The Weekender #3: Your Must Hear, Watch, & Read Guide
This weekend, we're listening to Vampire Weekend, Mk.gee, and Bloc Party, and watching The Vince Staples Show, The Dynasty, and The Iron Claw.
The Weekender is a curated listening, watching, and reading experience to give your weekend a sensory upgrade. Subscribe to get The Weekender in your inbox free every Friday.
What to Listen to This Weekend
New Songs from Vampire Weekend
Welcome back Vampire Weekend! It’s so good to have Ezra and the gang back making new jams. Father of the Bride remains one of my favorites of the last five years (I recently went deep on the record’s new relevancy due to the war in Gaza).
While FotB was an expansive double album, the upcoming ONLY GOD WAS ABOVE US promises just ten all killer no filler tracks. Today we hear the first two: “Capricorn” and “Gen-X Cops.” Banger and banger. Cop the vinyl in clear and black, due out April 5th.
Mk.gee - Two Star & The Dream Police
Mk.gee's new debut album, Two Star & The Dream Police, blends lo-fi bedroom pop with an intoxicating nocturnal sound. In a succinct 33 minutes, Mk.gee crafts an ethereal escape reminiscent of Bon Iver and Jai Paul, blending softness with sharpness.
The vocals, simple yet emotive, glide over instruments drowning in effects, creating a raw, jolting experience. Dream Police showcases Mk.gee's potential for stardom and debuts near the top of our Album of the Year Leaderboard. You can snag the vinyl in black from his store.
Bloc Party - Little Thoughts EP and Another Weekend in the City
Bloc Party recently revealed plans to bring their full discography, including all tracks, remixes, and EPs, to streaming platforms. First up we have the Little Thoughts EP, which was released in 2004, a few months before Silent Alarm. This is the first time “Storm and Stress” and the fan-favorite “Skeleton” have been available on streaming.
Going down the Bloc Party rabbit hole this week, I came across a fan-made album of Bloc Party B-sides called Another Weekend in the City. It’s essentially an unreleased album recorded between Silent Alarm and A Weekend in the City, and it rips! Bloc Party was firing on all cylinders during this period, and I can’t wait until these are properly remastered and put on streaming and hopefully on wax.
What to Watch This Weekend
The Vince Staples Show
Streaming: Netflix
I’ve always been intrigued and amused by Long Beach rapper Vince Staples, both in his music and his media appearances, so I’m squarely in the target audience for The Vince Staples Show, which premiered this week on Netflix.
Having watched two out of the five episodes, I can confidently recommend it. I would slide it in-between Atlanta and Dave on the absurd rap comedy scale. Staples' deadpan delivery is hilarious, and the show is crafted with a blend of nuance and boldness that's consistently engaging.
The Dynasty
Streaming: Apple TV+
For those dealing with the depression of football season ending, The Dynasty is here to cheer you up. Based on the excellent book by Jeff Benedict, The Dynasty follows the rise and fall of the New England Patriots from 2000 to 2020, featuring six Super Bowls, two cheating scandals, and a murder conviction.
The notoriously tight-lipped franchise opened up to Apple TV+, and the three main characters, owner Robert Kraft, coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady, speak candidly about what went on behind-the-scenes.
Early reviews are heaping praise on the series, comparing it to the football version of The Last Dance, the incredible documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The ten episode series will drop two episodes every Friday night for the next five weeks.
The Iron Claw
Streaming VoD: Amazon Prime
I missed A24’s The Iron Claw in theaters, so I was excited to see it hit Video on Demand today. Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons star as the Von Erich brothers, legendary figures in professional wrestling during the early 1980s, navigating their life under the imposing influence of their authoritarian father and coach. The true story is directed by Sean Durkin, who’s proven he’s got the juice with the 2011 underrated classic Martha Marcy May Marlene, a tearjerker about Elizabeth Olsen escaping a cult.
What to Read This Weekend
Record Store Day 2024 List
April 20th is Record Store Day, and this year’s offering, which dropped yesterday, may be the best in years. Read the full list here, featuring over 375 exclusive vinyl for sale. Here’s my Twitter thread on the vinyl I’m willing to wait in line for.
Who Killed Twitter? by Zoë Schiffer for Platformer
Speaking of Twitter, earlier this week Zoë Schiffer of Platformer published the book Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter. Next week, we get another book on the topic: Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter’s Soul by Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner.
The two authors sit down for a discussion on the different approaches they took on tackling the same subject matter with a tight deadline. It’s quite rare for competing authors to interview each other about their books on similar topics, so this was a treat. Zoë’s main takeaway from writing the book is thought-provoking:
The internet and the open web as we know it are fragile. And these companies that we take for granted, and we think of as somewhat infallible, are for sale to the highest bidder. And when that happens, which we saw so clearly with Elon, there's very little a board or the employees, and certainly not the users, can do to stop it.
How To Book a DIY Tour by Max Narotzky for I Enjoy Music
Whether you're a band member eager to embark on your own tour, or simply fascinated by the intricacies of DIY tour booking, delve into Max Narotzky's enlightening article for I Enjoy Music. As a member of the electro-punk band Ultra Deluxe, Narotzky shares firsthand insights and practical examples on mastering the tour booking process. He ends the piece with a perfect bit of wisdom to close today’s Weekender on:
My greatest piece of advice is to go to shows, support touring bands when they come to your city, talk to people, and make friends! Music is best when shared.
Hey thanks for reading! We’ll be back early next week with some fun surprises. Until then, rock on!