After a life-changing accident, Hanni El Khatib’s work has shifted, and his new album, FLIGHT, is full of impulsive moves exploring all the styles that he hadn’t previously considered. “DUMB,” for example, is an exercise in minimalism, built on the spare foundation of an 808 bass tone and a vocal sample. El Khatib describes it as tension-filled, “unresolved but at the same time… dense and complex.” We’ll add to “dark” and “inscrutable” to the list of descriptors, and the opacity just makes you want to look closer. Do that here.
America’s insane unemployment numbers are getting all the press, but let’s give the pandemic a little credit for giving rise to new job titles like “Social Distancing Consultant.” Just as bullshitty as it sounds, this role is being deployed to help businesses re-open, and has thus far been taken up by everyone from an architect to an event planner with a yardstick. While billing themselves as experts, of course, most of these people have no idea what they’re doing. Here’s the key, though: neither do you, and doesn’t it feel comforting to pay someone for expertise, however false? I think we found a job for the President after he leaves office.
As you might expect, the ubiquity of masks is making it very easy for people to cover their faces and commit crime unnoticed. Masked crooks have been robbing gas stations and convenience stores (classic), and even the NY Aqueduct racetrack. Aspiring criminals take note: ski lodges still fair game after this is all over.
DID WE ALL SEE THE STORY ON THE DAD? Last week, The Lily profiled a San Francisco couple, one of whom (the wife) is the CEO of a 15-person tech consultancy, while the other (husband!) has been taking time off work. When the pandemic hit, they agreed that he would take care of their three-year-old child while she worked to keep her company going. Age-old agreement, right? Not exactly. He made it three days— three non-working days, mind you— before telling her he couldn’t manage spending that much time with their kid, and in response, she dissolved her company, fired 13 employees, and will now take on the role of the primary caregiver in their household. This story was meant to underscore the ridiculous gender dynamics of domestic labor right now (cheers), but this particular scenario also seems… totally insane? Either this couple is so rich that neither of them really has to be working (note that there is no income currently flowing into the household), or there are some seriously impulsive decisions being made. In the meantime, this dad is getting seriously skewered on twitter.
