Lately, I've been binging on the podcast Best Movies Never Made. It's exactly as it sounds; a discussion on interesting movies that never made it into production. Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, Return of The Thing, Return to the Planet of the Apes and many more movies that I'd always heard of as rumors but never knew the full story on.
There's also several episodes peppered throughout their archive looking at films that went through a wild amount of drafts and iterations. For instance, a Super Mario Bros script where they encounter Bruce Willis. As if that movie wasn't bad enough!
They're also on Instagram and Twitter if you're just looking for some movie ephemera but not ready to dive into a podcast.
It's a song about the wake of the 2016 election and, personally, one of my favorites from the forthcoming album. Here's a little insight about the song from Todd K:
This song was inspired by the shock, revulsion, and fear we awoke to on November 9th, 2016. We called loved ones to check on them. We sat silently in parked cars, unable to muster the will to step out onto the street. We were giddily leered at in public places by people who did not share our obvious despair. I remember being actually afraid of old people and white adult males in the grocery store.
A month later I was picking up a Clinton/Kaine sign still stuck in the grass outside of work when several young men in a car drove by and screamed, "FUCK YOU!" I couldn't figure out whether they were mad that I was moving the sign, or mad at me for being associated with the sign.
I know Conservatives and the Alt-Right like to cast Liberals as overly emotional creatures but I completely feel this sentiment. The 2016 election results inflicted a sickening feeling and it injected a dose of paranoia about those around you - could that person possibly support such a vile person?
The opening lyrics to the song embody that idea quite well:
Friends and family
Are you ok, do you see what I see
Terror in the hearts of the free
Gestapo shops the same grocery as me
Some might say that the Gestapo / Nazi metaphor for Trump supporters is going too far but I'd venture to say it's not too far off the mark.
All that said, it's an upbeat and catchy song. So you get a nice shiny happy bit of music mixed with a rather dark sentiment; my favorite combo for pop music.
while we’re on the subject of men in bands, enjoy this tiktok I made from the POV of someone on a tinder date with a generic indie boy https://t.co/nioxKegMNd
Woah, been a minute since the last Friday Videos! Sorry about that but, also, not sorry because my life is extremely busy these days and there's not a lot I can do about it. I hope you understand.
But I digress! The above GIF is from the wonderful new Modern Feminist Lyric Video, which you should watch but has no relation to the distractions which follow.
And here they are.
Banksy's Back - a short little video documenting his latest tags. I include this entirely for the music choice at the end. A total groaner or stupidly brilliant? Maybe both.
We're also dropping a new lyric video for our song "Modern Feminist."
Watch it here: https://t.co/PPXEJS6lQn
Directed and animated by Dycee Wildman, concept and collage by Beth Cameron and Aaron Hartley. https://t.co/fBKuIVedMd
In celebration of the Black Bra album release, the band has also unveiled a lyric video for the track "Modern Feminist." This was the first song I heard from Beth in demo form and it really stuck with me - the lyrics are political, personal, vulnerable and empowered. It's potent in a way that is hard to articulate.
The video was Directed and Animated by Dycee Wildman, based on collages from Beth Cameron and Aaron Hartley. If you think animated collages can't be emotionally moving, you're in for a surprise. Wildman did a phenomenal job capturing the emotion and sentiment of the song.
The debut full-length record from Black Bra is available today. If you were a fan of the band Forget Cassettes, this is likely going to be up your alley as it features the same primary songwriter and vocalist; Beth Cameron. I've written about this project a fewtimes on the site before but the short of it is - I've known Beth for 20 plus years and this latest undertaking is her best yet.
The band pulls influences from as far reaching opposite poles as Portishead to psych rock. That sounds like it could be a total mess but they do it with fantastic skill.
I'm very happy with how this has all turned out. I had nothing to do with the music itself but I did put together the album artwork (based on a painting by Julia Martin) and feel very good about helping shepherd this music out into the world. I hope you give it a listen.
Tonight at 6 p.m.: pop ’n' rock champs The Medium join us for our latest #NoContactShow ! Set an alarm and tune in.
https://t.co/NbyewLDukG https://t.co/ARm4U53cnK
Every week until we've exhausted the repository, a new visual video from Meadownoise is being released. These videos are often slow and contemplative; intentionally created as fitting backdrops to the song but not direct narrative pieces.
The latest release is for "The Wired Remote", a track that floats along with an ambient nature punctuated by a mournful saxophone and a vocal line that fascinates me. It's broken, chopped, skittering and stuttering throughout. It feels like being on the receiving end of a transmission sent through the cosmos.
I previously remarked that Meadownoise sometimes reminds me of The Books. This track, while decidedly Meadownoise, is the one that hits closest to that mark.
The Threeve album is out now and all of the visual videos can be watched in this playlist.