It’s our logo now.
Since this is OSTENSIBLY a music publication, we are contractually obligated to weigh in on what happened to the fine folks at Pitchfork this week. Normally, I’d say something rude or snarky or silly, but this is a big loss for all of us, no matter where we stand on the side of cringe/earnest music fandom. So I’ve prepared the following statement:
Pitchfork (formerly Pitchfork Media) is an American online music publication owned by Condé Nast. Launched as an independent music blog by writer Ryan Schreiber in 1996 while he was working at a record store in suburban Minneapolis, the website earned a reputation for its extensive coverage of alternative and independent music. It has since expanded to cover other genres of music including hip hop and pop.[2]
Here’s what we’re listening to this week.
Pile of Love “Happy to Hide”
Sam: Avoided writing about this last week because I was embarrassed to be enjoying a “supergroup” comprised of members of bands I don’t like, but then I couldn’t stop listening to this EP and also, when have I ever let embarrassment stop me. Strange how things that probably should make me cringe sail right out of my mouth uninhibited but writing about a power-pop band featuring members of “The Story So Far” and “State Champs” makes me squirm. But this is really great and I’m sorry!
Jos: Did you know that “comprised of” is an incorrect phrase, and should always be replaced with “composed of” or “comprises”? That’s something one of my incredibly punishing music journalism editors hammered home in one of many needlessly heated battles about an album announcement blog post that took less time to write than it did to read. Having one of those months where it’s really hard to do anything, from getting out of bed to staying on top of dishes to opening my work laptop. So it’s a real struggle for me to open a new tab to listen to something called “Pile of Love” featuring membs of the bands Sam mentioned. Yup it sounds great. But maybe Laguna Beach-style windows down power-pop that makes you feel momentarily invincible is just too easy to do now? If these guys can do it this well, it must be bad.
yungatita “Descenda”
Sam: This whole album rocks but I have selected this song because I think it’s very cool to hear that synth sound again. Wish I was a cool enough guy to be like “damn that 00s Moog” or whatever but hey you remember the Stereo and Reggie and (if you’re from London, Ontario) the Weekend right? It’s that sound! There’s a bunch of TWISTS and TURNS in this song as it veers from namby-pamby (just googled if this was homophobic real quick and I don’t THINK it is but I’ll delete this if someone tells me otherwise?) indie rock to BIG GUITAR JAMS (now I’m just doing caps to annoying Josiah) and it’s cool and I like it.
Jos: It’s funny how if you have an interesting enough band name and ugly-in-a-good-way art, you can really sell just about anything as interesting. But I think this sounds like Metric doing a Rogers Wireless commercial, with the same b-roll of slightly diverse Canadians driving out to Cultus lake and giggling together. And it says something like, “Your summer plans deserve a better plan.” Okay now there’s a big breakdown part with boygenius-on-SNL style screaming. The bass is cooking, I will give you that.
Mumford & Sons x Pharrell Williams “Good People”
Jos: Due to street parking and the endless dumps of snow that keep happening, I have to constantly get our little Chevy Spark unstuck and then drive around Mile End (which is, on a good day, a traffic jam) to find a spot where I can jam it in and get stuck again until they decide to shovel that street. So I’m kinda just constantly sitting in traffic outside of my own apartment listening to satellite radio. And I’m gonna be honest: we were all so unnecessarily cruel to Mumford & Sons. That one lovey dovey folk song is sooo good. And since we were mean to them, they’ve been forced into a kind of identity crisis where they’re making shitty rock albums and now collaborating with Pharrell Williams. There’s some nice folky picking, but then the beat starts and it’s all way too stanky and Imagine Dragons-ish (no longer a compliment since Dan stopped writing me back). I do have a fondness for Pharrell, especially since seeing him fail to park his Cybertruck in front of the Ganni store, but this is some bad Marvel closing credits music. Mumford we’re sorry for what we said! Go back to making cheugy hoedowns!!!
Sam: I can’t imagine parking in Montreal could be made worse but this as the soundtrack is an elevated form of punishment. Those two Mumford hits still go, and after seeing arena act (???) Noah Kahan on SNL basically doing the same thing, I sense we’re in the early stages of a reassessment that tragically only Josiah and I are left to lead. I just had this playing out of my laptop speakers while seated beside Ashley and she asked me to turn it off so I never finished the song but I think I got the vibe.
The Black Keys “Beautiful People (Stay High)”
Jos: To be honest, my top artist of 2023 was Voice Actor because I spent much of the year with the 109-song, 3-and-a-half hour avant garde album Sent from My Telephone. I only just learned that there was another LP called Fake Sleep, a more digestible 16 tracks of field recordings, broken keyboards, spoken word, and sparse melodies. Sam see if you can get through this track. Anyway, since that’s from 2023, I thought I’d use music journalism to the fullest and click around to find new songs without reading anything the music journalists said. The title of this Black Keys song makes it a perfect match with the Mumford one, so I thought it’d be funny. I’m gonna press play now. Hmm there’s actually a pretty nice half time groove when it comes in. It’s like they’re still making music for those early iPod dancing commercials. If you were taking the morning off to go to the bank and then walking a couple blocks to get a coffee and a cheeky baked treat, you’d feel like such a boss bitch with this in your Airpods.
Sam: I understand that Voice Actor is, like, art, but in what context do you listen to this? When I was in high school and dabbling in pretension I would listen to music as a stand-alone activity, but I’m a grown up now and can’t imagine how that would fit into my day. Cleaning dishes? Out for a walk? At least this Black Keys song I can imagine selling me a car to park in Montreal.
This Is Me… Now
Jos: You know I had to bust out the bonus slot to promote the trailer for Jennifer Lopez’s new accidental anime This Is Me… Now. This is exactly the kind of shit we need, a comically overbearing disaster movie that, implied in the trailer, uses J. Lo’s sex addiction (as told to her therapist, Fat Joe) as the basis for a supernatural end-of-the-world thriller. The cast also includes Jay Shetty and Post Malone, and it’s going to be my favourite movie of the year, I can just tell.
Sam: Watched this first-thing in the morning and it blessed my day. I am lighter than a feather now. This movie doesn’t even look real and I cannot wait to be forever changed by seeing it in its entirety and understanding how everything in this trailer comes together into a single cinematic work.