Thom's Link Emporium - 0023 - 27 June 2022

I’ve just had a nice long weekend, with my iPad showing the cricket next to me, watching the BBC’s excellent Glastonbury coverage. It’s so great to just flick between the main stages, catching moments of various people I’d never have made the journey to see if I’d been there. I had a ticket until Christmas, and decided not to go, and I think that was the right choice, but I look forward to going back one day.

This week, I’ve picked some of my favourite sets from the weekend to take a look at - there’s a lot to enjoy!

Links

  1. Dorian Lynskey on Paul McCartney for his 80th birthday. Saturday’s headliner had his eightieth birthday this week, and this is a great profile.

  2. If, like me, you're a nerd who wants to see what all the Crossrail stations look like when superimposed over the ground map, this is the page for you

  3. McSweeneys has had some of the best responses to the regular racism and bullying faced by Star Wars actors, firstly: This Fictional Universe Is Getting Way Too Diverse and secondly: Oh, You Think You’re a Real Star Wars Fan? Name Three of Its Stars You’ve Bullied Off Social Media.

  4. How does a mechanical watch work? An easy-to-understand but exhaustive explanation with lots of interactive diagrams

  5. Author Robin Sloan on AI and bullshitting. "The thing to know about the AI language models, OpenAI’s GPT-3 and its cousins, is that they are fundamentally bullshitters. The bullshit has gotten better and better, but at the core … well, there’s nothing at the core. They are shells of nervous compulsion that “want” only to keep talking, fill the silence, cover the void with a curtain of words." It's just a series of bullet points, but each is a fascinating insight.

  6. Lengthy profile of Steve Bannon in The Atlantic. I think their headline of him as the "American Rasputin" feels about right.

Listening & Watching

As promised, here are some of my highlights from the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage. If you’re not in the UK, they aren’t available I’m afraid, but you’re an imaginative, and might I say delightfully attractive person. I’m sure you’ll find a way.

First, the Mainstage headliners.

  • It’s impressive that 20 year old Billie Eilish could pull of such a set, but she did. I often feel that solo artists can seem a little swamped by the stage and setting, and that was a little the case here, but still, an excellent performance.

  • Eighty year old Paul McCartney has a little more experience under his belt. He’s not the performer who came here in 2004, his voice is a lot more fragile, but the set was still spectacular. It started rather like a tour-set with a lot of solo material, but across the three hours a lot of Beatles hits made appearances, as did two special guests (I guess McCartney has the pick in that department).

  • Kendrick Lamar’s headline set on Sunday I found a little bit tricky to connect with. Obviously he’s a phenomenal performer, but perhaps not quite my thing, and I found it a little lacking in fun.

Some old classics

  • The Pet Shop Boys’s set on Sunday was the pick of the headliners on that day for me. Pure pop, pure joy. Wonderful.

  • Fela Kuti’s son, Seun Kuti playing with Egypt 80 was outstanding

  • Crowded House’s Saturday set was a nice early starter to get people into the spirit. Full of hits.

  • And The Avalanches’s on the Park Stage felt a bit like a greatest hits set purely for middle-aged divorcées, but I’m right in that demographic and I loved it.

Glastonbury’s policy of trying to keep an even split of genders on the bill means that there are a lot of excellent female acts, so I’ll finish off with a bit of a grab-bag of excellent women:

  • Olivia Rodrigo grabbed the crowd and didn’t let go through the whole set. Brilliant. She also did a cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” which is older than she is.

  • The prize for best stage outfit goes to Self Esteem - her brilliant pop-fuelled indie set was excellent

  • Even poppier, even indier, was the fun and fresh Beabadoobee

  • Holly Humberstone explained on a number of occasions how nervous she was, but her great songwriting still stone through.

  • Haim have got this power-indie-rock thing down to a fine art nowadays, and might be the perfect festival booking?

  • Last Glastonbury, a stand out performance was Lizzo. Megan Thee Stallion’s set felt like a Lizzo that might burn your house down if you crossed her.

  • Little Simz was my choice of the Friday headliners. Beautiful, tuneful hip-hop.

  • Phoebe Bridgers can do no wrong in my eyes.

Oh yes, and some men weren’t too bad either

  • black midi’s fun experimental set on the West Holts stage is well worth checking out

  • And Yves Tumor sure made friends with the security team

Normal service resumes next week!

Quote

When someone is telling you a story, they hijack the personal narrator that lives inside your head. It’s the closest we come to seeing through someone else’s eyes.

Douglas Coupland, Player One