The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 — 5A

“Music Talks” is a series where
Daily Music Writers give their takes
on the biggest releases in new music.
From picking best and worst tracks
to asking what makes a record tick,
the Music beat is here to give praise
and give shit to music worth talking
about.
For better or for worse, Kevin
Parker (the tie-dyed mastermind
behind Tame Impala) is back.
After a relatively quiet 2018 spent
collaborating with the likes of SZA,
Theophilus London and ZHU,
Parker finally announced a new
album in early 2019, The Slow Rush,
and dropped a new track called
“Patience” in mid-March. For some,
it was like the homecoming of a
friend who had spent over twelve
months in Big Sur, dropping a
whole lot of acid as a vehicle to find
themself. That is, he is now back
and better than ever. For others, it
was like the return of a yacht rock
nuisance cosplaying as a psych-
pop-rock poseur. (For better or for
worse, remember?) Since the release
of “Patience,” Parker has been in
full-on album-release-mode, slowly
trickling out singles (as the album’s
title implies). Now, he’s wrapping
up several months of a press tour
that has included a much-lauded
performance on Saturday Night
Live and an interview with Beats 1’s
Zane Lowe, in which he boasted that
while creating the album, he was
inspired by Travis Scott (the two
are mutual fans and collaborators)
and shopping while stoned (a rather
pedestrian activity these days).

The Slow Rush is the first massive
release of 2020. Will it remain
that way, or will it wash away the
current of Parker’s past releases (get
it?)? Find out below.
Jim Wilson, Daily Arts Writer:
First and foremost, which camp
do you ascribe to: Tame Impala is
the force that will bring modern
psychedelia to the mainstream,
or Tame Impala is the force that
will reduce modern psychedelia
to nothing more than marijuana-
tinged yacht rock?
(all laughing)
Clara Scott, Daily Arts Writer:
Well, uh, I’m a fan of Tame Impala,
but I don’t think that they’re
bringing psychedelia back to its
former glory. However, I think
that they’re doing something really
interesting on this album where
they’re merging psychedelia with
house in a weird way. I would say
I’m a fan, but I wouldn’t say that I
ascribe to either camp.
Sam Cantie, Music Beat Editor:
What do you mean by merging with
house, may I ask?
Scott: I think a couple of tracks
on this album that are more
house and techno inspired than
the rock foundation that a lot of
Tame Impala’s previous music
was influenced by, especially with
the use of synthesizers and digital
production.
Cantie: I can’t firmly say that I’m
in either camp. Like, I’m somewhere
in between because well ... let me
think of a reason for that ... I just feel
like a lot of people listen to Tame
Impala without any notion of genre
or what that means for the music
industry as a whole. It’s more that
the entity of Tame Impala is a cool
thing to say you listen to at parties,

or like a good conversation sparker.
Diana
Yassin,
Daily
Arts
Writer: I would say I’m a very
casual fan, and I don’t think I’ve
ever been very pumped about
stuff that Tame Impala puts out,
but whenever I see Tame Impala,
I think, “hey, that’s great!’ I think
they bring back psychedelia in some
ways, like what Sam said, there’s a
new sense of meshing new genres,
like what you see rap artists doing
these days. I don’t think there’s
anything pure psychedelic, though.
Drew Gadbois, Daily Arts
Writer: If you asked me, like,
eight years ago, around Lonerism,
probably would have been way
more on the side of “they’re doing
something really different … ”
Cantie: Wouldn’t you have been
like 12?
(all laughing)
Scott: I was the same way!
Gadbois: I think now, and it’s
interesting that Clara brought up
house, that it’s more synth-wave …
Scott: Interesting.
Gadbois: Especially this album,
but also Currents. Like, Kevin Parker
definitely dove deep into what he
could do with his synthesizers. It
kind of strayed a little too far to
be called psychedelic in that way,
because once you go synth-wave,
you’re going into a completely
different atmosphere. And, to “flex
my genre knowledge,” I also heard
some hypnagogic pop, which I, ya
know, only know one band that falls
under that genre, but ... yeah, I’m
probably on the latter side of things
here.
Wilson:
That’s
definitely
a
round-about way of saying it.
Anish
Tamhaney,
Special
Guest and Daily Film Editor: I

think Kevin Parker has something
really special, and I think the
question on the longevity of Tame
Impala’s impact was sort of an open
one before this album came out. But
I think, if anything, that question
has been answered negatively by
this album. I think people will not
talk about Tame Impala the same
way they did a year ago, a couple
years ago after this album.
Cantie: Hot takes …
Scott: Hot takes.
Wilson: Whole lot of hot takes …
Yeah, I’m not a fan. I think it’s a lot of
yacht rock, and… yeah.
Scott: I think yacht rock is selling
it short.
Gadbois:
Yeah,
Michael
McDonald plaaaayed. You can’t
compare!
Scott: Yeah, we all love Steely
Dan in this house (at Daily Arts).
Q: What is your snap reaction
to ‘The Slow Rush’?
Yassin: Why does every song
sound the same?
Scott: Oh. well, I don’t think
every song sounds the same. I
really… aagh (drops phone) ... really
liked the first one and “One More
Year.”

Cantie: Mine was that all I could
hear was Kevin Parker’s voice ...
constantly ... over and over again ...
you couldn’t discern anything else.
(unanimous agreement)
Tamhaney: It was a little too
similar for my liking. A few times it
took risks were either on the singles
or the finale, “One More Hour,”
which was one of the times I truly
felt impressed. I don’t feel like that
ending was earned by the rest of the
album.
Scott: Yeah, the opening track
and the ending track are the best
ones
that
weren’t
previously
released. Anish is totally right:
when he took the risk to break from
his norm, those tracks were the best
ones, but the rest was just filler.
Wilson: He definitely wanted to
make himself the shining star. In an
interview, he said that he was ready
to fully embrace being a celebrity,
and this album is the embodiment
of that.
Gadbois: That brings up an
interesting point: should certain
artists, when they’re supposed to be
bands, be the deciding force? I don’t
even know … calling it Tame Impala
seems disingenuous. It should just

be Kevin Parker.
Scott: This project, yeah.
(murmuring,
probably
in
agreement)
Gadbois: To go off of your point,
he sings too much for his own good,
he doesn’t let his own production
shine when, a lot of times, it really
should. It just seems like he’s trying
to talk about something when he
has nothing to talk about.
Cantie: I watched his triple j
interview or whatever, and I got
that vibe, one hundred percent. He
was saying he listened to no other
music while making this album. He
was like, “Elevator music set me off”
and I …
Scott: Mü-ZAK!
Cantie: Yeah, and when they
were asking him what’s your
infatuation with time and how this
album plays with nostalgia and all
that stuff, he was like, “I don’t know.
I was kinda just thinking about it.
Kinda what was just on the brain,”
while I’m like, “ah I want more from
you!”

Music Talks: A rountable
on Tame Impala’s latest

MUSIC ROUNDTABLE
MUSIC ROUNDTABLE

DAILY MUSIC WRITERS
Daily Arts Writers

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Rob makes “Top Five” lists.
Movies, villains, musical artists,
heartbreaks. Rob has a Top Five
for everything, and while looking
straight into the camera, she’ll tell
them all to you. “High Fidelity” has
returned and may very well deserve
a place on your next Top Five list.
In a reimagination of the Nick
Hornby novel and 2000 film of the
same name, Hulu’s new TV series
“High Fidelity” updates its record-
shop love story to 2020. Starring
Zoë Kravitz (“Big Little Lies”) as
Rob, this series rewrites its own
story with a fresh image of living
and dating in New York City.
Rob, in addition to making
constant Top Five lists, owns a
record store where she works
with her friends Simon (David
H. Holmes, “Mindhunter”) and
Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph,
“Dolemite Is My Name”). After a
particularly devastating breakup
with number five on her “Top Five
Heartbreaks” list, Rob decides to
revisit her list and investigate what
exactly has prevented her from
finding true love.
As Rob reluctantly reopens
her past, ex-boyfriend No. 5
Mac (Kingsley Ben-Adir, “Peaky
Blinders”) returns from London
after moving away the year before
and brings a new fiancé back

with him. Now confronted with a
choice between making amends or
wallowing in self-pity, Rob begins
the dreaded process of “getting
back out there” and opening herself
back up to the world.
Unlike previous versions of Rob,
Kravitz’s character struggles not
only with navigating her love life,
but also with her position as a black,
queer, small business owner in a

quickly gentrifying neighborhood.
The New York of “High Fidelity”
is the New York often ignored by
TV — looking at you, “Sex and the
City”and “Girls.”
“High Fidelity” maintains an
atmosphere that matches cynicism
and social critique equally with
lighthearted fun and humor. Much
like the original novel and film,
“High Fidelity” addresses the topics
of unrequited love and unbridled

music snobbery with the snark
and occasional earnestness that
unites millenials and Gen X. Rob,
obsessed with music history and
pop culture, presents a paradoxical
image of youth that is both lost and
found.
Between
long
rants
about
the history of the Beatles or the
indifference of the universe, “High
Fidelity” captures the confusing,
soul-sucking process of recovering
from bad relationships and allows
its audience to enjoy the sadness
and absurdity that ensues in the
process. Despite Rob’s persistent
negativity and self-doubt, “High
Fidelity” offers a realistic and, at
times, heart-warming response to
modern dating culture.
This iteration of the “High
Fidelity” story also includes the
most important aspect of the
original:
an
absolutely
killer
soundtrack. Both the book and
film relied heavily on music as
its language for expressing Rob’s
journey, and the Hulu show pulls
no punches with its mix of hip hop,
disco, punk, French pop, ‘90s R&B
and unapologetic guilty-pleasure
songs.
In accordance with its source
material, the spirit of “High
Fidelity” is carefully preserved in
its 2020 update. The Hulu series
makes significant amendments to
the original version but executes its
vision with wit and artistic flair. In
its first season, “High Fidelity” has
already staked its claim for a place
in this year’s “Top Five TV Shows.”

The ‘High Fidelity’ reboot
curates a perfect playlist

HULU

ANYA SOLLER
Daily Arts Writer

High Fidelity

Season 1

Hulu

Now Streaming

TV REVIEW
TV REVIEW

“Can
we
be
careful
of
those
bells
on
the
floor
there?”
shouted
Malcolm
Tulip, assistant professor in
the Department of Theatre
& Drama and director of
“Yerma,” in the middle of
my
interview.
His
voice
reverberated
through
the
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre,
bouncing off the historic walls
with intensity. A student on
stage, unfazed, snatched up
the golden bundle immediately
before turning back to the
scene.
A
Thursday
night
rehearsal of “Yerma” was in
full swing, and gloriously so.
This coming weekend, the
Department of Theatre and
Drama will present “Yerma,”
a story of a young woman
struggling to conceive in a
small village in rural Spain.
“Yerma”
was
originally
written by beloved Spanish
poet and playwright Frederico
García Lorca in 1934, two years
before he was executed in the
Spanish Civil War of 1936.
This performance of “Yerma,”
a
heartfelt
tragedy
that
questions
womanhood,
was
translated by Jo Clifford, an
openly transgender playwright
who’s achieved acclaim in the
London theatre scene.
“There
will
be
nothing
that’s naturalistic in the piece.
Yet, the idea of the piece is still
to get to something essentially
human,” Tulip said.
He considers “Yerma” to be
a blend between traditional
theatre
and
out-of-the-
box thinking, preferring to
add his own unique flair to
conventional productions.
Tulip also prefers to think
of
“Yerma”
using
Lorca’s
description: “a tragical poem
in six paintings.” Looking out
at the rehearsal stage that
Thursday night, bustling with
a flurry of students, I began
to see what Tulip meant. Art
forms
are
interchangeable
and fluid — who’s to say a
poem can’t also be a play, as

well as a painting? Paintings,
while static, can convey facial
expressions and gestures as
acutely as a moving body of art
can.
Diversity is crucial to the
identity of “Yerma.” The cast
is composed of 14 women
and only three men, a rare
scripting in classical theatre.
Many of the cast are native
Spanish speakers and all music
is composed and performed by
students.
“It was important to have a
different array of bodies on the
stage that are capable and able
to do different things,” said
Javier Soriano, a sophomore
Theatre Performance Acting
major playing the shepherd
and mailman.
Mallory Avnet, a senior in
the BFA acting program, knew
she wanted to play Yerma
the moment she saw Simone
Stone’s production broadcast
by
National
Theater
Live,
starring Billie Piper as Yerma.
“I remember seeing it and
thinking, I have to. I have to do
that,” Avnet said. “The role is
so complex, complicated, gritty
and
messy.
Unfortunately,
there’s not a lot of roles that
encompass that for women in
theatre.”
“I think everyone’s perspective
on Yerma is ever changing, but
it’s always very judgmental,”
Soriano said.
The same can be said for
women all over the world, a
gender frequently slandered

for being too proactive or
assertive. Every woman can
understand
the
trepidation
with which Yerma encounters
the world, even if Yerma as a
character seems unhinged at
times.
“I resonate with her so
strangely.
This
show
has
brought up things for me that I
wasn’t expecting,” Avnet said.
As all good works of art are,
“Yerma” is still relevant to
our times even though it was
written nearly a century ago.
“The
creative
voice
is
critical and subversive. We’re
in that world now. Especially
post-impeachment,”
Tulip
said.
The most recent budget
proposal for 2021, released
by the Trump administration
weeks ago, proposes cutting
the
National
Endowment
for
the
Arts
and
the
National Endowment for the
Humanities completely.
Lorca wrote “Yerma” in
the wake of the Spanish Civil
War against fascism. Years
later, we’re still struggling
with the same balance of
power. Liberal arts have a
reputation
of
challenging
existing, oppressive powers,
and “Yerma” is no exception.
“Yerma” isn’t a flashy, eye-
catching play or musical. But
often times, the best theatre
isn’t. The cast is confident that
“Yerma” will touch everyone in
some way, minute or grand, when
they leave the Mendelssohn.

Yerma

Thursday Feb. 20 @ 7:30 p.m.

Friday & Saturday Feb. 21 & 22 @ 8 p.m.

Sunday Feb. 23 @ 2 p.m.

Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre

$30 and $24 General Seating, $13 with
student ID

TRINA PAL
Daily Arts Writer

Unorthodox theatre and
womanhood in ‘Yerma’

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

Read more online at

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