Music Review: Various Artists, The Exquisite Corpse Game

By Less Lee Moore

I first head the term “Exquisite Corpse” in the Bauhaus song of the same name, but I didn’t know what it meant or about its history. Popularized by the Surrealists, it is “a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed” (Wikipedia).

This method seems perfect for a variety of artistic collaborations, particularly music, where it can be utilized to create a textured mixtape quality. Musician Kavus Torabi decided to embark on an exquisite corpse project through his own label, Believers Roast, and the results—two years in the making—are remarkable and intoxicating. Each artist was only allowed to hear the final 20 seconds of the previous installment and was not allowed to hear the entire collection until it was completed.

Continue reading ‘Music Review: Various Artists, The Exquisite Corpse Game‘

Waxing Nostalgic Connecting The Dots: The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971)

By Jeffery X Martin

The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge connects Covington, Kentucky (the town of my birth) to Cincinnati, Ohio (the town that, as a teenager, became my stomping ground). At the time of its completion, in 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a span of 322 meters (1057 feet).

Let’s get down to brass tacks here. Driving over the Suspension Bridge is scary as shit. As soon as you hit the surface of the bridge, the road surface changes. No smooth blacktop or asphalt here; it is nothing but closely spaced thin strips of steel. That’s all keeping you and your car from pulling a Mothman Prophecies and plunging hood-first into the Ohio River. When you drive over it, the car begins to vibrate, and this hideous hum begins emanating from your tires. Rubber meets metal, and the entire vehicle shakes and swerves.

It’s not pleasant.

Unless you’re two years old and don’t know any better.

Here’s the odd thing. Depending on how fast you go, the friction of the bridge against the tires produces a musical note. I know for a fact that as my mother drove across the bridge that day, she was playing an open A chord without realizing it.

Continue reading ‘Waxing Nostalgic Connecting The Dots: The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971)’

Music Review: Ha Ha Tonka, Lessons

By Melissa Bratcher

The delightfully named Ha Ha Tonka (named after a gorgeous state park in Missouri, replete with a crumbling mansion/hotel) are clearly at a crossroads. Their latest effort, Lessons, is a departure from their previous more stripped-down records, and is chock full of soul-searching, thinky lyrics. I’m not sure the change in direction was a good move.

Continue reading ‘Music Review: Ha Ha Tonka, Lessons‘

Music Review: Kenny Feinstein, Loveless: Hurts To Love

By Jemiah Jefferson

It became a cliché, nearly a joke, the reverence that rock critics had for My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless album, a singular document of noisy, sexy, melodic weirdness that loomed large in reputation for the 20-plus years since its release. This year has seen several tribute albums to it, somehow all of them excellent, but this latest from Portland-based Kenny Feinstein wins additional points for freshness, sincerity, and an obsessive attention to detail that would undoubtedly please the notoriously perfectionist MBV frontman, Kevin Shields.

Continue reading ‘Music Review: Kenny Feinstein, Loveless: Hurts To Love‘

Goodbye D.O.A., Thanks For All The State Smashing!

By Tim Murr

Hardcore architects and Canada’s Clash, D.O.A., are on their farewell tour! They hit the road on August 29 and have now reached the East Coast (tour dates below)

D.O.A., along with Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys, created hardcore punk in the late ’70s/early ’80s. Always outspoken leftist agitators, D.O.A. have spent their career standing up for various political causes and performing benefit concerts.

Sudden Death Records will be releasing a definitive double live album, Welcome To Chinatown, which includes songs from the band’s entire history.

Hats off to Joe and the boys; it’s been a great run!

You can keep updated by checking the band’s website.

NORTH AMERICA:
September 17: West Chester, PA; The Note
September 18: Washington, DC; Black Cat
September 19: Pittsburgh, PA; 31st Street Pub
September 20: Louisville, KY; Phoenix Hill Tavern
September 21: Columbus, OH; Rumba Cafe
September 22: Indianapolis, IN; The Melody Inn

EUROPE:
October 9: Hamburg, Germany; Hafenklang
October 10: Kiel, Germany; Schaubude
October 11: Eindhoven, Netherlands; The Rambler
October 12: London, UK; Boston Arms
October 13: Leeds, UKvBrundell Social Club w/ Chelsea
October 14: Glasgow, Scotland; Audio
October 15: Nottingham, UK; The Dog House
October 16: Paris, France; TBA
October 17: Lyon, France; Warm Audio
October 18: Milano, Italy; Lo-Fi
October 19: Bologna, Italy; Freakout Club
October 20: Luzern, Switzerland; Sedel
October 21: Nuremberg, Germany; TBA
October 22: Dresden, Germany; TBA
October 23: Wroclaw, Poland; Alibi
October 24: Warsaw, Poland TBA
October 25: Gdansk, Poland; B-90
October 26: Tampere, Finland; TBA
October 28: Wormerveer, Netherlands; De Groote Weiver

The Robocop Remake Gets A Trailer

By Tim Murr

I was 11 when the original Robocop came out in 1987. The first pictures I saw from the film and the TV spots hooked me. I became obsessed with seeing this movie. Since I was poor and the film was rated R, I didn’t get to see Robocop on the big screen, but I was allowed to rent it the week it came out on VHS.

Robocop has been one of the biggest pop culture obsessions of my life and also one of the biggest disappointments. Since ’87, we’ve witnessed a TV series, two animated series, a bunch of toys and collectibles that range in quality from brilliant to “why did they make this piece of crap,” and two sequels that were just awful.

Continue reading ‘The Robocop Remake Gets A Trailer’

Assemblog: September 13, 2013

Director Jim Jarmusch is still recovering from that embarrassing “Did it hurt?” question at the Only Lovers Left Alive Q&A

I’ve been busy writing over at the TIFF Vanguard Blog, but guess what? TIFF is almost over! So we’ll soon be back to our regularly scheduled Assemblogs. In the meantime, here’s what’s new on Popshifter this week.

Brad has the scoop on new releases from Scream Factory, I Come In Peace and X-Ray/Schizoid; Melissa has good things to say about San Fermin’s debut and the latest from Glen Campbell; Jeff talks about phasing in this week’s Waxing Nostalgic; Chelsea examines ZZK Records comp ZZK Sound Volume 3; I am impressed by the creature design in Frankenstein’s Army, overwhelmed by the wonderful Forever by Holograms, and grateful to have seen Brazilian Western and iNumber Number at TIFF.

—Less Lee Moore, Managing Editor

Various Artists, ZZK Sound Volume 3

By Chelsea Spear

When I got a copy of ZZK Sound to review, I felt pulled in opposite directions. Many of the Latin alternative blogs and podcasts from which I get the latest music news cite the Argentine label ZZK Records as an innovative new label that marries the traditional folk idiom cumbia to more contemporary forms of music, particularly EDM. ZZK’s adventurous perspective piqued my interest, but their concentration in dance music gave me pause. I don’t go to the clubs enough to hear dance music the way it was meant to be heard, and if you asked me to tell you what EDM sounded like, I’d throw out the following words: amelodic, beat-heavy, high-endy, compressed production, “bricked” sound.

Continue reading ‘Various Artists, ZZK Sound Volume 3‘

TIFF 2013 Review: iNumber Number

By Less Lee Moore

iNumber Number is a thoroughly enjoyable heist film from writer/director Donovan Marsh. There’s not a bit of flab to be found in its taut 96 minutes, all of which crackle with tension.

Continue reading ‘TIFF 2013 Review: iNumber Number‘

Blu-Ray Review: X-Ray (a.k.a. Hospital Massacre) and Schizoid

By Brad Henderson

When I was younger, probably around the age of 14, I would help my mother at her job. She would pay me a hefty allowance and I could spend that on whatever I wanted. I used to save up my cash, go on Ebay, and buy box lots of VHS tapes of horror films (I still do this by the way). I would buy anything that I saw on there and spend my weekends staying up late to watch these movies.

One of those large lots I bought contained a cut VHS box fitted into a clear clamshell. It read Hospital Massacre. Upon pulling several titles to watch one night, it was first on my list. Not only was Barbi Benton in it, but Boaz Davidson also directed it. He also directed my favorite ’80s teen film of all time, The Last American Virgin (in the same year of 1982, I might add.)

Continue reading ‘Blu-Ray Review: X-Ray (a.k.a. Hospital Massacre) and Schizoid‘