#kevin really hired a witch this weekend

[jakepaule]

Music 2016

Top 10 Albums

1.     Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial

Turn your radio all the way up for this one. This album is saturated with high quality musicianship and lyrical creativity. I was impressed right from the start and it just keeps getting better and better. Will Toledo masterfully blends humor, depression, anxiety, and emotional self-understanding with crafty songwriting. He anecdotes his experience with escaping the wreckage of his teenage years and entering into adulthood. Toledo puts his heart and soul into this one. The album is reflective, introspective, and spirited. Just buy the album, please.

Hot Tracks: “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, “The Ballad of Costa Concordia”

2.     Frank Ocean – Blonde

Frank Ocean achieved huge commercial success with Channel Orange, his debut album influenced heavily by R&B and Soul. In Blonde, Ocean leans away from R&B and more towards experimental hip-hop. The whole album is rich with other themes of nostalgia, mortality, and sexuality. He opens up on his inner thoughts and ties them to some significant allusions like Elliott Smith lyrics (“This is not my life/It’s just a fond farewell to a friend”). I can’t get enough of this album. I admire how much work he put into it and how flexible his music really is. He reaches into the melting pot of music and hired help from Jonny Greenwood and the London Contemporary Orchestra, Alex G, André 3000, Justin Vernon, and many more.

Hot Tracks: “Nights”, “Seigfried”

3.     Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Back in May, Radiohead blacked themselves out on social media. They released a short stop-motion animated clip of a ceremonial witch burning. Then, their single “Burn the Witch” came out on Spotify, the musical platform Thom Yorke had previously spurned. I was immediately attracted and hyped for a new album to redeem themselves after their mediocre album The King of Limbs. And this one did live up to my expectations. Radiohead and Nigel Godrich always have some tricks up their sleeves to creatively revolutionize the way they produce music from album to album. For this one, they decided to use magnetic tape and I think it really worked for them.

Hot Tracks: “Glass Eyes”, “True Love Waits”

4.     Pinegrove – Cardinal

 I first heard of Pinegrove while listening to NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast during a car ride this past summer. The first song I heard was “Old Friends” and I was immediately hooked. Lead singer Evan Stephens Hall has an incredibly distinct and memorable voice fueled by powerful, heavy lyrics. Hall sorts through his feelings on life’s most critical personal connections and weaves them intricately throughout his music. There was never a dull moment in this album; it is colorful and vibrant all the way through. Give this one your full attention, because I really think Hall develops an instantaneous bond with his listeners and cultivates that bond throughout the album.

Hot Tracks: “Waveform”, “Old Friends”

5.       A Tribe Called Quest – We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service

Tribe really lit up the place with this one. It’s been a long time since they released anything. The last I remembered from any of them was “Dear Dilla,” a special single performed by the late great Phife Dawg. The album has a lot of interesting collaborative work with Jack White and André 3000 and a track that include a sampling of Elton John. This one might be a little more politically charged than their other albums, but not in-your-face annoyingly political. It challenges us and calls us to mobilize and stand up for our rights. I’ve been jamming to this one since it came out. Give this one a good listen.

Hot Tracks: “Dis Generation”, “We The People…”

6.     Bon Iver – 22, A Million

Bon Iver fans everywhere had been yearning for something new, but most people (including myself) probably didn’t expect anything like this. The sounds are very unfamiliar and somewhat unsettling, but they mix well with cryptic lyrics to foster a brand new soundscape. Just look at the track listing and you’ll get what I mean by cryptic and unfamiliar.  22, A Million will be regarded as his most bold, inventive LP to date. I strongly recommend purchasing a physical copy, because this album was built up to be a multi-media experience.

Hot Tracks: “29 #Strafford APTS”, “8 (circle)”

7.     Whitney – Light Upon the Lake

I believe the first time I heard of Whitney was over the summer while listening to NPR’s podcast All Songs Considered (along with Pinegrove). Later, I heard in a trip out west with some friends. Many thanks to Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, and Andrew for opening me up to these awesome musicians. This album really stuck with me after I first purchased it later in the summer. Impressive musicianship, graceful flow, and beautiful imagery are some of the main qualities of this album. The best way to describe this album is perhaps trying chocolate for the first time. The album has some distinctly vintage characteristics, but comes off as an easy and immensely satisfying listen. Buy it. 

Hot Tracks: “No Woman”, “Golden Days”

8.     Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam – I Had a Dream That You Were Mine

The opening track, “A 1000 Times,” has a tendency to get stuck in my head every time I listen to it, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Hamilton of The Walkmen and Rostam of Vampire Weekend combined their superpowers to masterfully create what I consider to be the most elegant album of the year. The album is exactly what I would expect to hear if The Walkmen and Vampire weekend merged (go figure). Hamilton’s vocal prowess and Rostam’s musical genius (and supporting vocals) formed an incredibly powerful album. Give it a listen, sing along, and get steamrolled by Hamilton’s energetic voice.  A 1000 thumbs up.

Hot Tracks: “A 1000 Times”, “1959”

9.     Chance the Rapper – Coloring Book

Chance is the man. I absolutely love his brand of gospel inspired hip hop. To me, Coloring Book is really what it claims to be, a coloring book. He painted a beautiful portrait of his faith on the canvas of modern hip hop music. “Blessings” really stood out to me as a perfect example of gospel/hip hop fusion. Gotta love Chance’s versatility and skill. Stream this one A$AP.

Hot Tracks: “Summer Friends”, “Blessings”

10.     Parquet Courts – Human Performance

This spot on my top 10 list was difficult to narrow down as 2016 was an amazing year for music. Parquet Courts’ new album Human Performance is actually the first full-length album I personally listened to by them. The gnarly guitar licks and catchy rhythms really grabbed me on this one. Some of the vocals could be off-putting to some. Andrew Savage’s vocals sound to me like a punk-ish mix between Elvis Costello and David Byrne (maybe?). Definitely an interesting and fun listen.

Hot Tracks: “Berlin Got Blurry”, “Human Performance”

Honorable Mention

Jim James – Eternally Even

Kevin Morby – Singing Saw

James Blake – The Colour in Anything

Kendrick Lamar – untitled, unmastered

Wilco – Schmilco

David Bowie – Blackstar

Hamburger Helper Mixtape

Disappointing Albums of 2016

The Avett Brothers – True Sadness

Truly disappointing. The album really is True Sadness. It was actually challenging for me to sit down and listen to this one (not unlike my experience with Magpie and the Dandelion and The Carpenter). The Avett Brothers have taken a significant departure from “roots revival” since A Carolina Jubilee and seem to be trying to make some profound musical statements with this one. It appears that they are trying so hard to make some extraordinary changes in their sonic arsenal by introducing electronics and mixing it in the pot with their typical folk sound. I don’t know if this is a product of an attempt at redefining a genre or if sitting near the top of Billboard’s 200 has led them to spoon feed listeners with their very own electronic folk fusion because it’s the latest, coolest trend.

Wild Nothing – Life of Pause

When the single “To Know You” came out in February, I got immediately hyped for Wild Nothing’s next album. But definitely a little bit too hyped. Virginia Tech alumnus Jack Tatum’s slick debut album Gemini and sophomore release Nocturne opened me up to the indie pop genre. Tatum’s world of fantasy has molded into something quite different with this one. Life of Pause contains some high points with “To Know You” and “TV Queen”, but the album felt a little less imaginative and cohesive to me. Tatum still has a talent for creating some interesting soundscapes and we can clearly see that with some of his interesting xylophone and synth work, but I feel this one is lagging behind his previous full-length albums.

Notable Singles

Cloud Nothings – “Modern Act”

Maggie Rogers – “Alaska”

Father John Misty – “Real Love Baby”

Sunflower Bean – “Easier Said”

Blood Orange – “Best to You”

JP

[biofunmy]

Eddie Murphy Returns to ‘Saturday Night Live’

It took 35 years, but Eddie Murphy came back to host “Saturday Night Live.”

The last time Murphy hosted the show, it was Dec. 15, 1984, just a few months after this one-time wunderkind (who joined “S.N.L.” when he was 19 years old) quit the program to focus on his flourishing film career. In the sketches that aired that night, he revisited several of his beloved characters, including Buckwheat, Gumby and Mr. Robinson.

Tonight, in an episode that also featured the musical guest Lizzo, Murphy revisited several of his beloved characters, including Buckwheat, Gumby and Mr. Robinson. But first, in an opening monologue, he updated the audience on the last several years of his life and received tributes from a few surprise guests.

Taking the stage of NBC’s Studio 8H, Murphy told “S.N.L.” viewers: “This is the last episode of 2019. But if you’re black, this is the first episode since I left back in 1984.”

He then showed a photograph of himself when he was still an “S.N.L.” cast member. “Yeah, I look at least five years younger there,” Murphy said. “You know what they always say: Money don’t crack.”

Among the ways that his life has changed since then, Murphy said, is that “I have 10 kids now — 11 if you count Kevin Hart.” He added, “If you had told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet.” Slipping into his Cosby impersonation, Murphy said, “Who is America’s Dad now?”

Tracy Morgan, a fellow “S.N.L.” alum, joined Murphy onstage and offered him praise. “If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here,” Morgan told him. “Like, literally. I was conceived on the ‘Delirious’ tour bus.”

Chris Rock, who was also an “S.N.L.” cast member before becoming a stand-up superstar, said that the show’s creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels had compared him to Murphy when he joined the show.

“When I got hired, Lorne told me, ‘You’re going to be the next Eddie Murphy,” Rock said. “And then a year later he said, ‘No, you’re not.’”

Dave Chappelle, another titan of stand-up, told Murphy he had been an inspiration. “I followed your blueprint for my entire career,” Chappelle said. “I became the biggest star on television and then I quit.”

Looking over the assembled group, Chappelle said, “Right now you’re looking at half of Netflix’s budget, right here onstage.”

Morgan said: “Not me. I made all my millions on the road.”

Murphy asked, “You mean touring?”

Morgan replied, “No, I got hit by a truck.”

Mr. Robinson Sketch of the Week

In the first of several segments in which Murphy reprised his former “S.N.L.” characters, he donned the sweater and sneakers of Mr. Robinson, his Mr. Rogers parody, who told viewers that his neighborhood had changed considerably since the last time they saw him.

As Murphy sang in his opening song:

I was gone for a bit, but now I’m all right. My neighbors was all black, but now they white. The check cashing place turned into a bank. Elevator works and the stairs they don’t stink. The white people came and changed everything, But I am still your neighbor.

He also taught his audience about the word “gentrification”: “It’s like a magic trick,” Murphy said. “White people pay a lot of money and then poof, all the black people are gone.”

Buckwheat Sketch of the Week

What started out looking like a straightforward lampoon of Fox’s reality competition series “The Masked Singer” took a turn when Chris Redd (playing the show’s host, Nick Cannon) introduced a new contestant, dressed in a giant corn-on-the-cob costume, who began crooning “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in an almost unintelligible patois.

It was, of course, Murphy, playing his version of Buckwheat, the old “Our Gang” character, who went onto sing other popular tunes including “Dine, Teal, Dawibba,” “I Chot Da Chariff” and “Tinga Nadies.”

Melissa Villaseñor, playing the panelist Nicole Scherzinger, told Murphy, “We’ve missed you these past 30 years.” He told her not to worry, saying, “Wherever I am, I’m doing o-tay.”

Democratic Debate Sketch of the Week

You know how these celebrity-laden, impression-heavy segments go, so we’ll give you a quick rundown of who played whom and what their best lines were:

Heidi Gardner as the moderator Judy Woodruff: “Just like ‘The Bachelor,’ the further we go, the less diverse it gets.”

Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Warren: “I’m here and I am in my element. PBS is my safe word. Last debate, I gave you policy T.M.I., and now I am ready to walk it back.”

Colin Jost as Pete Buttigieg: “I’m the only person on this stage who isn’t a millionaire or billionaire. I live on my mayor’s salary plus a $20 a week allowance from my parents, and that’s only if I do my chores.”

Larry David as Bernie Sanders: “Look at me. Are you really surprised that my main concern is the temperature?” He added: “Let me tell you, no matter how hot the earth gets I will not wear shorts. I swim in corduroy.”

Fred Armisen as Michael Bloomberg, explaining his uninvited appearance at the debate: “For $30 million, PBS is now owned by viewers like me.”

Yes, there was also an appearance by Alec Baldwin as President Trump (who said he was there “so you people will actually watch this little freak show”), and McKinnon changed costumes mid-sketch to reappear as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose Christmas gift to Trump was two articles of impeachment.

Weekend Update Jokes of the Week

Over at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors, Colin Jost and Michael Che, made a Christmas joke swap and riffed on the latest impeachment news.

Jost:

On Wednesday, the House voted to impeach President Trump. But Nancy Pelosi refuses to send the articles to the Senate until they guarantee a fair trial. So now we’re all in this weird limbo where no one knows exactly what’s going on, there’s this cast of wild characters making fools of themselves, and everyone is thinking, “Please, God, just let this end.” So basically it’s “Cats.”

Che:

In a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Trump claimed that he has been treated worse than those accused in the Salem witch trials. You know where they set women on fire for, like, wearing pants. Well, according to Donald Trump, impeachment is, like, literally worse than that. I’m a little disappointed in Donald Trump. I knew he would snap but I thought it would be fun like Tupac in ’96. This is more sad like Britney in ’07.

Gumby Sketch of the Week

In another welcome head-fake, Jost began to set up a joke about Mitch McConnell, only to be interrupted by Murphy, playing his dyspeptic version of Gumby, the venerable clay-animated character.

Murphy joined Jost and Che at the Weekend Update desk, mostly to bellow out his famous catchphrase, “I’m Gumby, damn it,” and to roast the two anchors.

“I’ve passed kidney stones with more personality than the two of you,” Murphy told them. “Face it, kid, the two of you together couldn’t Velcro my sneakers.” (Meanwhile, if you were hoping to see Murphy’s old character Velvet Jones, he turned up in a “Black Jeopardy” sketch later in the show.)

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