Today marks the first installment of what I hope to be a new weekly feature at channel.WAV, which I am tentatively dubbing the “Weekly Friday Roundup of News and Thoughts and Such.” A catchy name for sure.
Anyway, I hope to use this as a way to briefly touch on some stories that we haven’t addressed in long form, and also to provide some insight into our personal listening habits and recommendations. With that in mind, let’s get to our first story.
1. Neil Young pulls music from Spotify
Neil Young made some headlines this week when he announced his intention to pull his expansive music catalog from Spotify, owing to his personal objections to anti-vaccine rhetoric spewed by sentient Tapout shirt cum podcast host and “dumb guy’s image of a smart guy” Joe Rogan.
This has been getting so much press coverage this week that you would be forgiven for thinking it really has any ramifications. While it is nice to see artists taking principled stances against blatant idiocy, I can’t imagine any tangible difference being made to Spotify’s bottom line, even with the performative boycott activism from all those folks on Twitter. Maybe if other artists follow suit, something could come of this, but for now we’ll just watch this space.
2. Damon Albarn picks fight with Taylor Swift; gets rekt
Damon Albarn, real life front man for beloved virtual band Gorillaz and also for less popular non-Oasis Britpop group Blur, made headlines this week when he rather senselessly accused Taylor Swift of not actually writing her own songs. When this came to Swift’s attention, she responded, calling the allegation “fucked up” and stating that she had previously been a “big fan” of Albarn.
Albarn proceeded to furiously backpedal, claiming his words had been reduced to “clickbait” (not sure what kind of context makes the verbatim sentence “she doesn’t write her own songs not an insult, but I digress) and apologizing profusely. He has since apologized again, onstage this time. Swift has not responded and honestly I am so tired.
3. Kanye West claims new album to be released on 2/22/22
Fresh off picking fights with Pete Davidson and engaging in some deranged, stalkerish behavior, Kanye West has announced the release of DONDA 2 is set for February 22, 2022. It isn’t going to come out on February 22, 2022.
4. Mighty Mighty Bosstones announce split
Ska pop punk legends the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, best known for their hit “The Impression that I Get,” a delightful tune that is astonishingly easy to interpret as being about COVID exposure, announced their split after 30 years as a band, saying "After decades of brotherhood, touring the world and making great records together, we have decided to no longer continue on as a band,”. That’s kinda sad, right?
What is channel.WAV listening to this week?
Slone: Meat Loaf died last week and I’ve listened to Bat Out of Hell on repeat ever since. An absolute classic. Cheesy, theatrical, and melodramatic in all the best ways.
Ritter: Earl Sweatshirt’s latest album has been on repeat in the Ritter household -- probably his most interesting and enjoyable release yet.
Botts: After a very stress-filled and emotional week, I’m going back to the past. X&Y by Coldplay (one of the few albums Brandon likes) and Sob Rock by JM. Both are good blasts to an emotional journey. Also, supporting a dear friend - Bradspectacular - with his latest single "Type of Way".
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What stories did we miss? What are you listening to this week? Does Aaron Botts answer your texts? Let us know in the comments below.
- Slone
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Thanks for yelling at us!