#Matt Christiansen

[justinspoliticalcorner]

DOJ Indicts Russian Nationals in $10 Million Scheme to Spread Covert Propaganda to U.S. Audiences

Brett Meiselas at MeidasTouch:

The Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment charging two Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, with conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and money laundering in a scheme to covertly influence U.S. audiences. Both Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva remain at large, according to the DOJ’s announcement today. The indictment reveals that Kalashnikov, 31, and Afanasyeva, 27, who were employees of Russia's state-controlled media outlet RT, played pivotal roles in funneling nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based online content creation company, referred to in court documents as U.S. Company-1. The content company, unbeknownst to its viewers, was funded and directed by RT to produce pro-Russian videos aimed at American social media users. This company is believed to be TENET Media, who touts right-wing hosts Lauren Southern, Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and others, as part of their roster.

[...] Since its launch in November 2023, U.S. Company-1, believed to be TENET Media, has posted nearly 2,000 videos across platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and X, garnering over 16 million views on YouTube alone. The DOJ notes that while the content appeared to offer commentary on domestic issues, it was aligned with the Russian government's goal of weakening U.S. opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The defendants are also accused of deceiving two U.S.-based online commentators with large followings into producing content for U.S. Company-1 without disclosing RT’s involvement. The DOJ alleges that RT used a fictional persona named “Eduard Grigoriann” to conceal its role as the company’s true financial backer. Within the indictment lies a troubling sequence involving directives from Elena Afanasyeva, alias "Helena Shudra," to manipulate content creation at U.S. Company-1, aiming to tailor videos to specific agendas. Notably, in early 2024, Afanasyeva orchestrated the creation of tailored content that included a video featuring a "well-known U.S. political commentator," who MeidasTouch can identify as Tucker Carlson, during an bizarre visit to a Russian grocery store in which Carlson said he was "radicalized" by how low the prices were in Moscow.

The DOJ handed down indictments to two Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva for violating FARA.

The two helped funnel nearly $10M into creating a right-wing pro-Russia propaganda outfit called TENET Media founded by Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan. TENET Media has right-wing pundits Lauren Southern, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson in their stable.

See Also:

The Guardian: Russia accused of trying to influence US voters through online campaign

Nashville Banner: Nashville Media Company Appears in U.S. Indictment of Russian Propaganda Efforts

Mother Jones: New Indictment Alleges Conservative Media Company Took Millions of Kremlin Cash

[davidaugust]

Being too foolish to realize you are sharing propaganda for the Russians doesn’t make you better than someone who willfully spreads propaganda for the Russians.

Betraying your country is betraying your country, whether or not you were a fool too.

[drakonfire12]

The full thing for anyone who wants to read it, I've heard it's easy to match follower count to tell which accounts is which: dl (justice.gov)

Tenet Media's "Meet the Talent" webpage:

DOJ link:

Edit - Follow up:

[eddies-spaghetti]

dream daddy hyperfixation.. in the year 2024?? more likely than you would think..

[shu-of-the-wind]

there are three famous or kind of famous people that i would fully break down into tears if i ever met in person:

charlie cox (the influence his matt murdock and his daredevil had on me as a person cannot be really measured, tbqh)

hayden christiansen (that's my fucking dad [in a non-parasocial way])

damien haas (literally i just hope he has a good day. he's done so fucking much for me in terms of like. being able to accept and be proud of my autism. it's. i don't even know man.)

[mariacallous]

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice indicted two employees of RT, formerly Russia Today, a Russian state-run media outlet, for covertly shoveling millions of dollars at MAGA influencers happy to do Russia’s bidding.

This has led to the delightful specter of high-profile rightwing commentators loudly insisting they were too stupid to know that Russian money was behind the wildly exorbitant sums they received for producing content.

While watching Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson scramble is hilarious, the indictment is no joke.

Indeed, it confirms that Russia continues to manipulate American politics via willing right-wingers — the exact thing Trumpers have long insisted isn’t happening. 

Russian propaganda through MAGA mouthpieces

The indictment names Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, aka Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, aka Lena, as the RT employees who laundered close to $10 million through foreign shell companies, ultimately raining all that money down on an unnamed American media company, US Company-1, who then passed it along to unnamed commentators 1-6.

Though unnamed, the company and several commentators are easily discernible to anyone paying attention to the rightwing media grift. The company is most definitely Tenet Media, and its founders are most definitely Lauren Chen, who was also at BlazeTV until the indictment dropped and they fired her, and her husband, Liam Donovan.

And the commentators? Tenet’s ridiculous website describes them as “heterodox commentators” and “creators who question institutions that believe themselves to be above questioning.” That would be Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, Lauren Southern, Matt Christiansen, and Tayler Hansen.

Kostya and Lena are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Anyone acting as an agent of a foreign country must register with the attorney general if they are engaged in certain activities, such as politics, on behalf of a foreign country. This ensures the American public doesn’t fall victim to covert foreign influence. The key here is the covert part. There’s no prohibition on publications from foreign governments overtly and transparently attempting to shape American opinion. The idea is just that Americans have the right to know. 

Kostya and Lena are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, as the $10 million they gave to Tenet was sent through a truly staggering maze of shell entities in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. They also lied about what the money being sent to Tenet was for, with the indictment noting that the wire transfers to Tenet often referred to the purchase of electronics rather than paying for media services. The indictment alleges that all that shuffling around of money was done with the intent to violate FARA.

Make FARA Violations Great Again

FARA has been on the books since 1938, but had only been enforced seven times up until 2016. What changed in 2016? Trump. Nothing more, nothing less.

Numerous Trumpworld denizens violated the law by failing to register. Trump’s onetime campaign manager, Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to failing to register as an agent of the Ukrainian government back when Ukraine was controlled by pro-Russian then-president Viktor Yanukovych. Trump’s first national security advisor, Michael Flynn, admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars to work on behalf of Turkey’s government but did not register. Flynn has also taken RT money to the tune of $45,000.

Elliott Broidy, a major Trump fundraiser and the former deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee, pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Malaysia and China, taking millions to covertly lobby the Trump administration on behalf of those countries. Trump, of course, pardoned all three. And earlier this year, the DOJ indicted Barry Bennett and Douglas Watts, both of whom worked on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, for their failure to register and disclose they were lobbying on behalf of Qatar. 

Media companies are exempt from registering if they’re organized under the laws of any US jurisdiction, are at least 80 percent owned by US citizens, are run by US citizens, and are not “owned, directed, supervised, controlled, subsidized, or financed by any foreign principal or agent.”

So, if Tenet had been genuinely financed and controlled by Chen and Donovan, there would be no problem here, even if they had some relationship with RT. The issue is that it appears Tenet was wholly financed by RT in secret, Chen and Donovan knew it, and the RT employees got to shape coverage. 

What was in it for the Russians? Rants like the below one from Pool about how “one of the greatest enemies of our nation right now is Ukraine … we should rescind all funding and financing, pull out all military support, and we should apologize to Russia.” (Video via @DrewPavlou on twitter.)

Besides the fact that laundering pro-Russian, anti-Ukraine content in secret through willing American talking heads allowed Russia to pretend that sentiment was homegrown, RT had another reason for going through Tenet: RT itself was dropped by American cable distributors, banned in Europe, and RT America went out of business in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

The indictment explains that both Chen and Donovan worked directly for RT before this, with Chen having a contract between her unnamed Canadian company and ANO TV-Novosti, RT’s parent organization, and Donovan working directly for RT. Chen incorporated Tenet around January 19, 2022, right as Russia was massing troops on the border of Ukraine. It wasn’t until December 2022 that Chen began negotiating with an entirely fictitious person, Eduard Grigoriann, about launching a new YouTube channel. 

And now we arrive at the part where all of these right-wingers can only get out from under these allegations by claiming they are very dumb.

Dave Rubin and Tim Pool made a fortune from Russia

From the details in the indictment, it’s impossible Chen and Donovan didn’t know their money was coming from Russia via shady means.

First, the Russians, through the imaginary Grigoriann and two other unnamed nonexistent personas, sent Chen a proposed contract run through a Hungarian shell entity as the purported client, a company that had no publicly available website. Later, one of the unnamed personas asked Chen to submit an invoice through a Czech shell company, which at least had a website, albeit one where it ostensibly sold auto parts. Chen later signed another contract sent to her by one of the Russian personas that was an agreement not with Grigoriann, not with the Hungarian shell company, and not with the Czech shell company, but instead with a UK shell entity with no website. 

The indictment makes clear that despite all the shell companies, Chen and Donovan knew their money was coming from the Russians. They also knew that the Russians ran the show, with messages asking the Russians about hiring a producer and the Russian persona approving the hire. Kostya was also presented to Tenet as an outside editor, allowing him to monitor internal communications and edit Tenet content without disclosing he worked for RT. 

Chen then solicited Commentator-1 — Dave Rubin — and Commentator-2 — Tim Pool— to work for the imaginary Eduard Grigoriann, drawing from a shortlist of candidates sent by one of the Russian personas. However, both Rubin and Pool demanded a lot of money. The indictment alleges Rubin wanted close to $5 million per year to create content for Tenet, and Pool wanted “100k per weekly episode to make it worth his while.” Chen warned the Russian persona that it would not be profitable to employ either of them, but the persona responded that they would love to move forward. In other words, Chen knew full well that their backers were willing to throw large sums at right-wingers with no hope of achieving a profitable return, a move that would be very odd for an actual business. 

For a brief moment, it looked like Rubin might have been smart enough not to work for a completely unknown entity with cash to burn. The indictment shows that he inquired more than once about who Eduard Grigoriann was and wanted to know about the company and who he would be working with. However, he did not need much convincing, as there was no particularly robust effort to make Grigoriann’s existence believable.

The Russians created a one-page profile, reproduced in the indictment, with Grigoriann’s alleged career highlights. The profile refers to Grigoriann’s time at an unnamed bank, one which has no record of ever employing him. Additionally, a Google search turned up no results at all for that name in conjunction with the bank, despite the profile saying Grigoriann had high-level private banking and investment roles. 

Despite this shoddiness, Rubin’s only concern was that the profile used the term “social justice,” which he had a problem with because they were trying to create a conservative network.

Rubin ultimately agreed to a monthly fee of $400,000 and a $100,000 signing bonus to produce four videos weekly. Pool got $100,000 per video. Both Rubin and Pool, along with Benny Johnson, are now saying that they are the real victims here and that they were deceived. They’re getting help pushing that talking point from the likes of Marco Rubio, who went on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last night and dismissed the indictment’s revelations about rightwing influencers.

“We're talking about preexisting political opinions in the United States,” Rubio said. “They legitimately believe in the views they're espousing. They were victims." (Watch below.)

But buying that requires believing that at no point did Pool, Johnson, and the others think it odd that a small Tennessee company could pay them six figures per video. Rubin, meanwhile, is apparently able to be convinced of someone’s existence with a one-page fake profile and no other data. 

In conjunction with this, the DOJ sanctioned several Russian individuals and entities, and Putin has already howled that Russia’s response will make “everyone shudder.” It’s all part of the DOJ’s fight against election interference and an open acknowledgment that the Kremlin favors a Trump win. It’s a more aggressive approach, thankfully, than Obama took in 2016, and will hopefully lead us to a better election result this time around.

[rebeccalouisaferguson]

Why is Jessica often seen with her hair covered? Especially in the second movie of course but she does wear a veil in the first too. Is it a Bene Gesserit rule? And if it is, is there an explanation to why? They’re mostly raised to seduce men so modesty doesn’t sound like a high priority.

I'll quote here the costume designer for Dune and Dune: Part Two here, Jaqueline West. As I understand the main point (in the movie) is that the costumes for Benne Gesserits are based on medieval nuns hence the veils.

Lady Jessica goes through a lot in this film after arriving in Arrakis and fleeing to the Sietch. How do her costumes chart her transformation from where we left off in Part One? When we left her in Dune: Part One, she was still in her stillsuit and dessert wrap. When she gets to the Sietch, she starts dressing like the Fremens—in a more humble style with the rougher linen, almost djellaba-esque long gowns, and wrapped veils, all printed by Matt. Once Lady Jessica becomes the Southern Reverend Mother, her face is tattooed over with the prophecy, and her outfits are elaborate but in earthy tones. What went into this collection? Working with sketch artist Keith Christiansen, we started looking at the Egyptian sarcophagi since the Bene Gesserits are ancient nuns or heads of their particular sect. The sarcophagi are so elaborate, and their shapes are quite beautiful and age-old, with magnificent carving in the details. We used many layers of different fabrics—hand-painted velvets, hand-painted silks, and tapestry fabrics. We purchased all the fabrics, mainly from Italy and some from Thailand and Eastern Europe, and pieced them together into these incredible, ornate patchworks. We painted, dyed, and printed them all in-house. What about the elaborate headdresses on Lady Jessica and the other southern Reverend Mothers? The jewelry came from all over the Middle East and North Africa. I had shoppers in bazaars in Istanbul, Morocco, and Egypt. Then, we disassembled them, and my jewelry maker put everything back in a new way to make it look futuristic. We pieced together different necklaces for each of the Reverend Mothers. We took all of that detail from the sarcophagi and made them come alive. Lady Jessica and the southern Reverend Mothers dress differently from the ones we saw in Part One, i.e., Reverend Mother Mohiam’s entourage of Bene Gesserit sisters, who were all in black.  Mohiam comes from the Emperor’s world. You don’t wear black in the desert, or you’re going to bake. These women have navigated for many, many years through the different desert cultures within the Fremen world. I imagined Fremen sects in the south were different from those in Northern Arrakis. Even though they’re all Reverend Mothers, they are on a different planet. So, I wanted to distinguish them with color, but their shapes are very similar. Yes, their silhouettes and head coverings have a similar look. They’re all based on Medieval nuns and the women of the tarot cards, particularly with the Queen of Swords.

[lawbyrhys]

DOJ Indictment: Alleged Russian Funding of Right-Wing Media, Unwitting Commentators

The Justice Department has released a major indictment alleging that top right-wing media personalities have been among the unwitting victims of a Russian operation to influence the 2024 election. Talk about a bombshell case!

Let's break down this major must-know news.

The news comes as court documents reveal that Russian state media has given over $10M USD to Tennessee-based conservative online media entity, Tenet Media. Although unnamed and not directly accused in the indictment, among Tenet's talent roster are Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, Tayler Hansen, Lauren Southern, and Matt Christiansen. An A-list lineup as far as online conservatives are concerned, they collectively pull millions of viewers across various social media channels—their influence is widespread.

Two Russian state media employees have been charged with violating FARA, or the Foreign Agent Registrations Act, along with money laundering. Heavy charges for heavy crimes.

With these payments, Russian state media has been effectively able to get American voices to promote Russian interests as their own values. It's a scary realization as many people, namely the youth in the country, turn to online spaces for their news and information as opposed to the more traditional television and radio media that are more popular with older consumers.

Tenet Media as an entity launched in 2023 and compiles six top US right-wing media personalities to promote their ideology to millions of viewers across the Internet. These commentators, many of whom worked in mainstream media roles before making the switch to the conservative online space, have been tapped by Tener with explicit purpose to join and grow their audiences, thus spreading their far-right views to even larger masses. On its face, that's fine—this is America, and we have explicit protected freedoms to do so. What we don't have the right to do, though, is take illegal payments and follow directions from our adversaries to parrot their ideology as our own via disinformation channels to deceive millions.

That's exactly what this indictment alleges, though. According to the DOJ, Russian state media giant RT paid for and directed the cast over at Tenet Media to platform and promote their own ideology in order to benefit Russian interests. Among the narratives pushed by Tenet's lineup of commentators were that of Donald J. Trump and his presidential candidacy, anti-Ukranian sentiments in the West, and largely anti-LGBTQ standpoints. According to the indictment, the DOJ says these divisive views and narratives act "to weaken U.S. opposition to core Government of Russia interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine."

It's important to note that, while these media personalities and their followers already largely buy into views that align with those of the Russian state, these dealings only act to aid in the ensured platforming and promoting of these ideals in order to ensure they spread as far and wide as possible during this crucial election cycle. The commentators have gone to great lengths to spread these false narratives in order to further Russian ideology's roots in our own political thinking, such as promoting our ally Ukraine as "the enemy," and saying the conflict is on them and "is funded by the Democrats."

As for their stances on the LGBTQ community, Tenet and their talent promote those therein as groomers and predators deserving of hate and oppression. Tim Pool had the following to say about the 2022 attack at LGBTQ+ bar Club Q:

"Club Q had a grooming event. How do prevent the violence and stop the grooming?"

I won't go too much farther into the details here, as it's not necessarily relevant to further spread the ideology, but it's public knowledge, so you can read their hateful thoughts if you want to.

The point is, they are the mouthpiece for Russia.

Interestingly, though, the commentators had no idea that their paychecks and Tenet's overall funding were all being cut by Russian checks. Tenet even lied to at least one of its personalities that a European investor Eduard Grigoriann was, in fact, the one paying everybody's bills. The indictment clarifies this falsehood, though, going on to state that, "in truth and fact, Grigoriann was a fictional persona."

Since the indictment came to light, the media personalities have maintained they knew nothing about the funding or pushed narratives. At least three have been contacted by the FBI for voluntary interviews as victims of a crime, with Pool going on to share the following to X:

"Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show and the contents of the show are often apolitical."

Aside from everything above, the indictment goes on to mention other various "overt shilling" techniques employed by Russian state media on the American people by way of conservative mouthpieces and the impact they have. Further, the indictment discusses in detail the role social media has historically played in the widespread disinformation campaigns led by foreign powers like Russia. Russia, in particular, has a record of employing media personalities, social media bots, and other various techniques in order to infiltrate American movements on both the right and left; the 2016 election is a shining example.

All of that being said, though, it looks like Tenet's reign of terror has come to an end in a way. Tayler Hansen took to X to share the following:

"TENET Media has ended after the DOJ indictment."

Of course, that doesn't mean any of this is over, but it does mean that Tenet itself will no longer be platforming these ideals. Their far-right star commentators, though, likely will continue at it. The rest will have to be shaken out in court.

What do you think of this case? Let me know!

[charyou-tree]

Although the company isn’t listed in the indictment, context clues reveal it is most likely Tenet Media. “On its website, U.S. Company-I describes itself as a ‘network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues’ and identifies six commentators— including Commentator-I and Commentator-2—as its ‘talent,’” the indictment alleges. On YouTube, Tenet Media describes itself as “a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.” Its homepage highlights six commentators: Rubin, Johnson, Pool, Southern, as well as Tayler Hansen and Matt Christiansen. The indictment also highlights one of the founders of Tenet, Lauren Chen, claiming she worked to deceive the commentators about the funding of the group. Chen is listed as a contributor on Russia Today’s site, which is mentioned in the indictment.

Another russian propaganda outlet, started on American soil. This is just one that got caught, its a lot harder to track down the armies of trolls and bots on social media.

[wimpydave]

Cori Bush OUSTED | Matt Christiansen

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Kaplan at MMFA:

Rumble — an extreme right-wing video-sharing platform that has boasted Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance as an investor — has promoted multiple videos in its “editor picks“ section from Tenet Media, a right-wing media operation allegedly funded by the Russian government to spread propaganda. On September 4, a federal indictment was unsealed that alleges “a Tennessee-based online content creation company" received “nearly $10 million from employees of Russia Today (RT), a Russian state-backed media company.” Reporting has subsequently identified the content creation company as Tenet Media, which employed prominent MAGA influencers. Attorney General Merrick Garland said it was part of “a scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging.” The indictment also alleges that the founders of Tenet Media, right-wing influencer Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan, were aware of their funding source and that RT staff was “involved in the firm’s editorial efforts.” 

YouTube removed Tenet Media and Chen’s channels following the indictment, saying the action was part of the platform’s “ongoing efforts to combat coordinated influence operations.” Tenet Media also reportedly shut down. As of publication of this article, Tenet Media and its content are still available on Rumble.  A Media Matters review also found that Rumble promoted Tenet Media multiple times in recent months, featuring videos from the company’s channel in its “editor picks” section. In its source code, the platform describes its “editor picks” section as “the absolute real best” of Rumble.

Right-wing YouTube alternative Rumble repeatedly promoted TENET Media content in their “editor picks” section.

[theeverlastingshade]

Diamond Jubilee- Cindy Lee

The most fervently discussed indie rock success story of the year so far being a double album of gauzy pop songs that sound gleefully out of step with the current moment from a beloved cult artist who’s been honing their craft over the course of a decade with several strong, but immensely overlooked records was not something I would’ve predicted going into the year, but here we are. For those who aren’t terminally online music obsessives, here’s where things are: a guitarist and vocalist named Patrick Flegel was once in a brilliant but short lived art-damaged post-punk band called Women with his brother/bassist Matt, guitarist Christopher Reimer, and drummer Mike Wallace. Women released two excellent, extremely influential records (their self-titled debut and Public Strain, respectively) before Reimer tragically passed away in 2012, effectively ending the band. Matt and Mike formed a more immediate but still fairly corrosive sounding post-punk band called Viet Cong (now known as Preoccupations) with guitarists Scott Munro and Daniel Christiansen while Patrick went solo, adopting a drag persona called Cindy Lee. As Cindy Lee, Patrick eschewed the nervy, overt post-punk sensibilities of Women and tapped into the more understated melodic, psych-light side of their sound. Over the course of six records, Cindy Lee explored an approach that sounded something like hypnagogic Motown and doo-wop music occasionally cut with shards of lacerating noise. On their latest record, the behemoth, borderline overwhelming Diamond Jubilee, the harsh sonics of records past have eroded to make room for a much warmer, approachable palette. It’s the most accessible and impressive Cindy Lee record to date, and a rare record that deserves all the hype that it’s received.

Flegel has never made a bad Cindy Lee record, but the vast terrain and consistent brilliance of DJ is something particularly special. These 32 songs are cut from the classic pop songbook, but true to Lee’s ambitious form, they fold psychedelic pop, glam rock, blues, lo-fi rock, r&b, and even a little synth-pop into their sharp frameworks. The songs range from 1 to 6 minutes (most are around 3), and on each one Lee fleshes out a compelling idea and cuts out before anything wears its welcome. There’s a haunted, dreamlike sensibility that courses throughout these songs that can’t help but recall records like Panda Bear’s Person Pitch or Deerhunter’s Weird Era Cont., and like those records you can hear the ghosts of pop music’s past conjured through a distinctly 21st century sensibility. The reverb-laden scaffolding on display throughout DJ only accentuates the timeless allure of this music, while the lo-fi production imbues the music with a charming, home-spun feel that’s only reinforced by the potent melodies that emerge like they’re going out of fashion. That’s not to say Lee hasn’t demonstrated a knack for melody before (most of Lee’s work is very tuneful despite the persistent undercurrent of noise music) but the absence of pervasive dissonance really opens things up. Many of the record’s highlights, like “Baby Blue”, “Glitz”, and “Kingdom Come”, are propelled by vocal melodies so commanding and undeniable they already feel like pop staples from several decades ago. Lee sings with both a lower, borderline monotone sort of inflection as well as a higher-pitched warbled plea, but her voice is far more expressive than those sort of descriptions suggest, and she works extremely well within her vocal parameters. Like with all great pop music, the seemingly effortless poise that Lee performs this music with belies the ingenuity of its construction.

Flegel hasn’t provided any interviews, discussed the record’s thematic intent, or done anything else that scans as the playing the music industry game within the midst of “album cycle mode”, and as such there’s very little to go off of as to what these songs “mean”. From what I can gather from the lyrics, DJ is essentially a collection of love songs, but on the other side of the relationship coin after the connection in question has withered and died, assuming it ever even existed at all. Words like “I”, “you”, “baby”, and “memory” dot the lyric sheets like reoccurring motifs that establish something of a thematic through line tethering the ethereal presentation to something resembling the reality we live in. Some songs like the breezy downtempo ”To Heal This Wounded Heart” lay it all out plainly “I will never brush it off/The hurt, the pain, and the loss/I’ll make a brand new start/To wound this broken heart” while others like trudging, soulful sour ballad “Til’ Polarity’s End” deal in more obtuse imagery “There won’t be a tomorrow/When I see my pony’s gone/I will steal or borrow/Til’ polarity’s end”, but the palpable sense of loss remains an omnipresent north star. Even instrumentals like the chugging, string-laden disco strut of “Olive Drab” or the creeping, jangly march of “Darling of the Diskoteque” are immensely expressive showcases of longing in their own respective rights, and they each convey just as much emotional urgency as anything with lyrics here. It’s a welcome change of pace to listen to an artist who doesn’t feel the need to overexplain every facet of their craft and the specific read that you’re supposed to glean from their work, and instead simply let the music itself do the heavy lifting.

Despite DJ’s 32 song tracklist, there aren’t really any misfires or particularly lackluster songs, but there are plenty of highlights that are worth giving some special attention to. The majority of the arrangements on DJ were recorded by Flegel, with several contributions from Steven Lind of Freak Heat Waves (who have toured with Lee) which speaks to the simultaneously distinctive flavor of a few of these songs as well as the uniform excellence coursing through it all. DJ runs the sonic gamut as an all-encompassing greatest hits showcase of Flegel’s mastery of the love song, and so naturally your mileage is going to vary with regards to what lanes he works best in, but I truly believe that there’s something for everyone who can tolerate the fidelity here. Almost right out of the gates “Glitz” presents Lee at her rollicking, ramshackle best, with strutting glam guitar, queasy piano, and perhaps her most anthemic vocal turn to date. There are songs like “Deepest Blue” and “All I Want Is You” that slow the arrangements to a crawl and luxuriate in Flegel’s tender vocal melodies, and songs like “Baby Blue” and “Flesh and Blood” that are nimble classic rock workouts that showcase Flegel’s intuitive, expressive guitar playing. The most potent/purest distillation of the whole Cindy Lee ethos is achieved on highlight “Kingdom Come” courtesy of its squealing strings, jangly guitar stabs, cantering rhythm, playful field recordings, and stunning doo-wop vocal melody that all congeal into absolute sonic bliss. Nothing on DJ really indulges in the abstract, avant-garde leaning sensibilities that helped define the earlier Cindy Lee records, with the closest that Lee gets here maybe being the droning low-end strut that propels the tastefully goth-tinged dirge “Lockstepp”, but it’s still within the context of what is ultimately, at its core, still pop music, albeit unabashedly left-of-center pop music.

Although DJ consists of what is easily the most accessible Cindy Lee music to date, it isn’t without its own set of hurdles. In conjunction with the actual music being completely out of step with current trends, DJ also isn’t on streaming services, and can only be accessed as a single sonic slab on YouTube or on Geocities.com (which looks like a crudely constructed website retrofitted with online aesthetics from the 90s that’s absolutely going to scam you) where you can stream the music for free or buy it for the suggested donation of $30. On the flipside, DJ is very much tapped into the current moment in its presentation of 32 songs and over 2 hours of music that hang together better as a playlist than a cohesive album, but unlike the glut of streaming age releases with bloated track lists constructed to juice streaming numbers (not a factor with DJ, obviously) with seemingly very little concern given to the overall aesthetic being constructed, the sprawl of DJ is an inspired move in and of itself. Flegel has discussed how DJ is likely to be the final Cindy Lee record, and as such he set about to essentially treat this as the de-facto clearing of the vault/final batch of songs under the Cindy Lee banner that he had been working on throughout the last several years. And while there isn’t really an “album arc” on DJ per say, that sort of thing is entirely beside the point here. DJ unfolds like a greatest hits compilation beamed in from another dimension, a lo-fi hypnagogic Motown record with blemishes and quirks that are very much part and parcel of its charm. Despite how normalized “extended cut” records have become, the generosity of the music on DJ has no real modern equivalent and is refreshing for reasons far beyond the actual sound of the music itself.

The remarkable success of DJ isn’t likely going to be indicative of any larger, imminent shifts in music sensibilities, taste, presentation, or distribution so much as it seems to largely speak to a specific cultural (albeit perhaps somewhat niche) craving for music with its own distinctive character and voice, free from the constraints of labels and the demands of the market place writ large. Even in the wake of this immense surge in attention, Flegel still cancelled the bulk of what was initially billed as the “last Cindy Lee tour”, leaving the future of Flegel’s artistry in an uncertain, limbo-esque state for the foreseeable future despite still being in the immediate wake of a career sustaining breakthrough that increasingly feels like a true anomaly for artists who aren’t supported by the major label industrial complex. While the vast majority of contemporary music being released is still going to land on streaming services and adhere to conventional rollouts with the usual pomp and circumstance for the foreseeable future, I’d like to think that, at the very least, DJ, and the entirety of Flegel’s body of work as Cindy Lee will serve to inspire countless DIY musicians in the same way that Women inspired countless DIY musicians after them. Regardless of the what’s next for Flegel, if this really is the end of the Cindy Lee project then it’s hard to ask for a more spectacular finale than a double LP of the greatest lo-fi FM radio hits that never were, rendered in all this spectral, sepia-toned splendor.

Essentials: “Kingdom Come”, “Baby Blue”, “Lockstepp”

[gaetano-zaccone-dj]

Calling all Deep Melodic Techno and Progressive House aficionados! Prepare to have your minds blown and your souls soothed with Podcast 320. This meticulously crafted mix is designed to take you on an unforgettable sonic adventure, where deep melodies intertwine with driving rhythms. Get ready to be captivated and let the music move you. Share your experiences in the comments below - your feedback is like a pat on the back and helps us continue creating mind-blowing mixes. So, what are you waiting for? Press play and let's get lost in the depths of electronic bliss!

Tracklist: Miracle - RÜFÜS DU SOL Remix Adriatique, WhoMadeWho, RÜFÜS DU SOL

Contrary To (Extended Mix) Vicissu, Satya-Loka

Lovefool Juan Yarin

Get On (Extended Mix) ANUQRAM

Try David Museen, Erik Christiansen

First Blush Marc Romboy & Oniris

Blue Nights Joseph Ray

Teardrops (Don't Stop The Music) (Echonomist Remix) Agoria, NOEMIE, Rami Khalifé

Under Your Disguise - Instrumental (78503) Matt Fax

The Death of Michael Corleone (Extended Mix) Passenger 10

melodichouse #progressivehouse #melodictechnomusic #melodictechnomix #djset

[youaresoartdeco]

February 2024

Mientras Duermes * (2011), dir. Jaume Balagueró Senior Year * (2022), dir. Alex Hardcastle Te doy mis ojos * (2003), dir. Icíar Bollaín No habrá paz para los malvados * (2011), dir. Enrique Urbizu El Conde * (2023), dir. Pablo Larraín The Roommate * (2011), dir. Christian E. Christiansen Truman * (2015), dir. Cesc Gay Scream V * (2022), dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillet Texas Chainsaw Massacre * (2022), dir. David Blue García Barbie * (2023), dir. Greta Gerwig Call Me by Your Name (2017), dir. Luca Guadagnino La vida mancha * (2003), dir. Enrique Urbizu Layer Cake * (2004), dir. Matthew Vaughn Sólo Química * (2015), dir. Alfonso Albacete Es por tu bien * (2017), dir. Carlos Therón Non mi uccidere * (2021), dir. Andrea De Silca

First time watching it ( * )

[selfshipping-haven]

now that that's out of my system, i raise the hayden christiansen as shadow and raise you matt lander as shadow