Friday Roundup (Of News and Thoughts and Such) - February 10th Edition

Welcome to the Friday Roundup (of News and Thoughts and Such) which, at three consecutive weeks, is channel.WAV’s longest running and most prestigious column, in which I, Brandon Slone, the Walter Winchell of channel.WAV, talk about some of the week’s biggest stories that we didn’t cover in long form this week. Let’s dive into this week’s news. I feel like this week was pretty uneventful!

1. Ye beefs with Billie Eilish because why not? 

The Artist formerly Known as Kanye West is threatening to pull out of Coachella unless Billie Eilish “apologizes” to Travis Scott over an alleged insult. The perceived slight occurred when Eilish paused a performance during a recent concert in order to get an inhaler to a fan having medical issues. Verifying that the woman was not in need of further assistance, Eilish stated “I wait for people to be okay before I keep going.” This, per Mr. West, was a reference to the 2021 AstroWorld Tragedy. Nevermind the clips that have emerged of Eilish doing this exact same thing in the years prior. 

Eilish has since responded with a simple, “Literally never said a thing about Travis. Was just helping a fan.” Whether Kanye will make good on his threat remains to be seen. Whether Donda 2 will be released prior to Coachella in April also remains to be seen (it won’t).

2. Best Original Song Oscar nominees stacked 

The Oscars, the award show best known for being more credible than the Grammys but not as credible as the Emmys, have announced the nominees for Best Original Song:

1. “Be Alive” from King Richard -- Beyonce and DIXSON

2. “Dos Origuitas” from Encanto -- Lin-Manuel Miranda

3. “Down to Joy” from Belfast -- Van Morrison

4. “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die -- Billie Eilish and Finneas (hey remember when we ranked the James Bond themes? This would sure be a good place for a link!)

5. “Somehow You Know” from Four Good Days -- Diane Warren

3. Kendrick Lamar confirmed to be working on new music ahead of Super Bowl Halftime Show

This is pretty self-explanatory. On February 9’s episode of Apple Music’s Rap Life Review, host Ebro Darden stated that it has been confirmed by Kendrick Lamar’s camp that the rapper will be dropping a new track prior to his joining Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. As of 9:42 pm on February 10, as I frantically comb the internet for stories interesting enough to talk about, no new song has materialized, but we will continue to watch this space.

4. Spotify/Rogan controversy continues, becomes ever more confusing

In the wake of the circulation of a compilation of Joe Rogan clips in which the host uses racist language, dozens of episodes of his podcast have been removed from Spotify. Daniel Ek, the streaming giant’s CEO, stated over the weekend that Rogan had chosen to remove the episodes himself. Reports are also out now that traffic to Spotify’s cancellation page has nearly tripled in the time since the Rogan controversy began with Neil Young’s pulling of his music from Spotify. Of course, it’s impossible for us to know exactly how many of those visits to the cancellation page actually yielded a cancellation. Visits are not the best metric here, as anyone who has ever clicked the refresh page a dozen times on an article on their small music blog can surely attest. 

5. Did anything else happen? Sting sold The Police catalog for a lot of money

That’s kind of important, I guess. Nothing bad could ever come of record labels consolidating and hoarding song catalogs. 

What’s channel.WAV listening to this week?

Slone: Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons are in my heavy rotation right now, as I enter what is sure to be a brief obsession with westerns.

Ritter: If you haven’t heard Chicago rapper Saba’s latest record Few Good Things, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Botts: It’s Oscar week, baby. I’m rediscovering Van Morrison and other 70s hits. Take a look at Licorice Pizza and Belfast, as they provide the best nostalgia for that, “Oh, I forgot that I really like this music” rediscovery. Plus, it allows you to say, “Oh, I really like the music from that film!” the next time it comes up at the office, Zoom, home, or a socially distanced jam sesh. Check out my favorite Van Morrison love tune (albeit a cover) just in time for your Valentine’s playlist: “Crazy Love” by Joel Cross.

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Folks, I’m sorry that this was a rather dull article. I don’t make the news, I just report it. Maybe next week 2Pac will come back or Ed Sheeran will turn into a werewolf or something. Anyway, Dane has been bugging me as long as I’ve known him to start a jug band. Leave a comment and I’ll consider hitting the studio with him to record a demo.

- Slone