Studies Suggest: Vol. 2

Studies Suggest showcases nice things that should be worth your time. It is a list of media I enjoyed recently or that I found interesting. There are no set rules for this. Maybe it’s a movie, an album, an interesting article or basically whatever I like.

Barry

Alec Berg’s and Bill Hader’s Barry is probably the most surprising and creative show I have seen in a long time. Even more so than the excellent Fleabag, which I also have to name as one of the best shows I have seen in recent years. The story about a hitman involved with multiple crime syndicates who observes a target in an acting class where he falls in love with acting and consequently struggles to leave his old life behind to pursue his new passion is as absurd as it sounds and should not work at all. It is seemingly way too many things at once. But it does work perfectly. Barry’s writing is impressively precise and masters the balancing act of taking its silly world seriously - and it can get really serious, really fast. This tool if you will, allows the show to switch between tones within seconds without that shift feeling unnatural or forced. It can be stone-cold realism and exaggerated parody simultaneously. In one scene, Barry can take out a whole warehouse of mobsters, just to completely screw up an impro scene in his acting class in the next sequence. Once this contrast is established, it opens the door for a plethora of hilariously grotesque scenarios, interesting character developments, and surprising plot progressions. There are some ideas and scenes in here you have never seen anywhere else before and they are masterfully executed. Trust me.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana

When I heard that Freddie Gibbs and Madlib are planning to release a follow-up to their collaborative album Piñata, I instantly had the highest expectations for an upcoming record since Frank Ocean’s Blonde. Admittedly to my surprise, Bandana masters the herculean task of following a fan-favorite as well as a critically acclaimed album. There are no symptoms of sophomore-album syndrome to be found. While Freddie Gibbs uncompromisingly delivers one interesting verse after another, he almost incidentally also manifests himself as the king of double time. Politically charged lines and references to classic philosophers elevate more predictable subject matters like crime, women, and money in which he excels no less. Madlib also does what he does best. Even though his announcement that all beats for this album were made on an iPad probably put off some hip-hop “purists”, it does not matter. He has been meticulously crafting beats for decades and possesses an intuition with scalpel-level sharpness. On Bandana, he once again certifies his 10th dan black belt in discovering samples from the farthest corners of the music cosmos and turning them into gold.

Searching for Tomorrow: The Story of Madlib and DOOM's Madvillainy

DOOM in Los Angeles circa 2002. Photos by Eric Coleman. Source: Pitchfork

After listening to Bandana I dug into Madlib’s discography again, and of course, Madvillainy was running on repeat shortly after. As Accordion - arguably one of the best rap songs under two minutes ever - was playing, I remembered a photo spread by Eric Coleman, which he shot during the recording sessions of Madvillainy and wanted to look through the photos again. The Google Image search lead me to Searching for Tomorrow: The Story of Madlib and DOOM's Madvillainy. To celebrate the classic’s 10th anniversary in 2014, Jeff Weiss wrote this super detailed piece about its turbulent creation process for Pitchfork. He tells the story of all the improbable coincidences that needed to fall into place for Madvillainy to materialize and how the album saved the Stones Throw label from bankruptcy.

Khruangbin - Hasta El Cielo (Con Todo El Mundo In Dub)

While I could as easily recommend Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo to everyone, this compilation of dub versions of the said album is listed here mainly because of its recent release. The original songs are super psychedelic, soothing, and beautifully rhythmic. What the dub tunes add in terms of rhythm and relaxation, they slightly lack in melody and depth. Nonetheless, if you are looking for something to calm down after a stressful day or are just curious what Virgil Abloh’s favorite band sounds like, give this a listen as well as Con Todo El Mundo.

Hasta El Cielo (Con Todo El Mundo in dub) Cover
Source: Khruangbin

Bon Iver - i,i

Like most Bon Iver albums before, I feel like i,i is one of those records you have to really focus on while listening to it - not doing anything else, cutting out all possible distractions, and just absorb the music. If you do, you’re in for a quite profound voyage in my opinion. Sound-wise the album continues to coherently build on the foundation laid by its predecessors. It is a little more specific than 22, A Million; slightly dialing down levels of abstraction and using fewer elements but trusting those and crafting them out to their full potential. Justin Vernon lays it all out here, delivering an honest, heartfelt, and sometimes heartbreaking collection of songs. In case you’re open to it, i,i has the potential to get you as close to something I would call a transcendental musical experience as possible. It hits you in your core. Especially Naeem - maybe the most explosive Bon Iver song - causes goosebumps left and right.

Thumbnail image: Giannis Thumbnail
Source: Rapcats