Eric Beltz Artist Interview: Frozen in Transcendence
Some artists are prolific, churning out project after project at a speed that leaves onlookers wondering about their superhuman pace. Some have a much slower process — painstaking in intricate detail — and Eric Beltz is one of the latter. A drawing teacher at University of Santa Barbara, Beltz is a master renderer, and his...Read...
Under The Sun Documentary Film Review (North Korea)
Oh, North Korea. The mechanics of filmmaking are lost upon you, are they not? You may have read about it — which is why you probably attempted to control the script of Under The Sun and escorted the filmmakers to a number of pre-determined filming locations — but what you probably failed to recognize is...Read...
Christopher Tignor Artist Interview: Living in Modern Tension
“I had a big manifesto of ‘no’s’ at the beginning, [of things] that I didn’t want to do.” As a composer, violinist, and multi-instrumentalist, Christopher Tignor has, since the early ’00s, led the New York City-based instrumental groups Slow Six and Wires.Under.Tension. Up until recently, however, he’d had little interest in playing solo, and figuring...Read...
Seiho – Collapse Album Review (Leaving Records)
On March 15, 2015, the Washington Post published a typically buzzworthy article titled, “Is the Internet Giving Us All ADHD?”. The article begins with the usual litany of start-of-days, most likely familiar to anyone who works at a desk or a computer, or spends a large amount of time e-mailing, chatting with friends, looking at...Read...
Marissa Nadler – Strangers Album Review (Sacred Bones Records)
Strangers, Marissa Nadler’s second record for Brooklyn-based Scared Bones and seventh overall, mixes elements both familiar and unfamiliar to create an uneven, but often rewarding listen. As with the best of her prior work, the songs that hit still retain the ability to steal your breath. And while many of the sounds and textures have...Read...
Northside Festival 2016 Live Show Review & Festival Recap
Eight years into its existence, Northside Festival is determinedly future-minded. Dividing itself into thirds, the NYC festival has two- and three-day stretches dedicated to “innovation” and “content”. The other third — four days worth of music between the East River and Bushwick, pulls in choice marquee names and established artists each year, but a large...Read...
SIFF 2016 – Seattle International Film Festival Film Reviews & Recap
Another year has come and gone for the Seattle International Film Festival, and this year, our top selections include a lot of black comedies and films that capture the power of human emotion, in all of its positive and negative facets. Here are some favorites from 2016. BURN BURN BURN (United Kingdom) Directed by...Read...
The High Sun (Zvizdan) Film Review (Croatia)
At the start of The High Sun, Jelena (Tihana Lazovic) and Ivan (Goran Markovic) sunbathe at a lakeshore, playing instruments and wrestling flirtatiously in the sunshine. The unfettered young couple seems like it has no worries in the world — and the last thing that one would expect is the reality of their situation: Jelena...Read...
3 Moons – Jefferson Zurna Band Interview: Inward Revolutions & Astrological Mythologies
Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks would pilgrimage to Eleusis, in Attica, to watch a reenactment of the abduction of Persephone by Hades into the Underworld. These rites, known as the Eleusinian Mysteries, offered the ancient Greeks a tactile connection to the Myths of Demeter and Persephone, as well as an intrinsic understanding of...Read...
Northside Festival 2016 Preview Guide
With each passing year, Northside Festival ups the ante, taking over more northern Brooklyn venues and gaining more and more international recognition. Now in its 8th year, the festival added their Innovation track a few years back, which seems like a smart move considering that the tech industry conference economy is booming. Yet Northside’s backbone...Read...