Taylor Moves Swiftly (Again)
Mōrena lil shits!!
Omg yesterday I forgot to include the main story I wanted you all to read re: The Wiggles!!! Like, I’d written it in my google doc, but just hadn’t copied and pasted it into Revue (which is the tool I use to send my newsletters.) Anyway, nothing like a lil bit of breaking the fourth wall and reminding you that I’m not perfect to start the newsletter!
We've got a hearty edish for you today, including a new episode of Culture Vulture, a Taylor Swift rant, and the best film I've seen in AGES. ILY!
Help pay my rent?? 🥺 — www.getrevue.co
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In today’s newsletter:
The Wiggles topped Triple J’s Hot 100 (for real this time)
Why won’t people leave Taylor Swift alone?
The most beautiful film I've seen in the longest time: The Fallout
A fresh episode of Culture Vulture
Australian Open reverses the Peng Shuai T-shirt ban after outcry
Camp Rock vs High School Musical
The Wiggles topped Triple J’s Hot 100
For any of my non NZ/Aussie besties, The Wiggles are a kids band, with bangers like Big Red Car and Fruit Salad. Now, they’re also the hottest band on Triple J according to the Hottest 100 list they just took out.
The Wiggles recorded a cover of ‘Elephant’, from Tame Impala’s 2012 album Lonerism, mixing in their hit ‘Fruit Salad’ and I gotta say, it has literally no right being so good??? The purple wiggle (not sleepy Jeff, the new one) has pipes! Please have a listen:
It’s also the first cover to ever top the annual countdown and actually outranked the original version (Tame Impala’s ‘Elephant’ came in at #7 in the Hottest 100 of 2012). Go off Wiggles!
Why won’t people leave Taylor swift alone?
Yesterday another week 50-something-year old dude made the career-damaging (I won’t say ending because he's getting pretty good publicity rn) decision to go on the record saying that Taylor Swift doesn’t write her own songs. Of all the words you could have strung together, all the tangents you could take in an interview… WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!? I know what you’re thinking - CONTEXT LUCE CONTEXT - and I give you much more of what I think on this week’s Culture Vulture - but here’s a wee summary.
Damon Albarn (the dude at the front of Blur and behind Gorillaz) was interviewed by Mikael Wood for the LA Times and said this:
Mikael: You think a lot of modern musicians are relying on sound and attitude?
Damon: Name me someone who’s not.
Mikael: She may not be to your taste, but Taylor Swift is an excellent songwriter.
Damon: She doesn’t write her own songs.
Mikael: Of course she does. Co-writes some of them.
Damon: That doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great. And some of the greatest singers — I mean, Ella Fitzgerald never wrote a song in her life. When I sing, I have to close my eyes and just be in there. I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that sense. A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odd. I think she’s exceptional.
Now naturally, I have some things to say:
You can dislike someone’s music without fully discrediting what they do 😀
Taylor Swift does write her own songs. In fact, she wrote Speak Now ALL ON HER OWN AT 19 YEARS OLD (which we talk about in our 2-part series on Taylor Swift) JUST TO PROVE IT TO PPL LIKE YOU 😃
You say that “there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes” (implying that co-writers are lesser than ur precious solo songwriters) but then go on to say that Billie Eilish and her brother are "really interesting songwriters." THEY LITERALLY, VERY PUBLICLY CO-WRITE LIKE ALL OF THEIR SONGS, SO WHAT IS THE POINT YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE? 😄
You don’t realllllly have to pit two women artists against each other to say that you prefer 'minor and odd' songs 😁
If you think Taylor Swift's songs are "endlessly upbeat" have u heard 'The Last Time' or 'Soon You'll Get Better' or IDK the 10 minutes of tear my hair/heart out All Too Well?? 😆
Ur just lyin 😅
Why did u say this? 🥲
Taylor Swift, who wrote (or maybe didn’t because apparently, she doesn’t actually do that) a whole ass song about how she keeps getting wronged by dudes in the music industry, is preeeetty good at saying what needs to be said at this point, and did not go easy on Damon:
And then Jack Antonoff, her longtime collaborator/co-writer (not that being a co-writer actually counts) also said:
And then finally, the man himself, old mate Damo, said:
Which is interesting because the interview reads like just an edited transcript?? People are now calling for the LA Times reporter to release all the info that have from the interview but honestly, the damage is done (we don’t want another Kim/Kanye leaked phone call situation.)
Side note: Damon's kinda done this before. Once, when he was working on some music with Adele, he said she was "very insecure" and characterized the work as "middle of the road," noting that he didn't think his contributions would make the final cut (this sounds like he was a bit insecure about his work not making the final cut, actually.) Anyway, Adele too clapped back:
"It ended up being one of those 'don't meet your idol' moments," Adele told Rolling Stone.
"And the saddest thing was that I was such a big Blur fan growing up. But it was sad, and I regret hanging out with him."
None of it was right. None of it suited my record. He said I was insecure, when I'm the least-insecure person I know. I was asking his opinion about my fears, about coming back with a child involved—because he has a child—and then he calls me insecure?"
Again, Albarn did later deny ever calling her insecure, stating the reports were concocted from someone overhearing a conversation with a friend (where he still called her insecure orrrrrr?)
Anyway, Damon, if you’re reading this, I’d encourage you to listen to our Taylor Swift series (Part 1 is here) and maybe watch some of her ‘Making of a Song’ videos???
The most beautiful movie I’ve seen in the longest time: The Fallout!!
This section is brought to you by our mates at HBO Max - how sick is that!?
Content warning: This segment explores grief and trauma, please read with care.
You guys always tell me that one of the reasons you love the newsletter is because I’m always giving you recommendations, and let me tell you - this has to be one of the best films I have seen in the longest time (and one of the best things I’ve recommended in here!!)
The Fallout is a film that centres around Vada (Jenna Ortega) as she navigates the emotional trauma that follows a tragedy at her school. Rather than focus on the event itself, The Fallout follows Vada and her friends (notably Maddie Zeigler who does an absolutely fantastic job!) as they learn what it means to process trauma and make their way through the many aspects of grief. Often films that try to capture the teenage experience (especially when addressing emotions) can miss the mark and make viewers feel isolated from the experience, but that’s just not the case with The Fallout. Themes like this need to be both handled and portrayed with so much care and as you watch each character try to find their footing in an emotional freefall, you can see that they certainly were.
I think for me, the moment that I realised that the people behind this film really got it was during a scene where Vada is speaking to her classmate Quinton who just lost his younger brother. They’re sitting in a car together and Vada simply asks him what his brother was like.
“I feel him,” Quinton says.
“I know he’s still with me. He’s not gonna let me go back and be sad, he’s not going to let me go forward and freak out. He keeps me. He keeps me calm."
“A lot of people don’t ask me about him,” he continues.
“So thank you.”
As someone who knows exactly what it means to lose a younger brother, this scene was everything to me. Sometimes all you want is for someone to ask you about the person you’ve lost - I can’t speak to everyone's experience, but it’s my favourite thing in the world when people bring my brother up to me. It means they’re thinking about him - or they want to know more about him. It keeps him around (I’ve literally had so many conversations that look almost identical to this!) All it takes is crossing that initial barrier of discomfort and asking - which is what Vada does so wonderfully for Quinton in the car.
These kids aren’t mature, and they’re not meant to be - they’re kids - and that’s the magic here. This film shows us just how emotionally intelligent young people can be while letting them be their angsty and unapologetically-Gen-Z selves.
The Fallout is honest and beautiful and told with such heart that I need you all to go and watch it and email me back with all your thoughts!!
Also, the soundtrack is done by FINNEAS (friend of SYSCA) so you know it’s incredible.
The Fallout is streaming exclusively on HBO Max on January 27.
NEW EPISODE OF CULTURE VULTURE!
A Bonus Jonas, Taylor Swift Claps Back, & Jamie Lynn Spears Enters The Chat - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
This weeks episode is HEARTY angels! We talk about Nick and Priyanka's new baby, Taylor Swift being told that she doesn't write her own songs, & Ye demanding that he gets the final edit on his upcoming documentary "Jeen-Yus," all before sinking our teeth into the latest in the #FreeBritney movement. We look at the release of Jamie Lynn's new book, why fans aren't happy with the timing or the content, and the web of people involved in the world of Britney Spears.
Australian Open reverses the Peng Shuai T-shirt ban after outcry
My hypothesis - they read my newsletter yesterday and didn’t want to feel the wrath of the SYSCAhood coming down on them. Anyway, Craig Tiley, chief executive of Tennis Australia (who organise the Aussie Open) said they would now allow spectators to wear the T-shirt as long as they attended without the "intent to disrupt" and were "peaceful".
"If someone wants to wear a T-shirt and make a statement about Peng Shuai that's fine," he was quoted as saying in The Sydney Morning Herald.
He did also say that banners would still not be allowed as "it really takes away from the comfort and safety of the fans," but you can't win em all right? Side note: I've heard nothing about any actual tennis being played at the Aussie Open yet.
A disappointing but expected outcome in yesterdays poll
Yesterday I asked you whether you preferred Camp Rock or High School Musical - two movies that, if you were born in the late 90s, were incredibly formative. For me Camp Rock was/ is my comfort movie, and going into this poll I kinda knew that would be the unpopular vote, but damn, I didn’t realise how much more you all loved HSM??? Here are the results:
80% voted High School Musical
20% voted Camp Rock
It’s fine 🙃
A Bonus Jonas, Taylor Swift Claps Back, & Jamie Lynn Spears Enters The Chat (Culture Vulture)
Twitter suspends Wordle-ruining bot (The Verge)
James Webb Space Telescope arrives at new home in space (Space.com)
Litter Boxes for Students Who Identify as Furries? Not So, Says School Official (NY Times)
Covid hits crucial Australian aid ship bound for tsunami-struck Tonga (BBC)
Tumblr is cool because it’s not (The New Yorker)
The world this week, wrapped up for you! (The Shit Show)
GET A 14 DAY FREE TRIAL TO WATCH EUPHORIA OR YELLOWJACKETS! (Neon)
You can listen to us talk about all things pop culture on Culture Vulture, about THE WORLD on The Shit Show or watch us explain the internet on Extremely Online.
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LOVE YOU THE MOST, LUCE XX
