Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1434
A lotta words about SNL 50, pros and cons.
Good morning. Hello. How are you? Is it snowing? Is it going to snow soon? We got snow here. Well, we will. In two hours. They cancelled school. Except they didn’t cancel school, they did a “remote learning day,” which is BS. Can’t believe kids don’t get snow days anymore. Not a fan. They sent home a packet of shit to do. Busywork. I want to rebel against this nonsense, but what am I gonna do.
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We are listening today to the sixty-seventh release on the Archenemy Record Company, the new Freezepop album, dropped as a surprise on Valentine’s Day. It is called February Fourteen. It is pleasant. It is spicy. It is synthy. I am enjoying myself.
It is actually probably the 70th release, since we did some accidental double-catalog-number releases “back in the day” before I got my act together and kept the official catalog in a google sheet instead of a hand-printed notebook. To whit:
There are to Arch 23’s: Freezepop’s Fancy Ultra Fresh and Boothnavy’s Alderan EP, really one of Archenemy’s best releases, that Alderan EP.
There are two Arch 30’s: Freezepop’s Future Future Perfect limited edition, and The Rokk Suite, which was re-christend 30.1.
There are two Arch 36’s: Frerezepop’s Imaginary Friends limited edition and Polystar’s Overnight Radio, which was re-christened 36.1.
Oh shit Jane lost a tooth brb.
I guess feeding high-gluten bagels to a kid with a loose tooth will do that.
She lost the tooth, then lost the tooth. Came to me with no tooth. Said she dropped it somewhere. Won’t say where she walked. Super.
Anyway, let’s talk about SNL, as promised.
I am not a die-hard, ride-or-die SNL dude. I have only been watching for, maybe 10-15 years. My chief memory of SNL from the old days is being annoyed when I’d get to school monday, in high school or college, and people would talk about the skits the night before. Because I was one of those cool people who didn’t watch TV. Also the musical guests were too lamestream.
As I got older I sorta broadened my horizons and respected the creativity and work ethic more even if people wore clothes other colors besides black.
This means I am not an expert but I am also not one of those people who go on about their cast being the best cast. I like all the casts I’ve watched, and I think Lorne is very good at picking cast members. That weird girl on there now he got from TikTok? Just fantastic.
All in all, I think I coulda done without the music special. I mean, god, it looked like a great party, I’m sure all those people had a lot of fun hanging out with each other — one of SNL’s greatest services is as a solid “celebrity mixer” where they all get to meet and chat with and date and bone one another. The world needs that.
But, you know. SNL and music? A bit overrated, I’d say. Questlove’s documentary was great, but it really relied on, like, forty-year-old appearances by Sun Ra and Captain Beefheart to bone up its avant garde credentials. Because the fact is, for the last 40 years, it has had none.
After watching the Questlove documentary, I meticulously scrolled through all the wiki pages of every musical guest ever, and my god, it is bleak. Putting aside Kanye and his, like, seven appearances, bands like Linkin Park just keep showing up. Questlove did a great job papering over how many times certain bands have played SNL, while other bands have just never appeared. (To their credit, prior to the pope incident, Sinead was a frequent guest, even after she was popular.) Jack White, one billion times. Rolling Stones, a gazillion times. But some of them are just… bad. Maroon 5, so many appearances. Dave Grohl has appeared as a musical guest sixteen fucking times I mean come the fuck on.
Questlove woulda done well to add a “the ones who got away” segment, laying out the obvious misses through the years. Obviously some bands will say no, but jesus.
Watching the musical special, what struck me was the phrase “SNL Core.” There is a certain something that binds all SNL guests. Respectable, within range rebellion. A veneer of “the creative life” being something important and necessary. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but even though this show is telling us the best of music, or at least the best of New York music, you know who has never been on it? Even though they’ve been a beloved New York band for most of those 50 years, doing a major residency every year? Yo La Tengo.
What went through my head while watching the SNL Music Special were those interviews with old punks talking about the “dinosaur rock” before the Sex Pistols came along and blew it all out of the water. SNL is dinosaur rock: big, lumbering, safe while pretending not to be, big lights, big sounds, earnestness. The only “club” act to ever really appear is the Chainsmokers, I think that says it all. There’s never been a shoegaze band, a death metal band, SNL is less musically diverse than fucking Eurovision.
Some notes on the special: Miley Cyrus can sound like late-period, Metallica-era Marianne Faithful these days and I enjoy that.
Win Butler is cringe and Regine should leave him and David Byrne and St Vincent should not waste their cultural capital trying to redeem him. But the Arcade Fire are still great. But he should not have expected that crowd to sing along.
Bad Bunny had rhinestone- (or diamond!)-studded in-ear monitors and I respect that. Life goals.
If you are friends with John Mulaney have him deliver your euology because that guy’s dedication to Hal Wilner was a class act (Hal Wilner was also a class act and would have, eventually, booked Yo La Tengo, I am sure).
All in all, in the music special I found myself enjoying the comedic portions much more than the musical portions. I do not deny the talent of the artists on that stage, I was just mostly bored (Robyn did grab me though that woman can do no wrong). But the comedy was funny.
So I guess it’s no surprise that I liked Sunday better. Except for Miley Cyrus doing “Nothing Compares 2 U” which was complete bullshit and an absolute joke of a redemption for Sinead. Have any of you read her autobiography? Do you not know how creepy Prince was to her? And he did not write that song for her, she chose it, pulled it from obscurity and covered it and made it huge. So maybe play her fucking arrangement instead of his? Or, shit, play any other Sinead song? You wanna stay in your SNL Core lane? Play “I Want Your Hands on Me.” Wanna play something that gives Britany Howard something to do, I would love to see her interpretation of Marco Pirroni’s awesome guitar part on “Mandinka.” Wanna give Miley something to knock the socks off the audience? “Last Day of our Acquaintance.”
Having it be the Prince arrangement and not hers was really just bullshit.
(As an aside the absolute best part of any of the 14 hours or so of SNL 50 content I have watched was in the Questlove doc when Al Franken stared directly at the camera and said of Sinead: “She was right.”)
I enjoyed Post Malone with Nirvana — his COVID-era Nirvana livestream was really good too. But I cannot escape the feeling that all these recent Nirvana “reunion” shows are part of a PR-agency-planned Dave Grohl redemption tour for the bad press he got for cheating on his wife. Of course, were I working in PR and Dave Grohl came to me looking for a PR boon, I would tell him to get Nirvana back together, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Eddie Murphy as Tracy Morgan while Tracy Morgan was right there was hilarious and sad and “edgy” in a good way, so respect. Yes, Black Jeopardy was a greatest hits play, but I loved it. Actually, Eddie Murphy did great throughout. That Scared Straight skit? Just wonderful. That dude’s still got it.
John Mulaney’s gag about there only being two hosts convicted for murder was great. He is a national treasure. “NYC to Ford: Who’s Dead Now?” Just fantastic. Rudy wasting his shot, brilliant. God I love that guy good for him still being hilarious while sober (assuming he’s still sober who knows I suppose).
Adam Sandler’s song and the way he went from a rousing thank-you to the crew right into a super-touching in memorium about the cast members who have passed was masterful and that guy is still really good at writing a comedic song.
The video about everyone at SNL having Anxiety was great. I felt that.
When I was young and rich and glamorous and mingling with celebrities, there was this tinge to it all that they were the club that had figured it out, that they learned to not let their insecurity hold them back. And they are, mostly, right, though they’re way too smug about it and there is a definite tinge of hanging out with second-generation car dealership owners born on second base who think they “made it on their own.” Both parties do not pay enough respect to the luck gods and remember “there but for the grace of god go I.” But also, they are right? Everyone on SNL has anxiety. And they get over it and do shit. Looking at the crowd in both the SNL musical special the 50th special, I really felt that. We all yearn to be in their secret club, it must be fucking awesome to be in a room with so many amazing people and consider them your peers. It drives me crazy with jealousy. Terrible and correct and beautiful and wrong, they are.
Hey big news we finally finished Justa Mix, the first since I am back from Fairbanks, complete with a new photo of Justa Store that I made my sister drive me to in order to take this photo just for you guys.
I love this Ceres band especially this song. Don’t know anything about them. Some new Freezepop for you. Checked out the new Bartees Strange yesterday it is great. More Til We’re Blue or Destroy since I am still on that kick. We talked about Milla a while back so here is her “big hit.” And a new song from Replaced by Robots, featuring former Archenemy artist Dave Gooklasian of the Elevator Drops and Texas Governor. Oh and shit Sheila Divine, too. Lotta Boston goodies on this mix. And the new Sharon Van Etten is great she is so great.
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Thanks for reading.
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Good Morning, Hello, How Are You vol 1.