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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