{"id":3586,"date":"2020-09-01T01:36:39","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T07:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/?p=3586"},"modified":"2020-09-01T01:58:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T07:58:46","slug":"sept-12020-twinsthenewtrend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/?p=3586","title":{"rendered":"Sept.1,2020  TwinsthenewTrend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p><em>From the New Yorker online. Somebody sent me one of these and I liked it &#8230; this article explained &#8230; why now &#8230; these twins ? Hope you enjoy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"content-header__row content-header__title-block\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;TitleBlock&quot;}\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;TitleBlock&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\">\n<h2 class=\"content-header__row content-header__hed\" style=\"text-align: center;\" data-testid=\"ContentHeaderHed\">The Addictive Joy of Watching Someone Listen to Phil Collins<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-header__row content-header__accreditation content-header__accreditation-without-dek content-header__row--with-bottom-border\">\n<div class=\"content-header__row content-header__byline\">\n<div class=\"content-header__byline__content\">\n<div class=\"sc-AxjAm sc-fzozJi hpGICG bylines content-header__bylines content-header__bylines--with-publish-date\" data-testid=\"BylinesWrapper\">\n<p class=\"sc-AxhCb jsRuBz byline bylines__byline byline--author\" data-testid=\"BylineWrapper\"><span class=\"sc-AxjAm sc-AxirZ sc-AxheI bMZiEL byline__preamble\">By&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"sc-AxmLO gmtmqV\"><span class=\"sc-AxhUy fxWvvr byline__name\"><a class=\"sc-AxgMl hFYfEL byline__name-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/contributors\/amanda-petrusich\">Amanda Petrusic<span class=\"sc-Axmtr hvJMgY link__last-letter-spacing\">h<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<article class=\"article main-content\">\n<div class=\"content-background content-padding-top-large\" data-attribute-verso-pattern=\"article-body\">\n<div class=\"\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ChunkedArticleContent&quot;}\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ChunkedArticleContent&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"has-dropcap has-dropcap__lead-standard-heading\">This August\u2014normally a bountiful month in which tomatoes ripen on the vine, hydrangea bushes sag with extravagant blooms, and the sunsets can be nearly psychedelic\u2014I have found it difficult to hold on to a good feeling. For a lot of Americans, this particular summer has been a season of fear and concern\u2014or, at best, a kind of endless, anxious boredom. But one small, pure, reliable pleasure remains: the giddiness of hearing a completely awesome song for the very first time. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0l3-iufiywU<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FIRST TIME HEARING Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight REACTION\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0l3-iufiywU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>\u00a0<\/h4>\n<h3 class=\"article__chunks article__chunks--hr-style-thin\">For almost a year, Tim and Fred Williams, twenty-one-year-old twins from Gary, Indiana, have made videos of themselves listening to famous songs, and then uploading the videos to their\u00a0<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCopm4iCRGWS6PkLB8uDe-Wg\/videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCopm4iCRGWS6PkLB8uDe-Wg\/videos&quot;}\">YouTube channel<\/a>. They sit in elaborate, side-by-side desk chairs, situated in front of a sometimes-unmade bed. Posters of the rapper Tupac Shakur and the boxer Deontay Wilder are taped to a wood-panelled wall behind them. Most of the songs that they choose to play have been suggested by subscribers, and they range from very recent hits to genuine oldies. When I was a teen-ager, certain songs were simply inescapable\u2014they were played endlessly on the radio, or at the mall, or on boom boxes at the community pool\u2014but now listening has become a far more individual and bespoke experience. It\u2019s not unusual for a young person never to have heard a hit that people in their thirties or forties might believe to be ubiquitous. (Earlier this summer,\u00a0<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yagirlabz\/status\/1275960587420401667\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/twitter.com\/yagirlabz\/status\/1275960587420401667&quot;}\">a TikTok<\/a>\u00a0video of two young women unable to identify pop singles, mostly from the late nineteen-nineties and early two-thousands, caused a brief explosion of consternation and pearl-clutching on Twitter.)<\/h3>\n<div class=\"consumer-marketing-unit consumer-marketing-unit--article-mid-content\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"journey-unit\"><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\">For me, the twins\u2019 videos are bewitching for many reasons: their sweetness and good humor, the way they quickly recontextualize (and thereby reinvigorate) songs that I have heard thousands of times, and\u2014perhaps most important\u2014their curiosity and receptivity. These days, voices loudly espousing some self-declared expertise far outweigh the ones saying, \u201cHey, teach me something.\u201d The way that the twins remain so open to unfamiliar experiences (they came of age listening to Lil Wayne and Twista but appear genuinely interested in all kinds of music) seems like a rare gift. Graciously and eagerly receiving a recommendation is often a far more generous act than giving one.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even when the Williams twins do not seem especially worked up about a track, they listen carefully, with a kind of openhearted earnestness. They recently cued up the country singer Blake Shelton\u2019s \u201c<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R_oXsCoEuic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R_oXsCoEuic&quot;}\">Happy Anywhere<\/a>,\u201d a love song featuring backing vocals from his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani. Part of the song\u2019s video appears to have been filmed in a cornfield on Shelton\u2019s ranch in Oklahoma, where the couple have been isolating. Tim pauses the video. \u201cGrass is really that big?\u201d he asks, incredulous. \u201cIt\u2019s as tall as them! Hold up! And he\u2019s, like, six-something\u2014bro, you would not see me in a cornfield. For real, bro.\u201d Usually, by the end, they agree that whatever track they have been listening to is pretty great.<\/p>\n<p>In mid-June, they tried Dolly Parton\u2019s \u201c<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_pEPFYiJOXU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_pEPFYiJOXU&quot;}\">Jolene<\/a>.\u201d Tim has the kind of face that collapses fully into happiness, like a baby\u2019s expression after he successfully knocks down a tower of wooden blocks. He pauses the song halfway through. \u201cDolly\u2014you got it. You got it!\u201d he announces. \u201cThis is a banger.\u201d He and Fred resume the video. By the end, Fred has grown quiet and vaguely melancholy. \u201cDon\u2019t take her man, man,\u201d he says. There is a whisper of \u201cBeavis and Butt-Head\u201d in the twins\u2019 videos, but instead of a knee-jerk cynicism and a deep fear of excitement\u2014the exaltation of apathy was a cornerstone of the nineties gestalt\u2014the twins seem eager to be thrilled by something new.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Which is all to say\u2014if you are feeling especially bummed or burned out, fully exhausted by the contents of your home or your own mind, take a moment to watch the twins listen to Phil Collins\u2019s \u201c<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0l3-iufiywU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0l3-iufiywU&quot;}\">In the Air Tonight<\/a>,\u201d from 1981. (It\u2019s their most popular video to date, and on Friday it briefly caused \u201cPhil Collins\u201d to start trending on Twitter.) If you know the song, you know to wait for the very loud and excellent drum fill that arrives, unexpectedly, a little over three minutes in. (\u201cWe were playing with psychological things. The audience is there going along with you, and then suddenly you knock them on the head with this thing:\u00a0<em>Bvoom-bvoom!<\/em>\u201d Collins said in\u00a0<a class=\"external-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaltrends.com\/music\/interview-phil-collins-on-both-sides-face-value-remasters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.digitaltrends.com\/music\/interview-phil-collins-on-both-sides-face-value-remasters\/&quot;}\">a recent interview<\/a>.) The drum fill on \u201cIn the Air Tonight\u201d is one of the most dependable thrills I know\u2014a very quick path to a certain kind of heady, metaphysical elation. I wish that I had a video of the first time I heard it\u2014what my face did, whether I made a noise. Connecting instantaneously with a piece of music can feel like happening upon a different world. The twins like the song almost immediately. \u201cYeah,\u201d they say, bobbing their heads. \u201cO.K.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-recirc-wrapper inline-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monitor-anchor\" data-attr-viewport-monitor=\"inline-recirc\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;InlineRecirc&quot;}\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;InlineRecirc&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>\u201cPhil Collins, he\u2019s killing it,\u201d Fred declares. They each periodically pound their hearts, as if to reiterate, \u201cI feel this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, the drum fill arrives. It takes a moment for Tim to process it. He gasps as if he\u2019s seen a ghost and then rolls back in his chair. Fred\u2019s response is more understated, but not by much. Now they\u2019re deep in the pocket, dancing, exhilarated, happy. They pause the clip to gather their thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was cold! I ain\u2019t gonna lie, Phil\u2014you got me on that,\u201d Tim says, laughing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have never seen anybody drop a beat three minutes into the song,\u201d Fred adds. \u201cThat\u2019s unique!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I have rewound this particular sequence many times, simply to revel in its hope. What if there is a song you have never heard before that could still topple you? Maybe it\u2019s out there, waiting, the twins suggest\u2014just keep listening.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--item split-ad-rail grid-layout__aside\">\n<aside class=\"persistent-aside\">\n<div class=\"sticky-box\">\n<div class=\"sticky-box__primary\">\n<div class=\"split-ad-rail-content\">\n<div class=\"split-ad-rail-top\">\n<div class=\"sticky-box\">\n<div class=\"sticky-box__primary\">\n<div class=\"ad glln4y79\">\n<div class=\"ad__slot ad__slot--rail\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"content-footer\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ContentFooter&quot;}\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ContentFooter&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-margins grid-items-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wide-adrail\">\n<div class=\"contributors contributors--no-bottom-line grid--item grid-layout__content\">\n<div class=\"sc-fzqAbL brFEBa\" data-event-boundary=\"click\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ContributorBio&quot;}\" data-in-view=\"{&quot;pattern&quot;:&quot;ContributorBio&quot;}\" data-include-experiments=\"true\">\n<div class=\"sc-fzqMAW himZKo\">\n<div class=\"sc-fzoant juBCds\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/contributors\/amanda-petrusich\">Amanda Petrusich<\/a>\u00a0is a staff writer at\u00a0<em>The New Yorker<\/em>\u00a0and the author of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Not-Sell-Any-Price-Obsessive\/dp\/145166706X\">Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World\u2019s Rarest 78rpm Records<\/a>.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the New Yorker online. Somebody sent me one of these and I liked it &#8230; this article explained &#8230; why now &#8230; these twins ? Hope you enjoy &nbsp; The Addictive Joy of Watching Someone Listen to Phil Collins By&nbsp;Amanda Petrusich This August\u2014normally a bountiful month in which tomatoes ripen on the vine, hydrangea [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3586"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3586"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3606,"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3586\/revisions\/3606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rockaria.net\/bluebirdprairie\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}