Last Thursday, Madonna played a free show in Times Square. From the onslaught of clips that dominated my Instagram feed that night, I could tell you that it looked like a Pride kickoff sponsored by Grindr and a preview of Confessions II, set for release in July, with a couple Confessions on a Dance Floor songs (“Hung Up” and “I Love New York,” obviously) thrown in to hype the crowd. The clipshow came courtesy of influencers, legacy media and fan accounts whose posts quickly overthrew the Euphoria loop that had eclipsed election news earlier in the week. 

The Madonna loop was particularly a relentless one, filled with virtually identical videos that bombarded my feed for no less than 24 hours. Even after it subsided, the remnants of Madonna Mania lingered on my For You page as I finished writing this post on Sunday evening. It’s overkill, and that’s coming from someone who grew up listening to Madonna, cites Confessions as her best album and intends to get Confessions II on release day. 

As the relevance of Madonna’s Times Square show waned, a slew of other pop stars crept into my feed, all clipped for the algorithm. Kylie Minogue. Of course, I think I actually follow her. Slayyyter. Sure, I think I follow her too. Addison Rae. Okay, now the algorithm is insulting my tastes.  Another Addison Rae. WTF? Do I have to avoid making eye contact with my feed to make this shit stop? Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith. Fine for one post, but not three or four, or maybe it was five, in a matter of seconds. I hid my phone before I could fall into a Primavera Sound loop. 

Clipping refers specifically to brief snippets of longer videos designed specifically for social media. They’re used in viral marketing campaigns to give the illusion of organic popularity, i.e. you’ll see content from seemingly random accounts that are actually part of clip farms who are paid to promote the content. NPR, The Verge, Vulture and Vox have all reported on this phenomenon and all those stories are good reads for background.

I’m not here to explain why and how clipping is a thing, I’m here to share how infuriating it is to be stuck in an algorithmic loop where clips converge with influencer content and other shit designed to persuade us to buy or do something. In the surge of Madonna posts- the overwhelming majority of which came from accounts I don’t follow- was an update from someone I know IRL. This person was at the Times Square show and shared the sort of post that you used to see often from friends, family and acquaintances, a carousel with some stills and some video. In other words, it was a genuine post. Everything else looked like an ad that’s trying not to look like an ad.

Read the rest in “Stuck in the Madonna Loop”

New Music: 

Founded in Leeds in the midst of England’s punk wave, Mekons have been active for about 50 years, amassing an ample discography of stylistically eclectic and politically astute albums. Their latest, Horroble is the dub companion of last year’s album, Horror. I talked with Mekons co-founder Jon Langford about making both albums in the interview linked below. 

“Mekons Reveal ‘Dark Underbelly’ of Horror on New Dub Album, Horroble” 

You might not expect to read this, but I’m way into Nature Is Healing, the new album from horsegiirL. If we’re IRL friends, though, you might be thinking, yeah, Liz would totally be into something that sounds like the rave at an anime convention. And that’s true. But, there’s also a lot more to horsegiirL than DDR beats and pitched up vocals.

Review: horsegiirL Nature Is Healing

DJ Gigs:

I’m back at Club Underground at the Grand Star Jazz Club this Friday, June 12. There’s no theme this week. Larry G. and I will be on the decks playing indie, post-punk, Britpop and more. Advance tickets are available now. 

As for the rest of the weekend (and early next week), there’s a lot going on between L.A. Pride and the start of the World Cup, and, if you need recommendations, I have some over on Beatique, including a Cambodian rock documentary screening in Glendale tonight, Bears in Space’s anniversary bash at Akbar on Sunday and Penelope Trappes at 2220 Arts + Archives on Monday night. 

Later on this month, on June 27, Dum Dum Fest 4 is happening at The Echo with performances from Taleen Kali, Past Self, Lord Friday the 13th and more. I’ll be one of the DJs for the event and tickets are available now. 

Finally, if you need some tunes at home or in the car or wherever, this month’s mix is up on Mixcloud.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and hope to see you on the dance floor soon. 

Liz O.