Webster defines an anti-hero as "a protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities" and it is a character type that has existed, surely, for as long as we've been telling stories. Common examples are characters like Raskolnikov of Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment and Mersault of Camus' The Stranger, to give two examples from literature. In film the perhaps most well known anti-hero would be someone like Travis Bickle from Scorsese's Taxi Driver. Even leaving the world of fiction we can find "real life anti-hero's", at least as far as public opinion contrasted with common morality goes, in someone like drug kingpin Pablo Escobar who, amongst many, is thought of in positive light for his Robin Hood-esque support for the poor community of Medellín.
Perhaps I'm suffering from recency bias but I'd argue that there's been a rise in media portraying anti-hero's as of late, where the past example of Pablo Escobar may be a good shooting of point seeing to both the Netflix series Narcos (2015) and Colombian produced Escobar: El Patrón Del Mal (2012). Still, this may have more to do with stories about criminals being popular as a criminal protagonist essentially implies an anti-hero (outside of quite rare occassions). As a counterpoint we're also seeing characters who have previously been considered hero's to be adapted into stories where their moral direction is somewhat more complicated. An example of this would be of Batman in Christopher Nolan's trilogy (2005, 2008, 2012) where comissioner Gorden says "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight". Still, Batman is very much a hero in the traditional sense of the word, but the appeal of a morally grey Batman is not too far of a stretch from the appeal of the anti-hero.
Now what led me to write this post is after watching James Gandolfini portray the character of Tony Soprano in the HBO series of The Sopranos. It isn't my first time going through the show but I think it's the first time where I can truly appreciate all the nuances of the show, from the writing to the acting. Previously I've held Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov to be the epitome of the anti-hero, the boy who believes himself to be superior to his peers, murders and robs a woman and her sister only to be suffering from guilt and regret for the remaining 750 or so pages. Here it is his amoral actions in the early stages of the book that give him the status of anti-hero but he will later "repent" his sins as he comes to term with the wrongness of his actions. However, after just finishing the season 2 closing episode of Funhouse, I've come to reevaluate who I accompany with the term anti-hero to be the titular character of The Sopranos.
What to me constitutes a great anti-hero is the tug-of-war between good and bad that we viewers are faced with. It is difficult to create a protagonist that is completely void of the "hero"-part of the term anti-hero, i.e. someone who is "lacking in heroic qualities" to the point that they are no longer likeable enough that we as viewers are "rooting for them" (in fact I fail to think of a single story where the protagonist is, by the general public, considered to be completely unlikeable). Instead, the difficulty lies in making their actions amoral enough that we despise them while still wanting them to succeed. A failed example of this tug-of-war is, in my opinion, Walter White, the protagonist of the tv-show Breaking Bad.
Returning to this tug-of-war that comes with the great anti-hero: this is what I think David Chase has succeeded so perfectly with the character of Tony Soprano. It is something we see in nearly every episode where perhaps the best example is in the season 1 episode College. In this episode Tony and his daugther Meadow are visiting colleges, bonding as father and daugther with the rest of the family back in New Jersey. Here we see Tony as a good, caring father who puts his family ahead. This is all quickly contrasted as Tony spots a man he believes to be an ex-mafia member who has been in hiding via a witness protection program after working as an informant to the FBI. Halfway through the episode Tony is knee deep in mud as he's choking the man to death with a wire.
Perhaps an even better example is the plot line in season 2 where a friend from Tony's childhood is allowed to join a high stakes poker game, only to gamble away money he doesn't have resulting in Tony and his gang shaking him for every last penny he has including his sons college fund. In the seasons final episode the two meet again at the high school graduation of Tony's daugther and the childhood friend is in shambles.
As I already mentioned, having a story centered around criminals is nearly always going to imply that your protagonist will be some alteration of an anti-hero since their criminal activities are in a sense already a type of "lacking in heroic qualities". What separates the cookie-cutter hero's from the truly great ones then lie in their lack of morality. Tony Soprano is a gangster, prone to violent outbreaks, occassionally abusive and with a history of violent criminal activities under his belt along with several accounts of murder. But isn't this expected from a mafioso? What instead makes him a great anti-hero is how he cheats the civilians, how he robs those already weak without an ounce of compassion or regret in himself. Again with the example of the childhood friend who gambles away everything he owns, when Tony finds him sleeping in a tent inside his now defunct store he says something along the lines of "Well what did you expect me to do? This shit is in my nature. Gamblers like you are my bread and butter" showing no remorse for what can undoubtedly be called runing a man's life where a big part of his family came along as collateral damage.
David Chase's writing, along with Gandolfini's fantastic acting performance, is what elevates Tony Soprano to one of the greatest examples of anti-hero's out there.
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Picking back up from where we left off...
As it turns out, I haven't touched this blog in over three years. In fact, I had forgotten that this page even existed until someone from my past asked me about whether or not I still blogged.
Since then I haven't been able to shake the memory of this blog and all the others before it. More and more I've been remembering why I wrote and how important it once was. When I made this blog I was beginning to get into film and I wanted to expand my previous writing on music into yet another forum - hence dropping the "music" part from the "reviews music" moniker.
During these past three years I've gotten into literature as well, nearly forgetting that I was once interested in music at all. But 2019 feels like a year of reincarnation in many ways, and maybe this blog deserves its fair share of reincarnation too. In fact, one of the main goals behind these many blogs were to have a forum to write and express myself when it came time to write about the "year bests" of various media.
So it feels apropriate to bring this back up and running again, when the decade is nearing its end and we'll soon be closing of the 10's.
Cheers to the new times!
Since then I haven't been able to shake the memory of this blog and all the others before it. More and more I've been remembering why I wrote and how important it once was. When I made this blog I was beginning to get into film and I wanted to expand my previous writing on music into yet another forum - hence dropping the "music" part from the "reviews music" moniker.
During these past three years I've gotten into literature as well, nearly forgetting that I was once interested in music at all. But 2019 feels like a year of reincarnation in many ways, and maybe this blog deserves its fair share of reincarnation too. In fact, one of the main goals behind these many blogs were to have a forum to write and express myself when it came time to write about the "year bests" of various media.
So it feels apropriate to bring this back up and running again, when the decade is nearing its end and we'll soon be closing of the 10's.
Cheers to the new times!
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Film Review: Winter Light [1963]
I've been on the fence about Bergman lately since I've been left quite unimpressed by the last few films I've seen of his, namely Fanny & Alexander, The Virgin Spring and Through A Glass Darkly but I've promised myself to atleast make my way through the "Faith Trilogy" of Through A Glass Darkly, Winter Light and The Silence.
Earlier today I was at the theater and saw a production of Fanny & Alexander. While still not very far from Bergman's original, it placed the film in a different light and made me eager to continue down Bergman's filmography. Next in line was Winter Light which somewhat blew me away.
The film starts in a small church as the sick and troubled Gunnar Björnstrand is giving communion to a few citizens of the tiny village. Nykvist's cinematography quickly sets the mood and gives the film a claustropobic and intimate feel featuring odd closeups that seem to channel the Dreyer we recognize from The Passion Of Joan Of Arc. Björnstrand is physically ill and is troubled by his falling out with christianity, he's unsure of his role as the little society's priest.
The claustrophobic feel of the film gives a sense of urgency and finality to the film. We're unsure of what's to happen next but we can be quite sure that things won't be good when it's finally over. There's an apparent similarity to Bresson, not only through Nykvist's photography but also through the minimal nature of the film. There's no music in the film (not counting the organ during communion) but there's a heavy focus on sound design which, although shoddy at times, offer a discomfort as the ticks of clocks are heard or the deafining sound of a train blocks out what characters are saying. The silence, or complete lack of is both draining and painful as we're forced to see and hear everything, or absolutely nothing.
There's also an apparent influence on the Hungarian director Béla Tarr both in the way the film is shot but also in similarities between the characters and the timeless nature of the film. Winter Light takes place in a little village that the world seem to have forgotten but if it weren't for the cars the film could have taken place more or less anywhere during the past hundred years or so. The theme is also a very common one, with the theme of losing faith for different reasons being a big one. Björnstrand's character is falling out of faith which leaves him desperate while Von Sydow's character's loss of faith leaves him ending his life. The film's ending is somewhat hazy for me though, I'm not quite sure what Allan Edwall's monologue about the suffering of Christ means in the bigger picture and I'm equally dumbfounded by how the organ player ties the ending of the film into that of Through A Glass Darkly which I interpreted in a very different fashion "God is love. Love is God. Love is the proof of God's existence.". There's definitely more to the underlying themes of Winter Light but I hope to be able to interpret it better when I inevitably return to it.
What impressed me the most about this film is Nykvist's cinematography, which might rival his work in Cries & Whispers which I had previously claimed to be his strongest work. The opening shots of the different sides of the church, the closed off, foreign feel of the church and the surrounding land aswell as the many well executed close ups were a sight to behold. They alone were enough to keep me invested in the film but alongside the many talented actors and Bergman's ability to put a unique feel on a film makes it the experience that it now is. I also want to credit the sound design which works as yet another well done element of the film. Echoing footsteps, creaking doors and ticks from clocks make the film the tense and claustrophobic expereience that it is coupled with the hectic, stressful ones from when Björnstrand leaves the church, where the river drowns out the conversation or the passing train makes it unable to hear what Björnstrand was saying. It's an effective addition to the storytelling which proves Bergman's talent yet again.
Winter Light [1963]
dir. Ingmar Bergman
8
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Thursday, December 31, 2015
The Music Of 2015 - Albums
We've reached the end of the line. With only a few hours left to spare I've finally sat down, compiled and begun writing the final post of the year with a few of my favorite albums of the year. As with the previous charts, this one is also heavily influenced by records from the first half of the year with little room to spare for later releases. What I've heard from the past few months have honestly not quite been up to par with the best of this list but I've also missed out on a bunch.
Far shorter list this year than last, only 15 releases this time around but they are all worth your time if you haven't heard them already.
Favorite Albums Of 2015
15. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Sufjan Stevens only barely makes it onto my final list for 2015. Carrie & Lowell is undoubtedly an impressive record while also filling a void for an even more introspective look into Stevens life that was unavailable in his discography since before.
14. Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh
I was previously only acquainted with the music of Fuck Buttons through their latest release Slow Focus which I didn't care for. Dumb Flesh however is more in tune with the building, progressive and harsh sound of Tarot Sport and while it mainly feels like a continuation of the ideas explored on Fuck Buttons' hailed 2009 album it never comes across as unable to stand on its own two feet.
13. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
I think this record is more important than I find it enjoyable. Following up Lamar's latest record, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City seemed like an almost impossible task but To Pimp A Butterfly proves every doubter out there that Lamar has so much more to give and has quite a ways to go despite already having claimed the throne as the most important (and maybe even greatest) modern active rapper. I don't see how To Pimp A Butterfly won't go down as this generations Illmatic.
12. Black Cilice - Mysteries
This was released when I was caught up in a black metal binge. Mysteries doesn't do much new, its a record more in line with many of the early norwegian black metal demos but it does it enormously well. Like the black-metal counterpoint to a band like Gorguts, it often bridges on noise as the muddy, lo-fi recording blends the guitars into a a cacoponous mix.
11. Viet Cong - S/T
I like Women and hold their record Public Strain on quite a high pedestal. I wasn't expecting Viet Cong to rehash that sound but the bands debut feels like a solid continuation of the ideas at hand during the final years of Women. It doesn't ever feel like Women reborn either, making Viet Cong sound more like an original entity amongst the rise of post-punk revival that's popular in today's era.
10. Sicko Mobb - Super Saiyan Vol 2
Don't disregard this mixtape because of the shoddy DJ-samples and the ridiculous album art. Super Saiyan Vol 2 is a phenomenal take at a brigther kind of chicago drill-sound. It isn't actually that far from a rap version of the PC-Music movement that seemed to be gaining traction. It's heavily produced, auto-tuned to the max and focuses almost entirely on energy and melody. So much better than any of that Rae Sremmurd-type of rap that's been gaining a following.
9. Nicolas Jaar - The Color Of Pomegranates
Nicolas Jaar made this bootleg soundtrack to Parajanov's praised masterpiece with the same name as an alternative pick for the silent films music. I still haven't seen the film even though I've been curious about Parajanov for a while now. On it's own The Color Of Pomegranates might feel a bit stale after a while but it's nice to hear music from Jaar that again, feels as fresh and unique as his previous works with both guitarist Dave Harrington and a solo-artist have felt. The Color Of Pomegranates leaves me excited for what's to come (and the Nymphs 7'' have proven that Jaar is still at the top of his game).
8. Death Grips - Jenny Death
I've already written a fair bit about the circumstances regarding this "final" Death Grips album so there's no point in continuing that. Jenny Death feels closer to Exmilitary than any previous Death Grips album have done, where most have been moving into a more electronic territory with every release, culminating in last years Niggas On The Moon. Songs like I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States and The Powers That B is two of the bands most energetic ones.
7. Graham Lambkin & Michael Pisaro - Schwarze Riesenfalter
Electroacoustic music that took me by surprise. I had previously dismissed Lambkin's music after not understanding the praise for The Salmon Run, a musique concrete record that I still find to be all kinds of weird. Schwarze Riesenfalter however feels far more natural and lies somewhere in between ambient, drone and field recordings. A highly meditative record that's well produced and deserves to be heard with a pair of good headphones.
6. Dawn Richard - Blackheart
Early favorite, released in January already. Great contemporary RnB that does its own thing and stands on some terrific production signed Noise Castle. Incredibly varied while combining introspective songs about drug abuse with empowering pop bangers like Phoenix that don't sound too far from what you might hear on the radio. This is a record that makes me wonder why Richard isn't seeing the same amount of praise as someone like Janelle Monae which do a similar thing, just not as interestingly.
5. Råd Kjetil Sanza Testa - Levande Död I Norra Norrland
Dark ambient record that springs to life through Mattias Alkberg's guest performance where he recites poetry over lonesome ambient pieces or acts as vocals over the terrifying darker songs. It's atmospheric and captures the grand and desolate feel of the barely populated wooden areas of Norrland. One of the best dark ambient records I've had the pleasure of listening to.
4. Girl Band - Holding Hands With Jamie
Melodic record that combines post-punk with noise rock while retaining an easy-going feel. Cynic songs about boredom and the average life is colorized by thundering but controlled bass lines and a climatic explosiveness. One of the strongest debuts of the year.
What surprised me the most is how effortlessly Girl Band pulls of their more chaotic and noisy elements. The buildups to the climax on a song like Paul never feels forced and when it finally hits it arrives just in time and always feels warranted.
Definitely a force to be reckoned with in the future.
3. Timbre - Sun And Moon
This record is the only one on this list that I'd consider a must hear for any fan of music reading this list. While the following records are stronger in my personal opinion, Sun & Moon is a tremendous record that hits almost every note correctly. It's a double album where the first side, the Sun side, features more traditional baroque folk songs not too far from Joanna Newsom even if they often loose the playful edge of Newsom's music for a more mature and evolved feel mostly owing to Timbre's root in classical music that we see more of on the second disc. The second side of the album, the Moon side, features a more classical take of the already established sound of the first side. Choirs, flutes and strings make a more prominent appearance which turns songs into something grander which feels both orchestral and symphonic.
2. Colin Steson & Sarah Neufeld - Never Were The Way She Was
I'm a huge fan of Stetson's music and his most recent collaboration with violinist Sarah Neufeld never fails to impress despite lacking some of the key elements that made an album like Judges the masterpiece that it is. Never Were The Way She Was is stripped down to its core where the only thing you'll find is the combination of violin and saxophone as they brutally step up toe to toe to face in destructive emotional battles over and over again for the span of eight heavy hitting tracks. Stetson's brutish saxophone play combines perfectly with Neufeld frantic, shrieking violin and while the finished product isn't on par with Stetson's greatest solo efforts it still stands as stronger than many of this years albums.
1. Liturgy - The Ark Work
Possibly this years most controversial album. Liturgy has always been seen as somewhat of a black sheep in the metal scene after front man Hunter Hunt Hendrix wrote a quite odd manifest. Black metal purists often look down on the band for attempting to make a pure form of "transcendental black metal" which is supposed to become the American black metal as opposed to the well known early Norwegian scene of the 90's.
The Ark Work might not be the best black metal album ever and at this point I wouldn't talk of Liturgy as a black metal band. They make an odd type of music which on this record conists of tremolo picking meeting computerized trumpets which sound like something you'd be taught to create in an FL-Studio tutorial. The artificial feel of the record is what makes it great. Nothing out there sounds like it and I don't think anyone will attempt to recreate it. It is far too much and it is far too crazy but it somehow works even though none of the elements on the record seem to work on its own (except for Greg Fox' drumming, which is of course outstanding).
The Ark Work takes the cake for shocking, provoking and inventing while also sounding good in my ears.
And that's it for this year! Now I'm off to eat a New Years dinner, head to a New Years party and I'll see you next year!
The Music Of 2015 - Albums
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Far shorter list this year than last, only 15 releases this time around but they are all worth your time if you haven't heard them already.
Favorite Albums Of 2015
15. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Sufjan Stevens only barely makes it onto my final list for 2015. Carrie & Lowell is undoubtedly an impressive record while also filling a void for an even more introspective look into Stevens life that was unavailable in his discography since before.
14. Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh
I was previously only acquainted with the music of Fuck Buttons through their latest release Slow Focus which I didn't care for. Dumb Flesh however is more in tune with the building, progressive and harsh sound of Tarot Sport and while it mainly feels like a continuation of the ideas explored on Fuck Buttons' hailed 2009 album it never comes across as unable to stand on its own two feet.
13. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
I think this record is more important than I find it enjoyable. Following up Lamar's latest record, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City seemed like an almost impossible task but To Pimp A Butterfly proves every doubter out there that Lamar has so much more to give and has quite a ways to go despite already having claimed the throne as the most important (and maybe even greatest) modern active rapper. I don't see how To Pimp A Butterfly won't go down as this generations Illmatic.
12. Black Cilice - Mysteries
This was released when I was caught up in a black metal binge. Mysteries doesn't do much new, its a record more in line with many of the early norwegian black metal demos but it does it enormously well. Like the black-metal counterpoint to a band like Gorguts, it often bridges on noise as the muddy, lo-fi recording blends the guitars into a a cacoponous mix.
11. Viet Cong - S/T
I like Women and hold their record Public Strain on quite a high pedestal. I wasn't expecting Viet Cong to rehash that sound but the bands debut feels like a solid continuation of the ideas at hand during the final years of Women. It doesn't ever feel like Women reborn either, making Viet Cong sound more like an original entity amongst the rise of post-punk revival that's popular in today's era.
10. Sicko Mobb - Super Saiyan Vol 2
Don't disregard this mixtape because of the shoddy DJ-samples and the ridiculous album art. Super Saiyan Vol 2 is a phenomenal take at a brigther kind of chicago drill-sound. It isn't actually that far from a rap version of the PC-Music movement that seemed to be gaining traction. It's heavily produced, auto-tuned to the max and focuses almost entirely on energy and melody. So much better than any of that Rae Sremmurd-type of rap that's been gaining a following.
9. Nicolas Jaar - The Color Of Pomegranates
Nicolas Jaar made this bootleg soundtrack to Parajanov's praised masterpiece with the same name as an alternative pick for the silent films music. I still haven't seen the film even though I've been curious about Parajanov for a while now. On it's own The Color Of Pomegranates might feel a bit stale after a while but it's nice to hear music from Jaar that again, feels as fresh and unique as his previous works with both guitarist Dave Harrington and a solo-artist have felt. The Color Of Pomegranates leaves me excited for what's to come (and the Nymphs 7'' have proven that Jaar is still at the top of his game).
8. Death Grips - Jenny Death
I've already written a fair bit about the circumstances regarding this "final" Death Grips album so there's no point in continuing that. Jenny Death feels closer to Exmilitary than any previous Death Grips album have done, where most have been moving into a more electronic territory with every release, culminating in last years Niggas On The Moon. Songs like I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States and The Powers That B is two of the bands most energetic ones.
7. Graham Lambkin & Michael Pisaro - Schwarze Riesenfalter
Electroacoustic music that took me by surprise. I had previously dismissed Lambkin's music after not understanding the praise for The Salmon Run, a musique concrete record that I still find to be all kinds of weird. Schwarze Riesenfalter however feels far more natural and lies somewhere in between ambient, drone and field recordings. A highly meditative record that's well produced and deserves to be heard with a pair of good headphones.
6. Dawn Richard - Blackheart
Early favorite, released in January already. Great contemporary RnB that does its own thing and stands on some terrific production signed Noise Castle. Incredibly varied while combining introspective songs about drug abuse with empowering pop bangers like Phoenix that don't sound too far from what you might hear on the radio. This is a record that makes me wonder why Richard isn't seeing the same amount of praise as someone like Janelle Monae which do a similar thing, just not as interestingly.
5. Råd Kjetil Sanza Testa - Levande Död I Norra Norrland
Dark ambient record that springs to life through Mattias Alkberg's guest performance where he recites poetry over lonesome ambient pieces or acts as vocals over the terrifying darker songs. It's atmospheric and captures the grand and desolate feel of the barely populated wooden areas of Norrland. One of the best dark ambient records I've had the pleasure of listening to.
4. Girl Band - Holding Hands With Jamie
Melodic record that combines post-punk with noise rock while retaining an easy-going feel. Cynic songs about boredom and the average life is colorized by thundering but controlled bass lines and a climatic explosiveness. One of the strongest debuts of the year.
What surprised me the most is how effortlessly Girl Band pulls of their more chaotic and noisy elements. The buildups to the climax on a song like Paul never feels forced and when it finally hits it arrives just in time and always feels warranted.
Definitely a force to be reckoned with in the future.
3. Timbre - Sun And Moon
This record is the only one on this list that I'd consider a must hear for any fan of music reading this list. While the following records are stronger in my personal opinion, Sun & Moon is a tremendous record that hits almost every note correctly. It's a double album where the first side, the Sun side, features more traditional baroque folk songs not too far from Joanna Newsom even if they often loose the playful edge of Newsom's music for a more mature and evolved feel mostly owing to Timbre's root in classical music that we see more of on the second disc. The second side of the album, the Moon side, features a more classical take of the already established sound of the first side. Choirs, flutes and strings make a more prominent appearance which turns songs into something grander which feels both orchestral and symphonic.
2. Colin Steson & Sarah Neufeld - Never Were The Way She Was
I'm a huge fan of Stetson's music and his most recent collaboration with violinist Sarah Neufeld never fails to impress despite lacking some of the key elements that made an album like Judges the masterpiece that it is. Never Were The Way She Was is stripped down to its core where the only thing you'll find is the combination of violin and saxophone as they brutally step up toe to toe to face in destructive emotional battles over and over again for the span of eight heavy hitting tracks. Stetson's brutish saxophone play combines perfectly with Neufeld frantic, shrieking violin and while the finished product isn't on par with Stetson's greatest solo efforts it still stands as stronger than many of this years albums.
1. Liturgy - The Ark Work
Possibly this years most controversial album. Liturgy has always been seen as somewhat of a black sheep in the metal scene after front man Hunter Hunt Hendrix wrote a quite odd manifest. Black metal purists often look down on the band for attempting to make a pure form of "transcendental black metal" which is supposed to become the American black metal as opposed to the well known early Norwegian scene of the 90's.
The Ark Work might not be the best black metal album ever and at this point I wouldn't talk of Liturgy as a black metal band. They make an odd type of music which on this record conists of tremolo picking meeting computerized trumpets which sound like something you'd be taught to create in an FL-Studio tutorial. The artificial feel of the record is what makes it great. Nothing out there sounds like it and I don't think anyone will attempt to recreate it. It is far too much and it is far too crazy but it somehow works even though none of the elements on the record seem to work on its own (except for Greg Fox' drumming, which is of course outstanding).
The Ark Work takes the cake for shocking, provoking and inventing while also sounding good in my ears.
And that's it for this year! Now I'm off to eat a New Years dinner, head to a New Years party and I'll see you next year!
The Music Of 2015 - Albums
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
The Music Of 2015 - Singles
Last year I believe I had about 100 singles for this list but this year I've shortened it down to only 25. Again, it's heavily centered on artists and releases from the first half of the year and a very small amout is from the third quarter. There's definitely room for improvement and there's a lot of things missing from here that I might have enjoyed if I'd had the time to visit their music but this list as it is, will have to do. I'm hoping it still has a few unknown tracks on it.
Favorite Tracks of 2015
25. Sun Kil Moon - With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry [Universal Themes]
24. Father John Misty - Holy Shit [I Love You, Honeybear]
23. Makthaverskan - Witness [Witness]
22. Young Fathers - Still Running [White Men Are Black Men Too]
21. Lolina - Lolina [Relaxin']
20. Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - The Sun Roars Into View [Never Were The Way She Was]
19. Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy Late Show [A Special Episode Of]
18. Chicklette - Predator [Unfaithful]
17. Young Thug - Check [Barter 6]
16. Nicolas Jaar - The Three Sides Of Audrey And Why She's All Alone Now [Nymphs II]
15. Fantasma - Shangrila [Free Love]
14. Råd Kjetil Sanza Testa - Dödligt Vapen [Levande Död I Norra Norrland]
13. Blanck Mass - Detritius [Dumb Flesh]
12. Tricot - Noradrenaline [A N D]
11. Marching Church - Your Father's Eyes [This World Is Not Enough]
10. Joanne Robertson - Hi Watt [Black Moon Days]
Dean Blunt is one of my favorite artists that are active today. I've already had a track from long time collaborator Inga Copeland (released under the name Lolina) on this list at spot 21 but on spot 10 we find a song from his most recent collaborator, Joanne Robertson who've worked with him on his last two albums. Black Moon Days is a decent record in a similar vein to artists like Grouper where atmospheric and lush folk run into a kind of ambient, lo-fi structure. It's an enjoyable record for someone who is into the kind of Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill but it isn't revolutionizing in any way. However, the song, Hi Watt separates itself from the rest, not only through the production by Dean Blunt but also by straying from the instropective, overplayed sensitivity of the other tracks and sounding more urban and modern than before, almost like a mixture of Robertson's solo stuff and Blunt's most recent, folk-ish songs from Black Metal.
9. Grimes - Realiti [Realiti]
An important distinction is that the Realiti in question is the demo one, released early on in the year as a thank you to fans and not the remade version that ended up on Art Angels. They are very similar songs but there's something less artificial about the demo version. It feels more lo-fi, not as cleanly mastered and the main melody feels far more prominent. The album version ended up sounding far more like a club banger, which a lot of Art Angels actually did, but the demo felt more intimate, while still staying true to the feel of a song like Genesis, which is one of my all time favorites.
8. Ghost Bath - The Golden Number [Moonlover]
The full album Moonlover is really nothing more than a cheap, watered down version of Sunbather, where Ghost Bath tries to capitalize on the success that Deafhaven had with fusing shoegaze, black metal and post-rock. Most of the tracks on here are weak imitations of post-rock which give their best at trying to build into some kind of climax but never achieve more than slowing down the pace of the record. The Golden Number is also an attempt at being Deafhaven, but this track is more in the vein of the phenomenal single Dream House. Maybe it doesn't reach exactly those heights that Dream House but it's god damn close. Powerful repetive guitar riffs, banshee-esque screams all culminating in an almost ridiculous heavy metal riff which shouldn't work in the slightest but which actually ends up holding the song together, making it more than just a Deafhaven knock off. Moonlover isn't even good enough to end up on my Honorable Mentions but The Golden Number deserves a top ten spot amongst best tracks.
7. Kendrick Lamar - i [To Pimp A Butterfly]
Hearing i for the first time, the single i, that is, made me very unsure about what Kendrick was aiming to do with his followup to the tremendous Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and when I first got a chance to hear To Pimp A Butterfly I was still unsure of how the penultimate track was to going to work in the context of the record but having drastically changed it, it ended up proving to be the albums highest point, not only as a climactic ending to the long, almost concept-like story that is To Pimp A Butterfly but also as a musical turning point, where Lamar's poem has ended and we move into the self-loving, excusably narcisistic cry for people to "love themselves". One of the most important on one of the most important records of the year.
6. Jamie XX - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) [In Colour]
I Know There's Gonna Be is an all-purpose song, executed with regards to every little day and more or less a perfect pop song. The kind of song that I can see appeal to more or less every kind of crowd. It's easy going, it's fun, it doesn't try to be anything that it isn't and it also pulls likeminded artists from different backgrounds onto the same track, Thugger representing modern day pop-rap, Popacaan as a more alternative bridge and Jamie XX as someone loved by both Tumblr-crowds and the guys at Pitchfork. It hits every note right, it's the kind of song that I have no problem hearing over and over again; there's really no fault to it. The only reason it isn't higher is because it's not more than a pop song. It is simple, it doesn't challenge and it will be done in a similar fashion, in a different way in another year or two but today, I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) is a text book example of how to make good music.
5. Erik Lundin - Suedi [Suedi]
I was very excited to get to write about this. I normally don't care for what certain critics praise and seeing this claimed as the best new rapper in Sweden is something I seem to hear once every year from Swedish critics but Erik Lundin shines as something different and unique from a pool where there isn't all that much exciting. Suedi almost deserves a mention for the beat alone which is terrfic and unique, sounding not too far from the cloud-rap movement and challenging some of guys like ASAP Rocky and similar's beats but Lundin is also a very skilled lyricist, writing a cohesive song about the oppression and racism that you'll find in Sweden while also rapping about the Swedish political climate of today and retelling his story of coming to terms with an ethnical identity. Very excited for what else Lundin might make and I'd love to hear a full-length debut from this go, let's hope he doesn't go the same way as most "next big things" here in Sweden and drop mediocre EP's until he's forgotten about.
4. Timbre - St Cecilia: An Ode To Music [Sun & Moon]
Timbre is the new flavor of the month on RateYourMusic for this year but their praise is nothing but warranted. Combining the more exciting parts of baroque folk of today (comparisons to Joanna Newsom have been done a thousand times but can definitely be mentioned again) with a classical tinge. The second side of this enormous double album is titled Moon and features the mesmerizing St Cecilia: An Ode To Music, a 13-minute track consisting of flutes, harps and the most beautiful choir you'll hear this year. Timbre's Sun & Moon is an incredibly rewarding listen, one that led me on a long path down classical choral music and this track is the most powerful entity on the record, one I knew would be on this list when I first heard it.
3. Sherwood & Pinch - Stand Strong [Late Night Endless]
Early on in the year Brittish producers Adrian Sherwood and Rob Ellis (aka Pinch) released a collaborative album titled Late Night Endless which seems to have passed every critic who isn't centered on brittish electronic music by. Luckily, I came across it and enjoyed it immensely. The stand out track is the song Stand Strong a dub-techno with an african-influence which perfectly captures the late night mood and feel of a moving city. It's a song I've come back to a lot with very little similar stuff to find. It captures an atmosphere and it does it incredibly well, which is something the rest of the album unfortunately can't match.
2. Death Grips - On GP [Jenny Death]
I don't think I'll ever forget the hype and craze surrounding Death Grips' supposedly final album Jenny Death. It is a culmination of a carreer (maybe) and while the record unfortunately doesn't match up to their, in my opinion, greatest releases it still feels like a fitting end to a long and very important musical chapter.
I remember being at a party that was winding down as people were going to bed when I spotted a new release from Death Grips, a sign that Jenny Death was actually on the way which at the time was huge. On GP sounds like the final breaths of a short but important carreer and it is an uncomfortably close look on the mysterious rapper and front-man MC Ride's thoughts and life.
In the end I'm not quite sure of what I want. Ending the band Death Grips on a track like On GP would leave them at their best, but at the same time I'd always love to hear whatever the three guys would cook up next.
1. Sufjan Stevens - No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross [Carrie & Lowell]
Having to pick the number one spot for this year was quite hard. The list for best songs is usually my favorite even if they're the hardest to write about. There's a much bigger pool to pick from and it isn't hard to make a top 100 like I did last year. The final six or seven tracks were all in the run for the number one spot this year and I'm still not quite sure if Death Grips shouldn't have had it but when I think back on when I first heard No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross I realize that it needs to be number one.
Sufjan Stevens was the kind of artist that I had somewhat moved away from when this track was first released in February but it revitalized my love for his music through this introspective piece which shows us a Sufjan that we didn't know existed. It's a dark song, despite the somewhat longing instrumental about losing oneself. It is the kind of song that I'd never expected from Stevens and I guess that's what shocked me so much about it. It wasn't overly gleeful or melodramatic in any way, it was a naked, exposed Sufjan and it's an absolutely treffic song.
The Music Of 2015 - Singles
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Favorite Tracks of 2015
25. Sun Kil Moon - With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry [Universal Themes]
24. Father John Misty - Holy Shit [I Love You, Honeybear]
23. Makthaverskan - Witness [Witness]
22. Young Fathers - Still Running [White Men Are Black Men Too]
21. Lolina - Lolina [Relaxin']
20. Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - The Sun Roars Into View [Never Were The Way She Was]
19. Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy Late Show [A Special Episode Of]
18. Chicklette - Predator [Unfaithful]
17. Young Thug - Check [Barter 6]
16. Nicolas Jaar - The Three Sides Of Audrey And Why She's All Alone Now [Nymphs II]
15. Fantasma - Shangrila [Free Love]
14. Råd Kjetil Sanza Testa - Dödligt Vapen [Levande Död I Norra Norrland]
13. Blanck Mass - Detritius [Dumb Flesh]
12. Tricot - Noradrenaline [A N D]
11. Marching Church - Your Father's Eyes [This World Is Not Enough]
10. Joanne Robertson - Hi Watt [Black Moon Days]
Dean Blunt is one of my favorite artists that are active today. I've already had a track from long time collaborator Inga Copeland (released under the name Lolina) on this list at spot 21 but on spot 10 we find a song from his most recent collaborator, Joanne Robertson who've worked with him on his last two albums. Black Moon Days is a decent record in a similar vein to artists like Grouper where atmospheric and lush folk run into a kind of ambient, lo-fi structure. It's an enjoyable record for someone who is into the kind of Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill but it isn't revolutionizing in any way. However, the song, Hi Watt separates itself from the rest, not only through the production by Dean Blunt but also by straying from the instropective, overplayed sensitivity of the other tracks and sounding more urban and modern than before, almost like a mixture of Robertson's solo stuff and Blunt's most recent, folk-ish songs from Black Metal.
9. Grimes - Realiti [Realiti]
An important distinction is that the Realiti in question is the demo one, released early on in the year as a thank you to fans and not the remade version that ended up on Art Angels. They are very similar songs but there's something less artificial about the demo version. It feels more lo-fi, not as cleanly mastered and the main melody feels far more prominent. The album version ended up sounding far more like a club banger, which a lot of Art Angels actually did, but the demo felt more intimate, while still staying true to the feel of a song like Genesis, which is one of my all time favorites.
8. Ghost Bath - The Golden Number [Moonlover]
The full album Moonlover is really nothing more than a cheap, watered down version of Sunbather, where Ghost Bath tries to capitalize on the success that Deafhaven had with fusing shoegaze, black metal and post-rock. Most of the tracks on here are weak imitations of post-rock which give their best at trying to build into some kind of climax but never achieve more than slowing down the pace of the record. The Golden Number is also an attempt at being Deafhaven, but this track is more in the vein of the phenomenal single Dream House. Maybe it doesn't reach exactly those heights that Dream House but it's god damn close. Powerful repetive guitar riffs, banshee-esque screams all culminating in an almost ridiculous heavy metal riff which shouldn't work in the slightest but which actually ends up holding the song together, making it more than just a Deafhaven knock off. Moonlover isn't even good enough to end up on my Honorable Mentions but The Golden Number deserves a top ten spot amongst best tracks.
7. Kendrick Lamar - i [To Pimp A Butterfly]
Hearing i for the first time, the single i, that is, made me very unsure about what Kendrick was aiming to do with his followup to the tremendous Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and when I first got a chance to hear To Pimp A Butterfly I was still unsure of how the penultimate track was to going to work in the context of the record but having drastically changed it, it ended up proving to be the albums highest point, not only as a climactic ending to the long, almost concept-like story that is To Pimp A Butterfly but also as a musical turning point, where Lamar's poem has ended and we move into the self-loving, excusably narcisistic cry for people to "love themselves". One of the most important on one of the most important records of the year.
6. Jamie XX - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) [In Colour]
I Know There's Gonna Be is an all-purpose song, executed with regards to every little day and more or less a perfect pop song. The kind of song that I can see appeal to more or less every kind of crowd. It's easy going, it's fun, it doesn't try to be anything that it isn't and it also pulls likeminded artists from different backgrounds onto the same track, Thugger representing modern day pop-rap, Popacaan as a more alternative bridge and Jamie XX as someone loved by both Tumblr-crowds and the guys at Pitchfork. It hits every note right, it's the kind of song that I have no problem hearing over and over again; there's really no fault to it. The only reason it isn't higher is because it's not more than a pop song. It is simple, it doesn't challenge and it will be done in a similar fashion, in a different way in another year or two but today, I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) is a text book example of how to make good music.
5. Erik Lundin - Suedi [Suedi]
I was very excited to get to write about this. I normally don't care for what certain critics praise and seeing this claimed as the best new rapper in Sweden is something I seem to hear once every year from Swedish critics but Erik Lundin shines as something different and unique from a pool where there isn't all that much exciting. Suedi almost deserves a mention for the beat alone which is terrfic and unique, sounding not too far from the cloud-rap movement and challenging some of guys like ASAP Rocky and similar's beats but Lundin is also a very skilled lyricist, writing a cohesive song about the oppression and racism that you'll find in Sweden while also rapping about the Swedish political climate of today and retelling his story of coming to terms with an ethnical identity. Very excited for what else Lundin might make and I'd love to hear a full-length debut from this go, let's hope he doesn't go the same way as most "next big things" here in Sweden and drop mediocre EP's until he's forgotten about.
4. Timbre - St Cecilia: An Ode To Music [Sun & Moon]
Timbre is the new flavor of the month on RateYourMusic for this year but their praise is nothing but warranted. Combining the more exciting parts of baroque folk of today (comparisons to Joanna Newsom have been done a thousand times but can definitely be mentioned again) with a classical tinge. The second side of this enormous double album is titled Moon and features the mesmerizing St Cecilia: An Ode To Music, a 13-minute track consisting of flutes, harps and the most beautiful choir you'll hear this year. Timbre's Sun & Moon is an incredibly rewarding listen, one that led me on a long path down classical choral music and this track is the most powerful entity on the record, one I knew would be on this list when I first heard it.
3. Sherwood & Pinch - Stand Strong [Late Night Endless]
Early on in the year Brittish producers Adrian Sherwood and Rob Ellis (aka Pinch) released a collaborative album titled Late Night Endless which seems to have passed every critic who isn't centered on brittish electronic music by. Luckily, I came across it and enjoyed it immensely. The stand out track is the song Stand Strong a dub-techno with an african-influence which perfectly captures the late night mood and feel of a moving city. It's a song I've come back to a lot with very little similar stuff to find. It captures an atmosphere and it does it incredibly well, which is something the rest of the album unfortunately can't match.
2. Death Grips - On GP [Jenny Death]
I don't think I'll ever forget the hype and craze surrounding Death Grips' supposedly final album Jenny Death. It is a culmination of a carreer (maybe) and while the record unfortunately doesn't match up to their, in my opinion, greatest releases it still feels like a fitting end to a long and very important musical chapter.
I remember being at a party that was winding down as people were going to bed when I spotted a new release from Death Grips, a sign that Jenny Death was actually on the way which at the time was huge. On GP sounds like the final breaths of a short but important carreer and it is an uncomfortably close look on the mysterious rapper and front-man MC Ride's thoughts and life.
In the end I'm not quite sure of what I want. Ending the band Death Grips on a track like On GP would leave them at their best, but at the same time I'd always love to hear whatever the three guys would cook up next.
1. Sufjan Stevens - No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross [Carrie & Lowell]
Having to pick the number one spot for this year was quite hard. The list for best songs is usually my favorite even if they're the hardest to write about. There's a much bigger pool to pick from and it isn't hard to make a top 100 like I did last year. The final six or seven tracks were all in the run for the number one spot this year and I'm still not quite sure if Death Grips shouldn't have had it but when I think back on when I first heard No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross I realize that it needs to be number one.
Sufjan Stevens was the kind of artist that I had somewhat moved away from when this track was first released in February but it revitalized my love for his music through this introspective piece which shows us a Sufjan that we didn't know existed. It's a dark song, despite the somewhat longing instrumental about losing oneself. It is the kind of song that I'd never expected from Stevens and I guess that's what shocked me so much about it. It wasn't overly gleeful or melodramatic in any way, it was a naked, exposed Sufjan and it's an absolutely treffic song.
The Music Of 2015 - Singles
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Monday, December 28, 2015
The Music Of 2015 - Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions
It's the 28th of December and it's about time that this list gets put up on my blog. I've felt more and more disinterested by music as of lately and I've been less inclined to seek out new and exciting music. My journey through the many albums of 2015 came to a halt around Summer when I had heard over 200 albums from this year alone which is also why my list almost exclusively features albums and songs from that time of the year.
There are of course a lot of things that I had wished I heard, and an equal amount which probably would have fit onto this list but I've completely zoned out when it comes to new music and for that my list will never feel as complete as I'd consider my previous lists to have been (even if I'd change a fair bit about them if I could). Sadly, making this list felt more in tune with paying respect to traditions and to not break a streak that's been going on for years by now than it actually felt like doing something fun and exciting for ones. I hope that next year, things will be better.
In this section I'm eager to mention a few records that I enjoyed a lot and believe deserve to be mentioned in a different light than the usual list that I end up writing every year. The records on here are ones that could have easily made the top 5 records if not for minor things. Many of these records deserve to be heard, more than several of the ones on the real "Best of the year"-list but they were ones that I personally didn't find a crazy amount of enjoyment from.
In this section I'm eager to mention a few records that I enjoyed a lot and believe deserve to be mentioned in a different light than the usual list that I end up writing every year. The records on here are ones that could have easily made the top 5 records if not for minor things. Many of these records deserve to be heard, more than several of the ones on the real "Best of the year"-list but they were ones that I personally didn't find a crazy amount of enjoyment from.
Father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear
I was initially not a fan of this record and I still believe that it is a quite weak one at many points but I've been coming back to it due to Joshua Tillman's lyricism. It's a record full of love songs, cheesy ones at that backed by baroque pop instrumentals that makes one roll their eyes at how plain and artificial they feel, as if they've followed a mold to create an indie love song. What saves the record, and what makes it fit on this list is Tillman's satirical, modernized love songs. He sings about love and hate as if they were mutual agreements when one agrees to partnership, about the modern values of love, all through a lens crafted by the modern Romeo. It's a record about Netflix and chill, about having a crush on someone from Tinder, about flirting through Snapchat and asking your friends advice on whether or not you should like the cute guy in Algebra's latest profile picture. Tillman does the cheeky satire and irony with finesse on an infitely quotable record which unfortunately could have been better, but is worth a decent amount of praise on here.
Lil Ugly Mane - Oblivion Access
Oblivion Access is the most recent, and most likely also final, release from rapper Lil Ugly Mane who only a few years back had his debut with Mista Thug Isolation, which breathed new life in the Memphis Rap-scene aswell as putting groups like Three 6 Mafia (and associated acts) on the map again. I haven't been able to take in all of Oblivion Access yet, it isn't a huge record but it differentiates massively from Millers' previous output and on its own two feet it stands as one of the most interesting and unique underground rap releases in atleast a few years.
As I see it, we weren't quite ready for a record like Oblivion Access and I don't think most people are appreciating it as much as it deserves at the moment but I don't doubt that it will one day reach a greater popularity, both amongst previous fans but also amongst newcomers to Millers' music. I wasn't ready to put it on my final list even if I believe it could have warranted a spot on there, had it seen release in the first quarter of the year, but it deserves mention just as much as it deserves to be heard by a bigger crowd. I don't doubt that its status will grow with time, as will its impact on Millers' legacy as a rapper.
Damien Dubrovnik - Vegas Fountain
I won't go in depth on Dubrovnik's Vegas Fountain since I know so little about noise. I found it to be extremely enjoyable in my amateur ears aswell as working both as a gateway and a certain sort of guidance for someone like me when it comes to noise and I wouldn't wait a second with recommending this to anyone unacquainted with noise or anyone who believes that the only kind of noise that is out there is the harshest versions of Merzbow and the likes.
Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes
I had quite high hopes for Universal Themes and Mark Kozelek's record never really matched them. It doesn't reach the heights of Kozelek's strongest suites but it stands out in his discography as a quite odd one. It feels weird to call it folk because it strays very far from what we traditionally classify American folk music is and it tries to tackle various different styles on songs like Cry Me A River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blue and With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry.
It isn't an introspective record but it feels far more personal and intimate that even Benji achieved in sounding. Kozelek talks about his own thoughts in an almost masturbatory way, leaving lots of listeners complaining about how "it's just an old man and his rambling thoughts" which really isn't an incorrect description even if it kind of misses the point.
Universal Themes is not something I care to listen to often: it takes patience and the will to dive down into Kozlek's lyricism and the world he paints around you which is something I don't feel like doing too often. At its core however, it is a truly unique folk record that does many things differently from what most people are used to, which is why it ended up on this list.
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma - We Know Each Other Somehow
Describing this is somewhat hard and I guess that's why it ended up here. We Know Each Other Somehow is a slowmoving ambient record. It's minimal but descriptive, painting a world and creating an immersive atmosphere that is hard not to get lost in. It strays from melodramatic ambient of artists like Stars Of The Lid and instead focuses on worldbuilding over emotion. I don't consider myself an experent on ambient and drone but We Know Each Other Somehow is some of the most unique I've heard in the genre and its a record that is mysteriously attractive. It is however far too slowmoving and long for me to revisit it more often than I have, but it's one that haven't left my mind since I initially heard it and one that I felt deserved atleast some recognition this year.
Honorable Mentions 2015
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Lil Ugly Mane - Oblivion Access
Oblivion Access is the most recent, and most likely also final, release from rapper Lil Ugly Mane who only a few years back had his debut with Mista Thug Isolation, which breathed new life in the Memphis Rap-scene aswell as putting groups like Three 6 Mafia (and associated acts) on the map again. I haven't been able to take in all of Oblivion Access yet, it isn't a huge record but it differentiates massively from Millers' previous output and on its own two feet it stands as one of the most interesting and unique underground rap releases in atleast a few years.
As I see it, we weren't quite ready for a record like Oblivion Access and I don't think most people are appreciating it as much as it deserves at the moment but I don't doubt that it will one day reach a greater popularity, both amongst previous fans but also amongst newcomers to Millers' music. I wasn't ready to put it on my final list even if I believe it could have warranted a spot on there, had it seen release in the first quarter of the year, but it deserves mention just as much as it deserves to be heard by a bigger crowd. I don't doubt that its status will grow with time, as will its impact on Millers' legacy as a rapper.
Damien Dubrovnik - Vegas Fountain
I won't go in depth on Dubrovnik's Vegas Fountain since I know so little about noise. I found it to be extremely enjoyable in my amateur ears aswell as working both as a gateway and a certain sort of guidance for someone like me when it comes to noise and I wouldn't wait a second with recommending this to anyone unacquainted with noise or anyone who believes that the only kind of noise that is out there is the harshest versions of Merzbow and the likes.
Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes
I had quite high hopes for Universal Themes and Mark Kozelek's record never really matched them. It doesn't reach the heights of Kozelek's strongest suites but it stands out in his discography as a quite odd one. It feels weird to call it folk because it strays very far from what we traditionally classify American folk music is and it tries to tackle various different styles on songs like Cry Me A River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blue and With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry.
It isn't an introspective record but it feels far more personal and intimate that even Benji achieved in sounding. Kozelek talks about his own thoughts in an almost masturbatory way, leaving lots of listeners complaining about how "it's just an old man and his rambling thoughts" which really isn't an incorrect description even if it kind of misses the point.
Universal Themes is not something I care to listen to often: it takes patience and the will to dive down into Kozlek's lyricism and the world he paints around you which is something I don't feel like doing too often. At its core however, it is a truly unique folk record that does many things differently from what most people are used to, which is why it ended up on this list.
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma - We Know Each Other Somehow
Describing this is somewhat hard and I guess that's why it ended up here. We Know Each Other Somehow is a slowmoving ambient record. It's minimal but descriptive, painting a world and creating an immersive atmosphere that is hard not to get lost in. It strays from melodramatic ambient of artists like Stars Of The Lid and instead focuses on worldbuilding over emotion. I don't consider myself an experent on ambient and drone but We Know Each Other Somehow is some of the most unique I've heard in the genre and its a record that is mysteriously attractive. It is however far too slowmoving and long for me to revisit it more often than I have, but it's one that haven't left my mind since I initially heard it and one that I felt deserved atleast some recognition this year.
Honorable Mentions 2015
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Film Review: Daisies [1966]
I've been wanting to pick up blogging for quite a while but it has never really got anywhere as you may see on the duration between this post and the one before it. I've been wanting to review both film and music but I got sick and my life came tumbling down alongside the infection in my mouth. As of now my life is turning around and hopefully I'll find the time to pick up the pace regarding the RateYourMusic Top 100 which I've got three fourths left of and hopefully start reviewing film alongside a couple of albums and similar when finals are over.
Daisies [1966]
Director Vera Chytilova and her film Daisies is probably the best known example of the movement that came to be remembered as Czech New Wave even if someone like Milos Forman probably is the best known director who came to be a part of the movement (even if his best known films are from a very different time and place). Daisies is a fun and easy-going experimental film which follows two odd females and their "spoiled" lifestyles which consist of sunbathing, eating dinners payed by elderly men and causing mischief to their surroundings.
It's hard to say how I personally feel about this film. I find it captivating, despite it saying so little and I have no problem with the more experimental nature of the film, something I thought would be an issue during the films first ten minutes but I quickly came to appreciate the quirky and unexplained nature of the two leads aswell as the clever and vivid editing and the fascinating use of color and their juxtapositioning. Seeing pictures of rows of butterflies flash along the screen as one of the girls' lovers proclaim his love for her "Life without you is miserable!" as a rapid piano is climbing up and down in the background is mesmerizing, entrancing and it's difficult to not get sucked in.
I can keep going about the films strong suites, the sets are done in a colorful and exciting fashion, especially the two girls' little room, but also the incoherent dialogue ("Your legs are crooked", "Don't you know that's just what I based my personality on?") and the monotone, otherwordly feel of the two leads' acting, delivering lines as if they were talking to kids below three on Disney Channel. All of these things add up to a very strong film but what will turn people of from Daisies is the experimental nature. This isn't weird in the sense that a David Lynch film is weird and it isn't avant-garde the way Bela Tarr or Tarkovsky might be considered to be. There's no nightmarish atmosphere that it atleast could be compared to but it just is an odd film that says a lot of things about things that I can't quite comprehend. The film was of course banned in Czechoslovakia back in the days but for "wanton" and not for its criticism's of society (that atleast I interpreted the lifestyles and the motives of the two leads as). It's hard to speak clearly on what deeper themes there is to Daisies and I can't quite express a strong opinion or personal interpretation of this film with only one vieweing in the trunk but I definitely believe that the two girls are intended to work as a criticism against the government or even the burgoise if one would be so inclined (the two girls' ignorance and their careless lifestyles, living without a personal care and always devouring food on someone else's expense), but again these are just brief thoughts that popped into my head barely thirty minutes after finishing up the film.
Daisies definitely made me curious for more of Chytilova's works and it saddens me that I missed the big retrospect that they did on her films earlier this Autumn at the film house here in Stockholm since I believe that finding more of her works outside of Daisies might be hard online. Daisies is a fascinating piece of cinema that takes some patience and understanding from the viewer. It isn't a demanding film but I'd classify it as a sort of "out there"- kind of film. If one can stand the lack of plot then I believe Daisies can easily be enjoyed as a feel good film about two irresponsible girls who go where life takes them and do what they enjoy, whether that is ruining a dinner party or bathing in milk is up to them.
Daisies [1966]
dir. V. Chytilova
Anton Öberg Sysojev
Daisies [1966]
Director Vera Chytilova and her film Daisies is probably the best known example of the movement that came to be remembered as Czech New Wave even if someone like Milos Forman probably is the best known director who came to be a part of the movement (even if his best known films are from a very different time and place). Daisies is a fun and easy-going experimental film which follows two odd females and their "spoiled" lifestyles which consist of sunbathing, eating dinners payed by elderly men and causing mischief to their surroundings.
It's hard to say how I personally feel about this film. I find it captivating, despite it saying so little and I have no problem with the more experimental nature of the film, something I thought would be an issue during the films first ten minutes but I quickly came to appreciate the quirky and unexplained nature of the two leads aswell as the clever and vivid editing and the fascinating use of color and their juxtapositioning. Seeing pictures of rows of butterflies flash along the screen as one of the girls' lovers proclaim his love for her "Life without you is miserable!" as a rapid piano is climbing up and down in the background is mesmerizing, entrancing and it's difficult to not get sucked in.
I can keep going about the films strong suites, the sets are done in a colorful and exciting fashion, especially the two girls' little room, but also the incoherent dialogue ("Your legs are crooked", "Don't you know that's just what I based my personality on?") and the monotone, otherwordly feel of the two leads' acting, delivering lines as if they were talking to kids below three on Disney Channel. All of these things add up to a very strong film but what will turn people of from Daisies is the experimental nature. This isn't weird in the sense that a David Lynch film is weird and it isn't avant-garde the way Bela Tarr or Tarkovsky might be considered to be. There's no nightmarish atmosphere that it atleast could be compared to but it just is an odd film that says a lot of things about things that I can't quite comprehend. The film was of course banned in Czechoslovakia back in the days but for "wanton" and not for its criticism's of society (that atleast I interpreted the lifestyles and the motives of the two leads as). It's hard to speak clearly on what deeper themes there is to Daisies and I can't quite express a strong opinion or personal interpretation of this film with only one vieweing in the trunk but I definitely believe that the two girls are intended to work as a criticism against the government or even the burgoise if one would be so inclined (the two girls' ignorance and their careless lifestyles, living without a personal care and always devouring food on someone else's expense), but again these are just brief thoughts that popped into my head barely thirty minutes after finishing up the film.
Daisies definitely made me curious for more of Chytilova's works and it saddens me that I missed the big retrospect that they did on her films earlier this Autumn at the film house here in Stockholm since I believe that finding more of her works outside of Daisies might be hard online. Daisies is a fascinating piece of cinema that takes some patience and understanding from the viewer. It isn't a demanding film but I'd classify it as a sort of "out there"- kind of film. If one can stand the lack of plot then I believe Daisies can easily be enjoyed as a feel good film about two irresponsible girls who go where life takes them and do what they enjoy, whether that is ruining a dinner party or bathing in milk is up to them.
Daisies [1966]
dir. V. Chytilova
Anton Öberg Sysojev
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