Music Review : Deafheaven – Sunbather (2013)

Music Review : Deafheaven – Sunbather (2013, Deathwish Inc.)

American Black Metal has gained respect since a few years and with the exception of Absu from Texas, few BM acts have been recognized as worth the genre. In the recent years, Nachtmystium has been respected with their revisits of Pink Floyd’s Meddle atmosphere and textures with Assassins : Black Meddle, Part I. Put aside the crap from Blake Judd. There’s also Wolves in the Throne Room that are one of the most interesting BM acts from the US.

Lately, with easier ways to record, a bunch of talented and untalented musicians have formed Black Metal bands and the quantity of BM releases has increased considerably. Amongst this genre many imitators of Darkthrone, Immortal, Satyricon were appearing but few have taken elements of the genre to elevate them in a more personal approach to music and adapt it.

Deafheaven is a brighter star in the sky when it comes to the creativity of their music. They elevated their sound close to the elegance of the early BM releases of Ulver (Nattens Madrigal for example). Not afraid to indulge more than wrath and angered occult and satanist lyrics. This era of BM is dead and now laughable. The most enduring acts of the genre have let Satanism and treat about humanity, nihilism, mythology, littérature, philosophy, and the darker side of the human mind. With Deafheaven themes are closer to a North American mindset and are introspective, melancholic, and less conventional BM.

Structured with four songs and three interludes, Sunbather is a beautiful yet dark journey into modern BM with elements of shoegazing and psychedelic rock. Unlike many American Black Metal bands Deafheaven is no carbon copy of its influence. Many people can make a BM record but few can master this music and actually make something refreshing and this appealing.

After a few listens it is easy to state that even if I missed this release in 2013, I would definitely put it on my best of the year 2013 list.

8.9

Music Review : Voivod – Target Earth (2013)

 

Music Review : Voivod – Target Earth (2013)

In french there’s a saying that : Nul n’est prophète en son pays. It could be translated to nobody is a prophet in his own country. Exactly the case for Voivod that has its origins in the Province of Québec. They always had more recognition outside of their native land. Probot, Dave Grohl’s project of a song with many artists he admired in the Metal genre included a song with Snake (vocals) of Voivod and the cover art was designed by Away (drums). Then, bands like Enslaved, Darkthrone, Propagandhi were wearing their old Voivod shirts. Back in 2005 when Piggy (Denis D’Amour) died, the band released two albums (Katorz, Infini) with the latest tracks he left on his computer and recorded knowing his end was near. But the future of the band was more than uncertain even with the regain of attention and success.

However, with the replacement of Piggy by Chewy (Dan Mongrain), Voivod wrote Target Earth, a more progressive Metal oriented album that would satisfy the early fans of the band as much as the new ones. Nicely produced while keeping the original sound of the band, Target Earth is another excellent album from Voivod and continues to demonstrate that the band is still right on when it comes to continuity and in keeping a high standard of song writing.

With Mechanical Mind, they extend their music to epic scape and Warchaic just links with heavy drumming and a deep song that is more than just simple bashing all around.

A rare thing is also present, a song sang in French; Corps Etranger that sounds quite well. One of the many examples of the fast songs that are on this album. It is in fact a faster tempo for Target Earth when compared to the two previous records.

Many labels have been given to their music, avant-garde, progressive Metal, Speed Metal, but only the Voivod name can define what kind of music Voivod is making.

For the occasional listener, Voivod might sound like a formulaic band that digs into a sound and keep walking into the same path over and over again. It is true that you have to appreciate the texture and the structure to fully get this group. Voivod is Voivod and they make the records that represent this name. A sincere effort from the good old classic Voivod band that like good wine still taste great with time and can become even better with aging.

7.6

 

August : Osage County

August : Osage County (John Wells, 2013)

A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.

Without much introduction this try-out to reach many Oscars nominations at the 2014 Ceremony, the movie earned a leading nomination for Meryl Streep and a supporting one for Julia Roberts, reminded me of a sad recognition of Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers. The later film, a masterpiece, would forever shadow August : Osage County except for the strong performances from its actresses and actors. With Juliette Lewis, Juliana Nicholson, Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin, Dermott Mulroney, Sam Shepard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Cooper, Misty Upham, and Margo Martindale at least we have performances from those A-list actors that deserves the mention of a nice ensemble cast. Too bad, the story isn’t that much well told and the film suffers from the lack of empathy we can feel for any character in this tragic story.

Apart from the sheer confrontation of the many characters between each other and their abusive relationships, this family film is far from the feelgood movie genre. I don’t, however, want a film to be happy or hopeful, but I want a little humanity in the characters I invest time in. In fact, the dysfunctional family pictured reminded me of my own family on my mother’s side. Still, a family that dysfunctional as the Weston is only fictional because this kind of confrontation, abusive, and unhappy family would have been completely apart and they would not have had such a long history. People get sick of situations such as those and children don’t suffer long at the time they come to adulthood and just left those behind.

Well, after all the drama is done and all the damage we are left with a sour taste of a sad family that you never want to revisit again especially if they are your in laws. It demonstrates how the film is okay to watch for the aforementioned performances, but other than that, it is not something you want to own and showcase on the altar of your collection of movies.
Too bad because as the original play was highly acclaimed, the feature film never meet expectations and fell a bit offshore. Worth a look but nothing to write to your mother about.

Music Review: Sigur Ros - Kveikur

Sigur Ros - Kveikur

 Post-rock is a genre that is difficult to define, but if I could only give one example I would go with Radiohead. It is a sound that could have some success in radio stations but more appeal to music lovers. The Icelandic band Sigur Ros, with a series of highly praised albums has made an album with a heavier sound with Kveikur but also tainted with Radiohead-esque sonorities.

Music Review : Kadavar’s Abra Kadavar



Kadavar - Abra Kadavar

Released in 2013, Kadavar’s Abra Kadavar is the continuity of their 2012 self titled EP. Working on Psychedelic Rock soundscape and a highly reminiscence of the 1970’s sound of bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Witchfinder General, and of course Black Sabbath this trio makes a perfect blend of classic rock and contemporary psychedelic Heavy Rock.

This is not a mix of genres that usually takes you into lots of different directions or into well known territories. It is an amalgam of impressions and a classic sound that makes it one of the best albums to listen while at work, cruising on the highway, or in a dirty bar having a beer with your friends. Abra Kadavar is a sure shot album that passes well with clean vocals, nice riffs and a nice but heavy percussion section.

Those German musicians are a name that you’ll want to take notice and remember because in the underground rock world you will heard of them as much as bands like The Shrine, High On Fire, and Torche.

The ultimate Kadavar experience is on vinyl on a very hot day with a cold as ice beer. It’s refreshing and at the same time a delight of rock.

7.7

The Grandmaster

The Grandmaster (Wong Kar-wai, 2013)

The film chronicles the life of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man from the 1930s in Foshan, his flight to Hong Kong after the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the events leading to his death.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)

Based on Jordan Belfort’s memoir of the same name, it is an extravagant retelling of the rise and the fall of a young stockbroker who ruled the financial world.

12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)

Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a New York State-born free negro who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in 1841 and sold into slavery. He worked on plantations in the state of Louisiana for twelve years before his release.

Dallas Buyers Club

Dallas Buyers Club (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2013)

Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) discovers he has AIDS in 1985, a disease wrongly known as a consequence of being homosexual. He gets to illegally import drugs to treat his condition and help many other patients having the same disease to attenuate the symptoms and live longer than expected.

Her

Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)

In a near future, a man has a hard time dealing with his divorce. He is mopey and lonely. He gets an operating system with a female voice and slowly enters in a relationship with her.

Gravity

Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron, 2013)

The film is set during a fictitious Shuttle Explorer's STS-157 mission. Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer on her first space shuttle mission aboard the Space Shuttle Explorer. She is accompanied by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), who is commanding his final expedition. During a spacewalk to service the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission Control in Houston warns the team about a Russian missile strike on a defunct satellite, which has caused a chain reaction forming a cloud of space debris. Mission Control orders that the mission be aborted. Shortly after, communications with Mission Control are lost, though the astronauts continue to transmit, hoping that the ground crew can still hear them.

Frances Ha

Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, 2012)

A story that follows a New York woman (Greta Gerwig) (who doesn't really have an apartment), apprentices for a dance company (though she's not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles.

Results: Mike's Movie Goals For the Year 2013

*Note: This is pretty much the post I did back more or less one year ago. Titles visited are marked.*

 For those who have been here a while you sure all know that I’ve been obsessively rambling about a particular list of films I’m targeting to complete. Since this list evolves from year to year, around January of each year the fine folks at They Shoot Pictures Don’t They? update the 1000 Greatest Films of All Time list. Every time I more or less gain some positions with the adding of more recent films that I had the luck to have seen before their intrusion. Being at 551 (now at 602 in January 2014), on the day I wrote those lines down, I still have 449 films to catch before calling it a day. It is quite a huge assignment since my number of watches per year is clearly on a downfall since a couple of years. However, I’ve decided to spot my priorities for this quest (just like Kevyn Knox used to call his) and spot films that are grabbing my attention and that might open my viewing tastes.

First, I made a list of films I’ll likely try to tackle down while trying to get rid of my list of Pantheon Directors at the same time. The Pantheon Directors list stands as the foundation of every film enthusiast and or film critics’ theories and views on the cinema. It is quite arbitrary since American author theorist Andrew Sarris first made it in 1968. Anyhow, I still think it holds the road pretty well.

The Bling Ring

The Bling Ring (Sofia Coppola, 2013)

Based on true events that occurred in California, many homes of stars were perpetrated by a group of young adults that were stealing personal effects, clothes, shoes, jewelries, watches, etc.

Before Midnight

Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, 2013)

Nine years after the conclusion of Before Sunset, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) are a couple and parents to twin girls conceived when they got together for the second time. Jesse is also struggling to maintain his relationship with his teenage son, Hank, who lives in Chicago with Jesse's ex-wife and who, after spending the summer with Jesse and Céline on the Greek Peloponnese peninsula, is being dropped off at the airport to fly home. Jesse has continued to find success as a novelist, while Céline is at a career crossroads, considering a job with the French government.

Don Jon

Don Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 2013)

Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a modern day Don Juan, with a short list of things he cares about: "my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn". Although he has an active sex life with women he meets at nightclubs, he looks at pornography on the Internet habitually, preferring it to sex.

American Hustle

American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)

With his more recent successes, David O. Russell has had a hype over everyone of his last films like The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and lately American Hustle. While not being great films, they are quite enjoyable and present a solid cast.

LMdC’s 10 Best Albums of 2013

 Compared to 2012, 2013 has been a year where music was still omnipresent in my life but I mostly revisited albums that I cherished and loved more than being much on the discovery side. Still digging extreme Metal, indie Rock, and Punk I somewhat managed to have a decent playlist of 2013 albums that will endure for a while in my ears.

 

As side note, I must add this list of albums I have yet to listen and that will eventually change the rank of the so-called Top 10 below :

Les Cahiers du Cinéma’s 2013 Top 10

Founded by the great André Bazin, Les Cahiers du Cinéma has been one of the main references in films since the 1950’s.

This year, as any other year, they are one of the firsts to release their Top 10 of the year. More often than not, they surprise everyone by ranking unexpected films higher and consensus goodies in the lower ranks.

Without much blabbering here’s what they though was the cream of the year 2013 :

A Sun That Never Sets...almost

Wow! I'm always amazed and surprised when someone comments or mentions my blog out there. Just to be read by people other than myself is very heartwarming. This blog has always been a place where I keep a diary of my film viewing experiences, sometimes views and opinions but most of all where I try to share my passion for movies.