After another fun week of service and subsequent spiritual satisfaction, wanted to revisit the topic of a post from a few weeks ago, that of my beloved Orwells’ quietly dropping a new album, and what the right response is in light of the serious allegations against three-fifths of the band. The reasons for revisiting are twofold — 1) it’s a good album, one I’ve listened to dozens of times since that post, including this morning when I woke up with its “Silver Medal” in my head. (That one’s opening lines — “Not a fan of making up this time, got a lack of training. Go ahead and keep me out of mind, no one hears what you’re saying” — sports a clever homonym possibly referring to the broader allegations, indicating “no one here’s what you’re saying.”) That one’s almost beside the point, though — good, bad, love it, hate it, those feelings are almost irrelevant because of 2) the double standard regarding how we handle these artists and situations, as we partly discussed before.
This latter one feeds off the first and reared its head as the weeks passed with me waiting for reviews from the various blogs and magazines. In addition to discussing the music, I hoped they might have additional information on the broader situation to help me figure out the “what’s the right response?” question. Unfortunately, despite over six weeks elapsing I have yet to find a single review on any of the normal outlets — nothing on Allmusic, Pitchfork, or Stereogum — or anywhere else for that matter. This is the part that I find slightly annoying — the opaque, inconsistently applied criteria for how they (and we as a broader society) handle these things.
It’s almost certainly not attributable to their not knowing about the release — these sites regularly catch such hard breaking news stories as Moby’s new neck tattoo, the Twitter beef between Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and Justin Bieber, and the time David Hasselhoff covered the Jesus and Mary Chain. And those are just some of the ridiculous ones I noted this month — so there has to have been a conscious decision made to not acknowledge and/or review the release, which is where the frustrating double standard comes in. These sites continue to cover similarly troubled/accused artists — R Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Chris Brown being but three giant examples, each accused, tried, and/or convicted of sexual abuse. (Repeatedly.) And yet they remain acceptable topics to cover and/or play — why?
What’s the line for who gets talked about and who gets shunned? Allmusic has reviews on each of those artists’ albums, as well as questionable/convicted scumbags of yesteryear (who also happen to be incredibly talented musically). There’s a lot of them — Ike Turner (beat his wife, the inimitable Tina), James Brown (beat his wives, possible rape), Miles Davis (beat his wives), Elvis (questionable relations with young girls, including his future wife Priscilla who was 14 when she met him (he was 24) and was subsequently left for another 14 year old after the birth of their first child), Chuck Berry (went to prison for sex with a 14 year old), Jerry Lee Lewis (married his 13 year old cousin, attempted murder). There’s plenty more, but all of these remain “safe” in the eyes of broader society — both to listen to and/or write about. (Oh they’re also OK to reward with accolades, as all of them have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, among other honors.)
So why do those artists get the pass while others like the Orwells are exiled and no longer acknowledged? The allegations, amount of evidence behind them, and legal repercussions faced as a result are similar, if not weaker, than most of those examples. (There’s still no reports of charges being brought or evidence outside of that infamous, partly anonymous Google Doc.) And yet those artists remain in the light while the Orwells have been cast into the darkness, ghosts in an age where virtually everything seems acceptable enough to discuss on the internet.
This is not an attempt to dismiss the charges against the three band members or argue away their awfulness — if true they should all be prosecuted and do time for their crimes. Nor is it an argument to say the value of the art outweighs (or excuses) the bad behavior. These guys were always a questionable cocktail of dickishness and mischievous — both were invariably in there, you just couldn’t tell quite what the balance was and how much was an act and how much was sincere. (The last time I saw them Mario spit on, and then wiped his ass with, my beloved Chicago flag, for example, which is enough to get pounded for on the best of days.)
This is, however, an argument for clarity and consistency. I think we need to be clear in what our criteria are for handling these types of things — whether for bands like the Orwells, comedians like Louis CK, actors like Kevin Spacey, or public figures like Joe Biden, Al Franken, and the President (among dozens of others) — and consistent in their application. All things being similar, if the allegations and evidence are comparable, then so should our response be to the accused. And there should be no question over why — because we’ve made clear what our standards are for handling these types of situations: what’s acceptable, what’s inexcusable, and what’s still in the gray in between. To not do so creates confusion, a double standard, and an unacceptable acceptance of some people’s wrongdoings.
Alright, enough serious stuff — let’s lighten things a bit with some fresh catches from the previous weeks, first with a brief parody video starring the Black Keys. It’s a spoof of the online MasterClass series that offers “online courses taught by the world’s greatest minds.” This one has Pat and Dan being deadpan pretentious rock stars and it shows they, like fellow rocker (and guy I’d love to have a beer with) Dave Grohl, have a pretty good sense of humor. It’s a good palate cleanser from the above — check it out here:
Next we’ll shift to another long time face from this page, that of Austin indie legends Spoon, who recently released an outtake from their 1998 sessions for their second album, A Series of Sneaks. It’s somewhat surprising it didn’t make the cut — it’s in line with their more straightforward, rocking sound of the time and a solid song. Makes you wonder what other gems they’ve got stashed away. Check out “Shake it Off” here:
We’ll move to the land of hippity hop for a bit, first with the latest single from the relentlessly productive Drake (he just released a double album, Scorpion, last year). This time he’s dropping a song for the British show Top Boy that he’s apparently a big fan of. (Season three is airing on Netflix now.) Unlike most of that last album, it’s a solid song — good beat providing a backdrop for Drake to talk about his usual fare of “Rs and Vs and Os” and his endless material vices (Versace, Nobu, Milan, etc). Substantively might not break any new ground, but still a good listen. See what’s “Behind Barz” here:
Next we’ll check in with the wildly eccentric (or eccentrically wild?) Danny Brown, whose new album (uknowhatimsayin?, due 4 Oct) is being produced by none other than hip hop legend Q-Tip. I’ve cooled on Brown a bit since his debut (Old landed at #9 on that year’s list) and the pairing with Tip is curious, but this single does right by both parties, marrying Brown’s manic delivery with a vintage old school sample that easily could’ve landed on a Tribe album. It’ll be interesting to hear how the rest of the album shapes up — give “Best Life” a try in the meantime:
We’ll end our trip through hiphoplandia with a surprise release, the first single from the legendary Gang Starr in sixteen years (!), which features a new verse from Guru (sadly gone for ten years now (!!) and a guest verse from J Cole, all over another vintage beat from DJ Premier. Called “Family & Loyalty,” it doesn’t appear to be attached to any specific project (no box set or rarities album upcoming, sadly), but that doesn’t diminish the enjoyment in the slightest. These guys remain a criminally overlooked outfit (their 1998 album Moment of Truth is but one of many classics in their catalog that I’ve worn out over the years) so it’s a thrill to get something new. Give it a listen (and dive back into those old albums immediately after) here:
We’ll head back to indieville for our final entries, first a deep cut from the latest Lumineers album, III. The album is a bit of a departure for the band — it’s the first since the departure of founding member Neyla Pekarek, whose cello and voice featured so prominently (and beautifully) on their first outings, and also the first to delve wholeheartedly into less than lovey dovey matters lyrically. This one (the band’s third) tells the story of three characters over three song cycles (hence the title) — Gloria, Junior, and Jimmy Sparks — only instead of soaring, sunny songs, this time the tracks deal with things like alcoholism, drug abuse, and gambling addiction. Still, frontman Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites weave a lovely web without sounding maudlin or overly morose. Case in point the closing “Salt and the Sea,” which showcases both the storytelling and songwriting well. Give it a ride here:
We’ll close the same way we started this section, with a little levity to accompany a new find — this one from hometown heroes Wilco whose new album, Ode to Joy, is due out next week. We highlighted the lead single, “Love is Everywhere (Beware),” a few weeks ago and the latest, “Everyone Hides,” is another solid outing. What’s unique is that the video almost outshines the song — I hardly ever watch videos these days (I honestly couldn’t tell you the last one worth remembering), but this one shows a game of hide and seek as the band members comically spread out in my (our) beloved city by the lake. Take a look here:
Until next time, amici… –BS