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VIDEO PREMIERE: Red Porch Kid Gets Layered & Visual With “Minor Hill”

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Red Porch Kid is an American rock band formed in 2015 by singer/songwriter and producer Michael Stovall. A founding member of the band Jackson Jones – which disbanded in 2008, Stovall began touring and recording music as a solo act. In 2014 he released his only solo record Georgia, which Tony Keefer of The Music Room called “A true work of Art”. After settling in Nashville, TN in 2015, Stovall began to focus more on producing albums – including his own record Rocketship under the moniker Red Porch Kid, which was released on January 27, 2017.  Stovall took the reigns on mixing and engineering the record in his Nashville apartment, along with playing all of the instruments on the record.

Glide is premiering the video for “Minor Hill,” a track that echoes of the psychedelic class rock hints of War on Drugs, while embracing its own cathartic song melodies and embellishes; the kaleidoscope video provides some visual adventures to behold. Red Porch Kid is a name that may evoke folk and acoustic, but there are more rooms of this house to be heard and unraveled.

“When I finished recording Minor Hill, I knew that I wanted the entire record to have a similar sound, “says Stovall. “That song is one of my favorites on the record because it is so layered, but it doesn’t sound crowded to me. I’m proud of this one.”

 

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Mistress of Horror Jovanka Vuckovic Talks ‘XX’ and the Female Perspective (INTERVIEW)

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One of the biggest names in horror is one that you might not know. Yet.

Jovanka Vuckovic has been working steadily within the horror community for years now. A former editor of the Canadian horror magazine Rue Morgue, Vuckovic has been instrumental in the rise of horror culture over the last decade and was twice named one of the most important women in the history of the genre, an accolade she shares with the likes of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and Debra Hill, producer and co-writer of the original Halloween. Somehow, this is the least of her accomplishments.

She’s also a Gemini award winning visual effects artist, author of the literal book on zombies, and an acclaimed short film director. Her debut short, The Captured Bird, was produced by none other than Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro, and went on to capture imaginations of—and terrify—audiences around the globe. Her follow up, The Guest, raised her acclaim even higher, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of their Emerging Filmmakers Competition.

But even that is only the beginning. Vuckovic’s star seems destined to rise even higher with the release of XX, an all-female directed horror anthology which features her largest, most ambitious work to date. I recently had the chance to speak with the director about her work on XX, the importance of the female perspective in the world of horror, and her plans for the future.

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Can you tell us a little bit about how XX came together?

My friend, producer Todd Brown, and I kind of had the same idea at the same time. I’ve been working in the horror genre for a very long time and I noticed the real lack of women and that we’ve been misrepresented in front of the screen and under-represented behind the camera for a very long time. We decided to do something about it. You’re probably not familiar with the numbers, the diversity report that was recently released. Out of all the working directors, just 7% are women. Those numbers are very low, pretty dismal. It’s a complex problem, getting more women directors hired. There’s no easy solution. XX was something actionable that we could actually do. Todd, as a film producer, he was able to bring financing, real money, and we were off to the races. We just started making a list of directors that we wanted to approach to be a part of the anthology.

Are there any plans to turn this into a franchise?

Yes, definitely. The whole idea always was that we create an incentive to create more opportunities for women where there were none. The model was we would have a few experienced feature film directors and then we would sneak in one or two up and comers. If XX was successful, I think Todd had always planned to do another one, but with a different line up of directors. Some [big] name directors and some new people that need a break. As difficult as it is, it’s probably not that different from music where sometimes you just need that first break.

the box screenshot

So going off that a little bit, I’ve noticed in the last year, year and a half, there’s been an increase in better representation for women on screen in the horror genre. Like you’ve got The Witch, Darling, I Am the Pretty Thing Who Lives in the House, The Eyes of My Mother.

Those are all really good movies, by the way.

I know! But I’m still a bit disheartened, as fan, to see that it’s all men directing, especially within the horror genre.

Thankfully there are some women. There are some women. We have that movie Raw that’s coming out, Jennifer Kent did The Babadook, and Ana Lily Amirpour did A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. There are some more examples of women directing horror films at the indie level. It’s that making the next step to the next budget tier that is very difficult for women. That’s not to say that men can’t tell stories about women. Of course they can. It’s just that, in the last 100 years, 90% of all films have been made by men. The point of view has traditionally been male. Now that we have more women writing and directing feature films in the horror genre, we’re just starting to see new perspectives. That’s a good thing. It’s a good thing because the horror genre is badly in need of a new perspective. The horror genre, in particular, could benefit from new perspectives.

Your segment, “The Box,” is based on a short story by Jack Ketchum. What drew you to adapt that story?

I read it years ago when it first came out, in the 90s. It was inside a collection called Peaceable Kingdom. He’s more well known for being a splatter-fiction guy, he’s one of the kings of splatter-fiction. His stuff is, like, really dark and really violent. But, this one story kind of stood out. It was like a little existential horror story, and it reminded me of The Twilight Zone. My original idea for XX was a bit too expensive for the budget, so “The Box” came to mind and I thought that would be really cool, it would be like my opportunity to do an episode of The Twilight Zone. That’s why I went for it.

I love that you told it from the mom’s perspective. I think that it gave the story more oomph and power.

Again, when Jack wrote the story, he’s a man, and he wrote it from his point of view and at that time there were more women at home with their kids and the dad was the one who went away to work and didn’t have quality time with his family. Nowadays things are changing. There’s a lot more stay at home dads and women are going off to work and they’re busy and struggling with challenges of raising a family and not being around them very much.

I did change the gender of the protagonist because of necessity, in order to fit the mandate of the anthology—they all had to be about women lead characters. But when that happened, when I did that, this amazing thing happened and it opened up a new storytelling possibility for me. It suddenly became about how all women aren’t capable of being mothers and how the demand of motherhood isn’t meant for everyone. It was kind of an accident that it ended up being about the mother—it had to—but I’m glad that it turned out that way because it ended up being more meaningful for me.

Natalie Brown in The Box (Magnet Releasing)

Natalie Brown in The Box (Magnet Releasing)

How do you feel about the resurgence in anthology films that’s been happening in recent years? What do to think is driving this trend?

You know, the anthology format has had a long history in horror, all the way back to the 30s. It’s sort of always been around. I think horror fans really love to see these kind of really short bon bons by their favorite voices. You don’t have to invest too much into them because they’re over after 20 minutes, they’re just fun. For the most part, most of these anthologies are really fun. Ours, of course, is heavily politicized, so it comes with all that baggage, of the politics of women’s filmmaking. But if you just set that aside, and just watch it, and don’t think about gender, they’re just four really great horror stories and a wrap-around segment.

You’ve directed a lot of shorts in your day and I know you’re starting to work on your first feature. Can you tell us anything about that? Is that a daunting task?

No, I’m definitely ready. I’ve spent the last eight years working towards this, working towards establishing myself as a writer and director. I have a feature film that I’m writing that’s like a hyper-violent supernatural thriller about a woman who has terminal brain cancer and has to kill five people in order to save her own skin. The other project that I’ve just recently been attached to is a sci-fi action film, not a horror, called Riot Girls. It’s not horror, but it’s a post-apocalypse story. It’s all involving kids and there’s a lot of violence in it. I’m ready. I’m ready to make feature films. I look forward to it.

XX opens in limited release, and is available on demand, beginning Friday, February 17.

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The post Mistress of Horror Jovanka Vuckovic Talks ‘XX’ and the Female Perspective (INTERVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Film Bits: ‘The Bad Batch’ Trailer; Luke Evans Teases ‘Gaston’

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‘The Bad Batch’ Trailer Shows Glimpse of Fabulous Wasteland

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Ana Lily Amirpour made waves with her debut film, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Now, you can watch the first trailer for his follow up feature, The Bad Batch. Keanu Reeves (John Wick) and Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) star in this thriller about a group of outcasts living in anarchy in the deserts near Texas. Featuring a slick synthesized soundtrack, the trailer shows us how much Amirpour’s already distinctive visual flair has grown since her last film, and gives us a small taste of the insanity to come from this post-apocalyptic romp. The Bad Batch is expected on June 23.

(YouTube)

Luke Evans Teases ‘Gaston’ in ‘Beauty and the Beast’

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On Good Morning America, actor Luke Evans debuted a clip of himself in the upcoming live action remake of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast. The clip gives us a small taste of how the film will portray the iconic song, “Gaston.” So far, the ad campaign has focused largely on Emma Watson’s Belle with only brief glimpses of the self-involved antagonist vying for her affections. Though the clip is short, it does give us a bit of insight into Gaston’s portrayal, which so far seems to be translating nice into the live action format. We won’t know for sure until Beauty and the Beast is released on March 16, but it seems safe to say that Disney has done it again. Skip to about 2:42 to see the clip.

(Good Morning America)

Live Action ‘Mulan’ Finds Director

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Speaking of Disney live action remakes, the Mouse House has announced that Niki Caro (Whale Rider) will helm the live action remake of Mulan. This comes on the heels of the announcement several months ago that Disney would be searching for actors in mainland China to portray the characters, which are based on a famous Chinese legend. No word yet on who will step into the roles, but the project is still in the early stages of development, so more should be coming soon.

(THR)

Robert Downey Jr and Richard Linklater Team for Movie Based on Podcast

Robert Downey Jr and Richard Linklater have teamed for an as-yet-untitled film about notorious scam artist Dr. John Brinkley. Downey acquired the rights to the story based on an episode of the podcast “Reply All,” which last month unraveled the tale of Brinkley, who amassed fortune and fame via the then new medium of radio, and the American Medical Association editor Dr. Morris Fishbein who spent the better part of a decade on a quest to bring him down. Downey is currently attached to star in the film, which is set to be directed by Linklater. No word yet on who might pen the screenplay.

(Deadline)

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Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks, X Top Burger Boogaloo 2017 Lineup

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Today, Oakland’s favorite music festival (as voted by the readers of the East Bay Express), Burger Boogaloo, which happens July 1st & 2nd at Mosswood Park, announces its line-up for 2017, and whoo-boy it’s a doozy. The most ambitious lineup yet, Burger Boogaloo is celebrating its 5th year at Mosswood by announcing Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks, X, Guitar Wolf, and many more will be joining this year’s festivities. And naturally, the event will be hosted by the inimitable John Waters yet again (his third year as host! If that’s not a seal of approval, we don’t know what is!). Every year the Burger Boogaloo surprises the audience with its unique, over-the-top stage sets and productions. Last year the Mummies drove in to the park in their 1966 Pontiac Bonneville Mummies Mobile, and played their headlining set on top of the car. What surprises are in store this year? Who the hell knows?

Because Mosswood Park has always been so generous to the Boogaloo, this year, the festival donated 100% of the first week of early bird ticket sales to the park to help rebuild their recreation center, which burned down last year. If you’d like to contribute to Mosswood Park’s Rec Center fund, you can do so here. Burger Boogaloo would like to thank all who purchased those tickets for their donations to Mosswood.

Tickets go on sale at 10 AM PST/1PM EST, with 2-day general admission passes for $129 and VIP 2-day passes for $199 (includes a swag bag with mixtape, a college diploma, and more, as well as unlimited exit/reentry privileges!). Single-day tickets can be purchased for Saturday and Sunday at $99 and $69, respectively. Tickets can be purchased here: http://burgerboogaloo.com/.

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 SATURDAY, JULY 1ST
Iggy Pop
Guitar Wolf
NoBunny
Baby Shakes
Bloodshot Bill
Personal & The Pizzas
Wounded Lion
Car Crash

SUNDAY, JULY 2ND 
Buzzcocks
X
NRBQ
Roy Loney (Flamin’ Groovies)
Shannon & The Clams
Quintron & Ms. Pussycat
La Luz
Jacuzzi Boys
Glitter Wizard

 

 

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Robert Randolph & The Family Band Still ‘Got Soul’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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robertrandolphgotsoulRobert Randolph falls into the category of virtuoso artist who has yet to truly capture his talents on a studio album. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, he has good company (contemporaries Trombone Shorty and Gary Clark Jr. quickly come to mind) and is happy to make his way via the live show which he excels at. Got Soul isn’t changing that assessment, but these gospel/funky/blues tunes are all infused with a sense of pop sheen and will be easily transferable to the stage while also working well enough in the headphones.

The pattern seems to be locked in for The Family Band at this point in their studio recording career. Mix all of the styles that they employee, bring in a talented producer (Matt Pierson) along with guests that fit the family philosophy (and who may also bring new ears to the album) then sprinkle in a cover for seasoning. Opening with the pedal steel scratching title track and it’s sister number “She’s Got Soul” the band struts out its style with help from Anthony Hamilton on vocals for the latter. For those new to the group this pairing will instantly let you know what they are about; powerful riffs, clear references to past influences and a sense that they can tear it open when necessary. “She Got Soul” in particular is an energetic rave up, but it also shows some of the drawbacks they have as it runs long and contains a few stutters that keep it from storming the gates.

The band paired up with Darius Rucker for “Love Do What It Do” and the track screams to be a single. This is the most radio friendly the group has ever sounded and could easily be blared out of honky-tonks in Nashville to drunken revelers delight. They Family Band haven’t abandoned the church as “Find A Way” is some heavy gospel and ”Be the Change” calls out to the entire congregation to make a difference, while the funky closer “Gonna Be Alright” provides hope to the masses (“Talking to the black man and the white man too/and the policeman and LGBTQ”). Corey Henry drops by to help with the cover of Sam & Dave’s “I Thank You” that is admirable but not reinventive, while “I Want It” and “Shake It” are fine riff heavy singalongs but don’t add too much to the overall proceedings.

The best tracks on any RR&TFB offering usually come by way of the instrumentals and “Travelin’ Cheeba Man” is a damn good one, but this time “Lovesick” is also a must hear. It has some frenetic funky energy and slamming drums that cook from the drop highlighting Got Soul. With tracks like these, the album will provide kindling for the group to burn up stages across the country on the Family Band’s next tour.

 

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Jens Lekman Creates Finest Album To Date With ‘Life Will See You Now’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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jenslifeTen years ago, night fell over Kortadela. On his vividly colored, sample-heavy 2007 breakthrough LP, Swedish songwriter Jens Lekman juxtaposes vibrant pop with dryly funny quotidian narratives. Lekman is adept at making even the most mundane, fleeting moments seem significant. It helps that he’s a hilarious narrator to boot: on “The Opposite of Hallelujah,” one of Night Falls over Kortadela‘s highlights, he recounts, “I picked up a seashell to illustrate my homelessness / But a crab crawled out of it making it useless.” A herky-jerky drumbeat clashes with lilting strings atop Lekman’s narrative, lifting a droll narrative into sheer pop joy.

On I Know What Love Isn’t, Lekman’s 2012 followup to Night Falls over Kortadela, retains his lyrical quirks while calming down the sonic heteroglossia of its predecessor. The appellation “singer-songwriter” has long been a fair one to use in describing Lekman, but more than any of his other releases I Know What Love Isn’t is his “singer-songwriter album.” Many of that album’s best numbers – the title track, “Erika America,” “Become Someone Else’s” – work well as stripped-down acoustic numbers, as Lekman’s charming Tiny Desk concert evinces. By contrast, something is lost if the flurried strings and sampled beats on the tracks of Night Falls over Kortadela aren’t used in performance.

In the press release for Life Will See You Now, Lekman’s fifth studio record, he writes of I Know What Love Isn’t, “I went on tour and it was tough because that album was delicate and sad and understandably not as popular as Night Falls Over Kortedala. So going on tour and playing that album live was tough. A lot of shows were half-full and some nights it just felt like everyone was waiting to hear the old songs.” I Know What Love Isn’t is a significant but not complete break from the album that came before it, yet in Lekman’s account many perceived it as a diversion from an inimitable sound, rather than a variation on a pre-existing theme. When on I Know What Love Isn’t‘s title track Lekman sings, “I hate bands / It’s always packed with men spooning their girlfriends / Clutching their hands as if they let go / Their feet would lift from the ground and ascend,” it requires little effort on the part of the listener to link that story-song with those on Night Falls over Kortadela.

Life Will See You Now will appeal to those who, upon hearing I Know What Love Isn’t, yearned for the high quirk factor of Night Falls over Kortadela. But Life Will See You Now is also a clear product of its predecessor, particularly at the level of composition. Night Falls over Kortadela is defined by a patchwork songwriting technique, with layers of samples and instrumentation glued next to each other like letters on a ransom note. By contrast, Life Will See You Now is equally as colorful – perhaps even more so – but its songwriting is more organic. The presence of more live instruments ends up being a linchpin in Life Will See You Now‘s greatest success: synthesizing Night Falls over Kortadela with I Know What Love Isn’t, taking the strongest elements of both and melding them together. The result is Lekman’s finest album to date.

Throughout the ten tracks of Life Will See You Know, you’ll rarely have the impulse to skip a track. The suspenseful guitar riff on lead single “What’s that Perfume You Wear?” builds into a chorus that explodes with steel drums. The ebullient “To Know Your Mission” opens with the broad sweep of a Broadway musical, albeit one tempered by Lekman’s lyrical precision. After remembering a Mormon missionary he saw walking through Gothenburg one morning, Lekman moves to the broader question of finding meaning in one’s life, all the while finding the time to throw in the line, “Will Smith, Puff Dady, Gala, Chumbawamba.” The somber, piano-led late album cut “Postcard #17″ is one of Lekman’s best reflective moments, capturing him in a bout of writer’s block: “I couldn’t even write about it in my diary / Or shape the sound of the words.”

In the stacked tracklisting of Life Will See You Now, Lekman saves the best for the middle, which helps keep up the snappy pace of the album as it comes to its conclusion. The irrepressibly catchy “Wedding at Finistère”, anchored on an synthetic horn riff, features the album’s best chorus, bound to induce conga lines at “alternative” weddings for years to come: “I asked how she was feeling / She said, ‘Like a five year old watching the ten year olds shoplifting / Ten year old watching the 15 year olds French kissing / 15 year old watching the 20 year olds chain-smoking / 20 year old watching the 30 year olds vanishing.” Conga lines even get a direct shout-out on the following track, the disco-inflected “How We Met, The Long Version,” on which Lekman tells “the long version” of a relationship. Lekman, ever himself, takes “long version” to mean tracing the relationship back to its origins in the Big Bang, the evolutionary unfolding of the universe, and eventually the early days of the human species. He begins with, “Nothing became something / Turned itself inside out,” a cosmological event whose ultimate result, for Lekman, involves him meeting a woman and asking if he can borrow her bass guitar.

“The title [Life Will See You Now] came last second before deadline,” Lekman said of his new record. “I was panicking about that and I had a conversation about it with my girlfriend. She said, ‘Just describe to me what the album is about’ and I said, ‘Well, it’s about these people and it’s like they’re sitting in a waiting room waiting for life to start and then the nurse comes out and says “life will see you now.”‘” The characters of Life Will See You Now are in various stages of life, but in Lekman’s hands their stories make it seem like they’ve already seen life. Vivified by the sharpest pop of Lekman’s career, the people populating Life Will See You Now will stick with you long after the music’s run out.

The post Jens Lekman Creates Finest Album To Date With ‘Life Will See You Now’ (ALBUM REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

SONG PREMIERE: Christina Cavazos Connects With Slow Building Americana Tune “Over Me”

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Austin singer-songwriter Christina Cavazos is only just turning 17 and already her musical maturity is fully evident on her second EP, Cold, due Feb. 24, 2017. The album showcases her crystal clear soprano and accomplished songwriting. It also finds her teaming up with accomplished producer Louie Lino (Nada Surf, Ume, Matt Pond PA), who layers Cavazos’ vocals over lush sonic collages to create an elegant dream-pop mix full of allure. Despite her young age, Cavazos is something of an old soul, citing a wide range of influences including the Beatles, Aimee Mann, Ingrid Michelson, Bon Iver, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), the Civil Wars, and Fleetwood Mac. Of course, it’s impossible deny that she has already found a sound that is all her own.

Today Glide Magazine is premiering one of the standout songs from the Cold EP, “Over Me”. The song is a slow building slice of Americana that feels personally close to the singer and also features sweeping, lush instrumentals.

Christina Cavazos reflects on the song:

“I wrote this song during my last week living in Boston this past summer and it kind of sprung from this idea that it’s hard to appreciate what you have when you never really got over what came before it. The song itself started out with just me and my guitar playing two notes over and over again, so it was very raw. At first we (Louie and I) weren’t sure how to produce it and not lose the atmosphere that the song held when it was just me, but, once we got the musicians into studio, everything came together. The feeling of this song ended up guiding the feeling of the rest of the record.”

LISTEN:

Christina Cavazos releases Cold on February 24th. For more music and info visit christinacavazos.com.

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Television, Kurt Vile, Kevin Morby, Big Thief, Dawn of Midi Lead Wilco’s 2017 Solid Sound Festival Lineup

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The musical lineup for the 2017 Solid Sound Festival, which takes place June 23-25 at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA, has been revealed. Joining festival hosts Wilco, who will headline shows on Friday and Saturday, are Television, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Robert Glasper Experiment, Dawn of Midi, Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin with the Guilty Ones, Kevin Morby, Joan Shelley, Big Thief, Peter Wolf & the Midnight Travelers, Deep Sea Diver, Andy Shauf, Alloy Orchestra, Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids, Kacy & Clayton, Daniel Bachman, Jeff Parker Trio, The Shaggs and Max Hatt / Edda Glass. Wilco members’ side projects including Tweedy, The Autumn Defense, On Fillmore, The Nels Cline Four and Quindar will also perform.

John Hodgman will again host the comedy stage from MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center with participating comedians to be announced soon. Bread and Puppet Theater will return to Solid Sound for the first time since 2010, The Story Pirates will make their fifth appearance and real food crusader and author of How to Cook Everything Mark Bittman will make his festival debut. Additional programming, kid-friendly events, gallery exhibits and more will be announced in the coming weeks and months.

Presenting the best visual and performing arts of our time, including major new installations with landmark artists Laurie Anderson, James Turrell, Robert Rauschenberg and Nick Cave, MASS MoCA is housed in a renovated 19th-century factory campus, featuring dozens of galleries and a variety of performance venues — both indoors and out. In May, MASS MoCA will add 250,000sq. feet of additional gallery space, which will make it the largest contemporary art center in the country.

Tickets are available now at solidsoundfestival.com. Three-day passes are $159. Tickets for children ages six to 10 are $50 and children under six are admitted free.

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Horror Honcho Roxanne Benjamin Spills Guts on ‘XX’ (INTERVIEW)

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Horror anthologies have seen a remarkable comeback recently, and if you’ve seen any of them—the V/H/S series, Southbound—then you know the work of Roxanne Benjamin. As a producer, screenwriter, and director, Benjamin has been at the forefront of the modern horror movement, leading the charge of a new generation of filmmakers and storytellers to revitalize the genre.

Though most of her work is behind the scenes as producer, her work on Southbound gave audiences a small taste of what her sensibilities are as a filmmaker, an amuse bouche, if you will, for what we might expect from her in the future. Now, with her part in XX, she follows up with a delicious appetizer of horror that pushes her storytelling potential even farther.

XX brings together four female directors, each telling female centered stories guaranteed to send shivers of terror up the spines of even the most hardened horror fans. I recently had the chance to speak with Benjamin about her part in the comeback of the anthology format in addition to her role in bringing XX to life.

xx-poster

You’ve had your hands in just about every horror anthology over the last few years, and there’ve been a lot, especially in about the last five years or so. What do you think is driving this resurgence of interest in this form?

On the filmmaking side, you don’t, as a feature director, get to work with a lot of other directors on a project, so there’s something that’s interesting about that. It’s a fun, creative experiment. For the V/H/S films it was like a bunch of friends coming together to make something. That was kind of the genesis of it, for us. That was kind of the same thing that happened with the Southbound, too, actually.

It always invariably ends up being something where the movie that you’re supposed to be making ends up getting stalled, whether for casting issues or financing or what have you. As a creator, you want to be creating, so where you might not have the time to devote to a full feature, you can be part of an anthology where it’s less of a time commitment and you’re still getting to play in the sandbox.

Can you explain some of the issues in making a cohesive anthology film?

With this one, it’s hard to say. I don’t think they were trying to make something that had a through line, like a cohesive story throughout the whole thing. For Southbound, it’s very much like we all wrote that together in the writer’s room, with the idea of it being one story and you’re just passing the baton of the storyline from character to character. Southbound is much more of like a multi-directed feature, where even the first V/H/S or XX are very much anthologies.

With V/H/S, that was the first movie that Brad Miska and I produced and we learned a lot on that one that we applied to the second one, where we brought in the directors earlier into the overall creative process and had them sharing their stories and sharing cuts and weighing in on, llike, the order and different dynamics that we could do to make it feel more cohesive. That was definitely something we tried to do more on the second V/H/S. I guess you can see the progression there from V/H/S to V/H/S/2 to Southbound, which were the three I worked on before doing a piece of this one. We were trying to make them more and more connected.

[XX] was a different animal.

don't fall xx

How close of a collaboration was XX? Was there a lot of communication? Did you even know what everyone else was doing?

I had met Karyn [Kusama] before, on stage at Fantastic Fest, during the fantastic debates. We were on the same team, but that was the only time I had met her. I saw her piece, but it was already done. They had been making this for a while. Jovanka [Vuckovic’s] and Karyn’s were both done and I had seen both of those. Then Annie [Clarke] and I made ours in a vacuum. We wrote her section together and I produced it, and then I jumped right into, from that, directing my section.

They’d been approved by the producers, but other than that they kind of just let us go off on our own. Which was great. We had a lot of creative freedom in the project once they greenlit the idea. There really wasn’t a lot of collaboration between the directors, outside of Annie and I, I don’t believe. I think you’d have to ask Jovanka, maybe, because she and Todd [Brown] are the ones who put the whole project together. This is actually the first anthology I’ve worked on that wasn’t one of mine.

So how did you come to be involved in the project?

It was through Todd Brown. Todd Brown is a producer I’ve known for a long time now, actually, from back when he was just doing Twitch films before he was with XYZ. I’ve known him for years and years just through the film festival circuit. He reached out to me about producing Annie’s section for this anthology that they were making and I was like “yeah that sounds great.” I had never worked with a first-time director before. That was really exciting for me. I was interested to see how, because I didn’t know her very well beforehand, I didn’t know her music or anything, so I looked her up and watched her music videos. She has a very interesting visual aesthetic so I really wanted to see how that would transfer to the film medium.

Your segment, “Don’t Fall,” taps into some real primal terror. Was that fun sandbox for you to play around in?

Most definitely. With my section of Southbound, I was very much trying to tell this sort of slow burn story that wasn’t a horror film until it was, if that makes sense. This one, the second it starts I tried to be as over the top as possible. Like the title sequence is like, “Oh, we’re in a horror movie!” You want to do different things as a director, and try out different things to kind of see what pieces of those…they’re all different pieces of what your style is. With this one, I wanted to make something that was more of a roller coaster right from the get go, and kind of harken back real pulpy, dime store horror.

XX Don't Fall

What was the process of creating the monster in “Don’t Fall” like?

I worked with Russell FX, who are great. They worked with me on Southbound as well. They’re amazing. I gave them my idea of what I wanted it to feel like, like this creature was coming from the earth of this place and created out of it. So what does that mean? It should feel dry, and all its movements should feel disjointed, like a stick bug or a praying mantis, if you will. That’s why I have that shot beforehand of the praying mantis, because that’s very much like a part of the design idea. I feel like that really knocked it out of the park. It’s supposed to feel very skeletal and dry, almost like a mummy coming to life.

I know you’ve done some producing of feature length films, but do you have any plans to dive in and direct any features of your own?

Of course! That’s definitely been a big part of the plan for a while, it’s just like most indie filmmakers you’re just kind of slogging away, trying to roll the ball up the hill to find financing and make that happen. I’ve got a number of feature projects that I’ve both written and have been attached to direct that are kind of out there right now trying to get financed.

XX opens in theaters and is available on demand on February 17. Watch a clip from Roxanne Benjamin’s segment below.

Check out our interview with XX co-director Jovanka Vuckovic here.

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Gore Verbinski Revels in Insanity with ‘A Cure for Wellness’ (FILM REVIEW)

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Gore Verbinski is a director with a connoisseur’s taste for batshit. His is a special kind of insanity which tricks you into mistaking it for high budget blockbuster material when, in reality, it’s mere madness. I mean that in the best possible way. I can’t have anything but respect for the guy who took a ten-minute ride at Disney Land and turned it into trilogy of films about undead pirates, sea monsters, and Johnny Depp doing his best bad Keith Richards impersonation that was so successful that the studio keeps making them long after he’s left series. That’s fucking crazy, and I love it.

Somehow, Pirates of the Caribbean isn’t even his most insane work. His debut film was Nathan Lane and Lee Evans being repeatedly foiled by a mouse, which he followed up with a film about Brad Pitt trying to smuggle a cursed gun into Mexico, which he then rounded out with an adaptation of a Japanese horror film that was so scary that the entirety of American horror was sent into a spiraling disarray that is only just now, 15 years later, starting to level out.

These are important things to consider before watching A Cure for Wellness. Verbinski has never been heavy in the give-a-fuck department, especially as it concerns to audience expectations. Or desires. Or, really, audiences period. Verbinski makes films for an audience of one: Verbinski. The rest of us are more than welcome to hop aboard or piss right off. With A Cure for Wellness, the hopping aboard is almost a dare; he’d rather you piss right off. Really, whatever choice you make is probably the correct one.

Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) plays Lockhart, an up and coming broker a large New York firm who’s caught cooking books by the board of directors. Rather than turn him in for fraud, the board uses knowledge of his deceit to bend him to their will which, in this case, means sending him to a luxury spa in the alps to retrieve their missing CEO, whom they need to complete a merger that will make them all rich, who’s unfortunately lost his mind. Once there, Lockhart engages in a power struggle with mysterious Dr. Volmer (Jason Isaacs, the Harry Potter series) and finds himself involved in a spiraling series of events that has him questioning both his physical and mental health.

Bizarre barely begins to cover the weirdness that’s found within. The film quickly descends into a free fall of sheer insanity, spinning wildly out of control in the best possible of ways. Except that’s not really true. Sure, it looks a lot like a train wreck derailing slowly over a period of two-and-a-half hours—I certainly wouldn’t blame you for thinking that’s what you’re watching—but this is a controlled demolition, carefully guided by Verbinski’s IDGAF approach to film and filmmaking.

Here, the approach takes us on a ride that feels all at once intensely familiar and entirely different. The trappings of gothic melodrama are all there—a castle on a distant hill, a mad scientist, a sprawling mystery—but never have they been present in a manner such as this. This is a kaleidoscopic take on the form that serves as a capitalist critique, a psychobabble satire, and an absurd horror story—involving curative water and goddamn eels—all in one.

Verbinski uses this all to his advantage, drawing the viewer in while, at the same time, pushing them away. The sheer absurdity of the situation and plot are balanced out by the director’s incomparable vision, which unfolds with often heart stopping beauty. DeHaan somehow manages to walk to the tight rope strung up by his director with nary a stumble along the way. The actor reflects the rising tide of insanity around him perfectly, deftly dragging the willing deeper into the shared delusion of actor and director that’s whole unique and never uninteresting

At times, it plays out like the fevered wet dreams of absolute lunatic, and for those willing to hop aboard, the ride is kind of amazing. Full of absurd set pieces and imagery, Verbinski’s vision is one that’s hard to get behind, but rewarding for those willing to take a chance. Here, the centuries meld into a timeless void of creeping dread until up becomes down and sanity is a mental illness. It’s fucking crazy, and I love it. That doesn’t mean you will. That doesn’t even mean you should. In fact, I’m probably the madman here. If one in one hundred watchers sees the magic of this film, that’s probably higher than even Verbinski anticipated. For those precious few, A Cure for Wellness is a wild trip into the world of peak Verbinski, which would probably be an awful world to be if weren’t so goddamn fun. Just remember to not drink the water.

A Cure for Wellness is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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The Almost Greatness of ‘The Great Wall’ (FILM REVIEW)

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There are moments throughout The Great Wall where you can see the movie that legendary director Yimou Zhang (Hero, Coming Home) was trying to make. At the core of this silly, dismissable monster tale is a lovely parable about the coming together of East and West and of finding enough common ground to work together despite the chasms of cultural differences—which are, really, mostly matters of perception. This Zhang’s-eye-view of The Great Wall is a movie filled with stunning beauty, sweeping landscape shots peppered by awe-inspiring choreography and played out in breathtaking urgency. It is, frankly, a movie I’d love to see.

As to the movie we were given? Well, it’s not the smoldering trash heap it probably could’ve been. With Zhang at the helm it’s almost, kind of, good. Kind of, but not quite. It’s a film dumbed down by the conventions of American cinema, filled with needless exposition and, of course, gratuitous explosions, the two things that American audiences just can’t seem to get enough of.

Which is fine. As far as mindless escapism is concerned, The Great Wall certainly exists. It’s totally a thing that you can stare at blankly for almost two hours and then forget about immediately. That’s the backbone of the movie industry, really, and there are definitely movies within this niche that far surpass this one in terms of sheer badness. Unlike other films of this ilk, you might actually find yourself staring in wonder at the beauty of a particular shot, reveling in the pure cinema it often achieves.

For the rest of the time, however, you’ll be shockingly unmoved. It’s hard to even muster up a fraction of the pre-release rage over whitewashing as the plot unfolds, which is kind of disappointing. It’s less “white people save the day” than “white people stumble onto something they couldn’t possibly understand, and fail their way through it.” Oh, white people.

Matt Damon (of Matt Damon fame) and Pedro Pascal (of getting his face crushed on Game of Thrones fame) play the white people in question, a fact which makes more sense when you realize Pascal is a Spaniard to Damon’s, um, Irishman? Scot? (At any rate, there’s an accent.) They’re traders wandering the vast Chinese desert, alternately facing off against a band of roving Mongols and a group of unseen monsters until they literally stumble on the Great Wall (sure, you can totally miss it). The pair are taken prisoner by the Chinese army, led by Commander Lin Mae (Tian Jing, Kong: Skull Island) and General Shao (Hanyu Zhang, Operation Mekong). After determining that the two are, in fact, simple traders on the totally innocent mission to acquire “black powder” (gunpowder) they’re let in on the fact that the Great Wall was constructed to keep a swarming horde of monsters who attack every 60 years or so from entering the country. Also, Willem Dafoe is there, for some reason.

It plays out about like you’d expect—there are differences that seem insurmountable, but must be surmounted if they’re going to win. Respect is earned grudgingly by all parties until, in the end, everyone realizes that these people aren’t so different from themselves, when you think about it. There are less noble ideals to strive for, narratively, to be sure.

If only the script weren’t so dumb and half-assed. The Great Wall reads like a half-decent idea that got banged out as a draft and approved as is. Themes are touched, but never expounded upon, and the dialogue is devoid of subtext or meaning. That’s fine, if surface level is the ideal, and as far as surface level is concerned, you could absolutely do worse.

What’s disheartening is that there is enough good—sometimes great—within the film and its ideas that the bad, or even just the lackluster, feels all the worse. When Zhang hits, it’s often stunning; when he doesn’t, you’re left with little to see but the glaring faults, the ill-formed CGI, and a hastily thrown together script.

Madness, is what it is; especially when you consider how great it could’ve been. Zhang is a director who’s earned the label “visionary” over a long and brilliant career. It’s a testament to this truth that The Great Wall had any high points at all, considering its script. If only more of his vision could have peaked through. Sadly, we’re left with only with a beautifully shot quagmire of mediocrity that’s equally far from both the genius, and the trash, it otherwise might have been.

The Great Wall is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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‘XX’ Offers New Perspectives in Terror (FILM REVIEW)

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Horror is a genre that works best in small doses. That’s not to discount the power and effect of the long form; both the novel and the feature film have a long history within horror, and the slow burn of a well-crafted work can linger in the psyche for some time after the story ends. However, the short form packs an incomparable wallop, allowing for stories that burrow into the unconscious and take root in our darkest corners, waiting to be awakened at, if you’re lucky, the most inopportune moments.

While the internet is awash in emerging talent trying their hands at short works of horror, the best place to find quality short form horror movies remains the anthology. Thankfully, we live in an era where anthology horror pictures are in vogue once more; these days we’ve got no shortage of anthology films looking to fill our personal niches with as much horror as we can possible handle. But none of them are quite like XX.

Horror, like all of film, is still very much a man’s game. That’s not to say there aren’t ladies out there grabbing the demon by the horns and getting shit done, but horror has always been woefully inadequate at both portraying females and giving them a chance to shine as filmmakers. XX is a masked, chainsaw wielding psychopath on the hunt for glass ceilings, and no one is safe from the carnage. Here, four talented women helm four terrifying tales which mine the depths of sub-genres to offer a sadly unique take on the anthology format.

Sadly, because there aren’t more opportunities for women in horror (or, again, film in general). Sadly, because this is still a conversation we have to have. Sadly, because there are still those among you who will dismiss this movie out of pocket for its concept alone.

As politicized as this movie feels, however, there’s nothing political about the stories themselves. The four ladies of XX form a powerful alliance against Hollywood’s male dominated culture, bucking completely the idea that women are incapable of either directing or producing quality scares. Each brings a unique vision of horror to the table, each with their own flair and style that makes for a great and enduring anthology film.

Each segment offers viewers a different kind of horror. Jovanka Vuckovic’s opening salvo, “The Box,” is a stark meditation on parenthood from the mind of Jack Ketchum, exploring horror as an existential crisis when a mother’s son stops eating. Annie Clarke, known best as eclectic musician St. Vincent, makes her directorial debut with “The Birthday Party,” a sort of horror-of-errors that unfolds as a suburban mother tries to throw her daughter the perfect birthday while concealing a body. Roxanne Benjamin evokes the spirit of the classic creature features in “Don’t Fall,” in which four friends retreat to a secluded camping ground and awaken an ancient evil. Karyn Kusama rounds out the film with “Her Only Living Son,” about a mother coming to terms with her sociopathic son who might be hiding a greater evil.

As with any anthology, XX has its ups and downs. Horror tastes are as diverse as horror tales, and not every story will appeal to every watcher. That’s also a big part of the fun of this format. It’s interesting to see writers and directors explore what horror means, even if what’s unfolding doesn’t necessarily speak to your personal fears or interests. The four tales found here do a remarkable job at mining the depths of horror subgenres, and every horror fan will probably find at least one segment that they enjoy.

That this is a film with a mission should be immaterial. Yes, the stated purpose is to allow women the chance to direct stories about women. Ultimately what matters is the work that’s being produced, and the work produced here is often remarkable. Particularly surprising was Clarke’s turn, which finds the musician turned director taking the distinct visual style found in her music videos to new heights. Her segment is played out almost as a comedy—which makes sense, given that horror and comedy both stem from similar sources—with a punchline so delicious that the horror of it won’t hit until sometime later. Vuckovic’s adaptation of Ketchum’s classic short story, meanwhile, features one of the most memorable, and horrifying, images in the entire film, and it’s sure to stick with you throughout XX and beyond.

Really, each segment offers its own memorable and terrifying moments, all of which add up to the whole of a quality anthology film. XX is a wonderfully memorable entry into the format that just so happens to serve an important purpose. The female perspective has long been marginalized in the filmmaking world, doubly so for horror. XX not only provides a platform for women to showcase their talents, it does so while scaring the shit out of you at the same time. That’s a win no matter how you look at it.

XX is now playing in limited theatrical release and is available on demand and iTunes.

Read our interviews with Jovanka Vuckovic and Roxanne Benjamin.

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Sam Patch (Tim Kingsbury) Revels In Dance Dynamic With ‘Yeah You, and I’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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sampatchYeah You, and I, the first solo album by Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Tim Kingsbury, is a densely layered indie pop gem that rivals Kingsbury’s main band in its artistry. Under the stage name Sam Patch, Kingsbury began writing and recording the material shortly after ending Arcade Fire’s Reflektor tour, so it’s not surprising that it inherits that album’s dance-rock sensibilities.

Yeah You, and I is practically a solo album in the literal sense, with Kingsbury writing and producing each song himself while playing most of the instruments. It has the eclecticism that you would expect from an artist who plays so many different roles within the context of Arcade Fire.

Album opener “Oversight” is an infectious earwig of a song, in large part due to a highly danceable disco groove and theatrical organ flourishes. Kingsbury sings of a life in transition, fleeing an old life while ready to start a new one. “I never meant to bury it, but I was set in my ways,” he sings.

“Listening” is the album’s catchiest track, thriving with a propulsive, jerky synth riff and repetitive song structure that plays like a 4-minute pop zenith. The repetitive outbursts in the song’s chorus – “I’m listening” at one point and “what did you say” at another – make the song sound antagonistic and impatient toward the woman to whom Kingsbury sings. “I thought you were a cure, but I should’ve known how to look the other way,” Kingsbury sings. “What you say won’t make it go away.”

Though synthesizers, reverb, and dance beats are staples of Yeah You, and I, the album is varied in its dynamic and tonal ranges. Though songs like “Listening” have pop energy cranked up to ten, tracks like the mid-tempo acoustic strummer “Waiting to Wait” dial it back. Despite Kingsbury’s lyrics of romantic tension, the warm synthesizers and soothing rhythm make the song sonically relaxing.

The dichotomy of the slow, plodding electronic beat and the frenetic shimmering guitars on “St. Sebastian” gives the song a bit of an edge, as do dynamic shifts where all other instruments drop out of the mix, drowned out by swelling organ. Kingsbury sings of confusion and a search for meaning. “What you’ll find waiting by your side is an arrow, it’s a sign, and it’s pointed in a straight line,” Kingsbury sings of the search for direction. He later contrasts that by warning against following the wrong direction. “Listen to my words but they’re all the wrong kind,” he sings.

Usually a backing singer, Kingsbury’s vocals fall a bit short in range and resonance, but are good enough to serve the well-crafted songs. Though Yeah You, And I lacks much of the anthemic bombast of his work with Arcade Fire, Kingsbury’s textured compositions create a richly subtle pop palette that is equally as satisfying.

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Ryan Adams Embraces Lost Love and Self-Awareness on ‘Prisoner’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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A1IR4uCbpwL._SL1500_“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” Rob Gordon ponders in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. Though this is a seemingly unanswerable quandary where arguments could be made on both sides, it is indisputable that we love to listen to songs about breakups and heartbreak. As a songwriter there aren’t many that can touch that part of us better than Ryan Adams. Where 2014’s self-titled album eloquently touched upon the dying throws of his marriage to Mandy Moore, Prisoner is an album about looking around at the rubble left after their divorce.

While this type of heartbreak album isn’t new ground for Ryan Adams, the difference between Prisoner and his 2000 debut solo album Heartbreaker or 2004’s Love Is Hell, is more mature, self-aware lyrics that also hold a deeper sense of loss. On “Shiver and Shake” Adams sings, “I close my eyes I see you with some guy/laughing like you never knew I was alive” before lamenting “I miss you so much, I shiver and I shake”. Whereas on “We Disappear”, Adam’s admits “Nobody gets in, nobody ever will/You deserve a future and you know I’ll never change”. This type of pointed and self-aware lyrics is present in every song on Prisoner and is where Adams has always excelled.

The first single and first track on the album “Do You Still Love Me” starts the album off feeling like 80’s album-oriented rock and the listener may or may not be disappointed that the rest of the album doesn’t really follow suit. Though certain songs may use some of the 80’s era key sounds and “Outbound Train” does a great job imitating some of Bruce Springsteen’s greatest ballads, most of the songs on Prisoner feel like they could be on any Ryan Adams album. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many fans of Ryan Adams prefer that sound and are not as accepting of albums that deviate that sound like 2003’s Rock N’ Roll.

Ultimately, Prisoner doesn’t really break any molds within Adams’ discography stylistically, but lyrically it is some of his most personal and heartbreaking lyrics to date. It finds Adams at his most vulnerable, and while we should feel bad about the situation that gave birth to this album, it is nonetheless where Adams tends to shine. It may be that having to sing these songs over and over again will provide some catharsis for him and in turn many will find solace in his words as many listeners will be able to relate to these songs. Prisoner is an album full of sadness but is also a thing of beauty.

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Jay Farrar & Son Volt Emit Haunting & Spirited Effort On ‘Notes of Blue’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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sonvoltnotesEven as he devotes the majority of time to his ongoing solo career, Jay Farrar has applied a no less discerning focus on those projects with his post-Uncle Tupelo band, Son Volt. For the first group endeavor in four years, Notes of Blue, Farrar informs ten new songs with (by his own admission) the influence of English folk hero Nick Drake as much as one of the blues genre’s seminal figures, Mississippi Fred McDowell. The juxtaposition of styles imparts a distinction to this album that solidifies its authenticity on both fronts and confirms the aptitude of the players, making it superior to the last two Son Volt efforts, the country-oriented Honky Tonk (2013) and even the nouveau folk of American Central Dust (2009).

Throughout this record, Farrar taps into the foreboding ennui pervading this country since November of 2016. There’s a forlorn sadness in “Promise the World” offset with resolute acceptance that echoes through the refrain– “There will be damage/There will be hell to pay/Light after darkness/That is the way”– the matter of fact exposition of which benefits from the sturdy backdrop of Jacob Edwards’ drumming combined with Mark Spencer’s mobile basswork. Jason Kardong conjures a bittersweet air that’s ultimately rendered comforting by the tuneful pedal steel he plays.

The purposeful intent suggested in that track flowers on a slightly more uptempo tune, “Backs Against the Wall,” where additional vocal harmonies, carry a soothing sensation contrasting with distorted electric guitar chords and leads. Jay Farrar’s intently aware of what’s going on in the world around him—he might be describing any number of public figures in the ominous closer “Threads and Steel”- but he’s able to state his perceptions with as much economy as the musicians play. Accordingly,  “Lost Souls” work so effectively because cacophonous slide punctuates the singing of evocative lyrics.

For all the solemnity in his voice, and the air of cautious optimism in his vocal and writing tone, the bandleader’s not averse to celebrating. On “Static,” Farrar may be describing an overload of stimulation coming from all directions, but the fuzz-drenched chord sequence, combined with the hammer of drums, turns this chorus ironic. Unified in its intent throughout Notes of Blue, Son Volt  states its case quickly and to the  point with each song here:  on “Cherokee St,” for instance, the emerging picture is a grim landscape Farrar and company  nevertheless manage to transcend: the most directly blues oriented number here, it’s also (perhaps not coincidentally), one of the most vivid. “Sinking Down” has a similar effect, the modified boogie of the quintet playing off the stasis described in the words.

In an arrangement where deft dobro complements precisely finger-picked acoustic guitar, “The Storm,” unfolds as a clear-cut depiction of the dual influences Farrar’s absorbed and shared with the current ensemble, the raucous electricity that’s always distinguished Son Volt giving way to the intimacy of the man’s voice on its own. Meanwhile, “Cairo and Southern” is an original the likes of which the author mastered long ago, resembling nothing so much as a traditional song brought to life in a new era where its bell-like piano, supplied by indispensable multi-instrumentalist Spencer, counterbalances with comparably clear fiddle by long-time Son Volt member Gary Hunt.

With more than a few of the ten cuts here timing less than two minutes and no extended tracks, Notes of Blue may leave more than a few listeners hungry for more. But that’s ultimately a high compliment, especially when the collection of songs carries as much impact as this one in both musical and philosophical terms.

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SONG PREMIERE: The Kernal Rambles Beautifully “At the Old Taco Bell” (INTERVIEW)

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Who is The Kernal? If you don’t know, it’s best you start knowin’. The Tennessee native has been doing his thing for some time now, playing as a sideman with the likes of Andrew Combs and Jonny Fritz among others, and now he’s stepping out on his own with this album. On March 3rd The Kernal will release his debut album Light Country on Single Lock Records, the label started by Ben Tanner of the Alabama Shakes that is home to acts like St. Paul and the Broken Bones and John Paul White. It’s safe to say Light Country is an early contender for one of the year’s best albums and The Kernal is someone we will definitely be seeing and hearing more from.

Over the course of eight songs, the album conjures up a strikingly potent cocktail of 70′s Southern rock, Cosmic Country, Memphis soul, and backwoods boogie. Of course, in true Kernal fashion, this is all done with a laugh. Between his playing, singing, and lyricism, The Kernal brings to mind legends like Spooner Oldham and Glen Campbell. There is something retro about The Kernal, sure, but maybe it’s actually just something down-home and real that makes him such a refreshing artist.

Today Glide Magazine is excited to premiere one of the more humorous tunes on Light Country, “At the Old Taco Bell”. To our knowledge, it’s the only tune that’s been written about Taco Bell, and it’s a rambling, rowdy one at that. It even features The Kernal’s long gone Georgia relatives singing gospel music he transferred from the original reel-to-reel tapes. Given his name, one might expect a song about KFC, but with The Kernal you never quite know what to expect.

Showing he has one foot in the past and one in the present, The Kernal reflects on the tune by saying simply, “It’s a Yelp Review Country Song about a man who has moved into the first Taco Bell rental home. There’s no shower but it’s not so bad for the price.”

LISTEN to “At the Old Taco Bell” and read our chat with The Kernal below:

Your dad played in the Opry for years. What role did he play in getting you into music and (if so) influencing your personal tastes?

Growing up going backstage to the Opry was fantastic. I still think about it a lot — so many great performances, like Jumpin’ Bill Carlisle sauntering out on stage with a walker, performing a song, then hiking that walker over his shoulder and high-stepping off stage. I was drawn more toward playing music the older I got, especially once my father died — it felt like so much music had gone out of the family — I began focusing on it more at that point. Having been a road country player from the 60s-80s, he wasn’t too keen on me pursuing music, which is why I didn’t really jump in until his death.

You’ve been a sideman for people like Andrew Combs and Jonny Fritz. What made you want to step out and make your own record?

The goal all along was to do my own thing, I just had a bass and I played it around until the dots connected a little more.

The instrumentation on this album is striking. Who were some of the personnel you enlisted?

Thanks! My band, the New Strangers, are Jesse Dean on drums, Scott Schmadeke mostly on keys, and Cotton Clifton on lead guitar. Folks like Jon Estes (bass) (strings) (pedal steel) (etc), Joel Hamilton (Nordascord) were so much fun to work with and one of my favorites, Cheyenne Medders, also played a utility role. Not to mention Ben Tanner of SINGLE LOCK Records — we were like those weird twins in that Kurt Vonnegut book, SLAPSTICK.

The inside of the album has a picture of a recipe card, which appears to be some kind of cake. What is the recipe for and what is the significance?

Well my hope was that people would just make it and see for themselves, but since you asked, it’s my mother’s poundcake. Have some.

The album seems to have a distinctly 70s country soul rock sound. What kind of stuff did you draw from when writing this album?

We used nothing in particular as a guide but we had played these songs on the road a lot the past couple of years.

On the album you included clips of your long gone Georgia relatives singing gospel music. How did you come across the clips and how did you get them to fit into the music?

I found them in an old box of quarter-inch tapes in my parents’ attic and they sounded bad but really cool; I had to use them and it worked out perfectly.

A lot of the lyrics are on the humorous side. Do you write based on personal experiences or do you come up with characters and stories?

It’s both but I try to insert myself into it. The process is like being compelled by frustration which is a mystery but you get drawn into yourself and into the story and somewhere the lines dissolve and it’s a song.

 

LIGHT COUNTRY is out march 3 on Single Lock Records. 
Available for pre-order now through AmazoniTunes and at Single Lock

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Midnight Oil Staging First World Tour In Over Two Decades

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Legendary Australian rock band and agitators Midnight Oil today announced their first World Tour in over two decades. They also unveiled plans to release three archival box sets including a collection called “The Overflow Tank” which will contain more than 14 hours of previously unreleased and rare material.

“The Great Circle 2017” World Tour will see the group’s classic lineup literally circle around our overheating planet for 6 months, starting and ending with gigs in Sydney. Appropriately for a band forged in their hometown’s sweat-drenched beer barns, the tour will begin in mid-April with an intimate local pub gig (details to be announced closer to the date). Midnight Oil will then perform 30 gigs around the world during the northern summer, playing iconic venues from Sao Paulo’s Espaço das Americas and the Wiltern in L.A. to London’s Hammersmith Apollo and The Olympia in Paris. They will share festival stages with artists like The Arcade Fire, Sting and The Pixies and finally return to New Zealand after 20 years. This long-awaited World Tour will climax with 18 special homecoming concerts through October and November, 2017.

These will be Midnight Oil’s only shows in the last 15 years apart from two stadium benefit concerts (and their related small warmup gigs) in Australia in 2005 and 2009. It will also be the group’s most extensive world tour since their classic late 80’s/early 90’s albums like “Diesel & Dust”, “Blue Sky Mining” and “Earth & Sun & Moon” sold over 10 million copies around the globe.

All dates, venues and ticket information are listed below.

In a unique press conference on Sydney Harbour today the band also announced the impending release of a remastered CD box set called “The Full Tank” featuring all of their existing albums and EP’s plus a mammoth new 4 CD/8 DVD trove called “The Overflow Tank” which will include over 14 hours of previously unreleased and rare material. Both of these box sets will be housed in replica miniature water tanks like the one featured onstage at so many ‘Oils’ gigs. The band also unveiled their first ever complete Vinyl collection which will feature 11 remastered LP’s and two 12” EP’s all cut at Abbey Rd Studios in London. The three box sets will be released around the start of the tour but full tracklistings and pre-orders are available now via www.midnightoil.com.

In keeping with the band’s longstanding commitments, their carbon footprint during “The Great Circle” World Tour will, of course, be fully offset and sustainability initiatives will be undertaken at all shows. Midnight Oil will also continue their collaborations with local and international environmental organizations including Greenpeace, supporting their campaigns on crucial issues like dangerous climate change and the imminent threats to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

At one level “The Great Circle 2017” simply reflects the geographic reality that the tour will loop around the world and circle Australia. At anotherlevel the name clearly implies the planet itself but it has a further meaning too.Sailors, and airmen use “the great circle” to navigate the globe because on a sphere the shortest distance between two points is not usually a straight line. How appropriate for a group who has always been deeply engaged with the world around them but whose career path has never be

SOUTH AMERICA
April 25 — Pepsi on Stage, Porto Alegre
April 27 — Live, Curtiba
April 29 — Espaço das Americas, São Paolo
April 30 — Vivo Rio, Rio De Janeiro
April 2 — NET Live, Brasilia

NORTH AMERICA
May 6 — Center Stage, Atlanta, GA
May 9 — The Filmore, Silver Spring, MD
May 11 — House of Blues, Boston, MA
May 13 — Webster Hall, New York City, NY
May 16 — Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA
May 18 — The Vic, Chicago, IL
May 20 — Danforth Theatre, Toronto, Canada
May 23 — Paramount Theatre, Denver, CO
May 25 — The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
May 27 — Fox Theatre, Oakland, CA
May 29 — Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
May 31 — Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA
June 2 — The Commodore, Vancouver, Canada

EUROPE + UK
June 21 — E-Werk, Cologne, Germany
June 23 — Paradiso, Amsterdam, Holland
June 25 — Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
June 27 — Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
June 29 — Rockafeller Music Hall, Oslo, Norway
July 1 — Furuviksparken, Gävle, Sweden
July 4 — Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK
July 6 — Olympia, Paris, France
July 7 — Festival de Beauregard, Hérouville-Saint-Claire, France
July 9 — Les Deferlantes Festival, Argeles-sur-Mer, France
July 12 — Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
July 14 — Musilac, Aix Les Bains, France
July 16 — Les Vieilles Charrues, Carhaix, France
July 18 — Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany
July 21 — Colours of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic

NEW ZEALAND
Sept. 9 — Vector Arena, Auckland, NZ
Sept. 11 — Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, NZ

AUSTRALIA
Oct. 2 — ANZAC Oval, Alice Springs, NT (w/ Dan Sultan & Apakatjah)
Oct. 4 — Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin, NT (w/ Dan Sultan & Irrunytju Band)
Oct. 7 — Kuranda Amphitheatre, Cairns, QLD (w/ Urthboy)
Oct. 10 — Townsville Ent. Centre, Townsville, QLD (w/ Urthboy)
Oct. 12 — Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton, QLD (w/ Urthboy)
Oct. 14 — Big Pineapple Fields, Sunshine Coast, QLD (w/ The Living End & Jebediah)
Oct. 15 — Riverstage, Brisbane, QLD (w/ The Jezabels)
Oct. 19 — Hockey Fields, Coffs Harbour, NSW (w/ Jebediah & Jack River)
Oct. 21 — Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, NSW (w/ Birds of Tokyo & Ash Grunwald)
Oct. 24 — AIS Arena, Canberra, ACT (w/ Something For Kate)
Oct. 26 — The Village Green Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, SA (w/ Spiderbait & Bad//Dreems)
Oct. 28 — Perth Arena, Perth, WA (w/ Spiderbait)
Oct. 1 — Derwent Entertainment Centre, Hobart, TAS (w/ The Jezabels)
Oct. 3 — Gateway Lakes, Wodonga, VIC (w/ The Living End)
Oct. 4 — Hanging Rock, Mt Macedon, VIC (w/ John Butler Trio, Something for Kate, Frank Yamma & David Bridie)
Oct. 6 — Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, VIC (w/ The Jezabels & Adalita)
Oct. 8 — WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW (w/ Abbe May)
Oct. 11 — The Domain, Sydney, NSW (w/ John Butler Trio & A.B.Original)

 

 

Bones Hillman – Bass + Vocals

The post Midnight Oil Staging First World Tour In Over Two Decades appeared first on Glide Magazine.

Agent Orange Stay True To Punk Legacy In Austin (SHOW REVIEW)

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As one of the early adopters of hardcore punk in California, a state which spawned some of the all time greatest punk rock bands, Agent Orange has surprisingly also been one of the few to plow along all the way into 2017. Like most others, they’re down to just one original member, though singer and guitarist Mike Palm is probably the most important member of the group so that isn’t a massive qualm for fans.

More importantly, Agent Orange is one of the few that hasn’t tried to drag their own legacy through the mud. They’ve put out one album since their 1980’s heyday, 1996’s Virtually Indestructible, and they’ve focused on nothing but touring since. No embarrassing What the…situations a la contemporaries Black Flag, who released that shameful record in 2013 also down to one original member and featuring the worst album cover possibly of all time.

All that is to say that when fans hit the floor at Grizzly Hall last Thursday night to see Agent Orange, they knew what they were getting into. There were no dreadful new tracks to sit through, just an hour of straight fire punk rock classics, and Agent Orange’s modern day lineup delivered that perfectly.

The audience was a mix of older heads and young decked out punks with liberty spikes and all, looking like they stepped out of a 1983 documentary. They filled up the newer venue, which has undergone slight changes since its sale to Come and Take It Productions last November. Even the band continually remarked on how nice of a place Grizzly Hall is; almost too nice for punk, but not quite. It’s still a beer swiller’s paradise.

While time has taken its toll on Palm, surrounding himself with a younger crew has definitely helped keep Agent Orange alive and well. The hired guns rocked it hard, and the performance of drummer Dave Klein was one of the highlights of the show. Palm’s still got the voice and the chops on guitar too, even if he looks like a dad and vapes on stage these days.

Overall the band was tight and composed, putting on a raucous ripping of classics like “Everything Turns Grey” and “Too Young to Die.” Their most famous song, “Bloodstains,” came at the end and was ironically the only time the band seemed to fall apart, either missing their cue and having to improvise or purposely throwing a bizarre jam in the middle. Either way, “Bloodstains” turned into a mess until they went back into the chorus. If it was on purpose, improv clearly isn’t their forte and they should stick to playing the songs straight.

Luckily that was probably the only down moment of the night. For the most part, Agent Orange still rock hard and clearly please the hell out of their audience. There will always be more kids who were too young to be there when bands like these were in their prime, begging to see them one last time, and Agent Orange gives them exactly what they want: a night spent partying like it’s 1981. Put on your leather and spikes and check them out next time they come through.

 

The post Agent Orange Stay True To Punk Legacy In Austin (SHOW REVIEW) appeared first on Glide Magazine.

The Rock Boat XV11 Cruises With Sister Hazel, Matt Nathanson & More (PHOTOS)

ALBUM PREMIERE: Julia Anrather Revels In Sensual And Sensible Pop On ‘Quentin’

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Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Julia Anrather has a lot on her plate, spending time an actress and a producer with a handful of projects going on at any given moment. Somehow though, she manages to inject a ton of creativity and inspiration into her music, which can be described as sensual and sensible pop. Anrather even found time to record a new EP, Quentin, which will be released on March 3rd. Today Glide Magazine is presenting an exclusive first listen of that EP. 

Over the course of four songs, Anrather establishes herself as a creative force as she crafts thoughtful pop songs about love and heartbreak with a vocal delivery that is sexy and soulful. It’s no surprise that the indie songstress has drawn comparisons to artists like Lana Del Rey, Ingrid Michaelson, Regina Spektor, and Lianne La Havas. The album offers a delightful taste of what we can expect from this promising young talent in the future.

Anrather reflects on the making of the album:

“Before this EP a lot of my writing felt necessary, it felt therapeutic, I was heartbroken and needed to write my way out of it, but writing ‘QUENTIN’ was just fun. The songs on ‘QUENTIN’ are more performative, less personal, more about telling stories than about exorcising ghosts. Having some emotional distance from the material meant I was freer in the recording process than I was recording my singles. I was more interested in what my band and my producer were hearing in the tracks, what the songs sounded like to them, and I was happy to have seven different guitar tracks on a tune rather than, how I usually am, always wanting to pare things down, only give a voice to the instruments and parts that I feel convey the meaning of the song. I’m working on a full length right now which is more of a happy medium and I’m excited to find out what it’ll be like recording material that’s personal but not necessarily about heartbreak, where that will free me and my band up.”

LISTEN:

Julia Anrather releases Quentin on March 3rd. For more info visit juliaanrathermusic.com.

The post ALBUM PREMIERE: Julia Anrather Revels In Sensual And Sensible Pop On ‘Quentin’ appeared first on Glide Magazine.

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