[SIC] 134: Defy Auto Translate

April 1st, 2021

Hi all, 

No fools today. A couple things to kick things off: 

• Matt Klein’s Zine post about Deletion Death is a great multi-platform take on losing ‘everything’ in a modern sense, and is typical of his excellent output. We have never met so it’s gonna be interesting talking to him about it today on [SIC] Talks today. Find it on my IG @dietznutz at 4pm ET / 1p PT.

• The actor / producer Dr. Victor is putting on a live rendition of Orson Welles’s “Horse Eats Hat” on Clubhouse and I can only imagine it’s gonna be weird. RSVP here (if it hasn’t already happened). (Eatshat)

• Corollary, my zoom chat homies at Kouch Culture have a Substack now, to capture the group’s weekly conversation on Clubhouse. If you like [SIC] its worth a look for sure. 

• I’ve always known former colleague Thobey Campion was a storyteller par excellence, but his newsletter, ExoGenesis, is *actually* out of this world. (Substack)

Speaking of buddies, thanks as always to the ones who contributed this week: Isaac, Kyle, David, Tim, Iolanda, Ben, Benjamin and David. Keep them coming, please.  Now, enjoy.  xB 

======[SIC] 134:  Defy Auto Translate ======

Start here and make it musical:

• “Music Makes Me High” by the Avalanches. Notwithstanding whether what follows reads positive or negative, get in THIS MOOD to read the newsletter and you’ll feel the possibility like I hope you will. (Spotify) 

• Separately, this will be news to no one, but this Claud song “Soft Spot” is pretty great. (Spotify)

• To that end, added it to my liked song playlist, which I thought about sharing, and then decided I better clean out the nonsense from. So it’s pretty great now, too.  Now, who knows how I can share the whole list? @spotify, please make easier. I’m 45 years old. 

• While we’re at it, this one’s a sleeper from the liked songs list: [Total Giovanni’s “Human Animal”] if you’ve ever found yourself singing along to Talking Heads. (Spotify)

• Also, no idea who Greg Phillinganes is (and didn’t bother googling) but “Lazy Nina” is a very jam. (Spotify) 

• Bonus, from my brother Isaac:  "a roller skating jam about Shrimp Cocktail (?) but why not." (Bandcamp) 

• A whole different vibe: Walter Schreifels’s playlist for Revelation records (Spotify)

• Dry Cleaning: the band blowing up when the world shut down (FT) 

• Via WITI: Terrible Records is an excellent show on the always reliable NTS

• Elsewhere via NTS: WATCH THIS PLEASE: Dudes got bars... (Instagram) 

Big Think Stuff For While You Listen:

• Former colleague Dan Ozzi (who knows from punk) says This is the most punk shit you can do.(An appreciation post for Lil Nas X and "Montero.”) (Reply Alt)

• Via Rave New World: Welcome to the Dissociation Generation. (The Cut) Key quote: COVID-19 has cleared the arena for America’s druggiest era, as the twin wrecking balls of economic devastation and psychic trauma leave a crater of suffering — and drugs come to fill the void. 

• Corollary: Where do you sit on the “mappiness” index? Health and wellbeing ratings are now major factors when it comes to buying a property. Here are the happiest places around  (FT) 

• Jason Hirschhorn, CEO of REDEF is over with Howard Lindzon Discussing Digital  Content Creation and Other Media Trends.

• Other trends from Kyle Dropp: "I thought you might find this constantly updating return to normal series and a brand new study on pent up demand featuring intel on work, socializing, dining, travel, school, sports, entertainment, shopping, and more as fascinating and relevant as I do." (Morning Consult)

• Lastly, meet the middle-aged millennial: Homeowner, debt-burdened and turning 40 (CNBC) 

Now, the inevitable NFT section: 

• This is endless fun. Via Public Announcement: Beeplegenerator. 

• Via Protocol: A new game called Parallel — which will have NFTs baked into the gameplay and is selling NFT cards ahead of launch. Imagine, say, Fortnite skins you can buy, but it's only you who gets to wear them. 

• From David Bianchi: ‘I Can’t Breathe’, honoring the largest civil rights movement in US history drops the first Award Winning Spoken Word Film as an #NFT, and will donate 15% of proceeds to Color Of Change. (Ephimera)

• And from [SIC] buddy Tim Nolan: "SUPREME RELIC 001" is s 1428x1928 iPhone 11 photo of v. Rare Supreme x Andy Warhol all over print T. First ever use of the Etherium #blockchain to drop a holy #grail from #Supreme x Andy Warhol." Winner of this bid also receives the holy grail of supreme collaboration shirts."(Foundation)

• Another one, via Protocol: Lindsay Lohan: will launch her new single "Lullaby" as an NFT auction. You can listen to it with your ears for free. (YouTube)

• Corollary: Marika Thunders’ show at Public Access is pretty great (Instagram) 

  

Onward with the Arts: 

• Flat 70 Celebrates Black Artists By Taking Over London's Billboards (Frieze) 

• Via The Slowdown: “Goodnight House,” on view through May 27, features furniture and objects that look as if they could have appeared in Goodnight Moon’s bedroom setting, but with a contemporary twist.

• The Louvre just launched a new online database compiling more than 480,000 artworks from its collections and those at the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix and The Tuileries Garden (The Colossal) 

• Is Art Dubai the Future of Art Fairs?  (Hypebeast)

Building(s) Stuff: 

• How to Spend It interviews Renzo Piano and the architect behind the Centre Pompidou and the Shard is working on his most ambitious projects yet. He explains why his buildings are designed to fly (FT) 

Brandalism: 

• MAYDAY! Via Protocol: "One of the biggest shifts in VC + tech happening May 1st. The Patagonia ban finally kicking in. (Twitter)

• Uniform Choice. via 2pm: How did an American rowing brand make the year's best football kit? (GQ UK)

• Suez to Snap: how B2B shipping giant Maersk is focusing on Snapchat to attract Millennial talent (The Drum) 

• From Iolanda Carvalho: "And now with Maltesers... Mars Wrigley partners Google to whip up new Maltesers dessert with AI" (Marketing Interactive) 

• While from Ben Pruess:  Miller Lite serves a whiff of classic bar aromas. Missing the bar ambiance? Say no more: The beverage company launched a limited line of bar-scented candles. (Retail Dive) 

• Elsewhere in smells: Via Future Party: Dove is so invested in diversifying advertising that it’s paying other companies to do it.

• From Benjamin Watkins: thought you might be interested in the Celine sticker sheet you get free with this months thrasher... big up 🤘🏻 [Celine sticker sheet in Thrasher]

• With Shoppers Unable to Travel, Burberry Brings the (Virtual) Store to Them

• Nerf is hiring a chief TikTok officer. 

• Via PSFK: Fitness brands look to organic, short-form video to connect with remote consumers (Digiday) 

Tech Talk:

• Via High Tea: Bitclout is a new type of social network that allows you to buy into a creator’s potential via Creator Coins, a new crypto asset on its own custom blockchain directly tied to their reputation in the zeitgeist (TechCrunch) 

• The Weirdest Shit to Come Out of Silicon Valley in January 2021. A.I.-dog collars and voice-activated fog baths (The Bold Italic)

• Via Future Party: MrBeast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) and a new company called Creative Juice want to give out the goods to new creators.

• Via Protocol: For a masterclass in in-app spending, look at the freemium mobile game Genshin Impact. It's the fastest title to reach $1 billion in player spending on the App Store and Google Play worldwide (it took just under six months) (Sensortower) 

• How to Get the Most Out of Your Quants (The Big Picture)

• Google Maps is changing to show you the greenest route to your destination, rather than the fastest. (Daily Upside) 

• While LinkedIn confirms it's working on a Clubhouse rival, too (TechCrunch)

• Corollary via Ritzholtz: a16z Marketplace 100

• And via Katelyn Donnelly: Sequoia's letter of advice to their portfolio CEOs: Here.

• Via Ben Evans: People talk a lot about AWS as Amazon’s cash cow, but the ad business buried in the back of the accounts might be just as profitable.. 

• Reggie Watts released a new app cleverly named WattsApp, that's all about keeping up with his work without having to follow him on social media. (Protocol)

• THE CURIOUS NETIQUTTE OF DIGITAL PUNCTUATION!!!!!!!!!! (BURO)

Fashions: 

• Luxury's Latest Gambit: Riding the Guochao Wave  (Marketing Interactive)

• From David Bloom: “Interesting news release about the future of fashion. The notions of highly customized and personalized fabrication, crossing over with digital goods, is particularly intriguing. ‘Global fashion shopping platform Lyst' releases its Digital Fashion Report. 

• On TikTok And Youtube, BuildingYour Empire Starts With Merch (Fashionista)

• Related: Blackbird Spyplane thought A LOT about the design of their (now sold out) first t-shirt. 

• Highsnob’s favorite women-owned brands RN. 

• Another from David Bloom: Preachers and their $5,000 sneakers: Why one man started an Instagram account showing churches’ wealth (MSN) 

• Via Elevator: Mr. Porter’s got Tom Ford’s rules for style (Youtube) 

Voices: 

• Taylo [@TaylorLorenz], tech reporter for The New York Times, on how she keeps her finger on the internet's pulse. Listen. (NPR) 

• Via The Slowdown: Time Sensitive podcast speaks with fashion designer Eileen Fisher effects of staying true to one’s vision.

• Speaking of pods: The rise of the athlete podcaster (The New Yorker) 

Reading Stuff: 

• Book of the week: MONEY by Prill Vieceli Cremers. Honestly, beautiful, and not in a ‘greed is good;’ way. Second printing edition of 800 means it’ll be dearer than Zimbabwean $100 Billion dollar notes.  (Dashwood Books)

• Day Trill Zine is out now (Stay Silent PVD) 

Watching Stuff: 

• CORREIO, a film celebrating London’s Brazilian food delivery drivers (The FACE)

• Documentaries were the fastest-growing genre on streaming last year, as more news companies leaned into licensing deals with streamers around current events.(Axios)

Food Stuffs:

• Overcoming eating disorder by growing your own food (Salty)

• Alicia Kennedy wrote about Vegans and didn’t once mention straightedge hardcore. (Substack)

• Opposite Day: a new analysis found sales of meat hit $82.5 billion in 2020, up 19.2% over 2019. But in contrast, in 2019, the percentage of consumers who identified as “meat eaters” stood at 85%, but in 2020 that had dipped to 71%. 34% of shoppers said they were trying to cut back on meat in their diet. (Grocery Dive)  

Media Bizzz

All via Nieman Lab: 

• What’s Mel’s fate means for media titles owned by brands. (Digiday)  

• Is online advertising about to crash, just like real estate did in 2008? (The Guardian) 

• The media is slashing jobs again as the Trump news cycle fades and the economy struggles (CNN)

Wait, more music? 

• Roblox's Global Head of Music and former classmate Jon Vlasspoulos Talks About How You Can Be Part of Roblox  (YouTube)

• Peloton Partners with 'Verzuz' to Adapt Battle Series for At-Home Exercise Classes Billboard

• Trapital starts with that tie-up, and then digs into “overall” deals. 

• Via Music Redef: A brief history of rappers sampling VANESSA CARLTON's "A THOUSAND MILES" (Okayplayer) 

• Hypebeasts’s Gen 21 new artists for Spring, including a playlist

• BEST NEW AFRICAN MUSIC: A MONTHLY ROUNDUP featuring Rema’s booty-bouncing anthem, Yaw Tog’s Stormzy-assisted Sore remix and Niniola’s confessional R&B. (The FACE) 

Flotsam and Jetsam: 

• Via WITI: Languages that defy auto-translate  (BBC) 

======[SIC] 134:  Defy Auto Translate ======