Titouan Ropert, a cinema lover and editor, has created a superb short video illustrating Lars Von Trier’s art influences in his films. Lars Von Trier, a Danish film director who is known for films such as Melancholia, Dogville, and Dancer in the Dark, has always seemed to emulate art in his visual work. Most notably, Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais is explored in the visuals of Melancholia.
Sound Selection 082: Cubicolor Return with ‘Wake Me Up’
ANNNA Polyester
ANNNA, a producer and singer out of Amsterdam, has presented her latest single Polyester. The song focuses on the theme of fast fashion and is driven by ANNNA’s dreamy-like vocals, infectious Pop production, and a pleasantly warm vibe.
Belzifer Designed to End feat. Emi Evans
Exploring beautiful melancholic music, we have Belzifer featuring Emi Evans with Designed to End. Belzifer brings out a truly remarkable production that will have your heartstrings pulling with its beautiful dynamics and grand melody. A truly wondrous piece.
Gavyn Bailey Grass Is Never Greener
Switching to more commercial music with Gavyn Bailey with a delightful song named Grass Is Never Greener. Bailey delivers a splendid performance in this well-produced, radio-ready song. With Grass Is Never Greener released, we are longing to see what is next for Gavyn Bailey, an exciting artist for the future.
Knyves Escobar Lost
Knyves Escobar’s newest song Lost is another great addition for your weekend playlist. In this piece, Knyves Escobar presents a catchy chorus mixed with a glowing instrumental, making for an enjoyable ride that showcases Escobar’s euphonious vocals. This one is for the playlists.
Cubicolor Wake Me Up
Entering with a new two-track EP we have Cubicolor with Wake Me Up. The EP includes previously released track Points Beyond but also features a new mellifluous song Wake Me Up. Once again, the trio behind Cubicolor has not disappointed us. Soft, reminiscent vocals and a marvellous high-standard production is exactly what Wake Me Up represents, something we have seen previously from Cubicolor in their album Brainsugar.
Albums Out Today: Pet Shop Boys, Andy Shauf, Black Lips, Wire
In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on January 24th, 2020:
Pet Shop Boys, Hotspot: Legendary synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys are back with their fourteenth studio album and follow-up to 2016’s Super, out now via the band’s own label x2. Hotspot was recorded in large part at Hansa Studios in Berlin, with the exception of the single ‘Burning the Heather’, which was recorded at London’s RAK Studios, with contributions from Bernard Butler of Suede fame. It was produced and mixed by long-time collaborator Stuart Price, in what is reportedly the last in a trilogy of albums beginning with 2013’s Electric. The record also includes the single ‘Dreamland’, a collaboration with the Years and Years that was released earlier this year.
Andy Shauf, The Neon Skyline: Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf has put out his sixth studio album, The Neon Skyline, out now via Arts & Crafts/Anti-Records. The follow-up to 2017’s The Party was written, performed, arranged and produced by Shauf, who started working on each composition on guitar rather than his usual piano. After a year and a half, he had come up with 50 songs, and eventually pared them down to 11 for the album. The record’s narrative explores a past relationship through the lens of a narrator who goes back to his old neighborhood and finds out his ex is back in town. A press release describes it as “his most direct and emotionally-rich work yet”.
Black Lips, Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart: Atlanta garage rock band Black Lips have released their ninth full-length album, Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart. It sees the outfit returning to their lo-fi roots, as it was recorded direct-to-tape, but also marks their first album with new guitarist Jeff Clarke previously of Demon’s Claws and The Witnesses’ Oakley Munson on drums. This may indicate a new direction for the band, who previously released two country-tinged singles, ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Odelia’. According to the press release, the follow-up to 2017’s Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art? showcases the band “at their grimiest, most dangerous and equipped with the best collection of songs since the aughts.”
Wire, Mind Hive: Post-punk veterans Wire return with their seventeenth studio album and their first since 2017’s Silver/Lead, out now via pinkflag. Last year, they reissued their classic first three albums, Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154, while a new documentary titled People in a Film spanning their whole career is also set to be released this year. Mind Hive includes the previously released singles ‘Cactused’ and ‘Primed and Ready’.
Other albums out today: Migos, Culture III; Breaking Benjamin, Aurora; Wolf Parade, Thin Mind; Σtella, The Break; Sarah Mary Chadwick, Please Daddy.
Rendezvous_always by Hana Ju
Hana Ju, a painter out of South Korea, has released a magnificent series of oil canvases named Rendezvous_always.
Writing about the pieces Hanah Ju stated “By the time I was thirty-years-old, I began to feel responsible for my life. Who is ‘real me’ among strangers? Since birth, I have been a person who acknowledges others’ gaze unconsciously. As a matter of fact, people, in general, do not pay attention to me that much. Even if they do, my reality would not be affected by it. Although I am very influenced by what others would think of me, it is my mind’s problem rather than theirs. It is a problem driven by my shallow ego. As my ego becomes poorer, my appearance, on the other hand, becomes flashier. Like over wrapping an unworthy gift, my weakened self-confidence needs heavy embellishment on my physical self. That overly done appearance adorns me with a shallow confidence and I stand in front of others believing that is my true self. This self-confidence is very brittle, it tears and wears off easily. Risking this fact, I still obsess over decorating the exterior while ignoring the interior. The exterior gets fancier as the interior gets uglier. In the meanwhile, I lose my identity and without realizing, I sink down to the abyss.
Find more work by Hana Ju here.
Manchester Film Festival Official Selection
The beloved Manchester Film Festival has announced their 2020 line-up made up of narrative and documentary features, narrative and documentary shorts, music videos, animations and student films. The overall lineup will include over 170 eye-opening films.
Notably, Lost Transmisiosion starring Simon Pegg will be screened at the festival. In this film, Pegg plays a rare dramatic role as a schizophrenic music producer who stops taking his medication. The festival will also be hosting the world premiere of Before The Fire by Charlie Buhler. The film sees a TV star flee Los Angeles during a pandemic to her rural hometown, but her return soon attracts a dark figure from her past.
Adding to the massive lineup, short films will also be screened in over seventeen sessions, including horror and animation shorts.
With such a vast range of films screened, the festival will look to have its biggest year yet. The festival will commence on the 7th of March and conclude on the 15th of March.
Payer Ark Introduce Debut Album ‘Close Your Eyes and Think of Nothing’
Pavey Ark, an exciting alternative folk band from Hull, have revealed the release date of their debut album Close Your Eyes and Think of Nothing. The album will be released on the 20th of March. Close Your Eyes and Think of Nothing acknowledges the challenging complexities of humanity, but finds strength, love, and beauty as the key to survival time and again.
Live dates for 2020:
March 31st – Sheffield, The Greystones
April 13th – Leeds, Oporto
April 17th – London, Green Note
May 18th – Uttoxeter, The Acoustic Festival of Britain
June 20th – Lincolnshire, Cabourne Folk & Blues Festival
August 15th – Hampshire, Boomtown Fair
Buster Keaton ‘The Art of the Gag’ by Tony Zhou
Buster Keaton, an iconic figure in the world of film, is remembered for this superb ability to create comedy through visual means. This type of comedy has been carried on by a number of directors and actors to this day including Wes Anderson, Jackie Chan, and Edgar Wright — to name a few.
Artist Spotlight: Aries
Named after her zodiac sign, Aries is the moniker of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Isa Reviriego, whose music is as adventurous and creative as an astrologist would be quick to presume. During her teenage years, she played in hardcore punk bands in her home region of Basque Country, Spain, before moving to Madrid during the 2000s and fronting the indie rock band Charades. Having already produced video game soundtracks and known for singing on Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, Reviriego began her solo career in 2011 after the band broke up and she moved once again, this time to the small coastal city of Vigo. She has put out four solo records so far, her latest being Juramento Mantarraya, released last year via the Spanish label La Castanya and K Records. Dipped in vibrant technicolor hues, Juramento Mantarraya is a forward-thinking, so-called “super pop” record, bubbling through fluttering synths, Beach Boys-inspired melodies, and dynamic textures that demonstrate the richness of Reviriego’s diverse musical palette as well her talent for fusing accessible pop structures with unconventional sonic detours. The album blossoms like a colourful flower in spring – or, more accurately, some sort of abstract animation of it – from the jaunty rhythms and playful na-na-nas of the title track, to the wobbly electronics and kinetic percussion on ‘La Mejor Sensación’ and the dreamy psychedelia of ‘El Camino’. It’s a joyful, summery delight of a record.
We caught up with Aries for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk a bit about their music.
When did you first become interested in music?
Since I was a child and my parents played records at home, I remember vibrating with music. Soon I had my own cassette collection and when I was 16 I formed my first band. Punk philosophy was very important to me when it came to playing in bands. And it still is. Your music career has followed an interesting trajectory.
How did you arrive at where you are now?
It has been a learning path, many mistakes and many findings. For me the most important thing is the road, the whole road you travel is the most valuable and fun. I’ve always been a big fan of pop on the one hand, and experimental music on the other. I try to combine both attitudes.
How does your versatility as an artist inform the music you make today?
I am not sure, to be honest. Over the years I feel that I have many more tools than when I was little. Now I have clearer also what I do not want. What I try is to always learn and have fun … Keep curious.
Could you talk about the inspiration behind your latest record, Juramento Mantarraya?
I am very inspired by all the people around me, especially my friends and the conversations I have with them. Also many movies, books … those things that make you feel less alone in the world. The socio-political situation too, of course. On the strictly musical level, while composing the album I listened a lot to an Alice Coltrane album called Reflection on Creation and Space. The Spanish groups of the 60s like the Brincos also influence me a lot.
How was the process of recording the album like?
The recording process of Juramento Mantarraya was quite long and thorough. It is a rather baroque disc, full of small details. I always go to the recording studio with all the sounds already designed and then in the studio I try to leave everything as polished as possible.
Who’s one artist that you would love to hear cover one of songs, and why?
I am a super fan of Gilberto Gil, I love him as a composer and guitarist and I love the philosophy and sensitivity behind the whole tropicalist movement … I would die if I heard him sing one of my songs.
What are you working on currently? Anything you’re particularly excited about?
I am composing a soundtrack for a film and I am very excited. I am also preparing a fanzine with my friend Coki.
Li-Ning FW 2020/21
Honouring its 30th year as China’s great icon of athletics, Li-Ning shaped forward for F/W 2020, proposing a new meld of sportswear and tailoring for the past and future. The show itself included notable guests such as Jackie Chan, Mr. Li Ning, Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, Stefano Pilati, MJ Harper, and Honey Dijon.
Artist Spotlight: Dasychira
Dasychira carries you through the deepest parts of the unconscious. The New York-based, South Africa-born experimental producer’s debut LP, xDream, melds haunting soundscapes, enchanting vocal snippets, and scribbly electronics that glide through the uncanny valley of childhood memories, across the cloudy intersection between dream and nightmare. In the true Freudian sense of the ‘unheimlich’, xDream feels familiar yet unfamiliar, deeply unsettling yet accessible, as it captures the way our childhood self appears distant and unreachable yet constantly present in our desire to reconnect with that original state of purity. Both through their visuals and music, Dasychira has a knack for repurposing cultural artifacts such as video games and cartoon characters to evoke the mind-numbing chaos of trying to reconcile with that divided self, like on ‘Mickey’, which creepily samples the classic Disney character saying “no such thing as monsters” before hitting us with a nightmarish assault on the senses, or ‘Skitty’, which takes the adorable feline Pokémon it’s named after and seemingly turns its harmless meowing into tortured screams, enveloped by Chinese artist Yikii’s bewitching lullaby-like vocals. But beyond subversive abrasiveness, there’s also a lot of beauty to be found on the record, from the elegant strings on ‘Swirl’ feat. Malibu to the entrancing melody that drifts atop the dynamic electronic textures on the title track. On xDream, Dasychira uses experimentation not just as a refreshing musical tool but as a vehicle for deep personal introspection. It’s a rewarding musical journey that’ll take you to some strange, mystical places.
We caught up with Dasychira for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk a bit about their music.
What inspired you to start making music, and how do you think your style has evolved since then?
The symphonic fairytale Peter and the Wolf. It’s a rare example of a living, breathing piece of music that invites you to explore a world of characters in between a dream and a nightmare. I was captivated by how the narrative is woven with the instrumentation and paints a vivid picture in the imagination. Like when you read a book and imagine what the tea kettle looked like, or the scent of rotting tulips. My approach of writing music has evolved from telling stories with instruments alone, to fleshing out the journey by incorporating text and poetry. Conjuring a fully extra-sensory experience in the mind of the listener.
How would you describe your sound?
A ghoulishly scribbly, electronic mesh of memories and premonitions. The closest classification for me is scribblecore or keepsakecore.
There are a lot of interesting visuals surrounding your music. How do they come about, and what role do they play in your work?
Working with visuals is a spontaneous process where I have to grab something I notice before it’s gone forever. Like writing down a dream before you forget it, when I hop into the abyss of internet subcultures like Snapchat ghost sightings and DNA cell music I immediately bookmark them to reference later. It’s like a collector’s mindset of creating a library of inspirations that all meld together to form a clearer image of the musical creature I have in my head. The movement of visuals creates a gravity that pulls this elusive musical essence into something relatable and interactive.
Could you talk to us about the unseelie collective? How was it formed and what is it about?
unseelie started to take shape toward the end of 2017 when QUALIATIK and I returned from our tour of Northern America, feeling excited to start doing more, locally, in New York. Sentinel was coming up from Baltimore to do shows more frequently, and after organizing a night together we wanted to shine a light on music and art that felt almost too secret for how magical and original it was. Kodi Fabricant came up with the name unseelie in reference to mischievous woodland faeries, and we started out by inviting artists who shared this spirit of playful expression to showcase their work in a gentle forum. Ever since, our platform has evolved from live performances to digital releases – with the brilliant SA Mayer making contributions to the platform.
In 2020 unseelie is:
ஃ celebrating the timeless collective library of imagination
ஃ celebrating the souls that sing and dance around the fire
ஃ celebrating what magic still remains in this world
What were some of the ideas that fuelled the creative process behind your latest project, xDream?
xDream grew from the ghostly presence of a childhood memory lurking in the depths of my subconscious. This phantom was born when its fluid aura was suffocated by the external preconceptions of binaries around us. There was a time in all of our lives where we could see beyond our own skin and feel closer to the spirit that controls the mech body that determines all too much of our future. When you’re taught to morph your conscious understanding of what’s right and wrong, what’s real or not, what’s you or what isn’t based on how those who’ve lost touch with it view us, the essence of ambivalence in identity is compromised. I didn’t realize it back then, but I had exiled a big part of myself in the dark behind me, which was locked away and buried in a time capsule. xDream is the key that opens the lock, and once the memory banks come flooding out – all you can do is face the intensity of past-selves. I remember feeling so overwhelmed by this feeling on a flight from New York to Amsterdam I started to compose pieces of the title track mid-air over the atlantic, that was almost two years ago.
How would you say it’s different from your previous releases?
It’s the most self-disarming record I’ve made, where instead of trying to construct an armor around the essence of something I wanted the essence itself to be the armor. I wanted to let my day to day life become a part of the music by taking the time to just live through the waves of personal transformation and digest what the message meant for myself. There’s a lot more sentimentality in each sound that can be traced back to a story or moment in time, for example the crackling vocals on Toon World are ripped from the audio of a glitchy FaceTime call with SA Mayer, the smashing metallic sounds on Retribution Bee are from these mechanical gates at a warehouse in Gowanus where we had our most ambitious UNSEELIE, the meow toward the end of Mickey is Bushwick’s cutest feline, Aubrey.
What was the process behind the making of your music video for ‘xDream’?
After meeting Awe Ix at the Quantum Natives Grace Nexus show in New York we spoke about collaborating on a video that reinterpreted an existing world. I saw the video he made for Wa?ste that used 3D scans of Pokémon-esque characters that he found at a night market in Taipei. I had recently revisited a classic film from my childhood, Fern Gully, this Australian animated film that inverts the myth of humans and faeries with the fairies believing humans aren’t real, until one day a fairie discovers a lumberjack in the woods destroying a forest. Awe Ix was particularly interested in working with Disney’s technique of “recycled animation”, where they use frames of previous films and animate slightly different sequences over them. Awe Ix went over a huge portion of the movie, frame by frame, in his own style. This video was originally meant to be for a different song but since the process was so specific and tedious we extended the timeline to have it on xDream. It took around 2 years to complete but it couldn’t have turned out any better, there’s a lot of easter eggs hidden in the video too.
What are your plans for the future?
To daisychain all the fragmented pieces of the psychic realm by creating more interactive work and bridge the connection between internal kin and otherkin. I have the vinyl for xDream coming out on the 24th, a music video coming up for Swirl we shot at El Matador beach in Malibu, a super cute toy, and some other surprise eggs. I’m excited to play in every context I find myself in and find new outlets of expression. A close friend once told me that every making leads to another making.
