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FILM REVIEW: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
It is time for round three as The Twilight Saga: Eclipse attempts to make up for the two abysmal entries that preceded it in this series. Amazingly, this third movie does represent a bit of improvement over the first two films. Perhaps it was because of low expectations, or maybe it was because the film finally introduced some real conflict and resolutions. Regardless of the reason, this movie was not as difficult to sit through as the previous ones. That being said, many of the same old problems still remain. Being better than the first two movies does not automatically make this a good movie.
Andy Dick was in Richmond?
Its true, he showed up at The Hat Factory for last night's RVALUTION. There is a comedy festival coming to the venue in September, is comedian Andy Dick attached to it somehow?
Artist Courtney Elizabeth Ford on The Process
The Process is our ongoing series profiling local artists. Episode 21 of The Process is with painter and collage artist Courtney Elizabeth Ford. She sat down with Director Ben Muri and host Parker to discuss her work and much more in this episode.
RVALUTION 12 :: THE PATRIOT ACT
The Hat Factory is set to go off American style tonight with RVALUTION 12 :: THE PATRIOT ACT. Expect the colors, bizarro America, and air conditioning tonight at the weirdest, wildest club night in the VA.
To get your tickets in advance (it has sold out early the last 7 weeks) click HERE and use the "RVA" promo code to get in for $3.
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RVALUTION 11::11
photos by Bree Davis
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RVALUTION X “THE FREAK SHOW”
words and photo by Erik Fox of DopeOnPlastic
I know these are a little late, but fuck you, I was on vacation. Here are some shots from the Tenth RVAlution, also known as “RVAlution X, The Freak Show”. As you can guess, the theme that night was to look (and get) as freaky as you legally could on the dance floor. People came in crazy costumes, there were more freaky performers, and, as always, the party sold out.
Here’s my boy Danny Tiet getting some love from the fans. He’s another local photographer who does a lot of work for Virginia Nightlife, where you can check out his albums. To tell the truth, he’s been on the nightlife photography scene for a while and is largely responsible for getting me into the field, so I have him to thank for that. Don’t get it twisted though, this guy is capable of a lot more than club shots. He’s getting way ahead of everyone in terms of experimental photography. We’re just in the talking stages, but keep yours eyes open and you might see some DOP x dTiet collab work hitting the web sometime soon. Also, I spy a Supreme 5-panel in the background there.
One guy you can always count on to take it to the next level is my friend LeVar Carter. He’s a regular performer at RVAlution, and for good reason. You might recognize him as the crazy contortionist fire-eater up on stage, but when he’s not coming dangerously close to breaking his spine or burning his face off he’s a yoga instructor and spiritual advisor. For RVAlution X he really went out of his way to look the part, giving himself an entire head-to-toe paint job.
It was also nice to see my good friends Izzi and Nora come out for some fun. I actually just spent the last week at the beach with these two, but you’ll here more about that later.
Also, I couldn’t let you guys get away without seeing my favorite shot of the night. This is Michael NightTime (MAIN PHOTO, PODCAST HERE), one of the guest DJs of the night. After dropping an incredible, midi-heavy set, he decided to stay on stage and get his dance on. You’ve got to respect a guy that can transition so well between controlling an insane crowd and becoming one of them himself.
I missed it last time, but I’ll be back at the Hat Factory tonight shooting RVAlution. If you see me, don’t be afraid to grab my attention and get your picture taken! Who knows? You might end up on some blog somewhere.
DAILY RECORDS : Okkultokrati & Rangda
Okkultokrati – No Light For Mass (Fysisk Format Records)
While not much attention has been paid to Norway’s Okkultokrati (yet), it seems that pretty much every interview/review/feature has made a point of trying to pin down the band’s stylistic allegiance –metal, punk, et cetera – with varying degrees of success. It probably doesn’t clarify matters that the band refers to their style as “metaphysical black n’ roll,” a description which, tongue planted firmly in cheek, seems almost evasive. One listen to the band’s newest release, however, suggests that their self-applied genre tag is more apt than it might first appear.
The “metaphysical” tag might seem a tad pretentious, except that the visceral power of the music and the bleak lyrical approach of lines like “Projection of the mind / Gateway through empty space / The will of no God / The hidden power” suggest a worldview not far removed from standard heavy metal tropes, albeit with a slightly subtler grasp of the philosophy. The latter half of the term, “black n’ roll” offers a tidy summation of the music itself – the album comes off like a dour divergence of a less self-referential version of Darkthrone’s more recent albums mixed with the sort of stadium-rock influenced death metal Entombed has spent the past decade and a half cranking out.
Band comparisons and genre tags, self-applied or otherwise, aside – No Light For Mass is an equally forceful and thoughtful release – like reading Nietzsche during a bar fight – which offers a howling, vitriolic cacophony which should appeal to fans of all things heavy and nihilistic.
Rangda – False Flag (Drag City Records)
The term “supergroup,” with notable exceptions, often calls to mind bloated, masturbatory exercises in ego gratification by groups of musicians who are often their own biggest fans. The listening public is then supposed to take it as a matter of faith that if these musicians were great on their own, then their creative powers would logically multiply exponentially when combined, only to left disappointed (see: Zwan, Whitesnake, Velvet Revolver). A listener familiar with the musical pedigrees of Rangda’s three members – Richard Bishop of Sun City Girls, Ben Chasny of Six Organs Of Admittance, and Chris Corsano, who has collaborated with Bjork, Jandek, and dozens of others – might easily term the band a supergroup despite expectations that the proceedings would possess a subtlety and restraint the term rarely suggests. While the terminology is accurate, any such expectations are not borne out with any degree of consistency.
The album’s six improvisational pieces eschew the campy exotica for which Bishop is known and the melancholy psychedelia of Chasny’s recordings in favor of an approach which alternates between full-bore, atonal shredding and less frantic, gentler songs. “Waldorf Hysteria” and “Serrated Edges” possess, as each title suggests, a grating quality which suggests a graceless version of free jazz or an arrhythmic attempt at early no wave. Quieter moments, such as “Sarcophagi” or the fifteen-minute closer “Plain of Jars,” at least offer a respite from the dissonance, but come across as meandering and aimless as walking into a Grateful Dead concert halfway through without any drugs to make it interesting.
The problem with Rangda’s album is not even its overwhelming dissonance or lack of focus – it’s an improvised rock album, those elements are par for the course. The issue is that each musician involved has a long-standing track record of being extremely adept at rhythm, melody, and composition – all the elements they disregard for this project. Each member has made music so vastly more compelling that False Flag almost seems like a throwaway. The listener is left with music which neither arrives nor departs and fails to capture the attention with the same facility that each member has on their own.
Pretty Girls to open at Norfolk's ArtGallery (NSFW)
Jason Levesque, who was profiled in RVA #1 (CLICK HERE) will be teaming up with illustrator Erik Jones at ArtGallery on July 10th. Since we have shown you Jason's work before, here is a selection of Erik's stuff for you to oogle. Again, this is NSFW.
Report from the field: it is ridiculously f**king hot.
RVA Magazine reporter Ian M. Graham reports from the field.
"It is ridiculously goddamn motherf**king hot. I know we live in The South, but seriously? It's June. We're not supposed to get this kind of crap-ass weather until July at the earliest, and with the heat index, it's been over a hundred goddamn degrees for, like, a week. I'm leaving a sweat trail like a over-hydrated slug in a pressure cooker."
Sweat streaming down his face like a torrential river of human salt water, Graham shifts uncomfortably while peeling his soaked shirt off of his chest.
"I think I'm lactating. Jesus. How much longer do I have to stay out here? I could be reporting on this from the air-conditioned office. How's that sound? A compare-and-contrast editorial about how it's hot OUTSIDE and I'm INSIDE so my buttcrack doesn't feel like a damned slip-n-slide?"
RVA Magazine's editorial staff then made several jokes implying that Ian is a homosexual, based off of his "slip-n-slide butt" comment.
Dominion owns Mountain Dew
Green Label Art is an online competition to find unique art to wrap around limited run Mountain Dew cans. In their own words, "...GLA is all about self-expression and individuality... The bottles are vibrant expressions of DEW created by a collection of bold unique artists that drive culture."
Richmond's own Dominion Skate Shop has a design in the running right now and could use your votes. Take a minute to check this out HERE .
Winning 101: How To Win, Even When You Lose (Becoming A Leader At Online Gaming)
Playing video games online is a terrific way to meet new people and face new challenges within the gaming community, and with new content being made available daily and more games capitalizing on this growing trend, online play is now a staple of the video game industry. Players can play with or against other online players, and headsets have taken interactive gaming experiences to a new plateau. Seasoned gamers understand the impact this trend has had on the industry, and most are completely at home interacting with strangers online as they conquer new titles and revisit familiar favorites. Novices may be eager to jump into the pool, but before you get wet, there are a few things you should know.
This week we will focus on leadership, an essential element of team-based play. Good teams have effective leaders who generate positive results from the team as a whole, while lousy teams operate without a coherent plan and lack any guidance or tutelage along the way. Lousy teams suck the big one.
DAILY REVIEW: Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
Usually when someone hears the word “diva” in reference to music they think of strong female personalities like Beyonce, Aretha Franklin, or Liza Minelli who’s larger than life talents often outshine even the brightest of their male counterparts. Unfortunately, there is usually a bit of pretentious negativity linked with that characterization as well that often borders on sexism and a palpably manifested fear of a strong “leader with heels.” For any male (or female for that matter) that has that particular set of issues to deal with, stay away from Janelle Monae because she will rule you! Her talent, concepts, performances and music in general are so well developed that she will instantly outshine any “star” in the room, including her label head Sean “P.Diddy” Combs. Yeah, Diddy is the man behind bringing Monae to the spotlight 3 years ago with her Grammy-nominated Metropolis – Suite One: The Chase, but don’t hold that against her. This is probably the most talented artist Diddy has had on his roster (Biggie fans simmer down!) and with her newest release The ArchAndroid, she’s carrying Bad Boy Records into the future like an eternal flame leading creative cavemen out of darkness.
You see, Janelle Monae is all about the future. On Metropolis:Suite One she emerged as a soulful, love-struck android named Cyndi Mayweather who was on the run for falling in love with a human in a not-so-distant futuristic time period where emotional agency on the part of androids is not permitted. I always envisioned her as a brown-skinned version of Milla Jovovich ala The Fifth Element mixed with the faux-human characteristics of Daryl Hannah’s character Pris in Blade Runner. She also proved herself a vocal talent with a range of delivery that isn’t seen much in commercial music in these (hopefully) last days of the Autotune Era. However, on The ArchAndroid she expands her range exponentially and comes across with an elevated musical masterpiece of stylistic diversity that I haven’t heard on an album from a solo artist in a minute. In all honesty, the first vocal artist I thought to compare Monae with who has a similar broad range of musical expression is Mike Patton. And while Patton’s catalogue is more extensive and includes diverse projects such as Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Lovage, and Bjork’s Medulla, they share a natural sense of focused artistic schizophrenia that makes listening to their recorded works an adventure in sound.
Since The ArchAndroid consists of suites 2 and 3 of a 4 part story (Metropolis was part 1), it begins with the same highly orchestrated type of intro that started off the first EP. From there, you are catapulted into the first track “Dance or Die” by the chants of spoken wordsmith Saul Williams and subsequently sent spiraling down a rabbit hole of musical styles. From the 60s lounge influenced track “Sir Greendown” (where Monae is more Astrud Gilberto than Erykah Badu) to the Stereolab-esque electronica of “Wondaland”, this album has a span of styles and influences that you would normally expect to hear on a Thievery Corporation album not a mainstream album from one of the most commercially recognizable labels in urban music. In addition, the album is Executive Produced by Monae’s fellow ATL-ien, Big Boi from Outkast. His influence is most evident in the uptempo aesthetic of “Cold War” that mirrors Outkast’s classic track “Bombs Over Baghdad”, and the lead single for the album “Tightrope” which features his classic ATL flow woven in with Monae’s heated, Tina Turner-type vocal performance. “Oh Maker” starts off sounding more like a folk track from The Ditty Bops and eventually grows into a more nuevo soul groove in the fashion of Estelle or Adele by the time the chorus drops. “Come Alive (War of the Roses)” could have a place in a 2010 re-creation of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with it’s swinging rhythm section and frenetic vocals. “57821” is a throwback to the classically elegant music and vocal harmonizing of “Scarborough Fair” era Simon and Garfunkle and “Say You’ll Go” is more of a contemporary Jill Scott-type electronic neo soul groove that fits in well as another “personality” to the obviously very complex Monae. One of the premiere collaborators on this album is the group Of Montreal. While I am a casual fan of some of their music, “Make the Bus” is probably my least favorite song on this album. It seems a little sophomoric relative to the other well developed, expressive songs on the album. But all of us have a “less mature” side and when I listen with that in mind, that song fits in perfectly as another manifestation of the ArchAndroid’s pseudo-human personality.
Now, I’m well aware that I have managed to parallel Janelle Monae to Mike Patton, Tina Turner, Astrud Gilberto and Jill Scott among others within the span of a few run-on sentences, and I don’t apologize for that in the least (the references or the run-ons). This songstress is that good. For once I applaud Diddy for his vision in signing such a commercially left-of-center artist and having the restraint (I’m sure Ms. Monae demanded it!) to not tinker with her work and let her present her artistic vision. The ArchAndroid is a not-so-subtle classic on so many levels, particularly when it’s observed as a cinematic, stream of consciousness musical with a diverse collection of movements and atmospheres within it. Janelle Monae is a diva re-defined and she’s got the skills to prove it.
by Mikemetic Williams - www.audiomasstransit.com
Bass Player - PHOTOSYNTHESIZERS
Host - "Middle East Coast Mecca" Sunday Nights 1-3am EST wrir.org/ 97.3 FM RVA
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