MUSIC

Blood Cultures Release Magnetic Video "Broadcasting"

The mysterious New Jersey indie-electronica outfit pairs a vibrant and arresting music video with a cut from their latest album, Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs.

Pouty Cowboy

In the wake of their 2019 LP Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs, the New Jersey psych-pop group Blood Cultures has released their new video for "Broadcasting."

"Broadcasting" sounds massive in its electronic scope, melding distorted industrial indie-pop with the band's anxious lyrics. "When this ends the way you know it will / with a bang, will you be laughing still?" Blood Cultures asks in a far away falsetto, crafting a vibrant yet troubled sonic narrative to challenge the listener. The video, directed by Saleem Barbados, embraces that same kind of high-strung juxtaposition, featuring Bharatanatyam dancer Anjali Mehta as her evocative choreography plays out against the harsh squat buildings and corrugated metal of Brooklyn.

"I was raised in New Jersey, after my parents immigrated from Pakistan," Blood Cultures says of the track. "Growing up with one culture inside your home, and another one at school, in your community, and in media is a hard thing to navigate in terms of understanding who you are and where you belong, if anywhere. The struggle for identity is almost a guarantee for any first-generation-American, but when we present those struggles with pride, it becomes a lot easier to see that we're not alone in facing them; that these feelings are universal." Mehta's embodiment of the explorations in "Broadcasting" feels beautifully vital, deepening the song's questions of belonging and isolation in a magnetic visual dialogue.

Follow Blood Cultures online at Twitter | Facebook | Spotify

MUSIC

Taylor Swift Announces New Single and the Whole World Groans

Taylor, please, just fade into the shadows with your billions and leave us alone.

For better or worse, Taylor Swift is back.

The singer-songwriter, cultural appropriator, and queen of white feminism just took to Instagram to announce that her new song (with an accompanying video), entitled "ME!" and featuring Brendan Urie, will drop at midnight EST. It' difficult to think of a more fitting song title for the narcissistic pop star's comeback, but regardless of the layers of irony, it's definite that the new song will rack up millions of plays in the first few hours of its release. After all, there are still plenty of lonely 30-year-olds out there who are willing to look past Swift's problematic qualities in order to jam to "ME!" in their Kia Sorento's on the way to Trader Joes.

Undoubtedly, the song will feature more self-celebratory rhetoric, some trendy moments of heavy synth, and, if we're lucky, some androgynously high notes from Brendan Urie. Who knows? Maybe we'll get really lucky and Swift won't sing at all!

Only time will tell, but until then, we'll be listening to Lizzo's new album and hoping we won't have to spend six month's hearing "ME!" on repeat in every grocery store and Uber.


Check out the video here:

Taylor Swift - ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)youtu.be



Brooke Ivey Johnson is a Brooklyn based writer, playwright, and human woman. To read more of her work visit her blog or follow her twitter @BrookeIJohnson.


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