Ethan Iverson’s new album, Technically Acceptable, is that and more, sitting covers of Thelonius Monk and Roberta Flack next to his own original contemporary jazz. “I’m interested in trying to wrangle these almost archaic forms in a modernist way,” he says, and again: bingo. His version of “Round Midnight” has theremin on it and “Killing Me Softly” sounds newer than it does at karaoke. I don’t often hit you with a jazz album because I don’t know if we’re all ~like that~ but the degree of openness in Iverson’s mind kind of begs for a match. If that’s what happens for you, Iverson will be at Blue Note in New York week after next, and then he’s going on tour 🙂

Ok friends, first post of the year, what are our resolutions? (As a non-resolution person, I’m still going strong on the only one I’ve ever made: eat more pickles.) If you are drinking more water, sales indicate you may be doing so from the Stanley cup — that is, the Quencher, a 40-ounce monster that seems like an unnecessary amount of infrastructure for getting water from the faucet to your mouth but we’ll let that be. These things have become an absolute phenom among the PSL crowd, inciting chaos at Target, etc. —  something of an unexpected move for a brand that’s always been about outdoorsmen (and pilots).

How do brands keep making this kind of crossover? Nostalgia, sure. But more concretely, executives. In 2020, Terence Reilly, the guy who made Crocs into fashion, became president of Stanley, and now we see his playbook: girl colors,* limited-edition drops, brand collabs, social… Obviously a thermos wasn’t going to become this kind of hit on its own. But how does it feel to know you’ve been played by a guy who follows around Bruce Springsteen?

*lol

Meanwhile, Peloton, which *was* inherently desirable when there was no alternative, continues to flail into the “post-pandemic” era, and in hopes of capturing the Zoomers, they’ve started to partner with Tik Tok to publish little segments of classes — the first time they’ve distributed content outside of their own channels. Everyone who loves to watch a cult brand flag seems to find this move embarrassing (interacting with a brand outside its paywall? GROSS). But that’s marketing, babe! Obviously you’re not going to do all your Peloton classes in two-minute form on Tik Tok. You’re going to watch enough little videos that you start to think, “ohhhhhh I should try that,” and then you’ll give the Peloton app $14 / month in perpetuity.

Peloton aside, it actually seems we’re having more generalized confusion around this kind of thing on Tik Tok. Warner Bros, to use another example, is adapting the entire Sopranos series into 25-second TikTok episodes for the show’s 25th anniversary and everyone’s like YOU IDIOTS, WATCH THE WHOLE SHOW. In fact, yes, that is the goal of the Tik Tok campaign. Assuming you don’t have a resolution this year, how about a mantra: Branded 👏 content 👏 is 👏 an 👏 ad 👏.