Since the Pandemic Broke:
No new Sports! (Unless you like UFC.)
No new Movies! (Unless you liked Becky.)
No new TV Shows! (Except for game shows already taped.)
No new TV or Movie Productions: See this LIST
Netflix continues to add subscribers by the millions and has been putting out new major films (for Netflix) every few weeks. But many streaming options have increased their libraries by adding classic content, not necessarily anything that's been produced this year. (Netflix added 1980's Airplane! This week.) As an industry, there was no bigger entertainment winner during the pandemic than companies like Netflix.
Editor's Note: Not you, Quibi.
But one section of entertainment has continued to churn out real new content and that's music. Just remember, there's always new music, sometimes you just have to look for it.
Um by Um
Three-Fifths of Alice Donut recruited a new singer and came up with a nice little side project called Um. Norwegian Suite is the strongest song of the bunch, but it's a good overall EP.
Ghosts V & VI by Nine Inch Nails
During the pandemic, Nine Inch Nails didn't release one album, they released two.
Ghosts V was alright, it felt too optimistic for me.
Ghosts VI was darker, right up my alley.
Favorite from VI? Definitely The Cursed Clock.
Run the Jewels 4 by Run the Jewels
"A Modern Protest Classic....Five of Five Stars." - Pitchfork
The Ju$t single is almost perfect, smooth and rebellious at the same time, a very hard combination to pull off.
Seminar IX by Old Man Gloom
Woke up in a pandemic surrounded by news of death and despair, only to be surprisingly greeted by a pummeling from Aaron Turner & Company. This album is superb.
Tea Party Revenge Porn by Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine
Technically, the new album is not quite out yet, but the lead single is. Check out Taliban USA below. I have to warn you it sounds more like Lard than the Dead Kennedys.
Good Songs for Bad People by Drab City
This band sounds like a cross between Portishead and Sonic Youth. I am mesmerized by their haunting soundscapes.
Forgotten Days by Pallbearer
The title track to Pallbearer's forthcoming album, released just this week, makes me excited for the rest of the effort coming in October.
Mushroomhead
Local Cleveland band Mushroomhead has a new album coming out this fall. I checked out their 2 lead singles.....You know what?
Here's a great song and video from 2009, Sun Doesn't Rise.
Just an aside.
I just read that the L.A. Times wants the Star Spangled Banner replaced by Lean on Me as the National Anthem.
What a terrible fucking idea.
If you want to replace Francis Scott Key's Anthem, you just swap it out for Jimi Hendrix's Version.
Instead of singing it, have guitar wizards across the fruited plain take a stab of covering Jimi.
Social Justice problem solved.
As soon as I hit the publish button Mr. Chi Pig of SNFU died. So I'm adding on one short thought.
Mr. Chi Pig had a lot of demons. ALOT. But for a short time in the late 80's and early 90's, he was great. Very few of us have been great even once in his/her life.
RIP Ken Chinn