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Ghastly City Sleep
Ghastly City Sleep is a difficult band to pin down. Any listeners who had expected a continuation of members’ previous bands - including such turn-of-the-millenium hardcore and metal bands as Majority Rule, Pg. 99, Kilara, and City of Caterpillar - would have been in for a surprise. Their first EP channeled both hazy ambience of shoegazer bands like Slowdive and the triumphant dynamics of bands like Sigur Ros and Mogwai. Not a band to rest on their creative laurels, their newest record, the upcoming “Moondrifts,” takes another direction, adding a more assertive rhythmic and vocal element to their music. I talked to singer/guitarist Brandon Evans about where the band has been and where they’re going.
Prior to GCS, most of the members were involved with more aggressive music. Was it a conscious decision to break away from that or was that an element that evolved through songwriting?
Yeah, definitely we were hyper conscious (almost frustratingly so).
I feel I have always been playing music in a realm that is far behind my actual musical interests in a linear time comparison, always trying to incorporate in new influences and mold little things into a project in which tons of time and personal life and relationships have been building and invested within. Therefore, everything moves much slower than the quickness of the ear. The moments of "Ooooo, that sounds amazing! what is that?" which will always happen when taking in music with a curious ear - you can't keep up with that with a group that gets together whenever you can squeeze it into everyone's schedules ya know! So in all the previous bands, I think we were always slightly frustrated at wanting to hear or experiment with whatever newness is floating through the cosmos at the moment and filling our ears and our spirits with that youthful excitement and that is really what took those bands, and every band, to their unique level. We were in that realm of more aggressive music for a long time, with so many other styles or flairs that drew us in. We wanted bad to try something different and new to us, but that is scary and foreign as all hell. It took us years and things falling apart to ever get there. You are less afraid to lose something if you've already lost it. HA! It's just how it happened for us. We are still evolving from a very beginner level within whatever style we are moving towards always. It's what keeps us alive and growing now. It's just how this project works. We started from the ground level with that in mind, to always move more towards where we actually wanna be. No matter the interest still happens far too slow - that part doesn't change. And it wasn't and isn't that we don't like harsh music anymore. We love it, it's just we have another calling right now.
-You've had members come and go (I think the first time I saw you guys, there were seven people on stage), but the core of the band is comprised of people with whom you've had musical involvement for over a decade. Is it ever weird to think of how far your music has come since then?
Yeah, I can't really wrap my head around it. I get so attached and worked up due to all the little inner dramas of life, and how extremely difficult it is to keep a band together and functioning. It can get quite utterly sad at moments, you have to focus so much attention on so many things that it can be extremely rare to get to look upon how insanely far all the music has moved along within all our lives. Even on a micro level of just the two records and their utter difference in sounds and styles, and then to know how different "Moondrifts" even is from where we wanna go and be now! Far off ... far out to sea... it's too unreal... like it has nothing to do with me at all.
MORE BENEATH THE BREAK
From the Archives - The Eiger Sanction
What is it?
The Eiger Sanction is a 1975 film (based on the novel by Trevanian) starring Clint Eastwood. It was critically panned upon release, and despite a warm reception from the rock climbing community, it never really found an audience.
Why don’t I know about it?
Neither critics nor audiences were very enthusiastic about the piece, and it certainly represents an atypical performance from Eastwood in an atypical role. It also has a nasty history punctuated by death and typical Hollywood politics.
What makes it unique?
Eastwood directed the film, his fifth in that capacity. Clint elected to shoot on location though many felt this was unwise and unnecessary. Some even claim that sheer machismo was the famed performer’s primary motivation for making the film in such fashion, and Eastwood did insist on doing his own stunts throughout. This includes a scene in which he cuts his safety line. The rugged star would emerge unscathed, but others were decidedly less fortunate.
MORE (including the ORIGINAL 1970's trailer) BENEATH THE BREAK
In case you were wondering...
Here's what the Party Liberation Front did last weekend.
Transformus from Kodo Zoku on Vimeo.
Think this looks like fun? The same cats are throwing a party at The Camel tomorrow night.
Intense, painful, yet not graphic: Car Crash Studies (photography by Nicolai Howalt)
Nicolai's images here are one of the best complete photo series I have seen in years, down to the presentation in gallery (shown below). The presentation of these grisly, violent events was an exercise in brilliance; the setting makes the images all the more horrific by the surgical cleanliness of Martin Asbæk Gallery it was presented in. The series is divided into three parts: Abstraction, Interiors, and Airbags. Without further adieu:
(CLICK TO ENLARGE)
Brand New Ruins: Lisbon. (NSFW-ish, sculpted nudity)
Yes, the title is a bit confusing, but it's true; FAILE has designed and executed this work, which is obviously meant to be a brand new ruin. There are elements of Etruscan sculpture (in the horse-headed figure) and roman friezes, with modern casting work mixed in. The subject matter of the casts mock everything: from American monuments of Native Americans, classic movie posters, comics, religious art and beyond. I see it as a statement of the decay of media advertising; almost all of the castings (and many of the detailings, wordings and the like) are in the style of movie posters, down to the fonts and exclamations. No matter how you cut it, this is one of the biggest, boldest art pieces I've seen in years. It's in Lisbon, Portugal.
Found on Dflektor's blog via Wooster Collective. MOAR BENEATH THE BREAK, Y'ALL
Banh Mi Throwdown! ITs ON!!!!!
Banh Mi Throwdown at Café Gutenberg
Monday, July 26
1700 E. Main Street
Doors open at 6:30pm, competition starts at 7pm
What we have here is an old west call out, this is like high noon for chefs. The clock is ticking and at 7pm in Cafe Gutenberg the showdown will begin. What we are talking about is the Banh Mi Sandwich here, a Vietnamese classic sandwich often severed on the streets from carts. The Bahn MI Sandwich smack talking ensued when Chef Patrick Harris of Boka Truck, tweeted that his Banh Mi Sandwich was the best in town. The talking continued online and before too long Jen Mindel (Cafe Gutenberg) was there to throw the gauntlet and make the challenge. So now its on!, and you can help be a deciding factor! You get free eats and get to help good causes, what else could you want? So I will see you there, and be adding my two cents as commentator for this throw-down.
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Reinhold
Here is a breakdown of the Bahn Mi:
EVENT INFO:
The event is free, and will include Banh Mi tastings of each type of the sandwiches (vegan & carnivore). This event will benefit two organizations thats mission is to provide healthy food options for children: Chefs Move to Schools and Lunch Boxes 4 Life. Donations will be greatly accepted!
Judging will be handled by Jason Guard, our friend and owner of Mekong "Beermeister" An, Savor owner Chef Ellie Basch, and new Style Weekly food writer Robey Martin. Of course what the audience thinks is also important so you should come out and be a part of this fun event.
Here is famed Chef and traveler Anthony Bourdain with Banh Mi:
For more info please check out this article:
http://rvanews.com/features/banh-mi-throwdown-2/29957
http://www.rvafoodie.com/?p=1960
Facebook event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142511089097770&ref=mf
WHOOOMP!! WHOOOMP!!
WHOOOMP!! WHOOOMP!! is a new monthly event hosted by the Party Liberation Front for people who enjoy dubstep/glitch hop/bass driven music. Each WHOOOMP!! WHOOOMP!! will feature your resident PLF Dj's along with guest Dj's and Dj crews that wish to jump on the decks and share new and cutting edge music.
This months guest Dj is Dj Mir from the Chocolate Milk crew
http://www.myspace.com/ocmilko
http://soundcloud.com/djmir
CLICK HERE FOR THE FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE
We look forward to bringing in more local Dj's in the future, and new talent from all over for headlining gigs in the future. It is our hope to create a community night that will grow and be supportive of local/regional Dj's and producers that wish to bring this music to you! For future events we will be opening up a fire spinning area for our locals who wish to add there own creative forces to this event.
This first WHOOOMP!! WHOOOMP!! will be a BENEFIT SHOW for our very dear friends who were recently in bad car accident. Luna, Noah, and Marshall are all amazing people and we are very lucky that they are still with us. There injuries will require lots of attention, and anything we can do to help our friends we will. So this show is for them a...nd ALL proceeds will go towards helping there medical bills. We will be setting up a fund for our friends as well in the future. Through teaching Poi, Staff, DJ, hoop. and various fire spinning techniques we will look to raise funds and share with our community. For more information on this or anything WHOOOMP! please feel free to go to the contacts below.
Time: 10:30 pm
Place: The Camel
Music: Bass
For: 18+ (everyone)
Cost: $5 suggested donation (you can donate more)
CONTACT INFO:
Conway Jennings (PLF) - connwayjennings@gmail.com
John Reinhold (PLF/RVA) - john@rvamag.com
This event is sponsored by RVA Magazine, PLF, and The Camel. For more sponsorship opportunities or questions contact john@rvamag.com.THANKS EVERYONE! And see you there!
My Top 5 John Carpenter Films
I was elated to learn that my favorite director had slipped behind the camera once again after nearly a decade. Aside from a few epsidodes of Sowtime’s Masters of Horror series, the genre’s most reliable storyteller had faded from the scene altogether after his poorly-received Ghosts of Mars in 2001. I thought that was an entertaining film and it introduced me to Jason Statham, but most simply ignored it. John recently finished shooting The Ward, which should hit theaters on September 24, and with that in mind I thought it was time to examine his body of work and decide on a Top 5.
Some might scoff at my admiration for a director who has never received the appreciation he is due from the film community at large, though horror fans have always celebrated him as a true visionary. This is a guy who has provided numerous signature films in the genre, and in doing so he has provided us with several iconic characters who stand out in cinematic lore. Carpenter has also engineered some truly memorable scores, and should we give him any credit for helping Kurt Russel make the leap from Disney to Snake Plissken?
I have honestly enjoyed all of John’s films going all the way back to Dark Star, a college film featuring the late Dan O’Bannon, another gifted filmmaker who never really found the reception his work merited. Let’s hope America finds a way to embrace Carpenter for who he is and what he has done within the motion picture industry before he leaves us as well. And while I’m wishing, I sure wouldn’t mind seeing Kurt and John work together once again before either of them calls it a day either.
Every time I set out to compose one of these lists it proves difficult, but this was easily the toughest one yet. After some pondering, I wound up with 9 films that I had a very hard time whittling down to 5, and ranking those 5 proved even more difficult.
The June edition of RVA TV's LAST FRIDAY
Last Friday is RVA TV's monthly look back on the previous First Fridays in Richmond. This time we head over to Ghostprint Gallery for the FLUX show and meet Kevin Orlosky as he shows us how ordinary office toner can be quite beautiful. And then over to Art6 for the recycled fashion show called Worn Again before we wrap up the night at 1708 Gallery with artists Chris Gregson and Jay Barrows.
The Digital Works of Brien White
We've been fans of Brien White's work since we first started out- he was featured in our first issue. He friended me on Facebook recently, and I admit I hadn't checked out his website in a good little while. His works are hyper-realist, and when I first saw his paintings submitted, I thought they were photographs. Needless to say, his digital works, presented here, are just as fantastical, and melt the borderline between the real and surreal. More beneath the break.
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