Ann Lewis Womanism Complete Best Rar
Tanja Freeze
We wrap up the week with the return of writer, theorist, and recovering academic Sophie Lewis to talk about her new writing at Salvage Magazine, "Some of my best enemies are feminists: on Zionist feminism." This will be Sophie's fourth appearance on This is Hell! and her interviews have repeatedly been selected by listeners as their favorites of the year each time she has appeared. Following the interview, Jeffrey Dorchen delivers "The Moment of Truth" live from Second Story Studios, aka the center of Hell.Check out Sophie's article here: -of-my-best-enemies-are-feminists-on-zionist-feminism/Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access weekly bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon:
Singer/songwriter and former Rilo Kilo performer Jenny Lewis raised a substantial amount of money for a Los Angeles Women's Center during a live event celebrating her forthcoming album, On The Line, which is set to be released on March 22.
The On The Line Online live streaming event on March 3, described as a live listening party, variety show and fundraiser, raised over $10,000 for the LA Downtown Women's Center, according to a statement. The event was streamed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and featured St. Vincent, King Tuff, as well as comedians Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Leggero and actor David Arquette, among others. The party was hosted by Lewis and comedian Tim Heidecker.
During the show, fans were treated to sneak peeks of On The Line, plus a space flute verson of Lewis' 2014 single "Just One Of The Guys," performed by King Tuff. If a fan decided to donate, they were permitted to call in with questions for Lewis.
"Thank you SO much jennydianelewis and friends for including us as part of your album launch. And thank you for all who donated." The Downtown Women's Center tweeted. "All these proceeds go towards women finding saftey [sic], housing, and pathways to personal stability! "
Those who missed out can still watch what went down during the three-hour event. Lewis announced her album release and back in December along with news of a headlining tour in March. For more information on the album, visit Lewis' website.
This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system.
"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."
He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiance, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.
To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood."
"I am thinking it's a sign / that the freckles in our eyes / are mirror images / and when we kiss / they're perfectly aligned," Ben Gibbard sings on the Postal Service's 2003 classic "Such Great Heights." If you consumed American media in the early aughts, those memorable lyrics may well be committed to your memory, as it saw placement on "The O.C.," "Grey's Anatomy," "Veronica Mars," Garden State and an assortment of commercials.
This was the band's biggest song from their only studio album, Give Up, released on Sub Pop on Feb. 18, 2003, and it almost didn't happen. Producer Jimmy Tamborello tells us it was originally going to be a cover of an '80s deep cut, but it just didn't click. When they decided to nix that idea, Tamborello used a similar sonic palette for what became "Such Great Heights."
Gibbard and Tamborello attempted further collaboration which resulted in a few singles (including the perfect Phil Collins cover for the 2004 Josh Hartnett film Wicker Park). The pressure for new Postal Service music was very real, but as their careers had taken off, space for collaboration had narrowed.
Twenty years later, Gibbard will lead the Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie on their first-ever joint tour playing both 20-year-old albums in full. The tour kicks off on Sept. 5 in Washington D.C. and wraps on Oct. 17 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
To celebrate what is sure to be a memorable, tear-jerking run of concerts, GRAMMY.com recently caught up with Tamborello and Lewis to revisit the beloved side project that continues to take on a life of its own.
In our world, side projects are pretty common. Over the years, I've done five or six side projects. It's really just a creative outlet; a way to try something new with low stakes. I always do best under low stakes.
Lewis: Yeah, it was very free. I think the burden of knowing too much can creep its way in and then you can't help but kind of get jaded with your own music after putting out 10 or 15 records.
There's something so precious about Give Up because it's this time capsule. It's frozen in amber. And although we revisit it, it's still this very special, pure thing that's untainted by time or pressure to do it again.
Lewis: But the expectation was low. When we were on the road touring it, things started happening. We booked these tiny little places. We had a show booked in this really small spot in Barcelona, and they moved us to the big room, which had never happened in my career before. To feel that kind of momentum while we were out touring was really unique. And then we stopped touring it for 10 years.
Tamborello: I'm surprised we even put a tour together in the first place. I don't know if Sub Pop wanted us to do it or we just thought it would be fun, but we could have easily just never toured it. Even though we only did a month of touring, I think that did solidify us as a band and probably somehow gave us more lasting power.
Tamborello: I'd only done a couple tours with a band before that. They were really small, like, two people at a house. So it was crazy even just to sell out one show on a tour. I think the most my band got paid on the tour before that was $100 and pizza or something. Ben and Jenny had more experience with that level of touring.
We made the [Postal Service] record and then I just went on doing my band. You guys sent me a copy of it on a CD-R. I was on tour with Rilo Kiley and Desaparecitos, and we were all in our 15-passenger van. I was like, "Oh, I got this Postal Service record. You guys want to listen to it?" Everyone in my band freaked out, especially Denver [Dalley of Desaparecitos]. He was like, "Whoa dude, this is gonna be huge." I was like, "What?!" It hadn't even occurred to me, but when I played it for my peers, they were like, "Wow, this is next level."
Tamborello: I remember a lot of memories of listening to Execution Of All Things and [Death Cab For Cutie's] Transatlanticism [after] getting copies from you guys, and loving those albums.
Lewis: Yeah, all three of those records came out [one after another]. Execution changed my band's trajectory. The Postal Service was happening simultaneously and Transatlanticism. It was a lot. But it was small back then. It was pretty DIY.
Lewis: I think when you're in it, you don't really notice it, because you're just doing it. Jimmy and I collaborated after that for Dntel and Jimmy produced a Rilo Kiley song. I think we just kept going, and this was now part of the palette. Having Jimmy as a producer and a resource is a whole new world of sounds. It was very exciting for my band.
I think it took a couple of years for it to kind of infiltrate television and scoring, as a part of this wave of electronic music becoming more mainstream in the indie world. There was a mainstream band that put out a song that kind of sounded a little bit like the Postal Service, but we weren't active. The record was just doing its thing, but we had done our tour and we had gone back to our regular lives.
Give Up was a mostly remote collaboration, hence the name the Postal Service. Jimmy, were you sending demo CD-Rs to Ben via USPS or was it a different mailing service?
Lewis: That was pretty unprecedented to not be in the room with someone. There's something to figuring out your parts and writing in that kind of space, and then sharing it. When you're in the studio, you're playing a character version of yourself because everyone's watching you. But to have that [privacy], makes it really real.
Tamborello: It was through my roommate Pedro. He was in a band that toured with Death Cab, so they were friends. I was working on the Dntel album and asked Pedro if I could send Ben some music. And then Ben came to stay with us to hang out. That's where we recorded ["(This Is) The Dream Of Evan and Chan"] and got to know each other.
Tamborello: That trip, when we recorded that Dntel song. I think Ben brought up doing more stuff, I don't think I would have. I remember being on the phone with Tony [Kiewel] at Sub Pop that weekend, talking to him about it, and he said we should do a whole album. And that was the beginning of a year of making it.
Lewis: That's an example of a good A&R person. Non-intrusive but like, "Hey, this is cool, you guys should make a whole record." Maybe you wouldn't have done it if it wasn't suggested.
**"(This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan" sounds like it could've been on Give Up. What was the creative process like when you made that song together and how did that inform the process of Give Up? **
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