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In 2000, David Bowie started re-recording some of his older, more obscure songs for an album called Toy. The project was set for release in 2001, but ultimately, due to issues with his label, the album was never released (save for an internet leak in 2011). Now, though, the album is finally getting an official release, both as a standalone release and as part of the box set David Bowie 5: Brilliant Adventure (1992 — 2001).

Mark Plati, who co-produced the album with Bowie, says:

“Toy is like a moment in time captured in an amber of joy, fire and energy. It’s the sound of people happy to be playing music. David revisited and re-examined his work from decades prior through prisms of experience and fresh perspective — a parallel not lost on me as I now revisit it twenty years later. From time to time, he used to say, ‘Mark, this is our album’ — I think because he knew I was so deeply in the trenches with him on that journey. I’m happy to finally be able to say it now belongs to all of us.”

In 2000, Bowie, following a Glastonbury performance, wrote of the album in a message to fans, “I hate to waste the energy of a show-honed band so I’ve asked one and all if they would like to make an album immediately when we get back to New York. All are in full agreement that they’d like that very much, so I’ve pulled together a selection of songs from a somewhat unusual reservoir and booked time in a studio. I still get really elated by the spontaneous event and cannot wait to sit in a claustrophobic space with seven other energetic people and sing till my tits drop off.”

A few weeks out from releasing their third album, Letter Blue, NYC electro-pop trio Wet are back today with an aching new song, “Far Cry,” which is co-produced by Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bear. Bolstered by Kelly Zutrau’s slick vocals, “Far Cry” is a grooving R&B-inspired song, with a mid-tempo beat, flowing guitar melody, and electronic accents.

Earlier this year, Wet teased a comeback with “On Your Side.” Another new single, “Larabar,” followed in August with the announcement of Letter Blue, which arrives in late October. “We were circling back to the beginning,” Zutrau said when Letter Blue was announced, adding, “when it was fun and intuitive and friends working on music, and how sweet that was.”

Zutrau continued, elaborating on what fans can expect from the trio’s latest: “I’m always interested in multiple feelings at once. Not just a happy song, but happy and sad and guilty — those can all be true. We see these messages in music and media that are very black and white, but our lives don’t really live up to those expectations. Instead, we’re somewhere in the middle of all these states that are much easier to explain.”

Listen to “Far Cry” above.

Letter Blue is out 10/22 via AWAL. Pre-order it here.

When The View returned on Monday morning, the first thing Joy Behar addressed was the calamitous situation on Friday where co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro received positive COVID tests results on the air and were whisked off the set just moments before Vice President Kamala Harris was about to make a live appearance, which was quickly pivoted to a remote interview. It was an all-around chaotic scene, but by Monday, it was being presented as an unfortunate mix-up as Hostin and Navarro tested negative several times over the weekend. Producer Brian Teta apologized, and Behar thanked Harris’ staff for being so gracious and helpful. The end, right? Not so much.

According to a new report, the Vice President’s office is “vexed” with what went wrong on The View, and there are concerns that the daytime talk show may not have been forthcoming about when the co-hosts were tested. In order for Harris to appear live on the show, the co-hosts were required to take PCR tests within 24 hours of the interview. Harris’ team was led to believe that requirement was fulfilled, until it wasn’t. Via CNN:

That night, a representative for “The View” gave the “all clear” to Harris’ office, suggesting that the show had satisfied the requirements to proceed with the taping, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

After it was suddenly revealed Friday morning that was not the case, Harris’ team was left puzzled and seeking answers about what happened. But, according to a person familiar with the matter, “The View” has not been forthcoming with the vice president’s office, leaving Harris’ staff “deeply concerned” about what happened.

According to CNN, ABC and The View have refused multiple requests for comment. However, a source said that ABC News president Kim Godwin was “irked and embarrassed by the whole fiasco.”

(Via CNN)

In a couple weeks, we’ll have a new Courtney Barnett album, Things Take Time, Take Time. That drops on October 12, but what was released today is the latest single from the album, “Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To.”

Barnett spoke about the song in a July interview with Rolling Stone, saying of its origins, “I was just really sad. I was in a really dark place, and a friend […] said, ‘Why don’t you try to write a list of positive things in your life that you’re looking forward to?’ At the time, I was like, ‘Nothing. There’s nothing I’m looking forward to.’”

However, Barnett eventually came up with “like 25 verses” worth of items. She also noted, “I love that the song feels so fun. It sounds like you’re driving across a highway and it’s sunny. I love the juxtaposition of those things.”

She also said of the album more broadly, “On the one hand, nothing was happening to me last year. But at the same time, so much was happening! There’s that lyric in ‘Turning Green’ about flowers in the weeds — as in, finding beauty in a place where you least expect it. That’s my ongoing lesson for myself.”

Watch the “Write A List Of Things To Look Forward To” video above.

Things Take Time, Take Time is out 10/12 via Mom + Pop Music/Marathon Artists. Pre-order it here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder started the 2020-21 season with a 10-12 record. Even with every caveat about outperforming their statistical baseline, it was an impressive start to the Mark Daigneault era, and the Thunder were pretty feisty. Over the next 50 games, though, the Thunder posted a 12-38 record that was more fitting when considering their roster makeup and obvious priorities.

Along the way, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander experienced a breakout and the Thunder won seven more games than their point differential (-10.6 points per 100 possessions) would project. As the 2021-22 campaign nears, things aren’t that much different in Oklahoma City, but they have a deep bench of intriguing youngsters and they should be, at the very least, an entertaining watch.

Roster:

Darius Bazley
Charlie Brown
Gabriel Deck
Luguentz Dort
Derrick Favors
Josh Giddey
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Ty Jerome
Vit Krejci
Theo Maledon
Tre Mann
Mike Muscala
Aleksej Pokusevski
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Isaiah Roby
Paul Watson
Aaron Wiggins
Kenrich Williams

Projected Vegas Win Total: 23.5 wins

Biggest Addition: Josh Giddey

Derrick Favors is probably the best present-day player added by the Thunder in an offseason that saw considerable churn in Oklahoma City. However, Favors isn’t likely to be a part of the long-term future, and the Thunder invested a lottery pick in Giddey. It might not be great as a rookie for the teenager with shooting problems, but OKC’s claim to fame is its chest of draft picks and Giddey presumably slots behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the team’s asset rankings.

Biggest Loss: Al Horford/Kemba Walker

Horford was traded for Walker, who was then flipped to New York. Oklahoma City does have Favors to act as a veteran leader of sorts, but the Thunder aren’t exactly overflowing with established talent at the moment. That isn’t the biggest deal for their short-term goals, but they didn’t lose much else.

Biggest Question: What does OKC have to flank Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Even a pessimist would admit that Gilgeous-Alexander is a budding standout, and he was excellent last season at a young age. The questions begin after him, where the Thunder could really use a breakout from another youthful player or two. Perhaps it is Giddey. Perhaps it is Dort or Pokusevski. But they need something to go along with Gilgeous-Alexander and future picks.

What Makes This Season A Success

This is a two-pronged answer, much as it would be for many rebuilding teams. Oklahoma City should be looking for development of young pieces, particularly with Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Pokusevski, Giddey, Bazley, Maledon, Robinson-Earl, and Mann. That is certainly a priority, and real growth from those young pieces would move the needle. From there, the Thunder probably need another high-lottery pick. They got unlucky last year to land at No. 6 overall, and losing a bunch of games is likely the best outcome.

What Makes This Season A Failure

At present, Gilgeous-Alexander is the only young piece that is remotely proven. If it stays that way a year from now, that would be suboptimal for the Thunder in the simplest terms. On top of that focus, Oklahoma City likely needs to avoid winning too many games and outperforming their point differential in a way that would negatively influence their position at the top of the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery.

Rifle Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) loves Twitter, but Twitter does not love her. Her absurd “Tylenol” tweet continues to make waves, not long after her hysterical tweet about the U.S.-Mexico border situation. She’s full of backfired toilet jokes, too, and now, Boebert is back with more tweets on subjects that she doesn’t really understand. So, people are letting her have it after she came for top U.S. defense generals.

“Milley and Austin should be testifying in military court,” Boebert wrote on Twitter. “[N]ot at a Senate hearing.”

Sadly, Boebert has proven that she (as a non-high-school graduate who passed the passed the GED shortly before being elected to the House) doesn’t know much about U.S. government branches or how they work (checks and balances and so on). She made this declaration during the Senate Armed Services Committee’s hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal. While assessing the situation (and as CBS reports), Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley described the rushed withdrawal as “logistical success, but a strategic failure,” although he claimed that U.S. troops had evacuated over 124,000 out of Afghanistan within weeks. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin followed up by saying, “Was it perfect? Of course not.”

Milley added that he saw “no intel assessment that says the government’s going to collapse and the military is going to collapse in 11 days,” and he contradicted the Biden administration by saying that the military recommended that he leave a few thousand U.S. troops in the country. Well, Boebert isn’t listening to any nuance. She believes that Milley and Austin deserve a military trial, straight away, rather than the legislative branch doing its thing to evaluate what the executive branch is doing. And in the face of Boebert’s suggestion, people have some suggestions (including remarks about her actions surrounding the MAGA insurrection) for her, too.

She’ll be back for more, and people will be watching.

(Via CBS News)

The top spot on the Netflix top 10 has lately been dominated by Squid Game, a Korean series about cash-strapped contestants competing in a mysterious competition of children’s games to win the grand prize of 45.6 billion Korean won (or $38.5 million in U.S. dollars). The losers are killed. Think: Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, but with red light, green light. Squid Game has an intoxicating premise, but I don’t think anyone expected it to be the worldwide — and TikTok — sensation that it’s become.

It’s a hit all over the world:

The addictive, violent survival drama, which premiered September 17 on Netflix, has transcended cultures and language barriers to reach No. 1 in 90 countries in 10 days — from Qatar and Oman to Ecuador and Bolivia… Fueled by word of mouth, Squid Game entered the U.S. Top 10 list on September 19 at No. 8. It climbed to No. 2 the next day, and hit No. 1 on September 21 — the first Korean original series ever to do so — where it has stayed since, crossing the one-week mark [on Tuesday]. Its staying power in the top spot is comparable to such Netflix global hits as Bridgerton.

Speaking of Bridgerton, the Shonda Rhimes series is currently the most popular Netflix show of all-time (based on internal metrics), but Squid Game might soon overtake it. “Squid Game will definitely be our biggest non-English-language show in the world, for sure,” Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos said this week. “It’s only been out for nine days, and it’s a very good chance it’s going to be our biggest show ever.”

You can watch the trailer below:

(Via Deadline)

There are a lot of parallels between the careers of Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, and now, the two legends have come together for their first-ever collaboration, a new song called “Wasted Days” that’s set to appear on an upcoming Mellencamp album.

On the track, Mellencamp and Springsteen contemplate mortality and the nature of life, with Mellencamp opening the song, “How many summers still remain / How many days are lost in vain / Who’s counting out these last dramatic years / How many minutes do we have here?”

In June, Springsteen said of working with Mellencamp, “I worked on three songs on John’s album and I spent some time in Indiana with him. I love John a lot. He’s a great songwriter and I have become very close [with him] and had a lot of fun with him. I sang a little bit on his record.” The previous month, Mellencamp confirmed the collaboration and revealed the song had just recently been completed: “Bruce is singing on the new record and is playing guitar. I finished the record a week ago today.” This all came after the pair was spotted together at a Bloomington, Indiana restaurant in April.

While this is the duo’s first time together on a studio recording, they previously performed together at the New York City’s Beacon Theater in 2019.

Listen to “Wasted Days” above.

The words “boogie nights” are never said in Boogie Nights. Same with “there will be blood” in There Will Be Blood and “phantom thread” in Phantom Thread. Paul Thomas Anderson is not one for titular lines, but I hope he makes an exception for Licorice Pizza. It’s the best way to ensure two standing ovations: one when the film is over (Adam Driver better be in the audience, and he better be smoking a cigarette), and another when halfway through the film, Bradley Cooper’s character looks down at his dinner and says, “This sure is a good slice of licorice pizza.” The theater crowd goes wild.

Or at least I would, because as a fan of the Favorite Movie Lines Twitter account, I turn into the Leo pointing meme every time someone says the title of the movie in the movie. “Looking back, that Addams family really did have values.”

The words “licorice pizza” will likely be said in Licorice Pizza, PTA’s nostalgic new movie starring Cooper, Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman (Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son), Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Benny Safdie, and Maya Rudolph. It’s the name of a Southern California record store chain from the 1970s, when Anderson grew up and his film is set. “The store tried to lure local music fans with commercials aired during American Bandstand and Soul Train. They offered a money-back guarantee on records and heavily promoted local concerts, drawing fans in to buy the music before or after a big concert,” according to Los Angeles Magazine. Blondie’s Debbie Harry was a fan.

As for the origin of the name:

It comes from a throwaway joke on the album Bud & Travis… In Concert recorded live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1960. The comedy/folk duo are on a self-deprecating roll about how unsuccessful their record was, remarking that it had “sesame seeds on the other side” and could be played on a Waring blender. Just before going into their version of La Bamba, they mention that the platter was being sold at feed stores as a “licorice pizza.”

Here’s a taste of Bud and Travis:

Speaking of taste: following the release of the Licorice Pizza trailer, I wanted to know what licorice pizza tasted like and report my findings to the hungry boys out there. Because it sounds… I believe “terrible” is the word. I pride myself on being open-minded, but not when it comes to pizza. There’s a reason pepperoni is the non-cheese default option: it works. Chicken and meatballs are great, too. But pineapple? Anchovies? Mushrooms? Get out of here. Whoever put “Dill Pickle Hamburger Pizza” number one on this list of 25 Deliciously Weird Pizzas You Should Definitely Try doesn’t deserve pizza — or even worse, they can only order pizza from Papa John’s. But because PTA is one of my favorite directors, and pizza is one of my favorite foods, and Alana is one of my favorite Haim sisters, I gave pizza with licorice a shot. I learned two things:

1. Red-colored Twizzlers aren’t technically licorice. The candy is “usually fruit-flavored by artificial or natural means, and do not contain licorice flavoring,” Kelila Jaffe, Food Program Coordinator for the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at NYU, told the Huffington Post. The word “licorice” does not appear on the brand’s packaging, with the exception of black Twizzlers which do, in fact, count as licorice. I ate the black Twizzlers.

2. Licorice pizza is pretty good. OK, maybe that’s overstating it, but the licorice (which I’m generally not a fan of) doesn’t take too much away from the superior pizza. For this culinary experiment, I went to three locations where I live in Austin, Texas: Home Slice (cheese), Giovanni’s Pizza Stand (pepperoni and basil) and my favorite local pizza joint, Domino’s (cheese). I happily finished all three, and in the case of the pepperoni pizza, I found the sweetness to be a nice compliment to the greasy cups.

It may surprise you that Robert Elswit did not do the cinematography for these photos.

Anyway, the New York-style slices worked better than the Domino’s pie because they were easier to fold; it trapped the licorice like a pig in a blanket. Honestly, I couldn’t even taste the candy after the first bite. Chewing something rubber-y while eating pizza was slightly unpleasant, but Twizzlers are soft enough that it wasn’t a huge deal. Would I eat licorice pizza again, though? No, of course not. I respect pizza too much to do that.

But licorice pizza wasn’t the nightmare that I was expecting it to be. The real nightmare is having to wait until November 26 to see Licorice Pizza (the wide release isn’t until December 25). Also: candy corn pizza. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

CL is one of the most OG artists in the K-Pop sphere, racking up attention and accolades as a global force long before BTS hit the scene. Born Lee Chae-rin, the South Korean rapper and pop star is finally back and gearing up to release her debut studio album, Alpha. After a lengthy hiatus, she returned earlier this year, first with a touching recollection of her late mother for the sweet tribute “Wish You Were Here,” and then with the ferocious new single “Spicy.”

That single introduced her album, Alpha, which was originally slated for release last but was pushed to this year, and it’s a return to form her CL recalling her past work like “Hello Bitches” and “The Baddest Female.” Tonight, she’s shared another new cut off Alpha, which falls somewhere between sweet and spicy. “Lover Like Me” has the braggadocio of “Spicy” but it’s undercut with some of the softness of her pop sound. That softness doesn’t stop her from going into full-on rap mode for a Nicki-level verse toward the end of the track, though. Check out the new song above and look for more updates on the quickly-approaching Alpha — it’s shaping up to be one of the year’s most important releases.