Paradise Playground

Angélica Rahe: Exploring The Universal Language of Love

2018-10-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

This summer, as you all remember, was a flourishing artistic escapade in the U.S. where I met an overwhelming amount of musical talent in various states. My adventures took me to Austin, where I had the opportunity to meet the utterly captivating Angélica Rahe. Charming from the get-go, she has a warm smile that encompasses you fully, and a silky smooth voice that I later find out she uses to lure you into her romantically hypnotic world.

Angélica comes from a well-traveled background; born of a Spanish musician father and French-American theatre actress mother. She spent her childhood living between Japan, Spain, and the U.S., absorbing different cultures in every sense of the word. It's with that diverse background that she has crafted her own universal sound.

With her delicate yet powerful voice, Angélica is also a skilled guitarist, using her two talents to form a unique blend of Latin music and R&B. After wrapping up a world tour with Kali Uchis as her musical director and a North American run opening for Lana Del Rey, Angélica now has her feet planted firmly in the ground, bursting with creative energy and ready to make a name for herself in the spotlight.

Angélica's first EP, Love, Covered, came out mid-September, and is a collection of four renditions of her favorite love songs. Her second EP, Love, Translated, is out today and is her soulful Spanish-language debut. We caught up with this talented chanteuse to get to know her better; from her nomadic roots to her daily rituals, finding out exactly what drives this dazzling beauty.

PP: Let's start off easy. Describe your morning ritual to us. Do you have one? Is it important for you to have one?

AR: Oh, yes. Mornings are very sacred to me, as is ritual. Most of my best songwriting happens this time of day, so I try to extend that semi-dreamlike state for as long as possible (before emails and to-dos start to clog up my mind). I usually pour myself a cup of coffee, light some palo santo, sage, or incense, sit in silence somewhere near a window or outside, and do around 3 pages worth of stream-of-consciousness writing in my journal. This frees up some of the clutter hiding in my subconscious mind, and allows for me to really focus and flow more effortlessly during my creative time. From there I’ll either pick up my guitar and let my fingers lead me towards a new progression, hum a melody, or dive into some lyrics, and sort of allow things to take me where they may. Sometimes I’ll realize hours later that I haven’t moved an inch because I’m so absorbed in whatever I’m working on!

Because I live a very nomadic lifestyle, ritual is something that I’ve come to value more and more with time. It keeps me feeling grounded and connected, whether I’m on the road or at home.

PP: Fusing Latin music with R&B, PLUS playing classical guitar truly makes you a triple-threat. What made you pick up the guitar? What is the reason you fell in love with it?

AR: I grew up listening to (and surrounded by) flamenco and classic Spanish singer-songwriters like Joan Manuel Serrat, so I’ve always had a deep love for classical nylon- stringed guitar. It feels like home to me. Plus, my father played guitar my whole life, so they were always lying around the house. When I started writing songs I would stumble around on the fretboard and try to come up with different chords to accompany the melodies and lyrics I was writing. Soon I was hooked, and started teaching myself to play using old blues music by artists like Lightnin’ Hopkins and my favorite classic bossa nova songs, learning new chords and experimenting with different rhythms. And as they say, the rest is history.

More recently, I’ve started to experiment with the electric guitar as well, and let me tell you, I’ve entered a whole new world of geekdom! There’s just no limit to the sounds and textures you can create with an electric, and it has opened up a whole new world in my songwriting and production as well. I love it.

PP: You've talked about your father's guitar in the past. He bought it in Tokyo when you were very young and later on passed it on to you. What's your fondest memory with that guitar?

AR: My father’s Takamine was always my favorite guitar to play. So, when I left for college in Tucson, Arizona, he let me take it with me. While in school, I was writing tons of music, and put together a (very eclectic) band to record and perform my original songs with me – 4 saxophonists, a cajón player/drummer, and me on vocals and guitar. We ended up getting a gig at the Tucson Fox Theater, a beautiful 1,000-seat theater in the heart of downtown. It was my first time playing a show that size, so it was a really big deal for me. My family flew into town and everything. My father had never seen me perform professionally before. For one of the songs we played, which was very flamenco-inspired and called for a big-bodied classical like my dad’s, I pulled it out and started strumming a rumba. At one point, I saw him in the crowd; we made eye contact and he smiled and nodded his head at me. He told me after the show that he was trying not to let anyone see him, because he said it made him cry watching me play that guitar. It was a really beautiful moment.

PP: You've been a globetrotter since such a young age! Now that you've settled in Austin, do you feel far from your roots? Where do you feel is most at home to you?

AR: Having been a nomad basically my whole life, and after years of living in LA, Austin has been the perfect change of pace for me. It’s allowed me to really put my head down and focus on finishing my project. I’m not sure how long I’ll stay, but it definitely feels good right now.

PP: Having traveled all over the world, where has been the most inspirational for you sonically?

AR: Even though every country has offered me something new and exciting sonically, I have to say Spain still tops my list. Since I was a little girl, I have been enamored with flamenco. When I was 5 years old, my family lived in Rota, which is in the south, near Cádiz. There was this alleyway near our house where gypsies used to hang out, and one day, on my way home from school, they were gathered in a circle, playing music and dancing in the dirt. I stopped so I could peek around the wall and watch. One of them saw me, ushered me over, and made space so I could sit in the circle with them. He taught me how to do palmas, those beautiful clapping rhythms, and I joined in. It was one of the most profound musical experiences I have ever had. The passion, as they stomped and yelled and belted out the most insanely heartbreaking verses, completely took my breath away. I still remember one of them singing this line: “Oye, pero mira, yo soy flamenco, por mi vena yo lo siento” which translates to “Hey, listen, I am flamenco, I feel it running through my veins.” Music, to them, is who they are; it’s their living, breathing story, which they pass down through their songs. I have still never experienced anything quite like it. To this day, when I am in Spain, I see and feel and hear so much poetry and story in every piece of life; every cobblestone, every little old man sitting on a park bench, every sunflower field, every glimmer of light that bounces off the surface of the Mediterranean, every salty mouthful of tortilla de patata… Maybe that’s what it feels like to have roots somewhere, because Spain, for me, is pure magic.

PP: Your first EP, Love, Covered, was absolutely phenomenal! In particular, your cover of Prototype by Andre 3000 is hypnotic. Tell us, what is a song that you've always wanted to cover that your fans would never expect from you?

I am a big fan of Meshell Ndegeocello and love how she flips songs in ways you would

never expect. I’d love to do something like that with a song. I’m just not sure which one

yet!

PP: Pa'lante is SUCH a summer banger and Infectiously catchy! What's your ultimate dance song, bound to get you moving?

Thank you so much – that song honestly feels like a lifetime ago! I absolutely love salsa dancing, so I would have to say Valió la Pena by Marc Anthony is a song that never, ever, ever fails (“inserts a handful of flamenco dancer emojis here")

PP: You've been quoted as describing your music as "pure soul in the most universal sense." Do you believe in universal energies and manifestations? Describe what that means to you.

Yes. Ever since I was very young, music was the way I connected to that soul self, that higher self, the self that connects us all as spiritual beings journeying through this human experience. For me, whether I’m listening to a gypsy sing flamenco, or a gospel choir wail out a hymn, there is a powerful soulfulness that hits me straight at the core of my being, and connects on such a deeper level. Living and traveling around the world gave me an even stronger sense of this, because whether I could speak a word of the language or had any familiarity of the culture, music was a way I was able to communicate and foster beautiful friendships with people of all walks of life.

On my EP, Love, Translated, my hope is that, whether or not you speak Spanish, through the intimate vocal delivery and sway of my melodies, you can still resonate with the emotion and soul behind the songs.

PP: Touring with Kali Uchis and then Lana Del Rey is an impressive feat. What did you take away and learn the most from these artists professionally, that you think has now made you stronger as a musician?

When I got the phone call that Kali needed a new musical director, I had only 24 hours to put a band together and learn some of her songs. We auditioned for her that next day and I got the job. Going on tour and opening for Lana was an incredible learning experience for me. The ability to witness the ins and outs of such a massive tour and see the amount of people involved in putting a production together of that size was incredible. As Kali’s musical director, it was my job to find and hire the musicians, so I really learned a lot about managing the dynamics of a band and putting together a live show, collaborating with managers (tour managers, personal managers, stage managers), and everything in between.

I have to say, one thing I really admired about Lana is how she took the time to personally recognize and acknowledge all the members of the cast and crew. The first time I met her she approached me to thank me for being part of her tour (her thanking me?), and to ask me what kind of guitar I was playing; from there she would always make a point to smile at me and say hello or ask how I was doing. I was really impressed by her graciousness and felt very inspired by it.

In thinking about touring on my own, it’s made me even more aware of how important it is to surround yourself with the right kind of people, because although most only see us while we are up there on stage having fun, at times the stresses of tour life – like all the crazy amount of work involved behind the scenes and fatigue from exhausting travel schedules – is really hard, and at the end of the day, it’s important to have kindred spirits around you. It truly is what makes the experience beautiful.

PP: What can we expect from your debut Spanish-language EP?

Love, Translated, is the first chapter in my exploration of femininity, sensuality, intimacy and vulnerability through song. It’s a reflection of my personal journey, softening and settling into all my woman-ness, stripping down the outer layers, and singing my story from that tender spot in my soul. And, speaking before about the importance of surrounding yourself with amazing people – I had the honor of working the most wonderful collaborators on this project: Cosme, a stunningly talented singer-songwriter from Puerto Rico, who wrote and performed a song called Sólo Tu with me; Randy Garcia, the dopest trombonist/producer in all the land, who produced Pa’ Mí, an amazing track I think people will really vibe with; and also with Adrian Quesada, a Grammy-winning musician/producer, who helped me bring the production to life on two songs – Mundo Aparte and Una Razón – here in Austin (to name a few). I’m really grateful to all of them for bringing so much magic to this body of work.

PP: If you could re-do the soundtrack to a film and put your own spin on it, which film would it be and why?

I think it would be a blast to do a movie like Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Spain, art, love, Javier Bardem… need I say more?

I would also love to do a Spanish take on a movie like A Star is Born one day, which I just saw recently, and wow. That would be a dream. I don’t think there is anything more powerful than when music and film are combined to tell a story, especially when each component is already breathtaking on its own.

PP: A piece of advice for our readers, anything at all?

Music is not for the faint of heart. I’ve sacrificed and given a lot of myself during my journey, from writing and recording songs for other singers or touring in support of other artists, many times underpaid or undervalued in the process. At around this same time last year, I was sort of in a period of reconstruction. And I remember 3 different people whom I respect and admire, in the very same week, told me this: “You are the product of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” I remember it hitting me hard, and I took it very much to heart. That’s when the shift began that has led me to where I am now – let me tell you, the power of subtraction is no joke.

In working on my own project, I started from scratch. I promised myself I would not be jaded, and that I would approach everything differently. One of the key changes was deciding I would not give control to others anymore, but instead, that I would choose whom I work with, and curate an environment surrounded by people I love and respect, and make sure they feel equally loved and respected in the process. I’m more vulnerable than I’ve ever been, sharing my passion and sensuality in a very up-front-and-personal way, so this new environment has provided me with a safe, supportive space, allowing me to really go there, to express this very intimate side of myself with the utmost honesty.

So, I guess I say all this to say – never underestimate the power of your surroundings. If someone or something in your life makes you feel small, unworthy, drained, alone, or in any way doesn’t serve you or help you move toward a better version of yourself, let it go. Go to places and find people that make you feel absolutely magnificent in your skin, for exactly who and what you are; those that make you feel valued, respected, inspired, alive, and most importantly, loved. You deserve nothing less.

Find Angélica's debut EP, Love, Translated, on Apple Music and Spotify below:

Apple Music/iTunes

Spotify

Mid90s: Nostalgically Peeking Into The Lives of 90s Youth Skate Culture

2018-10-29T08:50:00.001-07:00

"You're off to watch a film directed by Jonah Hill?" Upon going to watch Mid90s, I was met with raised eyebrows and skeptical faces. The truth is, I was bursting with excitement. Seeing Hill in recent years tackle roles such as a Jesus-haired guru in Gus Van Sant's Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot, or more recently, the title character in the new Netflix drama, Maniac, he's proven he's come far and he's much more than just simply a funny guy from Superbad.

After four years of writing Mid90s from the ground up, Hill hits us with his directorial debut, a homage to a period he grew up in. As he tells Business Insider, his goal was to always be a filmmaker. After years of paying attention to everything that happens on set, the lesson he learned was simple: don't do it until you have something to say.

The movie follows Stevie (Sunny Suljic), who is a 13-year-old living in Los Angeles in the mid-90s and has no friends. His family life is chaotic, with his mother (Katherine Waterston) working constantly and in her spare time has men coming in and out of her room. His older brother, Ian (Lucas Hedges in an almost unrecognizable role), beats him on the regular, yet Stevie still somewhat looks up to him, entering his room while he's away and looking at all his things. One day, Stevie wanders around his neighborhood and comes across a group of teens at a skate shop. Listening to them interact and skate, Stevie is suddenly hooked. He comes back daily, desperately yearning to be a part of the group. The film essentially follows this pack of kids during a summer, a quick glimpse into their lives when not much had meaning, except for their strong bond and, ultimately, the breath of life that skateboarding gives them.

Since the movie is inspired by Hill's own youth and a time that is so dear to him, he pegs the era perfectly. His period-specific details are so spot on yet so subtle, it truly seems like you're watching a relic from the 90s. From Stevie's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comforter to some Super Soakers, everything is immaculate.

However, although the details are addictive and the audience watching is hungry for more easter eggs, Hill had a rule that he wouldn't do any "nostalgia porn." Although he included elements from the 90s, he didn't dwell on it much. When Stevie plays Super Nintendo, for example, we never get a glimpse of exactly what games are played. These touches would have made the movie cross into cheesy territory, and Hill isn't interested in that.

Another touch Hill gives the movie is having it shot with a Super 16-millimeter camera in 4:3 - the same aspect ratio found on old box TVs. This will bother some people, I personally loved it. What ends up feeling like digging up an old home film adds to the element of this movie being an artifact, a look at a simpler time.

The pièce de résistance, however, is the soundtrack, which Hill recognizes is the absolute DNA of the film. Weaving from A Tribe Called Quest, to a little known diddy by Hungarian band, Omega, to Morrissey, you don't expect the songs to blend so well together - but they do. As all coming-of-age movies, the soundtrack is utterly unforgettable. Scanning the audience, I noticed everyone was my age and grew up in the 90s. It suddenly hit me: this soundtrack would bring waves upon waves of nostalgia - and that's the point of Mid90s.

The first few moments of Mid90s immediately reminded me of Larry Clark's disturbing coming-of-age, Kids, which came out in '95. It was raw and disturbing, and the skating hooligans were brazen to the point where nothing mattered in their sad lives except drug use and lacking any sort of emotion at all. The nihilism in the teens was something never seen in a movie before, and while Hill admits he found some inspiration from the mid-90s gem, he wanted to make an anti-Kids, and give his characters some hope to keep going, as bleak as their worlds may be. That's just it, his kids aren't nihilistic. They have hope.

While Clark's Kids was a look at a fraction of the urban youth in the 90s, Hill's film looks at the reality of most, making us beg the question: were children of the 90s even that bad? Unlike Kids, Jonah Hill remembers the 90s fondly, making us realize that it was a time even more innocent than that of which kids grow up in today - with the world at their digital fingertips.

While some people may finish the movie wondering what the point truly was, I found the lack of a concrete plot absolutely perfect. The point of the movie is the way it's made, the details and the nostalgic relics of adolescent youth, and most importantly, the soundtrack - which if it was a mixtape that these teens owned, they'd clutch to their hearts dearly. Hill achieves his purpose of capturing one lazy summer in these kids' lives, where nothing else matters except their close bond and their boards. As one character so perfectly puts it, "That's why we ride a piece of wood. What that does to somebody's spirit." With that, Hill succeeds in putting together what he has to say and showing everyone he's a force to be reckoned with in filmmaking.

'Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.' A Candid Look At The Scrappy Scandal-Magnet, Repeatedly Silenced By The Age of Celebrity

2018-09-29T12:00:00.001-07:00

The most intriguing part of M.I.A's new documentary “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A." is that Maya, (birthname Matangi Arulpragasam), originally wanted to be a documentary filmmaker, having felt she had so much to share with the world. Before becoming the notoriously provocative English-Sri Lankan musician that we've all come to know, Maya was busy creating personal footage of her family and friends, both in London and Sri Lanka. Now, Steve Loveridge, one of her very dear friends from film school has made the Sundance-winning documentary about her, utilizing hundreds upon hundreds of hours of personal footage that Maya has accumulated from her youth to present day. This makes for a very personal profile that doesn't feel like propaganda made out to make you like her necessarily or to boost album sales (she hasn't released one since 2016).

Maya immigrated with her mother and siblings to London from Sri Lanka as a refugee from the civil war in the mid-1980s. Her father was the founder of the Tamil revolutionaries and stayed behind to fight, only coming later on the UK. She touches upon her love for Western hip-hop growing up and her trip back to Sri Lanka to film a documentary about her heritage and answer some questions about her own identity.

The concept of not belonging to either your native country nor the one you were brought up in rings true for me on a very personal level and will be sure to touch other immigrant youths as well. Feeling like she stood out in London, Maya goes back to Sri Lanka to make her film school documentary she was developing at the time. Upon coming back, she chats to family members, who remind her that she didn't go through the unrest and turmoil that surrounded their lives. She's yet again an outsider, confused about where she truly belongs. The idea of being a child of immigrant parents and dealing with the confusion of your own self-identity and heritage was a portion of the film that stood out, and I almost wish was touched upon even more, as it's a topic that's swept under the rug on a regular basis in the society we live in today.

Coming back from Sri Lanka to London, Maya decides to incorporate elements of her heritage and roots into making a hip-hop mixtape and taking it to UK producers. The rest is history. With the hours of personal footage, early demos, and behind-the-scenes views of some of her ballsiest, most controversial moments in her career, you're left feeling a deep respect for this intelligent, well-spoken, and independent artist, and at times shocked at the way the media portrays her. Loveridge offers fantastic examples of this such as the visit from former New York Times writer Lynn Hirschberg, where she fawns over Maya's work then proceeds to write a scathing review on her, to all the times she's been labeled a terrorist sympathizer, or uneducated on the politics of Sri Lanka.

While some may not like that the film focuses on her formative years, it offers a look into the mind of an artist that people have been quick to discredit, making it only fair she gets to share her side of the story. A voice for the marginalized that understands the necessity of having a large platform and using it to talk about issues that will, if anything, educate the masses, M.I.A is finally given a platform to speak. "The worst thing they can do is make you irrelevant," she says at one point and thanks to Loveridge, that simply won't be a reality.

Once again, a huge thank you to Taro PR, Elevation Pictures, and The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) for the tickets and opportunity to view this fabulous documentary.

Eighth Grade

2018-07-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Stand-up comedian Bo Burnham broke out as a YouTube star in 2006, two years after Facebook was founded. He's considered a viral pioneer, with people mimicking his style of skits and songs later on to oblivion. Nobody considered he'd turn to filmmaking, but here he is, remarkably getting into the mind of a 13-year-old girl in his feature film, Eighth Grade. Ironically enough, the star of his film, Elsie Fisher, who plays Kayla, was born in 2003, and I would assume had no prior knowledge of who Bo was.

Eighth Grade is probably the most relatable film to tackle teenage adolescence in years. Burnham wanted to keep it personal to himself but put the focus on a younger character - a teenage girl. Kayla is overly shy and anxious, maneuvering her way through her final year in middle school, struggling to fit in and be noticed. She comes home after school and makes inspirational YouTube videos to a virtually empty audience, making them seem more self-therapeutic than anything else. Her dad, played by Josh Hamilton, is the most endearing father figure you'll ever watch, and if you're past the age of 24, you find your heart going out to him and the trials and tribulations he goes through with his daughter on regular basis.

You may wonder how a male director, one who's never written a movie before, could relate so well to a 13-year-old girl. Burnham did research online, finding teens on YouTube who weren't getting the same level of viral success he was years prior. He told Rolling Stone, “I remember just watching these [clips] and thinking: If this was a performance, this would be incredible,” he says. “What got me was that image of a kid looking into a camera, addressing an audience who she knows is probably not there. Yet we’re there, watching the movie.”

Mean Girls garnered a cult status for the comedic value Tina Fey brought to the screenplay and the superb acting of rising stars that were later catapulted into success. Larry Clark's Kids, on the other hand, was bold and gritty, with Harmony Korine contributing to a brazen script that shocked an entire generation in the '90s. A wake-up call to the world, Kids was uncomfortable to the point of worry - was this really what teenagers were doing? Eighth Grade, on the other hand, is simply real. It's not over-the-top like Mean Girls, nor does it take place in a brash urban setting like Kids. It's about everyday, suburban youth and growing up - with the everyday pummelling of social media taking center stage and commandeering the narrative.

I haven't personally related to a movie like this in years. The sentences uttered are almost identical to what I put my own parents through growing up. All too familiar, I found myself squirming and cringing, remembering exactly what it was like during these turbulent years. Being in my mid-20s and growing up with Facebook, the subject matter of social media being all-too-consuming was familiar, but not to the level it affects teenagers today. With Instagram and Snapchat at an all-time high, the pressure to maintain a perfectly curated life is more dangerous to mental health than ever.

If you want to re-live all your middle school and high school traumas - and trust me, it's fun - be sure to check out Eighth Grade, hitting Vancouver and Toronto theatres on July 20th and the rest of Canada August 3rd.

Huge thank you to Taro PR and Elevation Pictures for the fantastic opportunity to view this screening.

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot

2018-07-18T11:32:00.001-07:00

There's nothing I love more than watching a film with a group that doesn't feel the same way about it. It forces me to think, to really rationalize why I enjoyed it. If I come up with points as to why I thought it was worthwhile, I understand that my feelings weren't superficial and that I do in fact have some substance to back myself up.

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, is a heart-wrenching tale of grim, yet uncomfortably humorous cartoonist and quadriplegic, John Callahan. Played by always-spectacular Joaquin Phoenix, Don't Worry is a story of his battling alcohol addiction and rise as an artist. The title itself comes from one of his cartoons, spoken by a cowboy leading a troupe who come upon an overturned wheelchair in the desert.

The story unfolds with a retelling of an incident that altered John's life in 1972 - allowing a fellow alcoholic, Dexter, to take the wheel of his car after a night out and subsequently crash it, leaving John a quadriplegic at 21 while Dexter walked away unscathed.

Getting up and leaving the theatre, I heard whispers of, "I don't think it was relatable", and, "it dragged on too long." I understood these statements but decided to formulate why I disagreed. I thought the story of a quadriplegic alcoholic WAS relatable. Sure, Callahan ended up in a wheelchair, but the cards life dealt him and the way he began drinking were both exceptionally relatable. His mother abandoned him when he was very young, leaving him to grow up in a home he felt he didn't necessarily fit in with. A man's struggle with alcoholism for very human reasons envokes feelings of sympathy and raw emotion - at the end of the day, he's just a human that craves a sense of home and belonging, just like the rest of us.

The rest of the story follows John through his path towards sobriety via his 120-step AA meetings, led by Donnie (played by superb Jonah Hill), his AA sponsor who also happens to be a perfectly zen and wealthy gay man, clad in robes and '70s athletic shorts. The whole cast is phenomenal, joined by Jack Black as Dexter, and Rooney Mara as Callahan's Swedish love interest. Phoenix and Hill, however, stand out the most in two absolutely captivating roles.

Director Gus Van Sant does a fabulous job at humanizing Callahan, portraying him as a problematic antihero, and one you certainly shouldn't be feeling for. Your heart reaches out to him, with scenes such as him struggling to open a bottle of alcohol and get to another one high up on a shelf after his accident, utterly poignant. John grows as a character, and eventually goes around and visits old friends and family, gaining closure for all his wrongs over the years. The scene where he finally meets up with Dexter is superb, with a focus on two very broken characters and the different stages of their lives, their reunion tragic and shattering.

It is to be noted that the film can seem long at times and there may be some scenes that could be cut. What saves this film from falling into such territory is its superb acting that carries the story so perfectly. The film teeters dangerously on the line of cheesy but never crosses it. It does tease you and draws out your emotions, however, and I found myself a blubbering mess about 3 times, with my heart yearning for Callahan to succeed.

The end credits acknowledge Robin Williams, who originally brought Callahan's story to Van Sant 20 years ago. Williams was supposed to produce and play the lead, while Van Sant worked very unsuccessfully on various drafts with writers. The project came to a halt, and only resumed after the deaths of both Callahan and Williams. Van Sant then decided to comandeer the script and finish it on his own, and it's perhaps his own raw emotion that really comes forward and leads this film to a polished finish.

The film hits theatres June 20th and Callahan's story is really worth viewing. It's his wit and macabre sense of humour that carries the tale, one that's genuinely outstanding to experience. This movie is sure to divide audiences, but those who appreciate a gentle story of a troubled artist will seek to find out more, as soon as the credits stop rolling.

Huge thank you to Taro PR and Elevation Pictures for the fantastic opportunity to view this screening.

An Interview With Portland's Most Captivating and Inviting Flower, Blossom

2018-07-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

We're sitting in the middle Kelly's Olympian, one of the oldest bars in Portland, where back in the day, travellers would come in for a quick drink and mingle with the locals before continuing on their journies. With vintage motorcycles hanging from the ceiling, and neon signs littered throughout, it's pretty fitting Blossom would pick this spot to chat with us.

We meet Blossom and immediately realize why so many people are drawn to her. She oozes a positive energy that catches you off guard, and then she starts talking and you can't help but hold on to every word. Her friend Snugs is with her, and they're both buzzing off a local TV performance they had before they met us. The night prior and early in the morning before we met, Snugs produced a melody for her that she later turned into a song, all in 24 hours.

As we sat down to do the interview, I started to wonder what the theme and end goal of it would be. It happens to be pretty obvious - Blossom is about community and the energies she has surrounding her in her life. She's fun and lighthearted and has a natural attraction that people are drawn to. Her friend stops to say hi halfway through the interview, a table behind us interrupts us at one point and she chats with them for a bit, and another time a girl walks by and Blossom yells at her that she's gorgeous. She's about love, manifesting positive situations throughout her life.

Blossom is fluid in her movements, a creature that's the embodiment of going with the flow. Things work in her favour and those waves don't clash - at least she doesn't let it show.

With her roots in Trinidad & Tobago, Blossom is now causing a stir in the Pacific Northwest, and for good reason too. her music is utterly mesmerising.

PP: So, what's on the agenda for today?

B: We're gonna go to my studio session upstairs after we're done this interview!

Do you have set plans for what you do with your days off?

I do. Mainly because I get so few days off. Whenever I have a day off I tend to jam pack it with stuff and today is no different. I literally got up at 7 and go, go, go. Every other day I'm at work and my work needs my attention and focus. I try to multitask with music and emails at work but it's really hard to do so.

We saw your video recently you did with Marmoset, where you talk about finding inspiration wherever you go and writing it down immediately. What was the most bizarre place you found inspiration and later drew from it?

Stuck in traffic coming back from the eclipse I had an instrumental CD in my car that Neil, who you'll meet in my studio, gave me, and I wrote the first song that's going to be on my next album from being stuck in traffic. We were stuck in traffic for like, 4 hours, and we went through the CD once, and then again, and then I just kept playing one song, and I was in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, making music, and there's literally nothing out here to inspire me but just like, the roundabout way of being here, and what we're doing, and you know that anxiety you get when you're stuck in traffic? I wish I could be anywhere else but here! That motivated me because I was thinking of all other places I could be but here.

Moving from Trinidad & Tobago, do you feel far from your roots?

No, I have a lot of family. I'm definitely far away from the every day of my roots and my culture and what we typically do every day - which is the same as anyone. You know you grow up anywhere and you go to a football game with everyone in your town, and let's say you move...you're not going to go to a football game where you don't know anyone. That's my disconnection, but family life and food and things like that...my family has done a pretty good job at keeping that up. My aunt cooks for me or my dad every time she comes here. Trinidad food, I've learned to cook myself, and I kind of have an awesome fun family where we do those things together.

You love teaching and doing fundraisers. You essentially get a genuine joy from people's faces when you perform. Was music always so selfless for you? Did you ever dream of fame and fortune?

I dreamed of what the fame and fortune could give me, not neccessarily having it. I have really, really intense anxiety over being obsessed over. It freaks me out if a certain person or someone is spending too much time or focus on me. I have a very rational but irrational fear of being kindnapped. Watching Selena horrified me. I'm still looking for a manager because I'm scared of somebody not having the right - Is that Martell?

(At this moment, someone pulls up in their car, blasting music, distracting Blossom. She jumps up promptly and runs to give him a hug)

I'm so sorry about that! Okay so, long story short, I've been stalked before. It scared the shit out of me! I have a very big fear of what that whole life brings. I just want financial stability and I think that's just what every musician wants in the long run, but I also want a platform to have a voice to speak up about things that aren't cool, because I have no fear of sharing my emotions and being up there in the front line, and there's people who...that's not made out for them, but they want to talk, so I'd like to be the voice for them.

So, what is it that you want to articulate?

Everything!! I'm nuts girl. There are so many things I'm so extremely passionate about. You can be passionate about a million things! I'm passionate about childcare, the foster system, I want kids to get adopted, I want kids to have better foster homes, I want there to be more help for caretakers and for social service, because they're tired and the reason why they're doing this shitty job is because there's not enough of them, and it's too much and they're overwhelmed and anybody doing any job, when you get tired and you get frustrated you won't do a good job. I want to tell more people that are financially in the position to take care of other people and other children to do so. It's hard emotionally, yes, but you have all this space, let's be a little bit less selfish and share the space with the world? I'm really passionate about the food at schools in lower income areas. I hate that there's such split districts and divisions. Like why is Beaverton thriving and Portland isn't, and we're in the same state? It's not okay. There's not a creative outlet in all schools and I'd like to educate and be a part of making that better. I've gone to a lot of schools and talked to a lot of music programs, and it's really unfortunate that schools have to segregate their instruments because they can't afford to have a section for everything. One school is strings, another school is horns, another is clarinet, flute etc, and what if I don't want to play the violin? I wanna play the drums. But my school district doesn't provide it for me. That sucks.

We love giving our artists gifts. We saw this and for some reason were so drawn to it and thought you would appreciate it. An inkblot book. What do you think?

AHH! (keeps screaming). I love it!!! You don't even get it! (gasps, starts looking through it). Oh my God. Ah! My heart is so excited for this!

So we thought it would be fun to play a game. We have 5 inkblot cards here, and we want you to pick your favourite and tell us why, and then once you tell us, you can flip it over and tell us the actual meaning on the card.

This one, because it's my aura. It's how I feel and look inside and out. (flips the card over), Oh my God. Wow! So I first saw the x-ray, the heart, then the stingray on it. The stingray means, "you tend to put yourself second, and are familiar but not neccessarily comfortable with the sensation of being put aside by more powerful characters. A consequence is that you can sometimes be apologetic to a fault." And that's so true! All the time. I was walking down the street and this lady was in front of me and she wasn't gonna move, and I said sorry, and she kept walking. I even told my dad to stop doing that, like stop saying you're sorry when you didn't even do anything. I have to tell myself that too but it's really nice to have a reminder. I love this gift! I can't wait to do this with my godson! You guys! Can I hug you?

It's crazy you got me this because I wanted to be a psychologist. I went to school for it for a bit to try and become a psychologist then I decided there's no fucking way I'm going to school for that long. Anyway, that was a really thoughtful gift!

We love what a feminist you are. You have your backup vocalists, you have your girl crew front row at your shows, and you celebrate females in your music videos. It's beautiful. With feminism taking such a center stage recently and with people becoming more aware of it, what do you think is a common misconception about being a feminist?

That it means we hate men. That's just such a stupid way to bring the conversation back to men instead of addressing the fact that we're just women who have something to say. If you're a man and that hurts then, cool, we're talking to you. But we're not talking to everybody. I hate the phrase, "not all __". You don't have to say any part of that. Like, you shouldn't have to. When someone responds to you with, "I don't do that." Cool well, was I talking to you? I said a statement, that applied to this demographic, a fact, and if that fact hurts your feelings then do better, so when you see facts, you don't get upset about it. For example, if someone says, "oh you're a Gemini then you have to be blah, blah, blah", and I feel sometimes the answer should be, "no, maybe some other Gemini", not, "NOT ALL GEMINIS!!" Like, who are you standing up for? Why are you being defensive for no reason? And that's passive aggressive behaviour and I don't like that. And that statement is out there, and I've decided, I don't think I like it. And I'm going to try very hard to not say it, and I'm going to try and educate the reasons for why I don't want it to be said. Freedom of speech is for everyone, and I can only speak on me. I'm just saying this is what I think, and you should probably not say it anymore. Just think about what it means when you say it.

We want to talk to you about your fantastic single, "U Got Me." You've talked about it being about self-love and independence, so we want to know, what does being independent mean to you?

That's such a good question. Hmm. I think it means, independent in thought and being okay to disagree. That comes with maturity. Being able to communicate is really important. I don't think going against the grain means you're independent, because you can agree with a lot of people and still be independent. But like, loving the things that you do as an individual and using those things to live your life. Like saving your money and deciding, "I'm going to do this because I want to get further" is being independent. Not letting anyone else tell me this is something I gotta do. I make my choices for my future on my own. And you can have people influence your decisions but if you're not making them for yourself then you're not being independent.

We read that you categorize your life into eras. 2017 were your sassy years. You have zero tolerance for stupidity, be it from men or women or politics. Are you still in your sassy years?

I'm in my lover years right now! I'm so, ahhhh (swings around). I wanna love and be loved and I wanna have the people around me trust me, and just...love! I want everyone to be really happy. I focus on being ready to be loved. What does that mean? Where do I wanna be when I'm in love? And then I'm like, okay, I'm gonna grow towards being that "in love" person, because I'm such a romantic in every aspect of life! I have these things that I want, so I'm in that state of mind.

We've noticed you talk a lot about positive intentions and universal energy. Did you grow up with this mindset, or was it something you learned on your path?

I had to learn what those feelings were for me as a kid. There never was a lot of communication about that as a kid. I had a lot of people who acted that way so when I was older and able to put a word to the actions. I had a lot of people who decided they were going to do this, do that, and there were all these things they were gonna do to get it. The mindset was, " I cant wait when this happens" not, "I wish." Everything all of a sudden started happening, snowballing.

Have you ever experienced manifestations energies yourself?

I don't know! I always feel like I have a feeling like, "oh is this manifesting?!" I guess cool things just happen....oh wait! Here's one! When I first started doing music, I heard about this festival, here in August, it's outdoors and it's all ages and it's awesome because you can smoke weed and you can drink and it's families! But it's amazing, and there are all these different stages and you can camp there. It's family oriented and you can wake up and there's outdoor showers and yoga, and bungalows. It's huge. I looked at it and I was like, I wanna play there! And it's here. So, then they emailed me after I wanted it and it just happened!

Redo the soundtrack to a film, which film would it be and why?

Burlesque with Christina Aguilera beause it's bomb, and it's amazing and I love the show and I love everything and I feel like I could find a vocal home with that sort of production....oh and! West Side Story!

A piece of advice for your fans and our listeners?

Go out dancing, as often as you can. Go with your friends. Dance with strangers. And take your shoes off if your feet hurt. Don't be that bitch. You're never too boujee to take your shoes off and have fun.

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George Clanton Isn't Into Films, He Isn't Into Other Music . He's Too Consumed In Creating His Own Legacy

2018-07-02T08:44:00.001-07:00

Paradise Playground, as many of you know, is a blog that celebrates musicians and their craft, and isn't out to make monsters out of artists. That's why, upon meeting George Clanton, I was curious to get to know him better. The enigma and one of the heavy hitters behind his genre of vaporwave, George got intellectualized really early on and quite frankly, misunderstood, thanks to online forums and gossip. What he really wants is to connect with his audience and make memorable experiences for them. He's the type of guy who believes that people at his shows hang out with him and sing with him. That they're all in this together. He's the type that jumps into crowds and you watch as the faces of his fans transform. Their auras and their energies amplify as he hugs and pats them on their backs and ultimately these are experiences that these people will take home forever.

George shattered a specific print persona that we went into this interview with. To be honest, we were intimidated at the start. From the get-go, he thanks us multiple times for coming to Portland and for the interview itself. He then thanks the security guard for letting us go backstage with him to conduct the interview. He jumps cheerfully and eagerly to get started on the questions. He's earnest, hoping he doesn't sound too boring in the interview, and he means well. We came to get to know George during his US tour in Portland, where he was playing a show at Doug Fir Lounge with his girlfriend and record label co-owner, Lindsey French AKA Negative Gemini.

What we came to find out is that George is about providing experiences for all his fans. He's not an 80s revival artist, he's not a new wave artist, but he is, in fact, his own genre. His music is something so different, that once you hear it live you realize that George Clanton, in himself, is the experience.

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PP: We're huge fans of your music - of course. We were sitting and listening to you one day and trying to see where you appear to draw inspiration from. We threw ideas around, heard bits of New Order, some Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, some cinematic 80s synth stuff. The cool thing is it's all modernized into this really rad synth-pop package. We're wondering how that translated to growing up in Virginia. What's the music scene like there? What got you into late 70s or 80s new wave?

GC: Well, first of all, thank you! But I mean, I don't know. There's not a lot of people where I came from. I can't speak for Virginia as a whole, but when I was growing up, there wasn't a lot of people to bounce ideas off of. Me and my friends we all liked Oasis in high school. That was the coolest band we liked. But then, from downloading a misnamed file on Limewire that said it was Oasis, we ended up downloading something cooler, and that led into the internet and discovering some music. We really didn't know anybody outside of our friend group that was listening to anything we were listening to at that time so, Virginia, I don't know if that's relevant. I just think that you know, we got lucky.

What was the defining moment when you grasped for these inspirations behind your genre? You were stuck for a bit within the vaporwave genre, but now people (I guess us included), see these large influences in 80s new wave. Do you even want to be put in that genre even?

(Sighs). No. I mean, 80s new wave is my least favourite, I'd rather be pigeonholed into vaporwave than be pigeonholed into 80s new wave. Just because vaporwave is happening now and 80s new wave is dead and gone. And, I've been called an 80s revivalist my whole career and I'm kind of sick of it a little bit. Of course, I am influenced by those things, but I feel like the only thing that makes it so obvious is that I'm singing so much and my contemporaries don't sing. Or at least they don't sing like me (coyly smiles). That's not my fault, I'm not trying to do an 80s thing per say, I'm just singing every era up until this point, but synthesizers are back in fashion so, I guess, the only time that singing and synthesizers went together in fashion were the 80s. But I don't know if it sounds like the 80s because I listen to it a lot of the 80s stuff, particularly the new wave channel on Sirius XM, and I think it's shitty. I think that they got really lost pretty quickly and started making formulaic music. (laughs)

In an interview, you say that you don't want to be pigeonholed in a genre. You mention that you wear all black because if you wore 80s neon windbreakers, people would definitely see you as an 80s throwback artist. The thing is what if you just wanted to wear an 80s windbreaker some day? Our question is, do you feel like you have to push away from this 80s aesthetic in every way of your life in fear that it may give people the wrong idea?

(Lindsey laughs in the background). Well, no. And if I do want to, I do. That being said I'm not sure exactly the quote but sometimes I say things, and um, as you'll see, sometimes I just say things and like, "how do you translate this into print" because I'm..I'm kind of lying, you know?

I was probably just making fun of something I was doing. I make fun of myself a lot and in New York everybody wears black, and as you can see I'm not wearing black at all today. I'm kind of trying to make fun of myself in another way by dressing up in 80s baggy jeans and Sketchers and I've got this fucking wallet chain. I don't necessarily think any of that is cool, but I think it's cool because it's fun. But you know, if all the vaporwave kids start wearing wallet chains and baggy jeans and No Fear shirts then I'll be like, "pfff fuck this, I'm gonna figure out something else."

We wanted to talk about you and Lindsey for a second. You guys are obviously doing a phenomenal job with your record label together and you tour together. You support each other so much and that's brilliant to see. You both have said though, you're not into doing collaborations because you want to keep the work 100% your own. Why is that? The obvious next step seems like doing a song together.

Well maybe because it's the obvious step that we've avoided it for so long. At the same time, we've started having a little bit more fun making the music. I mean I don't want to speak for her but the way I see it is I've been creating music and trying to prove myself, thinking everything I do is a legacy, and I'm worried that if I do something that's a little bit different than this path that I've been on, that I'll muddy it up and it'll be more confusing.

When I talk to people, nobody really understands, nobody really sees my music the way I see it. I think that we've been opening up a little more and we're not afraid of, "what if this doesn't sound like what someone would expect." So, Lindsey already did it and made an album that kind of shattered expectation of what you think that her music is going to sound like and then my new album that's coming out soon is kind of the same thing. At the same time, we were talking up until very recently and we were pretty much saying that we were going to do a collaborative thing. But Lindsey has got some irons in the fire where that doesn't make sense to be the best use of her time because she really should be working on a solo album with some bigger label, and that takes precedent. So either way, it would be a good thing. I'm not against it anymore. Basically, I just changed my mind a lot. You can't expect to read something I said in an interview and think that it is real or that it is set in stone. I say things really matter-of-factly and then I don't even know if I mean them wholeheartedly because I just take it one step at a time.

Has the music industry ever driven a wedge between you guys or has it brought you closer?

Yeah. Like in really stupid ways. I'm a control freak so then if somebody wants to help Lindsey out and I disagree with it then I'll be really upset, then she'll be really upset that I'm being upset and it's really none of my business. But then ultimately...I wasn't right. To rewind on your question, not really. It's funny like, little tiny things, not really a wedge between us but we're both in the industry and then something annoying happens and it affects us both and then we bicker. She wants to do something and I want to do that...so not a lovers quarrel but like...business partners quarrels.

We know you love reissuing obscure vinyls on your label and you're a fan of collecting them yourself so - we brought a present for you. Japanese synth. From the 70s. What do you think?

(excited) Is this something that you really like?

Yeah! You'd love it.

I don't know what it is. This is awesome, I'm very excited. Damn, but it's reissued, they got the jump on me. (laughs). Well, maybe I'll listen to it and then we could do it. I've had a hard time getting rights to Japanese music.

We know.

Yes. But you know, some people seem to pull it off. (gets distracted) Thank you very much! I think it depends on who owns the rights to it. When I reach out to the artist directly but the labels are hesitant, because they have their own business plans and they have a greater understanding of how it works than I do, so maybe I would mess up their royalties.

You tweeted back in 2017, "Every interview makes me sound bad, that's because I am bad." You've actually brought up in interviews a couple of times that people think you're a dick, or that you're trying to make sure people don't see you as one. You don't seem like one though! Why do you think people would think you're a jerk?

You know...I'm just really sensitive. 100 people may say, "you're so nice" and, "I love you" but then somebody will say something, and again on the internet, you can't tell if you're joking or not, but it really hurts my feelings. I google myself all the time and somebody said on 4chan, "yeah I met George Clanton, he was a total dick though because not a whole lot of people came to his show and he was pissed off about it." So then I'm like searching my memory, and I can't think of what show that could have been, or when I could have been a dick to someone.

And then another time some other people have said that I was a homophobe because I took their photo and reposted it to my instagram and I didnt know where the photo came from since I posted it two months later. So I didn't credit the person and they saw it and then called me a homophobe and said I was so mean to them at the show. Then I remembered it because I looked at their pictures and knew who they were and it was because I was charging 25 dollars for my record and they only had 20 dollars and I said, "you gotta go get 5 dollars, man," and they said, "come on bro, just let me have this for 20 dollars" and then asked if I would sign it after all that. So I gave it to them for 20 dollars, it was actually supposed to be 30 dollars and I was already charging 25, and then I signed it, and then I thought I was being cute so I wrote, "you owe me 5 bucks - George Clanton" and then they acted like I was being a dick about that.

Some people can think that's being a dick about that and some people can think that's really charming. You never know who you're running into and people are so strange. I'm learning more as I get older that I'm the strange one too in a lot of instances. So, some people...see now again it seems like I'm a guy who thinks everyone wants to talk to, but I'm just saying that, a lot of people do want to talk to me, and that's fine, I do want to talk to a lot of people, especially those who come to my show, but some people you can never please them. And they'll always be upset. And then when they say something i get upset really easily and I take it to heart.

Do you ever get anxious? What makes you nervous?

I only get anxious under the context of like...like last night when I get to the show late because of the flight or something and I don't know what I'm getting into or like when the flight gets canceled. I don't get nervous in front of large crowds or small crowds. I'm comfortable with anything so none of that makes me nervous. Sometimes selling the merch makes me nervous if I get one of those people who wants to punish me the whole time and just never gives someone else a turn or ever gives me a break. But I don't get nervous about the music.

You get pretty up close and personal with your fans at your live shows, it's so rad to see the excitement in the room. We're curious what show you yourself have been to that's stood out to you as having that same level of excitement.

(pause) I couldn't tell you. I don't go to a lot of shows and when I do I'm really...hmm. Here's one thing. I don't want anybody touching me when I'm at a concert. Just because I'm not that passionate about a lot of music. If it was someone that I really wanted to see maybe it would blow my mind if they interacted with me and so I think about that. If you want that from me then you're in the front and I'll hang out with you and we'll sing together. But I don't want to bother the people in the back either because as I'm getting older I understand that like, people want to be in a safe space and don't want to be bothered. But you gotta please everybody so I try to balance. To be honest, that doesn't really happen in New York and I've never been to a Mac DeMarco show so like I see him doing stuff like that and I dunno, the shows I end up going to are more like dance parties and the DJs are really like, they could just not be there essentially. Interacting with the crowd is something I learned years ago in Virginia, something in my college town at punk shows and hardcore shows. I didn't even necessarily enjoy the shows as much as I did the environment.

Is there any sort of film you'd want to re-do the soundtrack to? Which one?

(long pause).

We ask this all the time, we love the responses we get.

Oh my gosh, I was about to ask for a pass on that. I don't know...because the films that I think of I like the music to. I just don't think I'm cut out for that type of scoring. I've tried it, and I'm just more of a wham bam thank you ma'am kind of guy, you know what I mean? But I don't know. I'm not really...forgive me...I'm not really into film either. So I'm not into music, I'm not into film. I love making music. And I love some music. but I really can't just listen to anything and like it. I can't make it through an hour and a half of a movie. I'd rather watch 30 minutes of HGTV and point out all of the sloppy decisions they're making with their furniture choices because I've just got really bad ADD. So I just keep talking and I digress a lot.

Any piece of advice for our readers?

Gosh you know, in hindsight, I think that I really screwed the pooch on this. I answered all the questions truthfully but, if I was reading this, that is one boring dude. And so, I think that, my advice would be, don't be like me, try to live your life to the fullest, don't worry about how much money you're making or anything, just spin the money that you have and try to have fun instead of trying to do everything just right.

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Lynne Ramsay Shows Female Directors Are Absolute Masters of Thrillers in "You Were Never Really Here"

2018-06-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Following the success of 2011's We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay is back with yet another chilling thriller, You Were Never Really Here. Based on the Jonathan Ames novella of the same name, the Cannes-winning film goes to show that women can absolutely make phenomenal violent and expressive movies in a testosterone-dominated playground. Joaquin Phoenix, as the lead, Joe, delivers one of his best performances to date, weaving through the story of a brutal mercenary hired to track down a senator's daughter from a brothel. The plot seems like your run-of-the-mill noir thriller, drawing comparisons to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. Both lead characters are hardened war veterans suffering from some form of PTSD, maneuvering through dark urban jungles, rescuing girls. The similarities stop there, however, as Ramsay offers a unique and intelligent twist on a macabre genre. Female directors holding their own with dramas and thrillers isn't anything new, in fact, they've been quietly making their mark for years now. Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, Jennifer Kent's The Babadook, and Mary Harron's American Psycho are all examples of women stepping behind the camera and offering a refreshing take on violence. Despite all the destructiveness, what's different is that there is never an intention to fetishize the savagery. In You Were Never Really Here, Ramsay accomplishes some of her best work during her most violent scenes, and it's interesting to note that during those scenes, the brutality happens off-screen. Ramsay does this so effectively, that the violence becomes only a catalyst into the mind of Joe, but never taking the center stage, or doing so without meaning.

The discreet undercurrent of bloodshed is something that can perhaps be attested to a female-directed movie. This spin makes the whole experience so much more uncomfortable and effective, helping you come to the realization of what the film is truly about. As the drama unfolds in front of you, it touches on themes such as a sleazy underworld, childhood abuse, and corruption. Suddenly, you realize that the movie has nothing to do with rescuing a girl from sex trafficking. In fact, it's a jarring character analysis and social commentary on our world today. As I was watching the film, I found myself caring less and less about the plot, and more so wanting to get into the mind of Joe and his traumas, a heartbreaking look at how our world has absolutely shattered what's deep down an extremely compassionate man.

What's even more so captivating is the way Ramsay offers you glimpses into Joe's humanity and you see how multifaceted of a character he is. The scenes with his dying mother (played by the amazing Judith Roberts) are some of the film's most poignant. It's the relationship between these two characters that we see there is some good in Joe. In another breathtaking scene, Joe lays on the floor with a dying villain, holding his hand and singing along to Charlene's I've Never Been to Me.

Sure, You Were Never Really Here is a merciless thriller, but don't be fooled into thinking it's just like the rest. What Lynne Ramsay offers up is so much more than that. Her expressionistic approach is a journey I urge you to take with her, and one that will grip you and stay within your mind long after the credits have rolled.

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The Worst Case Survival Guide: Life According to NEEDS

2018-06-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

We've done our fair share of interviews here at Paradise Playground. To be honest, before every single one, I still get a sense of anxiety right before we go meet our artists. NEEDS, in particular, made my heart flutter a touch too quick.

Was I a fan of their music? Absolutely. Did I know much about modern, hardcore punk going into this? Not really. I could rattle on for hours about Bauhaus or Joy Division, bands part of the post-punk explosion of the late 70s and early 80s, but that's where any sense of expertise stops. It's this fear of the unknown that plummeted me in a sense of despair.

The modern, hardcore punk scene comes with stereotypes that audiences tend to pigeonhole these artists in. NEEDS even goes as far as to write on their website that they have, "themes of self-reflection, rare in punk and hardcore." The five-piece is aware and introspective, with thoughtful lyrics and atmospheric melodies.

Blowing away the misconception of hardcore bands being intense and intimidating, the guys were teddy bears. "We knew you were coming so we brought you ciders", exclaimed Glenn Alderson, the band's bass player, then proceeding to shove a tape and a vinyl at us as well. The guys were in high spirits, chirping at one another, drinking beers. The rest of NEEDS consists of Sean Orr on vocals, Derek Adam and Colin Spensley on guitars, and Devin O'Rourke on drums.

With their album coming out next week, June 22nd, we decided to get to know the boys better. We cracked open our ciders and just like that the intimidation was gone, and Tia and I both became friends with a hardcore punk band from Vancouver. Rad.

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PP: So. NEEDS. You said as a gag it means Not Everyone Enjoys Doing Sports. We've brought you some balls. A basketball and net, a badminton racket and birdies, and a couple tennis balls. Which of these represents your least favourite sport? Why?

NEEDS: immediately all start grabbing the balls and playing with them.

Derek: We were just talking about how we needed a basketball!!! I can't believe we were just talking about a basketball hoop and you actually just pulled out a basketball hoop. That's really messed up. Sean brought out this other basketball for the first time and I was just saying "Why don't we have a hoop back here" and Devin said, "That would be really easy to install", and now we have one in front of us. Sports!!! Anyways, tennis. I don't like tennis. My arms dislocate. I have long arms. So I can't play tennis. But I can play badminton, I love badminton. Basketball...anyone can play basketball.

Sean: Tennis is the least casual. Badminton is a lot of fun. Basketball is a lot of fun too. Tennis is dangerous.

PP: Sean, this one is for you. When you go on stage, things get out of hand. Fried chicken in the pants, eating trash from garbages, setting hair on fire, drinking wax etc. We assume none of these things are planned, yet on Twitter we saw you're working on getting a watermelon helmet, a carton of eggs, canned cheese, etc. What's the plan? Do you have a set plan?

Sean: It's never a set plan. Sometimes we'll be in a town, and we'll be in a Value Village, and I'll find shit. A lot of times, I'll get into a venue, and Glenn with look at me and I'll be like, "I'm gonna fuck with that."

Devin: For some reason in Victoria, on the island, we ALWAYS go in with a bit.

PP: Why Victoria?

Glenn: Because we feel like Victoria needs to be fucked with. The Value Village is so close to the hotel we stay at. Edmonton is another town too where like...Sean comes dressed as a cowboy.

Sean: (Grins). I did that once, yeah.

Glenn: We got kicked out of Rifflandia Music Festival in Victoria once. We were opening for a band called Fucked Up, from Toronto. So it was us, White Lung, and Fucked Up, and someone lifted up Sean onto their shoulders while we were playing, and he hung on to the ceiling, and a piece of the tile broke off into his hands. From what I understand, he broke the tile over his head. Anyway, all they saw was that Sean was fucking with the ceiling, even though it wasn't really his fault.

Sean: Sure.

Glenn: So the security guards who weren't even used to working live music shows, grab him by the neck and chokehold him out of the venue. We kept playing and we're like, "Where's Sean?" And he's passed out, choked out, outside the venue, while Damian from Fucked Up is like yelling at the bouncer, and one of our friends is throwing money at the bouncer, "If it's about the tiles take the money!" So then Rifflandia calls me and is like, "Glenn I don't know what's going on but get your shit and get the fuck out. You're not welcome back." Fast forward two years later they ask me, as Beatroute - which I'm the editor-in-chief at - to curate a show, and I book a hardcore band from Toronto, Single Mothers, and I thought NEEDS would be perfect to play with them since we've played with them a bunch. Rifflandia says, "OK, fine, only if you PROMISE to be better." So Sean shows up, and he had every intention to be good. He dressed up really nicely with a leather jacket, roses and a box of chocolate. That was his apology. So we show up at the venue, and we get on stage, and immediately the chocolates are just thrown into the audience - not by Sean - and down his pants, and we finish the show. The people who ran the venue were like, "Shit! They were throwing shit around!" And so they thought it was poo so we got kicked out AGAIN for a festival. So for real, now we're never allowed back.

PP: So your song, Eat the Rich...People's Leftovers. Hold on. Do I pause after I say "Eat the Rich" or do I verbalize "dot dot dot."

Glenn: Yeah "dot dot dot" so you vocalize the ellipses.

Sean: You say "dot dot dot"?

Glenn: I do because if I just say Eat the Rich People's Leftovers -

Sean: Yeah, so you pause. Do you say "comma" when you talk?

PP: ANYWAY. That video was simple yet really effective. Effective in particular, since the class system is so stark and defined in our city. Have you guys considered moving somewhere else? Do you have ties to Vancouver?

Sean: I own a condo, Derek owns a condo...

Derek: We never really thought about moving anywhere else.

Sean: We're from here. I also love to complain so, it's a good place for that!

Glenn: When I was growing up in Calgary, I always wanted to live here and Vancouver was known as "Terminal City" because it is the end of the line.

Sean: I meet a lot of people from Europe who say how awesome it is here.

Glenn: Yeah and when you travel a lot and then come back to Vancouver, it is one of the best cities in the world.

Sean: Yeah there's the ocean, there are the mountains, there's the forests...I do love it.

Glenn: In terms of why put up with the class system and the haves and have-nots...

Sean: We all have our niche. I think there's something to say about staying and trying and fighting for it. There was a real trend a few years ago with people announcing their departure and writing these, "Dear Vancouver, I love you but you don't love me" letters. It just seemed like...these people didn't have friends, and that's not really a reason to pen a letter like that. If you really cared about a city you'd stay, and you'd try. I feel like through my music and my column I write, I really do try and do that. I try and expose a lot of that shit and bring it to life. It doesn't take a fucking revolution. There are easy steps to take to make it livable for more people and not just the privileged few.

PP: Sean, we read that you feel like your music doesn't make a difference. You say it's like you're screaming at a wall. Quite literally, you are. You talk about themes of self-reflection, introspection, and have very clear political and societal views. You're using your music as an outlet, right? So does it bother you that people aren't necessarily listening to the meaning?

Sean: Not really, no. I think if they dig deep enough and if you're already inclined to that kind of thing, but I don't think it'll change anybody's minds or incite anyone to go into the streets and make a change, and that's...that's a lot deeper of a question, and a more philosophical question than I can really answer. Can art really ever incite real social change? I think it can mirror it, I think it can mirror the situations that are going on. You know, when you're looking at the new Childish Gambino video, it's one of the most fucking powerful videos I've seen in a while and that was a couple weeks ago and now...now nobody is talking about it anymore. It's nothing. So..as far as that, it definitely reflects society, but I don't think it'll ever be at the forefront of pushing that kind of change.

PP: We read a lot about Sean. Why don't we read a lot on the rest of you?

Derek: My social media presence is very uh..not very good.

Glenn: Sean's the lyricist, right? We wouldn't be in a band if we didn't share the same political values.

Devin: He's our spokesperson.

Glenn: He has a way with words and his talent with bringing random thoughts to life through songs...it's good stuff.

PP: If you were cooped up in a cabin during an avalanche, and could not leave...what album playing on a loop would make you bash in your bandmate's skulls?

NEEDS: Laughter.

Sean: What do we all hate...

Devin: Last time we were all stuck in a cabin together...we listened to podcasts.

Sean: The NPR podcast!

Devin: There's a hard line drawn in the band with whether or not you like listening to podcasts.

Derek: I'm a no, it doesn't foster conversation.

Sean: Yeah because if you wanna talk about the podcast and you try it's all, "shh, stop talking about the podcast!"

Colin: That's not an artist though..

Glenn: One that would maybe start off good and then like, get really annoying..

Colin: Big Shiny Tunes 3!

PP: We noticed at the bottom of your website, a technical report from May 1984, that talks about the disposal of radioactive wastes, and isolating people from them. Care to shed some light on this and in relation to our society today?

Devin: Oh yeah, I made that! I don't know, I find that document really interesting because it's something that no one has ever talked about, it's the future disposal of nuclear waste. But the thing I find the most interesting about it, if you really dig into it, is the biggest problem they're trying to solve is like, if a new civilization happens that doesn't have the same language or symbols, how do you dictate that this is a place that's evil, a place that you should stay away from. They have all these cool illustrations of like, designing these huge models. I found it more like food for thought if anything, and aesthetically it looks really cool, but before reading that report, it was something I never thought about. We have all this stuff buried underground, and if we were to just like disappear of the face of the planet, it's such a dangerous thing that someone on earth could find.

PP: In true Nardwuar fashion, we enjoy giving gifts to the artists we interview. Because of this, we've brought you two books. First off, Everything You Know is Wrong, which is highly political. What do you think?

Derek: Oh my god. I've already enjoyed the basketball. I still can't believe that happened.

Colin: Is this a Nardwuar interview?!

Sean: I haven't read this book, but I had a friend who was obsessed with it.

Glenn: This is right up Sean's alley.

PP: And...The Worst Case Survival Guide, which is so handy for when you're on tour.

NEEDS: Collective laughter.

Glenn: "How to get away from a bear. How to save your cat from choking. How to escape from a charging rhino. How to cure insomnia." This is very thorough!

Derek: What about crossing the border, look!

Glenn: "How to cross a border with a weed grinder."

Sean: We failed that.

Glenn: "How to extinguish a Christmas Tree." So, when we played a show..we played a show at this real underground venue in Chinatown in February, and there was this Christmas tree sitting in the front entrance, and I looked at it and was like "Fuck."

Devin: Sean whispered in my ear, "that Christmas tree is coming down."

Glenn: It sure did. By the end of it, the Christmas tree was being crowd surfed around the venue and it just reeked of pine.

Devin: The best was Sean's description of putting your face in a pine tree. It was overwhelming and suffocating.

Glenn: Oh back to the book! This one's great! "How to survive a family car trip".

NEEDS: Collective chirping.

Glenn: "How to pee on the side of the road". This one's great 'cause Sean has a problem with his large intestine.-

Sean: Prostate!

Glenn: Prostate yes, and he pees for seven minutes every time he pees. If he has to pee it's seven minutes. So one time we played this pool party and Sean wanted to borrow someone's camera and they said, "only if you pee in this pool", so Sean is standing in front of the pool and he couldn't stop peeing and he's like "I'm sorry! I apologize! I can't stop!" so someone came in and just pushed him in the pool.

PP: If you could re-do the soundtrack to any film, which film would it be? Why?

Derek: Spinning the basketball on his finger. Space Jam.

Sean: I have it! The Crow! Can we go with The Crow?

Glenn: GUYS THIS ONE FROM THE BOOK! How to pee along the side of the road..."Keep quiet, do not speak. This will only prolong the family member who is attempting to go. It may be distracting and will only prolong the trip." Wow, what a fantastic book!

PP: Ok guys, lastly, a piece of advice for our readers and YOUR fans?

Devin: Fly low at your job, and don't take politics too seriously.

Sean: "Take dead aim on the rich kids. Get them in your sights, and take them down", That's a Rushmore reference.

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No Longer Is A Cabin Simply A Cabin: The Vancouver Art Gallery's Summer 2018 Exhibition, Cabin Fever

2018-06-08T17:41:00.001-07:00

Ah, the cabin. The sheer thought of it brings the average millennial idyllic imagery of a rustic getaway - flannel button-ups, a Hudson's Bay blanket thrown nonchalantly over a beautiful sofa, lights twinkling throughout, and a fireplace, making the scene complete. The irony of it all are the things we tell our friends and co-workers when we're about to go away. "I need to disconnect, there's too much technology around me." Of course, the second we get to the cabin we immediately check if we have reception, dig for the WiFi password, start Instagramming to our stories so everyone can see JUST how perfect our lodging experience is. Pinterest, eat your heart out.

The cabin is quintessential to North American culture. As Jennifer Volland, independent curator and writer put it at the press release on June 7th at the Vancouver Art Gallery, "No longer is a cabin simply a cabin" and as we later found out, you're really living when you have two homes.

Volland explains she found inspiration for the exhibit while she spent several years working on her own cabin with her family on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Cabin Fever looks at the relationship to land and place, the history of the cabin as a cultural construct. It explores the evolution through three themes: "Shelter", "Utopia", and "Porn".

"Shelter" sees the cabin as a necessity, a place that was historically an emergency relief. It was a refugee haven. "Utopia" then sees the cabin being viewed at as the ideal destination for introspection. As the exhibit explains, "For many writers, the cabin has served not only as a locale to do work, but also as a source of inspiration." Finally, "Porn" places the cabin as a beacon of relaxation and luxury of popular culture.

The exhibit guides you through these three themes through 17 architectural models in chronological order, drawings, photography, historical documents, video, and two full-scale installations by American artist and filmmaker James Benning and a full-size cabin by Canadian artist Liz Magor.

The exhibit will run from June 9th to September 30th, organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery and curated by Jennifer M. Volland, Guest Curator, Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator and Stephanie Rebick, Associate Curator.

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Website

Back to the Basics: An Interview with Born Ruffians

2018-06-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

photo credit - Matt Barnes

Canadian darlings Born Ruffians released a fantastic album this past February. Uncle, Duke & The Chief is a pretty significant one since it features the band's original three-piece for the first time since 2013's Birthmarks. With Luke Lalonde on vocals and guitar, bassist Mitch DeRosier and Steve Hamelin on the drums, the trio hits us with a personal album - drawing inspiration from their fathers, their upbringing and the songs they'd listen to, and the death of David Bowie.

The album also strikes a chord with me, as I've been a Born Ruffians fan since I was in high school. I grew up with the lads, view their debut album Red, Yellow, and Blue as an anthem of sorts during my teenage years. Being so influential on me and with Steve back on drums, it seems like a reunion of sorts. The boys have grown up and so have I.

Chatting with Steve right before their Vancouver set, we decided to focus on timelessness, their memories, and the journey that brought them here.

You guys have been in a band together since you were 15. You've grown up together! What's the fondest memory you all have to date as a band?

It's funny how the feeling of being in a band can change over the years. I've had a bit of a unique perspective since I've left and re-joined, but I'd say the fondest memory or feeling that we have is the fact that we've made it work for so many years. You remember different eras of the band and reflect back on them but overall it starts to just feel more and more like a family bond, like we have the ability to finish each other's sentences or know where a song is going when we're writing. It's a unique place to be as a band, and one that we're grateful for.

We watched all of your B-Roll videos on Youtube. From Fuckball, to attempting to sing Mr. Sandman, and our personal favourite, unknowingly playing a Rick Astley song, what's the best / dumbest thing you guys have gotten up to on tour?

Oh man, there are so many. I'd probably say reading Deirdre Martin's 'Hip Check' out loud. We bought it at a rest stop because it looked so ridiculous and we each took turns reading it aloud in the van chapter-by-chapter over the course of our tour last fall. I think it marked one of many points in our collective insanity.

It seems Fade to Black has an early punk inspiration to it. Absolute banger of a track! What do you guys think, is the most important piece of punk music to date?

Every album has a different feeling but I'd say that this one feels like the most cohesive and confident collection of songs that we've ever made. It happened effortlessly (in a way), where we went to the studio with Richard Swift and expected to only record 4-5 songs. the vibes was totally right and we ended up doing 9 songs in 10 days. I wouldn't call this album punk but i do think 'Fade To Black' is one of the more aggressive and energetic tracks on the record. it's one of our favourites to play live.

photo credit - Roger Galvez @rogerxgalvez

We read online that you're a fan of Joy Division's She's Lost Control, and with that also a scene involving the band in 24 Hour Party People. From what we understand, you approach beats kind of how Joy Division did. Because of that, we want to touch upon Manchester and the post-punk revolution. Is that a time period that holds a huge weight of influence on you? Is that perhaps your favourite time period in the music industry?

It was a great moment for rock music. Over the last few years, I've become a big vinyl collector and a lot of the UK northern soul that was happening in and around Manchester definitely holds a special place for me. I've always liked the grit and industriousness of cities like Manchester. Maybe it's from being from a small working class town like Midland, but I always connect most with places that feel real deal and down to earth. Manchester - and the music that's come from it - has always done that for me.

How about this: What's your favourite little thing about everyday life when you're back home from touring?

Sadly it's the most mundane stuff: I get to walk my dog, hang out with my girlfriend and do everyday normal tasks like making dinner and reading. You get lost on tour, and being back home is the best way to stay grounded, especially between tour legs.

Your video for Forget Me is so poignant and brings a sense of familiar longing. It reminded us a lot of the film, Swiss Army Man! Who came up with the concept? When we read your Billboard track-by-track breakdown, we heard it's a song about a nostalgic loss. Is the dummy perhaps representative of whichever person has passed, or someone that’s not in your life anymore, that you remember fondly?

Good eye! Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis of July Talk came up with the overall concept of the video trilogy and Swiss Army Man was definitely a reference point. We wanted the dummy to be a bit of an empty vessel in a sense, upon which different people take out different meanings of its role and importance to Luke who is acting as the main character in the videos. It can mean a lot of things, but yes definitely one angle is the feeling of nostalgia and love that we all feel towards people and things as we get older.

Any piece of advice for our readers at all?

If you're a young musician, work hard and don't let too many people get in your ears or your pockets. do what you love kids!

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Exploring the Jungle With Sofi Tukker

2018-05-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

I'll never forget hearing Drinkee for the first time. It was one of those moments where the second it began, I knew I stumbled on something special. They hook you in with a distinct guitar riff, then engulf you with such a catchy, tropical house bass line. Next thing you know, you're mumbling along in Portuguese with no idea what you're saying, practically chanting, lost in a trance.

That's Sofi Tukker, and that's the effect they'll have on you.

The New York-based duo, or, to be honest, the nomadic duo - they've given up their apartments to tour - started their crazy journey in Providence, Rhode Island, while both attending Brown University. Sophie Hawley-Weld was part of an acoustic bossa nova act, while Tucker Halpern was busy DJing. He remixed one of her songs on the spot, and suddenly their whirlwind adventure began.

Since then, the two have been inseparable, touring non-stop, landing a Grammy nomination before even releasing their full-length album, and becoming Apple darlings, with their songs being used not once, but twice in commercials.

Throughout all this, we couldn't help but wonder more about them. Who are Sophie and Tucker? We were lucky enough to have a chat with the duo right before they played a banger set in Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom and talk about their childhoods, multiculturalism, and how they unwind after living on the road for so long.

Meet Sofi Tukker.

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You guys have said that your debut LP Treehouse is, "about the childhood spirit of play". What are your fondest, most freeing childhood memories you have?

Sophie: I loved my childhood so much. I think my favorite childhood memories may have to be either going camping with my family and hiking through beautiful mountains with our backpacks, or playing soccer/dancing with my friends. I had a band in the third grade called "The Amazon Girls" that I'm still proud of to this day!

Tucker: I used to make forts everywhere I went. The idea of treehouse for me puts me back into those spaces that made me feel excited and free.

You've both talked about being really spiritual in previous interviews, so we were curious if either of you practices any form of meditation? Do you have any tips for people looking to decompress or relax when they have a lot going on?

Sophie: I am a really sensitive person, super porous to different energies and I take my decompression time really seriously! I really like the apps "Calm" and "Simple Habit" -- even if I am in a room full of people and can't escape it, I can put headphones on and tap into my breath in a guided way.

Tucker: This is more Soph's thing. I usually work on remixes in my free time and if I'm reallllllllly tired, I'll just toss on some basketball or Netflix.

We watched your Stingray interview where personality-wise, you discuss Sophie being the more slow and calculated one, while Tucker, you're more wired. How do you think that translates into your dynamic? It sounds like you both perfectly balance out!

Sophie: I may be slower but I don't think I'm more calculated! I'm just more of a dreamer. And can be quite impulsive, actually!

Tucker: Yeah our personality traits are perfectly different I think. Together I think we are a really well-rounded person, haha.

Your music makes us want to dance - obviously! If you guys could throw the ultimate party, what would it be like? Big, small, who would play? What would be happening!

It would be in a jungle, in a treehouse, surrounded by our best friends, everyone performing and shining.

Sophie, this could be a question geared more towards you. You sing in Portuguese and you're so enamored by Brazil. Multiculturalism is obviously important to you, so we're wondering what sort of cultural differences in Brazil you really appreciate as opposed to North America?

Sophie: It's hard to put my finger on exactly the reasons why I love Brazil. It's an energy I can feel right when we land! It has to do with the warmth of the people. There's a sort of natural joyfulness and warmth and friendliness to the people. And I just love the Brazilian's relationship with music. It feels like everyone is born with this rhythm deep inside them. So many people play instruments and share music in this really organic and freeform way, all playing and dancing together. I am in awe of the expression that flows through peoples bodies when they dance the samba, especially.

You guys make jungle beats, so naturally, our next question is as follows: If you were any wild, jungle animal, which animal would you be and why

Tucker: a giraffe: the long neck, height, and lanky movement

Sophie: a puma: fierce as fuck!

Let's talk about the book tree! It's really the coolest thing ever. Tell us a bit more about it.

It's an 8-foot tall sculpture/midi-controller with books all around it. There are contact microphones inside each book and every time we hit a book, it sends a signal to play any kind of sample! It's been with us since the very beginning of us performing and it keeps growing with us too! Now it's UV reactive and, true to form, we have giraffes painted on Tucker's side and Puma's on Sophie's.

With your fans sending you book covers to use, what's the most intriguing book cover you've received?

We haven't gotten any book covers from fans yet, but that's a great idea! We've gotten some beautiful books made from fans but they are too special to hit with drumsticks every night!

Is there any book you wouldn't dare rip apart because you love it too much?

Women Who Run With the Wolves.

You've been on tour non-stop for such a long time now, and you're still going! You just recently announced part two of your world tour. When this is all over, what will be the first thing you do when you get home? We understand you don't even have apartments in New York anymore?!

Yeah, we actually don't have homes now! The tour bus is our home! And hopefully, the tour never stops. We are really passionate about making sure that we are touring in a really healthy environment and treating our bodies and spirits really well so that we don't have to stop!

Musically, you guys are so inspired by so many genres and decades across the board. What's your favourite musical era?

Tucker: 90s- early 2000s euro dance/ house.

Sophie: I don't think I have a favorite musical era!

We ask everyone this question and we're also surprised by the responses: If you could re-do the soundtrack to any film, which film would it be and why

Tucker: Junglebook! Because I love making soundscapes of the jungle and integrating that into music. That would be so fun!

Lastly, any piece of advice for our readers?

Make things you love, be with people who lift you up and encourage you, and Fuck They!

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Comanche Peak Releases Return to Fear Mountain

2018-05-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

"A spherical journey that leads the listener through layers of soundscapes built with effected voices, guitars, ambient percussion, and a variety of synthesizers. Dark and immersive, the story told with this music follows a character as they pass into the afterlife to confront their own demons, and concludes with them coming back to life and moving on."

So delighted to share the latest album from Comanche Peak (John Anderson JR), Return to Fear Mountain. We've chatted with John in the past when he released Carnival Lights, a lighter, more ethereal and airy EP. Return to Fear Mountain, on the other hand, sounds like a lovechild of Vangelis and Goblin and sees Anderson honing his sound with this progressive, dark, and absolutely captivating release.

Witch's Promise (Feat. Imani Carino) Official Video from Comanche Peak on Vimeo.

To go with the album, Anderson has released three videos for Labyrinth, Witch's Promise, and Sword and Lazer. In true Comanche Peak fashion, the supporting videos are entrancing - just like the music.

"The work for this project started right after the Carnival Lights EP. I wanted to create something really different from that first release, both in mood and sound. There’s more percussion, darker synths, and even vocals, though no lyrics are actually sung, I wanted to use the voices as instruments. The album Osorezan by Geinoh Yamashirogumi (Akira) provided the jumping off point and gave me something to fall back on when faced with creative decisions along the way. Osorezan (Fear Mountain) is an actual place in Japan and is regarded as a gateway to the afterlife. (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3727.html) The group that performs the music is this ever-changing collective of people from all walks of life that create music together, chances are the same performers on Osorezan are not the same you hear on the Akira soundtrack. This inspired me to make this release a more collaborative effort which leads to 3 very talented friends being featured on some songs. I extended that same effort to some great video artists who put together some amazing content, all their work is now available on Comanchepeakmusic.com. Return to Fear Mountain is a concept album that picks up where Carnival Lights left off. The idea of dying and coming back to life struck me as a metaphor for confronting personal demons, realizing that your obsessions don’t have to control your life, and then moving forward. That’s what the last song, “Back on the Road,” is there for, it has lots of momentum and is this "to be continued moment."

I highly recommend checking out this concept album, it's perfect for like-minded individuals looking to create something themselves, or simply as a piece of cinematic bliss.

Comanche Peak

The Love Witch (2016) Review : A Feminist, Technicolour Homage to 70's Sexploitation

2018-04-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

The Love Witch is a film that's been on my radar for a couple years now, and I'm so thrilled I finally sat down to watch it. Shot and projected on 35mm film with rich and lush colours, The Love Witch pays homage to the 60s and 70s exploitation films, and Italian Gaillo. Visually, it's done so perfectly, it's hard to believe this treat came out in 2016. Its director, Anna Biller, is a powerhouse herself, having wrote, produced, and directed the film, PLUS having made the costumes and much of what you see on screen.

The story follows a witch, Elaine (played by newcomer Samantha Robinson), as she moves to a new city and is on the hunt for the perfect man. Along the way she entraps men through her love potions, however, things don't ever go as planned. Samantha does a phenomenal job in this role, with her sultry and often humorous performance, combined with absolutely stunning physical features and makeup. Although the film has a feminist message, in particular the seductive powers women have on males, The Love Witch doesn't shove this down your throat. In fact, Samantha's character has a lot of qualities that aren't ideal, and she too, is flawed.

Elaine does however, have immensely quotable lines and some viewpoints that are spot-on. In a scene where she's mixing a love potion, she throws in a used tampon, commenting on the fact that women bleeding isn't something men should be grossed out about. "Women bleed and it's a beautiful thing", she says. Her finest and most powerful delivery lies near the end, however. As she's fighting to explain her rationale she states that society teaches males to be stoic and that, "a woman's intuitions and emotions are illnesses that need to be cured." In our day and age this rings a very strong bell, and it's wonderful to see a heroine challenge society's ideals.

All in all, this film is wrapped in such a vividly beautiful technicolour package, one that never ceased to amaze me. Elaine's striking blue eye makeup, her Victorian apartment with brightly coloured walls, to the tea house where the ladies gossip all while wearing ornate and colourful flowered hats; it's all such a treat for the eyes. Sure, some reviewers have commented on the acting being at times, overdone, but to be entirely honest, stilted performances are the point and a complete throwback to the pulp genre. Another bonus? Biller takes actual soundtracks from Giallo films, and hearing the music of Morricone makes my heart skip a beat. As for the length of the movie? If you're a fan of vintage horror and exploitation genres, the 120 minute run-time will be heaven for you.

The Love Witch is the exact sort of film I adore - blending classic horror with ultra-feminist ideals. And it's these ideals that Biller manages to drive home, or at least makes us want to talk about it. Questions about the way men deal with female sexuality and gender relations in general, are wonderful points of discussion long after the movie is over. Samantha Robinson's character on the other hand, blazes a path and teaches us that she too is "just a little girl dreaming of being carried off on a white horse" but as her life and society taught her, she has been reduced to something else, not much more than eye candy. It's because she has been denied that basic respect that Elaine has become a narcissistic monster; brainwashed by the patriarchy and obsessed with murder.

If you want a seriously beautiful sensory overload that harks back to vintage genres, I suggest you go see The Love Witch. It's certainly not a film for everyone, but with its layers of complexity it's poignant, touching upon society's norms that are definitely worth questioning.

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Do What You Love & Floss - A Pow Wow with Jon and Roy

2018-04-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

If there could be a band that perfectly captures the essence of British Columbia, Canada - it would be Victoria's own, Jon and Roy. With their woodsy guitar plucking, to their coastal, laid-back percussion, the duo are perfect for any outdoor activity you plan to embark on, on a mission to get you and all the forest critters groovin' and toe-tapping.

The long-time bandmates are at a high, having released their seventh album to critical acclaim. Fresh from their European tour and a joie de vivre that can't be matched, Jon and Roy join us for a quick pow wow before settling in to play a sold out show at the Commodore in Vancouver.

PP: Ok so, let's get started. Tell us about yourselves. Who are you guys, and more importantly, what are your fans doing while they're listening to your music?

Roy: Ok well, first off we're Jon and Roy. I'm Roy, this is Jon who plays guitar. We've been playing music together for a long time, like 15 years-ish. Our first time was 2005, we've added and subtracted many members over the course of the years. Our 7th album came out last Spring, The Road Ahead is Golden, and we just back from tour in Europe. I don't know what fans are doing while they're listening to us. Probably just driving around, or having sex, or drinking, or doing what normal people do.

Jon: Most things.

Roy: Probably not power-lifting.

PP: Your Runner video off the new album is an homage to Wes Anderson. Big fans of his I assume? Favourite film? Why?

Roy: Ooooh.

Jon: I actually think I enjoyed The Grand Budapest Hotel the most.

Roy: I have to go with Zissou because The Life Aquatic had Bill Murray, and had so many funny lines, and I love the soundtrack.

What's another director or movie you'd want to recreate and do a video to?

Jon & Roy (collectively): Hmmmm.

Roy: Good question. I dunno, I mean I might have to cast Morgan Brooker as The Dude and do The Big Lebowski

Jon: I mean we also both like the Coen Brothers, or hmmm, I dunno! I don't think we could pull off Blade Runner so we're just sticking with our first answer! (laughs)

PP: We know you just came back from Europe. How was that! How was the European crowd? How do they differentiate from North America? What was your favourite city?

Jon: I don't know...this tour, almost all the crowds in Europe were really great. A favourite show might have been in Hannover. I suppose it was a bit of an unexpected crowd. We didn't know we'd have so many people there, and they're just really energetic, to the point where they just got into it right from the get-go. It was a solid show.

Roy: Sometimes you gotta like, "earn your audience" through the course of the show, but they were like, ready for it.

PP: Your music evokes a lot of emotion, in particular the urge to just pack your bags and go on a road trip, and never come home. Can you describe your ultimate road trip to us?

Jon: I mean honestly..I don't know if we have an "ultimate" road trip. I would like to drive around South America I've never done that. Such an unknown down there!

Roy: I would also, yes, that sounds pretty awesome to me. I don't know, I mean I'd...yeah. I loved driving around Europe, but I think I'd love to drive around South America. That'd be pretty awesome.

PP: So while you guys are driving around South America, what would your ultimate road trip album have to be? If you had to pick one!

Roy: It's so not the era of the album anymore! I don't know if we got through one full album in Europe...we listened to JJ Cale's Troubadour, but I don't know what else we got through a lot of..

Jon: JJ Cale would be a good one though.

Roy: Yeah.

Jon: We listened to a bit of Fat Freddy's Drop, it was all over the place. I mean we also listened to Nas. What album was it...The World is Yours was on it....Illmatic! That's what it was. And then...sorry my brain isn't functioning high enough right now. I gotta think of something here. I gotta look at my phone to tell you.

Roy: Yeah same! What should we listen to...

PP: Maybe you guys have a guilty pleasure you'd like to listen to.

Jon: We listened to Bone Thugs n Harmony quite a bit. I'll admit that. Nas, Damian Marley, Talking Heads...

Roy: We were all over the place.

PP: Your music makes us want to go camping. So....we have brought you camping gifts. So you have: Outdoor Oregon - A Tour Guide Map, Matches -

Jon: Those are some hefty matches!!

PP: A Bird Behaviour Book -

Roy: Oh! That's for me I think.

Jon: His nickname is Bird.

PP: And a bow and arrow, because...why not?

Jon: We can play cupid and pick up some ladies later.

PP: You guys get to pick one of these. Tell us why.

Roy: I've already chosen my item.

Jon: Bird knows what he likes.

Roy: I just like birds. I've always liked birds. And now I can study them.

Jon: and it's in colour!

PP: From the 70s.

Roy: It's pretty awesome! Thank you!

Jon: I would definitely take the matches because...I love fire. And I've never seen such long matches before.

PP: Well, you can keep the bow and arrow also.

Roy: You know what, we're gonna bestow them upon the other members of our band. I like this whole gift-giving thing. I feel like we should be giving you something. We have nothing. Next time we're in Vancouver let us know, and we'll put you on the list for the show!

PP: Thanks guys!

We know you sometimes bust out unexpected covers, such as the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK. What are some other covers you'd love to do that would be so out of your spectrum, but equally rad?

Jon: I don't know because with covers we usually don't like think about it. A cover usually comes to us. Like we'll find a song that's cool, and then be like, "this is worth trying" and then we'll try, we'll roll with it. It's really hard to predict!

Roy: Ones we're doing right now...we're doing a Max Romeo song called Little Girl but we changed it to Beautiful Girl

Jon: The chorus sounded a little perverted so..

Roy: Not the right time for that. But yeah then we usually do some Toots, we usually have a Toots song cover. On the horizon we don't know, we'll see what happens.

Jon: Gheorghe Zamfir.

Roy: Maybe some Gheorghe Zamfir.

Jon: Available at all thrift stores.

PP: You know what we can't find at all thrift stores and we keep looking? Minnie Riperton's Only You.

Unison: Never heard!

Jon: I'm writing this down! That's a great name.

PP: When you guys are on the road, be it Europe, or even across North America, what do you miss about being back home the most?

Jon: I mean, Victoria is a pretty awesome place. I definitely miss knowing where I'll sleep every night. It's comforting.

Roy: I miss my dog and my wife. Not in that order.

Jon: Also like...being home and being able to cook your own food. Eating out is fun for a while but...it's unhealthy. Veggies are drenched in sauces, and I also ended up eating a lot of meat for some reason, which I usually don't do at home. It's 'cos it's easier.

PP: Lastly, a piece of advice for our listeners, anything at all.

Roy: Find something that you like doing, and then just do it. A lot. Until you get good at it.

Jon: That's a good piece of advice. Floss also, on a regular basis.

PP: Okay so, do what you love and floss.

Roy: (laughs) That could be the title of this interview.

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When You Want to Go Far, Go with People: A Chat with French Trip Hop Trio, Chinese Man

2018-04-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

"The Chinese Man created power to celebrate the four energies with music: physical, intellectual, emotional, and sexual. Take your time, breathe, close your eyes, and listen." These words, spoken by Chilean-French filmmaker, Alejandro Jodoworsky, introduce Maläd, the 3rd song off of Shikantaza, the latest album by French trip hop trio, Chinese Man.

Those words were also played to a crowd in Vancouver's Venue on March 31st, managing to silence a large room, and then proceeding to get fans howling and jumping in seconds. This is something that comes naturally to DJ Zé Mateo, High Ku, and beatmaker SLY.

Formed in 2004, Chinese Man have been insanely popular players in the trip hop scene in Europe, known for their elaborate and active live performances with frequent MC collaborations, their own independent record label, and through various commercials that have utilized their songs. Noticing the concert line-up later on made me realize that their notoriety has traveled overseas to North America - with good reason.

We had the chance to sit with the lads and discuss their eclectic process of searching for obscure vinyl to mix, political messages in their music, and recording with the legendary Jodoworsky himself.

PP: Your album is inspired by a Zen Buddhism philosophy. We heard that's how you like to live your life, so we're wondering, do you practice meditation actively?

High Ku: Not directly, a bit.

SLY: He's a zen monk!

High Ku: Now it's almost been...30 years.

PP: So, do you have any advice for someone who's looking to get into meditation?

High Ku: Not so much into that, but I've always talked a lot about zen philosophy with my father. It's kind of funny because I started this philosophy because people who practice that sort of thing won't try to explain it to you at all, it's really more so open minded and it's cool. My father gave us the name Shikantaza. We were searching for a name in Japanese and he gave us like 2 or 3 names and this one was really...it really stuck.

PP: Nowadays it seems like life is a constant competition of who is more busy and who is more stressed. It almost feels like you feel more successful when you're more stressed. How do you guys find that you slow down, and live in the moment?

Zé Mateo: We don't really have any other choice (laughs). Since the beginning we really take time to produce and when we are a trio, there's a difference, you have to focus, every time you decide to do something together it takes a lot of time. So there is a sentence, "if you want to go fast, go alone, and when you want to go far, go with people."

High Ku: Scream it!

PP: We know you collaborated with Alejando Jodoworsky on your new album and that came about knowing his wife. We're also fans of his and would love to know what you've learned from working with him, did he teach you any of his philosophies?

SLY: (points to Mateo) This guy was with him!

Zé Mateo: I did the record with Alejandro at his place. His wife helped connect with him and I'm a big fan of this guy so yeah. We already used a sentence from one of his movies before, from El Topo, so it just made sense. It was really cool...in the beginning he tried to test me. (Laughs) "What do you want?" I was freaked out. My dream is failing! But after ten minutes of talking, he decided he's going to do it because he's a good person. And at the end of the interview he gave me a lot of gifts and we are big friends now!

PP: You guys formed in 2004, which is around the time that Facebook was created. You're obviously a highly successful group now, and social media has boomed like never before. Do you like the concept of social media as a way to help your career? Do you even like social media?

SLY: We wouldn't be what we are now without internet. Maybe not necessarily this social media that we have now but Myspace really helped us! And yeah, so we started and we got connections with MCs in the US and other countries and we are, you know, a small and independent label, so for us it changed the whole music game. If you use the tool well, it's positive.

PP: We know you listen to weird vinyls as prepwork for creating new albums. How do you even pick these albums when you find them. Do you judge them by the cover or..? You can't really bring a record player to test these things.

High Ku: (grinning) You can bring your turntable, it can be really useful. No, but when they're really cheap most of the time we just choose by the cover.

Zé Mateo: "What"s that! What's that!"

PP: we're really happy you gave us that answer because...we have a gift for you.

Chinese Man: (gasp), Oh wow!

PP: It's old Pakistani disco.

Chinese Man: OOOOH SHIT. Nice! Thank you!

High Ku: Thank you! I love this label! It's a good label.

PP: We were actually nervous, we thought you'd have this.

Zé Mateo: Good choice! We have never gotten a gift. This is the first time since we've been a group that we've gotten a gift from an interview... After Jodoworsky's gifts!

SLY: Thank you so much.

PP: Do you have any interesting stories about some weird records you've found. Like what's the most bizarre album you've listened to. So weird it wasn't even useable.

SLY: And that we use in our music?

PP: It doesn't have to be! Something that maybe you couldn't use!

High Ku: (Laughs) There is one. It wasn't a soundtrack. It was the sound of a movie. It was a porn movie, an old one from the 60s or 70s, in French.

PP: Did you know what it was when you got it?

SLY: No, no we found it by chance.

High Ku: It was just the dialogue. At this time, it was real movies, and there is a lot of dialogue and these were great movies and the dialogue is so funny! You can listen to it without watching so we spent hours listening to this trying to find something to use, something thats Shikantaza but no, nothing, not for this record.

PP: How has the tour been going so far? Do you have any crazy tour stories?

Zé Mateo: I mean it's just been a few days. San Francisco was great, yesterday was great! It was Seattle.

SLY: It was a really small club, so it was packed, people were really close, it was really nice! But San Francisco was special. The city is legendary and we met this guy from Hieroglyphics, A-Plus that we used to listen to. He did a song with us so...

Zé Mateo: And that is only because at the beginning of everything we went to San Francisco just for holidays, coming back to the place where this kind of music that we were starting to do came from and we went to the venue where we played, it was so weird to come back now and be on the stage, it felt like we did it, we've made it.

PP: Is there a major difference touring in Europe as it is in North America? Do you think that North Americans respect and vibe with your multicultural inspiration as much as Europeans do?

SLY: Hmmm. It's hard to say, we've only done three shows.

High Ku: The people who went to the show, they were really happy about what we're about! I think maybe it may be harder for us to become really big, as we are in France, and do the same festivals that we do in France to do here because the industry is quite different, I think. We have all this in Europe, all the venues, most of them have money from the city and government, so they can have this experience when you go to the venue and sometimes here you feel like its more underground and alternative stuff and people have to struggle to open venues. Like yesterday it was a small club and when we started it was crazy and the team was great.

SLY: And the thing is, we never released anything in the USA, no records at all, so it's like..

Zé Mateo: Like we start from the beginning again. Yeah, like he's talking about, we have more money and fans in France and we know it doesn't work like that here. You have so many artists so, it's more competitive. (points to all the posters in the green room)

PP: We noticed some of your songs have political undertones, Warriors for example samples Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize speech, you also speak with Jodoworsky who also has such bold messages in his movies. Are you trying to relay any sort of political message or activist message or is it subtle?

SLY: No, it's like you said...its, yeah, we don't want to be pushing anything directly. We have some messages and some stuff and the audience can take it or not. We don't want to be in your face political but subtle, and just the way we do music on an independent label and doing everything by yourself, it's enough and we hope that it's enough for people to understand the message behind our music.

Zé Mateo: The fact that we are three, it's also a way to find an equilibrium in the message between us because we all have different opinions, it makes it a bit less direct.

SLY: A kind of balance between saying stuff and not too much.

High Ku: Usually we take some voices in the songs, the first thing is because we think it's a beautiful voice, not just for what they're saying.

SLY: Actually Malala and Jodoworsky, they are the only two with a message.

PP: So you've sampled a verse from Pulp Fiction, is there any newer film that's come out in recent years that you'd want to sample? Why?

High Ku: Most of the time we don't do recent movies, we did it with Pulp Fiction, we did it with Fight Club, because it's not so much often that you can find a movie where you like it a lot and it has soul and especially Fight Club as a movie where it was subversive, and yeah, it was a homage. A tribute.

SLY: But a recent movie we could use...it's difficult.

High Ku: Fight Club was special. It's the scene where she's at the window with the kid and shes trying to make him go to sleep and they say good night, and this was so musical because she was saying a sentence and the child was saying the same sentence..but a recent film...?

SLY: I don't even remember what I've watched recently!

High Ku: Actually there's one movie, one sentence from Darkest Hour, the movie about Churchill, he says, "stop interrupting me while I'm interrupting you!" Thats something you can put in a track easily.

PP: If there's any movie you could re-do the soundtrack to, which movie would it be?

SLY: Dracula!

Zé Mateo: Which one? The real one?

SLY: Yes!

PP: Finally, a piece of advice you have, any piece of life advice to give about anything at all.

SLY: Just take a deep breath!

Zé Mateo: Are you talking about the "meaning of life" type advice?

PP: Just anything, it could be like, roll your tooth paste bottle up.

SLY: Yeah! Brush your teeth every day! (starts singing "brush your teeth")

Zé Mateo: Usually when you're doing something creative, it's important to be focused on what you want to do, not what people want you to do.

SLY: So brushing your teeth doesn't work...?

Zé Mateo: no no lets keep both!

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Hounds of Love : Review

2018-03-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

It takes a special kind of twisted mind to taint Moody Blues' Nights in White Satin. A kind of perversion even, to use it in a chillingly memorable kidnapping scene, one so unique, it's bound to stay with you for far too long of a time.

Perth-born director Ben Young greets us in his directorial debut with the sick and horrifying Hounds of Love, an Aussie thriller/horror/I-can't-believe-this-is-happening flick. Set in Young's hometown in 1987, Stephen Curry and Emma Booth play a married couple who are actually a pair of murderous psychopaths, praying on teenage girls. Doing some research, I later found out that the idea for Hounds of Love is loosely based on the lives of real-life murderers David and Catherine Birnie. That sliver of truth makes the film so much more disturbing, clinging to you and engulfing you long after the credits roll.

On the surface, this film is absolutely a horror, but upon further inspection it's a tragic character analysis; touching on domestic abuse, subjugation of females, and the sick sense of attachment that comes with living with an oppressive and domineering man.

The story becomes a love triangle, one between Curry and Booth's characters, John and Evelyn White, and the girl they take captive, Vicki. Evelyn and John have a strained relationship, one that's lasted since they were teenagers. During a brief split they had in the past, Evelyn had two children, who now live with her ex. John abuses this knowledge and manipulates his wife into thinking that she'll soon be reunited with her kids, as long as she plays along with his sadistic games. He preys on her using the girls they keep hostage, selecting those who are much more attractive and youthful, lowering her already diminished self esteem. John ultimately convinces Evelyn that these perverse and horrific acts will ultimately bring them closer as a couple, and it's the only way they'll stay together. It's during these moments that you feel a strange sense of sympathy for Evelyn, a character that's completely broken, and left as a shell of the mother she once was. Meanwhile, Vicki, having witnessed glimpses of their turbulent relationship, realizes that she'll have to work the two against themselves if she plans to make it out of their little suburban home alive.

While all of this is happening, Vicki's mother, played by Susie Porter, is having trouble communicating to the police that her daughter is in trouble. With wanted posters of missing girls littering the station, the authorities still seem to be under the impression that Vicki has simply run away, refusing to help her mother out. Her ex husband blames her for leaving them and breaking apart their family, explaining to her that when she left the family to become an "independent woman", she led their daughter astray. The victimizing of women and the system which repeatedly fails women, all goes to show the sad state of the world in the 1980s, and just how far we've at least come today.

Young masterfully uses other aspects to drive his story home, in particular using subtle elements to make all that's happening seem harrowingly realistic. The fact that the White's torture room has stuffed toys in it, leads you to the dreaded conclusion that this was once the room for Evelyn's children. Vicki's hair when she styles it and Evelyn's high-waisted mom jeans lend your eyes to the realization that these characters belong to a sleepy suburban town. These everyday aspects are combined with the the fact that Young decided that most of the torture and killing happens off-camera. This leaves the viewer feeling extremely anxious, never knowing what's next in a situation that seems downright plausible enough to happen in real life.

All in all, Hounds of Love is a solid film, showcasing stylistic camera elements, combining them with a wonderfully classic psychedelic soundtrack, and wrapping it all up in a disturbing art-horror package, sure to leave you utterly traumatized and appreciative of its storytelling.

A Ghost Story: A Review

2018-02-05T08:11:00.001-08:00

As I began writing this article I decided to put on the film's score, written by Daniel Hart of Dark Rooms. Immediately I felt a deep shiver throughout my body, and remembered why it's taken me so long to write this review.

This movie makes you feel tremendously alone.

A Ghost Story is a horror tale unlike any other. It's not defined as something unsettling and macabre. In fact, most see it as a drama or romantic film. It does, however, tackle one of life's most unsettling frights. More on that later.

It's hard to write about A Ghost Story without giving anything away. It's a film that's so simple, so minimal in fact, that it's so easy to spoil the experience. Because of this, I really will err on the side of caution and not give too much away. Upon first glance, you see it as a drama, a romance between a couple madly in love. You don't know much about them, even the film itself gives you only their first initials; C (Casey Affleck) and M (Rooney Mara). When the husband, C, passes in a car accident, M is left alone in their beautiful home, in the middle of nowhere, and grieves. C comes back to her, a ghost simply hovering in a white sheet. He stays there and watches her, through all her sadness and pain, until she eventually moves on, and new tenants move in. He remains as the new tenants come and go.

And come and go.

And come. And go.

Suddenly, a tremendous amount of time has passed and he's still there.

The house is replaced by a massive luxury condo and he's still there. Stuck in an everlasting limbo, constantly aching. Constantly waiting.

Director David Lowery does a great job at making a film involving a man cloaked under a sheet for the majority of it deliver such powerful emotions and raw feelings. A Ghost Story above all, is a film about transcendental loneliness. It urges you to feel something. The film isn't a horror, but it does achieve one of the most horrifying questions of afterlife: what if your loved one moved on from you? Worse, what if your loved one forgot about you?

We feel for C. Through his exaggerated motions, we suddenly ache for him. Because he's wearing a sheet, his thoughts and emotions are portrayed differently. The way he stands when he's sad, with his head bowed, fills you with sorrow. When he's frustrated and moves quickly, your adrenaline rises with him. When he's heartbroken, you feel that pain with him.

In combination with these emotions is the wonderful usage of cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo. Deciding to use a 4x3 aspect ratio, Palermo achieves a retro frame, one that we're not used to in modern films. We see the rounded edges of the frame, and this constricts us. The reason why this is so thematically relevant is because C, like us, is stuck in a box that he cannot get out of, thus making us feel for him more. It also brings a sense of intimacy, spying into someone else's life.

The last piece to this stunning symphony? The soundtrack that utterly shatters you. Written by Daniel Hart of Dark Rooms, it evokes a sadness and loneliness that some people have never themselves experienced. Like the track from the soundtrack, I Get Overwhelmed, you can't help but be overcome with emotion. To this day whenever I hear the song I get teary. What a powerful emotion to attach to a movie.

With all these magnificent elements that swirl together to create a masterpiece, Lowery achieves greatness. A lasting scene that haunts me involves two ghosts, both staring at each other from their respective houses that they dwell in. One asks the other who they wait for every day. The other responds that they simply don't remember; it's been too long. And that's it. That's what absolutely gets you. That in the afterlife there is no time, that things change and every day passes and the way people move on is natural, and something that you should come to expect.

I promise you this will end up breaking your heart.

Please watch A Ghost Story. I haven't seen a movie that has moved me so much in a really long time. It'll hand you clues to obvious interpretation; but don't take them. Make whatever you wish of the film, that is the main goal.

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Feelin' Young Again with Synthpop Duo, GENTS

2018-01-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

photo: Ivan Riordan Boll

"GENTS is on one hand a longing for the past,

but on the other hand an embrace of the future."

Say you're at a party. Say you put on Rick Astley. Most people may give you a quizzical look, one that wonders why would blast such a throwback artist. Hopefully after the initial shock, you'd have people grooving. It's a game of musical Russian roulette you chose to play.

That being said, say you're at that same party, and say you put on Danish duo, GENTS. The response is instant. The toe tapping, the moving of the hips; it's all hypnotic and nobody can stop. GENTS borrow elements from 80's greats - singer Niels Fejrskov Juhl has the baritone voice with an uncanny resemblance to Rick Astley. Synth player Theis Vesterløkke on the other hand digs into the keyboards with hooks as catchy as a Depeche Mode track. They have this otherworldly talent to sound retro and nostalgic, all while maintaining a contemporary, timeless twist.

GENTS are a new and addicting heavy-hitter in modern synthpop. With an EP under their belt along with their debut album that came out in 2017, the lads have received widespread acclaim, along with a successful tour they dubbed their 2017 "cruise." Now, they've retreated back to the studio to work on new, equally danceable material.

After discovering the two I immediately set out craving to learn more, and hunted them down. Here's a quick lil' chat I had with Theis and Niels, getting into the heads and normalizing these intriguing and mesmerizing Copenhagen-bred fellas.

photo: Dennis Morton

Let's start off easy. What's your music best suited for. GENTS fans, what are they doing while listening to you?

People could and should be doing anything. We are not doing music for special occasions but for special people. But whether one is doing the dishes, having heart-ache or sipping cocktails on their yacht, we hope that people feel hopeful, feel weltschmerz, feel grand.

In an interview with Kink, you guys mentioned your creative process involves youtube-surfing and "decadent cocktails". What is your favourite cocktail, and better yet, what's your favourite youtube video you've come across?

Choosing one cocktail is like choosing between your kids (though we can only speculate on that). Not possible. But pastis is a dear friend of ours. Adding a bit to your bourbon sour creates heaven on earth. But other times you can just be in the need of some potent re-calibration and then a vodka-bull does the trick. Every time.

Like not printing a joke on a t-shirt one shouldn’t decide on youtube evergreens. But looking at Michael Bolton killing it in ”Can I touch you... there?” seems to keep on getting us.

Embrace the Future was such a great EP, and then when you came out with your debut About Time that was incredible too. Your music definitely has a playfulness of the 80s and 90s, but it's also a mature sound that you have perfected and really made your own. Did you both grow up in the 90s? Do you think that is what influenced you so much, or was it perhaps moving to Berlin together that influenced your synth sound?

Berlin was a good place for us to dive into our music. GENTS is on one hand a longing for the past, but on the other hand an embrace of the future.

I know you guys are back in the studio recording your next album, congratulations! I'm curious, because you have a very distinct sound, and one that has gotten endless praise, do you think your next album will be similar, or perhaps see you going in a different direction?

We are not gonna make the same record twice (at least not on purpose). But we want all of our songs and releases to contribute to some greater GENTS vibe that keeps getting refined. That feeling of dark decadence that whelms upon us these days.

I'm going to put you on the spot and make you pick between Wham! and Rick Astley.

Definitely Wham! George Michael is a true genius. ”Nothing looks the same in the light” is one of our all time favourites...

I love how some of your music videos look like they've been filmed on a VHS. Very nostalgic! Because of that, pick your favourite piece of 90s technology and explain why.

Spent most of our childhood working on our Pokedex in the company of our mutual friend, Game Boy.

On the topic of retro electronics, why do you think it's so important that people are focusing on buying records again and not just streaming and downloading music?

Listening to a vinyl is a perfect way to get back to some of the contemplation, that many are missing in times like these. Listening from beginning to the end, not constantly switching, swapping and zapping.

Some talk about better sound quality and all. Don’t know anything about that.

How about a favourite movie from the 80s?

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. A true classic.

If GENTS could re-do the soundtrack to any movie in the world, what movie would it be?

Coyote Ugly. Even though the original soundtrack is amazing – Can’t Fight the Moonlight is an anthem.

photo: Mangus Bach Pederson

Your music can get quite sensual, Trouble for example or even Brother just sound so sexy! Were you as successful at getting the girls when you were younger?

It’s a struggle being handsome. Sometimes you just want to be your anonymous self. But gotta give the girls what they want. It is both the power and responsibility of being a true gent.

Any plans for 2017 now besides working in the studio?

Meditation, baking bread and getting a tan going.

And lastly, the outfits. You both have such a sense of cool, understated style. The tracksuits, the turtlenecks, they're all awesome! Do you have a stylist? Who comes up with all that?

”True fashion comes from within. No stylist is as good as your own heart” – GENTS

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The Killing of a Sacred Deer: Review

2017-12-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

In Euripides' play, Iphigenia at Aulis, King Agamemnon accidentally killed a deer, sacred to Artemis, goddess of wilderness. This, of course, enraged her, and as a result, she stopped all the winds so the King's ships could not sail to Troy during the Trojan War. Artemis did, however, offer the king one deal: in order to appease her, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, in return for killing a sacred deer.

Cue Yorgos Lanthimos and his recent drama/horror, aptly titled The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Lanthimos has nurtured his trademark bold and unsettling style, and The Killing is no different. He starts the film with an extreme close up of open heart surgery, and it's hard to hold your gaze as this scene slowly unravels. The characters are similar to those in his cult-hit The Lobster, along with Dogtooth, wherein they deliver monotonous lines and go through their daily motions in in an eerily calm demeanour. Characters in Lanthimos films are always robotic, and in a way perhaps he's representing modern day relationships?

Whatever the case, this leads you to believe that something is off - Yorgos' world isn't one we as viewers are used to. This is a dystopian universe where lessons must be learned. And so, just with the myth of Iphigenia, we find our lead character, Steven (played by the brilliant Colin Farrell), having to make the ultimate, unfathomable sacrifice.

Of course, it'd be very upsetting to give this away, so I'll save it for you all to find out on your own. You won't have to wait long, as we're hit with the macabre news pretty early on in the film, and you spend the rest of the time sitting in agony, waiting for Steven's final judgment day.

The supporting cast is also fabulous. Scott's wife, Anna, is played by Nicole Kidman, and they have two beautiful children, Kim (Raffey Cassidy) and Bob (Sunny Suljic). It naturally seems quite bizarre that Steven has taken a very awkward teenager named Martin (Barry Keoghan), under his wing when he appears to have an ideal life otherwise. Shortly after Steven starts spending time with Martin, his family begins to come down with mysterious medical plights.

Hailing from Greece himself, Yorgos is the perfect man to tell the tale of a modern Greek tragedy. You're left utterly speechless and impressed at the end of the film, as so many subtle elements contribute to making The Killing a masterpiece. The grandiose music, featuring classical composers such as Bach and Franz Schubert, give the movie a sense of brilliance. Meanwhile, Yorgos also borrows elements from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. With the Steadicam shots that ominously pan, to the tensity of the scenes between Steven and Martin, the similarities are uncanny. Even Bob, Steven's son, has a striking resemblance to Danny from The Shining.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer sets itself up as a gem of psychological horror and I wouldn't be surprised if Lanthimos walks away with an Oscar for his work. I highly recommend watching this in theatres, as the nerve-wracking scenes are so much more amplified seeing them on the big screen. You simply can't look away, and why would you? Yorgos Lanthimos has yet again proven he's able to take an abstract and absurd concept and deliver in a way that leaves you deeply disturbed yet engaged. You're dragged into his world and left to linger on it for months to come.

Review: My Friend Dahmer

2017-12-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to be born a monster, something innate inside you that you can't control or, is it something that festers and grows, dependent on your upbringing and environment around you?

My Friend Dahmer is a difficult movie to review. I hesitated to publish this since I never in a million years thought that I would leave the film feeling sympathy for Dahmer, so much so that I couldn't stop thinking about him for days afterward.

We all know the story behind Jeffrey Dahmer, the American serial killer and cannibal who murdered, raped, and chopped up the bodies of 17 young men between the late 70's and early 90's. The details of his killings are atrociously gruesome, enough to send shivers down the spine of anyone willing to dig deeper and learn more. What's even more chilling are the interviews with him afterward, the cool and collected demeanor of an absolute psychopath.

Familiar with all this, I naturally went into Marc Meyers' My Friend Dahmer very curious. The film is based on a graphic novel of the same name, which was written by Dahmer's high school acquaintance, John Beckderf. It chronicles the last two years of Jeffrey Dahmer's high school life, ending just before he claims his first victim.

When we first meet Dahmer (played by the fantastic Ross Lynch), he's a complete loner at school, with a hunched posture and sullen disposition. His home life is a wreck with his parents arguing repeatedly, and his mother who appears to have a bipolar disorder and addiction to pills. He takes solace in collecting and dissecting roadkill, mesmerized by the insides of these creatures. He suddenly acquires "friends" at school, one of them being John, who enjoy his ability to degrade himself and have random outbursts as pranks on schoolmates and the community. His friends slowly realize, however, that there is more than just these outbursts...there's something wrong with Dahmer. Once they start shunning him, he spirals into a slow alcoholism, and you see his mental state deteriorate and become increasingly more disturbing.

Now, because the film ends just before Jeffrey commits his first crime, you don't see any of the murders. You see Dahmer before he becomes the historic villain we've already been acquainted with. Because of this, Marc Meyer's does a fantastic job of humanizing the character. There are instances where Dahmer is just a regular teenager, from mocking his mother's interior designer, being on a class trip and trying to make new friends, to even asking a girl out to prom, you forget who Jeffrey Dahmer is. Even the title of the film itself is almost endearing. Before watching My Friend Dahmer I remember thinking, "how can anyone think of Dahmer as their friend?" Afterwards, you realize that once upon a time he was, in fact, someone's friend, a suburban teenager before any crimes were committed. All of this makes you wonder, what if someone reached out to him and simply asked him if he was okay, would it have changed anything? Would the outcome have been any different? You almost feel sorry for him, conflicted with emotions since you know exactly who he is.

I think it's phenomenal that Meyers decided to skip the inclusion of any of the murders. It would have almost felt like a cop-out. You do see two very intense and close encounters, leaving you at the edge of your seat. My Friend Dahmer is definitely slow but extremely powerful. Ross Lynch does such a fantastic job at picking up on Dahmer's traits and getting into the character's mind completely. It's also chilling to know that the scenes in Jeffrey's house are actually shot in the real home he ends up killing his first victim in.

I highly recommend seeing this indie gem wherever you can, as it's an extremely intimate and despairing portrait of someone beyond hope or help. My Friend Dahmer is the ideal opportunity to question your own emotions and the compassion you'll inevitably feel, something that I'm still struggling coming to terms with. As Nietzsche once wisely put it, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

Leisure Club Release Debut Album & New Music Video

2017-11-29T08:34:00.001-08:00

It was just a month ago that I sat down with Vancouver's own Leisure Club, the lads behind such infectious tracks like Still Young and Throw My Love Away. Since then, the guys have been rather busy, releasing their debut album, gracing us with a fun video for the single TV Shows, AND embarking on their Western Canadian tour.

To start their tour they played their first show over at the Biltmore Cabaret here in Vancouver, turning it into a fun lil' album release / pizza party / all-around awesome gig with copious drinks and loads of grooving.

The night was phenomenal and they played to a fantastic, packed crowd. It was really awesome to feel the community in the audience, and the boys thrived off of it. There was even a sense of confidence in the fellas, one that was amplified since the last time I saw them. Perhaps due to a sense of completion after finishing the album, maybe feeding off the crowd, or even simply just hopped up on pizza, Leisure Club were on fire. As usual, their captivating melodies just made for an all around fun and memorable night.

Meanwhile, the video released is for their single TV Shows, directed by Riun Garner.

As for their self-titled, debut album, it consists of 10 songs written over the last year. They explore various themes, including leaving your family and loved ones, the current state of affairs in the world, and an emphasis on personal relationships. With all these ideas, however, the album consistently harks back to an underlying theme of connecting with people around us, both healthy and toxic.

Recorded at Afterlife in Vancouver and The Noise Floor on Gabriola Island the album was Engineered by Jordan Koop, Elisa Pangsaeng and Shawn Cole, mixed at Fader Mountain by Shawn Cole, and mastered by Brock McFarlane at CPS Mastering.

"Bringing this album to completion has been a labour of love for all of us. Writing the songs was very much a collaborative effort, which is a process that has worked very well for the band and has lead to a sound that has elements of each of us buried in the music. Recording the album at the Noise Floor was an absolute dream experience. Going away to an island with your best friends is a dream in itself, to also be able to record a record while you’re there is just a whole new level of awesome. The experience was a comfortable one and really promoted a sense of open creation without having the distractions of everyday life to hinder us. That laid back atmosphere really made it’s way into the recordings in a lot of subtle ways. Our hope as musicians and artists is that listening to these tracks will give people a similar feeling of escaping from the everyday drudgery of real life while still engaging and instigating meaningful thought."

If you want to catch the guys on their tour, see the dates below!

Nov 24 Vancouver - Biltmore Cabaret

Nov 25 Victoria - Lucky Bar

Nov 26 Nanaimo - The White Room

Nov 30 Kelowna - Fernando's

Dec 1 Lethbridge - The Slice

Dec 2 Calgary - Nite Owl

Dec 3 Revelstoke - The Last Drop

Website: leisureclub.band

Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/leisurexclub

Bandcamp: leisure-club.bandcamp.com

Instagram: @leisurexclub

Twitter: @leisurexclub

Neon Night Drive - A Playlist to Drive into the Dark

2017-11-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

The above photo was taken two summers ago when I made the late-night drive to Portland. Staying in this sleazy but absolutely alluring and stunning neon motel, it was definitely a trip for the books. Inspired by that cruise, I made a playlist for you all once more. Perfect for those late night, neon inspired drives. Enjoy.

x

Off the Record: A Quick Pow-Wow with Vancouver's Own Indie Darlings, Leisure Club

2017-10-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

photo by Andrew Knapp

You know you're about to talk to a group of total gems when you ask them to open their set with the Jurassic Park theme and they promptly oblige, later on staying true to their word.

Last week I sat down with the lads of Leisure Club for a quick chat before their set at The Waldorf here in Vancouver. With their music sounding so fun and carefree, I was curious to find out if the guys would be the same way, and lo and behold, they are. The group consists of Daniel Ruiz on drums, Jamie Smail on vocals, Rob Cameron on bass, Sean Bayntun on the keys, and Graham Madden on guitar.

The thing is, before chatting with them, I had it in my head that they were a beachy, surfy sort of act. Maybe I came up with this conclusion because of prior reviews I read, maybe I hopped on the bandwagon too quickly. This wasn't the case at all. Leisure Club are much more complex than that. In fact, they have layers to their music and influences that range much farther, much deeper than lounging poolside enjoying a drink with your pals. Hearing them live, you see the harmony of the band with a distinct sound you can't really peg.

I'm thrilled to let you all in on a casual chat, getting to know the guys behind the infectiously catchy tracks that you can't help but get absolutely addicted to.

Paradise Playground: I want to get into your sound, since you're obviously influenced by surf rock, and then I also hear bits of mid-2000's Brit pop....Maybe I'm crazy, what do you think?

Leisure Club: Oh yeah, like The Libertines. Yeah we got that before a little bit?

PP: So what do you guys think about that, what would you define your sound as?

Jamie: Not consciously anything..I don't think. It just kind of comes out.

Graham: Kind of a mix of bands we've been in before. Rob, Daniel and I, we were in a band that had lots of tropical influences. Jamie and I were in an indie-rock 2000's-ish band. And Sean..

Sean: Yeah I have been with a few bands that have gotten progressively more and more into the synthesizer kind of stuff.

photo by Andrew Knapp

PP: So what was the allure of adding Leisure Club into the mix. If you all came from different backgrounds was it the need for a stylistic change or...?

Daniel: No, I think it's a "vibe" thing. I think that that's also what happens with the music. Like we go more towards what we think would be a nice, groovy sound, that's not just fun for us but for everyone else. We try and keep it as open for all kinds of people. I think that's the main thing that transcends into our music.

Graham: Just absorbing everybody else's energy.

Sean: Just sort of feeling, "Where do I fit into this mix" like, everybody in this band has so much experience and really good musicality. So it's nice to be able to be in a mix like that. You know, where everybody is bringing bits and pieces of all of their influences.

Jamie: I think if you were to like, go to each of our record collections, it would be a surprisingly different, collection, for each different person. There would be some similarities but for the most part I think it's quite diverse what we all like and listen to.

Sean: I feel like in that vein the sense of ego in the band is really sort of collective. It's happened in bands in the past where somebody in the band or many people want to do what they want and there's no compromise, and it's not that this band is about compromise necessarily but it's just about everybody doing what they're good at and finding that space.

Graham: And letting everybody else do what they're good at. Like really understanding where everything should be on just kind of a natural level.

PP: Cool! Nice. And the mutual interest in a light, sort of surf sound. I mean you all grew up in Vancouver? It rains constantly.

Leisure Club: Yeah for the most part, I mean we all grew up here except for Daniel.

Daniel: Yeah, I'm from Colombia. I guess growing up in the 80's, 90's, 2000's in South America we had a huge influence from North American music. Like, the whole pop culture thing. MTV was a huge factor of that. I grew up with bands that I can kind of relate to us, but then there is the all the influence of the music from Colombia that totally gets to me on a different level, and I still feel like I can incorporate that when I play with these guys.

Rob: but where do we get our tropical sound from?

Graham: I think it's the flip side of that. Growing up in Vancouver, we haven't been exposed to the music that Daniel has listened to growing up so like, when he starts playing all these Latin rhythms that are ingrained in his body, we're all just like, "Woah! This is really crazy." So we get to experience a whole different type of music then what we've seen.

PP: So, obviously inspired by summer, beaches, having fun, etc, what's your ultimate beach party?

Rob: A lot of sun screen for sure. Protect yourself!

Sean: Skin damage is no joke.

Graham: Bottomless Hey Ya'lls!

Rob: What's that during a luau..where they bury it in the sand..?

Jamie: A pig roast.

Daniel: It also needs to be warm out!

Jamie: And no worries! I like going to the beach and not having anything to worry about and anything to do and just time to zone out and chill. Throw back some Y'alls, and just enjoy yourself like really drink it in. You know?

PP: And next, I want to talk about your video for Still Young and that whole kaleidoscope effect. I thought that was really cool, who's idea was that and how did that come to be?

Graham: we're working with this girl Brodie with the fuck / love club. And she pretty much came up with the whole concept. We just kind of let her take the reigns with it. I've seen a few of her videos just from Instagram and posts and seen them very like kaleidoscope-y, disco ball-esque images and i figured that'd be really cool for a video. That's all her. Can't take any credit for that.

PP: Again, a lot of your songs from what I hear are about lost love, falling in love, etc. So. Embarrassing date stories. Go.

Graham: I had a first date once. And the plan was to go on a bike ride and she was going to bring a bottle of wine, and drink it on the beach, and all would be good. I was in a financial bind at the time and just had this crazy spur of bills that came in...and I literally had no money. The point where I don't even want to check my balance because I don't even wanna look at it. So you don't even know how much money you don't have. And, we go on this bike ride, and we go on the beach, and she goes, "Oh I forgot the bottle of wine!" And she tells me it's okay, that there's this liquor store just nearby, and we go there, and she picks up this $9 bottle of wine, and I was like, "Okay...I have to at least try to pay for this."

Jamie: No!

Graham: Yeah...and I put the card in.

Leisure Club: Collective groan.

Graham: Yeah so I put it in, take it out....declined. And I was just like, see you later.

Jamie: Aw man I wish I didn't hear that.

PP: Well I don't think we can top that.

Jamie: I sure hope not.

PP: Very regular question for this blog: If you could soundtrack any film, what film would that be.

Daniel: Okay well I just have to say right away, we would do it to Jurassic Park.

Sean: Well I've been practicing the Jurassic Park theme for a while..

Rob: Can you start the set with that tonight?

Sean: I will.

PP: Okay cool well, Jurassic Park it is.

Jamie: Nice one, Daniel.

PP: And the Vancouver music scene. How do you guys feel about migrating somewhere else? Just because I find a lot of bands either go to Toronto or LA.

Daniel: Vancouver is growing, and there's a lot of really, cool music happening. And there has been for years. And people are taking hints. People in Toronto are like "Oh, Vancouver has cool things." And down in the West Coast too.

Rob: It's been a bit of a sleeper scene for a while, and once in a while there will be an act to come out of here like Lights, or Japandroids, and there's a scene that fosters that and that has amazing groups and there always has been in Vancouver. And yeah I dunno, it's expensive as fuck to live here though.

Sean: I would never leave because the music scene wasn't good enough, I'd leave because I can't afford to live here. But I love Vancouver and I've been here most of my life.

Rob: And the thing is, the scene here is so ingrained in punk music and the DIY scene anyway that even when the genre isn't punk, there's this attitude that permeates the whole. If you go to underground or after-hours shows or whatever, the DIY bands and their vibe of the grassroots scene has embodied that sort of 'I don't give a bleep" sort of attitude which is really cool so the scene has it's own sort of character here.

Jamie: To answer your question...we plan on staying in Vancouver.

PP: Your first LP is coming out in November, so congratulations on that. What would you say that album is best suited for. Your listeners, what are they doing.

LC: Thank you!!

Jamie: So far, a lot of blogs and articles and as you were saying, say that we're super beachy or a tropical vibe...but I don't necessarily hear that as much as other people do.

PP: What do you hear?

Jamie: I don't know..not beachy but...I don't know. Maybe I'm too immersed in the songs to really get an outsider's perspective.

PP: Is there anything you would define it as? Can it be defined?

Jamie: I think it's truly - and I know people say this all the time - but it really is an album that has a little bit of everybody in it. You can hear Daniel in it, you can hear Sean in it, you can hear Graham, you can hear Rob, myself, and it's all very kind of... there. So i think it's more a huge collaborative effort for sure.

Rob: You can listen to it while hanging with your closest friends, perhaps. You can be on a stoop. Maybe on the beach. It could be anywhere really.

Graham: We have been working on these songs for over a year since we recorded them, and we've listened to them tirelessly, and criticized them relentlessly, to the point where i don't even know if they're good anymore.

Jamie: They might not be. but, we'll see!

PP: Pre show drink of choice!

Jamie: I'm normally two double vodka sodas and a shot of Jameson...and then another double on stage.

Graham: Tequila pineapple juice.

Sean: A beer or cider.

Daniel: Yeah depends on the show...I've been really into the tequila vibe for playing a hype show. Usually I drink a beer or two.

PP: And finally, What are your plans for the rest of 2017, early 2018?

Rob: We've got a tour, the album is coming out on the 17th of November, and then we are leaving on tour on the 24th and kicking it off here, we play at the Biltmore, which hasn't been announced yet so, there you go!

Daniel: Then an island tour, then we're going to do the interior and Alberta, and back. Then next year we're hoping to get down to the West Coast.

Jamie: To LA and stuff.

PP: Cool guys, that's it!

LC: Thank you!

Collapsing into Fall - A Playlist to Welcome October

2017-09-27T13:07:00.004-07:00

I thought I would do something different for a change, so here marks the start to some playlists I'll be making every so often, just of things I'm currently listening to. I'm finding as summer is now gone, I'm listening less and less to my usual standard of chrome-tinted, late-night summer selections, and migrating more into a sleepy hibernation of woodsy, mellow tracks.

I've included new releases that I want you all to hear, including The War on Drugs, LCD Soundsystem, TENDER, Ariel Pink, Future Islands, and Anna of North. That being said I've also included older songs too, not to mention throwing in a rad Chromatics cover of Joy Division's Ceremony.

I hope you enjoy.