Now Playing: April 2024

Our April 2024 edition of Now Playing features delightful dishes and an impactful album, all from our contributors!

Dylan McNulty-Holmes

I just finished watching the most recent season of one of my absolute favorite TV shows: Great British Menu. It’s a cooking contest in which incredible chefs compete to cook the most ridiculous banquet dishes you’ve ever seen. There was a dessert that looked like a tennis ball. There was a starter whose concept was “making you eat what an Olympic horse would eat before a competition”. There was a trout dish whose theme, inexplicably, was “gay swimmers”. It combines so many of my favourite things: the comforting repetition of competition shows, being creative in unexpected and hilariously strange ways, delicious food, and getting to stare at Andi Oliver and her magnificent array of dresses for hours on end.

m. mick powell

The last album released before her death, Aaliyah (2001), also known as “The Red Album,” leaves a legacy to be inherited by survivors--a lineage of survival and strength coupled with a commitment to exploring pleasure. The eponymous album serves its purpose well by (re)introducing Aaliyah, making clear the connection between the songs themselves and her own lived experiences. Working closely on lyrics with her confidante and collaborator Static Major, the team created an album that reflected Aaliyah’s voice as she entered adulthood and became surer of her path and the impact she wanted to have on the entertainment industry.