#and this ep put in so much development for sydney
Text
Not being capable of saying "I'm sorry"
So that did the trick for me.
I wasn't shipping them until I realized that there was something in there. Between them, I mean. Something so strong that would survive Review and his infamous:
"No acid - Your dish needs acid - My behavior was not OK - Yes, chef. Last check is ready whenever - Family style? - Two tops - Booths?- Window on the side... Yeah-" And she not stepping into that kitchen until Carmy basically gave her his blessing. She didn't move when Rich said: "Syd, quit fucking around! Grab a can opener." That silent eye contact and his smile were soooo telling, before he started offering her his dream, before he shared with her his whole future.
INSTEAD OF JUST SAYING/TEXTING: "I'M SORRY, I APOLOGIZE". Because admitting something was wrong and apologizing for it, are two different things. And committing to never doing it again, is yet ANOTHER completely different thing.
I have posted my theory about Storer being a converted Sydcarmyfan here before and I also heard that JAW and Ayo said that while they were shooting S1 any kind of a romantic plot didn't cross their minds at all. And I believe them.
What Storer and Calo did was create a character like Carmy who can't talk about his feelings and lives in constant denial of them, bottling them up to the point of complete shutdown, which is a trauma response. Hence, all his symptoms such as Panic attacks - Sleep disorders, etc. So that set the basis to do whatever they wanted with Carmy moving forward and what they did in the very last ep of S1 was to make him fall for Syd, which I also covered here. I actually think it started here, but on a totally subconscious level. He started his slow-burn journey in Braciole. He really began to get the idea when he slept with Claire and Syd crossed his mind in such an intimate moment, which is what I think the common blue cinematography implied.
And by the time we got to Omellete, he was 100% aware of his feelings for Syd, after the panic attack.
That took him to open up under the table, in the best way he could.
Took him a whole season to use his words, he's just getting started. That table was just a warm-up.
And let's not forget the costume jacket - again, no words-, which also hints that Syd has been on his mind for a long time, like I said, on different levels, but still...
So now that he's getting "verbal" maybe he will learn to actually say he's sorry and apologizing with words and also actions, after getting out of the walk-in. That walk-in was also a space to reflect about his feelings for Syd that he had been putting in the freezer to deal with at a later time. But how much longer can he keep them in there before they start to rot?
I wanna say, not more than 5 to 6 more eps. Tops.
I'm talking about coming clean about how he feels, using words like a grown-up and all. Not about a full-on Sydcarmy development.
What I'm saying is that there's a reason why Storer and Calo created this leading character like this, non-verbal, intense, and talented with his hands, and the whole show revolves around his arc.
Sydney is the plot twist, he is the plot.
99 notes
·
View notes
Text
I just finished watching "The bear" and here why I loved it so much
(this is my opinion, I have no experience on cinematography or audio or storytelling nor am I a cinemaholic :) :-
It's so human.
Like I know it's a show but whilst watching I catch myself feeling like I'm being allowed to witness these people that are in the restaurant industry and how they're living. I feel like I'm peering to other genuine people's lives and being allowed to watch their journey in a way, their normal daily lives.
It's also very short.
My impatience with starting and watching most shows is that they're unnecessarily long as fuck. They will be like 1 hr episodes and then at least 8-10 eps in a season and it's will not even be that deep, most of it is just empty scenes that don't really add much to anything. You know when in some shows or movies they'll have "empty" scenes that dont add much to the show or anything but they're still meaningful cause they're pushing the show forward and maybe setting the tone or letting us breath or they're simply gorgeous to behold. So you still don't feel like they're a waste of time cause thought was put into them, the entirety of the bear feels like that.
Also I just love-love- how the relationships develop in the whole show. Not necessarily between the characters too but with how we perceive some characters. The one I can think of at the top of my head is Pete; cause when he was introduced and the first few times we see him he's kinda treated like "the loser" and no one kind of takes him seriously and you feel as though he's just a person whose pushed around and just taking it. But then that scene with Donna(Carm and Sugs mom) it really drove me to tears cause he isn't dense or stupidly ignorant, he knows what's up but he's trying to go about it in his own way- a subtle way. He doesn't insult nor curse and he's loving, he wants the best for his wife but he also understands where her mom is coming from. He isn't hateful and we see that play out in while cutting into the scenes of the mess in the kitchen. It felt so real. He felt like Waymond for me just a little.
And then there's richie's arc which we can all agree on obviously; the whole mushroom peeling scence is just absolutely wonderful and the build up to it. And when he was singing taylor swifts song, it just came together so beautifully.
The Sydney episode- like the whole thing was just beautiful. The joy the actual fucking joy I felt seeing her move around and see her kind of assemble this vision of hers to a point and then her trying it out. The whole scence with her father in the diner thing celebrating her moms birthday and him telling her this story of their date. I actually cried there cause I remember having almost the exact same kind of convos with my father multiple times; how you can feel that he loves her but also wants to make sure that she's sure about what she's doing, not cause he doubts her but cause she doubts herself. Their whole gentle relationship which I had not expected at all; and which I love.
And Marcus going to Copenhagen and how at the end of that episode I just felt relief that nothing bad happened. How gentle the entire thing was and how we got to know Marcus as a person away from the beef. How he is kind and loving and passionate. The whole conversation with Luca (the chef)- dont even get me started on that convo- I felt like I was actually sitting there and listening in on a convo between two people. The hug with that guy that marcus helped, how relieving it was. The whole episode was a gentle step back and from all the chaos and just existing day to day. It's quiet and tranquil.
AND THE FUCKING MULATU ASTATKE SONG DROP! That entirely surprised me cause I had to take a sec; the use of Ethiopian music is something I'd never thought I'd see especially used so perfectly for a scence in Hollywood. I could tell there was some habesha that participated- Sydney's family name is also Adamu like. I couldn't find out who though but I felt so proud and happy and I really appreciated it. And i knoooowww some habesha was involved (but I couldn't find out who) and I am so proud of them.
The whole Christmas episode and how -just beautifully it was executed. A lot of families are like that. My family is like that- well minus the fights and knocking down walls with your car part, but the tension is exactly like that when I was growing up. And I didnt feel stressed out of my mind watching but I understood, I understood where everyone was coming from, and how people get to those points that they get to. And it did a wonderful job conveying that. And the desire that you have to leave but the thought that they're your family. And the guilt that some of them probably feel because of Michel's death cause of the toxic environment that was created but is ultimately no one's fault in that sense (like carms mom and maybe carm himself).
The whole Ebari part where he's saying he doesn't wanna change but then we see him later watching a vid in his own place in the kitchen and agreeing and in the background the picture of the 3 of them is hanging.
Again very very human and just life, it felt relatable and understandable. Just came to accept and see these characters as real genuine people as the show went on, like the people in my life.
These characters just feel like people and people are soggy and not perfect and when interacting we don't fit eachother as well as we thought we would and there's friction. And some one needs to apologize and someone needs to be the bigger person but it's hard and it takes time. And it requires constant constant work. And they do a real good job at it. I just love love the show and seeing as how I normally have 0 patience to watch show if I'm not interested by the 4th ep, I will say I will be watching and rewatching this multiple times. Highly recommend.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
How far they’ve gone – An interview with Far Away Stables
youtube
“The next big thing? Undoubtedly so! 5 Stars” – Heavy Mag
“Between Rage and Serenity is a spectacular album that should not be slept on” – Sound Fiction
“An album that takes on an identity of it’s own, and has the potential to be considered one of the best within the genre” – Rouge Inc
5 Years ago, 5 boys from various areas from Western Sydney, all with different music experiences, had dreams on becoming a band and writing their own music. Ever since their humble beginning in 2012, with the release of their two EP’s ‘Behind the Bookcase’ (2012) and Atlantis (2014), touring both in Australia and in multiple countries such as USA and Canada, indie alternative band Far Away Stables has finally released their debut album ‘Between Rage and Serenity’, featuring 10 new songs, including their recent singles ‘Caldera’ and ‘Phantasm’. According to the band, this album represents who they are as a band and how they’ve grown over the years.
“We put a lot more into it because we’ve been through time and being in the band” Brendan Sheargold said. “We’ve grown and developed more so we have more to give”.
Since the album’s release, the band did 2 release shows in Sydney and Melbourne. I was lucky enough to not only see them perform live on stage during the Sydney show but also hang out with them beforehand.
The band arrived at the Red Rattler Theatre at 2:40PM to set up not only their instruments but also the stage and the merchandise stall. I was surprised on the amount of work they have to do beforehand. They have no huge staff, no big crew, they all have to manage everything on their own, including booking the location and the crew members that they could get their hands on.
“This is actual band life, folding up t-shirts” Mitchell Grace and Nicholas Palmer joked as they organise the t-shirts that was going to be on sale.
“Luckily for us, there is 5 of us instead of just 1. So a lot of delegating of jobs and everyone can do what they’re better at” Cameron Bury said. “Some of us are good with computers, some of us are good with other stuff. So it all gets delegated and everyone has a job or two in the band”
“It tough since you do everything yourself. But it’s fun because it’s rewarding” Timothy Byles said.
I sat down with Brendan, Cameron and Timothy and asked them about the production and the concepts behind their newest album. According to them, it was harder than before and so much pressure occurred when creating these songs.
“We had to write 10 songs and we had to have them the best we could possibly do” Brendan said.
“We for a while want to explore certain feelings that certain music gives us. We feel like rage and serenity are such contrasting feelings that you can encapsulate in any sound and this album is dedicated to showing of feelings in between” Cameron said.
When asked about their musical influences, they answered by saying its’ through the bands and music that they listen to and that inspired them to become musicians.
“After hearing Circa Survive’s first album, they inspired me to become a singer in the first place” Brendan said. “I listen to heavier music I guess and try to do a bit of screaming as it’s passionate and displays emotion”
“Any band that has picked up a guitar like Nirvana, Muse, Fall Out Boy, they inspire me when creating music” Timothy said.
There were a few reviews and comments saying that some of the songs in this album may incorporate themes of depression and anxiety. The boys somewhat agreed but it’s more drawn to what was occurring to each of them during the time of writing and hopefully others could relate.
“We all draw from experience on what we’re having in life and we feel like that the best way to write. It’s something to connect more and share with” Cameron commented. “Different parts of our lives go towards the song and all the emotions that we’ve felt are now felt in the song”.
“We’re not gonna be those bands that say ‘we write songs about depression because we think we can say anything about depression’. We’re no psychologist. We know nothing about depression” Timothy said.
Brendan, Cameron and Timothy explained that the idea of the album was to explore the concept of ‘duality’ and the different mental states of a person. They also shared the concepts that were behind a few of their songs. For example, Caldera is about using rage in the right ways, Phantasm is about that thing on your shoulder that’s always there, your ego, and Ambulphobia is about how we get our priorities wrong but we learn from our mistakes and one day learn to stop making them.
Seeing them preform that night showed how much they’ve grown together as a band. And the crowd dancing and singing through their performance, it’s clearly seen how far they’ve become. They truly deserve the success they’ve achieved.
The band told me a few exclusive information about their future plans in regard to their music career that I was told not to share. But the one thing that’s made clear, they want to continue doing what they’re doing and hopefully releasing a new record in the future.
“We want to have something that, I guess, intertwines, interlinks with all the songs Something that could tell a story” Brendan said. “We’re currently discussion on ideas on what story to tell [for the next record]. That is the plan”.
Between Rage and Serenity is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, and Bandcamp.
0 notes
Photo
Saving Hope - 3x14
#savinghopeedit#saving hope#maggie lin#sydney katz#julia chan#stacey farber#femslash related stuff#saving hope 3x14#lintz#this would of course be my first redo :P#one of my favorite first (real) kisses#and this ep put in so much development for sydney#and maggie always had so much patience and understanding for her#just always so interested in her
503 notes
·
View notes
Text
euphoria 2x04 you who cannot see, think of those who can
ok well everyone (that I saw in a 10 minute scroll through the euphoria tag tonight) is upset with tonights ep of euphoria and I personally fucking loved it so here's my episode breakdown (spoilers under the cut)
keep in mind this is just my raw thoughts, no editing, my brain is oatmeal and I don't have my film analysis hat on, so this is probably going to be really messy.
first of all reasons I think everyone hated this episode:
no lexi and fez, which is funny to me because when the promos were coming out everyone was confused and upset that they were putting them together in the first place (just an observation!)
SO much cal jacobs. omfg.
jules and elliot
uhhh probably the mouse thing
^ yes, these are valid reasons to be upset. I get it. I do. I dont care about mouse and im so sick of cal. jules and elliot was A Choice. I miss lexi centric scenes (and while im not sure fez is the right choice, I still think they're cute while they last).
BUT. I think this episode is a huge turning point for basically a majority of the characters and here's why:
1. rue. obviously. she's over her head in her addiction and she's got so much unresolved trauma and pain that she doesn't know how to deal with - we literally see it in the scene with her dad in the church. we've seen her scream at and threaten her mom and blow up at her sister and now we're seeing her addiction leak into other relationships - first ali last episode, now jules. AND the ending of this episode, is she dead? did she die? earlier in the season I was genuinely concerned that she might not make it through this season and now im REALLY thinking she didn't. and that's absolutely tragic, and I really hope that's not the case. but if it is, then it becomes first and foremost a haunting reality of addiction that we don't see a lot in media, and second a really interesting character moment for jules and elliot in particular as they grapple with their guilt and find ways to grow and move forward. if it isn't, then we still have the mess with the suitcase of drugs to deal with, which is going to be SO MUCH WORSE than this.
2. cassie. oh dear, cassie. the guilt is literally eating her alive and this girl is absolutely in the trenches of a nervous breakdown. I've seen a lot of people complaining about her arc this season about how stupid it is that she's trying so hard to get a guy's attention - but it's SO real. she's a high school girl without a dad. all of the attention she's ever received was for her being pretty or sexy or whatever. she doesn't feel seen or validated unless she's getting attention and this breakdown she's going through is as a result of it. (side note sydney sweeney needs an emmy for this season omfg)
3. maddy. she's recovering from a toxic abusive relationship and im really really hoping she comes out of this season knowing she's better off without nate. I feel like I have less to say about her because she's fairly straightforward as of right now? she's always been super confident, and right now she's sort of having this internal struggle of going back to nate (the evil she knows) or letting him go. and while it always seems like an obvious choice on the outside, leaving an abuser is the absolute hardest thing to do, because you still love them and you still will always think it'll be different, you'll believe them when they say they've changed. it's a cycle, and her arc right now is about breaking from that cycle.
4. nate. sigh. yes, nate. he's getting a TON of development this season and... I'm not mad at it. I still don't like him, but I do sort of sympathize with him. his arc is grounded in his relationship with his father, how his dad's abusive behaviors have affected and shaped him as a person. and it's clear that he doesn't want to be a part of it - he wants to grow up and leave the house and start a new life and not be anything like his father. but this season we're seeing just how similar they are, and I guess the reason we're seeing so much of cal's past is because it really does echo in nate. both are clearly into men, raised in toxic households, internalized homophobia, childhood trauma, and have developed angry abusive behaviors as a result of not being able to be themselves. and I think cal's breakdown is big for nate's character arc as well, because unless nate addresses his own trauma, he's on that same trajectory.
5. jules. let's just recap for a moment: jules' mother actively abuses drugs and alcohol - this has strained their relationship to a point where they no longer see each other. and if I remember correctly her mother relapsed and ended up in the hospital after visiting her before halloween? don't quote me on that. subsequently, in her special episode she expresses that she's terrified of being responsible for rue's sobriety. loosely she even says "what if she relapses and im not there?" and in the first episode of the season she finds out that rue relapsed the night jules left. and tonight? she finds out that rue hasn't been sober the entire time (and has been lying to jules). ALSO jules is self harming again SO-
6. kat. an episode or two ago I was SO happy with what they were doing with her, the whole "love yourself" scene was just perfect - and I think that's defining a lot of her character this season. she's sort of a blank slate. she started s1 as sort of this introverted person who did a lot of living in a world she created (cough escapism) - first with her fanfic writing, then when she changed and started with the whole porn thing. and she went through this huge moment where she reinvented herself but it still wasn't really her - she was sort of living as her own 24/7 character, like armor, or what she thought the world would want from her. and now? girl's still pretending. she's living this forced relationship with ethan and she's miserable in it. see where im going with this?
anyway other cool things from this episode:
visually stunning as always but this episode really blew me away
third jacobs brother???? seen in the portrait cal takes with him. actually so wild??? i saw someone saying that they might be hinting that nate's responsible for the brother's death, i'm not too sure yet? i need to let it ruminate. i think it wild. I saw someone suggesting that they might be hinting that nate's responsible for his death. I'm not too sure? I need to let it ruminate a bit longer.
LABRINTH and the whole church scene was AMAZING
lexi quietly observing in the background, I'm just waiting for the episode where she puts it all together and becomes the active character she's en route to be rather than the passive character she's been the whole time
I think a huge part of this season is finding who you are as a person. these kids are coming of age and none of them really know who they are - rue doesn't know who she is without drugs, kat straight up has no idea how to describe herself when asked, a lot of maddy's teenage years have been defined by her relationship with nate, cassie doesn't know herself enough or can't stand to be alone with herself and is subsequently breaking down because of it. this episode shows them at (what I can only hope is) their lowest points, and I think after this we'll start to see them learning and growing.
hopefully.
and finally, a thought:
I really, really hate that everyone (the viewers) is dragging everyone (the characters) through the mud for their actions through the series. like "jules is the bad guy," or "cassie's dumb af," or "can't stand rue this episode." my favorite part about this series is that the characters are allowed to be human - to be teenagers that make trauma-related mistakes and fuck up and say shit they don't mean and be impulsive. like??? rue is over her head in an addiction and she acts like an addict - ruining relationships, choosing drugs over her friends and family every time. cassie craves attention and needs that outward validation to feel seen because it's all she's ever known. remember her episode in s1 where even her relatives were calling her "sassy cassie" and hugging her a little too tight and telling her she's beautiful and she's gotta be getting all the guys and all that? all of these characters act upon what they perceive is true, based on past childhood trauma they're navigating, PLUS the fact that they're still young and navigating all these intense teenage emotions and impulses and experiences. it's just frustrating to see people thinking so black and white about who's good and who's bad when they're all just fucked up kids trying to make sense of the really fucked up world they live in, you know?
anyway, that's just my thoughts on this episode, because personally I loved it (even though it was A Lot.)
#euphoria#euphoria spoilers#anyway debate me if you want but I'll prob forget to respond#this ended up being an excessively long and rambly post I am so sorry#well#no im not#this is a mess I hope I made some sort of coherent point in this
40 notes
·
View notes
Note
How do you think Cassie and Nate's dynamic shifted since season one? Cause I went back and rewatched yesterday and like he was so mean to her talking about her and showing her nudes, pretty sure he had them saved on his phone. Very odd. Almost like he was a little obsessed with her. I know season two said he met Maddy first but I think Rue's narration can be a bit skewed sometimes. Idk to me it just seems like he's speaking out of a place of rejection like maybe he tried to get with her and she was like nope. I don't think Nate was ever her type to begin with.
Putting under the cut simply because this got so fucking long lol and I don’t wanna clog up someone’s dashboard with my thoughts being all over the place.
I wanna start off by saying, I agree that Rue's narration of things is a bit skewed. She's definitely not the most reliable or reputable source for information given that she's an addict (1) and her mental health is not at it's greatest.
I, personally always thought Nate had a thing for Cassie. In the Pilot when he brings up the sextapes to McKay he says that it doesn't matter if he likes her or not because it's irrelevant when McKay calls him out for digging her and then goes on to label her a whore. His attraction to Maddy was, he was led to believe she was a virgin and therefore she was untouched whereas with Cassie because of the emotional abuse and pressure from guys previously, he knew she wasn't. Nate's a very possessive human being. His way of gaining control in an uncontrolled environment is through ownership. It's why he treats women like their property, particularly how he did with Maddy throughout s1 and we get a small glimpse of in s2 when Nate is hounding McKay for info about his interaction with Cassie. Speaking to my boyfriend irl (from a real guy's perspective and he has a tumblr here so he may chime into this but...) some guys, like Nate, seek out those details when they're possessive types because it's a way for them to process it. Nate constantly belittling Cassie in s1 and making fun of McKay's interest in her does somewhat stem from a jealous place. He wanted to get into McKay's head about her and numerous times he succeeded in order to push the two of them away. Same with them at the gas station when he's asking Cassie so many questions and he sort of got into her head too. He's jealous, plain and simple. Cassie symbolizes a life Nate wishes he had, a love that's nontoxic and straight forward and structured. With Maddy it's the complete opposite.
Quote directly from Jacob Elordi about Cassie and Nate:
Sydney's perspective on Cassie's attraction to Nate too:
Keep in mind that everything we've seen thus far is a collection of flashbacks, memories, thoughts and real events. For the sake of storytelling, more elements come to light as necessary. So we really only get snippets of how these relationships started and there could be more to it that we don't know or will be revealed later on. Like with Nate meeting Maddy his sophomore year first before Cassie. For all we know, as Sydney suggests they could've had a flirtationship. There's obviously a familiarity there and these characters know each other. Like you said too, at one point he could've made a move on her and she rejected him.
More on the control thing from Jacob:
“I think he has an issue with control and losing one person would mean losing control of them,” Elordi said. “But I think there’s a much more sensitive side to it as well in that… I don’t know if you’ve ever been in love, but I think that state, you store it in your bones somewhere. I don’t think you ever really let go of that love for somebody.”
“I know as a teenager it’s incredibly hard to let something go. And [Maddy has] also known him through all of his bullshit,” Elordi said. “So I think he’s genuinely torn between loving two people. Which is the kinder way to put it.”
Jacob also says at the end of ep 2 in his interview that Cassie is helping develop Nate's character in a way where it does reveal his softer side. Their scene at the construction site just goes to show there's something about her he can't walk away from. Cassie is definitely more supportive and emotional and could bring out better qualities to Nate. Looking back on s1 there's a lot of hints towards Nassie. The pilot with him having her nudes saved, the carnival where he's questioning her relationship with McKay and Cal points and kinda goes hey, get you a girl like her. Cassie finding out she's pregnant and McKay brushing it off and basically guilt tripping her into getting rid of it. She says to him she didn't want to have a baby but she just wanted to dream about it for a moment. Cut to s2 where second ep, Nate is having dreams of what a life with Cassie could be and look like and how much happier he'd be if he had someone like her. They're very much on the same wavelength, I think and aside from Jacob and Sydney's chemistry, I do think it's fascinating to watch.
People are going to hate it and hate them for it. I get it. But, I do think it's necessary and it will be a learning curve either way. Plus, it offers both characters a lot of character development. How else will they grow if they don't make mistakes? I trust Euphoria. I may not always agree with everyone's actions but I love this show. I love the characters, every one of them and it resonates with me so deeply.
Also, I can be a little bias probably lol just because I've loved the idea of Nate and Cassie since s1. I've crackshipped them, rewrote them in AUs and shipped their faces so... that's just me. I'm not saying I condone what they do, how they do it, etc. It's entertaining and interesting to watch.
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Slept Ons: The Best Records of 2020 That We Never Got Around To
Tattoos and shorts! How did we miss the Oily Boys?
It happens pretty much every year. After much fussing and second-guessing, the year-end list gets finalized, set in stone really, encapsulating 12 months of enthusiastic listening, and surely these are the best ten records anyone could find, right? Right? And then, a day or a week later, someone else puts up their list or records their year-end radio show, and there it is, the record you could have loved and pushed and written about…if only you’d known about it. My self-kick in the shins came during Joe Belock’s 2020 round-up on WFMU when he played the Chats. Others on our staff knew, earlier on, that they weren’t writing about records they loved for whatever reason — work, family, mp3 overload, etc. Except now they are. Here. Now. Enjoy.
Contributors include me (Jennifer Kelly), Eric McDowell, Jonathan Shaw, Justin Cober-Lake, Bill Meyer, Bryon Hayes, Ian Mathers, Andrew Forell, Michael Rosenstein and Patrick Masterson.
The Chats — High Risk Behavior (Bargain Bin)
High Risk Behaviour by The Chats
Cartoonishly primitive and gleefully out of luck, The Chats hurl Molotov cocktails of punk, bright and exploding even as they come. They’re from Australia, which totally makes sense; there’s a sunny, health-care-subsidized, devil-may-care vibe to their down-on-their luck stories. Musically, the songs are stripped down like Billy Childish, sped up like the Ramones, brute simple like Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Most of them are about alcohol: drinking, being drunk, getting arrested for being drunk, eating while drunk…etc. etc. But there’s an art to singing about getting hammered, and few manage the butt-headed conviction of “Drunk & Disorderly.” Its jungle rhythms, vicious, saw-toothed bass, quick knife jabs of guitar frame an all-hands drum-shocked chant: “Relaxation, mood alteration, boredom leads to intoxication.” Later singer Eamon Sandwith cuts right to the point about romance with the couplet, “I was cautious, double wrapped, but still I got the clap.” The album’s highlights include the most belligerently glorious song ever about cyber-fraud in “Identity Theft,” whose shout along chorus buoys you up, even as the dark web drains your savings account dry. The album strings together a laundry list of dead-end, unfortunate situations, one after another truly hopeless developments, but nonetheless it explodes with joy. Bandcamp says the guitar player has already left—so you’re too late to see the Chats live—but it must have been fun while it lasted.
Jennifer Kelly
Oliver Coates — skins n slime (RVNG Intl)
skins n slime by Oliver Coates
2020 was a year of loss, of losing, of feeling lost. Whether weathering the despair of illness and death, the discomfort of displacement or the drift of temporal reverie, English cellist Oliver Coates creates music to reflect all this and more on skins n slime. Using modulators, loops and effects, Coates employs elements from drone, shoegaze and industrial to extend the range of the cello and conjure otherworldly sounds of crushing intensity and great beauty. Beneath the layering, distortion and dissonance, the human element remains strong. The tactility of fingers and bow on strings and the expressive essence of tone form the core of Coates composition and performance. If his experiments seem a willful swipe at the restrictions of the classical world from whence he came, the visceral power of a track like “Reunification 2018”, which hunkers in the same netherworld as anything by Deathprod or Lawrence English, the liminal, static bedecked ache of “Honey” and the unadorned minimalism of “Caretaker Part 1 (Breathing)” are works of a serious talent. skins n slime is an album to sit with and soak in; allow it to percolate and permeate and you’ll find yourself forgetting the outside world, if only for a while.
Andrew Forell
Bertrand Denzler / Antonin Gerbal — Sbatax (Umlaut Records)
Sbatax by Denzler - Gerbal
Tenor sax player Bertrand Denzler and drummer Antonin Gerbal released this duo recording last summer which slipped under the radar of many listeners. Denzler is as likely to be heard these days composing and performing pieces by others in the French ensemble ONCEIM, playing solo, or in settings for quiet improvisation. But he’s been burning it up as a free jazz player for years now as well. Gerbal also casts a broad net, as a member of ONCEIM, deconstructing free bop in the group Peeping Tom, or recontextualizing the music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik along with Pat Thomas, Joel Grip and Seymour Wright in the group Ahmed amongst many other projects. The two have worked together in a variety of contexts for a decade now, recording a fantastic duo back in 2014. Sbatax, recorded five years later at a live performance in Berlin is a worthy follow-up.
Gerbal attacks his kit with ferocity out of the gate, with slashing cymbals and thundering kit, cascading along with drubbing momentum. Denzler charges in with a husky, jagged, repeated motif which he loops and teases apart, matching the caterwauling vigor of his partner straightaway. Over the course of this 40-minute outing, one can hear the two lock in, coursing forward with mounting intensity. Denzler increasingly peppers his playing with trenchant blasts and rasping salvos, riding along on Gerbal’s torrential fusillades. Throughout, one can hear the two dive deep in to free jazz traditions while shaping the arc of the improvisation with an acute ear toward the overall form of the piece. Midway through, Denzler steps back for a torrid drum solo, then jumps back in with renewed dynamism as the two ride waves of commanding potency and focus to a rousing conclusion, goaded on by the cheering audience. Anyone wondering whether there is still life in the tenor/drum duo format should dig this one up.
Michael Rosenstein
Kaelin Ellis — After Thoughts (self-released)
After Thoughts by KAELIN ELLIS
To be sure, “slept on” hardly characterizes Kaelin Ellis in 2020. After a trickle of lone tracks in the first months of the year, a Twitter video posted by the 23-year-old producer and multi-instrumentalist caught the attention of Lupe Fiasco, quickly precipitating the joint EP House. It’s a catchy story from any number of angles — the star-powered “discovery” of a young talent, the interconnectedness of the digital age, the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic — but it risks overshadowing Ellis’s two 2020 solo records: Moments, released in the lead-up to House, and After Thoughts, released in October. It doesn’t help that each album’s dozen tracks scarcely add up to as many minutes, or that the producer’s titles deliberately downplay the results. And some, of course, will judge these jazzy, deeply soulful beats only against their potential as platforms for some other, more extroverted artist. “I’d like to think I’m a jack of all trades,” Ellis told one interviewer, “but in all honesty my specialty is creating a space for others to stand out.”
Yet as with all small, good things, there’s reward in savoring these miniatures on their own terms, and After Thoughts in particular proved an unexpected retreat from last fall’s anxieties. Ellis has a poet’s gift for distillation and juxtaposition, a director’s knack for pathos and dramatic sequencing — powers that combine to somehow render a fully realized world. As fleeting as it is, Ellis’s work communicates a generosity of care and concentration, opening a space for others not just to stand out but also to settle in.
Eric McDowell
Lloyd Miller with Ian Camp and Adam Michael Terry — At the Ends of the World
At the Ends of the World by Lloyd Miller with Ian Camp and Adam Michael Terry
Miller and company fuse the feel of a contemporary classical concert with eastern modalities and instrumentation. The recordings sound live off the floor, and give a welcome sense of space and detail to the sensitive playing. Miller has explored the intersection between Persian and other cultural traditions and jazz through the lens of academic scholarship and recorded output since the 1960s. With this release, the performances linger in a space where vibe is as important as compositional structure. The results revel in the beauty when seemingly unrelated musical ideas emerge together in the same moment, with startling results.
Arthur Krumins
Oily Boys — Cro Memory Grin (Cool Death)
Cro Memory Grin by Oily Boys
The title of this 2020 LP by Australian punks Oily Boys sounds like a pun on “Cro-Magnon,” an outmoded scientific name for early humans. It’s apt: the music is smarter than knuckle-dragger beatdown or run-of-the-mill powerviolence, but still driven by a rancorous, id-bound savagery. The smarts are just perceptible enough to keep things pretty interesting. Some of the noisier, droning and semi-melodic stretches of Cro Memory Grin recall the records made by the Men (especially Leave Home) before they decided to try to make like Uncle Tupelo, or some lesser version of the Hold Steady. Oily Boys inhabit a darker sensibility, and their music is more profoundly bonkers than anything those other bands got up to. Aggro, discordant punk; flagellating hardcore burners; psych-rock-adjacent sonic exorcisms — you get it all, sometimes in a single five-minute passage of Cro Memory Grin (check out the sequence from “Lizard Scheme” to “Heat Harmony” to “Stick Him.” Yikes). A bunch of the tunes spill over into one another, feedback and sustain jumping the gap from one track to the next, which gives the record a live vibe. It feels volatile and sweaty. The ill intent and unmitigated nastiness accumulate into a palpable force, tainting the air and leaving stains on your tee shirt. Oily Boys have been kicking around Sydney’s punk scene since at least 2014, but this is their first full-length record. One hopes they can continue to play with this degree of possessed abandon without completing burning themselves to down to smoldering cinders. At least long enough to record some more music.
Jonathan Shaw
Dougie Poole — The Freelancer's Blues (Wharf Cat)
The Freelancer's Blues by Dougie Poole
A cursory listen might misconstrue the heart of Dougie Poole's second album, The Freelancer's Blues. When he mixes his wobbly country sound with lyrics like those in “Vaping on the Job,” it sounds like genre play, a smirking look at millennial life through an urban cowboy's vintage sound. Poole does target a particular set of issues, but mapping them with his own slightly psychedelic country comes with very little of the postmodern itch. His characters feel just as troubled as anyone coming out of 1970s Nashville, and as Poole explores these lives with wit and empathy, the songs quickly find their resonance.
The album, though it wouldn't reach for pretentious terms, carries an existential problem at its center. Poole circles around the fundamental void: work deadens, relocation doesn't help, spiritual pursuits falter, intelligence burdens, and even the drugs don't help. When Poole finally gets the title track, the preceding album gives his confession extra weight, a mix of life's strictures and personal limitation combining for a crisis best avoided but wonderfully shared. The Freelancer's Blues comes rich in Nashville tradition but finds an ideal fit in its contemporary place, likely providing a soundtrack for a variety of times and spaces yet to come.
Justin Cober-Lake
Schlippenbach Quartett — Three Nails Left (Corbett Vs. Dempsey)
You might say that this record has been slept on twice. The second recording to be released by the Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker and Paul Lovens (augmented this time by Peter Kowald) was released in 1975, and didn’t get a second pressing — on vinyl — until 2019. So, Corbett Vs. Dempsey stepped up last summer, it had never been on CD. But this writer was so stumped on how to relate how intense, startling, and unlike any other free improvisation it was and is, that he just… slept on it. Until now. Even if you know this band, if you don’t know this album, well, it’s time you got acquainted.
Bill Meyer
Stonegrass — Stonegrass (Cosmic Range)
STONEGRASS by Stonegrass
Released on the cusp of a tentative re-opening for the city of Toronto after two months of lock-down, this slab of psychedelic funk-rock was the perfect antidote to the COVID blues when it arrived at the tail end of a Spring spent in near-isolation. The jam sessions that became Stonegrass were also a new beginning for multi-instrumentalist Matthew “Doc” Dunn and drummer Jay Anderson, who reignited a spirit of collaboration after a decade of sonic estrangement following the demise of their Spiritual Sky Blues Band project. Listening to these songs, you’d never know they spent any time apart. The tight, bottom-wagging jams on offer are evidence that these two are joined together at the third eye. Anderson’s grooves run deep, and Dunn — whether he’s traipsing along on guitar, keys or flutes — is right there with him. There’s enough fuzz here to satiate the heads, but the real treat here is the rhythmic interplay. Strap in and prepare to get down.
Bryon Hayes
Bob Vylan — We Live Here EP (Venn Records)
youtube
Bob Vylan flew under the radar in 2020 successfully enough that when someone nominated them for the best of 2020 poll in Tom Ewing’s Peoples’ Pop Polls project on Twitter (each month a different year or category gets voted on in World Cup-style brackets, it’s great fun and only occasionally maddening), most of the reaction was “is that one a typo?” Nobody had that response after listening to “We Live Here” — my wife also participates in the poll, so we just play all the candidates in our apartment, and Bob Vylan was the first time both of our jaws dropped in amazement; the song got played about ten times in a row at that point. Bobby (vocals/guitar/production) and Bobbie (drums/“spiritual inspiration”) Vylan’s 18-minute EP lives up to that title track, fireball after fireball aimed directly at the corrupt, crumbling, racist state that seems utterly indifferent to human suffering unless there’s profit in it. Whether it’s the raging catharsis of the title track or the cool, precise hostility of “Lynch Your Leaders,” Bob Vylan have made something vital and essential here, that very much speaks to 2020 but sadly will stay relevant long past it.
Ian Mathers
Working Men’s Club — Working Men’s Club (Heavenly Recordings)
youtube
It’s been evident these past few years that I’ve retreated from music and committed myself to the slower world of books as a way of giving my mind a break from the accelerating madness outside, but I could never really leave my radio family the same way I could never really leave Dusted. Another great example why: A fellow CHIRP volunteer played “John Cooper Clarke” in a December Zoom social I actually managed to catch, and I’ve been addicted to Working Men’s Club’s debut LP from October ever since. The quartet hails from Todmodren, a market town you won’t be surprised upon listening to discover is roughly equidistant between Leeds and Manchester; the album screams Hacienda vibes in its seamless integration of post-punk signifiers and dancefloor style. It’s easy to bandy about names from Rip It Up and Start Again or even The Velvet Underground in 12-minute closer “Angel,” certainly one of the most arresting tracks of the year, but the thing that struck me immediately is that this was the record I’d always anticipated but never got from Factory Floor — smart, aloof and occasionally calculated, yet still fun enough to play for any crowd itching to move. Until the community of a dance party or Working Men’s Club live set is once again possible, patience and a fully formed first album will have to suffice. You’ll have to imagine the part where I corner you at the party to rave about it, I’m afraid.
Patrick Masterson
#yearend 2020#the chats#jennifer kelly#kaelin ellis#eric mcdowell#oily boys#jonathan shaw#dougie pool#justin cober-lake#schlippenbach quartett#Bill Meyer#oliver coates#andrew forell#stonegrass#bryon hayes#bob vylan#ian mathers#working men's club#patrick masterson#dusted magazine#slept ons#michael rosenstein#Bertrand Denzler#Antonin Gerbal#lloyd miller#arthur krumins
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
Each year we the audience are presented with a plethora of shows that hope to secure a faithful audience in hopes of being good enough to be renewed. And each year we fall victim to at least one show that we came to love but sadly did it make the cut to come back the following season( Forever anyone? Timeless?) We are disappointed to say the least and utter a few choice words at the network that shattered our hopes of seeing our characters come back and entertain us for an hour each week.
This year however was different.
The fall of 2018 told us that an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sanditon would premiere the following year. I was intrigued but at the time went on with my life and forgot about it. Then came the summer of 2019. An ad somewhere popped up about Sanditon. I pulled up the trailer on YouTube and right after sought out how I could stream the show ( I live in the US and really hate waiting months for shows to air here). So by the time I found it the first 3 episodes had aired. Needless to say I was hooked! Every Sunday I anxiously waited until the stream was available around 7ish and let myself escape to the world of Sanditon and all its glory. I watched by myself ( not really the hubby’s cup of tea) wishing my mom lived closer so that we could watch together. I laughed, squeeled, and cheered as the storyline lead us along Charlotte’s journey into Sanditon. At the time I did not have Twitter account but I wanted to see the reaction to the show. So I looked up the official account, waited on baited breath for the teasers that would get released thoughtout the week, and read all the comments from the fans without interacting with anyone. This made it so much more enjoyable as I could “experience” the show with others! So when our hearts were broken with Charlotte on the cliff tops in EP 8, we had each other to rant, rave, and cry to. But also hope. And belief. This was a JA story after all. And Davies had given us outstanding adaptations of not only Austen but Dickens as well( Little Dorrit I’m looking at you!). I mean this was the man that gave us Colon Firth’s Darcy... in a clinging wet shirt no less! So of course he would have to finish the story in a second season. Yes,he gambled but surely the network would NEVER not renew something created by him?! Or leave JA’s unfinished novel, oh I don’t know... UNFINISHED?! I mean that would be network suicide right?! But as time went on and there was no confirmation about a S2 we began to get worried... and then panic set in. And so I felt compelled to create a Twitter account and fight along with the Sanditon Sisterhood, as someone had named them, to convince ITV to renew another season. I have NEVER before felt this compelled to add my voice to a shows renewal. But that just speaks to the fantastic writing of this series. Through this interaction on Twitter and then the Sanditon FB fan page, I learned much more about the show-it’s writers, cast, and crew. The amount of talent that put this production together is truly remarkable! So as days turned into weeks then a month or so I had tweeted and retweeted alongside my sisterhood my thoughts, feelings, and desires to see S2 come to fruition. And then it happened. Our worst fear.
The “announcement” that ITV would not renew for a second season. So again we the audience found ourselves victims of the network and their archaic ways of measuring the success of a series-Viewing numbers on the night the episodes air. Because we the audience watch shows the same way we did 10-20 years ago right?
I clearly remember the nights Alias aired. ( 2001-2005) Mom and I would watch faithfully each week. If the phone rang it was not answered. No-I was watching my Sydney Bristow kick butt and no one was allowed to interrupt that time! And it was on a night I was always home, so no need to record and watch later. But as time went on and our lives began to change,so did how we watch TV. No longer did we need to make sure we were home to watch a show or worry if we forgot to set the timer to record our show, we could stream it later and watch the whole season at once when it was CONVIENTIENT for us! Yay!! I could make entertainment fit my schedule. I could watch when I WANTED to. However like anything that seems to good to be true -there was a catch. Those types of viewing do not count for the network airing your show. Nope. Nada.
While media and streaming platforms keep advancing, we the audience (and our favorite shows) are held to a rule that is no longer applicable. We are punished for not capitulating to a newtworks old fashioned way of measuring the popularity of a show. So YT videos promoting the series, social media interactions, and streaming have no value in the eyes of many networks.
Yet this is exactly how we experience our shows in 2019! Heck we now have the ability to interact with the shows actors and some even reply back ( Jack Fox we love you!❤️). Sadly ITV saw no relevance in this. Only immediate viewing numbers counted. Viewing numbers that were counted against a terrible release date(bank holiday in the UK so many were naturally on holiday.) and a less then stellar promotion of the series. Still many tuned in and fell in love with Sanditon. I could go on and on about the terrific acting of the cast, the original music, character development, cinematography... but that is not the purpose of this blog. It is this-
Let us as the audience tell you by more then one measurement how much we love and support a series. Stop living in the past and embrace a new way! Get in touch with your audience and quit being tone deaf. We are your customers! We are your promoters! Give us the chance to show you our love for your shows! #renewsanditon #sidlotteforever
93 notes
·
View notes
Text
This Sunday Currently, vol. 15
First TSC of 2020, who would’ve thunk.
Reading
Right now, I’m reading Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory. So far, this is my fourth book for the month and ninth overall for the year, which is to say I am thriving quite nicely in the reading department. I have to say, I’ve never had such a good reading streak in a long time because all of these books I’ve spent reading these last couple of months have left such a strong impression on me, and without giving away too much, here are some reasons why I loved all of them:
1. N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth trilogy — Absolutely well-written, impressive worldbuilding and character development. The attention to detail that Jemisin gave in creating this world of the Stillness and the elements of orogeny is so, so good. Also, I really appreciate the way she established the relationships of her female characters that even though they had their differences and an almost cutthroat dynamic (like with Essun and Ykka, or with Essun and Tonkee), there is still that sense of solidarity present between these women, that they didn’t really seek out to upstage the other despite them being exceptionally skilled in their fields of expertise, but instead they worked together and acknowledged each other’s strengths, which I very much dig a lot.
2. Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine — The story follows Eleanor Oliphant, an eccentric, friendless 29-year-old working in a boring day job who meets this kind-hearted IT guy named Raymond. At first, I thought it was another romance novel but I just loved how it has completely thrown me off because it mainly revolves around Eleanor’s growth and her friendship with Raymond, and how this eventually helps her to open up to other people—which is, like, this is the kind of story that is so hard to come across because it focuses on platonic relationships and how that is so important, too. And like? That’s my fucking jam?
3. Jenny Slate’s Little Weirds — Jenny Slate captures the entire experience of loneliness and heartbreak and love in her own whimsical way and crafts this beautifully written collection of stories and essays that I was emotionally wrecked after reading all of it.
4. André Aciman’s Find Me — My god. Aciman chronicles love and longing with such visceral and detailed prowess. Reading the stories of Sami, Elio, and Oliver in this sequel fucking murdered me. And that’s putting it mildly.
5. Mary Oliver’s Thirst — This is the kind of poetry collection that after reading it, I felt compelled to move to the countryside and live in the forest.
Also, my favourite has got to be The Uses of Sorrow, in which Mary says: “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness / It took me years to understand that this, too was a gift.”
6. Sally Rooney’s Normal People — There is a certain kind of sadness that follows the story of Connell and Marianne, and one thing I really liked about this is how Rooney managed to capture the complexities of on and off relationships with such forensic attentiveness. And it’s so nice to read the story alternating in Connell’s and Marianne’s POVs, too, so one gets to understand what goes on in their heads.
Writing
Because I’ve been busily reading and watching films these days and MMA training most weeknights after work, I haven’t been writing much, except maybe for adding little notes and dialogues and carving the structure for A Burden We Share. Honestly, I don’t even know if I’ll ever get to write it considering how I’ve ultimately decided not to continue updating Laws of Motion. And I’m not even in the least sorry about it. I’m struggling in a very weird writing limbo (despite managing to put this out lmao) and maybe because the interest has petered out, or the fact that I’m an exhausted reader/spectator of my own stuff, or I am an exhausted mother of many different OCs and they all demand 1000000% of my care and devotion like the needy children that they are and they want me to talk about them all the fucking time, which I find so difficult to do at times despite the kind and generous asks, because talking about them makes me feel so selfish and self-absorbed sometimes like I’m imposing a lot like no one really likes to hear about them so shut up self, don’t you have anything better to talk about sis? and maybe this is my anxiety screaming and also demanding my attention, so idk. So maybe it’s all three, I guess.
Anyway. Basically, I’m sort of gliding through this break (is it still a break when you’re not planning to write at all?) or whatever this is called because for now, I have no plans on posting anything new anytime soon.
Watching
I watched Jojo Rabbit and Parasite last month but then watched it again yesterday because a friend gave me a copy. Parasite easily became one of my favourite movies ever because it’s such a fucking masterpiece and it left me thinking about a lot of things after watching it.
Also, rewatching some of my favourite sad, tearjerker movies is what I’ve been doing these days, like Beautiful Boy, The Lovely Bones, and Lion, all of which never fails to make me cry like a baby.
Listening
A lot of new music, thank fuck! My constant work companions these days are Halsey’s Manic, Mura Masa’s R.Y.C., Bombay Bicycle Club’s Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, Hayley William’s Petals for Armor EP. And, well, I still listen to Hozier from time to time. As a treat.
Smelling
Monday dread, as always.
Feeling
Equal parts excited and nervous, forcing myself to let this positive feeling tide over the frustration of my writing dilemma. I’m leaving for a camping trip in two weeks, and then off to Sydney and Auckland in April, and while I’m looking forward to getting out of the city, the entire planning part is what drives me nuts. And with everyone still on alert because of N-COV, our airports are a mess and thinking about the stress of it all makes me so anxious I just want to stay at home instead.
Hoping/Wishing/Needing/Wanting
I love writing, I seriously do, so I want my writing motivation back. I’ve been giving it to myself on my own, and I think I might have misplaced it somewhere.
The Sunday Currently was originally from SiddaThornton.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
David Oyelowo on 'Les Miserables,' Making Directorial Debut With Oprah Winfrey
The Emmy- and Globe-nominated actor, who directs 'The Water Man' with Winfrey as co-producer, also discusses taking on the most iconic and tragic antagonist in literature and not wanting to be "the token person of color" on the PBS series.
David Oyelowo has always been a fan of the Les Misérables musical, but it wasn't until he picked up Andrew Davies' script that the star — who's been Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated for his work on HBO's Nightingale and in Ava DuVernay's Selma — fully appreciated the villainous Inspector Javert. "There was so much more depth and complexity to this character than I ever realized from any iteration I had seen," he says. Oyelowo, 43, spoke with THR about executive producing and starring on PBS' six-part Les Mis miniseries (which debuted April 14) and developing his directorial debut, The Water Man, a fantasy drama co-produced by Oprah Winfrey — "or Mum O, as I like to call her."
Javert is one of the most iconic and tragic antagonists in literature and theater. How did you key into his psychology?
One couldn't earn the way Javert comes to an end in such a dramatic, violent and self-inflicted way without a very clear runway and emotional, psychological and spiritual journey. The biggest clue to me was that he was born in prison to criminal parents, yet he is now a man who detests criminality to an obsessive degree. You go, "Well, it's fine to hate criminality, but to be so obsessed with Jean Valjean — what's going on there?" Victor Hugo actually based Jean Valjean and Javert on the same person, this gentleman he knew who had both sides within himself. To that extent, Javert transposed all the criminality he loathed in his own upbringing onto Valjean, and that justifies his obsessive pursuit of him. But when he recognizes that this man isn't just criminal, he is worthy of redemption, he is someone who somehow has been able to transcend his criminality; he realizes that this pursuit has been futile. The criminality that he loathes is still within himself, which is why he chooses to destroy himself.
Did you and Dominic West know each other before this?
We didn't know each other well. He's such a lovely guy and incredibly funny. I had to do as much as I could to stay away from him while we were shooting. For me, I need to inhabit and feel every tendril of the character, and I couldn't entertain the idea of being jokey-jokey with him and then go into the level of acrimony between us. There's such a cat-and-mouse element to Javert and Valjean's relationship that was so satisfying to play. As an actor, a lot of the time you are trying to find the subtext to a scene, to imbue it with interest. With this, it was absolutely inherent. These characters had so much history that was always present in every scene they had together. But we've become great friends ever since.
Was using the music from the stage adaptation ever a consideration?
It never was, no. We all discussed that if we're going to do this, there has to be a real reason why this should exist so soon after Tom Hooper's [2012] filmic musical. We wanted to make it a much dirtier, grittier, immediate, politically prescient version. Being a producer, I didn't want to be the token person of color within it. I was very clear that we need to have that be something organic and truthful to the time. We've done a terrible job of representing just how many people of color were inhabiting Europe at that time. And not just in subjugated roles. Anyone who's read Tom Reiss' The Black Count will know that Thomas Alexandre Dumas was a general in the French army in the late 1700s [one of the highest-ranking men of African descent ever in a European army]. So, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Javert was indeed someone like me. You want people to see themselves onscreen.
I've read that you've specifically asked your reps to seek out roles where you might not be first in mind. For this miniseries, did your casting come first or did you initially come on as an executive producer? Did you feel like you had to fight for the role at all?
I signed on as an actor first. They approached me and I was actually the first person to be cast in it. But yes, what you mentioned is absolutely true. Early on in my career I felt the need to say to my representatives, “Put me out for roles that are not race specific.” Because the truth of the matter was, the more interesting roles were inherently going to white actors. I am just so elated to now be going into a phase of my career where I am being approached with those kind of roles. It's not something necessarily I'm going to seek out. So yeah, Les Mis is something I was approached with, and that is incredibly gratifying because a decade ago, 15 years ago, I just don't know if that would have been the case.
As an EP on the series, was there a time where you felt like you had to take off your actor hat and fix a problem? Or did you feel like it was generally smooth sailing throughout the shoot?
It was pretty much smooth sailing. Tom Shankland, our director, had such a handle on the piece. You couldn't ask him a single question that he didn't have an answer for both on the basis of the script and the book itself. I was so impressed by him. Our producer Chris Carey also was just a monster when it came to making everything work in a beautiful way. For me, my primary function was just keeping on it when it came to representation within the piece. I think that is when sometimes things slip within the cracks. We all go to the movies and watch TV in the hope of seeing ourselves represented. We all have bias, we all lean into things that are more akin to our own experience. And of course, I have a bias toward seeing people of color in something like this. So it was very helpful, I think, to have me around to say, "Guys, let's remember the nature of the piece we're doing. We need more extras of color here. Let's not forget what we're trying to do here." Some of the development of the script I was very much a part of, and then a lot of the distribution and the marketing and the release dates and all that kind of stuff. Postproduction is a big side of getting a six-hour piece to be its best self. I got my hands quite dirty with that process as well.
This spring, your slate is pretty packed in addition to Les Mis. You had Relive debut at Sundance, you're in production on Peter Rabbit 2, and you have Come Away and Chaos Walking in post. How are you doing?
It's a very, very good question. I literally was in Sydney doing Peter Rabbit. We then went to London last week, and I'm now here in New York. Then, I leave here to go into preproduction on my directorial debut, The Water Man, in about three days. I have an incredible wife who makes it all work. We actually run our production company together. We have four children and they are with me a lot of the time. We scheduled the shoot for The Water Man over the summer holidays so that they can be with me. I really, really love what I get to do, and I don't take it for granted at all. I'm just trying to have as much fun and tell as many great stories as I can, while I can. But my wife and I have a two-week rule. We're never apart for more than two weeks, and so that means a lot of flying, and a lot of crazy scheduling.
You must have a lot of frequent flyer miles.
I have an enormous amount. So if you ever have any trips that you're planning, please hit me up because I have plenty.
Why did you select The Water Man for your directorial debut?
I was looking for a film that was akin to the ones I loved growing up — E.T. or Close Encounters of the Third Kind or films like The NeverEnding Story, Labyrinth, The Goonies. They don't have to be $200 million extravaganzas, but they can have a fantasy element and be grounded in realism and truth with poignant themes. This script by Emma Needell was on the Black List. I fought hard and thankfully got it, and myself and Oprah Winfrey — or "Mum O," as I like to call her — came on as producers to develop it. Another director was going to direct it, but he fell out. My fellow producers turned to me and said, "Well, you've been working on this passionately for five years. Do you want to do it?" I took two weeks to really mull that over.
What was the deciding factor in those two weeks that made you say, "Yes, I will; I’m ready"?
Realizing that I was passionate enough about the story to dedicate as much time to making a film as is necessary. And the fact that the story is just so moving to me. It's about an 11-year-old boy who's on the hunt for a mythical figure who he believes can save his mother from an illness. I also love the fact that it is an adventure movie. Basically, this boy teams up with this girl and they go into a forest hunting for this mythical figure called “the Water Man.” So it has elements of Stand by Me and Pan's Labyrinth, both films I deeply love. I'm always looking for opportunities to scare myself, and this is the most dramatic example of that I have had in my career thus far. So I jumped in.
Was there ever a seed earlier on where directing first sprouted in your mind?
Very early on. It's something I've always wanted to do. I remember seeing Kenneth Branagh's Henry V and that being one of the earliest moments. I thought, “Whoa. That guy directed that and is in it. How on Earth is that possible?" And then he did it again with Hamlet. I think the seed just kept on being replanted of the idea of doing it one day. So when the opportunity presented itself, it had been long gestating.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-oyelowo-les-miserables-making-directorial-debut-oprah-1213657
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
the handmaid’s tale s2ep12 thoughts
under the cut because spoilers
- as much as I love yvonne seeing serena touch holly and acting all maternal made me feel icky
- I really like aunt lydia when she is looking out for june. She clearly doesn’t like june’s defiant spirit but they seem to have developed a rapport with one another
- The real question is does she buy the story about holly’s birth?
- Did those two commanders buy fred’s story? 100% no they h8 him and don’t believe him
- also fuck fred. He’s rewarding nick and then rubbing holly in nick’s face all at the same time
- WHEN JUNE SAW HOLLY AND TRIED TO RUN I GOT SO SAD
- NICK’S FACE WHEN AUNT LYDIA SAID HOLLY LOOKED LIKE HER DAD MADE ME SO SAD
- these two kill me
- fred definitely has a pregnancy fetish. But A+ acting to joseph fiennes again for when june started leaking
- Serena is so fucking petty smh. She knows what “her” baby needs and gets upset because it shatters the illusion that she isn’t her real mom
- also there is nothing wrong with adoption. If I were to ever have kids I’d probably adopt but serena is a monster and essentially holly’s kidnapper. It’s not actually adoption
- I’m not sure what my take on commander Lawrence is... The vibe I get is that he is a very cruel man by nature, he has some socialization problems based on how he was asking emily questions, but he does have regrets and those are fighting his naturally cruel nature
- also his martha’s name is Cora and in the books that was the name of the waterford’s second handmaid
- His poor wife. Gave me a lot of the yellow wallpaper and jane erye vibes. Like she has a right to be upset but she’s treated like she’s crazy and therefore became a lil cray
- Watching commander lawrence was weird though because out of all the commanders he seemed the most unpredictable. Which makes him dangerous. Aunt lydia picked up on it too
- THE KITCHEN SCENE BETWEEN NICK AND JUNE DESTROYED ME I AM DECEASED
- They both light up around each other and love their baby so much
- And then I just started imagining them as a real family and got sad
- I also love that June asked Nick if the name Holly was okay. Like how parents do when they are naming a kid hajhfjkdnfkjewf
- Serena trying to breastfeed... it was laughable but you could also feel her desperation. She closed the doors and acted rushed like she could be caught at any moment and was embarrassed. And then she apologized to Holly when it didn’t work. I almost felt for her but gurl get it through your head that baby is not yours
- When fred called eden a slut I felt so offended
- I love the job joseph fiennes does because he is so convincing. But because he is so convincing I’m either pissed at fred or he makes my skin crawl
- And during the kitchen conversation with june I had both reactions
- He calls Eden a slut, but he goes to jezebels on the regular. He then makes june feel guilty for hiding from him (but in such a convincing way it echoes the book where no matter how terrible he is “offred” can’t bring herself to hate him and she almost feels bad for him) and tries to illicit sexual favors for letting june see hannah. ENOUGH ALREADY
- Okay I loved the scene between Nick and Eden as much as I loved the scene between June and Nick because MAX BROUGHT IT this episode
- He was so convincing in this scene and sydney sweeney also did great
- people are gonna hate him and blame him for not being nicer to her but literally his options were be an asshole and straight up ignore her or lead on and therefore take advantage of a brainwashed 15 year old girl... so he picked the safest route which was comfortable distance
- Here that all falls away. The way he was talking to her so intimately just fit so well. Before he kept his distance like if he was forced to babysit and didn’t want to (which was the right call for the situation) but here he flipped to super protective ride or die because that’s again what the situation calls for. Trying to talk sense to her and protect her and try to get through to her. This boy is so compassionate and no matter how cold he was deep down he still cared for her well being
- But Eden is a teenager in “love” and has made up her mind.
- Even though this clearly broke Nick, I’m glad they had that final conversation where they put everything out there. Nick got to apologize, Eden got to apologize and she seemed to grasp what situation he was put in by their marriage and realized they were never going to love each other. And they forgave each other and she made her choice.
- Watching everyone in the stands... even fred had tears but they seemed like angry tears almost. Serena was horrified, June and Rita were almost sick, and Nick was praying up until the last moment that Eden would confess, almost cried, and then pushed down the tears
- The actual drowning was not as graphic as I thought it would be? Is that bad to say? In the s2 trailer it seemed so horrific and eerie but it did not reach that level of horror for me. Maybe I just detached myself idk
- Nick turning away from june’s touch... normal reaction I can’t imagine what he’s feeling. Lots of guilt. Plus the knowledge that he and june are guilty of the exact same thing. His breakdown is coming in 3...2....1
- Serena realized that none of them are safe. Not even Holly/Nichole (lol it should be Nickole)
- So she let June breastfeed because she knew it was the best thing for the baby
- And then we are left with a shot of serena watching june nurse... looking happy and content. The writers are obsessed with serena and june’s relationship
Next episode:
not speculating because I know spoilers. I knew spoilers going into watching ep.12 and they ended up being true so I’m guessing the ones for the finale are also accurate
#the handmaid's tale#the handmaid's tale spoilers#june osborne#elizabeth moss#max minghella#nick blaine#yvonne strahovski#serena joy waterford#joseph fiennes#fred waterford#ann dowd#alexis bledel#aunt lydia#sydney sweeney#tht#tht spoilers#mine
56 notes
·
View notes
Audio
TOO GOOD TUESDAY INTERVIEW: New Chums
New Chums may be a Phoenix based band but their roots extend from all over the country. The foursome includes Seth from California, Ben from Boston, Matt from Nashville and Cassandra from Michigan. Their diverse backgrounds have come together to form this indie rock band that is still riding the wave of the release of their debut EP, See It For Myself. The EP brings together big energy, heavy guitars and shining vocals that come together to form a sound that is both unique and familiar at the same time. Lucky for Too Good Music, the foursome recently took some time to answer some questions about the EP as well as their song, “Come On Come On.” They also discuss how they promoted their EP in a vending machine, what they would like to see before they die and much more below!
TOO GOOD MUSIC: So diving right into it, how did you guys come up with the name New Chums?
SETH (vocals/guitar): I got the name New Chums when I was on holiday in Sydney, Australia. I was in a history museum when I read a placard that described how when new prisoners were arriving in the Sydney harbor the current prisoners would say, ‘The New Chums are here.’ Something about the idea of random people coming together as New Chums resonated with me. When I was putting the band together, and seeing how none of the band members knew each other when we started the band, the name New Chums only seemed fitting.
TGM: Interesting! So yeah going off that idea, you guys are from all over the country…how did you guys all meet and end up becoming a band?
MATT (guitar): Yea, like Seth said, no one knew each other before the band. All of us moved to Arizona over the past few years for various reasons, so we are all transplants to this area. Since I was new to town, I had just put up an online ad if anyone needed a guitar player for some paid gigs to reach out. Seth ended up emailing me and sending me a few of their early recordings. I liked what I heard and thought my guitar playing could really fill up their sound as there weren’t really extra guitar parts on the demos. We met up and jammed and got along really well, so that’s how it began for me. Same thing with Ben before me and then the 3 of us auditioned Cassandra a few months after I joined and it all clicked. So the current line-up formed pretty quickly and then 2 months later we went into the studio to record our first EP together.
TGM: Speaking of the EP what was the inspiration behind “Come On, Come On” and what does that song mean to you guys?
SETH: To me, “Come On, Come On” is about the overall feeling it leaves you with. That feeling is going to be different for everyone who hears the song but my hope is that it fills people with energy and excitement, especially at a live show, and keeps them coming back as our shows get bigger and better. What does “Come On, Come On” mean to us? Hopefully it means we’ll be cashing huge paychecks in the not-so-distant future. We can be a little sarcastic and dry if you can’t tell…
TGM: Ha! I can see that. Continuing on the EP, its titled See It For Myself – what is something that you’d like to see for yourself, in person before you die?
CASSANDRA (bass): On a large scale, I'd like to see the end of "us vs. them" mentality that seems to be pervasive right now. We are more alike than different, so I'd enjoy seeing people realize that and take a breath from all the narrow-minded BS. Smaller scale (and admittedly more selfish), I'd like to see a large venue filled with people who are singing along with all our songs.
SETH: A world tour with The Killers. Is that too much to ask for?
BEN (drums): I, personally, love seeing new countries. I’d love for the band to be able to travel overseas and play a bunch of shows. Touring elsewhere is a ton of fun, and it’d be a blast with this group.
MATT: I just had my first daughter 5 months ago, so I’ll be mushy and say I’d love to live to walk her down the isle at her wedding someday. Also, of course, along with the guys, I’d just love to get to the point where we were headlining tours and had a strong, sustainable fanbase across the US and abroad.
TGM: When you released your EP, you did it in a clever way involving vending machines. Can you tell more about the story behind that and how that happened?
CASSANDRA: First, you pour all your energy and focus into writing and arranging songs that you really like. Then you pour all your energy and focus into recording those songs, making them sound as good as they can. When you finally have that recording in your hands, you need to pour all your energy and focus into getting it into other peoples' hands. You do that any and every way you can; selling CDs at shows isn't enough, you need to reach wider. We had access to a vending machine at a large sports complex, so we threw a few copies in there, put a sticker on the outside of the machine that said "Support Local Music! You won't regret it" and we sold all the copies of our EP that we put in there. It helped break up the monotony of asking friends/fans to buy it via social media and in person at our shows. It's fun to think that people who didn't know our band, haven't seen us live, bought our EP in a vending machine and may be driving around listening to us right now.
TGM: Ha! That is really cool and what an interesting way to promote an EP and I bet the people that didn’t know you before and bought the EP enjoyed what they heard. With that being said how would you describe your sound?
SETH: I’d say our sound is guitar driven with an emphasis on great tones, big hooks and melodies you can’t get out of your head. We spend a lot of time fine-tuning our songs so there’s a unique element to each individual song. The blank canvas of the melody over a single guitar lends itself for interpretation to the rest of the band members and we all collaborate on it from there to ultimately develop what it blossoms into.
TGM: Let’s dive deeper into that - what is your writing process like? Is it more collaborative or individual?
MATT: Seth will typically bring a chord progression and lyrics already in tact for a song. Sometimes, we will just begin jamming on a brand new song in full rehearsals and just all start hashing parts in real time. Mostly though, Seth and I will sit down and I’ll begin writing guitar parts off of his original structure so we at least have a general map of what the guitars will do going into full band rehearsals. From there, we begin jamming on it full band and songs can go all sorts of different directions with everyone just throwing out ideas as they come. With the end product being very collaborative, each new song usually take several weeks in rehearsals to finalize. It’s crazy sometimes to hear how much dynamically or arrangement wise some of our songs end up from where they started at that first rehearsal. That’s the cool thing about writing and creating together, also being patient and working on a song until it feels right to everyone.”
TGM: I saw that you guys performed on the main stage at the Mesa Music Festival in Arizona - what was that like? Any interesting stories from that festival?
BEN: It was hot and sweaty like rock n roll should be! The only real surprise for that show was actually finding and getting to the stage. It was our own little Spinal Tap moment. Overall, that was a fun one to play, though. Big stages are cool, and in some ways, are easier to play than smaller ones.
TGM: If you could headline one festival which one would it be?
MATT: I’d say Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza would be incredible
TGM: Those would be great - Bonnaroo is a favorite of mine so I’ll definitely have to make it out there if you guys headline! Individually, if you could only listen to (5) artists/bands for the rest of your life who would they be?
CASSANDRA: Wow, that's a tough question and I will be second-guessing my answer for weeks: 1) Elvis Costello and the Attractions 2) Cheap Trick 3) Frank Turner 4) Jimmy Eat World 5) Butch Walker
MATT: Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, The Beach Boys, MXPX and Copeland
SETH: In no particular order: Gerardo, Milli Vanilli, Chumbawamba, Smash Mouth, The Beatles (winks)
BEN: This is always a tough one to answer. There’s the Beatles that will always be timeless rock music and should be included. Further than that, though, I’d guess I’d want to find 4 other artists/bands that change things up a lot from record to record because I get bored easily. I think I’d just probably go crazy listening to only 5 bands.
TGM: And last but not least what does the rest of 2018 look like for you?
MATT: We will be staying busy playing mostly regional shows and a few Festivals through the Fall. There is always new music we are working on and have been playing a new song out about every 2 or 3 shows. So just keep writing and gearing up for our next run in the studio, no time table set on that yet.
A HUGE shout-out to Ben, Cassandra, Matt & Seth of New Chums for taking the time to answer some questions from Too Good Music! Be sure to keep up with them and everything new with New Chums below:
Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Twitter | Website
#music#alternative#indie#rock#new chums#interview#interviews#band#spotify#song#come on come on#music blog#festival#bonnaroo#lollapalooza#the beatles#jimmy eat world#phoenix#arizona#the killers
1 note
·
View note
Text
I Hate Rock & Roll
Tracey Grimson / On the Street
09.05.1995
As the Jesus & Mary Chain's machine of fuzz and feedback arrives in Sydney, Jim Reid explains how most folk have got his little sect all wrong.
"It seems like everything we do that doesn't have screeching feedback on it, people come out asking, Where's the feedback?'. We can't get away from it."
The Jesus & Mary Chain's Jim Reid is discussing that ol' albatross called "noise" which has been suspended around the neck of he and brother William since the album Psychocandy was released and justifiably lauded way back in late 1985. At the time, the record was highly regarded for its surreptitious fuzz power and its crafty take on the pop form, developing a new sound which came in the wake of the Brit punk scene but which arrived bearing just as much power, at the same time sparking a scene which the Mary Chain could claim as its own.
Retrospectively, Psychocandy is regarded as one of the most important records of the 80s and, gleaned together with Darklands, Automatic and their various singles, EPs and B-side collections, the Mary Chain have come to be touted as one of the most influencial outfits of the period. But did punters have a problem with their interpretation of the Mary Chain when the feedback gave way, as on their latest long-player Stoned and Dethroned, to more upfront acoustic renditions of songs, a clearer pop ideal?
"People focussed too much on the guitar side, the noise, the volume of the thing," says Reid, "and didn't really go too far into it to discover that there were good songs underneath. Although I'm talking about critics I suppose when you go out there and you meet people who buy your records, people do get the point. Unfortunately the people who seem to write for - particularly - the British music press don't."
When it comes to the "softer" Mary Chain of the mid-'90s, Reid concedes that Psychocandy may be a blight on the face of the group in the long run, especially as "people judge you by your debut in the music business". However, having an album hanging from your belt which is so broadly regarded as a benchmark isn't entirely problematic, especially when it means that "a lot of people get to hear about the band that otherwise wouldn't.
"But obviously it can also be a drawback," Reid continues. "It's like everything you do ten years after the record's out, people still compare to your first album. It's a bit of a pain sometimes.
"The problem with Psychocandy," he goes on, "is that it was the first album that came out to be that noisy and hard to ignore. If it had been album three or album four, I don't think we'd have had this problem. The fact that our first album was so extreme and was out in that particular musical climate, I think that's the problem."
When one considers Stoned and Dethroned in the light of Psychocandy, it's hard to imagine the same band producing both records - except, of course, for the songwriting sensibility which is at the forefront of each. But then again, Stoned probably sits perfectly in the Mary Chain's history. They are, as is the case with most bands which exist for long enough to actually "grow up", simply
more accessible these days, and you don't have to be a teenaged, gothed-up punk to acceptably label yourself a fan. Anyone who tells you that a lover of Psychocandy couldn't possibly get into Stoned and Dethroned has, unlike the Jesus & Mary Chain itself, stayed put in the mid-80s. And probably has the tragic haircut to prove it. As William Reid has been quoted as stating in the past, "The best groups don't follow their audience, their audience follows them."
"I think it was just that these batch of songs wouldn't have suited screeching noise guitar," says Jim of the context of the most recent record. "But we're not finished with noise. We like to do different types of sounds. The acoustic side has always been just as important to us as feedback and loud guitar. During the whole career of the band, if you look at each album, there's always somewhere represented as a slow, mellow, acoustic, ballad type."
When it comes to ballads, the Jesus & Mary Chain offered up one of the best pop numbers of last year with their first single from Stoned, Jim's duet with Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval, "Sometimes Always". The track was a melodic high, telling the age old story of boy-meeting-girl, girl-leaving-boy, girl-returning-to-boy, and everyone lives happily ever after.
"When we met in 1987," Reid says of his relationship with Sandoval, "she was in a band called Opal which was basically Mazzy Star with a different name; pretty much the whole band was there I think. It was weird - we were on tour with Opal and at the beginning of that tour Kendra [Smith] was singing, and then during the tour of America - a week or two into the tour - the band broke up and reformed with Hope on vocals. So that was where we met her."
Reid says that the reception in the UK to "Sometimes Always" was mixed: "I think a lot of people there weren't really sure what to make of it," Reid offers. At the suggestion of his brother joining him for the duet on their current Australian tour, Reid laughs. "Obviously Hope isn't with us, so we won't be doing that song."
The Reid brothers have extablished a notorious reputation for themselves as indulgent little monsters when it comes to the areas of booze and drugs. When questioned on the topic, Reid has been known to give responses along the lines of, "When you're on tour, you tend to over-indulge
in stuff like bad food and too much drink and whatever drugs anybody wants to give you."
This constant obsession with getting "fucked up" seems to comfortably match that non-guitar punk scene which blew out of all proportion in the UK in the late-80s - namely, the acid house/rave movement. As surprising as it may be, the Mary Chain have done their own tinkering in the techno-related.
"I got into it a few years back when everyone else did," Reid explains. "But I kind of went off it, for various reasons. At first it seemed to be quite exciting and now, looking back, it seems to be making the same kind of mistakes that rock & roll was making, if you know what I mean. Too formularised. I like the Prodigy - I think they're really good. But the thing that I like about the
Prodigy that's lacking in most other dance music is they've got some attitude in their music. There seems to be a kind of darkness that you don't get otherwise. A lot of the dance records that you hear either don't have lyrics of have stupid lyrics. Things like the title Music For a Jilted Generation, that's a good thing to say."
Reid confirms that there have been "occasional remixes" of Jesus & Mary Chain tracks, most notable being a re-working of the Honey's Dead track "Reverence", courtesy of the engineer from the KLF. "But," adds Reid, "that's pretty much it when it comes to our dabbling in dance music."
Regardless of the music they make or listen to however, it's fair to say that the Jesus & Mary Chain will always enjoy a taste of drink and drugs. Enter Shane MacGowan, rock's most public alcoholic, and the provider of vocals on one of the Stoned and Dethroned's highlights, "God Help Me".
"We'd never met him before," Reid explains, "so it's not like he was a personal friend. It's quite simple - we always listened to the Pogues, we always liked his voice, we thought he had a great voice, and we just thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to get Shane to sing on a Mary Chain song?'. You just ask people if they want to sing on your song and if they say no you've lost nothing. I think it worked out pretty well.
"We'd been told that he was into the Mary Chain," he continues, "and we kind of expected that he would do it. And I think the Pogues have done - or they did it once or twice at least - 'Darklands'; they used to do it live."
Reid is obviously pleased at MacGowan's slot on the record and of the Pogues' cover, just as he accepts as a total compliment any group giving a Mary Chain song their own rendering. It's especially flattering, he says, when he is an upstanding fan of a group beforehand, as with the Pixies who covered "Head On" on Trompe Le Monde.
"It was as much a surprise to us as it was to anybody else. We'd kind of heard just before it was released that they were doing it, but it was a wild card. But I've always liked them so it was even more flattering - a cover by a band that you actually respect anyway. Anybody doing a cover is flattering - any-body; it can only be a compliment. But when it's by a band that you've already
bought their records, it's even moreso."
What must also surely be an accolade for the band is that their B-side and out-take offerings (notably Barbed Wire Kisses and Sound of Speed) have been as critically praised and as well-received by fans as a new Mary Chain album.
"The reason we do those B-sides records," Reid explains, "is that we don't really think of the songs that go on the B-sides as B songs. Do you know what I mean? Some of those songs are just as important to us as album tracks or single A-sides. They are kind of raw, rougher, because you can set yourself a target and get maybe five songs done in two days. They come out kind of jagged and rough but I think that's the appeal."
And for anyone who's concerned that the Reids may be performing in something akin to acoustic mode on the tour to coincide with the mood of Stoned and Dethroned, never fear: The show will still be "loud and noisy, even though the album isn't", the band bringing their OTT collection of guitars along for the ride.
And, in keeping with their subversive style and pain-in-the-ass personalities, there will be a suitably-named tour EP released to coincide with the visit. Reid's voice suggests a smug Scottish grin as he offers up the title.
"I Hate Rock & Roll," he says. God bless the Jesus & Mary Chain.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Saturday, February 3rd, 2018 – Doll Skin Dominates a Spectacular Female-centric Lineup at The Curtain Club
Photos by Jordan Buford Photography
There was something kind of special happening at The Curtain Club on this Saturday night. It revolved around the fact that the Phoenix, Arizona-based Doll Skin was returning to Dallas for a headline show, and being an all-female group, it only made sense to feature similar type bands on the bill.
Presented and curated by IRock Entertainment, that was precisely the kind of show that had been put together. There was at least one woman in every band; and out of the five local support bands, two of them were also all-female groups. That’s something you don’t see all that often; the concert offering concertgoers a reminder of just how many talented female artists reside in the area, with a great up-and-coming national touring act to cap it off.
Things began with Plato’s Theory, a trio of siblings who made their (mostly) classical instruments fit in quite well in the hallowed hall of rock that is The Curtain Club. Maegan and Rose McKey played a cello and violin, respectively, while Mia rounded it out with a ukulele and provided the lead vocals. The only thing more surprising then the instruments they used was the vast array of songs they tackled. Originals were peppered in, though there were also a decent bit of covers, including what they came out of the gate with: Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. I don’t imagine anyone had ever heard such a young girl sing that song before, and they owned it, their rendition being something totally different. Vocally they kept its hip-hop roots intact, though also gave it a slight spoken word feel.
It was something different and certainly unexpected, the McKey sisters getting the night off to an excellent start, playing some fun and lovely music in the process.
This was THE night for trios. Most of the bands on the lineup were just three-piece outfits; Vannah Red being next up, and they kicked the show into high gear.
Their brief set passed by quickly, which speaks to how engrossing they made the performance. They were teeming with energy, Harrison Stringer leaping into the air on occasion, at least when he could break away from the microphone. Bassist Sam Thornton and drummer Megan Garcia comprised the dominant rhythm section, that force guiding the songs as they delivered their brand of fiery rock.
Following them was Not Ur Girlfrenz, who, in their own right, were the most impressive band of the night.
Barely teenagers (and in the case of one, slightly younger), the still fairly new group has been generating a lot of buzz lately. From winning a battle of the bands competition to already becoming regulars on the local club circuit, Not Ur Girlfrenz seem to be on the fast track to becoming local heavyweights.
Those not aware were going to get a crash course as to why they have been so hyped; a throng of supporters out in full force this night.
One of the most striking things about them was the level of showmanship they have already developed. The young girls already looked right at home on stage, radiating confidence as they ripped through their assortment of covers and originals. Singer and guitarist Liv Haynes did a great job at addressing the spectators and pumping them up; while much of what would have been dead air was filled by Maren Alford, the drummer laying down some light percussion, building to what was coming next.
They were at their best when performing though, their budding talent as musicians and the chemistry they struck up as a group being beyond impressive. Bassist Gigi Haynes even demonstrated that certain swagger that so many bass players seem to possess.
Their covers were wide-ranging, from stuff with a slight pop flare to full on rock songs (which included a surprising and topnotch rendition of Ram Jam’s “Black Betty”). The handful of originals they performed were great as well, being well ahead of what one might expect from musicians their age.
A prominent talent on the rise, it should be fun to watch how Not Ur Girlfrenz progress in the coming years. They’ll be releasing an original song on digital retailers soon, and will be back at The Curtain Club on February 22nd. Other shows they have coming up include one at Three Links in Dallas on March 18th as well as one in The Colony at Lava Cantina on April 18th supporting Bowling for Soup.
Xor had the job of finishing warming everyone up, bringing a little something different to the table. More alt-rock, they treated everyone to some cuts from 2017’s Defiance EP, the singer using a keyboard on some of the songs; and they even worked in a cover of a Paramore song for the sake of playing something most everyone would be familiar with.
Then it was time for what everyone had been waiting for, a strong gathering of Doll Skin fans turning out at The Curtain Club.
It was 11:20 when they hit the stage, frontwoman Sydney Dolezal beginning by urging everyone to come in closer, as she had a “secret” that she wanted to share. Sitting on one of the monitors, she put the microphone down and in a hushed voice built some suspense regarding what she was going to say, laughing some and as she tried to keep a straight face.
“We are Doll Skin…” she whispered, abruptly shifting to a shout as she proclaimed they were there to rip “your faces off!”
With that they were off, “Road Killa” setting their dynamic 44-minute long set in motion. It provided an exceptional start, the intensity instantly going through the roof; the rapid-fire assault on the drum kit that Meghan Herring unleashed along with the flurry of soaring riffs practically demanding everyone’s undivided attention.
2017’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl would be their main focus for the night, and they followed that opener up with a couple more of the most spirited songs on it. That included what Dolezal noted was their “jumpy song”, encouraging everyone to join in with them. Indeed, quite a few patrons did, bouncing around to the energetic “Shut Up (You Miss Me)”. The pronounced beats and pulsating bass lines courtesy of Nicole Rich made it conducive for such behavior; and it showcased just what a threat they are in the vocal department, Herring, Rich and guitarist Alex Snowden chiming in with the backing vocals on those vibrant choruses. What resulted sounded stupendous, “Shut Up (You Miss Me)” standing out as a favorite of their set.
The next original song they did found them digging back a bit, to their In Your Face (Again) EP. It was for a special occasion, as some parents had brought out their young daughter to see what was her first ever concert. Dolezal pointed all that out, and wanting to make the night as memorable as possible for her, stated they had every intention of playing her favorite song.
That wound up being “Let's be Honest”; Dolezal kneeling at the edge of stage left at one point, singing right to their young fan. Moments later the frontwoman was seen leaning against Snowden as she began to shred on the sizzling solo the track boasts.
There had been no indication of it, but after wrapping up “Baby's Breath” Dolezal admitted to battling some sickness. Plagued by congestion, it came in handy on “Persephone”, as she remarked beforehand that the sinus issues made screaming easier. Their heaviest song of the night, the blistering number escalated their performance into something vicious and raw. Seething anger punctuated every second of it; Dolezal laying down on the floor in the final stretch and giving an impassioned performance.
She seemed to have stronger reservations about how being sick might affect their Alanis Morissette cover, telling the audience she was about to “butcher” it. Herring left her kit for the beginning of “Uninvited”, briefly taking over the mic on stage left, providing a mix of backing and lead vocals before they really kicked the song in. If battling sickness did impact the song, it sure wasn’t noticeable, that cover being even more riveting live than it is on their latest album. It comes across as an atypical song choice for the quartet, yet also fits so well with their style as they keep it true to form while injecting it with their own flare. It’s gritty and in-your-face, just like Doll Skin.
Their abundant energy and enthusiasm only grew more powerful as they knocked out a couple more tracks from their EP, before arriving at their final song. One every fan had been waiting for. “It’s about a pest control problem we currently have…” Dolezal stated in advance of their most punk song they have in their arsenal: “Puncha Nazi”. From the message to the urgency, it’s rooted in true punk and provided a fun and exhilarating finish to what had been an incredible show.
This event as a whole hadn’t just been shining a light on female musicians, but also young ladies in the industry who are cutting their teeth and/or starting to make a name for themselves. In the case of Doll Skin, most of the members are still in their late teens, or not much older. It was easy to forget that, though, the way they carried themselves and the caliber of performance that they delivered making them look more like seasoned veterans. A clear sign that their rigorous touring schedule has pushed them to be the best possible live band that they can be.
They owned the stage, emitting an authoritative aura that compelled everyone to give Doll Skin their complete attention. Fierce and aggressive, they gave everyone a no holds barred performance; Snowden constantly demonstrating a mastery of the guitar, while Herring hammered out the beats with unrelenting force. Rich was a livewire at times, yet also radiated that certain charisma that bassists have, while Dolezal worked to build a rapport with the crowd and make sure the patrons felt a connection with they were doing.
Their chemistry as a unit was every bit as impressive as their individual talents. Dolezal frequently interacted with Snowden during the show; and Rich and Snowden often convened in front of the drum riser, and along with Herring demonstrated their sheer might.
As impressive a live act as they proved to be, their music is every bit as enthralling in its own right. Doll Skin has made themselves rather versatile, being a mix of anything from rock to punk or hard rock, with some pop sensibilities thrown in for good measure. They have a core style, though every song sounds different, which goes a long way in keeping the music fresh.
All together that has it looking like Doll Skin is poised for much bigger things. Already having logged five years together, the dedication is certainly there, as is the passion, which should see plenty more successes come their way.
They’ll be embarking on a European tour in March, with a hometown show in Phoenix, AZ planned for February 23rd at Crescent Ballroom. More info on their upcoming dates can be found HERE; and preview or purchase Manic Pixie Dream Girl in iTUNES or GOOGLE PLAY.
It was late, though the night wasn’t quite over yet.
Holly West was closing out the show, making her return to the stage of The Curtain Club. “I haven’t played The Curtain Club in years,” she remarked during her set. “I haven’t, either,” Vinnie Parma added, both of them having been part of the band Honey a few years back.
Since, West has been pursuing some solo stuff, and just this past fall released her debut EP, Mokita. They would play several of the cuts from it and then some as they delivered a show that was pure, no frills rock ‘n’ roll. Those who stuck around late enough seemed entranced by it, thoroughly enjoying what they were witnessing.
Seeing her on her own was a first for me. Her material sounds great, especially in the live environment; West’s rich and powerful voice having a distinct quality that is unlike many other vocalists out there.
They wrapped up the show in style, and what a night it had been.
Every band that performed was different in their own way, yet the various styles meshed together exceptionally well. That made it all the more enjoyable, because nothing every felt repetitive. Best of all, it was awesome to see some of the fine female talent out there. Lineups like this just don’t happen often enough, and unless you pay a lot of attention to everything going on in the North Texas area, it can be easy to forget just how many female fronted bands or women singer/songwriters are out there. It’s a more substantial amount than some would think, so it was cool to see even a small selection of them on the same bill. From established veterans of the local scene to touring acts on the rise and the next crop of musicians looking to make their mark, it was an absolutely stellar night of music.
#Doll Skin#Doll Skin 2018#Doll Skin Dallas#Doll Skin Review#Doll Skin Live Review#Doll Skin Concert Review#Doll Skin Show Review#Doll Skin The Music Enthusiast#Doll Skin Jordan Buford Photography#The Music Enthusiast#2018#Dallas#Texas#DFW#Music#Review#Live Music#Deep Ellum#The Curtain Club#Curtain Club#Dallas Music Blog#Texas Music Blog#Jordan Buford Photography#Sydney Dolezal#Alex Snowden#Nicole Rich#Meghan Herring#Not Ur Girlfrenz#Vannah Red#Plato’s Theory
1 note
·
View note
Text
my thoughts on the gintama live action movie
(ft. spoilers on the ending of the movie/the changes made to the Benizakura retelling, and a rant concerning my fave character, Katsura Kotarou)
When I first found out that the Gintama live action movie would be playing in the cinemas of my country, I’m pretty sure I screamed for joy, and then began impatiently checking for session dates and times so I could watch it the first chance I got.
That chance came a few days ago, when I flew to Sydney for a quick weekend getaway trip with my friend, and honestly, the opportunity couldn’t have been better.
After getting haphazardly lost and confused about Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter looking for the cinema, we walked maybe a few minutes late into the start of the movie to find a COMPLETELY EMPTY THEATRE!!
Just to confirm how empty it was but for me and my friend, I took a super blurry selfie:
It was honestly so awesome, because it meant we got to talk and laugh freely, and I could refresh her memory as to characters and their backstories and motives as needed (she’s not quite a Gintama fan, but she’s watched a few eps a long time ago and generally knows about and likes the series).
For me, this really, really added to the experience, because the movie is most definitely something you want to be able to share with friends and have a laugh about.
I have to admit that I did have my reservations about the movie before watching it, mostly because the trailer made it seem as if the movie was setting out to be a serious, action-driven version with comedy moments thrown for no seemingly coherent reason. I worried that the glaringly cartoonish CGI and post-production edits found in pretty much every live action anime adaptation would simply be too surreal and …emphatic, shall we say, for a “real” setting, and that that would continually visually jar me out of the movie to the point of being unable to enjoy it. Throw in the questionable costume designs, and the seemingly awkward acting that comes from playing exaggeratedly expressive anime characters in a straight and serious manner, and yeah, for all my excitement and anticipation, I had my doubts.
Ten minutes in, and I realised that every point of potential concern that I had had was really, genuinely what gave the movie the heart and warmth of Gintama, pushing the visuals and scenes to levels of ridiculousness that just worked. After all, how could I not giggle at CGI sparkles glinting off Kondou’s honey covered body, or at the fact that half the actors were walking around in freaking velvet lined kimonos? I was so happy at the way the movie was so self-aware and didn’t take itself seriously as per true Gintama-style, allowing them to use post-effects in genuinely funny ways.
The wacky, B-grade-feels acting was great too, because you could tell where the actors were having fun and you just had to smile too. The charming wackiness of their overacting captured the spirit of the characters exceptionally, and I have to give a special shout-out to Jiro Sato, Ken Yasuda, Masaki Suda, and Kanna Hashimoto for their respective roles as Henpeita Takechi, Tetsuya Murata, Shinpachi, and Kagura. Straight up, any scenes with them, especially the former two, were utterly hilarious, and had both me and my friend laughing for the acting.
This is all to share with you the feel-good vibes and genuine happiness I got from watching the Gintama live action, and to say that the coming rant I really made this post for does not in any way detract from my overall enjoyment and love for the movie.
But I have to say it.
(Note: this is also where spoilers come in)
I was, and remain, so, so, so disappointed with how they changed the ending to the Benizakura Arc, because it really drove home for me just how much the nuances of Katsura Kotarou’s character gets side-lined for other characters.
Perhaps this is a petty complaint driven entirely by my unashamed love and complete bias for Zura, but it is nevertheless one that left me leaving the cinema feeling disgruntled however much I enjoyed the movie in its entirety.
(Zura’s pretty face, because I couldn’t help myself and there was no one around to stop me)
Considering that this movie was made to be accessible to both Gintama fans and newcomers alike, the way characters were introduced is pivotal to how the audience is meant to understand the role of each character. In Zura’s case, his introduction, as well as his main scenes in the first half of the movie, is to set up his relationship to Gintoki as friend and comrade-in-arms.
Even before we learn of his position as Joui patriot, we learn that he would face and fight a running horde of armed police officers in support and defence of his friend, a relationship and character trait that is further highlighted in their next scene together where their history as schoolmates and war brothers is revealed.
Whether for plot purposes or not, the movie goes out of its way at the start to establishment this relationship dynamic between them, which is why it both infuriated and saddened me when at the climax of the movie, in the showdown between Gintoki and Takasugi, the script left Zura literally standing on the sidelines while his beloved childhood friends beat the ever-loving shit out of each other.
Just stood there.
Watching.
Not saying a word.
Not rushing in to separate the two closest people he has, not lifting a single finger to try and stop them.
Just stood there, until the script was ready for Gintoki to make his escape, at which point Katsura was finally allowed to come in and help a bloodied and bruised Gin to his feet so they could jump off the side of the ship together.
Leaving Katsura off to the side like that does a complete disservice to his character, as well as the complex relationship Gin, Zura and Takasugi are meant to have as battle-scarred childhood friends and disciples of Shouyou. Because it is not in any iterations of Katsura’s character to stand still and do nothing when the people he loves rage and hurt (and he loves Gin and Sugi, wholly, with every ounce of his being, and will hope and wait for them until the end of earth and time). Even at his most determined to kill Takasugi, he stands and talks to him first, tries to reason and offer something more beyond the world’s mere destruction, tries to remind Takasugi of the people still left behind. (It’s interesting in a way, how Zura accepts Takasugi in his madness and in his subtle way, wants to remind Takasugi of who he once was (who he once wanted to be) and what he once fought for, wants to slowly steer Takasugi to that person once more, the way Gintoki did for him; whereas Gintoki would kill that Takasugi to preserve the memory of the Takasugi-that-once-was.)
Zura has an extraordinarily deep and complex love for the two men he once fought beside, burdened as it is with the shared trauma of their sensei’s death and their loss in the war, and I do not accept that he would just stand there while those two men, for all intents and purposes, tried to kill each other.
There has always been a strong emphasis on the GinTaka relationship in the series, the love-hate, friendship-rivalry, resignation-rage, push-pull between them that’s unique to them—and that’s fine, except for me, this happens all too often at the expense of Zura, who’s contribution and added layered to their relationship is left forgotten or ignored. This maddens me sooo much, both in an angry way and a drives-me-up-the-wall-mad way, because it blithely disregards the intricacies and subtleties of their past, present and future, as if it never would have really mattered whether Zura was there or not.
Zura’s lack of presence and weight in formulating GinTaka’s relationship, and the role Shouyou’s remaining disciples are meant to play, has only been becoming more and more pronounced as the series has continued on and the focus concerning the relationship between Shouyou’s disciples stays stubbornly centred on Gintoki and Takasugi.
For example, in the animated Benizakura movie, Takasugi’s speech about wanting to destroy the world and his reasons for it are delivered to Katsura, and Katsura only. This then makes Katsura contemplative, resulting in his question about the divergence of their paths to Gintoki during their escape, as well as the question about each of the copies of their notebooks from their student says. With a kind of forced detachment, Gin replies that he spilt ramen on it and threw it away.
Comparatively, in the live action, while Takasugi’s dialogue about destroying the world is still delivered to Katsura, the bubbling rage of his reasons is directed at Gintoki, with Katsura off-scene assumedly dealing with Amanto. This split between who the dialogue is being delivered to subsequently puts the escape-contemplation scene out of context: without Takasugi’s reference to the man they lost and the reason for his rage against the world, would Katsura have been driven to ask Gintoki his question about their shared childhood? With Takasugi’s rage and accusation in his face, would Gintoki be able to reply, so stoically, that he threw spilt ramen on, and then threw away, a remaining memento of the man he looked up to. cherished and almost broke his soul for? (Perhaps you could argue that he would, but I think about the Shogun Assassination Arc, and I simply don’t see it.)
Like I said, perhaps this is a petty frustration, but I have been having these feelings for a while, especially with the way that Takasugi and Katsura have barely been allowed any time to interact in the manga/anime since their conflict during the Benizakura Arc. I keep feeling as if the potential for the nuances in their relations is ignored, as well as further development of each of their characters through an exploration of their three-way relationship. Just to make myself clear, I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be an indepth look at, and emphasis on, the GinTaka relationship, because that is one of the most intriguing, heartbreaking and powerful relationships in the series, or that Zura hasn’t been mostly treated decently as a character or anything along those lines. I just wish that the relationship the three of them have with each other could be explored more evenly, because I think that would add a richness and extra dimensions to their status as Shouyou’s disciples, particularly in seeing whether they have outgrown it, endeavour to live by it, or are almost destroying themselves with its weight.
My feelings about the unevenness of the GinTakaZura relationship aside, the Gintama live action movie is a must-see for Gintama fans. It’ll give you warm fuzzy feelings like hot chocolate or coffee (whatever your preference) and if you let yourself get swept along for the ride, I guarantee you’ll leave the theatre (or your living room!) grinning like a maniac.
;D
#gintama#gintama live action#review#i need a tag for my rambles#i should read over this again later to check for typos and stuff
14 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Getting To Know...
Sloan Peterson.
Sloan Peterson is the new project from the Sydney-based songwriter Joe Jackson. Jackson moved to Sydney as a teenager and spent years recording music through her laptop, filming homemade music videos, sifting through dusty records searching for lost gems with friends and lovers as they they came and went. Now aged 24 she is Sloan Peterson: a love child of ‘50s guitar pop and modern garage rock, bursting with a warmth that’s inseparable from her private identity.
Her debut single '105' featured an accompanying video directed by Pete Moore and made in collaboration with The Strand Arcade. It was the first to be shot in the historic building since David Bowie's music video for 'Let's Dance.' It also features a cast of alumni dancers from the Australian Ballet School and Sydney Dance Company. The video for her follow-up single 'Rats' was directed by Luke Stephenson and can be seen below.
Both '105' and 'Rats' are taken from Sloan Peterson's upcoming eponymous EP which arrives September 22 via Mirror Records.
We had a quick chat with the singer-songwriter about her influences, her debut EP and more. Read it below.
You forged your taste in music through involvement in Sydney's South Coast DIY art scene as a teenager. Tell us a bit more about that experience and how it has shaped the kind of artist you are today.
“I came out of a really destructive environment in Brisbane, surrounding myself with people that didn’t have the best intentions for my wellbeing, so moving down to Cronulla was the best thing that ever happened to me. There was a group of like-minded people i met down there, that really helped shape me to who i have become now. Music has been an outlet for me creatively and emotionally, it’s kept me going really when all else feels too much.”
Your music is described as 50s guitar pop combined with modern garage rock. What or who, would you say, have been the greatest influences on your songwriting and the sound you have created?
“The Beatles, The Strokes, The Who, The Kinks basically any band starting with ‘THE’ haha.
“And Angel Olsen and Julia Jacklin.”
You'll be releasing your self-titled debut EP on September 8. It's a beautiful record that includes the brilliant singles '105' and 'Rats'. What was the inspiration behind the EP? What was your songwriting process?
“It tends to vary throughout the EP. I wrote most of the songs when i was younger a few I wrote the day before recording them. They have been recorded a bunch of times with different producers, different players each time. The songs just grew and grew into what they are now.”
What was your favourite part recording your first EP and what have you gained from the experience?
“Not sure about favourite part, probably watching the tracks develop and come together, also working with so many great people. We finished the EP in LA with Chris Collins. That was fun being there putting on the final touches.”
Which artists/bands are you into at the moment? Is there anyone you would like to work with and why?
“The Lemon Twigs, amazing talented young musicians great live show too!
“Julian Jacklin, she writes the most beautiful lyrics, its incredible, I would love to tour with her sometime. Same with French artist Laure Briard, she has an amazing record out.”
Finally, what's next for Sloan Peterson? Any plans to tour overseas? Plans for a full length album?
“Haha, yup all in the works! Next year should be a pretty busy year!”
youtube
1 note
·
View note
Last Seen Blogs
xasteroirisx
xasteroirisx
angel-impact
my stalwart heart
sakura-braus
It's My Life
woongieus
🌏❤🌙
shalzies
OBLIVIATE