#i’m at sxsw and having a great time

[boy-zone]

hi did you guys know that local music is incredibly fun and good?

[saintmeghanmarkle]

She is incapable of learning lessons in life. by u/Technical_Ant_7466

She is incapable of learning lessons in life. The ILBW has once again bought her way to the spotlight. Yes that’s right, she’s back.MEMEME has bought herself a keynote speakership at SXSW .Prepare for the brag fest, the word salads, the nauseating virtue signalling. The completely clueless feminist , with her crappy personality and reputations will once again feed her super-sized egos ,and even bigger head.Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the ScreenOn March 8th the faux feminist will find herself in Austin Texas 2024, a scenario she hasn’t thought through. She’ll be sharing the stage with women who are truly accomplished.Let’s face it, simply put, she’s been a gold digger her entire life. Her history shows she gets into a relationship with another person primarily for money. Every major relationship she’s had has been for money, more than for love or emotional attraction. If the ILBW had an ounce of decency, she’d get on stage and tell her true history & how she’s used men throughout her life, from her father to her present dimwitted husband. END OF. TRUTHFUL, and SHORT.If she had introspection she’d be uncomfortable standing beside her opponents, whose bios are brief but who have accomplished a great many things on the journey of success. The bio is filled with, what I call fillers. The ILBW’s bio reads like an essay, embellished , while she takes sole credit for the work of a teams she’s worked with.She misrepresents her work with her me-me- me attitude which is disturbing. With these boasts she has clearly crossed the line. Over-claiming credit is something that she gets away with all the time. Just before she met dimwit, the Wikipedia moderators would not let herself be called a humanitarian.Brooke really is a successful businesswoman, a captain navigating Hollywood.The accomplished actress and model, Brooke Shields will be poised and her confident charm will only heighten the ILBW’s unease. Katie Couric is just like the ILBW, so she may play nice because she’s on the misinformation panel, with Harry at the Aspen Institute, or play nasty because she’s aware of the witches antics.A few years ago she appeared on a panel with Mellody Hobson, the wife of George Lucas and the co -CEO of Ariel investments.https://ift.tt/DitFm3v that panel, the ILBW’s demeanor faltered. Her mask cracked, revealing an amateur struggling in the shadows of her accomplished counterpart. Mellody, with her mastery of facts, figures, and pragmatic solutions, stood in stark contrast to the ILBW’s offering — a buffet of psychobabble and "me" talk.https://ift.tt/wMhXFO9 was, a spectacle. The subtle cringes, the evident discomfort, all demonstrated the ILBW wrestling with her limitations .Will the same discomfort, the same silent acknowledgment of inadequacy, surface as the ILBW finds herself flanked by women who outshine her? I sure hope so.I predict ppl won’t listen or may not even attend. ( Deep down, I’m hoping she’s booed off stage).I can feel the tension from a distance. It’s a clash between glamour and substance, where accomplishments and grace became the true protagonists, and the story of a d- list actress who is loathed the world over.This will be one of the ILBW’s cringiest moments, playing out comparisons , which will definitely be made-NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE ILBW.Whose fault is that? Megamouth. She can’t stay quiet , & is desperate for relevancy.Good luck with that witch. We can’t under or un hear your jealousy, lies and vitriol.I’m sure you’ll be as insufferable as ever. post link: https://ift.tt/Vb2rT5a author: Technical_Ant_7466 submitted: March 07, 2024 at 10:42PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit Disclaimer: All views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments or reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[doomedandstoned]

WARLUNG Reveal New Music Video “29th Scroll 6th Verse”

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Artwork by Laura Bennett

There's no denying the deep, groovy, doomy heavy rock vibe of WARLUNG on their new music video, airing the first single from their upcoming 5th studio album, 'The Poison Touch' (2025). Lyrics draw upon moments from the original Planet of the Apes movie (I'm talking the one from way back in '68), scripted by classic Twilight Zone writer Rod Serling:

Beware the beast man, for he is the devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Ye, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him. Drive him back into his jungle lair. For he is the harbinger of death.

This screed was preserved in the Apes' sacred scripture, "29th Scroll 6th Verse," which is the title of this album-closer. Its truth is self-evident, generation after generation, bringing chills when you hear the words: "No way out..."

"This is an ode to classic sci-fi," the band explains. "The song warns against the destructiveness of human nature. It’s an interpretation of the Law Giver’s sacred scriptures from The Planet of the Apes lore."

Warlung's forthcoming 8-tracker is bursting with energy, made immediately recognizable by the distinctive two-vocalist approach of axemen George Baba and Philip Bennet that deliver some truly effective choruses, with delicious guitar harmonies, hell-yeah solos, and poignant riffs, backed by the stalwart and inventive rhythm section of Chris Tamez (bass) and Ethan Tamaz (drums). These two brothers bring dramatic punch to "29th Scroll, 6th Verse," making its message all the more gripping.

You can pre-order The Poison Touch starting today on Heavy Psych Sounds, with the release date slated for February 14th on multiple variants of vinyl as well as compact disc and digital (get it here). Mixed and mastered by Travis Weatherred of fellow Houston band Fostermother, whose recent album Echo Manor was lauded in these pages.

Warlung's tight, highly-charged sound and earnest vocals possess the stage, making them a must-see live, and I know Europe will be pumped to see them in the new year.

Give ear...

SOME BUZZ

Warlung is a Texas band formed by longtime friends and brothers in 2016. Their sound is an ode to classic rock and modern metal, mixing heavy riffs and catchy melodies with a psychedelic twist.

After self-releasing their debut album “Sleepwalker” in 2017, they quickly gained a cult following around Texas, opening for bands like Wo Fat and Dead Meadow. The band seemed to accept that they don’t have to stick to traditional themes and goes for more epic storytelling, helping to further expand their sound.

They wasted no time and returned to the studio to release “Immortal Portal” in 2019, becoming a local favorite to support bands such as High Reeper and King Buffalo. The band promoted their unique sound. playing notable festivals End Hip End It Fest, SXSW, Stoner Jam, Lone Star Unleashed and Ripplefest. They are renowned for their pneumonic rage, utilizing elements of true doom, stoner rock and occult-driven blues.

After signing with Heavy Psych Sounds to release “Optical Delusions” in 2020 and “Vulture’s Paradise” in 2022, they embarked on their first European tour in early 2023. Their wicked riffs, dream-like vocals and sinful solos subdue the listener into a deep state of fantasia. Touring sporadically, they continued to be included on lineups of Desert Rock Fest, Seismic Summer, and Heavy Psych Sounds Fest, sharing the stage with High on Fire, Truckfighters, Bongzilla, Weedeater, Windhand, and Brant Bjork.

Warlung is set to release their fifth studio album entitled, “The Poison Touch” and preparing for another European tour in early 2025.

'The Poison Touch' (2025) delves deeper into atmosphere while maintaining the gritty undertone that defines us. From start to finish, the listener is blasted with in-your-face raw energy while simultaneously feeling like a hauntingly beautiful experience. This record captures the essence of our live sound while exploring new realms, serving as both a continuation and evolution of our style.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[emilieautumnarchives]

Keeping Austin Wierd!! or Some Borders Are Meant To Be Crossed…

Posted: March 23, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Well, well, well…what happens when goth girls and comedians unite? Floods and earthquakes, that’s what!

Or just a lot of drunkenness, refusals of invitations to urinate on people, multiple chocolate cakes, hyperventilation, sweet sweet metal, and enough laughter to make your face hurt for a very long time and halt those suicidal thoughts for at least three hours.

SXSW: home to a million bands whom I did not see because why? Because I was drinking with YOU! That’s right, you. You know who you are, you beautifully intoxicated brethren of Austin.

Originally, I was merely going to SXSW to burn things and hopefully get arrested with friends from Adult Swim:Cartoon Network.

But I ended up onstage playing the “Kaftka: Rock Opera” from Home Movies with my “great pal” and fellow goofball, Brendon Small. Which was odd, because the first thing I’d ever seen on HM was that particular episode years ago, and I think I tuned in just in time to say to myself “what the fuck is this? someone’s skimmed through Metamorphosis!”…but nothing could have rocked harder than having the honor of doing the fancypants-licks in the DETHKLOK theme song. DETHKLOK is a new show coming soon on the Swim, a cartoon about a death metal band, and I was pleased to join co-creators Brendon and Tommy onstage to accompany them on my shredolin and be “metal slut,” a part I think I’m particularly well-suited for.

Pictured here: Brendon and Tommy drink their pre-show nerves away with Dave from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Sure, it’s water, guys…sure.

I have another method of warmup, and it involves proving just how sexy being double jointed can be. It’s working right? Right?

This guy seemed to like it:

After a bit of gear checking (thanks Troy D!!!), we were ready to ROCK!

Brendon and Tommy start things off, warming up their voices to some delightfully nasty language. I’m so trying that next show.

I had thought it would be funny if I were introduced as some goth chick they found strung out in their hotel room when they arrived in TX. I was too busy looking metal to hear what they actually said, but I’m sure it was something at least as unflattering.

And here I come:

And here we go, performing the DETHKLOK theme song from a very diagonal angle:

Look at that shred, his bloody guitar’s on fire…murder!!

If you’ve seen my show, you know that I spend more time on the ground than I do standing upright. And I’ve got the scars to prove it.

Dave comes up to do a bit involving the Aqua Teen characters, including an interview with “Carl”…awesome…

The DK gentlemen were brilliant, awesome, inspiring, and I tried my very best to stay in “metal bitch” character, but it was tough when all I wanted to do was laugh and roll around on the floor. They did a bunch of songs from the show, including a metalized coffee jingle which went over particularly well (do you folks like COFFFEEEEEEEEE!!!!!).

And finally, at the show’s end, having a shred-off during the Kaftka piece.:

After the show with my new best friend, Keith “Fuckin’ A!” Crofford, Adult Swim’s illustrious producer:

There happened to be a band playing before us called The Black Irish (and may I thank you gentlemen for giving that phrase new meaning for me…) in which was a lovely fiddler boy called Mark, but we’ll just call him “Mark” to protect the guilty. After the show, it was decided that “Mark” and I should have a fiddle-off, and it went something like this:

I’d now like to leave you with perhaps the best picture in the world. That’s right, this beautiful poster that we saw while strolling around the town, weaving our way between look-alike indie rockers and buying Cannibal Corpse posters just because we could. Note the composition. Note the boy with the gun. Note the beautifully placed gum on the boy’s hat. Note that funky owl. Note the Kristofferson. And take this away with you, my sweet friends, in all seriousness. “Some borders ARE meant to be crossed.” But for scientifically experimental purposes only…

[photo missing]

With all my sweetest metalCakes,

Your EA

ps Thank you so much David B. for the photos!

[themovieblogonline]

"Hacks" Season 3 Premiere Is SXSW Smash

The Premiere of season 3 of “Hacks” (HBO Max) took place at noon on March 9th at SXSW. It was truly an audience of devoted fans. The feeling in the Paramount Theater was equal parts anticipation and shared enthusiasm--- not always the case at SXSW. Everyone present knew they were in for a great time, although there was a remark about how it was pretty early in the day for comedy. Saturday, March 9th in Austin, Texas, both Smart and Einbinder were at SXSW in person. Both looked great. Smart got a standing ovation. SEASON 2 At the end of season two, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) fired Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder).  Deborah reassured Ava that the firing would be good for Ava’s comedy writing career. It is quite clear that the separation has hurt Ava more than it has hurt Deborah. You feel that Deborah is a mother figure for Ava; Ava feels abandoned. Of course, there was the unfortunate spilling of Deborah Vance's stories to a journalist and the lawsuits last season. But, never fear, the dynamic duo is back together again in season three’s nine episodes. The viewership for season two’s first episode increased +125% over the first episode of season one. It isn’t difficult to understand why if you’ve seen the show. It is top-notch. There are more laughs per episode in “Hacks” than in any other comedy on the air. That is due in no small part to Jean Smart’s savvy portrayal of veteran comedienne Deborah Vance, a part she seems to have been born to play. Jean Smart is only the second female---Betty White was the first--- to win an Emmy in all three categories: leading actress in a comedy, supporting actress in a comedy, and guest star in a comedy series. Glen Weldon of NPR said, “I don’t know if the role of Deborah Vance was written for Smart, but she certainly makes it seem like it was.” SERIES SUCCESS Smart took home the Emmy for the leading actress in a comedy series two years in a row, 2021 and 2022. Hannah Einbinder is also great and has earned nominations for her work as Deborah’s sidekick. Hannah is the daughter of SNL original cast member Laraine Newman. The comic chemistry and timing the two bring to the screen is a magical part of the success of “Hacks.” The series won the Emmy, a Peabody award, a Critics’ Choice award, the DGA, SAG, WGA, and GLAAD awards. SERIES SIZZLE “Hacks’” wardrobe department makes it clear that glitter is back. There hasn't been this much glitz everywhere since Disco died. I noticed the increase in sparkly clothes worn by average concert-goers here in Austin. Check out the wardrobe for “Hacks.” You’ll get the idea in the opening sequence for series three. We see a tall woman in a dazzling bejeweled long coat walking confidently into a casino. (Check the trailer for that glimpse.) I’m sure everyone in the theater this Saturday afternoon thought it was Deborah Vance making her entrance. It wasn’t. SMART’S RESUME From finding that Jean Smart has been a Type I diabetic since the age of 13 to learning that she lost her husband of 30 years, Richard Gilliland, in March of 2021, it’s been discovery week for me looking back at Jean Smart’s storied career. Delay-wise, there was the writers’ strike, the heart procedure, and the 2 years off television for “Hacks.” It’s hard to feel the funny when negative things impact you. But veteran character actor Jean Smart is a trooper. She was one of television’s “Designing Women” (1986-1991). She appeared in episodes of “Frasier,” “Fargo,” “Watchtower” and, more recently, in 7 episodes of “Mare of Eastwick.” Recently, Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) cast her in  “Babylon” as Elinor St. John, a gossip columnist based on Hedda Hopper and Luella Parsons. In “Hacks” Smart plays a veteran comedy based on such pioneering comedy greats as Joan Rivers, Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Elayne Boosler, Rita Rudner, Paula Poundstone, and Carol Burnett. SCHEDULE “Hacks” has been off the air for two years, leaving those of us who are true fans wondering if it was ever coming back. Didn’t it get renewed? The writer’s strike was given as one of the reasons that the absence was so lengthy. Furthermore, in February (2023) Jean Smart announced, via her Instagram account, that she had had “a heart procedure.” Even now, one department of “Hacks” has supposedly shut down while awaiting her complete recovery. The woman is 73, after all, and enjoying an unparalleled career resurgence. CONCLUSION The plan for season three is to air the Premiere episode (which is great) on HBO on May 3rd and then show two episodes a week until the Finale on May 30th. This season there will be guest stars like Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, Christopher Lloyd, George Wallace, and Tony Goldwyn. As for what the season holds, said writer Lucia Aniello, “I think there’s maybe a chasm between where they are respectively, in terms of their points-of-view of each other. I think it really brings up a lot because they are so obviously invested in each other.” And we, the audience, are so obviously invested in Deborah and Ava.       Read the full article

[ncisfranchise-source]

At this year's SXSW, Wilmer Valderrama stopped by the Collider studio to talk with Collider's Steve Weintraub. During the interview, Valderrama talked about his multifaceted career in film and television, his new podcast, and Latin culture. The renowned actor is well-known for his parts in hit TV series, including That '70s Show (Fez), NCIS, the sci-fi series Minority Report, in which he played Will Blake, and Quentin Tarantino's first original series, From Dusk Till Dawn, where he plays the lead antagonist, Carlos Madrigal.

To kick off the one-on-one interview, Valderrama shares his experience as an actor, both the highs and lows, and how fortunate he is to have scored such big roles in the industry.

“I mean, as you know, we've heard all the stories, it's a difficult roller coaster that you embark on, and we always have these conversations like, you know, the high seasons, the dry seasons, you know, there's a lot, there's a lot that goes into the fact that some things get trending and some things don't meet pop culture, you know, and then you, you have to kind of navigate what's the next opportunity, what's your strength within that moment in pop culture. I've been very, very lucky that I've had the support of a lot of colleagues that I've been able to partner up and do things that, you know, create ripples. I think I've been very fortunate to, to kind of pick some projects that, you know, have prevailed, that have done some pop-cultural things."

Valderrama then goes on to discuss more on his brand-new podcast, My Cultura Network, where he speaks about Latin culture analytics and his rationale for wanting to pursue his new endeavor.

“You think about the all the analytics and all the new data that explains that the Latino community is not only a fast-growing, you know, population, but, but has been one of the most consistent and, and really, you know, mass movements when it comes to who goes to the movies every weekend, who watches television live, who clicks who, who streams, and you know, when you start hearing that the Latino community has been at times in many studies you’ll see that the Latino community has almost 70% of the box office sales every weekend, every first weekend. In a sense, they are the ones who immediately react to the content and actually show up with their families, and they support the content.”

In addition, Valderrama discussed joining NCIS in Season 14, his return as Fez on That ‘90s Show, how he owns That ‘70s Show’s vista cruiser, and so much more. You can either watch the conversation in the player above, or read it below.

Wilmer Valderrama On the Start of His Career In the Entertainment Industry

COLLIDER: How are you doing today, sir?

WILMER VALDERRAMA: I’m doing great. I’m doing great, really happy to keep the light on with the stuff that I like to do, you know? So yeah, I’m happy to talk to you! We always have great conversations.

Yeah, well remember you said this and in about 15 minutes we’ll see if you still agree.

VALDERRAMA: “Boxers or briefs!” [Laughs] “Breifs, Jesus Christ.”

We talked in the hallway before we got started, but one of the things is that to make a living as an actor in Hollywood… to get cast in anything is winning the lottery. But to maintain a career, it’s very, very difficult. What has it been like for you on this journey which started when you were a senior in high school? And to maintain it your whole life?

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, it’s nothing short of a blessing. As you know, we’ve heard all the stories. It’s a difficult rollercoaster that you embark on. We always have these conversations of like “the high seasons, the dry seasons,” you know, there’s a lot that goes into the fact that some things get trendy, and some things don’t meet pop culture. You have to kind of navigate what’s the opportunity, what’s your strength in that moment in pop culture. You know, I’ve been very, very lucky that I’ve had the support of a lot of colleagues that I’ve been able to partner up and do things, you know, create ripples, but it’s a great question. I think I’ve been very fortunate to pick some projects that have prevailed, that have done some pop culture and other things. I’d also want to say, not to sound too traditional about it, but the fact that my fans, my supporters, show up every time that I do something… I mean, it keeps me employed. Let’s keep it real.

Wilmer Valderrama Talks Pop Culture, Podcasts, and Representation

I know you’re involved with podcasts like iHeart My Cultura Network, so talk a little bit about your relationship with them and why it matters to you to be a part of this.

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, no, it matters in so many ways like you think about all the analytics and the new data that explains the Latino community is not only a fast-growing population, but has been one of the most consistent and really, mass movements when it comes to who really goes to the movies every weekend? Who watches television live? Who clicks, who streams? So when you start hearing that the Latino community has been (at times) in many studies, in many polls that have been saying that the Latino community has almost 70% of the box office every weekend. Every first weekend. In a sense, they are the ones who immediately react to content and actually show up with their families to support the content.

You start thinking like, well, it doesn’t reflect on the screen, it doesn’t reflect on that, and then you start thinking what other pioneering places can you venture and create a narrative that’s obtainable for that culture to see themselves, unapologetically, with their cultural selves. I think the podcasting universe is something that is incredibly fascinating. It’s still uncharted territory when you really think about it. It’s still one of the purest forms of entertainment and opinion, where you can go out there and not only be yourself, but you really dream it the way you want to dream it. There’s not a lot of people making decisions on behalf of that content. If it’s entertaining, it will actually make it on the air, so coming full circle to it, iHeart and I made a partnership, and we launched a network, My Cultura Podcast Network. We’re curating beautiful mainstream stories that invite every other culture, but it just so happens that the voices are Latinx.

I have this conversation with movie producers and studio people all the time. That the numbers for the Latin community that go to movie theaters is just a huge number and the audience is criminally underserved.

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, I mean, and look, very rarely you have a place where you can create a new frontier, where you can somehow tailor it or construct and build a destination where a culture can cultivate their stories and see themselves. The tsunami of stories will not lie about how reflective of the American experience it is. Actually, we hope that through a lot of these podcasts, people can see how much we have in common with one another and the fact of how many things we share when it comes to humanity. But yeah, I agree. There’s a new revelation happening around a lot of the studios, and understanding that without really answering the call of this audience would be really tough to sustain.

Wilmer Valderrama talks accents and His Return as Fez on ‘That ‘90s Show’

Did it take a lot of convincing for you to show up on That ‘90s Show?

VALDERRAMA: [Laughs] It kinda… It didn’t– look here’s the thing, my first thing was (and you guys have probably heard me say this before) but at first it was just like “umm… can I still do the voice?” [Laughs] “Like do I still have that voice?” And the other one’s it’s like, would it be funnier if I show up and have no accent? You know? Like what would be the funniest take. And the conversations with Bonnie [Turner] and Terry Turner, who asked me to do it, which I would do anything for them. They were the ones who discovered and gave me an opportunity that changed my entire life, so whatever they say, whenever they want to do it. Revisiting the character was great, like saying thank you to the fans. Like how cool of an opportunity to get to revisit such a character after so many years.

So when they called me and were like “What do you think he’d be doing?” I said, “Well, he’d be the Paul Mitchell of Wisconsin!” I mean, easy! Why are we talking about this, why don’t you start writing that? And they did it, they made it happen. Then I realized at the first table read, on the first day we did a Zoom table read… and as soon as I said the first word with the accent, everybody was muted, but everybody and every screen was [laughs] losing it, they were cheering and whatever. And internally I’m like “Oh, God, I still got it!” I was very nervous, but um, it didn’t take much convincing because I’m so grateful, I’m so grateful of that character.

Do you think that Fez will make another appearance in Season 2 or Season 3? Or is it like a one-time?

VALDERRAMA: I don’t know… I mean I feel like I did it. And I think it was beautiful, it was a lot of fun, you know. But I think it’s really the kids’ show.

100-percent. But I think that one of the things that is like, That ‘70s Show is an incredibly popular show and so many people watched it. So I do think that having that connective tissue helps.

VALDERRAMA: Totally agree. It spoke numbers, I mean you saw the reactions of the fans and how they showed up for That ‘90s Show. It was like, just the nostalgia of hearing the rumors that we were going to show up and it created such a fun love story of us coming full circle to it. But at some point, we have to kind of recognize that it really is a new show and I’m very proud of this new cast. Oh, these kids are sharpening their tools. By the way, they were way younger than us than when we started on that show, so I think they have such a journey ahead of them and they have such great potential. You know the fact that Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp are there as Red and Kitty, I mean, they can’t go wrong.

Wilmer Valderrama Discusses Joining the Main Cast of NCIS

So with NCIS, you joined in, I believe, Season 14.

VALDERRAMA: Yep.

What is it like stepping into a show that’s been going for that long, and how scared are you the night before the first day of filming knowing that “this is a machine that works, and I can’t be the one to screw it up?”

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, no you have to be delusional to say yes to that. [Laughs] You gotta have some crazy audacity of saying like “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got this.” You know, like it’s… here’s the thing, man. When they first approached me, they made an offer and I told my agents “I think I’m okay,” and they were like “Woah, woah, woah, you should really consider this, it’s coming from the high-ups at CBS.” And the reason why I had to reconsider was that the show is still number one. Right? And they were firing on all cylinders, and I gotta say, I felt like I wasn’t needed. I don’t think you need me, like I’d rather go to a show that needs me, somewhere I can really contribute something.

So I had a meeting with the showrunners, and the showrunner at the time, rest in peace, Gary Glasberg, sat across from me and he said “Hey, we’d love if you join us on this show.” And I said, “Yeah, I mean look, I’m taking this meeting to say thank you, I just don’t understand what I could do for you guys.” And they’re like “Well, you know” and I’m going to say this, I’ve never said it in an interview before but I’m only giving it to you because I f*ucking love you so much.

He looks at me and he goes “You know, nobody’s running after the bad guy anymore.” They’re still swinging and loving what they do, I mean that was my first question, I was like “Are people tired, what does it look like 13, 14 seasons in?” And they said, “Look, the writers are fresher than ever, the actors are still swinging for the fences, right?” But it’d be important to understand that the show cannot go on the way it is. So I think all in all, to say that I think it was, to them, important that I put a little coffee in their milk.

I think when your show is going on that long if you do not insert fresh blood… you have to mix it up.

VALDERRAMA: For sure, and I think at that time, CBS was doing some big shifts, specifically when it came to the conversation of what do our shows look like, how do they reflect on our audiences, for real. And I think they hadn’t had a Latino character in the history of that show. And even, unfortunately, Cote de Pablo, who’s Chilean, she had to play an Israeli character. You know? So to me like, there has never been a Latino character in the leading cast, so I thought that was an opportunity. And then I said to myself, like well that’s an interesting challenge to come back to network television and this type of show would be really fun and what I did is that I created a character that could alter the show tonally, and maybe push the show to “What does the next 10 years look like for that show, and what is it supposed to feel like?”

You know, a lot of people underestimate NCIS, when they look at a show that’s now officially 21 years old and they realize “Oh, it’s the show my mom and my grandma watch.” The truth is, every five years, the show does a tonal shift to the present day that it’s performing on. The writers have done a beautiful job, so when you watch NCIS now, the show that I’m on now with the beautiful Gary Cole, who’s now… I mean, come on. What a come-up. You are going to feel this show is just as relevant and is performing on the same grounded basis of any other show.

It’s also still very, very popular.

VALDERRAMA: Oh my god. We’re averaging 7 million viewers live.

That’s what I’m saying.

VALDERRAMA: Right? And then by the end of the week, man, we have probably close to 14 million by the end of the week with the streamers? So what I’m trying to say is like, last year, the NCIS franchise was watched by 300 million people. So you think about that. And also you want to think about demo, so we’re number one in households, but we’re also number 2 in 18-49 and people don’t talk about that either.

The thing about it is, what people don’t factor in when they talk about a show is that it’s not just America that watches these American television [shows]. I would imagine that when you go to another country, in certain other countries it’s also incredibly popular.

VALDERRAMA: Well yeah, and I mean it’s one of the reasons why that’s good business, you know? Like, at the end of the day, why these shows continue to get picked up and continue to go. You know, we’re finishing up our 21st season and it’s still moving ahead.

Wilmer Valderrama's Unexpected Response to What His Favorite TV Show Is

Everyone who’s been coming in, I’ve been asking them the same question, and you’re about to get it. If you could only watch one TV show for the rest of your life, what TV show would it be and why?

VALDERRAMA: [Grimaces] Eeeh… Oh my God, that’s a good, good question. I’m going to go with something really… I don’t know how many people are going to say this. I will say…

I’ll let you know if anyone else said it.

VALDERRAMA: Okay, uh, I Love Lucy.

No one has said it.

VALDERRAMA: I said it because there are so many things about that show that made [me] who I am. The tone, the physicality, the fact that a brown man could wear the suit, be that elegant, [the show] would reinspire me again if that was the only thing I was watching. And the fact that he was that ambitious, like I have a production company, I have a studio now, I have multiple productions going and all that stuff is incredibly inspiring, so if I had nothing but that show, I think I could rebuild myself again. So I’d say I Love Lucy, for sure.

Wilmer Valderrama on Memorizing Lines and Time Commitment for NCIS

I actually want to do one more follow-up on NCIS, but what is it actually like with a show like that? I believe, I could be wrong, I think it’s 22 episodes? What’s the number?

VALDERRAMA: We do 22 a year, yes. This season we did 10, because, obviously, the strike.

Right. But one of the things people don’t talk about is the time commitment it takes to make a show like that. It’s like when you sign on for that, that is your life for, what, 9, 10 months of the year?

VALDERRAMA: It’s about 10 months.

Yeah.

VALDERRAMA: I mean you get 2 months off, it takes 8 days to shoot one episode. We go straight through, we only celebrate the Monday off for President’s Day or whatever it is, we shut down for holidays, you know, but we go straight through and you do 22 episodes straight up. You know, it’s a drama, so you are shooting on location, you’re shooting whatever, it’s a marathon. I’ve had friends, they come in to do a guest star on the show and they’re like “How do you do this?” It’s a lot of pages, there’s a lot of stuff you have to do, and then I have to do the action and I have to do the fight sequences and all that stuff.

I don’t know how good you are at memorizing stuff like dialogue?

VALDERRAMA: Pretty great.

Sre you?

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, I’m pretty… I’m a weapon.

Oh. [Laughs]

VALDERRAMA: You have to be, you have no time!

I was going to say, when I hear about Brando on Godfather having cue cards, I’m like “That would have been me!” Like I don’t knock anyone because I mean how the F do you memorize 60 pages or 45 pages?

VALDERRAMA: One, this is memorizing, bro. Let me tell you the other thing that’s crazy. It’s memorizing procedural stuff. Which it goes– it comes in your brain, and it goes out and it evaporates. You forget it literally five minutes after you said it because it’s just like, “Uh, Leo Clem, 5’2”, you know, 120 lbs. Last seen at this corner of this blah, blah, Washington D.C.” And you’re like, the next scene, and you’ve forgotten who Leo Clem was because you’re just going. It’s very difficult to do that, and sometimes there are tricks. Some people put it on a clipboard or whatever ‘cause those stats are hard. Although, you have to flow, so you kind of have to memorize it.

My thing would be like, listen, let me start the beginning of saying it, “uh, the suspect is…” Cut to my back and I’ll V.O. this. [Laughter] We don’t need to be on camera delivering a whole page…

VALDERRAMA: We’re hoping we’re not the first ones on camera because that way we can screw it up when it’s over our heads. That’s the only time you get to practice!

I would literally be begging directors. You know what I mean? Like you don’t need me. I’m telling you, I can be in the background.

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, yeah.

Wilmer Valderrama Discusses His Car Collecting Hobby and How He Rescued That ‘70s Show’s Vista Cruiser

I read that you collect cars.

VALDERRAMA: I do collect cars.

Is it Jay Leno-esque, or…?

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, he came! He came over to my house and we did a little walk-through. It’s not as crazy, but right now I have a ‘67 Black Mustang, and I have a ‘51 Merc.

Thank you, NCIS.

VALDERRAMA: [Laughs] I got these before that.

So, thank you, That ‘70s Show.

VALDERRAMA: Yes, absolutely that. And then I own the ‘70s show’s Vista Cruiser.

Oh, look at that.

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, I took the Vista Cruiser from the show. I bought it for $500.

For real?

VALDERRAMA: Yeah, it doesn’t run, they were going to just junk it. I was like “No… I’m going to take it.”

Also because it’s worth way more than $500!

VALDERRAMA: And now they’re renting it from me for That ‘90s Show. It’s great business! [Laughs]

[Laughing] You are clearing so much money.

That’s funny because like with Taylor Sheridan with Yellowstone, he’s the creator, producer, all that. It’s his land that all the shows use when they’re filming, so they’re renting his land to the production and the cattle and everything else at a cost. So not only is he getting paid, he’s getting…

VALDERRAMA: The rent paid.

…that paid.

VALDERRAMA: And also the rent is getting paid.

It takes money to make money.

VALDERRAMA: That’s right. That’s right.

I could ask you a million other things, but I’ve got two other people outside.

VALDERRAMA: I got you, I got you.

We will continue this conversation, and I really wish you nothing but the best.

VALDERRAMA: Thank you, man.

I’m so happy that you have managed to… you know what I mean? Make it.

VALDERRAMA: I appreciate that so much, and also, I also wanted to acknowledge that, I don’t know how many people tell you this, but you’ve been such a champion for all of us artists who make stuff that we hope people like, we hope people show up for. You’ve been such a voice for all of us who really are passionate about the projects and really are passionate about the trajectory of our careers and giving you exclusives is the easiest thing we can do.

[ajoytobeheld]

I WISH THIS WAS A LIVEJOURNAL ACCOUNT

March 20th, 2008

this is my favourite time of the day when we’re not on tour.

3pm: come dine with me (best thing on tv)

3:30pm: countdown

4:15pm: deal or no deal (often coupled with a nap)

5pm: golden balls

6pm: friends

6:30pm: hollyoaks

usually sat with one or both of my sisters, and my mum.

one of the things I think about often as ‘gareth off of los campesinos!’ is how truthful i should be with my opinions. i mean, if 18 months ago somebody had come up to me on the street and said “what do you think of <insert name of band I don’t like here>?” then I would happily, gloriously have rattled off a list of reasons why they are awful and why anybody who likes them is very foolish.

but since being in a band that for some reason music press and some humans are vaguely interested in I find myself facing questions like this quite a lot. I think the best thing to do would be to refuse to comment, or reply with something like “can’t i just speak about bands i like instead?”, which i did do for a long time, but that got boring. It’s not through a desire to be controversial at all, but just to be HONEST. i’m a ‘music fan’. and music fans talk about bands that they like and bands that they don’t like, right? it’s natural.

so now I’ve been asked to do a question thing for a broadsheet newspaper, and it sets me up with questions like these:

“I couldn’t marry someone who liked…“

“The worst song I have heard is…“

 what’s a boy to do?

I just saw an advert for crusha milk shake syrup stuff. It’s animated by the people that do rathergood.com. i remember spending a lot of time on that site when i was about 17. but basically, this time round in a post-’LOL cats’ world, I can see this being a pretty succesful ad-campaign (oh yeh, it has comedy cats in it, that’s my point).

i should write something about band stuff shouldn’t i? I’m mostly doing this because there have been no blog posts for a long time, and it’d be nice to keep it alive. But I’m not much up for writing about stuff that happens on tour, because i’ve already told my parents, and if i did it would probably look like this:

“HUMMUS IN FRANCE HAS DAIRY IN IT!! WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT!?!?!”

we just got back from SXSW though. it was a really great experience and put british festivals to shame (we said this about lollapalooza last year. i guess there’s just a lot more money and a lot less rain involved in those things). i got to see so many bands I was desperate to. Mika Miko, High Places, Times New Viking, John Maus, etc. the weather was glorious. i took my shirt off for a bit and wore shirts and sunglasses because there was no other way.

Listen to more: High Places, Mika Miko, Psychedelic Horseshit, cLOUDDEAD.

every time the bank asks me my ‘occupation’ i die inside a little. 

what are your best dating tips? mine would be:

“always go out with someone who likes you a little bit more than you like them”.

and one day i will DO IT!

i’m gonna start work on issue two of ROMANCE IS BORING very shortly. some really exciting people have already said they will contribute. it’ll be ready for the april shows. probably. 

garethx 

[creativinn]

SXSW 2023: Artist Interview With Lola Tried

By Avery Viers Local Music Director

The last time I spoke with Lauren Burton of Austin-based band Lola Tried, I had freshly been appointed as KTSW 89.9’s Local Music Director only one month prior. Unsure of what to expect when meeting the band, I scavenged the internet to absorb all of the information I could in the midst of my nervous frenzy.

I was about five seconds into our introduction before my nerves were put at ease. Burton, along with her bandmate and longtime friend Ray Garza, exuded a genuine and enthusiastic energy throughout our discussion that could not be missed.

When I had the chance to catch up with Burton again recently, I couldn’t wait to hear what the band had been up to. I was anxious to discuss their recently released single, “Black & White,” and chat about the band’s invitation as an Official SXSW Artist for this year’s festival.

I called Burton the Monday evening following her birthday weekend. She shared that she had spent some time at her barn, where she enjoys riding her horse – which she fondly refers to as her “baby boy” – and that she saw PUP at Stubb’s Amphitheater.

“PUP is my favorite band in the whole world! My biggest influence ever,” said Burton. “I’ve seen them like four times; I have all of their records. They’re the reason Lola Tried exists.”

We chatted a bit more about PUP’s tour with Joyce Manor before jumping into the topic of this year’s SXSW music festival. I asked Burton whether the band was excited to perform, as well as whether it would be their first year as an Official Artist.

“It’s our third!” she said, “It’s funny. My SX experience started when I was sixteen; I had just moved to Austin and gotten my driver’s license. My mom was working for a nonprofit that helped find housing for the international musicians coming over. She would literally go, ‘you need to go pick up this band from England from the airport and just cart them around.’”

“My mom knew me,” Burton continued, “I was a good kid. I never drank. She literally had to be like, ‘Lauren, you don’t have a curfew. You can go out sometimes.’ So, these poor f*ckers had to sit in a car with me while I drove them around in downtown SXSW traffic. I also got the opportunity to develop these friendships and relationships that are beautiful. I still keep in touch with the folks I met [THROUGH SXSW] from fifteen years ago that changed my life. There were international bands from Spain, the U.K., and Germany. I got to see how real bands worked; bands that weren’t massive.”

“I would go to local shows all the time,” she said, “but it’s cool to see middle level bands – like Joyce Manor – where they’re known, and they’re touring, and can make it their full-time job. Seeing these bands interact and how they handle business was really cool. I also learned how to sneak into every single venue that they played. I remember I couldn’t get in to see Waxahachie because I wasn’t twenty-one and they were playing at Cheer Up [CHARLIE]’s. I literally jumped into the brush of the scaffolding at Mohawk and climbed up that cliff and watched them play like a weird-*ss bat.”

“SX has always been really special because of the touring bands that come through and the friends that I get to see that I haven’t seen,” said Burton, “I love giving all of the bands recommendations and getting to tell everyone all of my favorite spots. You get to see people experience the city. Plus, being on bills with your buddies and getting to see them play amazing shows is great.”

After wrapping up our discussion on SXSW, I was eager to ask Burton what was new with Lola Tried since our last talk.

“We actually have two new band members and I’m really excited!” She said, “It’s been really fun. After our original lineup switching up, we decided to say, ‘Okay, let’s get two new members. It’s gonna be great.’ Since bringing them on, the exchange of ideas has been so fun. When I started with this band initially, I had never played a show or committed to rehearsals or been a part of a true unit. Joining a team was definitely a moment of extreme vulnerability for me.”

“Jeff and Gianni – our bass player and our drummer – are so open to any new idea,” she continued, “I absolutely adored our original lineup, but this new journey has been super fun. Writing has changed; I don’t come in with things prepared anymore. I think a part of it is the Imposter Syndrome of thinking, ‘I have to have a perfectly crafted song to present to you guys, like a powerpoint ,because if I don’t you guys are gonna see through me.’ Learning to drop my guard and riff in a jam session is special, especially since it wasn’t always a thing. The new stuff that we’re releasing we have fully written together. Gianni and Jeff come from completely different musical backgrounds, so having them play with us has brought a whole new element to the band.”

I was curious to ask Burton about the songwriting process of the band’s newest single, “Black & White,” given the song’s themes of grief and loss.

“‘Black & White’ is honestly a pretty vulnerable song for me for a couple of reasons,” said Burton, “The less impactful reason is that it’s a ballad. For me, I like instant gratification and don’t like patience or having to wait. When we started playing the song, Jeff and Gianni had to stop me to slow me down and told me that it could really be something. ‘Black & White’ taught me patience. Being vulnerable in that way musically was interesting because I’d never written a ballad before.”

“A lot of my songs come from anger,” she continued, “that’s just how I write. When I’m feeling an intense emotion like anger, I’ve always felt motivated in my songwriting because it feels like the only way that I could get out my thoughts. I always thought, ‘I can handle feeling depressed. I know how to cope with anxiety because I experience these emotions a lot.’ But I don’t get angry very often; songwriting has been the main way for me to verbalize my fury.”

“But this song wasn’t that,” Burton said, “I think that’s my second point of vulnerability; my partner’s best friend died in May of last year. He was just a dream. He would have this laugh that would echo for days. There were two hard parts in terms of writing [BLACK & WHITE]; when I was writing the song, I realized, ‘I’m gonna have to deal with some real feelings here… and they’re not anger. They’re grief.’ I talked with the band to tell them I wanted to release something about grief and how I handle it.

“Ultimately, the song is about watching my partner grieve and feeling like I can’t do anything about it. There has been quite a lot of grief in our household over the past year. Another aspect of the song, though, is about wondering when the right time to grieve actually is. It’s harder for me to be vulnerable through sadness than it is for me to be vulnerable through anger.”

Burton mentioned the band’s upcoming projects as well, joking about its stark contrast to the preceding single.

“I’m switching up the tone a little bit,” said Burton, “For me, it feels so much more dynamic and it’s really fast paced. The drum parts are killer! After playing it on stage, Jeff had to leave for a second to go throw up and got right back on to play the next song. The song is called, “Don’t Care At All,” and it’s about work burnout that has been so impactful to me, especially working in tech. The layoffs, friends losing jobs, and even just the crumbling economy as a whole really makes you realize that you’re seeing some fundamentally wrong things going on in your field. [DON’T CARE AT ALL] is about experiencing a burnout so devastating and getting to the point of realizing you couldn’t care less about any of it. I really hope that people like my friends that lost their jobs will listen to it and go, ‘Ah. Thank you.’

Lola  Tried will be performing two sets as an Official SXSW Artist on March 12 and 13 at Hotel Vegas and one set at The Velveeta Room on March 18. Follow Lola Tried on Instagram to stay up to date on official set times, future shows, and newly released music here: @lolatried

This content was originally published here.

[aaronhillsworld]

@sxsw 2023 Day 2 (Pt. 1) 1. Another exciting day with @clarencewardiii & @dat.feel.good & @aldobmusic (Don’t forget we headline midnight tonight @ @elephantroomaustin ) 2. The @officialjdilla Effect (An AMAZING panel discussion with @madukesofficial @djjazzyjeff @asyashein J Rocc @stonesthrow @pntbtrwlf about the producer that is my BIGGEST influence & responsible for me being a producer and musician) Y’all have NO idea how much it meant to finally meet Ma Dukes in person. I’m going to do a longer post with our picture and why it was so special to finally meet her later. 3. A really informative @spotifyforartists Masterclass with @isobelkelly & @soyjourn 4. I met a new friend, manager for @leatheleox @sandradib2 5. Played piano 🎹 & had an incredible Peachy Green smoothie @juiceland 6. Met 🎷@jserratomusic and heard his great set at @elephantroomaustin 7. Met my Facebook friend 🥁 @jhights for the first time and heard him jam on drums! 🔥😃 8. Visited one of the most amazing jazz clubs in Austin @parkerjazzclub to hear @ryandhoward 🎹 @jhights 🥁 @r_aponte_music🎷 & Brian Pardo 🎸 9. Met Ryan in person! 10. Brought in St. Patrick’s Day celebrating @iamsherrigoodall birthday! 🥳 In part 2 of Day 2 I meet a leprechaun who gave me a lucky charm 🍀😆🪙 Stay Tuned!! (at SXSW) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp562PAp3yH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[f3ralblog]

Scope Creep

I once had a dream to unify Pittsburgh’s music scene.

Me and my friend group of twenty-something musicians were IN IT for a couple of years. We created a project called the Attic Music Group, which brought local, attention-deserving artists to a recording space we created at the house I used to live in (can you guess where in the house?!). We would gather whatever musicians were willing and able to create an arrangement of the artists’ music. We’d then film all of us performing together, where the artist was featured with a live band. Sometimes we even conducted live performances, well before the COVID-19 era of Zoom and Fortnite concerts. Online concerts were still happening then, but with nowhere near the attention and infrastructure that exists for them today.

The genre never mattered, by the way! We’d always figure a way to highlight the artists’ strengths, and give them some content to boot. Our goal with this was just visibility, but we worked diligently to make connections that could take a “local” artist and expand their reach. This meant we attended PR classes at local colleges, connected with A&R from the city, and reached out to the appropriate media/press.

And then, inevitably, our project fizzled out. Perhaps it was lack of interest. The core team started to split off into their own interests. Thus the Attic Music Project, in all of its lofty goals, fizzled out. Just a YouTube channel with some great music, great arrangements, beautiful lighting, and the memory of a hard-working [didn’t even mention this, but VOLUNTEER] creative staff.

We had taken the charge, like so many misguided young Pittsburghers and Pittsburgh-adjacent folks, to try and build the music industry infrastructure that we all agree is severely lacking in this town.

It didn’t pan out — Too much for us to handle.

I’ve now worked on a few big projects throughout my musical career. In the Attic’s wake, my band, Feralcat and the Wild, became my main creative priority. I began by getting the band together, learning the material, and releasing it in 2019. In 2020, we got asked to be a featured artist at SxSW, which sadly ended up getting cancelled because of growing concern over COVID-19. The band didn’t really want to shell out time and effort on an album during the pandemic, so I shifted gears to make something bigger, more ambitious and eventually more satisfying.

Thus came Disassembly, my ongoing video game musical endeavor that has me stressed to this day. I decided that I wanted to create a soundtrack to a video game that didn’t exist yet, meaning I would have to learn how to make one. Two and a half years after the first song of Disassembly was written, and I am still in the early stages of this particular project. It is, without a doubt, too much for me to handle.

I’ve always been a voracious learner, so the idea of learning “how to build my dream game” was exciting. I learned about video editing, digital design, game engines and coding. While I accept myself to be an amateur in all of these specialties, I am happy to continue growing. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t shoot myself in the foot by starting Disassembly with such high expectations.

The problem is a little project management concept called scope creep. As I learned more and more of what I didn’t know about game creation, I became overwhelmed. I burned out HARD.

Scope creep, generally, is when ideas get too big for your britches. In other words, you’ve bitten off more than you can chew with your project. With scope creep, the excitement for the end product is not enough to motivate you to do all of the work that’s in between. Without external motivators (i.e. deadlines), the intent behind the project slowly fades into a resentment and self-hatred. The project will likely be shelved, and you’re filled with regret and fixated on how much time you spent on something you’ll never finish.

I write this as a warning. I’m gifted with willpower, and a stoic need to be a polymath, but ultimately I should have started with a smaller project. I wish I had a solution, but my brain just goes “dream smaller.” Realistically, I should have begun with very basic game development projects to start to build a portfolio and the hard skills needed to complete the larger works.

I am finding my way through the messy loathing of it all, but pacing myself and setting realistic goals would have had me moving through Disassembly’s workload much faster. Small, achievable goals are KING.

[letterboxd]

Chaotic Bisexual.

Shiva Baby writer-director Emma Seligman tells Ella Kemp about expanding her wildly cringey short film into an even more anxiety-inducing feature, why Virgo and Taurus make the perfect producing pair, and the eternal conflict of being a good Jewish girl.

“If I can skip a bris to see E.T., I like movies!” —Emma Seligman

It sounds like a strange riff on a guy-walks-into-a-bar joke: a girl walks into a shiva and bumps into her secret ex-girlfriend, then her sugar daddy, then his shiksa wife, oh, and their baby—yet the payoff is so much more rewarding.

Filmmaker Emma Seligman’s debut feature is a new kind of teen classic: 78 non-stop minutes teeming with well-drawn traits and tropes that define the best coming-of-agers, the best Jewish comedies and the best day-in-a-life psychological roller-coasters.

Shiva Baby began as a grad project—a short film of the same name—and Seligman’s feature-length embellishment impressed at last year’s virtual editions of SXSW and TIFF, where it was quickly snapped up for international distribution. In a way, Shiva Baby was perfectly tailored to the times we were living in: Danielle, our reluctant heroine, is trapped in a claustrophobic family event she can’t escape, as people from her past and lies about her future make their way deep under her skin.

Fred Melamed, Rachel Sennott and Polly Draper in ‘Shiva Baby’.

Shiva Baby is very much the product of a wry school of emerging filmmakers who understand excruciatingly mundane horror and pin-sharp comedy as intimate bedfellows. Seligman’s writing finds a way to flesh out gloriously caricatural Jewish relatives, probing and overbearing and irrational. She does this both through dialogue and a visceral, haptic aesthetic that lurches in and out of focus visually, and has a nails-on-chalkboard unease sonically.

Coming in hot with a 4.01 average rating, Shiva Baby is striking all sorts of discordant notes with film lovers. “Combines some of my biggest anxieties: being asked if I have a boyfriend as well as what my plans for the future are and people talking with their mouths full,” writes Muriel.

The film’s “bisexual chaos”, which hinges on a haywire performance from Rachel Sennott as Danielle, opposite Molly Gordon’s overachieving ex-girlfriend, Maya, is also one of its great strengths. Glee star Dianna Agron is the shiksa threat, Kim, while Danny Deferrari is Danielle’s hapless benefactor, Max. If that’s not enough? Polly Draper, Fred Melamed and Jackie Hoffman are also just there.

What do you think defines a Jewish sense of humor? Emma Seligman: It’s morbid usually, and darker—generally uncomfortable and cringeworthy. I think about Curb Your Enthusiasm or Seinfeld, and A Serious Man. It borders on, “Is this funny at all?” I think Jewish humor leans into the darkly funny British sense of humor. I’m Canadian, so I feel like I’m halfway between the UK and the US in terms of their sense of humor.

Was it always your intention to make a comedy that feels like a bit of a nightmare? You’ve mentioned Black Swan and Opening Night as touchstones… Because I came from a short film, the question when expanding into a feature was, “How are we going to keep everyone interested in this day?” It’s got to be a significant day, it’s got to be that this young woman’s life has completely changed from this day. So what is it that changes? Why are we watching it? I watched a lot of movies that took place in one day, one of them was Trey Edward Shults’ first film Krisha. And then from there I realized that anxiety and this scary psychological feeling is a great way to have the audience stay there.

I watched Opening Night because there’s a shiva in it, but it was more the lobby scenes that were so claustrophobic and tense. And then each step of the way with each department, we were like, okay, it’s gonna be tense, but then we got to music, I was like, okay, this has become a full nightmare. Initially, I was just like, it’s got to be tense, but by the end, I was like, well, it does feel like a nightmare to a young woman sometimes.

Because you mention that, I have to ask whether you’ve seen Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade? I have, it’s incredible. It’s so funny, they’re both coming-of-age [films], and one of them is about a fourteen year old and then the same sort of feeling exists when you’re 22. When you’re fourteen is when it begins, and when you’re 22 you’re sort of at the end of it and you’re like, “Oh, I thought I figured out what I was supposed to do when I started feeling insecure this way at fourteen about sex and boys.”

Diana Agron and Danny Deferrari in ‘Shiva Baby’.

Let’s talk about Rachel Sennott, who you have describe as your “Virgo rock”. What do you bring one another in your creative partnership? She’s a hustler, and she sets goals like nobody else. I think she moves very fast, and I’m more detail-oriented. I don’t know if the movie would have happened without her because she was like, “What are the goals to achieve this film?” After we made the short film, she just kept checking in with me. She goes well beyond what an actor does, which is why she’s an executive producer, because she was very, very invested in seeing the movie get made.

I think she pushes. We joke that she brings me out of my depression and I help calm her down. I feel like Taurus is a little more chill. Virgos are also earth signs, but they run on a faster frequency. So I think I calm her down, especially when we’re writing and bringing it back to structure. But she’s way funnier, she’s able to give jokes so quickly. We balance each other perfectly, for sure.

Do you think your partnership with Rachel is the kind of partnership you could see yourself maintaining throughout your career? Definitely. I think it’s important to have a good friend and also a young woman. She’s got different career goals from me, but they’re aligned. And we’re not in competition with each other. I feel so grateful because so much of the time I feel like the world does make you feel like you’re in competition with your friends that are trying to do the same thing as you when you’re a young woman—or just maybe in general.

Rachel Sennott and Danny Deferrari in ‘Shiva Baby’.

Her character in Shiva Baby completely subverts the idea of a “nice Jewish boy/girl” which can be a trope in movies, but also very much a real thing in life. Is that something you consciously wanted to subvert, or did it come organically from the story you wanted to tell? I wanted to contrast that idea of a “nice Jewish girl” because every nice Jewish girl or boy has a sex life. I felt the sort of nice Jewish girl stressors on me were completely opposite from the NYU art school sugaring worlds, and hookup culture broadly. My family is such a huge part of my life and I think that those two sets of pressures are completely contradictory; to be a good girl or boy and have a stable career ahead of you, and to be finding, even if it’s at the very beginning, your eventual partner, or to just be in a relationship. And I felt like in school, no one wanted to date, everyone was hooking up. So many of my friends are sugar babies. I tried it super, super briefly.

I felt like the world was telling me to be like “an empowered, independent, sexy woman who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her, and doesn’t abide by any rules”, and I was like, “This is the opposite of being a nice Jewish girl!” And I just felt like those two things were screaming at me. So I did want to play on that. But I don’t even think it’s playing, just because that felt like what I was trying to battle within myself. And I think a lot of young people do, whether they’re Jewish or not. That’s their family’s expectations. And then the world is like, “But don’t care and don’t commit…”

Writer-director Emma Seligman. / Photo by Emma McIntyre

But then you still have to go home to your parents at the end of the day and they’re going to tell you what to do… Exactly.

What would you want viewers to take away from Shiva Baby about the sugaring community that you feel has been maligned in the past? I’m not a sex worker, so I don’t want to speak on behalf of this community, but I definitely feel like there hasn’t been many positive portrayals of sex workers. So I just wanted to show someone—because I knew so many friends of mine who did it—who enjoyed it, or purposefully did it and didn’t feel bad or shameful about it. I think maybe a lot of people think that it’s always something that comes out of dire circumstances. But whether that is the case or not, I think there’s a lot of people who enjoy it and enjoy what they do like any other job. So I just hope that they’re able to sort of widen their scope of what a sex worker looks like and acts like. Every sex worker has got a family, friends, a full robust life, as we all do.

It’s time for your Life in Film questionnaire. Can you give me a few must-watch Jewish films for people who don’t know where to start? Fiddler on the Roof, Yentl, Keeping the Faith, Kissing Jessica Stein, A Serious Man. Definitely Uncut Gems, and Crossing Delancey.

Shiva Baby has been described on Letterboxd, variously, as “Uncut Gems but make it chaotic bisexual”, “the most stressful Jewish movie since Uncut Gems”, “the chaotic successor of Uncut Gems”, “if Krisha and Uncut Gems had a baby”, and, of course, “Uncut Gems for hot Jewish sluts”… Amazing, I love that. Extremely nice comparison.

Who is your favorite promising young woman? Not Emerald Fennell’s film, but a young creative or performer who you think is making waves. I love Hari Nef—I think she’s amazing and am really excited to see what she does next. I loved her so much in Transparent and Assassination Nation, and I don’t understand why she hasn’t been the lead in a million movies.

Molly Gordon with Rachel Sennott in ‘Shiva Baby’.

What should people watch next after Shiva Baby? Those Jewish movies would be a great start. And then Krisha, although I think a lot of people have seen it especially if they’re on Letterboxd! But then those Jewish romantic comedies, and then Obvious Child, all those movies are very sweet and endearing and helped me make it.

Separate from film, if it’s shiva-related then Transparent. If I didn’t have Transparent I don’t think I would have seen world of grounded, nuanced Jews that I could do comedy with. It would have been more in the Curb vein, which is also amazing, but a little more schtick.

What was the first film that made you want to be a filmmaker? My parents are huge movie buffs so I’m not sure there was one moment, but I will say that when I was six there was a re-release of the 20-year anniversary of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and I was at a horribly packed bris and my uncle was like, “Fuck this, there are so many people here, I can’t even breathe. Let’s go see E.T.” That was the first moment where I was like, if I can skip a bris to see E.T., I like movies.

Related content

From Short to Feature: Rob’s list of 2020 films that made the jump

Jewish Cinema (non-Holocaust): Amelia’s list of films “for when u want to celebrate your heritage but don’t want to have to think all too deeply about the Shoah”

Best Directorial Debuts of 2020: suggested by Letterboxd members, featuring Shiva Baby

Follow Ella on Letterboxd

Shiva Baby is now in select theaters and on VOD in the US. Film stills by Maria Rusche.

[sinceileftyoublog]

30 (Technically 34) Albums We Loved That Happened To Come Out in 2020

So much has already been said and written about this cursed past year, but a few good things came out of it, including the music. Album-wise, like many before it and many to come, it was an embarrassment of riches. But even with so much time on our hands to devour new tunes, it was often old favorites, songs of comfort or familiarity that garnered the heaviest rotation. For many artists, too, it was a year ripe for revisiting or reissues of old material, looking at existing songs with fresh and new perspectives. Simply put, with so much to listen to, new and old, the prospect of ranking a finite number of albums felt not only daunting, but frankly a bit stupid. Maybe we were late to the game, but 2020 taught us that music should and can be appreciated in multiple contexts, not limited to but including when it first came out and when it was heard again and again, even if years later. The records below--listed in alphabetical order--happened to be released in some form in 2020, whether never-before-heard or heard before but in a different format. And the only thing I know is that we’ll be listening to them in 2021 and beyond.

Autechre - SIGN & PLUS (Warp)

The legendary British electronic music duo surprise released SIGN a mere month and a half after its announcement and then PLUS 12 days later. The former was a beatific collection of soundscapes that belied the band’s usual harsh noise, while PLUS embraced that noise right back, drawing you in with the clattering chaotic burbles of opener “DekDre Scap B” and lurching forward. -Jordan Mainzer

Against All Logic - 2017-2019 (Other People)

The perennially chill ambient house artist Nicolas Jaar had a busy 2020, as usual, releasing two albums under his name, Cenizas and Telas. But it was 2017-2019, the follow-up to the debut album from his Against All Logic moniker, that came first and throughout the year helped to illustrate Jaar’s penchant for combining inspired samples with club beats and tape hiss. Take the way the lovelorn vocals of “Fantasy” or soulful coos of “If Loving You Is Wrong” war skittering, scratchy percussion and cool arpeggios, respectively: Jaar is coming into his own as a masterful producer almost a decade after he released his first full-length. Oh, and bonus points for including none other than Lydia Lunch on a banger so blunt it would make Death Grips blush. - JM

Bartees Strange - Live Forever (Memory Music)

Like many, my introduction to Bartees Strange was through Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy, his EP of The National covers. Creativity and shifting perspectives shine through each song’s reimaging, like flipping the coarse, almost manic “Mr. November” into something softer, more meditative. It felt like a mere peek into what was to come on Live Forever. Bartees Strange is a world-builder. Each track on his debut unfolds and welcomes you to a wildly engaging tableau, a fully constructed vision. “Jealousy” opens with soft vocals and birdsong. “In a Cab” is the slick soundtrack to racing through a cityscape in the rain, seeing the blurred lights of the high-rises above as you pass by. “Kelly Rowland” warps wistful pop song feelings. “Flagey God” takes you into a dark, pulsing club while only a few songs later, “Fallen For You” wraps you in echoed vocals and romantic, raw acoustic guitar.

It’s an accomplishment to craft an album of individual songs that stand strongly on their own but still feel cohesive. 2020 wasn’t all bad. It gave us Live Forever, a declaration of an artist’s arrival. - Lauren Lederman

Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now (Atlantic)

Back in the spring, many of us wondered who would put out something great in 2020’s quarantine. It was hard to imagine that the intensity of a global pandemic would really allow for artists to embrace creativity. That thought carries the same eye-roll inducing feeling of “We’ll get some great punk music out of a Trump presidency,” but of course, Charli XCX delivered. Through live workshops with fans and longstanding collaborators, she delivered songs to dance alone to in your bubble. Charli embraces the unknown of the moment but clutches onto what’s familiar. Under the glitch-pop veneer of the album, she digs into the anxieties of not just this moment of time but of the bigger questions we all confront: trajectories of relationships with friends, romantic partners, ourselves. Album standouts “forever” and “i finally understand” embrace that feeling of both looking for control and accepting the lack of it. Charli is a master at balancing this. - LL

Christine and the Queens - La Vita Nuova (Because Music)

Named after a Latin text by Dante Alighieri about missing a woman who has died, Chris’ La Vita Nuova is not about mourning a death but instead about loneliness and isolation, post-relationship or otherwise. It doesn’t bang quite like her previous two albums, but it hits harder than ever.

Read our full review here.

Dogleg - Melee (Triple Crown)

Released on March 13th, right as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Melee was supposed to be supported by three cancelled tours–SXSW, an opening slot for Microwave, and an opening slot for Joyce Manor–and an appearance at this year’s cancelled Pitchfork Music Festival. Listening to the songs on the record, you can only imagine how they translate: the jerky momentum of “Bueno”, build-up of “Prom Hell”, gang vocals of “Fox”, clear-vocal anthem of “Wrist”, and odd groove of “Ender”.

Read “Buckle Up, Motherfucker”, our interview with Dogleg.

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia & Dua Lipa/The Blessed Madonna: Club Future Nostalgia (Warner)

Where Dua Lipa’s much-anticipated second album Future Nostalgia succeeded was in its disco anthems and retro, club-ready beats, so who better to bring out the best of the record than The Blessed Madonna? The turntablist masterfully curates a mix of heavy hitters of the charts and the underground that not only offers an essential complement to Future Nostalgia but transcends it. Sending the tracks out to various producers and singers for features and then adding her own samples on top, she invites you to peel back the layers, enter a YouTube rabbit hole of sample searching as much as bopping along.

Read our full review here.

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full (Sacred Bones)

Roadburn Festival has long been on my bucket list, and since the pandemic showed me how much live music can be taken away in a flash, when it’s safe again to travel and go to a festival, I may just pull the trigger and go--especially considering it’s the springboard for such fruitful and inspired collaborations as the one between Louisville singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle and Baton Rouge sludge dwellers Thou. Rundle embraces the heavier opportunities on the follow-up to her incredible 2018 record On Dark Horses with the ever-flexible Thou backing her up vocally and instrumentally. Slow-burning opener “Killing Floor” offers a familiar introduction to fans of both--sort of what a Rundle/Thou song would sound like--before grunge chugger “Monolith” introduces huge, catchy riffs and “Out of Existence” a True Widow-esque dirge, newfound inspirations for both artists bringing the best out of each other. - JM

Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Epic)

What makes Fetch the Bolt Cutters stand out among Apple’s catalog and music in general is the clarity with which Apple seethes at those who have wronged her, whether ex-boyfriends or patriarchal oppressors, and looks to her relationships with other women for peace of mind.

Read our full review here.

HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III (Columbia)

For HAIM, the title Women in Music Pt. III is suggestive that, more than their previous two records, their third centers around the experiences of being an all-female band in a historically white cis male-dominated scene, at least one that wouldn’t call catchy riffs written by a man “simple” or call attention to the faces a man makes while playing. What it doesn’t let on to is how deeply personal the record is, how, by unabashedly embracing genres and styles of music that they love, HAIM have made far and away their best album. Co-produced by the usual suspects, Danielle Haim, Ariel Rechtshaid, and ex-Vampire Weekender Rostam Batmanglij, it’s instrumentally and aesthetically dynamic and diverse, consistently earnest without devolving into cheese.

Read our full review here.

Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You? (International Anthem)

I’ve been captivated by Irreversible Entanglements ever since I first saw them at Pitchfork Music Festival 2018. The radical poetry of Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother) is the perfect front for a ramshackle mix of Luke Stewart’s spidery bass, Tcheser Holmes’ weighty drums, and a horn section that concocts tones that range from hopeful to desperate. At their best, Who Sent You? is a shining example of celebratory Afrofuturism and metaphysics that makes the urgency of Ayewa’s more concrete and political words all the more necessary. “No Más”, composed by Panamanian-born trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, is a declaration against imperialist oppression, while the stunning title track flips the switch like a Kara Walker painting, as Ayewa’s the one interrogating the police officer terrorizing her community. “Who sent you?” she repeats, never spiraling, grabbing a hold of the power and never letting go. - JM

Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown (International Anthem/Nonesuch)

It’s Jeff Parker’s mom’s turn. After 2016′s The New Breed ended up being a tribute to the guitarist’s father, who passed away during the making of it, Parker decided to pay tribute to Maxine while she was still alive. Suite for Max Brown (Brown is his mother’s maiden name; Max is what people call her) is a genre-bending collection of tracks inspired by Parker’s DJing, juxtapositions of sequenced beats with improvisation that certainly sound like the brainchild of one individual. Indeed, Parker plays the majority of the instruments on it and engineered most of it at home or during his 2018 Headlands Center residency in Sausalito, CA; though all of the players and the vocalist (Jeff’s daughter Ruby Parker) on The New Breed show up, plus a couple trumpeters (piccolo player Rob Mazurek and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes) and cellist Katinka Kleijn, Suite for Max Brown is a distinctly Jeff Parker record.

Read our preview of Jeff Parker & The New Breed’s set at Dorian’s last year.

Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM (Polyvinyl)

Jeff Rosenstock throws us right into the spinning, manic energy of NO DREAM, his latest release from a seemingly endless well of music that never lacks urgency. It’s a reminder that though it’s been a strange year, the issues Rosenstock tackles here aren’t new. There’s no interest in making you feel comfortable here. On the album’s title track, Rosenstock sings, lulling you into a false sense of security, “They were separating families carelessly / Under the guise of protecting you and me.” But reality sets in, and the hazy guitars spin out as he spits, “It’s not a dream!” and, “Fuck violence!”

My image of Jeff Rosenstock in the year 2020 is masked up with “Black Lives Matter” scrawled across the fabric of his mask in Sharpie, performing album highlight “Scram!” on Late Night with Seth Meyers as high energy as ever. It felt like watching someone send out a beacon, both a distress signal and a call to arms. - LL

Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure? (PMR/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope)

I am not someone who goes to clubs. I don’t “go out dancing,” preferring to let loose in the privacy of my own home or a trusted friend’s house party. But Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure? makes me think I could embrace a night out like that, once the world opens up again, of course. The album is filled with syncopated disco beats that feel fresh and classic all at once. The abundant horns and strings on “Step Into My Life” are decadent, like light bouncing off sequins in a dark room. Ware’s voice is slinky and velvety one moment, windswept like her album cover the next. It’s songs like “Save a Kiss” that embrace both, allowing her to show off her range. - LL

Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter (Partisan)

With sparse production, mostly from her but with additions from Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Marling foregoes the comparative maximalism of the Blake Mills-produced Semper Femina, her last proper full-length, and 2018′s LUMP collaboration. The songs aren’t simple, but they’re succinct, and every element, from Marling’s finger-picked guitars, the occasional slide guitar, and that unmistakably calm voice, sometimes alone and sometimes layered, fits. It’s her most universal set of songs yet, centering around the times when we’re apart from one another but reflecting on when we were together and when we might be together again, with no guarantees.

Read the rest of our review here.

Les Amazones d’Afrique - Amazones Power (Real World Records)

The groovy pan-African collective expands upon their debut Republique Amazone and then some with Amazones Power, a tour-de-force statement of female empowerment in the face of oppression against women throughout the African diaspora. Indeed, the album is more than just songs boldly decrying FGM, though those demands ring heavily. Instead, the group goes further, delving into gender power structures in marriage on “Queens” and selectively finding strength in tradition on “Dreams”. And this time, they include men to stand alongside with them. “Together we must stand / Together we must end this,” sings Guinean musician/dancer/artist Niariu on opener “Heavy” in solidarity with features Douranne (Boy) Fall and Magueye Diouk (Jon Grace) of Paris band Nyoko Bokbae. But perhaps it’s her kiss-off on “Smile” that hits hardest: “I shut up for no one.” - JM

Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas (Nonesuch)

The British singer-songwriter’s much anticipated follow-up to 2015′s Blood was better than I could have ever imagined. A song cycle about life cycles--of nature, of lives, of a relationship--inspired by an actual breakup, Lianne La Havas is a contemporary neo soul masterpiece. Overview opener “Bittersweet” is an instant earworm, La Havas’ coo-turned-belt filling the space between classic and increasingly emotive slabs of piano and guitar. Funky, lovestruck strut “Read My Mind” is the soundtrack for the unbridled confidence of finding new love. Yes, the doubts begin to sow on the fingerpicked melancholy of “Green Papaya” and “Can’t Fight”, and where the album goes from a simple narrative perspective may be predictable: They break up, they don’t get back together, La Havas enjoys her independence. But the depth of the arrangements and assuredness of La Havas’ singing is a product of an artist starting to really show us what she can do. And how many people can pull off a Radiohead cover like that? - JM

Lomelda - Hannah (Double Double Whammy)

What does it mean to title an album after yourself? Lomelda’s latest album is centered around discovering more about yourself while not always having the answers. Despite the lyrical content, the album is self-assured. Hannah Read’s voice feels as steady as ever as it navigates these twisting questions, like the way the world can shift after a kiss. She finds power in softness and reflection throughout the album, like when she explores the mantra-like words of “Wonder” or through a reminder to do no harm in “Hannah Sun”. In a year that allowed for perhaps more reflection than usual, Hannah makes space for the questions that arise out of figuring yourself out, of making sense of the messiness of it all, wrapped in warm guitar, balanced vocals, and steady drums. - LL

Moses Sumney - Grae (Jagjaguwar)

“Am I vital / If my heart is idle? / Am I doomed?” Moses Sumney famously sang on his stunning 2017 debut Aromanticism, an album that saw him developing his acceptance of being alone. grae, his two-part 2nd full-length, and his first since officially moving from L.A. to the Appalachian Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, doubles down on themes of heartbreak, but instead of being sure in his seclusion, he embraces the unknown. The album teeters between interludes of platitudes about isolation and ruminations on failed human connection, and maximally arranged clutches of uncertainty. “When my mind’s clouded and filled with doubt / That’s when I feel the most alive,” Sumney coos over horns and piano on slinky soul song “Cut Me”; it’s an effective mantra for the album.

Read the rest of our review here.

Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor (Blue Note)

At the time we previewed Norah Jones’ 7th studio album, she had only released a few tracks from it. Turns out the rest was just as powerful. From the blues stomp of “Flame Twin” to the rolling piano stylings of “Hurts to Be Alone”, Pick Me Up Off The Floor is an album full of jazzy orchestrations and soul and gospel-indebted arrangements, Jones’ silky, yearning voice tying together the simple, yet lush and deep instrumentation. And that other Tweedy feature, that closes the album? It’s a heartbreaking portrait of loneliness, one of many on a record that still manages to celebrate being alive all the while. - JM

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (Dead Oceans)

Phoebe Bridgers is a master of details. Her lyrics shine when they get specific. They range from the mundane to morbid: A superfan’s ghost-like wandering under a drugstore’s fluorescent lights, a skinhead likely buried under a blooming garden, reckoning with the you in “Moon Song”’s lines, “You are sick, and you’re married / And you might be dying.” Bridgers has always been able to set a scene meticulously, and Punisher arrived with 11 songs that expanded that skill, both lyrically and musically, with her dark humor intact and a fuller sound that includes her boygenuis collaborators’ harmonies. - LL

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love: The Demos & Dry - The Demos (Island)

Yes, revisiting Dry’s demos as a separate entity is still worthwhile. Harvey’s powerhouse vocal performance carries the acoustic strummed “Oh My Lover”, while the comparatively minimal arrangement of “Victory” highlights bluesy riffing, call-and-response harmonies, and layered guitar and vocals. The singles, the slinky and sharp “Dress” and propulsive anthem “Sheela-Na-Gig”, hold up to their ultimate studio versions, too. But it’s the To Bring You My Love material that provides novelty because it’s never been released and more so because it encompasses the greatest aesthetic contrast from the album. From the warbling hues and guitar lines of the title track to the tremolo haze of “Teclo” to the crisp snares of “Working With The Man”, the demos show a continuity and level of cohesiveness with the diversity of Dry and Rid of Me not shown on the studio version of Harvey’s more accessible commercial breakout. (Predictably, the album’s most well-known song, “Down by the Water”, is the closest to its eventual version.) “Long Snake Moan” is simultaneously more spacious and more noisy, its garage blues a total contrast to the lurking “I Think I’m A Mother” and swaying shanty “Send His Love To Me”. And “The Dancer” fully embraces its flamenco influences, hand claps and all.

Porridge Radio - Every Bad (Secretly Canadian)

Is there a better opening line than “I’m bored to death, let’s argue”? That kind of duality is found across all of Every Bad as it grapples with the frustrations and anxiety of trying to figure it all out, whatever that might mean for you. “Maybe I was born confused, but I’m not,” vocalist Dana Margolin repeats throughout the opening track, roping in listeners with the dizzying feeling of trying to make sense of yourself. The band’s guitar and synth sound coupled with Margolin’s howl makes for a dance party filled with dread, rendering Margolin’s already strong, repetitive lyrics even more spiraling. And yet, by the time we get to “Lilacs”, a glimmer of something else shines through as the music gets more manic and Margolin’s voice begins to soar: “I don’t want to get bitter / I want us to get better / I want us to be kinder / To ourselves and to each other.” - LL

Sault - Untitled (Rise) & Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)

Yes, Black Is still pulls plenty of devastating punches. “Eternal Life”, a segue from the gospel boost of “US”, juxtaposes a deliberate drum beat with zooming synths, both ascending like a chorus of angels, as they sing, “I see sadness in your eye / ‘Cause I know you don’t wanna die,” presenting the oppression of Black life at the hands of white supremacy in inarguable terms. Ultimately, though, it’s the anthemic nature of the songs, resistant of platitudes, that shines through. “Nobody cared / This generation cares,” says Laurette Josiah on “This Generation”. Whether she’s talking about young people in general or the latest generation of young Black leaders, the sentiment is reflected on songs like “Black”, wherein over dynamic, sinewy instrumentation, the singers alternate between encouragement, support, and love of the self and others.

Read our full review here.

Shamir - Shamir (self-released)

Shamir’s voice is a bright beacon in a sea of conventional singers. Shamir captures the effervescence of pop music and weaves it together with elements of country, alt rock, and diary confessional lyrics all supported by the emotion and range of his vocals. There’s something for everyone across the album’s 11 shimmering tracks. Lead single and opener “On My Own” feels like a declaration of self and self-sufficiency, an anthem of a breakup song. The almost pop-punk bounce of “Pretty When I’m Sad”, paired perfectly with lines like the angst-ridden, “Let’s fuck around inside each other’s heads,” feels impossible to not bop along to. The twang of “Other Side” would put a country crooner to shame. That’s the power of Shamir. His voice has the ability to smoothly convey joy, resilience, and humor. He uses elements of several genres, not just the dance-pop of his debut, to build a unique album that gives listeners so much to sift through and, of course, dance to. - LL

Songhoy Blues - Optimisme (Fat Possum)

If Songhoy Blues’ second album Resistance lacked “the grit of its predecessor,” it’s clear from the hard rock stomp of the opening track of Malian band’s third album Optimisme that they rediscovered their mojo. More importantly, they couple this maximal brashness with tributes to those who make their world a better place: fighters for freedom, women, the young. It’s perhaps the first Songhoy Blues record to truly combine the celebratory nature of their desert blues with a balanced mixture of idealism and vigor. - JM

Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone (Pure Noise)  

How can you find hope in hopelessness, or optimism when every news story points to cruelty? Is it naïve to keep searching for light in the dark? I don’t think so, and I don’t think Spanish Love Songs does, either. I’d like to think we both believe that’s not naivety, but power. It’s the embers you need to really ignite a flame. After all, this is the band with a song titled “Optimism (As a Radical Life Choice)”. It’s a band whose crunching guitars and earnestness insist that despite death and depression and addiction, the instinct to survive shines brightly above all. That relentless hope resurfaces across Brave Faces Everyone’s 10 tracks even as it works through the bleakness of everyday life. - LL

Tashi Dorji - Stateless (Drag City)

The magnum opus from the Asheville-based picker is a group of evocatively titled, disorderly songs about the desolate hellscape of America for outsiders and immigrants. Enigmatic in its nature, not exactly narrative, Stateless combines Dorji’s urgent strumming with moody motifs, captured beautifully in a studio setting for maximum emotional wallop. - JM

Touche Amore - Lament (Epitaph)

Is this what an almost uplifting Touche Amore album sounds like? It’s cathartic in a newer way for the band, especially after the beautifully rendered grief of Stage Four. Lament loses none of the band’s aggression or urgency. “Come Heroine” thrusts listeners into that urgency and introduces a moment of warmth, Jeremy Bolm’s vocals still rasping and insistent: “You brought me in / You took to me / And reversed the atrophy.” The bounciness of “Reminders” may seem close to optimism, but a sharper look at the lyrics uncovers more than blindly looking to the things that bring joy. “I’ll Be Your Host” is reflective, a few years removed from Touche Amore’s previous album and the immediacy of loss, self-aware and growing, but still raw. The album closer, “A Forecast”, takes a turn, a lone voice and piano acting as a confessional before giving way to thrashing guitars and the realization that growth and reckoning with trauma doesn’t mean minimizing it. It means learning to keep moving forward and to stop for help when you may need it. - LL

Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud (Merge)

The best album yet from Katie Crutchfield is inspired by positive personal change (getting sober, dealing with codependency issues, her blossoming love with singer-songwriter Kevin Morby) and reflections on family and friends. Named after the suburb of Orlando where her father’s from, Saint Cloud is a genre-hopping collection of stories and feelings that doesn’t necessarily follow any semblance of narrative. On opener “Oxbow” and country-tinged ditty “Can’t Do Much”, Crutchfield’s increasingly aware of the need to pick your side and your battles, whether in the relationship between two people or between the allure of the bottle and the next-day hangover. Some of the best songs on the album see her finding commonalities with others as a means towards self-love. Gentle strummer “The Eye” refers to her natural creative relationships with Morby and her sister Allison. “War” she wrote for herself and best friend, who is also sober, the title a metaphor for one’s fight to remain substance-free. “Witches” is an ode to her best friends, including Allison and Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan, all equally frustrated by the toxic nature of the music industry and the world at large, ultimately lifting each other up because they simply have each other.

Read our full review here.

[carotidartistry]

COVID and the Arts

The existence of algorithm-driven, non-chronological "timelines" is very bizarre right now. On my Facebook feed, I see posts from March 10 talking about starting the second week of previews or celebrating good box office returns. On March 12, my job ceased to exist, as did the jobs of hundreds upon hundreds of people as an entire industry shuttered over the course of one day.

The cancellations and closing of events and arts/entertainment venues, while important for public health, have left many people (who earn on a gig basis rather than salary) very suddenly and entirely without expected income. There is no work-from-home option, just their job disappearing entirely. Some people will be able to collect unemployment insurance, but many won't even get that, as they work as independent contractors who are paid a fee for work delivered or vend their goods directly to customers at such events.

This is a tough time for arts/events organizations and those who work them (which includes not just artists but all of the ushers, custodians, etc. whose work is tied to the event itself). I'm compiling ways to support those who have been impacted (pass-the-hats for donating to individuals, funds that are accepting donations, ways to purchase people's goods/services, etc.) and resources for those who have been impacted. The industry community is coming together in a heartening way right now, but it would mean a great deal to me if those not in the industry could take a moment to glance through and maybe even to share this information. Even if you can't make any sort of donation yourself, it means something to have this hardship be seen and acknowledged.

Additionally, if you have tickets to events that have been canceled and don't immediately need your funds returned, I encourage you to wait a bit before reaching out to the theater/venue/etc.. Box office workers have been overwhelmed. And particularly if it was a ticket for a non-profit or grassroots organization, if it's possible, I'd encourage people to consider donating the cost of their ticket rather than demanding a refund.

While I'm aware that there are many people in many sectors taking a hit right now, I am putting my focus on where I am and would like to keep that the focus here. Please share any relevant updates, additional resources, etc..

Support Those Who Have Been Impacted

A general pass-the-hat for individual theatre workers (updated daily): I Lost My Theatre Gigs

“The Indie Theater Fund is launching this fundraising campaign to provide direct support and emergency relief to independent theaters and artists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” https://www.facebook.com/donate/509591526599992/509604039932074/

NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief Fund: "We seek to provide support for low-income, BIPOC, trans/GNC/NB/Queer artists and freelancers whose livelihoods are being effected by this pandemic in NYC. Whether it's from cancelled gigs, lost jobs, or a lack of business due to coronavirus scares, we hope to orchestrate an egalitarian approach to crowdsourcing." [Note: their funding applications are currently closed as they make sure that they have enough resources to cover the 500 people who have already applied.] https://www.gofundme.com/f/nyc-lowincome-artistfreelancer-relief-fund

"The Philadelphia Performing Artists' Emergency Fund was created amid the COVID-19 outbreak to assist performing artists whose income has been impacted by show cancellations, slowing ticket sales, and/or low turnout during this pandemic." https://www.gofundme.com/f/philly-performance-artist-fund

"The Boston Artist Relief Fund will award grants of $500 and $1,000 to individual artists who live in Boston whose creative practices and incomes are being adversely impacted by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)." https://www.boston.gov/artistrelief

Boston Music Maker Relief Fund: "Small grants of up to $200 will be paid rapidly on a first come, first served basis to affected artists and groups. Please see grant guidelines below. Donations will be accepted from individuals and corporations in order to replenish the fund and continue making payments to eligible music makers in the queue. The Record Co. is covering all admin/processing costs so 100% of every donation goes directly to music makers in the community. Please consider donating using the form below or contact matt@therecordco.org to get involved.": https://www.therecordco.org/relief

Durham Artist Relief Fund: "Funds donated here go directly to artists and arts presenters in Durham who have been financially impacted by cancellations due to COVID-19, with priority given to to BIPOC artists, transgender & nonbinary artists, and disabled artists": https://www.northstardurham.com/artistrelief

Emergency Relief Fund for Artists During COVID-19 (Minnesota): https://www.givemn.org/story/Epf3ag

Opera San José Artists and Musicians Relief Fund: “This emergency cash reserve will allow us to provide support to the musicians, singers, carpenters, stitchers, designers and other hourly company members that make our productions possible and who will be deeply affected by COVID-19.”: https://operasj.secure.force.com/donate/?dfId=a0nf400000QZ7hKAAT

A pass the hat for individual SXSW workers: "Update 3/10: We have received over 400 submissions - thank you! We are working diligently to verify each submission and get them posted. As of today, the total amount of reported income lost is $2,108,835. Your stories are heartbreaking but we know them all too well. We appreciate you, we see you, and we love you, Austin. Hang in there." https://www.ilostmygig.com/

2020 ECCC Artists Alley: An unofficial compilation of Eccc2020 artist alley online shops. Browse the goods of artists who won't have the opportunity to sell directly to their anticipated customers: https://ecccartistalley.tumblr.com/

Artists Alley Online:  A directory for some of the artists who would have been at Emerald City Comic Con (March 12-15, 2020) had it not been moved due to the corona virus.  https://artistalleyonline.com/

Shoutout to the theaters who have suspended performances but are still paying their artists in the interim. These have been reported to include: Ars Nova (https://arsnovanyc.com/), Geffen Playhouse (https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/), WP Theater (https://wptheater.org/), Soho Rep (https://sohorep.org/), Playwrights Realm (https://www.playwrightsrealm.org/), New York Theatre Workshop (https://www.nytw.org/), Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (https://www.rattlestick.org/), the McCarter Theatre (https://www.mccarter.org/), Parity Productions (https://www.parityproductions.org/), and Second Stage Theater (https://2st.com/).  (sources: https://twitter.com/diepthought/status/1238194781437734912?s=19, direct email from Second Stage)

More who have been named are the Public Theater (https://publictheater.org/), Transport Group (http://transportgroup.org/), Vineyard Theatre (https://www.vineyardtheatre.org/), and Lincoln Center Theater (https://www.lct.org/). (source: https://twitter.com/westratenick/status/1238847988262453248)

Please consider giving those organizations (and any others who are doing similarly) your support if/when you're able to.

Resources for Impacted Arts/Entertainment/Events Workers

Freelancers & Community Resources 2020: Resources centered for artists and those impacted by gigs being canceled/postponed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xt1QZlGsyga_HrXagubV9O0rebV5dx4DuMOd2sWvWwc/edit

COVID-19 & Freelance Artist Resources: https://covid19freelanceartistresource.wordpress.com/

NYFA Emergency Resources: "Artists who experience personal hardship or who are impacted by a large-scale disaster, or who need funding for a last-minute opportunity can find critical resources in NYFA's Emergency Resources Directory.": https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Emergency%20Resources

The Indie Theater Fund: "Rapid relief grants of up to $500 will be awarded to support our community, prioritizing the consortium of companies, venues, and individuals working in NYC independent theater (Off-Off-Broadway in theater houses of 99 seats or less), operating with budgets under $250,000. We will award grants on an on-going basis until our funds run out. Grants can be requested via a simple online application and will be reviewed on a first come first serve basis.”  https://forms.gle/pLm7bLhKQE8AbpDn6

Send your information to "I Lost My Theatre Gigs": https://ilostmytheatregigs.squarespace.com/

Philadelphia Performing Artists' Emergency Fund: Emergency Funds can be requested by any Cabaret, Drag, Burlesque, Theater, or performance artists facing a financial hardship caused by COVID-19. Performance artists who need aid can apply here: https://forms.gle/SwsMERPM1CTivFyc7

Boston Artist Relief Fund application: https://cityofbostonartsandculture.submittable.com/submit/af2153eb-2d87-4e9d-9ebc-5861eb135999/boston-artist-relief-fund

Boston Music Maker Relief Fund application: https://therecordco.typeform.com/to/w6wTkF

Durham Artist Relief Fund application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEJKTP91h5e7MuUITHj96J6eKWeZjgVLZjLG4Wp-WMhyQ4mg/viewform

SXSW workers send your information to "I Lost My Gig" here: https://www.ilostmygig.com/

[that-thing-that-feeling]

I’m really happy to see Winona in a new movie soon (which looks intriguing and this time she’s clearly the main character, I don’t care if it’s low budget) but it led me to check Charlie’s imdb page, and he hasn’t any upcoming project, even a small one (except ST4)? Damn, maybe you were right to be worried about his motivations 😕 (btw, the Natalia movie that was announced a few weeks ago isn’t listed either?)

V happy for Natalia with chestnut (wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up at tribeca) and all fun and games—the latter shows up on IMDb pro; it’s just marked as in development still which is just IMDb being slow, but we know it begins to start shooting in March and it looks like something that will have locked in distribution (I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes to Netflix). I think Asa is also great and it’s great she’s getting leads and they’re thinking of Asa and Natalia as Netflix stars (I think it will also go really well with her having a bigger role in s4). And then it’s always great to see Winona in new projects and that her new film is going to sxsw. Feel like that will get distribution bc of her for sure.

And then yeah what is going on with Charlie? I have thought the combo of him losing his UK agent and not attending the tsp2 premiere were not great signs and if he just doesn’t act in anything for the next few months then yikes imo. I don’t know if he’s no longer into acting or is just not getting roles, but lbh: having no new upcoming projects (so far) is not good :( I really hope he acts in something new!

[themovieblogonline]

"Hacks" Season 3 Premiere Is SXSW Smash

The Premiere of season 3 of “Hacks” (HBO Max) took place at noon on March 9th at SXSW. It was truly an audience of devoted fans. The feeling in the Paramount Theater was equal parts anticipation and shared enthusiasm--- not always the case at SXSW. Everyone present knew they were in for a great time, although there was a remark about how it was pretty early in the day for comedy. Saturday, March 9th in Austin, Texas, both Smart and Einbinder were at SXSW in person. Both looked great. Smart got a standing ovation. SEASON 2 At the end of season two, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) fired Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder).  Deborah reassured Ava that the firing would be good for Ava’s comedy writing career. It is quite clear that the separation has hurt Ava more than it has hurt Deborah. You feel that Deborah is a mother figure for Ava; Ava feels abandoned. Of course, there was the unfortunate spilling of Deborah Vance's stories to a journalist and the lawsuits last season. But, never fear, the dynamic duo is back together again in season three’s nine episodes. The viewership for season two’s first episode increased +125% over the first episode of season one. It isn’t difficult to understand why if you’ve seen the show. It is top-notch. There are more laughs per episode in “Hacks” than in any other comedy on the air. That is due in no small part to Jean Smart’s savvy portrayal of veteran comedienne Deborah Vance, a part she seems to have been born to play. Jean Smart is only the second female---Betty White was the first--- to win an Emmy in all three categories: leading actress in a comedy, supporting actress in a comedy, and guest star in a comedy series. Glen Weldon of NPR said, “I don’t know if the role of Deborah Vance was written for Smart, but she certainly makes it seem like it was.” SERIES SUCCESS Smart took home the Emmy for the leading actress in a comedy series two years in a row, 2021 and 2022. Hannah Einbinder is also great and has earned nominations for her work as Deborah’s sidekick. Hannah is the daughter of SNL original cast member Laraine Newman. The comic chemistry and timing the two bring to the screen is a magical part of the success of “Hacks.” The series won the Emmy, a Peabody award, a Critics’ Choice award, the DGA, SAG, WGA, and GLAAD awards. SERIES SIZZLE “Hacks’” wardrobe department makes it clear that glitter is back. There hasn't been this much glitz everywhere since Disco died. I noticed the increase in sparkly clothes worn by average concert-goers here in Austin. Check out the wardrobe for “Hacks.” You’ll get the idea in the opening sequence for series three. We see a tall woman in a dazzling bejeweled long coat walking confidently into a casino. (Check the trailer for that glimpse.) I’m sure everyone in the theater this Saturday afternoon thought it was Deborah Vance making her entrance. It wasn’t. SMART’S RESUME From finding that Jean Smart has been a Type I diabetic since the age of 13 to learning that she lost her husband of 30 years, Richard Gilliland, in March of 2021, it’s been discovery week for me looking back at Jean Smart’s storied career. Delay-wise, there was the writers’ strike, the heart procedure, and the 2 years off television for “Hacks.” It’s hard to feel the funny when negative things impact you. But veteran character actor Jean Smart is a trooper. She was one of television’s “Designing Women” (1986-1991). She appeared in episodes of “Frasier,” “Fargo,” “Watchtower” and, more recently, in 7 episodes of “Mare of Eastwick.” Recently, Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) cast her in  “Babylon” as Elinor St. John, a gossip columnist based on Hedda Hopper and Luella Parsons. In “Hacks” Smart plays a veteran comedy based on such pioneering comedy greats as Joan Rivers, Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Elayne Boosler, Rita Rudner, Paula Poundstone, and Carol Burnett. SCHEDULE “Hacks” has been off the air for two years, leaving those of us who are true fans wondering if it was ever coming back. Didn’t it get renewed? The writer’s strike was given as one of the reasons that the absence was so lengthy. Furthermore, in February (2023) Jean Smart announced, via her Instagram account, that she had had “a heart procedure.” Even now, one department of “Hacks” has supposedly shut down while awaiting her complete recovery. The woman is 73, after all, and enjoying an unparalleled career resurgence. CONCLUSION The plan for season three is to air the Premiere episode (which is great) on HBO on May 3rd and then show two episodes a week until the Finale on May 30th. This season there will be guest stars like Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, Christopher Lloyd, George Wallace, and Tony Goldwyn. As for what the season holds, said writer Lucia Aniello, “I think there’s maybe a chasm between where they are respectively, in terms of their points-of-view of each other. I think it really brings up a lot because they are so obviously invested in each other.” And we, the audience, are so obviously invested in Deborah and Ava.       Read the full article

[lol-jackles]

austinite opinion on the Ackles leaving this godforsaken city —

if I were jensen I would take my family and leave too. Austin has had its issues over several years and the infrastructure can’t take the strain of its population much longer, and then covid was added on top. their kids are getting older and even a rich kid’s school options suck. the traffic is just straight up dangerous w/ very high rates of drunk driving and weird aggressive stuff, its like a vehicular manslaughter competition even in nice residential areas. What’s the point in having a nanny take the kids for the day if you’re worrying they’ll get hit by a truck on a crosswalk on the way to the park????

the city’s terrible policies on homelessness mean even in upscale neighborhoods theres problems related to people camping or dumping trash and a lot of weird violence and mental health crises, and the city has resources for probably only 15% of its homeless population and the mayor and gov are eager to make decisions that make the problem worse like they’re hoping homeless people will just die off. in 2018 the entire county’s water supply was //full of rotting clams// and was unusable for a week, and then in the ice storm this year the state’s privatized power grid failed, and even the padaleckis had bursting pipes and dead animals.

6th St and Rainey St are garbage and violent and tbh I’m surprised it’s taken this long to trigger a mass shooting like the recent one on 6th, not to mention it’s more public that there are high rates of sexual assault downtown and at UT and the DA just…doesn’t attempt to prosecute at all.

Jared’s roofied scuffle on 6th looks shocking from an outside POV but if you’re local it’s mundane. And I do think he was roofied, I showed the videos to a family member with a law enforcement background and he agreed. whether he was or not, that kind of crap happens two or three dozen times a night downtown thurs-sat and there were extra cops downtown that night bc it was halloween and extra crazy. Local people mostly got a kick out of it happening to jared like it was a down to earth kinda thing.

I know it doesn’t seem like privileged people should gaf or be affected by most of this but it sucks the fun out of anywhere you go here unless you gtfo out of the city (which is why the brewery is actually in a great location, right on the main route to big day tripping attractions) like yeah, theres all this quirky stuff to do in Austin but when a gay couple is nearly beat to death on open popular Rainey St and a homeless guy throws himself off a restaurant on SoCo during lunch rush it’s a fucking bummer.

And then you add covid and police violence on top of all that, and all the tourism/SXSW/ACL revenue and entertainment is tanked and that definitely derailed some of the Ackles’ plans, like the B&B they bought. but even if 2020 was a normal year those events are so congested now they aren’t very enjoyable even if you’re VIP.

but property taxes are the main thing: before they sold the lake house, tax laws about lakeshore property changed— previously it was barely taxed if at all bc of an old law from when no one wanted to build on the lakeshore like 40 yrs ago. Suddenly that untapped property tax potential is under a political microscope and I was like, I bet the Ackles will move and the Padaleckis won’t bc their property isn’t on the lake…and within a year the Ackles sold the lake house. absolutely not a coincidence.

so regardless of the state of their marriage (I really don’t buy what’s said about their marriage) austin isn’t what it was 10-15 years ago. They probably shouldn’t come back lol

Colorado is not far behind being turned into a shithole thanks to the Democrats running the state.  Whenever Democrats control a city it always turns into a shithole.

"How Decades Of Democratic Rule Ruined Some Of Our Finest Cities" https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/how-decades-of-democratic-rule-ruined-some-of-our-finest-cities/