Playing God
🔀 Shuffle Sundays #73 • Bon Iver, Polyphia, Panic! at The Disco, David Bowie, Nathaniel Drew, Beavis and Butt-Head, Sojung Kim-McCarthy, and more!
🎙 » Bon Iver, live at Forest Hills Stadium (NYC, 2022)
indie-folk, experimental, electronic • 22 songs
When was the last time you went to a concert by an artist that you really like for the first time? Last week I got to cross an item from my bucket list and I saw Bon Iver live for the very first time, accompanied by my friend and talented musician Jenny Kern, and it was everything I could have imagined and more.
Prior to this, I can’t really remember the last time I attended a concert in an arena/stadium type of venue, and I must say that that was something I wasn’t missing at all. Nothing wrong with Forest Hills Stadium by any means, but when you play for a crowd that big, you’ll inevitably attract all kinds of people, including a considerable amount that is not even interested in the music you’re playing. And if you’re not seated closer to the stage (who can even afford good tickets these days anyway?), you’ll probably have so much going on around you (selfies, laughs, drunks, “instagramable” moments), that it can be very tricky to be present and focus on the performance, at least that’s what ends up happening to me in most cases.
Now back to the concert… On tour to promote their 2019 album “i,i”, they’ve played a close to 2 hours set that pleased fans throughout their whole discography, including Heavenly Father, an incredible song that unfortunately is not available on any streaming platform. Even though I’ve been enjoying their music since their debut record came out 15 years ago, and especially with the masterpiece sophomore album, the more recent releases didn’t really grab me that much right away, until recently when I decided to pay closer attention in preparation to the concert, and especially after witnessing the live version of each track, that somehow is even better than the studio version. It’s hard not to think that Bon Iver is just its frontman Justin Vernon, but seeing them live makes you realize how much every single one of them contributes so much to the whole experience. And speaking of experience, the music paired with the lighting design and stage takes everything to the next level, making the concert almost an outer-worldly experience.
I don’t consider myself a religious person, but if Bon Iver was a church, I’d be there every Sunday morning!
Listen to this playlist I put together with the setlist of the show, a great way to get familiar with their music.
🎶 » Playing God, by Polyphia
Polyphia is an instrumental progressive rock/metal band that has been active for over a decade, but only recently crossed my radar, thanks to their great new single Playing God, a track that flirts with Spanish-influenced guitars and even a touch of bossa nova. After losing track of how many times I played it on loop, I decided to start navigating through their previous releases and Polyphia is slowly becoming one of my favorite bands currently, thanks to their genre-bending and massive creative identity.
🎶 » Viva Las Vengeance, by Panic! At The Disco
Panic! at The Disco are back with the brand new single called Viva Las Vengeance, which is also the title of their upcoming album, to be released on August 19th, and it’s being described as “the tale about growing up in Las Vegas. It’s about love, fame, burnout, and everything that happens in between.” Although I was one of the few people to truly enjoy the more electronic direction of their last album Pray For The Wicked (2018), it’s also pretty cool to see the band exploring a more organic “band” sound again while maintaining the always great theatricality through their sound.
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🧩 » Random Bits
👨🏻🎤 • I don’t know about you but, although I always enjoy behind-the-scenes stories from other artist, music biopics (and docs) seems to have been stuck in a formula and all the movies end up looking almost the same. Hope that this new one about David Bowie, Moonage Daydream, hits the spot, as it’s being described as “a cinematic odyssey exploring David Bowie’s creative and music journey”.
👀 • Despite the clickbait title, I Can't Stand Matt D'Avella is a very honest and important video from Nathaniel Drew exploring the comparison trap we all fall victim to in the online world.
🎬 • I had absolutely no idea that a new Beavis and Butt-Head movie was in the making, and honestly, by the trailer, it looks a whole lot of fun, in the dumbest way possible, as usual!
⚡️ Visual Inspiration
Sojung Kim-McCarthy is an award-winning, versatile illustrator who dances freely between a dreamy, colorful style and a more realistic, painterly one. I especially enjoy the series of postcards inspired by Lee Isaac Chung’s acclaimed film Minari. Check out her website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
🎶 » New Music
this week’s new albums I'm curious to check out
Also, new singles from Lizzo, Joji, Surfaces, Fog Chaser, and many more. If you’re curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to follow my 2022 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
I’ve also got a love/hate relationship with big live gigs… they’d be great if not for all the people 😂
I had the same experience seeing Bon Iver live at Radio City a few years before 22, A Million came out. He was definitely starting to explore some really interesting electronic arrangements and pairing them with incredible light displays. I didn't really get 22, A Million at first, but it has since become one of my favorite records of his. i,i is great, too. So glad you got to go see him!
Also, thank you for the shoutout!