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13 Fantastic Stills from Ivan’s Childhood (1962)

Modestas Mankus
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13 Fantastic Stills from Ivan’s Childhood (1962)

Ivan’s Childhood (1962) is one of the most excellent films of the late Andrei Tarkovsky. The film itself gained Tarkovsky, the Golden Lion award at the 1962 Venice Film Festival. The prize was shared with Italian filmmaker Valerio Zurlini who came in with Family Portrait (1962).

This dramatic and poetic film follows a twelve-year-old Soviet Orphan Ivan Bondarev (Nikolay Burlyaev) who works for the Soviet army, helping them scout the enemy, the Germans. While in doing so, the boy uncovers a friendship with three compassionate Soviet officers.

Here are thirteen brilliant stills from Ivan’s Childhood.

Watch Moses Sumney’s Performance on NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Watch Moses Sumney’s Performance on NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk (Home) Concert’

Moses Sumey is the latest musician to perform on NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series. Streaming from North Carolina, the alternative R&B artist played three tracks from his latest album, 2020’s græ – ‘Bless Me’, ‘Me in 20 Years’, and ‘Polly’ – as well as a track from 2018’s Black in Deep Red, 2014 EP titled ‘Rank & File’. Check out his full set below.

This is the second time Sumney has performed on the NPR program, the last time being in 2017, when he was promoting his debut album Aromanticism. This year’s græ, which was released in two parts, landed on our Best Albums of 2020 (So Far) list. Last month, he released a new track titled ‘Monumental’ in collaboration with designer Thom Browne’s SS21 collection, which reimagined the Olympic Hymn.

Bill Callahan Shares New Song ‘Breakfast’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Bill Callahan Shares New Song ‘Breakfast’

It’s Monday, which means we get to hear another track from the new Bill Callahan record. Titled ‘Breakfast’, this is the seventh song from the 10-track LP, following on from last week’s ‘Let’s Move to the Country’, a reworking of the 1999 Smog classic of the same name. Listen to the new track below.

At first, the track seems to paint an idyllic domestic scene, but the lyrics soon grow into something darker: “She don’t eat, she don’t sleep/ Why, she don’t even drink,” Callahan sings in his conversational tone. “I drink so that we don’t fight/ She don’t drink so that we don’t fight.”

Although the song is about more than what the title implies, Callahan’s label Drag City and the coffee roasters at Four Letter Word have actually collaborated to create a special coffee in celebration of the new album. No joke – you can purchase some of it here.

Gold Record is out September 4. Previously, the singer-songwriter unveiled the tracks  ’35’, ‘Pigeons’, ‘Another Song’, ‘Protest Song’, and ‘The Mackenzies’.

How to Take the Best Selfies When You Travel By Yourself

Our Culture Mag & Partners
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How to Take the Best Selfies When You Travel By Yourself

Every journey is a pleasure, and it rests the body and soul. Everyone needs a vacation sometimes, but not everyone can afford ten days of going to some exotic destination. There is an increasing trend of people turning to nature for a few days to escape the hustle and bustle of daily life. 

When you are happy and relaxed in beautiful landscapes, you surely want to remember the moment. Traveling with someone, there is always another person who can take a picture of you. However, what should solo travelers do? 

These are some basic tips on how solo travelers can take the best selfies: 

  1. Invest In A Handy Selfie Camera

If you want to take memorable photos, you’ll need to buy a good travel camera. For starters, it should be light and easily portable, and you don’t even have to spend a fortune on this device. The camera should be travel-friendly and not attract too much attention, because then it’s a target for thieves. Beware of this, especially if you’re traveling alone. 

The best selfie cameras have extra-large rotating LCD screens so you can always see what the picture looks like. Try to find a digital sensor camera, which is a better option than ordinary point-and-shoot cameras or smartphones. These devices have optical zoom in them and are great cameras for aspiring photography. 

  1. Having A Selfie Tripod Or Stick Is A Must

It appears that selfie sticks are pretty handy inventions, especially for tourists traveling alone. Don’t be ashamed to take out this stick or tripod whenever you see a breathtaking sight or some other sight. These accessories provide the great benefit of making your camera stable. 

The tripod takes up a little more space than a selfie stick, so look for lighter and more compact ones packed in a bag. When you come across something worth taking pictures of, it won’t take you long to set the camera to tripod, turn on the timer, and take a picture of that scene or yourself with that scene. 

  1. Use Handy Features Like Wireless Control And Timer

A timer is a replacement for a friend who would take a picture of you. This add-on provides the perfect way to take remarkable selfies and photos. 

Find a spot to place your camera and mini-tripod. Set the timer to 10 or 15 seconds. Think of how you’ll pose so you won’t waste time. 

If you don’t want to hurry to take a perfect shot, consider investing in a wireless remote control for your camera. That way, you can make the shot whenever you’re ready and find the best angle. Take as many photos as you want until you finally make a perfect shot of yourself. 

  1. Find The Inspiration

If you’re planning a trip by yourself, reading travel blogs can give you some ideas about which places to visit and what is worth painting. You can also take a look at social network accounts and look for inspiration from bloggers, influencers, or anyone who has fantastic travel photos. 

Don’t hesitate to recreate every stunning photo you like. When you gain experience in painting, you can give your photos a personal stamp and something unique to you (forget about sticking out tongues and raised thumbs – it’s not unique or trendy anymore). 

  1. Carefully Choose The Background And Lighting

For a good selfie, you need a good background. Most likes and attention on social networks will attract pictures of smiling faces surrounded by beautiful scenery. So, if you want to take the perfect travel shot all by yourself, make sure to find the right place for that. 

Diffused natural light is always the best choice. Unlike the flash, it’s quite soft and makes every picture look good, without seeing everything down to the last detail. That’s especially good for selfie photos because imperfections such as wrinkles or pimples are less noticeable in natural light. Avoid pictures in direct sunlight, as you may appear too pale and washed out. 

As for the background, don’t pose in front of something that will overpower you. Try to make a balance between you and the background. For example, if you’re wearing black or dark-blue clothes, take a shot in front of light-colored backgrounds. Do not always make template images. Let you be in the foreground on one, and let your face be in one corner on the other, and most of it is occupied by the scene you’re painting. 

  1. Ask Someone To Take A Shot Of You

If you travel alone, it does not necessarily mean that you have to spend the whole trip alone. Ask another tourist or passerby to take a picture of you. Look for a friendly-looking person, but be careful about entrusting your devices to a random person. 

Give them a few instructions on how you want your photo to look like. Yet, others may not always listen to your instructions, so you may not get the desired results every time. However, giving them a chance and asking them to take a few shots in a row should be fine. 

Conclusion  

People who travel alone can experience the journey in a completely different way. They can relax and enjoy it because they don’t have to worry about companions either. The lack of a photo-taking buddy can be easily compensated by proper equipment, add-ons, and learning how to best photograph yourself. 

Burna Boy Reveals Release Date and Tracklist for New Album, Featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Stormzy, and More

Konstantinos Pappis
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Burna Boy Reveals Release Date and Tracklist for New Album, Featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Stormzy, and More

Burna Boy has revealed the release date and tracklist for his new album, Twice as Tall. Executive-produced by Diddy, Bosede Ogulu, and Burna Boy, it arrives August 14 and features contributions from Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Stormzy, Youssou N’Dour, Naughty by Nature, Mike Dean, Timbaland, and more. Check out the full tracklist below.

The 15-track LP, which was recorded mostly in Lagos, Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic, follows Burna Boy’s 2019 album African Giant. Last month, he and Sam Smith joined forces on the track ‘My Oasis’.

Twice As Tall Tracklist: 

  1. Level Up (Twice As Tall) [feat. Youssou N’Dour]
  2. Alarm Clock
  3. Way Too Big
  4. Bebo
  5. Wonderful
  6. Onyeka (Baby)
  7. Naughty By Nature [feat. Naughty By Nature]
  8. Comma
  9. No Fit Vex
  10. 23
  11. Time Flies [feat. Sauti Sol]
  12. Monsters You Made [feat. Chris Martin]
  13. Wetin Dey Sup
  14. Real Life [feat. Stormzy]
  15. Bank On It

Finneas Unveils New Version of ‘Let’s Fall In Love For The Night’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Finneas Unveils New Version of ‘Let’s Fall In Love For The Night’

Finneas has unveiled a new version of his track ‘Let’s Fall In Love For The Night’. It’s taken from the recently released deluxe version of his Blood Harmony EP, which includes the original seven tracks as well as ‘Break My Heart Again’ and the stripped-back ‘Let’s Fall in Love for the Night (1964)’. Listen to it below.

“When I was originally producing this song, it took me down two different directions,” Finneas explained in a statement. “One inspired by the rhythms I loved in Outkast and Gorillaz songs, which became the original production, and the other, which became this. A production inspired by the vinyl loved and listened to throughout my childhood. I wanted to make a lullaby version and give it to the people.”

The new version comes shortly after his sister, Billie Eilish, released her latest single ‘my future’, which Finneas helped write and produce.

Album Review: Fontaines D.C., ‘A Hero’s Death’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Album Review: Fontaines D.C., ‘A Hero’s Death’

Like a number of great albums, Fontaines D.C.‘s A Hero’s Death begins with a thesis and ends with an emotional credence. The brooding incantation on the opening track ‘I Don’t Belong’ is as familiar to the post-punk genre as any: “I don’t belong to anyone,” frontman Grian Chatten proclaims again and again over a slow-burning instrumental. What starts as a mere observation quickly turns into a statement of intent: “I don’t wanna belong to anyone.” There are obvious parallels to the band’s own meteoric rise to success following the release of their 2019 debut, Drogel; the line belies a refusal for their art to be commodified, yes, but also a sense of alienation springing from the Dublin quintet’s world tour and the exhaustion that came with it. “We weren’t really eating and we were burning the candle at both ends,” Chatten recently told NME. “It became a bit surreal as towns melted into each other and faces started to look a bit strange.”

Listening to A Hero’s Death, you get a taste of that phantasmagoric experience; not so much in the album’s content as its overall atmosphere, which seeds with a sense of estrangement, disorientation, and unease. Throughout the album, Fontaines D.C. negotiate their place in the world, eschewing any fixed perceptions of who they’re supposed to be but doing so with enough subtlety to render it compelling. “I was not born/ Into this world/ To do another man’s bidding,” Chatten declares on ‘I Was Not Born’; Conor Curley and Carlos O’Connell’s propulsive, anthemic guitars sound like the the rest of the world running after him as he manically cries out “You won’t catch me/ No, you won’t catch me.”

You can’t always tell what Chatten is singing about, and that’s part of what makes A Hero’s Death so enthralling. He fixates on a certain phrase until it’s stripped of all associations: there’s a clear hint of irony to ‘Love is the Main Thing’, whose central mantra morphs into something dark and sullen, Chatten’s delivery growing from weary to chaotic as a nightmarish guitar line looms over and Tom Coll’s drumming coils around him like a snake, ready to devour him at any minute. On the vitriolic ‘Televised Mind’, he repeats the line “That’s a televised mind” as the band boasts one of their most hypnotically electrifying performances. The idea of corporatising your artistic ideals reemerges: “Swipe your thoughts from Broadway/ Turn ideals to cabaret/ Water dreams of yesterday/ Fall behind,” Chatten sings. His commentary is sharp, but never too obvious.

If the plan was to lead the band back into obscurity by presenting a less accessible sound, this obviously hasn’t worked – A Hero’s Death catapulted to the top of the U.K. charts, second only to Taylor Swift’s folklore. If, on the other hand, the goal was to create something a bit more fragmented and less direct than its predecessor, Fontaines D.C. have more than delivered on their promise. The album is downcast and atmospheric without sacrificing the band’s energy, but it’s also filled with some of their most memorable hooks, which get lodged into your mind less like a catchy pop song than a nightmare you can’t quite shake. ‘Living in America’ is moody and evocative, Chatten’s voice reaching its lowest register, but it’s also surprisingly melodic. The title track cleverly offsets a rock n’ roll-inspired rhythm and the faux-inspirational “life ain’t always empty” with a simmering sense of dread conjured by the ghostly vocal harmonies and a rollicking instrumental that slowly edges towards oblivion.

The outro is the only instance where Chatten directly references the band, and it’s a blink-it-and-you’ll miss it moment: “That was the year of the sneer now the real thing’s here,” he mutters. The real thing, it turns out, is complicated. But ultimately, the album is less about reflecting on the band’s own trajectory than about navigating the line between sincerity and cynicism: the central question of metamodernism. Whenever they dip their toes into something resembling optimism, like on the dreamy ballad ‘Oh, Such a Spring’, it’s always covered in layers of sarcasm. But the closing track marks a kind of turning point: the band seem to do away with the disaffected ethos that has long characterized the genre, as Chatten bellows: “Even though you don’t know/ Even though you don’t/ You feel.” He then offers the perfect advice, not just for appreciating A Hero’s Death, but, surprisingly, life as a whole: “And please don’t lock yourself away/ Just appreciate the gray.”

Black Country, New Road Cover Weezer’s ‘Say It Ain’t So’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Black Country, New Road Cover Weezer’s ‘Say It Ain’t So’

British newcomers Black Country, New Rock have shared a cover of Weezer’s ‘Say It Ain’t So’. The band were supposed to perform at the Haldern Pop Festival in Germany this summer, but as the festival was cancelled due the coronavirus pandemic, its organizers are hosting a series of Saturday Pop concerts instead, livestreamed from the Keusgen recording studio in Haldern. Check out their take on the Weezer classic, as well as the entirety of their performance, below.

Next year, Black Country, New Road will head out on a European tour, including a stop at the Electric Ballroom in London on March 3, 2021. Last month, the band unveiled the nine-minute track ‘Sunglasses’,  the follow-up to their much-hyped debut single, ‘Athens, France’.

Watch The Weeknd Preview New Music, Perform With Doja Cat During Virtual TikTok Concert

Konstantinos Pappis
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Watch The Weeknd Preview New Music, Perform With Doja Cat During Virtual TikTok Concert

Last night, The Weeknd performed a virtual concert on TikTok. Titled The Weeknd Experience and billed as a “live fan interactive & immersive XR moment”, the event saw the alternative R&B artist – or rather, a 3D animated version of him – play a minute-long snippet of a new song before a performance of the hit single ‘Blinding Lights’. A digital avatar of Doja Cat also joined in during the performance of ‘In Your Eyes’. Check it out below (the new song starts at 7:03 while ‘In Your Eyes’ is at the 13:06 minute mark).

During the virtual show, fans were encouraged to donate to the Equal Justice Initiative, which supports racial equality and aims to bring an end to mass incarceration in the US. Viewers also had the opportunity to vote in polls and have their usernames displayed on the livestream.

The Weeknd’s last studio LP was After Hours, which we named one of our favourite albums of 2020 so far. A few days ago, he unveiled a collaboration with the late Juice WRLD titled ‘Smile’.

Chicago by Tom Leighton

Modestas Mankus
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Chicago by Tom Leighton

Tom Leighton, a gifted photographer out of London, U.K, has showcased an impressive series in which he explores the innovative and exciting architecture of Chicago, a city which holds over two million people.

Writing about the series, Leighton stated “With these images, I have used the light to give emphasis to the materials that have gone in Chicago’s impressive construction. Light bouncing off concrete, metal and glass, adding pattern to the city’s narrative.”

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