The long-anticipated sequel to Space Jam (1996) has received its trailer. The first film starred Michael Jordan, Danny DeVito, and Billy Murray — to name a few and gained a cult-like following over the years with its charm, fun-energy, and harmless comedy. Now fifteen years later, a trailer for a follow-up is out starring LeBron James, the king of basketball.
Space Jam: A New Legacy is directed by Malcolm D. Lee, who was also involved and directed such films as Girls Trip (2017), The Best Man Holiday (2013), and Undercover Brother (2002). LeBron James, Sonequa Martin-Green, Don Cheadle, Gabriel Iglesias, Kath Soucie, Eric Bauza, J. Michael Tatum, Bob Bergen, Chiney Ogwumike, and many more star in a film as voice actors and actors.
The film is scheduled to be released in the U.S on the 16th of July, 2021 and the 23rd of July, 2021 in the U.K.
Meanswhile, a Japanese menswear brand, presented a fashion film for their 2021 autumn-winter collection at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. Designer Naohiro Fujisaki’s collection combined style with functionality, especially in vest and trousers, which included multiple pocket spaces. The silhouettes were loose-fitted with shorts and some trousers that were wide leg. Materials such as cotton and velour were present throughout the collection, making it for a diverse mix.
El conductorH showcased their 2021 autumn-winter runway at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. Designer Shintaro Nagamine’s collection had an edgy appearance with relaxed fit silhouettes that incorporated streetwear and formalwear. Each outfit had its own distinctive style, and various materials such as bouclé, velvet, lace, leather were used. The formalwear had a street style twist by having buckle ties on the sleeves and trousers. The trousers were flared and come just above the ankles. Similarly, the tracksuit sets had a formal feeling with classic loafer shoes.
Stress is often said to be the biggest killer. While it can be a useful bodily defence mechanism when facing danger (it helps us to be more alert and to move more quickly), too much stress can wear down our bodies. Humans have evolved to experience stress in situations that often aren’t life-threatening at all – in these situations stress can have very little benefit. Learning to eliminate stress from your life could make you feel a lot better and healthier. But just how can you live a stress-free lifestyle. Below are just a few basic tips.
Follow your passions
Work is a big source of stress for many people. Finding a job that is centred around one of your passions is the best way to reduce this stress. It’s important to also consider your personality. Are you a people person? Are you creative or technical minded? By finding a job that matches your personality and interests, you can eliminate a lot of stress. There’s a job out there for everyone – you’ve just got to find it.
Adopt a routine
We’re hardwired to enjoy a routine. Getting up at the same time every morning, following the same morning routine and having a daily schedule can make us feel motivated and at peace. Consider whether you could benefit from more routine in your life.
Stay physically active
Exercise is a great stressbuster – it helps to release the tension built up by stress and it pumps feelgood endorphins around our body. Make sure that you spend some time every day being physically active.
Get a good amount of sleep
Lack of sleep and stress can form a vicious cycle: it’s harder to sleep when you’re stressed and you’ll be more stressed if you’ve had no sleep. 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night is the perfect amount we need to function. Prioritize sleep however you can, whether it’s going to bed earlier or taking power naps.
Meditate
Meditation is more than just closing your eyes and saying ‘OMMM’. It’s a way of clearing your mind of negative thoughts and refocusing it towards more productive thoughts. When you are starting to get stressed, a five minute meditation break could be all you need to destress.
Try herbal stress relief
There are many herbal forms of stress relief that you can use such as passionflower, valerian and cannabis. Many of these herbs are also great for promoting sleep and reducing pain (which may be triggering stress). If you suffer from chronic pain or lack of sleep as well as chronic stress, consider whether to start taking herbal relief. You could join the Harvest loyalty club. Alternatively, a doctor may be able to prescribe something.
Look for solutions not problems
A lot of stress is caused by the wrong mindset. They key to optimism and getting through challenges is to focus on solutions not problems.
Always consider the bigger picture
Perspective is also important when avoiding stress. It’s not worth worrying about something that you cannot predict, neither is it worth worrying about something that may only cause minor damage in the grand scheme of things.
Enjoy what you have
Too many of us focus on what we don’t have rather than focusing on the things we do have. We should all be striving for more, however we shouldn’t forget what we’ve achieved or what we’ve been blessed with in the process.
You never know quite what to expect going into a Xiu Xiu record, but regardless of when you first became acquainted with the experimental group’s almost 20-year back catalog, you probably knew in an instant if you’d ever want to hear more. Behind the relentless shock tactics and song titles like ‘Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy’ and ‘I Luv Abortion’, each release was also packed with plenty of aggressively radical ideas – some more effective than others, but always intriguing as they revealed a mind-boggling dexterity of style and variations in mood. OH NO, which happens to be the title of their latest record, might also be the reaction of a concerned friend following your dubious decision to share another one of their songs. All things considered, though, Xiu Xiu’s 12th studio album still manages to be somewhat of a surprise; not because it finds new ways to shock or disturb, but because it finds the group – now the duo of Jamie Stewart and Angelo Seo – retaining an aura of mystery while delivering their most palatable and affecting effort in years.
A duets album featuring guest artists from across the alternative and experimental spectrum, OH NO was reportedly inspired by the dissolution of a number of friendships as well as the cancellation of the band’s touring plans. The result is an album that’s at its best when it leans into the melancholy side of the band’s sound, with Stewart giving ample space to his collaborators, who in turn add their own flavor while attuning themselves to Xiu Xiu’s trademark sonics. One of the finest examples is opener ‘Sad Mezcalita’, a collaboration with Sharon Van Etten that makes for a quietly haunting introduction to the album. A burst of ethereal light threatens to drown out both their voices as they repeat the words “rough dreams” in the chorus, but in the verses the stage turns dark and cavernous, accentuating suggestions of vulnerability.
Similarly evocative is the duet with Circuit des Yeux’s Haley Fohr, in which the sting of betrayal burns even more deeply: “As you know I’ve been called a liar/ And so I know what a lying person does/ But I’m also a friend, unlike you/ And know what a friend will do too,” they sing in unison, their voices weaving a mournful dance. When Stewart undercuts the ominous atmosphere to almost humorous effect, however, the songs lose much of their poignancy and impact: you certainly don’t want “bong bing bonk-o bung” to be among the most memorable lines on your album. Other moments of comical absurdity fare much better, including ‘Rumpus Room’ featuring Liars’ Angus Andrew, but OH NO shines the brightest when it reaches for a strange kind of pop transcendence, like on the exquisite duet with Grouper’s Liz Harris, ‘A Bottle of Rum’, or the dreamy, Twin Shadow-assisted ‘Saint Dymphna’.
It’s evident that the process of collaboration has served as an antidote to the bleakness and interpersonal conflict that pervade the album: “the guest stars of OH NO helped remind me that the ratio of beautiful humans to shitty humans is more like 60/40 rather than what I have always assumed was 1/99,” Stewart said in a statement, which is perhaps why even its most depressing songs can feel like a ray of hope when the joined forces behind them work so well together – just hear him take on The Cure’s ‘One Hundred Years’ alongside Chelsea Wolfe. The cover might showcase Xiu Xiu at their most harrowingly loud, but the album as a whole tempers those oppressive tendencies, thus rendering those moments of abrasive noise all the more potent. And though it doesn’t have a strong enough core to justify its 54-minute runtime, Stewart reorchestrates the diverse elements that have characterized the project’s career with a newfound elegance and ease that feels like a step in the right direction.
If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you’ll have seen reviews of Godzilla vs. Kongpointing out that the human drama isn’t any good. I’m sure you’ll have also seen a barrage of comments from fans saying something to the effect of, “this isn’t why we watch these films!”, or, “you don’t know the genre! Godzilla movies are about monsters fighting!”, or even, “it’s monsters fighting, of course it’s not Shakespeare!”
I find myself agreeing with the consensus of many critics in that, yes, the human drama is awful, but I find the fan reaction particularly frustrating.
Godzilla films can and have repeatedly offered great character drama, thematic weight, lofty ideas, and earnest storytelling. Be it the post-war national identity conflict that characterises the 1954 original, or the gentle portrayal of unlikely friendships in Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), the idea that these films uniformly don’t deliver on good storytelling is silly at best, if not condescending at worst.
It’s not unreasonable to want or expect more from these films when we know that better things are possible. Even discounting the rich history of the Toho films, Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla, while with its own issues, was a smart and stylish film which understood that meaning could be drawn from massive monsters. Seven years later and we’re left with Godzilla vs. Kong, a film which seems to indulge in every crude stereotype placed on these films by decades of critical and fan misunderstanding.
In the film, Kong is contained on Skull Island. Meanwhile, Godzilla destroys a facility belonging to Apex, a shady company with an Elon Musk-style CEO. The folks at Apex appeal to a scientist who wants to explore the ‘Hollow Earth’ (something briefly mentioned in the last few ‘MonsterVerse’ films that really could’ve done with more thought), the apparent home of the monsters. The scientist agrees and decides that Kong must be their guide. So, Kong is taken via ship to the Arctic. Along the way, Godzilla shows up to fight him because there can’t be two apex predators at once. Then the rest of the film happens.
Characters come and go, speaking lines designed to move the plot along and little else. It’s all very perfunctory. The acting befits the function.
As with the equally dreadful Godzilla King of the Monsters(2019), the script is peppered with quips and jokes that don’t land. Thankfully, there isn’t a crass STD joke as in King of the Monsters, but Kong is referred to as a “monkey” by one character so often in the space of about twenty minutes that you have to suspect the writers really thought it was a good joke. Alas.
Godzilla vs. Kong isn’t as immediately offensive as King of the Monsters. Unlike its predecessor, it doesn’t feature a US military base named after a nuclear test that directly led to the death of one Japanese fisherman and contributed to the permanent dislocation of the residents of Bikini Atoll (the Castle Bravo test helped inspire portions of the original Godzilla, so it’s a Hip and Cool reference, right?), but that isn’t to say it’s without its issues.
Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Serizawa (inspired by the character of the same name from the 1954 film) had an interesting role in the 2014 film before he was diminished and killed in King of the Monsters – in a tasteless scene which saw him revive Godzilla with a nuclear blast. In Godzilla vs. Kong, his son (?) appears as one of the henchmen of Apex, and has little to do except stand around and look evil. If he had been a nameless bad guy, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. But by giving him the name of the one character who, in the 2014 film, vocally embodied an anti-nuclear sentiment, Godzilla vs. Kong fulfils the complete stripping of character motivation, personality, and depth. It’s a gestural attempt at continuity.
Maybe I was wrong to want so much more from Godzilla vs. Kong considering its director, Adam Wingard, actively said that “politics are out the door” in a recent interview for Total Film. Despite the few flaws of Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (reframing US nuclear tests as attempts to kill Godzilla, instead of part of the Cold War arms race, was clumsy at best), that film gave me high hopes for how its sequels would develop. Unfortunately, this series took such a nosedive into obnoxious excess that it’s hard not to think about what might’ve been.
One final thing. I like fun films. I think there are a great number of the Toho films which are fun and lighthearted, like Ebirah Horror of the Deep(1966), or Son of Godzilla (1967). But what these films also have are endearing characters, arresting stories, visual flare, memorable soundtracks, and meaning. I don’t think Godzilla vs. Kong has any of those things.
The original 1962King Kong vs. Godzillawas explicitly made as a comedy. It’s a fun, sharp, and witty film that cuts to the core of Japan’s contemporary TV culture and the absurd economic growth of its time. Fun films can be both lighthearted and meaningful. That’s why I can’t buy the defence that says, “it’s just a fun monster movie!” for Godzilla vs. Kong. This film could have been both, but it isn’t.
Music in general, has had a huge impact on our society. It has changed everything, and it has a huge part to play when it comes to cultural evolution too. When you look at the beginning of music, you will soon see that it echoed the sounds that were in nature. Music was played at ceremonies for indigenous cultures, and it soon became a tradition.
Lyrical Evolution
If lyrics were used, they were usually linked to nature. The lyrics reflected the relationship that indigenous cultures had with the wildlife in an area. Over time, modern society changed this, and the connection was lost, but that being said, new connections have been forged. Now people choose to sing about everything, from love to grief as well as political issues too. It’s safe to say that music now plays a bigger part in our society than ever before. At one point, the only way for you to know the lyrics to a song would be for you to hear them. Lyrics were then printed on leaflets, which were inserted into a CD or vinyl. From there, online records were made, which helped to preserve music in history. There are even onlinelyric video maker products out there that you can use to add lyrics to a music video as well, which is incredibly interesting when you see how far lyrical evolution has come in general.
How have the Times Changed?
With time, more instruments have been created, and people have expanded their expertise with them as well. This resulted in much more sophisticated music that focused on the rhythm, the tempo and the beat, as opposed to just focusing on the instrument sound.
How has the Sound of Music Changed?
The music being released today is very different to themusic that was released a few decades ago. The sound alone has gotten louder, and the tempo is much faster. Music in this day and age is also much more lively and energetic. This matches the way that our culture has evolved. Our lives are now running at a faster pace than ever, and it’s only logical that music would evolve to keep up with that. The advent of technology has given people access to much more diverse sounds as well. Modernisation in general, has helped pave a new approach when it comes to sounds. DJs for example, often find themselves trying to alter the speed of a single piece of music so that it matches the tempo of another.
Of course, a lot of the changes that have come about are the result of technology.Streaming services make it easier than ever to access new music for a very affordable price, and it is making it very easy for new artists to get discovered as well. This is very interesting, and artists are now being forced to adapt and transform the way they record and promote music, to meet the demand of online streaming services as well as the people who use them
An off-centre, quirky, dysfunctional family’s road trip is completely turned on its head when they suddenly discover themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and abruptly become humanity’s last hope. Netflix’s new addition is directed by Michael Rianda (Gravity Falls), produced by Oscar winners Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and Kurt Albrecht, and starring the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Beck Bennett, Fred Armisen, Eric Andre, and Oscar winner Olivia Colman.
The Mitchells vs. The Machines can be streamed on Netflix from 30th of April.
24-year-old minimalist and surreal photographer Samantha Cavet, born in Venezuela, is currently based in Madrid, Spain. Samantha has been fascinated with photography from a very young age; she remembers the time-capsule appeal of old photographs, intrigued by the chance to imagine old moments that had been visually captured. It wasn’t until last year, however, that Samantha began to take a more serious approach to her personal work. This new attitude to her hobby was sparked by a trip where the young photographer captured everything she missed seeing during the pandemic. Her minimalistic approach to photography stems from wanting to give importance to things we tend to pay little attention to, or overlook entirely. Samantha cites her thirst for learning and improvement as her main source of inspiration in the creative field, and while other photographers, artists and musicians have been influential, she is first and foremost attracted to scenes that satisfy her and are visually alluring. When scrolling through Samantha’s collection of photos on Instagram or Twitter, it’s easy to notice the celestial sphere is central to her work. The creator explains this magnetic appeal: “The sky fascinates me, I’m always looking at it in complete awe. I feel like it’s a large canvas that changes every second and there is always something interesting and prepossessing to see”.
Chicago-based band Floatie – the quartet of singer-guitarist Sam Bern, singer-bassist Joe Olson, multi-instrumentalist Will Wisniewski, and drummer Luc Schutz – released their debut album just last week, but their friendship goes back nearly a decade. Before Bern started writing new material with Olson and Schutz under the name Floatie in 2017, the trio had previously performed together as Spooky Action Space Captain, while Olson had recorded Bern’s duo Date Stuff; Wisniewski, who joined Floatie in summer 2019, was also in a group with Olson called Hundred Heads. Having earned a reputation in Chicago’s tight-knit live scene, playing shows with Ratboys, Pile, Spirit of the Beehive, Moontype, and others, the band tracked their first full-length, Voyage Out, with producer Seth Engel at Pallet Sound studios at the tail of end of 2019. Despite the pandemic upending their plans just as they were about to mix the record, the songs’ layered, ever-evolving arrangements make for an adventurous listen that’s as easy to get lost in as it easy to simply enjoy, thanks in no small part to the group’s natural yet mysterious synergy.
We caught up with Floatie for this edition of our Artist Spotlight interview series to talk about how the band came together, the process of recording their debut album, and more.
I know you all sort of ran in the same musical circles in the Chicago scene before you created Floatie, but I was wondering if you could talk about how the four of you started to form a closer bond.
Will: We were in two different bands that went on tour together for a month – we went from Chicago to the West Coast and then back down through the southern part of America. I didn’t really know Sam or Lu well before that, but we really all became super close on that tour, just camping and playing shows and being super stoked about each other’s bands the whole time.
Joe: And then we all moved in with each other.
Will: [laughs] Yeah, we ended the tour and then we immediately moved in with each other, not even joking. It was inevitable that we would start playing together in one band eventually.
Why do you say it was inevitable?
Will: We were just always around each other. Or maybe I just say it was inevitable, it’s like a wishful thinking thing. I had always wanted to play music with Sam but we were in two separate bands – I wanted to do crossover and collaboration stuff but it was just, like, not the right time. But I know we wanted it to happen.
What are some things that you bonded over – was it mostly just music?
Sam: Yeah, pretty much. In the big house we lived in, we had a basement area and all of our combined gear and everything was in there. So, you know, you come home and you hear something emanating from downstairs and then you could just go down and join and see what they were up to. And yeah, we bond over music but also comedy.
Will: Videos of people going down waterslides on YouTube and stuff like that.
As most friend groups do, I suppose. [laughter]
Sam: Yeah, in one way or another.
But it’s something I can hear in the music, just the chemistry that you all share. There’s a lot of intricacies to your sound, but it’s also just a joy to listen to and I think that’s something that comes from that sense of connection. I know you were playing together for a while before recording your debut, so I’m curious how that relationship evolved over time.
Will: So, me and Joe were in a band, Sam and Luc were in a different band. And then Joe and Sam and Luc were in the same band together and I was off doing my own thing for a while, and I would go and see them play when they first started Floatie for the first year and a half or something. I was just fanboying in the audience, but being like, “Man, I wish I was in this band playing stuff with them at the same time.”
Sam: Why didn’t we – we didn’t think about it for so long and I don’t know why.
Will: Yeah, there was one time where it didn’t even occur to me that I would want to be playing music live or anything, I was sort of making stuff at home alone, in total isolation. And eventually, it was Luc’s birthday, I think, and we were all hanging out at the barbecue. And we were in the kitchen just talking about music and you were like, “So why aren’t you in Floatie yet?” [laughter]
Sam: We were talking and I was like, “Wait a second, why don’t you just come join the band,” and Will was like, “Wait, really?” [laughter]
Obviously, this is your first release as Floatie, but you’ve been playing live as a band for a few years now. How did you go about channeling that dynamic that you’d built in a live setting into more of a studio environment?
Joe: We tracked everything in the studio first live – we did the drums and the bass and the guitars together, so the album itself sort of has that live feeling, I think, because of the way we tracked the instruments together.
Luc: Our friend, Seth, who recorded us, he’s been to so many of our live shows, so he kind of knew how to [channel that].
Joe: We used to practice in the basement at the house that Luc and I live in now, and when we started the record, Seth came over to the basement and we played him all the songs. We told him we want this to sound like us playing really loud in the basement, and so I think we just tried to channel that but in a much larger room.
What do you feel he brought to the recording process?
Sam: He’s so nice and supportive and just great at keeping everybody – you know, we’re hearing the same thing over and over again and he somehow has a way of keeping you excited about it and feeling good.
Will: Everything he does, he’s super excited to do. It’s not like, “Oh, I guess I could set something up and it might sound a little better,” you know, he’s like jumping at you [laughs] – he’s really gassing you up the whole time. It really makes for an exciting recording atmosphere.
Do you mind sharing some memories from that week of recording?
Sam: Oh, there was a vending machine [laughter]. And none of us really even drink soda or anything like that, but there was, like, a question mark button, a random drink button, and everyone just became obsessed with it. So we would take breaks and go downstairs and get all the dollars that we had together and just put them in the machine and click the random button and see what came out. It was honestly horrifying seeing the recycling bin with the cans of random soda. We didn’t want to drink, we just wanted the thrill of pushing the button.
Will: Yeah, sometimes you’d get, like, Cherry Pepsi, and it was like, “Dang, the mystery button has got some good stuff behind it.” And then other times you would get some really weird one-off thing. Oh, the thrill of that button!
Sam: I know, I’m getting, like, “Whoo!” [laughter] But also, hearing all the parts with such clarity for the first time – because I was just thinking about it now, people would take videos of the show you know, like a little Story, and then they would tag us. And after the show I’d look through them and listen and I’d be like, “Damn, Will, that was really good!” I could not hear ever hear what was going on. It’s like we really waited till the last minute to hear what each other was playing.
Will: Yeah, it’s like looking in the mirror for the first time.
To move more into the songwriting side of things, I was wondering, when you have a spark of inspiration, how much do you discuss those ideas with each other before you kind of flesh them out? For example, I know that the album was influenced by a lot of adventure books, and ‘Castleman’ in particular was inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo.
Sam: I think if I bring a riff to practice or something that I’m excited about and we all start to play it, and if somebody is having trouble with the vibe they want to add to it, then we’ll have a discussion, like, “Oh, what were you thinking about when you wrote it?”
Will: Yeah, like what can I play along with you that doesn’t make this suck [laughter].
Sam: But if nobody’s getting it, then I’ll be like, “Okay, I’m going to step up here. You’ve been in prison for 14 years for a crime you didn’t commit. You’ve escaped jail. Okay, now go.”
In terms of the lyrics specifically, when you approach more personal topics – I was thinking of ‘Catch a Good Worm’, for example, which explores the concept or the falseness of binaries – do you find yourselves having these kinds of conversations, even outside the creative context?
Sam: We do have those talks because, you know, it’s what the songs are about and we’re all really good friends. It’s also part of my life, and so…
Luc: Therefore a part of ours.
Sam: Yeah, therefore a part of ours.
Joe: We all love Sam’s lyrics and we have these conversations about our personal lives and we’re all very close, but ultimately, the lyrics are – we just trust Sam to do what they will with them. These are things that we talk about, but the lyrics themselves really are mostly Sam.
Will: I never ask what they mean either.
Sam: Well, we talk about them though. Because, I mean, we would probably talk about them anyway, but we’ve been getting more questions about them specifically than we imagined, which is good – we’re all really excited that people are into it and want to know more, but that also sort of forces us to talk about them more and break them down a little bit. And so, because we’ll do all the interviews together, having those conversations helps that whole process.
I assume the lyrics were written a while ago. Having these conversations now, has that made you reflect back on them any differently?
Sam: When I wrote them, it kind of felt like it was like, “Dear Diary…” And then having conversations about them with my friends and also to share them with other people, it’s been really nice. To feel like this is less something that I need to deal with alone and more so, like, “Let’s share it and talk about it.”
Will: It’s funny, there’s one line on the album, “If only you would wash your hands, you wouldn’t get sick as much.” And that was written pre-pandemic. I was listening to that and I was like, “Whoa, what did Floatie know, and when?” [laughter]
How do you feel now that the album’s been released and the response it’s been getting overall?
Luc: It’s been really exciting.
Sam: Yeah, we’ve been freaking stoked.
Will: Totally wild.
Joe: It’s interesting to actually read what people think about it and write about it in so many different ways – almost none of our music projects have ever really garnered any reviews, really, or at least minimally. But I think mostly we’re just really excited now that it’s behind us to work on new stuff. We just set up our rehearsal space as a recording studio.
Is there anything that you feel like you want to explore more moving forwards, musically or conceptually?
Sam: I’d say more adventure novels, definitely. You know, there’s a lot out there, not enough time… Trying not to think about it too much. But also, I think writing more all together. This time I’m really excited for the group effort instead of, like, I’m writing this song in my room alone and then bring it to practice and then everybody adds what they want. Now we have this sort of semi-blank slate and this awesome new space to work together.
Joe: I think we’re also very excited to travel and tour again together. It’s been a long time and it will be a long time still, but it’s definitely something we’re all very much looking forward to.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
