Category: News

Late last year, I chatted with Kansas City trio Blackstarkids about their first full-length release, Whatever, Man, which I called “impressive in its scope and executed with the grace of a veteran group.” Now, the group is back with Puppies Forever, their first proper album under the Dirty Hit flag. Due out this fall, Puppies Forever is previewed by the indie-pop jam “Juno,” which showcases the group’s knack for blurring genre lines and incorporating everything from hip-hop and R&B to power pop and shoegaze.

“‘Juno’ is a really honest reflection of how we were feeling at the time of working on the album, which is why we wanted to lead with it,” the group said in a statement. “In context of the album, it’s one of the more personal and reflective moments.”

The new single arrives with a self-video directed from the group alongside AG Club’s Manny, which depicts the members driving and dancing around their hometown. Although the track clocks in at just under three minutes, each member still has ample time to get their turn with a fresh verse that showcases their diverse musical inspirations and writing style, ranging from Tame Impala and Mac DeMarco to The Smashing Pumpkins and Clairo.

Puppies Forever doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but is due later this year ahead of the group’s first-ever nationwide tour, supporting fellow Dirty Hit artist Beabadoobee. Pre-save the album here.

New broke the other day that Phoebe Bridgers would be guesting on a new album from The Killers, Pressure Machine, a delightful meeting of the minds that pleased indie fans immensely. Now, in a new interview with Stereogum, the band has discussed exactly what the collaboration process was like. It’s not as glamorous as people might think, though! Brandon Flowers spoke about how recording with masks, during COVID-19, isn’t the most conducive to a super strong connection, but maybe the mystery only added to the magic.

Here’s what Flowers had to say about the collab:

“She knocked us out with a couple beautiful covers, “Read My Mind” and “Human.” She’s been on my radar since I first heard “Funeral” years ago, and you just know there’s something special about her. It was nice to know that she was also a fan of ours. It just kind of came together naturally. It was fast. It was during the middle [of the pandemic], everyone was wearing masks. I don’t think we ever really saw her face. She came into the studio, she went into a darkly lit live room. She had already gotten really familiar with the song, did a couple takes, and then that was it. She disappeared into the Los Angeles night. [Laughs]

And he followed up by saying that working with Bridgers for that song, “Runaway Horses,” was something that “just felt right.”

We definitely needed a female voice on “Runaway Horses.” She has a history, I think, with not only that type of music but even in her lineage — her grandpa has rodeo ties. It just felt right.

Waaay back in 2019 — before we had ever heard of COVID-19 or had to lock ourselves in our homes while it killed millions of our friends and family members — Martin Scorsese had a few gruff words for Marvel movies. And Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is still annoyed about it.

For those who can’t remember anything before 2020, in an interview with Empire magazine, Marty — Oscar-winning living legend and walking film school — admitted that:

“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

That’s when people went apesh*t. So Marty, sweet septuagenarian that he is, penned an op-ed for The New York Times in which he attempted to contextualize his comments by explaining his definition of “cinema” and how it’s an “art form” and that the MCU is not that. While he acknowledged that “Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures,” he followed that up with: “What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk.”

So here we are, two years and one pandemic later, and people are still pissed. Including Gunn, who kicked the hornet’s nest when he brought up Scorsese’s comments again earlier this week while appearing on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, according to IndieWire. And he kind of went for the jugular:

“It just seems awfully cynical that he kept coming out against Marvel, and that’s the only thing that would get him press for his movie, so then he just kept coming out against Marvel so that he could get press for his movie. He’s creating his movie in the shadow of the Marvel films, and so he uses that to get attention for something he wasn’t getting as much attention as he wanted for it.”

Ouchie.

Gunn did, however, call Scorsese “one of the greatest filmmakers who’s ever existed” and admit that “there [are] a lot of things that are true about what he said. There are a lot of heartless, soulless spectacle films out there that don’t reflect what should be happening.” Gunn just doesn’t happen to think that singling out the MCU was the way to go. Which then ignited yet another war between MCU diehards and people who refer to themselves as cineastes. Which forced Gunn to send out a quick clarification on Wednesday evening, in which he stated:

“Also for the record, Martin Scorsese is probably the world’s greatest living American filmmaker. I love & study his films & will continue to love & study his films. I disagree with him solely on one point: That films based on comic books are innately not cinema, that’s all.”

That’s probably not all. But we’re with whoever casts Brendan Fraser, so ball’s in Gunn’s court now.

(Via IndieWire)

You know how the old saying goes… the devil works hard, Taylor Swift works harder. No, but seriously, this pop star hasn’t taken a moment to breathe since her epic double release folklore and evermore took over 2020. She’s since re-released Fearless as Taylor’s Version, and already shared a significant number of teasers about her re-release of the fan-favorite album, Red, this fall. A new teaser came today in the form of a cryptic tweet video, that I’m sure fans are already breaking out decoder rings to unravel. Check it out below.

Captioned with some of the most poignant lyrics from one of Red‘s best songs, she knows exactly how much her fans love Easter eggs and the process of solving a mystery to get more new music from their favorite. “*presses post* *cackles maniacally* Level: casually cruel in the name of being honest,” she wrote to caption the video. You can hear Taylor’s voice buried in the mix of the shadowy snippet, but none of the lyrics can quite be made out. Similarly, the post shows jumbles of letters emerging from a vault, that probably have to do with collaborators or new tracks on the new version of Red. Time to settle in and wait for the geniuses among us to solve the code.

Some are already getting started… and does that say Phoebe Bridgers?

After a months long fan campaign, LeVar Burton finally got his shot at the Jeopardy! podium when he filled in as guest host during the last week of July. However, that short stint is apparently not translating to a permanent gig as reports started coming in on Wednesday evening that Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards is in “advanced negotiations” to replace the late Alex Trebek.

While that deal is not closed, and other candidates are reportedly is in the mix, Richards is “clearly the front-runner,” according to Jeopardy! sources who spoke with Variety. That news did not go over well with Burton fans, who had campaigned aggressively to get the former Reading Rainbow host onto the hit game show, only to watch him get passed over for an executive producer. That anger was not helped by the fact that Burton only got a one-week guest host stint while others had received two.

You can see some of the reactions below, and there are plenty more where these came from:

On a positive note, Burton’s time on Jeopardy! did earn a nice chunk of change for his charity of choice, Reading Is Fundamental. Despite only being on the show for a week, the children’s literacy organization walked away with $204,800 thanks to Burton’s time at the podium

Aaliyah’s music influenced an entire generation of R&B music lovers before her tragic death nearly two decades ago. Despite her popularity, much of her music isn’t available on streaming services, a fact her estate has been working hard to change. But shortly after her former record label teased an announcement, the singer’s estate accused executives of “leeching off” her life’s work.

Late last year, Aaliyah’s Estate won control of her YouTube channel and shortly thereafter promised fans they were making headway on an agreement to get her music on widely available streaming services. Things were looking up when a social media account for her former record label, Blackground Records 2.0, popped up with an exciting teaser in the form of a website promising #AaliyahIsComing. Many assumed this to mean word of her music on streaming services, but apparently it was a move made without the authorization of her estate.

Aaliyah’s Estate issued a statement Wednesday making it clear they did not authorize her former label’s announcement. “For 20 years we have battled behind the scenes, enduring shadowy tactics of deception with unauthorized projects targeted to tarnish,” they wrote. The estate continued to say it is an “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music” without transparency or their approval:

“Now, in this 20th year, this unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate compels our hearts to express a word – forgiveness. Although we will continue to defend ourselves and her legacy lawfully and justly, we want to preempt the inevitable attacks on our character by all the individuals who have emerged from the shadows to leech off of Aaliyah’s life’s work.”

Aaliyah’s Estate goes on to say they are continuing to manage her memorial fund and “other creative projects that embody Aaliyah’s true essence.”

See the full announcement made by Aaliyah’s Estate above.

One of the best things to emerge from the pandemic is the popular face-off livestream Verzuz, which pits two legendary artists against each other in a showdown. This week’s battle between The Lox and Dipset seemed like it would be a close one out of the gate, but The Lox, and most prominently Jadakiss, pulled out ahead to gain accolades and praise that dubbed them the clear winner. Plenty of hip-hop heads are weighing in on the impact of Jadakiss as an MC, and noted hip-hop head LeBron James had to put his own two cents in when it comes to The Lox member’s greatness.

“JADAKISS is the most UNDERRATED hip-hop artist of ALL-TIME!! MY GOODNESS,” the basketball star wrote, adding a hefty dose of emojis to his all-caps praise. “@thelox
just so [fire emoji],” he continued. “3 bullies.” Then, he shared his favorite clip from the battle, where Jadakiss launches into a freestyle over Biggie’s “Who Shot Ya” instrumental.

Considering LeBron has been an avid hip-hop listener for all of his life, and even has an executive producer credit on 2 Chainz’s also underrated Rap Or Go To The League, his praise has to be feel pretty good. Giving hip-hop legends their flowers while they’re still here is always a strong move.

On March 29th at 8:44 a.m., a tweet was fired off into the void.

It was a harmless thing. A photo of a Hollywood actor smiling jovially into the camera. Its owner, one @JoeyMulinaro, captioned it thus: “Another famous guy we all know but absolutely refuse to know his name.”

That “guy” was Kyle Chandler.

Before this tweet, we just assumed everyone knew America’s hazel-eyed sweetheart. After all, Chandler has been steadily booking gigs for decades, playing some of TV and film’s most memorable characters. He’s remembered by younger millennials on Tumblr platforms and Reddit forums as the beloved Coach Taylor of NBC’s sports drama, Friday Night Lights. If you were a ’90s kid, you probably saw him cutting his teeth on shows like Homefront and Tour of Duty. Even if you were new to the Kyle Chandler fandom, you still should’ve been aware of his most recent acting credits — Hulu’s Catch-22, Netflix’s Bloodline, and that George Clooney-helmed space movie that dropped late last year.

And yet, reading some of the replies left us as gobsmacked as we were when we first encountered the post.

One commenter admitted they often confused Kyle Chandler with Ron Livingston (Boardwalk Empire, Office Space). Another recognized him as the guy who got blown up on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. “Bomb Guy is his name,” they wrote. Still, most disturbing was the person who simply dropped a picture of Jon Hamm into the thread with the query, “This guy?”

Had our faith in humanity taken a severe hit? Sure. Were we now terrified of a future that might be populated with people who couldn’t recite the “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” slogan if a gun were pointed to their head? Of course. But at the end of the day, this Kyle Chandler slander falls back on us. We are the stewards of these great mediums known as television and film and if we don’t teach the children about history’s on-screen heroes, heroes like Kyle Chandler … well, then, we deserve to see him cataloged in the annals of history as one Twitter commenter labeled him, “Attractive White Man #406.”

So we’ve decided to rank some of the best performances by Chandler on TV and film. This list is not exhaustive — for an actor as prolific, how could it be? But it does serve as a guide to where you can stream some of the man’s greatest hits, a gateway if you will, into the Chandlerverse. Here are the best Kyle Chandler performances you probably forgot about.

Honorable Mention: King Kong (2005)

Peter Jackson’s interpretation of this classic monster verse story would introduce Chandler to that oversized ape nearly 20 years before he played an out-of-his-depth dad just trying to convince his daughter not to listen to trashy podcasts in Godzilla Vs. Kong. Baxter was a rather unlikeable character but Chandler’s charm — and a particularly heroic rescue scene — made him memorable nonetheless. Whoever thought to have this man swing down on a vine with a machine gun in hand like some old Hollywood glamorous Tarzan knew what they were doing.

Stream on: Hulu

10. The Midnight Sky (2020)

We give George Clooney major kudos for finally giving fans what we’ve so longed for: a movie with Kyle Chandler, in space. The action is split between Clooney’s Earth-dwelling heroics — he plays a scientist trying to warn the last manned flight mission from returning to their uninhabitable home — and the happenings onboard the Aether, a ship meant to uncover whether one of Jupiter’s moons may be conducive to human life. Chandler’s pilot, Tom Mitchell, is a calming presence in the background for most of the film, but it’s his final few moments on screen that pack a punch. In Mitchell’s decision to embrace certain death by returning to a radioactive Earth with the hope he might find his family, Chandler plays on his greatest strengths: his family-man status, and the ability to convey incredible emotion through those searing puppy-dog eyes.

Stream On: Netflix

9. The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)

Martin Scorsese’s bombastic retelling of stockbroker and scam artist Jordan Belfort’s meteoric rise on Wall Street — and his subsequent downfall — is chock full of over-the-top performances by well-known stars. Everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie delivers darkly comedic turns that will live in Gif-able infamy. In comparison, Chandler’s every-man FBI agent feels tame, like the acting equivalent of a light helping of Quaaludes, which makes his eventual victory all the more interesting to watch. Chandler goes toe-to-toe with DiCaprio’s delusionally self-confident millionaire playboy, dishing out cutting insults and pairing them with a jovial smile. He’s laser-focused on bagging the bad guy but detached enough to not make this cat-and-mouse game personal. His final subway ride has fans questioning who really won, despite Belfort eventually serving time and Chandler’s agent scoring the biggest bust of his career.

Stream on: Amazon Prime

8. Carol (2015)

Harge Aird is not the hero of Carol. In fact, he’s one of the film’s driving antagonists, an of-the-era businessman who refuses to let his failing marriage go quietly into the dark night of divorce. The fact that his wife (Cate Blanchett giving a tour-de-force) just happens to be in love with another woman only adds to Harge’s embarrassment and devastation. Despite the role being an obvious foil to the doomed romance at the heart of this film, Chandler manages to make us sympathize with his stereotypically masculine breadwinner type. Harge is awful, yes, but he’s also mourning his chance at achieving the “American Dream,” and that grief pushes him to act callously, even vindictively, towards the woman he believes is responsible for the death of his happiness. It’s a tough task to convey the nuance of this supporting character, one Chandler manages to do with very little screen time.

Stream on: Amazon Prime

7. Godzilla: King of Monsters (2019)

Godzilla has been in two Kyle Chandler movies now — technically, so has King Kong — but this film gives the actor the most to do. And by “most” we mean he plays the conventional lead as an ex-scientist and grieving father who holds Godzilla responsible for the death of his son. That family conflict fuels Chandler’s performance as Mark Russell, who spends most of the film searching for his missing daughter (Millie Bobby Brown) and ex-wife (Vera Farmiga). Once he finds them, he’s charged with saving the planet, which means working alongside his ancient enemy. Chandler’s screen-time is full of loaded exposition and melodramatic one-liners, but it still works and it adds stakes to a film that risks feeling too massive in scale to be at all relatable. Oh, and no one — we mean no one — can aggressively whisper as good as this man.

Stream on: HBO Max

6. Early Edition (1996 – 2000)

One of Chandler’s earliest breakout roles, this fantasy sitcom imagined a world where Chandler’s former stockbroker Gary Hobson is delivered tomorrow’s newspaper every morning and tasked with changing the future. It’s a fairly inventive premise given the show’s timestamp, and Chandler’s Hobson is the kind of virtuous, aww-shucks hero audiences root for. There’s humor, usually at Hobson’s expense, and an overarching mystery that poses some interesting questions. Oh, and cats. Kyle Chandler acts opposite a divinely-powered tabby cat in this thing. What more incentive do you need to watch?

5. Grey’s Anatomy (2006 – 2007)

A guest-starring role normally represents the chance for a semi-known actor to reach a new level of recognition, but Chandler said “to hell with that” when he took on the role of bomb squad hero Dylan Young over the course of a few episodes of ABC’s hit medical procedural. Instead, Chandler’s fresh-faced hunk earned his own fabled legacy within the Grey’s universe. Fanfictions were written about him. Many hoped he’d show up on Ellen Pompeo’s beach this season. When diehard fans unite to discuss their favorite episodes, his appearance almost always makes the cut. Young was selfless and snarky, willing to cradle a bomb surgically removed from a patient in order to save the lead of the show. The fact that Chandler so impressed creator Shonda Rhimes with his minuscule screen time that she encouraged him to audition for another TV series that ranks even higher on this list, should tell you all you need to know.

Stream on: Netflix

4. Bloodline (2015 – 2017)

Is Kyle Chandler’s tortured police detective the best thing about Bloodline? No, that would be Ben Mendelsohn. Is Kyle Chandler’s tortured police detective the second best thing about Bloodline? No, that would be Sissy Spacek. But is Kyle Chandler’s tortured police detective the third best thing about Bloodline? Well, it’s a tie between him and Linda Cardellini, but for a show as good as this Netflix crime-drama, being tied for third is really an accomplishment. Chandler plays John Rayburn, the good son, the upstanding community member, the man who cleans up the messes of his siblings while shouldering all of the blame from his biased mother. Eventually, that stress gets to him — as does his contentious relationship with his older brother, Mendelsohn’s Danny — and watching Chandler spiral, shedding his good-guy facade to reveal the complex, morally dubious man underneath is thrilling, even though you just know things won’t end well.

Stream on: Netflix

3. Game Night (2018)

Game Night was not supposed to be a comedy vehicle that proved just how funny a certain dramatically inclined actor could be for Kyle Chandler. No, that honor should’ve been reserved solely for Rachel McAdams. But dammit, Kyle Chandler’s charisma is just too powerful to play second-fiddle, especially in this action-comedy where he plays Jason Bateman’s older, cooler brother named Brooks. Brooks is a scumbag, a suave, well-coiffed, incredibly rich scumbag whose black-market dealings interrupt a scheduled game night and cause the whole evening to go straight to hell in a handbasket. And yet, Brooks ends up being a lovable buffoon just trying to connect with his sibling and clean up his act while making a quick buck off Faberge eggs and Witsec lists and the like. You’ll end this movie actually rooting for the man, despite everything which just proves how potent Chandler’s likability really is.

Stream on: Amazon Prime

2. Catch-22 (2019)

This may come as a shock to hardcore Chandler stans, but he plays a really good bad guy. Like, almost too good. In this hilariously bleak dark comedy about a World War II bomber trying to escape service after the war is already won, Chandler inhabits the role of the show’s main antagonist, a paranoid, arrogant a**hole named Colonel Cathcart. He’s unhinged to the nth degree, forcing his men to go on more missions in order to impress his superiors and bolster his own self-worth. He’s wildly narcissistic, a bit idiotic, and callous in his treatment of others. And you can tell, you just know, Kyle Chandler is having the time of his life playing the dude.

Stream on: Hulu

1. Friday Night Lights (2006 – 2011)

Few TV shows are remembered accurately. Either nostalgia paints them as something precious and creatively unattainable or more modern societal shifts cause their jokes and storylines to age badly. But Friday Night Lights is a bit of a unicorn in terms of beloved TV fare — a family drama that’s as good as you thought it was upon second, third, and fourth viewing. Most of that can be attributed to Kyle Chandler, who plays the stalwart Coach Taylor, a man with deep roots in his community who’s just trying to provide a better future for his family and the boys on his high school football team. He’s a categorial “nice guy” but Chandler brings layers to him, deftly switching from jealous husband to exasperated father to disappointed coach and back again. And the speeches? Creator Peter Berg must have a touch of omniscience to him because how else would he have known that Kyle Chandler would one day become the king of locker room pep talks?

Stream on: Hulu

This is undoubtedly the summer of National Parks. Everyone I know seems to currently be on or just back from an epic road-trip to witness our natural wonders. I can’t blame them. I’ve visited 55 of the 63 major US parks and hundreds of other NPS sites over the past few years, so I know their beauty well. I’ve also seen firsthand that there are many more people in the parks this year. And I’ve seen how staffing issues in parks and the surrounding areas can — and has — created a headache for many first time visitors expecting unobstructed views and wide open spaces.

While many of us have already made our summer park visitation plans, it’s not too late for you. Campsites may be booked out but the park system is actually pretty well set up to accommodate spontaneous travelers. Just know that summer parks crowds are real — and they can get bothersome for anyone wanting a secluded slice of nature.

To help you plan, I’ve outlined where you can expect to find the most and fewest number of people at some of the most visited US National Parks. Use this as a resource if you’re keen to get yourself a little extra elbow room in the last month of the busy season.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park — 12.1 Million Visitors, Annually

Crowded:

People are often surprised when I tell them that not only is Great Smoky Mountains the most visited National Park, but that it wins by a landslide. With more than three times the visitation of the second most visited park, prepare yourself for other people on your hikes — often a lot of other people.

The most-visited parts of the Great Smoky Mountains tend to be the places that are easiest to get to. The pull offs, park roads, and short hikes with big payoffs. Clingmans’s Dome and Cades Cove will be especially crowded but are, in my opinion, worth it.

Less Crowded:

Drive the Foothills Parkway, a 16.5 mile section of a planned 71 mile road that provides a different vantage point of the park, or visit the Deep Creek area.

Yellowstone National Park 3.8 million visitors annually

Crowded:

Old Faithful, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Grand Prismatic Spring are all iconic spots at Yellowstone National Park that everyone wants to see for themselves at least once in their lifetimes. And the crowds mirror that. I still recommend going, just be prepared. (and pro tip — watch Old Faithful from the lodge’s second floor balcony with a drink, if it’s open)

Less Crowded:

Hike almost anywhere — most people stay close to the lookouts. Fairy Falls trail will give you the best view of Grand Prismatic from above, and North Rim Trail gives you less crowded views of the lookout to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Zion National Park 3.6 million visitors annually

Crowded:

The Narrows and Angel’s Landing are all over your IG feed because those are the hikes everyone wants to do at Zion National Park. And for good reason, they are iconic and memorable and have some of the best views you will ever witness.

But they are also crawling with people.

Less Crowded:

Hike the East Side! While it’s also gaining in popularity it’s still less crowded than the main thoroughfare and just as gorgeous. Some hikes to try: Canyon Overlook, Petroglyph Canyon, and Observation Point (accessed from the East Mesa Trail).

Rocky Mountain National Park 3.3 million visitors annually

Crowded:

The Bear Lake Road corridor is the most popular part of Rocky Mountain National Park for sure — there is even a separate timed entry to this portion of the park this summer. It’s where you can access popular hikes like Emerald Lake and Sky Pond, so the crowds make sense.

Less Crowded:

Try the Wild Basin entrance! It’s a favorite of mine and generally less crowded. From here you can hike to the gorgeous Ouzel Falls. The Grand Lake entrance will also be less crowded in general than the two entrances from Estes Park.

Grand Teton National Park 3.3 million visitors annually

Crowded:

Grand Teton is the only national park with a commercial airport inside of it — so it makes sense that most of the park is crowded. It’s easy to access by air and then by car or bike once you arrive. Some popular spots are Jenny Lake, Mormon Row, and Schwabacher Landing.

Less crowded:

Hike! A great thing about Grand Teton is that you can truly experience the beauty without ever hiking more than 100 feet from your car. With the abundance of pull outs and lakes making the park easily accessible, the actual trails aren’t too crowded in my experience. Taggart Lake, Phelps Lake and Leigh Lake are some of my favorites (are you sensing a pattern?).

You can also venture over to the Idaho side of the Tetons which, while not technically within the park, have great Teton views and nowhere near the traffic.

Grand Canyon National Park 2.9 million visitors annually

Crowded:

Grand Canyon Village, where you will visit first when entering the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park is going to be super crowded. There is no way around this. It’s where the tour buses and families and day trippers enter and most stay.

Less crowded:

The Rim trail. Yes, seriously. Hear me out here. Like many of the other parks of this list, aside from the bucket list type hikes, most people aren’t venturing too far from the parking lot. In the Grand Canyon that means a mile or so in either direction of Grand Canyon Village (or less) until you reach some solitude. Another great option is the North Rim — only open from May-October, it’s much less visited.

Acadia National Park 2.7 million visitors annually

Crowded:

Cadillac mountain (even with its reservation system) and Jordan Pond were the most crowded parts of the park during my visit last month. Acadia is consistently one of the most visited national parks while also being 5th smallest by land area — so many areas will probably have a few more people than you’d like. I wouldn’t avoid any of these areas though, just visit early in the day (or in the off-season).

Less Crowded:

The Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia is dramatically less visited. It is not directly connected to the main part of the park on Mount Desert Island, which seems to deter most people. But once you’re there you will be nearly alone to enjoy the beautiful coastlines and trails.

Olympic National Park 2.5 million visitors annually

Crowded:

In my experience (and I haven’t been in all seasons), I’ve never found Olympic particularly crowded. Maybe due to its size, but even the popular areas have never felt overwhelming to me. That being said, the most popular places are definitely the Hoh Rainforest and the beaches. Hurricane Ridge is also a popular spot. I still recommend going to all of them.

As far as hikes, Mount Storm King is very popular and will be crowded.

Less Crowded:

The South Fork of the Hoh trail is far less crowded than the main Hall of Mosses trail if you want to avoid more people. The Lake Quinault area is definitely at the top of my list and less crowded and more remote than some of the other areas on the peninsula. From there you can hike the short Rain Forest Nature Trail, Gatton Creek, or Irely Lake.

The music world has been anxiously awaiting the beginning of Kanye’s new era, and his first album to drop since his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalized. Entitled Donda after the rapper’s late mother, whose tragic death has had an ongoing impact on the rapper’s life, he previously previewed the new album in a massive stadium show in Atlanta that was live streamed on Apple Music. But in true Kanye form, the album wasn’t exactly finished, so he’s been holed up in Atlanta finishing the album, and announced that a second listening event would be held once it was done.

Now, Apple has debuted a live stream leading up to the second event, which shows Kanye hanging out with friends and collaborators, pumping himself up for the event. Fan accounts have captured high-profile visitors like Chance The Rapper, Ye’s weight-training moments in a Donda vest, and what looks like a new Balenciaga suit for tonight’s stream.

Excitement for the follow-up is definitely high, even if plenty of fans were disappointed in his Pro-Trump era, the strange follow-up that was his own presidential campaign, and didn’t think Ye was his best work. But with Kanye, a potential comeback is always in the works. Check out the live stream via the Apple Music link above.