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Los mejores albums y EPs de 2023 ( I ).

La vida es lo que pasa entre una lista y otra y para mí ya van 15. Siempre me han encantado, me gusta hacerlas, me llama la atención saber los discos favoritos de cierta gente o publicaciones y se descubre música con ellas. Es un ejercicio comunal de compartir tus gustos, hallazgos y preferencias, algo simple y puramente melómano que Spotify ha capitalizado muy inteligentemente girando el concepto hacia los números y lo más escuchado, haciendo que la gente comparta antes una ilustración autogenerada por la aplicación que un pantallazo de su bloc de notas con 20 trabajos o un topster.

Si hablamos de USA hay gente que nombrar por calidad y cantidad de lanzamientos: en la producción, Terrace Martin, Harry Fraud y Nicholas Craven; en el mic Monroe Flow y Big Sad 1900 han estado en una misión aunque si hablamos de mejor rapper del año hay que meter a Pink Siifu, MIKE, Danny Brown y Billy Woods en la conversación, quizás el ejercicio de rap más alto sea el de este último. Sin caer en el absurdo "Hip Hop is dead", no ha sido el curso más flamboyante en yankilandia, simplemente creo que 2022 y 2021 tuvieron trabajos más incuestionables y de pesos más pesados. Lo que si está claro es que su mainstream está en decadencia y los lanzamientos en major labels han sido los peores que recuerdo desde que estoy metido en esto del rap, son tías como Sexxy Red o Ice Spice las que han tirado del carro aportando cierto momentum, algo de color y gracia, aunque sea para unos hits.

Así a vuelapluma, destacar por último que en Estados Unidos cada vez hay más nichos o "microescenas", como lo era en los 90s y 2000s el sur con su propia industria y distribución apartada del resto, peña con mucho público haciendo cosas grandes y ocupando spots sin llegar a ser primerísima línea, ya no hay un sólo mainstream. La del Detroit trap es una de estas microescenas no tan micro, Veeze y Luh Tyler han sacado albums y han tenido su relevancia en el juego, aunque personalmente me quedo antes con el Breeze de Vayda. Todo esto en el año en el que se ha celebrado el 50 aniversario del nacimiento de esta cultura, mientras las letras de Young Thug son utilizadas en su contra vía Ley RICO y Puffy se libra de ser juzgado por abusos, tr@ta de blancas y otras monstruosidades a través de un acuerdo extrajudicial con su expareja Cassie, con otras victimas denunciándole y perdiendo partnerships cada día que pasa. Quite a year.

Por cuestiones logísticas he tenido que dividir mi habitual lista de 50 trabajos en 3 publicaciones independientes: 20 discos de la angloesfera, 15 discos de la hispanoesfera y una última entrada con 15 EPs y las listas de mis invitados, 10 en la consulta. Aquí encontraréis mi selección de LPs en inglés.

1. B.Cool-Aid - Leather Blvd.

Este era el album Soulquarian del que habló Pink Siifu hace unos años, es como si Liberation de Outkast ( con speech de Big Rube en ambos como conexión ) durase 1 hora y 7 minutos y así es precisamente como se siente, como un ejercicio de abstract hip hop y neo soul despojado de complejos y ataduras, con canciones de 6 o 9 minutos, suponiendo un gran salto de calidad para el dúo con respecto a sus anteriores EPs. También hay más presupuesto vía Lex Records y está invertido con cabeza, sumando a artistas underground de su misma órbita con los que comparten el buen gusto. Hay dos cosas que llaman poderosamente la atención. Primero, la mitad de los featurings son de músicos como el multi instrumentalista DJ Harrison y su quinteto de jazz Butcher Brown, sus manos están en todas las canciones, la producción es el verdadero protagonista. 'Cnt Fk Around' o 'fools_LSA' podrían haber estado sin problema en To Pimp A Butterfly por esa dimensión de jazz moderno que tienen. Segundo, las aportaciones vocales muchas veces se limitan a background vocals de figuras reconocidas de la escena angelina como Jimetta Rose o Live.e o a un estribillo como el de Devin Morrison en 'Wassup' ( magnífico productor y crooner, su Bussin' es un clásico moderno del R&B, también checkead sus beat tapes ), incluso la leyenda Ladybug Mecca de Digable Planets tiene 3 aportaciones con su inconfundible y estilos voz. Y ninguna destaca y lo digo en el buen sentido.

Esto es una declaración de intenciones, todos están al servicio del groove y los vibes, es una obra colectiva pero Siifu y Ahwlee dirigen el cotarro, es un disco más de sentir que de pensar y entenderlo de una manera más cerebral ( a veces la música da para ello, otras veces no ) es un error. Ya desde la magnífica intro 'Welcome To Leather Boulevard' te lo deja bien claro, estás entrando a su Zihuatanejo particular, un espacio idílico de paz, buen rollo, libertad y creatividad, una arcadia para la cultura negra como lo fue Stankonia, esas notas y ambiente de ensoñación te preparan para el viaje, seguido de 'Cnt Go Back ( Tell Me )', el petardazo definitivo, con una profunda bassline capaz de remover los cimientos de tu casa, gloria bendita. El directo tiene que ser una locura, urge un Tiny Desk.

Tenemos como ejemplo extremo 'So Soft Salon', con una intro de 2 minutos de sonido ambiente, una conversación amenizada por unas armonías vocales y un piano que luego da paso a Siifu on his Black Messiah/Prince shit y a unos punteos de guitarra en una atmósfera increíble. Podemos hablar de Siifu como vocalista, no es un rapper canónico y no le puedes pedir que lo sea, alguien como él es necesario en el game, con una visión más creativa y libre del rap como forma de arte. También es capaz de contagiar al resto, como en el magnifico posse cut 'Brandy, Aaliyah' con un sample del Sittin' Up In My Room de la primera. Este creo que es su mejor trabajo, digno heredero de The Love Below o más certero aún de Kamaal The Abstract.

El remanso de paz llega en 'Neems', una reinterpretación del famoso Naima de Coltrane que cuenta con la asistencia a los aparatos de Mndsgn; 'soundgood' podría ser el corte más accesible, tirando al soul de toda la vida, con la pertinente ayuda de la curtida en mil batallas Jimetta Rose ,un clásico de la escena de Los Ángeles que ha colaborado mucho con Blu entre tantos otros. En realidad todos los tracks excepto 'CRAXY', que es el más left field y si que me sobra, son highlights.

En la música está todo inventado y vanguardia a veces es buscar en el pasado e interpretarlo en otro contexto. Aquí viajan a las famosas fiestas del Low End Theory de L.A ( catedral del nuevo beatmaking de finales de los 2000s y principios de los 2010s y lugar en el que se conocieron ) y a la vez van de la mano del Voodoo de D'Angelo y de Dilla. O lo que es lo mismo, traen de vuelta el matrimonio entre hip hop y neo soul que tantas alegrías nos dió en el pasado. Es uno de los albums más molones de los últimos años y futuro clásico, Leather Blvd es fly ass music. Música negra en su máxima expresión, de los que apetece pillar en vinilo.

2. Kali Uchis - Red Moon In Venus

She did it again, otro gran album que expande su universo sonoro, recogiendo la temática sobre el amor y sus satélites de su anterior LP pero con un acabado más suave y cálido, sin hits inmediatos, baby making music. Puede parecer monótono al principio pero en posteriores escuchas gana réditos, me parece más sólido que Isolation aunque no tiene algunos de sus standouts. La producción es más sutil pero brillante, hay inspiración 70s en las groovies 'Moonlight' o 'Love Between' ( lo de Silk Sonic le debió molar ) pero también de los 80, como 'Endlessly' ( con el mítico Darkchild on the beat ) o el corte a lo Sade de 'Blue'. Celebrar también el spanish placement de 'Como Te Quiero Yo' y 'Hasta Cuando' y la rapeada en la magnífica 'Not Too Late ( Interlude )' que me da ciertas reminiscencias a Kaytranada. Creo que lo único que le sobra son las colabos para atraer al oyente de R&B más convencional, Summer Walker y Don Tolliver no me encajan aquí y esos tracks te alejan de la atmósfera general del trabajo.

Me da la sensación de que los angloparlantes están flipando con esto porque no escucharon el discazo que es Sin Miedo ( Del Amor Y Otros Demonios ) al estar en español, igual de bueno o incluso mejor que este, pero eso es otra historia. Red Moon In Venus lo tiene todo, una filigrana de producciones, buenas armonías y sobre todo personalidad, se filtra el arte de Kali Uchis en cada tono y palabra. Una demostración de que es la nueva estrella del R&B/neo soul/pop que más integridad artística tiene, utilizando su voz y su delivery como un instrumento importante. Ya atesora una discografía que empieza a ser memorable y aún queda otro album en español que saldrá el año que viene que me da la sensación de que será más y bailable y orientado al pop/reggaeton. La reina de esto.

3. Alfa Mist - Variables

Uno de mis descubrimientos del año el de este pianista y productor londinense, tremendo disco de jazz fusión con gran presencia de guitarras e influencias hip hop muy en la onda de BadBadNotGood. Composiciones desde la melancolía y la instrospección, música que consigue trascender y provocarte emociones profundas.

4. Tkay Maidza - Sweet Justice

Tras unos EPs prometedores con la serie Last Year Was Weird llegó su gran album ( su debut real lo hizo de manera independiente en 2016 pero aún no había depurado su estilo ) y cumplió sobradamente dando ese salto de calidad que se esperaba. Nadie combina pop, rap y R&B con tan increíble resultado y aquí lo vuelve a demostrar dando una exhibición de versatilidad acompañada de una producción brillante, colorida y variada, del track 1 al 14 es un gran momento tras otro, una escucha adictiva con alto replay value. He visto críticas que decían que esperaban algo más experimental y no tan canónico, lo cual puedo entender pero sinceramente esto es musicón innegable. A destacar la influencia de Aaliyah en 'Won One', la asistencia de Kaytranada en 'Ghost!' y 'Our Way', la bomba disco y funky de 'What Ya Know' y el banger de 'Gone To The West' sampleando la misma fuente que el mítico 'I Wish' de Skee-Lo.

5. Big Sad 1900 - The Reason

Uno de los mejores rappers de L.A ahora mismo, altamente prolífico, en una misión musical tras haber pasado un tiempo entre rejas aunque siempre afiliado a los Playboy Gangster Crips porque eso es de por vida. Representa bien esa figura de gangster vulnerable, la influencia de Nipsey es evidente, tiene un pen game hambriento y siempre se acompaña de beats lustrosos llenos de la riqueza musical propia de este maravilloso revival de la West Coast. Diría que es lo mejor que ha sacado aunque cada trabajo es una ventana a La Cienaga Heights. Sonidazo que hace vibrar las calles.

6. Killer Mike - MICHAEL

Tras Run The Jewels ya tocaba volver a verle arropado de musicalidad sureña representando a la Dungeon Fam. Es un sonido ATL contenido y góspel, tiene una carga personal y autobiográfica, de mirar atrás, imagino que inspirado por el fallecimiento de su madre. Me gusta cómo tiende una mano a talentos que han venido después de él. 'Scientists & Engineers' es uno de las mejores canciones de rap del año, va transformándose conforme avanza y Andre 3000 vuela por encima de todo con un verse distópico y críptico, da una pista de cómo sonaría Outkast en 2023. Aún con las incongruencias que puedan tener sus opiniones políticas ( en USA está medio cancelado y Alphonse Pierre le dio caña por ello en su review para Pitchfork ) creo que no hay que dejar que eso intoxique una valoración musical aunque si es muy necesario contarlo y poner la obra y a su autor en contexto. Me parece un trabajo notable.

7. Mahalia - IRL

Desde UK con amor, mi disco favorito de R&B de 2023. La cantante fue firmada con tan sólo 13 años y ha sido en este sophomore album donde ha materializado su arte con mayor éxito tras 12 cursos en la industria. 'In My Bag' es uno de los hits del año y del verano, colabo generacional con Joyce Wrice en 'In My Head', 'Cheat', 'Terms & Conditions'....muchas cosas bien hechas aquí, fino.

8. Wiki & Tony Seltzer - 14K Figaro

No sólo es uno de los discos de rap mejor producidos del año ( la interpolación del sample de Candy Shop en 'Fried Ice Cream' es una locura ) sino que para mí es el mejor traje que le han hecho al rapper neoyorquino. Un sonido fresco, versátil, algo ecléctico y engordado con momentos de trap y cloud que le viene perfecto a sus continuos cambios de flow y su enérgico delivery. Más dinámico que Half God y con esos raps de hombre curtido en la calle pero a la vez frágil y sincero. Y el artwork me parece bomba.

9. El Michels Affair & Black Thought - Glorious Game

A sus 51 años sigue demostrando que tiene una de las mejores plumas del game y aquí hace un movimiento lógico aliándose con la mítica banda que tiene un sonido que le viene como anillo al dedo. Muy similar a Cheat Codes ya que comparten ese estilo de soul añejo y aroma orgánico, aunque no llega a ser tan redondo como este, es más introspectivo. Sin ningún MC invitado, carga con los 31 minutos y se casca uno de los mejores discos de rap que han salido en 2023. En mi top 5 MCs siempre.

10. Noname - Sundial

Super chill, producción exquisita con toques neo-soul y arreglos sutiles de la mano de gente como Yussef Dayes, más melódico y groovy que sus anteriores LPs. Letras pesadas, políticas y conscious y un gran uso de su voz y su cadencia como instrumento. Es una tía a la que le gusta confrontarte pero también hace autocrítica. Su discurso de "no quiero tener una fan base de gente blanca" es una pedrada ( no es la primera ni será el último ) pero lo puedo entender y no me incomoda.

11. YL - Don't Feed The Pigeons

De las sorpresas del under de este 2023. De atmósfera relajada y urbanita y buen gusto a la hora de plasmar su propuesta rap de corte clásico, transmite muy bien la NYC lifestyle desde una óptica actual y fresca. 22 píldoras en 34 minutos cuya mayoría corre a cargo de Roper Williams con gusto por lo soulful. Luminoso y cálido como un verano en la gran ciudad, una joya que he tenido en rotación buena parte del año.

12. MIKE - Burning Desire

MIKE es uno de los abanderados del underground neoyorquino de los últimos años junto a gente como Wiki o Navy Blue y cuenta con el respaldo de Tito Alchemist, con el que ha colaborado en más de una ocasión, de reciente cosecha es el EP Faith Is A Rock. Sus trabajos no son fáciles y accesibles para el oyente, ni siquiera para uno curtido, no es para todo el mundo, se mueve en un plano abstracto y de total libertad. Me empezó a llamar la atención con 'Disco!', sin llegar a volverme loco había potencial y deseaba el momento en el que hiciese algo más convencional a lo que meterle mano sin que perdiese su esencia. Este Burning Desire es sin duda su mejor LP hasta la fecha, en el que logra focalizar su talento y explotar su potencial manteniéndose fiel a su estilo. Aún siendo abstracto y left field con sus típicas píldoras que rara vez superan los 2 minutos, genera más engagement en el oyente que sus trabajos anteriores, se le ve mas centrado, no hay tantos tracks puramente instrumentales o en los que apenas escupa y es más upbeat. La atmósfera que crea a través de sus vivencias y pensamientos, en ocasiones oscuros, y esos beats intrigantes y misteriosos que pivotan sobre samples de R&B 80s, mayormente de cosecha propia bajo su a.k.a DJ Blackpower, es única y atrapante. Aquí ofrece más groove y construye canciones, cortas y dentro de su canon, pero ya es algo a lo que agarrarse firmemente.

También hay colaboraciones( a destacar Earl, Larry June y Liv.e ) y se excede más que nunca, 51 minutos de introspección bien llevados, no hooks y un nivel notable de rapping que no decae. Su fuerte siempre fue la escritura y esas imágenes nostálgicas sobre sus vivencias que denotan vulnerabilidad, aquí deja algunos de sus momentos de mayor lucidez. Todo ello, claro está, hilado con un concepto de película slasher tribal (?¿) explicado en su web, por lo que no me voy a alargar hablando de las metáforas sobre máscaras que utiliza para explicar su crecimiento personal, ahí os lo dejo si queréis profundizar en su pedrada. Sin haber inventado nada, ya que los abanderados de esta nueva hornada de rap experimental son todos hijos de MF DOOM y podemos hilar más atrás hasta Kool Keith, estamos ante algo peculiar, uno de esos discos de rap especialitos y de culto que tanto nos gustan. Oscuro pero con puntos luminosos, abstracto pero con tracks muy melódicos y souleros, como la jazzy 'U think Maybe?' o con los feels ochenteros de 'THEY DON'T STOP IN THE RAIN' o 'Sixteens' cargada de negritud que incluso te empuja a moverte. Estamos ante uno de los discos de rap del año, perfecto para este invierno gélido que acaba de emepzar, headphone rap, mantita, calor y Deseo Ardiente.

13. Victoria Monet - Jaguar II

Muy buen LP debut, más de estilo conservador o neoclásico ( tiene hasta temita reggae, que ya no se estila ) que alt, aunque 'Alright' está asistida por Kaytranada. Producción rica, arreglos de violines, disfrutón.

14. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - Scaring The Hoes Vol.1

Peggy no es mi cup of tea precisamente y soy fan de Danny desde el día 1. Este trabajo tiene ese sonido feo y transgresor pero a la vez es accesible y de escucha fácil, logra un buen equilibrio. Supone otra perla para la discografía de Brown, el de Detroit sigue igual de ácido y divertido que siempre, lleno de referencias culturales y crítica social. Namedropea Jannero Pargo for the deep NBA fan. Lo mejor que ha hecho desde Attrocity Exhibition. Habrá que seguir este junte porque puede llegar a cotas más altas. Gran año el suyo, podría haber metido aquó Quaranta perfectamente.

15. billy woods & Kenny Segal - Maps

El rapper de N.Y ha tardado muchos años en romper la puerta y asomar la cabeza, ahora mismo es uno de los mejores escritores del juego ( quizás siempre lo haya sido ), su ingenio y destreza a la hora de plasmar rimas parece no tener fin aunque su estilo abstracto y decisiones musicales hacen que no lo disfrute tanto como otros, me falta algo más en él para generarme ese tipo de engagement. Este LP consigue algo de eso, busca inspiración en su tour life plasmando pasajes ricos en detalles, habla de lo cotidiano, del agua del grifo de Nueva York y de que la hierba en Europa está demasiado cara, es más introspectivo y no se centra en relatos históricos y políticos, por lo que creo que muchos como yo lo han encontrado más accesible y liviano, es su Lost In Translation post Covid, incluso habla con cariño de su hijo. En general su sonido es conservador y no aporta nada destacable pero es laid back y empaca bien la experiencia de escucha. Hay cortes de free jazz en 'Blue Smoke', 'Bad Dreams Are Only Dreams' o 'The Layover', 'Agriculture' parece sacado de Until The Quiet Comes de FlyLo y 'Year Zero' tiene un verse memorable de Danny Brown en el que tira de una cadencia pausada convirtiendo cada linea en un statement que va durísimo. Si existiera la consciencia más allá de la muerte MF DOOM estaría sonriendo de ver a toda esta nueva hornada.

16. Navy Blue - Ways Of Knowing

El smooth rapper recoge la estela de su anterior Navy's Reprise y con la ayuda de Budgie ( al que no tenía fichado ) le aporta una capa más accesible y cálida entregando su LP más soulful y luminoso hasta la fecha. Un album que es comida para el alma, un abrazo cálido. Rap confesional y sensible. Algunas aportaciones de músicos como Yusef Dayes o de Om' Mas Keith de Sa-Ra le dan unos cimientos más orgánicos y sus baterías y arreglos lo hacen sonar más grande sonicamente. No hay rastro de esos samples mugrientos que habían caracterizado su sonido. Las voces gospel y el piano de la intro 'The Medium' ya te ponen en situacion y te sumergen en el mood, seguida de 'Chosen' con ese sample de R&B 90s del 'Call Me' de Mike Davis.

"Going through the motions, All my songs are soul sent, You would blame the culprit, I confide in close friends"

Sage vuelve a hablar, entre otras cosas, de cómo le afectó el fallecimiento de su hermano cuando era pequeño y de cómo ese dolor le llevó a varias adicciones, mostrándose orgulloso ahora al haberlas dejado atrás. ( 'Look In My Eyes' ) 'Pillars' es un tema sencillo pero que logra reflejar muy bien ese momento en el que te das cuenta que algún día perderás a un ser querido que es un pilar de tu vida y ya nada será igual, haciéndote exprimir y vivir ese presente de modo más contemplativo, con la grabadora encendida recogiendo esos pequeños momentos para que no escapen al olvido, como una nostalgia de algo que aún estás viviendo, un preludio a la nostalgia real. Su lanzamiento dentro de una semana bien cargada hizo que fuese sepultado en la conversación pero merece varias escuchas. Un trabajo homogéneo sin apenas highlights y en el que las letras no son ninguna locura pero que funciona estupendamente y te llega gracias en parte a la sinergia entre MC y productor y la sensibilidad que proyectan. La primera buena entrega de rap conscious de 2023, un oportuno acompañamiento para tu astenia primaveral.

17. Kenyon Dixon - The R&B You Love

Su disco que más me ha gustado. Kenyon es un auténtico artesano del género, sonido clásico, canónico. lo que construye aquí, sin inventar nada nuevo, es de una maestría destacable, una delicia para los oidos con un estilo vocal que recuerda a James Fauntleroy.

18. Travis Scott - Utopia

Lo que ha caracterizado a Travis, primero con sus manos como productor, luego más con su visión de director de orquesta, ha sido atravesar barreras hacia el futuro del género inventando otro nuevo por el camino, haciendo vanguardia y traspasando límites, por eso había ganas de ver qué nuevo sonido se traía, es el heredero de Kanye en muchos aspectos, también en el de concentrar la atención de todo el público con cada nuevo release. Para tratarse de un album con tanto presupuesto y tan esperado tras un hiato de 5 años el roll out de Utopia ha sido accidentado y torpe: viene precedido por la tragedia de su festival en 2021 en la que murieron 10 personas y otros miles fueron heridas ( sus "yeahs" con autotune mientras sacaban en volandas cuerpos desfallecidos es una surrealista imagen que rondará mi cabeza siempre ), después lo vimos hacer la pantomima de pasear un puto maletín con guardaespaldas por todo el mundo, sacó el flojísimo single K-Pop ( Bad Bunny ha venido para quedarse, mal que me pese ) y su gran espectáculo de presentación en las Pirámides de Giza fue cancelado. La música tenía que hablar por si sola, como si eso no fuese lo verdaderamente importante. Mucho se ha conversado sobre de la influencia de Yeezus aquí, aunque a mí me parece una comparación de broche gordo, más allá de algunos guiños en unos pocos temas lo veo más una influencia en lineas generales de su mentor Kanye, hasta toma prestada su ya viciada agenda de colaboradores ( Bon Iver, Daft Punk, Beyoncé, Mike Dean, incluso Dave Chappelle...). Si hay algo en lo que puede igualar a su maestro es en la capacidad para aglutinar talento como productor total y en la ejecución de todo ese engranaje. Ya lo demostró en 2018, pero, ¿ está tan acertado aquí?

'Hyaena' es un boom bap acelerado, sucio y áspero como lo fue 'That's My Bitch' ( Watch The Throne ) o 'Dark Fantasy', en 'Fe!nd' hay un soniquete que es igual al de 'Good Morning', 'Circus Maximus', algo olvidable, tiene el mismo drum pattern de 'Black Skinhead' que Travis produjo back in 2013, 'Modern Jam' coge los deliveries de 'I Am A God' y unas baterías machaconas entre lo descarnado y lo comercial (¿ alguien más pensó en Bad de Michael Jackson? ), además de otros tracks sacados de sesiones para Donda. El comienzo hasta 'Sirens' me parece impecable, da la sensación de poner algo distinto encima de la mesa, de hacerlo sonar grande ( y caro ) y a la vez más minimalista y crudo, desprovisto del brillo de antes. Esta es de los mayores aciertos del LP y denota una búsqueda genuina aportando algo distintivo, con las guitarras signature sound de E.VAX de Ratatat ( mítico dúo de electropsicodelia del que Kid Cudi era fan y que colaboró en varias canciones del de Cleveland ) y chops vocales que remiten al Kanye de 'Runaway'.

Con el resto del trabajo la sensación que me queda es que la longitud del tracklist y la mala secuenciación de este juega en su contra, haciéndole perder cohesión, además de que revisita lugares comunes algo canónicos para lo que apuntaba al principio, no es para nada experimental. 'Meltdown' es olvidable con un Drake que pide jubilación y está a años luz de un clásico como 'Sickomode' y 'Delresto ( Echoes )' denota las ganas de Travis de subirse en ese housete de Reinassance, llevándolo a su terreno, y le sale bien, Beyoncé lo clava y esa outro es gloria, pero de nuevo es un movimiento predecible. Por otra parte que haya tenido que recurrir a canciones no terminadas de hace 9 años como 'LOOOVE' con Kid Cudi ( los Scotts, la semilla y la flor ) quizás es un indicativo de que se ha tenido que quedar algo seco de ideas.

Otras incursiones como la neopsicodelia chill de 'Parasails' o 'I Know' representan un remanso de paz, al igual que 'My Eyes', preciosista, delicada y sincera ( la única y leve referencia a la tragedia de su festival) con un switch sublime, herramienta que se dobla con aún mayor éxito en 'Skitzo', el pepino de Utopia, con Scott en modo bars, ( 3rd verse still alive ) y también en 'Lost Forever', la manera en la que encajan a Westside Gunn y la coprod de Alchemist es alquímica, top notch crafting, track criminal. Tocaba escapar del género que ha ayudado a crear y creo que no le ha salido mal la jugada, aunque eso sí, algunas inspiraciones son demasiado evidentes, se echan en falta móviles nuevos en su agenda, pecando de reincidencia de colaboradores que además no brillan como antaño y a pesar de ser el discípulo más aventajado de Kanye no tiene un mundo interior tan interesante ni conflictivo.

En líneas generales es un trabajo más parecido a Rodeo por oscuridad que a la sublimación del trap y festival de hits que fue Astroworld y ese sentimiento se subraya en un cierre perfecto, 'Telekinesis' cuenta con el posiblemente mejor feauture del trabajo, una siempre talentosa SZA que llena la canción con su voz y a la que sin embargo nunca he logrado pillarle el punto en sus albums, interpolando 'Marvin's Room' y adornado con elegantes violines y un cumplidor Future; mientras que la autoreferencial 'Til Further Notice' cuenta con un acertadísimo James Blake que plasma perfectamente ese mood nihilista y de desesperanza por el futuro. No sabemos hacía dónde irá ahora el de Houston y que propuestas nos traerá pero quedamos a la espera, hasta el próximo aviso.

19. Liv.E - Girl In The Half Pearl

La descubrí por sus apariciones en Leather Blvd y es lo primero que escucho de ella, soul alternativo y abstracto, muy original y con inventiva. Juega con su voz y tiene algo que decir y aportar con un songwriting fresco. Si queréis algo edgy sin llegar a ser un desafío es aquí.

20. Amaarae - Fountain Baby

La descubrí por la colabo en KaytrAminé robándose el show y esto ha sido toda una sorpresa. Como echar masa de afrobeats en un molde de album de R&B, la producción es rica, con algunos arreglos orquestales, incluso toques orientales en ocasiones. Voz dulce, aguda y magnética y unos deliveries únicos. Por poner un pero, me sobran totalmente esos 2 temas de pop-rock?¿ metidos con calzador, joden el mood del album. 'Counterfet' sampleando el Wamp' Wamp de Clipse >>>>>

To the fall but not forgotten...

#Tops

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tomorrowedblog · 11 months

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Friday Releases for July 7

Friday is the busiest day of the week for new releases, so we've decided to collect them all in one place. Friday Releases for July 7 include Biosphere, Earth Mama, ArticulatedTexTiles, and more.

Biosphere

Biosphere, the new movie from Mel Eslyn, is out today.

Billy (Mark Duplass) and Ray (Sterling K. Brown) are lifelong best friends, brothers from another mother – and the last two men on earth. Their survival is largely due to Ray, a brilliant scientist who designed a domed structure with all the systems necessary to sustain life on a planet that could no longer support it. Their custom biosphere is outfitted with basic necessities and creature comforts that make it possible to retain a sense of what life used to be like. A hydroponic garden provides fresh vegetables and a carefully managed fishpond supplies essential protein. Recently, however, fish have begun dying at an alarming rate. With a mere three fish remaining, Billy and Ray face an ominous future. But life may yet find a way.

Earth Mama

Earth Mama, the new movie from Savanah Leaf, is out today.

A pregnant single mother, with two children in foster care, embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family in this singular debut feature from filmmaker Savanah Leaf.

Joy Ride

Joy Ride, the new movie from Adele Lim, is out today.

When Audrey’s (Ashley Park) business trip to Asia goes sideways, she enlists the aid of Lolo (Sherry Cola), her irreverent, childhood best friend who also happens to be a hot mess; Kat (Stephanie Hsu), her college friend turned Chinese soap star; and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), Lolo’s eccentric cousin. Their no-holds-barred, epic experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging, and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are.

Insidious: The Red Door

Insidious: The Red Door, the new movie from Patrick Wilson, is out today.

In Insidious: The Red Door, the horror franchise’s original cast returns for the final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.

The Out-Laws

The Out-Laws, the new movie from Tyler Spindel, is out today.

Owen Browning (Adam Devine) is a straight-laced bank manager about to marry the love of his life, Parker (Nina Dobrev). When his bank is held up by the infamous Ghost Bandits during his wedding week, he believes his future in-laws (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) who just arrived in town, are the infamous Out-Laws.

Dead Man’s Hand

Dead Man’s Hand, the new movie from Brian Skiba, is out today.

Gunslinger Reno (Jack Kilmer) is headed west for a quiet life with his new bride. But when their stagecoach is ambushed, he kills an outlaw in self-defense. In a nearby town, Reno learns that the man he slayed is the brother of the corrupt mayor, Bishop (Stephen Dorff), who vows revenge. After their card game turns into a bloody shootout, who will be left standing?

The Horror of Dolores Roach

The Horror of Dolores Roach, the new TV series from Aaron Mark, is out today.

After an unjust 16-year prison sentence, Dolores Roach (Justina Machado) returns to a gentrified Washington Heights, where she reunites with an old stoner friend, Luis, who lets her live and work as a masseuse in the basement under his empanada shop. When the promise of her newfound stability is quickly threatened, “Magic Hands” Dolores is driven to shocking extremes to survive.

ArticulatedTexTiles

ArticulatedTexTiles, the new album from Video Dave and Controller 7, is out today.

Sunburn

Sunburn, the new album from Dominic Fike, is out today.

PHD - PORTABLE HEADPHONE DANCEFLOOR

PHD - PORTABLE HEADPHONE DANCEFLOOR, the new album from 2 Mello, is out today.

#Movies #TV #Music #News

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bluesgator · 2 years

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BLUES GATOR ~ IN A GADA DAVIDA (Iron Butterfly) * Featuring epic drum so...

** LISTEN UNTIL THE END ** ** ÉCOUTEZ JUSQU'À LA FIN **BLUES GATOR ~ IN A GADA DAVIDA (Iron Butterfly) * Featuring epic drum solo by David Devine *BLUES GATOR Live ~ Featuring David Devine Playing the Best Drum Solo Ever Recorded in the History of Mankind.I'm 67, I've heard John Bonham, Buddy Rich, Keith Moon, Gene Krupa, Jerry Mercer, I've seen Billy Cobham from a front row seat, and I've even enjoyed percussionist Dom Um Romao playing directly and only to me at a short distance, only inches away.I can say without any hesitation or doubt in my mind, that this solo by David Devine of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, recorded by Denis Desmarteau of the same city, is most definitely the best drum and percussion solo that I have ever seen, and ever heard. David, I am honored to have played with you. You are an incredible master.Ajo Tomasso#canada #montreal #quebec #drummers #BESTDRUMSOLOEVER #IRONBUTTERFLY #INAGADADAVIDA #BLUESGATOR~ BLUES GATOR (July 29th, 2022) ~David Devine - DrumsBig Matt Maillet - BassMike "Rock Croc" Matulis - Guitar and vocalsAJO"Blues Gator" Tomasso - Vocals and saxophoneBLUES GATOR rocks ~ IN A GADA DAVIDA (Iron Butterfly) * Featuring epic drum solo by David Devine *

#youtube

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ear-worthy · 2 years

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What Skills Do Actors Need For Audio Fiction?

Quick. Name some of the greatest actors of all time. Olivier. Garbo. Streep. Nicholson. Those GOAT actors are movie actors. How about the best actors in audio fiction. You know, podcasts?

Let me toss out a name for you. Tal Minear. Tal is an Southern California-based actor, sound designer, and producer. They’re the creator of Sidequesting, What Will Be Here?, Someone Dies In This Elevator, and several other productions, and Tal can be heard in audio fiction shows such as Tales of the Echowood, Circles, Deconstructive Criticism, and more. They do sound design for Seen and Not Heard, Surreal Love, Wizard Seeking Wizard, and their own podcasts. They also write about audio drama production on Medium, The Simplecast Blog, and Discover Pods.

Podplane is a monthly newsletter from Tal Minear spotlighting podcasts by trans, nonbinary, and non-cis creators.

Tal has been called “a creative force to be reckoned with” and “one of the best sound designers currently creating.

Audio fiction is becoming big business. It’s attracting name actors who several years ago would have replied when asked to do a fiction podcast, “OMG! Is my career that bad? Doing a podcast is even lower than doing a car commercial!”

Now, not so much. Actors of note and talent — sometimes mutual exclusive categories) are leaping into audio fiction. These actors are not thespians who are desperate for work. No, these actors are well-known in the acting community.

Here’s a brief list of well-known actors now acting in audio fiction podcasts: Anthony Anderson (Black-ish, Law & Order), Alan Cumming (Instinct), Betty Gilpin (Glow), Helen Hunt (Mad About You), Justin Min (Crazy Rich Asians), Will Sasso (Mad TV), and Billy Zane (Titanic).

The questions driving this article are straightforward. Do actors in an audio fiction podcast need specific skills that they may not have learned or encountered during their non-podcast acting careers?

What specific skills does it take to succeed on audio fiction podcasts?

“It takes, like with most things, a lot of patience,” begins Tal. “Auditioning is really the job. Beyond that, I think being able to portray emotion with your voice and finding different ways to read the same lines will really help you go far! If you have the option to send multiple takes for an audition, do a read for the second one that is different, weird, or simply out there. Variety flourishes in audio fiction!”

A Sheperd to her flock

In 2019, a scripted sci-fi podcast, Cryptids, was released to strong reviews and healthy audience numbers. The podcast was developed by Wild Obscura Films (WOF) and produced and directed by Devin Sheperd and written and created by Alex Thompson.

WOF’s 2021 feature film, A Nightmare Wakes, a psychological thriller about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, was a selected participant in IFP’s Narrative Film Lab.

“The audio medium allows the imagination to take over in ways that no visual medium can, so there was a lot of fun and tension to be mined in letting the listener fill in some of the blanks for themselves,” says Thompson, who was interviewed during the podcast’s initial release.

The podcast director, Devin Sheperd, knew it would be a challenge.

“As a director, it was definitely different,” Sheperd says. “A lot of the actors haven’t worked in the audio space before. Our actors are based in theatre so with a podcast these actors are now working in an enclosed visual space.”

Alex Thompson also acted in the Cryptids podcast, and he notes, “As an actor, I’ve done some voice-over work so I’m comfortable with the mic in front of me. The continuing challenge was to make sure that the acting came through in my voice. So in the visual medium, I can use acting mannerisms and physicality to get into the role but in the podcast that had to be channeled into my vocal chords. Even then, is the story you’re telling in the room the story the audience is hearing on the tape? It was more akin to a theatrical performance than film acting.”

As the director of a podcast, Sheperd found that she would have to turn away from her actors while they were performing to ensure that her eyes weren’t influencing what she was hearing.

“Often, I would listen to the actors with my headphones on, looking away,” continues Devin. “In the audition process, we found that the actors we loved in the audition room while watching them, we didn’t love as much when we listened to just their voice later on. Their physical performance would give us a totally different read than the audio performance. That was hard to adjust.”

Becoming an audio fiction actor

When asked, “What’s the hardest part of having to act via only your voice?” Tal Minear smiles and repsonds, “ This is going to be silly, but my answer is hitting the mic! When I act, I gesture a lot. I record standing up, and you can find me jumping, leaning, waving my hands around, you name it. Your voice changes with position and movement, and I take advantage of that a lot. The only problem is… my mic gets in the way sometimes. The worst thing is ruining a great take with a THUD.”

Tal got into audio fiction acting by first becoming an audio fiction producer.

“Which is a weird way to go about it, I admit,” begins Tal. “ I started making audio fiction, and acting in it primarily because I didn’t know how to cast voice actors at that point. It was simply the easiest thing to do, performing the words that I wrote. But in doing that I sort of fell in love with acting for audio fiction, and began auditioning for other shows. And now I’ve been in over 50 and counting!”

Tal recounts this story about audio fiction acting: “One time I was recording for a multi-hour at-home session (we were knocking out the entire show over the course of a weekend), and it was then that I learned the true cost of recording while standing up — it gets really hard on hour four! Anyway, now I bring a chair into the booth for things like that. Sometimes you learn the hard way!”

Acting doesn’t stay in Vegas

At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) students and faculty have taken the college podcast concept to a new level of theatrical drama, creating a witches’ brew of ever-shifting realities, art converging with illusion and sonic wizardry.

In June 2020, the UNLV podcast, called POD 115: Kessel Run, was released to superb reviews and impressive download numbers. The audio fiction podcast’s tagline was “Where science fiction meets real science.”

The podcast was written by Rae Binstock — a playwright and NYC-based TV write and UNLV Adjunct Professor Adam Paul.

Adam Paul is an actor, writer and director best known for playing Mitch, ‘The Naked Man’ on the CBS hit How I Met Your Mother. He is also the creator and star of the Starz original series Hollywood Residential, and has appeared in the films The Informant, One for the Money and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

Paul, with his years of experience in acting observes: “As a professor of acting at UNLV, where I’m also teaching actors voice over skills and content creation and self-production skills in the podcast arena, the fundamentals are always essential. Any character an actor is playing, regardless of medium, is still a human character in a story.”

“So, the rules of conflict, change, action, verbs, relationships, objectives, obstacles, tactics — all must be readily available to the actor at all times,” says Paul. “As an actor with a long career in voice over, I’ve learned that with ‘audio-first’ productions, the advantage any actor has is their imagination. Being able to visualize and physicalize the action of an audio script with your voice is the key to bringing the material to life. Scripts will seem to be just a little expository or narration-heavy as dialogue aids the visual creation of the action of the story, and an actor needs to be able to justify that exposition.”

Paul further explians that there are subtle, quick shifts an actor needs to make in audiobook narration — from narrator to character to another character, or several other characters, in conversation with one another in real time while recording. That skill takes some time for most actors to master, but the opportunity to play all the parts is delicious for most actors.

Paul continues: “The overlap for all of these media is that the collaborators on these projects have to consider the listener in a way visual stories do not. We have heavier lifting as we ensure the audience knows who’s talking and can track the story. It’s one of the fascinating ironies of ‘audio-first’ media that it’s extraordinarily visual.”

Currently, Paul is producing season three of POD115, and it is on track for a Halloween release. Paul is proud of being a Webby Award Honoree for the second season of POD115. You can check out the podcast at POD115.com.

Paul has also been producing and co-hosting a movie review podcast with a close friend and his stepson, debating the merits of current and past favorite films. several other podcast projects. The podcast is called, Les Idiots du Cinema.

“We consider ourselves “idiots” because we’ve always followed legendary screenwriter William Goldman’s maxim ‘Nobody knows anything,’” says Paul.

Becoming an audio fiction actor

When asked, “What’s the biggest mistake experienced actors make when entering this audio fiction space?” Tal responds this way: “I think the biggest mistake actors make when entering the space is assuming it’s the same as theater, film, or TV acting. I’ve found that with most audio fiction, grounded, realistic, and intimate acting really thrives.

“There are exceptions of course, especially in comedy or children’s media — this is just a general observation! I’d recommend that folks who want to enter the audio fiction space start by listening to audio fiction shows and see for themselves how it compares to the medium they’re experienced in.”

If you listen to Tal, Devin Sheperd and Adam Paul and other successful audio fiction producers / actors, you will quickly realize that the craft is more than simply voice-over. Audio fiction acting is tasked with creating images in the listener’s mind, as opposed to creating it on a screen and presenting it directly. That task is delicate and subtle, but allows for much deeper engagement of an audience when done right.

#podcast #acting #audio fiction

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mariocki · 3 years

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Villains: Billy Boy (1.13, LWT, 1972)

"Your father talked about you occasionally. I had the feeling he would like to have seen you."

"He did. I was handcuffed to a screw at the time. Can you imagine? Being led through a ward of geriatrics? Christ, how they stared. Even those on their last legs, eyes like organ stops. Hardly recognised him at first. 'Hello, Dad', I said, 'It's Billy Boy'. He stared straight through me. 'Who?', he said, 'I don't know any Billy Boy'."

"You broke his heart."

"Had to keep telling myself that that was my father lying there, could have been any old man. I remember, he had some grapes alongside the bed, I picked one off and ate it - that's when the screw turned on me. 'Don't you touch those', he said, 'They belong to your father, I didn't bring you here to stuff yourself'. Oh, that really got through to the old man. He thought that very amusing: laughed like a drain. Even while he's laughing, he starts to choke, he coughs up blood and all sorts. Anyway, that's... that's when a nurse rushed in, and I was dragged out and taken away. Nobody bothered to inform me when he died; was Eric worried I might have been let out for the funeral?"

#Villains #Billy Boy #classic tv #andrew brown #Robert Tronson #William Marlowe #David Daker #Alex Marshall #David Burke #Vanessa Payne #Herbert Ramskill #George Baizley #A.J. Brown #Peter Whitaker #Andy Devine #And so this brilliant‚ strange‚ completely unique series draw to its close. How like Brown to end the series in such an unexpected manner:#How like this series to open its final episode with the only major player still at large‚ William Marlowe's Bill‚ already in prison. What #Might reasonably have been expected to be a suspenseful tale of how Bill evades capture instead becomes a sharp character study explaining #Why he never could. Brown's script is one of the simpler in plot (although still featuring the multiple time lines characteristic of this #Series) but his dialogue is beautiful (not least the speech I've quoted above‚ which is much more affecting in performance)#Marlowe is incredible here; his story has in many ways been the one most central to this series and this episode perfectly strings together #The various glimpses of his life and personality that have been established so far‚ and simultaneously bringing the series to a logical #But deeply upsetting conclusion. Split between the present and prison‚ and the past and Bill's final day of freedom with his estranged #Family. These home scenes are a straight four hander which are played beautifully by all concerned (always fun to see a young David Burke #Rock up‚ even if he never did look that young) and shout out to Payne who's an excellent child actor. And then just as suddenly as it began #It's over. A mystifying‚ unpredictable‚ unique series. There are other shows that examined a single event and used individual episodes to #Study single characters (The Gold Robbers is a good example‚ and quite similar in set up) but none were so experimental and none blended #Genres and pushed the boundaries of the medium in the way this series did in some episodes (still not over some of them). At the same time #It isn't perfect‚ there are misses as well as hits‚ and for me Knocker is an awkward odd one out that fits badly with the rest of the serie #But that's old TV! It's never perfect‚ even the very best of it! And in a way it makes the rest so much better! What a series! What a world

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joanarmatradings · 2 years

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2. Album Of The Year (General Field)

Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s).

We Are

Jon Batiste

Full album here.

Craig Adams, David Gauthier, Braedon Gautier, Brennon Gautier, Gospel Soul Children Choir, Hot 8 Brass Band, PJ Morton, Autumn Rowe, Zadie Smith, St. Augustine High School Marching 100 & Trombone Shorty, featured artists; Jon Batiste, Mikey Freedom Hart, DJ Khalil, King Garbage, Kizzo, Sunny Levine, Nate Mercereau, David Pimentel, Ricky Reed, Autumn Rowe, Jahaan Sweet & Nick Waterhouse, producers; Jon Batiste, Russ Elevado, Mischa Kachkachishvili, Kizzo, Joseph Lorge, Manny Marroquin, Ken Oriole, David Pimentel, Ricky Reed, Jaclyn Sanchez, Matt Vertere, Marc Whitmore & Alex Williams, engineers/mixers; Andrae Alexander, Troy Andrews, Jon Batiste, Zach Cooper, Vic Dimotsis, Eric Frederic, Kizzo, Sunny Levine, Steve McEwan, PJ Morton, Autumn Rowe & Mavis Staples, songwriters; Michelle Mancini, mastering engineer

Love For Sale

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

Full album here.

Dae Bennett, producer; Dae Bennett, Josh Coleman & Billy Cumella, engineers/mixers; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers

Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)

Justin Bieber

Full album here.

BEAM, benny blanco, Burna Boy, Daniel Caesar, Chance The Rapper, DaBaby, Dominic Fike, Giveon, Jaden, Tori Kelly, Khalid, The Kid LAROI, Lil Uzi Vert & Quavo, featured artists; Amy Allen, Louis Bell, Jon Bellion, Justin Bieber, benny blanco, BMW Kenny, Capi, Dreamlab, Dvlp, Jason Evigan, FINNEAS, The Futuristics, German, Josh Gudwin, Jimmie Gutch, HARV, Marvin "Tony" Hemmings, Ilya, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Stefan Johnson, KCdaproducer, Denis Kosiak, The Monsters & Strangerz, Jorgen Odegard, Michael Pollack, Poo Bear, Shndo, Skrillex, Jake Torrey, Trackz, Andrew Watt & Ido Zmishlany, producers; Cory Bice, benny blanco, Kevin "Capi" Carbo, Edwin Diaz, DJ Durel, Dreamlab, FINNEAS, Josh Gudwin, Sam Holland, Daniel James, Antonio Kearney, Denis Kosiak, Paul LaMalfa, Jeremy Lertola, Devin Nakao, Chris "TEK" O'Ryan, Andres Osorio, Micah Pettit & Benjamin Thomas, engineers/mixers; Amy Allen, Delacey (Brittany Amaradio), Louis Bell, Jonathan Bellion, Chancelor Johnathon Bennett, Justin Bieber, David Bowden, Jason Boyd, Scott Braun, Tommy Lee Brown, Valentin Brunn, Kevin Carbo, Kenneth Coby, Kevin Coby, Raul Cubina, Jordan Douglas, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Jason Evigan, Dominic David Fike, Kameron Glasper, Jacob Greenspan, Josh Gudwin, James Gutch, Scott Harris, Bernard Harvey, Leah Haywood, Gregory Aldae Hein, Marvin Hemmings, Jeffrey Howard, Alexander Izquierdo, Daniel James, Jace Logan Jennings, Rodney Jerkins, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Anthony M. Jones, Antonio Kearney, Charlton Kenneth, Joe Khajadourian, Felisha "Fury" King, Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, Matthew Sean Leon, Benjamin Levin, Marcus Lomax, Quavious Keyate Marshall, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr., Sonny Moore, Finneas O’Connell, Jorgen Odegard, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, Tayla Parx, Oliver Peterhof, Whitney Phillips, Michael Pollack, Khalid Donnel Robinson, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Alex Schwartz, Tia Scola, Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Gian Stone, Ali Tamposi, Ryan Tedder, Tyshane Thompson, Jake Torrey, Billy Walsh, Freddy Wexler, Symere Woods, Andrew Wotman, Rami Yacoub, Keavan Yazdani, Bigram Zayas & Ido Zmishlany, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

Planet Her (Deluxe)

Doja Cat

Full album here.

Eve, Ariana Grande, Gunna, JID, SZA, The Weeknd & Young Thug, featured artists; Aaron Bow, Rogét Chahayed, Crate Classics, Digi, Dr. Luke, f a l l e n, Mayer Hawthorne, Mike Hector, Linden Jay, Aynzli Jones, Kurtis McKenzie, Jason Quenneville, Reef, Khaled Rohaim, Al Shux, Sully, tizhimself, Yeti Beats & Y2K, producers; Rob Bisel, Jesse Ray Ernster, Serban Ghenea, Clint Gibbs, Rian Lewis, NealHPogue, Tyler Sheppard, Kalani Thompson, Joe Visciano & Jeff Ellis Worldwide, engineers/mixers; Ilana Armida, Aaron Bow, Rogét Chahayed, Jamil Chammas, Sheldon Yu-Ting Cheung, Antwoine Collins, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Lukasz Gottwald, Ariana Grande, Mayer Hawthorne, Mike Hector, Aaron Horn, Taneisha Damielle Jackson, Linden Jay, Eve Jihan Jeffers, Aynzli Jones, Sergio Kitchens, Carter Lang, Siddharth Mallick, Maciej Margol-Gromada, Kurtis McKenzie, Jidenna Mobisson, Gerard A. Powell II, Geordan Reid-Campbell, Khaled Rohaim, Destin Route, Solána Rowe, Laura Roy, Al Shuckburgh, David Sprecher, Ari Starace, Lee Stashenko, Abel Tesfaye, Rob Tewlow & Jeffery Lamar Williams, songwriters; Dale Becker & Mike Bozzi, mastering engineers

Happier Than Ever

Billie Eilish

Full album here.

FINNEAS, producer; Billie Eilish, FINNEAS & Rob Kinelski, engineers/mixers; Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell, songwriters; John Greenham & Dave Kutch, mastering engineers

Back Of My Mind

H.E.R.

Full album here.

Chris Brown, Cordae, DJ Khaled, Lil Baby, Thundercat, Bryson Tiller, Ty Dolla $ign, YG & Yung Bleu, featured artists; Tarik Azzouz, Bordeaux, Nelson Bridges, DJ Camper, Cardiak, Cardo, Chi Chi, Steven J. Collins, Flip, Jeff "Gitty" Gitelman, GRADES, H.E.R., Hit-Boy, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Walter Jones, KAYTRANADA, DJ Khaled, Mario Luciano, Mike Will Made-It, NonNative, NOVA WAV, Scribz Riley, Jeff Robinson, STREETRUNNER, Hue Strother, Asa Taccone, Thundercat, Thurdi & Wu10, producers; Rafael Fai Bautista, Luis Bordeaux, Dee Brown, Anthony Cruz, Ayanna Depas, Morning Estrada, Chris Galland, H.E.R., Jaycen Joshua, KAYTRANADA, Derek Keota, Omar Loya, Manny Marroquin, Tim McClain, Juan "AyoJuan" Peña, Micah Pettit, Patrizio Pigliapoco, Alex Pyle, Jaclyn Sanchez, Miki Tsutsumi & Tito "Earcandy" Vasquez, engineers/mixers; Denisia “Blu June” Andrews, Nasri Atweh, Tarik Azzouz, Stacy Barthe, Jeremy Biddle, Nelson “Keyz” Bridges, Chris Brown, Stephen Bruner, Darhyl Camper Jr., Luis Campozano, Louis Kevin Celestin, Anthony Clemons Jr., Steven J. Collins, Ronald “Flip” Colson, Brittany “Chi” Coney, Elijah Dias, Cordae Dunston, Jeff Gitelman, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Priscilla “Priscilla Renea” Hamilton, H.E.R., Charles A. Hinshaw, Chauncey Hollis, Latisha Twana Hyman, Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson, Rodney Jerkins, Dominique Jones, Khaled Khaled, Ron Latour, Gamal “Lunchmoney” Lewis, Mario Luciano, Carl McCormick, Leon McQuay III, Julia Michaels, Maxx Moore, Vurdell “V. Script” Muller, Chidi Osondu, Karriem Riggins, Mike “Scribz” Riley, Seandrea Sledge, Hue Strother, Asa Taccone, Tiara Thomas, Bryson Tiller, Daniel James Traynor, Brendan Walsh, Nicholas Warwar, Jabrile Hashim Willliams, Michael L. Williams II, Robert Williams & Kelvin Wooten, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer

Montero

Lil Nas X

Full album here.

Miley Cyrus, Doja Cat, Jack Harlow, Elton John & Megan Thee Stallion, featured artists; Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, John Cunningham, Omer Fedi, Kuk Harrell, Jasper Harris, KBeaZy, Carter Lang, Nick Lee, Roy Lenzo, Tom Levesque, Jasper Sheff, Blake Slatkin, Drew Sliger, Take A Daytrip, Ryan Tedder & Kanye West, producers; Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, Jon Castelli, John Cunningham, Jelli Dorman, Tom Elmhirst, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Kuk Harrell, Roy Lenzo, Manny Marroquin, Nickie Jon Pabon, Patrizio 'Teezio' Pigliapoco, Blake Slatkin, Drew Sliger, Ryan Tedder & Joe Visciano, engineers/mixers; Keegan Bach, Denzel Baptiste, David Biral, John Cunningham, Miley Ray Cyrus, Amala Zandile Dlamini, Omer Fedi, Vincent Goodyer, Jack Harlow, Jasper Harris, Montero Hill, Ilsey Juber, Carter Lang, Nick Lee, Roy Lenzo, Thomas James Levesque, Andrew Luce, Michael Olmo, Jasper Sheff, Blake Slatkin, R.L. Stafford, Ryan Tedder, William K. Ward & Kanye West, songwriters; Chris Gehringer, Eric Lagg & Randy Merrill, mastering engineers

Sour

Olivia Rodrigo

Full album here.

Alexander 23, Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, producers; Ryan Linvill, Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers/mixers; Daniel Nigro, Olivia Rodrigo & Casey Smith, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer

Evermore

Taylor Swift

Full album here.

Bon Iver, Haim & The National, featured artists; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Thomas Bartlett, JT Bates, Robin Baynton, Stuart Bogie, Gabriel Cabezas, CJ Camerieri, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Scott Devendorf, Matt DiMona, Jon Gautier, Trevor Hagen, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Josh Kaufman, Benjamin Lanz, Nick Lloyd, Jonathan Low, James McAlister, Dave Nelson, Sean O'Brien, Ryan Olson, Ariel Rechtshaid, Kyle Resnick, Michael Riddleberger, Laura Sisk, Evan Smith, Alex Sopp & Justin Vernon, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, William Bowery, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Taylor Swift & Justin Vernon, songwriters; Greg Calbi & Steve Fallone, mastering engineers

Donda

Kanye West

Full album here.

Baby Keem, Chris Brown, Conway The Machine, DaBaby, Jay Electronica, Fivio Foreign, Westside Gunn, JAY-Z, Syleena Johnson, Kid Cudi, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, The LOX, Marilyn Manson, Playboi Carti, Pop Smoke, Roddy Ricch, Rooga, Travis Scott, Shenseea, Swizz Beatz, Young Thug, Don Toliver, Ty Dolla $ign, Vory, The Weeknd, Westside Gunn & Lil Yachty, featured artists; Allday, Audi, AyoAA, Roark Bailey, Louis Bell, Jeff Bhasker, Boi-1Da, BoogzDaBeast, Warryn Campbell, Cubeatz, David & Eli, Mike Dean, Dem Jointz, Digital Nas, DJ Khalil, DRTWRK, 88-Keys, E.Vax, FNZ, Gesaffelstein, Nikki Grier, Cory Henry, Ronny J, DJ Khalil, Wallis Lane, Digital Nas, Nascent, Ojivolta, Shuko, Sloane, Sean Solymar, Sucuki, Arron “Arrow” Sunday, Swizz Beatz, Zen Tachi, 30 Roc, Bastian Völkel, Mia Wallis, Kanye West, Wheezy & Jason White, producers; Josh Berg, Todd Bergman, Rashade Benani Bevel Sr., Will Chason, Dem Jointz, IRKO, Jess Jackson, Nagaris Johnson, Shin Kamiyama, Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton, James Kelso, Scott McDowell, Kalam Ali Muttalib, Jonathan Pfarr, Drrique Rendeer, Alejandro Rodriguez-Dawson, Mikalai Skrobat, Devon Wilson & Lorenzo Wolff, engineers/mixers; Dwayne Abernathy Jr., Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah, Aswad Asif, Roark Bailey, Durk Banks, Sam Barsh, Christoph Bauss, Louis Bell, Jeff Bhasker, Isaac De Boni, Christopher Brown, Jahshua Brown, Tahrence Brown, Aaron Butts, Warryn Campbell, Hykeem Carter Jr., Jordan Terrell Carter, Shawn Carter, Denzel Charles, Raul Cubina, Isaac De Boni, Kasseem Dean, Michael Dean, Tim Friedrich, Wesley Glass, Samuel Gloade, Kevin Gomringer, Tim Gomringer, Tyrone Griffin Jr., Jahmal Gwin, Cory Henry, Tavoris Javon Hollins Jr., Larry Hoover Jr., Bashar Jackson, Sean Jacob, Nima Jahanbin, Paimon Jahanbin, Syleena Johnson, Dominique Armani Jones, Eli Klughammer, Chinsea Lee, Mike Lévy, Evan Mast, Mark Mbogo, Miles McCollum, Josh Mease, Scott Medcudi, Brian Miller, Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr., Michael Mulé, Mark Myrie, Charles M. Njapa, Nasir Pemberton, Carlos St. John Phillips, Jason Phillips, Khalil Abdul Rahman, Laraya Ashlee Robinson, Christopher Ruelas, David Ruoff, Maxie Lee Ryles III, Matthew Samuels, Daniel Seeff, Eric Sloan Jr., Sean Solymar, Ronald O’Neill Spence Jr., David Styles, Michael Suski, Aqeel Tate, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, Caleb Zackery Toliver, Bastian Völkel, Brian Hugh Warner, Jacques Webster II, Kanye West, Orlando Wilder, Jeffery Williams & Mark Williams, songwriters; Irko, mastering engineer

#album of the year

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dustedmagazine · 3 years

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Dusted Mid-Year Roundup: Part 3, The Lists

Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt

We finish the mid-year feature with individual writers’ lists of favorite records from the first half of 2021. Check out our mid-year exchange part 1 and part 2 if you haven’t already.

Jason Bivins

Bisbaye — Le Sens de la Fin (Cuneiform)

Colin Cannon – McGolrick (Infrequent Seams)

Bruno Duplant — Paysages sans Ages III (Sublime Retreat)

Ben Goldberg — Everything Happens to Be (Bag Productions)

Georg Graewe and Sonic Fiction Orchestra — Fortschritt und Vergnügen (Random Acoustics)

Lingua Ignota — Agnus Dei (self-released)

Michael Gregory Jackson — Frequency Equilibrium Koan (Golden Records)

James Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet — Jesup Wagon (AUM Fidelity)

Dominique Pifarely Quartet — Nocturnes (Clean Feed)

Wadada Leo Smith — Trumpet (TUM Records)

Ryley Walker and Kikagaku Moyo — Deep Fried Grandeur (Husky Pants)

Yasmin Williams — Urban Driftwood (Spinster)

Miguel Zenon — Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman (Miel)

Tim Clarke

Dry Cleaning — New Long Leg (4AD)

The Notwist — Vertigo Days (Morr Music)

Cory Hanson — Pale Horse Rider (Drag City)

Ryley Walker — Course in Fable (Husky Pants)

The Weather Station — Ignorance (Fat Possum)

Matt Sweeney & Bonnie "Prince" Billy — Superwolves (Drag City)

Elephant9 — Arrival of the New Elders (Rune Grammofon)

Elori Saxl — The Blue of Distance (Western Vinyl)

Liam Singer — The Ocean (self-released)

Andrew Forell

Arab Strap — As Days Get Dark (Rock Action)

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis — Carnage (Goliath)

Madlib — Sound Ancestors (Madlib Invazion)

Dry Cleaning — New Long Leg (4AD)

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, LSO — Promises (Luaka Bop)

Black Country, New Road — For The First Time (Ninja Tune)

Gazelle Twin & NYX — Deep England (NYX Collective)

Speaker Music — Soul-Making Theodicy (Planet Mu)

The Reds, Pinks & Purples — Uncommon Weather (Slumberland)

Mapstation — My Frequencies, When We (Bureau B)

Thomas Fehlmann — Böser Herbst ((Kompakt)

Sons Of Kemet - Black To The Future (Impulse!)

Ray Garraty

YOUNG SLO-BE — Red Mamba (KoldGreedy Entertainment / Thizzler On The Roof)

Drego — Krazy Man (TF Circle Entertainment / Get Off Records)

Rio Da Yung Og x Nuez — Life Of A Yung Og (Label?)

Devin The Dude — Soulful Distance (Coughee Brothaz Entertainment)

Ampichino — Quarantine Part 2 (Double F Records / Rapbay / Urbanlife Distribution)

Mac J — Tricky Situation (TrueStory / Thizzler on the Roof)

BlueBucksClan — Clan Virus 2 (Out of the Blue)

Robert Ham

Alina Kalancea — Impedance (Important)

The Telescopes — Songs of Love and Revolution (Tapete)

Innov Gnawa — Lila (Daptone)

Eximperituserqethhzebibšiptugakkathšulweliarzaxułum — Šahrartu (Willowtip)

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt — Made out of Sound (Palilalia)

Sana Nagano — Smashing Humans (577)

Ryley Walker — Course In Fable (Husky Pants)

Wau Wau Collectif — Yaral Sa Doom (Sahel Sounds)

Elori Saxl — The Blue of Distance (Western Vinyl)

Nightshift — Zoë (Trouble in Mind)

Bryon Hayes

Daniel Bachman—Axacan (Three Lobed)

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt — Made out of Sound (Palilalia)

Colin Fisher — Reflections of the Invisible World (Halocline Trance)

Giant Claw — Mirror Guide (Orange Milk)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor — God's_Pee at State's End! (Constellation)

Anne Guthrie—Gyropedie (Students of Decay)

Kim's Spirit — Blossom Everywhere (Tobira)

Mdou Moctar — Afrique Victime (Matador)

Roy Montgomery — Island of Lost Souls (BaDaBing)

Natural Information Society w Evan Parker — descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite)

Reds, Pinks and Purples — Uncommon Weather (Slumberland)

Claire Rousay — A Softer Focus (American Dreams)

M. Sage — The Wind of Things (Geographic North)

Satomimagae — Hanazono (RVNG Intl.)

Sunburned Hand of the Man — Pick a Day to Die (Three-Lobed)

Matt Sweeney and Bonnie Prince Billy — Superwolves (Drag City)

Ryley Walker + Kikagaku Moyo — Deep Fried Grandeur (Husky Pants)

Wau Wau Collectif — Yaral Sa Doom (Sahel Sounds)

Mason Jones

Roy Montgomery — Island of Lost Souls (BaDaBing)

Sunburned Hand of the Man — Pick A Day To Die (Three-Lobed)

Speaker Music — Soul-Making Theodicy (Self-released)

Dr Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band — Damballah (Dagoretti)

Mdou Moctar — Afrique Victime (Matador)

Wau Wau Collectif — Yaral Sa Doom (Sahel Sounds)

Vapour Theories — Celestial Scuzz (Fire)

Keiji Haino & The Hardy Rocks — S-T (label?)

Ryley Walker + Kikagaku Moyo — Deep Fried Grandeur (Husky Pants)

Various Artists — Sheffield Revisited:Melkweg, 1985 (In the Nursery)

Jennifer Kelly

Cassandra Jenkins — An Overview of Phenomenal Nature (BaDaBing)

Reds, Pinks and Purples — Uncommon Weather (Slumberland)

Rosali — No Medium (Spinster)

GG King — Remain Intact (Total Punk)

New Bums — Last Time I Saw Grace (Drag City)

Mdou Moctar — Afrique Victime (Matador)

Jupiter & Okwess — Na Kozonga (Strut)

Chris Brokaw — Puritan (12XU)

Sleaford Mods — Spare Ribs (rough Trade)

Matt Sweeney and Bonnie Prince Billy — Superwolves (Drag City)

The Mountain Goats — Dark in Here (Merge)

N0V3L — NON-FICTION (Flemish Eye)

Arthur Krumins

Fiver with the Atlantic School Of Spontaneous Composition — S-T (You’ve Changed)

Jeffrey Silverstein — Torii Gates (Arrowhawk)

Drew Gardner — S-T (Eiderdown)

Matt Lajoie — Paraclete Tongue (Flower Room)

Lena Hughes — Queen of the Flat Top Guitar (Tompkins Square)

Yasmin Williams — Urban Driftwood (Spinster)

Ryley Walker — Course in Fable (Husky Pants)

Khan Jamal — Infinity (Stash)

Masahiro Takahashi — Flowering Tree, Distant Moon (Not Not Fun)

Dorothea Paas — Anything Can’t Happen (Telephone Explosion)

Willie Dunn — Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies (Light in the Attic)

Patrick Masterson

Skee Mask — Pool (Ilian Tape)

Leon Vynehall — Rare, Forever (Ninja Tune)

Oui Ennui — [anything, really] (self-released)

Armand Hammer & The Alchemist — Haram (Backwoodz Studioz)

Emeka Ogboh — Beyond the Yellow Haze (A-Ton)

Tree — Soul Trap (self-released)

Rosali — No Medium (Spinster)

Elori Saxl — The Blue of Distance (Western Vinyl)

Keysound Recordings — Rinse FM mix 1/28/21

Dope Purple — Grateful End reissue (WV Sorcerer Productions)

V/A — Soft Touch Express Vols. 1-3 (Trax Only)

Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble — Now (International Anthem)

Ian Mathers

The Armed — ULTRAPOP (Sargent House)

Blanck Mass — In Ferneaux (Sacred Bones)

Cory Hanson — Pale Horse Rider (Drag City)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor — G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! (Constellation)

Los Campesinos! — Whole Damn Body EP (Self-Released)

Mogwai — As the Love Continues (Temporary Residence Ltd.)

Nadja/Disrotted — Split (Roman Numerals)

Obay Alsharani — Sandbox (Hivemind)

Whisper Room — Lunokhod (Midira)

Xiu Xiu — OH NO (Polyvinyl)

Eric McDowell

Michael Winter — single track (Another Timbre)

Amani — A Constant Condensation (s/r)

Lea Bertucci — A Visible Length of Light (Cibachrome Editions)

Oui Ennui — Virga/Recrudescence (s/r)

Patrick Shiroishi — i shouldn't have to worry when my parents go outside (s/r)

Ashley Bellouin & Ben Bracken — String Songs (Debacle)

Sam Gendel — Fresh Bread (Leaving Records)

Landon Caldwell & Nick Yeck— Stauffer — Unity in Isolation (Astral Editions)

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt — Made Out of Sound (Palilalia)

Matt LaJoie — Paraclete Tongue (Flower Room)

Bill Meyer

Bruno Duplant—Paysages Sans Âge III (Sublime Retreat)

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt—Made Out Of Sound (Palilalia)

Chuck Johnson — The Cinder Grove (VDSQ)

Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble — Now (International Anthem)

Daniel Bachman—Axacan (Three Lobed)

Donald Miller — Transgression!!! (VDSQ)

Hafez Modirzadeh—Facets (Pi)

James Brandon Lewis — Jessup Wagon (Tao Forms)

Natural Information Society with Evan Parker—descension (Out of Our Constrictions) (Eremite)

New Bums — Last Time I Saw Grace (Drag City)

Nightshift — Zoe (Trouble in Mind)

Rob Noyes — Arc Minutes (VDSQ)

Roy Montgomery — Island of Lost Souls (Grapefruit)

Michael Rosenstein

[Ahmed] — Nights on Saturn (communication) (Astral Spirits)

Tucker Dulin/Ben Owen — Cat Guarding Geese (Erstwhile)

Max Hamel — Sounds of Summer: Field Recordings of Solar Electronics (Refulgent Sepulchre)

Haptic — Weird Undying Annihilation (Notice Recordings)

Christian Kobi — Hiden Place of Return (Cubus Records)

Catherine Lamb — Muto Infinitas (Another Timbre)

Sergio Merce — en lugar de pensar (Edition Wandelweiser Records)

takamitsu ohta — three relations among the flock (winds measure recordings)

Tim Olive/Kayu Nakada — Entenka (tss tapes)

Wadada Leo Smith — Trumpet (TUM)

Darcy Spidle — The Thawing of Bayer Lake (Self-released)

Anna Webber — Idiom (Pi Recordings)

Zhu Wenbo — HALF 一半(Self-released)

Sun Yizhou & Mai Mai — Shanghai Live: Electronic Duo (Self-released)

Archival Releases:

Julius Hemphill — The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony (New World Records)

IST — A More Attractive Way (Confront Recordings)

Jonathan Shaw

The Body — I've Seen All I Need to See (Thrill Jockey)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor — God's_Pee at State's End! (Constellation)

Last Agony — The Imminent Slaughter (Sentient Ruin)

Mare Cognitum — Solar Paroxysm (I, Voidhanger)

Rata Negra — Una Vida Vulgar (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Sleaford Mods — Spare Ribs (Rough Trade)

Suffering Hour — The Cyclic Reckoning (Profound Lore)

Derek Taylor

James Brandon Lewis — Jessup Wagon (Tao Forms)

Roscoe Mitchell & Mike Reed — The Ritual and the Dance (Astral Spirits)

Wadada Leo Smith — Trumpet (TUM)

Irene Schweizer & Hamid Drake — Celebration (Intakt)

Jason Moran & Milford Graves — Live at Big Ears (Yes)

Jaimie Branch — FLY or DIE LIVE (International Anthem)

Ches Smith's We All Break — Path of Seven Colors (Pyroclastic)

Julius Hemphill — The Boyé International Crusade for Harmony (New World)

Ray Russell — Forgot to Remember, Live Vol. 2 1970 (Jazz in Britain)

Alan Braufman — Valley of Search + Live at WKCR May 22, 1972 (Valley of Search)

Hassan Ibn Ali — Metaphysics (Omnivore)

Jeanne Lee — Conspiracy (Moved by Sound)

#midyear #mid-year 2021 #dusted magazine #jason bivins #tim clarke #andrew forell #ray garraty #robert ham #bryon hayes #mason jones #jennifer kelly #arthur krumins #patrick masterson #ian mathers #eric mcdowell #bill meyer #michael rosenstein #jonathan shaw #derek taylor

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anhed-nia · 4 years

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BLOGTOBER 10/4/2020: SOCIETY

Without having a survey to back me up, I feel comfortable asserting that as a horror fan, you go through different phases with SOCIETY. It’s a basic fact of life, and yet it morphs and mutates underneath you, shocking you anew just when you think you’ve got a grip on it. You never forget your first time, because there is simply nothing like it. Then, after you get over the initial shock of its patented brand of body horror, you start to take it for granted; it's so broad and monolithic that it becomes something like the Grand Canyon--when it’s not right there in front of you, you begin to experience it more iconically, as part of the wallpaper of existence, rather than an in-your-face confrontation with the limits of experience. Then, you revisit it every few years (or months, depending on what sort of person you are), and the prophylactic layer that your brain has wrapped around your memories of it--the one that allows you to think of SOCIETY as a fun, wacky cheap thrill--begins to crumble, and you realize all over again how iconoclastically vile it is. Wherever you happen to be at, with this inimitable genre landmark, you'd be hard pressed to deny that it earns its royal status among horror movies, just for being so uniquely fucked up.

Filmmaker Brian Yuzna is best known as the co-creator of the indispensable RE-ANIMATOR (or as the co-writer of HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS...depending on what sort of person you are, again), itself a milestone achievement in the blending of sex and gore that so characterized '80s horror production. That film clearly brought out the best in Yuzna and frequent collaborator Stuart Gordon (also of HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS fame...among other things), but it's interesting to see how they operate apart, to understand the unique ingredients that each filmmaker brought to the more perfect union of their classic Lovecraft adaptation. Gordon skewed darker and more intellectual, as evidenced by the end of his career with the shattering mob thriller KING OF THE ANTS, the disturbing true crime drama STUCK, and the Mamet-penned EDMOND. Yuzna, for his part, is almost anti-intellectual, preferring to cook up blackly comic, semi-pornographic nightmares like his two increasingly horny RE-ANIMATOR sequels, the terminal S&M fantasy RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3, and the shamelessly hokey comic book adaptation FAUST: LOVE OF THE DAMNED. Yuzna's lack of shame is really his defining feature as an artist, and nowhere is this more obvious than in his directorial debut and signature masterpiece, SOCIETY.

Salvador Dali's "The Great Masturbator," a chief visual inspiration for SOCIETY.

Yuzna was able to leverage the success of RE-ANIMATOR to lock in two directorial opportunities, BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR, and a bizarre body horror exercise about a Beverly Hills orphan who discovers that not only are his adoptive family from a different bloodline, but they're not even from the same species. That both pictures employed the writing team of Woody Keith and Rick Fry gives you a little taste of what to expect from SOCIETY, but to be frank, the latter threatens to make the former look like a very special episode of ER; "overkill" barely begins to describe SOCIETY’s ambitious assault on the human body. In a recent interview, the philipino-american director giggles perversely, "I think my friends were a little embarrassed for me (when they saw SOCIETY)," and this sound bite reminded me that the last, most important ingredient that Yuzna contributes to any project is unabashed joy. It's a little hard to imagine stomaching SOCIETY without it.

In this unusual scene from the class struggle in Beverly Hills, Billy Warlock (son of HALLOWEEN 2's Michael Myers, Dick Warlock) plays Bill Whitney, a rich, handsome, athletic high school student with a heavy duty anxiety disorder. Although he appears to have it all, he is plagued by nightmares and hallucinations, reflecting suspicions that the family that spoils him is also out to get him. Perhaps this is all understandable, though. Bill is under a lot of pressure these days, with his parents devoting all of their attention to his sister's coming out party, and his narcissistic girlfriend pushing him to ingratiate himself to the assholes higher up the social ladder; it's enough to make any teenager feel alienated and insecure. But, do these garden variety anxieties account for his visions of his sister's body deforming itself unnaturally, or the dubious evidence he finds that her debutante ball involves incestuous orgies and human sacrifice? Is Bill simply crumbling under the strain of societal expectations, or is the friction with his shrink, his parents, and his peers all symptomatic of an elaborate plot against him by elites who are truly less than human?

I can’t believe they use this cheapo blanket trick MORE THAN ONCE in a movie that is famous for its unforgettable special effects, and I guess I kind of love it.

In case I haven't made the answer abundantly obvious, I'll add that while SOCIETY is the purest expression of Yuzna-ness on the market, it has an important co-author in Screaming Mad George. The eccentric japanese FX master, whose name is apparently an amalgamation of Mad Magazine, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and...George, has produced some of horror's most outrageous makeup and visual effects, mostly for Yuzna, many of them in SOCIETY. If you've seen even a trailer for Alex Winter's 1993 oddity FREAKED--which is itself a grossout criticism of American social standards--then you are already familiar with SMG's trademark style. He specializes in twisted perversions of the human form that would make a cenobite blush, driven by a penchant for puns, and influenced equally by THE THING's Rob Botin, and Big Daddy Roth’s Rat Fink style. Screaming Mad George is instrumental in articulating Yuzna's premise: that behind the shimmering veneer of success and sophistication, the upper class are just a bunch of degenerates, who literally degenerate into something unimaginable behind closed doors. It's impossible to imagine SOCIETY without his sinuous, slithering monstrosities, or his indescribable realization of their most important social event, "the shunt".

One of many great images from a zine I wish I owned, on SMG’s Facebook page.

It's easy to get overwhelmed by SOCIETY's visual impact, but its message is just as potent now as it was at the end of the Reagan era: Rich people are not only different from the rest of us, but in fact, they aren't even human. Writers Keith and Fry make an interesting choice of hero to help put this across. A lazier writer would have selected any archetype from the Freaks and Geeks set to create an easy Us vs Them tension, but SOCIETY is led by a promising young man who, for reasons he himself does not yet understand, is just not "the right kind of people". Bill appears to have every advantage in life, including a level of popularity that wins him presidency of the debate team despite his nerdier rival’s superior prowess--and yet, he suffers from a stigmatizing psychiatric disorder that is the natural result of feeling indefinably different from one's peers, and intuiting that, as a consequence, they don't even really like you. The shallow jock with deep-seated emotional problems is a much more interesting protagonist for this kind of social allegory than the charismatic outcasts that you get in movies like THE FACULTY and DISTURBING BEHAVIOR, for whom the idea that the elites could be aliens is just de rigueur.

It's worth noting that this complexity of character extends to Bill's love interest, sympathetic society girl Clarissa Carlyn (Playboy Playmate Devin DeVasquez). At first, she seems villainously eager to introduce Bill to the many splendors of "the shunting", but as the plot against him mounts to its horrifying conclusion, she defects. There appears to be a reason for this, although honestly, this is the most difficult part of SOCIETY for me to wrap my head around. Clarissa lives as an essentially independent adult, only burdened by her mother (Pamela Matheson), a possibly brain damaged hulk who lurks in and out of various scenes just to be disturbing, always announced by some toots on a tuba, before eventually siding with our heroes. I'm really not sure what's supposed to be going on in this part of the movie, except that this character contributes to a number of distasteful jokes. But, I hold on to the idea that by virtue of whatever disorder Mrs. Carlyn suffers from, she serves the purpose of priming Clarissa to rebel, since her very existence makes her daughter something of a societal outcast herself. That's the best I can do.

In any case, everyone working on SOCIETY commits completely, with Mrs. Carlyn being no exception. The movie's climactic orgy of the damned is an all hands on deck operation, just as reliant on Screaming Mad George's artistic abilities as it is on the actors' responsibility to make you believe that this fucked up shit is really happening. There's a visceral patina of sleaze spread over the entire film, dripping from the way that characters talk to and touch each other, flirting and flaunting their bodies in a distinctly unseemly fashion, even when it stays within the realm of mundane reality. This constant sinister, insinuating attitude on the part of the whole cast lays the foundation for what is to come, and while I appreciate everybody's hard work, my favorite performance is from an actor who only comes in at the very end: David Wiley as society king Judge Carter. Wiley's career consisted almost exclusively of the most ordinary sort of television work, which makes his outrageous turn in this alien porno flick all the more respectable. While other characters transition from suspicious pod people to full-on mutated perverts, Judge Carter has to show up just for the finale, establish his authority, rip off his clothes, and plunge straight into a sea of slime, happily fisting his way through the cast. Wiley meets this challenge with aplomb, making of himself a hybrid of Robert Englund and Gene Hackman, perfectly embodying the movie's joyful absurdity, and never betraying the slightest hint of embarrassment.

SOCIETY is very much a don't-look-down type of endeavor, a fairy that could expire at the slightest lapse in faith. There's a visual pun in the last act that's so gross, so offensive, so frankly idiotic, that I don't have the courage to describe it; my whole body tenses up when I know this scene is coming, as if it were the meat hook scene in TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE or the brutal rape in the middle of SHOWGIRLS. I don't like it, but at the same time, I respect Yuzna's unhesitating commitment to show it to me, and I think that actor Charles Lucia should get some kind of award for shouldering the burden so valiantly. SOCIETY is a daring movie in the truest sense, a film with more balls than brains, and in this it exposes the limitation of intelligence and taste, and the real need for pure transgression, in producing art of any real value. You might argue with me about whether Yuzna's masturbatory magnum opus really qualifies as art, but to respond to that, I'll quote the great transgressor Alejandro Jodorowsky: "If you are great, EL TOPO is a great picture. If you are limited, EL TOPO is limited." So stick that in your shunt and smoke it.

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PS Here, have this stuck in your head for the rest of your life.

#blogtober #2020 #society #brian yuzna #screaming mad george #woody keith #rick fry #billy warlock #Keith Walley #devin devasquez #david wiley #horror #black comedy #satire #body horror #social criticism

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wazafam · 3 years

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The United States vs. Billie Holiday features a star-making performance from Andra Day, complimented by a strong cast that takes on the roles of real-life figures. Based on Johann Hari's 2015 book Chasing the Scream, the 2021 Hulu movie focuses on America's War on Drugs, and how a famous blues singer became public enemy number one, at least according to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. The United States vs. Billie Holiday was directed by American filmmaker Lee Daniels.

In The United States vs. Billie Holiday, the focal singer gains the government's attention after performing "Strange Fruit," a song about the lynching of Black Americans. Holiday refuses to remove the number from her set, which prompts Harry J. Anslinger — the commissioner for the Federal Bureau of Narcotics — to set up the singer because of her well-known heroin problem. FBI agent Jimmy Fletcher is assigned to frame Holiday, but ultimately becomes part of her inner circle, and even her lover too. The Hulu movie primarily follows the singer's life throughout the 1940s.

Related: The United States Vs. Billie Holiday Review: Andra Day Is Electric

The main cast for The United States vs. Billie Holiday on Hulu mostly portrays individuals who were close to Holiday in real life, many of whom enabled her drug addiction problem. Garrett Hedlund has a prominent role as the aforementioned Anslinger, but Day is indeed the main attraction alongside Trevante Rhodes as Fletcher. Here's a cast and character breakdown for The United States vs. Billie Holiday, including side by side images for the main historical figures.

Andra Day stars as the iconic blues singer Billie Holiday. After performing "Strange Fruit," she's targeted by the U.S. government in an effort to spin the narrative from racial injustice to drug abuse. Holiday knows that the FBI doesn't have strong evidence, but also understands that they can easily sway the narrative to their advantage. Day voiced Sweet Tea in Cars 3 and appeared as Minton's Singer in Marshall. She received two Golden Globe nominations for her performance in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

Trevante Rhodes co-stars as Jimmy Fletcher, a real-life FBI agent who was responsible for Holiday's arrest, only to later develop a romantic relationship with her. A military man, Fletcher initially appears stoic while working for the government, but eventually develops a drug problem while on the road with Holiday. Rhodes headlined Barry Jenkins' 2016 film Moonlight as Black. He also appeared as Nebraska Williams in The Predator and Tom in Bird Box.

Garrett Hedlund portrays Harry Anslinger, the commissioner for U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics who believes that Holiday performs the "devil's music." Hedlund starred as Sam Flynn in TRON: Legacy and Dean Moriarty in On the Road. He also appeared as Johnny Five in Inside Llewyn Davis and Jamie McAllan in Mudbound.

Related: Evan Ross & Garrett Hedlund Interview: United States vs. Billie Holiday

Natasha Lyonne appears as Tallulah Bankhead, a Hollywood actress and Holiday's red-haired girlfriend who warns the singer about looming threats. Lyonne portrayed Jessica in American Pie and starred as Nicky Nichols in Orange Is the New Black. She also headlined the Netflix show Russian Doll as Nadia Vulvokov and voiced Suzette in Big Mouth.

Melvin Gregg portrays Joe Guy, a trumpet player who struggles with a drug addiction. He's also romantically involved with Holiday. Gregg appeared as Erick Scott in High Flying Bird and Marcus Parrish in The Way Back. He currently portrays Drew "Manboy" Miller in Snowfall.

Tyler James Williams portrays Lester Young, a saxophonist in Holiday's band who is known as "Prez." William starred as Chris in Everybody Hates Chris and portrayed Lionel Higgins in Dear White People. He also appeared as Noah in The Walking Dead.

Rob Morgan appears as Louis McKay, a businessman whose is initially described as "a boxer and a pimp." He eventually marries Holiday, abuses her, and then disappears. Morgan portrayed Turk Barrett in Daredevil, Hap Jackson in Mudbound, and Officer Powell in Stranger Things.

Related: Trevante Rhodes & Tyler James Williams Interview: United States vs. Billie Holiday

Erik LaRay Harvey portrays James Monroe, Holiday's first husband who verbally abuses her while trying to please promoters. Erik LaRay Harvey appeared as Willis "Diamondback" Stryker in Luke Cage on Netflix and Del Chance in Godfather of Harlem.

Tone Bell portrays John Levy, the owner of the Ebony Club who has a sexual fling with Holiday. Like many males in the film, he puts on a confident facade but displays poor judgment behind closed doors. Tone Bell portrayed Carter in Disjointed and Scott Evans in The Flash. He recently appeared as Nick in Fam.

Leslie Jordan (Above) as Reginald Lord Devine: A radio show host who interviews Holiday throughout the film. He's a fictional character who asks inappropriate questions about the singer's persona life. Leslie Jordan portrayed Mr. Blackly in The Help and Beverley Leslie in Will & Grace. He currently appears as Phil in Call Me Kat.

Miss Lawrence As Miss Freddy: Holiday's stylist and a member of her inner circle. She is with the singer during the interview with Reginald Lord Devine. Miss Lawrence portrayed Miss Bruce in Star and also appeared in Empire season 2.

Related: Da'Vine Joy Randolph & Miss Lawrence Interview: United States vs. Billie Holiday

Dusan Dukic as Joe Glaser: Billie's manager at the beginning of the film. He seems to be doing his job; however, his client describes him as "crooked." Dusan Dukic portrayed a drug trafficker in The Terminal and a newscaster in Birdman.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Roslyn: Billie's good friend who wears an eye patch and provides emotional/career support. Da'Vine Joy Randolph portrayed Carla in Office Christmas Party, Cherise in High Fidelity, and Lady Reed in Dolemite Is My Name on Netflix.

Adriane Lenox as Mrs. Fletcher: Jimmy's mother who wants him to carry on his father's mortuary business. Her demeanor changes when she discovers that her son met Holiday. Adriane Lenox portrayed Rose Woods in Black Snake Moan and Denise Oher in The Blind Side.

Evan Ross as Sam Williams: Jimmy's FBI colleague who is curious about his success. Evan Ross portrayed Jeff in Kevin, Who Lives at Home and Messalla in The Hunger Games movie franchise. He recently appeared as Angel Rivera in Star.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday released in February 2021 on Hulu.

Next: Andra Day & Lee Daniels Interview: United States vs. Billie Holiday

The United States vs. Billie Holiday Cast & Real-Life Character Guide from https://ift.tt/3sC7OtC

#Blogger

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sagehaleyofficial · 4 years

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HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (1.22-1.28.20):

NEW MUSIC:

· All Time Low dropped their first new song in over a year, titled “Some Kind of Disaster”. The music video takes place at an emotional group therapy session, in which we are able to observe all the different struggles people go through.

· Over the weekend, Billie Eilish performed at the 2020 iHeartRadio ALTer EGO Festival, where she revealed when we can expect the release of her sophomore album. “This year? No, but I will be making it this year,” she said.

· Producer Tommie Sunshine and dance artist Disco Fries turned the track “Falling in Love Will Kill You” into an electronic club remix. In 2014, My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way collabed with Wrongchilde (Mat Devine, formerly of Kill Hannah) for the song.

· Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams released her solo debut after many weeks of waiting with a song titled “Simmer.” She then took to social media to share an extended cut of the video, titled “Simmer Interlude.”

· After Waterparks’ Awsten Knight got one of his tweets to 20,000 retweets, the singer uploaded some unreleased demos to SoundCloud. The compilation is titled 1 (A COLLECTION OF UNRELEASED HOME DEMOS, THIS IS NOT G, OR EVEN AN ALBUM, SHUT UP ENJOY).

· Billie Eilish shared the music video for her latest single “Everything I Wanted,” which features the talents of her brother FINNEAS. She shared the video with a caption revealing that she directed the video herself.

· Machine Gun Kelly shared an Instagram story showing that he would be collabing with The Used on his upcoming pop-punk album. In the video, we see MGK dancing next to Blink-182’s Travis Barker with The Used frontman Bert McCracken singing in the booth.

· Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong allowed Tyla Yaweh and Wiz Khalifa to use a sample of the band’s hit “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” for the remix of Yaweh’s song, “High Right Now.” The singer also makes an appearance in the track’s accompanying music video.

· Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots posted a picture with cryptic caption including the words “rough mix,” which may indicate new music on the way. The band has not put out an album since Trench in 2018.

· Picturesque released a new single titled “Necessary,” alongside a music video, via Equal Vision Records. The band kicked off a tour with Hands Like Houses and Dead American on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.

· The Wonder Years dropped a new acoustic version of an old song, “Washington Square Park,” to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their record The Upsides. The band is hitting the road soon with Free Throw, Spanish Love Songs and Pool Kids for a special tour.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

· YUNGBLUD announced The Underrated Youth North American Spring Tour, starting off with his two Coachella performances on April 12 and 19. From there, he will play a total of 16 shows before wrapping up the tour at the Hangout Music Festival in Alabama in mid-May.

· This year, The Maine surprised fans at 8123 Day with a free meet and greet at their store in Phoenix, along with a “Make America Emo Again” after-party. They also revealed an online scavenger hunt, through which they released several pieces of content.

· The Academy Is… took to Facebook to share a celebration of 15 years of the band’s debut album, Almost Here. The event will take place at an EmoVsPopPunk night next month in Chicago.

· My Chemical Romance announced four more shows, all of which will take place in Europe. Lucky fans will be able to see the band live in Italy, Russia, Ireland and Germany, as well as two more shows added in England.

· Third Eye Blind and YUNGBLUD had a special performance of the former band’s song, “Graduate,” in Los Angeles during their set at the Roxy. The performance preceded the Grammys ceremony this past weekend.

· Firefly Music Festival is coming back to the Woodlands in Dover, Delaware, this summer. This year, headliners include Rage Against the Machine, Billie Eilish, Halsey, Blink-182, Khalid and Maggie Rogers.

· Bayside will be celebrating their 20th anniversary with the 20 Years of Bad Luck Tour. The band plans on bringing fellow acts Senses Fail, Hawthorne Heights and Can’t Swim on the road with them.

OTHER NEWS:

· Fall Out Boy appeared on the iconic game show The Price is Right. Only one half of the band, Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz, were present, but the pair hilariously played the game, filled in and even modeled prizes for other contestants.

· Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco was revealed to be making an appearance in Taylor Swift‘s new Netflix documentary, Miss Americana. The duo previously worked together on their collaboration for Swift’s latest album, titled “ME!”

· Fearless Records announced they would be hosting an immersive music and merchandise arcade pop-up to raise money for Heart Support and the Living the Dream Foundation. The event was held over this past weekend in Los Angeles.

· PUP guitarist Steve Sladkowski will be honored in his home country of Canada with the honor of receiving the “Maple Leaf Forever” guitar next year. The guitar is made from a silver maple tree that inspired legendary musician Alexander Muir’s famous 1867 song.

· Former Set It Off guitarist Dan Clermont revealed he is no longer using his Instagram account to promote music, but instead will be focusing on producing. He also revealed he would be changing his username for “starting fresh.”

· Basketball legend Kobe Bryant, age 41, passed away on Sunday following a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria Onore and Orange Coast College basketball coach John Altobelli were also tragically killed in the crash.

· The 62nd Grammy Awards were held on Sunday at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, with all Rock/Alternative categories announced prior to the televised program. Winners included Tool, Gary Clark Jr., Cage the Elephant, Vampire Weekend and Soundgarden.

· Delivering an emotional performance of her hit song “When the Party’s Over,” Billie Eilish accepted her first ever Grammy Awards. Eilish had six total nominations, breaking a record as the youngest artist to be nominated and win the four major categories.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

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bluesgator · 2 years

Video

youtube

BLUES GATOR ~ IN A GADA DAVIDA (Iron Butterfly) * Featuring epic drum solo by David Devine *

** LISTEN UNTIL THE END ** ** ÉCOUTEZ JUSQU'À LA FIN **

BLUES GATOR ~ IN A GADA DAVIDA (Iron Butterfly) * Featuring epic drum solo by David Devine *

BLUES GATOR Live ~ Featuring David Devine Playing the Best Drum Solo Ever Recorded in the History of Mankind.

I'm 67, I've heard John Bonham, Buddy Rich, Keith Moon, Gene Krupa, Jerry Mercer, I've seen Billy Cobham from a front row seat, and I've even enjoyed percussionist Dom Um Romao playing directly and only to me at a short distance, only inches away.

I can say without any hesitation or doubt in my mind, that this solo by David Devine of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, recorded by Denis Desmarteau of the same city, is most definitely the best drum and percussion solo that I have ever seen, and ever heard. David, I am honored to have played with you. You are an incredible master.

Ajo Tomasso

#canada #montreal #quebec #drummers #BESTDRUMSOLOEVER #IRONBUTTERFLY #INAGADADAVIDA #BLUESGATOR

~ BLUES GATOR (July 29th, 2022) ~ David Devine - Drums Big Matt Maillet - Bass Mike "Rock Croc" Matulis - Guitar and vocals AJO"Blues Gator" Tomasso - Vocals and saxophone

#youtube #drumsolo #iron butterfly #rock #blues #blues rock #montreal #quebec #canada

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ask-my-hero-maite · 4 years

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CHARACTER PAGE

Here you will find the characters in my story, listing their name/alias, title, quirk, and status.

Status Guidelines:

A main cast character is always open to asks. They play a pivotal role in the story.

A side character is open to asks. They play a supporting role in the story.

A minor character is a recurring character but not one open to asks.

A featured character* is a character I have borrowed from friends. They play a supporting or major role in the story, but are not open to asks.

A character’s status is flexible and might change as the story progresses, save for featured characters*

This page will be updated periodically.

Maite Itzcoatl García || Red Heart

FHA Junior

Quirk: Hemokinesis

She can manipulate her blood to her own will, forming various shapes and attacks, all depending on her own creativity. She can even manipulate the blood of others with enough focus. It all takes just a prick of a finger, and no worries- she heals!

Status: Main character, open to asks

Daniela Xochitl Cuervos || Copycat

Cloak & Dagger Villain

Quirk: Purloin

With the smallest contact, she can steal the quirk of an individual and use it until she releases it back to the original user. She’s limited to one quirk at a time, and experiences drawbacks on a two-fold level.

Status: Main cast, open to asks

Isabela Ramirez-Muñoz || Bubblebeam

FHA Junior

Quirk: Bubblewand

She can create a variety of bubbles, ranging in durability and size. It all depends on her breath and her mind!

Status: Main cast, open to asks

Vicente Mora Sandoval || Espino

FHA Junior

Quirk: Flora

He’s basically half plant. He can manipulate the vines of his body, and can grow flowers and thorns, all depending on his mood. But since he functions much like a plant, he needs a stable environment to do much.

Status: Main cast, open to asks

Enrique Cayacoa-Machado || Flashpass

FHA Senior

Quirk: Accelerate

With simply the contact of his palms, he can accelerate the speed of objects. This can be cast back to himself. Warning: Overuse makes him crash from the adrenaline.

Status: Main cast, open to asks

Alfred Booker || Orion

FHA Senior

Quirk: Solar Flare

By absorbing sunlight, he becomes faster and stronger.