• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Saimir Strati Makes Art Out Of Nails! Posted by: Vivian Hua
  My mother sends me forwarded e-mail chains all the time. Most of them are not worth forwarding or even mentioning ever again. But once in a while, there are some artistic gems, and this is one of them. Albania’s Saimir Strati is one talented mosaic artist, but in this particular instance, he’s working with nails [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Latin American & African Film Picks Posted by: Admin
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Multicultural Sounds: Waxploitation + ZZK Records Compilation Posted by: Admin
  Multicultural Sounds travels the world for contemporary reinventions of cultural staples.   A quick post regarding this compilation from Waxploitation and ZZK Records! According to Diplo, “ZZK is the first label to push the sound of Argentina from the villa (ghettos) to the uptown. ZZK is a big part in bringing this to the attention [...]
• San Francisco International Film Festival 2011 : 04/28 – 04/30 Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  If you are looking for films from today, Wednesday, the 27th, you can see them here. Below are choice picks for the remainder of this week! Full festival details and movie listings here. — Asleep In The Sun This Argentine film evokes the tag words: “metaphysical mystery,” “canine-crazed,” “soul-deep,” “Kafkaesque world,” “psuedo scientists,” “self-possessed,” and [...]

• Bleep: Disclosure, Physical Therapy, Chandeliers, Van She, Paradis MP3 Downloads & Streams Posted by: Erik Burg
  Bleep is a weekly column focusing on varying degrees of electronic music news, videos and MP3s. This week we highlight new tracks from Disclosure and Physical Therapy as well as a new video from Paradis. Read about all that and more below, or check out previous columns here.   Disclosure The slow trickle of material [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: U.S., Canadian, South Pacific Film Picks Posted by: Admin
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Arresting Music Videos: Antilux - Ophelia, Kirin J. Callinan - Way To War {NSFW} Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Belgium’s Antilux and bizarre songwriter Kirin J. Callinan command your attention with highly dramatic presentations and plenty of guitar distortion. (Callinan’s music video is NSFW.)   Antilux Belgium’s Antilux are pulled around like puppets in this video for “Ophelia,” only to eventually become choked up in a black widow’s tangle of animated strings. This track [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• Charitable Musicians: La Dispute Collect For Youth And Poverty, Locally And Abroad (w/ Interview) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  “Everything goes a long way. Every little thing counts.” – Jordan Dreyer

• West African Masquerade Photos. Posted by: Vivian Hua
  These photos are quite old, but they’re new to me. Photographer Phyllis Galembo takes colorful portraits of individuals in developing countries and captures the richness and beauty in their everyday dress and surroundings. These photos are large-scale color images capturing ritual adornment in Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso. Here are my favorites, but you can [...]

• Embroidered Works: Shaun Kardinal, Erin Frost, Stacey Page, Jose Romussi, Peter Crawley Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Coinciding with bright spring threads come a fascination with brightly-colored, geometrically-minded embroidered works! In this post, we examine works from artists who painstakingly thread through paper to vastly different ends.   Shaun Kardinal This year, Seattle’s Shaun Kardinal has taken a bold leap from minimally embroidered postcards to more involved pieces set upon multi-layered collages. [...]
• SIINAI's "Anthem 1&2" Music Video Set To Alejandro Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain Posted by: Admin
  Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain was released in 1973. The psychedelic story is geometry-heavy and laden with symbolic imagery and metaphysical themes. In short, the visually-stunning masterpiece has inspired countless creations, and it seems to be receiving another breath of fresh air as of late. REDEFINE MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, AND FILMMAKERS WHO HAVE BEEN INSPIRED [...]
• SIFF 2011: Checkpoint! Posted by: Allen Huang
  Here’s a peek into what’s coming up at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. You can buy all tickets at www.siff.net. Pinoy Sunday (2010) Taiwan, Directed by Wi Ding Ho It’s The Puffy Chair but in Taiwan. Which makes it better than The Puffy Chair. But not by much. Does mumblecore work in more tonal, [...]

• SIFF 2011 : Checkpoint! (Part 2) Posted by: Allen Huang
  Here’s a smattering of reviews that are up way too late for you to take advantage of, but nonetheless you should know about (for better or for worse). All these films were screened at the most excellent so far 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. Vallanzasca – Angels of Evil (2010) Italy, Directed by Michele Placido [...]
• Blood Becomes Water #3 : Music Photography Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Grimy, grimy, grimy! The new issue of Blood Becomes Water features work from Leah-Jade Connolly, Oliver Donnet, Rosie Eisor, Jaime Martinez (< crazy interesting website; I would recommend it), Kate Yang Nikodym, Raya Rayax, Iliyan Ruzhin, and Sam Scott Hunter. 40 digitally-printed black and white photographs with movable pages! Ace use of negative space amidst [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2011 : 02/20-02/26 Closing Week Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  How To Die In Oregon This film does not beat around the bush. Beginning with a terminally-ill cancer patient who dies on camera, How To Die In Oregon explores the sensitive issue of physician-assisted suicide. Directed by Peter D. Richardson – UNITED STATES SHOWTIMES Sun, Feb 20 @ 9:30am (B1) Mon, Feb 21 @ 7:30 [...]

• West African Masquerade Photos. Posted by: Vivian Hua
  These photos are quite old, but they’re new to me. Photographer Phyllis Galembo takes colorful portraits of individuals in developing countries and captures the richness and beauty in their everyday dress and surroundings. These photos are large-scale color images capturing ritual adornment in Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso. Here are my favorites, but you can [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Asian & Middle Eastern Film Picks Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. You can see all of this year’s coverage HERE. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or [...]
• Trip Report Mixtape (#17) Stream & Download Posted by: Troy Micheau
  

  This REDEFINE staff-curated mixtape crosses continents and countries — from Cambodia to England, from India to Ethiopia — to bring you psychedelic sounds for the comedown.

Alberta Province

• Chad VanGaalen Interview (w/ Animated Video Retrospective) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  “I try not to think at all. If I pre-think anything, it’s usually bad.”

• Chad VanGaalen - "Peace On The Rise" Music Video Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Calgary-based musician Chad VanGaalen is one talented dude, and his artistic skills are just as prominent as his musical skills. How fortuitous that he is in a position to animate a video such as this one, for “Peace Is On The Rise”! What you can expect from this video is plenty of aliens, morphing and [...]
• WOMEN - Public Strain Album Review Posted by: Karla Hernandez
  The opening track to Public Strain, the sophomore release from the Alberta, Canada band WOMEN, may sound like it is straight out of a slasher film, but there is nothing frightening about this band. Instead of pounding beats that could lead up to a blood-gushing scene, the song “Can’t You See,” creates the tension of [...]

• Embroidered Works: Shaun Kardinal, Erin Frost, Stacey Page, Jose Romussi, Peter Crawley Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Coinciding with bright spring threads come a fascination with brightly-colored, geometrically-minded embroidered works! In this post, we examine works from artists who painstakingly thread through paper to vastly different ends.   Shaun Kardinal This year, Seattle’s Shaun Kardinal has taken a bold leap from minimally embroidered postcards to more involved pieces set upon multi-layered collages. [...]
• SIINAI's "Anthem 1&2" Music Video Set To Alejandro Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain Posted by: Admin
  Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain was released in 1973. The psychedelic story is geometry-heavy and laden with symbolic imagery and metaphysical themes. In short, the visually-stunning masterpiece has inspired countless creations, and it seems to be receiving another breath of fresh air as of late. REDEFINE MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, AND FILMMAKERS WHO HAVE BEEN INSPIRED [...]
• SIFF 2011: Checkpoint! Posted by: Allen Huang
  Here’s a peek into what’s coming up at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. You can buy all tickets at www.siff.net. Pinoy Sunday (2010) Taiwan, Directed by Wi Ding Ho It’s The Puffy Chair but in Taiwan. Which makes it better than The Puffy Chair. But not by much. Does mumblecore work in more tonal, [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Asian & Middle Eastern Film Picks Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. You can see all of this year’s coverage HERE. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• Compare & Contrast: Mao Zedong, Then And Now Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  Dictators! Love them or hate them (philosophically-speaking), it’s hard to argue that a Communist aesthetic a la Mao Zedong or Joseph Stalin doesn’t have a compelling color palette and welcome vintage grain associated with it. Perhaps in spite of themselves — or perhaps not — illustrators and artists the world over are constantly reinventing these iconic images of humanity’s most well-known leaders; this feature explores why.

• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Documentary Film Preview Guide Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]

Related: CHINA + HONG KONG + TAIWAN

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Latin American & African Film Picks Posted by: Admin
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• My Turn At Carmichael Gallery: A Group Show With A Street Art Lean (Curated By Bumblebee) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Up through the end of this week at Carmichael Gallery in Culver City (5795 Washington Blvd.) is a globe-trotting exhibition with a somewhat street art lean. Bumblebee The appearance of materials such as stencils, spraypaint, and unconventional installation materials makes sense when one considers the curator of the show is none other than Los Angeles [...]
• San Francisco International Film Festival 2011 : 04/24 - 04/27 Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This week’s San Francisco International Film Festival round-up is quite beefy, so we’re splitting it into two parts! For now, what you can see from Sunday through Wednesday. — Asleep In The Sun This Argentine film evokes the tag words: “metaphysical mystery,” “canine-crazed,” “soul-deep,” “Kafkaesque world,” “psuedo scientists,” “self-possessed,” and “’50s decor.” It certainly targets [...]
• Colombia Mixtape (#9) Stream & Download Posted by: Admin
  Like many countries in Latin America, Colombia has its share of music inspired by sounds from the U.S. and Europe. But the true sonic treasures here come from within, cultivated and enriched by an artistic population that is bridging the long-standing cultural divide between the nation’s European/indigenous Andean interior and its massive Afro-Colombian population along [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2010 : 02/19-02/21 Weekend Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This weekend’s recommended picks! Go to the website for the Portland International Film Festival for more details. A Town Called Panic An insane surreal stop-motion animated fantasy film featuring toy figurines doing all sorts of things in all sorts of settings. SHOWTIMES Sat, Feb. 20 @ 3:45pm (B3) Sun, Feb. 21 @ 7:45pm (B1) Chameleon [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Latin American & African Film Picks Posted by: Admin
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• My Turn At Carmichael Gallery: A Group Show With A Street Art Lean (Curated By Bumblebee) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Up through the end of this week at Carmichael Gallery in Culver City (5795 Washington Blvd.) is a globe-trotting exhibition with a somewhat street art lean. Bumblebee The appearance of materials such as stencils, spraypaint, and unconventional installation materials makes sense when one considers the curator of the show is none other than Los Angeles [...]
• San Francisco International Film Festival 2011 : 04/24 - 04/27 Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This week’s San Francisco International Film Festival round-up is quite beefy, so we’re splitting it into two parts! For now, what you can see from Sunday through Wednesday. — Asleep In The Sun This Argentine film evokes the tag words: “metaphysical mystery,” “canine-crazed,” “soul-deep,” “Kafkaesque world,” “psuedo scientists,” “self-possessed,” and “’50s decor.” It certainly targets [...]

• Concept-Heavy Events: Fin De Cinema, The Wiz, Krautrock Classics, Signify Sanctify Believe Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This post highlights some of our favorite multi-disciplinary arts events (centered mainly around music) coming up from like-minded co-conspirators in Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles. More events for the next post, including two installments of REDEFINE’s Intuitive Navigation in Seattle and Portland (see last year’s HERE), and Seattle’s ambient music festival Substrata. Signify, Sanctify, Believe [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Sleep Party People - We Were Drifting On A Sad Song Album Review (w/ Full Album Stream) + "Chin" / "A Dark God Heart" Music Videos {NSFW} Posted by: Vivian Hua
  In this compound post for Danish band Sleep Party People, we review the music videos for “Chin and “A Dark God Heart,” and continue with an album review and full album stream for their latest, We Were Drifting On A Sad Song. “Chin” Music Video Sleep Party People are really trying their best to present [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• 2011 Year-End Respect For Album Cover Art : Collage Posted by: Admin
  Our third-annual album cover art feature uses interviews with artists and musicians to highlight the philosophical, thematic, and conceptual significance of great album cover artwork. THE BREAKDOWN    12 Collage + 14 Digital Illustration, Drawing, Design + 19 Illustration, Painting, Drawing + 8 Black And White Photography + 22 Color Photography + 6 Deluxe Packaging [...]

• De Oro, Indeed! A Video With LNY. Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Just wanted to share this small documentary by LNY, which takes video of everyday life in Cuenca, Ecuador, and what it looks like interspersed with images of LNY’s work. It shows, in a quite literal fashion, the figures and events which helped inspire his not-as-literal street art pieces. New color in an already colorful landscape.

• SIFF 2010 : The Rest of the Fest Film Recaps Posted by: Allen Huang
  And so another year’s Seattle International Film Festival comes to a close. You might be saying “Hey! You only watched like eight movies? What kind of publication is this?!” Tut tut, readers.  We here at Redefine watched a boat load of movies! We just couldn’t find the time/space/wherewithal to write about every single one. But [...]
• Seattle International Film Festival 2010 : 05/31-06/06 Week Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This week’s recommended picks! Go to the website for the Seattle International Film Festival for more details. Some Days Are Better Than Others Four Portlanders with different — yet very Portland, Oregon-esque — lives spend their days trying to find meaningful human connections. The sell here is the acting debut of The Shins’ frontman James [...]

• Trip Report Mixtape (#17) Stream & Download Posted by: Troy Micheau
  

  This REDEFINE staff-curated mixtape crosses continents and countries — from Cambodia to England, from India to Ethiopia — to bring you psychedelic sounds for the comedown.

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• YACHT Cover Briggite Fontaine In "Le Goudron" Music Video, Tour Globally, Get On Hulu?! Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Los Angeles via Portland dance band YACHT are always staying busy, but the attention they’re receiving is next-level as of late. This compound post samples the music video for their newest offering, “Le Goudron” — a cover of a song by French singer Brigitte Fontaine — and their current front-page-of-Hulu fame.   FROM YACHT’S PRESS [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Spectral Hypnosis: Golden Retriever - New LP On Thrill Jockey + UMA - Track Featuring Silver Apples + San Gabriel - "Can't Work" Posted by: Vivian Hua
  SPECTRAL HYPNOSIS A recurring series, featuring mesmerizing songs for one to lose sense of time and space, mind and body. Golden Retriever As a long-awaited response to the question of many a Portland music fan, of — “When will people start paying attention to Golden Retriever and stop letting their genius slip under the radar?” [...]
• Bernhard Edmaier's Aerial Photography Is Out Of This World... Posted by: Vivian Hua
  VOLCANIC REMNANT, MAELIFELLSANDUR, ICELAND Bright green moss has colonized a hill in the middle of Maelifellsandur, a black desert of lava and volcanic ash in Iceland. The hill is all what remains of a once active cinder cone, ground down by ice of the nearby retreating Maelifell glacier.   Bernhard Edmaier is an aerial photographer [...]
• Compare & Contrast: Mao Zedong, Then And Now Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  Dictators! Love them or hate them (philosophically-speaking), it’s hard to argue that a Communist aesthetic a la Mao Zedong or Joseph Stalin doesn’t have a compelling color palette and welcome vintage grain associated with it. Perhaps in spite of themselves — or perhaps not — illustrators and artists the world over are constantly reinventing these iconic images of humanity’s most well-known leaders; this feature explores why.

• SIFF 2010 : The Rest of the Fest Film Recaps Posted by: Allen Huang
  And so another year’s Seattle International Film Festival comes to a close. You might be saying “Hey! You only watched like eight movies? What kind of publication is this?!” Tut tut, readers.  We here at Redefine watched a boat load of movies! We just couldn’t find the time/space/wherewithal to write about every single one. But [...]
• Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) Film Review Posted by: Allen Huang
  Director: Teddy Chen Hong Kong, 2009 Bodyguards and Assassins is a long film. Too long. It’s about 45 minutes too long. It’s also overwrought. There’s a lot of grown men crying about pride and integrity. Things that matter to a lot of people, but not stuff we as the audience particularly care about. In the [...]
• Prince Of Tears (2010) Film Review Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Prince Of Tears is a historical drama directed by well-known Hong Kong film director, Yonfan. A look into 1950s Taiwan, the film documents a young family during an era when Communists — and suspected Communists — were questioned and detained by the Taiwanese government. It is a tale of simultaneous betrayal and loyalty, where best [...]
• The Banquet (2006) Film Review Posted by: Allen Huang
  Hong Kong/China, 2006, 131 minutes, 35mm Mandarin Chinese (with English subtitles) Why do the Chinese like to title their movies The Banquet so often? A quick search on IMDB pulled up three entries… out of four total. I know Chinese people love eating and all (I can legitimately say that since I’m Chinese), but still… [...]

• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• The Turin Horse (2011) Film Review Posted by: George Schaefer
  

  The Turin Horse isn’t an interpretation of Nietzsche so much as a meditation on those impositions against which Nietzsche railed–order, morality, indoctrination, humanity removed from its animality.

• Portland International Film Festival 2010 : 02/19-02/21 Weekend Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This weekend’s recommended picks! Go to the website for the Portland International Film Festival for more details. A Town Called Panic An insane surreal stop-motion animated fantasy film featuring toy figurines doing all sorts of things in all sorts of settings. SHOWTIMES Sat, Feb. 20 @ 3:45pm (B3) Sun, Feb. 21 @ 7:45pm (B1) Chameleon [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Bernhard Edmaier's Aerial Photography Is Out Of This World... Posted by: Vivian Hua
  VOLCANIC REMNANT, MAELIFELLSANDUR, ICELAND Bright green moss has colonized a hill in the middle of Maelifellsandur, a black desert of lava and volcanic ash in Iceland. The hill is all what remains of a once active cinder cone, ground down by ice of the nearby retreating Maelifell glacier.   Bernhard Edmaier is an aerial photographer [...]
• 2011 Year-End Respect For Album Cover Art : Fashion, Sculpture & Installation Posted by: Admin
  Our third-annual album cover art feature uses interviews with artists and musicians to highlight the philosophical, thematic, and conceptual significance of great album cover artwork. THE BREAKDOWN    12 Collage + 14 Digital Illustration, Drawing, Design + 19 Illustration, Painting, Drawing + 8 Black And White Photography + 22 Color Photography + 6 Deluxe Packaging [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Asian & Middle Eastern Film Picks Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. You can see all of this year’s coverage HERE. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Prince Rama Band Interview : Utopia Of The Now Age (w/ Manifesto) Posted by: Admin
  

  “Tapping back into symbolic power and the mystical meaning of these things is, I think, a really important practice… on a personal level, it’s just looking at the inner meaning of things more.” – Taraka Larson

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• My Turn At Carmichael Gallery: A Group Show With A Street Art Lean (Curated By Bumblebee) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Up through the end of this week at Carmichael Gallery in Culver City (5795 Washington Blvd.) is a globe-trotting exhibition with a somewhat street art lean. Bumblebee The appearance of materials such as stencils, spraypaint, and unconventional installation materials makes sense when one considers the curator of the show is none other than Los Angeles [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Asian & Middle Eastern Film Picks Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. You can see all of this year’s coverage HERE. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or [...]
• Fumi Nakamura's Our Hands Will Eventually Destroy Everything Beautiful Series Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Our Hands Will Eventually Destroy Everything Beautiful, a new body of work by Japanese illustrator Fumi Nakamura, is the result of a personal period of growth. After a mental breakdown and a year of hiatus from art, Nakamura realized that she needed to leave behind a past of pain and suffering to grow into the [...]
• Grimes - Visions Album Review Posted by: Judy Nelson
  At first blush, Grimes’ latest full-length, Visions, may seem like a trendy dance-pop album. Go a bit deeper, and you’ll see it’s not that easy to describe. The Grimes wave was a bit slow to wash over me at first, but once it did, it engulfed completely, making me incapable of choosing anything else to [...]
• YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN + Swahili Blonde = On The Topic Of "Psych-Opera", Genre-Crossing, Press Hype. Posted by: Vivian Hua
  A post critiquing two female-fronted, genre-hopping experimental bands — and exaggerations. YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN Pitchfork describes YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN as “psych-opera.” Press point yarn. This is not psych-opera, dudes; at least, not in musical style. When in consideration of YT//ST, one is inundated with hype terminology — including the band’s calling themselves “Noh(能)-Wave” [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]

Related: JAPAN

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Asian & Middle Eastern Film Picks Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. You can see all of this year’s coverage HERE. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Documentary Film Preview Guide Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2011 : 02/20-02/26 Closing Week Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  How To Die In Oregon This film does not beat around the bush. Beginning with a terminally-ill cancer patient who dies on camera, How To Die In Oregon explores the sensitive issue of physician-assisted suicide. Directed by Peter D. Richardson – UNITED STATES SHOWTIMES Sun, Feb 20 @ 9:30am (B1) Mon, Feb 21 @ 7:30 [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Latin American & African Film Picks Posted by: Admin
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Artemio Rodriguez Woodcuts And Etchings Recalling Mystical And Morbid Traditions Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The man behind La Mano Press — an artist-run center dedicated to the promotion and appreciation of printmaking — Artemio Rodriguez’s works fall somewhere between old alchemical and biblical illustrations and Mexican folk art. His woodcuts and etchings ring of death and dying and simultaneously of playfulness, making spit-roasted rows of heads look downright adorable, [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Documentary Film Preview Guide Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]

• Seattle International Film Festival 2010 : 05/31-06/06 Week Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This week’s recommended picks! Go to the website for the Seattle International Film Festival for more details. Some Days Are Better Than Others Four Portlanders with different — yet very Portland, Oregon-esque — lives spend their days trying to find meaningful human connections. The sell here is the acting debut of The Shins’ frontman James [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• Temporary Colors By Brice Bischoff + Clouded Rooms by Berndnaut Smilde and Ryan Hopkinson Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Art expertly captured in the most fleeting of moments. European artists Berndnaut Smilde and Ryan Hopkinson manufacture weather for some truly awesome temporary installations.   Berndnaut Smilde Hanging high up in the skies above us, we often forget that clouds are real things made out of materials and circumstances that are very much present in [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: U.S., Canadian, South Pacific Film Picks Posted by: Admin
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Bernhard Edmaier's Aerial Photography Is Out Of This World... Posted by: Vivian Hua
  VOLCANIC REMNANT, MAELIFELLSANDUR, ICELAND Bright green moss has colonized a hill in the middle of Maelifellsandur, a black desert of lava and volcanic ash in Iceland. The hill is all what remains of a once active cinder cone, ground down by ice of the nearby retreating Maelifell glacier.   Bernhard Edmaier is an aerial photographer [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2010 : 02/12-02/14 Weekend Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  This weekend is a big weekend for movie-going consumers in Portland. It’s the first weekend of the Portland International Film Festival, and it’s Valentine’s Day. Here are a few of our recommended picks! About Elly An Iranian drama that explores what happens when a group on a weekend getaway realize that one of their travelers [...]

• Multicultural Sounds: The Do - Tightrope (Janelle Monae Cover), BRAINSTORM (Mdou Moctar Covers) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Multicultural Sounds travels the world for contemporary reinventions of cultural staples.   The Dø – “Tightrope” (Janelle Monaé Cover) Janelle Monaé is one charming lady, and her music for “Tightrope” is the type of spectacle one can watch and re-watch and hardly tire of. French-Finnish duo The Dø have decided to take a stab at [...]
• Colourful Environment Afro-Funk Mixtape (#12) Stream & Download Posted by: Admin
    Download Mixtape (91.1 MB) Stream Mixtape Colourful Environments contains over an hour of West African music, and its title speaks to the mix’s inclusion of everything from boogie funk jamming to psychedelic rock noodling. To deviate slightly from our usual mixtape tendencies, Colourful Environments is available only as a one mp3 download, without descriptions [...]
• West African Masquerade Photos. Posted by: Vivian Hua
  These photos are quite old, but they’re new to me. Photographer Phyllis Galembo takes colorful portraits of individuals in developing countries and captures the richness and beauty in their everyday dress and surroundings. These photos are large-scale color images capturing ritual adornment in Nigeria, Benin and Burkina Faso. Here are my favorites, but you can [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen's Characters Float In Dreamy Atmospheres Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The dream-like figure paintings of Norwegian artist Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen have been so striking to me that the above image has been my Facebook profile picture for the past half year, at least. Uldalen’s blue-tinged characters may be shaded like ghostly apparitions or bloodlet cadavers, but the weightlessness and lightness of spirit they possess seem [...]
• Remix City: 120 Days, (Lots Of) Lindstrom + Bear In Heaven Throwback Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Remix City Sifting through mountains of remix trash so you don’t have to, in an attempt to find the ones that contribute to their originals. Today’s post travels into Nordic territory, with an assortment of electronic jams bearing the handiwork of producer extraordinaire, Lindstrøm. 120 Days Pulsating lights and synths reflect a matrix universe wherein [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• 2011 Year-End Respect For Album Cover Art : Illustration, Painting & Drawing Posted by: Admin
  Our third-annual album cover art feature uses interviews with artists and musicians to highlight the philosophical, thematic, and conceptual significance of great album cover artwork. THE BREAKDOWN    12 Collage + 14 Digital Illustration, Drawing, Design + 19 Illustration, Painting, Drawing + 8 Black And White Photography + 22 Color Photography + 6 Deluxe Packaging [...]

• Novalima Merge Afro And Peruvian Sounds On Upcoming Album Karimba; "Festejo" MP3 Download Posted by: Admin
  “Festejo” from Peru’s Novalima comes from their upcoming album, Karimba, which will be released on January 31st, 2012, on ESL Music. Translating as “Celebration,” “Festejo” is a whipped blend of Afro and Peruvian sounds with modern electronic effects. It’s kind of a celebration, but it’s more a like a tripped out journey that simultaneously sends [...]
• Eugenia Werner Muñoz At Mullu In Peru! Posted by: Vivian Hua
  On a recent trip to Peru, I was keeping my eyes peeled for contemporary Peruvian art, and was lucky enough to stumble across Mullu, a boutique and art gallery in the towns of Cusco and Pisac. One particular artist, Eugenia Werner Muñoz, had some work showing at two of the Pisac shops and, I later [...]

• Beca - Fall Into Light Music Video (w/ Director & Musician Interviews) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  “I like that ['Fall Into Light' is] left open for interpretation. Maybe it means opening opening up yourself enough to see your true self.” - Beca

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Olek Crochets Like Mad. Posted by: Admin
  Olek, born Agata Oleksiak, is a Polish artist who has chosen crocheting as her preferred art medium so that she can simultaneously watch movies and make art. This stuff is borderline (or maybe not so borderline) obsessive compulsive; one can only imagine that she is dreaming about crocheting while sleeping and thinking about it practically [...]

• Loverboy Film Review (2011) Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  Human trafficking is one of those things that it seems the world overall turns a blind eye to. Minus a few well-to-do NGOs and agencies desperately trying to create awareness, each year hundreds of thousands of individuals are illegally trafficked across the globe.  Some are sent for labor, some are sent for other reasons, but [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Best Intentions / Din dragoste cu cele mai bune intentii (2011) Film Review Posted by: George Schaefer
  Directed by Adrian Sitaru, Romania / Hungary Best Intentions has been dubbed part of the categorical oeuvre “Romanian New Wave.” The movie is about the hospitalization of a woman and the coping of her family and friends. I walked a half-hour late into the screening and felt like I didn’t miss anything. The story is [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• Stanislav Markov: A Lush Photographic Universe Presented As Sound Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Though the relationship between sound and moving images is certainly easy to define, the relationship between sound and non-moving art is much more understated, for obvious reasons. Russian photographer Stansislav Markov is the first to work with REDEFINE in an audio-visual experiment of highlighting the musical inspiration that strikes one’s soul just as powerfully as [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]

• San Francisco International Film Festival 2011 : 05/01 – 05/05 Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  If you are looking for films from today, Sunday, the 30th, you can see them here. Below are choice picks for the FINAL week of the San Francisco International Film Festival! Get your butt out there. Full festival details and movie listings here. — American Teacher If you’re an average American, you know that teachers [...]

• Multicultural Sounds: Bonde do Rolê - Kilo, G-Dragon And TOP - Knock Out Music Videos Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Multicultural Sounds travels the world for contemporary reinventions of cultural staples. This post is a miniature celebration of a couple of globe-trotting musician and producer Diplo’s latest works.   Bonde do Rolê Turning genre-mashing into a gun-slinging festivity of high delights are the theatrical Bonde do Rolê, who have a new album coming out later [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Choi Soo-Ang / Choi Xoo-Ang (최수앙) Sculpts Realism Beyond Belief. {NSFW} Posted by: Admin
  When looking at the work of South Korea’s 최수앙 (Choi Xoo-Ang — or Choi Soo-Ang, if you are to use a more typical romanization), one might envision creepily realistic human forms life-sized enough to hug and share sympathies with. It turns out that Choi’s figures are actually tiny resin sculptures worked over meticulously with oil [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part Two Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One Posted by: Vivian Hua
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previews for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see HERE for all film preview coverage, including film [...]
• My Turn At Carmichael Gallery: A Group Show With A Street Art Lean (Curated By Bumblebee) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Up through the end of this week at Carmichael Gallery in Culver City (5795 Washington Blvd.) is a globe-trotting exhibition with a somewhat street art lean. Bumblebee The appearance of materials such as stencils, spraypaint, and unconventional installation materials makes sense when one considers the curator of the show is none other than Los Angeles [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Other Electricities Mixtape (#11) Stream & Download Posted by: Admin
    Download Mixtape (94.9 MB) Stream Mixtape Other Electricities is from Miami, FL. Initially, we launched in Portland, OR in 2006 and before we knew it, we’d traveled around the world in a sense — releasing sounds from international artists. Since we never stuck to one genre over another, our artists not only span the [...]

• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• Black And White Has Never Looked So Good, With Ingo Giezendanner Posted by: Vivian Hua
  [ABOVE] Nieves’ logo, which looks a little bit like McDonald’s Grimace — only much more well-read… Swiss publishing house, Nieves, really knows how to make you drool over a hard-copy art book. Their latest offering is entitled Iskandariyah Skan, and features the work of Zurich-based mixed media and installation artist, Ingo Giezendanner (whose website, it [...]
• SIFF 2011: Checkpoint! Posted by: Allen Huang
  Here’s a peek into what’s coming up at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. You can buy all tickets at www.siff.net. Pinoy Sunday (2010) Taiwan, Directed by Wi Ding Ho It’s The Puffy Chair but in Taiwan. Which makes it better than The Puffy Chair. But not by much. Does mumblecore work in more tonal, [...]
• SIFF 2010 : The Rest of the Fest Film Recaps Posted by: Allen Huang
  And so another year’s Seattle International Film Festival comes to a close. You might be saying “Hey! You only watched like eight movies? What kind of publication is this?!” Tut tut, readers.  We here at Redefine watched a boat load of movies! We just couldn’t find the time/space/wherewithal to write about every single one. But [...]

• MusicfestNW 2011 : Dirty Beaches Live Show Review Posted by: Troy Micheau
  September 15th, 2011 – Dante’s, Portland, OR Alex Zhang Hungtai’s desert-dwelling, sunburnt Suicide jams didn’t really do much for me on his debut LP as Dirty Beaches, but the man’s set at Dante’s on Friday night of MusicfestNW was absolutely mesmerizing in a most bizarre and awesome way. Even now, almost a week later, I [...]
• SIFF 2011: Checkpoint! Posted by: Allen Huang
  Here’s a peek into what’s coming up at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. You can buy all tickets at www.siff.net. Pinoy Sunday (2010) Taiwan, Directed by Wi Ding Ho It’s The Puffy Chair but in Taiwan. Which makes it better than The Puffy Chair. But not by much. Does mumblecore work in more tonal, [...]
• Dirty Beaches - Badlands Album Review Posted by: Erik Burg
  Badlands is the debut output from singer-songwriter Alex Zhung Hai, aka Dirty Beaches. The Vancouver by-way-of China youngster shows an amazing amount of talent on Badlands, crafting songs with an outdated sound, but with the warmth and earnestness of timeless music. The dusty crackles and hiss of a home-recorded album fill the blank space of [...]

• Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two Posted by: Admin
  Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch. Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one [...]
• Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (2011) Film Review Posted by: George Schaefer
  Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan Starring Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel Turkey Once Upon A Time In Anatolia is a film from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, a name some film buffs may recognize. The movie depicts a night-long search for a body in the hills of Anatolia (the Steppe of Eastern Turkey). The [...]
• Portland International Film Festival 2011 : 02/20-02/26 Closing Week Round-Up Posted by: Vivian Hua
  How To Die In Oregon This film does not beat around the bush. Beginning with a terminally-ill cancer patient who dies on camera, How To Die In Oregon explores the sensitive issue of physician-assisted suicide. Directed by Peter D. Richardson – UNITED STATES SHOWTIMES Sun, Feb 20 @ 9:30am (B1) Mon, Feb 21 @ 7:30 [...]

• Family Portrait In Black And White Documentary Film Review (2012) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  In Family Portrait In Black And White, middle-aged single mother Olga Nenya decides to brave social stigmas to foster 17 orphans, many of whom are Ukranian-African. As the film opens, one sees third-party interviews with Ukranian skinheads that immediately couch the film in a setting of acial discrimination. Given the film’s title, its synopsis, and [...]
• SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: Documentary Film Picks Posted by: Peter Woodburn
  The 2012 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 17th, 2012! In the next few days, we will be providing film previes for our top SIFF picks of the year. Times and dates are subject to change, so please visit siff.net before heading to theatres, or see the Docsfest for all documentary films presented.   [...]
• Kvitnu Mixtape (#15) Stream & Download Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  Kvitnu is a high blood pressure music label, started in 2006, based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Many of the musical compositions on this mixtape are influenced by science, mathematics, machinery, and concepts.

Music

• Bleep: Shit Robot, Nicolas Jaar, Carl Craig, Elite Gymnastics, Duke Dumont Posted by: Erik Burg
  Bleep is a weekly column focusing on varying degrees of electronic music news, videos and MP3s. This week we feature the new Shit Robot 12″, a mix from the impeccable Nicolas Jaar, another Carl Craig project to keep track of, and more. Read previous Bleep columns here.   Shit Robot Marcus Lambkin’s debut record From [...]
• Orcas Band Interview: A Balance Of Majestic Forces Posted by: Vivian Hua
  

  “What’s important is being a good person and tending your own garden as responsibly as you can.” - Benoit Pioulard

• Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light Album Review Posted by: Erik Burg
  Huh? The album art for British singer-songwriter J. Spaceman’s newest album Sweet Heart Sweet Light dons a white background, the outline of a stop sign, and the phrase “Huh?” It’s an interesting icon, especially for a man who has made his life’s work dodging media and disrupting critics, all the while releasing some of the [...]

Visual Art

• Mark Powell's Portraits Heap Age Upon Age Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Often by way of the unrefined medium of ballpoint pen, UK artist Mark Powell turns vintage envelopes into portraits of the elderly. His high-contrast black-and-white images find their strength in wrinkles, as though making some sort of meta-commentary about aging faces upon aging trees. Creases separate mouths from noses and stamps and seals make fanciful [...]
• My Turn At Carmichael Gallery: A Group Show With A Street Art Lean (Curated By Bumblebee) Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Up through the end of this week at Carmichael Gallery in Culver City (5795 Washington Blvd.) is a globe-trotting exhibition with a somewhat street art lean. Bumblebee The appearance of materials such as stencils, spraypaint, and unconventional installation materials makes sense when one considers the curator of the show is none other than Los Angeles [...]
• Gnarled, Hellish Forms, From Katie Brookes Posted by: Vivian Hua
  Herein lies the works of London-based artist Katie Brookes, who creates gently-crafted works of intense subject matter! First and foremost, a fair warning: the thin lines of her imagery seem better-suited for an etching on a copper plate, to be studied in real life, than it does for viewing on a digital medium, at low [...]

• Saigon Electric (2011) Film Review Posted by: Vivian Hua
  When director Stephane Gauger prefaced Saigon Electric by requesting that the audience not take it too seriously, I had to wonder what kind of journey I was in for. Turns out, a fairly unpleasant one. This film foray into Vietnamese breakdancing and hip-hop culture serves as a reminder that: 1) Not every film in a [...]