Last month, indie darling Angel Olsen, who released a cover EP last year, returned with the announcement of her next album Big Time, which was written during a tumultuous period in her life after coming out as queer and grieving the death of her parents. However, the lead single, “All The Good Times,” feels weightless and grateful. The title track is out today, and radiates similar energy, swaying with a jaunty, country twang and containing a wholesome hook: “I’m loving you big time.”
The music video that comes along with the song has the same old-school atmosphere as the sound. Director Kimberly Stuckwisch said about the video:
‘Big Time,’ we set out to celebrate how humans identify and to subvert the old-fashioned gender binary and societal/internalized gender roles of the past through choreography, color, and wardrobe. To exist outside strict definitions is powerful and often not given a place in cinema. This was our chance to hold a positive reflection in the space and to shout to the world that you are more than who you are told to be.
‘Big Time’ is what happens when we do not express our true identity but find freedom when we step out of the shadows into our most authentic selves. In the first rotation, the lighting is drab, the clothes are monochromatic, the dance is monotonous . . . gender-conforming roles present. However, with each rotation, something magical happens, both our cast and Angel begin to come alive, to feel free. We see the clothes brighten, the dance heightens, and the bar that was once devoid of emotion can barely contain the joy bursting out of each individual.
I am proud to say that over 80% of our cast and 50% of our crew identified as nonbinary and non-gender conforming.
Watch the video above.
Big Time is out 6/3 via Jagjaguwar. Pre-order it here.
In the weeks leading up to her upcoming album, Rising, Mxmtoon has wrapped up the existential dread that comes with age in a colorful, new bop. On her latest, “Victim Of Nostalgia,” she sings of the woes of getting old and fondly remarks on her childhood.
“It’s the panic of growing up, it’s the fear of missing out,” she sings, before asking herself “Will it ever be enough if I’m a victim of nostalgia?” In the song’s second verse, she thinks back to her YouTube days, asking “Will I always be the words I wrote when I was 17?,” before questioning the effects of climate change, asking “Will the world still be around when I turn 63?”
“A lot of us have fallen victim to that feeling that time moves too quickly,” said Mxmtoon of the song in a statement. “I feel like I blinked one afternoon and suddenly found myself fully cemented in adulthood, wildly unprepared to take on the future and desperately wishing I could go back in time. ‘Victim Of Nostalgia’ is about missing the blind optimism and warmth that’s so much easier to experience when you’re younger. Wanting to escape back into a time when your worries weren’t so pervasive. Looking into the future can be daunting, and I know I’ve personally really struggled with how fast years can feel in the grand scheme of things. I hope one day it’ll feel easier to accept the passage of time, but for now, I definitely find myself as a victim of nostalgia.”
It looks like Travis Scott’s unofficial exile is finally ending this autumn. Brazilian festival Primavera Sound has released its inaugural 2022 Sao Paulo lineup, which features Travis as its Sunday headliner alongside Australian pop star Lorde. They’ll top a roster that includes Arca, Charli XCX, Father John Misty, Phoebe Bridgers, Caroline Polachek, Japanese Breakfast, Jpegmafia, and Raveena.
Also appearing on the flyer are Arctic Monkeys and Bjork, who will headline the Saturday lineup including Beach House, Interpol, Mitski, Helado Negro, and a slew of Brazilian acts. The São Paulo-based festival is booked for the weekend of November 5-6 at Distrito Anhembi. Tickets go on sale beginning today at noon local time. You can find more information here.
Primavera Sound
Travis Scott hasn’t performed on a festival stage since his November Astroword Festival, where a crowd crush caused the deaths of 10 people, including a 14-year-old boy. Travis was subsequently removed as the headliner of multiple festivals including Day N Vegas and Coachella, and was sued alongside festival organizers Live Nation by nearly 3,000 victims, which will continue as a single combined case.
Listening to Horsegirl’s debut album Versions Of Modern Performance, it’s not immediately apparent the songs were written this decade. Tracks like “Option 8” and “Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)” evoke the grittiness and intellect of groundbreaking post-punk artists like Sonic Youth and Wire. It’s not the kind of sound you’d expect to hear from a trio of musicians in their late teens — and that’s deliberate.
The Chicago-bred band, composed of high school senior Penelope Lowenstein and college freshmen Nora Cheng and Gigi Reece, don’t usually write music with a theme in mind, but they do have one overarching goal: to empower other young people to explore overlooked eras of music. In an age where their generation has access to millions of songs at their fingertips, Horsegirl still reveres classics like Brian Eno, Slowdive, and The Microphones. Their music is naturally influenced by modern experiences; as kids born into the internet age whose last years of high school were eclipsed by a global pandemic, their music reflects an understandable sense of detachment. But when asked over Zoom what era of music they wish they could have lived through, their answer was an immediate consensus: The ‘90s, categorized by their favorite label, Flying Nun, which houses early music by Sonic Youth and Pavement.
Their adoration of Sonic Youth is anything but a coincidence. In their eyes, Kim Gordon is the ultimate rock icon. Reece even wrote an entire paper about one line in Gordon’s memoir. “I’ve consumed a lot of Kim Gordon media over the years,” Lowenstein said. But one thing that stuck out the most is Gordon admitting she didn’t know how to play bass very well when starting out in Sonic Youth. “We were around a lot of musicians who thought being technically good at your instruments was important and valued,” Reece said. “Even though we view ourselves as musicians, we have the perspective that we are also artists who are performing and creating — and less is more a lot of times.”
Horsegirl have translated that idea of “less is more” in their music, something which becomes clear when listening to the album. The LP includes sparse lyricism, instead opting to focus on the deluge of brash instruments. Their album-opener “Anti-Glory” previews what’s in store for the 12-track effort, creating an enticing soundscape with droning electric guitar chords, a low, propulsive snare drum, and monotone vocal delivery. Other songs like “Live And Ski” feature bending chords and delicate vocal harmonization.
Much of their songs open with a cacophony of dissonant tones before tightening into unmistakable melodies, masking the self-aware humor that’s omnipresent in their music. The album includes song titles like “Beautiful Song,” “The Guitar Is Dead 3,” and “The Fall Of Horsegirl,” a song which has characteristically few lyrics. Even their band name itself, Horsegirl, is a nod to edgelord memes about the most obnoxious white girl archetype. Their humor and friendship is not only apparent in their music, but was more than tangible even over Zoom. Between each question, the trio would reference inside jokes, cackle at each other’s accidental studders, and reminisce on core friendship memories.
Unlike many high school relationships, their friendship grew through shared interests rather than convenience. Growing up in a big city like Chicago, each member of Horsegirl independently took advantage of all the music institutions the city has to offer, Girls Rock and Old Town School Of Folk Music to name a couple. Though they all went to different schools, they bonded over their love for re-discovering no-wave music. Eventually, they became each other’s go-to show-going buddies, attending a handful of Chicago’s expertly organized DIY and warehouse shows. Eventually, they decided to put their musical knowledge to the test and start a band.
All three members admit growing up in Chicago “100 percent” influenced their sound. Part of that was thanks to the city’s organized DIY scene. “When we were young underclassmen in high school, the older kids would have their own DIY thing going,” Lowenstein recalled. “If we didn’t grow up in a place where we would see kids booking their own shows, hosting their own events, and starting their own bands, it never would have seemed like a possible thing to do when we were younger.” Reece added: “As we grew older, we realized [the DIY community] is a really special thing that Chicago has. There is a very prevalent young scene happening and that has influenced us more than anything.”
Watching other young people make music fueled their drive, but their musical vision really came together during lockdown. The three would hunker down in one of their mom’s home office and take Zoom classes side-by-side before spending the afternoon playing music. “Us spending so much time together, we were able to, without even playing music, foster this idea of what we wanted Horsegirl to be,” said Reece. “We feel fortunate for that time we had together.” Afternoons of noodling around on instruments led them to release a few songs in the form of the three-track EP jokingly named Best Of Horsegirl. It wasn’t long before their music was discovered by their “dream label” Matador, who ended up signing the band via a Zoom call. Their reaction to being asked about signing to Matador was pretty much the exact response you’d expect to hear from a teenager: “So embarrassing,” they agreed. They went on to describe how all of them were “freaking out” during the initial call and weren’t able to hide their apparent idolization of the label.
Signing to their dream label as high schoolers is anything but ordinary, but Horsegirl manage to keep their school life and their band life relatively separate. “Honestly, people don’t really care that much, which I think is nice,” Lowenstein said about her classmates’ reactions to her musical success. In fact, most of Lowenstein’s teachers didn’t even know she was in a band until she informed them she’d be missing class to tour. “I’ve been working really hard on this album release all year and my teachers had no idea. I kinda had to go to my teachers last week and be like, ‘Hey, I’m going to be out for two weeks. I’m in a band.’ And they’re like, ‘You’re in a band?’”
Other than celebrating her high school graduation by playing a hometown album release show the same night, Lowenstein isn’t sure about what’s next for Horsegirl. When asked about where they see themselves in five years now that they have indie label support, Lowenstein joked, “We’re going to be in our experimental phase.” Cheng chimed in: “It’s only going to get weirder.” “We’ll go ambient then, maybe,” Reece added. Like most others in the transitional phase from high school to college, Horsegirl’s members are unsure about their futures. But one thing’s for certain: They plan on continuing to inspire and be inspired by the young creatives around them. “This is what we love to do, so we’re excited to do it for as long as possible,” Lowenstein said.
Versions Of Modern Performance is out 6/3 on Matador. Pre-order it here.
Good news for Drake: The Toronto rapper/singer has been dropped from a lawsuit against Chris Brown over their 2019 collaboration “No Guidance,” according to Billboard. The two former foes were sued in October by a pair of songwriters, Mr. Cooper and Drum’n Skillz, who claimed “No Guidance” sounded like their 2016 song, “I Love Your Dress.” The plaintiffs also claimed that a line in “No Guidance” is a subliminal reference to Cooper; in his verse, Drake rhymes, “Flew the coop at 17, no guidance / You be stayin’ low but you know what the vibes is.”
The two stars have asked a judge to dismiss the case, but on Tuesday this week, Cooper and Drum’n Skillz (real names Braindon Cooper and Timothy Valentine) voluntarily moved to dismiss claims against Drake, leaving Brown and Sony Music as the defendants.
In their initial response to the lawsuit, Brown and Drake’s effectively said that Cooper and Valentine were too obscure for them to have ever heard their song. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs fired back, writing, “This argument – essentially that defendants are somehow immune from copyright infringement claims by individuals who are not as famous as they are – is both egotistical and without any legal basis whatsoever. Undoubtedly, regardless of their fame and status, defendants may be, and should be, held accountable for their infringement.”
The suit still must go before a judge, who will decide whether to dismiss the claim or proceed toward a jury trial.
“Unicorn” Scotch whisky is in another dimension compared to unicorn bourbon bottles. Scotch has almost always had a patina of collectability well beyond the latest whisk(e)y boom. Where bourbon tends to tap out around $20,000 (very generally) on the high end, collectible scotch is only getting started at that price point. Spending $200,000 on a bottle of the ultra-rare stuff isn’t that out of the question. Hell, spending $1,000,000 on a bottle isn’t unheard of either. There’s a lot of space in the Scotch whisky market for insanely priced bottles of booze is what I’m getting at.
For this list, I’m diving into 10 bottles of unicorn Scotch whisky that have been released in the last year or so. I tried to keep it focused on the now, so things like the 2018 Oban 21, The Dalmore Constellations, or The Bowmore 1957 are not listed below, as they all came out years ago. This list consists of the new bottles that, depending on your checking account, you might even be able to score right now.
Lastly, I’m ranking these by how unique they are. I’m not ranking them by investability and in no way am I projecting any future value. I’m also providing tasting notes on the ones that I’ve been lucky enough to try so far this year (and last).
As for the actual ranking, the top half is not only pretty findable but you might actually be able to buy a taster here and there. Look at it this way, if you come across any of the bottom six bottles at a high-end whisk(e)y bar, give it a shot and then decided whether to commit to a whole bottle for the vault. As for the top four bottles, well, if you do run into them, then you’re already running in the top whisky circles anyway because they’re seriously ultra-rare.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
This whisky is all about Malt Master David Stewart MBE — who basically invented special barrel finishes — finding the best 40-plus-year-old barrels and blending them into this miracle of an expression. The seven barrels are a mix of traditional ex-bourbon casks and sherry butts that somehow survived the four decades in the warehouse with something not only drinkable but delicious still in those casks. Those barrels ended up providing only 150 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a leathery dark fruit vibe on the nose with a clear sense of old honey barrels and maybe even dead honey bees [Editor’s note: !!!] next to fresh cream and raspberries, orange marmalade with plenty of burnt zest, and a soft vanilla cream sauce. The palate leans into that orange with candied edges, kind of like a holiday fruit cake, with candied ginger, candied almonds, tea-soaked dates, and super mellow winter spices that lead back to that creamy vanilla with a hint of black licorice and a small whisper or soft cedar. The finish marries the burnt orange with the old and woody honey with a whiff of the moldy cellar, cobwebs, and a final brush of an old straw broom.
Bottom Line:
This is a wonderful pour that’ll open the Matrix on unpeated Scotch whisky. It’s revelatory yet understandable as a sip of sweet whisky. It feels old, sure, but it’s also so vibrant and bold. A few drops of water really helps this one bloom, but it’s pretty complex without it.
This whisky was drawn from three 39-year-old casks. The first was an ex-red wine cask, the second was an ex-port cask, and the third was a re-seasoned European oak cask that held Pedro Ximinez and Oloroso sherry. The marriage of those three casks gave us only 1,695 bottles of this cask-strength expression.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this reminds you of a hot day in wine country with rum-macerated blackberries that are countered by a decadent Christmas cake brimming with fatty nuts, dried figs, candied orange, brandy-soaked cherries, raisins, sultanas, prunes, and plenty of cinnamon-heavy spices with a hint of toffee and vanilla smoothing everything out. Moving onto the palate, the silkiness of the mouthfeel is off the charts. That creaminess leads to cloves, anise, and sassafras with hints of red peppercorns, bay leaf, and dark berry tobacco with a distant hint of sea salt. The finish circles back to the spicier edge of the Christmas cake that’s been soaked in cherry liquor (nearly cough syrup) next to that blackberry tobacco leaf with a whisper of mint to it.
Bottom Line:
The first time I tasted this I thought, “Well, I could just drink this for the rest of my life and be happy.” And that’s the only reason this is lower on this list. I want to drink this stuff, not save it in a vault. Overall, this might not be the rarest whisky on the list (1,695 bottles is a fair few) but it might be one of the tastiest.
This expression from Ardbeg also happens to be their oldest expression (as of their current lineup). The whisky is the epitome of peat on Islay. What makes this expression so special and extremely rare is that it was distilled and casked when Ardbeg was on its knees as a company, in the early 1990s. They simply weren’t making that much whisky back then and there’s hardly any of it left. That makes this a one-and-gone whisky with only 278 bottles, 90 of which were sent to the U.S.
Tasting Notes:
Heavy cream, smoked toffee, lemon pith, and ashes from last night’s campfire open this one up on the nose before veering toward soft sea-filled air, a touch of muddy bog, and old shovel handles from a well-worked farm. On the palate, there’s this deep sense of potting soil that’s still in the plastic from the garden shop next to uncooked smoked bacon rashers with plenty of black pepper and a slightly sour edge leading back to that heavy cream and smoked toffee by the mid-palate. Finally, hefty/spicy packed tobacco chewiness brings about a full-on head buzz — it’s a wild sensation.
Bottom Line:
Like most Ardbeg limited editions, this is a wild ride. It also sticks with you. I always feel bad pouring from my bottle of this because there are so few, but it’s just so damn good, interesting, and rewarding to sip it slowly, one dram at a time. This means that if you do come across one of the 90 bottles that made it to the U.S., you’ll at least know someone out there has already opened theirs.
Talisker’s seaside vibes are on full display in this beautiful bottle. The 2021 limited release was around 3,000 bottles, making this a very rare expression from the Isle of Skye distillery. Those bottles were pulled from both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks and masterfully blended right next to the sea at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is shockingly subtle and soft with velvety notes of smoldering dried nori next to matchsticks that have been dipped in a buttery and rich dark chocolate with sea salt gently sprinkled all over. The palate leans into the dialed-back peat by bringing about a smoked cream with fire-seared peaches next to a hint of wet cedar, very old tobacco leaves, and a touch of almond or oat milk flecked with salt. That salt drives the mid-palate towards a finish that’s like getting kissed by merfolk on a beach next to a campfire that’s heating a cauldron full of spicy stewed peaches in more of that cream.
Bottom Line:
This isn’t my favorite Talisker — that’d be the 25 — but this is alluring. It’s also pretty rare as these aren’t released every year. Instead, these pop up sporadically once or twice a decade. All of that aside, this is a subtle and beautiful whisky that you might not even notice is peated since it’s so meticulously made.
This is a very rare and unique whisky. First, it’s the first 26-year-old Lagavulin ever released. Next, there were only 7,500 of these bottles released. Lastly, the whisky was built from a combination of first-fill Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. Those barrels were married after over two decades of mellowing and bottled at a very accessible cask strength of 44.2 percent.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with red wine barrel staves and old boat ropes thrown into a campfire next to figs wrapped in nori and drizzled with rich butterscotch while hints of outboard motor smoke on the dock just a few feet away. From there, the taste mellows towards smoked dates flaked, a sense of sardine oil, and plenty of salt and black pepper. The finish mellows as this wet and earthy note arrives that’s one part forest mushroom, one part wet green moss, and one part smoldering wet cedar branches with a slight peppery tobacco dryness and warmth on the very end.
Bottom Line:
This was one of the most interesting releases from Diageo in recent years just in general. It’s just a wild ride on the palate with a truly unique vibe, even for a Lagavulin. This is a big and bold Islay peated malt that has true nuance if you give it a chance.
This whisky from 1989 spent 30 years mellowing in sherry hogsheads (a slightly larger than average barrel) and ex-bourbon barrels. Those barrels were masterfully blended and created only 2,580 bottles at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a clear sense of summery floral honey next to tons of vanilla and butterscotch that leads to grilled tropical fruits (think pineapple on a grill) and stewed stone fruit (think peaches in a pie). The honey and grilled pineapple come together on the palate as singed cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, and dry basil mingle on the taste. The mid-palate picks up on the vanilla sweetness with more orange, peach, and maybe some gooseberry with a tart/savory vibe as a dried eucalyptus incense stick puffs a small line of smoke deep in the background of the finish.
Bottom Line:
I’ve really taken to Bowmore lately. Their very low-peated malts really shine in sherry casks. This is a great overall expression of the distillery that just so happens to be really delicious and interesting.
4. Johnnie Walker Masters of Flavour Aged 48 Years (December 2021)
This whisky is so rare that the casks it’s made from are from ghost distilleries. Those are the ones that no longer operate. In this case, that’s barrels from Port Dundas, Brora, Glen Albyn, and Glenury Royal. Though, the Brora distillery has officially reopened as of spring 2021 after a nearly 40-year closure. Regardless, single malt barrels from each of those distilleries that were a minimum of 48 years old came together to make a mere 288 bottles for this release.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a soft breeze on a misty pebble beach with a grill box smoking away somewhere in the distance with some oysters and salmon on the fire as dates wrapped in nori mingle with rum-soaked prunes, a hint of winter spice, and an old leather tobacco pouch that’s more old tobacco oil and old dirt than rawhide. The palate leans into the smoke but layers in dried cherries, blackberries, and slightly tart currants as the spice kicks in with sharp cinnamon with browned buttered layered into an apple fritter with a hint of vanilla and a touch of nuttiness. Hot fireplace coals, burnt toffee, and smoked berries round out the finish as a final note pulls in the beachside grill box smoke, berries, spice, and leather into a subtly soft end.
Bottom Line:
This is a hell of a pour. It’s Johnnie Walker taken into a different universe. If you’re at Johnnie Walker Princess Street in Edinburgh, you might get a chance at a pour (for the price of a car payment).
3. Glenlivet Gordon & MacPhail Generations 80 (Ongoing)
Gordon & MacPhail is renowned for finding miracle barrels of whisky and, thereby, releasing some of the oldest whiskies in the world. This release is from Cask no. 340 from Glenlivet. That cask dates back to the time of Queen Victoria in the mid-1800s. By the time it made it to Glenlivet in 1940, it had held most (grape pressings), sobretables (a simple fortified wine), and sherry in southern Spain near Jerez. The 132-gallon barrel was then filled with single malt distillate at Glenlivet while they were still malting their own barley on-site with their own peat and running their stills with a coal fire underneath them.
Given that the average barrel loses around two percent of its volume every year, it’s a miracle that this barrel even existed — much less produced enough juice for 250 decanters of whisky.
“Appearance: Deep umber with magenta lights; old polished rosewood. Aroma: A complex, mellow nose feel, still vivacious after all these years. Top notes of almond oil, scented hand-soap, backed by sandalwood and gorse flowers on a warm day. A whiff of peat smoke in the empty glass. Palate: An oily texture, and lightly sweet to start (dates, salted plums, figs), drying elegantly (traces of dry Oloroso Sherry), towards a lengthy menthol finish. Drop of water increases spiciness.”
Bottom Line:
When I try this, I’ll make sure to pass along my tasting notes as a stand-alone right here on UPROXX. Until then, this is one of the rarest whiskies in known history. There’s literally only one whisky that’s rarer on the market.
2. The Macallan The Reach Aged 81 Years (February 2022)
This single sherry barrel of whisky was found by Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell deep in The Macallan warehouses. The juice was filled into that barrel back in 1940, right before the distillery closed due to WWII. Campbell found the barrel and bottled it as-is at cask strength in 288 hand-blown glass decanters.
“While the deep auburn liquid has a gentle smoothness, in keeping with The Macallan’s signature taste, the complexity of its profile offers an array of flavours. There is a rich, sweet smokiness, attributable to the peat used when malting the barley and firing the stills during this period in time. The smoky note is subtle but unmistakable, complemented with antique oak.”
Bottom Line:
This is an artistic centerpiece for your home that also happens to be a once-in-a-lifetime bottle of whisky. This is another whisky that I’m looking forward to tasting this year that I’ll let you know about when I do.
This is a bit of a cheat since this is a set of four rare bottles instead of just one. The collection is meant to represent the last four decades of The Dalmore with a whisky that’s pulled from each of those decades. The set includes a 40-year-old 1979 that was aged in Matusalem oloroso sherry wood and finished in a vintage port cask from 1952, another 40-year-old single malt — this time from 1980 — that was matured in ex-bourbon barrels and Matusalem sherry butts before a final maturation of five years in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, a 25-year-old single malt from 1995 which was aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Tintilla de Rota port pipes, and, finally, 20-year-old malt — from 2000 — aged in Matusalem oloroso sherry butts.
In total, 25 sets of four were released in the wild, making these exceedingly rare.
Tasting Notes:
Each of these has its own vibe entirely. So I’m going to short-hand what to expect from each (I’ll go more in-depth in a standalone article and an IG about the set down the road).
1979: Expect a lot of maple syrup-soaked oak with grilled — nearly burnt — pineapple, old and woody vanilla beans, date-rich sticky toffee pudding, and salted nuts.
1980: Expect that same nutty feel as above but with more dark cacao powder, marzipan smoothness, and bitter yet oily espresso beans.
1995: That nuttiness becomes the apparent throughline here as pecan pie with a buttery crust leads to a bramble full of ripe, tart, and sweet berries with bright orange citrus.
2000: Expect more fruit and honey on this one with apple pie filling, plenty of dark cherries covered in dark chocolate, and a hint of sassafras and anise.
Bottom Line:
Even though this isn’t the oldest whisky on the list, it’s the most comprehensive. You really get a sense of The Dalmore by drinking through this. It’s as historically important as it is delicious.
This Saturday, April 23, a shooting during a metal concert at the Marquis Lounge in San Bernardino, California resulted in one death and an additional four injuries, Consequence notes. The shooting reportedly took place during a set by a band called Crawling Through Tartarus, whose singer, Matt Holzboog, was among those shot.
CBS Los Angeles reports a 32-year-old San Bernardino man was pronounced dead at the scene. NBC Los Angeles also notes the shooting took place at around 9:30 p.m. PT at the venue, described as a “local bar.” Three gunshot victims at the scene were transported to the hospital while another was transported independently, making five total injuries in the shooting (counting the death). There is not currently a known motive or suspect in the case.
A Crawling Through Tartarus associate wrote on Facebook, “Prayers for my boys in Crawling Through Tartarus after a violent shooting during their set last night in San Bernardino. Zander Dixon was a brother to Jack Berg and me growing up and it’s terrifying to see the video of somebody opening fire. Their vocalist Matt was hit by two rounds and is dealing with surgeries now. Make sure you send lots of love their way. Share their music with your friends, buy some merch, wish them well etc.”
The post includes screenshots of social media posts from the band’s drummer, Zander Dixon, which feature photos of Holzboog in the hospital and note he’s “OK.”
Future is days away from dropping his 9th studio album I Never Liked You. Ahead of the hotly anticipated release, he has shared a snippet of a collaboration with Kanye West.
“Cross me so much I got nails in my hand/ City on fire, city on fire, city on fire,” raps Ye over a scorching trap beat, before Future jumps in, rapping “Cookin’ out the bowl, tryna scrape out the paint/ One day I was high, had to pour the whole pint/ Woke up in the sky, same money from the bank/ I’ll take it wrapped in plastic, accept anything.”
The track originally appeared on Kanye West’s 10th studio album Donda 2 under the title “Keep It Burning,” however, was later removed from the stem player. It is unclear as to whether or not the song has since been renamed, or if Future or Ye have made any significant changes to the song’s production or lyrics. Future was Donda 2‘s executive producer.
Earlier this month, Future recalled working with Ye during the early stages of his career in an interview with GQ.
“Me and Kanye always had a relationship,” Future said. “But it’s hard for people to understand because I don’t put everything on Instagram. Kanye flew me to Paris in 2011 or 2012 to work on music. [Discussing] his clothing line before it came, his shoe business before it came. People don’t know I’ve been able to go to his house and pull up right into the crib. We just never talked about it.”
In 2020, controversial rapper Azealia Banks had her Twitter account suspended. It was after a slew of transphobic tweets, which were nothing out of the sort for her. It was also not her first time being suspended; she was known for getting into fights with stars like Lana Del Rey and others.
Well, now that Elon Musk has acquired Twitter and all hell has been breaking loose on the bird app, Banks has made another Twitter account. She shared this news on her Instagram, posting her new handle @Azealiaishere with the caption: “Oh girlssssssssss lmao we are in this b*tch.” She’s yet to make a tweet yet, but surely she’ll be wreaking havoc soon.
Despite Banks’ chaos, the “212” rapper used Instagram to condemn Kanye West’s actions in February: “Y’all are making way too many excuses for Kanye. This is the second time he has publicly bullied North West. First with the abortion sh*t, and now putting her on blast on his Instagram page as if she’s some sort of criminal.” She continued, “Kanye had no problem with that magazine cover where North had on a f*cking belly top and purple eyeliner with her little buds showing thru the shirt, he thought it was fashion. You all said nothing.”
Andrew Garfield has never seemed concerned with being famous. He is, of course. You can’t put on a superhero suit as iconic as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’s (or date Emma Stone) without becoming a pop culture icon. But fame always felt like a side-effect of his career choices, not the underlying cause. He’s been happy to spend a year meditating in prayer for a role in a Martin Scorsese passion project or banging out a Los Angeles-set indie with Gia Coppola while his peers angle for big-budget franchise fare and multi-movie streaming deals.
He’s just finished up a grueling awards season run when I grab some time with him for his latest project, FX’s gritty true-crime series Under The Banner of Heaven. The show, inspired by a bestseller from Jon Krakauer, recounts the events that led to the 1984 murder of Brenda Lafferty and her newborn baby, killings that shocked the close-knit Mormon community she belonged to. Created by Dustin Lance Black, the series follows a Mormon detective named Jeb Pyre (Garfield) who begins to question his faith after learning about the murder’s insidious ties to fundamentalism and the beginnings of the LDS church as he hunts one of its most prominent families. The show see-saws between the past – the creation of Mormonism in the 1800s – and the present, weaving timelines together to tell a cautionary tale about the dark side of religious zealotry.
It’s the kind of prestige drama that will likely net Garfield (who’s terrific in it, by the way) an Emmy nod, which means he’ll be doing more of this in just a few months’ time. Like I said, exhausting.
Uproxx chatted with Garfield about his fascination with spiritually conflicted characters on screen, why asking tough questions is important, and if he finally got closure with his surprise Spider-Man role.
You’ve been doing a lot of press lately. How are you holding up?
No comment. No, I’m very happy because I get to talk about things that I care about. All these projects, from Tick, Tick… BOOM! through to Spider-Man to Under the Banner of Heaven, I really believe in these stories as healing vessels. Under the Banner of Heaven, it has the potential to be incredibly expansive [for the] consciousness [of] people, but also, it’s just a very compelling, true-crime story. And who doesn’t love that?
The theology vs. the hard-boiled detective slant: Which drew you in more?
I wouldn’t say it’s hard-boiled. [Jeb’s] a pretty innocent, sweet, boy-scout kind of guy that’s thrust into a hard-boiled situation, but I was attracted to it because of the book. I love the book. I read it when it first came out over 10 years ago, adored it, just thought it was such an incredible study on fundamentalism and how it leads to acts of violence justified in the name of love and in the name of God — unpacking of how that gets enabled is fascinating to me. And then I thought Dustin [Lance Black] just adapted it so elegantly. And creating this fictional detective of Jeb Pyre as the audience’s eyes felt like a very smart move and giving him this crisis of faith, it was just a juicy role and a juicy thematic kind of story and a great company of actors. I was kind of sold immediately.
We time-hop quite a bit in this show. Why was it necessary to include so many different timelines to tell this story?
I think it was important to include all those timelines because I think it is about, ‘How do you solve this case? How do you understand how something so horrific could happen?’ You have to go back to the founding of this religion, which inspired these murders. And it’s an unflinching look, it’s a very uncomfortable look for people who are within this religion and it’s vital. All the ingredients are absolutely vital. So I feel very proud of Dustin for weaving in all of these different plots, subplots, and historical time periods in a way that is cohesive and thrilling, and that keeps us on the edge of our seats. And it’s just kind of psychologically, so illuminating.
I know you like to immerse yourself in a character beforehand. What did that research period look like for this show? Did you go all in?
Yeah, I did. I felt like that was my duty. If I’m going to take on a role, I have to be fully committed. It’s important for me. I studied. I went to Utah. I spent some time with a lot of Mormons out there — ex-Mormons, LGBTQIA+ Mormons, Mormon detectives, bishops, I really immersed myself in the culture. I read a lot of books. I just kind of studied to know what it was to live culturally as a Mormon, to know what my value system would be because it needed to be very secure. That value system and that psychological structure in me, as the character, needed to be very, very secure at the beginning of our story so that it can be destroyed, so that it can be taken apart. Without that being authentic, then there’s nowhere to go. So I needed to make sure I was as Mormon as could be stepping into the role, and then slowly have it crumble before my eyes.
There’s probably a lot about this role you wanted to shake off but did anything stick with you when it came to learning about this particular faith?
Oh, so many things. There are beautiful aspects. The built-in community of Mormonism, the support system that you have in your immediate vicinity, the genuine love that can exist. The family structure is such a beautiful thing. Then obviously the inherent issues with any organized religion are kind of… evident. I don’t need to talk about that.
You’ve said the spiritual pursuit is the only pursuit you’re interested in right now. Is there a question you’re still seeking the answer to that draws you to some of these roles?
Yeah, I think… I think it’s how to live. I think it’s, ‘How do I live as alive as possible? And what does that mean for me personally? And how do I honor life? How do I honor not just my own life, but other people’s lives?’ And I think that is a spiritual pursuit. The question of how to live and why are we living? What’s the meaning that we create from it?
I’m sure you’re happy you don’t have to lie about Spider-Man anymore. If No Way Home is the last time you put on the suit and play Peter Parker, are you happy with where you left him? Did you get closure?
I mean, I don’t want to think about whether or not I’ll do it again. I don’t want to marry myself to an idea of retirement from Spider-Man. But I’m very, very happy with that project. Being a part of it, being a small cog in the wheel of that incredible Jon Watts film and Tom Holland’s trilogy, with Toby [Maguire] for crying out loud, it doesn’t get better. So you’re kind of like, ‘Well, do you peace out then and say, I’m done?’ Do you leave at the height of the party [with] everyone feeling really good? Time will tell and, never say never … what else can I say that’s coded? I’m very, very grateful for that period of time, to be involved and to know those guys, to know Tom and Toby in the way that I now know them, and to have shared that very special sacred brotherhood.
‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ premieres on FX April 28th.
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