Category: News

Halfway through its first season, House of the Dragon is poised to do something almost unheard of in the world of television. The show hasn’t shied away from accelerating its timeline when certain storylines called for it, but the next time jump scheduled to happen in episode six’s “The Princess and the Queen” is 10 years in length.

Skipping ahead a decade means the show is swapping out two of its fan-favorite leads, aging up a handful of notable supporting characters, and introducing the younger generation of Targaryens who will one day have a dragon in the fight (or should we say dance?) between Alicent Hightower and Rhaenyra Targaryen.

To help fans keep track of who’s who before House of the Dragon’s latest episode drops, we’ve created a character guide to the faces you need to get familiar with (and fast).

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Milly Alcock’s performance as the future Queen-to-be has been one of the highlights of House of the Dragon so far, and naturally, we’re devastated to see her go. She’s played young Rhaenyra as confident, brash, a bit entitled, and wholly capable of ruling the Seven Kingdoms – plus she speaks High Valyrian like a pro. But book readers know that Rhaenyra’s character goes through some trials during the 10-year time jump and aging up the actress who plays her makes sense when it comes to covering those plot points. Enter Emma D’Arcy. The actor (whose pronouns are they/them) has the tough job of marrying our previously understood version of who Rhaenyra was as a teenager with the woman she’s become after years of frustrating politics and court rivalries — not to mention motherhood — have changed her. D’Arcy will also go toe-to-toe with the grown-up version of Rhaenyra’s childhood frenemy, Alicent Hightower, which should be dramatically delicious to witness.

Alicent Hightower

Speaking of, Emily Carey’s young Alicent was decidedly less-liked by fans than her bestie-turned-stepdaughter, but no matter what your feelings are toward the young Queen, we can all agree that the actress playing her did a bang-up job of trying to make her more empathetic. With Carey gone and Olivia Cooke taking the reigns, that last shred of likability seems to have vanished and Alicent, now fully embracing her villain era, has rivaled her House against that of her husband. Not only is this older version of Alicent more manipulative and ambitious, but she also seems to have nurtured a decades-long grudge against her childhood friend for a one-night stand that had absolutely nothing to do with her. So we guess we can add petty to her list of terrible character traits, too.

Laenor Velaryon

Sweet Laenor Velaryon deserved more than a dead lover and an arranged marriage but that’s exactly what he got by the end of House of the Dragon’s fifth episode. The character has already been aged up once, but when we meet him in episode six, he’s a grown man and the husband of the future Queen. John Macmillian will play this version of Laenor and, based on clips released ahead of this week’s episode, we can surmise that while his preference still seems to be “goose” (sorry to daddy Corlys who thought it might just be a phase), he’s developed a close bond with his wife and their children. Or should we say, her children? Their parentage is a big point of contention between Rhaenyra and Alicent in the books, and it looks like the show is wading into the paternity debate this season.

Laena Velaryon

Another member of House Velaryon that’s enjoyed a couple of glow-ups since episode one is Laena. Initially, she was intended to be King Viserys’ child bride before he fell in lust with someone who was *checks notes* just a few years older than her. We saw Laena again, this time as a teenager, when House Targaryen paid a visit to Driftmark to arrange a union between Rhaenyra and Laena’s brother, Laenor. She attended the couple’s doomed wedding feast, making quite the entrance and even flirting with a sour-faced Prince Daemon before Ser Criston Cole beat a man’s face to a pulp. When we meet her again, she’s being played by actress Nanna Blondell as an older, wiser version of the character, who is now married to Daemon and has twin daughters with him.

Aegon II Targaryen

It sounds like the next generation of Targaryens are going to be playing pivotal roles in the last half of season one, which might be why the show has already aged up Aegon II. Last we saw him, Aegon was a cherubic-faced potential usurper who had the backing of his grandfather and a handful of sexist lords when it came to inheriting the Iron Throne. For now, he’s being played by Ty Tennant, but Aegon might be aged up again since actor Tom Glynn-Carney is also set to play the character sometime this season. So, more time jumps?

Helaena Targaryen

Aegon’s sister and Alicent Hightower’s only daughter, Helaena, has a big role to play later in the series. For now, she’s simply another pawn at her mother’s disposal. Evie Allen will play young Helaena though there will likely be a jump at the end of the season that sees a different actress taking her place.

Aemond Targaryen

We’ll say this now: Aemond Targaryen is the absolute worst. Described as a crueler, less charming version of Prince Daemon in George R.R. Martin’s book, the young prince is being played here by Leo Ashton. We know that Aemond suffers a terrible injury as a child, something we’ll likely see in the coming episodes, and that turns him into a bit of a murderous psychopath going forward. The Last Kingdom star Ewan Mitchell will play an older version of the character, so he’s likely to be the actor that bears the brunt of the audience’s disgust.

Jacaerys & Lucerys Velaryon

Despite her misgivings as a young girl, Rhaenyra does eventually become a mother to three boys while she is wed to Laenor Velaryon. Following an agreement between King Viserys and Corlys Verlaryon, the boys adopt the last name of their father’s House. Jacaerys is the eldest and he shares the same dark features that his brothers will inherit, most likely from Ser Harwin “Breakbones” Strong, who becomes Rhaenyra’s lover later in her life. Lucerys and Joffrey Velaryon are the final two children that Rhaenyra has with Ser Harwin Strong, but as Joffrey is still a baby when we meet him in episode six, the only one you need to watch out for is Lucerys. Child actor Harvey Sadler will play the youngest version of the character, but it’s a good bet he’ll be aged up again by the end of the season.

Baela & Rhaena Targaryen

Baela and Rhaena Targaryen are the twin daughters of Laena Valeryon and Daemon Targaryen and we’re set to meet them in episode six. Baela has been described as the Targaryen version of Arya Stark, so we’re already putting money on her becoming a fan favorite by the end of the season. Her sister, Rhaena, is quieter and more reserved. Shani Smethurst and Eva Ossei-Gerning will play the younger versions of the twins.

HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.

A recent poll found that the “worst” words in the English language include pus, phlegm, and seepage. Also, splooge. Can’t forget [shudders] splooge. “Warm,” “wet,” and “wild” did not make the worst-words cut, because apart, they’re not that bad. Who doesn’t love a warm day at the beach, or a Buffalo wing? But collectively, the trio of w-words are prone to gross people out, as evidenced by Wednesday’s episode of Wheel of Fortune.

The category was “Same Letter.” After a few spins of the wheel, contestant Tanino elected to solve the puzzle. “Warm Wet & Wild,” he answered, correctly. He won $3,800 and a California trip worth $7,650 (and later, the Bonus Puzzle), but he also lost, through no fault of his own, because he grossed everyone watching at home out.

It’s been an eventful week for all things Wheel: a photo of host Pat Sajak posing with white nationalist event-attender Marjorie Taylor Greene went viral over the weekend. “The undated photo appears to have been taken earlier this month,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. “[He’s] flanked by the Republican Greene and Right Side Broadcasting Network reporter Bryan Glenn. RSBN is known for promoting right-wing views, and Greene, among other things, makes a hobby of harassing mass-shooting victims and thinks that Sandy Hook massacre denier Alex Jones got a raw deal in court.”

Now that’s the real “ew.”

(Via iHeart)

Beyoncé’s Renaissance was one of the biggest albums of the year. The LP reached No. 1 and sent the internet into a collective frenzy of discussion and funny memes. The “Love On Top” singer hasn’t yet brought the songs to audiences on a tour, but that might change soon.

Page Six has reported that Renaissance will finally be taken on the road soon, according to multiple inside sources that told the magazine. One revealed that Beyoncé is booking stadiums around the world for next summer, and another divulged that an announcement will be made in the coming weeks. Fingers crossed!

Of course, planning a massive tour while the pandemic isn’t quite over is not an easy feat. The pandemic even impacted her process of writing the album, for better or for worse, as she said in her statement before releasing Renaissance: “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.”

Over the course of the past 10 years, the way we consume music has evolved. In the past, an artist would traditionally drop a single, generate hype, drop a follow-up track or two, then release a full-length album. In the case of Rebbeca Gomez, better known as Latin music superstar Becky G, her full-length debut album Mala Santa didn’t arrive until 2019, nearly 7 years after making her major label debut as a featured artist.

Her first major label contributions came in the form of Cody Simpson’s “Wish U Were Here” while her first single as a solo artist was the will.i.am-assisted “Problem” in August 201. Her first entry onto the Billboard Hot 100 would come by way of Cher Lloyd’s “Oath,” just two months later. Though it only reached No. 73 on the charts, it was the first of many hits for Becky, who, at the time, was poised to be a pop star with her spunky, rap-singing vocal stylings, and her flashy, colorful wardrobe.

Becky G has gone from a promising viral pop act to one of the biggest names in Latin music. While her trajectory has been incredible to watch, Becky, 25, is only getting started.

At the time of the release of “Oath,” Becky had developed a small fan base from her YouTube channel, on which she shared covers of Frank Ocean’s “Novacane” and Jay-Z & Kanye West’s “Otis,” the latter of which caught the attention of producer Dr. Luke, who signed her to a joint deal with Kemosabe and RCA Records. But she was relatively unknown in the pop landscape.

Still, she maintained her ambition to become a household name, hopping onto remixes of songs like Kesha’s “Die Young,” and creating her own versions of iconic hits.

In 2013, Becky released a single called “Becky From The Block,” which was a more family-friendly rework of Jennifer Lopez’s “Jenny From The Block” from 10 years prior.

“I won’t stop till I get to the top / Always had a little, but I want a lot,” she sings, emulating the original artist.

In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Becky revealed that she aspired to be the next Jennifer Lopez.

“She’s honestly one of my role models,” Becky said, “one of my idols, like somebody that I’ve looked up to since I was very little, since I watched Selena.”

Becky released her debut EP Play It Again in July that year, on the title track of which, she raps, “I’m a creature, I ain’t lyin’, not a cheater, I’m a lioness / They sayin’ that I’m the best and I ain’t drop an album yet.” As she began gaining more traction in the pop landscape, the anticipation for a full-length album was high. Surely, the following year would prove to be more promising.

In April of 2014, Becky released “Shower,” a bubblegum pop track about young love, which became a viral hit on Vine. With the song’s relatability and its catchy “la-di-la-da-la-da” adlibs, “Shower” reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Many listeners were instantly hooked on “Shower” upon first listen. In an Interview with Time, Becky said she knew she had a banger on her hands but wasn’t sure where it would lead her.

“We listened to it all the way through and all of us couldn’t say anything,” said Becky of hearing ‘Shower’ for the first time. “We just were quiet and looking at each other and smiling. I think we all had that little spark in our eyes and that little feeling it was going to be something special. We didn’t know what it was going to be, but we knew it was going to be special.”

While this seemed like an opportune time to begin an album rollout, Becky was still finding her footing as an artist. Her songs were undoubtedly taking off, but she was still searching for the right sound. Later that year, she released “Can’t Stop Dancin’,” which contained a less poppy sound and headed in a more Latin-inspired direction. A remix of the song featured a then-up-and-coming J Balvin.

The following year, she would collaborate with Thalia, who is often referred to as the Queen of Latin Pop, on a song called “Como Tú No Hay Dos.” It was clear in her voice and enthusiasm on the songs that she was a natural for these Latin dance records, however, it seemed as though her label was set on making her a pop star, as she would release Latin collaborations in tandem with the Dr. Luke-produced “Lovin’ So Hard” and “Break A Sweat,” the latter of which was rumored to be for Demi Lovato.

Toward the latter-half of the 2010s, she would begin releasing strictly Latin music, beginning with “Sola,” on which, she celebrates her freedom after leaving a toxic relationship. Her breakthrough came in 2017 in the form of the Bad Bunny-assisted “Mayores,” on which sings of her affinity for older men. This song reached No. 1 On Billboard’s US Latin Airplay chart, as well as No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.

Becky would continue to rise in the realm of reggaeton and Latin pop with her sensual anthem, “Sin Pijama,” which features Natti Natasha. The song contains an infectious chorus of female sexual empowerment, on which the two sing back and forth, “Si tú me llamas / nos vamos para tu casa / Nos quedamos en la cama / sin pijama, sin pijama,” which translates to “If you call me / We’ll go to your house / We’ll lay in bed / Without pajamas, without pajamas.” The song reached No. 1 on Billboard’s US Latin Airplay chart and No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.

Both songs appear on Becky’s 2019 debut album, Mala Santa, which arrived after years of standalone singles, guest contributions, and viral moments.

This May, Becky released her sophomore album, Esquemas, which contains the Karol G collaboration, “Mamiii,” an empowering break-up anthem which features the superstars cutting ties with the unappreciative men in their lives. The punchy reggaeton single topped the Billboard US Hot Latin Songs and US Latin Airplay charts, and reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it both artists’ highest charting songs.

As of now, Becky has reached new highs in her career, and only plans to continue rising.

Earlier this month, Becky released a new single called “Amantes,” with Daviles De Novelda, just months after the release of Esquemas. The song marks Becky’s first dabble in bachata music, showcasing her effortless versatility.

Proven by her decade-long career, Becky is not afraid to experiment with new sounds, nor does she play by anybody’s rules. In a recent interview with Teen Vogue, she said she only plans to grow as an artist and continue to be a voice for her community.

“I’m a student of life, man,” Becky said. “I may have 10-plus years under my belt of being in this industry, but one of my favorite quotes is, ‘If it’s not growing, it’s death.’”

Olivia Wilde seems to be choosing her words very carefully while promoting Don’t Worry Darling, which arrives in theaters this weekend after what feels like several years of press tours, though it’s actually been more like a month and a half. The director/ former The OC actress was on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote the movie (does it really need more promo?) when the various controversies surrounding the film came up.

Though she didn’t mention the leaked video of her asking Shia LeBouf to stay with the project, she did insist they were private messages that were never supposed to be seen.”There were private messages released without context to try to make a situation look like something that it wasn’t,” Wilde explained to Colbert.

“Early on in the process of making the film, as the director, I tried to mediate a situation between people to try to see if they could work together happily,” Wilde continues, referencing LaBeouf and lead actress Florence Pugh’s alleged tension. “Once it became clear that it was not a tenable working relationship, I was given an ultimatum. I chose my actress, which, I’m very happy I did.”

When asked directly if she fired LaBeouf, the director carefully responded without actually mentioning the word “fired.” “We had to replace Shia. He is a fantastic actor, but it wasn’t going to work. When he gave me the ultimatum of him or Florence, I chose Florence, and that was him feeling he was stepping away, and me feeling like we were moving on without him. He didn’t want to be part of the production we were making in the way I like to make productions, and so he moved on, we moved on and replaced him, and ended up with a cast that I’m so proud of and a movie I’m really thrilled about.” Wilde also mentioned the “click bait” aspect of Spitgatte, also known as the most exciting 8 hours on the internet in recent memory. Maybe this movie will become a classic after all?

(Via EW)

Ser Criston didn’t expect the sex scene in House of the Dragon‘s so-called “Hot Girl Summer” episode to happen. The actor (Fabien Frankel) who played him, however, knew well in advance and even spent nearly two-thirds of a year preparing. Disrobing on camera is quite one thing, and surely, Frankel paid mind to his physical condition, but even more than that, he (and Milly Alcock) did emotional and mental prep work.

As Frankel told Entertainment Weekly, the scene was “something we talked about over seven months.” He wanted to ensure that the scene wasn’t “another gratuitous, sweat-glistening-off-their-back sex scene,” and yes, there were plenty of nuances involved. That includes Criston’s struggle to abandon his vow of chastity, which he apparently settled by the next episode while he proposed marriage to Princess Rhaenyra. Then when she rejected him in favor of her duty-bound marriage, he lost it and went ballistic, pummeling the life out of Laenor’s gay lover, Joffrey. But before that happened, Frankel wanted to ensure that the sex scene was believable and not automatically graceful because onscreen intimacy (and real-life intimacy) is awkward stuff:

“I just remember back and forth texts, back and forth phone calls, back and forth meetings between Clare, myself, Milly, and our intimacy coordinator. But particularly me, Clare, and Milly going, ‘How do we make this human?’”

From there, Frankel addressed how difficult it would have been for Ser Criston to shed that armor in a real-life scenario. “These are the things I really cared about,” Frankel said by stressing that he wanted the scene to feel authentic. “For even a world-quality squire, you’ve got 10 minutes to get the armor off… There’s no way Rhaneyra and Cole are gonna take that armor off in 10 seconds.” All that hard work went into a worthy scene, although the aftereffects weren’t so great for Westeros or the House of Targaryen.

This week, we’ll see the followup to an episode that was (rightfully or not) compared to the famed Game of Thrones “Red Wedding,” which ended with Criston and Queen Alicent forming an alliance. Ten years later, we’ll see whether that still stands.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

In 2013, Kanye West infamously launched a longstanding meme during an interview with Shade 45 radio host Sway Calloway when he exploded on the host after being questioned about his fashion ambitions. “You don’t have the answers!” he roared when Sway suggested that he produce his Yeezy clothing line independently. But today, it appears he’s changed his tune after dealing with protracted disputes with apparel manufacturing partners Adidas and Gap for the better part of the summer — and really, almost since the start of those partnerships.

In a new interview with ABC News excerpted on Good Morning America, Kanye admits, “You know what? I will go ahead and say Sway had the answer,” grinning sheepishly. “I know people on Twitter are gonna be like, ‘No!’”

Kanye declared his plans to go it alone after sending notice of intent to cut his deal with Gap short earlier this month. The deal, which was to run through to 2030, became unsatisfactory to him when he alleges the company did not follow through on its end, which he says included plans to build brick-and-mortar Yeezy stores and make his designs available in its own stores by 2021. Over the past month, he’s expressed his dissatisfaction with both Gap and Adidas in a series of needling posts on Instagram, including sharing a draft from his legal team summarizing the details of his licensing deals with both companies.

As Kanye (and Sway) are likely sure to learn soon, producing at the scale that Kanye foresees for himself isn’t quite as easy without a global partnership; perhaps, in a few years, a more humble Ye will also admit that he didn’t really have the answers either.

For fun, you can check out Kanye’s original interview with Sway below.

After teasing his new single “Star Walkin’” on his Long Live Montero Tour, Lil Nas X has officially released the track in conjunction with Riot Games as the League Of Legends Worlds anthem. A defiant, motivational track, “Star Walkin’” incorporates pop elements into a pulsating UK drill beat as Nas asserts, “They said I wouldn’t make it out alive / They told me I would never see the rise / That’s why I gotta kill ’em every time.”

The energetic track is pitch perfect for the competitive nature of League Of Legends and it’s easy to see why it was chosen — or purpose-built — to soundtrack the upcoming world championships for the game in Mexico City. Lil Nas X is scheduled to perform the song next week at the opening ceremony for Worlds and partnered with Riot Games to help create a skin for one of the game’s newest characters.

In a promo video for the partnership, Nas hilariously declares himself “President” of League, installing landline phones on all the desks with “Star Walkin’” as their ringtone. You can check that out below.

Lil Nas himself seems to be enjoying his Long Live Montero Tour, taking some of the bumps along the way in stride. When a group of protestors formed outside one of the most recent stops, he sent them pizza and joked that he fell in love with a “cute homophobic guy” who protested.

“All popular artists get caught between making records and making music,” Bruce Springsteen once observed. “If you’re lucky, sometimes it’s the same thing. When you learn to craft your music into recordings, there’s always something gained and lost.”

The Boss was referring to Nebraska, the iconic one-man folk album he put out 40 years ago this month. When he made it, Bruce thought he was recording demos for what later became his world-beating commercial blockbuster Born In The U.S.A., released two years later. But the spooky vibe of the home recordings couldn’t be replicated in the studio, so he eventually decided to release Nebraska as is. In this instance, he thought he was making music when he was actually making a record.

I thought about Bruce’s words recently as I immersed myself in the forthcoming Yankee Hotel Foxtrot box set, which drops next week. When Wilco announced the anniversary collection in April, some scoffed at the excessive largesse — 11 LPs in vinyl form or eight discs for the CD set. All of this for one album that didn’t even go platinum? On paper, this box set seemed like it might single-handedly upend the supply chain.

For people like me, however, all of the extras were justified. I’ve often said that my favorite Wilco record is a bootleg of outtakes from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. As great as the record is, the long and restless journey in search of that greatness has always been more fascinating to me, for the same reason that rock geeks have long obsessed over the making of similarly “difficult” paradigm-shifting curveballs like Pet Sounds, Tusk, and Kid A. For many months during 2000 and ’01 at The Loft, Wilco’s north side Chicago rehearsal space and studio, they ran through countless different versions of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot songs. In the process, they touched on nearly every corner of modern music history, dabbling in classic Brill Building pop, spacey psychedelia, blistering krautrock, rustic folk, surly garage punk, bubblegum funk, John Cage-inspired dissonance, and various points in-between. (There are also the fan favorites that didn’t make the album, like “Venus Stop The Train” and “Cars Can’t Escape.”)

As a record, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a brilliantly focused mood piece. But the outtakes explode in dozens of different directions, and evince seemingly limitless possibilities. Is it possible to have too many versions of “Kamera”? Maybe, but I haven’t had my fill quite yet. And here, finally, is the mother lode.

Now that I have spent considerable time with the box set, I can confirm that this is exactly the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I have always wanted. We’ve known for 20 years that Wilco made an amazing record. But the box set shows that they also made a lot of amazing music — some of which I value even more than the record. It’s the difference between looking at one corner of the sky and taking in an entire universe.

As one of the most acclaimed albums of the 21st century, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot also has the most repeated backstory of any rock record from the last two decades. The box set both reiterates the lore and adds to it via excellent liner notes written by rock journalist Bob Mehr, who dutifully recounts the various dramas that unfolded during the album’s protracted gestation and release — the firing of founding drummer Ken Coomer and hiring of Glenn Kotche, the friction (and drug-fueled camaraderie) between creative partners Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett, the recalcitrant record label that balked at putting out an allegedly uncommercial LP, and the unexpected resonance of the songs and album cover in the wake of 9/11.

At times, the record feels like a time capsule of the early aughts, particularly the disc that includes an entire broadcast of the radio talk show Sound Opinions from Sept. 18, 2001, the day the album was posted online seven months ahead of its commercial release. (There are also two discs devoted to a dynamite concert performed in St. Louis in 2002.) Between in-studio performances of future classics such as “War On War” and “Ashes Of American Flags,” a shell-shocked Tweedy struggles to explain the prescience of lyrics like “you have to learn how to die / if you want to want to be alive” just one week after September 11th.

How the box set augments the mythos is by re-framing the narrative about how the record came to be. In that way it feels like a delayed response to Sam Jones’ 2002 documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, which centers on Tweedy and Bennett’s disintegrating relationship and the “David vs. Goliath” conflict between Wilco and their record label, Reprise. While the latter point was central to how Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was discussed and celebrated in the moment, it now registers as a relatively minor footnote, given that Wilco swiftly signed with another label — a subsidiary of the same corporation, Warner Bros., no less! — and carried on successfully for decades afterward.

As for the former point, the scene everyone remembers from I Am Trying To Break Your Heart occurs when Bennett is trying to explain to an increasingly agitated Tweedy his reasoning for an edit at the start of “Heavy Metal Drummer.” “I just want you to understand me,” Bennett pleads, in a way that suggests he’s talking about more than just an arcane sonic detail. “Why is that so important?” an exasperated Tweedy retorts. “I don’t have to understand you all the time.” He then flees the studio and vomits in the bathroom, the most famous puke scene in rock-doc history.

In a lengthy Q&A included with the liners, Tweedy drolly notes that he invited Jones to film what happened after that scene, when he invited his friend and collaborator Jim O’Rourke to mix and essentially “save” the album. Over the years, Tweedy has made it clear that this part of making Yankee Hotel Foxtrot — which didn’t make the film — was in his view critical to the final product. With guidance from Tweedy and Kotche, O’Rourke stripped out a lot of the music and, in some cases, added different instrumental parts and even re-worked arrangements. Over time, the chaotic bombast of the Loft recordings were whittled down to a chilly and austere gem. Or, as Tweedy puts it, “It kind of became a Wilco record pared down to its essence and then Loose Fur made a record on top of it.”

There’s no question that O’Rourke was critical in turning Yankee Hotel Foxtrot into a record. But my main (perhaps unintentional?) takeaway from the box set is that Bennett was responsible for a lot of what I love about the music of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

I’m going to tread carefully here, as I am not one of those Wilco fans who gave up on the band after Bennett was dismissed. And I don’t buy into the effort — forwarded earlier this year by the flawed documentary Where Are You, Jay Bennett? — to villainize Tweedy for the ouster. All involved parties (including Bennett, based on interviews he gave before his tragic death in 2009) have insisted that the duo reached an impasse by the end of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that made continuing together impossible. This perception is supported by Mehr’s liners, which provide the most complete and even-handed account of the album’s creation yet. (There’s also the matter of Wilco’s continued growth and consistency after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, demonstrated once again earlier this year with the very good Cruel Country, their best LP in at least a decade.)

But what’s also undisputed is that Bennett was a musical mad scientist who could realize any brainstorm he or Tweedy dreamt up. As Tweedy concedes, “I could say ‘I want to hear it like this,’ and he had the expertise and understanding of how to do that.” Along with co-writing the bulk of the album with Tweedy, including much of the music, Bennett was pivotal for what former Wilco multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach describes as “an investigation of the songs,” in which the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot material was run through many different styles and permutations in search of a unique and indelible musical alchemy.

For Tweedy, this proved to be a frustrating process. “I wanted to make something I hadn’t heard before,” he explains, and too much of what Wilco was doing sounded like “a really good rock band.” On that count, I must agree, though I don’t consider it an insult. Wilco was in fact a fantastic rock band at the time, and listening to them push, pull, stretch, and even exhaust themselves in order to create a masterpiece is frequently an exhilarating experience.

On the CD version, four out of the eight discs are composed of outtakes, amounting to about 60 tracks. Again, that’s probably overkill for a casual listener. But for fans, it’s a treasure trove. Some of the takes are absolutely bonkers — “Ashes Of American Flags” laced with an Igor Stravinsky sample, a rapid-fire countrified “War On War” with souped-up banjo picking, a caterwauling “Radio Cure” that sounds like a Brian Wilson nervous breakdown from the Smile era.

Other tracks head in the opposite direction from that sort of maximalism. An early performance of “Jesus, Etc.” slinks like a vintage Al Green ballad. A stunning solo take on “Radio Cure” hits like Leonard Cohen’s “The Stranger Song” via Big Star’s Third. An especially funky “I’m The Man Who Loves You” veers into steamy swamp rock. “Hummingbird” (later released on A Ghost Is Born) is remade as a drone-psych jam. But even when a radical arrangement or over-the-top overdub doesn’t land, it’s always worth hearing, if only because the pervading spirit of “we’ll try anything!” is so infectious and inspiring.

Taking all of this in, I think it’s possible (and even necessary) to hold two thoughts in your head: 1) The stuff that didn’t make Yankee Hotel Foxtrot did not fit on the record; 2) The stuff that didn’t make Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is some of the greatest music Wilco has ever made.

It’s helpful to consider Yankee Hotel Foxtrot the record and the music on this box set as connected but separate entities. One is a clear and concise statement of purpose. The other is sprawling and excessive. Both are fantastic, but I know which one I’ll be listening to more in the years ahead. In the liners, Tweedy says, “I needed to find some experimental music with a bigger heart. That’s what I was looking for my whole life.” Me too. With the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot box set, I’ve found it.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After last week’s episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law revealed Daredevil’s helmet, Marvel fans lit Twitter on fire with anticipation for Charlie Cox finally returning, in costume, as Ol’ Hornhead. However, those same Marvel fans were in for a shock when they streamed this week’s Episode 6. After getting their hopes up for a Daredevil cameo, the blind lawyer turned vigilante was nowhere to be seen.

In fairness, She-Hulk has never revealed when a fully costumed Daredevil will make his official MCU debut. Fans just assumed that last week’s Easter egg was confirmation that Cox would show up in Episode 6. However, the writers of She-Hulk are a savvy bunch who have been one step ahead of Twitter, and they dropped an ice-cold burn in one of the show’s fourth wall-breaking moments.

“Yes, it’s a self-contained wedding episode,” Tatiana Maslany‘s Jen Walters says to the camera when it becomes clear that She-Hulk is going out of town and not having a rooftop team-up teased in the trailers. “And if you think this is happening at an inconvenient time, you’re right. ‘Cause that’s how weddings always are. But I’m gonna look great, so let’s go.”

Needless to say, Marvel fans expecting to finally see Daredevil weren’t exactly thrilled, but as you can tell by the reactions below, they (mostly) realize they only have themselves to blame for getting their hopes up. They’re still here for the show messing with them, as it does.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law streams new episodes every Thursday on Disney+.