schools. The band formed in 1986 and grew quickly, performing at Red Rocks only five years later, opening for Blues Traveler.
Nance was the steady beat from the early years in Athens, GA, setting the tone alongside Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz. Nance briefly left the band in 2014, returned, and officially departed the band in 2016. He also played drums in the Vic Chestnutt/Widespread Panic hybrid brute. from 1995 to 2002, and in recent years, with groups known as Todd Nance & Friends, the Interstellar Boys and the Todd Nance Experiment.
So sad to learn of the passing of Todd Nance. I met Todd backstage at the Georgia Theater in Athens 1990, our first southern Phish show. He was kind and welcoming, a powerhouse drummer and a truly nice guy. My heart goes out to Todd’s Family today. Photo via WSP pic.twitter.com/KE9QI9lXGk
In a 2017 interview with Larson Sutton for Jambands.com, Nance looked back on his time with Widespread Panic with no regrets.
Basically, I had 31 great years touring with (Widespread Panic). I wouldn’t trade that for anything. But, things do change as time goes on. I had to address those issues and put my professional life on the sideline. So now that I’ve gotten that stuff out of the way, I’ve tried to get back to work. That’s pretty much it.
In an excerpt from a previous interview with Street Pharmacy‘s Ryan Guay and James Searl of Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad on their collaborative track titled “They Don’t Give A $$$$.” Released July 2, both artists took the time to reflect on the past few months. The radical adjustments and adaptations both of them needed to make in order to survive the lockdown music industry were foremost in their minds. With the lockdown came an increased online presence for the both of them, which meant more online interactions with right-wing fans that became heated around the release of “They Don’t Give a $$$$,” interactions which both James and Ryan elaborated further upon in the context of a divided political climate.
Thomas Lent: COVID-19 has negatively affected a majority of the entertainment industry, but how has each of your group’s plans and strategies around shows and monetization changed?
Ryan Guay: I’ll let James take this one first.
James Searl: Well, our situation, I think. In Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, anytime outside conflict has come up with the group we’ve always gotten more efficient and a little bit more communicative about whatever hole we needed to plug previous to that conflict. So when people left the band we didn’t expect to leave. We had to address that. We kind of really get tighter and more trusting of each other, because people who were originally in the band, the founders with me, found that actually, we have to work harder to find what we have now. That turned out to be something that works better. The next example would be any of us having children. Was this gonna, kill our ability to tour or come up with music? We just got more efficient at touring and putting out albums that we’re happy about. With Coronavirus I think we felt pretty good about the time that we have the kind of reflected and work on new material. We’re recording a new album which we’re having a hard time finding the time and money to get that together in a quick manner. Now we have even a bigger block of time. We’re securing news funds, recording music, and working on new songs, because nobody has anything else to do playing live for the next, god knows how long. Because, at least in the states, I don’t know people are really gonna feel how serious this is.
TL: Well, I can say that in Buffalo at least, I live in a suburb outside of Buffalo and specifically East Aurora, and we have an elder.
JS: That’s where my whole family is from!
TL: Really? Small world! I think about thirty-five people died in that place alone so I would say that people are taking things far more seriously.
JS: I hope so, that’s not what it’s like where I’m living. I went to get some beer at a store in southern Michigan. I live near the border around there and nobody is wearing a mask and the cashier said something about it and I’m like “I’m wearing this for your protection!”, So I said I didn’t know if masks were required here or not, I know that Michigan has some pretty serious laws right now and they said that “We tell people they don’t have to wear masks because we would lose half our business” and I’m like ok, but really, “Half the people? Really?” you’re selling beer and cigarettes, two products that people are going to be getting anyway. But as far as moving forward goes theirs a different presence online and I don’t like being ultra-online. I don’t like that idea like everybody being so online, but I also can’t imagine what this would have been like twenty years ago, I just can’t imagine it. Now because we have all these different ways to still be together with apps and to stay in communication with music. I mean, every Tuesday when I’m putting my kids to bed and start to clean the house and stuff and I can find a show for RootFire where I get to listen to classic Reggae tunes, whereas like before, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to see that. Clinton Fearon, one of my heroes, actually plays every Sunday at his house and he’s in his 70’s! So I think it’s nice for him to not have to leave his house to share with his fans all over the world. Could we have done this before? Sure, but nobody did. And we’ve just been accelerated into the future about what live music is gonna look like. What live music is about is connection and that goes back to the fans with the MAGA hats at the front row of the Panda show. I wanna find a way to talk to you because I’m glad you’re listening to the music and I’m glad that we’re connecting with the music but obviously theirs a personal disconnect that probably could be reconciled as well as it could without conflict. It would be easier reconciled just to listen to a song and having your own time to reflect on this stuff. Especially not having to deal with you personally, I’ll say.
RG: That’s a good point. I’ve definitely seen some or received some comments from fans that are no longer fans and not supportive of what our video and what our song represents because they’ve interpreted it in a way that they feel almost insulted. That’s not the intent here. We’re trying to communicate with people that need not understand the premise. They quite frankly get the wool pulled over their eyes and were just trying to have a conversation. James says that “Now we’re having good conversation” in the second verse and we want to have good conversation, a positive dialogue. If anything that’s the way that social media has proven that this discourse is anything but civil. As a result of being locked down and everything else that has occurred. I think that probably, other than stuff James already mentioned, as to how this has affected musicians, that is also the same thing with us but being online means you’ve gotta put yourself out there in a way. It can be volatile out there. I experienced this first hand. The first week that this song has been out I’ve had to mitigate these comments where fans have felt betrayed that we have done something like this and my response is “Sorry that you feel that way but this is how we feel about it and you should really look into this because our lyrics over the last 15 years that we’ve been playing, you’ve probably missed some of that.” So it’s yeah it’s kind of like the idea that people are tweeting against Rage Against the Machine that have been fans for 20 some odd years and then realize that they have left-wing values.
TL: When I was listening to your track I thought that you weren’t just punching one way or the other. You have clips of Nancy Pelosi in there as well. I don’t think you were particularly going after one side, you were going after one class though. It’s not as if it is a good class, particularly if you’re talking about the one percent there and you know, who’s defending them? Why would you?
JS: Exactly who in the 1% is listening to this song? Like if this song is about you, if you’re the person that doesn’t give a fuck about us, then there’s only so many people that could be.
RG: Their probably not hearing this song in reality.
JS: And ya to be fair, at least Panda, I was thinking about how over the years Ryan would say that he got some pushback on a song, like I’ve been dealing with pushback online just for speaking and trying to change people’s minds about being anti-racist and pro-environment for many many years and it has been incredible to realize how many, I mean, I’m not trying to pigeon hole people but it’s always a white dude. It’s a white young man commenting, “Why don’t you shut up and play music,” “What about black on black crime.”, just you know straw man arguments. Stuff that we just don’t have the time or energy to deal with on that level, but we always try to be there and are open to have conversations but people don’t want to listen. Reggae, Rage Against the Machine, and hip hop all of this is revolution music that has been around since recorded music acts as a pressure valve for people to be more comfortable, and they’ll say “I am tolerant I listen to Bob Marley, and I’m voting for Donald Trump,” and it’s like, well you know what, I think we should have some more detailed dialogue about that stuff.
RG: The discourse that were trying to have here is to cut the extraneous bullshit that that people are being fed. This is how we end up with the culture of you know. Young white men that feel disenfranchised. But actually they are a more privileged class, you know- and it’s mind-boggling to me- that some of these lyrics could be misinterpreted. At the end of the day, the purpose of this song is to cut through the bullshit and the same with the video. The video shows that on both sides, that when you’re at the top, those people don’t really don’t give a fuck about you. No matter who you are. They only care about the bottom dollar, the bottom line, just like you said about share prices, people being concerned about yeah reporting, rail blockades because they’re worried about shareholders losing you know a lot of money or losing faith in the company. That is absolutely ridiculous. We’re facing catastrophic climate change that could end humankind as we know it and somebody is worried about stock prices. That seems so wild to me. You know people need to talk about these things, and you need to understand that this is coming from great, and you know I hate to quote Warren Buffet, but I’m gonna do it. You know when people are fearful he says to be greedy when people are greedy he says to be fearful. Right now you know the people at the top of the top are perpetuating this fear in society and it’s resulting in an exorbitant amount of greed. How is the stock market not ya know completely shattered? It doesn’t make any sense!
TL: When it comes to the young white men who are you showing up to your shows wearing MAGA hats being obtuse my current hypothesis is that conservatism represents a counter-culture and the youth enjoy rebelling and they enjoy being contrarian. They feel that when all their professors and their teachers are all liberal. “I’m gonna be conservative because that’s what they don’t like and that’s what they aren’t.” It’s to be contrarian, would you agree with that?
RG: Yeah. I agree with that yeah that makes sense. I think that a lot of these young white men and other people that are taking the uber-conservative side of things, I think that they lack a spiritual connection with themselves and they’ve lost their sense of identity. This counter-culture is that identity. That search for an identity, where they feel the need to identify with something that looks like them and that’s what I found with having to defend this song. When I’m looking up their Facebook profile, I’m seeing just “Being lost,” and I’m seeing that they are not being sure of themselves or who they are. That seems to be the case for a lot of these people I’m assuming. I’m Canadian so this might not be as big here so I might not be seeing it as often. James, what do you think of that?
JS: I think there’s a good degree of that on both sides and that’s like a bigger conversation about the American psyche or the American identity. When I was growing up all suburban kids listened to hip hop. And it’s like, why is that? Why are they listening to music that is directly about where you’re not from and not made by people in your position? In a lot of ways, it could be really beautiful because that’s one way that some people that are in an oppressed situation are making communication and it is being observed by people on the other side. That would be the call that we would all answer too. I think that that’s been my motivation in my life for my music, doing as good of a job as I can do. I’m not like a, you know, I don’t feel great about everything that I’ve accomplished for human rights since I’ve listened to Rage Against the Machine when I was 11 years old. It’s like, “Oh this is the side that I’m not being told”, “This is what I’m not experiencing” and I feel like it’s my responsibility as a moral person to bring justice and rights and to improve culture by talking about it because if you’re not talking about it then you’re supporting it.
And that’s from Zack Del La Rocha from his concert in Minnesota that I had a recording of that I was listening to when I was 13 years old. “If you’re not a part of the solution then your apart of the fuckin problem” that was in the middle of the speech in “Wake Up” and I’ve never forgotten that speech. It gave me goosebumps then, it gives me goosebumps now. He was talking about Leonard Peltier from the American Indian Movement in that speech. The thing I wanted to say about the young men who are rebelling and being conservative as apart of rebelling, what troubles me about that is that in the sixties, early seventies, in the eighties, with whatever that rebellion was I’m not sure, or grunge in the 90s was everybody was the, the counter culture was resistant to the greater culture, the hegemony, the mainstream. What’s scary about these guys is that there is already a structure ready to like accept them with this counter-culture and give them the tools to carry out this system. This includes tons of legitimate journals, newspaper writers, college professors, and ya know the money that’s given to colleges.
TL: They’re not organizing in garages, they’re being given grants from super PACs.
JS: Right! When I was in college I studied international relations and, being taught by hip-hop and African music things that I didn’t learn about growing up in the suburbs necessarily, points of perspective. I knew that jobs I would get to try and fix those things, there was no money there. Not even to pay me but not even to exist in a way that was meaningful. My counterparts in college were like, republican conservative people who went on to be funded by the Koch brothers and went on to be the president of not-for-profit groups in Washington D.C. who use 49% of their power to influence politics and 51% to influence culture because that’s what they have to do to be a non-for-profit. These are Koch brother founded organizations. That makes me really scared about these, that was going to have to be dealing with these young people as adults with power that are already coming from privileged places and they’re ready to be moved right along into positions of power.
Matt Gaetz, the 37-year-old Congressman from Florida, he’s just atrocious. Stephen Miller for instance he’s my age. If you thought these guys were old and dying out you’re wrong they’re being replaced with more young people. In the verses that I wrote in the song with Ryan I think one of the main points is to not be passive about this. Be active. Get on the streets. Sacrifice as much as you can because this is a fight that needs as much energy as possible because the people that don’t give a fuck about you. They also have all the money and a lot of them have all the guns.
RG: All the guns.
JS: They have all the guns because we’re non-violent people! We know that if you put a gun in your house you’re twice as likely to die from it. You know it’s like everything points to, I don’t want to have a gun but what am I gonna do when all these crazy people, ya know, it’s all about certain numbers. It feels good to go to a protest. Not on the internet. Actually out on the streets with people who believe in these things as much as you do. Ya know to these young MAGA kids it’s never the way that you see it on the news. It’s never a bunch of violent people (at the protests) its young, old, men, women, non-binary people, everybody’s there at these protests and so many times the cops just come bust it up. In Denver, my friend was in one for the boy Elijah and everybody was playing violins outside and the police came and tear-gassed everybody. This is not a time to be passive. You know Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, they all tell you to watch. Wait and watch and just see what happens all of this is gonna come crashing down. Donald Trump is gonna rid the world of pedophilia, I’ve heard this from so many people, panda fans included. It’s just like “Sit and Watch, Sit and watch other people do this for you”!?! Why aren’t you apart of your movement that you speak so highly of?
“French-vanilla, butter-pecan, chocolate-deluxe, even caramel sundaes is gettin’ touched, and scooped in my ice cream truck, Wu tears it up.”
Iconic lyrics, on an iconic beat, this Raekwon and Method Man collaboration is one of the many iconic records that have solidified RZA’s status as one of hip hop’s best producers. Yet, the man behind some of hip hop’s most recognizable beats isn’t finished composing songs about ice cream.
And as of recently, French-vanilla, butter-pecan, chocolate-deluxe ice cream will now be served from Good Humor ice cream trucks sans-racially insensitive undertones. Celebrating their 100thanniversary, the pioneers of the ice cream truck have decided to make a much-needed change to their marketing strategies, ditching their old theme — with racial undertones and history — for a fresher, more inclusive version, composed by the Wu Tang head honcho.
They called me up and was like ‘We gotta do something about this, Riz. We can change the dynamics, we can make a new ice cream jingle for a new era. We wanted to make a melody that includes all communities, that’s good for every driver, every kid.
– RZA in a social media video accompanied by the new jingle.
The old jingle “Turkey in a Straw” is tainted with a history of being performed in 19th century minstrel shows, with the lyrics often replaced in favor of more egregious options.
Good Humor has said in a statement that it is now “calling on all drivers to stop playing ‘Turkey in the Straw’ immediately” and, to ensure that, they have released the song as a free download for every ice cream truck to use.
The RZA endorsed jingle, keeps many of the same elements that will continue to endear children to ice cream trucks, while incorporating sped up drums, giving it a faster pace, as well as a hip hop feel.
Start Making Sense announced their plans to perform at the Jericho Drive-In Glenmont, NY on August 28, 2020 at 7PM. The show will follow social distancing guidelines with attendees staying in their cars and will be followed by a showing of the film The Big Lebowski at 9PM.
Start Making Sense is a Talking heads tribute band that even Bernie Worrel, the keyboardist for Talking Heads and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member, thinks the band does a great job recreating the Talking Heads’ music. Worrel said, “To all you listeners… This is an appropriate title — Start Making Sense. This band makes plenty of sense to me, and is a great representation of Talking Heads’ music. So listen up and go check them out!”
Tickets are on sale now here and include three different tiers of pricing according to the tiers of parking. Advance pricing on the first three rows will cost $80 a car load. Rows four through six are for sale for $70 a car load with the advance pricing. And lastly rows seven through thirteen will cost $60 per car load with the advance pricing. Each car load can have up to four people at that price with an additional $10 more per person over 4 to be paid at the gate. Day of show pricing is an additional $10 more per vehicle. Doors open at 6PM.
For more information on Start Making Sense visit their website. For more information on the show visit the Jericho Drive-In’s website.
After a long hiatus from live performance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vermont jam quartet Twiddle returned to the stage this weekend for three socially distanced Drive-In shows. Taking place in Essex Junction, VT, the three sold-out shows were a welcome return to live performance for the band, with over 250 car passes sold for each night.
We can’t thank our fans enough for making our first live shows back such an incredible and safe experience. It felt amazing playing live again with the boys and having our brother Taz join us, elevating the band as he always does.
Mihali Savoulidis (Guitar, Vocals)
Twiddle kicked off a stellar weekend of music with a fantastic first set on Friday, August 14, during which the band seamlessly segued through their first set without a break between songs.
After sunset, the band took the stage for an improvisation-heavy three-song second set, featuring “Gatsby the Great,” “Doinkinbonk” and “Cabbage Face.” The show closed with fan-favorite sing-along “Orlando’s.”
Saturday presented material from various phases of the band’s 15-year career. Highlights from set one include “Zazu’s Flight” > “Bronze Fingers” > “Zazu’s Flight,” as well as a tender rendition of “The Machine,” featuring drummer Brook Jordan on vocals. Twiddle closed the first set with a raging rendition of “Every Soul,” with special guest 16-year-old guitar phenom Brandon “Taz” Niederauer.
Saturday’s second set was rife with deep jams and segues, including the introspective ballad “River Drift” sandwiched between “Dr. Remidi’s Melodium” and “Nicodemus Portulay.” Taz sat in on “Tom’s Song” during set two and returned for a “Comfortably Numb” encore, played for the first time in over nine years.
Wrapping up the weekend, Sunday’s first set showcased a healthy mix of Twiddle’s bluegrass influences and improvisational acumen, with twangy acoustic takes on “Hattibagen McRat” and “Fat Country Baby.”
Twiddle rounded out the weekend in Vermont with a trip down memory lane, with set two featuring throwback favorites “Invisible Ink” and “Tiberius,” before closing out the show with an epic “Beethoven and Greene.”
Night One – 8/14/2020 – Drive In – Essex Junction, VT
