Jessie Reyez has been a little bit famous for the last few years, but I’m betting this EP changes that. This seven-track set has r&b, pop and funk at its core, also touching a little on reggae, and a little on her Colombian roots, which leaves a unit that’s funky and varied enough to keep you both satisfied and paying attention. Harnessing the negative space of R&B to her greatest advantage, Reyez uses her voice as punctuation on top of compelling beats, making surprising spats and noises and always singing some lyric that’s refreshingly frank. A standout is “F*** Being Friends,” but they’re all worth listening to, on loop, for that matter.
Airbnb took over the world in 2010 and it only took the hotel industry this long to catch up! Old-school hotel chains are adding well-designed budget properties to their rosters (most clocking in around $150 a night), having now internalized that people prefer when lodging is cheaper. And meanwhile, a few startups are striking a balance between the service of a luxury hotel and the convenience of Airbnb. They offer Airbnb-style apartments, all in the same building, that you can check into digitally, plus a real-life concierge in case you need some hand-holding. Er, quality assurance. Consistency? Call it what you want.
Moving on from elective to basic lodging, there’s an interesting new program underway in LA that incentivizes homeowners to rent structures in their back yards to people emerging from homelessness. Designed for overpopulated cities (similar pilots are underway in Portland and Seattle), the program helps construct little houses and pay homeowners up to $30,000 to commit to taking in back yard residents for at least 3 years. So it not only helps the homeless get back on their feet, but helps homeowners afford L.A. Acknowledging that this is logically a great idea, lots of people are concerned, mostly about the things you worry about in regular roommate arrangments: Will people communicate well? How do you make sure everyone is safe? What about privacy? Old-school questions for a newfangled world.
Back on what’s really important here, looks like the Wythe (decidedly not a cheap hotel) sells some pretty slick robes, mercifully for less than the cost of a night.
