The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, January 20, 2015 — 5
‘Broad City’ back
By KAREN HUA
Daily TV/New Media Editor
Abbi and Ilana hit
career high in new
season premiere
We’ve been counting down (four
and three and two and one) since
last season, and Comedy Central’s
best
gal-pals
stride are final-
ly back! Abbi
and Ilana have
returned
with
their crop-tops
high and heads
held even high-
er, with their
sweat
stains
large and their
personalities
even greater so.
Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer
(“High and Dry”) have brought
along Seth Rogen (“The Inter-
view”) for their sophomore sea-
son premiere, in what is one of the
finest written episodes since the
series’ conception (and quite possi-
bly one of the best written sitcoms
of the year).
The show opens with Abbi and
her new boy toy, Stacy (Rogen),
amid a horrendous urban heat
wave that causes Stacy to pass out
mid-climax. Abbi, in her awkward
glory, proceeds to finish – but ret-
rospectively wonders if that makes
her a rapist the next day. To rem-
edy her wrongs, she decides that
her janky apartment needs an air
conditioner, so she drags Ilana
along to Bed, Bath & Beyond where
she shimmies and handshakes
with employees who know her on
a first-name basis. Unfortunately,
the pair avert their eyes for just a
moment, and the AC they’ve pur-
chased is stolen in an instant. Ilana
proposes they return to her NYU
dorm in alumni fashion, and take
the AC that should be rightfully
theirs. Of course, they classically
get sidetracked on their mission –
but they end up positively asserting
their alumni influence on today’s
youth by encouraging the inno-
cent, unsuspecting dorm residents
to hit up a bong together. While
higher than the empire state, Abbi
makes out with one of the boys,
who reveals he is (yikes) actually a
visiting high school student.
“Broad City” ’s setting is nothing
new, nor the premise anything rev-
olutionary – simply two post-grad
girls stumbling aimlessly around
New York City. However, the show
centers on two characters who
stray the most radically from any
archetypes – and who believe that
not only the show, but the universe
revolves around them.
If the show’s first season had
one flaw, it’s that Abbi and Ilana’s
experience is so singular and can
be hard to relate to. They had no
greater ambitions beyond immedi-
ate gratification – no career goals,
no infatuations beyond fleeting
crushes, no fucks to give about
anything significant. However, this
is the one show where these some-
what pathetic, dispassionate (but
oh, so passionate) characters are so
endearing, even with every cringe-
worthy adventure of debauchery.
As an audience, we have been
wired to see characters always in
pursuit of “the dream job” or “the
dream girl.” Abbi and Ilana just
want an AC – but in their minds,
this endeavor is anything but triv-
ial. It is we who must learn to not be
surprised about their questionable
life choices – not them who must
adjust to the responsibilities of the
real world.
These two women are the
polar opposite to the “glamor-
ous,” “graceful,” “size zero” female
standards that are seen on televi-
sion continuously. Their character
development (or lack thereof) lies
in immediate pleasures. Even pro-
gressing from pilot to sophomore
season, neither Abbi nor Ilana have
matured – evidenced especially
when they retort with insults like:
“Maybe your dad should’ve pulled
out!” They do not attempt to pres-
ent the audience with any bullshit
quasi-poignant lessons about living
lives as twenty-somethings. They
do not attempt to mask any inad-
equacies, and they do not attempt
to present a façade to obscure any
imperfections. They just are, and
that is the most refreshing thing.
We have defaulted to expecting
force-fed “morals” from television,
that when the only lesson Abbi and
Ilana hand us is the reassurance
that our decision-making skills are
not nearly as fucked up as theirs.
We’re caught off guard. Jacobson
and Glazer do nothing more than
tell a story purely for comedy – no
ulterior intentions, no instillations
of lessons that are supposed to
make us “better human beings.”
They entertain just to entertain – a
concept quite scarce on television.
Because Abbi and Ilana have
no devotion to anything except
each other, we see a raw relation-
ship unhindered by any other
responsibilities in their lives. It’s
quite revitalizing to see females
who genuinely only care about
each other (even if that may be
at the expense of other cares).
While they do include men in
their plots, none of their decisions
are actually inspired or provoked
by them. Stacy may have been
the inciting incident to ensure no
other sexual partners pass out in
the future, but Abbi is the only to
come up with that solution, sug-
gested with input from no one
else, and with no other support
except from her gurrrrl, Ilana.
Beyond their quirks, they have
a feminism that makes them all-
powerful. The duo does not need
complex plotlines or pseudo-
grandeur aspirations or air condi-
tioner. They have their friendship
and that’s enough.
Nevertheless, Abbi and Ilana
still inadvertently say something
about how difficult living life in
your 20s actually is, especially
while trying to maintain finan-
cial and social stability in New
York City. However, while other
shows demonstrate this des-
peration to survive in this urban
monster through drama and
tears, Abbi and Ilana tear the city
apart. They make the city their
bitch simply because they are too
immature (and too indifferent) to
take adult problems seriously.
While yelling at a cat in the
final scene, in their fit of anger,
they accidentally bump their sto-
len air conditioner out the win-
dow, crashing down to its death.
Their toil was all for naught – but
hey, are we surprised? Well, we
shouldn’t be. Karma is a bitch,
sometimes for no reason, and
everything has come full circle.
One thing is for sure: Abbi and
Ilana will never fall prey to rou-
tine because the epitome of what
they are is unpredictable – a qual-
ity that seems to be wearing thin
in modern television. In their
mundanity, there is hilarity.
Art in a changing
cultural climate
COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN
T
wo masked gunmen
stormed the offices of
French satirical maga-
zine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7 and
subsequently killed 12 employ-
ees, including four cartoonists,
an economist,
two police
officers and the
Editor-in-Chief
of the publica-
tion. Eleven
others at the
scene were
wounded dur-
ing the attack,
some gravely.
As a nation
rocked under the aftershock
of the worst terrorist attack in
France since 1961, journalists
and civilians, alike, took to their
respective mediums of expres-
sion to declare the death of free
speech by radical extremism.
The attacks were in direct retali-
ation to the magazine’s cartoons,
which showed the prophet
Muhammad in compromising
situations and satirized Islamic
ideologies.
First and foremost, it should be
noted that cartoons, as depicted
on the covers of Charlie Hebdo,
fall under a large umbrella of art,
and should thus be subjected to
the same standards other forms
of art are granted when it comes
to freedom of speech. Artists are
guaranteed freedom of expres-
sion, except in cases of child por-
nography, threatening motives or
a handful of other exceptions to
the rule.
As I write this column, I’m
consistently struck by a moral
dilemma.
While
I
consider
myself non-religious, in my heart
I object to several of the Charlie
Hebdo covers under scrutiny.
The distortion of such an impor-
tant figure in such a prominent
religion is offensive, and the
repeated targeting of one spe-
cific religion by the publication
strikes me as troublesome and
xenophobic. However, above all
these objections, I hold freedom
of speech in the utmost regard,
regardless of context. The rights
laid out in the first amendment
are undoubtedly the founda-
tion of democracy in any society,
and we cannot begin to pick and
choose when the freedom of
speech is appropriate or not,
especially in the world of politi-
cal art. It’s important to learn
about art like Andres Serrano’s
“Piss Christ” like I did in my
AP U.S. Government class, not
because it’s a particularly beau-
tiful or influential piece on its
own, but because it’s a test of our
nation’s ability to question norms
— religious, political, what have
you — without fear of govern-
ment persecution.
The United States, as well
as France and other Western
countries, are seeing an influx
of immigrants from all different
parts of the world, all with dif-
ferent ideas of the limits of free
speech. As globalization increas-
es, should satirical art change to
accommodate the sensitivities of
other cultures?
It comes without question that
with
increased
globalization,
cultural awareness is necessary.
Every culture has its customs,
quirks and taboos, and it’s our
job as citizens of a global world
to become aware to these quirks
and develop sensitivity to cer-
tain topics considered rude or
blasphemous, even if they may
not appear so from our own cul-
tural
experiences.
However,
art is meant to break rules and
challenge social norms, and thus
shouldn’t be held to the same
standards as everyday interac-
tions. Art — real, textbook art —
is supposed to incite something
within us. We’re supposed to
look at a piece and feel an emo-
tion, and that feeling could be
happiness, sadness or anger.
While there was obviously anger
incited by the Charlie Hebdo
cover (which reached the point
of a terrorist attack), these ter-
rorists were radicals, and chang-
ing rules regarding freedom of
speech in response will break
down a complex system of West-
ern freedoms that entice immi-
grants to come to America or
France in the first place. We must
defend the sanctity of art at all
costs, because artistic expression
is the basis of human culture.
The ability to critique our sur-
roundings, without fear of per-
secution or death, is the core of
democratic freedom.
Davis is rereading the
Constitution. To join, e-mail
katjacqu@umich.edu.
‘Girls in Peacetime’
By AMELIA ZAK
Daily Music Editor
My admittedly limited colle-
giate experiences have taught me
that college bands are typically
too immature and overeager to
focus on cre-
ating one par-
ticular type of
sound. Excited
by the process
and possibility
of acceptance,
young
talents
generally
cre-
ate a scurried
amalgamation
of sounds that
derive
from
their personal
strengths
or
multiple mutual interests and
inspirations. In the early ’90s,
from the quiet, urban campus
of Stow University in Glasgow,
Scotland emerged a college band
of this definition. An indescrib-
able collection of musicians –
including the now famous Stuart
Murdoch – were recognized by
a music professor at Stow, Alan
Rankine, who guided the young
tribe into their first recording
studio.
Upon gaining more members
and momentum, the fresh-faced
band produced their first full-
length album at the college’s
record label as Belle & Sebastian.
The album, titled Tigermilk, was
met with mild acclaim. Multiple
albums followed with a couple
subtractions and additions from
the group, and the Scottish band
entered the 21st century as a crit-
ically acclaimed indie band. Pur-
posely eccentric and traditionally
adventurous, Belle & Sebastian
has inspired the work of many:
modern
bands
like
Vampire
Weekend, The Shins and Arcade
Fire have created content filled
with definitive strains of Belle
& Sebastian’s influence. Wistful
lyrics and pop music, or sad lyr-
ics with a quiet acoustic guitar,
Belle & Sebastian has aged into a
musical anomaly. Changing con-
stantly, and vaguely described
as a “folk-pop” band, the group
has never really been defined by
anything certain. Although con-
taining the maturity and talent of
an aged collection of musicians,
Belle & Sebastian’s musical ran-
domness keeps the band as col-
legiate as ever.
Ending a five-year hiatus the
band took for equally random
side projects, this well-awaited
ninth album, Girls in Peacetime
Want to Dance greets fans of new
and old in a state of noticeable
depression.
The first song of the album,
“Nobody’s Empire,” tells the
story of a boy getting tested and
touched by doctors because he
won’t leave his room. When
interviewed by The Guardian,
Murdoch described the open-
ing track as a testament to his
daily struggle against myalgic
encephalomyelitis,
a
chronic
fatigue disorder causing constant
emotional and physical stagna-
tion. The group’s lyrics dip in
and out of Murdoch’s personal
vat of human sadness consis-
tently throughout the album.
The listener is then slipped into
the taunting mind of a young girl
named Allie who, in a song of
the same title, is telling herself
“When there are bombs in the
Middle East / you want to hurt
yourself / When there’s knives
in the streets you want to end
yourself.” More political than
Belle & Sebastian has ever dared
to be, the song tells the story of
an anxious adolescent battling
our violent world — all set to a
happy-go-lucky beat and grow-
ing electric guitar sound. Here
salutations should be adminis-
tered once again to the perfected
randomness of Belle & Sebastian.
Girls in Peacetime Want to
Dance is deliciously synthesized.
Upbeat and fun, “Enter Sylvia
Plath” and “The Party Line” are
cousins of a Fitz & the Tantrums
dance number. “Enter Sylvia
Plath” is an especially interest-
ing song; never before has music
so synthesized or joyful held
Sylvia Plath as the subject. And
“The Party Line,” the first single
off the album, is a Pet Shop Boys
number that is sure to excite the
crowds and reiterate the band’s
relevance at their upcoming
summer festival engagements,
including Coachella and Bonna-
roo.
Coffee-sipping, slow morning
songs reminiscent of Dear Catas-
trophe Waitress and other early
Belle & Sebastian reappears in
tracks “The Power of Three” and
“Ever Had a Little Faith.” Sarah
Martin, the keyboardist and
occasional vocalist of the band,
tells an ironic and seemingly
precious story in “The Power of
Three.” Filled with references
to the world of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle and the concern that
“Everybody has their Moriarty,”
the song is another reminder that
time has not lessened the random
genius of this clever little band.
Idiosyncratic
and
overall
upbeat, these Glaswegian musi-
cians have released a ninth
album far better than most vet-
eran bands. Age and time haven’t
lessened the talents of this mis-
matched group. Instead, they
have made the band highly aware
of its audience and the freedoms
that those followers will contin-
ue to adore. This old indie band
has the following of a popular
college band, one that a univer-
sity will ardently support despite
artistic strangeness.
Lupe’s stellar return
By KEN SELANDER
Daily Arts Writer
Scanning over my first casual,
relaxed account of Lupe Fiasco’s
Tetsuo
&
Youth , I noted
that
I
didn’t
hear any real
“bangers”
on
the record. The
length of the
songs
proved
tiring
and
forgettable, the
instrumentals
seemed a bit out of place, but I
still thought it was well produced
on the whole, anyway.
It wasn’t until my second time
listening through with a more
attentive ear that I realized
how jaw-dropping this album
is: I focused in on the lyrics
and structure of each song and
had my mind blown. “Mural”
is a mesmerizing masterpiece,
“Deliver” is filled with soul-
wrenching
symbolism
and
“Prisoner 1 & 2” manages to
take a cliché theme in rap and
politics and repackage it in a
new, exciting way (with maybe
a little inspiration from skits in
Kendrick’s good kid, m.A.A.d
city).
While
completely
unintentional, my own change
of heart is a near perfect
representation
of
the
issues
Lupe Fiasco has been facing as
a rapper and artist throughout
his career. He’s experienced
resistance because his tracks
don’t fit the mold for the music
industry’s standard hit. Lupe
often complains about the label
interfering with his music. “Dots
& Lines” calls out major labels
for limiting his artistic voice and
artists for selling their souls for
money, directly telling listeners
in a catchy chorus, “don’t sign.”
His tracks are often double
or even triple the length of an
average song – “Chopper” alone
runs for 9.5 minutes. It’s hard to
get radio play with records that
long. Furthermore, it seems that
most people don’t want to have
to think so deeply about their
music. Lupe’s lyrics and rhyme
schemes are so intricate you have
to listen over and over again just
to get a basic understanding of a
track. I could listen to “Mural” or
“Adoration of the Magi” for a day
straight and still not discover all
that the songs have to offer.
Listening to “Prisoner 1 & 2,”
which has numerous references
to Maya Angelou’s famous “I
Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings,” I could not help but
directly contrast the soulful,
meticulous track to Gucci Mane’s
mixtape The State vs. Radric
Davis II: The Caged Bird Sings.
And how entirely different the
two are.
Artists
like
Waka
Flocka
Flame and Gucci Mane don’t care
to make complex or highly lyrical
music (Waka has been quoted in
an interview with Noisey saying
just this of himself). The recent
rise of rappers like Migos and
Young Thug reinforces the fact
that many consumers don’t care
for the complex, multilayered
works
of
art
that
Lupe
produces. I can’t understand
any words except “lifestyle”
and “beginning” in Rich Gang’s
“Lifestyle (ft. Young Thug, Rich
Homie Quan)” and it landed at
number 16 on the Billboard Hot
100. This trend certainly can’t
be good for Lupe’s record sale
prospects.
“Chopper”
on
Tetsuo
&
Youth serves to address those
who propagate and imitate the
lifestyle of gangster rappers,
even
referencing
Waka
and
Brick Squad. The song’s simple
chorus
and
bridge
parodies
the simplicity of such records,
and is a powerful satire of the
“hood rich” lifestyle with talk
of “Filet Mignon with my food
stamps.” The lines “Sayin’ free
they guys like I’m dirty / With a
clean record but I’m cursed / To
make a half a million off a verse,”
encompass so much in so few
lines.
I’d argue that Lupe fell off for
a good while, The Cool being the
last album where he was true to
himself. Probably, in an attempt
to compromise with industry
pressures, his talents stagnated
thereafter. He’s been open about
his conflict with music labels over
control of his music in the past
with songs like “Dumb It Down,”
and again addresses the issue of a
certain recognition coupled with
distaste for his artsy fartsy style
in the opening lines of “Adoration
of the Magi” on Tetsuo & Youth.
“Blur My Hands” is a lovely
example of his creative ability,
taking something as rude and
indecent as flicking someone off
and making it a creative, non-
vulgar song addressing those
who embody any of the criticism
he receives.
In any event, Lupe’s back.
Tetsuo & Youth is mostly
amazing, but I don’t feel the
instrumentals “Summer,” “Fall”
and “Winter” mesh with the
tracks musically, and the same
for the banjo intro and outro
to “Dots & Lines.” My personal
dislike for artists who sacrifice
pleasurable music or practicality
to be artsy definitely factors into
my opinion – can you say Yeezus?
– but Lupe’s ability to implement
such depth and still produce an
enjoyable album from a purely
pleasure based lens overrides
this. I don’t know if Tetsuo &
Youthwill sell, but I’m sold on it.
A+
Broad City
Season 2
Premiere
Comedy Central
Wednesdays
at 10:30 p.m.
A-
Girls in
Peacetime
Want to
Dance
Belle &
Sebastian
Matador
ALBUM REVIEW
ALBUM REVIEW
KATHLEEN
DAVIS
A-
Tetsuo &
Youth
Lupe Fiasco
Atlantic Records
ATLANTIC RECORDS
Eat, pray, Lupe.
His tracks don’t
fit the norm.
TV REVIEW