Irrelevant But Awesome

The Dear Hunter - Red EP This particular EP was a dream collaboration that I didn't know that I wanted until it actually happened. The Red EP includes additional vocals provided by Manchester Orchestra front-man Andy Hull as well as some instrumentation, if I'm correct. Essentially, Red is the love-child of Dear Hunter and Manchester Orchestra and the offspring is some pretty great music as two of the present day best songwriters come together. And if it sounds like I'm being completely biased, you couldn't be more correct because these are two of my favorite bands becoming best friends and it warms my innards. The highlight of this EP has to be A Curse of Cynicism because it harnesses the unique vocal abilities of both Hull and Casey Crescenzo. Speaking of, I've often wondered why Dear Hunter chose the Red EP specifically to feature Andy Hull because Hull can cover a lot of ground in terms of fitting into different types of songs. However, Hull is at his bes...

The Dear Hunter: Black EP The Dear Hunter has a rare chameleon quality about them and it’s the initial thing that struck my interest about the band initially when I first went through the Act albums. There are more capable music reviewers that can give that quality name but I can’t quite put my finger on exactly how they’re able to almost switch genre to genre from one song to the next and still maintain their identity. Dear Hunter still feels like they’re within their own wheelhouse no matter what genre is attempted. I will say this, and it might sound incredibly vague so forgive me, there’s a certain warmness about TDH’s tone in every song and even though each song in the different Color Spectrum EPs differ in vibe, this warm tone is a baseline that remains constant throughout so that no song feels out of place and yet each color maintains a separate identity. Just like a person adapts to various scenarios their own way, such is the same with TDH and the Color Spectrum bec...

With Money in the Bank in our rear view mirror, we now look at the aftermath of Dean Ambrose cashing in and we wonder would it have even happened if Roman Reigns hadn't gotten himself suspended. Also, is there such a thing as too much wrestling? Joel explores this ideas as we might be finding out in a couple of months.

Welcome to Kue's List! This is a weekly collection of fresh and fantastic tunes curated by yours truly, Jonah Kue. So, without further adieu, here's this week's Kue's List, followed by Apple Music and Spotify links to it: Sleigh Bells - "Rule Number One" Logic - "Flexicution" Jonah Kue - "The Tour Guide" Skott - "Porcelain" KAMAU - "Gaims" Maxwell - "Gods" Dreezy - "Close to You (feat. T-Pain)" Cash Cash - "How to Love (feat. Sofia Reyes)" DREAMERS - "Sweet Disaster" Berhana - "Grey Luh" Thirdstory - "G Train" Click for Apple Music link Click for Spotify link

As announced the other day , The Dear Hunter announced their new album "Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional" to be released on September, the fifth and likely final album in a string of concept album with an over-arching story linking all of them. To celebrate this, I'm going to team up with our music guru, Kue, to review all the previous Acts leading up to Act V's released. However, they do have some non-Act albums that shouldn't be ignored. So if you would like to listen along, here's Migrant.  I’m thankful for this album because even though it doesn’t get a whole attention, Migrant is an important album in the history of The Dear Hunter. Pointing out the obvious, it’s the only Dear Hunter without a gimmick and it very much felt like a pause between The Color Spectrum and the band resuming the Act series. It’s definitely not Dear Hunter’s best work but it’s hugely indicative of where they were at musically in the sense that a lot of t...

Welcome to Kue's List! This is a weekly collection of fresh and fantastic tunes curated by yours truly, Jonah Kue. So, without further adieu, here's this week's Kue's List, followed by Apple Music and Spotify links to it: Phantogram - "You Don't Get Me High Anymore" Kamaiyah - "One Love (feat. Netta Brielle & Big Money Gang)" Anik Khan - "Renegade" Colouring - "In Motion" Bastille - "Good Grief" Tory Lanez - "LUV" Kanye West, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Yo Gotti, Quavo, & Designer - "Champions" Twenty One Pilots - "Heathens" Jarryd James - "1000X (feat. Broods)" Wyclef Jean - "Hendrix" Alexandra Savior - "Shades" Click for Apple Music link Click for Spotify link

Welcome to Kue's List! This is a weekly collection of fresh and fantastic tunes curated by yours truly, Jonah Kue. So, without further adieu, here's this week's Kue's List, followed by Apple Music and Spotify links to it: DJ Snake - "Talk (feat. George Maple)" DJ Khaled - "For Free (feat. Snake)" Jon Bellion - "Maybe IDK" Classixx - "Just Let Go (feat. How to Dress Well)" 070 Shake - "Sunday Night (feat. Phi)" TAKU & Wafia - "Meet in the Middle" The Temper Trap - "Fall Together" Mai Lan - "Technique" CHVRCHES - "Bury It (feat. Hayley Williams)" Joey Bada$$ - "Devastated" Amber Arcades - "Fading Lines" Click for Apple Music link Click for Spotify link

Joel:  There is so much to deal with in this episode that’s incredibly frustrating. We said at the beginning of this rewatch that we wanted to watch The West Wing during an election cycle because the real world election would be easier to get through if we were able to watch a fictionalized government made up of people who would strive for the moral high ground, who wouldn’t waste the taxpayer's time or money, and who would get things done. But now we have an episode where even our beloved West Wing characters can’t meet those standards. First we have CJ and Leo’s storyline where the end result is pretty much CJ getting in trouble for doing what she felt was morally the right thing to do. And we have Toby’s storyline, which can be boiled down to two of the politically smartest men and two of the most gifted writers in the country spending there time trying to make a calendar. Think of all the beneficial things that these two men could have been doing with their time, all the...

Welcome to Kue's List! This is a weekly collection of fresh and fantastic tunes curated by yours truly, Jonah Kue. So, without further adieu, here's this week's Kue's List, followed by Apple Music and Spotify links to it: A-Track - "Parallel Lines (feat. Phantogram)" Jarina De Marco -  "Paranavigar" Anik Khan - "Too Late Now" Skepta - "Numbers (feat. Pharrell Williams)" Rittz - "Inside of the Groove (feat. E-40, Mike Posner)" 070 Shake - "Trust Nobody" Sophia Bastian - "Blind Ambition" Oxymorrons - "I Feel Better" Ralph - "Cold to the Touch" Gothic Tropic - "Stronger" Anderson .Paak - "Come Down (feat. T.I.)" Palace Winter - "Soft Machine" Big Thief - "Masterpiece" Bibi Bourelly - "What If" Click for Apple Music link Click for Spotify link

Joel:  I’m trying very hard not to complain about every little thing from this point out by saying “Sorkin wouldn’t have done that.” While the first four seasons of the show were fantastic, they weren’t perfect and there were several episodes and moments in those first four seasons that didn’t quite ring true. However I do have to complain about the speech writing snafu that happens in this episode. The whole thing just feels off from what we know about these characters. The long extended insult sequence seemed out of character for both Toby and Will. But even if that would happen to help them blow off some steam, why would Will actually type it all out? There’s no reason that he would actually do that. And then how did it get missed? Word count is important in these things, how was it that nobody noticed an extra hundred or so words that were wildly off message from the rest of the speech? And then the new VP spoke to Will and Toby about it, but nothing from the President? ...