Griselda has been crushing it all year, and Benny The Butcher has been a major reason why without even releasing a project. That’s changed with Burden Of Proof, his latest offering. The 12-song album shows Benny as gritty as ever over a suite of Hit-Boy production and rapping alongside Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Conway, and Westside Gunn, as well as Freddie Gibbs, who showed out on the soulful ”One Way Flight.”
Black Thought — Streams Of Thought Vol. 3: Cane And Abel
Black Thought is lyrically locked in on his Streams Of Thought Vol. 3: Cane And Abel project. The Philly native analyzes the tumultuous social climate throughout the release, with the help of Schoolboy Q on “Steak Um” and Pusha T, Swizz Beatz, and Killer Mike on the urgent “Good Morning.”
Ivorian Doll — “Daily Duppy” Freestyle
The UK’s Ivorian Doll calls herself the “Queen of Drill,” and she gave a good example of why on her edition of GRMDaily’s “Daily Duppy” freestyle. She talks her talk over the spastic drums, deeming herself “highly regarded, I’m hittin’ targets, labels callin’, I’m on the market.”
Homeboy Sandman — Don’t Feed The Monster
Homeboy Sandman is back with Don’t Feed The Monster, a 15-track project where the Queens MC digs deep over an eclectic soundscape. He speaks to the uncertainty of the times on his second Mello Music Group release.
Open Mike Eagle — Anime, Trauma & Divorce
One look at the title of Open Mike Eagle’s latest album should express where the Chicago artist takes it on a project that music writer James Maxbell said “gets better and sadder with each listen.”
PRICE — CLRD
Artist/producer PRICE is one half of Audio Push, but he’s stepping out on his own on CLRD, a reflective, feel-good lyrical exhibition over smooth production.
Rod Wave — “Shooting Star”
Rod Wave offered up another dose of evocative, confessional rap on “Shooting Star,” where he harmonizes, culls through his internal turmoil, and poignantly asks “what’s a life without scars?”
Sheek Louch — Beast Mode 4
A month after The Lox released their album, Sheek Louch decided to drop Beast Mode 4, his latest solo offering. The aptly-titled album, which shows the unheralded MC getting busy over energetic production, boasts features from Benny The Butcher as well as Jadakiss, Styles P, and Whispers, who show up on the smooth, “Saint Ides Flow.”
Stefflon Don — “Can’t Let You Go”
Stefflon Don gets sensual on “Can’t Let You Go,” a breezy, genre-bending single where the QC signee uses patois to urge her boo to “put it down on me.”
TM88 & Rich The Kid Feat. Ty Dolla Sign, 2 Chainz & Southside
This week, TM88 and Southside decided to break us off with a star-studded ode to blowin’ a bag on the right woman. They provided a minimalist, trap-driven melody for 2 Chainz and Rich The Kid to trade flashy verses while Ty Dolla Sign takes care of the earworm hook.
Thouxanbanfauni — “Tennessee Titan”
On “Tennessee Titan,” Thouxanbanfauni matches a smooth, synth-driven production with a relaxed triplet flow where he warns, the “choppa turn his house into a ghost town.”
TOBi — “Shine”
TOBi released “Shine,” a personal record where the genre-bending artist delves into his relationships with loved ones and his own personal growth, reminding that “everything you need you got it inside.”
Yella Beezy — “Solid” Feat. 42 Dugg
Dallas and Detroit connect on “Solid,” the latest single from Yella Beezy’s Blank Checc album. The two take turns laying out their credentials over a bouncy Monstah Beats production.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Now is a very tense time for a lot of people, but Phoebe Bridgers recently underwent 40 minutes of pure relaxation: She received an “ASMR massage” from YouTuber itsblitzzz (who also goes by Julia) in a new 40-minute video.
This isn’t some sort of reverse Hot Ones gimmick interview, as there isn’t any chatting going on throughout. The video is primarily Bridgers sitting and facing the camera with her eyes closed while her head, neck, and shoulders get massaged. It seemed like a positive experience for Bridgers: When asked how she felt afterwards, she responded with a laugh while sipping post-massage tea, “Amazing.” After Julia delivered her video outro, Bridgers told her, “Oh my god, that was so nice!”
In a Pitchfork interview from this summer, Bridgers cited Julia’s channel as one of the things that influenced her Punisher album, saying, “I have been watching ASMR videos since I was a teenager, before they were all that. They were called ‘whisper’ videos back then. I was doing a school paper on the lymphatic system and I stumbled upon all these weird massage videos that were specifically for people to fall asleep to. I would watch them for hours at the school library. Maybe a year or so ago I was trying to fall asleep and stumbled upon this hipster wellness witch. She’s a vlogger who also does ASMR videos, which is a very weird thing to be into, but I watch all of her sh*t. She apparently lives very close to me, and we have a ton of mutual friends. She’s very sincere, which is a quality that I usually find very cringey. But I love that she’s just someone I would consider cool and is also a vlogger; I thought that was mutually exclusive.”
Julia said in the YouTube description that article led to the two of them talking and getting this video together: “Basically, we chatted on the internet (how else do people meet these days?) and then she came to my house to film and it was a very relaxing time with good convo and lots of humor.”
Among his many outstanding achievements in the field of horror movie excellence, Wes Craven directed all four Scream movies, three of which are really good (that’s a strong hit-to-miss ratio for a horror franchise). Sadly, the A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Last House on the Left filmmaker won’t be back for Scream 5, as he passed away in 2015. Neve Campbell, who plays Sidney Prescott in the slasher series, was originally reluctant to return for a fifth film without Craven, but then new directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett sent her a letter that won her over.
“I’m excited to get back to it. I’m excited to see Courteney and David. Im excited to see this young new cast. I’m excited to work with these new directors,” Campbell said on The Talk. “I had been apprehensive because, you know, our director, our incredible director Wes Craven passed away, and I wasn’t sure about doing a film without him. But the new directors came to me with this beautiful letter saying that they’ve become directors and love film because of these films, and because of Wes, and they really want to be true to his story and his journey with these films, so I was really happy to hear that.”
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett directed Ready or Not, one of the more fun horror movies in recent memory, so the meta-franchise is in good hands. Having re-watched all four Scream movies this week, I’m pulling for Matthew Lillard to make a cameo in Scream 5. “But didn’t he…?” you might ask. He did, but if David “Dewey” Arquette can become a redeemed wrestler, anything is possible. Scream 5 comes out on January 14, 2022.
The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.
ITEM NUMBER ONE — I love him
Are you watching Fargo? I hope you are. I hope you are watching Fargo for a lot of reasons. It’s a good show. And I want more people who I can talk to about it. And because there are many worse things you can be doing — probably are doing — with the hour a week the show would cost you. You could be spending that hour doomscrolling through your social media platform of choice, or something slightly less self-destructive like repeatedly smashing yourself in the foot with a hammer. But mostly I hope you are watching Fargo so you can see what Salvatore Esposito is doing with the character of Gaetano Fadda.
Quick background: Gaetano Fadda is the younger brother of Josto Fadda, played by Jason Schwartzman, which is great because the size difference between the two men is massive. Gaetano is huge, and just back from Italy, and violent and short-tempered, and he has this teeny-tiny mustache on his big body. At one point he said the sentence, “In the land of taking and killing, Gaetano is king,” which is great on a few levels before we even get to the third-person part.
He is also — and I must stress here that this next part is not hyperbole — doing so much, all the time. You have never seen so much acting. It’s not that he’s just chewing up the scenery. This isn’t a Kevin Spacey in House of Cards situation, or even a John Travolta in anything but especially the O.J. show situation. He’s going big — HUGE — with every single line, with every movement, on purpose, in a way that is extremely Fargo. Look at what he does with this cigarette.
FX
Did you see it? Did you see my beautiful ornery rhinoceros take a lit cigarette out of his mouth and crush it with his massive fist? Why would he do that? Why would anyone do that? Other than to delight me, I mean. Because if that was the goal, baby, consider the mission accomplished. I don’t know if any show on television mixes the dramatic and absurd quite like Fargo. It’s got long thoughtful speeches about what it means to be American when America is a nation of immigrants, and who gets to be considered American first, and those speeches are occasionally delivered by a man named Doctor Senator who is neither a doctor nor a senator. Two of this season’s first three episodes featured powerful farts that played a legitimately important part in the action. Fargo contains multitudes.
But I’m getting off-topic. Look at Gaetano take this shot.
FX
I adore it. I love it so much. Every single time he’s on-screen he is just doing the absolute most he can. Every movement is exaggerated as far as it can go, every staredown results in his eyeballs bulging halfway out of his head, every line is delivered as though it might be the last thing the character ever gets to say. It’s kind of like the show plopped a character from a silent film right into the action and let him start speaking two languages. I know it might not be for everyone. I’ve spoken to a few people who find it a little grating. And that’s fine. The nice thing about this country is that you can be as wrong as you want in public and we usually won’t throw you in jail for it. But again, I do love it very much. It’s one of the reasons I appreciate Fargo, this mix of the smart and the ridiculous, the subtle and the huge. Gaetano Fadda sums this up perfectly.
I hope, before the end of the season, someone whacks him on the head with a frying pan and a big red lump grows out of his head and a bunch of little tweeting birds start circling it, like he’s in a cartoon. This would make me happy.
ITEM NUMBER TWO — Whatever, reboot everything, see what I care
Showtime
Well, guess what: Dexter is back. It doesn’t matter if you wanted Dexter back, or if you had even considered Dexter coming back to be a thing you could want, or if you had kind of forgotten Dexter even existed. It’s back. Showtime is bringing it back. For a 10-episode limited series. That continues the story where it left off. Which, as I have been informed by people who watched Dexter after the first season, ended with Dexter becoming a lumberjack for some reason? Not important. Or maybe it is. Who knows? The point here is that Dexter is back.
And this is where the logical and what I’ll call “thinky” part of my brain wants to start throwing stuff. It’s mostly because of the thing we discussed last week where lots of good and fun shows with more niche-type audiences are getting axed — after being renewed — due to the COVID if it all (rising budgets, goofed-up schedules, etc.) and it is bumming me out tremendously. There’s a future we’re staring down in the entertainment industry that mirrors what we’re staring down in the restaurant industry, with lots of neat little spots disappearing and the massive chains and their larger cash reserves being the only survivors. The Dexter revival series, despite being something no one asked for and something not half as interesting as a GLOW or High Fidelity, will probably do numbers those shows never did. Maybe the better analogy is Hollywood going all-in on blockbusters and sequels a few years back because they knew those would get butts in seats. Maybe I only used the restaurant analogy because I’m hungry right now. I guess we’ll never know.
There is a second part of my brain, though. This part is not as logical. This is the part that loves anarchy and rascals and cackling at truly awful scenes from television and movies. And that part of my brain saw “Dexter is coming back” and immediately remembered the treadmill scene from the final season. A season I did not even watch. That’s how flabbergasting the scene is. It has embedded itself in the deepest parts of my subconscious and set up a dwelling there for over five years despite the fact that I have no idea what is happening or why. You might be with me on this. Or maybe you’re about to be. Watch this clip twice.
That stunt double is so clearly a 33-year-old man that I’m surprised the actress playing his mom — Yvonne Strahovski — did not bring him a glass of scotch after the fall. I love it so much. So, look, while I do not, in principle, support unnecessary reboots, especially in a time when better shows are dropping left and right like blond children on treadmills, if each renewal can bring me as much fleeting joy as this one brought me, fine. I’ll sign off. I’m still mad about GLOW and High Fidelity, and I still want answers and/or heads at some point. But I’ll give you all a pass this time.
ITEM NUMBER THREE — Congratulations to James Caan
James Caan is probably best known for playing tough guy Sonny Corleone in The Godfather, and for playing a string of similarly tough guys in movies and television shows over the next 40-plus years. I say this not to judge the man’s career, mostly because you can do pretty much whatever you feel like if you have The Godfather on your IMDb page. No, I say this because it makes the next thing I am about to say much funnier, which is all that matters to me in most situations. Here goes: James Caan is, today, in 2020, apparently, really into Angry Birds.
I spend too much time playing Angry Birds. End of tweet
This was August. Fine. Great. We’re all looking for ways to pass the time right now. I have no issue with beloved actor James Caan developing an Angry Birds habit. There are far worse ways to spend your day. As long as it’s not consuming him and sending him into wild and/or hilarious conspiracy-fueled fits of fury that he also posts on Twitter or something. That would not be healthy. Anyway, let’s scroll ahead to Septemb-
I’m convinced the Angry Birds game cheats sometimes. I cleared a level using only one bird and I got 1 star Give me my 3 stars! End of tweet
Well, this certainly took a turn. Please do stop here to picture James Caan mustering all of his Sonny Corleone rage and absolutely exploding in his living room about the number of stars he’s receiving from a video game so old that there have already been multiple movies made about it. It’s a fun visual. Especially if the image in your head features him unshaven and manic, as though he was playing the game non-stop between the two tweets, letting his life go to hell as the birds and pigs consumed him.
Luckily, (or unluckily, depending where you come down on that visual), the story now has a happy (or unhappy) ending.
“Important” update: Today I’ve been getting 3 stars one level after another on Angry ‘s. End of tweet
Because this is the future and everything is stupid, there’s at least a 30 percent chance that this is a bit concocted by a team of social media professionals to trigger discussions exactly like this one. I know that. I do. But I’m going to put the blinders on anyway, mostly because I just want it to be true. I want to live in a world where Sonny Corleone is sitting at home conquering silly video games from a decade ago that feature furious birds causing destruction. And so, if only through sheer force of will, I am living in that world. It’s nicer here. Come visit. Bring some barbecue chips and iced tea.
Anyway, congratulations to James Caan on his success.
ITEM NUMBER FOUR — Space stuff, continued
It was only a few weeks ago that we discussed the increasingly loony Hollywood space race, starting with the Fast & Furious franchise fulfilling its destiny and — allegedly! — launching itself into the cosmos at some point in the long-delayed ninth film, and extending to Tom Cruise trying to one-up everyone by fulfilling his destiny and actually filming an actual movie in outer space. I stand by everything I said at the time, but I also apologize, because I did not foresee just how far all of this would go.
First, Moonbase 8, which I forgot about, somehow. That’s the trailer up there. Here’s the description:
Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker and John C. Reilly star in this new comedy series as three astronauts stationed at NASA’s Moon Base Simulator in a remote part of the Arizona desert. While working vigorously to qualify for their first lunar mission, they encounter many obstacles including loneliness, self-doubt and their own incompetence. In spite of it all, they remain determined to prove they have the right stuff to reach the moon.
I love these guys. I like this idea. I should not have forgotten about it. My working theory is a combination of 1) me being too excited about Vin Diesel and Tom Cruise in outer space, and 2) my brain blocking out space comedies altogether after I was let down by Space Force and Avenue 5. It’s either that or I’m bad at my job. Hmm. Let’s move on. It’s about to get weirder.
How weird? Hoo, buddy. Is “a secret and possibly plotless movie about Disney World’s Space Mountain roller coaster, despite the fact that Space Mountain does not have a built-in mythology and is not even called Space Mountain anymore” weird enough for you. I bet it is. From THR:
The ride has no overarching theme nor memorable “scenes” or characters seen in such rides as Pirates of the Caribbean. In fact, Space Mountain in Disneyland has turned into Hyperspace Mountain and given a Star Wars make up on occasion. As such, the story is being created whole cloth with the ride acting as inspiration.
Logline details are being kept hidden amidst the rings of Saturn but it is described as a family adventure.
The funniest thing here would be if this is not, in fact, a movie loosely based on the roller coaster and set in outer space, but instead a movie based on the actual roller coaster, in Florida. Like, one where an armed militia takes over the park and sets up its headquarters inside Space Mountain and a Disney security guard — a disgraced Navy SEAL who drinks too much and is fighting for custody of his daughter and is played by Gerard Butler — is the only one who can stop them. I would watch that movie. On basic cable. If nothing else is on. Probably.
The six-episode series “SpaceX” will be based on the book “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Ashlee Vance. It will document how Musk, in pursuit of his lifelong dream to make humankind a multi-planetary species, handpicks a team of engineers to work on a remote Pacific Island where they build, and launch, the first SpaceX rocket into orbit. It spurred a new era of privately funded space exploration, culminating in the first manned Space X launch of the Falcon 9 on May 30, 2020.
To be completely truthful, I have no opinion about The Elon Musk Show at this moment, mostly because all I can think about right now is the thing where Billions had a character that was basically “if Elon Musk was more charming and handsome,” and he was played by Prince of Television James Wolk, and they killed him off by blowing him up in his own spaceship.
SHOWTIME
This was a very good chat about space.
ITEM NUMBER FIVE — An incomplete list of television shows I would watch based on the title alone
ABC
Miami Justice Miami Justice: South Beach Nights Miami Justice: Monte Carlo Justice Miami: Supreme Court Nights Dirtbike Cops Dirtbike Cops: Bermuda Nights Dirtbike Cops: Monte Carlo Ronda Biloxi: Private Investigator Pablo Escobar and the Malfunctioning Time Machine The Cheese Calamity The Hot Dog Fiasco Pizza Chaos The Mustache Squadron Non-Stop Car Chases Set To The Chicken Dance The Saxophone Heist Blade: Substitute High School Teacher John Wick: Substitute High School Teacher Atomic Blonde: Substitute High School Teacher Hacker Dogs Hacker Dogs: The White Hats Hacker Dogs: Monte Carlo
READER MAIL
If you have questions about television, movies, food, local news, weather, or whatever you want, shoot them to me on Twitter or at [email protected] (put “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I am the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. Do not look up this last part.
From Erik:
Other than the obvious #1 (Hitler), who would you say are the most commonly depicted historical figures in film and television? I was tempted to say Jesus has gotta be up there, but there really haven’t been that many movies with him (not counting weirdo Kirk Cameron-type stuff). Lincoln seems a good bet (historical dramas plus goofball stuff like “Bill and Ted” and “Vampire Hunter”). I also feel like Pablo Escobar is a real dark horse here. Who else ya got?
Erik, this is a good email. I had not thought about this subject even once before I received it, and now I am fascinated by it. Fascinated enough by it that I actually did some research to find an answer. Okay, I just googled “historical figure most often depicted in movies” and scanned the first page of results. But still! That’s more than I usually do for these questions!
In my “research,” I learned two things:
All of the results claimed that the most depicted historical figure was Napoleon
All of the results linked back to the same questionably sources study from like 20 years ago
Anecdotally, this just feels wrong, doesn’t it? I’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of movies in my life and I can only think of one that had Napoleon in it. To be fair, that movie was Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and most of the movies I’ve seen are shoot-em-ups where a hotshot or team of hotshots must get revenge and/or steal a large jewel, so this could be another one of those “Brian is not very cultured, it appears” situations. I don’t know. I still think you’re right that it’s Hitler or Lincoln. Maybe Julius Caesar.
The lesson here, which I should have known going in, is to never do research. That’s on me. I can and will do better going forward.
An Albany Fire Department ladder truck was stolen sometime Sunday night or Monday morning.
…
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Fire truck heist?
…
…
…
FIRE TRUCK HEIST!
Police were notified of the stolen fire truck when a passerby saw it parked in the 1500 block of State Street in Schenectady at 7 a.m. Monday. Colonie police are investigating the crime because the truck was stolen off the Municipal Training Center lot on Wade Road in the town, Lt. Robert Winn said.
FIRE TRUCK HEIST
FIRE TRUCK HEIST
FIRE TRUCK HEIST
Winn also noted that the severe storm that had recently blown through the Capital Region, knocking out power for days, had shut down surrounding surveillance systems they would have normally referred to. However, police recovered forensic evidence — including potential fingerprints and DNA — and are waiting for laboratory results.
I choose to believe, and I should note here that no amount of hard evidence can dissuade me, that the storm was caused by a massive weather satellite that some supervillain hijacked for the sole purpose of causing a storm strong enough to knock out power in this specific location so he could steal a fire truck. Let’s just go ahead and call it Geostorm 2. Gerard Butler can star in it after he makes the Space Mountain movie I just cast him in a few paragraphs ago.
A Baton Rouge preschool program said Monday that a school bus taken on a joy ride by an 11-year-old boy was not stolen from its Scotlandville campus, and police determined late in the day that the vehicle actually belonged to someone else and had been taken from private property 2 miles away from the school.
Excuse me. A school bus heist? Masterminded by a child?
This changes everything.
McKneely said the chase lasted over a half hour and included several attempts to stop the bus, including when officers placed spike strips in the road. The boy spotted the spike strips and swerved to avoid them, McKneely said. At least 10 officers were involved in the chase, some stationed at intersections to stop traffic.
I want to be clear about something. I know this is bad, okay? I know that, in real life, I should not be excited about a child stealing a school bus and leading the police on a chase through town. There are probably dozens of reasons this story is sad and troubling once you look into it beyond the surface level. That’s why I’m not going to do that. That’s why I’m just going to show you this next paragraph and end the column. Didn’t we just talk about the dangers of research? Besides, I mean, come on. Look at this guy.
The child was so small that he apparently had to stand up to reach the pedals, McKneely said. He added that at one point, the boy reached his hand out the window and made an obscene gesture toward pursuing officers. The child’s name isn’t being reported because he’s a juvenile.
Giving police the middle finger from behind the wheel of a stolen school bus is the single most Bart Simpson thing I’ve ever seen. Let’s just call him not guilty on account of living out my wildest childhood dreams.
Prison isn’t exactly supposed to be a vacation but Kodak Black has alleged that his incarceration experience has been worse than the average. In September, the South Florida rapper filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons, claiming that guards at the Big Sandy maximum security facility had regularly mistreated and abused him since his arrival there. Now, TMZ reports Kodak has been transferred to a new facility.
Kodak was apparently moved to FTC Oklahoma City on October 5, then to his current facility, USP Thomson in Illinois. Kodak’s attorney tells TMZ that the rapper reports the guards at the new facility to be more professional, while Kodak’s Instagram recently posted his new address and inmate number for fans to send mail.
However, Kodak’s new situation is far from perfect. He’s now further from family, making it harder for them to visit and he claims to have issues with his commissary. Kodak’s attorney says he hopes to have the rapper’s privileges reinstated soon. Kodak is serving a 46-month sentence after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon last year, with a release date of August 14, 2022. He still has yet to stand trial for alleged sexual battery.
Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Local Natives have a new EP called Sour Lemon on the way, and one of its highlights is “Lemon,” on which the band’s Taylor Rice duets with Sharon Van Etten. Now they have shared a video for the track, which addresses a feeling of asynchronicity with lyrics like, “You’re toweling up your wet hair / I hear your coffee grind / The credits rolling on last night’s late night / We’re always somewhere between / Leaving and arrived / I just wanna be here at the same time.”
Local Natives shared a note alongside the track, writing, “We’re always working on new music, but songs tend to come at their own pace. There’s something freeing about writing without the goal of an album in mind. It feels like waking up for class only to realize that it’s Saturday and you can sleep in as long as you want. The songs on Sour Lemon each have their own long histories but they all finally decided to arrive at the same time. Rather than waiting, we decided to share them as soon as we could.”
Van Etten also posted a message about the track, which reads:
“From the time we started writing to recording to shooting the video, I have moved to LA, Taylor had a child who is now 10 1/2 months, and Ryan is now engaged. I connected with the song at each stage: Collaborating and getting to know each other, receiving their openness and generosity, recording the song and feeling the camaraderie and accepted as a part of the band, to shooting the video and reciprocating the longing and connection. Our friendship has grown since we first met, & this is a documentation of that…I’m looking forward to seeing where we all go from here.”
Matt Berninger, in spite of being grounded from the road, has a body clock that still operates on a rock tour schedule. For instance, when reached by phone last month at a mid-morning hour, The National frontman confessed that he had been up since 4:30 a.m.
“Lobby calls for the airport are always 5 or 6 a.m.,” he said. “I think I did train my body to be ready always at 4:30 to get out of bed and just start packing, you know?”
In a normal year, Berninger would be gearing up to tour behind Serpentine Prison, his first proper solo album. He conceived the LP in 2018 as a covers record in the mold of Willie Nelson’s Stardust, the deathless 1978 classic in which the country singer reimagined American standards with the assistance of producer Booker T. Jones. Berninger approached Jones about producing his own collection of interpretations of indie-rock chestnuts like The Cure’s “In Between Days” and The Velvet Underground’s “European Son.” But Jones was drawn more to the originals that Berninger showed him, co-written with collaborators like Brent Knopf (the other half of Berninger’s cheeky synth-pop band EL VY) and Walter Martin of The Walkmen.
The result makes for an interesting contrast with Aaron Dessner’s recent work on Taylor Swift’s Folklore. While Berninger’s creative partner in The National essentially smuggled the band’s aesthetic into the music of the world’s biggest pop star, Berninger has deliberately leaned into the band’s most overt dad-rock tendencies. Just as Stardust is a record that numerous generations have discovered via their parents while riding in the back of minivans, Serpentine Prison is a languid, low-key record apparently designed for graying Gen Xers and millennials quietly sipping whiskey cocktails while their children tear apart the house during lockdown. Also like the Wille Nelson record, Berninger has foregrounded his voice like never before, positioning himself as a louche, middle-aged crooner in the mold of Nick Cave or I’m The Man-era Leonard Cohen.
In this interview, Berninger talked about Serpentine Prison, his anxiousness to make a “loud” rock record again, his love of U2’s Achtung Baby, and why he’s like Christopher Walken.
You’ve talked about Stardust by Willie Nelson being an inspiration for you. Why Stardust?
Well, it was one of those records that my parents had, and they didn’t have a huge record collection so pretty much my whole childhood there were 10 records that were always on. I remember Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly, there was Barry Manilow, Judy Collins. I remember the Grease soundtrack. But Stardust particularly was my dad’s favorite record, I think. It’s just one of those things, whenever I hear it, whenever it comes on, it’s just a comfort. It’s like putting on your old sweater that always fits.
Originally you were going to make a covers record, but this album isn’t that.
I wanted to do a bunch of covers just so I could get outside of my comfort zone. Then in that process with Booker, I sent him a few originals — there was one I wrote with Walt Martin, “Distant Axis,” that he really, really was into. And that’s when he said, “Let’s start focusing on the originals.” We ended up doing 12 originals and six covers in 14 days.
Have you heard Bartees Strange’s album of National covers?
I think it’s super cool, I love it. His original, that song “Mustang,” is really, really interesting. I’m a fan.
What was it like working with Booker T. Jones?
We moved really fast. We recorded everything in 14 days including almost all the overdubs. He would say, “Matt we got that one, let’s move on to another fish.” He’s like, “We don’t need to keep catching this tuna. Let’s go find a shark.” He moves fast.
I imagine that must have been refreshing given that National albums tend to take a long time to make.
When we’re in the studio, it’s go, go, go. It’s 24 hours, people are napping and getting up and keep working. Not because there’s a deadline, it’s just because everybody is there and into it. Getting the songs written, and getting to the part where we go into the studio with them, sometimes is a lot of emailing, a lot of tinkering, a lot of back and forth. The songs spend a lot of time in the lab, our own individual labs before we take them to the barn.
Is there anything you were able to do with this record that you haven’t been able to do with The National?
I wasn’t writing for a movie, I wasn’t writing for touring, I wasn’t writing for a character other than the character I’ve invented for myself. I wasn’t worrying about any of these songs working together dramatically or anything. I just knew that Booker would be able to make them all feel part of the same family once we got them into the studio. I knew all these songs were children of all these different partners I had written new songs with, and how do I make all of these orphans feel like we’re all part of the same family? That’s a lot of what Booker was able to do.
This really seems like a singer’s record, where the focal point is your voice.
Yeah I wanted that. If you listen to Stardust, Willie is really clear, really high in the mix. When Booker works with a vocalist, he really features it because he is sort of the vocalist in The MG’s, if you listen to all the Hammond lines. In The MG’s, he was restricted from writing lyrics because they had a good thing going with “Hip Hug-Her” and “Green Onions.” I think he resented that a lot.
How comfortable are you at this point with your voice?
I think of singing as sort of acting out the writing. When I’m on stage or when I’m in the studio, the singing of it is sort of performative every time, and it’s not really about the melody. Usually the melody is reflecting the song. Really early on, I could barely go to the microphone stand. That was how I felt. I felt really, really tight, wound up, and nervous, and so was the music. As we all have loosened up musically and gotten more comfortable performing, the music changes and melodies go out in different places. I really have tried to actively learn how to sing and discover a melody and write melody along with words. Part of covering songs is doing that, that’s how you learn. We tried to cover “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys and it was such a disaster. I think we tried twice, and everybody was looking at each other like, “This is embarrassing.” Quickly aborted. Sometimes you’re just not going to be able to do it. You just cannot ride that dolphin. There’s no way you can ride that dolphin.
Has Willie Nelson influenced you as a singer? He also has a thing where he never really seems to be pushing his voice. It feels like he’s talking to you, but it’s also very expressive. You’ve had a similar path as a singer too, especially on this record.
Willie definitely does that, and Leonard Cohen is like that too. It almost sounds like he’s sitting across a table in a café, and leaning in, looking right at you in the eye when he sings. Willie sings, it’s all heart, you know? It’s all tender. It’s all apologetic. You don’t hear too many Willie Nelson songs that are mean and aggressive. I mean, some of them are bitter, for sure. Sometimes. You don’t hear him raging. He’s got it dialed in where he’s chill. I don’t know how he does that. I don’t know he stays so chill. Actually, I think I probably do.
What did you think about the Taylor Swift album that Aaron Dessner worked on? It interesting to see the aesthetics of The National’s music seep into her music.
Some of those songs, like “Cardigan,” the music for that I think was called “Maple.” I would never have been able to do what Taylor did with that one. There were two songs that I had been listening to but hadn’t had any lyrics.
At this point, how interested are you in making a loud rock record? Sleep Well Beast had some good shout-y rock songs, but you haven’t really gone there for a long time.
I’m really anxious to do it. Brent Knopf and I have been slowly cooking a rock record and we keep calling it Achtung Maybe. We’re trying to get Daniel Lanois to produce it.
Really?
We haven’t reached out to anyone with regards to producing it but that’s what we’ve been talking about, Achtung Maybe.
Is that an illusion to writing U2-ish songs, or is that a jokey title?
No, no. We’re both obsessed with Achtung Baby and everything about that record. “One” is on that record, right?
Oh yeah.
Fucking “Mysterious Ways” and shit. I love everything about that record and so does Brent. It’s been five years or whatever since EL VY. There’s no solid plan or anything like that.
It’s funny that you bring up U2 because I’ve been playing them a lot lately for something I’m writing. I was just thinking about the MacPhisto character that Bono made up for the Zoo TV tour.
Oh my god. That’s kind of like when Dylan did that, trying to do the “white face” stuff, right? Michael Stipe had the blue across his eyes. There’s definitely a phase where all your favorite artists go through a big makeup phase.
Would you ever consider having your own makeup phase? Or adopting a character on stage?
I consider everything, I’m a method singer, I’m a method performer, I’m a method writer. I’m always channeling my own stuff, but there is a character. It’s like Christopher Walken — he almost can’t really be anything other than Christopher Walken. I’m not saying I’m Christopher Walken, but I think that’s what I am as a singer. On stage, I have to take an hour to get ready to be that guy, to be that guy that goes out there and sings and dances for two hours, and does all these songs. I get emotionally to the middle of those songs and if I can’t, I hate it. I don’t like writing a song unless I’m really, really, really sucked into it emotionally. I really hate being on stage unless I’m really, really sucked into it emotionally.
Serpentine Prison is out now via Concord Records. Get it here.
Reggaeton star Ozuna takes a tour of an aquatic wonderland in his new video for “Del Mar,” which features guest vocalists Doja Cat and Sia. The video finds the Puerto Rican singer conducting an underwater train as he sings about a woman with whom he’s infatuated, while Doja Cat appears as a sort of nereid, cavorting in a seashell surrounded by jellyfish. Sia doesn’t appear herself, but her signature two-toned mushroom-style hairdo appears on another glowing water nymph.
In 2020, Ozuna topped the US Latin Airplay chart twice with “Caramelo” and “Mamacita” from the Black Eyed Peas’ new album Translation. “Caramelo” set the table for Ozuna’s fourth studio album Enoc, which also features “Del Mar,” and includes guest appearances from Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Karol G, Nicky Jam, and Myke Towers. Released in September, the album topped the US Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200.
It’s been a busy month for Doja Cat, who has had a roller coaster of a year. Earlier this week, she gave an innovative cabaret-style performance for the Billboard Music Awards and last Friday, she guested on Bebe Rexha’s “Baby I’m Jealous.” Meanwhile, Sia also performed at the BBMAs with her signature wig after once again collaborating with David Guetta for “Let’s Love.”
Watch Ozuna’s “Del Mar” video featuring Doja Cat and Sia above.
Last week, Steven Hyden tweeted a call for questions from Indiecast listeners that would inform the podcast’s new episode, the first entry in a new feature on the show. The curious responses to Hyden’s call were wide-reaching, ranging from questions the relevance of Foo Fighters in today’s musical landscape to the realistic influence of alternative streaming platforms like Bandcamp.
Most interestingly, however, one listener requested for Hyden and co-host Ian Cohen to reveal their guilty pleasures, or “bands that you’re embarrassed you like,” while another was wondering about the pandemic’s lasting impact on the music industry and whether we will ever see a live show again. These prompts lead to a discussion revolving around the current state of the music industry and what we can expect from the weeks and months to come. Of course, an episode of Indiecast wouldn’t be complete without touching upon some of today’s biggest indie stars like Phoebe Bridgers and Tame Impala.
In this week’s recommendation corner, Cohen is praising the mid-aughts post punk outfit The Stills and Hyden is praising Brian Eno and Cuttin’ Grass, the new album from Sturgill Simpson.
New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 12 below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. Stay up to date and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Jeopardy! has been on the air for over five decades, and since the show tests contestants’ grasp of pop culture knowledge (among other topics), being mentioned on the show is a pretty big deal. Plenty of musicians have been name-dropped on the program over the years, and Megan The Stallion got a shout-out on a recent episode, which led to Alex Trebek saying words like “ratchet” and “bougie,” for those who have been waiting for that day to come.
The $1,000 answer in the category “On The Billboard Charts In 2020″ read, “‘Classy, bougie, ratchet’ & ‘sassy, moody, nasty’, says this No. 1 hit by Megan Thee Stallion.” Contestant Daniel Lee (an orthopedic surgeon from South Pasadena, California) buzzed in and nearly got the question wrong. He answered, “What is ‘I’m A Savage?’” Trebek gave him a prompting look before Lee revised his answer and said, “What is ‘Savage?’”
This actually isn’t Meg’s first time on Jeopardy. She was part of another answer around this time last year when Trebek asked contestants, “Oddly, female rapper Megan Pete calls herself ‘Megan Thee’ this word for a male horse.” A contestant chimed in and correctly answered, “What is ‘stallion?’”
Check out the clip of Megan’s latest Jeopardy! mention above.
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Give me my 3 stars! End of tweet
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