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Dispatches from a Casual World Cup Observer: June 17 – June 18, 2014

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June 19, 2014
Soccer
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Memo Ochoa stuntin’ on ’em

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is here, and I have a novice’s degree of knowledge as to what’s happening, as well as a small amount of sentimentality for the event. This is me traversing through work, drunken weekends, and Spotify with the World Cup either in the fore or background

Tuesday, June 17

I was staring at my screen in bewilderment at 9:05 AM. I was watching all of the American reaction videos to the second goal by John Brooks to win the game against Ghana for the United Stated. There were showers of beer, people acting in hysterics all colliding together with their wares of red, white and blue. I still couldn’t believe it. By 10:30 AM, I was still in a state of awe but it was concerning a ranking I saw on the music blog, Consequence of Sound. Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence received an A.

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Dispatches from a Casual World Cup Observer: June 15 – June 16, 2014

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June 16, 2014
Soccer
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Italo-Disco is Dead (Courtesy of the Augusta Chronicle)

 

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is here, and I have a novice’s degree of knowledge as to what’s happening, as well as a small amount of sentimentality for the event. This is me traversing through work, drunken weekends, and Spotify with the World Cup either in the fore or background.

Sunday, June 15

My head was pounding as I was blaring a song called “The Dream” by Thee Oh Sees. I have been noticing that my summer song selections seem to be filled with riff heavy garage rock post-2010. It’s a far cry from the disco induced summer I endured via Daft Punk in 2013. Maybe I am experiencing an inner “Disco is Dead” moment.

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Dispatches from a Casual World Cup Observer: June 12 – June 14, 2014

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June 16, 2014
Soccer
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Courtesy of FIFA

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is here, and I have a novice’s degree of knowledge as to what’s happening, as well as a small amount of sentimentality for the event. This is me traversing through work, drunken weekends, and Spotify with the World Cup either in the fore or background. 

Thursday, June 12th 

The broadcast on my work computer showed blurry images of smiling Brazilian fans who were all wearing the bright, sun yellow jerseys associated with their home country’s national team. The din of people talking and looking for their seats emitted out of my old Apple headphones. A huge sphere sat in the center of the arena; the camera would toggle between this global metaphor of a centerpiece after a few crowd shots. There was hardly a Croatian fan in the crowd, nor one that ESPN cared to show. The focus was purely on the Brazilian people. This seemed more like a fitting opening ceremony than the nightmare fuel that followed.

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Soundtracking the 2014 World Cup

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May 30, 2014
Music, Pop Culture, Soccer, Sports
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The Soundtrack to Your World Cup Summer

Songs crafted solely for the World Cup are nothing new. This has been happening since 1962 when Chile hosted the tournament. Official songs gave way to unofficial songs and then to a whole anthemic soundtrack that serves as half souvenir and half advertising campaign. This year is no different with FIFA officially sponsoring another soundtrack entitled The 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album: One Love, One Rhythm. The cover art alone is a vibrant collage of people dancing, a soccer ball, and a toucan that converge to illustrate someone’s face. The album includes “banging pop tracks by artists from around the globe”, according to iTunes. That is why Pitbull is the first artist featured on this album.

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Damage Control

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April 30, 2014
America, Basketball, NBA, Politics
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Adam Silver

Courtesy of Fansided.com

In the wake of Donald Sterling’s eviction from the NBA, a lot has been made about Adam Silver’s reaction. Some have applauded his decision, others think it won’t help a damn thing, and a few find it to be a violation of certain inalienable rights. I think Adam Silver made an easy call when it was certainly the most agreeable to do so. For some reason, this has been read by some as an indication that Silver had the better judgement to do what David Stern did not. Let’s re-evaluate this though: if those tapes did not come to the surface, Sterling would still be a despicable guy holding ownership over one of Los Angeles’ hottest sports entities.

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The Guest Star as a Marquee Act

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April 28, 2014
Hip-Hop, Music
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Schoolboy Q sans bucket hat

The line stretched for almost a full city block. Among the throngs of fans waiting to get in to see Schoolboy Q were bucket hats – a lot of bucket hats. It was almost like a show of solidarity. You couldn’t mistake the fact of who these people came to see. Yet after the headliner took the stage, you wouldn’t be faulted if you felt like he wasn’t the main attraction.

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The Shock of Disappointment

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April 8, 2014
Music, Pop Culture
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Free tickets to some teenagers’ first lesson as cognizant media consumers.

“Y’all – it was three years ago that we saw Justin Bieber at the exact same place.”

She said it as a point of reference. It seemed like a declaration to all of her friends that they were getting older. Yet, the passing of time in this conversation was coming from a place of excitement, not one of dread. The passer-by and the friends to whom she said this to did not look a day over the age of sixteen. That seemed like a year or two below the average age of those waiting in line at Time Warner Cable Arena to say they experienced the spectacle that was the Miley Cyrus Bangerz Tour. My girlfriend and I were one of dozens of outliers. These outliers also included moms, college kids and other young adults dressed like background performers.

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Growing Up

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March 31, 2014
Music, Rock
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Indie Rock is a genre muddled with pretension and irony with some acts taking themselves more seriously than they should. Mac DeMarco has established himself as the polar opposite where everything is subject to ridicule and parody. His outrageous shows alone have become the stuff of legend – the most infamous one involving a drum stick that ended up in DeMarco’s hind parts. His goofy, gap-toothed grin is a disclaimer that almost everything will be tongue-in-cheek. Even the bands that DeMarco played with were gags from the get-go with names like Makeout Videotape. It seemed that, even as a solo act, he was only interested in weirding people out or making music for laughs with Rock and Roll Night Club.

The cover showed the reflection of DeMarco in a dirty mirror, smearing lip stick on his face. The songs inside were delivered in a sleazy, Elvis impersonation. But Rock and Roll Night Club proved to be an oddity as 2 displayed a more capable artist who had proficient songwriting abilities in creating hypnotic melodies, catchy hooks and subject matter that was not a novelty (see: “Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans”). The songs themselves though were still playful but they sounded less like the id of a guy who described his own music as “jizz jazz”. After taking 2 on the road, playing the 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival and becoming part-time interviewer for MTV’s Weird Vibes series, DeMarco has followed-up his debut album with Salad Days.

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We Major: When Your Mid-Sized City Has Giant Metropolitan Problems

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March 26, 2014
America, Politics
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Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon with American sweetheart Rosario Dawson – Courtesy of Old School 105.3

On Wednesday, around 3 o’clock, I was scrolling through Facebook when I noticed a status from Creative Loafing Charlotte which indicated that the mayor of our fair city, Patrick Cannon, was being arrested on charges of theft and bribery. I couldn’t believe it. In Charlotte? In sleepy Charlotte, NC? Where nothing happens? Where we are maligned constantly by national publications for being perceived as boring? Well, guess what: We are now in the ranks with some of the most esteemed, cultured cities of this United States and their histories of corrupt city officials. Washington, DC, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles and the like – they are about that life, and so are we!

 

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