Yes hi all I’m back. For the first time since I started Everything Must Swing I couldn’t make up my own mind on what to write about in a single blogpost, which felt kind of irritating and strange at first but somehow got ok after a while and I have since been able to come to terms with it. Therefore, this one is to be understood more as a collection of scattered, not necessarily-related topics that have contributed to filling my thoughts during the initial period of this fall (or autumn, for those reading from the UK). On top of this, the past few have literally been some sort of crazy weeks to experience, for (more or less) obvious reasons. Really interesting times to be in folks, oh boy they are.
How could you be grounded?
Moreover, the last two weeks have been characterised by the release of two of the most highly anticipated albums of this year, that is Policeman Sting’s 57th & 9th and the just unearthed tenth studio album by mighty Metallica called Hardwired… to Self-Destruct. While I’m definitely not in a position now to express myself on said records in form of a proper ARM writing (which might as well never see the light of the Interweb as far as I’m concerned), initial reception and surrogated feelings are very positive and encouraging, especially with regard to Sting’s output. I don’t know if it is because of the contemporary harsher socio-political times or maybe even a need for revisiting older sounds, but both records totally seem to borrow heavily from both artists’ harder and more direct past influences than ever before in recent times. As said, extremely uplifting signs suggesting that – unlike other artistic and societal domains – true, real music is still to be trusted and sought after.
Let me then switch from the audio to the video artistic realm for the last part of this post by spending a few words on a couple of TV shows that got me excited lately. My choice might indeed surprise you, not least because of the mainstream and social media buzz series like Black Mirror, Narcos or Westworld are currently getting. No, the series I’d like to highlight at this point in time are political drama show Designated Survivor and comedy The Ranch, both available on a website for watching TV shows called Netflix. I believe that my fondness of the two shows comes from two very different places. Designated Survivor relies on my enjoyment of the not-so-remotely-related show House of Cards – come on, in the end it’s all about the President of the United States of America – by adding an extremely addictive catchiness to its high-paced plot making it one of my most binge-watched series of all time. Sadly, there’s only one 10-episode season available as of now though judging by public reception and its ratings we shouldn’t be waiting too long for further seasons. The Ranch, instead, is a gritty, punchy and very, very funny short-form sitcom starring mass tech investor Ashton Kutcher that takes place at a fictional ranch in Colorado narrating the life of the Bennett family, nothing else than a truly dysfunctional group of relatives consisting of two drunken brothers, their angsty rancher father and his separated wife, who also happens to be the local bar owner. Simply great television, not much else to add.
Lastly, just in case you’re asking yourself, yes, I’m still wondering where the hell that promised Ryan Adams record is too. I haven’t forgotten either. Checking his Twitter feed on a daily basis. He can’t be fooling us around for too long. Can’t he?
Posted on November 20, 2016 March 19, 2018 by alexvolonte	This entry was posted in ARM, EMS, Journalism, Music, Myself, Review and tagged ARM, EMS, Journalism, Music, Myself, Review. Bookmark the permalink.