Tag: taylor swift

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Sports

Dear reader, the NFL is third-wheeling Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s love story

Graphic by Carleen Loney

Taylor Swift’s recent appearances at Chiefs games brought many new fans to the sport, and the NFL is cashing in.

Taylor Swift was seen for the first time at a Kansas City Chiefs game on Sept. 24. By then, the rumours had been confirmed: she was there to see her new boyfriend, Travis Kelce, in action. The Chiefs’ superstar tight end scored a touchdown for the occasion. From then ensued a series of events which nobody could have predicted a few weeks before. The Swifties and football fans, who at first look have nothing in common, are now both watching Chiefs games.

Taylor Swift and the NFL in numbers

The pop star attended the Oct. 1 Sunday Night Football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets. This game shattered multiple TV ratings records. On average, 27 million Americans watched the game, with a peak audience of 29.4 million people, according to NBC. This average viewership made the game the most-watched Sunday TV show since the Super Bowl in February.

Her mere presence at the game increased the game’s female viewership by over two million compared to the previous three Sunday Night Football games. This increase was most significant among girls aged 12 to 17, at an estimated 53 per cent. The viewership was up by 24 per cent for women aged 18–24 and 34 per cent for women aged 35 and over.

The gold rush

Taylor Swift is far more popular than the NFL worldwide. For those who are skeptical, Taylor Swift has more followers than the NFL’s official pages on every major social media platform. The most blatant example is on Instagram, where the singer has 275 million followers, while the NFL has 28.6 million, as of Oct. 27.

In this context, it was clear from the start who would get the most publicity by being associated with each other. Therefore, the NFL’s marketing department was immediately ready for it and jumped on the opportunity to showcase their game to a new audience. The league regularly posts about Taylor Swift’s presence at games on their social media accounts and has even made it a game highlight on their official website.

Being one of the most famous artists on the planet, Taylor Swift naturally has a significant and very dedicated fanbase. So when she started loving Travis Kelce, the Swifties did as well. That is evident when looking at jersey sales. In September, the Chiefs’ number 87 jersey was the fifth most popular in the NFL. Its sales also increased by approximately 400 per cent in the first 24 hours after the Chiefs versus Bears game on Sept. 24. 

Taylor Swift brings the NFL more social media impressions, higher TV ratings, and increases in jersey sales. Knowing this, the league certainly hopes that no bad blood erupts between the two lovers, or else Travis Kelce may become an anti-hero in the Swifties’ eyes. Indeed, they will forever and always stay on their idol’s side. If it were to happen, it would be a treacherous situation for the NFL, as it would leave a blank space in their strategy to appeal to a new audience.

Categories
Music

The Eras Tour: from Blockbuster Tour to Movie

Cineplex hosts The Era’s Sunday night tour, where the Usher’s primary weekend role is to get the audience up and dancing. PHOTO BY KAITLYNN RODNEY // THE CONCORDIAN

Concordia students dish on experiencing the year’s biggest concert film.

Taylor Swift has been inescapable for months now. Since kicking off in March, her wildly successful Eras Tour has been flooding social media feeds while heading towards becoming the highest-grossing tour of all time. Swift’s blockbuster brand recently saw another expansion as she quite literally put one out. On Oct.13, her concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour hit theatres across the globe, serving as a rendezvous for all Swifties. The Concordian spoke with Concordia students who attended select screenings.

The film captures the first three of Swift’s six performances at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which took place from Aug. 3-5. It is a near-exhaustive representation of an Eras Tour show from start to end, with a nearly three-hour runtime. 

The magnitude of Swift’s career is not only showcased by her setlist and the many albums she navigates through but also the camerawork. Swift is filmed up-close and personal in crystal clear quality, but also from far and above, which illustrates the immensity of the stadiums and crowds she is playing for. The cameras also highlight the grandiosity of the stage design, the complex world-building done for each era and the intricacy of each detail that is included. 

Yasmine Messaoudi, a first-year psychology student, praised the aerial and overhead shots due to their wide coverage of the visual effects that are projected in tandem with the stage. “It makes you realize how much it adds to the whole performance,” she said. 

The in-theatre experience has also become a communal event for Swifties. Emma Megelas, one of The Concordian’s news editors, explains how fans lit up the theatre by treating it like a true musical event: “Everyone was dancing, cheering, it felt like we were at the concert.” 

Journalism student Casey Kiss adds that fans also carried over the in-show tradition of trading friendship bracelets, further simulating a true Eras Tour environment from within movie theatres.

The movie experience essentially served as an alternative to attending the actual concert. Kiss was especially motivated to catch a viewing due to “How difficult and expensive it is to get tickets to the actual concert.” While some tend to view the Eras Tour movie as a spoiler of the actual show, both Kiss and Megelas noted that clips of the show are already all over TikTok and practically unavoidable. This sentiment was equally shared by communications student Maria Luisa Velez, who is set to attend one of Taylor Swift’s Toronto concerts next fall. She considers both experiences to be separate, with the movie being a good preparation for the concert and adding that it made her more excited. As put by Kiss, “Nothing can replicate the feeling of attending a stadium show like that.”

With shows lined up through next fall and the fresh release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift, her Eras Tour and their immense hype are clearly here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Categories
Music

Why are concert ticket prices so high?

When will ticket distribution companies learn that raising ticket prices will ultimately ruin their rapport with customers?

Picture yourself going online to buy a ticket for your favourite artist or group. You’re ready to spend your hard-earned cash to experience a live show. With dismay, upon checking the prices of just the nosebleed section tickets, you put your laptop away in disgust.  

In my case, it was ’90s Québec star Daniel Bélanger. He’s most known for writing hits like “Les Deux Printemps” and “Rêver Mieux.” I figured tickets to see him live would cost around $60 a piece, max $75. Little did I know that when I checked the website Event Tickets Center, tickets ranged from $160 to $315. I’m sorry, but even if you are someone who is considered to be a national treasure of Québec’s music culture, that doesn’t excuse $315 tickets. 

Honestly, it doesn’t seem worth it to go see a single group perform live for that much money. Rock and rap fans have it worse than the other genres, too. According to data analysis conducted by FinanceBuzz, from 2017 to 2021, the average rock ticket cost around $160, while rap ticket prices averaged $135. These prices have not budged since.

That being said, bands do have to make up for expenses. They have to pay the venue their cut, and they have to pay their roadies, their sound technicians and their travel costs. Buying gear and renting studio rooms are expensive, and those expenses will grow exponentially once you go on tour.  

Who is at fault here? Is it the artists/groups, the venues, or distribution companies? Could we even blame “good old inflation?” I can assure you that it’s a lot more complicated than that. 

In the case of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, it was the fault of LiveNation, who owns the ticket-distributing site known as Ticketmaster. LiveNation’s secondary ticket service, TicketsNow, and eBay’s subsidiary StubHub were reselling the tickets, charging fans upwards of $22,000. That’s the cost of like… four courtside Boston Celtics tickets. 

Will we ever see ticket prices drop? Probably not in the near future; however, artists are trying to help ease the pain of buying tickets. Pop star Caity Baser stated recently that her 2023 tour would “keep tickets affordable for all.” We have yet to receive a number on those prices. Sam Smith and Mod Sun are also charging less than the average, costing around $55 for the “Unholy” singer and $49 for the latter, according to SeatGeek. 

Hopefully, concert ticket prices will turn a new corner in the next couple of years because my wallet is skin and bone from last year’s and this year’s purchases.   

Graphic by Eric Wieder

Categories
Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Taylor Swift – Midnights

 When it’s noon, it’s always midnight somewhere else

Swift’s tenth studio album Midnights is a pop record through-and-through. Within days of releasing her new album, Swift quickly broke streaming records. On Halloween, she became the first artist ever to occupy all top ten spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Combining simple drum beats, a strong vocal performance and a hint of city pop synths, Midnights reminds listeners of the guilty, self-destructive thoughts that have followed the American artist throughout her career.

The first time I listened to Midnights I was in my bedroom at around 12 a.m — the perfect time for impulsively dyeing your hair or texting your ex. Immediately, I felt a huge 80’s aura which now that I think about it, Swift would definitely be able to pull off. Her voice is incredibly versatile and she shows off here. 

The ninetieth time I listened to Midnights, I was on my way to work and it didn’t hit the same spot it did the first time. Midnights is an album that should be specifically played after 9 p.m. It’s like when you eat KFC a few days in a row. The first night it’s delicious; the leftovers are even better. But by day five your head hurts and the only feeling left is of guilt and shame.

When I say Midnights isn’t her strongest lyrical performance, I’m talking about “Anti Hero”. Phrases like “Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby” don’t correlate with me at all and I feel like she could have done without them. “Sexy baby” sounds like something Ed Shearan would say in one of his cheesy love songs. 

On the other hand, lines such as “It’s me. Hi! I’m the problem, it’s me.” resonate with people who’ve blamed themselves for a regretful experience in their lives. This is a great phrase but it’s also too generalized. It reminds me of reading horoscopes. One might ask if these lyrics were made with the intention of becoming a viral TikTok audio clip. 

Lastly, I by no means think that Taylor Swift makes bad music. I just don’t believe that twenty years from now, when music historians look back on her career, Midnights will be recognized as one of her best works.

Trial Track: Anti Hero

Rating: 7/10

Categories
Music

Taylor Swift reclaims her past with Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

The re-recording and release of Swift’s sophomore album is more than just a makeover.

On Taylor Swift’s sophomore album Fearless, the then-18-year-old singer begged to be saved, but no one was coming to the rescue. Thirteen years later, Swift holds back from altering that innocence with wisdom while re-recording, and captures the same confusion and passion of youth on Fearless (Taylor’s Version).

The now-31-year-old has explored indie-pop on her last two albums; the first of which, Folklore, won her a Grammy for Album Of The Year. In her latest release, Swift sheds the maturity that she has gained over the years and goes back to her country roots, singing about being caught in the rain, 2:00 a.m., or passionate screaming matches (“Fearless,” “Hey Stephen,” “Breathe,” “The Way I loved You,” “Come In With The Rain,” and “The Other Side Of The Door”).

The production is cleaner, and her voice has improved, but at the end of the day, Swift stayed incredibly loyal to the original tracks. The point of the re-recordings is not to perfect these songs; Swift decided to re-record Fearless in order to regain ownership of them.

When her contract with Big Machine Records ended in 2018, she left and signed with Universal’s Republic Records. In her new deal, Swift made sure she has ownership of all her future masters. Regardless, Big Machine still owned the masters of her first six albums. They sold them to private-equity group Ithaca Holdings, which is owned by music manager Scooter Braun.

Swift has spoken publicly about Braun bullying her about the masters, proceeding to sell them for a reported $300 million to Shamrock Holdings. Even after the sale, Braun still profits off streams of Swift’s first six albums. In retaliation, she decided to re-record the tracks, so her fans can play her versions instead of ones that benefit Braun. In an Instagram post, Swift writes that she believes that all artists should own their own songs, captioning the picture with “The artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.”

On Fearless (Taylor’s Version), she embraces her past, instead of shying away from it. Sung years later, and with the added context of time, the lyrics take on new meanings. On “Fifteen” she sings, “Count to ten / Take it in / This is life before you know who you’re gonna be.” She expresses that there was no need for her to be in a rush to grow up and figure everything out. There is peace within the chaotic process of being lost in dreams of alternate futures.

The original “Forever and Always” is filled with Swift’s signature revenge-filled lyrics, sung in a bitter and sarcastic tone, but fans have noticed that the newest version has a completely different feeling. When she sings, “Baby what happened? Please tell me,” the lyric is filled with insecurity, confusion as to where everything went wrong, and most of all, a deep sense of sadness. While years later, Swift forgets about the anger she felt, she remembers the pain her younger self was in, and expresses compassion and understanding towards it. Somehow, in the re-release, Swift has managed to become even more vulnerable with her fans.

Alternatively, ”White Horse” comes off as much lighter in the newest version. Previously, it was sung from a girl in the process of moving on, while now it is sung by a woman who has completely moved on. Fans hear the lyrics, “I’m gonna find someone someday / Who might actually treat me well” as more affirmative than just merely hopeful, knowing that she is currently in a long-term relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn who has been the subject of love songs in her last three albums.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is filled with anger towards boys that broke her heart, herself, and the world. At 18-years-old, Swift writes about fairytale love stories in some songs, while in others she is perplexed as to why there does not seem to be any happy endings. The album shows an inner battle between fantasy and reality.

“Change” takes on a completely new meaning in the face of the conflict that ignited these re-recordings. She sings, “It’s hard to fight when the fight ain’t fair.” After being in the music industry for over a decade, Swift is very aware that the way it works is far from just. Confidently, Swift sings, “These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down.” In revisiting her work, not only does she get to explore the anger that comes with youth, but also the unquenchable hope.

While the six previously unreleased songs have the same lyrical tropes that we see throughout Fearless, they sound much more similar to her later work. Swift had no obligation to copy the country style of earlier versions, so she took advantage of this freedom to play around with them. This resulted in these added tracks having more breathing room and a melodic sound. In “You All Over Me (feat. Maren Morris),” Swift explores how she cannot shed her past. “But like the dollar in your pocket, it’s been spent and traded in,” she sings. “You can’t change where it’s been.”

With Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Swift rescues and reclaims what is rightfully hers: her past. 

Categories
Opinions

Gender inequality is real in the music industry: Taylor Swift can’t re-record or use her old songs

As a 20-year-old music fan living in Canada, I have been listening to Taylor Swift for as long as I can remember.

When I was younger, she was an idol, and I still love her and her music. From “Our Song” to “Lover,” her songs just keep getting better. I have to admit that there’s something about her old songs that hits me differently – perhaps because of my sentimental ties to the memories of these older songs.

On Nov. 14, Swift tweeted about how Scott Borchetta, founder and CEO of Big Machine Label Group, and Scooter Braun, the company’s new owner, wouldn’t let her perform at the American Music Awards (AMAs), where she’d be honoured with the Artist of the Decade Award.

Ironically, as soon as she expressed concern about the restriction, Big Machine Label Group released a statement saying artists can perform their music live without the label’s permission. They granted “all licences of their artists performances to stream post-show and for rebroadcast on mutually approved platforms.” However, they still won’t let the artists re-record or use them. This statement was obviously directed at Swift.

When Braun purchased Big Machine Label Group, he became the owner of Swift’s first six albums. According to Swift, Borchetta never gave her the opportunity to buy her music before selling the label, even though it is suspected he did with other artists. Braun owning Swift’s music means he legally controls it, which is why he’s allowed to tell her what she can and can’t do with it.

Essentially, two men who didn’t write, sing or collaborate on her songs wouldn’t let her perform them or use them in a documentary she is filming with Netflix. It is evident that this is all an attempt at controlling Swift in order to make more money off of her and her work.

This issue speaks to a wider systemic issue of women’s rights in music. Swift is a successful and well-respected artist, but it seems like it’s never enough. This has happened to many other amazing women in the music industry. Demi Lovato has been body-shamed countless times by fans, media, and other celebrities. According to MSN, Lady Gaga was also judged because of her looks and fashion sense and felt she was never enough. Miley Cyrus was also judged after the split with Liam Hemsworth. This confirms that there is still a long way to go for gender equality.

However, according to Vox, Swift will be re-recording all of her old songs starting in November 2020, when her contract with Big Machine Label Group legally allows her to.

But what about her Netflix documentary? Borchetta and Braun won’t let her use any of her old recorded songs. What would a Taylor Swift documentary even be without “Mine” or “I Knew You Were Trouble?”

In the meantime, show Swift some support by using #IStandWithTaylor on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Categories
Opinions

Hollywood’s girl next door or swift business woman?

I was never really a Taylor Swift fan. Sure, her songs get stuck in my head from playing on repeat on the radio, but Taylor Swift always represented something unattainable; a tall, blonde, blue-eyed, skinny, perfect girl next door loved by everyone who met her. Her attempt to be darker in her past albums seemed really comical to me.

In my opinion, her recent music video, You Need To Calm Down, tackles more than just the fight for equality. It seems to be shouting to everyone, “Hey! If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it!”

The music video and VMA performance featured cameos by several prominent members of the LGBTQ+ community, such as Ellen DeGeneres, RuPaul Charles, and several drag queens.

According to USA TODAY, after having won Video of The Year at this year’s VMAs, there has been a lot of backlash claiming the pop star is “using Pride as a fashion statement or marketing ploy.” But many in the LGBTQ+ community have her back, and her allyship seems to really benefit the community regardless.

In an interview with Insider, Tan France,  Queer Eye’s fashion guru, stated that he believes the community shouldn’t automatically assume that Swift is acting on self-serving motives. France added that even though the pop star hasn’t been a vocal advocate until recently, she has taken great strides in her allyship, concluding her music video by urging viewers to sign her Change.org petition in support of the Equality Act. The petition has since obtained over half a million signatures and counting.

The act has yet to pass in the U.S. Senate, and Swift hopes the petition will urge the Senate to proceed. If approved, the Equality Act would protect the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination, ensuring that all American citizens are treated equally.

With a net worth of over $360 million, Billboard stated that the pop star has made some very charitable donations to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD),  the Joyful Heart Foundation for survivors of sexual assault, and various Go Fund Me campaigns, among other things.

Her charitable actions don’t necessarily speak louder than her luxuries – what with her two private jets and $84 million real estate portfolio, according to a recent article in the Business Insider. We can’t forget that Swift is not just Hollywood’s girl next door, but a boss business woman doing her best to manage her extreme successes.

Swift released her new album, Lover on Aug. 23. Featuring radio hit “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down,” among other poppy tunes such as “The Man” (where Swift imagines her life as a man) and “Soon You’ll Get Better.”  In the latter, the star sings “I hate to make this all about me, but who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do?” — her music is, after all, about her. She is the centre of her work, and she just happened to jump on the LGBTQ+ train. We can’t shade her for that.

In my opinion, although she could be doing more for other communities worldwide (ie, donating to Indigenous communities in Brazil affected by the fires in the Amazon), there is a lot of pressure put on Swift, and other celebrities, to be vocal allies. This makes them prime bait for public backlash – while these are figures that can use their positions for political advantage, they are not politicians, but privileged voting citizens. They simply have louder microphones than the rest of us.

 

Categories
Music

The cuisine of music

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

Sometimes albums remind us of food

People who have chromesthesia see music in colour. I, instead, have foodsthesia. I see music in terms of food I’m familiar with.

Food and music are both cultural objects, imbued with a sense of identity and belonging. Not only that, both can be appropriated and sold to make tons of money, so they’re even more palatable for the mainstream. Both are celebrations of who we are as people.

Food is actually very evocative; it conveys culture, conceptions of class and even time, as certain food in different cultures is tied to a celebration or holiday. Almost every culture loves to share music and food. They bring people and communities closer together, bridging the gap between different cultures, even if for only a short amount of time.

So much description and identity can be gleaned from food, so this exercise in comparing it to albums can create a new layer for musical criticism. Or maybe this will be just fun.

Fish and Chips

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) by The Beatles

I chose fish and chips, partly because The Beatles are British, but also because Sgt. Pepper is a good album full of classic hits just like the dish. As with fish and chips, I won’t seek out this album, but once or twice a year, I have the urge to go back to Sgt. Pepper. I’ll have a good listen, and I’ll forget about it for another year.

Beef Tartare

The Money Store (2012) by Death Grips

Death Grips are generally aggressive-sounding, but they have a lot of depth to their music. I am immediately reminded of beef tartare by the band’s overall sound, because both are an acquired taste. I totally understand why people enjoy this album, but like beef tartare, sometimes its rawness is too much for me to handle. Maybe one day I’ll truly appreciate this album.

Deconstructed Cheesecake

Homogenic (1997) by Björk

Homogenic goes for a pop-experimental sound, yet what’s there is so sweet. Like the album, deconstructed cheesecake intentionally lacks the structure and shape of regular cheesecake, looking fancy and strange, but the sweet flavours still shine through.

Steak and Fries

channel ORANGE (2012) by Frank Ocean

This album is meaty and filled with so many great tracks, my favourite being “Pyramids.” Ocean’s melodies are sensual and emotional. The substantial tracks, like “Sierra Leone,” are the steak, because they are flavourful, fusing amazing instrumentals, lyrics and Ocean’s vocal range. Meanwhile, interlude tracks like the delightful “Fertilizer,” are the fries you eat in between the steak. The track proves that side dishes are just as important as the main course. And I’m always in the mood for steak and fries.

Shrimp Pizza

Uyai (2017) by Ibibio Sound Machine

Uyai is the shrimp pizza of albums. Both just hit the right notes for me. It’s the bonding of different elements that I love about this album; the electronic beats, acoustic instruments and the rhythmic singing mesh so well together. Shrimp pizza is analogous, because pizza is a melding of different elements. The crust, the sauce, the cheese and the special toppings fit together harmoniously.

All-you-can-eat buffet

MM… FOOD (2004) by MF DOOM

This album’s theme is literally food; go listen to it.

Whitewashed hummus

Reputation (2017) by Taylor Swift

Hummus has a long history in the Middle East. It’s flavoursome, dense and richly textured. But white people appropriated hummus, stripped it of flavour and history, and made it super bland. Reputation is Swift’s lacklustre hummus. She changed her sound from country music to R&B-inspired beats and melodies, meanwhile bringing up old grudges that few people care about. Swift’s album is uninspiring and tasteless, despite the fact that her other albums were pop hits and in her own style.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin

Categories
Music

Taylor Swift’s ever-increasing ego

Graphics by Alexa Hawksworth

A slightly exaggerated and political take on her new song

Our favourite multimillionaire Taylor Swift has released her latest Kanye West diss track, “Look What You Made Me Do.” Swift has been more-or-less dormant since the release of her 2014 album, 1989. It seems in that time Swift has been unable to “shake it off,” and has somehow become even more vindictive.

Her peers and superiors are creating intelligent, unique-sounding and politically-motivated music that has had a decisive impact on popular culture, such as Harry Style’s “Sign of the Times” and Kendrick Lamar’s album, DAMN . Meanwhile, Swift decided to release a self-absorbed song about her “tortured” past.

The track has a minimalist, electronic-pop sound, similar to songs on her last album. The song’s primary focus is its vocals and downright terrible lyrics. Diss tracks have always had a place in pop music—Justin Timberlake’s 2002 diss track about Britney Spears, “Cry Me a River,” being a notable example.

However, Swift just doesn’t have the bite to pull it off. With lyrics like: “The role you made me play / Of the fool, no, I don’t like you,” Swift hits as hard as a 15-year-old on LiveJournal whining about high school. At the same time, she delivers the lines thinking they are badass and well-crafted disses, but in reality, the lyrics are as vicious as the average Tumblr post. The music video is much worse.

In the video, Swift is standing atop a pile of more than a dozen Taylor Swifts from different eras of her career who are fighting to get to the top, dramatically casting her arms to the side as they fall into the void. When I first watched it, I paused and took a short walk.

Last year, Beyoncé released her seminal album, Lemonade—an album that was a socially-aware commentary on blackness and femininity. In contrast, after seeing that scene in Swift’s video, I questioned the artistic value of any and all music. Swift has always had a tone-deaf approach to her music and public persona, lacking any sign of self-awareness or tact—this new Taylor has multiplied that approach tenfold.

Her silence during the 2016 United States presidential election was deafening. She has a massive platform, millions of fans and has cultivated a feminist public persona, yet refrained from standing up for what she believed in during such a divisive time—actions that directly affect her fans who are people of colour, women and part of the LGBTQ community. As the recent Video Music Awards showed, many of her peers are actively engaged in politics, even though their music may not be particularly political. Swift has refrained from the slightest mention of politics, maybe out of fear of causing controversy. I don’t know.

But what I do know is music is released into a world dominated by politics, and people’s public perceptions are not separate from that. Swift has released a song in a post-President Trump world – of course people are going to react politically. Over the summer, Nazis openly marched in Charlottesville, Va., trans service people have been denied the right to serve in the U.S. military, and Trump pardoned a racist sheriff convicted of violating civil rights laws. While all of that is happening, Swift decides to release another grueling, self-indulgent track.

With all the political events that have transpired over the summer, I can’t help but criticize the song’s irrelevancy. I can’t consider the song some kind of escapist anthem either, because the beat isn’t fun and the lyrics lack depth. This track dwells on the drama Swift hasn’t let go of, while the rest of the world has moved on. It’s absolutely fine if you enjoy the song, it reflects nothing about you, but the song certainly reflects Taylor Swift’s lack of self-awareness.

Graphics by Alexa Hawksworth

Categories
Music

Music in the News

Send in the DOOM bots

MC DOOM has found himself in hot water after a London gig hosted by the UK’s Living Proof crew saw an imposter in a mask show up rather than the metal-faced MC DOOM, who has in the past admitted to hiring actors to lip sync his songs for him at shows. He was booked to perform a DJ set by for the event but what they got instead was a man who showed up in a mask intending only to sign autographs. “We were told by management that he would appear but would not DJ and was just going to sign autographs. We said this was unacceptable as we had agreed and paid for a DJ set,” the crew said in a statement. “Ten minutes later we received a call saying that he would DJ… or that’s what we were led to believe.” The show’s organizers were not pleased considering they’d already paid DOOM’s fee upfront. “We will be seeking legal advice and are doing our best to get his show fee refunded.”

 

The Republican playlist just keeps getting smaller

Twisted Sister is the latest band to object to one of their songs being played by the Romney/Ryan ticket, after VP nominee Paul Ryan used their song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” at a rally in Pennsylvania. In a statement issued regarding the use of their track, frontman Dee Snider said: “I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan’s use of my band Twisted Sister’s song. There is almost nothing he stands for that I agree with, except the use of the (home exercise regime) P90X.” This comes on the heels of the Silversun Pickups issuing a cease-and-desist order against Romney for his use of their song “Panic Switch” as part of his campaign and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello denouncing Ryan as a fan of his band since he represented “the embodiment of the machine our music rages against.”

 

You belong with me, Kennedy

Pop singer Taylor Swift is apparently a ‘Kennedy Groupie’, according to an article in US Weekly. Swift is, according to a friend, “obsessed with the family” having recently started dating 18 year old Conor Kennedy and reportedly crashing a family wedding last week. The obsession came about after the crooner watched The Kennedys mini-series last year, soon after which she began collecting memorabilia and reading up on the family’s history. Now it seems shes looking to become a part of that history herself. “Taylor badly wants to marry Conor and have a Kennedy baby,” an insider told the National Enquirer recently. “She sees herself as the next Jackie O. and aims to become as famous as she was, a style icon on a world stage.”

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