Indiecast - Grammy Predictions + Netflix's Very Fun 'We Are The World' Doc

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Steven and Ian begin this week's episode by discussing the recent story about Talking Heads being offered $80 million to reunite for some festival gigs... and turning it down. Do they really hate each other that much? Or do they accept that you can't perform Stop Making Sense-style magic in your 70s? (2:34) The guys also apologize to the city of San Francisco for some recent sports-related slander and check in on Ian's Fantasy Album team. (9:43)After that, they look ahead to the Grammys this weekend and make some predictions (21:48). Does Boygenius have a shot as a dark-horse pick? Which fanbase will be the angriest the following morning? Does any of this matter? They also talk about The Greatest Night In Pop, the very entertaining new documentary about the 1985 all-star single "We Are The World" that premiered on Netflix this week. Could such a song ever happen in 2024? (34:38)In Recommendation Corner (50:53), Ian goes to bat for the Norwegian emo band Flight Mode while Steven talks about the Philly "patio rock" band Memorytown.New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 174 and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [e-mail], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out hereSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprox's Indy Mix tape. Hello everyone and welcome to Indycast. On this show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week. We review albums and we hash out trends. In this episode, we talk about the Grammys. Yes. And Netflix is new We Are the World Documentary. My name is Stephen Hayden and I'm joined by my friend and co-host.

He was offered $80 million to do a live reading of his old pitchfork reviews. Ian Cohen. Ian, how are you? Yeah, you know that's not true because I would do that for like, you know, like, like $50 and a couple of drink tickets. If we're talking $80, $80, I mean, I've read my pitchfork review. Like, I think it was about Slipknot. Like, I read a pitchfork review piece for free at Pitchfork Festival.

So I think you, I, I, I, like, it's obvious that the joke is, but like, you're vastly overestimating, like, you know, my, my will, my will, my, my will this to turn down money. How much would it take for you to do a live reading of your childish Gambino review of Camp in front of Donald Glover? That's a great question because, you know, he, I can't find this article, but I think he did threaten to beat my ass in a vice interview because we went to the same gym. Yeah, we've talked about this before, yeah, which is a great scenario. Like, $1,000, that'd be more than that, right? You would need at least. At least. What kind of ass beating am I getting here?

Am I going to the hospital or is he just going to get me one good sock in the face? I don't think he wouldn't beat you up now, I don't think. I mean, that's like, what, 12 years ago that record came out? I think this could be a good, like we'll film it. It'll be like a performance art piece. I think you could get five figures for that. I think at least 10 grand you could get for that, for sure. I think that could have been, like now that I think about it,

I'm sort of surprised it wasn't like woven into Atlanta as like a plot point. It's funny. Shout to the Nersie podcast. It's like actually meant it. It's funny. Like they mentioned that review in that it helped Donald Glover get better at music. But for the weirdest part is that Jeff Weiss, who I've been like friends with for 18 years, pronounces my name like Cohn. C-O-H-N.

It's like C-O-N-E rather than Cohen. I don't know what was up with that. But shout to those guys. So the $80 million reference. That was inspired by a story this week that the Talking Heads apparently were offered $80 million to do a run of festival dates. I think it was like six to eight festival dates and they turned it down. And people have been talking about this and, you know, I think for the most part people are marveling at the integrity of talking heads for not just taking the money. I think some people are amazed that they wouldn't take the money.

when I saw it, it made me think about how, you think about bands that you would want to reunite. And for a long time, my number one band for that was Talking Heads. I was like, I've never got to see Talking Heads. I love that band. I would love to see them reunite. And I think they missed their window. And I think they know it because David Byrne is 71 years old. I think the rest of the members are in their 70s as well.

And look, there's a lot of bands and artists that tour into their 70s and even their 80s. Willie Nelson is 90 and he's still playing. But the thing about most of those people is that they're singer-songwriters. Mick Jagger is the exception, I guess, in the Rolling Stones. But for the most part, people are just standing in one place, playing a guitar or piano. They're not doing what David Byrne does and stop making sense where he's like jogging in place for the entire show. It's a very physical type thing. And you just think, do you really want to see talking heads in their 70s playing those

songs? I mean, they just aren't physically capable, I think, of doing that kind of music. And some bands are like that. Other bands, again, or artists, you know, Bob Dylan can do Don't Think Twice It's All Right in his 80s because he's just standing behind a piano with like a cool looking hat on. But what talking heads do, I think it's very different. So maybe it's integrity, maybe it's also we're already rich and I don't want to embarrass myself for $80 million. Or maybe it's just that like they don't want to be in the same room.

Well, there's that too. That is like Smith's level. Like I will accept $10 million to like not hang out with David Byrne for like three hours at a time for the span of a few months. I mean, look, I can't judge. I've like in past jobs where I've been like in an office. I've like considered how much of a pay cut I would accept if like somebody was just like fired. Like I would give up money for that. And you know, when you, when you, this is stories you've heard about like what it's like to work with David Byrne.

Yeah. Yeah. Like Jerry Harrison doesn't need this shit. He's still eating off throwing copper money, you know? Yeah, but you know, I'm sure. that the other three people would do this if David Byrne wanted to do it. Like my guess here is that David Byrne said no. And then the reunion doesn't happen.

I'm pretty sure that Tina Weymouth and Chris France could put aside their animosity for their cut of $80 million. I really think that as in most cases with talking heads, it starts and ends with David Byrne. That would be my guess. Maybe I'm wrong. I mean, it is funny. Like, there was that event that the four of them showed up at.

I think it was at the Toronto Film Festival, and they did a Q&A after the revival of Stop Making Sense. And I think they did some interviews, too. Like, they were on Colbert. And in every configuration, it's like David Byrne. And then Jerry Harrison is next to David Byrne. And Harrison is like the buffer between Byrne and Weymouth in France. Very funny. Because Harrison seems like the chillest dude.

And maybe it is because, like you said, he proved his musical metal by producing throwing copper for live. Very combustive relationship between Chad Taylor and Ed Kowalchik. I mean, if you can hang with them, David Burns a fucking walk in the park. I think he did the first one, too. That sounds about right. Yeah. Yeah. I think he did that one.

But, you know, throwing copper. I mean, come on. just a masterpiece of rock production. I say that mostly tongue and cheek, but I mean, I can't totally front. There's songs on that record I still mess with, I think. Damn it out of Creek or like the hits? That's a good one. That's a good album opener.

Discussion White. All right, we are already, fuck the Grammys. We are doing throwing copper deep cuts, secret samadhi next week. We are a live cast. selling the drama That's a good song It's good You know

It's like REM didn't want to be REM So like Like live was definitely gonna like Corner that market It was an interesting time Because a lot of bands Like you two REM Pearl Jam

Like they were just like Yo we don't want to be This stadium act anymore And then you know You have live It's like yeah We want in on that Yeah man

Like we're from York Pennsylvania You know We come from AK A shit tent Yeah, it's a humble, humble background here. We have no qualms about selling out. And then, of course, fame goes totally to Ed Kowalchik's head, and he starts writing, you know, the secret juice. Yeah, he writes Likini's Juice in the entirety of this. Is it secret Samdi? How do you pronounce it's Sandy? I think it's Secret Samadhi. Secret Samadhi. You know, you would think I'd have this nailed down after like 17 consecutive years of, making at least one or two secret samadhi gags.

Is a Dolphins cry on that record too? No, that's from the distance to hear. Yeah, when you're writing songs with Dolphin in the title, you've lost the plot. You know, you have reached the toxic level of rock star egotism when you're writing songs about dolphins, or you're appearing in a video with dolphins like Axel Rose and the strange video. Um, yeah, Dolphins cry and Likini's Juice are actually his sex songs. I think that's the fucked up part. So like, is a Dolphins Cry an orgasm then? Uh, that's what you're saying? That seems, that seems to be the

metaphor. If you watch the Dolphins Cry video, which I would recommend is maybe the, like, the, the, the, the loosest, most obvious sex metaphor ever captured on video. It's, it's, it's, it's basically saying, like, Ed Kowalchik's fucking. could destroy an entire city block. Which, you know, I'm going to take his word for that. I don't need any more proof, visual or otherwise of that. We should do a quick sportscast here. I feel like we have to apologize to our San Francisco listeners

who did not take kindly to the dialogue last week about San Francisco. I had people complaining to me that I called their city San Fran. and they don't like it. Apparently when you call San Francisco San Fran, someone said, well, we call it Frisco, but not San Fran. I'm like, why is Frisco better than San Fran? I don't understand. But anyway, I didn't mean to offend people.

Congratulations to the 49ers for making it to the Super Bowl, along with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. I was completely wrong in my Super Bowl prediction. That's why I only talk about sports on an indie rock podcast and not anywhere else. Never pick against Patrick Mahomes in any circumstance. I think they're actually going to win the Super Bowl. I'm going to pick the Chiefs.

Sorry 49ers fans, but you guys have just looked shaky in the playoffs. And I don't think, you know, I don't see Dan Campbell on the side line with the Chiefs. I don't see, you know, my guy, Jordan Love, first time making a playoff run. I see a very experienced team. I don't think you can afford to screw up against these guys.

Do we want to delve into Taylor Swift discourse? Like, is this going to be the apocalypse of Taylor Swift discourse in the next two weeks? I mean, I wrote a column in early January where I was pleading with people to be more normal about Taylor Swift in 2024. And, like, I could write an entirely different column about that same topic just based on things that have happened this month. Like, this is the craziest Taylor Smith month. Taylor Swift Month of all time You got to confuse with legendary San Francisco

A.K.A. Frisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. Yeah, that's right. She's only the most famous person in the world. It's very easy to get her name wrong. But yeah, I don't know. I'm not prepared really for where we're going to be going because it's going to really ramp up next week. This is like the media week next week for the Super Bowl.

Yeah, the Taylor Swift stuff. I don't know if I can take it. I feel like we've gotten off kind of easy in a weird way. I mean, maybe it's going to ramp up this week, but we're almost halfway through to the Super Bowl. You know, maybe this is because the Taylor Swift beat at USA Today might be the only full-time job in music journalism left by the time we record. But what's happened with Taylor Swift is not like we're getting the, you know, to the psychotic Rob Sheffield articles. But we're getting that level of psychosis, but from the conservative media, because, I read this on Twitter.

You would think that a team from the Midwest with racist is too easy. Let's just say problematic nickname and also the Tomahawk Chalk chant. And their star, like, white boy tight end is dating the biggest pop star in the world. And they're like some kind of like eugenics based UberMensch fantasy. And yet because I guess, you know, they're mad a woman's doing anything. and like Travis Kelsey did a Pfizer ad. They are so mad about this. They are actually rooting for fucking San Francisco.

Like the right-wing choice in the Super Bowl is San Francisco. Like just last year, there was an entire book on the subject called San Francisco. And look, this is like some weird horseshoe shit because I thought for like a second that I can't pick any rooting interest in this game ethically. But no, it's like obviously it's the, Chiefs, right? Like, um,

I, because the only time Pat Mahomes lost in the Super Bowl was to Tom Brady. So if he loses to fucking Brock Purdy, where you're going to get like 10, 20 years of like, really gamer discourse and like, aside from like pissing off like barstool sports people, like I say that like lightly because barstool sports might be the only media

company left by like by 2025. but yeah, I think that the only ethical decision is the route for the Chiefs. I'm doubling down on the fucking, like, the San Francisco hate. I think you mean uprocks and barstool sports will be around in 2025. Yeah, I mean, the conservative media, yeah, they're going crazy with the Taylor Swift, Travis Kelsey stuff. But with the normal media, I feel like the narrative of like Taylor Swift being a distraction, which I see people complaining about, like people wanting to tell those people off

or that like Taylor Swift's being on TV too much. I feel like that's totally overblown. Like I'm not really seeing that in the media as much as we would have 20 years ago. Like do you remember like when Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson? Absolutely. And like he went with her to Mexico, I think, like on a biweek. And it was like for all the wall.

Or something, I think, right? Yeah, something. like that. It was like wall-to-wall coverage. And you just saw everyone on ESPN talking about, you know, Tony Romo's not taking his responsibility seriously. And this is a, you know, this is a distraction and distraction this, a distraction that. And people have bent so far in the other direction that I actually do think the Taylor Swift stuff probably was a distraction for the chiefs during the year. I mean, how could it not be? She's the most famous person. the world. I mean, you know, is that why they didn't play as well this year? I doubt it. But

I mean, that's a circus. Of course it's going to be a distraction. It wasn't Travis Kelsey dropping those passes. Like, Cadarius Tony was not dating Taylor Swift. Like Marcus, uh, yeah, it wasn't those guys. But it's like, you know, people don't want to be associated with like the worst trolls on the internet. Because those are the people who are talking the most about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey. So like, the urge to not be in any way associated with those people has caused, I think, the media to bend maybe a little too far the other way to like, because we can't even talk about this.

I feel like that was probably a factor in something. I mean, Travis, I mean, yeah, Travis Kelsey didn't have like a great season by his standards. And again, I don't think it's because he was hooking up with Taylor Swift, you know, off the field. But I don't know. I still think it's okay to talk about that. I don't know. Right.

I'm the bravest person in media, is what I'm saying here, Ian. I'm the only person who can talk about this. The last brave man standing right here. I think the difference is that, like, there's this ambient hum of, people are still not convinced that, like, Travis Kelsey and, like, Taylor Swift are actually, like, intimate. Whereas, like, people know, like, yeah, Tony Romo is, like, definitely, getting his head twisted by like fucking being with Jessica Simpson. Like that is very clear.

Like this is some some cornball from Eastern Illinois who like is hooking up with a pop star. Like Tony Romo was not doing act. Like Travis Kelsey was kind of famous before. He got together with Taylor Swift, which is why, you know, it's not like Taylor Swift's getting together with, I don't know, Chris Jones or, you know, Isaiah Pacheco, like any of the other famous people on the Chiefs. Yeah, we knew that. like Tony Romo was like in an absolute mental headlock over being with Jessica Simpson. There's still, people are still not, I don't think, there's like on both sides of the political divide. Like, I like believe that this is just like a beard situation.

Yeah, I don't know. I think someone needs to make the documentary about Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson dating like they did about Brittany. and we can have a reckoning about how we treated Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson. We can apologize to them that we didn't respect their love in the moment. You know, because we're so much more enlightened now in the modern day. I think that documentary is going to be coming on Hulu next year. I'm looking out for that. Let's do a quick fantasy draft update.

You have an album out today on your team. the what was it DJ Iyer the jazz pick yeah I haven't seen any reviews of this yet and we I thought that the Brittany Howard one

was gonna be out today but that one got pushed back a week which not promising for me yeah it's actually is that yeah what's going on with that record I feel like it's been moved around

it has been and yeah it's just not like it is so I'm starting to feel like Dan Campbell in that like I got a little too cute with my play calling passing up easy points I really wish I went with the last dinner party.

This is a UK rock act that sounds like they're going to be fucking blowing up. My understanding is that they're like wet leg mixed with Wolf Alice. I think we're going to see like five enemy covers by the time the year's done. But like, yeah, I'm starting to get a little, I'm starting to feel a little unsteady with my choices. What's interesting about our fantasy draft is that it took place before all of the term. while at pitchfork. Like we were drafting with the assumption that it would be a normal year for pitchfork. And now we're in a situation where, I mean, pitchfork is still up and running, but we're

not sure exactly where they're going to be going. There's records that pitchfork would review that I don't know if they're going to be reviewed now. I mean, it's going to be, I'm curious to see how that shakes out. Like the VJ. I record, you said it hasn't been reviewed yet. I actually think that plays to your advantage because I think the fewer. reviews. I think fewer reviews is actually a good thing if it's like a record that an enthusiast is going to like because if you get like two or three reviews that are just raves and then, you know, because I feel like a

record like that, people writing about it unless they're jazz aficionados, you know, they're going to be fans of the record. No one's writing about that record to shit on it. You know, they're writing about it because they really like it. And if they didn't like it, they wouldn't write about it. It would be really funny if they did shit. Because like I remember there was this one, it was like a couple years back Juliana Barwick, someone who would be a very good choice in most circumstances, and like one of the,

like an ambient artist that like typically gets like well reviewed. And someone like came out of like ambient Twitter and just completely shit all over her like her whole thing. And I don't agree with it necessarily, but I'm just like I'm just stoked to see that. You know, like maybe that's going to happen with VJ. I doubt it. But yeah, my worry is that it doesn't show up on Metacritic at all. Yeah, well, God, that would be a disaster.

Like, what happens then? Is that like when Brock Purdy, like the three, like San Francisco's, like three quarterbacks got injured in the playoffs last year? And they had to, like, have Christian McCaffrey running the single wing. Like, well, I feel, I mean, normally it would be like Aaron Rogers going down. You know, it's like you just lose your quarterback and you can't do anything about it. But, like, I feel because you were so nice to be. me with the Fay-Webster thing that I feel like I got to let you just pick somebody else.

So if that happens, we'll see you next week if it's a Metacritic. If it's not, I think you're going to have to pick somebody else and you can just pick whoever you want. That would be interesting because I really thought that was your best pick. And I still think that's a really strong pick. But yeah, I don't know. We'll see. You never, that's why they play the games, folks.

You don't win fantasy drafts on paper. You win them on the battlefield of Metacritic. That's how you win. All right, let's talk to, let's talk about one of our favorite topics of the year, the Grammys. Grammys are on Sunday. Are you going to watch the Grammys? I don't, I honestly don't remember ever watching the Grammys in real time. Never?

And we're talking even like about the 90s when like that was the only thing you could possibly watch. I've definitely watched the Pro Bowl, which just kind of goes to show. Like I've often said that the Grammys are sort of like what NFL would, like the NFL would be if the champion was determined by the Pro Bowl rather than the Super Bowl. Yeah, I could not like I just imagine myself watching this and being just profoundly annoyed. I would almost rather watch like the Republican debates because you know at least you get some unintentional humor but the Grammys take themselves even more seriously

so I will not be watching this. I mean I kind of go in and out of the Grammys some years I've had to cover it so I had to watch I do think that I mean they've really shifted it to just be about the musical performances like there's just one performance after another and there actually are some good performances

sometimes at the Grammys I'm kind of curious I know Joni Mitchell's performance I'm kind of curious to see that. There's a couple other things that I'm curious to see. So I might watch, or I might just watch via Twitter, because I feel like if anything happens, people are tweeting about it, and that's maybe the best way to do it.

But let's run through the top categories quick here and make our predictions. It's a lot of the same artists nominated in the top categories. For record of the year, you have Billy Eilish, Boy Genius, John Battiste, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rod, Rico, Siza, Taylor Swift, and this is the twist, Victoria Monet, who I don't know at all. I've never heard of her.

Do you know Victoria Monet? Yeah, her last album got reviewed really well. I think it, like, appeared in the Obama album list. I think that, yeah, Janelle Monet is out, Victoria Monet is in, you know, that, like this is, it's like her, like, H-E-R-H-E-R-H-. It's like, you know, it's going to be showing off. on Obama's year end list for the next 25

fucking years. But yeah, I think that there, I've listened to it. It's good. It's like, you know, R&B, like it's, you know,

a little, it's, it's, it's left of, it's a little bit left of center R&B, not like SZA type, but like it's,

it's, it's really hitting the midpoint between like granny bait and like, you know, new era, New York Times, pitchfork bait.

Like, when you said, it was on Obama's list, I knew exactly what it sounded like. I think that, like Obama is a genre. Yeah. You say that, you know exactly what you're getting. It's sort of like what NPR was 15 years ago. That's what Obama is.

So I hate the Billy Ilish song that's nominated. It's the song from Barbie. And I guess it's the conceit of the song or the idea of the song is that it's a doll. wondering, like, what am I here for? Like, because that's the name of the song, right? Like, what was I made for? Correct. And I just think it's such a melodramatic, like,

song for, like, a pretty ridiculous situation. Like, I'm just Ken. I can get behind that song because it has, like, a sense of humor about, like, what kind of movie it's in. But, you know, when Barbie gets serious, I don't know. I just, I check out of that. So I hate that song, which makes you think it's going to win.

Absolutely. Yeah. Right? Because they love Billy Elish. This is a terrible song, but it's sappy. The Grammys will go for it. I think Boy Genius is a dark horse here. Because I think the Grammys, like, they want to be cool.

And they will occasionally throw an award at, like, a young, up-and-coming, indie-ish act. White Man, Bonnie Bear. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, it's right. You have, like, the Bonnie Bear. You've got the arcade fire. situation. And even someone like Billy Eilish, I think, would fall under that as well.

So I think they're going to want to give Boy Genius something. So I could see them winning in record or song of the year. But yeah, I think it's between them and Billy Ilish in this category. Billy Eilish, I mean, even if you asked me like a month ago when the nominations went out, I would say that Billy Eilish was a pretty good pick

because like that, in the same way that you said, as as soon as you said that Victoria Monet was on Obama's list, you know what she's, you know what she sounds like. Billy Eilish is kind of what the Grammys have glommed onto in a similar way in that there's, you know, a certain type of edginess about her, at least, you know, previously. But Dave Grohl will say she's the future of rock and roll. So, like, they're going to ride that one to the wheels fall off. Like, granted, I don't know the difference between song of the year and record of the year. I'm sure you could explain it.

But like they're both for songs. But here's the thing. I thought that what was I made for was kind of a lock a month ago. And now that the Oscars came out and like supposedly, you know, snubbed Barbie in ways that just will make the culture break down, guaranteed fucking win. And you're going to get Billy Elish possibly up there or someone who wrote it with her. And just kind of like throw shade at the Oscars for not having Margot Robbie as, like, you know, best actress or Greta Gerwig for best, uh, or, uh, director or what have you.

Yeah, like, I think that's a guarantee. Um, as far as boy genius, I do, I don't know. I get a rumbling sense of like this could be the new, the suburbs or, you know, the white man bonnie. I just have to refer to as the white man Bonnie Bear in reference to the Grammys. But, um, yeah, my only other lock is that the food fighters are going to win something, uh, because they're nominated, I think, for like, best rock and best. Well, well, hold up on.

because we have some other categories here we're going to talk about here. We're going to go beat. We're going to hit the head. And I need to like, because record of the year is the recording of the song. And song of the year is like, that goes to the songwriters. So like the recording, so like a song in the year situation might be like the artist doesn't win because they didn't write the song. But it would go to the songwriter.

So that's the distinction there. So let's talk about album of the year here. These are the nominees. We got Boy Genius. You got Janelle Monet. You got John Baptiste. You got Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodriguez, Siza, and Taylor Swift. And, okay, so in this category, this is the category that always pisses people off.

Like, the inevitable post-Grammys controversy always comes from album of the year. Last year, it was because Harry Stiles won and Beyonce didn't win. In past years, it's always involving Beyonce, I feel like. Like Beck won one year and Beyonce didn't. Adele won one year and Beyonce didn't. Um, Mumford and Sons won one year and Frank Ocean didn't. Basically, it's a white artist beating a more deserving black artist. Aclamour and magic Lamar is like the gold standard for that.

And that's not album of the year. That's in the rap category. But yeah, it's a similar thing. So if we believe that this pattern is going to repeat itself this year, I think Taylor Swift wins album of the year and the SZA fans get very angry on Monday. That would be my prediction. I feel very strong about that. I think Taylor Swift is a lock in this category.

She's one album of the year three times already. This would be the fourth. So, you know, maybe that will... I don't know if that will mitigate the outrage or not. I mean, I don't know if people are going to be like, oh, Taylor Swift is so huge that she has to get it. We can't be angry about it. But I do think Siza, you know, that record is one of the most acclaimed records

of like recent years. I mean, SOS, people love that record. And she's very famous as well. So I think a Taylor Swift win and outraged Siza fans, I think that there's a very good chance of that in this category. Yeah, it just goes to show

how little attention I pay to the Grammys because I thought that like Taylor Swift kept losing album of the year, but it turns out she's won it three times. Yeah, like going back to like fearless, you know, so she's been winning like for a long time here. I don't know I think Stevie Wonder has won

four albums of the year trophies I feel like that's probably a record and so Taylor Swift is going to probably match that this year I think maybe the Herbie Hancock fans like get like fucking pissed off about

or Stevie Wonder or whoever it is that currently holds the record but yeah I think that yeah a boy genius I could see a path for that like similar to the suburbs. But, you know, what I'm hoping to see, like, yeah, maybe we get, like, some Siza outrage.

But, man, I just want to see if, like, John Battice got shooters out there like that, where they're just, like, so convinced that World Music Radio is this, like, polyglot genius record that encompasses all genres. Like, is Obama, like, gets on the, gets on the mic and starts, you know, starts, like, ranting about, like, how he's overlooked. And also the fact, like, well, he's sort of. He won an album of the year Grammy a couple years ago, like, just came out of nowhere.

Yeah, that's why we know who he is. And, I mean, if you won, like, if you won this award twice this decade, that would be, I would actually love that. That would be, like, old school Grammys. I want the most Grammy pick possible. Like, I want Warren, I want, yeah, I won't get ahead of myself, but yeah,

I want the most Grammy shit possible. Yeah, I mean, okay, let's just skip song of the year because I think that's going to be Billy I wish again. We don't need to talk about that category. Let's go to Best New Artist. This is the last category I want to talk about because you got, okay, these are the nominees. You got Coco Jones. I don't know who that is.

You got Gracie Abrams. That's Jay J.J. Abrams's daughter. Is it? I think so, yeah, Gracie. Like, I'm pretty sure that's who it is. Oh, wow. Good for her. Picking up by the bootstraps.

Fred again, Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Noah Con, Victoria Monet, the war and treaty. So, okay, you actually have like some pretty well-known artists in this category. I think it's between Noah Khan, Ice Spice, and the War and Treaty. I'm going to go with Noah Khan. I just think he is such a Grammys, like, down the center pick. You know, for those who don't know, I wrote a thing about him earlier this month, but, like, he is like the new Mumford and Sons, essentially.

And we know the Grammys love Mumford and Sons. I don't know if Noah Khan is performing on the Grammys. If he is, he's going to kill. I remember, like, when Mumford and Sons were on the Grammys, more sort of regular people in my life wanted to talk about that. Like, people just love seeing Mumford and Sons on an award show. Like, they just kill in that environment. If Noah Khan is playing, he's going to kill.

And so I just think he's going to win in this category. Yeah, I think that Noah Khan, like, not just being like Mumford and Sons-ish, but kind of mixed with Zach Bryan in a way, which is also, like, I'm sort of shocked that he's not best new artist. Like, maybe he'll be nominated when he picks his next album. But, yeah, the Warren Treaty, yeah, I think that's kind of a sleeper candidate. Like, that is the most, like, Grammy's core stuff imaginable.

Jellyroll, like, my understanding of him is that he's, like, a country rap dude who sort of looks like Action Bronson with face tattoos. Fred again, like no fucking prayer, but he'll win, like, best electronic artist for the next 20 years. Yeah. Who's the best, like, I'm like wondering, who's the best metal?

Best metal, because that one's always interesting because they have like one new person in there, but then it's like, did Slipknot put out an album? Did Metallica put out an album? Did Ozzy Osborne put out an album? Oh, it's Metallica, Disturbed, Ghosts, Flip-knit, and I guess Spirit Box is the new one. Yeah, I saw a couple of Spirit Box hoodies at the explosions in the Sky show,

so that just shows the level of penetration they've got. Yeah, it's the biggest night in music, so I can't wait for it. Let's talk about the greatest night in pop, which is a new documentary that premiered on Netflix this week. It's about the 1985 charity single, We Are the World, which, if you don't know what that is because I guess you know you got young people out there

who were born in the 90s they may not know what we are the world is it was the song written by Lano Richie and Michael Jackson to raise money to fight African famine and they assembled all of these huge stars in 1985

to sing on this song and you got Bruce Springsteen you got Willie Nelson you got Stevie Wonder you've got Huey Lewis you've got that I said Cindy Lopper already? I think so. You got Whalen Jennings for a few minutes.

Said her twice. You got Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon. You got just a litany of superstars on this song. And look, I mean, the song is terrible. We can just say that at the top. It's not a good song. And I have to say that when I first heard about this documentary, I wasn't that interested in it, but then I heard people talking about it. I was like, oh, I'll watch it. It's a very fun movie. I highly recommend watching it this weekend. And the thing about it, is, you know, even if this song sucks, which I think it does, it does. The movie makes a convincing case that it's like pretty amazing that this all came together because you have like all these famous people.

It's like the night of the American Music Awards and like they're staying up all night essentially to record this song. And there's this idea that like if the session doesn't constantly say in motion that these you know, stars are going to be like cats and just wander away, you know. So they're just trying to keep everyone engaged. And I don't know, there's like all these great stories about the behind the scenes. You got Al Jaro, the iconic jazz R&B singer who apparently was drinking so much wine that he could barely get through like the one lyric of the song that he has.

You got Paul Simon who is like the worst, yeah, he's like the worst vibes of any one in the session. You can even see it in the music video for We Are the World, like, because it's like him and Kenny Rogers, which I think Paul Simon was pissed that he was paired with Kenny Rogers. I think he probably felt like I deserve to be with Stevie Wonder or Bruce Springsteen. You got me here like at the B team with Kenny Rogers, although this was before Graceland too. So Paul Simon was a little bit down on his luck at the time. I think he probably would have been paired with somebody else if it was after Graceland. But, I wrote a column about this documentary where I ranked all the singers

and We Are the World. And my top two, I had Stevie Wonder at number one and Bruce Springsteen at number two. Because for me, the highlight of the song is at the end where Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen are like shouting at each other basically. You got like the split screen going on and like Stevie Wonder's like, we are the well. And then Bruce, who is in the middle of the Born in the USA tour. It's at the end. It's like at the end of the tour. No, it was during a break.

Oh, okay, okay. It was like the first leg ended like the night before this session and then he had a break and then he toured. I just wrote a book about Born in the USA. I know how long the tour is. The movie was misleading then. They made it seem like it was the end of the tour. Yeah, I mean, his tour, like the leg of the tour ended in early 85 and then it picked up again. and he went overseas, and then he came back to America and played stadiums later on in 85.

But anyway, his voice is, like, maximum Bruce Springsteen raspiness, and, like, his jaw is, like, the size of Alaska. And it's just like, we are the world! It's, like, incredible voice. So, like, that's the favorite part of the song for me, just Stevie and Bruce yelling at each other, you know, about how they are the world and they are the children. I don't know. I DM'd you because I was like, you got to watch this movie.

I want to talk about this on the show. Did you like the movie? Yeah, I wouldn't have watched this if you hadn't, if you hadn't nudged me in that direction. And I'm glad I did. On the one hand, like, I think that they really had to stretch to make the conflicts really pop here. But at the same time, I do think, like, a get-back style,

like, five-hour documentary where you just see, like, what these people are doing to kill time when other people are doing their solos would be interesting. Yeah, this song sucks. I fucking hate it. I've never actually listened to the whole thing, which is seven minutes long, by the way. But, yeah, it's like, the line that never made sense to me is, like,

there's a choice for making. We're saving our own lives. Look, they make it clear that, like, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson had to write this song in, like, a matter of days. And, you know, it's broad. It's an anthem. but like we're saving, like, what about the African people?

You know what I mean? Well, I think the idea of it, maybe I'm being generous with my interpretation, but they're saying like, we're all together. Right. So it's like, your life is my life. You know, I think that is my interpretation of it. Because I don't think they're just talking about like they're, like, we're rich, we're saving our lives.

I think they're saying. Spiritually, we're saving our own lives. Yeah, like the people in Africa and the people in Africa and the people in Hollywood, we're all the same. We're one people. Like, we are the world together. Yeah, I mean, I would say that, like, this, I'm glad they didn't

focus on, like, the nuts and bolts of making this song. Like, drunk Al Jaro love it, except for the fact that it implies that he was the only one completely fucking booted out of his mind in the studio. Like, this is the great, this is after the AMAs, the biggest pop stars of 1985.

Right, yeah, it's L.A. in 1985. Yeah. There was definitely other intoxicated people in that room. Especially it's like midnight and it's like an all night recording session. So that was a great part. I love, I didn't love. I mean, it's, you know, it's kind of shitty how like Whalen Jennings, A, I don't even remember him being there,

but he's apparently too racist to swing in Swahili. And then my favorite. Okay, okay, but we have to explain this because there's a part in the movie like where Stevie Wonder, he's like trying, I think, to make the song more interesting. Yeah. So he's like proposing. that they sing some of the lyrics in Swahili, which they obviously didn't end up doing. I don't know, I mean, look, I think, I don't want to call Whalen racist here.

I think Whalen Jennings is self-aware enough to know, should I be singing in Swahili? Is this something that Whalen Jennings, does anyone want this from Whalen Jennings? Would Hank? Would have done it this way? Yeah, because it's almost more racist for him to sing in Swahili, I think. You know, like, because you would think that he's, there's no way he can do this authentically. but yeah he leaves after that just like walks out of the studio

it's like they didn't pair Willie and Waylon together like they put Whalen in the chorus and they paired Willie with Dion Warwick which I actually think is a great combo like they sound really good together but like Whalen and Willie are in the same room and you don't give him a verse that seems off to me

Quincy Jones you're a genius but I think you fumbled the ball on that one yeah but even after the Whalen walks out then someone has to tell Stevie Wonder they don't speak Swahili in Ethiopia, which is like I know it's not that, it's not like funny, but it's kind of funny.

And then, my other favorite part, speaking to Kenny Rogers, he dropped, like they all say that like, you know, Quincy Jones doesn't drive or this person had to get driven. Like Kenny Rogers pulls up in a fucking Chrysler laser.

Like just swag off the charts in 1985. I think the, uh, the, for, I guess the emotional fulcrum of this movie is actually Sheila E.

Right. Because like, you know, you would think like a star at the time, certainly not at the level of some of the other people involved. And then it becomes extremely clear to her that they just brought her there as like bait to get Prince, which is like

so shitty, you know? Yeah. And it didn't work either. Prince didn't show up. He's like hiding out in a Mexican restaurant on the Sunset Strait. won't show up. Yeah, and I mean, Prince got a lot of shit for that for not showing up to We Are the World. I do think that he was probably just uncomfortable

with being around so many people, which is something that's really clear during the Bob Dylan sections. Look, I mean, I was already familiar with the footage of Bob trying to sing on We Are the World. And it's so painful to watch because it's not like, it's not just that his voice sounds bad. Like, he literally can't sing.

He's trying to sing and it's like there's barely any sound coming out of his mouth and you just see like how uncomfortable he is and it's like so unnerving like he's so vulnerable and Quincy jones and Stevie wonder basically have to coach him up on how to sing like bob Dylan like stevie wonder does a bob Dylan impression for bob Dylan it's like no you sing it like this and he does it and then bob sings it and he says to quincy oh that wasn't very good and like quincy hugs him and it's like a very tender moment. Like that was probably the most memorable scene for me in the whole movie. Yeah, it's like watching Bob Dylan sing that, it's like, you know,

the shreds videos that come out on YouTube where like you isolate like David Lee Roth just doing running with the Depp Holer. I'm like, like every time they show Bob Dylan's face and it's clear he's not doing a single thing during the chorus, like I'm imagining the times I've seen like isolated Waka Flaka Adelves where I'm like, I don't remember what Bob Dylan's face. Dylan does on this song so I'm like thinking he's just gonna do like the grassby yeah the children like doing the uh the really deep uh you know uh time out of mind voice I also think it's funny they put him right next to Smokey Robinson who sort of like was rocking a Bob Dylan look in

1985 like they had converged on the same sort of like touseled appearance which he has a very it's Smokey has a very skeezy mustache too like he I don't know whoever was doing his fashion or you know his stylist or whatever they committed a major problem with that one can we say too that like

1985 was a great time for like 35 year old white guys because there are so many like 35 year old white guys in here who are just soulful as hell you got like Huey Lewis you got Steve Perry oh he killed it

his voice it's like he turns this song into a power ballad for about three seconds. Like when he sings, you're like, oh, this is like, you know, don't stop believing. You know, all over again. It's like, I want to make love to a woman on a waterbed with Tiger Prince sheets while listening to Steve Perry sing. When I say a woman, I mean my wife.

So, but, and then Daryl Hall, he's killing it. Kenny Loggins. He's killing it. It's like bearded white guys. Yeah, man. Just beautiful. It's funny. because like Quincy Jones, like, there's numerous times during this documentary where he's like

complimenting a white guy for being a white guy. Like he, uh, you know, it's like I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, like, I, I, I, like, Steve Perry electrifying in that range. Like, he really is. And because, like, you think about, you think of these guys like just being kind of like cornball or whatever, but then like, Huey Lewis, like, he fucking delivers, man. He does, man. He does. And he's throwing his face into it too. Like he's just making, he's expressing how much soul is coming out of his mouth by like his face. Hard a rock and roll, man.

Yeah, just unbelievable. So in my column, I painted a scenario for a modern We Are the World situation. And I want to lay this by you to see if this makes any sense or if you have any alternate choices. I think Quincy Jones, the obvious Quincy Jones analog would be Jack Antonoff. So he's the producer of the model. We Are the World. The Lionel Richie, Lano Ritchie's like the quarterback of We Are the World.

He co-wrote the song and he's helping to run the session. Phoebe Bridgers is the Lionel Ritchie. And then she's going to bring in a superstar co-writer. So we need the modern Michael Jackson. It's obviously Taylor Swift. So they're the two co-writers of the song. Bob Dylan is going to be Bob Dylan again. And extremely awkward still in 2024.

In the Ray Charles role, you know, like the elder statesman, I have Paul McCartney coming in, so he is going to be the Ray Charles. In the like pissy, 40-something-year-old pop star who's passed their prime, Paul Simon role, I've got John Mayer. Ray Pat. In that role, in the Prince role, you know, the enigmatic genius who doesn't show up to the session, Frank Ocean, so he's the Prince. Surprisingly good matchup.

Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars. They kill their version. together. And then the weakest matchup, I've got Lord and of course Dave Grohl. My prediction for this song is that it comes out one billion people stream it the first day and then

no one streams it ever again after that. Completely memory hold. So that's my We Are the World scenario for 2024. Do you have any notes on that? Yeah, I think I guess a thing you get a compliment you can pay the greatest night in pop is that it

gives us such an unrealistic frame for thinking about how it would be put across in 2024 because, I mean, you can't think of We Are the World without, you know, moving back because like what would be a cause for this? Like, you think of COVID and like the Gal Gaddaad Imagine video, like I think maybe that's the new We Are the World. But we're, you want to talk about memory hold. There was a We Are the World 25 for Haiti. I believe that was 2010. and I know that people liked the segment we did in the last episode where you just quiz me about like did or did I not review this album. We could totally remember some guys for the World 25 for Haiti roster because, I mean, 2010, that was a dark-ass time for pop music.

And it's like you are not getting the equivalent of Michael Jackson or, you know, Lionel Richie or whatever. It was like, you know, it was like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, but also like Swiss. beats and like, you know, T.I. get, you know, solos. I'm thinking, we are the world 2024 would be more like that. There's absolutely no way Taylor or Beyonce does this. I think the weekend would be the Michael Jackson role here because, you know, he's like one of the few people who is, or is willing to embrace, you know, that sort of, like that sort of narrative. I mean, Chris Brown would certainly make himself available. Nicky Minot,

you're just going to get the most cornball, like, I think that, like, for artist, artist types, like Beyonce or like Taylor, like, I think they would see something like this

as beneath them. So, yeah, I think it's more, I think the We Are the World 2024 would be more like the imagine video and less like the we are,

like, you're going to get a shitty song out of it regardless, but yeah, I don't, I don't see like our A list P, like, optimism killed we are the world. All right, we've now reached a part of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner,

where Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week. Ian, why don't you go first? All right, so we have what many are considering the Scandinavian emo version of BetaBans 3 EPs, so let me see if I can get like five screens out of this. But, yeah, we have a band called Flight Mode, who I may have, like, mentioned on previous Recommendation Corner. They're a Norwegian emo band that had been releasing EPs. Over the past couple of years on, you know, when Tiny Engines was kind of sort of on hiatus, they released it on the Sound as language label.

But now Tiny Engines is back and they're collecting three E piece together on an album. It's called The Three Times. You know, it's pretty obvious that they're older dudes. Like, they're in their 30s because, you know, this sounds like the quiet parts of, like, mineral or braid or mock orange. And most of the songs about, like, reminiscing about being young. and being in the punk scene, but it's done from like a, it's done from a more like wistful and, you know, washed perspective rather than kind of doing the Japan droids.

You know, let's remember the night that, you know, we got in our car and, like, drank and drove and so forth. Very winter emo, you know, it's a kind of a variant of fall emo, which we've talked about and, you know, towards the end of last year. But yeah, a lot of these songs have been out for a while. Now they put them together. It holds together great as an album. So flight mode, the three times.

So I'm going to talk about a record that actually came out toward the end of 2003 and I didn't discover it until a few weeks ago. It's called It Takes Forever and the band is called Memory Town. I got a shout out Taylor Grimes. He tweeted about this record and he sold it as basically a really good, crunchy M.J. Linderman-esque rock record, which of course I was going to click on immediately. And I think that's a good description of this album.

Very fun record here in the Midwest. we're having an unseasonably warm winter so warm that I actually think I can get on the patio a few times in January and February. And I think I'm going to play this record. This band, Memory Town, all one word there from Philadelphia. It's a side project for this producer and member of the band Gladdy. His name is Matt, and I'm going to butcher his last name. I believe it's Shemmel Finning. Matt Shemmelfinning.

That's a very Pennsylvanian sounding name. But anyway, Matt, you made a good record here. I like it a lot. It takes forever, Memory Town. If it's warm where you are, get your little portable speaker, stream it, blast it. It's going to feel super cozy. So check it out. It takes forever.

Memory Town. Yeah, shout to Philadelphia names. Concha Hock and Wissahick and Why are Missing. Yeah, if you have me in Southern California, we're looking at another catastrophic rainstorm. So flight mode is good for that, too. Thank you all for listening to this episode of Indicast. We'll be back with more news and reviews and hashing out trends next week. And if you're looking for more music recommendations,

sign up for the Indie Mix Taped newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie. And I recommend five albums per week and we'll send it directly to your email box.