“Don’t Make It Harder On Me” Live on the Honda Stage by Chloe x Halle

One of my favorite music videos of all time is a Chloe x Halle live performance of their song, “Don’t Make It Harder On Me,” on the Billboard YouTube channel. I’m a big fan of Chloe x Halle, and nowadays I find that if I am introducing their music to someone who hasn’t heard it before, this is the video I choose. This music video perfectly displays their vocal abilities and effortless harmonization, and the style of the video itself is something that I personally enjoy. I am rarely interested in watching music videos anymore, and if I do, I prefer live performances or this specific style of stationary music videos. Basically, I like to watch the artist or group’s every move like a freak, and not so much the short film style thing that I have to crunch my brain trying to gather some kind of meaning from. 

That being said, what I love about the “Don’t Make It Harder On Me” music video is its simplicity and how the vocals are on full, front and center, display. Don’t get me wrong, both Chloe and Halle look absolutely, show-stopping gorgeous in this video. Their dark green, latex outfits, and overall makeup and styling are stunning. I also like that the curtains in the background are that kind of latex-y style, so everything about the scene is just shiny, sparkling, and sleek. It gives a vibe of this Old Hollywood type of glamor that I really enjoy.

Which brings me to another point. The two microphone stand setup, where both of these women are singing and performing synchronized, and asynchronous, dance routines, is distinctly reminiscent of early music performances. I specifically thought of Black music groups from the 60s, like The Ronettes or The Supremes, and how their signature performance styles were definitely mirrored or inspired in “Don’t Make It Harder On Me.” There are a couple of parts in the Chloe x Halle song where they sing, “Just stop” or “I need you to stop,” and they lift their hand to signal a stop at the camera. This gesture reminded me very much of The Supremes performance of “Stop, In The Name Of Love,” where they do a similar hand motion during their famous chorus. I love how Chloe and Halle’s video modernizes the classic visual styles of these legendary performers. 

I definitely recommend giving this video a watch. I prefer their performance of this song in this video, much more than the track version on their album (but both are good!!). And their harmonization around the 2:44 mark is just astounding.

–Elise

“Sunshine or Noir?” (from City of Quartz) by Mike Davis

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I’ve stayed here through college and post-grad because I love this city. I love this city knowing its many faults, and I criticize this city believing that we can envision a different future for it. It’s why many people’s criticisms of LA–especially surface-level criticisms–are so tired to me. Mike Davis, in the introduction of “Sunshine or Noir?,” already dismissed these surface-level critiques–and then, in the rest of the chapter, cut even deeper into LA than these people could dream. 

The chapter, part of his famous book City of Quartz, examines the complex relationship between boosterism and the art movements in Los Angeles. LA is often accused of having no history in comparison to East Coast cities, but Davis shows with sharp and dramatic writing how important LA’s history is to understanding the current city. It is a history that often forgets itself in its constant path towards, as Davis puts it, an LA “mythography.” But despite his constant critique of LA and its underwhelming attempts at counterculture, it is a mistake to view Davis as purely critical. Underneath the layers of the city, Davis mines out particular artists and movements who offer a sharp contrast to boosterism ideals, and after over sixty pages of critique, he ends the chapter on a warm, hopeful note.

I recommend “Sunshine or Noir?” (the whole book, really) because its breadth and depth is immense, and Davis is intense and intelligent in his writing. But mostly I recommend it because I cannot understate how influential this essay was–and continues to be–for me. I first read excerpts of this chapter my freshman year of college, and I’ve returned to it many times since. Actually, I was in the middle of re-reading it when I saw the news of Davis passing this October. This recommendation is only a small representation of the gratitude and heartbreak that I feel. 

Davis wrote that “to move to Lotusland [LA] is to surrender critical distance, and to submerge oneself in spectacle and fraud.” In writing this book–in his entire collection of work–Davis makes a passionate and powerful case to become the foremost LA critic, historian, and activist in recent memory. Rest in peace.

–Peyton