[The Weekly Swarm] 3/9 - 3/15
Last week served as our send-off to SXSW as Virgil and I are in Austin covering SXSW 2015 right now. While our SXSW content will be trickling out over the next week or so, revisit last week's content. Some highlights include Oswald's editorial on why there's a lack of Latino representation in Hollywood, reviews of R100, It Follows, Champs, and Sheppard's new album, Bombs Away, the trailer for the Netflix-exclusive Daredevil series, and more!
Why Is There a Lack of Latino Representation in Hollywood?
[SXSW 2015] Are You Ready for SXSW?
Why Is There a Lack of Latino Representation in Hollywood?
Sony Announces Another Ghostbusters Sequel
[Review] R100
[Review] It Follows
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Archer, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and More
[Interview] Bert Marcus (Champs)
[SXSW 2015] Are You Ready for SXSW?
[Review] Champs
The Top 15 Glee Covers
[American Idol-izer] Top 12 (and 11) Perform
[SXSW 2015] Are You Ready for SXSW?
20 Artists You Need To Know: Summer Festival Edition
[Review] Sheppard: "Bombs Away"
[Trailer] Marvel's Daredevil
The Top 15 Glee Covers
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Archer, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and More
[American Idol-izer] Top 12 (and 11) Perform
[This Week In TV] Better Call Saul, The 100, Bates Motel
Are You Ready for SXSW 2015?
For the next 10 days, we'll be bringing you all types of coverage from this year's South by Southwest (SXSW 2015) ranging from reviews from upcoming films, interviews with actors, filmmakers, musicians, tech people, to photos of your favorite artists via the #RHSX15 tag! We'll also be doing exclusive social media coverage on all of our platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) featuring our favorite moments in Austin, TX as they happen with the special #SXSecs tag! Who knows who we may run into this year.
[American Idol-izer] Top 12 (and 11) Perform
Header by Michael Becker/Fox
American Idol is going through a weird scheduling flux this season (But Empire deserves all of the schedule space it gets). With two cuts in the same week, from the Top 16 to 12 and 12 to 11, the competition was a bit tougher. And once again the strict hour run time forced a bunch of contestants on stage before they were able to compose themselves and led to a bunch of wonky vocals. Thankfully, we won't be talking about those here.
We got the Top 12 on Wednesday, and contestants who made it through only had about 24 hours to celebrate as the field was narrowed down to 11 last night (during a welcome two hour block). A super weird night of new multi camera interviews, a bunch of Empire hype (and a performance of its "No Apologies" theme), red and green light up chairs, and also my boy Quentin is in trouble you guys.
Here are the Top 12 contestants:
Boys: Daniel Seavey, Rayvon Owen, Qaasim Middleton, Nick Fradiani, Clark Beckham and (Wild Card) Quentin Alexander
Girls: Sarina-Joi Crowe, Maddie Walker, Jax, Joey Cook, Tyanna Jones, and (Wild Card) Adanna Duru.
But, only 11 contestants made it to next week.
The Top 15 Glee Covers
With only a couple of episodes before the series finale, I can't help but feel nostalgic for Glee's greatest hits. I've stuck with the show through its rough patches because it's still capable of churning out an outstanding performance or two. With over 727 songs (give or take a couple) spanning its 120 episodes, it's been tough to narrow down all of these choices but I've developed a system.
For this list, I've tried to limit the amount of songs I chose per season (otherwise these choices would all be from Season 1), made my choices based on how they were used in the show (For example, as much as I loved "Cell Block Tango" it was shoehorned into a domestic abuse episode), and how the performance was laid out. So these 15 covers all had a great mix of story, visuals, and musicality.
So, here are The Top 15 Glee Covers.
Honorable Mentions: Cell Block Tango, Mr. Roboto/Counting Stars, Boogie Shoes, Heads Will Roll/Thriller, Oops I Did It Again, Bust Your Windows, I Want to Break Free, Far From Over, Push it, Take a Bow, Ride Wit Me, Bootylicious, Run Joey Run, Safety Dance, And I Am Telling You, When I Get You Alone, Cry, Don't Speak, If I Were a Boy, Defying Gravity, The Final Countdown, Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do, Don't Stand So Close to Me/Young Girl
[The Weekly Swarm] 3/1 - 3/8
For this week's latest installment of The Weekly Swarm, we have an editorial on the Power Rangers fan film and why fans love gritty reboots so much, the latest Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, word that Comcast is actively blocking HBO Go for PS4 users, a review of Jeff Rosenstock's new solo album, We Cool?, a rundown of American Idol, Glee, and more!
POWER/RANGERS and Why We Enjoy Gritty Reboots
[Trailer] Avengers: Age of Ultron
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Large March Update
Comcast Blocks HBO Go for PS4 Users
[Video Playlist of the Week] Seven Tours in Support of Decade-Old Albums
[The Friday Five] What to Know in Music This Week (3/2-3/6)
[Review] Jeff Rosenstock: "We Cool?"
[Review] Man Seeking Woman
[American Idol-izer] Top 12 Boys & Girls Perform
What's Going on With Glee's Final Season?
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Large March Update
Comcast Blocks HBO Go for PS4 Users
[American Idol-izer] Top 16 Perform
[This Week In TV] Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt; Agents Of SHIELD; The Last Man On Earth
[Video Playlist of the Week] Seven Tours in Support of Decade-Old Albums
Recently, more and more bands have been reuniting for the [insert number here] anniversary of their most successful, or most popular, album. In retrospect, everyone always wishes they could’ve been there to see the album played live when it came out, but let’s face it; time travel isn’t a thing, so this is your best bet. Get your credit cards ready: this is a list of upcoming tours in 2015 for bands supporting or reuniting for the 10th anniversary of your favorite record.
Cartel - Chroma [tickets]
[youtube id="hxcVORJ4SB8"]
Without a doubt the band’s best album. The group released a statement saying how they weren’t ashamed to jump on the anniversary band wagon and that’s just the way it should be because this album deserves another tour.
Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This To Memory [tickets]
[youtube id="SY-c-_sZ8LI"]
Lead singer Justin Pierre has rocked the same haircut for more than 10 years, but more importantly, what importance would it have in the scene if no one ever heard Commit This To Memory? Luckily for you, the band is still on tour in support of their decade old, pop-punk staple with William Beckett and Brick and Mortar.
Alkaline Trio - their whole discography [tickets]
[youtube id="FljNILAozts"]
While Crimson is turning 10 this year, it’s not stopping Alkaline Trio from playing their whole discography (eight albums) in eight different cities. Whether this means another Alkaline Trio album is in the works or singer Matt Skiba is leaving indefinitely to join slightly-defunct Blink-182 as Tom DeLonge’s replacement, these shows are must see for Hot Topic regulars from the early 2000s (AKA everyone who listens to Alkaline Trio).
H2o - their entire discography, 20th anniversary shows [tickets]
The grandfathers of PMA have decided to play their entire catalog in their hometown of Brooklyn, New York for three nights as well as the windy city of Chicago. The shows will be small, but so worth the travel to see FTTW and Nothing To Prove played in their entirety. Not to mention, not one, but two albums will be played each night.
Mae - The Everglow [tickets]
[youtube id="88p8YpbPENc"]
Mae were more of an underground, soft pop-punk band from the early 2000s, but their 2005 album The Everglow was one everyone in the scene knew about.
Hawthorne Heights - The Silence In Black And White [tickets]
[youtube id="hUO-sRLotOI"]
No other song in 2004 resonated with such quote-worthy notoriety than Hawthorne Heights’ “Ohio Is For Lovers.” Other than the pretty bleak lyrics, it made teenagers proud to have their heart in Ohio.
Silverstein - Discovering The Waterfront [tickets]
Giving their decade old, post-hardcore sophomore record Discovering The Waterfront a last hoorah that ends in Australia this year. The band just finished their U.S. leg of the tour.
Honorable mentions:
The Wonder Years - Since being a band [albums in their entirety for three nights]
[youtube id="26vKAaj6Ff0"]
The Wonder Years marked their survival of a whole decade filled with old pizza and sappy breakups by playing three shows in their hometown of Philadelphia.
Blink-182 - Untitled [three night show in 2013]
[youtube id="4kMZ23T9VHE"]
In 2013, Blink-182 celebrated their last album before their first hiatus in 2003 by playing the Untitled album for three dates in Los Angeles.
Say Anything - ...Is A Real Boy, Saves The Day - Through Being Cool, Reggie & The Full Effect - Under The Tray [recently wrapped]
[youtube id="I7rYZjv3wNg"]
Say Anything recently wrapped up their 10 year anniversary tour of their flawless record ...ls A Real Boy with Saves The Day supporting the 10-year anniversary of their iconic album Through Being Cool. Oh, and Reggie & The Full Effect opened up for the two by playing Under The Tray in it’s entirety. This tour was like celebrating Christmas three times in one night.
Relient K - Mmhmm [recently wrapped]
Relient K just got off their anniversary tour for their junior record Mmhmm.
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
[youtube id="ap0mqwvf7H0"]
If you were a teenager in the early 2000’s with a Myspace, you had a song from TAYF as your profile song. Props to you if you were able to live out your 8th grade dreams of seeing TBS sing “Cute Without The ‘E’” or “There’s No ‘I’ In Team.”
[The Weekly Swarm] 2/23 - 3/1
Welcome to the latest installment of The Weekly Swarm. Things are looking a bit different around these parts, aren't they? We'll have more on that later on. For now, take a trip down memory lane and re-visit some of last week's content, including some celebrity portraits from Vanity Fair's 2015 Oscars party, Hubert's review of My Life as Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Travis's review of BadBadNotGood and Ghostface Killah's collaborative album, Sour Soul, and Xander's reviews of the Parks & Recreation's series finale, the latest episode of Agent Carter, and the Victoria's Secret Swim Special.
Free for the Next Day: Vodou, Voodoo and the Field Museum
Insta-Celebrity Portraits from Vanity Fair's 2015 Oscar Party
87th Oscars Winners
[Review] My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
[Review] BadBadNotGood and Ghostface Killah: "Sour Soul"
[This Week In TV] Parks & Recreation, Agent Carter, Victoria's Secret Swim Special
[American Idol-izer] Top 24 Revealed
After a few weeks of auditions and drama, we've finally got our Top 24 contestants for American Idol XIV. While I don't particularly agree with some of the decisions, unlike other years, I'm okay with the spread overall (even if it skews very, very young this year) There was one moment in particular that irked me during the "Green Mile" process (Why do they call it that?), and I'll get to that in a bit. But if you've been following the posts I've written for this show so far, you already have a jist of my opinions.
So, without further ado, here are the Top 24 finalists heading to the live shows next week (where voting begins) arranged by how much I'm rooting for them.
[youtube id="DnTuvmhol5o" autoplay="no"]