Category: Music
“bad idea right?”: Olivia Rodrigo Asks The Same Question As Forebears Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry (Not To Mention Drunk Women Everywhere)
Giving listeners a taste of something that diverges from the (initially) ballad-y sound of Guts’ lead single, “vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo opts for a more “brutal”-esque [Read More…]
Lana Del Rey Serves Up A Heteronormative Wet Dream By Singing “Stand By Your Man” in Arkansas
Lana Del Rey, who has never been one to shy away from heteronormative, 50s/60s-era themes and iconography in her work (in fact, that is the [Read More…]
When Everyone Wants to Believe A Celebrity Is Andy Kaufman’ing It
Ye, Taylor Swift (because Matty Healy), Lizzo, Doja Cat. When it comes to “wanting to believe” a celebrity is merely “putting you on,” the past [Read More…]
In Case Anyone Needed Additional Evidence That Celebrities Have More Influence Than Politicians, Look No Further Than the Plea to Taylor Swift Amid L.A.’s Hotel Strike
“With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s the Spider-Man platitude so often wielded for those who are actually in offices of power. And yet, it’s [Read More…]
Euphoria Becomes Drenched in Death
The date is January 30, 2022. Not so long ago in some ways, and a lifetime ago in others. For one thing, two particular famous [Read More…]
Lizzo Just Kind of Ruined Barbie
As though Barbie: The Album wasn’t already suffering enough (critically, not commercially), Lizzo had to go and get herself accused of, among other things, sexual [Read More…]
The Fan/Performer Dynamic Keeps Getting Decidedly More Employer/Employee
It used to seem so glamorous to be an “entertainer.” Yet even that word has connotations of being like a monkey with cymbals, “programmed” to [Read More…]
Barbie: The Album Might Cut It In Barbie Land, But Not in the Real World
With a movie as instantaneously revered as Barbie, it’s only natural to expect an accompanying soundtrack that might do it justice. And sure, the Barbie [Read More…]
Unlike Most Women in Music, Tony Bennett Didn’t Have to Constantly Change His Image In Order to Endure
“I was like the Madonna and the Michael Jackson of my day,” Tony Bennett once told Conan O’Brien during a 1993 interview. The notable distinction [Read More…]
Tony Bennett: The Model Italian-American (Or At Least Less Affronting Than Most)
As a second generation Italian-American (with his mother, Anna Suraci, born right after his grandmother arrived in the U.S.), Tony Bennett had the potential to [Read More…]