Reviewed by Eric Saeger Zero 7-style chill in unrequited search of a hook. Part-time Decemberist Petra Haden and her violin have experimented with a lot of things, perhaps too many; after hearing this – which should have been titled ‘Variations on Girl From Ipanema For Overeducated Soccer Moms’ – I can state without reservation that […]
Andrea Wood: Dhyana (self-released)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Usually the arrival of a CD from a white chick jazz singer with actress-level good looks elicits expectations of not much whatsoever, and oh my God, it’s a Sanskrit title. Thus it was with much surprise that I found myself falling over myself with positives to blabber about this debut LP […]
Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky)
Declan Tan takes a second look at Aronofsky’s tightly-wound psych-out Recommending this film is not the easiest thing to do. You have those who already know and appreciate the prospect of a new Darren Aronofsky film, granted some of those fans fell off at The Fountain, his most personal and ambitious work, before being pulled […]
The Kids Are Alright (Lisa Cholodenko)
Good, great or just alright? Lisa Choldenko’s recent, acclaimed film is a little bit of each for Declan Tan The Kids Are All Right is a film that, like its two main characters, gets stuck in its meandering second half. And although it seems a sincere and even genuine slice of family life at first, […]
The Soma Records Story
Robert O’Connor revisits the Minneapolis label, home to 60s psych-trash novelty hits ‘Surfin’ Bird’ and ‘Liar, Liar’ “Everybody’s heard about the bird,” the song begins. Peter from Family Guy heard the song and it became his new favorite thing in the world. He annoys everyone by singing and dancing along with the song until Stewie […]
Mystéfy: Me (Silversonic Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger I was prepared to rain the wrath of God on this LP for lots of reasons. For one, this is an obviously upper-crust-coddled German lady who lives in Canada (it really couldn’t get more hedge-your-bets-bohemian than that, let’s face it). Two, she gave herself a pretty stuffy mononym, and, three, her […]
Mark Wonder: True Stories of Mark Wonder (Groove Attack Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger This to-date retrospective of the Jamaica-born reggae guy begins with the not-really-representatively-poppy ‘So Long’ as guested by Luciano, whose turn is more unplugged-Big Mountain-like than anything else on here, which, in the main, sticks to the roots, ganja-puff skank to rasta-babbling hard stuff to tourist-trap what-me-worry one-drop adventurousness. Ziggy Recado’s trumpet-like […]
Brulee: New Beginnings (CDBY Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Unadventurous cocktail-jazz sung impeccably by three-octave-ranging newcomer Julie Weiner with occasional vocal spots from pianist Doug Onstadt. I like that Weiner isn’t afraid to walk the wire, even with such clinical, stale production. Within these dishwasher-safe by-the-book tinklings she wrings out her lungs on a few long-held high notes, scats without […]
127 Hours (Danny Boyle)
… in which Danny Boyle gussies up the true story of Aron Ralston, adrenalin fiend and extreme sports enthusiast, who got himself stuck under a rock for five and a bit days. Review by Declan Tan The vacant, feature-length hip-hop montage that is 127 Hours begins with an ill-advisedly selected Free Blood track (‘Never Hear […]
Spork (J.B. Ghuman Jr)
Colourful comfort blanket for social misfits or tacky cult-by-numbers debut? Declan Tan reviews J.B. Ghuman’s debut Getting her nickname from that ingenious eating utensil that blends the undeniable benefits of both a fork and a spoon (for she, you see, is an intersex teenager), the titular character of this high school comedy/musical turns out herself […]
Positivism and its Discontents: A Sidebar to The Sokal Hoax
An appendix by Jonathan Reynolds, offering some background to the debates that gave rise to The Sokal Hoax For Spike readers who wish to grasp the basics of the modern argument which culminated in the controversy (full article here), a key term and concept to understand is positivism. A positivist stance encapsulates the furthest reach, […]
The Sokal Hoax Fifteen Years Later: A Philosophical Reading of the Controversy
In 1996, the physicist Alan Sokal perpetrated a hoax on the academic journal Social Text intended to text the intellectual rigor of postmodernist thinking. Jonathan Reynolds reassesses the affair Mixing metaphors, celebrating the 15-year anniversary of what still must be considered a total slam dunk in what was called the “science wars” or the “culture […]
Nasar Abadey and Supernova: Diamond in the Rough (CDBY Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger The 2nd full-length from Williams/Roach-inspired jazz drummer Abadey isn’t a showcase for his drumming technique so much; what sticks out for me in that regard is a deep fetish for extended cymbal-splashing. His off-kilter, angular snare-shots go well enough with the (often Minus-like when it isn’t being, in general, 80s-throwback-ish) modal […]
Voice of Addiction: Re-Evolution (D!i!Y! Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger The resurfacing of this Chicago punk trio’s 6-songer from 2008 marks a revving up of their overall PR campaign, for what that’s all worth, which is, actually, a lot, considering that they’re flying into the wind of modern punk, that over-processed nonsense that’s really about as punk as Katie Couric interviewing […]
Curtis Macdonald: Community Immunity (Greenleaf Music)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger With an overabundance of alto-sax-player competition in the jazz world, Macdonald knows he has to come out of the gates wailing in this debut LP. The title track opens things in progressive dinner-jazz fashion, Macdonald and pianist David Virelles moving through its complicated, well-written melodies with aplomb. Wonky weirdness is important […]
Self Made (Gillian Wearing)
Declan Tan finds the artist Gillian Wearing lives up to her surname in the full-length film project Self Made Gillian Wearing has a history of getting people on camera and making them open up. In the 1990s, she placed an advert in Time Out asking people to “confess all on video”. Now, she is doing […]
Home For Christmas (Bent Hamer)
Yuletide films are a risky proposition (and reviewing them in summer equally so). Can a Norwegian director of note make his mark? Declan Tan finds out Only a shade darker than your standard Disney snow-and-Santa fare comes Bent Hamer’s latest, a surprisingly uninspired bit of yuletide flakiness from the writer/director who seemed to have adaptations […]
The Shape of Sound: Shannon Novak
Sourav Roy interviews New Zealand artist Shannon Novak about the history of synesthesia and how his practice focuses on the relationship between sound, colour, form, time, and social context Just what shade of orange is a hemidemisemiquaver? If you could hear a Mondrian, what would it sound like? The works of Shannon Novak, an emerging […]
Little Tybee: Humorous to Bees (Paper Garden Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Like an airier, less in-your-face James Blunt, singer Brock Scott leads this alt-folk quintet into a sound that evokes angels dancing on the head of a pin, tempering progressive, complicated statements with chill mix levels in a combination that might best be described as Vampire Weekend vs Blind Melon. A lot […]
Soren Moller: Christian X Variations (Audial Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Pegged for convenience’s sake as a jazz artist, this Dutch piano guy often sounds more New York than anything you’ve ever heard, as evidenced on the post-bop burnfest ‘Kvartet II’, which gets some pretty whizzer beatnik drums from the concrete-solid Henry Cole and as well from sax-player Dick Oatts. The good […]
Mike Gibbons: Marigolds: The Bangkok Sessions (self-released)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Sounding like a more controlled Conor Oberst, Gibbons often comes off a bit loud over this strummy Americana-rock, but the tunes themselves make up for any questions about the mixing levels. Perhaps one reason his lines are so adamant is a psychic needs to be heard over the Red Shirt violence […]
Picco (Philip Koch)
Philip Koch’s harrowing prison drama reviewed by Declan Tan When you watch Picco you get the feeling that former-critic and one-time film student Philip Koch knows his stuff. In his feature debut follow-up to the award-winning short Lumen, Koch skilfully blends the theory and artful subtlety that seems to have informed his Nouvelle Vagary from […]
Essential Killing (Jerzy Skolimowski)
Vincent Gallo won acclaim for his silent portrayal and director Skolimowski has the pedigree. Declan Tan assesses whether Essential Killing lives up to its reputation Jerzy Skolimowski (writer of Knife in the Water, writer-director of Deep End, actor in Before Night Falls) is clearly not a bad sort. His credits speak for themselves. And on […]
The Hit Back: Who Are These Weird Old Kids (Sidedown Audio)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Mixed bag, thy name is The Hit Back. At the start this DIY album behaves like most of your basic quirk-electropop records, endlessly inviting, understated electro-twee in the manner of Here We Go Magic’s more subtle material, stuff that’s considered electro-folk for lack of a more imaginative term; it’s simply very […]
Frank Butrey: Malicious Delicious (Lust For Toys Recordings)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger Puttering, burning and filibustering from the Philly-based jazz guitarist. Somewhat typical example of this sort, power trio setup as jazz outfit, with Butrey switching deftly enough from Carlos Santana doodling to flamenco-plucking, then over to di Meola Weather Channel stuff, but the goal appears to be self-fulfillment over resumé, particularly when, […]
