BREAKING NEWS

Fall Music 2013- It will be epic!!!

Maybe it’s just me, but the music scene so far in 2013 has been pretty legit for the first time in a long time. The summer alone has brought us some inescapable and funk’dafied jams from “Blurred Lines” to “Get Lucky” to “Summertime Sadness” to name a few. It also brought us Miley Cyrus f***ing herself with a foam finger and wearing a Gaga latex rip off Sunday night. I think I am going to vomit. Regardless, with the fall season rapidly approaching it also is a reminder that some of the biggest names in music will be dropping their records in the upcoming months, thus making this guy here very excited for what is to come for 2013 and beyond. Seeing as the VMA’s was a preview for some of the incredible music we are about the unveil in the upcoming months, one can only hope that it will segue into an amazing 2014. Let’s start off with the news that got me insanely giddy.

Eminem- The Marshall Mathers 2.

Eminem as far as I am concerned was MY GENERATION. He was everything to so many of us growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and has continued to be a dominating force not only in the hip-hop industry but in the music industry period. At the Video Music Awards it was announced that his highly anticipated new album, the follow up to 2000’s “Marshall Mathers LP” will be dropped on November 5th and the first single off the album called “Berzerk” has already shot to number one in less than a day of it debuting on iTunes. “Berzerk” is such an insane throw back for so many different reasons yet has a modern edge to it. It also proves why he is the fucking man still practically fourteen years after his debut in 99. Expect this album to do some severe damage on the charts and for him to educate a whole new generation of people on the school that is Eminem.

Katy Perry- Prism

Katy Perry has come quite a way since her days of kissing a girl (I never liked it personally. Not her, kissing girls.) Her last album “Teenage Dream” did the unthinkable in that she tied (and almost topped) Michael Jackson’s record of the most number one singles off of a single album (California Girls, title track, E.T., Last Friday Night, Firework) and received numerous awards and a pivotal nomination for “Album of the Year” at the Grammy’s. Well after a semi-quiet year from her after the long haul of her sophomore album success, she has come back full throttle with the first single off of Prism called “Roar” which quickly debuted at number one on the iTunes charts and raced up to number two on the Billboard Charts (expect it to dethrone “Blurred Lines” this week). The album “Prism” is set to hit shelves on October 22nd and the second single called “Dark Horse” is set to hit airwaves in a couple of weeks. “Blur” is a slower paced version of a lead off single than she normally does but somehow it works as she is very good at belting out a pop hit or two and this album will no doubt compete with Eminem and a couple others for the top spot in the fall.

Lady Gaga- Artpop

As much as I love Lady Gaga, and I really do, she needs this album to be freaking phenomenal compared to what I and many people think was a lackluster third effort with “Born This Way”. That album just felt very rushed and ill planned and conceived as well as it didn’t really hold a candle to what “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster” really did. “Artpop” is set to be released right before Thanksgiving on November 22nd and the leadoff single “Applause” really isn’t taking off like a lot of people thought it would. The song debuted at number 6 on the Billboard Charts where as its biggest competitor “Roar” by Katy Perry debuted at number two instead. She has an insane fan base so it is a given that this album will do well but I don’t think “Applause” was the right start off single. Hopefully her follow up songs will prove why she is one of the best out there right now and a force to be reckoned with in the world of pop.

Justin Timberlake- The 20/20 Experience Part Two

What a comeback year this has been for the prince of pop ey? Part one of “The 20/20 Experience” debuted at number one back in early 2013 with an impressive near million first week sales and nothing has stopped him since. Things really took it to another level with his EPIC VMA performance on Sunday night which included a very abbreviated reunion of the band that made him famous in the first place, NSYNC. He also was the recipient of two major awards that night, The Michael Jackson “Video Vanguard Award” and the ultimate- Video of the Year for his second single off “20/20” called “Mirrors”. Well now expect to hear much more from Justin as part two of “20/20” is scheduled to be released on September 30th with the leadoff single “Take Back The Night” already released last month. Hard to believe you can do two albums in one year, but then again this is a man we haven’t heard any new material from in 7 years, so bring it.

Fall Preview: CBS

by Michael Tyminski

Last Year: Another year, another round of ratings dominance for the Tiffany network. First in viewers overall and a surprise first in the vaunted 18 to 49 demographic, the network sat pretty due to it’s strong veteran lineup of multi-camera sitcoms, venerable reality shows, and cop dramas…lots of cop dramas.

This Year: The last six months have unleashed a nasty truth for CBS: it’s show are aging as rapidly as its’ sterotypical audience is. As a result despite playing it relatively safe, it’s clear that CBS is starting to push towards developing new franchises to replace it’s large roster of 10+ year old series.

This is particularly true on the comedy front, where Monday night tentpole How I Met Your Mother is entering it’s ninth and final season and Thursday mainstay Two and a Half Men is entering it’s 11^th season, rarified air for a live action comedy (only a handful of series have lasted longer). Even The Big Bang Theory is entering its’ seventh season, a place where comedies start to run out of steam. As a result, CBS has split out it’s comedy lineup, adding an extra hour of comedy to Thursday nights in order to find some new shows to make the new landmarks over the next few years.

Amongst the new shows we do see include Mom (9/23) a new Chuck Lorre vehicle starring Anna Faris as a single Mom, We Are Men (9/30) which is about a man whom is left at the altar and gets advice from some older divorced men in his new apartment The Millers (9/26) starring Will Arnett as a divorced reporter (noticing a trend?), and The Crazy Ones (9/26) a workplace vehicle that stars Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. The new Thursday shows will be sandwiched between Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, We are Men is stuck between CBS’s two Monday tentpoles and Mom gets the benefit of fellow Lorre show 2 Broke Girls as a lead in.

In terms of drama and reality, CBS stays the course. I’m used to seeing the inevitable plugs for 60 Minutes, Amazing Race,The Good Wife, and The Mentalist, during football games, and CBS will get another year out of those same plugs. Person of Interest (9/24) got shuffled off to Tuesdays, where it will be paired with both NCIS franchises. Survivor (9/18) keeps its 8p.m. Wednesday slot leading into Criminal Minds and CSI (both debut 9/25).

Fridays on CBS have much more of a graveyard feel than the other networks this year, as while the other networks (most notably NBC with its’ fantasy block and ABC with its Shark Tank/TGIF lite lineup) have tried to put niche programming on Friday, we see CBS’s weakest procedurals on this night with Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods, alongside glorified PR project and de-facto fill in show Undercover Boss at 8 on Fridays. CBS doesn’t particularly program Saturdays during the fall, a recurring trend we’ll find on all four major networks due to college football.

Tomorrow: We look into the FOX network and see what they did to try to stop the bleeding from their recent ratings skid.

MTV’s Video Music Awards- Live From The Red Carpet

by Ryan Shea

After doing this whole blogging thing for the past three or so years, I can honestly say that all my hard work and dedication has somewhat led up to what occurred on Sunday night. I represented Manhattan Digest at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards on The Red Carpet and stood beside some of the biggest press outlets in the world, from Entertainment Tonight to Reuters to Access Hollywood to name a few. Truly, I felt honored and quite humbled to just be there and the exhilarating feeling of walking across the red carpet was something I will never really forget.

The day started with my trek to Brooklyn from Long Island. Once I got to Brooklyn, I waited in line with a ton of other press outlets who were eagerly waiting to see what was going to happen next. The amazing thing is that even six or seven hours early, there was a massive crowd outside of fans and people alike. I’m so happy that MTV decided to do this in Brooklyn as so many real music fans and performers alike were born and bred here. We were then redirected inside The Barclay Center, where we were treated to some great audio in the sense of all the VMA performers doing their rehearsals. Shortly after, we lined up and made our way to the red carpet where the night really took off.

The red carpet itself was magical in its own way, with stars from across the board showing up for quite possibly the most buzzed about and trendiest award show of the night. Early arrivals from Snooki and Kendrick Lamar got things going and the energy and excitement from the fans on the red carpet and even the ones who were hanging in the buildings adjacent from the Barclay Center was incredible as the sunlight went down and it progressed into nighttime.

We were treated to pre-VMA performances on the red carpet from Artist To Watch winner Austin Mahone and fresh-faced newbie Arianna Grande, who recently scored a top ten hit with rapper Mac Miller in her song “The Way”. Some of the biggest starts towards the end of the red carpet from the Twerking and foam finger loving Miley Cyrus to multiple winners Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Hollywood Legend Will Smith who memorably made the face above when seeing that Miley performance. Tee hee. The only stars that managed to not show up to the red carpet was Britney Spears (who was rumored to be in Brooklyn- DAMMIT!) and Justin Timberlake and NSYNC as they were the surprise performance of the night (that I wish would’ve lasted a little longer. Sad face indeed).

Although I didn’t go to the award show itself, it didn’t really matter to me. I was able to meet and greet people that most people only get a chance to see on the big screen. The whole experience itself was just amazing. I have said this before and will say it again and again- persistence and perseverance pays off in the long run. It always does. If you truly believe something it will happen, without a doubt. Oh and Will Smith said hey to me. The pic is above. Yeayuhhhh. For all things VMA’s and MTV, check out MTV.com

2013 VMA’s Live Blog

by Michael Tyminski

Good afternoon everyone! I’m Mike Tyminski and I’m here to live blog tonight’s VMA’s. The VMA’s are an interesting time for MTV, as the network formerly known as Music Television celebrates the art form they use to showcase on the network known as the music video. Where the VMA’s shine compared to their other award ceremonies is that the focus remains on the here and now and make for an interesting yearbook photo of what was hot in 2013. This year’s awards look to be a slug fest between Miley Ray Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop”, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”, and Justin Timberlake and Macklemore’s fuller suites (each has three different videos nominated for at least one award). Also of particular importance tonight are the rumors of a possible *NSYNC reunion as one of the performances at the show. I’ll be back at 8:45 to give play by play and live blog the show – I’m skipping red carpet this time around since we have Manhattan Digest’s very own Ryan Shea there to cover the proceedings and give reaction from Brooklyn. I look forward to seeing you all then!

8:45 PM – Random viewing notes from the pre-show:

-Watching Austin Mahone is like someone stole DNA from every late 90’s boy band and mixed it together to create a one man boy band the likes of which Earth has never seen.

-A couple of early awards were given out — 30 Seconds to Mars took best Rock video for “Up In the Air “, and Pink and Nate Ruess took down the award for Best Collaborative video for “Just Give Me A Reason”, with 30 Seconds to Mars receiving their Moon Men on the pre-show. Both awards were mentioned at breathtaking speed.

-Danity Kane announced their reunion at the Red Carpet tonight.

-Katy Perry is calling her performance “Rough, Tough, and Ready to Rumble”, her performance of “Roar” is closing out the show tonight.

-One Direction is slaughtering the vote for Song of the Summer, up 4 million votes on it’s nearest competitor, I think it’s safe to say they’re taking this one.

-Tonight’s show is opening with Lady Gaga’s performance of her single “Applause”. The single sounded middling to me, but a Gaga performance is all about the visuals anyway.

Be back right with any last minute news right before showtime.

8:58 p.m.: Seems like things have quieted down on the red carpet (the last five minutes are devoted to the trailer for Divergent and an interview where star Theo James (Golden Boy) stumbles through an interview) and Lady Gaga is set to open the show (though a Gaga/Perry bookend admittedly feels very 2009). Ryan will have the remainder of the news and reaction from his time in Brooklyn tomorrow. I’ll be going segment to segment with the usual play by play and focus on performance.

9:12 pm: So Lady Gaga’s performance was…I guess what we’d call typical Gaga? It seemed to focus on the various stages of Gaga, as it opened with Gaga looking akin to a flying nun and ended up with a triumphant Gaga in seashell bra. Along the way, there were numerous dancers clad in black who existed to both augment and obscure Gaga during the numerous mid-song costume changes. I thought it was kind of a mess as a whole, but I could totally see where someone would get into it!

From there we kick it to One Direction, who were cued in by a PA announcer, and announce the nominees for Best Pop Video:
Bruno Mars “Locked out of Heaven”, Miley Cyrus “We Can’t Stop”, Justin Timberlake “Mirrors”, Selena Gomez “Come and Get It”, and Fun. “Carry On”.

The winner is: Selena Gomez, “Come and Get it”

We get the announcement that the Artist to Watch award (presented by TACO BELL!) can be voted on via text message.

9:28 pm: Continuing the trend of being an awards show not focusing on awards — they breeze through the technical awards in about 60 seconds — I’m gonna try to grab those during a commercial break since they deserve recognition, Justin Timberlake seemed to take the lion’s share.

Miley Cyus and Robin Thicke, then performed next, with Miley Cyrus legitimately rocking out to her guitar riff laden evil Teddy Bear entrance before going into “We Can’t Stop”, which has three award nods tonight before seguing into Blurred Lines with Miley playing Pharell…it’s not the most technically brilliant thing, but Miley looks to be loving every minute of this and it’s perversely entertaining on a level that I can’t comprehend. This then swerves into a cameo by Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz. This performance, unlike Gaga worked because all of the chaos and **ahem** run-ins ended up building to something much bigger.

Lil Kim then comes out and mentions how excited she was to see the VMA’s in Brooklyn and announce the Nominees for Best Hip Hop Video
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis “Can’t Hold Us”, Drake “Started From the Bottom”, A$AP Rocky f. Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar “Problems”, J. Cole ft. Miguel “Power Trip”, Kendrick Lamar “Swimming Pools (Drink)”.

The Winner is: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis “Can’t Hold Us”

We get a quick speech from Macklemore about rapping on a Pirate Ship

9:42 pm: Kevin Hart comes out to get some more love for the performance and juice the crowd. An advertisement plays to text for artist to watch (Sponsored by TACO BELL!)

Jared Leto then comes out to heap praise on Kanye West, who is performing his single “Blood on the Leaves” off of Yeezus. It starts with Kanye bathed in red light before performing in shadow in behind a wooded image projected onto a TV. This is the first truly great performance on the show tonight, and the audience seemed off of its’ hands for the first time after it. Personally I was pretty amused by a 20 second stretch at the end of the song in which MTV censored out about 14 of those seconds.

9:46 pm: And we come back to the VMA’s with a few seconds of Pharell, Nile Rodgers, and Daft Punk performing “Lose Yourself to Dance” before coming out to announce the nominees for Best Female Video

Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble”, Miley Cyrus “We Cant Stop”, Demi Lovato “Heart Attack”, Pink Ft. Nate Ruess “Just Give Me A Reason”, Rihanna “Stay”.

And the winner is: Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble”.

Taylor gives the standard issue (and Kanye free) awards speech before taking a dig at John Mayer.

Ed Sheehan comes out to announce the nominees for the award for best video with a social message

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis f. Mary Lambert “Same Love”, Kelly Clarkson “People Like Us”, Beyonce “I was Here”, Miguel “Candles in the Sun”, Snoop Lion ft. Drake and Corey B. “No Guns Allowed”.

And the winner is: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, “Same Love”

We get another quick heartfelt award speech from Macklemore before cutting to commercial.

10:24 pm: We come back to Jimmy Fallon who waxes about his 2002 VMA hosting gig before introducing Justin Timberlake, who gets a long video entrance that touches every hit he’s had a solo artist. He’s performing “Take Back the Night”, starting in the lobby of the arena with a large and growing posse of dancers before entering the arena floor. We then get a spinning camera effect before we find Justin on stage performing “Sexy Back”. Justin seems to be owning this whole moment, even slipping a “bitch” through our incredibly vigilant censors, he then rolls through “My Love” which comes through an extended dance breakdown before walking through the pit during “Cry Me A River” (Which he doesn’t sing). The performance then moves to a dance floor in front of the large moon man for “Rock Your Body” (which comes with another extended dance breakdown). Focus then moved back to the stage for the a quick *NSYNC cameo (short enough it wasn’t a full scale reunion) with a quick quote from “Bye Bye Bye” before quickly seguing back into “Suit and Tie” and “Mirrors”. Jimmy Fallon returns to the scene to present Timberlake with the Video Vanguard award. Fallon’s gushing speech was highlighted by making sure to list The Lonely Island classic “Dick in a Box” not once but three times during the award announcement (also for those keeping score, he managed not to corpse during the speech).

Timberlake gave a real humble speech, giving props to to his directors, his choreographers, and NSYNC.

So…takeaways from that 20 minute concert? 1) Justin…you owe it to America, please do the Super Bowl halftime show….please? 2)If you want an *NSYNC reunion in earnest? It’s not happening anytime soon…the Bye Bye Bye spot was wedged in pretty nonchalantly and was breezed through in about a minute.

On a side note, Lady Gaga is still wearing the same seashell bra while rocking out in the crowd. I don’t know why I think it’s important, but I feel like you never see people wear their performance outfits in the stands.

10:40 PM: Kevin Hart sends it over to DJ Cassidy who plays a quick kicker, before Kevin insists that he is not the host, he’s just called upon to do more stuff but not before commenting on Lady Gaga’s yams before once again mentioning the nominees for artist to watch (Sponsored by TACO BELL!)

Vampire Weekend comes out to introduce the award for Song of the Summer, speaking of which, the nominees for Song of the Summer are:
Miley Cyrus “We Can’t Stop”, Robin Thicke ft. Pharell and T.I. “Blurred Lines”, Selena Gomez “Come and Get It”, Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding “I Need Your Love”, One Direction “Best Song Ever”, and Daft Punk “Get Lucky”.

The Winner is: “Best Song Ever” by One Direction (Pete Townshend’s house is safe)

Harry comes out and thanks the crowd before introducing the video’s director.

Jason Collins and A$AP Rocky arrive on stage to introduce Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, whom perform “Same Love”. Macklemore is clearly emotional through the first verse, moving more towards the fire of a preacher in his voice by the end of the second verse as opposed to the more conversational tone that comes with the single. Jennifer Hudson drops into deliver the third chorus before quoting a quick phrase of “Not Crying on Sunday” with Mary Lambert, who provided the other chorus’s.

10:49 PM: We finally get the announcement for this years Artist to watch award, and the nominees are.

Austin Mahone, Iggy Azalia, The Weekends, 21 Pilots, and Zedd

And the winner is: Austin Mahone

A starstruck Mahone, thanks all relevant people including God AND MTV, which according to some might be counteracting forces. Unfortunately he didn’t thank TACO BELL who sponsored the award.

The show cuts to the surviving members of TLC (T-Boz and Chili), whom are here to introduce Drake, whose standing in front of a video screen in a manner that’s mildly reminiscent of Frank Ocean’s “Forrest Gump” performance from the Grammys. He gets mobbed by fans while trying to get to the stage to perform “Started from the Bottom”. Drake ends up in the pit by the second verse.

Looks like most of the awards are finished…we’re down to just Best Male Video and Video of the Year if my account is right.

10:58 PM: Taylor swift comes out to announce the award for best Male video

Justin Timberlake “Mirrors”, Bruno Mars “Locked out of Heaven”, Ed Sheeran “Lego House”, Kendrick Lamar “Swimming Pool (Drink)”, Robin Thicke ft. TI and Pharrell “Blurred Lines”.

And the winner is: Bruno Mars “Locked out of Heaven”.

We get a lightning quick thank you out of Bruno before cutting to commercial.

11:10 PM:
A quick update on the technical awards front — only posting the winners so that I can keep up on play-by-play

Best Directing — David Fincher for “Suit & Tie”
Best Choreography — Bruno Mars (self-choreographed) for “Treasure”
Best Visual Effects — Capital Cities “Safe and Sound”
Best Art Direction — Veronica Hodgson for Janelle Monae ft. Erykah Badu’s “Q.U.E.E.N”
Best Cinematography — Macklemore ft. Ryan Lewis “Can’t Stop Us”

Selena Gomez is out to introduce Bruno Mars, who’s here to perform his new single, “Gorilla”. Bruno’s performing this slow jam in a leopard-print heavy version of his standard look. It’s a pretty blase performance surrounded by a ton of pyrotechnics. Earlier in the show I would have probably enjoyed it more, but after Kanye, JT, and Macklemore tore it up in their own respective ways this performance feels like it’s just there to fill time until Katy Perry’s show closing performance. It probably didn’t help that his big falsetto note was completely overpowered by the backing tape.

In other news, Katy Perry is walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge to perform “Roar” in about 15 minutes. She’s rocking some boxing gear, which I’m pretty okay with on the basis of how prominently the words “Eye of the Tiger” are placed in the song.

11:23 PM:
During the break, Pepsi announced that Katy Perry’s new single “Dark Horse” will drop on September 17th.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt comes out to announce the nominees for Video of the Year in what could be described loosely as “an old timey western voice” which was clearly appropriate for the situation.

The nominees for video of the year are: Bruno Mars “Locked Out of Heaven”, Justin Timberlake “Mirrors”, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis “Thrift Shop”, Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble”, Robin Thicke f. T.I. and Pharrell “Blurred Lines”

And the winner is: Justin Timberlake “Mirrors”

Justin gives props to all of the performances, before mentioning how the video was a tribute to his grandparents.

Allison Williams from Girls enters to introduce Katy Perry, who is performing her single “Roar”. The boxer gear goes with a fuller motif as the entire performance takes place in a makeshift boxing ring dance floor by the Brooklyn Bridge. I feel like this performance would have actually been better inside if only for the acoustics being better captured allowing for better use of the crowd roars.

I’ll be back in a few minutes with some final thoughts from the show.

Final Thoughts:

Well…that first hour felt like a trainwreck, moving at I Love Lucy conveyor belt speed. However, 10p.m. hit, the VMA’s officially ended, and the Justin Timberlake Show began, things became a lot better. And that’s important, because even with strong performances by Kanye, Macklemore, and Katy Perry, do not kid yourself…this was entirely Timberlake’s show. It seemed like most of the awards were taken by either himself or Macklemore. Of course, while they took a sweep of the awards this show truly felt like MTV treats awards shows the way they treat music 365 days a year, as many of the awards felt like window dressing compared to the performances. If you’re catching this on tape delay, the best approach is to just fast forward through every talking bit and go straight to the performances, which were either really good or really weird.

That’s it for me tonight, it’s been three whirlwind hours and 2500 or so words. Next week there isn’t much new TV so I’m taking the opportunity to roll out some fall previews for the major networks (and the CW even!) Thanks everyone for tuning in, and stay connected to Manhattan Digest tomorrow for Ryan’s report from Brooklyn!

Project Phoenix Rising is here to help Kids in Libya

by Lane Campbell

Today we interview Tommy Jordan. Tommy Jordan has organized Project Phoenix Rising with a small group of volunteers around the globe. The team is working to bring a modern classroom experience to students in Libya. Tommy Jordan is no stranger to being in the spotlight having gained worldwide fame after posting a YouTube video of himself using a handgun to destroy his daughters laptop. That video today has over 38 Million views on YouTube. The controversy that erupted following the video featuring his non-traditional parenting practice was enormous. Today Tommy hopes to use that celebrity status to raise money in order to help others in Libya with Project Phoenix.

What is Project Phoenix?

Project Phoenix started out as a plan for western companies to bring tech into Libyan schools; we wanted to augment the learning experience in Libya with modern technology using the same official curriculum that students are learning from books. We refer to the original concept as our phase one plan but it was more of our first official request to work in Libya.

We hit roadblocks in our phase one plan; infrastructure isn’t in place over there to handle today’s technology. The electric power grid in Libya has big gaps and is not the most reliable, that alone presented a huge challenge. The more details we discussed the more roadblocks we conceptualized as obstructions in the process of deploying a classroom experience in the same manner done in the United States.

With phase 2 we began fresh with the concept of bringing an entire purpose built classroom to the students of Libya. We realized there is a large quantity of storage containers available at steep discounts; these containers are a by-product of our consumer-based economy. The containers are made of solid steel and are weather proofed to provide protection over months of travel onboard a shipping container. These containers can also be inexpensively shipped over seas making them the perfect option for our project.

After months of planning we have engineered these containers to be self sufficient in even the most inhospitable environments. Each classroom facility is designed to accommodate 12 students and a teacher, with tablet computers, high speed Internet, electricity, air conditioning and lighting inside. The design for a Project Phoenix Rising classroom facility includes electricity provided by solar panels and backed up by a diesel generator. Then we designed the classroom facility to be transported and accessed while it’s loaded on the back of a truck, making it possible for the facility to visit multiple communities each week. The exterior of the classroom facility features a canopy that will pop out the side for kids to work in the shade if there are too many kids in a community to sit inside the classroom facility.

What was your motivation behind this project?

We can trace the roots of the project back to when I first had the opportunity to work in Libya from 2006 to 2009. I love to travel and it was the first international work I ever did. During that experience I learned about the people and culture, it’s a beautiful country. Unlike so much of the world that has chosen to adopt a “westernized” culture, Libya has retained its own unique culture.

The concept for this project came together back in January 2013 while having a conversation with the head of a large international charity. I was helping them with something on their website and my ability to recognize words in Arabic came up in conversation. We started talking about how I learned to spell some words in Arabic, which brought up my experience in Libya. The project has evolved from those early conversations.

Who is involved in the project?

Many talented folks have been committing resources to this project. I would estimate that over $250k has been committed in resources from our friends. Those friends are:

Worldwide CAD – Murray and his architectural firm out of Texas has been helping us out with designs.
DEI Industrial – Chad and his team out of Texas have been instrumental in nearly every stage of this project.
TwistedNetworx – This is Tommy’s consulting company.
Lightworks – Lou has been advising on the lighting and electrical equipment, his recommendations have been instrumental in lowering power consumption.
Doctor Gillian Gillespie – She has been instrumental in connecting our project with the right charitable organizations and government agencies.

How can I help out?

We are raising money with GoFundMe.com

Please Donate Today! – http://www.gofundme.com/phoenixlibya

Today this is all a concept that requires we raise $100,000 USD to found the charity in the US and UK then to build the first prototype. The costs for these classroom facilities will be $65,000 USD so out of the $100,000 USD we raise at least that much money will go directly into the classroom. The rest of the funds will be used to properly setup our charitable organization within the United States and for travel. Donations made within the United States today are not tax deductible.

Why choose GoFundMe.com over using Kickstarter.com for funding?

I checked into using it and indigogo.com as well but settled on gofundme.com for a couple of reasons. There are big problems with using kickstarter.com for our concept; the first is they hold onto funds until you reach a goal set when you create the funding request. The second is they return all the funds contributed to the cause if we don’t reach our goal. With GoFundMe.com our team has access to funds as the donations are made. As a newer organization we need these funds to help the kids today. If we did the kickstarter.com route and didn’t reach out goal we wouldn’t have any funds to work with.

How is this charity structured today?

The project has undergone multiple changes in the last half year. It started out as a commercial venture. We thought it needed to be a commercial venture until we started talking about actually building schools. Then we realized it would need tremendous international support. We are going to use the funds donated to form a charitable organization so future donations will be tax deductible.

After the charity is formed we intend to get registered with the United Nations in order to obtain additional funding from the international community.

How can I learn more?

Tommy has featured Project Phoenix Rising on his website with far more information than we included on ManhattanDigest.com for this interview. If you are interested in learning more about the project or want to keep updated with the latest news it would be best to head over to http://8minutesoffame.com/phoenix-rising/ for the latest news and information.

Album Review: Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe

by Rio Toro

Julianna Barwick: Nepenthe

Similar Artists: Jonsi & Alex, Grouper

Genre: Ambient, Voice, Loop-Based

Label: Dead Oceans

Most could forgive me if I was initially a bit nervous to listen to Nepenthe, as I was afraid the expanded production credits (Alex Somers of Jonsi & Alex, string quartet Amiina, Mum Guitarist Robert Reynisson [and pretty much everything else “Icelandic” for that matter]) would potentially tarnish the deep, isolated solemnity of Julianna Barwick’s previous LP, The Magic Place. On that 2011 LP, Julianna came into her own as a talented and original sound sculpture with a voice so rich it could have only descended from the heavens. Through the use of her lyric-less vocals and (very) minor instrumentation, she created a soundscape that was both deeply personal and even epic. While “epic” might seem like a strange word for what is essentially ambient music, her towering vocals grow on top of one another until the composition becomes somewhat maximalist, yet remaining precisely contained and elegant.

After a slew of less admirable EP’s, The Magic Place was also the moment where Julianna broke free of any comparisons to new age music and Enya (not that there’s anything wrong with these things). Even modern vocal-loop based artists like Grouper — who has ventured closer to accessibility on albums like The Man Who Died In His Boat, and Dragging a Dead Deer Up A Hill — feel hard to compare to the angelic choir that Julianna Barwick has summoned through her work. Music this personal and emotional has rarely been this immediate and accessible.

While I usually award artists who change up their style from album to album, I think it’s safe to say not many people were begging for an artistic leap on Nepenthe. Thankfully, the enhanced production doesn’t do much to broaden the bounds of the music, as her style is more or less unchanged; her voice without a doubt remains the most captivating piece. As great as the electronic flourishes, piano snippets, and grand orchestrations are, this is music that aims to further the limits of the human voice, and she continues to find brilliant ways to do that throughout Nepenthe.

There are some noticeable differences between her two LP’s, but they deal more with color and tone rather than execution. The atmosphere seems to be much more attuned to frozen tundras and glacial mountaintops — “Pyrrhic” in particular seems to have borrowed a thing or two from Sigur Ros — but like the best ambient music, Nepenthe has a noticeable affect on the environment and almost immediately ushers in a tranquil mood. If one were to attempt to get into a fight, or an argument while this was playing, I don’t think the negativity would be able to sprout from their mouths. This is more true here than on previous releases, because Nepenthe is accompanied by brighter textures, and comes off being a happier experience when compared to The Magic Place‘s sense of distraught longing. It is for this reason that the title itself — which translates roughly to “a medicine for sorrow” — couldn’t be more perfect. It even ties the two albums together and leads one to believe that The Magic Place was a representation of Julianna’s sorrow, while Nepenthe is how she managed to get through it.

Although she remains non lyrical for the most part, “One Part” happens to be her first piece that contains clearly audible words instead of her usual monosyllabic singing. She repeats the words /I guess I was, asleep that night, was waiting far/ over and over to an overwhelming affect; you can’t help but picture her singing the refrain while standing at her window in a night gown staring into the twilight-lit night sky.

I’ve listened to a lot of Julianna Barwick over the last few years, and now, because of Nepenthe, I’m sure she will continue to dominate my playlists for the next several as well. In a way, Julianna has it easy, and while i’m sure this music couldn’t have been arranged by an amateur, she has been blessed with an immaculate voice, and as long as she is paired with a looping station it is the only instrument she will ever need. It’s immediate music, and although it doesn’t necessarily get more beautiful with repeated listens, it should be known that it never happens to become less beautiful either; I think there’s a word for that actually, oh yeah: timeless.

Track Listing:

1.) Offing

2.) The Harbinger*

3.) One Half*

4.) Look Into Your Own Mind

5.) Pyrrhic

6.) Labyrinthine*

7.) Forever*

8.) Adventurer of the Family

9.) Crystal Lake*

10.) Waving To You

Album Highlight – *

Why Darren Young Coming Out Is A Bigger Deal Than You’d Think

by Michael Tyminski

Readers of Manhattan Digest, I have a confession to make.

I’m a wrestling fan.

As late as Wednesday night, all of my wrestling related focus was devoted to the awesome potential that this Sunday’s Summerslam card would have, with an intriguing double main event (Indy poster child Daniel Bryan vs. mainstream champ John Cena and a similar mirror in CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar) and an enjoyable undercard. However, some news broke Thursday morning that seems to have taken off: that Darren Young (real name: Fred Rosser) had announced to world via TMZ that he was gay.

Now normally I would be of the sort of person that would brush this sort of news off; after all, I watch wrestling to enjoy glorified stage fights, so needless to say I judge my favorite wrestlers by how they entertain me, not whatever is going on in their personal lives. To do so in this case, however, would be an affront and to completely ignore how traditionally backwards and unenlightened the sports entertainment industry in sensitive matters like these. This is an industry that has had no problem milking effeminate male gimmicks in caricatures for massive heat (see: Exotic Adrian Street, and more recently the very earliest incarnation of Goldust). This trend has continued into today (I don’t know what TNA was aiming for with their booking of the bisexual Orlando Jordan, but whatever it was it made me cringe), as even the smallest of federations have figured out that sending out two guys and dress them like the Backstreet Boys is the easiest way to get the fans to hate them.

Worse yet, this trend has followed into some locker rooms, as one former champion of a major promotion has as recently as May posted a very strongly anti marriage equality tweet that caused a stir within the wrestling community (for being backward, nonetheless). This locker room frat boy attitude is a key part as to why it also took until 2013 for an active athlete in a major league to come out as well.

When you consider the potential hostility of the environment that Rosser had made his announcement in, the announcement suddenly becomes a bigger deal. While attitudes nationally are changing, this announcement is the first step in determining exactly how far professional wrestling has come to combat it’s less enlightened past and how far attitudes have changed in a few short years (the aforementioned Orlando Jordan gimmick was in the way back year of 2010).

Luckily response from WWE brass (and even Cena) has been positive, but it still falls on them to follow up. Furthermore, anyone whom has watched their programming in the last couple of years knows about the company’s strong push of it’s anti-bullying initiative: B.A. Star. However, If Rosser’s sexuality is turned into gimmick fodder for the writing staff, then it will ultimately mean that attitudes towards homosexuality in pro wrestling haven’t changed all that much. Further complicating matters is that Rosser is currently part of the heel tag team “The Prime Time Players”, so it should be an interesting time to see where the fan base falls, as the wrong boos and the wrong catcalls could easily ensure that the wrestling fan base maintains its’ backwards reputation for another generation.

Album Review: Julia Holter – Loud City Song

by Rio Toro

Julia Holter: Loud City Song

Similar Artists: Jenny Hval, Kate Bush, Nico, Julianna Barwick

Genre: Orchestral-Pop, Dream-Pop, Ambient

Label: Domino

I originally thought Loud City Song — the 3rd LP and 1st studio album from Los Angeles’ Julia Holter — was a strange title for music bearing such a quiet serenity. After all, Julia Holter’s music has always been resemblant of everything but towering skyscrapers and industrialization — although it certainly can be brash and avant-garde now and then. However, while Loud City Song impacted me from my initial listen, I don’t think I truly understood it as a piece until I experienced it while walking through the lower east side of Manhattan. It just so happened to be the most perfect, sunshiny day of the year, and since I was accompanied by a slight breeze, I was thankfully able to stroll along the streets for hours on end without so much as a direction in mind.

While I often feel cities aren’t the best places to listen to music — with their disruptive subway systems and endless array of honking motor vehicles — with Loud City Song I seemed to be transported to a more ancient decade of Manhattan, and my mind soon became focused on the more transparent beauty of the city (or at least what is seemingly transparent for those of us who live here…). from the bright green shrubbery hanging from windowpanes, to the inviting cobblestone walkways, to the variety of tiny boutiques and coffee shops; even the people — who I am often too buried in my own thoughts to notice — seemed to stand out with their unique fashions and accessories.

As it happens, Loud City Song is somewhat based off of the 1950’s MGM musical Gigi — the most apparent allusion(s) being “Maxim’s I” and “Maxim’s II” which reference the main character’s often used cafe — but the story arch and lyricism of the album are so vivid and even surreal, that you really don’t have to know a thing about musicals to understand its meaning. Similarly, despite many themes being rooted in the past, Loud City Song has a message that feels very relevant in modern day society; one being our culture’s fascination with celebrities. Although Julia Holter’s previous two LP’s, Tragedy and Ekstasis, were somewhat based off of ancient Greek texts, Loud City Song ends up being an even more ambitious accomplishment.

So now Julia Holter is working in a full studio setting, and the first thing you’ll notice about Loud City Song is how gorgeous the instrumentation is; from the strings, to the horns, to Julia’s majestic voice itself, everything glows with a pristine quality. The pieces often radiate a bright yellowish hue; especially album centerpiece “Hello Stranger”, which may or may not be a projection of heaven itself. While her previous work was excellently composed as well, the instruments themselves sounded far below studio quality, and I occasionally felt like I was listening to a recording of a high school band. That production fault managed to pull me out of her otherworldly and dreamlike compositions from time to time, and kept her music from being truly perfect. However, now Julia Holter is in the place she was meant to be all along, and there is nothing preventing her from being seen as the superb composer/multi instrumentalist that she is.

As far as the music goes, these pieces act as a combination of the more abstract, avant-garde compositions of Tragedy, with the more direct, song oriented compositions of Ekstasis. Some people felt that the more traditional songwriting on Ekstasis was a step backward for Holter, but no one is going to be saying that here; everything sounds like a clear progression from her previous material. For instance, “In The Green World” happens to be one of the more song-oriented pieces on Loud City Song, but even when she works with standard chord progressions, the album’s otherworldly presence remains in full view. While, “Maxim’s II” ends with a riotous dueling horn passage, the noise feels necessary within the context of the song; nothing about this music sounds random or meaningless, as each note is playing its part towards a grander picture. She has also added a more prominent use of field recordings — such as those from city streets — on “Horn’s Surrounding Me” as well as some double bass on “In the Green Wild”.

Holter ends up sounding experimental and eye-opening without being loud or obnoxious; quite like Kate Bush, another artist who is able to take her music in exploratory directions while maintaining rapt accessibility. While beautiful is a word that is used far too frequently in music, in the case of Julia Holter it is truly fitting; the finest bits of Loud City Song are even overwhelming in their gorgeousness. This feeling of a bustling, happy-go-lucky downtown city environment doesn’t dissipate through multiple listens either. I’m in love with this album, and it might just be opening my eyes to the beautiful world around me.

Track Listing:

1.) World

2.) Maxim’s I*

3.) Horns Surrounding Me*

4.) In the Green Wild*

5.) Hello Stranger*

6.) Maxim’s II*

7.) He’s Running Through My Eyes

8.) This Is A True Heart

9.) City Appearing*

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: Blondes – Swisher

by Rio Toro

Blondes: Swisher

Similar Artists: Andy Stott, Basic Channel, Surgeon, Anthony Child

Genre: Techno

Label: RVNG Intl.

It might seem at first that NYC’s Blondes are just your standard, moderately talented electronic duo with an absurdly google-proofed name — it also doesn’t help that they bear the unfortunate and misleading tag of being “Hipster House” — however, they happened to prove that they were much more than a product of the blogospheric hype machine with their excellent singles compilation last year, the self-titled Blondes. That debut LP stood out for a lot of reasons, but first and foremost, it showed that Sam Haar and Zack Steinman were two youngsters who were immensely enticed by the powers of dance music; their destiny and purpose was only to find new ways to make us move. Since neither of the members had a background in producing, they created their music largely through experimentation, and in doing so, they happened to bypass many of the common dance-floor cliches. They concocted a refreshing take on the genre, but perhaps the best part about Blondes was that it remained innately techno, and therefore appealed to the hardcore IDM crowd as well as EDM newcomers. Blondes make no-bullshit, dance till you drop, instrumental bangers; there are no ambient interludes, no extravagant genre hopping, and despite what you may have been lead to believe, no pretension.

On their 2nd album, Swisher, released by surprise a few weeks back, Blondes have matured in more ways than one. These aren’t the singles of the first album, and because this is more of a singular piece — recorded during a finite time period — some immediacy has been lost (it must be said). However, now their kosmiche influence feels more cemented, which gives many of these tracks an astronomical edge. Additionally, the music here is more difficult and less formulaic, which really helps it come into its own after a few listens. Take opener “Aeon” for example, which is far more restrained than anything off of their debut — we keep expecting the disjointed bassline to break into a tribal thrust as it did on “Lover”, but that moment never comes — instead, the glistening, ethereal synthesizers come into full view and drift along as though they are part of a living breathing organism. It doesn’t take long to realize that Blondes have become a more dense and texturally minded group than they were before. Thankfully aside from the cleansing opener, they continue to remain firmly rooted in dance music.

Second track, “Bora Bora” is where the action really kicks off; with it’s clanking steel drums, dubby bassline, and cold atmospherics, it recalls the best of Basic Channel and the Chain Reaction label without falling into copycat territory. Blondes know how to play homage to beloved genres by embarking on them from varying viewpoints and adding their own interesting twists. Like “Bora Bora”, much of the album can be considered techno of the “minimal” variety, as the transitions throughout a track are precise and often nearly imperceptible; quite the achievement seeing how many tracks run upwards of 10 minutes without once becoming the source of fatigue.

Although they have always worked with a rather broad array of sounds, their palette has expanded in some interesting new directions. “Clasp” is accompanied by comforting organ drones and “Poland” sounds like an updated version of something off of Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works. The tracks contain a humanistic touch that is transcendental and meditative yet tribal and raw; I still can’t manage to decide whether Swisher is an album more suited towards a summer or winter themed environment. While we are taken on darker territory on “Wire” — a track that recalls the eerie soundscape of Andy Stott — the next song, “Elise”, happens to be just about the most ecstatic thing the duo have recorded, and the two tracks happen to work perfectly together in unison.

As I see it now, Swisher is one of the best techno releases of the year — scratch that — it’s one of the best techno releases in recent memory. While their debut may have been more accessible and party oriented, this comes off as more intelligent and more consistently interesting. It’s varied in terms of sound, yet unified in terms of approach, and it proves their early singles weren’t the fluke many thought they were. In fact, Swisher is so naturally flowing and immersive, that if anything, it sounds like making it was no sweat for the duo. If that’s true, we are sure to hear plenty more in the way of excellency from this group down the road; let’s all hope these artists turn out to be prolific ones.

Track Listing:

1.) Aeon

2.) Bora Bora*

3.) Andrew*

4.) Poland*

5.) Clasp

6.) Swisher

7.) Rei*

8.) Wire

9.) Elise*

Album Highlight – *

What to do about Sochi?: An Open Letter

by Michael Tyminski

Hello everyone,

As you may be aware, in addition to doing TV reviews for Manhattan Digest, I’m also typically called on for live coverage of many of TV’s landmark events, whether it was this winter’s Grammy Awards or Oscars, or the upcoming VMA’s and Emmy Awards.

Looking ahead on the calendar, one of the landmark TV events of this season is the opening and closing ceremonies of this year’s Olympic Games in Sochi. While normally this is the sort of event I would jump on in a heartbeat, recent events in Russia make it difficult for me to be in a celebratory mood.

Recently, the Russian legislature passed some very harsh anti-LGBT laws that essentially codify such relationships as deviant and criminal, and puts a ban on “non-traditional” propaganda in the state. Those who violate this ban are subject to arrest, something that the Russian government has no qualms about enforcing (case in point: the Pussy Riot arrests). This has led to further controversy, as while the IOC is assuring athletes that they will not be arrested, the Russian government has restated that this law will apply to even visiting athletes. Further complicating matters, Olympic broadcaster NBC is not entirely sure how to approach this issue as part of their coverage, leaving a pretty realistic chance that the issue is completely whitewashed out of their coverage, even if events dictate otherwise (it’s not like the network had the most sterling of reputations for their coverage after the much less controversial London games either).

It’s safe to say that we here at Manhattan Digest have a more enlightened approach towards such issues, and I feel like this situation lacks easy answers. Do I just ignore the whole situation, essentially using my silence like a de facto boycott like Harvey Fierstein advocated in the New York Times recently? Or will there still be extensive demand for normal coverage? Conversely, do I ignore the celebration aspect and take a more strictly journalistic tack, in which should something controversial or breaking happen that myself (or one of our writers) comment upon it? My gut feeling says to lean against scrubbing and sanitizing coverage, but I’d rather not blow off a large event if our readership demands/requests it.

Ultimately, I think it’s best that I get the input of not only Ryan, our editor-in-chief, but also that of our readers. Manhattan Digest is a site heavily driven by crowd sourcing, and I feel that in situations like this one it’s my responsibility to cater to the interests of our readers first and foremost. If you have a preference or a suggestion, please do not hesitate to comment below.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Michael Tyminski

TV Columnist/Reviewer

Manhattan Digest

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