The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for music, movies and more
By SAVANNAH ANNO — arts@theaggie.org
Song: “It Ain’t Me Babe” by Joan Baez (1998)
My absolute favorite Joan Baez cover, “It Ain’t Me Babe,” is the fourth track of “Baez Sings Dylan,” a compilation of various songs debuted by songwriting legend Bob Dylan. Baez, however, has proved to be a folk legend all her own, still playing sold out shows at 83 years old. Probably what proves to be most interesting about “It Ain’t Me Babe,” is the way it speaks so directly to Baez and Dylan’s rich history — playing music together, having an incredibly close relationship, but eventually realizing they had to let each other go. The sound is warm and somber at the same time, with Baez choosing to bring out her lower register rather than her usual haunting soprano. With just her and the guitar, the simplicity highlights the track’s flowing melody and Dylan’s meticulous lyrics as he explains to a lover, perhaps Baez, that she deserves better than he could ever offer. If you need a new song to add to that “sad girl autumn” playlist I know you’re working on, this is the one.
Book: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison (1970)
Singular in her craft, Toni Morrison creates worlds from the ground up in each of her novels, forming entire communities bursting with life, secrets and histories going back decades. “The Bluest Eye,” Morrison’s first novel, was the product of her dissatisfaction with the literature that surrounded her as an editor. Nobody was writing the book that she wanted to read, so she wrote it herself. “The Bluest Eye” surrounds the complexities of Black girlhood, centering on two sisters and Pecola Breedlove, a girl in their class who — after her father burns down their family’s apartment — moves in to stay with them. The three girls are faced with the terrible truths of the world, experiencing the brunt of eurocentric beauty standards while simultaneously having to deal with being oversexualized by the men around them. While the novel can be heavy at times, Morrison’s legendary prose, impeccable sense of rhythm and critical eye pushes you through. With the conflicts of “The Bluest Eye” still relevant today, it may not be a story you’ll always enjoy reading, but it’s one you absolutely have to read.
Album: “Bright Future” by Adrianne Lenker (2024)
There’s a specific feeling I get whenever I listen to Adrianne Lenker’s “Bright Future”: It’s the way your cheeks feel when you’re walking around and it’s freezing outside or the lightness in your chest watching a winter sunset. Refreshing and whimsical, “Bright Future” is just the latest in Lenker’s long list of masterpieces, reading like poetry and sounding like magic. Using the tiniest of details, pulling from nature and her own experiences, Lenker creates the most intimate of listening spaces. You feel like you’ve entered a newer, more beautiful reality. Moss covers stones, meadows bloom, stars fall from the sky and Lenker continues to spin worlds with tracks like “Real House” and “No Machine.” Her skillful wordplay comes out in “Evol,” and her love for traditional folk sound in “Sadness as a Gift” and “Vampire Empire.” If you need a new album for staring at the ceiling or chilly walks to class, you won’t regret stepping into Lenker’s Grammy-nominated sonic universe.
TV Show: “Interview with the Vampire” dir. Rolin Jones (2022)
Originally published as a novel by Anne Rice (1976), then developed into a 1994 film starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, “Interview With the Vampire” is a story that has surpassed decades. As the title suggests, the show follows the life of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac as he conducts an interview with once-revered and now washed-up journalist Daniel Molloy. With du Lac’s story beginning in 1910s New Orleans, the show gives viewers the taste of the American gothic as well as the clean cut future, as it moves between flashbacks and the modern interview setting. Of course, it wouldn’t be a true vampire tale without romance. As du Lac tells his tale, it becomes apparent that much of his history revolves around the hypnotizing Lestat, the vampire who first turned him and remained his lover for decades. As he recounts their tumultuous relationship and the life of their eventual daughter, “Interview with the Vampire” proves to be visually stunning, heartbreaking and steamy all at once.
Written by: Savannah Anno — arts@theaggie.org
