Video & Audio: December 2021

Forever ever? Forever ever?

Taylor Swift: “All Too Well” (10 Minute Version)

The Generated Pretrained Taylor algorithm takes Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” as its prompt and procedurally generates variation after variation over the basic I-blah-blah-IV progression, threatening to continue ad infinitum. Millennia from now, von Neumann probes will land on distant planets and churn out one more verse about how Jake Gyllenhaal sucks.

Aespa: “Iconic”

Rookie girl group goes melodically apeshit: their chorus starts chromatically and ends with a tritone half a step below the main key. Richard Wagner should fold up his penis and go home.

Wet Leg: “Chaise Longue”

Double entendres delivered with Gudetama-tier laziness, with the band leaving the metronome on and cutting out for a smoko more than once. For those who think that sex is easier than sitting up straight.

James McMurtry: “Operation Never Mind”

The last-I-hope great song about the War on Terror, illustrating how militarism remained deeply embedded in everyday culture even while the war itself disappeared from TV screens, at least until the media came for Biden for leaving.

DMX Krew: “Wetware”

The ominous ersatz orchestra declines to stay in tune as if in deliberate protest, thus feeling very human. The precisely reverberating clap feels anything but.

Tee Grizzley: “Late Night Calls”

Maybe the most upsetting thing is how he presents his father’s murder as just one more trauma. No matter how much Grizzley Industries diversifies its interests, there’s another call coming.

Parquet Courts: “Walking at a Downtown Pace”

C’mon, “and treasure the crowds that once made me act so annoyed”? I want to see hard evidence they wrote this before lockdown.

Tinashe: “I Can See the Future”

Melodic control, it’s a key thing in rappy singing (and to a lesser extent in singy rapping.) Tinashe has a very good sense of when to repeat a figure and when to let the tune simmer over the minor key backing.

Remi Wolf: “Liquor Store”

I’m a booze fan, but we need more songs about not drinking (and anxiety, always anxiety) that are this fun.

Halsey: “Honey”

A good horny rock song in 2021? With good production? Looking forward to more pop stars slumming with Trent Reznor instead of Travis Barker.

Earl Sweatshirt: “2010”

Two minutes under a rainfall synth to remind you (okay me) that Earl’s lyrics are as complex as anyone’s when he’s in the mood. Glad he’s in the mood.

Kehlani: “Altar”

A song about remembering loved ones that’s all up and isn’t tearjerky at all. Hey, I can use this even if I don’t know what the “nine cups of water” are for.