Wednesday, March 18, 2020 — 5A
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Regularly, I find myself yearning to 

be out in the woods. Whether it’s the 

stereotypical “call of the wild” or a 

deeply poetic passion for the natural, 

being among the trees has always been 

a rather important form of respite for 

me. It’s a place where sitting on a mossy 

stump doing nothing in particular is a 

productive action. Over the years, this 

urge 
has 

only 
gotten 

more 
potent. 

I 
started 
to 

convince 

myself 
that 

trail-running 

is 
the 
only 

form 
of 

exercise 
I 

actually enjoy. 

I really began 

to 
appreciate 

the 
tiny 

nuances, 
one 

being 
the 

interaction 

between 

the 
trees. 
I 

would 
notice 

the way the 

wind brushes 

the 
leaves 
and 
envision 
the 
trees 

communicating in some discreet waving 

pattern, like flag signals. In a way, I 

started to see the woods as a connected 

group. And if Conference of Trees is any 

indication, it appears as though German 

composer Pantha Du Prince may share 

my belief that nature holds a collective 

power.

Conference of Trees finds Pantha Du 

Prince continuing down the path of 

using more organic instrumentation, 

but perhaps with more intention and 

effectiveness than ever before. The 

project starts out with the soft hums of 

wood chimes and low groaning strings 

(reminiscent of Stars of the Lid), setting 

up the earthen mood and atmosphere 

for the rest of the album. Over time, 

wooden percussion hits appear, slowly 

progressing with more aggression and 

rhythm. All of this evokes imagery of 

the album’s namesake. Roughly the first 

40 minutes of the album run together 

so unimpeded that it could easily be 

mistaken for a single track. On its own, it 

could be considered ambient; in context 

with the whole album, it acts as the 

pregame to the party that is the second 

half.

The album progresses by taking on a 

more direct tone. Songs become more beat 

driven and dance inspired. For many, this 

may feel like a bit of a departure from the 

way the album starts, but fluidity is one 

of Conference of Trees’s greatest assets 

— it never feels abrupt. Pantha wants 

to look at nature both organically and 

synthetically, yet impressively neither 

aspect feels all 

that forced. He 

walks the line 

between 
the 

two with deft 

precision. 
As 

a 
result, 
the 

reverie of trees 

conversing 
is 

never 
broken. 

If 
anything, 

the 
album 

depicts 
how 

the interaction 

of 
the 
trees 

changes 
over 

time. It starts 

out subtly and 

then gets more 

prominent 

until 
it 

dominates 

the forest, only to fade away into the 

background. Conference of Trees acts in 

the same way as nature: a cycle. 

When I listen to this album, I can’t 

help but think of a forest in Utah called 

Pando. Walking through, it would seem 

like a simple amber aspen grove. Beneath 

the surface is where it gets interesting. 

The forest itself is actually just one tree, 

connected underground by a network of 

fungal roots. The woods itself becomes a 

single organism, able to send a message 

from one trunk to another even several 

acres away. It’s relieving to look at nature 

in such a way. We’re living in a world 

now where urban life and proximity to 

one another can no longer be comforting 

nor provide any security. Taking solace 

under a lonely pine or in a boysenberry 

thicket is beginning to look more like 

a necessity rather than a privilege. 

Unknowingly, Conference of Trees acts as 

a strong proponent of social distancing 

and therefore a fairly essential listen in 

these trying times. Trees are probably the 

safest thing to hug at the moment.

‘Conference of Trees’ and 
the hidden life of the forest

DREW GADBOIS

Daily Arts Writer

PANTHA DU PRINCE

Let’s paint a picture. It’s Saturday night 

at Skeeps. Your $12 Moscow Mule pitcher 

is running dry. “Down” by Jay Sean is 

blasting on the speakers. Everyone’s 

losing it. Luckily, you lock eyes with 

that special someone from across the 

muddied dance floor. You find your way 

through the crowd and begin to hit the 

basics: Name, major, hometown, your 

least favorite President of the University 

whose last name starts with an “S.” Next 

thing you know, you’re in a Lyft back to 

their place. The two of you are violently 

making out in the back seat while your 

driver tries to politely tune you out. 

Once you get back and crash on their 

couch, they suggest watching something 

on Netflix. Perfect idea. You both scroll 

around aimlessly through titles, hoping to 

find something agreeable. Now’s a great 

opportunity for you to suggest a show 

that demonstrates just how cultured and 

cool you really are. 

“How about ‘The Office’?” 

Just then, thunderclaps emerge from 

outside. The glass in the windows shatters 

as the eyes of the person you arrived with 

begin to glow bright red. Thunder strikes 

and the wind howls throughout the room 

as you watch in horror as their head does 

a full 360-degree revolution. 

“THE OFFICE ENDED IN 2013!” they 

reply in a demonic intonation. 

“The Office” has become a symbol of 

stale viewership. In 2018, Netflix dished 

out $80 million just to keep the ’90s sitcom 

“Friends” on its platform for another 

year. And why wouldn’t they? The show 

is rewatched constantly and remains 

one of the most popular titles streamed. 

These shows have become a staple of 

entertainment for boring people. Just 

think of all of the new ideas that aren’t 

being funded as a result of continued 

audience lethargy. By comparison, in 2016, 

it only took $6 million to fund the first 

season of “Stranger Things,” a Netflix 

original that also remains one of the 

platform’s most talked about titles to date. 

Netflix has shown it has the potential to 

create engaging storylines. However, the 

disparity in funding used to rehash the 

past is remarkable. Netflix’s corporate 

strategy works best when audiences gain 

dependence on their supply of comfort 

and nostalgia. If the only thing you 

watch in 2020 happens to be “Parks and 

Recreation,” you’ll eventually become 

so trapped by the pattern of watching a 

single show that you’ll pay anything to 

keep viewing it. As users fall victim to a 

cycle of repetitive viewing, services like 

Netflix will continue to allocate a sliver 

of funding to new content.

While “The Office” and “Friends” 

are both hilarious shows (maybe not 

“Friends,” but I digress), we’ve seemed to 

reach a stalemate in a television culture 

where our fascinations are dominated by 

nostalgia. Look at the countless remakes 

and sequels that are currently dominating 

the film industry. Why bother creating 

new things if what they already have will 

still make more money? Our collective 

fixation with the past is killing not only 

TV but also entertainment in general. 

In order for any media to succeed there 

have to be new attempts at artistry, 

both good and bad. Leaving no room for 

creative growth has resulted in audiences 

feeling like we’re stuck in a job we hate, 

mindlessly selling paper and aimlessly 

hitting on the receptionist with a fiancé. 

Fortunately, there might be some 

light at the end of the tunnel. As of 

2020, “Friends” has been removed from 

Netflix and will be heading straight to 

the new streaming service HBOMax in 

May. “The Office” will be departing from 

Netflix in 2021 and is expected to draw a 

huge wave of new subscribers for NBC’s 

online service “Peacock,” which is set to 

launch on April 15th. What will these new 

streaming services mean for continued 

watchability? While it’s too early to tell, 

I’m sure viewers will find some way to 

pay an extra ten bucks a month in order 

to justify the Michael Scott sticker from 

Redbubble stuck to their laptop.

In the meantime, use the absence of 

some familiar titles to watch something 

new. Television has literally never been 

better and more diverse. Take some time 

to get a suggestion from The Daily. If 

you hate it — so what? At least you tried. 

Maybe the next time you’re hitting on 

someone at Skeeps you’ll have something 

new to talk about besides how much 

Greek life sucks.

It’s 2020: Forget ‘The Office’ 
and start a new TV show

MAXWELL BARNES

Daily Arts Writer

ALBUM REVIEW

Conference of Trees

Pantha Du Prince

Modern Recording

TV NOTEBOOK

“The Office” has 

become a symbol of stale 

viewership

Our collective fixation 
with the past is killing 
not only TV but also 

entertainment in general. 
In order for any media to 
succeed there have to be 
new attempts at artistry, 

both good and bad

