Gordon Willis, who was the cinematographer for “The Godfather” series and Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” and “Manhattan” has died. He was 82.
Willis was known for his artful use of shadows, and was the cinematographer on 1970s films including “Klute,” “The Paper Chase,” “The Parallax View” and “All the President’s Men.”
Syd.31’s debut EP ‘Start A War’ is a fierce, rage-filled trash can full of gobby punk ranting which flashes a middle finger in the face of the politics of hate, discriminatory power structures and consumerism. Heavily inspired by the explosive ‘UK82’ era of Brit-punk and focuses on the ‘anger-as-an-energy' approach to music. From the first wrath-filled distorted note of the title track 'Start A War' the EP grabs you by the throat and spews it's electro-punk bile straight into your stomach.
Syd.31 have taken the influence and extreme sounds of their punk idols (Discharge and Exploited) mashing it with classic industrial, electro, rave and post dubstep noises, citing their love of Knife Party, Noisuf-X, Nachtmahr and Nitzer Ebb as key ingredients. It's a contemporary rallying cry to raise the banner, rebel and reject. Syd.31 intend to start a war, and start it in your mind.
Believing that music needs a social conscience, Syd.31 aims to be an active threat again to all that is bigoted, corrupt and destructive to this world. Songs like Power! (Are You Fucking Angry?) and Dieter Rams Is Dead reflect their distaste for the system. Dr Magic, frontman and noise bringer, chose to reject traditional styles of recording and instead did most of the vocals in one single take, improvising on-the-spot lyrics fuelled by raw expressionism, pure emotion, and vulnerability, something which very few artists at the moment are daring to do.
On top of all this, the Start A War EP steals all the best bits and structures from pure pop, such as Kylie, Britney and the Vengaboys – regardless of their rage, Syd.31 believe that all hope is lost if you can’t have fun and dance like a diva.
Start A War is a rallying cry for the dejected and desperate, a kick to the teeth of a political system which chews the vulnerable up and spits them out, and a middle-finger salute to a world which has nothing left to offer any of us.
Tonefloat presents a new wave of jazz. a contemporary approach to the diy philosophy that grew sun ra's saturn label and the underground cassette scene. under the wings of tonefloat, and curated by dirk serries, this little label will focus itself upon a series of limited vinyl editions, in customized sleeves. featuring music that originates from a fascination for free jazz and all related and extracted.
The first album in the series is the selftitled yodok iii: an overpowering melancholy and intense combination of frequencies. this is where introspection and freejazz meet. yodok iii is tomas järmyr: drums, kristoffer lo: tuba, flugabone, effects, and dirk serries: electric guitar, effects. yodok iii will embark on a short tour in june with tour dates on 7th (kinkystar club, ghent), 8th (magasin4, brussels), 12th (worm, rotterdam) and the 13th (de singer, rijkevorsel).
The second album is _ashes and blues by void of expansion - tomas järmyr and dirk serries. a live date is set at studenter samfundet, trondheim (norway) on the 29th of august.
Warner Bros. and Paramount have released the first full-length trailer for Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi epic “Interstellar” set for release this November.
Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain star in the film.
Plot details are still vague other than that it follows a group of astronauts charged with the task of traveling in space in order to find way to grow crops back on earth, which for some reason has run out of food.
2013 saw Rough Trade open a shop onsite for the first time and now, working together, Rough Trade and Primavera Sound have produced their first CD collaboration, showcasing the music that will be heard at this year’s festival in Barcelona.
As ever, this year’s line-up is as diverse and exciting as ever. From alternative-scene history makers Pixies, The Julie Ruin (Kathleen Hannah), Neutral Milk Hotel and Lee Renaldo to the much-loved Midlake, !!!, Wolf Eyes, John Grant, Mogwai and The National. Add them to contemporary groundbreaking artists like Julia Holter, Demdike Stare and Factory Floor, the craft of Temples, Real Estate and Jagwar Ma, the raw energy of the prolific Ty Segall, the soulful Charles Bradley and Blood Orange and a selection from Primavera’s in-house label El Segell del Primavera - Joanna Serrat and Headbirds amongst others – and this collection from the curators of Primavera Sound 2014 becomes a potent document of this year’s event.
Primavera Sound:
Since 2001, Primavera Sound has concentrated all its efforts in uniting the latest music from the independent scene together with already well-established artists, while embracing any style or genre in the live line-up, fundamentally looking for quality and essentially backing pop and rock, as well as underground electronic and dance music.
Various Artists – Rough Trade Shops Primavera Sound 14 2CD (RTPS14)
CD1
1. Lee Ranaldo y los Dust - El Blues de la Revolución
2. Julia Holter - This Is A True Heart
3. Antibalas - Dirty Money
4. Midlake - The Old and the Young
5. Joana Serrat - Green Grass
6. Jagwar Ma - The Throw
7. Charles Bradley - We Do We Go From Here?
8. Majical Cloudz - Childhood's End
9. John Grant - Black Belt
10. Grupo de Expertos Solynieve - Fandango de la Libertad
11. Blood Orange - Time Will Tell
12. !!! - Slyd
13. Headbirds - Sharon Highlights
14. Factory Floor - Turn It Up
15. Demdike Stare - Rain And Shame
CD2
1. Oso Leone - Cactus
2. Real Estate - Talking Backwards
3. Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
4. Ty Segall - The Man Man
5. Volcano Choir - Comrade
6. Mogwai - Remurdered
7. Paus - Bandeira Branca
8. The National - Fake Empire
9. Pional - Invisible/ Amenaza
10. The War On Drugs - Red Eyes
11. Pixies - Blue Eyed Hexe
12. Touché Amoré - Is Survived By
13. Refree - Kikiriki
14. Temples- Mesmerise
15. The Julie Ruin - Oh Come On
16. Wolf Eyes - Human Animal
