#the motif the riff the beat the orchestra

[azucarera-art]

This movie has my top fave original scores. This one gives me early Ezio Trilogy Era Assassin’s Creed vibes

[happymetalgirl]

Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin Kynsi

Along with the entirety of fellow metal experimentalists Dark Buddha Rising, Oranssi Pazuzu in their entirety as well contributed to one of my favorite records of last year under the shared moniker of Waste of Space Orchestra. Their album, Syntheosis, was a hypnotic, surreal levitation through synth-heavy metallic psychedelia that Oranssi Pazuzu had been working more and more into their sound, which was at a height on their 2016 effort, Värähtelijä. After the release of its successor here though, not only the synthesizer boldness on Värähtelijä, but the band’s entire sound and artistic advancement as well pale in comparison to what they’ve done with Mestarin Kynsi.

Oranssi Pazuzu have been about this very sound their entire career, from their already rather impressive 2009 debut, Muukalainen puhuu, to this year’s effort. Even though they started strong, the band have been pushing themselves as best as they can to reinforce their sound, making little improvements from one album to the next throughout the past decade, in what has seemed like painstakingly slow, mild progress along a relatively high plateau, until now.

Mestarin Kynsi goes all in on the synths even more than two band’s worth of synthesizers did on last year’s Syntheosis did, but it’s not about simply upping a single element of Oranssi Pazuzu’s sound, but rather how the band uses that to truly evolve their sound beyond just being more synthy. The band’s fifth full-length is all about taking their captivatingly psychedelic black metal’s tangible, yet other-worldly horror to a whole new level for them and for black metal. The band manages to find this sweet spot of ideal balance between integrating so many synthetic elements and mutating traditional black metal elements while never losing that vital metallic realness and intensity in their music. No matter how many special effects the band brings in, the undivided focus is on the substantive mastery with which the band wields their massive sonic arsenal.

While most of the spook and psychedelia comes from the incredible creativity with which the synths are weaved into the dynamic metallic backdrop, the foundation that the band’s brilliance with manipulating those traditional metallic elements into a monstrous vehicle for the synths to amplify the various cerebral aspects of their music should not be left unpraised. While the instrumental pieces are rarely ever super flashy in isolation, the way they all work together in such harmony in a way that feels as though they arent even coming from a band with individual members but rather a superconsciousness where all the artists share and channel their creative energy through a single mind truly transcends the tightness of the vast majority of bands, who are often just incapable of entirely preventing everyone’s ego from leaking out just a little. With Oranssi Pazuzu in this album, it’s, again, like it’s all one mind and the only ego is the music itself. Before I get further into the kind of subjective abstraction this album seems to love encouraging me to dive headfirst into, I’ll get into the general technical aspects of it all.

First of all, the mixing of all the ingredients going into this album, for all sheer size of the sound being captured here, is a freaking feat of excellence and whoever mixed this thing deserves to take a bow. It’s not all crisp and clear the whole way through like some polished up techdeath record, but every phase in and out of the forefront and background of the mix is timely and constructive to the continuously sprawling movements of the compositions across the album. The drums really act as the album’s heartbeat in a way that few album’s drum sections can truly be described, pumping faster through the panic-inducing moments and maintaining a steady hypercardia through the calmer, yet still unsafe moments in the album. The guitars and bass provide the foundational aspects of the reasoning behind whatever is raising the album’s blood pressure, tastefully distorted and even maxed the hell out when the moment calls for it, and deceptively entrancing in their dark serenity of their hypnotically soothing dissonance when the tension needs to be built, never flashy or distracting, always committed to the greater good of the music of the album as a whole rather than any one instrumentalist’s turn for some time in the spotlight. And speaking of the spotlight, the part of the music that is usually prone to hogging it is as selfless and complimentary on this album as the rest of the band. The demonically liturgical, gravelly snarled vocals aren’t really flashy by any means either, but that’s not to say that the haunting hypnosis of the vocals is without character. Indeed, the vocals may be not be shooting for technical pizazz, but vocalist Jun-His really is playing a voice on the album and not just vocals behind a microphone. The vocal performances across the album (including all the effects used to enhance and accent then) really work beyond just the musical and extend into the theatrical, the voice of the album really coming from an otherworldly being all its own when the album is on.

Like I said, Oranssi Pazuzu has been melting and remolding black metal to do their bidding for over a decade, and the band continues to reform the genre much in ways that bands like Neurosis so vividly warps sludge and post-metal into something all their own and how Swans’ most recent incarnations have stretched out and apocalyptified the basic elements of rock music to a possibly maximal extreme. I mention that because I really am reminded so heavily of the genius of Swans and Neurosis with the way Oranssi Pazuzu approaches black metal in such an unrecognizable, yet unmistakable way on Mestarin Kynsi.

The creepy synth motif that traces through the eerie psychedelic guitars of the opening track, “Ilmestys” are brilliant and immediately mood-setting alone, but the freakish accents that also run through the song just heighten the tension even more, making the burst into the warped, but awe-inspiring metallic crescendo near the song’s end such a fulfilling payoff. It’s a tactfully tempered, brilliantly accented, and expertly strategically arranged, cinematic opening to an album that subsequently continues to build on that cinematic grandiosity set up by its opening track in a further display of specialty mastery by its progenating artists.

Taking a slightly more patient approach in the aftermath of the opener, the second track, “Tyhjyyden sakramentti” is a bit more of a gradual build through several sections of gradually thickening metallic psychedelia that takes all sorts of twists and turns through spooky and trippy swirls of forcefully mesmerizing guitar noise. The band integrates all sorts of effects on the guitars with great intuition on how to . The song eventually reaches a simple, straightforward guitar riff for a few seconds, which is very soon sucked into a synthy reverberation that sounds like it takes a quick breath of fresh, sober reality and immediately plunges it back into the synesthetic nightmare of shimmering, yet discomforting ambiance the song has so expertly conjured up.

The longest song on the album, “Uusi teknokratia”, winds its way through these fuzzed and hazed out Sabbathian riffs and super creepy hyperventilating (yet uncannily calm) vocal hums and haunting echoes of black metal screams. Similarly hypertension-inducing, dark-night, full-moon ritualistic guitar atmospherics of a wide variety of speeds, timbres join in in cementing the frightful visions that the song is conjuring. The plinky synths and anxiety-inducing uncanny calmness of the soft vocals really give this song such an immersive sense of under-the-surface panic and uneasiness during the buildup to the thicker body portions of the composition, which make great use of the tension that’s built up, both giving the release of that tension a fitting of the type of horror that the tension foreshadows and bringing the energy back down in a manner that allows the tension to build up again for another gratifying payoff rather than being completely expended, including the dark ambient drone that rounds out the track to set up the unease for the next one.

It’s a foreboding string motif, eventually treated with some warped/slowed-record pitch distortion, that opens the album’s fourth track, “Oikiamielisten sali”. After this arguably over-extended intro, the song then bursts through with these bright synth lines and electronically fuzzy guitar lines that eventually ramp up to yet another level of entrancing, distorted guitar ether that manage to encapsulate a feeling of out-of-body dread amid some disorienting other-worldly storm, which is even more terrifyingly transcendent in its lengthy, multi-phased climactic finish that more than makes up for the length of the intro it took to get there. The ethereal first half of the climax and the pulsing pounding of the drums underneath the instruments’ power-down/fade-out on the second half are just so godly, and they lead seamlessly into the darkest moment of the album.

“Kuulen ääniä maan alta” kicks off with a low-register electronic drone over a driving mid-paced beat and some twisted horn samples that immediately turn the fearfully heavenly mood from the preceding track sour (in a great way). Far more fierce and menacing than anything else on the track list, “Kuulen ääniä maan alta” takes an entirely unique approach to the concept of heaviness, guitar distortion and crashing drums being merely a portion of the grand orchestra of haunting sounds on display.

The album ends with a real boom with the song “Taivan Portii”, which instantly kicks off with a flurry of distorted guitars, warped and spirit-summoning synths, and driving blasts of drumming that all mount into this huge, gargantuan wave of sound that just swirls around and back and forth in a final expulsion of unhidden, unrestrained psychedelic black metal power, like a coercive malevolent deity that has finally revealed its true form and power and whose breath-stealing display prompts only simple terrified admiration in helpless, accepted anticipation of its exercise.

This album is so immersive in the disfigured world it brings to life, so accomplished in the style the band have been honing from the beginning of their career, and so impressively composed and well-directed, it’s honestly hard to stop talking about and hard to avoid in exchange for listening to something else, it’s like I’ve been hypnotized into repeatedly returning to its best inhuman seance. Or maybe I’m just addicted to a fucking great album. It is a truly singular display of a band creating something so much bigger than themselves on a sonic level. I don’t understand a word on it, but I can’t get over this album, and I can’t imagine how much more I would have to pour into this review if I were to try to find and translate the lyrics. But either way, this thing is an artistic monolith and a real declaration of the band’s importance. I’ve been listening to it over and over again, thinking admittedly way more than I really should about how to score this thing, and every time I listen to it and analyze for flaws I just end up loving it more for new reasons as it unfolds and unfolds over and over. You could argue that the length of the intro to “Oikiamielisten sali” is an imperfection, but I’m not going to fixate on a lengthy spacy intro on a psychedelic album as a flaw like a slightly long nose hair on a beautiful woman. To me, I can justify calling this thing imperfect, barely, but it’s not worth it. I believe in love. To me, Mestarin Kynsi is a...

10/10

[ollyarchive]

Olly Alexander on harnessing the power of sexual fantasy in pop

The Years & Years frontman talks about owning his queer sexuality in the mainstream and writing a twisted disco album about ‘holy wood’

Owen Myers

9 March 2018

“It’s like my Rihanna Loud era,” declares Olly Alexander, before breaking into a laugh. The Years & Yearsfrontman is referring to his cropped curly hair, which is freshly coloured to the hue of a nice Merlot. It’s a cold February evening, and he’s puffing on a roll-up while huddled in the fire exit doorway of a Camden venue. His new dye job has to be kept under wraps, he explains, until its official unveiling in the band’s new video. “It’s so stupid,” Olly says with an eye roll. He then flashes me a grin, suggesting that this moment of starry subterfuge is not entirely unwelcome.

Olly Alexander really likes being a pop star. He says that it’s full of “fairytale” moments, like when his Years & Years earnings enabled him to buy his mum a house, or when he and his ex-boyfriend, Neil Milan (formerly of Clean Bandit), became embraced as British pop’s new golden couple. After winning the BBC Sound poll in 2015, Years & Years’ earworm synth pop was everywhere. They had an inescapable number one single, “King”, and their album Communion was the fastest selling debut that year from a signed British band. Olly says that there are downsides to the tabloid headlines and Twitter trolls that come along with being “a public gay man” – a phrase that he puts in self-deprecating air quotes. But right now, those pressures feel far away, as he prepares to change into a bright pink boiler suit and play to a boozed-up Saturday night crowd, at an Annie Mac-curated showcase. Or, as he put it on Twitter earlier today: bring his “gay agenda” to The Roundhouse.

Years & Years’ great new single, “Sanctify”, contrasts lurking vocals with an ecstatic synth-fuelled chorus, and is as unapologetic as any of Olly’s pithy social media posts. He was newly single when he wrote the song, and reading Andrew Holleran’s 1978 chronologue of gay desire, Dancer From the Dance, had got him thinking about a couple of hookups he’d had with straight-identifying men. “It would always be under darkness,” he says. “It had this added layer of eroticism because it was somewhat forbidden. But (being with me) was a window where they could be themselves, and I felt responsible not to fuck them up.” Those conflicting feelings come through in evocative lyrics about obscuring masks and sinful confessions, with a climax that’s about as on-the-nose as chart pop gets. “I sanctify my sins when I pray,” says Olly, quoting the chorus’s payoff. “What do you do what you pray? You get on your knees. So is it a sexual baptism?” He laughs. “I was just like, ‘There’s a lot to work with here.’”

Years & Years are a three-piece, but the other two members, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen, tend to hunker down behind synths and let Olly take centre stage. His soul-searching lyrics give the band’s maximalist pop its heart, with a singing voice that pierces through a constellation of synths. Their videos bring acts which are often shrouded in darkness into the light, showing the singer cruising in a dank car park, or at a pansexual orgy. The new “Sanctify” visual riffs on dom/sub culture, with an elaborate sci-fi plot that is a device for Olly to perform “Slave 4 U”-inspired dance moves to an audience of androids. When he was commissioned to write a song for the Bridget Jones franchise, he made it about bottoming. “I have sex, I enjoy sex,” he says flatly. He’s sitting in his cosy dressing room the Roundhouse, which rumbles with bass as Disclosure and Mabel soundcheck next door. “In the past, I think gay men (in pop) have often shied away from being overtly sexual, or being commanding of their sexuality. But I believe that our sexual fantasies are a big drive for us all. Exploring that side of yourself is super empowering.”

In the past year or so, many well-known LGBTQ artists have begun to bring queerness into their music in sex-positive ways. Pop’s boy-next-door Troye Sivan strapped on Tom Of Finland leathers for a back alley moment with well-fluffed trade, Janelle Monáe caressed women’s bare thighs, Fever Ray returned with a concept album about queer kink. For better or worse, Sam Smith is now calling himself a “dick monster”on primetime telly. “Sometimes seeing a man express themselves in an overtly sexual way, especially a gay man, makes certain conservative people feel a bit uncomfortable,” Olly says. “I always wanna keep people a little uncomfortable.”

“I believe that our sexual fantasies are a big drive for us all. Exploring that side of yourself is super empowering” – Olly Alexander

Years & Years are far from the first mainstream British pop act to proudly put gay sexuality at the centre of their music – that’s a lineage that runs from Will Young to George Michael, Pet Shop Boys to Bronski Beat, and beyond. But Olly’s performances are a reminder that mainstream pop can be open to explicit queerness (at least, when it’s embodied in a handsome white cis man). Olly has faith that you don’t have to be “generic to be palatable,” and that “straight guys can hear a song that I’ve written about being fucked by another guy, but still relate.” LGBTQ+ people like me grew up seeing straight culture pretty much everywhere; seeing more of our community thrive is crucial.

Growing up in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Olly was a flamboyant kid. That got him bullied at school, called a “batty boy” before he was even aware that he was gay, and meant that he retreated into drama lessons. While acting, he felt it was okay – a good thing, even – to be expressive. He always nurtured a passion for music, too; he taught himself how to play Joni Mitchell songs on piano, and obsessed over “Dirrty”-era Christina Aguilera. An early performance at a year six assembly blended intimate songwriting and outré entertainment: Olly played piano and sang lyrics about lost love, while two of his friends did a dance routine.

In his late teens and early 20s, Olly cropped up in whimsical micro-budget indie films like 2011’s The Dish And The Spoon, alongside Greta Gerwig, as well as Gaspar Noé’s Enter The Void, and Skins. But his early experiences at school stayed with him. “Your first encounter with your sexuality is often from people bullying you and calling you the thing that you just pray to god that you won’t be – but deep down suspect you might be,” Olly says. “Well, no wonder we have an incredibly conflicting relationship with our bodies and our sexualities, because we’ve had to experience all of that.”

Reflecting on these difficult early years in his dressing room, Olly speaks openly about his own decade-long experience with depression, and the inadequate NHS provisions for those who are struggling with mental health. LGBTQ+ folks disproportionately struggle with depression and substance abuse, he recognises, and there’s only one UK organisation, London Friend, that caters directly to the specific needs of the queer community. “I’ve been there,” says Olly. “They’re amazing, but they are over-subscribed, with a tiny office, old chairs, and not a lot of money. When you’re seeing that people aren’t getting the help they should be, there’s an issue there.” That’s something he knows from first-hand experience. Last year, Olly fronted a BBC documentary, Growing Up Gay, about young LGBTQ+ people struggling with their mental health. His openness around the subject made him a kind of ambassador for those struggles, and he’s trying to work out how to deal with the “almost daily” DMs he gets from people at their lowest moments. “I feel very privileged that someone is wanting to share that with me, but it’s frightening,” he says. “We’re all in fucking pain, and I don’t know if we’re communicating with each other that well.”

“What do we expect a male pop star to do? As a society, how do we want them to behave or present themselves?” – Olly Alexander

Years & Years’ second album, out later this year, mixes gliding pop melodies with churning bass and twisted disco. The new songs feel more varied and exploratory than Communion, thanks in part to new collaborators like current pop’s minimalist masterminds Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter, as well as Greg Kurstin, who co-wrote “Shine”, Years & Years’ best song to date. The album’s centred around a motif of Palo Santo, a healing incense-like wood that you burn and waft around a room. (Olly dramatises this with hand motions as if he’s conducting an invisible orchestra.) Perhaps Palo Santo, with its power to expel evil spirits, could be a metaphor for the songwriting process? Maybe, Olly says. “But (when writing the album) I was angry about loads of things, particularly men. Palo Santo literally means ‘holy wood’ and I was like, ‘This is fucking perfect.’ Like, thinking that your dick is holy? I’ve known guys like that.”

Years & Years’ renewed vision also extends to creating a futuristic universe for their new music to exist in. That’s an idea that Olly’s idols – “Bowie, Prince, and Gaga” – have embraced, and “Sanctify” is the first part of an interconnected series of “weird, wonderful” videos. It marks the next step for a band aiming to join British pop’s pantheon, at a time when Olly, too, has been reflecting on his place in music. “What do we expect a male pop star to do?” he questions. “As a society, how do we want them to behave or present themselves? If I was asking myself, it would be like, ‘Well actually, I’ve always loved this kind of popstar. Maybe I should just be the pop star I want to see in the world.”

[stormyrecords-blog]

new arrivals 7-13-17

glenn jones plays this week on thursday night at trinosophes. also - this week is the first week of the east dearborn musical event - tunes at noon. full desription and schedule just below the list of this week's new arrivals. items in stock thursday - july 13th 2017 Love Theme: S/T LP $21.99If there's a single guiding motif to this debut recording from Love Theme, it's the melancholic throb of love learnt and love lost, a descent that tumbles and slips through the overall feeling of looking back. As intimately and carefully as its parts cohesively lament a narrative, it's the after-image that catches your breath, like a memory morphing as it is observed. Comprised of Alex Zhang Hungtai, of the now defunct project Dirty Beaches, along with Austin Milne, and Simon Frank, Love Theme is arranged from an improvised session with twin saxophones, synthesizer, percussion, drum machine, and voice. The aching wane of the saxophone arrangements frisk the propulsive aggro of the mixed percussion, forcing a melancholic halo upon the queasy stupor of the synthetic swing that closes each side of the record. It's a bizarre lust for life that's being divined from equal parts dislocation and invigoration, a potent remedy which perhaps Love Theme can call their own. Percolating and finding form over time, the record instinctively follows a travel narrative, moving across a series of landscapes, reflecting the innate experiences of the expressions and voices that were first collected in South London back in February 2015. Mitchell, Nicole : Mandorla CD $15.99"Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds is Nicole Mitchell's second album for Chicago-based FPE Records. Recorded in May of 2015 at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, it features her longtime collaborators Renee Baker (violin), Tomeka Reid (cello, banjo), Alex Wing (electric guitar, oud) and Jovia Armstrong (percussion), along with new members Tatsu Aoki (bass, shamisen, taiko) and Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi). Also in the mix is Chicago artist, scholar and poet Avery R Young, who brings her lyrics to life with visceral humanity. Composer and flutist Nicole Mitchell, once hailed by Chicago Reader music critic Peter Margasak as the 'greatest living flutist in jazz', continues the work begun when jazz visionary Sun Ra and his Arkestra first touched down on Planet Earth and told humanity that space (outer and inner) is indeed the place. As with contemporary Afrofuturist pioneers like cosmic jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington, post-everything beat maker Flying Lotus, R&B cyborg Janelle Monáe and dystopian noise-rappers Death Grips, she uses Afrofuturism as a platform to launch her own, unique vision. Her vast sound often encompasses contemporary classical, globally oriented fusion, gospel, spoken word, funk-inspired groove research and even brittle shards of avant-rock. Mandorla Awakening II collides dualities such as acoustic vs electric, country vs urban, simple vs complex, while also sounding through intercultural dialogue between Black, European and Pan-Asian improvisational languages. The outcome is a creative music suite that blurs musical styles into recognizable fragments that weave a unique sound fabric, where human emotion and the struggles of today swim." Baroncini/D'Amario: Music for Movement  LP $32.99Sonor Music Editions present a reissue Angelo Baroncini and Bruno Battisti D'amario's Music For Movement, originally released in 1969. Another terrific jam and a very obscure Italian library record, originally released on Roman Record Company label, the label responsible for Droga (1972), Traffico (1972), and the Viaggio Attraverso I Problemi Dell'Uomo series. The music is signed by the great guitar players and composers Angelo Baroncini and Bruno Battisti D'Amario, D'Amario being the unmissable guitar man of maestro Ennio Morricone. Crazy early fuzz beats with fast western swings, experimental rock distractions, rhythmic movements, with totally insane acid guitar and sitar riffs and a huge underground psychedelic mood. A truly inspired and deep session recorded for some impossible TV synchronization purpose. Holy grail alert. Original sleazy stereo recording restored sound. Edition of 500 Watson, Chris: El Tren Fantasma CD $15.992017 repress. "Take the ghost train from Los Mochis to Veracruz and travel cross country, coast to coast, Pacific to Atlantic. Ride the rhythm of the rails on board the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (FNM) and the music of a journey that has now passed into history." --Chris Watson Kawai, Kenji: Ghost In The Shell  OST LP $27.99We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records present the first ever official vinyl pressing of the soundtrack for Mamoru Oshii's critically acclaimed and all around legendary science fiction anime film Ghost In The Shell (1995), adapted from Masamune Shirow's groundbreaking manga series of the same name. The haunting score is composed by Kenji Kawai, one of Japan's most celebrated soundtrack composers alongside Joe Hisaishi and Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose work includes Hideo Nakata's Ring (1998) and Ring 2 (1999), Death Note (2006), Hong Kong films Seven Swords by Tsui Hark (2005) and Ip Man by Wilson Yip (2008), and countless others. Kawai's compositions see ancient harmonies and percussions uncannily mesh with synthesized sounds of the modern world to convey a sumptuous balance between folklore tradition and futuristic outlook. For its iconic main theme "Making Of Cyborg", Kawai had a choir chant a wedding song in ancient Japanese following Bulgarian folk harmonies, setting the standard for a timeless and unparalleled soundtrack that admirably echoes the film's musings on the nature of humanity in a technologically advanced world. Ghost In The Shell is widely considered one of the best anime films of all time and its influence has been felt in the work of numerous movie directors, including James Cameron's Avatar (2009), the Wachowskis's The Matrix (1999), and Steven Spielberg's AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001). For fans of anime, manga, movie soundtracks, science fiction, ambient, folklore, Japan, Akira (1988), artificial intelligence, Midori Takada. Cut from the original master reels at Emil Berliner Studios (formerly the in-house recording department of renowned classical record label Deutsche Grammophon). Trost, Heather : Agistri LP $20.99LP version. "Heather Trost is best known for her work composing and performing as one half of A Hawk And A Hacksaw. She has also played with Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, Josephine Foster, and most recently Thor Harris of Swans. She has arranged and performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra, as well as conductor Andre De Ridder and his Stargaze Orchestra, and toured throughout the world. In 2014 she released her first solo project, a 7-inch on Ba Da Bing Records, followed in 2015 by Ourobouros, a limited edition cassette of expansive electronic ambient compositions influenced by Basil Kirchin, Terry Riley and Angelo Badalamenti on Cimiotti Recordings. These two projects propelled a full length album: named after a Greek Island, Agistri is a song cycle of freely formed pop songs touching upon soul, samba, and pop music of the '60s and '70s, with a subtle shade of psychedelia. Ambient and melancholic sounds interweave with Hammond organs and '70s Italian synthesizers, reflecting the desert landscapes of New Mexico, and the sparse shrubbery and turquoise water of the Aegean Sea and its islands. Bolstered by contributions from Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeremy Barnes on drums and bass, Deerhoof's John Dieterich on guitar, and Drake Hardin and Rosie Hutchinson of cult New Mexico band Mammal Eggs, Trost's talents as a songwriter and arranger explode on this wonderful, often surreal album." Wire #402: Aug 17 MAG/CD  $10.50"Stuck to the cover of this month's issue: The Wire Tapper 44 CD, featuring 20 tracks by AGF + Werkstatt, Sarah Angliss, Paul Rooney, Susanna, Hear In Now, Bonaventure, and more. Meanwhile, inside the issue: Finland's postmodern metal masters Circle; New York underground hiphop veteran Scotty Hard; Anton Lukoszevieze, leader of UK chamber music ensemble Apartment House; a report on the electronic explorers and pop-punk mavericks of Sapporo's DIY microscene; and more." TUNES AT NOONevery thursday at 12 noon in dearborn city hall park at the corner of michigan ave and schaeferone hour of free music - bring your lunch and enjoy some fun in the sun!! 7/13 Dearborn School of MusicWe are a music school that offers private lessons on all instruments and all styles of music to students of all ages. We also have group lessons for preschoolers called "music for little mozarts." For the summer concert we have put together a rock band comprised of students and instructors that will be playing some classic rock and modern rock and punk rock songs. 7/20 Lac La BelleLocal musicians Jennie Knaggs & Nick Schillace create music that blends history with the present via accordion, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, harmonizing vocals, and fingerpicking resonator guitar. With their separate experiences learning folk and blues in Appalachia, American roots bind Lac La Belle’s compositions with a heavy thread. For this performance enjoy some of their favorite old time, bluegrass and western swing favorites, alongside their original tunes. 7/27 Detroit Pleasure SocietyDetroit Pleasure Society plays the traditional jazz of New Orleans with a fresh twist and raucous candor. 8/3 Libby DeCamp"Libby DeCamp makes dusty folk and American Roots-inspired music with a lyrical edge and a classic three-piece energy, delivered with a haunting vocal closeness that reaches listeners of all kinds. Sweetly soulful "Broken Folk." 8/10 Michael Malis TrioMichael Malis is a pianist and composer based in Detroit, MI. Malis bridges the gap between original composed, complex material and the spontaneity of improvisation. His trio (piano, bass, drums),   featured on his latest album, has toured in the United States and Canada, and in September 2016, they performed at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. 8/17 Viands "Viands is a spontaneous collaboration between two auteurs of Detroit's underground music scene: Joel Peterson and David Shettler. The music they create is a deep, reflective and fearless alternate-reality keyboard meditation that draws on the pair's broad musical vision to explore new vistas.

[davepetillo]

Wilbur “Bad” Bascomb’s Petillo Five String Bass! German quilted maple, Nigerian ebony center highlight and American alder back. The wooden pickup covers are layered with Nigerian ebony and German flame maple. The covers also have a European geometric motif inlay on top. Wilbur “Bad” Bascomb is an American bassist who has played on numerous jazz and funk recordings. Born in Washington Heights, New York, he is the son of Jazz trumpet player Wilbur “Dud” Bascomb, who was member of the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, and later played with Duke Ellington for a short time. He has recorded with Galt McDermot, Jeff Beck, James Brown and B.B. King. Known for his performance on Jeff Beck’s Wired album and the soundtrack for the 1979 film version of Hair, he co-wrote “Head For Backstage Pass” a riff-based jam featured on Wired, in which he plays an extensive bass solo in the introduction. His song “Black Grass” from his Black grass music album was also included in the influential breakbeat compilation Ultimate Breaks and Beats. Wilbur is currently playing bass in the Lion King on Broadway.

[jessicakmatt]

The 10 Best Piano Sample Packs to Get Inspired By

The 10 Best Piano Sample Packs to Get Inspired By: via LANDR Blog

Who doesn’t love a little piano sample? It’s such a great instrument to sample because you can do so much with it.

Whether it’s chord progressions, bass lines, melody or an entire part, you can get so much out of a piano sample.

Beatmakers and music producers are always on the hunt for cool samples because they’re easily one of the most important and recognizable instruments in music.

Whether it’s a lo-fi melody, a bluesy electric riff, or a soulful progression, we’ve put together this list of great piano sample packs where you’ll find any genre or texture you can imagine.

Here’s the 10 best piano sample packs.

1. Electric Piano 1

In Electric Piano you’ll find some great re-creations of classic electric piano riffs.

Perfect for getting sounds from the funk and blues revolution the electric piano started in the 60s and 70s.

Our favorite sample from the pack: 05 Electric Piano EP1 05 – 90 BPM – F#m

2. Urban Made Piano Vol 1

For classic jazz ballad inspired piano licks, Urban Made Piano is definitely a go-to sample pack.

It’s meticulously curated down to 36 individual samples that each have the capacity to inspire an entire track.

Our favorite sample from the pack: Urban Made Piano V1 121 – Am

3. Soul Pack

Soul Pack is a collection from New York-based keyboardist, Jon Solo.

It features a big selection of amazing piano and electric piano samples from his collection of vintage keyboards at his personal studio.

Our favorite sample from the pack: folk_piano_keyGMaj-A-C_85bpm

4. Amazon Grand Piano

For a selection of professionally recorded grand piano samples, untouched by effects or processing, Amazon Grand Piano is for you.

Get 100 different ideas, chords, motifs, melodies and more–all pristinely recorded on grand piano.

Our favorite sample from the pack: Grand Piano (Dry) 100bpm Dm

5. Emotional Piano Melodies Vol 3

Low key, atmospheric, and melancholic are all words you could use to describe the overall vibe of this sample pack.

It’s the perfect pack for the next time you make a rainy day kind of track.

Our favorite sample from the pack: EPM3_115_6_CHORDS 

6. Symphonic Series Vol 7: Piano and Orchestra 2

Pianos are incredible instruments because they do such a great job of telling a story, especially when you think about the classical piano style.

For a cinematic piano part that will tell your story any piano sample from Symphonic Series Vol 7 is an excellent place to start.

Our favorite sample from the pack: PL_SSV7PO2_01_Piano_Bars_19-27_120_F_Major_Dry

7. After Hours

Saturated, warbling and dusty piano loops are what characterize this lo-fi themed piano sample pack.

Check out After Hours and get piano samples that are begged to be chopped into a tasty new lo-fi beat.

Our favorite sample from the pack: 07 Vintage Melodic 75BPM

8. Pop Piano Anthems Vol 1

Pop piano is always processed and effect to make it blend into a mix that suits pop’s hard-hitting, punchy nature.

Pop Piano Anthems has that crispy sound, get inspiring chord progressions, tasty melodies and more.

Our favorite sample from the pack: PLPPAV1_001_A_Piano_090_Dmin

9. Anthology Late Night Jazz Vol 2.1

Royalty-free jazz loops that actually sound good and authentic are hard to come by.

Anthology Late Night Jazz does not disappoint. With well over 500 unique jazz-tinged loops, you’ll find a killer piano part for your jazz inspired track.

Our favorite sample from the pack: AN_LNJ2_02_Piano_045-050_144_C_Major_Tail

10. Emotional Piano Melodies Vol 2

Get your track started on a low-key vibe with an emotionally tinged piano part.

For the perfect tear-jerker look to Emotional Piano Melodies Vol 2.

Our favorite sample from the pack: EPM2 06_Full kit

The post The 10 Best Piano Sample Packs to Get Inspired By appeared first on LANDR Blog.

from LANDR Blog https://blog.landr.com/piano-samples/ via https://www.youtube.com/user/corporatethief/playlists from Steve Hart https://stevehartcom.tumblr.com/post/626100270248706048

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/the-31-best-dance-scenes-in-movies/

The 31 best dance scenes in movies

Updated 4 hours ago

What do dance scenes add to a movie? Unspeakable bliss, for starters. Dancing starts when dialogue fails. When lovers need to move beyond conversation, when conflicts boil past negotiation, when joy can’t be expressed in any other way than by leaping into the air on a trumpeter’s high note.

With the rise of movie musicals in the early part of the 20th century, dancing moved easily from stage to screen, becoming bigger, more potent, ever more spectacular — and a lasting love affair with the moviegoing public was born. It’s still going on: Witness the mainstream success of “La La Land,” a film in the golden age mold.

Taking stock of film’s dance treasury to pick the paragons was an irresistible challenge. In making my choices for the best dance scenes, I looked at several factors: mastery of technique, imaginative choreography, quality of the music — this is very important — and design and storytelling. I value authentic expression more than dance doubles and tricky editing. But, in the final analysis, transcendence won out. Does the dancing carry me away, give me chills, distill some truth about the human experience? Whether it’s a masterpiece of steps and skill, or an intentionally funny, hot mess, or a dreamscape that’s intriguingly weird — dancing that moves you is great dancing.

I also had to set some rules for this list: I considered specific dance scenes, not the quality of entire movies. I didn’t include documentaries or foreign films; no “Pina,” no “Mad Hot Ballroom.” With matchless artists in movement, music and choreography, the 1940s and ’50s dominate my choices, but even those aren’t exhaustive. I settled on the era’s best and moved on. I handicapped Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, limiting them to just one dance (it’s my No. 1, the best of the best) from all the jewels in their 10 films together, because if I didn’t, they’d eat the list. Our vast cinematic history is studded with marvelous dancing, but one has to draw the line somewhere.

1. ‘Swing Time’ (1936), ‘Never Gonna Dance’ scene

There are no greater dance musicals than the ones Fred and Ginger made together, because they accomplished so much, so beautifully. Their dances are artistic, emotional and inventive; the music is superb (Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin); the costuming and set design create a stylistic whole. And they aren’t mere interludes. What Astaire and Rogers communicate through dance deepens the story. To pick the pinnacle among their 10 films isn’t easy, but my choice is their final waltz in “Swing Time.” Why? Because we’ll think of Astaire and Rogers forever as a unit, falling in love on the dance floor, and this dance expresses something profound about their bond. It’s about the perils of breaking it. They begin by simply walking together; their mood is blue, but the sexual tension is red hot. Through a precise mirroring of movements, Rogers shows Astaire the kind of intimate soul mate he’ll lose if he doesn’t ‘fess up about his feelings. Astaire senses this and grows desperate. He spins her around dizzily, her dress whipping like a flag at sea. Then the cliffhanger: She whirls out the door, leaving him, and us, bereft – and dying to see how the movie ends.

2. ‘Stormy Weather’ (1943), ‘Jumpin’ Jive’

Fayard and Harold Nicholas, aka the Nicholas Brothers, were a pair of miracles in tap shoes. They hoofed their way from the Cotton Club to Hollywood, where their fans included Astaire, Gene Kelly and other dance greats who marveled at their skill, daring and sheer brilliance. This scene is the consummate joy-fest: They dart through Cab Calloway’s orchestra, skate atop the drums and piano, and end it all by plunging down a flight of stairs, leapfrogging buoyantly over each other to land in the splits, and then springing up to do it all again. They shot it all in one take.

3. ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952), title number

Is there any more beloved dance scene on film than Gene Kelly’s inspired splashfest? This is the dance anthem for that inescapable experience of a thorough cosmic drenching. The answer: Enjoy it! Spin through puddles, gambol in the gutters, play a brass band in your head, and soak up every drop. Kelly was constantly experimenting, and although he whipped up more technically dazzling numbers in other movies, none is more uplifting or enduring than this one.

4. ‘An American in Paris’ (1951), final ballet

Kelly lured Leslie Caron from France especially for this movie and its climactic, 17-minute dreamscape of a ballet. The scene took a month to film. Its lush, Technicolor intensity has never been matched, and the dancing, which sweeps through paintings come to life, Parisian flower markets and moonlit fountains, feels like the very embodiment of postwar optimism. But the chemistry between its stars, accompanied by Gershwin’s sexy jazz: explosif.

5. ‘Ship Ahoy’ (1942), ‘I’ll Take Tallulah’

I once asked Fayard Nicholas (see No. 2) to name his favorite female dancer. His answer: Eleanor Powell. It’s easy to see why. Powell is arguably the greatest tap dancer on film, male or female, and in this number, she has the spotlight all to herself (after Bert Lahr serenades her). Three things distinguish this scene: Powell’s punchy, rascally athleticism, the musical star power of Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, and the imaginative way Powell taps around the poolside set. She trades drum licks with jazz virtuoso Buddy Rich, hops on tables, swan-dives into an ocean of men, swings on a rope, cartwheels and catches flying rings and, still spinning, seizes airborne drumsticks and rejoins Rich to hammer out a scintillating flourish.

6. ‘Broadway Melody of 1940’ (1940), ‘Begin the Beguine’

Cole Porter, Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell: the holy trinity of tap. I love the full-body, freewheeling spirit of this amazing duet – it’s a marvel of precision, with hints of friendly competition. Astaire and Powell chase, tease and one-up each other, ending in a synchronized storm of turns that sends them spiraling around each other like crazy spinning nickels in a tilted universe. How can two humans move so fast, in perfect time, with such giddy ease?

7. ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ (1954), ‘Barn Dance’

Michael Kidd’s exceptional choreography is full of earthy vigor and references to reels, logging and barn-raising. High-pitched and unusually athletic, the dancing moves from an outdoor stage to picnic tables to wood beams. There are backflips and diving somersaults, along with polka steps and lifts. The dancers include Tommy Rall, one of cinema’s greats, ballet star Jacques d’Amboise and Russ Tamblyn, the former gymnast about seven years shy of stardom as Riff in the movie of “West Side Story.”

8. ‘Small Town Girl’ (1953), ‘I’ve Gotta Hear That Beat’

Ann Miller was considered the queen of Hollywood tap dancers: She was tall, gorgeous and insanely fast. Her taps were like machine-gun fire. This scene, directed by Busby Berkeley and choreographed by Willie Covan, is her most famous. Miller, sequined and sparkly, whirls through an assortment of disembodied musical instruments; violins and trumpets in the hands of unseen players pop up through the floor. Spinning madly, she somehow avoids ricocheting off the trombones. It’s a tribute to Miller as the consummate musician – her tapping is a symphony unto itself – and the scene’s ingenious design, while visually striking, allows nothing to distract from her brilliance.

9. ‘West Side Story’ (1961), ‘America’

Rita Moreno and George Chakiris are a combustible couple, taunting and teasing each other through Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics and Leonard Bernstein’s music. But once they start dancing, their sexual energy could light up the city. Great dance fills this entire movie, but this scene stands out for the neat layering of Latin motifs – bullfighting, flamenco, mambo – and the exuberant staging of a gender war. There’s also well-earned fury: In lyrics and physical expression, the characters directly engage with the clash of cultures and racism that will undo them all.

10. ‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977), ‘More Than a Woman’

This is not the trickiest dance from a technical point of view. You and I could pick it up in a snap. (Simple is good.) But John Travolta turns it into erotic gold. This scene rates among the greats for the spell it casts, far surpassing its modest mechanics. Plenty of other movies’ dance scenes are more complicated, more expertly executed, but this one is unusually immersive ­— I’m swept into a fever dream of feeling. Strutting like a show pony in his polyester suit and platform shoes, Travolta communicates the intent behind his smoothly syncopated steps and slow dips with co-star Karen Lynn Gorney; they’re a disco-driven lead-in to lovemaking. The dynamic tension is perfect – he revels in his own charisma, she looks at him in misty disbelief, like he’s her fantasy come to life. (For many of us, he was.) Filming wasn’t easy. So much heat and smoke filled that Brooklyn nightclub that at one point, Travolta was on oxygen. Installing lights in the floor, to flash along with the Bee Gees’ music, cost a fortune. It was worth it.

11. ‘All That Jazz’ (1979), ‘Take Off With Us’

Of course, Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical film contains his own snappy, sultry choreography. In this scene, cast members rehearse a flight-attendant-themed number for a Broadway show. What I love about it is not only the dancing — full of Fosse hallmarks, the tight little steps, the hats, the tense sexiness and exquisite control — but also the spot-on depiction of what rehearsals are like. The nearly naked performers sing and shimmy their hearts out, while the creative team watches impassively, smoking, frowning, scribbling criticisms. It’s show business, baby.

12. ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ (1953), ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’

That hot-pink dress, that cherry-red backdrop, those long, long gloves. Marilyn Monroe is glamorous perfection in this scene, choreographed by the great Jack Cole. He brilliantly played up her strengths, focusing on those beautiful bare shoulders with a shimmy here, an arm extension there, a lot of shaking and — whoopee! — a well-timed gesture to her back porch. Restrained in vocabulary and uninhibited in style and spirit, this witty dance is an exuberant celebration of the female assets, performed by one of the most vibrant bodies in cinematic history.

13. ‘The Band Wagon’ (1953), ‘Dancing in the Dark’

Cyd Charisse was tall for Fred Astaire, so she’s wearing flats here, the perfect footwear for a waltz of seduction that begins with these two extraordinary movers simply strolling through Central Park. Michael Kidd’s choreography is fascinating; it unspools in an expanding array of spirals, zigzagging lines and sharp changes of direction, sending the couple over benches, up steps and, finally, into a horse-drawn carriage. Astaire and Charisse sail through the complex geometry, each move flowing into the next, as though it were all just a walk in the park.

14. ‘Sweet Charity’ (1969), ‘The Aloof, the Heavyweight, the Big Finish’

“We don’t dance,” snarls one of the partners-for-hire in this film’s sleazy ballroom. “We defend ourselves to music.” You feel that bite in an irresistible, decadent floor-show extravaganza of ’60s go-go, choreographed by Fosse, the master of sinister sexiness. The starring attractions: dancers Suzanne Charney and a young Ben Vereen. Also, loads of eyeliner, minidresses and those Fosse-licious broken-doll struts, isolated joints and hips, hips, hips.

15. ‘The Red Shoes,’ (1948), ballet sequence

Within this masterful film, about the flaming passions of artists, lies a complete ballet that echoes the theme and foreshadows its tragic conclusion. The ballet tells the Hans Christian Andersen tale of enchanted shoes that dance their wearer to death; redhead ballerina Moira Shearer is their beguiling victim. Beautifully lighted and designed, this dark, wordless drama is by turns hallucinatory and Hitchcockian.

16. ‘Dirty Dancing’ (1987), final dance

For many of us of a certain age, this is the defining movie dance scene, as Patrick Swayze struts onto that Borscht Belt stage, and Jennifer Grey melts in his arms. It’s a singularly potent concoction: Swayze’s erotic beauty, Grey’s coming-of-age right before our eyes, the lusty grace of their moves, the crowd’s collective swoon. Because it happens in a middle-class family setting, with actors who weren’t yet icons, we can see ourselves in them, and fly along with them, at least in our minds. It’s a vicarious rush.

17. ‘Damn Yankees’ (1958), ‘Whatever Lola Wants’

Gwen Verdon as a leggy demon sent by Satan to seduce a ballplayer – OK, I’m in. Verdon, a singing, dancing, acting wizard of stage and screen, had a unique, commanding presence; although delicately built, she vibrated exactitude and authority. She’s funny, sexy and gleefully impish in this scene, choreographed by Fosse, who was soon to be her husband. Every step conveys that she’s a nonhuman in a new role and loving it. Verdon stays in this complicated character throughout her awkward-on-purpose striptease and a manic romp touched with flamenco, burlesque and quasi-Indian fillips. “I’m irresistible, you fool,” she taunts. Um, yes.

18. ‘All of Me’ (1984), closing scene

In this sparkling screwball comedy, Lily Tomlin’s soul transmigrates into Steve Martin’s body. Result: a high-pitched tug of war – she controls one side of his body, he’s got the other. (We see Tomlin’s reflection whenever Martin passes a mirror.) This internal mayhem smoothly resolves in the end, when we see the two whirling in a let-it-all-hang-out dance of pure joy, captured in a mirror, that grows goofier and giddier, accompanied by a swinging rendition of the jazz standard of the title. Before, the body had been a prison for Martin and Tomlin; here it’s a vehicle of spectacular release, and the display of rapture between well-tuned spirits is utterly contagious.

19. ‘Stepmom’ (1998), ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’

This makes me cry, because it captures the very essence of living, and love. Susan Sarandon, dying of cancer, carouses in her pajamas with her kids, belting out the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell anthem into a curling iron. They jump on the bed. They prance down the hallway. They give Death a big, fat, life-affirming kick in the caboose.

20. ‘La La Land’ (2016), opening sequence

The dance numbers in this loving nod to Hollywood’s musical history are so physically rapturous and vicariously thrilling that they almost lift you out of your seat. Attitude adjustment starts with the opening sequence, which turns a traffic jam on an L.A. highway into a full-throttle celebration of life, as folks sing, spin and stomp on the roofs of their cars, while a BMX biker and a freewheeling skateboarder surf the concrete barriers.

21. ‘White Nights’ (1985), the duet

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, two of the greatest male dancers of the late 20th century, united on the dance floor: How can you beat that? This scene offers a side-by-side view of their styles – the tapper’s heavy-hitting power and connection to the floor, the ballet maestro’s elegance, airborne ease and elasticity. Watch how Baryshnikov sinks into his knees, while the lankier Hines stays more upright. In other ways, though, Hines is looser and jazzier, while Baryshnikov is knife-sharp.

22. ‘You Got Served’ (2004), dance battle

Dance contests come and go, but this one boasts muscular grace, jaw-dropping execution and incomparable street style. The most spectacular street moves require immense (that is, male) upper-body strength — the head-spinning and upside-down windmilling — and we get to revel in that here. But the ladies also have their moments to shine. Although the editing tends to get in the way of the best view of the dancing, the displays of raw, rhythmic power matched with impeccable precision and daring don’t get much better than this.

23. ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (2012), dance rehearsal

Cute couple awkwardly learns to dance with the help of their cool friend. Bradley Cooper is the odd man out in this threesome, while Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Tucker offer up the dancing thrills. OK, so they’re modest — this is not showstopping material — but it’s so adorable. Tucker knows just how to womp up Lawrence’s uncooperative hips: “Girl, you gotta move your junk.”

24. ‘Center Stage’ (2000), ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’

Tutus and motorcycles: a match made in dance heaven. These white-frocked ballerinas are dutifully dull until Ethan Stiefel roars onstage on his bike. At the time, Stiefel was a star at American Ballet Theatre, and this scene offers a terrific look at his virtuosic technique (those pirouettes, those airy leaps – pure gold), as well as his heartthrob appeal. Accompanied by Michael Jackson’s bouncy pop song, this is simply tremendous fun. Classical ballet steps, beautifully performed, get funkified.

25. ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ (1963), ‘Got a Lotta Livin to Do’

Ann-Margret’s “torrid dancing almost replaces the central heating in the theater,” Life magazine declared in its cover story about “Bye Bye Birdie” and its young heroine. This is the movie that made her a star. She’s also a sensational dancer, in a vamped-up display of seduction aided by belly-baring ruffles and the sexiest pink capris you’ve ever seen. With all of her slinky allure, she also twists, hully-gullies and Watusis with the ensemble to the soundtrack’s brisk jazz. This frisky production is a great mood-booster.

26. ‘White Chicks’ (2004), dance-off

The premise: Two African-American FBI agents — Keenan Ivory Wayans and Shawn Wayans —disguise themselves as white women to lure a kidnapper out of hiding. It sounds so wrong, but it’s so funny, especially when miniskirted squads of frenemies shake off their frustrations on the dance floor. The undercover agents jump into the mix, in their low-rise jeans and pastel leathers (the girl clothes are craptastically horrendous). They’ve done such a good job of being female, and now their true, testosterone-fueled selves come out in aggressive, head-spinning moves that are just plain out of reach for most of us ladies. That should blow their cover. No one seems to notice this.

27. ‘House Party’ (1990), dance scene

Teens want to hang out together, have fun and party — this hasn’t changed since forever — but it’s the partying here that’s extraordinary. We see it on their terms, in the close, crowded quarters of a living room, with just enough space for explosive moves, sassy personal expression, all kinds of style and exhilarating, good-natured fun. It’s an instantly immersive experience; you feel like you’re on the dance floor with them, bopping along as hip-hop duo Kid n Play show off their swiveling, sliding, twisting footwork.

28. ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994), twist contest

“I wanna dance, I wanna win, I want that trophy. So dance good.” A menacing Uma Thurman and a game John Travolta shed their shoes for an intense go-go scene that comes out of nowhere, in the middle of a bloody crime film. Director Quentin Tarantino has said he was inspired by New Wave master Jean-Luc Godard, known to drop an incongruous dance into his work. Note how the actors draw our focus to their fingers and toes. Of course, we’re also thinking back on the younger, disco-dancing Travolta, so the scene is poignant as well as darkly funny. And very, very odd.

29. ‘The Cotton Club’ (1984), ‘Crazy Rhythm’

Brothers Maurice and Gregory Hines were estranged for 10 years in real life, and this scene re-creates the emotional reunion on the dance floor of the siblings who had been childhood tap partners. Francis Ford Coppola’s film brought veteran hoofers such as Charles “Honi” Coles back to the spotlight, and these scenes are priceless. But the Hines duet is infused with palpable warmth and bone-deep sympathy.

30. ‘A Chorus Line’ (1985), ‘Next’

In some ways, the dancing life is like the military, especially here. This film about Broadway opens with auditions, where the dance captain is a drill sergeant and the chorines are uber-disciplined grunts firing off a battery of moves. A lot of movie dancing shows us the slippery ease and glory of moving to music, but here we see the opposite: the punishing work, humiliations and stoicism behind it. And after all that, the four cruelest words a dancer will ever hear: “Thank you very much.”

31. ‘Pennies From Heaven’ (1981), ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’

Talk about nerve: In this tribute to Depression-era musicals, Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters take on one of Astaire and Rogers’s greatest numbers. And they do it justice. They’re a well-matched pair —Martin, light-footed and quick; Peters, all soft edges. The black-and-white design, complete with a tuxedoed ensemble, is timeless.

Sarah L. Kaufman is The Washington Post’s dance critic.

Source: https://triblive.com/aande/adminpage/14292371-74/the-31-best-dance-scenes-in-movies

[happymetalgirl]

Gardsghastr - Slit Throat Requiem

Channelling the likes of Emperor, Mayhem, and even Behemoth in the most ambitious stages of their respective careers, Gardsghastr make an ambitious surge for the symphonic black metal crown of the coming decade with their stylistically grand debut, Slit Throat Requiem.

With harrowingly spiralling tremolo-picked chord progressions over tempests of high-speed blast beat and fill-laden drumming, incantations of angelic choirs, and ethereal echoes of string orchestras to provide a fittingly expansive backdrop to the blackened instrumentation at the forefront, the band definitely set their sites on a claim for the void left by Emperor after their dissolution.

Having clearly studied the masters before them and learned their craft, Gardsghastr enter the ring well equipped to take the throne that none have really been able to pry the Emperor's skeleton away from, and their debut album is certainly an exhibition of their own ability to match their forefathers' blackened symphonic magnificence.

If there's one thing that is holding this album back from Gardsghastr's first move in supplanting the old guard, it's its homogeneity. While Emepror, Dimmu Borgir, Mayhem, and the likes have reached for the highest heights of epic instrumentation, the best of them had the tact to manage it well and not become overrun by a musical force they couldn't wield.

Now I'm not saying that Gardsghastr succumb to their own weapon and sink beneath the orchestration meant to elevate them. They do quite well to capture the aesthetic essence of what has made Norwegian symphonic black metal such a force to be reckoned with. And honestly, the band's ambitious, sprawling compositions are mostly well-measured and effective as well, especially the epic "Beasts of Horn and Wing", the eerie "Diabolical Reverence" (whose guitar leads invoke memories of Opeth's better days), and the climactic turbulence of "Unfurl the Profane Wisdom".

But for all its grandeur, Slit Throat Requiem offers little necessary novelty to really separate Gardsghastr from Emperor beyond the improved modern production of the former upon the template of the latter and little in the way of strong musical details within the larger picture of that grand instrumentation. No, I'm not complaining about a lack of guitar riffs. I enjoy the massive, impossible-to-take-in scope of this style of black metal. But even so, thank Gardsghastr could find more ways than simply the occasional focused swell of choirs into a certain semi-graspable motif to give their musical cosmos the ability to lift one up into it rather than just looming awe-strikingly overhead.

Again, this is a magnificent debut album and I have far more admiration for the band's ability to reach such heights on their first album than I do qualms with its minor deficiencies, much like the legendary band I keep bringing up that obviously inspired them so much. Gardsghastr are so close; with just this one stroke, they've made a remarkable stab at the genre's living and posthumous incumbents. And I am definitely excited to see how they might evolve from what might be their nightside eclipse.

To perhaps seize the empire one day/10