This year brought a slew of new and exciting TV shows to TVs and phone screens across the country. Many addressed the current political climate. Some chose to ignore it and focus on other concepts such as mortality. Other series returned to the humor that brought audiences to them in the first place. Either way, 2017 was a big year for network TV and original shows on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon.

Read about the Emerald’s favorite episodes of the year below:

Sararosa Davies’ picks:

 5. “The Disappointment of the Dionne Quintuplets” (Nov. 28) — “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” burst onto the scene fairly recently, but the show and its fast-talking characters are garnering critical acclaim — and for good reason. In the late 1950s, Upper East Side housewife Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) discovers a hidden talent for stand up comedy right after her husband leaves her.

One of the best parts of “Mrs. Maisel” is the quick glimpses the audience has of different acts, both fictional and not, that come through the show’s comedy clubs. This episode is chock full of those moments, including dark ventriloquist humor and references to actual comedian Lenny Bruce. “Mrs. Maisel” is at its best in this way — with fleshed out jokes and characters alike.

4. “Foisted!” (Oct. 21) — “Curb Your Enthusiasm”

After audiences survived years without it, “Seinfeld” creator Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is back. As always David spares no one in his tirades, not even himself. This first episode of the new season follows David as he fires an assistant (played with perfect timing by Sleater-Kinney and “Portlandia’s” Carrie Brownstein), and enrages both the leader of Iran and his friend Jeff Greene’s lesbian barber. It’s a wonderful (and hilarious) welcome back to Larry David’s world. And the rest of the season follows, with David annoying everyone from his therapist to his mail carrier. “Pretty, pretty, pretty good,” David says, and he’s not wrong.   

 3. “New York, I Love You” (May 12) — “Master of None”

The third season of Aziz Ansari’s “Master of None” went to bold new heights this year, bringing in references to Italian film and LCD Soundsystem songs. “New York, I Love You” takes a break from Ansari’s character Dev’s romantic storyline with a woman he met at pasta making school in Italy, and instead immerses the audience in the lives of ordinary New Yorkers who all end up at the same movie. The most beautiful part of the episode is the care with which the writing treats each set of characters. From a Deaf couple’s conversation (via American Sign Language) about their sex life in the middle of a gift store to a doorman’s unfortunate interaction with a parakeet, “New York, I Love You” is a sweet ode to a city and its inhabitants.

 2. “Witches” (Oct. 25) — “Broad City”

“Broad City,” the slacker comedy about two Jewish women and their misadventures in New York, took a turn for the political this season by bleeping out President Donald Trump’s name, among other social statements. The show’s Halloween episode, “Witches,” follows Abbi Abrams (Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana Wexler (Ilana Glazer) as Abbi finds contemplates her own mortality after finding a gray hair, and Ilana, erm, addresses the fact that she hasn’t orgasmed since President Trump was elected.

In typical “Broad City” manner, the episode never gets too serious; however, this is one of the darkest episodes of the show yet. It ends with a “coven” of women, including a plastic surgeon Abbi meets earlier in the episode, howling at the moon.

1. “Florida” (Nov. 8) — “Broad City”

Any “Broad City” episode involving Ilana’s family lands at the top of my list. Ilana, with her crazy curly hair, is exactly like her mom, Bobbi Wexler (Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman). In this episode, Abbi tags along as Ilana, Bobbi and Ilana’s brother, Eliot, fly to Florida to clean out Ilana’s grandma’s apartment. What follows is one of Broad City’s best episodes in its 4 seasons — for many reasons, including Ilana’s interaction with her kin.

Life in a Florida retirement community seems easy compared Abbi and Ilana’s lives in New York, so they apply for a spot in an apartment — only to find out the shocking reason for their acceptance to the community. This is one of the best punchlines in a “Broad City” episode, and the slow build to it makes it even funnier. Seeing Ilana’s aunt (Fran Drescher) and Bobbi argue stands out as one of the funniest moments on TV this year. Broad City just kept getting better, and for that, yas kween!

Dana Alston’s picks:

4. “Part 8” (June 25) — “Twin Peaks: The Return”

When it was announced that David Lynch would direct the entirety of his “Twin Peaks” revival/sequel, it sounded too good to be true. Fans of the unsettling, wacky and endlessly watchable original program rejoiced in knowing that the story of Laura Palmer would soon be back in the hands of their favorite mad genius. But nobody could have expected what Lynch delivered, partially because nothing like “The Return” has ever been broadcasted on television.

There is still a coherent story — kind of — that follows Special Agent Dale Cooper’s (Kyle Maclachlan) consciousness split between multiple versions of himself. But “Part 8” takes a nightmarish detour into…aliens and nuclear bombs? Yep. Abandoning his characters and plot for 40 minutes, Lynch takes us straight into the origins of modern evil, laying the blame on humanity’s capacity for destruction. It’s as strange and thrilling as anything on TV this year, even if it leaves its audience members scratching their heads.

3. “Episode 9” (Oct. 13) — “Mindhunter”

Before the term “serial killer” entered the vernacular, the FBI looked at mentally ill murderers like sick animals. “Mindhunter” follows the creation of the Behavioral Science Unit, headed by Agent Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and his partner Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), conceived as an effort to better understand, thwart and ultimately convict violent and insane individuals. Ford and Tench interview convicts and pick at their brains, trying to understand how and why they could have murdered so many people.

In the series’ ninth episode, Ford’s obsession with his interviewees starts making his colleagues and loved ones uneasy. That obsession leads to convictions, breakthroughs and useful data. But Ford’s closeness with psychotic killers is unnerving. And when you’re dealing with psychopaths, how close is too close?

2. “The Spy” (Oct. 27) —”Stranger Things 2”

“Stranger Things’” first season seemed more concerned with checking genre boxes than it was being…well, good. Luckily, the second go-round is as entertaining as a show about monsters and 11-year-old psychics should be. “The Spy” is a perfect encapsulation of everything the show does well, including a series of excellent character moments and a wonderfully tense cliffhanger. Steve and Dustin form a proper bond as they try to eradicate an alien from Dustin’s basement. Nancy and Jonathan begin to expose the vast conspiracy controlling Hawkins. And the Duffer Brothers show off their vast 80’s reference repertoire, staging a tense ending around a sequence from “Aliens.” It’s fast, loose sci-fi fun that manages to maintain some serious stakes.

1. “Michael’s Gambit” (Jan. 19) — “The Good Place”

Few shows can successfully tackle issues of morality in a drama format. Michael Shur — the creative force behind “Parks & Recreation,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and now “The Good Place” — managed to do it with a half-hour network comedy. The series follows Eleanor (Kristen Bell), a woman who is sent to heaven by mistake and must earn her place among the afterlife’s do-gooders. Michael (Ted Danson) is the heavenly neighborhood’s insecure architect. The setup is clever, and Shur constantly fills his 20-minute episodes with laughs and honest-to-goodness debates on what it means to be a good person.

“The Good Place” is a triumph, and the season one finale “Michael’s Gambit” blows the doors off of network TV. Shur doesn’t just pull the rug out from under audiences; he lights the rug on fire and twists it into an impossibly large knot. Nobody — seriously, nobody — could have seen this twist coming. Based on the show’s relatively low ratings, not very many people are watching in the first place. That’s a crime, so see it while you still can.

Follow Sararosa and Dana on Twitter @srosiedosie and @AlstonDalston, respectively. 

The post Emerald Recommends: Best TV episodes of 2017 appeared first on Emerald Media.

In this episode of Emerald Recommends from the Emerald Podcast Network, arts and culture editor Sararosa Davies, music writers Nic Castillon and Jordan Montero and podcast editor Alec Cowan discuss the music that defined 2017. This is not necessarily the best music to come out this year, but instead, the music that understood the moment, whether personal, political or neither.

Songs discussed in the podcast:

“Preludes” by Craig Finn

“Forgot Myself” by Jen Cloher

“Bad and Boujee (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)” by Migos

“911 / Mr. Lonely” by Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean

“Gucci Gang” by Lil Pump

“HUMBLE.” by Kendrick Lamar

“Don’t Take the Money” by Bleachers

“American Teen” by Khalid

“Preludes” — Craig Finn

It seems symbolic to me that Craig Finn — known for his geographic poetic lyrics and storytelling from his days with The Hold Steady —  would be a steady soundtrack to my first full calendar year in college. Especially because I have always had trouble with his music.

Finn is originally from Minnesota, my home state, and he often writes about specific spots in the Twin Cities, where both of us grew up. It’s easy to trace the geographical threads through his songs, and this is especially apparent in “Preludes,” the single from Finn’s 2017 solo album, “We All Want The Same Things.” “I came back to St. Paul and things had progressed and got strange,” Finn sings over meandering instrumentals.

This sense of returning to a familiar place and seeing it as unfamiliar resonates with me every time I return home, especially having spent 90 percent of the last year in Eugene. I remember hearing this song the one week I was home over the summer and feeling exactly what Finn what was talking about. I think about how the neighborhood I grew up in has expanded and changed, and how I too have done the same. Now a term into my sophomore year, I can say that I’m becoming a Craig Finn fan. It’s amazing what a year can do. 

-Sararosa Davies

“Forgot Myself” — Jen Cloher

Summer 2017 was a weird one for me. I wish I had Jen Cloher’s rambling lyricism and guitar from “Forgot Myself” to help me through a few months of bad health, summer classes and the smoke covering Eugene. But when I first heard Cloher sing the lines “Paint a still life of your side of the bed / Patti Smith poems, a hair tie, and some vitamins,” at a concert in Portland this fall, I immediately felt some closure and distance from all the hospital visits I had and Patti Smith I read this summer.

I remembered lying in my bed at my sublease, recovering from a severe allergic reaction, and turning to my bed stand to see “Just Kids” by Patti Smith, bottles of medicine and a hair tie. And now that the summer has surely passed, the depression has lifted and my health is better, “Forgot Myself” serves as a reminder to never eat shellfish again. If music has ever been a motivator to treat myself better, it is now. 

-Sararosa Davies

“American Teen” — Khalid

“American Teen” captures the uncertainty of youth that propelled Khalid from Grammy hopeful to a nominee in 5 categories at the 2018 awards. The title track follows the struggles of a life in transition, and for me — a senior in college — the synth-driven ode to the quintessential ups and downs of life has been especially resonant. Listening to “American Teen” throughout the year, I felt exactly like Khalid did tweeting back on his aspirations: “Wow. I did it.” 

-Alec Cowan

Wow. I did it. https://t.co/Efiwl0vGrI

— Khalid (@thegreatkhalid) November 28, 2017

“Don’t Take The Money” — Bleachers

What can be said about Bleacher’s pop-hit “Don’t Take The Money”? This track has been uplifting, poignant, dancey —  in a word, anthemic. The lovelorn lyrics give a thundering battle cry to the song, and whether its relationships or nostalgia for the past, this song always makes me feel retrospective but motivated. Be sure to listen to the vulnerable MTV Unplugged cover featuring Lorde.

 -Alec Cowan

“Redbone” —  Childish Gambino (Donald Glover)

If a growing sense of frustration surrounding changing political, social and racial landscapes in the United States doesn’t sum up everything that happened in the past year, then I don’t know what does. Though Childish Gambino/Donald Glover’s 2017 smash-hit, “Redbone,” tells the story of a paranoid boyfriend who is suspicious his lover is cheating, its lyrics have been interpreted in many ways. Jordan Peele decided to use the track during the opening moments of his 2017 satirical horror film, “Get Out,” which depicts the realities of racism in America. Peele told Genius.com that he chose the song because of its eerie vibe and its use of the phrase “Stay woke,” which is a slang term for being socially and politically aware. But Glover’s 2017 year of wokeness didn’t end there. His Golden Globe Award winning TV show, “Atlanta,” dealt with similar issues of social and racial injustice. 

-Zach Price

“Gucci Gang” — Lil Pump

“Gucci Gang” helped push Florida-based rapper Lil Pump into the mainstream this year, but it’s been easy for some people to call the single stupid or even lazy. Its repeated hook — “Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang” — can be heard over fifty times throughout the song’s short duration of two minutes. On paper, this sounds obnoxious, however, Lil Pump somehow makes it work. “Gucci Gang” is incredibly fun, and it remains as one of the year’s catchiest singles.

Pump pushes a typical hip-hop braggadocio to the point of absurdity with the song’s excessive chorus and flamboyant lyrics, an attitude that perfectly matches with the gaudy — and repeatedly referenced — fashion brand. “Spend three racks on a new chain / My bitch love do cocaine,” Pump says. This kid is only seventeen. It should be a bit concerning, yet it’s oddly inspiring. The meteoric rise of artists like Lil Pump in 2017 may not sit well with a lot of “real” hip-hop fans, but whatever. This song works well if you don’t take it too seriously.

 -Nic Castillon

“Bad And Boujee” — Migos

The single off of Migos’ early 2017 album, “Culture,” epitomized the future of hip-hop as well as any song of the year. Though technically released in 2016, the song acts as a solid snapshot of the now. Metro Boomin’s ominent trap beat, the patented triplet rhyme scheme (without mumbling) and the appearance of a current hip-hop prince, Lil’ Uzi Vert, made for the perfect combination, leading to a decent stay at number one on the Billboard Charts.

Beyond the song’s commercial success, the track rang through the internet like an inescapable echo. Even non-hip-hop listeners know the phrase, “Rain drop, drop top,” followed by any mumbling that fits. It also gave birth to an iconic hip-hop meme: “Do it look like I’m left off ‘Bad and Boujee’?” 

-Jordan Montero

“911 / Mr. Lonely” featuring Frank Ocean — Tyler, the Creator

Tyler, The Creator’s 2017 mid-summer release, “Flower Boy,” was a success in many ways. The album was a mainstay in my summer rotation, and “911 / Mr. Lonely” was constantly on repeat. Its Neptunes-inspired grooves and soul influences ladened by sweet synth lines and boom-bap kicks are extremely effective, making “911 / Mr. Lonely” my year’s definitive jam.

“911 / Mr. Lonely” has it all. Tyler’s production is mature and ironically sweet and beautiful. The Odd Future connection of Tyler and Frank Ocean has yielded masterful tracks since 2011. And the song splits halfway from a sunlit coastal drive to a shiny lament where Tyler studies his own self in a genuine and dexteric fashion. His raps are hot.

-Jordan Montero

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Every year features both great and disappointing art, so Emerald arts writers decided to kick off the best of season with releases that fell flat. These aren’t the worst releases of 2017, but instead, the things that we were excited for that didn’t live up to expectations or didn’t even come out at all. Stay tuned for the Emerald’s favorite concerts, albums, songs and TV shows of the year in the coming weeks.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”

Dead men tell no tales, but the wretched corpse of the once-fun “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise certainly tried. After the meandering 2011 disaster “On Stranger Tides”, Disney spent six years developing a soft reboot of the franchise only to deliver this bloated turd and collect their box office receipts. The film cost $230 million, so funding it is a bit like dropping your last five paychecks on a Segway scooter. Sure, it sounds cool. But if you wait a week, people will still realize its utter uselessness.

The “plot” feels a bit like a slideshow of moments from “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” albeit with occasionally different faces. Newcomers Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) and Carina Smith (Kaya Scodelario) replace Will and Elizabeth, though the latter pair get a five-second cameo to appease diehard fans. Javier Bardem (presumably trapped by a forgotten contract clause) fulfills the villain role by playing the super-duper-scary Captain Salazar. He is the sole bright spot. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Rush gets to close out his run as the anti-hero Captain Barbossa. That’s right, ya scallywags: this is his final film in the franchise. Too bad his departure is handled with the grace of an overweight goose. Consider my heartstrings un-tugged.

Then there’s Johnny Depp. 15 years ago, Jack Sparrow was fun and oddly charming. Fast forward to now, when Depp reportedly wore an earpiece on set to remember his lines. I mean, really? Normally “phoning it in” is just a figure of speech.

There are bad movies. Then there are bad movies built upon films from your childhood, seemingly designed to crush your last hopes of wonder and innocence. By turning “Pirates” into a cash grab, Disney has reached the precipice of disappointment. Give Mickey my worst.

-Dana Alston

“Humanz” — Gorillaz

The virtual band Gorillaz made a highly anticipated return to the music industry in the first half of 2017 with “Humanz,” after a reported falling out between Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett earlier in the decade. “Humanz” was highly anticipated due to the band’s catchy, cohesive previous works; albums like “Demon Days” and “Plastic Beach” offered complete, fleshed-out tracklists and hits that stayed well within the periphery of popular culture years after their respective releases.

“Humanz” brought back some things that we loved about Gorillaz from years past. The electric soundscapes of Damon Albarn are still intact. But “Humanz” differed from the Gorillaz formula in a few ways. The album’s political themes were agreeable, but Albarn’s pounding, electric beats dilute the messages to a degree. At some points, the album can be likened to a political discussion in the middle of a dance club.

The album’s lack of cultural sustenance speaks for its underwhelming performance. One might forget that a Gorillaz album even released this year. “Humanz” received an average reception from music critics, which, in itself, is a disappointment.But it’s the album’s absence from music conversations and playlists just a half-year later that speaks even more about the album’s disappointment.

-Jordan Montero

“Transparent” Season Four

Amazon Prime’s “Transparent” has always been revolutionary, exploring gender and American Jewish life in poetic and innovative ways. The show — which follows the Pfefferman family in Los Angeles as their dad Mort (Jeffrey Tambor, who may exit the show amid sexual misconduct allegations) begins to transition into life as a woman, Maura, — makes some bold choices that usually pay off. But season four’s multiple unrelated storylines and a new setting (Israel!) fail to stay focused, which makes each twenty-something-minute episode almost too overwhelming.

Showrunner Jill Soloway’s thematic choices are there, and they come across wonderfully for the most part. The plotline surrounding youngest daughter Ali (Gabi Hoffmann) as she travels to the West Bank and starts to interrogate her connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is treated carefully and with great detail.

But some other storylines feel a little repetitive. Eldest daughter Sarah’s (Amy Landecker) exploration of her sexuality in a polyamorous relationship with someone she met at a love and sex addicts meeting feels rehashed. Those who have been watching the show since the first season know about Sarah’s various relationship struggles, and it’s time for characters like the wonderfully nuanced matriarch Shelly (a spectacular Judith Light) to get more screen time. Some of the season’s best moments focused on Shelly’s journey in improv classes at United Citizens’ Brigade, and I wish there were more.

Still, “Transparent” is good, and despite some blunders this season, I will gladly keep watching. As the show has moved on to bigger topics, it has also become a little scattered. But for an ambitious show such as this one, I’ll excuse it until I can’t anymore.

-Sararosa Davies

Unnamed and unreleased collaborative album by Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole

This is a classic predicament of “I’m not sad, I’m just disappointed.” Both of hip-hop’s poetic, rhythmic rap kings released top-charting records in 2017, but Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole still haven’t given fans (at least this fan) the collaborative album they’ve been waiting for. There have been rumors of a co-written album ever since they established themselves as the two pillars of the rap game at the beginning of the decade. Little progress has been made on the potential album, at least publicly.

The biggest step towards a release came on Black Friday of 2016 when Lamar and Cole released remixes of each other’s biggest hits. But that was two years ago, and both artists have become more invested in making their own music, controlling every aspect of its production. Cole produced his last two records alone with no features from guest artists, and Lamar has become more selective of features, leaving many to believe that it may be too late for a full-length collaboration.

Their co-feature on Jeezy’s upcoming album, “American Dream,” is a good sign, but by no means a guarantee that a release from the two is on the horizon. It’s hard to stay mad at them, though; their 2017 releases may be their best to date and, pending any health concerns, they are sure to have long careers filled with fantastic music. Again, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.

-Zach Price

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Pixies vocals and guitarist Black Francis. Pixies headline sold-out Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore. on Dec. 1, 2017. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

On the last of its sold-out three-night residency at the Roseland Theatre in Portland, the Pixies played straight and fast. Clad in all black, the band whipped through 90 minutes of material. Despite playing consecutive shows starting Wednesday, they created a solid wall of sound.

The Boston band, known for its dense, intellectual surf punk, is touring in support of “Head Carrier,” the band’s sixth album and second after reuniting with the full length “Indie Cindy.” Pixies currently comprises founding members Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), David Lovering (drums). Bassist Paz Lenchantin is touring in place of original bassist and vocalist Kim Deal.

If Francis, Santiago, Lovering and Lenchantin were tired or a little bored from the previous two nights, it was certainly hard to tell. Opening with fan-favorite “Where Is My Mind,” proved to be the right choice. Fans sang along, and then the band launched into “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf version)” which they revisited later in the set. Francis began with a worn acoustic guitar in hand, but a few songs in he switched to his Telecaster.

The band proceeded to rip through some of its harsher and less accessible songs as lights glared behind them on stage. Francis’s vocal range varies from speak-singing to howling to a more melodic middle ground. In the middle of the set, he settled on speak-singing and howling, which takes on an even rawer form live than in recording. Lenchantin, whose bass was adorned with a single fabric flower, complemented Francis’s vocals well. Her voice serves as an adequate replacement for Deal’s, especially on songs such as “Monkey Gone to Heaven.”

While openers The Orwells relied on lead singer Mario Cuomo, to keep the audience engaged, the Pixies didn’t need large stage movements like Cuomo’s to keep their fans engrossed.

Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago. Pixies headline sold-out Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore. on Dec. 1, 2017. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

Santiago played with pedal effects on his guitar during a few songs, and after the audience cheered, he smiled. Lovering moved between energetic bursts and consistent rhythm keeping in a careful manner. Even when a rogue audience member ran onto the Roseland’s stage and grasped Francis from behind, the band didn’t falter. She was escorted off amid screams from other women in the audience.

With no stage banter between songs, the group was able to launch from one song to the next quickly. Members weren’t always on the same page when these faster songs started, and they’d start songs in small spurts before trying again. “Nimrod’s Son” stood out among these middle songs, generating audience cheers.

After playing a second version of “Wave of Mutilation,” they began to close the set, playing a slew of songs including “Tame” and “U-Mass.” While the previous night was heavy on 1989’s “Doolittle,” the Pixies relied on their other albums too, even if nine songs still came from “Doolittle.”

The Pixies never left the stage, even before the encore. Members took turns waving at the audience, smiling and regarding every corner of the venue from different parts of the stage. They joined together center stage bathed in light, and took a bow before returning to their instruments for “Doolittle’s” “Debaser.”

Even though each night has featured a different set list, Pixies played, for the most part, like they had a consistent, well-rehearsed plan. It’s clear that the Pixies, despite the changes the band has gone through in recent years, know what they are doing. And if this sold out residency has shown anything, they are doing it right.

Setlist:

Where Is My Mind?

Pixies bassist Paz Lenchantin. Pixies headline sold-out Roseland Theater in Portland, Ore. on Dec. 1, 2017. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)

All the Saints

Cactus

Ed Is Dead

Vamos

Nimrod’s Son

Silver Snail

Gouge Away

Bel Esprit

Crackity Jones

Broken Face

Isla de Encanta

Classic Masher

Um Chagga Lagga

Monkey Gone to Heaven

Caribou

Planet of Sound

Mr. Grieves

The Holiday Song

Break My Body

Hey

All I Think About Now

Wave of Mutliation

I’ve Been Tired

Subbacultcha

U-Mass

Tame

Encore:

Debaser

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The National is, in some ways, a family band, but all comparisons to the Jackson 5 stop there.

The band comprises vocalist Matt Berninger, actual brothers Bryce (guitar) and Aaron Dessner (guitar, keyboards) along with twins Scott (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Members are consistently involved in other projects, but when they come together in all their familial intensity, magic happens. This is evident in the group’s newest album, September’s “Sleep Well Beast.”

Their Nov. 27 stop at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall came right on the heels of Thanksgiving weekend, and the band’s somber sound and a sold-out audience filled the concert hall.

“Sleep Well Beast” is a more jittered take on the band’s dark sound, and songs from earlier in its discography took on a more frantic feel live. Before the group took the stage, three large screens angled toward the audience read: “Stand by” as a clock below counted the minutes between the opener This is The Kit’s and The National’s sets.

This is the Kit opens for The National on Nov. 27, 2017. (Sararosa Davies/Daily Emerald)

The band opened the set with “Sleep Well Beast’s” “Nobody Else Will Be There” and mixed in the band’s entire discography. Bryce Dessner’s atmospheric guitar playing and his creative use of the instrument’s body itself were a highlight. At one point, he dropped a guitar on its head for a percussive effect then shook it to create a controlled feedback.

The audience stayed seated until the show moved from somber to somber-yet-danceable songs. Once the crowd stood, it was up for good. When the band had moved on to crowd favorites like “Fake Empire” from 2007’s “Boxer” and “Turtlenecks,” the audience on the main floor was standing and yelling lyrics as if they were all Berninger, too —expressive hand motions included. Blue, dark purple and red backdrops provided a vibrant visual compared to the band’s other physically stagnant members.

Berninger, somehow both an eccentric and laid-back frontman, had a habit of dedicating songs to people such as politician Karl Rove. “He’s a piece of shit,” he said, referring to a debacle with the former Bush advisor about the  song, “Walk it Back.” But Berninger also dedicated songs to his wife, Carin, and former tourmates. Before “Carin at the Liquor Store,” Berninger mentioned that a line in the song reminded him of Kevin Malone’s band Scrantonicity from the TV show, “The Office,” almost to the point where he didn’t put it on the album. “I forced that down,” he said.

He often careened his neck to get more intimate with the microphone, sometimes screaming and howling when the song called for it. Songs such as “I Need My Girl” showcased  Berninger’s dynamic voice — which sometimes doesn’t come across on recordings.

Matt Berninger of The National looks into the audience. The National performs in Portland on Nov. 27, 2017.

The band’s first post-holiday show of the tour rarely featured flat or boring moments — it was at its best when playing with sprawling, more complicated songs. After leaving the stage one-by-one, the band earned a well-received encore, ending on “Mr. November” from “Alligator” and “Terrible Love” from the album, “High Violet.” Berninger’s voice cracked multiple times during “Mr. November” as he screamed, “I won’t fuck us over, I’m Mr. November.” He walked through the crowd before tossing his microphone over his shoulder and yelled the phrase, “It’s quiet company,” throughout “Terrible Love.”  

If anything, The National is the exact opposite of that phrase live.

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Taylor Swift drinks and (kind of) raps now, according to her new album, “Reputation.”

But the album, with its increased autotune and expansive production value, isn’t just about the death of “Old Taylor,” or her feud with Kanye West or the media’s perceptions of her life. Nor is it a simple declaration of “I’m a bad a girl now,” or a step back towards “girl on the bleachers” Taylor.

“Reputation” finds a self-aware Swift writing more overtly about sexuality and maturity in her relationships, but it also explores how the events of the last couple years (mainly the media’s coverage of her relationships and her feud with Kanye) have affected how she sees the world.

These themes paired with a more mainstream pop sound produce a few more songwriting duds than “1989” or “Red” did. At the same time, the album takes bigger steps and bigger risks, and for the most part (spare Ed-Sheeran’s rapping in “End Game”), it works.

For someone who has crafted her image in such a smart way — often Swift’s critics use terms like “calculated” or “a snake” when describing her — Swift is newly vulnerable and even a little messy on “Reputation.” Her image is still crafted, but there’s a little more room for mistakes. This album is surprisingly real.

Swift didn’t put her best foot forward by releasing “Look What You Made Me Do” — the worst song from “Reputation” is its first single, but that could easily be argued for her other albums, too. The track with its trickling piano beginning and interpolation of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy,” needed its music video to be a complete thought. This is the biggest mistake on the album, besides the campy “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Thankfully, it is buried in the middle. Other singles make more sense in context, but still struggle on their own.

Other songs like “Delicate,” “So It Goes…” and “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” fare much better. Swift pulls a heavy emotional punch with the album’s last track and best song, “New Year’s Day.”

Swift’s lyrics are at their vaguest at the start of the album, but in some ways, this fits. “Is it cool that I said all that / is it cool that you’re in my head,” she sings, her voice coated in breathy autotune on “Delicate.” She’s well aware that fans and media outlets will be scouring these lyrics for any hints, and she plays to this well.

Swift’s experimentation with a more overt sexual feel is a noteworthy part of the album because of this confidence. It almost feels like a more developed theme than her feud with Kanye or her actual “reputation.” “Say my name and everything just stops / I don’t want you like a best friend / I only bought this dress so you could take it off / take it off,” she sings, chasing after a Prince-style falsetto.

At 56 minutes, some of the album does blur together, especially in the middle. If anything, this is a Taylor Swift album for wine-drunk nights when everything else is blurry. But the last track “New Year’s Day” provides some clarity. Swift and her piano cut through the autotune and her decent, but not outstanding rapping on other tracks, tying it all together.

“There’s glitter on the floor after the party / girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby,” she croons. “Candle wax and polaroids on the floor / you and me from the night before.”

And in that moment, suddenly it’s a little clearer. The only thing worth returning to in the end is the thing that makes Swift happiest. Reputations matter somewhat less when anyone’s got a hand to hold.

Follow Sararosa on Twitter @srosiedosie.

The post Review: Taylor Swift makes room for vulnerability and mistakes on ‘Reputation’ appeared first on Emerald Media.

At the end of the Civil War, Confederate officer Benjamin Hawthorne surrendered his troops at Virginia’s Appomattox Courthouse and walked 100 miles to his home. In 1873, eight years after the war, he moved to Oregon. In 1959, the University of Oregon named a residence hall after him.

Hawthorne, an early professor at the University of Oregon and the founder of the psychology department, is not a widely known figure across campus today.

But Hawthorne, the namesake for Hawthorne Hall in the Walton Complex, came from a slave-owning family. Hawthorne’s father, John Hawthorne, owned 21 slaves according to the 1860 Federal Census’ Slave Register.

While it’s unclear whether Hawthorne himself owned any slaves, his story raises the question of how far universities should go in re-examining and evaluating their histories.

This is happening all over the country — not just in the South or at UO.

Last year, UO renamed Dunn Hall, a building dedicated to a former leader of the Eugene Ku Klux Klan. Colleges like Yale, Georgetown University and Clemson University are evaluating buildings named after figures associated with slavery, the KKK and the Confederate army.

Oregon State University is evaluating the names of four buildings, including one named after Benjamin Arnold, a close friend of Benjamin Hawthorne’s.

OSU cited Arnold’s involvement in the Confederate Army as the primary reason why they are considering removing his name.

UO officials said they weren’t even aware of Hawthorne’s service to the South during the Civil War. Even those who know of Hawthorne’s personal history say they aren’t sure if his hall should be renamed.

Benjamin Hawthorne, founder of UO’s psychology department, served as a captain in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.

“If you had a Robert E. Lee Hall, I would say you would have to change its name,” said Randol B. Fletcher, the author of “Hidden History of Civil War Oregon” and a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. “Whereas a guy like Hawthorne [or] Arnold – they were 23 years old. They did what everyone at their age did, so I don’t know if we should hold that against them.”

From the South to the West

Fletcher, an Oregon native who now lives in Virginia, has done extensive research on Oregon’s connection to the Civil War. He checked the 1860 slave register, a part of the United State Census at the time, to reconfirm information from his book.

“[Hawthorne’s] father, a guy named John Hawthorne, owned 21 slaves. In those days, that would have made him a multimillionaire,” Fletcher said.  

According to the UO Libraries Special Collections and Archives, Benjamin Hawthorne was born in 1837 in Lunenburg County, Virginia. He enlisted in the 38th Virginia Regiment as a private when the Civil War broke out in 1861. Soon, he was promoted to an officer because of his family’s elite status.

According to Fletcher, it was “pretty universal” for men like Hawthorne to join the army.

Many historians acknowledge that the war wasn’t just fought for slavery, but for economic reasons as well — this makes it hard to discern a soldier’s reason for enlisting.

As the war progressed, Hawthorne made his way up through the Confederate army and eventually became a member of Brigadier-General Lewis Armistead’s staff.

When the war was over, Hawthorne began his career in higher education in the South. His fellow Confederate soldier, Benjamin Arnold, who was one of the first presidents at Corvallis College (now OSU), invited him out West to join the faculty.

In 1873, Hawthorne made his way to Oregon, a state where Black people weren’t allowed to settle at the time.

He served as a professor of languages at Corvallis College until 1884, when he moved to Eugene to teach at UO. He taught a variety of subjects and founded the psychology department.

An inside view of Hawthorne Hall from the early 1900s. (Courtesy of University Archives)

During his time in Eugene and Corvallis, Hawthorne was a vocal supporter of Confederate representation, and according to Fletcher, he used to scream  the “rebel yell” during Union marches in Eugene. The rebel yell is a distinctive high-pitched shriek used by Confederate soldiers during battle to intimidate opposing troops.

Hawthorne received the Confederate Cross from the Daughters of the Confederacy in the early 1900s, according to a newspaper clipping in the UO Archives. He was designated professor emeritus of psychology because of his contributions to the department. Hawthorne died in 1923 and was buried in the Eugene Masonic Cemetery on 24th Avenue and University Street.

Hawthorne Hall was named in 1959, when the north wing was added to the Walton Complex, according to the UO Libraries website.

The renaming process

In 2016, the Black Student Task Force released a list of 12 demands to improve Black students’ experiences on campus and requested that the University look into two specific building names for their associations with slavery.

The BSTF asked that Deady and Dunn halls — named after early university figures associated with slavery and the KKK respectively — be renamed. The university administration spent $23,397.29 to commission a panel of historians to look into Matthew Deady and Frederic Dunn’s histories in Oregon.

Dunn Hall was renamed Unthank Junior Hall, after the architecture school’s first Black graduate.

Last year, UO President Michael Schill said Deady Hall remained the same due to Deady’s “embrace of the new constitutional order” after the Civil War, as well as his contributions to the university.

Schill also acknowledged Oregon’s exclusionary policies towards Black people at the time of the Civil War. He noted that it was a “tumultuous time in Oregon’s history.” Slavery was illegal in the state for economic reasons, but Oregon still had racist policies.

Oregon instituted laws that excluded free Black people from coming to and settling in the state. The last exclusion law was amended from Oregon’s constitution in 1926.

Deady and Dunn remain somewhat in the spotlight and in conversation on campus. Schill is hosting a panel discussion on Dunn’s renaming featuring a BSTF member and a historian on Nov. 15.

OSU is soliciting input from its own community and commissioning historians in order to make a decision about renaming buildings. Two of the buildings under discussion are the Gill Coliseum arena and the Arnold Dining Center.   

The Arnold Dining Center is a similar case to Hawthorne Hall. Benjamin Arnold, one of Oregon State’s first presidents and a former Confederate soldier, invited Hawthorne out to Oregon. OSU recently released a historians’ report on his life.

Steve Clark, OSU’s vice president of university relations and marketing and chair of the school’s Architectural Naming Committee, said OSU will be installing plaques with the findings of the historians, whether the building is renamed or not.

The school is opting towards transparency; it posts updates to a website as the university gathers more information. OSU President Ed Ray will announce the decisions for each building at the end of November.

Ray wrote that “transparent efforts are essential to our growth…” on the university’s website for renaming buildings.

To rename or not to rename?

Hawthorne’s elite status in the Confederate Army is what makes him noteworthy in the public debate about renaming buildings named for those who fought to preserve the institution of slavery, Fletcher said.

“Had he been an 18-year-old private in the Confederate army, I don’t know if there would be any debate about stripping his name off the building or not,” Fletcher said.

Though little history is readily available to UO students who spend time in the building, Hawthorne Hall was named in honor of a former Confederate soldier and UO professor, Benjamin Hawthorne. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

Hawthorne’s history hasn’t been readily available unless community members seek it out.

UO sophomore Samuel Miller lived in Hawthorne Hall last year, and he stumbled down an internet rabbit hole that ended in his discovery of Hawthorne’s history.

He says not many people in his Academic Residential Community knew about the building’s namesake, so he posted in his ARC’s Facebook group about the connection between Hawthorne and the Confederate army.

Looking back now, he says his peers reacted with a less “hostile” attitude toward the information than he expected.

Miller says he’s not sure Hawthorne Hall should be renamed. But he wanted to acknowledge Oregon’s “white supremacist history” at the same time.

Fletcher said he doesn’t believe the hall name should be changed.

“You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis. For me, Hawthorne was a person who served in the Confederate army,” Fletcher said. “He was famous because of the work he did afterwards.”

The Emerald reached out to the Black Student Task Force members and the University of Oregon’s Black Student Union leader for comment on whether the hall should be renamed but never received a response from either organization.

UO spokesman Tobin Klinger said the university has not discussed renaming Hawthorne Hall.

“I’m not aware of previous discussions around the name Hawthorne Hall,” Klinger wrote in an email to the Emerald. He noted that the university is interested in this information but couldn’t speculate further.

Regardless of whether the UO administration decides to evaluate Hawthorne Hall’s name, campuses across the country are addressing these histories with similar results.

Universities in the South, as well as all over the country, are spending thousands of dollars to look into building names. Most often, student activism and political groups point to larger figures — those who were vocal supporters of white supremacist ideologies or staunch supporters of slavery — as targets of renaming, not general Confederate soldiers. Often, a school’s administration must weigh historical findings with a figure’s contributions to the school.

“[He] did what everyone his age did,” Fletcher said about Hawthorne. “I don’t know if we should hold that against them. I don’t know if the Hawthorne family cares that there is a hall named after him.”

The post Hawthorne Hall: A Confederate Legacy appeared first on Emerald Media.

Evan Stephens Hall, the songwriter and lead vocalist for the Montclair, New Jersey band, Pinegrove, has a few unusual songwriting idiosyncrasies. Hall likes to sing about geometry and literature, using those subjects as a way to talk about interpersonal connections.

Sometimes Hall even challenges his band’s Twitter followers to find the allusions to Virginia Woolf and the author George Saunders in their songs. Those who find a reference that Hall confirms get a merch prize.

In the band’s new single, “Intrepid,” Hall explores the interpersonal in his classic way. “Intrepid” unravels slowly, but surely; its guitar riffs unspool and grow larger with every verse. As he sings, “Take a rectangle, untangle your head / Intrepid,” the song builds and then fades in hesitation. But soon the guitars and Hall’s voice swell together as the song crescendos.

Hall’s voice soars, almost yelling: “Up in the early morning for no reason again / Re-listening to your message and I held it in my head.” For the singer, who admittedly likes “tiny art,” this song feels grand and expansive, even while clocking in at 3:31.

The band takes as much inspiration from alt-country group Wilco as it does from Green Day, and this especially shows in “Intrepid.” Hall is comfortable writing from an emo standpoint, but his lyrics never feel overbaked or too heavy. He alludes to depression but doesn’t let that overrule the rest of the song. His songs have the same tinge of humor and wit as Wilco’s.

“Well the way I spent my winter, I wonder / How could we commit,” he sings, voice somehow both cold and expansive.

Pinegrove is by no means exploring new territory in “Intrepid,” and that’s okay. The song feels like one of the longer, sadder songs of the band’s 2016 debut album, “Cardinal.” For a band with such a fervent and passionate fanbase, sometimes very little change is better than any. Especially when these fans know the lyrics so well.

But according to the dictionary, the word “Intrepid” means fearless and adventurous. And if any band knows how to make adventurous music while still being truthful to all the anxieties of something new, it’s Pinegrove. As Hall sings, everything but the road stretching in front of you fades.

The post Review: Pinegrove finds meaning among simple shapes and words in ‘Intrepid’ appeared first on Emerald Media.

Evan Stephens Hall, the songwriter and lead vocalist for the Montclair, New Jersey band, Pinegrove, has a few unusual songwriting idiosyncrasies. Hall likes to sing about geometry and literature, using those subjects as a way to talk about interpersonal connections.

Sometimes Hall even challenges his band’s Twitter followers to find the allusions to Virginia Woolf and the author George Saunders in their songs. Those who find a reference that Hall confirms get a merch prize.

In the band’s new single, “Intrepid,” Hall explores the interpersonal in his classic way. “Intrepid” unravels slowly, but surely; its guitar riffs unspool and grow larger with every verse. As he sings, “Take a rectangle, untangle your head / Intrepid,” the song builds and then fades in hesitation. But soon the guitars and Hall’s voice swell together as the song crescendos.

Hall’s voice soars, almost yelling: “Up in the early morning for no reason again / Re-listening to your message and I held it in my head.” For the singer, who admittedly likes “tiny art,” this song feels grand and expansive, even while clocking in at 3:31.

The band takes as much inspiration from alt-country group Wilco as it does from Green Day, and this especially shows in “Intrepid.” Hall is comfortable writing from an emo standpoint, but his lyrics never feel overbaked or too heavy. He alludes to depression but doesn’t let that overrule the rest of the song. His songs have the same tinge of humor and wit as Wilco’s.

“Well the way I spent my winter, I wonder / How could we commit,” he sings, voice somehow both cold and expansive.

Pinegrove is by no means exploring new territory in “Intrepid,” and that’s okay. The song feels like one of the longer, sadder songs of the band’s 2016 debut album, “Cardinal.” For a band with such a fervent and passionate fanbase, sometimes very little change is better than any. Especially when these fans know the lyrics so well.

But according to the dictionary, the word “Intrepid” means fearless and adventurous. And if any band knows how to make adventurous music while still being truthful to all the anxieties of something new, it’s Pinegrove. As Hall sings, everything but the road stretching in front of you fades.

The post Review: Pinegrove finds meaning among simple shapes and words in ‘Intrepid’ appeared first on Emerald Media.

Halloween is today, so Emerald staffers decided to compare and contrast similar Halloween candies. See which staffers guessed right, and hear their thoughts on the best candies. Happy Halloween from the Emerald!

Video produced by Lilly Lion.

The post Emerald Blind Taste Test: Halloween Candy appeared first on Emerald Media.