Hivemind Times Issue #10

Welcome To The Hivemind Times!

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA! Graydon here and I’m back from Europe and everyone is sick of me talking about the “perspective” I gained and how good the wine is!! I missed you bastards though and I’m happy to be back making videos with my dudes.

We got a bunch of stuff for you in this week's Times so sit back and crack open a nice can of Squirt soda and sink your teeth into this sucker. Also you can venmo me for Cronks bail fund he is “locked away for good”. Viva Hivemind!!

ALBUM RECS

If you’re hearing a bit of The Beatles in this week’s album reco then you would be correct, as Nick Lowe was heavily influenced by The Beatles. Here’s a good lil weekend bop for you with one of the best songwriters to ever come out of the UK.

ALBUM REVIEW

“Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat ” by Charli xcx

Brat summer but it’s fall now and everyone’s at least a little sick of the whole brat thing but the music is still really good.

Here’s my 5 favorite remixes from the brat remix album:

5. Rewind with Bladee

Not only do I think this synth line was a perfect choice for a Bladee feature, but FINALLY Charli saying “bring the beat back” ACTUALLY brings the beat back. Classic stressed about success drain gang lyrics.

4. Club Classics with Bb trickz 

This one goes so hard it makes me wish I spoke Spanish.

3. Everything is Romantic with Caroline Polachek

As a Caroline fan I fully expected her to show up on the Apple remix; however, this slower, silkier, more confessional version of Everything is Romantic made so much sense on first listen. Although the Brazilian funk flare of the original is absent here, Caroline singing about foxes having sex is a great consolation prize.

2. Apple with the Japanese House

A little more 80s, a little more Phil Collins, and just as much yearning. I never learned the original dance but I’ve been working on inventing my own for this remix, stay tuned. 

1. Mean Girls with Julian Casablancas

This is what remixes should be. This version of Mean Girls is built around my favorite part of the original. That goofy piano line takes center stage here, alongside the strange vocal processing Julian employs in a lot of his voidz stuff. Not to mention there’s a production credit from HERBIE HANCOCK on this song (?!!). Went from one of my least favorite tracks on brat to my favorite on the remix album. 

- Riley

CRONK’S UPDATE

Facebook Marketplace Tips & Tricks

Every day I’m looking for music gear, cars, and furniture on Facebook Marketplace. Here are some tips on how to make your every fantasy come true:

1. Identify what you're looking for. Instead of searching for “Fender Stratocaster American Made,” just search “Fender” or “Stratocaster,” or even “Guitar.” Avoid using categories while searching for items, as many sellers mislabel their listings and tag the wrong things. Keywords are crucial, keep this in mind while searching.

2. If you're just looking for fun, Marketplace homepage usually yields the best deals, as they are the freshest listings. While categories can be problematic when searching for a specific item, category homepages are great for finding out what's just been listed as a whole.

3. Psychology of buying and selling: When an expensive item is undervalued, it's usually because the seller wants to sell it fast, doesn’t care about the price, doesn’t know what they have (this is actually rare), or it’s stolen. Always go for deals where it seems the seller just wants to get rid of their item. Sorting by “Newly Listed” or “Nearest First” usually finds these.

4. Negotiation: Negotiation isn’t always necessary, but keep in mind that when most people list items over $100, they’ve already accounted for negotiating and have overvalued the item. A good way to start negotiating is by saying, “Would you take X amount if I came today?”. If you're buying a car, wait to negotiate in person. Bring the amount you’re planning to negotiate with and simply say, “I have X amount on me. If you can take that, I can take the car right now.”

- Cronk

LIVE SHOW REVIEW

ACL DRIZZY,  ACLLLL DRIZZAAYYY

Flew into Austin, Texas and attended my first ever 3-day festival, Austin City Limits.

WOW, I gotta hand it to you Texas, I’m starting to like you a lil bit. Also want to shout out Niztopia for hooking me up w/ a weekend pass, he’s my hero. 

Every day when I woke up I ate a breakfast taco with my friends who live in Austin (waddup) then coasted for a few hours at one of their apartments before the shows started. 

Friday: 

I absolutely lost the plot. Inexperienced in festival culture. Hot as fuck outside. Where are my friends? 

I basically fumbled all of the concerts that day except for Porter Robinson’s 7:10pm set. After that, Blink-182 was headlining so naturally we all went to silent disco (this was ironically one of the highlights of the weekend). Ordered chicken fried rice when I got home, it was awesome.

Saturday:

We’re back baby - I feel like shit, I got all types of dirt in holes I didn't recognize. Maybe I was shot? Who cares, it’s time for more music. 

Collectively the group decided we have to make a better effort staying together. Spoiler: bitch, it worked.

I went to three sets: Still Woozy, Khruangbin, and Dua Lipa. Dua’s set changed my life. I'm also not gonna lie, I had no idea she was British. Khruangbin was by far my favorite set all weekend. Their set started during the day and ended after the sun had set. They also brought out Leon Bridges and played some licks of Texas Sun, which obviously was the opposite of lame. I ordered chicken fried rice when I got home again - it was awesome 

Sunday:

I was in the ringer. New holes with dirt in them. I ended up finding shade and chillin’ alone for most of the day to try and recharge. Ate some tacos and slam dunked some water at the venue. Locked in. Grant stocks are up again - did you sell? Good. Or fuck you. 

Chappell Roan easily had the biggest attendance to her set. If you get the chance to watch the drone footage it looks absolutely fake. I loved her set but I didn’t get as close as I would have liked, it was basically impossible to move forward. 

Then I saw Tyler, The Creator to wrap the weekend up and if you’ve seen Tyler before you know it’s insane. Saw him on the CMIYGL tour too and he just gets it. 

Boom thanks.

- Grant

TRAVEL

Graydon’s Eurotrip

Finally I have returned and I can't stop saying danke. For those of you who don't care or didn't notice my absence, I attended a long time friend's wedding in Barcelona, then drank my way through Lisbon and Switzerland. Imma drop some photos and recount the wedding which may be the best day of my life. 

THE WEDDING:

500+ attendees at a true old money Spanish traditional wedding. Beginning with a traditional Catholic mass, in a language I do not speak and a corduroy jacket that could barely breathe, I really built up a good appetite. After watching the happy couple pull off in a ‘58 Maybach, we were herded into charter buses that took us 40 minutes outside the city to the oldest Cava winery in Barcelona. Enter tapas euphoria. 

Fresh jimon, tuna, sardines, olives, steak tar tar, gazpacho, grilled meats, quail eggs on tortillas, and several bites that I couldn’t even get a clear answer on what they were. This plethora of snacks was getting washed down with cava, sweet vermouth on the rocks, and Estrella beer. Water was actually hard to find. Then it was time for the train. 

As the buzz of food and drinks began to swirl, so did the rumors about a wine train, where did it take you, was it real? Sure enough it appeared from the distance and we rushed to secure a cart. Being violently tugged along by some psychopathic Spanish wine grape farmer, we were dragged into the bowels of the Cava castle. Hooting and hollering masked the fear of the hairpin turns and spiders dangling from above, and while eventually emerging, the tone was set and energy was at an all time high. It was 8pm and it was time for lunch. 

We were sat with the only other 5 Americans at the wedding at the unfortunately named “Christopher Columbus” table and my dear friend Jacob Sigman began what would be a historic streak of poor behavior, but the fun and good eats persisted. I DIDN'T CRY DURING THE BRIDE'S FATHERS SPEECH. The groom's dad handed out ‘gars after eating and they were sparked indoors much to the wait staff's discontent - the calls for “arriba fumar” landed on deaf ears. Then the liquor was unleashed. As we walked back outside, a live band was beginning to pump out some Spanish cover tunes and things got LOOSE. 

The originally reserved wedding guests began to try and really joke around with us and unveil the many secrets of their culture, the biggest of them being that they love cigs and booze maybe more than us. After 2 hours of live music, they brought out a DJ and the dancing hit a feverish pitch. Myself and Jacob were two of the last guests at the wedding as we found ourselves caught up with the bride and groom reminiscing on old times at summer camp with Lise and getting to know her newly betrothed. 

When it came time to leave we couldn’t because the buses that got us there had all gone and we were stranded. Jacob fell asleep in the street and I took a nap under a tree as we had to wait 2 hours for cabs to come get us. By the grace of the Spanish god we made it home around 5am and I fell asleep in my shoes. The next day we mustered up the strength to have the post wedding debrief lunch…at 3pm. I love Barca and I’m forever grateful for the friends I have there and I highly encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to go, to do so. 

Maybe I’ll tell y'all about Lisbon next week.

- Graydon 

MERCH