Waiting for Tennis – Episode 1

Today, I am very proud to announce the launch of the first LCHC-Affiliated Podcast Series: Waiting for Tennis.

Hosted by my good friends Sal Patel and Kyle Fulton, Waiting for Tennis is a new bi-weekly music podcast focused on discussing new music releases and trends from all popular genres. Whether debating the latest news, arguing over past releases, or offering album reviews, Kyle and Sal always bring a deep love and knowledge of music to the forefront of their lively, inspired conversations.

As part of the independent Canadian music industry themselves, they are uniquely positioned to consider and examine Canadian artists and albums within the larger context of popular and indie music from around the world.

In the hosts’ own words, this is “A podcast recorded by two men waiting for their bi-weekly tennis match, on all things music in Canada and around the world”.

For the musicians, managers, critics, connoisseurs, taste makers, and general appreciators alike, the show serves is a shared love letter to music.

In today’s inaugural episode, the guys debate Kendrick Lamar and his already-infamous verse on “Control”, list their own Top 5 Albums of 2013 (So Far), and sit down for a feature interview with Toronto-based musician Taylor Knox, who has played with The Golden Dogs, Zeus, and Sloan, and whose first full length solo album will be released soon. Along the way Drake, Yeezy, Vampire Weekend, Youth Lagoon, Ben Allen, Washed Out, and many others are also discussed.

We invite you to stream via the SoundCloud embed after the jump, or click “Download” and take the show with you anywhere. 

Let us know what you think in the comments below or sound off on our Facebook Page. 

Your Favourite Podcast’s Favourite Podcast

Coming (very) soon…“Waiting for Tennis”

A podcast recorded by two men waiting for their bi-weekly tennis match, on all things music in Canada and around the world.

Watch: Justin Timberlake – “Tunnel Vision” (NSFW)

Because apparently it is JT Day here on the site, I thought that it only made sense to get around to sharing Timberlake’s very NSFW video for “Tunnel Vision”.

Two weeks ago when the video originally dropped, all anyone could focus on was that this seemed to be another trip to the well of topless women which was used most recently (and effectively) for the video to The Song of Summer 2013, “Blurred Lines”. “Tunnel Vision” does appear to be something of a (kissing?) cousin to Robin Thicke’s video – not only through the presence of nude model, but also via the feature of dancing in front of a minimal, white background while bold typography displays the name of the single in question.

Overly-sensitive Fun Police have criticized Thicke for having both a “rapey” video and lyrics, and even the reigning King of Pop Timberlake has also caught some flak for the video’s graphic nature. More details, as well as the full explicit video, are after the jump…

Listen: Justin Timberlake – “Take Back The Night”

After he briefly teased it early last week, Justin Timberlake went ahead and shared the entirety of his newest single, “Take Back The Night,” with the world last Friday.

It is now a week later, and I just realized that I had yet to actually post the song or my reaction to it on LCHC. On the ball, this Smith guy…

My own apparent tardiness notwithstanding, you can hit the jump below to listen to the first single from the second installment of Timberlake’s chart-dominating and critically well-received 20/20 Experience comeback album.

On Magna Carta…Holy Grail and Yeezus: The Smith/Patel Exchange

The following is my exchange with friend and noted music aficionado, Sal Patel, on the occassion of the release of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s new albums. Sal and I discuss the records’ artistic merits, their thematic relevance, and music criticism in general. A warning: we run long (5,333 words long, to be exact), though it is worth it. 

Trev: July 4th has come and gone. In this corner of the world, the holiday meant two things – 1) a good excuse to break out my pitiable impression of President Bill Pullman’s Dylan Thomas-aping ID4 speech, and 2) the release of Magna Carter Holy Grail. Hola’ Hovito.

Jay’s 12th solo studio represents many things: a new standard in digital distribution; a marketing masterstroke; a cooperative of the biggest producers in the industry; and a reminder that he is peerless in the genre where longevity and consistency are concerned. The fact that Hov unveiled the album’s cover art by placing it in Salisbury Cathedral next to one of four existing copies of the actual Magna Carta gives you a sense of the level of authority and influence he has achieved.

What about the music itself though? Is his flow still as special? Is he still hungry and engaged as a lyrist? Can, and should, hip hop’s most revered veteran still have a say in writing its #newrules?

To help me delve into these questions (and I suspect, a great deal more), I turn to my partner in crime, the Beanie Siegel to my Memphis Bleek, Mr. Sal Patel. Where music is concerned, Sal perhaps the best arbiter of taste and quality that I know; if a record or artist has Sal’s co-sign, I’m on it. In short, Sal is That Dude where new music is concerned. We missed having a proper back-and-forth upon the release of Yeezus two weeks ago, and I will be damned if I let that happen again here. So, SP, I am throwing the Diamond up at you as a kind of Critical-Analysis Bat Signal. Help me crack the code that is MCHG, as my cup runneth over. What’d you think?

Much more, after the jump…

Lou Reed Loves Yeezus, Calls Album ‘Supreme And Beautiful’

File under: “It Writes Itself”

My own, now-long-overdue, thoughts on Yeezus are still forthcoming (Ed. Note: I am hopeful that I will have a full album review, and a track-by-track breakdown, published by Tuesday). 

In the meantime – and far more important than anything I have to offer on the subject – the world has now been blessed with a Yeezus review from, of all people, Lou Reed, the one-and-only punk god/general contrarian himself.

Given how many fans critics have called West’s latest effort inaccessible, it seems fitting that the former front man of the Velvet Underground would turn out to be one of its most enthusiastic supporters.

Afterall, if you told me earlier this year that Lou Reed would support one of 2013’s most divisive pieces of music, I wouldn’t have batted an eye; the only surprising part of his defense of a alienating piece of music is that it relates to a Kanye West album, whose Pop pedigree seemed so obvious just a few months ago.

“It works because it’s beautiful,” he writes in a long, enthusiastic review of Kanye’s polarizing new album. “You either like it or you don’t.”

More of Reed’s reaction, after the jump….

Magna Carta, Meet Magna S.Carter

You crazy for this one, Jay.

A lecturn in England’s Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral – where one of four remaining copies of the (actual) Magna Carta is on display – debuted the new album’s cover art on Wednesday.

More photos of the display, after the jump…

“Magna Carta Holy Grail” Trailer

Camp Ye or Camp Jay – how do you prefer to watch The Throne?

Are you part of the Yeezus backlash? Or the backlash to the backlash? Do you speak “Swagheli”? Or are you sitting out Ye’s newest altogether, instead waiting on a new offering from his sometimes partner and The Original God MC, J-Hova?

This summer you won’t have to choose one or the other, because Jay will apparently be following Yeezy’s lead and dropping his own ambitious, sonically diverse, challenging, radio-unfriendly album.

In other words, if you are a rapper and planned on having any shot at owning this summer, time to rethink your release date and hope for the best in Q4.

Last night, following the end of the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Jay dropped an ad with Samsung announcing his new album Magna Carta Holy Grail is coming July 4^th, meaning a previously-unannounced LP will be out in just a few short weeks. The full video from last night’s ad is embedded below, after the jump…

LCHC Power Rankings: Week of May 24th

The LCHC Power Rankings are our rating system for the top ten people, events, stories, and trends making moves in the world of sports and culture this week. Providing as a snapshot of the current cultural landscape, the Power Rankings offer a guide to hat mattered most in the cultural zeitgeist this week. They are put together every Friday by your humble committee (of one).

1. Game 7 Hockey Over Everything – The NHL Playoffs return to the top spot on this week’s ranking on heels of two Game 7s this week and the start of the Conference Finals about the kick off on Saturday. The visibility and publicity around this year’s postseason is certainly helped by the fact that major markets like LA, Chicago and Boston are still involved, and that “Face of the Game” Sidney Crosby is captaining the favorites to raise the Cup, but more than for any other reason, hockey’s playoffs lead the pack this week because they have provided the most compelling storylines, culminating in Seabrook’s thrilling OT winner on Wednesday night. That game is a classic example of proof that sports remains the home for the most compelling drama anywhere. When sport is at its best, no other narrative device – be it scripted film, literature, or reality television – can touch the raw emotions and catharsis created by sudden-death, ‘win or go home’ sporting events. Moments like Wednesday night are why we watch, and we are all just lucky that there are even more to come in the weeks ahead.

2. The Smiths, Lost in Space – A sampling of the critical response to After Earth: “Is “After Earth” the worst movie ever made?”; “After Earth is not as bad as The Last Airbender. Yes, you heard it here first: After Earth is not as bad as one of the worst big budget films ever released.”; “There is no small irony that this sci-fi action adventure is about surviving a serious crash. The scorched earth left behind by “After Earth” is sure to leave a scar on everyone involved.” Put it this way – the critical response to this film is worse than it was to A Good Day to Die Hard. Leading to a larger question: are we just about done with Will Smith, superstar? Yes, the film will make its money back overseas where he is still a draw, but here domestically it is just about guaranteed to be a flop. The mid-90s were a very long time ago after all, and between some truly terrible films and utterly pretentious interviews, I wonder how much longer until he becomes the Action equivalent to Adam Sandler as relic of another time in our culture. There are only so many times you can go to the Graham Norton/Fresh Prince Nostalgia Well, Big Willie.

#3-10 and Honourable Mentions, after the jump…

LCHC Power Rankings: Week of May 24th

The LCHC Power Rankings are our rating system for the top ten people, events, stories, and trends making moves in the world of sports and culture this week. Providing as a snapshot of the current cultural landscape, the Power Rankings offer a (subjective) guide to what mattered most in the cultural zeitgeist this week. They are put together every Friday by your humble committee (of one).

1. Dumb versus Dumber: The Memorial Day Box Office Showdown – This is a bit of misnomer on my part, because this is nothing close to an actual ‘showdown’. In one corner, we  have Hangover Part III, the (thankfully) final installment in the R-rated comedy franchise that has received truly awful critically and audience reviews so far and is coming off of one of the worst received comedy sequels in years (which is saying something). In the other corner, we have Fast 6, which is coming on the heels of its franchise’s most successful film both creatively and financially (which may be a relatively low bar, but I will be damned if Fast 5 doesn’t have fun knowingly embracing exactly what it is) and is already breaking records everywhere overseas with Universal’s biggest opening day in 22 different countries. Most box office observers had expected a somewhat close race between the two over the US long weekend; now, Dom and the gang are expected to easily outpace The Wolfpack’s final bow, with a four-day gross just short of $90 million (against $70M for TH3, which while still a great number for a R-rated comedy is less than half the $135M its predecessor opened to in 2011). Of course, the real winners here will be the audience, so long as something in F6 can come close to the brilliance of this scene. Ride or die, indeed.