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Buzz Feed
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Underrated Canceled TV Shows
For every show that feels like it majorly overstayed its welcome, cough — Grey's Anatomy — there always seems to be another show that studios prematurely axe at exactly the same time. Hundreds of television shows fail to catch the attention of general audiences year after year and ultimately get cancelled after a slew of poor ratings and lack of fanfare. However, some of these shows are genuine hidden treasures and don't deserve to be buried by the algorithms of popular streamers. In our current cultural landscape that is so obsessed with nostalgia and reboots, I've ranked 10 shows that I believe deserve their turn on Hollywood's reboot ride. Some you probably haven't heard of (or, more likely, watched) some of them. However, I highly recommend taking a day to binge. House of Anubis (2011 to 2013) Many Gen Z'ers will understand why this show is on the list, but for those who don't, just know that House of Anubis was Nickelodeon's best venture into the mystery genre. Some would argue it's Are You Afraid of the Dark? or that one scary episode of SpongeBob SquarePants where he gets stranded in that town and can't leave, but it's really this show. The perfect blend of mystery, British accents, and impeccable uniforms. It is a must-watch and due for a reboot! High Fidelity (2020) A reboot within a reboot — what's not to love? High Fidelity is the 2020 reboot of John Cusack's 2000 film of the same name, and it was the best TV show I watched that year, and I watched a lot during lockdown. It also has a Black female lead, played by Zoë Kravitz, who gave an absolutely amazing performance. So, to me, I think Hulu TV execs need to give it a second, I mean third, chance! Fear Itself (2008) A victim of underwhelming ratings that deserved better. Fear Itself is a masterful anthology horror series that had some really unique episodes and deserved to have multiple seasons. It didn't even get to air all of its episodes that summer on NBC. I'd give an arm and a leg for this one to come back from the dead. Harper's Island (2009) Another underrated gem that CBS canceled. The greatest whodunnit television series of all time, and there was definitely some plot left to continue the show for at least two more seasons. We, the fans, were robbed, and we want our show back! 1899 (2022) From the creators of the groundbreaking, jaw-dropping thriller, Dark, there's another mind-bending, altogether bonkers show whose time was cut too short. It's a good sci-fi with an international cast and should have been given more room to breathe. I Am Not Okay With This (2020) It ended with a frustrating cliffhanger, and fans never got an answer, so yeah, this one needs to be uncanceled immediately. And while I know they're older and grown adults adults, I want the OG cast! Rome (2005-2007) Great show. High production costs. So, of course, it ended up canceled instead of landing on lists like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. But Rome absolutely deserves to be in that tier, if not above it. HBO needs to cease with the GOT spinoffs and bring back this historical masterpiece. The Wilds (2020) A feminine take on Lord of the Flies and an even better (dare I say) version of Yellowjackets. Of course, it only had one season; if it kept going, it would have been too powerful. But jokes aside, this show was good and the actors equally as much — a fun watch and would make for a great multi-season show. Generation (2021) A funny, teen show that, in my opinion, had the best depiction of the average Gen Z'er. It didn't last long, but my memories of laughing out loud from this show did. Just absolute fun, and that's what we all need now more than ever. Let's hope HBO Max is listening... And Grand Army (2020) The greatest teen drama show of the past decade. Grand Army may have lacked high ratings, but it made up for it with its rich, authentic storytelling. A very diverse cast, all of whom deserved better, and frankly so did the show's marketing. Which recently canceled show would you dig back up from the grave? Share all your thoughts in the comments!
The Herald Scotland
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
The 2001 album hailed as a 'dizzy, magical voyage of self-discovery'
THERE'S a nice scene in the 2000 film High Fidelity, in which John Cusack's engaging character, the owner of a Chicago record store, murmurs confidently to a colleague: 'I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs, by The Beta Band'. He then slides a disc into the CD player: the opening track, Dry the Rain, fills the store. Customer: 'Who is that?'. Cusack: 'The Beta Band'. Customer (nodding approvingly): 'It's good'. Cusack (sagely): 'I know'. Back then, The Beta Band — Steve Mason (vocals/guitars), John Maclean (samplers/percussion), Robin Jones (drums) and Richard Greentree (bass) — were in vogue, having been championed by the music press and finding favour with a large and enthusiastic fanbase and with such influential musicians as Noel Gallagher. In 2001 they were invited to support Radiohead on a US and Canada tour. They had three top 20 albums between 1999 and 2004 before going their separate ways, but recently announced a reunion tour. It gets underway in September. The band, who first came together in Fife and Edinburgh and fully blossomed in London, released a debut EP, Champion Versions, in July 1997, on a small indie label, Regal Recordings, a Parlophone imprint. It opened with Dry the Rain, which as of today has chalked up some 42 million hits on Spotify. As Mojo magazine's Jim Irvin would say of it, the EP 'made a refreshing change from standard indie fare, displaying an acute awareness of feel and dynamics lacking in most nascent bands'. Two other EPs followed in 1998: The Patty Patty Sound, in March, and Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos, four months later. In October all three materialised on a CD, The Three EPs – the one referenced by Cusack in High Fidelity. 'What makes The Beta Band such a powerful proposition is their ability to pervert the traditional campfire ballad in myriad ways, without appearing contrived … or losing its kernel of warmth', Keith Cameron wrote approvingly in the NME. 'Collectively, these 12 songs leave you gasping, not only at the frenzied sense of enterprise but also the combustible emotional depths therein'. One New Zealand critic noted: 'When Beck made pop fizzy again, The Beta Band inhaled big time. In this collection … folk, hip-hop and the hazy psychedelic dub aesthetic of Primal Scream joyously elope in the whacked-out world of the avant-garde. Unconsciously addictive, this is an album whose halcyon overtones super-glue the listener to the speakers …' Interviewing the band at the time of its release, Mojo's Irvin brought up the common use of the descriptions ''stoned' and 'lo-fi', which had studded more than a few reviews of the original EPs. 'Drugs are just ridiculous', Mason responded. 'We're interested in making music so good that drugs become irrelevant. And all this 'lo-fi' nonsense is just a farce. When we're recording we're trying to get the best sound possible'. Read more Beta Band: 'You know, I find it offensive, the music business and most of the records being made in this country', he added. 'It makes me angry. Especially because people are taken in by it and led to believe that anything different is strange and weird and should be avoided. There's a horrible normality being fed to everyone'. Live, the quartet were an engrossing and unpredictable act. In September 1998, the Independent's Ben Thompson witnessed them at a gig in the capital and pronounced them – with not a little justification – as the most exciting new British band to emerge in the last year-and-a-half by a country mile. 'You know that magical feeling when the music sounds so strange it feels like a secret', he enthused, 'and you look onstage to the people who are making it and then offstage into the faces of the audience, and you realise that hundreds of people are getting the secret at the exact same time? That's what the atmosphere tends to be like when The Beta Band play live'. The 'strange, surging, pagan, deceptively simple music' was a shot in the arm of the 'prone form of the four-piece pop group', he added; the band filled entire evenings with a 'warped and wonderful hybrid of great music, terrible poetry, and alarming videos of strange rituals on Scottish hillsides'. Expectations surrounding the 1999 debut album, The Beta Band, were therefore high, but it turned out to be more unfocused, and perhaps unfinished, than anyone had foreseen. In an episode that came to be much-quoted, the band even dismissed the album out of hand. Mason informed NME: 'It's definitely the worst record we've ever made and it's probably one of the worst records that'll come out this year…But we can always do better. Next time. … It's got some terrible songs on it, our album. None of them are fully realised or fully even written. Half-written songs with jams in the middle'. The Radiohead tour in 2001 allowed The Beta Band to showcase material from their second album, Hot Shots II. 'We never liked the idea of supporting people', Mason told Rolling Stone, 'but I think playing with Radiohead is a really good opportunity for us. All these bands from Britain have been touted as this amazing new thing that was going to save rock & roll. But I think our band and Radiohead can justify, not the hype, but the excitement that's around us in America.' Hot Shots II is a consistently fine album, full of beguiling moments, from the opening tracks, Squares, and Al Sharp, onwards. Human Being samples Carole King's classic, It's Too Late. Gone is one of their enduringly poignant songs. There are layered vocals, and delicate sonic flourishes. It remains the high point of their career. The band were happy with it – certainly, much more so than with the debut album – and it showed. The album narrowly missed out on a top 10 placing in the UK charts. The New York Daily News summed it up thus: 'While the Scottish foursome's music has the dreamy quality of ambient music and the sexy dub bass of trip-hop, it's far more song-oriented, graced as it is by conventional tunes, hooks and choruses'. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis was another admirer, writing after an admittedly uncomfortable interview with the band (the quartet had a reputation, back then, as occasionally 'difficult' interviewees): 'By contrast to their debut, this year's follow-up, Hot Shots II, is fantastic. It boasts incisive songwriting, crisp production from R&B veteran C-Swing [Colin Emmanuel], and a thrilling attitude to sonic experimentation … They have finally produced an album they are proud of. They may well be among the best groups in the world. Yet despite all this, in Britain, Hot Shots II has sold no better than their debut'. Then there was this, from Rolling Stone magazine (which had found the debut album chaotic and unwieldy): "Hot Shots II does its best to return to the epic soundscapes of The Three E.P.'s; the long grooves and easy melodies are back, and the band's tendency toward the diffuse has been reined in. "The group's new self-control is evident on the gorgeous 'Gone', a minimalist ballad featuring only cooing vocals, lilting piano, and a quiet guitar and bass. 'Human Being' is an archetypal Beta Band number, tossing in horns, turntable scratches, harmonica, acoustic strumming and chant-like singing before devolving into a squealing guitar and organ rave-up. It's a heady, eclectic mix, and, like the best of the band's work, as satisfying as it is unique". NME also welcomed the Beta Band back into the fold: "Despite its gung-ho name, 'Hot Shots II' is a dizzy, magical voyage of self-discovery - concise where its predecessor was unfocused, immediate where the pop urge was once lacking. The album's original first single, 'Squares', is still trumped by I Monster's incandescent 'Daydream In Blue', but beyond that, this sounds practically peerless". Uncut magazine, for its part, was struck by the "monk-like close harmonies", which gave the impression of having been sculpted in three dimensions: "the way they soar, arc, cluster and braid is breathtaking". The album was sharply produced in a fully contemporary sense — ultra-glossy, big-sounding, with huge bottom end and tuff beats". The Beta Band would go on to release an equally acclaimed third (and final) studio album, Heroes to Zeros, in 2004, before breaking up. They embarked on a farewell tour that year, the last gig taking place at Edinburgh's Liquid Room on December 5. For all the critical acclaim that had come their way, actual commercial success had proved elusive. Read more On the Record: In a revealing interview with the Guardian's Dave Simpson that November, Mason revealed that the band had subsisted for years on 'McDonald's-type wages' and had their domestic phone lines cut off. 'I asked the accountant how much money was in the band account and he said 'Absolutely nothing',' Mason added. The debt to the record company stands at £1.2m. 'I always imagined we'd be as big as Radiohead,' he continued, 'but it hasn't happened. I still can't understand why'. Mason went on to enjoy a solo career; Maclean made his name as a film director (Slow West, a western starring Michael Fassbender, and 2025's acclaimed Tornado); Jones has worked on set design and costume for various films; Greentree turned his hand, successfully, to carpentry. Twenty one years after the band's demise, Beta fans — and there are many — are delighted that the quartet is re-uniting for a series of gigs in the UK, the US and Canada. 'Sold out' notices have gone up at venue after venue. The first two shows are at the Barrowland, on September 25 and 26. The Three EPs is being reissued on heavyweight double vinyl this summer, too.
Miami Herald
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Volvo's Abbey Road Mode Turns the EX90 Into a Personal Music Venue
Music is an essential part of driving, whether through your car's radio, on physical media, or a streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music. Some of us have that special mixtape, burnt CD, or mixtape full of the essential tracks meant to lift the spirits on the morning commute, the drive home, or a long drive somewhere far away. One of the bands I grew an unhealthy, obsessive fixation over when I was a kid was The Beatles, and ironically, one of those songs on one of my driving playlists is Drive My Car. Though we know the words and notes of our favorite songs by heart, the most discerning ears know that there are wildly different and noticeable differences when we listen to them in our cars, our headphones, and through various types of speakers. Nothing can compare to the experience of attending a live performance or being in the room with artists as they record. However, if you're a Beatles fan like I am, you might need a time machine to experience that era. But while time machines and flux capacitors remain the work of fiction, Volvo's latest software update has a cool new feature that may be the next best thing: a way to bring you closer to one of the most iconic studios in the world. After teasing this feature last year, Volvo has officially introduced what they call the "Abbey Road Studios Mode" in an over-the-air (OTA) update for its all-electric EX90 models equipped with the optional Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity Audio system. This innovative digital audio experience has been crafted in collaboration with audio engineers from the actual Abbey Road Studios in London and high-end audio experts at Bowers & Wilkins. In essence, Abbey Road Studios Mode was made to replicate the distinct sound and acoustic character of the Abbey Road recording rooms inside the Volvo EX90. In its quest to explore the limits of the in-car music listening experience, Bowers & Wilkins worked closely with the same audio engineers who obsessed over the minute, fine details for a wide range of music artists to create a series of digital soundscapes that could bring the studio alive in the big Volvo EV's ultra-quiet cabin. Though other expensive brand-name high-end stereo systems in other cars allow you to tweak, tune, and mess with various equalizer (EQ) settings like the balance, bass, treble, and even focus the sound on passengers or drivers, Volvo says that the Abbey Road Studios Mode is different. The mode comes with some special presets that "provide a selection of sounds, optimised for different listening styles," as well as a special "Producer Mode," which "allows you to engineer your own sound" by adjusting between retro-style warmth or modern, crisp depth, and even shifting the simulated acoustic environment in the same way George Martin would've done. "The Abbey Road Studios Mode brings the unique sound of our spaces and equipment to the Bowers & Wilkins system in the Volvo EX90 for the first time," Abbey Road Studios GM Jeremy Huffelmann said in a statement. "We are hugely proud of this collaboration, and excited for Volvo customers to experience this landmark technology." The Abbey Road Studios Mode is a nice addition to the EX90, which already features a Dolby Atmos-capable, 1,610-watt Bowers & Wilkins system with 25 speakers placed throughout one of Volvo's quietest interiors. As a music fan, words underestimate the kind of songs that were recorded at Abbey Road. We're talking 190 of The Beatles' 210 song catalog, Lennon's Imagine, the entirety of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon, modern hits like Lady Gaga's Born This Way, Frank Ocean's Pink + White, and even the scores of Oscar-winning movies like Gravity and The Shape of Water. Although it may seem like a bit too much of a niche "if you know, you know"-type of deal, I feel that given the studio's rich history in modern music, the 'Abbey Road mode' is the ultimate form of an audiophile's stamp of approval, which can sway at least some music-loving buyers towards the Volvo. At least for me, it could make "Drive My Car" sound true to the original recording. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Ottawa Citizen
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
Simple Minds at Bell Centre: A simply amazing reminder of 1980s new wave power
Montreal did not forget about Simple Minds. Article content Just under 9,000 fans made the trek to the Bell Centre on Tuesday to see the Scottish band, which was part of the slew of ultracool British new wave bands during the first half of the 1980s that revolutionized the music world, and it was very clear that a big chunk of the folks there had been following them from way back in the day. Article content Article content 'Montreal was one of the first cities to get behind Simple Minds and really encourage us,' said the band's charismatic and oh-so-down-to-Earth frontman Jim Kerr. Article content Article content There was a lot of grey hair in the crowd. Which was super cool to see. Pop music is a young person's game, but there are loads of people of a certain age who still love the music they listened to in high school and university during the '80s. Article content There are '80s DJ/dance nights happening all over the city. I even do one myself, called High Fidelity, and every time I hold one, people — inevitably 40 and older — tell me they love reliving the dancing fun they had all those years ago. There's also VV Taverna, a bar devoted to the same scene at the corner of St. Denis and Rachel Sts. Article content There are loads of folks who still dig listening to bands like The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Psychedelic Furs, to name a few. And it's not just nostalgia. It's because the music still sounds fab. Article content Article content 'It's still great music 40 years later,' said Jean Boudreau, who was at the Bell Centre Tuesday. 'Even young people today listen to music from the 1980s. It's aged better than the music of the '90s, like grunge. These songs have strong melodies. I remember hearing this music at the Limelight, at the Passeport on St. Denis St., at the Thunderdome.' Article content Nancy Faraj said it's only natural that you return to the music of your youth. Article content 'When you listen to music from the age of 16 to 25, it influences you for the rest of your life,' said Faraj. Article content Before the concert, I texted my old friend Ivan Doroschuk, lead singer of Men Without Hats, the Montreal band that produced one of the iconic anthems of the '80s new wave, Safety Dance, and I asked him why this music was still so popular. Article content Article content 'It's a decade that hearkens back to better times in a lot of people's minds (even though it was the Reagan/Thatcher era),' wrote Doroschuk. 'It's one of the last decades where there were real songs, real melodies, but also social/political commentary. A lot of singalongs, too. The music is dance-oriented as well, which gives it a cross-generational appeal and which explains why '80s nights are popping up all over the place, taking the place of disco in a lot of clubs. Contemporary pop music also borrows a lot from the '80s, with artists like The Weeknd.'
Montreal Gazette
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Simple Minds at Bell Centre: A simply amazing reminder of 1980s new wave power
Music By Montreal did not forget about Simple Minds. Just under 9,000 fans made the trek to the Bell Centre on Tuesday to see the Scottish band, which was part of the slew of ultracool British new wave bands during the first half of the 1980s that revolutionized the music world, and it was very clear that a big chunk of the folks there had been following them from way back in the day. 'Montreal was one of the first cities to get behind Simple Minds and really encourage us,' said the band's charismatic and oh-so-down-to-Earth frontman Jim Kerr. There was a lot of grey hair in the crowd. Which was super cool to see. Pop music is a young person's game, but there are loads of people of a certain age who still love the music they listened to in high school and university during the '80s. There are '80s DJ/dance nights happening all over the city. I even do one myself, called High Fidelity, and every time I hold one, people — inevitably 40 and older — tell me they love reliving the dancing fun they had all those years ago. There's also VV Taverna, a bar devoted to the same scene at the corner of St. Denis and Rachel Sts. There are loads of folks who still dig listening to bands like The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Psychedelic Furs, to name a few. And it's not just nostalgia. It's because the music still sounds fab. 'It's still great music 40 years later,' said Jean Boudreau, who was at the Bell Centre Tuesday. 'Even young people today listen to music from the 1980s. It's aged better than the music of the '90s, like grunge. These songs have strong melodies. I remember hearing this music at the Limelight, at the Passeport on St. Denis St., at the Thunderdome.' Nancy Faraj said it's only natural that you return to the music of your youth. 'When you listen to music from the age of 16 to 25, it influences you for the rest of your life,' said Faraj. Before the concert, I texted my old friend Ivan Doroschuk, lead singer of Men Without Hats, the Montreal band that produced one of the iconic anthems of the '80s new wave, Safety Dance, and I asked him why this music was still so popular. 'It's a decade that hearkens back to better times in a lot of people's minds (even though it was the Reagan/Thatcher era),' wrote Doroschuk. 'It's one of the last decades where there were real songs, real melodies, but also social/political commentary. A lot of singalongs, too. The music is dance-oriented as well, which gives it a cross-generational appeal and which explains why '80s nights are popping up all over the place, taking the place of disco in a lot of clubs. Contemporary pop music also borrows a lot from the '80s, with artists like The Weeknd.' Montreal music fans have always loved British bands. It started with prog rock during the '70s by groups like Genesis, King Crimson and Gentle Giant and continued into the '80s with the post-punk and new wave bands like U2, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Simple Minds. And people were so into it Tuesday at the Bell Centre. They totally loved the high-octane opening set from Modern English, flagged a little during Soft Cell's lacklustre performance, but all was forgiven once Simple Minds took the stage. Songs like Once Upon a Time, Wish You Were Here, Someone Somewhere, New Gold Dream, and Miracle had fans on their feet all night, singing along to every word. Kerr clearly hadn't lost any of his enthusiasm over the years and he still exudes the same down-home charm, a very Glaswegian style that, like the Scottish city, is all about genuine emotion and zero tolerance for any b.s. 'You're going to make us very emotional,' said Kerr, right near the beginning, moved by the crowd's passion. His voice is still remarkably strong after all these years and guitarist Charlie Churchill, the only other original member, was also in fine form, whipping off some remarkably muscular guitar riffs to remind you that they were much more than a limp synth band. By the time they got to their biggest hit, Don't You (Forget About Me), at the end of the set, every single person in the arena was lustily singing along to the chorus. It was partly about nostalgia, about getting lost in a song that we associate with key moments in our life, but it was also about the communal power of live music and Montreal audiences' amazing ability to keep the faith with artists they've loved for decades. You could see this was anything but just another night at the office for Kerr and his bandmates. They got emotional and so did we.
