Styles: as I will mention below: instrumental future-vid-skronk
Others: The Advantage, sBACH, Spencer Seim, The Smokers, Risil, Bygones, Chll Pll
Zach Hill is driving down the interstate, minding his own business. A policeman flashes his lights and pulls him over. This is the conversation that ensues:
Officer: Well hello there, son, mighty fine to see you. I suppose you’re wondering why I pulled you over. I just have one question: Do you know how fast … you’ve been releasing records?
More about: Robby Moncrieff
Links: Porter
Styles: ambient, shoegaze
Others: Boards of Canada, My Bloody Valentine
Psst! Hey, wisenheimer! Here’s a freebie to preserve that elitist smirk you’ve been sporting since the adjournment of your last hipster klatch: that guy Bon Iver recorded For Emma, Forever Ago — get this — in a cabin somewhere out in Wisconsin. But, see, he never actually intended to record an album, per se. Rather, he retreated there after a relationship, like, dissolved and…
More about: Ecovillage
Links: Ecovillage - Darla
Styles: post-irony shockumentary
Others: Natural Born Killers, Holy Mountain, Gimme Shelter
The Rolling Stones’ concert at Altamont Speedway will forever remain in the American consciousness as a day of infamy, a day when all hell broke loose, documented famously in the Maysles brothers’ Gimme Shelter. Directed by Joshua von Brown, Altamont Now shares the vérité style and spirit of chaos with its predecessor, but its impact is on a completely different wavelength.
Styles: drama
Others: Barrio, The Wizard of Oz
It’s hard to grasp that the concept of “childhood” is a relatively recent invention. If you’re under 18, you’re regarded as the beacon of innocence and naiveté, with an almost entirely separate set of laws, institutions, media, and markets directed at you. But what really makes childhood seem so unquestionable is less about how we’ve come to define youth itself and more about how we’ve come to use childhood to define adulthood. It’s a co-dependent dichotomy, the likes of which might only be surpassed by our constructions of masculinity and femininity.
Styles: rock
Others: Avril Lavigne, Michael Penn, Lisa Germano
There are maybe three main ways to understand Funstyle, the most obvious one being the very real possibility that Liz Phair just doesn’t give a fuck anymore. After a decade of withering reviews, plummeting sales, and a thorough razing of her hard-earned 90s cred, the aging pop mom has been left with no label, no management, and none too many fans.
More about: Liz Phair
Links: Liz Phair
Styles: neo-realism, father-son stories
Others: Silent Light, The Bicycle Thief
Jorge (Jorge Machado), Alamar’s protagonist, says in the opening still-photomontage that he prefers to be “in the middle of the jungle at the sea, in the middle of nowhere.” It’s a considerable leap from the feeling of his ex-wfe who has decided to leave Mexico for Rome with their seven-year old son Natan (Natan Machado Palombini).
Styles: mystery, thriller
Others: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire opens to Lisbeth Salander’s (Noomi Rapace) life of leisure in the resort town where audiences last saw her at the end of the previous film, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Back then, her goth industrial stylings and brooding persona seemed at odds with sun and sand — her leather too heavy to swim in, her spikes scaring away volleyballs. But the new film finds her startlingly acclimated: longer hair, fewer piercings, and even, I kid not, tan lines. Make no mistake — Lisbeth hasn’t turned into a surfer chick.
Styles: shoegaze, noise pop
Others: A Place to Bury Strangers, Skywave, The Jesus & Mary Chain, New Order
In 2003, Fredricksburg, Virginia trio Skywave released a fabulous shoegaze album called Synthstatic. While the band’s singer/guitarist Oliver Ackerman eventually split for New York and formed A Place To Bury Strangers (to much acclaim), the other two-thirds of Skywave (Paul Baker and John Fedowitz) went on to form Ceremony.
More about: Ceremony
Links: Ceremony - Killer Pimp
Styles: folk
Others: Jim White, Steve Albini, Phil Ochs, Huun-Huur-Tu
Although it may come as a surprise to some, Nina Nastasia has a pretty good sense of humor. At her shows, her onstage whiskey drinking can lead to some interesting banter with audiences; one Dublin lad’s compliment was greeted with the response, “Aw, that’s so sweet,” but when he attempted further gallantry, not a beat was missed before the air conditioning was switched on again: “Okay shut up now,” she barked.
More about: Nina Nastasia
Links: Nina Nastasia - FatCat
Neutron Dance
In this ever-expanding musical world, there’s a wealth of 7-inches, cassettes, CD-Rs, and objet d’art being released that, due to their limited quantities and adventurous sonics, go unnoticed by the public at large. TMT Cerberus seeks to document the aesthetic of these home recorders and backyard labels. Email us here.
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Keith Fullerton Whitman
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