Month: October 2021

TDE rapper Isaiah Rashad is currently on tour promoting his new album The House Is Burning, but that didn’t stop him from continuing the other part of promoting an album — releasing a new music video. This time, the eerie “THIB” video turns the title track into a darkly surreal thriller, as Rashad wakes to a spooky rumbling that turns into an explosion, leaving his house… well, burning. From there, Rashad wanders the nighttime neighborhood, hovering above the action like a ghost and taking in the odd, paranormal goings-on of his quiet cul-de-sac.

The release of The House Is Burning ended a nearly-five-year hiatus for the Chattanooga rapper during which he struggled with addiction, going broke, wrecking his boss’s car, and getting clean. When he did come back, he brought with him the rowdy Memphis rapper Duke Duece for the exuberant return single “Lay Wit Ya.” And while his new album naturally features appearances from his TDE cohorts like Schoolboy Q, who appeared in the reflective video for “Runnin’,” Rashad also helped introduce newcomer Doechii with “Wat U Sed” and linked up with a superstar in the form of Lil Uzi Vert on “From The Garden.”

Watch Isaiah Rashad’s “THIB” video above and read Uproxx’s full review of the album here.

Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain have the kind of (platonic) chemistry that comes with knowing someone for years — although it helps that they’re both very talented and very attractive. They set the internet on fire with a red carpet embrace, and before they filmed a sex scene for Scenes from a Marriage, Chastain said that Bearded Space Daddy sang to her to calm her nerves. Once Llewyn Davis, always Llewyn Davis.

Chastain and Isaac are so simpatico that she agreed to appear nude on the HBO limited series… but only if he did too. “I said to Hagai [Levi], who wrote and directed the series, in the very beginning, I said, ‘I’m comfortable with all the nudity, but any part of my body that you show, you’re going to have to show the same with Oscar. So there’s a shower scene that I have in episode two, and you see my body. So now you see his body. So for me, I wanted it to be balanced,” Chastain said on a recent episode of The View.

As for Isaac’s thoughts on his nude scene:

“I was surprised because I didn’t know that was going to happen. You get sent the stuff to look at to be like, ‘OK, I’m fine with that.’ But I saw it on a laptop quite dark and I didn’t notice what was happening down there. It was a surprise when I started seeing all these things like, ‘It’s full frontal’ – I was like, ‘No, what are you talking about?’ And I saw it, and clear as day on the big TV there, it’s there for everyone to see.”

IMAX should show that episode before screenings of Dune this weekend, as a treat.

Real Estate released their sophomore album and Domino Records debut, Days, ten years ago, setting the stage for the band to become a touring machine and a rightfully revered indie act ever since. The charming melodies and warm, inviting guitars of songs like “It’s Real” and “Out Of Tune,” instantly channeled the nostalgic days of our youth and were damn near universally appreciated.

Starting next month, the band will go out on tour to commemorate the album’s 10th anniversary and today, have released a cover of Television’s song “Days.” The version is equal parts a worthy homage to the late 70’s art rockers, as much as it feels like it could easily be mistaken for a Real Estate original (albeit with a slightly deadlier guitar.) The always-affable Alex Bleeker of Real Estate explained in a statement that the song was 100 percent an inspiration for the album’s sound and obviously, the title:

“The shrewd, completist bootlegger will always remember 6/30/2011 as the day that we debuted the album Days live in its entirety at 285 Kent in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Back then Domino Park, across the street, was still a dilapidated sugar warehouse, and our unreleased sophomore album didn’t yet have a name. Real heads (or as we like to call them, ‘agents’) might also recall that this show was a release party for the new 33 1/3 book recounting the history of Television’s Marquee Moon. Somewhere in the introduction to that volume author Bryan Waterman declared that even though the song ‘Days’ was on Television’s often overlooked second record, it provided a blueprint for all of the melodic guitar-based indie rock that would soon follow in its wake.

We were of course huge fans of that tune, this was in fact our second record, and we saw ourselves humbly as the torchbearers of that tradition. So the story goes like this – we were on tour, sitting in our fire engine red Dodge Ram 2500 somewhere along the I-95 when someone in the band read that sentence aloud, and said, ‘why don’t we call the album Days?’ As I recall, nobody loved it, but more importantly, nobody hated it and it stuck. It’s true, this now decade-old album is named after this fantastic, under-appreciated Television tune, which was a joy for us to cover and record for you after all these years.”

Listen to Real Estate’s cover of “Days” above, check out the dates for the Days anniversary tour dates below, and get tickets here.

11/03 — Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall at Babeville
11/04 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
11/05 — Ferndale, MI @ Loving Touch
11/06 — Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
11/07 — Madison, WI @ High Noon
11/09 — Bloomington, IL @ Castle Theatre
11/10 — Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
11/11 — Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
11/12 — Lexington, KY @ The Burl (outdoor show)
11/13 — Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
11/14 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall
11/16 — Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom
11/17 — Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace
11/18 — Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
11/19 — Woodstock, NY @ Levon Helm Studios
11/20 — Atlantic City, NJ @ Anchor Rock Club
11/22-23 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Made
12/15 — San Francisco, CA @ August Hall

At one point in time not all that long ago, there was real concern that Lil Nas X would be a one-hit wonder with “Old Town Road.” Even if that had been the case, his name would have still gone down in music history, considering that by some key metrics, “Old Town Road” is the most successful single of all time. However, Nas has proven that he’s more than his first hit, as he’s had a pair of No. 1’s since then: “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” and now on this week’s chart, “Industry Baby.”

Nas is grateful that he has another chart-topper, so he decided to celebrate by taking to the streets of Hollywood to thank his fans for their support. He went ahead and rented a bus, got decked out in a pink prison jumpsuit, then rode around on top of the bus and gave thanks to his fans.

When Nas learned yesterday that the song had reached No. 1 weeks after its release, he tweeted, “IT TOOK A FEW MONTHS BUT WE HERE! THANK U EVERYBODY! INDUSTRY BABY IS THE NUMBER 1 SONG IN THE WORLD! LESSSSSGOOOOOO!” His partner on the song, Jack Harlow, was especially excited, since “Industry Baby” is his first No. 1 song. He tweeted, “My first number one… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see this coming while I was writing my verse. This song is something I’m gonna be proud to be a part of for the rest of my life. Thank you for having me @LilNasX.”

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

With his buoyant debut album Giver/Taker, Anjimile was undoubtedly one of 2020’s breakout indie stars. Thanks to the album’s success, Anjimile is now armed with new music and a new label. Announcing he’s signed with 4AD, Anjimile shares the thoughtful new single “Stranger.”

The single opens with the emotive strumming of an acoustic guitar as Anjimile’s captivating voice floats in. The instrumentals swirl between nostalgic piano keys and boisterous horns, mimicking the tumult that’s detailed in the song’s lyrics.

In a statement about the new single, Anjimile says “Stranger” is a reflection on all the changes that came with his transition:

“‘Stranger’ is something of a confrontation between my past and present selves in relationship to my trans identity. I started testosterone about 3 or 4 years ago, and it’s been simultaneously liberating and alarming to note the changes to my mind and body over the years. ‘Stranger’ is an admission to myself that, while I welcome all of those changes — especially the deepening effect of testosterone on my singing and speaking voice — it’s still scary and there is a degree of internal ambivalence to my transition. In transitioning I lost, or gave up, a part of myself. And that is hard to reconcile. ‘Stranger’ is an attempt at some semblance of reconciliation, I guess.”

Listen to Anjimile’s “Stranger” above.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are hopeful that this will finally be the year things start trending up for them. They have pieces in place that point towards optimism, starting with All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, alongside Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell, and Malik Beasley.

There’s very real talent on board, but still questions about how it all comes together and whether it’s enough to claw into the playoff picture in the highly competitive Western Conference. For some time, the Wolves have been trying to figure out their identity, and it’s clear that this year the goal is to be tougher. For Karl-Anthony Towns, he’s taking that task to some strange places to try and tap into something of a primal “kill or be killed” feeling going into games by…watching gorilla fights.

Listen, whatever works to get you in that zone before a game, but I gotta say this one’s a new one for sure. There are strange pregame rituals across the sports landscape, but watching a couple of gorillas duke it out to the death is definitely different. The best response to KAT’s quote came from head coach Chris Finch who has a decidedly different pregame viewing ritual.

If Towns comes out more aggressive and physical because he watched a couple of gorillas beat the hell out of each other, then the Wolves will happily put a staffer on full time gorilla video duty, finding him the gnarliest gorilla fights to watch before each game.

Combo Chimbita is making some of the most incredibly inspired music in the world right now. The first three singles they’ve dropped this year have explored different traditionalist themes pertinent to their native Colombia. Led by singer Carolina Oliveros’s banshee howl, the explosive “Mujer Jaguar” saw the band yearning for new a new world for the people of their native soil. Signed to Anti- Records and now based in Brooklyn, the band has now released “Babalawo,” the fourth song and accompanying video in the storytelling singles series, and it might just be the most visceral expression yet.

The band initially debuted the song when playing along with famed free jazz outfit Sun Ra Arkestra and have now presented it in a video, centered on Puerto Rican interpretive dancer and queer icon, Edrimael Delgado Reyes, whom director Oscar Diaz calls “the father of the vogue and ballroom scene in Puerto Rico.” Reyes’ movements act as a vessel for a tale of Plato’s cave, where humans in an almost zombie-like state just tow the line of the status quo before finding enlightenment (too real these days). Guitarist Niño Leto expanded on the overall themes of the song in a statement:

“It has some hints of trap, a bit of rock, but also carries influences from Haitian music and sounds. Carolina’s lyrics are also important since they describe some of our first encounters with Regla de Ocha (often known as Santeria). These intimate moments of spiritual guidance are incredibly important to us as a band with decolonial aspirations.”

At a time when marginalized communities are truly getting an opportunity to tell their stories and be acknowledged, but are still facing adversity at every turn, Combo Chimbita is pushing incredible boundaries in keeping these stories at the forefront of their music. The follow-up to 2019’s can’t miss album, Ahomale, has yet to be announced, but songs and videos like “Babalawo” should keep the band’s upcoming output firmly on the radar.

Watch the video for “Babalawo” above.

Future turtle-stomping Italian plumber Chris Pratt has officially confirmed that he’s filming the long-waited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, and he’s got the facial hair to prove it. In a new Twitter video that’s pulling double duty in the promotion department, Pratt shows off his “sick-ass” mutton chops while revealing that he’s currently on set for Day 1 of the final Guardians film in writer/director James Gunn trilogy.

But that wasn’t all Pratt was pushing. The Marvel star was also promoting his appearance on Rob Lowe and Alan Yang’s Parks and Recollection podcast, which is about, you guessed it, Parks and Recreation. On the just released episode, Pratt will dissect his time as lovable dumbass Andy Dwyer on the hit NBC sitcom, which helped launched his career to its current A-list movie star state.

Pratt wrapped up the video by making a joke about his American flag sweater and whether it was patriotic enough, which you can see below, via Team Coco:

As for when Pratt will have time to record the voice of Mario in the upcoming animated movie of the same name, that film isn’t scheduled to hit theaters until December 21, 2022. So despite being clearly tied up with Guardians for the foreseeable future, Pratt has a while to nail down his approach to the most recognizable video game character of all time. No pressure.

(Via Team Coco on Twitter)

The US is once again in a space race with Russia and things aren’t looking too great for competitors Tom Cruise and Elon Musk. While just last year the pair announced their intention to create the first narrative movie filmed in space, it’s looking like the Tesla CEO and action star might be too late to achieve such greatness. After spending 12 days on the International Space Station, Russian director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild have returned to Earth, with an entire film shot in space ready to edit and become the first-ever movie shot in space.

After launching into orbit from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month, the pair safely made their return to Earth on October 17, following just under two weeks of filming in space. While the movie’s plot (and surely lofty budget) have been kept tightly under wraps, The Guardian reports it “centers around a surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut.” In addition to Pereslid, veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and two Russian cosmonauts who were already stationed aboard the ISS are set to appear in the film.

While the sheer cost of the project is surely enough to have kept so many filmmakers away from this endeavor, safety is also of huge concern. While Shipenko and Pereslid managed to stay safe, apparently the pair’s mission was not without “small hitches.” According to a NASA spokesperson, “when Russian flight controllers on Friday conducted a test on the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft the ship’s thruster fired unexpectedly and destabilized the ISS for 30 minutes.” While ultimately everything went well for the cosmonauts aboard the ISS and the film team, it just goes to show the very real risks associated with filming 250 miles above the surface of the Earth.

If the film manages to hit the big screen before Musk and Cruises’ (which seems pretty damn likely at this point), it will be another major space-related accomplishment for Russia after launching the first satellite and sending into orbit the first man, woman, and animal.

To say that the craft beer industry in the U.S. is booming is an extreme understatement. At last count, there were almost 9,000 breweries in the country. To put that in context, if you go back to the early ’90s there were less than 300. While it seems like a new brewpub, craft brewery, or beer bar opens every week in every major city in America these days, opening a new brewery in the mid-90s was a big deal.

Still being open decades later in an increasingly cutthroat industry? That’s a serious accomplishment.

Delaware’s Dogfish Head has managed exactly that since 1995. They’re currently celebrating their 26th year and to mark the occasion, founder and president Sam Calagione has co-written an eponymous book subtitled “26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures.” It’s a philosophy that the brewing legend takes very seriously.

“We were one of the smallest commercial breweries in America,” he says. “Brewing only twelve gallons of beer per batch to serve exclusively inside the walls of our restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. From day one, we’ve been committed to brewing the majority of our beers with high-quality culinary ingredients outside the Reinheistgebot [the Bavarian purity law that states you could only brew beer with water, hops, barley, and yeast].”

To this day, Calagione is well-known for the boundary-pushing, sometimes crazy-sounding ingredients in the beers brewed at Dogfish Head. But his brewery has grown exponentially — becoming one of the largest and most well-known craft breweries in the country, producing nearly 250,000 gallons of beer per week with distribution to all fifty states thanks to a partnership with Boston Brewing Co. [makers of Samuel Adams].

We talked to Calagione this week and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about his brewing story, some of the strangest beers he’s ever brewed, and what to expect from the brewery in the next twenty-six years.

Why did you want to start brewing at a time when it was far less popular than it is today?

I saw that small-scale commercial brewing was growing in a few geographic pockets in the US and that almost all first-generation brewers were focused on modern European beer styles. I thought there was a lot of white space I could explore between that and focusing on infusing beers with unexpected culinary ingredients as a way Dogfish Head could stand out in the competitive landscape.

What made you decide to write a book, what went into it?

The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures is actually one of many books I’ve had the pleasure of writing and/or contributing to. This particular book — which I was lucky enough to co-author alongside my wife and Dogfish Head co-founder, Mariah, and our longtime co-worker and Dogfish INNkeeper, Andrew — was meant to be a celebration of the brand’s 26-year history, as well as the many co-workers that have contributed to Dogfish Head’s collective story and successes.

We were inspired by The Beastie Boys Book, which provides a beautiful, visually stimulating look at the band’s historical journey. With that esthetic in mind, we spent countless hours not only carefully choosing the stories that would make it into The Dogfish Head Book, but also the images that would bring those stories to life.

What are some lessons beer fans can learn from this book?

The ideas that lead to specific beers and our unique brewing techniques, like how we converted a vintage vibrating football game into the continual-hopping device that allowed us to brew 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs. That invention of ours is now in a permanent collection at the Smithsonian, alongside things like the Wright Brothers’ plane and the Apollo rocket.

What did you consider the keys to your success over the years?

The biggest keys to success at Dogfish Head have been creating products and experiences that are consistent, of high quality, and offer strong points of differentiation within their competitive sets. I am a firm believer in the importance of these three success drivers, knowing that to be successful in business, you must satisfy all three standards.

Another huge key to success for Dogfish Head has been our co-workers. Through our off-centered, people-first, business-second culture, we’ve been able to cultivate an extremely talented, caring, and dedicated team of co-workers to help us grow and strengthen the brand. Without them, Dogfish Head would not be what it is today.

What’s your favorite beer you’ve ever brewed?

SeaQuench Ale. Beauty is the eye of the beer holder. Everyone’s palate is different, which is why we make such a wide array of beers. But the combo of flavors in SeaQuench from wheat and lime juice and sea salt hits all my pleasure buttons.

What’s the strangest beer you’ve ever made that you’re proud of?

We won a medal at the Great America Beer Fest for Choc Lobster. It was a dark beer brewed with cocoa nibs and lobsters caught off the jut of land that is Dogfish Head in Maine.

What was one beer that seemed like it would work in theory, but just didn’t once it was brewed?

Escar-Gose. It was a Gose brewed with snails and the snail’s arch-enemy: salt. Great name and idea but tasted pretty terrible.

What advice do you have for someone thinking of opening a brewery?

My advice to any business owner or entrepreneur is to focus on the three key success drivers: quality, consistency, and being well-differentiated. Products or experiences that are consistent, of high quality, and stand out from others in their competitive sets are much more likely to succeed than those meeting just one, or even two of those criteria. If your product satisfies those three key success drivers, I’d say go for it and don’t let others tell you that you can’t!

What are some things our readers would want to know about the book and Dogfish Head?

Dogfish Head is not just a brewery, but an off-centered destination. At Dogfish Head, we do so much more than just brew beer. We distill spirits, cook some downright delicious grub, host guests at our harbor-front hotel, and more. In addition to brewing off-centered ales, our brand is about creating experiences for all off-centered people to partake in and enjoy, and we encourage readers everywhere to come and check out our various East Coast locations for themselves!

There is no such thing as an aspiration that is too off-centered or out-of-reach. With The Dogfish Head Book, we hope to inspire readers to follow their own creative journeys, no matter how off-centered or out-of-reach they may seem. Yes, you may fail, but you will learn from those failures and they will prepare you for the challenges ahead.