Imagine being one of the biggest music companies in the world, host of some of the most amazing music in modern history, and… this (the second one down) is the track you’re using for your big roll out:
We announced an all new Spotify experience – the biggest change to the platform since 2013. pic.twitter.com/rOMBFq4W9g
Like… HOW is that the sound bed to your big new feature roll out?
Oh, that’s right – when your mission as a company is to replace all human-made music with AI bullshit so you don’t have to pay out to actual humans, this is what you get.
Look – Spotify as an app, a service, all that – yeah, it’s great.
This podcast really hit home with me; all about gratitude, hustle, and all the other horrible things with modern capitalism. Found them via an Instagram Reel, and felt compelled to look them up on Spotify, and then found via YouTube, so I could share. Check ’em out.
I started watching Severance (Apple TV+) last Sunday. Watched all the shows in a few days, then had to wait until Friday (yesterday) for the season finale.
I’ve tended to not really be a “TV guy” most of my life. My last real “broadcast TV” favorites was ‘The Mole’ was 2002. Shit, that was TWENTY YEARS AGO.
I remember rushing home to see new episodes, absolultey hooked. Then season two started and it turned to shit in a hurry, and I fell off.
Sure, I watched movies here and there (like the Matrix of course), and TV shows (Parks and Rec, etc.), but just nothing hooked me.
In 2019 we got The Mandalorian – WHEW. Wasn’t even fair. A TV series based around my favorite movie of all time? HOOKED.
LOKI in June of 2021, which pulled me in because of the “who’s really behind all this” story? I love that sort of stuff, which goes back to the Matrix, of course.
That things aren’t what they seem.
Which then lands us here at Severance on Apple TV+.
Aside from the amazing sets and design, and the brilliant acting, is a premise that gnaws at me a bit.
The “everyday you’re back here, you chose to come back” part.
To think that Lauren Jensen played for Iowa the previous year, transferred to Creighton, then hit the eventual game winning three pointer to beat her former team IN IOWA.
NO WAY!! Lauren Jensen hits the GO AHEAD 3 with 12.6 seconds left for 10 Creighton to take the lead over 2 Iowa 63-62 LATE. Super close to their first Sweet 16 in Program history pic.twitter.com/36mTsMp1sf
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Pain (@NCAABuzzerBters) March 20, 2022
It’s their first ever trip to the Sweet 16, too. Wow.
The fifth episode of the Book of Boba Fett is my favorite, and one I keep re-watching, mostly for the continuous shot that starts at the 7:04 mark, and lasts until 9:21.
After some gorgeous shots of the ring world of Glavis, we seen Mando walking to the elevator to deliver the bounty.
This interaction says everything, without a single word being said.
The camera goes in motion to Mando’s right, and goes around the entire table. I’ve watched this several times, and it’s fun watching all the subtle movements and reactions that each person sitting around the table has.
See? The camera continued around the table to Mando’s left side, and will follow him out of the club.
The music fades, and we’re left with Mando struggling with his hurt leg.
Mando gets off the elevator, and he walks by the camera and out of frame, ending the continuous shot at the 9:21 mark, cutting to another camera angle.
I haven’t noticed any of the big episode “wrap up” articles making note of this, but I did find a small thread on Reddit talking about.
“Before he 1st goes into the elevator, the shot begins with Mando walking out from behind a arched pillar on his right & a low concrete ledge on his left leading up to the elevator. Those same set pieces are shown in the same spots each floor he enters/exits the elevator from. The CG backdrop & possibly the slight change in lighting are the only things that changes to give the impression that he is ascending & descending levels,” via Reddit
Skateboard is magic. Voodoo. Nothing has captivated me more over the years than skateboarding.
Yeah, I grew up with BMX and freestyle and all that, but skateboarding? Every skater is a wizard.
I will pick up a skateboard magazine before a BMX magazine. I can watch skateboard videos forever. BMX videos just don’t grip me the same way.
Skateboards are magic. And a video like this makes me wanna skateboard.
Not just for some cool factor, or whatever. Fuck, I’m 45. I’m good where I’m at. But man… I want to feel the magic. The forward energy.
Absolutely powerful video, talking about depression, mental health, the tragedy of losing anyone in this way. And the images of those lost, towards the end… gut wrenching.
I’ve been following Loom for awhile, and using their super easy video making software for my Close Mondays operation for awhile now. I didn’t even realize it, but I made 36 videos with their software, dating back to November 2019.
For business, it’s sometimes nice to send a video to someone you work with instead of just a plain text email, especially when you want to show a workflow process.
I’ve also used this for not-business, too. Like this:
I made that video for Metal Bandcamp Gift Club. I link to it from newsletters that we send out, and also put on social media every now and again, too.
The point is this: All text looks like… text. But FACES. VOICES. SMILES. That’s the stuff, right there. Bands could use something like Loom to announce new songs, or shirts, or tours with images of the very things they’re working so hard to promote.
Like, love them or hate them, reaction videos work because they’ve ALWAYS worked. Ask any older music nerd, and they will fondly remember the MTV NEWS breaks… zip zap, here’s Kurt Loder talking about something. Outro music. Done. PEOPLE. VOICES. FACES.
So with the stuff Loom lets you do, you can do just a bit more than point the camera at yourself and upload it.
Add album artwork. Or merchandise photos. Tour dates. Tons of stuff. And the “big scary” part – YOUR FACE. But people like your face, they like YOU.
Again, text is great. Add an image to a Tweet. Cool. But they put faces on billboards and magazine ads and pre-roll videos. Imagine if the was just all text? BORING.
Summer is winding down, but this has become my summer anthem.
Usually I’m not a fan of the “harsh vocals” switching the “clean vocals” and all that stuff that “the kids” seem to like so much, but this just works for me. I mean, the visuals do it, too. Such attention to vibe and style and wit and sass. I love it so much.
