The Watch - The Ringer Recommends Pt. 2 (Ep. 159)

Episode Date: June 15, 2017

The Ringer’s Chris Ryan is joined by six of the New York City bureau staff, calling in to recommend a variety of media they have been recently enjoying. Justin Charity recommends the Nintendo Switch... as a solution for responsible gaming (2:33), Kate Knibbs plugs her new favorite new Instagram account @nightlotion as well as Netflix’s ‘The Keepers’ (8:20), Andrew Gruttadaro is excited for the shark-infested ‘47 Meters Down’ (14:15), Lindsay Zoladz praises a book she recently read called ‘The Idiot’ (19:02), Donnie Kwak calls ‘Bad Rap’ the one film about Asian American rappers to watch (25:10), and K. Austin Collins endorses English rock band Slowdive’s new self-titled album (30:50). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's episode of The Watch is brought to you by Rohn Apparel. Rone is a men's premium fitness apparel at Activewear brand that provides gear for the modern man who demands modern style, comfort and quality. The design is sophisticated with minimal logos and everything is crafted using luxury fabrics of premium quality. But if you do not love your gear, do not worry. They offer free returns and exchanges so you have nothing to lose. Not to mention, all orders ship free. Time to upgrade. Go to Rone.com.
Starting point is 00:00:30 Come and enter promo code watch and I'll dole out 20% off your first purchase. Benevolent. Today's episode of The Watch is also brought to you by Hotel Tonight. If you are like me and you are not so great at planning ahead, you have to try Hotel Tonight. Hotel Tonight is an app that helps you find amazing hotel deals at the last minute to seven days in advance. It's perfect for a spontaneous getaway or indulging at a little staycation. All it takes is 10 seconds, just three taps and a swipe. So what are you waiting for?
Starting point is 00:00:58 get in on these killer last minute deals and download the Hotel Tonight app now. I need sports to have to clear the room. Stand up and walk now. Hello and welcome to The Watch. My name is Chris Ryan. I am an editor at The Ringer.com and joining me in the studio,
Starting point is 00:01:17 crickets. No Andy Greenwald this week. He is out of town right now. So I thought I would go out of town, at least emotionally. You know, I'll virtually go out of town. I wanted to talk to some of our New York staff members at The Ringer.
Starting point is 00:01:30 So I got together a group of Sinister Six from New York City to talk to me about what they've been digging recently. I wanted to do another Ringer Recommends episode. We did one of these a couple months ago with a lot of people from the West Coast office and that was really fun. I was thinking, you know, oh, somebody's going to be like I'm getting into, you know, Wonder Woman or something. But nobody was really, like none of this stuff is going to be very like mainstream, hot off the blogs type cultural recommendations. And that's good because I thought we got to learn a lot about the people who we talked to. And we also got to hear about a ton of interesting stuff, stuff that I wasn't even up on. So you're about to hear from Justin Charity, Kate Nibs, Andrew Goddado,
Starting point is 00:02:11 Lindsay Zolads, Doni Kwok, and our buddy Cam Collins. We're going to recommend some Instagram accounts, some documentaries, some books, and some good music. So stay tuned. We got a ringer recommend show from our New York staff. Six people, six recommendations. Hope you like it. All right, now I am joined by the ringers, Justin Charity, who's going to recommend, I think, something a little bit outside the usual watch grab bag of pop culture, but still part of the fabric of our lives, man, is video games, but it's a very specific kind of video game, right, Justin? Well, I'm recommending a console. I'm recommending the Nintendo Switch, which is the new, relatively new handheld console from Nintendo.
Starting point is 00:03:00 Okay, so give me like, how much has this taken over your life? Because that's always my concern with any of these things. It's weird. I've actually, I feel that I have responsibly incorporated Nintendo Switch into my life. That's a big part of why I like it. It's because like I own a PlayStation 4 otherwise, right? And that's a console and it's in my living room. And I usually like pop down and play it for long stretches.
Starting point is 00:03:25 But it's weird. I haven't owned a handheld console in a long time. And when I got the switch to play the new Legend of Zelda game, I found myself sort of just playing it in these little sweet spots, right? Like right after filing a draft of a story or while I was falling asleep or on the bus. Yeah. That's how I used to smoke cigarettes. It was like, there was like a reward-based system of like, I got it through a subway ride alive.
Starting point is 00:03:52 Exactly. Like, oh, I'm a cigarette. Yeah. I want to know if with these handheld devices now, like I find that usually like my use of social media is largely to take up any moments that I might be alone with my thoughts. So is that, is the Nintendo switch like taking over that place where you're like, oh, I don't have to like look at Twitter while I'm online or on the subway now? Or is it more of a like, this is something I actively want to do? So it's interesting that you phrase it that way because when I first bought a place. station in January, I specifically made a bargain with myself. And it was that I am buying this with
Starting point is 00:04:29 the intention of using it to displace all the time that I otherwise would spend on social media. It's something that's more enjoyable and less toxic, I think. I think video games are less toxic. Can you write my wife an email that I can just sign at the bottom that it's just like, dear Chris's wife, these are the reasons Chris needs a PS4. It was like far less checking British soccer Twitter and, you know, like all the things that are that are destroying my marriage. No, it's totally great because, I mean, in the sense that the Nintendo Switch, right, is mobile, it's certainly larger than an iPhone. It's like four times the size of an iPhone.
Starting point is 00:05:06 But even the sort of like visceral instincts of like holding a handheld device where you're like, I should tweet. Instead, it's like, I should play a Mario Kart 8 deluxe match. And it feels so much more fun than tweeting, which is bad. Yeah, so tell me a little bit about Zelda because I know that we've written about it on the site a couple of times. I think Lindberg did. And it sounds incredible. Yeah, it's interesting. It's my first Zelda game. It's my first ever Zelda game. And it's a very open-ended game, which it makes it interesting to play it on the go because I'm not playing it with the sense of like, oh, man, I had to stop at this point in the plot. Like, you spent a lot of the game just sort of wandering around this huge open world map and doing. the side quest and exploring. You basically spend a lot of time solving puzzles. And it's just like a good, it's a very, it's strange because it's got a good story at
Starting point is 00:06:03 the heart of it and it's got great graphics and great gameplay. But at the same time, I kind of think of Zelda as just this, this thing that I play ideally in idling moments. It's not a thing that I sit and want to play necessarily for super long stretches, so much as is a thing I want to play for an hour and then do something else, which is good. That's how I should. as an adult play video games. Yeah, I mean, that's, I think my problem with video games is like, I just know that they
Starting point is 00:06:31 will take over my life if I find, and I just, there's no room on achievement oriented. So it would just be such a detrimental part. If I just started playing FIFA again, I know that I would just become so obsessed with it. What are some other games on the Switch that you like? Well, I like Mario. So far, I've only really played Zelda and Mario Car 8. And Mario Car 8 came out a few years ago for, I think, DS. And I think it's on a couple platforms at this point.
Starting point is 00:07:00 But it came up for the switch around the launch time of the switch a few months ago. And actually a couple weekends ago was with a few friends, including my friend Kevin, when shouts out to GQ, who had a Mario Kart party on a Saturday. where we got, I think we, I think at one point we got a full eight people in across three different switches playing Mario Kart on a TV. And it was fantastic. But I've only recently started playing Mario Kart eight on the switch solo. And it's such a beautifully design, like the level design on the new Mario Kart is very good. And it looks really good on a mobile device.
Starting point is 00:07:44 and I actually have to go to Daytona at the beginning of July to cover a NASCAR race and I really look forward to playing Mario Kart in the stands at the Coke Zero 400. I think that might be the most boring version of Logan Lucky that we could get. All right, so Justin recommends the Nintendo Switch
Starting point is 00:08:08 and specifically Zelda and Mario Kart on that device. Justin, thank you for joining us. We're going to have to have you back on again. and let us know how NASCAR went. Thanks, man. I will. Thanks for having me. Now I'm joined by the ringers Kate Nibs,
Starting point is 00:08:22 and I actually don't know what Kate's going to recommend to me. I have no prior knowledge. So, Kate, the floor is yours. Okay, well, I was, I just switched my recommendation because I realized that I needed to tell you about something that is an Instagram account. Oh. I was going to recommend the Keepers because I think it's a great documentary series,
Starting point is 00:08:44 but I'm currently more obsessed with this Instagram account. So everyone should watch The Keepers, but we also need to talk about night lotion. That's what the Instagram account is called. The Hairpin wrote an article about it. That's how I find out about all the hippest Instagram accounts. It's just reading blog posts about them. And so you've never heard of it?
Starting point is 00:09:09 I've not. No. Can you guess what it is based on the title? Is it like ASMRs of people putting lotion on at night? Close, but it's, so it's sort of looking, there's a TV and movie trope in which when women are talking to their husbands in scenes set in bedrooms at night, they put on lotion a lot. Like it happens in, yeah. That's the Leslie Mann move. Leslie Mann does that in every movie. I know exactly what you mean. They're so well moisturized.
Starting point is 00:09:41 And so what this Instagram account is just like a hyper niche account devoted to like stills of these movies and TV shows of the ladies looming up. Holy shit. Are you serious? Yeah. And it's really, you know, it just inserts a little delightful interlude into my Instagram browsing. I really recommend it. And it also- Wait, can you give me, who's the Mount Rushmore of this? Like, who are their best lotion people? Well, Leslie Mann is huge, but there's been, like, there's a bunch of sex in the city
Starting point is 00:10:17 lotionings. There was a night lotion event on Big Little Lie or Big Little Lies, yeah. Nicole Kidman, yeah. Almost any, like, there's a lot of these scenes. 90210, the Crown, the Queen, the Queen moisturizes in the Crown. What did they have for lotion back then? Was that, like, actual bun? I think it was like old-timey night cream.
Starting point is 00:10:42 She's like patting it on her face. I'm sure it was like made of caviar or something. It's very pervasive, but it also makes me feel kind of self-conscious because like I don't apply lotion in my like bed. So I don't know. I might start. Okay. So it's inspirational, but it's also like an incredible look and like to this very specific
Starting point is 00:11:09 pop culture thing. I'm like kind of blown away. Like I'm a little bit caught flat footed here just because like now that you said it, I can't not think about it? But can you give me like a solid 30 second recco on the Keepers as well, even though it's a little incongruous, I know, with night lotion? Yes. Well, you can apply lotion at night while watching the Keepers.
Starting point is 00:11:31 So that's how it comes together. Awesome. But the Keepers came out last month. It's a documentary on Netflix. And I think it's one of the best true. crime documentaries I've ever seen, but it's not really getting as much hype as like making a murderer or the jinx. And I think it deserves more because it looks at a cold case about a nun who was murdered in 1969 in Baltimore. And her former students who are now sort of elderly
Starting point is 00:11:58 women have been like sort of amateur sleuthing around trying to figure out who killed this nun, sister Kathy and it ends up sort of widening out to an exploration of abuse within the Catholic Church in Baltimore. And I think it's really interesting because it sort of comes at you from the perspective of the victims in a way that most true crime documentaries don't. And I think more people should be watching and talking about it. Yeah. So because like a lot, I think a lot of what there was some criticism of serial in the beginning. And I think a lot of this explosion of true crime stuff that we've had, there's been a lot of debate about, is there too much focus on the investigator? Is there too much focus on the who done it part, which is sort of picking
Starting point is 00:12:47 at the scabs of the victims and the victims families in the first place? But you're saying that this is kind of like a more, from the perspective of the people who are directly affected by this crime. Yes. It's, I think it's like one of the least exploitative true crime series I've seen. it's like less of a whodunit and more just exploring why these women are after so many years still looking for accountability. Yeah, I just think it's really well done. And I love true crime, but I've been kind of burnt out on it. That's why it like took me a few weeks to watch this show.
Starting point is 00:13:24 But I'm just really impressed by how it managed to sidestep a lot of those like exploitative qualities of stuff like cereal or, you know. I actually thought making a murderer was boring and I find this one also just better made. So have you seen it? I haven't seen The Keepers yet. I watch Murderer and I do watch a lot of like true crime stuff but I haven't gotten around to the Keepers yet. So I'll definitely check it out though.
Starting point is 00:13:52 Yeah, it's really good. I think it I wish it was like getting paid a little more attention to but I don't know. Everyone should watch it. Okay, cool. All right. Kate recommends what is, bound to be probably the greatest Instagram account of all time, night lotion, and also the Keepers,
Starting point is 00:14:08 which is on Netflix. You can check that out now. You can read Kate Nibs on the Ringer. Thanks for joining us, Kate. No problem. All right. Now I am joined by one of the ringers pop culture writers and editors, Andrew Godadaro. Andrew, I'm, I don't know what you're going to recommend, but I'm very excited to hear because I feel like you always come with the heat on the site. So what's going on with you this week? Yeah. I'm going to deliver right now because the thing that I'm recommending is out on Friday. and it is called 47 meters down. Yes! It is...
Starting point is 00:14:42 Mandy Moore at the bottom of the ocean! Let me give you a one sentence description. It is a Mandy Moore starring film about shark attacks. That's all... I mean, I don't think I need to say anything else, but I will. I love it when Hollywood... I get it when, like, you know, you'll see like Homeland comes out. They make like 10 Homeland shows, but they kind of...
Starting point is 00:15:05 come out like two or three years later. Or they'll have like a successful like John Wick and now Atomic Blonde's coming out. And it's just like you can see that this sort of like hyper gymnastics action is in now. But shout out to fucking Hollywood for being like, you know what was a good movie? The Shallows. Let's make another one. So have you seen 47 meters down yet or are you just going off of the premise? Oh no.
Starting point is 00:15:28 I saw it. And how's Mandy, how's Mandy doing? How's she doing? How's her acting? Mandy's great. I mean, she is pretty much by herself in like a little, a little cage, 47 meters down. And, you know, she does fine. It's not exactly a heavy lift. But it's a fun movie. And it's 85 minutes long, which is just the best. That's like two minutes per meter. That's great. How much setup? Is there a lot of setup? Do we get? get to know a lot about her motivations for going 47 meters down or is it just kind of she jumps right into the water?
Starting point is 00:16:08 It's a little bit of both. The setup, I don't think this is much of a spoiler to say, but it's basically like she is going through a breakup and she's in Mexico with her sister who's the wild child and Mandy Moore is, you know, she's feeling like she's not wild enough, which is why she broke up with her boyfriend. And so her sister says, you know, like, it'd be great if you could get some Instagram shots of you in this cage with a shark. And that's pretty much it. And then she's like, okay, you're right. And it goes downhill from there. This is a movie that I wish, you know, they make movies now that are like pretty much available on iTunes immediately. But this is a movie where I feel like they should have made it and released it on cable immediately. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:55 And just run it on a loop for like 12 hours a day. and it's just like, oh, my favorite part of 47 meters down is on, even though it's only been out for two days. Yeah, this is exactly what I want from a summer movie, you know? It's like 90 minutes long and I can kind of just forget about it when it's over. I don't have to like worry about a shark universe. Right. That being said, don't give away billion dollar ideas because the shark universe is in play. And I don't know about you, but if we could get Mandy and Blake and the two sharks from the shallows and the,
Starting point is 00:17:27 and 47 meters down, like, whatever their progeny, they come up. They just meet halfway. Yeah, and we have maybe Mandy and Blake go to like a lake and there's like, there's no way a shark could come to a lake, right? And they've bonded over their shared shark trauma. And then again, they have to like face down the children of the sharks that they've battled. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:17:49 Are you kidding me? Yeah, we need to start writing now. Okay. Yeah. We might have to delete this part of the podcast and get some agents on the phone. All right. Andrew, thank you so much. This is, that's really elite recommendation right there.
Starting point is 00:18:02 Go see it. It's worth it. All right. Take care of man. Thanks. See it. Thanks. We'll be back with more ringer recommendations, but first a quick word from our sponsor.
Starting point is 00:18:13 Today's episode of The Watch is brought to you by T.J. Miller's meticulously ridiculous special comedian, actor and voiceover artist T.J. Miller is starring in his first HBO stand-up comedy special entitled T.J. Miller meticulously ridiculous. The special filmed at the Paramount Theater in T. and TJ's hometown of Denver, Colorado, highlights the Silicon Valley Star High Energy Unorthodox comedic observations on life, death, and everything in between. Featuring a water-drenched TJ Miller and plenty of audience interaction, this special offers his offbeat take on topics such as nightmares, the differences between marijuana and alcohol,
Starting point is 00:18:46 his favorite historical figure, and the challenges of talking about death. T.J. Miller, meticulously ridiculous, cracks open the eccentric mind of one of the most fearlessly weird comics today and premieres Saturday, June 17th, at 10 p.m. on HBO. I would like to welcome back to the watch, Lindsay Zolads, who I think is here to recommend some old media, not some new media,
Starting point is 00:19:09 some dead tree media. Lindsay, what do you have for us? I have a book recommendation. Remember books? Oh, yeah, sure. Come from trees, words on pages. I want to recommend a novel that I read a couple months ago,
Starting point is 00:19:25 Aleph Batumann's novel, The Idiot, which actually was lent to me, by Ringer staff writer Kate Nibbs. So shout out to the Ringer lending library that we do have in New York office here. And I know she's a fan of this book too. But it brought me very vividly back to an uncomfortable time in my life, which was freshman year of college. I think an uncomfortable time for many people. And just a very specific mood. It evokes like, the moment before you find your real friends in college and sort of the weird, um,
Starting point is 00:20:06 friendships and relationships of convenience, you might say that, uh, spring up like when you first get to a new place and are trying to figure it out. So, um, it was, it was an emotional read for me in that way. So, uh,
Starting point is 00:20:20 that, that's the, that's the emotional summary of it. What's like a kind of elevator pitch for like the plot? Um, that's a tricky one because Bateman, she is, is also really good on Twitter.
Starting point is 00:20:33 Some of you may know her from that where her handle is Banana Karenina, which I think kind of sounds like her vibe in a nutshell, which is like very brainy but goofy at the same time. So it is like it's not a very plot-driven novel. It's more kind of like the internal thoughts of this character, Sullen as she goes through her first year at what definitely is. Harvard but is never like explicitly stated as Harvard, but it's not that hard to figure it out. So it's just kind of her thoughts about the things that she's reading and the people that
Starting point is 00:21:11 she's meeting and places that she's going in this very tragic comic, I would say, like movement from being really naive to being jaded as you become over the first year of college. maybe just speaking from personal experience here, but. Oh, I'm going to ask you a personal question. Yes. So what is the best decision you made freshman year of college? Oh, my goodness. This is where Ringer recommends gets real.
Starting point is 00:21:44 Yeah. I mean, I think I made a really good decision my second year of college that is like immature enough that it could scan us first year. So I'll go with that. Sure. Let's print the legend. Yeah, for my birthday that year, I had my friends stage a pie fight for me in the dorm. And it was the year I was turning 20 and I remember being like, I have to do something really childish because this is like my last night of being a teenager.
Starting point is 00:22:14 So we like went to the safe way and got a bunch of pie making so just like tin foil and we put my cream in them. And we had a pie fight and it was great. And we got in trouble. but then I told the RA that it was my birthday. And he was like, oh, it's fine. We'll clean it up then. It's so I didn't get in trouble at all. College is great.
Starting point is 00:22:37 That's a chill array. That's good. He was, yeah. He had, you know, we had witnessed our per sure of him having some proverbial pie fights too. So I think it was all good. But yeah. I remember my big thing was my first year at Temple. my roommate
Starting point is 00:22:57 you know my sign dorm roommate the first night he was like hey man like you want to go see gurus jasmataz at the truck and I was like yeah sure let's do that shout out to the truck yes shout out to the truck one of the greats great venues and I went and we were you know after it was over he was like you know that was cool
Starting point is 00:23:15 do you want to go see fish this weekend and I was like no I'm cool thanks man and I just feel like my life could have gotten such a different direction. Yeah. If I said yes to that. What a defining moment.
Starting point is 00:23:28 Sliding doors. I do also want to say about this book like something else that I loved about it. It's about, so it takes place in 1995 and it's kind of about like early email. And a lot of the text of the book is these really early emails she's sending to her crush, Ivan, who she meets in a Russian language class. And it's such a good distillation of like emerging internet technology too. And the bizarre ways that we use it to communicate with each other, like it brought me back to, like I basically am like 10 years younger than she is.
Starting point is 00:24:09 So the platform was different, but it reminded me of like very early Facebook and just sending like weird messages to people I didn't really know yet. but maybe had like things in common on our profiles, which actually was like how I met a lot of what ended up becoming really good friends of mine in college, which feels embarrassing to say out. Did you have a super long dot edju college email? I did, yeah. Yes. That's really like the badge of honor for the internet, I think.
Starting point is 00:24:41 Yeah, I would recite it right now, but I don't know if it's still active or anything. No, we can't. Not in this age of weeks. We can't do that. No, no, no, no. Okay, thank you. So, Lindsay recommends the idiot. What was the author's name again?
Starting point is 00:24:53 Elie Bateman. Okay, so you've got that, and you've also got somewhere out there, Lindsay's college emails, if you can crack the address and password. Yeah, the leaks are coming. Yeah, Lindsay leaks. All right, thanks, Lindsay. Thanks. All right, now I'm joined by one of the ringers editors, Donnie Kwok.
Starting point is 00:25:14 Hello. Who's here to talk a little bit about a doc that's coming out. Is it coming out this week? It came out. Last month in May. Okay. Yeah, so. And what's it called?
Starting point is 00:25:24 It's called bad rap. And if you watch only one film about the plate of Asian American rappers, then I highly recommend this one. Okay. So what was it, you know, you've been writing and kind of like part of hip hop culture for like probably most of your life. Like is what makes this like a distinctive documentary not only in terms of its subject matter, but in like the sort of tapestry of, of, of, of, of, of, um, of,
Starting point is 00:25:50 hip-hop docks? I think, you know, it's obviously a documentary about rap and rappers, but more so than that. I mean, I think it provides interesting historical context for Asians and rap, and we're going as far back as two live crew and Mountain Brothers, who I'm sure you're familiar with. Of course, man. And gin, and just through the years, it has the historical backdrop for this quartet, I guess, four different Asian-American rappers and their contemporary stories, including Aquafino, who you're going to see in the New Oceans movie, Dumfounded, who many rap fans might know from
Starting point is 00:26:31 the battle circuit, and two other guys, Rex Izzy and lyrics. So it's those four rappers trying to make it, quote-unquote, but also against this backdrop of how Asians have fit in and not fit in in rap. And in a bigger picture, too, it's Asian, the Asian play. The Asian play in general, I think in entertainment or in pop culture is always being on the periphery. And I think it does a good job of kind of telling their story while also painting a picture of the bigger context around it. I haven't thought about gin in a while. What's going on with him? Gin, as far as I know, is now doing stand-up comedy, believe it or not.
Starting point is 00:27:08 No way, really? Yeah, I haven't seen him perform, but I've seen him definitely on flyers. So he's at an interesting career. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, because he was, like, he, was he signed to Rough Riders around the time of Dragon and stuff? He was, he was. And it's a very interesting part of this doc kind of documenting his quick rise via BET freestyle Fridays. People could remember, you know, he was on for like seven straight weeks defeating all these people.
Starting point is 00:27:37 And then he got signed to Rough Riders, basically on the show, Swiss Beats was a judge. And then his first single was a song called, Lodiac, learn Chinese, probably best forgotten. But he talks about it in the doc how they didn't quite know what to do with him. And I think, you know, they just basically went with the lowest hanging fruit, which is kind of this Chinese kung fu thing for his first single. And it basically doomed his career. Yeah, they had a hard.
Starting point is 00:28:08 I mean, it was hard for people to figure out what to do with battle rappers in general at that time. Remember, Blaze Battle was so big. Yeah. And it was like idea was amazing. and he wound up being more of an indie rapper, obviously, and doing his own thing before tragically passing. But, Jen, I remember Jin is like,
Starting point is 00:28:27 what do you do with guys like this who are almost like ISO players? How do you fit them into like a rap song system? Totally, totally. It's a good analogy. And I think one of the subject, the main subjects, Dumbfounded, who I mentioned before, part of this film tracks his return to the battle circuit. And there's kind of like an eight-mile-esque climactic scene.
Starting point is 00:28:48 I won't spoil it. But, you know, he's at the King of the Dot in Toronto, which is a famous battle. And he's facing off against this guy conceited. And it's a really effective scene. And the buildup to it is nice. And, you know, it's a brisk 80 minutes bad rap that I think is enjoyable. So, and full disclosure. You know, some of my friends made it and are in it.
Starting point is 00:29:10 So, but even if they weren't, I'd still endorse it. Yeah, I mean, it's okay when your friends make something cool. Before I let you go, I mean, let me ask you, who was your favorite battle rapper of that time period? Was it juice? You know, who? Juice was. From, from like back in the days, kind of. Yeah, well, I guess at any time, but I suppose like there was that run there from, because I feel like there was like a bunch of guys like always, it was like, yeah, you know, like, they might not have the songs of that album or the record deal, but like, juice could take anybody, you know?
Starting point is 00:29:42 Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there was like, you know, freestyle, I mean, battles have taken so many forms over the years. One rapper I've always liked in a battle scenario is Cassidy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if he's... He went against Freeway for a while. Yeah, the famous studio battle.
Starting point is 00:30:01 Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I kind of, I just enjoy it for the sport of it. But I think, like you said, it's difficult to translate that into a studio and an album and all of that. I think rappers have tried and failed at that for years. I wonder if any of these new guys can battle. I wonder if any of the freshman on XXL can battle. They should just practice rapping regularly and then take it from there. You got to crawl before you ball.
Starting point is 00:30:26 We got to have old man Donnie on again to talk about the freshman on XXL. All right. Donnie, thanks so much for joining us. The name of the doc is, what's the name of the doc? It's called Bad Rap and you can get it on iTunes and Amazon. So check it out. A lot of good doc recommendations. All right.
Starting point is 00:30:44 Donnie, thanks so much. We'll be right back with Cam Collins. Cool. Thanks for having me. Now I'm joined by the Ringers movie writer, Cam Collins. One of my favorite guests on the watch. So always great to hear from him. Cam, what's going on?
Starting point is 00:30:58 What do you recommend for us today? I'm actually going to recommend music, which is unlike me. But the album that I keep coming back to is the new slow dive album, new-ish. It's a few months old now, but I keep coming back to it. I can't stop listening to it. I like every week listen to whatever came out that week and then go back to slow dive. It's the self-titled albums, their first album in 22 years. They disbanded a while ago.
Starting point is 00:31:27 And they're back on the scene. And it is like, for me, it's the way Beach House's bloom was the album of that summer, just the darker, moody summer night album. Slow Dives, Slow Dive is that for me this summer. I think. So are you, are you a big Shugaze fan? So for folks that don't know slow, slow dive was like kind of a post-Muddy
Starting point is 00:31:51 Valentine, like Shugase band from England like Rye that just makes these ethereal, dreamy, tremoloed out, beautiful guitar epics. And were you a big Valentine fan or is this like the kind of, is this like your favorite kind of music?
Starting point is 00:32:07 I am a Valentine fan, but this was sort of like it was pretty much isolated to Valentine. And now it's like this is becoming a gateway drug to just a lot of music, older music that I like hadn't had. I wander a lot musically. I like I just, I tend to fall in love with particular bands and artists and less so genres. So it's always great when I get to find an album that's really just addictive for me. And it just really suits my mood, which is just like, it's relaxed, but still thoughtful and still got a lot of tension. and it's weird, but it's also just, it's just always in the background on my mind, even when I'm not listening to it, frankly.
Starting point is 00:32:44 Oh, this is great. Because I was, I've been, I've listened to it like once or twice and then kind of got distracted by other stuff. But you know how it like what's like with Spotify and stuff now, it's like you can just kind of like build your own. The way that you can kind of pursue obsession with this, it's like you don't have to wait to like just keep whether it's playing it back or finding other stuff that sounds like it. They're finding, like, the other things that they've done. Are you into Mojave 3 at all, the band that was sort of the in-between band for Slow Dive? Yeah, so because of this album, I've gone back and listened to it a little bit. Yes, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:33:18 But not as much as, like, really, this album was like listening to Slow Dives' newest album and then going back and listening to their other stuff. I've just been dwelling there. Like, I'm going to spend more time on Mojave 3 soon. Are you, like, a walker with music, or are you a, like, like, a sitting around listening new music guy. I don't know if you ask that because you could tell that I was a walker, but I'm definitely, I'm definitely a walker. Yeah, I love the, I love firing up and going, going along, like, kind of aimless walks. No, I like make excuses to, like, my roommates know this.
Starting point is 00:33:50 I make excuses to, like, go to the convenience store and then take 45 minutes because I'm just listening to music. I do that a lot with Jesus when it came out, for example. I just, like, went for a walk. I'm a roommate's, like, we thought you were kidnapped. And it's like, no, new connie came out. The big thing with L.A. is like the way that the car changes it. Like, so you just become, it makes slow music is like,
Starting point is 00:34:12 you've really got to be in the mood for slower, more atmospheric music because you want something propulsive while you're driving. Yeah, but then the traffic in L.A. is like, it really messes it up. Like, if you're sitting listening to punk in traffic,
Starting point is 00:34:25 you just feel like you're about to go full falling down. Yeah. No, that makes a lot, that actually makes a lot of sense. I hadn't thought about that. And I would wonder if slowdive would really play as well on the car. car for me. I feel like it may be, I would maybe go to sleep and like die. That would be bad. That would be bad. Which is not saying
Starting point is 00:34:41 anything bad about their album. That wouldn't make you the worst driver in L.A., though. So, I'm from New Jersey. I'm sure I'm already worse than everyone in L.A., to be honest. You'd be surprised. Okay, so Cam recommends the self-titled new album from Slow Dive is their first record in about 20 years. Cam, thank you so much as always for joining us. Yeah, absolutely. You back on soon to talk movies. Thanks, man. Thanks. Thanks to Justin K. Andrew Lindsay, Donnie, and Cam for joining me today on this special episode of The New York Ringer recommends on The Watch. Andy and I will be back on Monday.
Starting point is 00:35:10 No doubt talking about Twin Peaks, no doubt talking about Preacher, which will be back on Sunday night, and I'm very excited for that. We'll probably wrap up some handmaids, and we ought to talk about the last episode of Fargo, which will be coming up that week. So full TV slate on Monday.
Starting point is 00:35:25 Can't wait to have Greenwald back in the studio. You guys have a great weekend. Today's episode of The Watch was brought to you by T.J. Miller's meticulously ridiculous. special. Comedian actor and voiceover artist T.J. Miller is starring in his first HBO stand-up special entitled T.J. Miller, meticulously ridiculous.
Starting point is 00:35:51 The special highlights the Silicon Valley stars High Energy on Orthodox comedic Observations on Life, Death, and Everything in Between. TJ Miller, Maticulously Ridiculous, premieres Saturday, June 17th at 10 p.m. on HBO. Today's episode of The Watch was also brought to you by Hotel Tonight. Things change. The weather
Starting point is 00:36:07 changes. Your mood definitely changes. So why lock yourself into plans that might change? With Hotel Tonight, you don't have to, because you'll get incredible deals on awesome hotels, even at the last minute. Booking on Hotel Tonight gives you the freedom and flexibility to play things by ear, while knowing you'll score a great price and a great place to stay. So download the Hotel Tonight app to find seriously amazing deals now.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.