Dunking In HiFi

Hey.

It was a little bit of a shorter week for those of us who had Presidents’ Day off so it felt like this weekend came up fast. Or maybe it was just the universe giving us a breather after the last, oh, six weeks of the year. We definitely deserve it.

Thanks for continuing to read along - I’m still experimenting with formats and publish timing of the newsletter as I want to find that sweet spot of scheduling my own writing time and arriving at your inbox at an opportune time. Feel free to let me know any thoughts you may have on this. (and don’t be shy about telling a friend about it too!)

Anyway, the highlight of the week was probably the memes and videos of Elizabeth Warren dunking on Mike Bloomberg at the Democratic Debate in Nevada on Wednesday of which this is one:

(That particular video is set to the beat of Nas’s diss track on Jay-Z, “Ether”)

Drinking BRITties

But also did you know that we weren’t done with awards season yet?? Yup, the BRITs happened on Tuesday. If you don’t know what the BRITs are, they’re essentially the Grammys of the UK, but much more snarky and fun because everyone is drinking and the host is a young comedian who has great rapport with famous people.

I gotta admit, I was far more entertained with this show than any of the American ones because it just felt looser and fun. Lewis Capaldi accepted two awards while meandering to the stage carrying a beer bottle and wine bottle, successively. Lizzo and Harry Styles living their best BFF lives while being interviewed in between awards with everyone taking turns drinking and downing straight tequila. (Yes this all happened on a live televised awards show broadcast)

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t pat myself on the back for two previous newsletter topics making it onto the telecast:

• Billie Eilish performed her new Bond song, No Time Left To Die live for the first time with Hans Zimmer (!) and Johnny Marr of The Smiths(!!).
• Celeste also collected the BRITs Rising Star Award - told ya she’s taking off!

The whole thing aired at about noon pacific time which is the perfect time to watch an awards show if you’re not working or not working very hard.

High Fidelity Round Four!

Ok, I’ll admit I had no idea they were re-imagining High Fidelity as a television show until last week. (All 10 episodes released on Hulu last Friday)  Not only that, it’s been brought into the world of today with a bi-sexual Rob (nee Robin) played by Zoe Kravitz along with modern music, dating and cultural references. I feel like few stories make the leap across mediums successfully, much less from book to movie (remember the John Cusack film from 2000?) to musical (!!!) to television, but this one seems to be that unicorn. (Just need that video game adaptation now!)

Author Nick Hornby explains how :

High Fidelity the TV show deals with the world we’re in now. The playlists are made digitally, yet the hearts that are broken by feckless men and women are still inconveniently and painfully analog. Somehow, Rob survived the move into the 21st century, because people are still willing to pay for something that’s as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. After I began to use Spotify, I thought, “This is incredible: every piece of music I’ll ever need, in a small box in my pocket.“

But I started to feel that I wasn’t paying the music enough attention, or giving it enough respect. I began to purchase records again, many of them by newer artists. With a record, you have to sit still and listen for 20 minutes, rather than skip after the first 10 seconds. Many of us are surrounded by books we’ll never part with because they tell us who we are. The same applies to music. We want to make our mark, peel off, find a little corner of the planet that is uniquely ours. Our tastes reflect back an image of ourselves, invariably an image much more flattering than a selfie. I didn’t know in 1995 that I was writing a book that would serve as a mirror to future generations — that they too would look in it and see themselves.

I’ve watched the first episode and was thoroughly entertained - I’ll probably end up binge watching all of the episodes over the remainder of the weekend because they’re less than 30 minutes a pop. The 30 minute streaming TV show is just the perfect length to both binge watch and/or take a chance on a recommendation from a friend. 👋

Honestly, if I were to pick a piece of art to encapsulate what the essence of this newsletter is, it would be High Fidelity:

That it makes so much sense, and speaks so directly to a contemporary audience, is a tribute to the star and her team; it also says something about the ability of pop, rock & roll, etc., to inspire enduring devotion and provide a crucial sense of identification and belonging.

Our Favorite New Song: Glass Animals - Your Love

Glass Animals are back with a total bop of a song that honestly sounds like a Timbaland produced Justin Timberlake-era banger if it was made by a psychadelic electronic British 4-piece.

Yeah. It slaps.

In Conclusion