Anya M. Wassenberg's Blog: Art & Culture Maven, page 125
August 19, 2014
EDM Recently Released: Geiko - Aggressive (Waving Alien Records - July 2, 2014)
EDM Recently Released:
Geiko - Aggressive (Waving Alien Records - July 2, 2014)
• Buy the CD
Aggressive is the debut full-length release of Geiko, the solo project of Amaris Wenzel, a Swiss musician/singer/producer & co-owner of Waving Alien Records, Switzerland. She takes a fresh approach to
EDM - an over-crowded genre - and makes it her own with a dark edge and a kind of post-modern girl-power message that takes it for granted.
The album is interesting and listenable because she achieves something a little different on each track. There's a real sense of inventiveness in what is often a repetitive genre. She uses a wide range of electronic sounds from buzzy to orchestral with a nice sense of drama and theatricality that plays into the darker, gothy edge of her songs.
The trippy, psychadelic The Mushroom Dance is a highlight, with its surreal sensibility. It's excellent dance material, just made for the accompaniment of flashing lights and lots of warm bodies on the dance floor.
You're My Highway is a dystopic love song - romantic words over robot music. Her vocals are the gothy element in most songs - stark rather than emotional in delivery.
Look At Me is melodic love song, with romantic lyrics against with a dark musical backdrop. She's fond of spooky, gothy melodies and vocal delivery over textured electronic beats. The music is atmospheric in tracks like Look at Me and Katana without becoming boring and one dimensional, as is too often the case with
EDM. She takes a layered, rhythmic approach that keeps its vitality.
Katana offers the flip side of You're My Highway... if you ever show up again, I'll cut off your fucking head
Quantumedusa riffs off a series of rhythmic patterns - largely instrumental - parts of it with an orchestral feel, juxtaposed with thick beats and electronic noise. Many of the songs are largely instrumental with minimalist lyrics, like Catch Me - the only words in the song over Latin-ish disco beats. She builds a nice sense of urgency - appropriately enough - in tracks like Aggressive, the title track, with her strong vocals over a driving rhythm. I'm aggressive, whatever I do... don't touch me, don't touch me
It's a dance album you'll want to listen to even off the dance floor,
Tracklisting
1. The Flower Girl
2. Aggressive
3. Look At Me
4. Katana (Cutana)
5. Catch Me
6. Quantumedusa
7. Dream Of It
8. The Music
9. You’re My Highway
10. Blade Ride
11. Cut Peat
12. The Mushroom Dance
Websites:
www.geiko.ch
www.soundcloud.com/geikomusic
www.twitter.com/GeikoMusic
www.facebook.com/GeikoMusic
Geiko - Aggressive (Waving Alien Records - July 2, 2014)
• Buy the CD
Aggressive is the debut full-length release of Geiko, the solo project of Amaris Wenzel, a Swiss musician/singer/producer & co-owner of Waving Alien Records, Switzerland. She takes a fresh approach to
EDM - an over-crowded genre - and makes it her own with a dark edge and a kind of post-modern girl-power message that takes it for granted.The album is interesting and listenable because she achieves something a little different on each track. There's a real sense of inventiveness in what is often a repetitive genre. She uses a wide range of electronic sounds from buzzy to orchestral with a nice sense of drama and theatricality that plays into the darker, gothy edge of her songs.
The trippy, psychadelic The Mushroom Dance is a highlight, with its surreal sensibility. It's excellent dance material, just made for the accompaniment of flashing lights and lots of warm bodies on the dance floor.
You're My Highway is a dystopic love song - romantic words over robot music. Her vocals are the gothy element in most songs - stark rather than emotional in delivery.
Look At Me is melodic love song, with romantic lyrics against with a dark musical backdrop. She's fond of spooky, gothy melodies and vocal delivery over textured electronic beats. The music is atmospheric in tracks like Look at Me and Katana without becoming boring and one dimensional, as is too often the case with
EDM. She takes a layered, rhythmic approach that keeps its vitality.Katana offers the flip side of You're My Highway... if you ever show up again, I'll cut off your fucking head
Quantumedusa riffs off a series of rhythmic patterns - largely instrumental - parts of it with an orchestral feel, juxtaposed with thick beats and electronic noise. Many of the songs are largely instrumental with minimalist lyrics, like Catch Me - the only words in the song over Latin-ish disco beats. She builds a nice sense of urgency - appropriately enough - in tracks like Aggressive, the title track, with her strong vocals over a driving rhythm. I'm aggressive, whatever I do... don't touch me, don't touch me
It's a dance album you'll want to listen to even off the dance floor,
Tracklisting
1. The Flower Girl
2. Aggressive3. Look At Me
4. Katana (Cutana)
5. Catch Me
6. Quantumedusa
7. Dream Of It
8. The Music
9. You’re My Highway
10. Blade Ride
11. Cut Peat
12. The Mushroom Dance
Websites:
www.geiko.ch
www.soundcloud.com/geikomusic
www.twitter.com/GeikoMusic
www.facebook.com/GeikoMusic
The NFB at TIFF 2014 September 4 to 14, 2014
From a media release:
National Film Board of Canada
The NFB at TIFF 2014
September 4 to 14, 2014
TORONTO - From an Aboriginal uprising and fugitive cows to the latest film from an Oscar® winner and restored gems by an animation pioneer, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) presents a diverse lineup of stellar titles at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (September 4–14).
The most recent documentary from Canada’s pre-eminent First Nations filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin, is featured in the Masters Program: Trick or Treaty? examines the current-day discussion around a controversial 1905 land rights agreement, set against the backdrop of the recent Idle No More movement. Veteran documentarian Paul Cowan teams up with Palestinian animator Amer Shomali to co-direct the Intuitive Pictures/NFB co-production The Wanted 18, which artfully recreates the efforts of the town of Beit Sahour to establish an independent dairy industry during the First Intifada. The Wanted 18 screens in the TIFF Docs Program.
The Short Cuts Canada Program features three new titles as well as two landmark films from the NFB vault. Oscar® winner Torill Kove (The Danish Poet) is back with the autobiographical short Me and My Moulton, about a little girl’s desire to fit in. CODA is a technologically enhanced dance film set to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, co-directed by Quebec husband-and-wife team Denis Poulin and Martine Époque. Toronto’s Randall Okita makes his first foray into full-on animation filmmaking with The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer. And to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of groundbreaking animator Norman McLaren (founder of the NFB’s animation studio in 1941), the NFB has restored Around Is Around (1951) and O Canada (1952); created with frequent collaborator Evelyn Lambart, these early experiments in stereoscopic filmmaking will screen in eye-popping 3D.
Feature documentaries
Trick or Treaty? – World premiere, 84 minutes
In 1905, the British Crown and the Canadian government entered into an agreement with Cree and Ojibway communities in Ontario and Manitoba: the James Bay Treaty – Treaty No. 9. The treaty is still called into question today by Indigenous people and other Canadians who want to set the record straight.
The documentary Trick or Treaty? by Alanis Obomsawin follows the journey of Indigenous leaders in their quest for justice as they seek to establish dialogue with the Canadian government. By tracing the history of
their ancestors, they want to raise people’s awareness about the issues that concern them: respect for and protection of their lands and their natural resources, and the right to hunt and fish so that their society can prosper.
With their sights set on the future, growing numbers of Indigenous youth are at the forefront of a great awareness-raising movement to finally put an end to inertia. In recent years, various social awareness movements have surfaced: conferences to re-examine the context in which the Treaty was signed, the Idle No More movement to mobilize communities, Cree Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, and the 1,600-km trek to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa by David Kawapit and those who joined him. In her film, Obomsawin gives those who refuse to surrender a chance to speak out.
A member of the Abenaki Nation and one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers, Obomsawin has directed more than 30 NFB documentaries over four decades, chronicling the lives and concerns of First Nations people and exploring issues of importance to all Canadians.
Her landmark documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance was named Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF in 1993. Obomsawin’s previous film, Hi-Ho Mistahey!, had its world premiere at TIFF 2013 and was runner-up for the festival’s People’s Choice Award in the documentary category.
Trick or Treaty? was produced by Alanis Obomsawin and executive produced by the NFB’s Annette Clarke.
The Wanted 18 – World premiere, 75 minutes
It is 1987, and the First Intifada has just begun. Palestinian communities want local alternatives to Israeli goods. Residents in filmmaker Amer Shomali’s village of Beit Sahour, a suburb of Bethlehem, decide to create a co-operative dairy farm, purchasing 18 cows from an Israeli kibbutz and transporting them to the West Bank. These new dairy farmers are pacifist intellectuals and professionals who know nothing about raising cattle or operating a dairy farm. But after some trial and error, the newly minted “lactivists” succeed, and the population comes to depend on the “intifada milk”―so much so that these 18 cows are declared “a threat to the State of Israel.”
Blending interviews, archival footage and whimsical animation, The Wanted 18 tells the unlikely story of how these cows became an inspiring symbol of resistance, sparking a self-sufficiency movement and remaining hidden even as hundreds of Israeli soldiers searched for them.
The Wanted 18 was entirely shot in Palestine, where Shomali is based. This is Shomali’s first professional film as an animator.
Veteran Canadian documentary filmmaker Paul Cowan’s credits include the Genie Award-winning NFB documentary Westray (2001), the NFB co-production The Peacekeepers (2005) and 2008’s Paris 1919, co-produced by the NFB and inspired by Margaret MacMillan’s acclaimed book.
The Wanted 18 was produced by Ina Fichman (Intuitive Pictures) and Nathalie Cloutier (NFB) with executive producers Saed Andoni (Dar Films), Dominique Barneaud (Bellota Films) and Colette Loumède (NFB).
Short films
Me and My Moulton – North American premiere, 13 minutes
In this latest animated short from Oscar® winner Torill Kove, a seven-year-old girl and her sisters ask their parents to get them a bicycle. Our young protagonist struggles with her sense that her family is somehow unconventional, and her loving yet hopelessly out-of-touch parents prove to be a source of quiet embarrassment and anxiety. Unfolding on a bright, colourful palette, the film views the creative attitudes of the parents through the eyes of their introspective daughter. Me and My Moulton tells the charming story of a young girl whose sensitive nature sometimes makes it difficult for her to be honest with the ones she loves most.
Norway-born and Montreal-based Kove won the 2007 Academy Award for Animated Short Film for The Danish Poet; 1999’s My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts was also Oscar nominated.
Me and My Moulton is a co-production with Norway’s Mikrofilm AS. It was produced by Lise Fearnley (Mikrofilm AS) and the NFB’s Marcy Page, and executive produced by Fearnley, Michael Fukushima, Roddy McManus and David Verrall (NFB).
CODA – World premiere, 11 minutes
From the glittering ground slowly emerges a mass of moving particles. Several more soon join in, dancing as though they were luminous bodies in the infinite space of the cosmos. These precarious shapes continually shatter, appear and disappear, transform and evolve, to the rhythms of the final transition of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring...
CODA draws on advanced digital technologies to offer a new vision of dance in cinema. Using motion capture (MoCap) techniques and particle processing, designers Denis Poulin and Martine Époque create virtual dancers that are free of any morphological features. They’ve crafted a film in which the dynamic movements of real dancers are transformed into images of motion in its purest form.
Addressing environmental themes by way of metaphor, CODA depicts a universe where space and time collide, deploy, and dissolve. The film was co-produced by Poulin and Époque with René Chénier (NFB) in collaboration with Marc Côté (FAKE Studio).
The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer – World premiere, 9 minutes
This visually haunting animated short follows two brothers who share the scars, though not the memories, of an untold history that has driven them to existential extremes. Combining high-speed camerawork, striking art direction and intricate animation sequences, acclaimed Toronto-based filmmaker and visual artist Randall Okita crafts a poetic elegy to connectedness and survival.
The film was produced by Maral Mohammadian and Michael Fukushima for the NFB, with Fukushima also acting as executive producer.
Around Is Around – North American premiere, 7 minutes
In Around Is Around, director Norman McLaren creates a 3D effect with cathode-ray oscilloscope patterns and images of spherical shapes evolving in space. “The Festival of Britain asked the National Film Board of Canada to contribute two shorts for a program of stereoscopic and stereophonic films being shown at the Telecinema in London, with the specific request that the films be of a cartoon or animated nature... To our knowledge, no stereoscopic cartoon-type animated film had been made before.” – Norman McLaren. With animation by Evelyn Lambart and music by Louis Applebaum. The film was commissioned by the British Film Institute for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Around Is Around was restored in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of Norman McLaren’s birth. NFB restoration team: Luigi Allemano, Eloi Champagne, Don McWilliams.
O Canada – North American premiere, 1.5 minutes
Following the enormous success of the NFB stereoscopic shorts commissioned by the BFI for the Festival of Britain in 1951, director Evelyn Lambart created O Canada, an experimental, stereoscopic trip through the Canadian countryside that makes use of the “travelling zoom” invented by Norman McLaren in 1937.
The “travelling zoom” technique was later adapted to create the famous “star gate” sequence in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. O Canada was restored in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of Norman McLaren’s birth. NFB restoration team: Luigi Allemano, Eloi Champagne, Don McWilliams.
National Film Board of Canada
The NFB at TIFF 2014
September 4 to 14, 2014
TORONTO - From an Aboriginal uprising and fugitive cows to the latest film from an Oscar® winner and restored gems by an animation pioneer, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) presents a diverse lineup of stellar titles at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (September 4–14).
The most recent documentary from Canada’s pre-eminent First Nations filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin, is featured in the Masters Program: Trick or Treaty? examines the current-day discussion around a controversial 1905 land rights agreement, set against the backdrop of the recent Idle No More movement. Veteran documentarian Paul Cowan teams up with Palestinian animator Amer Shomali to co-direct the Intuitive Pictures/NFB co-production The Wanted 18, which artfully recreates the efforts of the town of Beit Sahour to establish an independent dairy industry during the First Intifada. The Wanted 18 screens in the TIFF Docs Program. The Short Cuts Canada Program features three new titles as well as two landmark films from the NFB vault. Oscar® winner Torill Kove (The Danish Poet) is back with the autobiographical short Me and My Moulton, about a little girl’s desire to fit in. CODA is a technologically enhanced dance film set to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, co-directed by Quebec husband-and-wife team Denis Poulin and Martine Époque. Toronto’s Randall Okita makes his first foray into full-on animation filmmaking with The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer. And to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of groundbreaking animator Norman McLaren (founder of the NFB’s animation studio in 1941), the NFB has restored Around Is Around (1951) and O Canada (1952); created with frequent collaborator Evelyn Lambart, these early experiments in stereoscopic filmmaking will screen in eye-popping 3D.
Feature documentaries
Trick or Treaty? – World premiere, 84 minutes
In 1905, the British Crown and the Canadian government entered into an agreement with Cree and Ojibway communities in Ontario and Manitoba: the James Bay Treaty – Treaty No. 9. The treaty is still called into question today by Indigenous people and other Canadians who want to set the record straight.
The documentary Trick or Treaty? by Alanis Obomsawin follows the journey of Indigenous leaders in their quest for justice as they seek to establish dialogue with the Canadian government. By tracing the history of
their ancestors, they want to raise people’s awareness about the issues that concern them: respect for and protection of their lands and their natural resources, and the right to hunt and fish so that their society can prosper.With their sights set on the future, growing numbers of Indigenous youth are at the forefront of a great awareness-raising movement to finally put an end to inertia. In recent years, various social awareness movements have surfaced: conferences to re-examine the context in which the Treaty was signed, the Idle No More movement to mobilize communities, Cree Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, and the 1,600-km trek to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa by David Kawapit and those who joined him. In her film, Obomsawin gives those who refuse to surrender a chance to speak out.
A member of the Abenaki Nation and one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers, Obomsawin has directed more than 30 NFB documentaries over four decades, chronicling the lives and concerns of First Nations people and exploring issues of importance to all Canadians.
Her landmark documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance was named Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF in 1993. Obomsawin’s previous film, Hi-Ho Mistahey!, had its world premiere at TIFF 2013 and was runner-up for the festival’s People’s Choice Award in the documentary category.
Trick or Treaty? was produced by Alanis Obomsawin and executive produced by the NFB’s Annette Clarke.
The Wanted 18 – World premiere, 75 minutes
It is 1987, and the First Intifada has just begun. Palestinian communities want local alternatives to Israeli goods. Residents in filmmaker Amer Shomali’s village of Beit Sahour, a suburb of Bethlehem, decide to create a co-operative dairy farm, purchasing 18 cows from an Israeli kibbutz and transporting them to the West Bank. These new dairy farmers are pacifist intellectuals and professionals who know nothing about raising cattle or operating a dairy farm. But after some trial and error, the newly minted “lactivists” succeed, and the population comes to depend on the “intifada milk”―so much so that these 18 cows are declared “a threat to the State of Israel.”
Blending interviews, archival footage and whimsical animation, The Wanted 18 tells the unlikely story of how these cows became an inspiring symbol of resistance, sparking a self-sufficiency movement and remaining hidden even as hundreds of Israeli soldiers searched for them.
The Wanted 18 was entirely shot in Palestine, where Shomali is based. This is Shomali’s first professional film as an animator.
Veteran Canadian documentary filmmaker Paul Cowan’s credits include the Genie Award-winning NFB documentary Westray (2001), the NFB co-production The Peacekeepers (2005) and 2008’s Paris 1919, co-produced by the NFB and inspired by Margaret MacMillan’s acclaimed book.
The Wanted 18 was produced by Ina Fichman (Intuitive Pictures) and Nathalie Cloutier (NFB) with executive producers Saed Andoni (Dar Films), Dominique Barneaud (Bellota Films) and Colette Loumède (NFB).
Short films
Me and My Moulton – North American premiere, 13 minutes
In this latest animated short from Oscar® winner Torill Kove, a seven-year-old girl and her sisters ask their parents to get them a bicycle. Our young protagonist struggles with her sense that her family is somehow unconventional, and her loving yet hopelessly out-of-touch parents prove to be a source of quiet embarrassment and anxiety. Unfolding on a bright, colourful palette, the film views the creative attitudes of the parents through the eyes of their introspective daughter. Me and My Moulton tells the charming story of a young girl whose sensitive nature sometimes makes it difficult for her to be honest with the ones she loves most.
Norway-born and Montreal-based Kove won the 2007 Academy Award for Animated Short Film for The Danish Poet; 1999’s My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts was also Oscar nominated.Me and My Moulton is a co-production with Norway’s Mikrofilm AS. It was produced by Lise Fearnley (Mikrofilm AS) and the NFB’s Marcy Page, and executive produced by Fearnley, Michael Fukushima, Roddy McManus and David Verrall (NFB).
CODA – World premiere, 11 minutes
From the glittering ground slowly emerges a mass of moving particles. Several more soon join in, dancing as though they were luminous bodies in the infinite space of the cosmos. These precarious shapes continually shatter, appear and disappear, transform and evolve, to the rhythms of the final transition of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring...
CODA draws on advanced digital technologies to offer a new vision of dance in cinema. Using motion capture (MoCap) techniques and particle processing, designers Denis Poulin and Martine Époque create virtual dancers that are free of any morphological features. They’ve crafted a film in which the dynamic movements of real dancers are transformed into images of motion in its purest form.
Addressing environmental themes by way of metaphor, CODA depicts a universe where space and time collide, deploy, and dissolve. The film was co-produced by Poulin and Époque with René Chénier (NFB) in collaboration with Marc Côté (FAKE Studio).
The Weatherman and the Shadowboxer – World premiere, 9 minutesThis visually haunting animated short follows two brothers who share the scars, though not the memories, of an untold history that has driven them to existential extremes. Combining high-speed camerawork, striking art direction and intricate animation sequences, acclaimed Toronto-based filmmaker and visual artist Randall Okita crafts a poetic elegy to connectedness and survival.
The film was produced by Maral Mohammadian and Michael Fukushima for the NFB, with Fukushima also acting as executive producer.
Around Is Around – North American premiere, 7 minutes
In Around Is Around, director Norman McLaren creates a 3D effect with cathode-ray oscilloscope patterns and images of spherical shapes evolving in space. “The Festival of Britain asked the National Film Board of Canada to contribute two shorts for a program of stereoscopic and stereophonic films being shown at the Telecinema in London, with the specific request that the films be of a cartoon or animated nature... To our knowledge, no stereoscopic cartoon-type animated film had been made before.” – Norman McLaren. With animation by Evelyn Lambart and music by Louis Applebaum. The film was commissioned by the British Film Institute for the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Around Is Around was restored in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of Norman McLaren’s birth. NFB restoration team: Luigi Allemano, Eloi Champagne, Don McWilliams.
O Canada – North American premiere, 1.5 minutes
Following the enormous success of the NFB stereoscopic shorts commissioned by the BFI for the Festival of Britain in 1951, director Evelyn Lambart created O Canada, an experimental, stereoscopic trip through the Canadian countryside that makes use of the “travelling zoom” invented by Norman McLaren in 1937.
The “travelling zoom” technique was later adapted to create the famous “star gate” sequence in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. O Canada was restored in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of Norman McLaren’s birth. NFB restoration team: Luigi Allemano, Eloi Champagne, Don McWilliams.
August 5, 2014
The Touré-Raichel Collective: New Album (The Paris Session) September 30 2014 on Cumbancha - North American Tour
From a media release:
THE TOURÉ-RAICHEL COLLECTIVE, ACCLAIMED COLLABORATION BETWEEN ISRAELI POP STAR IDAN RAICHEL AND RENOWNED MALIAN MUSICIAN VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ, RELEASES THE PARIS SESSION SEPTEMBER 30 ON CUMBANCHA
New Album Follows Runaway Success of 2012 Debut, The Tel Aviv Session
• Stay in touch via their website - available to pre-order soon
The formation and success of The Touré-Raichel Collective, the band led by Israeli keyboardist and songwriter Idan Raichel and Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré—icons in their own countries and abroad—is a reminder of the unique power of music to bridge geographic, ethnic, political and religious
differences. As a follow up to their acclaimed 2012 debut, The Tel Aviv Session, the group will release a new album, The Paris Session, September 30 on the Cumbancha label. The Touré-Raichel Collective will tour the U.S. this fall; please see below for an itinerary.
Although a collaboration between an Israeli Jew and a Malian Muslim has unavoidable political implications, what inspired Touré and Raichel to work together was not the potential to make a statement; they simply connected as artists and friends seeking to find musical common ground.
They met for the first time by chance, in 2008 at the Berlin airport, where they expressed mutual admiration and a desire to get together and play. Touré’s father, the late great Ali Farka Touré, was one of Raichel's musical heroes and inspirations. Raichel invited Touré to Israel, where they assembled a few musicians and convened an unscripted, improvised jam session. The chemistry between Touré and Raichel was instant and profound. They assumed the name The Touré-Raichel Collective and used the material from that first gathering as the basis for an album, The Tel Aviv Session, which found poignant, musically beautiful common ground between the artists’ cultures.
Due to popular demand, The Touré-Raichel Collective has undertaken multiple international tours and performed on some of the world's most prestigious stages. In June of this year, Touré returned to Israel to join Raichel's band The Idan Raichel Project in a performance at Masada, an archeological site of immense significance in Jewish history.
Since they recorded their first album in Tel Aviv, the plan was to make the follow-up in Bamako. But the latter was deemed too risky at the time, so the artists traveled to France to record. For three days Raichel, who produced, and Touré sequestered themselves at Studio Malambo in the outskirts of Paris where they were joined by a number of special guests. While The Paris Session is the result of the same freeform approach that was used in the first album, this time around they decided to feature more songs with vocals, a wider range of instrumentation, and appearances by musician friends such as Senegalese artist Daby Touré on bass, Israeli trumpeter Niv Toar, Malian singer Seckouba Diabate and others. Touré and Raichel have honed their interplay over the course of multiple tours together, but the album possesses the same spontaneous, heartfelt magic as its predecessor.
One highlight of the recording is a rendition of the song “Diaraby,” written by Ali Farka Touré and featured on his landmark collaboration with Ry Cooder, Talking Timbuktu. Raichel says that there was a period of six or seven years during which he had listened to the song nearly every day. Upon sharing a stage with Vieux for the first time, Raichel suggested they play the elder Touré’s song together, and doing so brought tears to Raichel’s eyes. He describes feeling “a big, big circle from Ali Farka Touré in Niafunke to me in Tel Aviv, then going back to Ali’s son.”
More broadly Raichel says of his collaboration with Touré, “I’m a musician from Israel, and I will always make Israeli music. And Vieux Farka Touré for me represents the spirit of Mali. I think world music artists by definition are people who reflect the soundtrack of the place they come from. I think that this collaboration between Mali and Israel—and remember we don’t even have diplomatic relations between the two countries—creates a new imaginary island located somewhere between Bamako and Tel Aviv.”
Touré says, “Idan comes from Israel, he’s Jewish. I come from Mali, I'm a Muslim. This project shows the point where there are no real differences between us. Working on these recordings we learn a lot about each other.”
It all works, first and foremost, because Touré, Raichel and their guests manage to make singular music. Reviewing The Tel Aviv Session for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Banning Eyre wrote, “If Raichel and Touré had planned a collaboration, it's hard to imagine that they could have topped the casual charm of this impromptu encounter.” Hosting the Collective on WNYC’s “Soundcheck,” John Schaefer called the debut recording “one of the year’s most surprising and infectious world music releases.” Wall Street Journal rock and pop music critic Jim Fusilli has described the collaboration as “not so much cross-cultural exercise as an exploration of common ground.”
The Touré-Raichel Collective U.S. Tour Dates
November 07 - Northridge, CA @ Valley Performing Arts Center
November 08 - San Francisco, CA @ Nourse Theater
November 09 - Grass Valley, CA @ The Center for the Arts
November 11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum
November 12 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
November 14 - Ogden, UT @ Peery’s Egyptian Theater
November 15 - Seattle, WA @ Meany Hall
November 18 - New York, NY @ Symphony Space
November 19 - Frederick, MD @ Weinberg Center for the Arts
November 20 - Fairfield, CT @ Quick Center for the Arts
November 21 - Toronto, ONT @ Koerner Hall
November 22 - Albany, NY @ Swyer Theatre at The Egg
November 23 - Bethlehem, PA @ Zoellner Arts Center
Images by Nitzan Treystman
From the last tour:
THE TOURÉ-RAICHEL COLLECTIVE, ACCLAIMED COLLABORATION BETWEEN ISRAELI POP STAR IDAN RAICHEL AND RENOWNED MALIAN MUSICIAN VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ, RELEASES THE PARIS SESSION SEPTEMBER 30 ON CUMBANCHA
New Album Follows Runaway Success of 2012 Debut, The Tel Aviv Session
• Stay in touch via their website - available to pre-order soon
The formation and success of The Touré-Raichel Collective, the band led by Israeli keyboardist and songwriter Idan Raichel and Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré—icons in their own countries and abroad—is a reminder of the unique power of music to bridge geographic, ethnic, political and religious
differences. As a follow up to their acclaimed 2012 debut, The Tel Aviv Session, the group will release a new album, The Paris Session, September 30 on the Cumbancha label. The Touré-Raichel Collective will tour the U.S. this fall; please see below for an itinerary.Although a collaboration between an Israeli Jew and a Malian Muslim has unavoidable political implications, what inspired Touré and Raichel to work together was not the potential to make a statement; they simply connected as artists and friends seeking to find musical common ground.
They met for the first time by chance, in 2008 at the Berlin airport, where they expressed mutual admiration and a desire to get together and play. Touré’s father, the late great Ali Farka Touré, was one of Raichel's musical heroes and inspirations. Raichel invited Touré to Israel, where they assembled a few musicians and convened an unscripted, improvised jam session. The chemistry between Touré and Raichel was instant and profound. They assumed the name The Touré-Raichel Collective and used the material from that first gathering as the basis for an album, The Tel Aviv Session, which found poignant, musically beautiful common ground between the artists’ cultures.
Due to popular demand, The Touré-Raichel Collective has undertaken multiple international tours and performed on some of the world's most prestigious stages. In June of this year, Touré returned to Israel to join Raichel's band The Idan Raichel Project in a performance at Masada, an archeological site of immense significance in Jewish history.
Since they recorded their first album in Tel Aviv, the plan was to make the follow-up in Bamako. But the latter was deemed too risky at the time, so the artists traveled to France to record. For three days Raichel, who produced, and Touré sequestered themselves at Studio Malambo in the outskirts of Paris where they were joined by a number of special guests. While The Paris Session is the result of the same freeform approach that was used in the first album, this time around they decided to feature more songs with vocals, a wider range of instrumentation, and appearances by musician friends such as Senegalese artist Daby Touré on bass, Israeli trumpeter Niv Toar, Malian singer Seckouba Diabate and others. Touré and Raichel have honed their interplay over the course of multiple tours together, but the album possesses the same spontaneous, heartfelt magic as its predecessor.One highlight of the recording is a rendition of the song “Diaraby,” written by Ali Farka Touré and featured on his landmark collaboration with Ry Cooder, Talking Timbuktu. Raichel says that there was a period of six or seven years during which he had listened to the song nearly every day. Upon sharing a stage with Vieux for the first time, Raichel suggested they play the elder Touré’s song together, and doing so brought tears to Raichel’s eyes. He describes feeling “a big, big circle from Ali Farka Touré in Niafunke to me in Tel Aviv, then going back to Ali’s son.”
More broadly Raichel says of his collaboration with Touré, “I’m a musician from Israel, and I will always make Israeli music. And Vieux Farka Touré for me represents the spirit of Mali. I think world music artists by definition are people who reflect the soundtrack of the place they come from. I think that this collaboration between Mali and Israel—and remember we don’t even have diplomatic relations between the two countries—creates a new imaginary island located somewhere between Bamako and Tel Aviv.”Touré says, “Idan comes from Israel, he’s Jewish. I come from Mali, I'm a Muslim. This project shows the point where there are no real differences between us. Working on these recordings we learn a lot about each other.”
It all works, first and foremost, because Touré, Raichel and their guests manage to make singular music. Reviewing The Tel Aviv Session for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Banning Eyre wrote, “If Raichel and Touré had planned a collaboration, it's hard to imagine that they could have topped the casual charm of this impromptu encounter.” Hosting the Collective on WNYC’s “Soundcheck,” John Schaefer called the debut recording “one of the year’s most surprising and infectious world music releases.” Wall Street Journal rock and pop music critic Jim Fusilli has described the collaboration as “not so much cross-cultural exercise as an exploration of common ground.”
The Touré-Raichel Collective U.S. Tour DatesNovember 07 - Northridge, CA @ Valley Performing Arts Center
November 08 - San Francisco, CA @ Nourse Theater
November 09 - Grass Valley, CA @ The Center for the Arts
November 11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Musical Instrument Museum
November 12 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
November 14 - Ogden, UT @ Peery’s Egyptian Theater
November 15 - Seattle, WA @ Meany Hall
November 18 - New York, NY @ Symphony Space
November 19 - Frederick, MD @ Weinberg Center for the Arts
November 20 - Fairfield, CT @ Quick Center for the Arts
November 21 - Toronto, ONT @ Koerner Hall
November 22 - Albany, NY @ Swyer Theatre at The Egg
November 23 - Bethlehem, PA @ Zoellner Arts Center
Images by Nitzan Treystman
From the last tour:
Ghanaian Star Rocky Dawuni Releases New Single "African Thriller"
From a media release:
GHANAIAN STAR ROCKY DAWUNI RELEASES NEW SINGLE "AFRICAN THRILLER"
Remixed by KCRW DJ Jeremy Sole, "African Thriller" is the first single from the African star's new album Branches of the Same Tree, which will be released in early 2015 on Cumbancha.
• BUY NOW AT THE CUMBANCHA STORE
"African Thriller", the first single from African music star Rocky Dawuni's forthcoming album Branches of the Same Tree, has been launched today worldwide. The single announces the Ghanaian star's new signing to Cumbancha, which will be releasing Rocky Dawuni's new album in early 2015. Dawuni will be appearing
LIVE on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic today at 11am PST to publicly launch the single. Live streaming is available worldwide at kcrw.com. A new music video for the track will be premiered later this summer.
"African Thriller" embodies Rocky Dawuni's unique "Afro-Roots" sound, a funky blend of soul, pop, Afrobeat and reggae grooves that have made him a household name in his native Ghana and earned him a wide following across the globe. Jeremy Sole, a DJ, producer and host on the taste-defining Los Angeles radio station KCRW, remixed the single version of "African Thriller". Sole has previously remixed tracks for Femi Kuti, David Bowie, Thievery Corporation, and Quantic, among others.
Rocky Dawuni is a musician and humanitarian activist from Ghana, West Africa. Named one of Africa's Top 10 global stars by CNN, his recordings and thrilling live performances have attracted thousands to his concerts around the world at top festivals and prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Dawuni has collaborated and performed with Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Jason Mraz, Janelle Monae and John Legend, among many others.
Dawuni's eloquence, cultural diplomacy and successful melding of music and activism have led him to become a passionate spokesperson for various global causes. He has joined forces with Product (RED), UNICEF, the Carter Center and the UN Foundation. In 2012, Dawuni was appointed the Tourism and Cultural Ambassador of Ghana and World Ambassador for the Musicians Union of Ghana. The same year,
he was named a United Nations Foundation Ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, alongside actress Julia Roberts and chef José Andrés.
Rocky Dawuni's sixth album, Branches of the Same Tree, is currently in the final stages of production and promises to bring him an even wider international audience. Influenced by the soulful beats of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, the positive messages and deep grooves of Bob Marley and the infectious, sing-along anthems of Michael Franti, K'naan and Matisyahu, Rocky Dawuni's songs straddle the musical boundaries between Africa, the Caribbean and the US to create a universally appealing sound that unites generations and cultures.
African Thriller (Jeremy Sole Remix) by Rocky Dawuni
GHANAIAN STAR ROCKY DAWUNI RELEASES NEW SINGLE "AFRICAN THRILLER"
Remixed by KCRW DJ Jeremy Sole, "African Thriller" is the first single from the African star's new album Branches of the Same Tree, which will be released in early 2015 on Cumbancha.
• BUY NOW AT THE CUMBANCHA STORE
"African Thriller", the first single from African music star Rocky Dawuni's forthcoming album Branches of the Same Tree, has been launched today worldwide. The single announces the Ghanaian star's new signing to Cumbancha, which will be releasing Rocky Dawuni's new album in early 2015. Dawuni will be appearing
LIVE on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic today at 11am PST to publicly launch the single. Live streaming is available worldwide at kcrw.com. A new music video for the track will be premiered later this summer."African Thriller" embodies Rocky Dawuni's unique "Afro-Roots" sound, a funky blend of soul, pop, Afrobeat and reggae grooves that have made him a household name in his native Ghana and earned him a wide following across the globe. Jeremy Sole, a DJ, producer and host on the taste-defining Los Angeles radio station KCRW, remixed the single version of "African Thriller". Sole has previously remixed tracks for Femi Kuti, David Bowie, Thievery Corporation, and Quantic, among others.
Rocky Dawuni is a musician and humanitarian activist from Ghana, West Africa. Named one of Africa's Top 10 global stars by CNN, his recordings and thrilling live performances have attracted thousands to his concerts around the world at top festivals and prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Dawuni has collaborated and performed with Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Jason Mraz, Janelle Monae and John Legend, among many others.
Dawuni's eloquence, cultural diplomacy and successful melding of music and activism have led him to become a passionate spokesperson for various global causes. He has joined forces with Product (RED), UNICEF, the Carter Center and the UN Foundation. In 2012, Dawuni was appointed the Tourism and Cultural Ambassador of Ghana and World Ambassador for the Musicians Union of Ghana. The same year,
he was named a United Nations Foundation Ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, alongside actress Julia Roberts and chef José Andrés.Rocky Dawuni's sixth album, Branches of the Same Tree, is currently in the final stages of production and promises to bring him an even wider international audience. Influenced by the soulful beats of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, the positive messages and deep grooves of Bob Marley and the infectious, sing-along anthems of Michael Franti, K'naan and Matisyahu, Rocky Dawuni's songs straddle the musical boundaries between Africa, the Caribbean and the US to create a universally appealing sound that unites generations and cultures.
African Thriller (Jeremy Sole Remix) by Rocky Dawuni
Recently Released: Keith Alan Mitchell - This Clumsy World (Independent - June 20, 2014)
Recently Released:
Keith Alan Mitchell - This Clumsy World
(Independent - June 20, 2014)
• Buy the CD
This Clumsy World, a new release by Keith Alan Mitchell, is an enjoyable trek into Americana vérité - the world of the 99% put to guitar in an alt-country/rock/folk mode. He's now based in San Francisco but his Ohio roots show in his anti-glamourous take on the world.
"All the songs have to do with breaking free in some way; escaping, moving on, even disappearing. That can be a good thing, like breaking out of old patterns or old disagreements, but it can also mean people moving away from each other, being adrift and not grounded," says Mitchell.
After fronting bands in Cali and Ohio, this is his first solo release. Keith's voice is perfect for the idiom - full, expressive and fluid, sensitive. In the song Every Every he shows a really nice control and range. His lyrics are romantic, observant, with social commentary at ground level rather from a lofty position above the fray.
The songs tend to be on the short side, melodic, with enough rhythmic variation to hold interest over the whole CD. In the tradition of acoustic folk, he writes about the world around him - and is pro-union too:
Swaying is a highlight, a piano and guitar driven alt-country waltz.
Let's just be vagrants, we'll camp on the hill
We'll watch the red sunset and feel the night grow still
Just you and me under the sparkling canopy and we're trembling
We're lost and alone before this beauty we can't touch
And nothing to hold but our hands
And still we keep on swaying out of time with the world
We'll keep on swaying just you and me girl
It's characteristic of his lo-fi approach not only to music but to life in general.
There's a sweet mandolin part in Crossed That Line by Michael Zisman, one of many seasoned and up and coming San Fran musicians on the album -although Keith most often plays solo live. He's been known to throw in a cover tune or two as well.
Tavern Angeline is another highlight, continuing the long tradition of celebrating the low crowd at the neighbourhood bar while Diamond Blues is an uptempo two-step about finding a place to stay over the winter and other assorted situations. The Feud is a rocking country song about the personality clashes so common to touring bands, written when a former band of his broke up and no one was speaking.
He's touring this summer to support the release.
Members/Instruments:
Keith performs solo (vocals/acoustic guitar). Album credits: Keith Alan
Mitchell - guitar/vocals; Jonathan Kirchner - bass; Andrew Laubacher -
tambourine; Michael Zisman - Mandolin; Kirby Hammel - keyboards; Kathy
Kennedy - backing vocals on "Swaying."
Websites:
www.keithalanmitchell.com
keithalanmitchell.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/keithalanmitchell
www.twitter.com/kmitchellmusic
Keith Alan Mitchell - This Clumsy World
(Independent - June 20, 2014)
• Buy the CD
This Clumsy World, a new release by Keith Alan Mitchell, is an enjoyable trek into Americana vérité - the world of the 99% put to guitar in an alt-country/rock/folk mode. He's now based in San Francisco but his Ohio roots show in his anti-glamourous take on the world.
"All the songs have to do with breaking free in some way; escaping, moving on, even disappearing. That can be a good thing, like breaking out of old patterns or old disagreements, but it can also mean people moving away from each other, being adrift and not grounded," says Mitchell.After fronting bands in Cali and Ohio, this is his first solo release. Keith's voice is perfect for the idiom - full, expressive and fluid, sensitive. In the song Every Every he shows a really nice control and range. His lyrics are romantic, observant, with social commentary at ground level rather from a lofty position above the fray.
The songs tend to be on the short side, melodic, with enough rhythmic variation to hold interest over the whole CD. In the tradition of acoustic folk, he writes about the world around him - and is pro-union too:
Swaying is a highlight, a piano and guitar driven alt-country waltz.
Let's just be vagrants, we'll camp on the hill
We'll watch the red sunset and feel the night grow still
Just you and me under the sparkling canopy and we're trembling
We're lost and alone before this beauty we can't touch
And nothing to hold but our hands
And still we keep on swaying out of time with the world
We'll keep on swaying just you and me girl
It's characteristic of his lo-fi approach not only to music but to life in general.
There's a sweet mandolin part in Crossed That Line by Michael Zisman, one of many seasoned and up and coming San Fran musicians on the album -although Keith most often plays solo live. He's been known to throw in a cover tune or two as well.Tavern Angeline is another highlight, continuing the long tradition of celebrating the low crowd at the neighbourhood bar while Diamond Blues is an uptempo two-step about finding a place to stay over the winter and other assorted situations. The Feud is a rocking country song about the personality clashes so common to touring bands, written when a former band of his broke up and no one was speaking.
He's touring this summer to support the release.
Members/Instruments:
Keith performs solo (vocals/acoustic guitar). Album credits: Keith Alan
Mitchell - guitar/vocals; Jonathan Kirchner - bass; Andrew Laubacher -
tambourine; Michael Zisman - Mandolin; Kirby Hammel - keyboards; Kathy
Kennedy - backing vocals on "Swaying."
Websites:
www.keithalanmitchell.com
keithalanmitchell.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/keithalanmitchell
www.twitter.com/kmitchellmusic
August 4, 2014
New Single: Latimer House - Birdcage Walk/Until Then (Honk Records - July 7, 2014 - Vinyl August 11)
New Single:
Latimer House - Birdcage Walk/Until Then
Honk Records - July 7, 2014
• Buy the single (digital now, 7" red vinyl available August 11)
From Prague to the world, Latimer House continue down the road of upbeat pop with a literate mindset with the release of Birdcage Walk. It's the latest single from their full-length CD All The Rage, released last
February on the band's Honk Records label.
The summer-friendly single Splash is available to stream at the link below. There's a tip of the hat to Beach Boys style harmonies in the chorus, watery lyrics on good days the dolphin smiles.. and a cool electronic piano line underneath the pop guitar. The lyrics play with pop cliches.
• Buy the album All The Rage & stream the single Splash
While the four members of Latimer met in Prague, where they are now based, they bring influences from across the globe. Drummer and percussionist Jiri (George) Kominek hails from Toronto while guitarist/vocalist Joe Cook comes from London. In 2010, the pair booked a rehearsal room to jam and added keyboard player Anar Yusufov (Baku) to the mix later that year. In early 2011 bassist Michael Jetton (Virginia) joined to come up with Latimer House line-up as it is now.
Smart, insightful lyrics with interesting musical flourishes and the British intonations of singer Joe Cook add up to a distinctive sound. The music is varied and textured, offsetting Joe's somewhat limited range as a singer. You'll hear a range of influences, including classic 1960s and 1970s pop and rock, through funk, folk
and New Wave, to obscure experimental rock, jazz and contemporary alternative sounds.
Birdcage Walk was released digitally on July 7, with a translucent red vinyl version available on August 11. It's an effervescent tune with your standard pop quartet fleshed out with a mandolin and lyrics that take a whimsical rather than heavy duty look at modern society.
Bankers dance to the devil's tune
Repossession - China booms
Still under fire but out of range
Still under fire but out of range
Still under fire but out of range...
Birdcage walk remains the same
Until Then, the B-side, has a rougher edge with snarly guitars, bits of a horn section and a danceable groove.
Hands are held up high in the air
All we get is alms for the poor
Stand in line, you'll get your share
Twist was shot for asking for more
As in their other songs, the lyrics take the expected references and turns of phrase in a wry direction, for social commentary in a palatable sonic form.
On a creative roll, Latimer House just came out of the studio August 2, putting down tracke of new material for their next full-length release due in 2015.
Members/Instruments:
Joe Cook - guitar, vocals
Anar Yuufov - keyboards, backing vocals
Jiri (George) Kominek - drums, percussion
Michael Jetton - bass
Additional musicians on All The Rage:
Justin Lavash - guitars on "Until Then"
Tommy Levecchia - trumpet on "Until Then"
Jim Thompson - mandolin on "Birdcage Walk"
Websites:
latimerhouse.com
http://latimerhouse.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Latimer-House/191100727720690
https://twitter.com/Latimer_House
https://soundcloud.com/latimer-house
Watch the band's official music video for This Is Pop, another one of the tracks from the CD:
Latimer House - Birdcage Walk/Until Then
Honk Records - July 7, 2014
• Buy the single (digital now, 7" red vinyl available August 11)
From Prague to the world, Latimer House continue down the road of upbeat pop with a literate mindset with the release of Birdcage Walk. It's the latest single from their full-length CD All The Rage, released last
February on the band's Honk Records label.The summer-friendly single Splash is available to stream at the link below. There's a tip of the hat to Beach Boys style harmonies in the chorus, watery lyrics on good days the dolphin smiles.. and a cool electronic piano line underneath the pop guitar. The lyrics play with pop cliches.
• Buy the album All The Rage & stream the single Splash
While the four members of Latimer met in Prague, where they are now based, they bring influences from across the globe. Drummer and percussionist Jiri (George) Kominek hails from Toronto while guitarist/vocalist Joe Cook comes from London. In 2010, the pair booked a rehearsal room to jam and added keyboard player Anar Yusufov (Baku) to the mix later that year. In early 2011 bassist Michael Jetton (Virginia) joined to come up with Latimer House line-up as it is now.
Smart, insightful lyrics with interesting musical flourishes and the British intonations of singer Joe Cook add up to a distinctive sound. The music is varied and textured, offsetting Joe's somewhat limited range as a singer. You'll hear a range of influences, including classic 1960s and 1970s pop and rock, through funk, folk
and New Wave, to obscure experimental rock, jazz and contemporary alternative sounds.Birdcage Walk was released digitally on July 7, with a translucent red vinyl version available on August 11. It's an effervescent tune with your standard pop quartet fleshed out with a mandolin and lyrics that take a whimsical rather than heavy duty look at modern society.
Bankers dance to the devil's tune
Repossession - China booms
Still under fire but out of range
Still under fire but out of range
Still under fire but out of range...
Birdcage walk remains the same
Until Then, the B-side, has a rougher edge with snarly guitars, bits of a horn section and a danceable groove.
Hands are held up high in the air
All we get is alms for the poor
Stand in line, you'll get your share
Twist was shot for asking for more
As in their other songs, the lyrics take the expected references and turns of phrase in a wry direction, for social commentary in a palatable sonic form.
On a creative roll, Latimer House just came out of the studio August 2, putting down tracke of new material for their next full-length release due in 2015.
Members/Instruments:Joe Cook - guitar, vocals
Anar Yuufov - keyboards, backing vocals
Jiri (George) Kominek - drums, percussion
Michael Jetton - bass
Additional musicians on All The Rage:
Justin Lavash - guitars on "Until Then"
Tommy Levecchia - trumpet on "Until Then"
Jim Thompson - mandolin on "Birdcage Walk"
Websites:
latimerhouse.com
http://latimerhouse.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Latimer-House/191100727720690
https://twitter.com/Latimer_House
https://soundcloud.com/latimer-house
Watch the band's official music video for This Is Pop, another one of the tracks from the CD:
August 3, 2014
Catherine Filloux's Latest Play Selma '65 World Premiere September 26 2014 at La MaMa New York City
From the playwright's blog
LA MAMA PRESENTS:
SELMA ‘65
A NEW PLAY BY CATHERINE FILLOUX
STARRING MARIETTA HEDGES
DIRECTED BY ELEANOR HOLDRIDGE
In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, Selma ‘65 explores the virtually unknown stories, and double lives, of Viola Liuzzo and Tommy Rowe.
World Premiere September 26th, 2014 at the
La MaMa Experimental Theater Club (74A E 4th St)
SELMA ‘65 – a new solo play from award-winning playwright Catherine Filloux – is set to make its world-premiere at the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club (74A E 4th St.) on Friday, September 26th, 2014.
Based on true events, SELMA ‘65 stars Marietta Hedges and is directed by Eleanor Holdridge.
Performances of SELMA ‘65 will be held Wednesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30 pm with a matinee on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 pm. Beginning on Friday, September 26th, SELMA ‘65 will play its final performance on Sunday, October 12th, 2014.
In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Act, Filloux’s newest work explores the civil rights movement from the perspectives of white activist Viola Liuzzo and FBI informant Tommy Rowe. Rowe was among the Ku Klux Klan members who overtook and gunned down Liuzzo’s Oldsmobile on March 25, 1965. The Klan targeted Ms. Liuzzo, who witnessed racial hatred first hand as a young girl, whilst she drove African-American freedom fighters to safety following the historic March to Montgomery. Ms. Hedges tackles both roles, switching between characters throughout the 75-minute production.
About taking on the story, Catherine Filloux believes it was a necessary step towards preserving history in the minds of theatergoers and staying in-line with her dedication to activism. “As a playwright I focus predominantly on human rights, exploring issues of genocide and other forms of state violence, its crimes and scars. I always choose subject matter, which I personally feel most urgently about. In this case, it is the erosion of our civil rights. The long and often bloody struggle to win the right to vote is obviously ongoing. The Supreme Court recently struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And as long as the rights of minority voters remain in jeopardy, the play becomes even more crucial to society.”
“SELMA ’65 brings a virtually unknown story in United States’ history to light,” adds Filloux. “In my story, I juxtapose the poetic with the brutal reality of violence and the individual moments of choice within the whirlwind of history.”
And in an effort to include the audience in a dialogue the play creates, select performances will offer special post-show panel discussions featuring renowned authors, journalists and activists. The still-growing list already includes author Gary May, Reverend Richard Leonard, voting rights expert Steven Carbó, Eleanor J. Bader and Serena Solomon.
LA MAMA PRESENTS:
SELMA ‘65
A NEW PLAY BY CATHERINE FILLOUX
STARRING MARIETTA HEDGES
DIRECTED BY ELEANOR HOLDRIDGE
In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, Selma ‘65 explores the virtually unknown stories, and double lives, of Viola Liuzzo and Tommy Rowe.
World Premiere September 26th, 2014 at the
La MaMa Experimental Theater Club (74A E 4th St)
SELMA ‘65 – a new solo play from award-winning playwright Catherine Filloux – is set to make its world-premiere at the La MaMa Experimental Theater Club (74A E 4th St.) on Friday, September 26th, 2014.
Based on true events, SELMA ‘65 stars Marietta Hedges and is directed by Eleanor Holdridge.Performances of SELMA ‘65 will be held Wednesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30 pm with a matinee on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 pm. Beginning on Friday, September 26th, SELMA ‘65 will play its final performance on Sunday, October 12th, 2014.
In anticipation of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Act, Filloux’s newest work explores the civil rights movement from the perspectives of white activist Viola Liuzzo and FBI informant Tommy Rowe. Rowe was among the Ku Klux Klan members who overtook and gunned down Liuzzo’s Oldsmobile on March 25, 1965. The Klan targeted Ms. Liuzzo, who witnessed racial hatred first hand as a young girl, whilst she drove African-American freedom fighters to safety following the historic March to Montgomery. Ms. Hedges tackles both roles, switching between characters throughout the 75-minute production.
About taking on the story, Catherine Filloux believes it was a necessary step towards preserving history in the minds of theatergoers and staying in-line with her dedication to activism. “As a playwright I focus predominantly on human rights, exploring issues of genocide and other forms of state violence, its crimes and scars. I always choose subject matter, which I personally feel most urgently about. In this case, it is the erosion of our civil rights. The long and often bloody struggle to win the right to vote is obviously ongoing. The Supreme Court recently struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And as long as the rights of minority voters remain in jeopardy, the play becomes even more crucial to society.”“SELMA ’65 brings a virtually unknown story in United States’ history to light,” adds Filloux. “In my story, I juxtapose the poetic with the brutal reality of violence and the individual moments of choice within the whirlwind of history.”
And in an effort to include the audience in a dialogue the play creates, select performances will offer special post-show panel discussions featuring renowned authors, journalists and activists. The still-growing list already includes author Gary May, Reverend Richard Leonard, voting rights expert Steven Carbó, Eleanor J. Bader and Serena Solomon.
Upcoming release: Leonino (aka Jorge Gonzalez) CD: Naked Tunes Hueso Records (September 15, 2014)
Upcoming release:
Leonino (aka Jorge Gonzalez)
CD: Naked Tunes
Hueso Records (September 15, 2014)
• Connect on Facebook
• Buy/order the CD - with a free download
Leonino is the newest incarnatino of Jorge González, leader/vocalist of Los Prisioneros, an iconic Chilean rock band who were front-runners of the musical resistance to Pinochet's dictatorship that burst through in the mid 80's. Jorge González became idol and voice for an entire generation of oppressed youth, reaching
the pinnacle of fame not only in Chile but throughout Latin America.
He was heavily involved in the electronic scene in Santiago in the early 90's, featuresd in several releases progressively exploring into dance music (Gonzalo Martínez y Sus Congas Pensantes, Los Updates, Los Sampler...) and eventually moved to Germany in the 00's, where he has continued working in close circle with a group of musicians from Chile and beyond.
As Leonino, the release features an eclectic sound that blends Latin rhythms, pop idioms, and avant garde jazzy harmonies. The lyrics are in English, perhaps hoping for a cross over release back on this side of the Atlantic.
The songs sound deceptively simple, melodic; an effortless concoction that incorporates a wide range of influences including moody electronica and radio-friendly pop. Known for his dry, sarcastic wit, the lyrics here delve into the personal rather than the political and are thoughtful and insightful.
...hide your secret account... he begs his lover in Don't Change Your Mind
The instrumentation is varied. There's the classic acoustic guitar and piano of My Love Will Set You Free (along with steel guitar in a vintage rock vibe). Elsewhere, there are harmonicas or the electronic hum of synth. A highlight is the gospel-y swing of How Many Times Did You Save My Soul?
There's a disarming lightness to the songs and to his crooner vocal delivery. He takes the typical idioms of pop love songs and plays it straight for effect. In It Wasn't Meant To Be, he sings,
I tried-tried-tried my best
You can't-can't-can't complain
with a whispered rap:
I won't be holding my breath for another chance...
I'd rather go home and try to get some sleep
- all to music that is a sweet amalgamation of pop and jazz idioms. Or the chorus in After the Big War -
We can still make love...
After the Big War
It's pleasing pop, but if you listen more closely, you get the message. The release features collaborations by brothers Pier and Juan Pablo Bucci, Mariano Scopel, Argenis Brito, Martin Schopf, Tobias Freund and Miguel Toro. All the songs were produced by Leonino at Krossener Studios in Berlin, where he now makes his home.
Leonino (aka Jorge Gonzalez)
CD: Naked Tunes
Hueso Records (September 15, 2014)
• Connect on Facebook
• Buy/order the CD - with a free download
Leonino is the newest incarnatino of Jorge González, leader/vocalist of Los Prisioneros, an iconic Chilean rock band who were front-runners of the musical resistance to Pinochet's dictatorship that burst through in the mid 80's. Jorge González became idol and voice for an entire generation of oppressed youth, reaching
the pinnacle of fame not only in Chile but throughout Latin America.He was heavily involved in the electronic scene in Santiago in the early 90's, featuresd in several releases progressively exploring into dance music (Gonzalo Martínez y Sus Congas Pensantes, Los Updates, Los Sampler...) and eventually moved to Germany in the 00's, where he has continued working in close circle with a group of musicians from Chile and beyond.
As Leonino, the release features an eclectic sound that blends Latin rhythms, pop idioms, and avant garde jazzy harmonies. The lyrics are in English, perhaps hoping for a cross over release back on this side of the Atlantic.
The songs sound deceptively simple, melodic; an effortless concoction that incorporates a wide range of influences including moody electronica and radio-friendly pop. Known for his dry, sarcastic wit, the lyrics here delve into the personal rather than the political and are thoughtful and insightful.
...hide your secret account... he begs his lover in Don't Change Your Mind
The instrumentation is varied. There's the classic acoustic guitar and piano of My Love Will Set You Free (along with steel guitar in a vintage rock vibe). Elsewhere, there are harmonicas or the electronic hum of synth. A highlight is the gospel-y swing of How Many Times Did You Save My Soul?
There's a disarming lightness to the songs and to his crooner vocal delivery. He takes the typical idioms of pop love songs and plays it straight for effect. In It Wasn't Meant To Be, he sings,
I tried-tried-tried my bestYou can't-can't-can't complain
with a whispered rap:
I won't be holding my breath for another chance...
I'd rather go home and try to get some sleep
- all to music that is a sweet amalgamation of pop and jazz idioms. Or the chorus in After the Big War -
We can still make love...
After the Big War
It's pleasing pop, but if you listen more closely, you get the message. The release features collaborations by brothers Pier and Juan Pablo Bucci, Mariano Scopel, Argenis Brito, Martin Schopf, Tobias Freund and Miguel Toro. All the songs were produced by Leonino at Krossener Studios in Berlin, where he now makes his home.
TIFF 2014 News: Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures’ films The Imitation Game and Nightcrawler to premiere
From a media release:
Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures’ films
The Imitation Game and Nightcrawler
to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto, ON - Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures is pleased to be a part of the premiere lineup, today announced at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) press conference. Elevation Pictures’ films include the Canadian premiere of The Imitation Game and the world premiere of Nightcrawler.
The Imitation Game stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist, who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the allies win WWII. The film also stars Keira Knightly, Matthew Goode, Matthew Beard, Allen Leach, and Mark Strong. Directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, the film was produced by Elevation Pictures’ partner Black Bear Pictures and will be distributed by The Weinstein Company in the U.S.
Nightcrawler stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, a driven and on-the-edge young man who discovers the nocturnal world of L.A. crime journalism. The film also stars Rene Russo and Bill Paxton and will be distributed by Open Road in the U.S.
“We’re really excited to have these films premiere at TIFF. The Imitation Game is a thrilling dramatic story with deep heart, that is sure to resonate with both critics and audiences,” said Laurie May and Noah Segal, co-presidents of Elevation Pictures. “Nightcrawler will keep audiences on the edge of their seats and thoroughly entertained by the stellar performances from the cast.”
• More titles from Elevation Pictures are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. TIFF runs from Sept. 4 to 14, 2014.
About Elevation Pictures:
Elevation Pictures is a Canadian film distribution company founded in 2013 by Laurie May, alongside financier Teddy Schwarzman of Black Bear Pictures. It is quickly becoming one of Canada’s leading film distributors, committed to bringing a robust film slate of elevated content to audiences with both commercial and critical appeal.
Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures’ films
The Imitation Game and Nightcrawler
to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto, ON - Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures is pleased to be a part of the premiere lineup, today announced at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) press conference. Elevation Pictures’ films include the Canadian premiere of The Imitation Game and the world premiere of Nightcrawler.The Imitation Game stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist, who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the allies win WWII. The film also stars Keira Knightly, Matthew Goode, Matthew Beard, Allen Leach, and Mark Strong. Directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, the film was produced by Elevation Pictures’ partner Black Bear Pictures and will be distributed by The Weinstein Company in the U.S.
Nightcrawler stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom, a driven and on-the-edge young man who discovers the nocturnal world of L.A. crime journalism. The film also stars Rene Russo and Bill Paxton and will be distributed by Open Road in the U.S.
“We’re really excited to have these films premiere at TIFF. The Imitation Game is a thrilling dramatic story with deep heart, that is sure to resonate with both critics and audiences,” said Laurie May and Noah Segal, co-presidents of Elevation Pictures. “Nightcrawler will keep audiences on the edge of their seats and thoroughly entertained by the stellar performances from the cast.” • More titles from Elevation Pictures are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. TIFF runs from Sept. 4 to 14, 2014.
About Elevation Pictures:
Elevation Pictures is a Canadian film distribution company founded in 2013 by Laurie May, alongside financier Teddy Schwarzman of Black Bear Pictures. It is quickly becoming one of Canada’s leading film distributors, committed to bringing a robust film slate of elevated content to audiences with both commercial and critical appeal.
New Release & VIdeo: El Mató a un Policía Motorizado’s USA Debut Album La Dinastía Scorpio (Nacional Records - July 29 2014)
From a media release:
El Mató a un Policía Motorizado’s USA Debut Album
La Dinastía Scorpio Is Released Digitally Today (July 29, 2014)
via Nacional Records, With Vinyl Edition
• Get the album
LOS ANGELES - July 29, 2014 - Today, indie rockers El Mató a un Policía Motorizado released their USA debut album La Dinastía Scorpio and premiered their new video “Mas o Menos Bien”.
With an artfully sweet lo-fi sound, El Mató a un Policía Motorizado conjures rock reminiscent of Pavement, Pixes and Guided by Voices. The band was recently featured at Seattle’s tastemaker independent radio station KEXP, where they performed a raucous in-studio live set.
El Mató a un Policía Motorizado recently made their US debut at New York’s LAMC (Latin Alternative Music Conference), where they won the prestigious ‘Artist Discovery Award’ which has previously been given to then up-and-coming artists like Carla Morrison, Kinky, Los Rakas and Astro.
La Dinastía Scorpio maintains the band’s characteristic charm while adding intricately crafted melodies and profound-yet-simple lyrics that range from confrontational politics to the perils of love, all written by the band’s vocalist Santiago Motorizado.
El Mató a un Policía Motorizado’s USA Debut Album
La Dinastía Scorpio Is Released Digitally Today (July 29, 2014)
via Nacional Records, With Vinyl Edition
• Get the album
LOS ANGELES - July 29, 2014 - Today, indie rockers El Mató a un Policía Motorizado released their USA debut album La Dinastía Scorpio and premiered their new video “Mas o Menos Bien”. With an artfully sweet lo-fi sound, El Mató a un Policía Motorizado conjures rock reminiscent of Pavement, Pixes and Guided by Voices. The band was recently featured at Seattle’s tastemaker independent radio station KEXP, where they performed a raucous in-studio live set.
El Mató a un Policía Motorizado recently made their US debut at New York’s LAMC (Latin Alternative Music Conference), where they won the prestigious ‘Artist Discovery Award’ which has previously been given to then up-and-coming artists like Carla Morrison, Kinky, Los Rakas and Astro.La Dinastía Scorpio maintains the band’s characteristic charm while adding intricately crafted melodies and profound-yet-simple lyrics that range from confrontational politics to the perils of love, all written by the band’s vocalist Santiago Motorizado.
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