The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Monday, April 8, 2019 — 5A

When you walked out your
door
this
morning,
it
was
probably the first thing you
smelled: spring. It’s a sweet
ripeness in the air that contrasts
with
the
smokier,
earthier
scent of colder days weeks
prior. It triggers an immediate
emotional response that, at
least in spring’s earliest days, is
impossible to ignore.
It makes us more energetic,
happier,
louder.
The
Diag
is
bright,
crowded
and
unnavigable. Palmer and Elbel
are ridden with runners and
frisbee-ers. The library feels
just that much brighter. Spring’s
early days have always been
injected with this kind of energy
and each time they roll around,
I feel great nostalgia for the
places I’ve been and the person I
was the past times they’ve made
their visit.
This
year,
nostalgia
has
manifested itself in a great
appreciation for the music of
my childhood: Beck, Gorillaz,
Moby and Oasis, to name a
few. These are artists my mom
would play on our household
stereo
(essentially
a
round

boombox with CD and cassette
capabilities) back in 2005.
Beck’s “Que’ Onda Guero”
from his 2005 album Guero is a
bouncy Mexican-infused funk
anthem. I only found it again
while going song by song through
the album, which I recognized
from seeing its hard-copy form
as a child. Gorillaz has a couple
well-known hits from this time:
“Clint Eastwood” off their 2001
Gorillaz and “Feel Good Inc.” off
their 2005 Demon Days.
What’s
really
excited
me
lately though have been lesser-
known bops like “Rock the
House”
and
“Dirty
Harry.”
Moby’s “Extreme Ways” will
always be a post-9/11 era period
piece for me, especially given
that my mom works in news
research. Oasis’s (What’s the
Story) Morning Glory? is another
cover I instantly recognized
when Spotify suggested “Some
Might Say.” Oasis’s sound —
though influenced by a lineage
of English rock from the Beatles
to the Clash and beyond — is
incredibly recognizable, even
if all you know as a University
student is the “Wonderwall”
frat remix.
I’m still able to associate
vivid memories with some of
these sounds from the deepest

chasms of my memory. They
make me remember the one time
my whole neighborhood’s power
went out, and my parents and I
burned candles and listened to
our CD collection as we played
Go Fish (this was, in retrospect,
the first time I understood the
ambience of candle lighting).
They
make
me
remember
making paper maché volcanoes
with the Beck lyric “make their
dreams out of paper maché”
standing out in my head. They
make me remember dancing
with my best friend Nikita on
a gym bench shouting, “I’m
happy, I’m feeling glad, I got
sunshine, in a bag!”
Now, looking back, it is a
bit funny that I had a vague
understanding of some of these
explicit themes at such a young
age. It doesn’t matter if you were
listening to Bruce Springsteen
or Biggie, though. The tunes
of your childhood still have a
transportive quality that no
other
music
you’ll
discover
in the future ever will. If you
haven’t recently, go back to
those first sounds that defined
your idea of what music was.
Walking on a sunny spring day,
you’ll hardly feel like you’ve
gone anywhere since the first
time you heard them play.

Looking back, listening
fondly in the springtime

BEN VASSAR
Daily Arts Writer

A couple months ago, I
wrote a column about the
French rap sensation PNL.
While I didn’t anticipate
writing
another,
recent
events have made me want to
revisit the duo, their music
and why they are a national
sensation
in
their
home
country in a way few artists
have ever been.
To recap the essentials
of the story, PNL consists
of two brothers: Tarik and
Nabil Andrieu (Ademo and
NOS respectively) hailing
from
Corbeil-Essonnes,
a
suburb of Paris. On April 5,
they released their third
studio album, Deux Frères
(Two Brothers), after a
period of three years.
The level of anticipation
was seeminly at unseen
heights,
with
prolific
French music journalist
Mehdi
Maïzi
jokingly
remarking
on
Twitter
that
these
levels
of
national unity were only
last
seen
during
the
World Cup (in which the
French were victorious).
The announcement came
just a week ago with the
release of a new single
“Au DD.”
“Au
DD,”
also
the
first track of the new
album,
is
classic
PNL.
Braggadocious,
aggressive,
with a memorable chorus,
it reached more than ten
million views in two days
and became the first French
single to reach the Spotify
Global Top 30. The single
was
accompanied
by
a
truly stunning music video,
especially notable for a group
that was already known for
its
ambitious,
cinematic
videos. The brothers became
the first group to film a video
on top of the Eiffel Tower,
also transforming it into a
trap house in the process.
The video features several
stunning drone shots and
the brothers strut around
with a sense of victory. The
Eiffel Tower, the most iconic
of French symbols, showed

up often in previous videos
such as the one for their
2016 single “DA,” not just
as a symbol of their beloved
Paris (often referred to as
“Paname” as well), but also
perhaps a Paris that was
far
and
inaccessible
for
two Muslim boys from the
troubled suburbs. But now,
just as they have conquered
the French youth spirit, they
have conquered La Tour
Eiffel. Drake perhaps did it
first in Toronto’s CN Tower,
but unlike Drake, PNL is
one of those rare artists
(think Springsteen or Jay Z)
that can imbue their music
with a convincing sense of
grandeur.

Deux Frères as a whole
is, just as “Au DD,” a victory
lap, but it also offers a more
vulnerable and confessional
PNL.
“A
l’ammoniaque”
(“With
ammonia”),
one
of
the
most
understated
tracks PNL has ever made,
deals with a bitter love and
general
regret
for
their
past
life.
Ademo
sings,
“Inch’Allah,
Inch’Allah,
Inch’Allah/ Que Dieu nous
pardonne pardonne pour nos
crasses / Pour notre manque
de comprehension / Evenrs
l’Homme et sa putain d’race”
(“Insh’Allah
Insh’Allah
Insh’allah / May God forgive
us for our dirty tricks and
our lack of understanding of
man and his fucking race”).
On the standout conclusion
“La Misère est si belle”

(“Misery
is
beautiful”),
the brothers reflect on the
difficulty of their lives. The
pair grew up without their
mother and a criminal father
who they were close to but
was often absent as well.
Ademo in particular reflects
about his nagging loneliness
and difficulty with even
sleeping
peacefully,

referring to himself with his
real name as well.
Deux Frères is also the most
diverse albums the duo has
made up to this point. Songs
like “Au DD” are familiar
to any PNL fan, but songs
like the aforementioned “A
L’ammoniaque” and “Hasta
la
vista”
are
a
distinct
departure of the likes of
2016’s
“Bené.”
The
latter has a particular
Maghrébien
(North
African) influence, with
some
labelling
it
as
“Raïggeton,” refrencing
“Raï,” a type of Algerian
popular music and the
immensely
popular
Reggaeton
of
Daddy
Yankee,
Nicky
Jam
and
others.
“91’s”
is
the funkiest and most
danceable PNL track to
date.
The
production
value and diversity is
world
class
on
Deux
Frères, which is notable
since that is one aspect
of
their
American
counterparts that many
foreign
hip-hop
albums
rarely reach.
PNL, in a manner similar
to their compatriots Daft
Punk, have reached a level of
popularity in their country
without any kind of external
marketing,
interviews
or
engagement. As they say,
all you need to know about
them is in their music. Even
now, they remain completely
independent,
with
every
aspect of their work, from
the writing to the artistic
design, being completed by
people they have known and
trusted for a while. They
live their refrain of “Que
La Famille,” and I hope that
audiences around the world
will
eventually
come
to
know and love them as much
as I do.

DAILY WORLD MUSIC COLUMN

PNL, part deux

SAYAN GHOSH
Daily World Music Columnist

Deux Frère is also the
most diverse albums
the duo has made up to
this point.

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

VIRGIN RECORDS

MARVEL STUDIOS
The Marvel Cinematic
Universe ranked, part two

In the run-up to “Avengers:
Endgame,” I’m running down
every movie and TV show the
MCU has ever put out and
ranking them based on how
well they tell their stories with
the means available to them.
This is part two of a four part
series.

33. “Marvel’s Cloak and
Dagger”: Season one (2018)
Like so many MCU TV
shows, “Cloak and Dagger”
coasts for as long as it can on
its leads before conjuring up
anything resembling narrative

momentum.
Well-built
characters are, of course, the
most important thing, but so
often Marvel applies the same
logic to TV shows as they do
to movies — if the characters
suit up by the end of their first
outing, it’s fine. The problem
is a season of TV is a long
time to go without the reason
people tuned in, so you end up
with a show called “Cloak and
Dagger” with a glaring lack of
Cloak and Dagger.
32. “Thor” (2011)
There may be no MCU
film as uneven in quality as
“Thor.” On the one hand,
it’s a character-driven story
in which the Thor’s arc is
intrinsically tied to how the

plot progresses. On the other,
that story is about as generic
a hero’s journey as Marvel has
yet put out. The Asgardians
are
further
examples
of
Marvel’s
perfect
casting.
The human characters are
bland,
forgettable
and
a
waste of superb actors. It’s
deeply funny in some scenes.
Elsewhere, it falls flat on its
face.
31.
“Marvel’s
Agents
of
S.H.I.E.L.D.”:
Season
one
(2013-2014)
Of all the miracles the MCU
has pulled off, the first season
of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is
one of the most impressive.
The first 16 episodes are a
mess
of
cliché
characters

matched
with
boring
storylines, a show trying to
justify its own existence in
a universe defined by its big
screen outings. Then, in the
final
moments
of
episode
17 everything changes, and
“S.H.I.E.L.D.,” as if by magic,
becomes tightly-written and
paced, constantly pushing its
characters to new, exciting
places.
30.
“Marvel’s
The
Defenders”: Season one (2017)
Over two years, Marvel’s
Netflix
shows
laid
the
groundwork for their small-
screen
answer
to
“The
Avengers,” and when it finally
dropped, it was met with a
resounding, “Sure.” There’s a
certain joy in watching these
characters come together, but
the Hand had been boring
through the individual shows
and
is
no
different
here.
I’ll grant that the twist at
the
three-quarter
mark
is
shocking, but even that only
serves to make everything
more boring. The fact that
another Disney property, “The
Last Jedi,” pulled off a similar
twist much more successfully
that same year doesn’t help.
29. “Marvel’s Agent Carter”:
Season one (2015)
It’s tempting to say “Give
Hayley Atwell her own movie,”
and leave it at that, but that
would be a disservice to a
pretty decent season of TV.
In contrast to the lackluster
second season, the first season
of “Agent Carter” gives its star
much more to do by taking
place directly after the events
of “The First Avenger” and
showing her working through
her grief while also having to
deal with a postwar spy story.
That story is still handicapped
by its need to constantly tie
itself to the wider MCU, but it
was a promising solo debut for
the character.

28.
“Marvel’s
Agents
of
S.H.I.E.L.D.”:
Season
two
(2014-2015)
The biggest challenge the
second
season
of
“Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D.” faced was
translating the magic of the
last five episodes of its first
season into a full 22 episode
run. To an extent, it works,
thanks mostly to an expanded
ensemble and some interesting
narrative developments, but
there’s also a good deal of
growing
pains
on
display
in the pacing. Given where
“S.H.I.E.L.D.”
would
go,
though, that’s easily forgiven.
27. “Marvel’s Daredevil”:
Season two (2016)
The
tight
focus
of
the
first season of “Daredevil”
is replaced by a bisected
structure
where
anything
and everything dealing with
Jon Bernthal’s Punisher is
great, forcing Matt Murdock
to reckon with his actions
in a way very much in line
with the series’ core themes.
Then there’s the other half,
centered on Elektra and the
Hand, which exists solely to
build up to “The Defenders.”
26. “Doctor Strange” (2016)
“Doctor
Strange”
is
essentially a more visually
impressive version of “Iron
Man,” but it’s saved not just
by those vaunted effects but
by the insane talent of its
cast. Benedict Cumberbatch
absolutely
owns
the
title
role from start to finish,
embodying
Strange’s
razor
sharp
wit
perfectly.
Even
better, though controversial,
is Tilda Swinton as the Ancient
One, whose final scene ranks
as one of the best and most
beautiful in the MCU.
25. “Ant-Man and the Wasp”
(2018)
If “Ant-Man and the Wasp”
has a story to tell, it’s lost
on me in the barrage of car

chases, heel turns and one-
liners. But in a way, that
makes it the perfect movie
to show why Marvel movies
work even when they stumble.
From beginning to end, this
is a movie that finds its life in
its characters, and Marvel’s
willingness to focus on them
even in the aftermath of
something like “Infinity War”
is a breath of fresh air.
24. “Ant-Man” (2015)
More famous for the drama
during its production, “Ant-
Man” is nevertheless the most
immediately
accessible
the
MCU has been since “Iron
Man.” Again, it’s all centered
on the character of Scott Lang
and builds his character and
his relatable struggle before it
puts him in his supersuit and
sends him off on his pseudo-
science-fueled
heist.
What
follows is a stylish blast,
but it’s all built upon the
foundation of the characters.
23.
“Marvel’s
Agents
of
S.H.I.E.L.D.”:
Season
five
(2017–2018)
“Agents
of
S.H.I.E.L.D.”
oversteps
a
bit
with
an
admirably
ambitious
fifth
season that sent its characters
decades
into
the
future.
A
handful
of
charming
new
characters
and
Fitz’s
continued
struggles
with
his own duality are definite
highlights,
yet
after
their
return from the future, the
show seems to be unsure
of how to proceed with its
central story, throwing Hydra
into the mix yet again before
finally settling on Graviton as
the season’s Big Bad.

Next week, Marvel turns
in
one
of
the
best,
most
miraculous seasons of genre TV
broadcast networks have had
in years. Meanwhile, a couple
misunderstood cinematic gems
get their due.

JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer

FILM NOTEBOOK