OPE! Mixtape #36: Albini
Indie rock's greatest drum sound
Welcome to OPE!, the ranch dressing of music blogs by Brady Gerber. OPE! is a daily blog, but this weekly newsletter includes more song reviews, my favorite links of the week, and exclusive essays. All typos are intentional.
Well, hello there. How are you?
This week, I wrote a Pulitzer Prize-worthy essay regarding Kendrick, Drake, Everybody’s Talking About LA, and the future of the music industry. I then deleted it and took yesterday off to go to Universal Studios Hollywood with my roommate. I had more fun at Universal than thinking about *shutter* brands.
Anyway, let’s get to the dang thing. Here are this week’s links and songs.
MY FAVORITE LINKS OF THE WEEK
In all seriousness, I am sad about the passing of Steve Albini. I don’t have anything clever or insightful to add to all the tributes released in his wake, yet he dominated my group chats and conversations with friends throughout the last week. I really enjoyed Albini’s appearance on Conan’s podcast just six months ago talking about his process of producing Nirvana and his general thoughts on working with bands, including his iconic drum sound.
I think I’m going to publish a longer essay about Everybody’s in LA next week, because I’m fascinated by John Mulaney and think his new Netflix “live” “event” was pleasant and dogshit. I’d like to unpack it more, so in the meantime, give it a watch, because it does have some genuinely great moments.
Remember Adult Swim bumps?
The Activision-ing of Xbox. (I think Conan and Skill Up need to start paying me for all the promotion I do for them—but yeah, Skill Up crushes it on his takedown on Xbox’s baffling past week and how it reflects a persistent and bleak attitude in pretty much any industry associated with entertainment or content.)
THIS WEEK’S MIXTAPE
Gryphon Rue – “High Priestess”
3.5/4
Gryphon Rue makes me want to steal Tom Ripley’s sweater vest and invest in a medium-sized boat and only live fabulously in my own head. Maybe you’ll be invited. Y’all know my rule that I’ll listen to anything with a good drummer. Sexy stardust.
The Bug Club – “Quality Pints”
3/4
Someone make sure Edgar Wright hasn’t had a spasm and a half from listening to The Bug Club and regained the confidence to write a good movie again. Makes me want to drink a Guinness from a shoe and then slap someone with a thoughtful fish. The song is too long but so is life.
2.5/4
I have a snake in my boot and it’s telling me that liking Hagop Tchaparian in 2005 would have made me the Prom King. Sad how we discover some music too late. “Treacle” is fine enough and adds nothing.
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
2.5/4
The dust has settled and it seems like “Not Like Us” is the takeaway from the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Some of my colleagues have written about the nuances of what makes “Not Like Us” an epic diss track between the two aging rappers. All I can add is that “Not Like Us” is more interesting than anything off Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. “Not Like Us” also falls in line with this year’s trend of popular music requiring an encyclopedic knowledge of the musicians in question and the state of rap in this decade … which feels like the state of rap in the 2010s. “Not Like Us” feels like shots fired for a beef seven years too late. At least aging rap fans now have something to talk about. When will the 2020s actually start?
2/4
beabadoobee, why are you listening to Travis???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Why???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Like, why?
Why.
Uh.
Whywhy.
Whywhywhywhywhywhywhy.
Tell me why.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Ugh.
Like.
I mean.
Uh.
Uhhhhhh.
OK.
OK fine.
It’s fine.
Fine.
It’s fine.
“Take A Bite” is, uh, fine.
Like drinking Trader Joe’s wine that’s been spilled over an elephant’s foot. At least it’s cheap.
And that’s it!
Until next Wednesday, as always.
With love and all the other good things,
-b
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Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. Words and cartoons by yours truly. Stock photos by Substack unless credited. Animations made using FlipaClip and EZGIF. My views don’t reflect my clients or the publications and brands I work with. All typos are intentional.