#lior phillips

[nearmidnightannex]

Viola Davis, EGOT

Viola Davis achieves EGOT with Grammy win for her audiobook By Joe Sutton and Zoe Sottile, CNN Published 5:28 PM EST, Sun February 5, 2023

After winning a Grammy Award, Viola Davis has officially completed the holy grail of entertainment awards. 

Davis’ Sunday win for the audiobook of her memoir “Finding Me” completes her EGOT collection. She previously won an Emmy for her role in “How to Get Away with Murder,” an Oscar for “Fences,” and two Tony awards for “King Hedley III” and “Fences.”

Davis, 57, won the award for “Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording,” according to a tweet from the Recording Academy, which hosts the Grammys.

In her acceptance speech, the multi-hyphenate performer paid tribute to her younger self.

“I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola,” she said. “To honor her life, her joy, her trauma, everything. And, it has just been such a journey – I just EGOT!”

Davis’ career has been studded with awards and firsts. In 2015, she became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama and in 2017, she became the first Black woman to score three Academy Award nominations.

INTERVIEW: Meet The First-Time GRAMMY Nominee: Viola Davis On Sharing Her Life To Help People Change Theirs & Her Potential EGOT LIOR PHILLIPS | GRAMMYS/JAN 30, 2023 - 10:36 AM

"There are not enough words and pages to quantify one's life," Viola Davis says with a warm, stern certainty — despite having delivered a memoir that carries a remarkable weight and beauty.

Living through difficult experiences takes incredible strength. Living through them again to write a memoir and  then read them aloud as an audiobook must be a herculean feat. But it should come as no surprise that Davis has proven herself more than capable of meeting that challenge.

The acclaimed actor’s memoir, Finding Me, reaches back to her difficult childhood, to trauma and struggle, and continues through on her journey of healing and artistic achievement — and Davis delivers it with an uncanny blend of fragility and strength. Davis, a first-time GRAMMY nominee, has been lauded for her efforts, with Finding Me receiving a nod for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording at the 2023 GRAMMYs.

And now the audiobook extends the possibility to add a GRAMMY Award to her awards shelf alongside an Emmy, an Oscar, and two Tonys, potentially making her the 18th person to complete the EGOT. While joining those ranks would be an undeniable honor, Davis’ vision of achievement and impact remains much simpler: helping others find the hope and healing that she discovered. "When you begin to connect with yourself, to unpack your life and make peace with it, it's easier to connect to the world — and I want other people to do the same," she says.

GRAMMY.com caught up with Davis to talk about how reading Finding Me differed from her usual style of performance, finding her calling in life, and what joining the ranks of EGOT winners would mean to her....

[crjupdates]

How Carly Rae Jepsen Found Strength And Freedom With New Album 'The Loneliest Time': "It's Surrendering To Everything"

On her fifth album, 'The Loneliest Time,' Carly Rae Jepsen dances her way through the "hard-hitting lessons" of life — celebrating growth as both a person and an artist.

Grammys • Lior Phillips • Oct. 20, 2022 • Photos: Meredith Jenks

"Rather than free falling, I'm free-flying," Carly Rae Jepsen says, the warmth of that untethered freedom radiating in her smile. That artistic liberty fuels the pop star's fifth studio LP, The Loneliest Time. 

The album weaves in and out of pure danceable joy, but with the lyrical prowess of a pop artist who has fully embraced every emotion she feels — even if it doesn't spawn a feel-good earworm. With a catalog full of delightful hits like "I Really Like You," "Run Away With Me," and "Call Me Maybe," Jepsen felt it was time to stop trying to figure out her place in the greater pop landscape and just chase the songs that felt right in the moment — and that felt true to herself.

But thanks to Jepsen's pop genius, The Loneliest Time still brims with memorable hooks and candid emotional resonance. There's the sweet and earthy "Western Wind" and the sincere soft folk of "Go Find Yourself or Whatever." Add in the epic title track's expansive disco strings and sloping melody, and it feels as if Jepsen has explored the full spectrum of both pop music and human nature.

"I feel a little less constrained by this idea of what type of pop I'm making," Jepsen says with a calm certainty. "My loneliness made me do some of the bravest and craziest and wildest things of my life. And I loved the reactions that it caused, because they're so dramatic, and I felt it was worthy of an album." 

With The Loneliest Time, Jepsen isn't denying or rejecting her past, nor is she ignoring it. This isn't Carly Rae Jepsen reinvented, it's Carly Rae Jepsen in this moment. That's a powerful step for any artist in pop, a genre prone to pigeonholing stars, especially after a runaway hit.

Ahead of the album's release, Jepsen spoke with GRAMMY.com about the emotionally empowering process of The Loneliest Time, maturing as a pop star, and building genuine longevity.

Do you have any tricks for keeping yourself focused and healthy on tour? Personally, I now judge my day by how much water I've had.

So funny, this age that we're in. We've started so many different clubs on this tour. One is Book Club, where we all get ourselves scooched together reading on the bus. We wanna read Dracula for Halloween month!

We also started this thing with me and Josephine, my glam girl, Scott, our merch guy, and Chris, our tour manager, called Water Club. When we see each other we're like, "Have a water". We literally are just helping each other stay hydrated on the road. What does that say about touring in your thirties, that we started a group called The Water Club? 

I can only imagine that reflecting on and comparing to how you toured in your twenties is an interesting experience for you. 

I've always felt a little like I'm floundering in the good graces of some luck that came my way. That "Where am I?" energy is always with me. But I do feel like this era, being 36 now, and almost 37, I do feel more confident and excited and a little less shocked all of the time. It's kind of registered that this is my life. Which is great. 

If anything, I just feel a little bit more purposeful with every decision. A little bit more confident, even with our stage show. I play it like a little boss lady within the group dynamic that we have, where I used to ask questions like, "Why do we do it that way? Could we do it this way?" Having enough meetings to get to the bottom of things that always were big question marks for me. That part's really empowering and exciting.

Lyrically, there is this acknowledgement throughout The Loneliest Time that the softer, gentler version of you is still accessible, even when you're tapping into larger, more powerful emotions. You alluded to intention earlier, which is so appropriate.

Definitely. This album is very much about taking away the things that Scorpios love, the controlling factor or whatever. It is surrendering to everything — whether happiness, love, hardships or grief, taking on the full experience of life and not trying to avoid any of the hard stuff, or fast forward to the good stuff. It's feeling all of the things. 

This is what this album really was for me, but that's also very much in line with what my life experience has been over the last few years while working on this. It's a lot of hard-hitting lessons about all of that growth.

Carly Rae Jepsen via Instagram: THE LONELIEST TIME 💌 Oct 21. I’m quite fascinated by loneliness. It can be really beautiful when you turn it over and look at it. Just like love, it can cause some extreme human reactions. Preorder now. 💖🖤🌛🍇

I love that you started the album with "Surrender My Heart". When moments are intense and you surrender to it, things are just so much clearer.

Absolutely. It was a very true sentiment when I first started going to therapy — for a lot of reasons. My whole family had dealt with a ton of tragedy all at once. You know that thing, when it rains it pours. I felt like that really happened to us, and my solution to it was so pragmatic. "I'll go to therapy, she'll tell me how to be tougher in life. I will leave with an extra layer of skin and armor and I'll just know how to handle things because life's gonna get harder. I fell apart, let's fix me." And it was just so enlightening to be there in the room. After one session I was like, "Here, take all my money." [Laughs]

She said, "Maybe you need to soften up. Maybe you have to feel all the things." It's so funny, because I'm sitting there being like, "Wait, I wrote an album about being in touch with your emotions. I should be in touch with them." But no, it's still hard to take it in all the time. 

I was kind of avoiding some of the experiences of life. And I don't think that's how you get to feel any of the highs or the lows. Being less frightened of both of those things can make you feel a little bit more stabilized. You continue on without denying any of the highs or the lows as they happen. That's a really huge part of it for me. 

I see other people who walk through life just doing things that I admire so much. I have a girlfriend right now who's going through some big grief and every time I hang out with her she's just like, "I'm sad." And I'm like, "Cool, well be sad with me. Let's be sad and have a sad day together." Just seeing her being brave enough to do that makes me feel braver when I'm having an off day. 

There's power in not wanting to fix everything at every point. And while I don't necessarily think it stems from control, it can stem from this sense of perfection and ideas that we've all been sold, which you cover a lot in your music — of how things are meant to be, how love is meant to be, and sometimes it isn't.

Yes! I think that tension between how it's "supposed" to be and what it is, there's some real dissonance in there that gets to be worked out. But if you can let go of how it's supposed to be and just be really accepting of how it is, I think you're off to a good start.

Emotion was about fusing together everything you had learned on Kiss and Tug of War, and Dedicated started going into heartbreak and creating that new story. Now that you're on your fifth studio album, where do you feel like you're at now? What was the guidepost for you while writing the album?

Rather than free falling, I'm free-flying! I feel a little less constrained by this idea of what type of pop I'm making. Is it '80s? '70s? '90s? Am I sad or happy? What am I emoting as a message? It's like, screw all of that. At this point, being 10 years into the business and change, I am a woman. There are many different things I feel. I can be very playful, I can be hurt and resentful and confused, and I can also have a disco ballad that's five minutes long, and indulgent, and is my opus. And all on the same album, because I contain multitudes. 

I believe that people are ready to expand this pigeonholed idea of what a pop artist can be, which is a genre that's very tricky to break out of the mold of. You can be all of the things. And I've felt that desire in this genre that is so playful in the types of music that you can do. 

But I wanna also break the perception of, "Am I the sexy pop artist?" I just don't wanna have to fight that fight anymore. For The Loneliest Time, the main theme of it is just loneliness and how that can cause such extreme reactions within you. Because my loneliness made me do some of the bravest and craziest and wildest things of my life. And I loved the reactions that it caused, because they're so dramatic, and I felt it was worthy of an album. 

I was less concerned with, "Are they all gonna fit?" and a little bit more excited that they would be as diverse as they were meant to be — and to let the songs speak for themselves.

There's this intriguing blend between pure fragility and super confidence. You just sound like you're having the time of your life. 

Thank you. I really overwrite. Even last night I was with my A&R talking about what we could potentially consider if we were to do a B-side [record]. And we were laughing, like, "Let's bring up the folders again." 

So much thought goes into these things. It's a little bit of a Beautiful Mind mapping. By the time I'm done I'm like, "Oh my God, I seem insane." But it was a method to the madness, and I swear I feel that way every time. When I know it feels done and the order feels good, it was some puzzle I had to unlock. But as much as I'm like, "This is not cohesive," it, to me, is meant to be together. 

Maybe I rebel because of having a song like "Call Me Maybe". I've just so desired to be [putting] all of my attention into being an album artist since then, not a single artist. And that's maybe why I put out B-sides that aren't even counted at the label. They're just gifts.

There's something of a gift with The Loneliest Time, too — people are really coming to understand that you want to be understood. I like the immediacy here. 

Thank you. You know how you can only gush to certain people about the things that you're secretly really excited or a little proud of? I almost feel guilty saying that word, like it should be shameful. But I'm embracing it. Like, "What am I happy about?" I said it to my boyfriend last night, because we just did the final cut and color [for a video], and I'm like, "It's so lovely." 

You can look back on a career with nostalgia, and like Björk said once, "I don't wanna be a nostalgic artist." I really loved that. I love that we're constantly pushing forward, especially for a woman in pop music. 

There was a time where I thought, "It's a young woman's game." So for me to be 36, almost 37 and feel like I'm about to put out my favorite video of my career? It's not so much about anything other than the growth. I've learned how to communicate. And to have the trust of a team at the label now.

It took me a long time to have that confidence, but also to feel like I have a team of people who trust that we can do this together. We can find the right pieces. For the first time in a hot minute, I was like, "Well, I don't wanna be stale. I don't wanna just be putting out music because I'm chasing a thing that was a dream when I was a teen. I'm just as invigorated and as excited now. Why not take all the lessons I've learned and keep growing?" 

For pop artists that I look at — there's a few, like Cyndi Lauper — but I would love to be a part of that catalog that gets to have some longevity with this thing. That'd feel fantastic. That's my secret goal and I'm saying it out loud to you.

I appreciate that, and when you are having fun — the raw, pure, sugar-rush fun — even in a song that covers really wobbly moments, your artistry has legs. It makes the listener excited for what's to come. 

You're so right. Joy is the spot. I had a child come into a VIP Q&A session, and she asked, "Do you write when you're sad or when you're happy?" And I was like, "It's interesting because when I'm sad, I wanna eat a tub of ice cream and do nothing." But I know that there are artists that go to those places they wanna emote to get through. When I get out of my sadness is when I might be able to start talking about my sadness. Then there's a spark, a curiosity I have about it. 

I think that's where "Bends" came from. I think that's where "Surrender My Heart" and "Go Find Yourself" [came from]. My creativity is sparked around a really limitless possibility, a free-flying feeling where you're like, "I'm here to catch this feeling in a way and document it." And it does feel quite joyful.

You have this ease and comfortability because you use pop as an escape, to a degree, but you're also not running away from these feelings.

Oh yeah. I think that's a real difference with even how I'm looking at shows lately. It was, "Come to my show. We're gonna forget how scary the world is for a night. I'm here to help you." And now I'm looking at it in the way that I experience the best shows that I go to. 

I recently saw James Taylor and I said to my boyfriend, "Just so you know, I grew up on James Taylor, and he's this link between my divorced parents. I'm gonna cry a lot, Maybe I'll be fine." He hadn't seen me cry, so I was thinking it was gonna be super embarrassing if it happened. 

I make it through the first half of the set dry-eyed. And then [James] comes out and he's like, "Fire and Rain," "Sweet Baby James," "The Secret of Life." And my neck is wet. It was just a wet neck situation. [Laughs]

[My boyfriend] was putting his arm around me, and James was telling these stories, and by the time it was done, I was like, "I'm so sorry. I can't stop." There was clearly some stuff I needed to feel. 

"The Secret of Life" is the last song that my mom heard in the car the day my grandmother died. I wasn't there because of COVID, but I knew that experience. So I got to feel some things in a safe place that I needed to feel, really safely, really comfortably. And it felt wonderful. I had been needing that night. And it was so cathartic that when I left, I felt 10 pounds lighter. 

That's what the best, most joyful experiences can make me feel. When I saw David Byrne's "American Utopia," my brain got twisted about what a concert could be. Holy s—, I felt better about life. I thought, "God, I've been looking at this all wrong. I've been thinking my job is to help people escape, but what if my job is to help people feel whatever it is they need to? Or a little bit of both?" 

That's where I got the idea for the moon mascot who comes at the beginning of our show on this tour and goes, "Tonight is for you to feel what you need to in a safe place, to escape if you need to." Hopefully it can be that for some people. 

Feeling the confidence that you can be the type of artist that you look at and are inspired by, that's the ultimate achievement, right?

It is the best feeling. That's the dream, the goal. Some joy, some happiness, but also some real in-touch-ness with yourself, and maybe some sadness too — all in a cathartic way.

[aifol]

Blood Orange,  Iceland Airwaves 2018, Photo by Lior Phillips

[littlesmartart]

Now I’m curious, what songs do you aggressively assign to xiyao and 3zun? (Only somewhat related, have you ever heard the song “Heart of Stone” from the SIX soundtrack? Excluding one line (without my son your love would disappear), I feel very passionately that it is a Yanli talking about Zixuan song.)

under a cut because this got RIDICULOUSLY long haha

okay okay so XIYAO... first of all, let's get this tragic shit over and done with -

Burn from Hamilton (I drew a comic here)

Sympathy by Kyla La Grange is a guilty JGY reflecting on their relationship (A lead weight for your open palm / And a white shirt over your bloody heart / To think I thought I was all you are / I was missing from the start / Couldn't let you cradle my head or stay / Let you waste your wonderful words / In my sleep I circled your heart with red ink / When I woke you were already hurt)

Broken by Jake Bugg is Xichen towards the end of canon (For you have become / All I lost and all I hoped for / But I must carry on / Always one, never broken / Run to the lobby where I saw you try / Don't give a damn for your reasons why)

Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, specifically the Muse cover because of how jarring and discordant it is, is JGY having his breakdown in the temple and cry-yelling at Xichen (Haven't had a dream in a long time / See, the life I've had / Can make a good man bad / So for once in my life / Let me get what I want / Lord knows, it would be the first time)

Mr Blue by Catherine Feeney being JGY at the end of canon because colour symbolism (Mr. Blue / I told you that I love you / Please believe me / Mr. Blue / I have to go now, darling / Don't be angry / I know that you're tired / Know that you're sore and sick and sad for some reason / So I leave you with a smile / Kiss you on the cheek / And you will call it treason)

aaaand then for some happy stuff because you know in any universe they'd be the soppiest most heart-eyes chin-hands motherfuckers at each other. I think that really you could apply a lot of [dreamy sigh] [lovesick smile] [deep yearning] ballads to them tbh?

Somethin' Stupid, and I'm going to recommend the Robbie version because that's the one I have and I legit like it so shut up. I think this would be mostly how everyone outside sees them - as two people who are being so weirdly anxious whilst also desperately embarrassingly and obviously mutually pining 🙄 (I know I'd stand in line / Until you think you have the time / To spend an evening with me / And if we go someplace to dance / I know that there's a chance / You won't be leaving with me / Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place / And have a drink or two / And then I go and spoil it all / By saying something stupid / Like I love you)

My Guy by Kele Okereke because it's just!!! so soppy and romantic and this cover was made specifically for an album of queer wedding songs called "Universal Love"!! (I've got sunshine on a cloudy day / When it's cold outside / I've got the month of May / Well I guess you'd say / What can make me feel this way? / My guy / I'm talkin' 'bout my guy)

Atlas: Two by Sleeping At Last - I found this song through a gorgeous Wangxian video but I think it works really really well for Xiyao too, because they also have that mutual Let Me Take Care Of You Forever Please love language (I know exactly how the rule goes / Put my mask on first / No, I don't want to talk about myself / Tell me where it hurts / I just want to build you up, build you up / 'Til you're good as new / And maybe one day, I'll get around / To fixing myself, too)

Yellow by Coldplay because that colour symbolism!! Xichen @ JGY (And your skin / Oh yeah, your skin and bones / Turn in to something beautiful / Do you know / For you, I'd bleed myself dry / For you, I'd bleed myself dry)

3zun is a little more complicated but I do have some!

Up In Flames by Coldplay with that sense of slow inevitable destruction (So it's over / This time you're flying on / This time I know no song / Can stop, its slowly burn / Can stop, it's slowly gone / Up in flames / Up in flames / Up in flames / We have slowly gone)

Safety Of Distance by Lior - this one is specifically about NieYao reconciling and 3zun coming back together, be that in a happier AU or in a fierce corpse AU post-canon (And all the colours will return to these hills / Where the dust of despair takes hold / One day they will drink from these now still waters / Where there's a will there's a road / It won't bring back lovers and friends, / But it might make for a happier end)

Coming Down by Halsey (I drew a comic here)

Gone Gone Gone by Phillip Phillips and this one is perhaps more Xichen @ NieYao than 3zun mutually, although in an AU where they've reconciled it work (When you fall like a statue / I'm gon' be there to catch you / Put you on your feet, you on your feet / And if your well is empty / Not a thing will prevent me / Tell me what you need / What do you need? / I surrender honestly / You've always done the same for me / So, I would do it for you, for you / Baby, I'm not movin' on / I'll love you long after you're gone)

Keep Moving by The Boxer Rebellion - a general sense of inevitability but clinging to each other in the time they have (One by one / I know we have seen some things / That could have torn us apart / Threaten what we have been / And I have asked myself / What could be more then this / And if you left me tomorrow / It is all I know I'd miss / But I know... / Keep moving with me now / Keep moving with me now / We have seen / The way its gonna be / The way its gonna be)

[aurora-daily]

AURORA @ Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre by Lior Phillips // 09.11.2018 // Reykjavík, Iceland

[gorgonwoman]

Hayley Williams, interviewed by Lior Phillips

[a-night-like--this]

📷 by Lior Phillips

[nonesuchrecords]

Vagabon is on the cover of Issue 4 of Gold Flake Paint, out in September.

Words & Interview by Lior Phillips. Photography by Tonje Thilesen. Styling by Phil Gomez. Makeup by Aya Tariq.

[edsonjnovaes]

The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen

The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen

Lior Phillips stops by Moe’s Tavern to talk to the man behind the music. Consequence – April 8, 2017 Thirty-five years ago this month, America’s favorite animated family made its debut as part of The Tracey Ullman Show. Lior Phillips speaks to longtime songwriter Alf Clausen, who is arguably the oldest member of the Simpson family, having been there from the start. Clausen was born…

[snowpatrolfanclubbrazil]

Photo by Lior Phillips

[dannyreviews]

Film Lifetime Achievement Award Winners for 2017/18

The award season is about to begin. Here are the recipients for the various cinematic lifetime achievement awards.

Academy Awards: Charles Burnett, Owen Roizman, Donald Sutherland and Agnes Varda

Golden Globes: Oprah Winfrey

BAFTA: Ridley Scott

Cesar Awards: Penelope Cruz

American Film Institute: George Clooney

SAG Awards: Morgan Freeman

Kennedy Center Honors: Norman Lear

Cannes Film Festival: Martin Scorsese

Venice Film Festival: Stephen Frears, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford

Berlin Film Festival: Willem Dafoe

Writers Guild Awards: John Waters and Len Wein (posthumous) 

Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Max von Sydow

European Film Awards: Julie Delpy and Alexander Sokurov

Sarajevo Film Festival: John Cleese and Oliver Stone

Locarno Festival: Todd Haynes, Adrien Brody, Mathieu Kassovitz,  Nastassja Kinski and Jean-Marie Straub

Zurich Film Festival: Glenn Close, Andrew Garfield, Oliver Stone and Jake Gyllenhaal

Rose d’Or Awards: Angela Lansbury

Burbank International Film Festival: Veronica Cartwright

Australian Writers Guild: Andrew Knight

Hamptons Film Festival: Julie Andrews

VES LifetimeAchievement Award: Jon Favreau

Platino Ibero-American Film Awards: Edward James Olmos

Ischia Global Film and Music Fest: Roman Polanski and Armand Assante

Munich Film Festival: Bryan Cranston

Camerimage: John Toll and Phillip Noyce

Rome Film Festival: David Lynch

British Academy Britannia Awards: Matt Damon, Dick Van Dyke, Kenneth Branagh, Ava DuVernay and Claire Foy

Odesa International Film Festival: Agnieszka Holland

Oceanside International Film Festival: Alan Roderick-Jones

Santa Fe Independent Film Festival: John Sayles and Maggie Renzi

Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival: Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes

Riverside International Film Festival: Stu Krieger

Telluride International Film Festival: Ed Lachman

DOC NYC: Errol Morris and Sheila Nevins

Hoboken International Film Festival: Armand Assante

Horrible Imaginings Film Festival: Dee Wallace

San Sebastián Film Festival: Agnes Varda and Monica Bellucci

Arpa International Film Festival: Terry George, Carl Weathers and Alexander Dinelaris

World Soundtrack Awards: David Shire

El Gouna Film Festival: Forest Whitaker

Heartland Film Festival: Rob Reiner

Asian World Film Festival: George Takei

DC South Asia Film Festival: Zeenat Aman

Inspiring City Awards: Billy Connolly

New York City Horror Film Festival: Brad Dourif

Windsor International Film Festival: Lois Smith

SCAD Savannah Film Festival: Richard Gere

Stockholm Film Festival: Vanessa Redgrave and Pablo Larrain 

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival: Stanley Nelson

Antalya Film Festival: Christopher Walken

Lumière Award: Wong Kar-Wai 

Hollywood Film Awards: Gary Oldman

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival: Burt Reynolds

Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards: Errol Morris

Woodstock Film Awards: Bill Pullman

Directors Guild of Canada Awards: Don Shebib

European Animation Awards: Richard Williams

Los Cabos Fest: Nicole Kidman

Israel Film Festival: Jeffrey Tambor and Lior Ashkenazi

Annie Awards: James Baxter, Stephen Hillenburg, Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis 

International Film Festival of India: Atom Egoyan

Dubai International Film Festival: Patrick Stewart, Wahid Hamed and Irrfan Kahn

International Film Festival of Kerala: Alexander Sokurov

Art Directors Guild: John Moffitt, James J. Murakami, Martin Kline, Norm Newberry, Kathleen Kennedy, Ron Clements and John Musker

New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Molly Haskell

Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild: Greg Gannom and Mary Gurerro

Movies for Grownups Awards: Helen Mirren

Golden Horse Awards: Hsu Feng

Women in Film and Television Awards: Celia Imrie

Goteborg Film Festival: Alicia Vikander

Gotham Awards: Nicole Kidman

Denver Film Festival: Aaron Sorkin

Athena Film Festival: Barbara Kopple

SFFILM Awards: Kate Winslet

International Cinematographers Guild: Betty White

American Black Film Festival: Billy Dee Williams

Looking Ahead Awards: Charlotte Rae

San Luis Obispo Jewish Film Festival: Susan Arnold and Donna Roth

Goteborg Film Festival: Juliette Binoche

Sedona International Film Festival: Jane Alexander

Beaufort International Film Festival: Dale Dye

Canadian Screen Awards: Clark Johnson

Costume Designers Guild: Guillermo Del Toro and Joanna Johnson

Animafest Zagreb: Paul Fierlinger

WGAW's Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement: James L. Brooks

Irish Film and Television Academy Awards: Gabriel Byrne  

Chaplin Award: Helen Mirren

Austin Film Festival: Roger Corman

Satellite Awards: Dabney Coleman

Lumiere Awards: Jean-Paul Belmondo and Monica Bellucci

Governor General Performing Arts Award: Genevieve Bujold

Annecy International Animated Film Festival: Brad Bird

[bornsbrasil-blog]

BØRNS para Consequence of Sound

Entrevista concedida à Consequence of Sound Palavras de Lior Phillips Foto por Chuck Grant

BØRNS lança nova música, “Faded Heart”, e compartilha detalhes de sua origem: Ouça.

Uma nova música e três canções clássicas que o inspiraram.

BØRNS está de volta depois do popular disco Dopamine (2015) com “Faded Heart”, nova música lançada pela Interscope Records. A canção é o primeiro single a ser lançado de seu segundo álbum, previsto para Janeiro de 2018. Enquanto ainda esperamos alguns meses, 2017 está se tornando um ano de maior revelação ainda para o artista indie pop platinum selling Garrett Borns, natural do litoral de Michigan. Após esgotar sua turnê como headliner em 2016 e performar em vários festivais como Lollapalooza, Coachella, Hangout,  Sasquatch e Boonnaroo, BØRNS levou seu talento para as passarelas durante as fashion weeks de Nova York e Milão.

O grande número de grandes shows podem fazer parecer fácil de encaixar BØRNS no pop, mas ele é muito mais que isso. “Faded Heart” prova que esse artista possui um talento crescente em misturar amor, poesia e melodia. A música encaixa perfeitamente no carro-chefe de BØRNS: é um conto vívido de pop, um equilíbrio fascinante do brilho e glamoroso de LA (onde escreveu seu primeiro álbum), o mantra restaurativo do murmúrio clássico dos anos 60 (”So call me your Romeo” / “Então me chame de seu Romeu”) e a insolência atrevida de The Stooges, que também sempre quiseram ser seu cachorro (”You got me howling like a dog in the heat” / “Você me faz uivar como um cachorro no calor”).

A canção se beneficia ainda mais da mixagem por Tony Maserati – que já trabalhou anteriormente com Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, James Brown e mais – capturando a sensação exata de maravilha. Dito isso, todo o brilho ainda não o faz soar como um insider e de forma correta; se você vai escrever uma música pop sobre “Heart in the trenches/Head in the heavens” (”Coração nas trincheiras/Cabeça nas nuvens”), em um meio termo entre Perfume Genius e Queen, a música o espírito devem ser exatamente assim.

OUÇA AQUI

Em seguida, BØRNS revela três canções que o influenciaram quando escreveu “Faded Heart”.

“A Teenager In Love” de Dion And The Belmonts: “Why must I be a teenager in love?” (”Por que eu devo serum adolescente apaixonado?”) é mais ou menos como perguntar, “Why does the ’50s chord progression work every damn time?” (”Por que a progressão dos acordes dos anos 50 funcionam toda vez?”) E a resposta é: “That’s just the way it is.” (”É simplesmente assim.”). Então eu dei uma chance.

“Search and Destroy” de The Stooges: É importante consumir uma quantidade saudável de dirt e electric fuzze diariamente. Essa canção é uma dose sólida que inspirou as guitarras de Tommy English em “Faded Heart”.

“Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit” de T. Rex: Bom, se o título “Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit” não te dá arrepios na espinha como dá em mim, então os “doo-doops” definitivamente irão te acordar. Essa música me inspirou a superar o love tap.

BØRNS irá apresentar “Faded Heart” no Late Late Show com James Corden, na segunda-feira, dia 07 de Agosto.                    

[ORIGINAL POST - Consequence of Sound // BØRNS]

[lelitblog]

Sube al taxi, nena: Violent Femmes Self Titled (1982-1983).

¿Existe alguna experiencia aislada que nos arrebate de la infancia y nos arroje al horror de la juventud? ¿O es acaso un cúmulo de vivencias ineludibles, miserables, el que nos desampara y nos hace añorar la dulzura de los primeros años? No niego que la juventud sea hermosa y próspera, pero sólo cumple tales condiciones para personas privilegiadas; por que la gran mayoría sabe que en esa etapa se tropieza más de lo que se avanza. ¿Quiénes ven tal período con aversión? ¿Quiénes, en su adultez, recuerdan gravosamente los episodios de su adolescencia? Los feos, los callados, los carentes de carisma, los solitarios; en suma, los marginados que, desafortunadamente, constituyen la gran mayoría. Y estos suplicios compartidos sólo Violent Femmes pudo manifestar en su magistral debut.

Esta banda indie -en todo el esplendor del anglicismo-, atribulada desde su génesis, estaba solamente compuesta por tres inadaptados, a quienes -como luego apuntó Brian Ritche, el bajista- la música era lo único que los unía. La técnica de los tres dista mucho de la inexperiencia; y a pesar de que el bajeo de Ritchie es virtuoso, avasallador y elegante, el verdadero protagónico lo tiene Gordon Gano con su ímpetu jovial, plasmado en su voz desesperanzada y sus transgresoras letras. Para mí, este disco es un estandarte de la rebeldía, y la voz muy sui generis del vocalista lo hizo el portavoz de toda una generación.

El álbum oscila entre la calma del folk y el frenesí destructor del punk. Hay un tránsito ostensible en canciones como Add it Up, Confessions, To The Kill; aparecen descargas rápidas de guitarra, bajo y batería sincronizadas para conseguir una atmósfera abigarrada y estruendosa sucedidas por momentos donde la instrumentación calla para ceder el lugar a Gano. Así, la banda consigue un sonido heterodoxo, distinto al de otras bandas del momento; asimismo, ésta incorpora marimba (en Gone Daddy Gone) y violín (en Good Feeling). Esta fusión conocida como folk punk inspiró a bandas posteriores, como AJJ. Sin embargo, las temáticas que maneja Gano en cada canción elevan la importancia del debut: la frustración sexual, el consumo de drogas, la opresión religiosa entreverada con la urgencia casi animal de copular, malentendida como amor; y la inexperiencia en una relación, son una red de sentimientos latente en los jóvenes y revestida por el miedo y la soledad.

Por ejemplo, en Blister in the Sun -con su riff tan lacónico como icónico-, Gano subraya cómo la adicción de un heroinómano podría repercutir en su noviazgo. En cuanto la voz y el bajo continúan por su cuenta, la soledad se vuelve palpable mientras Gano susurra las estrofas. Algo similar ocurre en Kiss Off y Add it Up, pistas que desbordan de la genialidad del trío: en la primera, Gano ansía pertenecer a esos círculos de los que ha sido excluido; y, al verse como un extraño, enojado, decide quitarse la vida. El ensimismamiento aleja, e imposibilita la comunicación, como aclara el urgido narrador en Add it Up. Engañado y pervertido, quien canta ve al sexo como un premio; y, al no obtenerlo, sus tendencias homicidas incrementan. La sordidez de los temas tabúes se alza con ese tono mordaz pero siniestro con el que Gano tan descarnada y crudamente entiende sus desdichas.

No obstante, la vehemente violencia del disco no culmina en una tajante pieza, ruidosa; todo lo contrario, cierra con una honesta canción de amor -escrita por Gano cuando éste tenía quince años- en la que se entrevé la ternura de un muchacho confundido e incomprendido. Sin duda alguna, la aproximación a la juventud es visceral y posee un corte psicológico; el disco sabe los funcionamientos de la mente cambiante de un adolescente -cuando el disco fue grabado, Gano todavía no cumplía los veinte años- y captura la perenne incertidumbre que envuelve su mente. Este álbum es mi segundo favorito, pues simboliza ese tránsito de la infancia a la adolescencia, de la inocencia a las enfermas obsesiones; y la portada no podría expresar tal concepto mejor.

Bibliografía:

1.     Lior Phillips. (2016). Let Me Go On: Violent Femmes on Breaking Their 16-Year Studio Silence. COS, 1.

[aurora-daily]

AURORA @ Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre by Lior Phillips // 09.11.2018 // Reykjavík, Iceland

[divadiaries1-blog]

Keeping Boston Calling with The National’s Aaron Dessner and festival co-founder Brian Appel

Keeping Boston Calling with The National’s Aaron Dessner and festival co-founder Brian Appel

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Welcome back to another episode of This Must Be The Gig, the podcast that gives you an all-access pass to the world of live music! This week, host Lior Phillips is joined by The National’s Aaron Dessner and festival cofounder Brian Appel to discuss how they curate the ideal experience at Boston Calling. From Dessner’s keys to building a…