Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
Wu-Tang's one-of-a-kind album comes with a stipulation that it can't be commercially released for 88 years. Photo: Unknown
We Went There: The First and Last Chance to Hear Wu-Tang’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ for 88 Years - by Amos Barshad and Rembert Browne, Grantland
"When I found out this event wasn’t 10 blocks from our office, at the primary MoMA site, I almost went home. But then I didn’t, because I figured they’d have free drinks. And then they only had water. But at least I could send some emails on my phone while I listened to new Wu. But then, before entering the dome, all electronics were confiscated (including phones, laptops, and anything that could be used to record). Outside of throwing up the ROC in a body scanner, the scene was very airport TSA. So to say that I was in a bitter place upon finally reaching my seat is a gross understatement."
Meet the Bachelorettes: Fish n’ Chips, Friendship and the Bloody Beach - by Alex Casey, The Spinoff
"[I] predict Natalie will be the wild child of the group, described as “slightly crazy” which translates to very crazy. Her catchphrase is “YOLO”, so it would be wise look out for her. In a shock twist, her dream date is to eat fish and chips on the beach. Dream bigger everyone!"
United Blood: How hardcore conquered New York – by Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker
“Hardcore was born as a double-negative genre: a rebellion against a rebellion. The early punks were convinced that rock and roll had gone wrong and were resolved to put it right, deflating arena-rock pretension with crude songs and rude attitudes … But when punk, too, came to seem lame, the hardcore kids arrived, eager to show up their elders. The idea was to out-punk the punks, thereby recapturing the wild promise of the genre, with its tantalizing suggestion that rock music should be something more than mere entertainment—that it should, somehow, pose a threat to mainstream culture.”
From Parris With Love – by Greg Bruce, Metro
“She’ll do more amazing things. Some of it will be crazy and some of it will probably bomb. She’s an adventurer. She doesn’t care about the number of views. You probably won’t see her do a video like ReBuilt again, as brilliantly nut-busting as it was, because art doesn’t sit still.”
A Visit to Aoshima, a Japanese 'Cat Island' - photo-essay by Alan Taylor, The Atlantic
"Aoshima Island is one of about a dozen "cat islands" around Japan, small places where there are significantly more feline residents than people. In Aoshima more than a hundred cats prowl the island, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in the quiet fishing village. Cats outnumber humans six to one on the island."
My Year Ripping Off the Web With the Daily Mail Online - by James King, Gawker
"Unlike at other publications for which I've worked, writers weren't tasked with finding their own stories or calling sources. We were simply given stories written by other publications and essentially told to rewrite them. And unlike at other publications where aggregation writers are encouraged to find a unique angle or to add some information missing from an original report, the way to make a story your own at the Mail is to pass off someone else's work as your own."
Why The “Fifty Shades Of Grey” Soundtrack Is Better Than It Has Any Right To Be - by Reggie Ugwu, Buzzfeed
"Where many critics have argued that the novel and film versions of Fifty Shades succeeded in spite of themselves, the soundtrack has been widely received as an artistic achievement as well as a commercial one. Created out of an ambitious collaboration between Republic and Universal Pictures, the album is something of a throwback to the golden era of movie soundtracks in the late 20th century — Juice, Romeo + Juliet — with several original songs deployed during key plot moments."
Outside Man - by Jesse Katz, The California Sunday Magazine
"Scott Budnick produced the Hangover movies. He’s also one of the most effective advocates for prison reform in California. It doesn’t make any sense until you see him at work."
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