OPINION

“The Machine”: A Theater Review

OK. Let me be totally honest for just a moment. When I heard that there was a play about a chess game, my initial thought was, “Oh wow! The only thing more exciting than this would be a musical about tuberculosis!” Being uninformed about this intricate game of strategy led me believe that I would use this two hours in a darkened room to catch up on my sleep. But, it is not the job of the reviewer to project his or her opinion on the subject,rather the content of the subject . And while I did not leave “The Machine” with a greater appreciation or understanding of the game, I left feeling surprisingly provoked and intruiged.

Matt Charman’s hugely compelling play, now playing at the Park Avenue Armory weaves a true tale about an iconic 1997 chess match between Garry Kasparov and IBM super computer Deep Blue. Kasparov was a 20 year undefeated chess champion with a yen for strategy and a huge tolerance towards a pushy, overbearing mother (delivered with a perfect level of abrasion by British actress Francesca Annis).

How does one handle losing when he is an assured winner for so long? Where is the line between passion and obsession drawn? When the proverbial chips are down, can machines provide the solace and comfort we crave as humans? These are just a few of the ethical and moral dilemmas posed in this smartly written and directed production which makes its’ US debut after a premiere earlier this year at the Manchester International Festival.

While the technical aspects of any theater production are usually meant to enhance the experience, it should be mentioned that Mark Henderson and Lucy Osborne’s set and lighting designs are truly leading player here. With cameras and large screen projections around each quadrant of the stage, the audience is witness to each move on the chess board and every furrowed brow of Kasparov. Through that, we are pulled into a taut cat and mouse thriller that reads like a spy novel of breakneck speed.

“The Machine” plays a limited engagement at the stunning Park Avenue Armory through Sept. 18, 2013. Tickets are available online athttps://commerce.armoryonpark.org/single/PSDetail.aspx?psn=227 or by phone at: (212) 933-5812.

Racism In The Bear Community- Choice or Discrimination?

by Ryan Shea

A couple of months back I wrote an article about how the bear community has become quite known for its racism within it and how it is a big part of its culture today. In the time since then, I have heard several different angles on this matter that ultimately brings up some really good points to think of. People seemed to have a general idea that because I am white that this article really only pertained to white people being racists in this community. That is completely untrue, that sort of a thing can happen with any race in terms of how they view a different color. The point that I was getting at in that article in particular was the discrimination that not only particular races felt but other factors such as size, shape and even attitude.

But is that really discrimination or is it just a choice in how you view your partner? Men as well all know are very sex driven, so it is almost a split second decision most of the time when we see someone else and are either attracted to them or not. If you view someone of a certain size or color and aren’t attracted to them, what does that make you? Same thing goes for that as a whole, if you aren’t into white guys or chasers or Asians or what not, how would you characterize yourself then? For me personally, as stated previously, if you denounce an entire race or body size or whatever based on your own preconceived notions or anything like that, it might not be racist or whatever terminology you want to call it but it is discriminatory. You don’t get to know the person beyond the aesthetic, something that is a growing problem in this “need it now”, “want it now” world that we live in. We don’t slow down enough to get to know someone, and in that regards you might change your minds on things.

I do stand up though for what I wrote in the last article about how bears are viewed in the media- white. Every single Bear movie and series that is out there right now has an all white cast. I mean, in one particular movie they filmed scenes at Rockbar in New York City. Rockbar is one of the most, if not the most, diverse bear bars in the country and the entire scene filmed had white guys. It just really gives a bad impression.

So this can be a really tricky subject no matter how you look at it. How do you view how you choose your partners in this hectic gay world that we live in?

Million Second Quiz Ratchets Up the Intensity

by Michael Tyminski

Million Second Quiz: 8p.m. Eastern this and next week on NBC

Since 1999, when Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? made it’s way across the pond to America, we have seen a fundamental shift in the way that the game show has been presented over the airwaves. Once built to be cheap staples of daytime (often morning) television, the genre often is now home to seven-digit grand prizes, prime-time specials, and typically treated closer to sporting events with cutaway interviews. No network has leaned harder on the genre since its’ revival than NBC, which has had considerable success with Deal or No Deal, 1 vs. 100, and The Weakest Link. It is with those three shows in mind that they launch their new big money quizzer: Million Second Quiz

Million Second Quiz is a test of both general knowledge and endurance. One lucky contestant is placed in the money chair inside a giant hourglass set in Manhattan’s Rockerfeller Center. Here, the contestant earns $10 for every second they survive in the chair while being bombarded by questions and challenges from across the country. Once unseated from they money chair, they spend time in winner’s row, hoping that their winnings will hold out. Once the clock hits zero (estimated to be sometime next Friday afternoon), the top four will battle it out for the top cash prize. Hosting the proceedings is veteran emcee Ryan Seacrest (Click, Wild Animal Games, Mid-days on Z-100, he also did some show on Fox for a few years but I don’t think anyone’s ever heard of it).

The quiz battles are interesting, mixing elements of the ABC show Duel, the dare mechanics from Double Dare (though sadly not the physical challenges), and the speed round mechanics of just about hard quizzer ever (albeit with increasing point values as the battle goes on). Seacrest does a surprisingly strong job handling the question reader side of the show, nimbly adapting between asking questions, kicking to a video screen for video questions, and dealing with the Doubler (which admittedly was not explained before the first bout) and even managing to interrupt a battle for commercials (right before the big final third).

In between these bouts, we get to look in on the various larger aspects of the Million Second Quiz, including meeting the “line jumper” a strong performing online player whom is flown in to play for the money chair. We also check in on Winner’s Row, where the four top performing players try to survive long enough to make it to the final battle for the big prize. We also learn about “the winner’s defense”, where the winner’s circle send of their own in a risk to add to their total. If the Winner fails however, they are out of the game.

If there is one glaring issue with the show, it’s the relentless cross promotion that occurs during the course of the episode. Our winner’s row is sponsored by Subway. Our line jumper gets an interview on NBC’s Today Show. We get guest appearances by Blake Shelton of The Voice and Heidi Klum of America’s Got Talent. Multiple questions referenced NBC’s two football games over the past week. While I get that promotion has long been a part of the show, it feels very blunt and inelegant on Million Second Quiz.

The Final Verdict: It’s a large expansive game with it’s tentacles everywhere, and I think I can safely say that Million Second Quiz is the next evolution of one of television’s oldest formats, mixing truly interactive at home play seamlessly with the on-air show. Seacrest has the chops to host, the format is both very simple and strategically deep, and the format allows for the tension to mount over the course of the game. Watch it, it’s a solid event show and a great way to spend the 8 p.m. hour before the fall season kicks into full gear.

Album Review: The Weeknd – Kiss Land

by Rio Toro

The Weeknd: Kiss Land

Similar Artists: R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, Prince, Danny Brown

Genre: Cinematic R&B, Trip-Hop

Label: Republic

In some ways, it has always been a part of our culture, but it seems like every year, society becomes increasingly obsessed with the self-destructive behavior of its celebrities. From Britney Spears, to Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus (the ones who get into the business too young), we have highlighted these artists’ downfalls and enjoyed them as entertainment. These stories, as we know them, have become inescapable, as they are reported over the airwaves and printed in magazines on a near 24 hour basis; feeding into a sort of collective social consciousness. As of late, even widely respected publications like CNN have posted a leading article about Miley’s much maligned “Twerking” episode at the VMA’s. I’m not bringing up these points to talk about the failure of the human race or anything boring like that though, as I feel this infatuation of ours is hardly unwarranted. Why wouldn’t we be intrigued by this unknowable, parallel world that is the Hollywood lifestyle? After all, it has managed to capture and wreak havoc among so many of the world’s most gifted and talented people. As it happens though, we’re only examining this phenomenon through a highly distorted lens, and as common folk, we can never truly understand this alien world without first succumbing to it. As The Weeknd puts it, /this ain’t nothing to relate to, even if you try/.

Abel Tesfaye, main-man behind the Toronto based R&B outlet The Weeknd — who along with producers Doc McKinney and IIIangelo made a commercial and critical splash with three self-released 2011 mix-tapes — happens to know a lot about this parallel world. Over the past year and a half, the once enigmatic figure has rapidly been pulled away from his quiet hometown into the fast-paced, drug addled, sex crazed life of stardom. On this proper debut LP, he chronicles his voyage into this horrifying place — the place he likes to call Kiss Land — and it stands as a heartbreaking concept album of love vs. fame. This Kiss Land is a dark, loveless place, riddled with loneliness, a lack of honest emotion, and most of all, a lack of human connection. While The Weeknd have dealt with similar themes in the past, here it is implemented on a much grander, deeper, and thought provoking scale.

Since I do consider this a concept album, I’ll start with the first track, the 6 minute “Professional”, which expertly documents The Weeknd is their fresh, cinematic skin. Tesfaye immediately sets the tone with the lyric /You’re a somebody now, but what’s a somebody in a nobody town/, and speaks of his strife in keeping a hold on reality, along with the feelings that come with it. The production chops kick in at full blast during the midway point with an eerie, whispering female vocal sample and an epic bass drop that will likely scare away anyone not ready for the remaining themes to come. Expectedly, the story starts to unravel on “The Town”, as we learn about Abel’s love interest — a girl he left to go on tour — who as many will see it, remains a central theme on the remaining songs to come. Once again, this track is treated with a surprising direction change halfway through when we are greeted to a shimmering, metallic synth pattern that makes everything sound twice as serious, without catering too easily to dance fare.

There’s loads to enjoy here production wise — this is indeed a step up from the already expensive sounding Echoes of Silence. In an interview (of which there are very few) Tesfaye stated how the sound here is as much indebted to film scores as it is to Trip-Hop, which is easy to tell, as the fragmentary ambiance from horror films seems to be constantly leaking through the pores. The producers really get to show off on “Wanderlust”, which impressively stacks layers of pitch shifted vocal samples and disco infused synth patterns to delirious effect.

The Portishead sampling “Belong to the World”, ends up being the emotional centerpiece of the album, as it’s where Tesfaye gives up on trying to find “the one”; at least for the time being. Emotional disconnect is a theme on several tracks, and as the album unfolds Tesfaye comes to the conclusion that he isn’t meant to find love; his life draining personality is simply too much for the few people he wants to be with. When he sings /We’ll find a love in the sky/, he’s basically saying “we’ll find a love when we die”. He also ends up admitting that he isn’t a good person — which is a good thing, because with his repulsive, chauvinistic lyrics and women-as-objects philosophy, he truly isn’t.

Like Danny Brown, much of the subject matter here revolves around, well…being a douchebag, but if you’re listening correctly you certainly wouldn’t be tempted to follow in Tesfaye’s footsteps. Take the title track for example, which revolves around using a photographing groupie wandering backstage for sexual gain, /the only thing you’re taking, is your clothes off/. It’s a beguiling track that’s riddled with blood curdling screams, self provoked insomnia and the want to die young — but the harrowing tone makes it immediately clear that this is representative of Abel at his most distraught. One must realize that Tesfaye is playing the villain in these tracks. He’s testing his boundaries as a vocalist, and is eager to see how much he can get away with while singing in his majestic, silky smooth voice.

Kiss Land ultimately works because we feel like Tesfaye is trapped in this alternate, success bearing universe, in which all choices he makes are inevitable. On the chorus of the Drake featuring “Live For” when he sings /this the shit that I live for, with the people I die for/ he may be boasting, but it’s because boasting is all he has left. When you think about it, that’s actually quite traumatic, especially when one gives up their freedom to do so. All the built up emotions come to a close with the spectacular, piano driven “Tears in the Rain”, in which Tesfaye mourns his faded love affair and the lack of any remaining spark in his life.

Reviews so far for Kiss Land have been very mixed (currently holding a 67% on metacritic compared to the combined 83% of their previous releases), but I feel people are missing the point. There’s all this talk about this being an album about “the good life”, and to some extent, it is, but the word “good” becomes twisted to such an unrecognizable degree that we begin to fear the life we crave. Sure, there’s an abundance of questionable lyrics, but The Weeknd want them to be questionable. I dare you all to look a little deeper with Kiss Land, The Weeknd aren’t kidding around when they say this is their debut.

Track Listing:

1.) Professional*

2.) The Town*

3.) Adaptation

4.) Love in the Sky

5.) Belong to the World*

6.) Live For

7.) Wanderlust*

8.) Kiss Land*

9.) Pretty

10.) Tears in the Rain*

Album Highlight – *

Album Review: King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath The Moon

by Rio Toro

King Krule: 6 Feet Beneath The Moon

Similar Artists: Willis Earl Beal, Earl Sweatshirt, Daughn Gibson

Genre: Half-Rap, lo-fi, Blues, Soul, Dark-Wave?

Label: True Panther Sounds

Honesty goes a long way; it can turn an alright album into a great one, or a forgettable one into a classic. More importantly, when an artist opens his world to us, we tend to be more likely to invest our own selves into the music, creating a shared bond between the creator and listener. Also, albums where the musician lays themselves emotionally bare are the ones most widely accepted as art (Plastic Ono Band being the first thing that comes to mind). Although I don’t give any of the albums I review a number based rating or score, these are the ones that simply can’t be given one, as they must exist as creations of man and be embraced with any flaws or errors they may have.

Of course, if we want to be entertained, the artist must also complement this honesty or realness, with other, equally impressive feats; so it’s a good thing that King Krule’s attractive guitar playing and very untraditionally attractive voice make for such a harrowing mixture. So much, in fact, that his songs can, and do, often ride on those two elements alone; case in point being early single “Out Getting Ribs”, featured here in slightly tweaked fashion. It turns out though, that that introduction to this artist’s world was just the tip of the iceberg.

King Krule is London’s Archy Marshall, who previously recorded as Zoo Kid (until he remembered how awesome the Donkey Kong Country games were, I suppose). If you haven’t seen a picture of this dude, I recommend you do so right now, because between his grueling, darkly chilling baritone, boney facial structure and bright red hair — comparable to a young Ron Howard (albeit a tough-as-nails one) — there’s not much else that seems as haphazardly mismatched. After an exciting, self-titled EP and a few tremendous guest spots on releases from Mount Kimbie and Angel Haze, the teenager has released his debut full-length 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, and on his 19th birthday no less!

What’s so surprising and often hypnotic about these 14 tracks is how much diversity is played out among them. For a kid who wrote these songs around or before the time he was even legal, he has a perplexing amount of musical breadth and knowledge. It’s no wonder he has such a boastful aura surrounding him. His baffling range goes from the single ready, mood setting opener “Easy Easy”, to the tropical-tinged “Border Line”, to the falling apart emotional bombast of “Has this Hit?” within the first three songs alone. The record gets even more unpredictable from there though, as Krule chronicles his loss through a lustrous ballad,”Baby Blue”, the stomping, tour-de-force jazz of “A Lizard State” and the suicide-riddled dream piece “Cementality”. He’s also taken a thing or two from both the U.K. bass scene and the L.A. beat scene, and he uses the two to string together a darkly ominous mood that permeates the album in full.

Thanks to his penetrating voice, Archy is well equipped to deal with issues relating to hardship and heartache, and he manages to be pretty convincing no matter what theme he is tackling. His unique flow of singing/rapping feels very stream of consciousness, and although he will occasionally throw us a sour rhyme or a particularly unflattering slur (pussy, fat-bitches), he comes through as sincere. It’s also a good thing that his voice is always up front and center, because even after countless listens, its idiosyncratic qualities remain the true highlights of 6FBTM. I’ve become mesmerized by how he can at times have so much control over his voice, only to break out into a nearly undecipherable drawl a few measures later. Its like he’s letting his vocal cords hang outside of him and bleed onto his compositions.

Like every teenager should be, King Krule isn’t one to hold back. His compositions are raw and unfiltered in the way only a young artist’s could be, but he’s so much more than that as well. 6 Feet Beneath The Moon may not be for everyone, and it may only be a stepping stone in this artist’s hopefully long and fruitful career, but as it stands now it’s an unflinching portrait of Archy Marshall. The fact that he’s an artist who deserves to be heard just happens to be a huge plus for us.

Track Listing:

1.) Easy Easy*

2.) Border Line

3.) Has This Hit?*

4.) Foreign 2

5.) Ceiling

6.) Baby Blue

7.) Cementality*

8.) A Lizard State*

9.) Will I Come

10.) Ocean Bed

11.) Neptune Estate*

12.) The Krockodile*

13.) Out Getting Ribs*

14.) Bathed in Grey

Album Highlight – *

My Road To The VMA’s… Why Persistence Pays Off

by Ryan Shea

I can honestly say that the past three years for me have truly been quite the amazing trip when it comes to so many different facets of my life, yet one thing remains clear in all of them- I didn’t allow anyone else to make my destiny that is my life today. Three years ago, I was out of work with no money to my name, student loans were piling up and I started to think things like “Why did I even bother going to college” and “Fuck this economy” and so on and so forth. While I was out of work, I had a great conversation with a lifelong friend of mine who suggested that I started writing seeing as they know how much I love the music industry and they felt that would be a good platform for me to start with. And so my road to the Video Music Awards started…

I got hired by the multi-purpose website Examiner literally two hours after I applied. My original title was “Long Island Hip-Hop Examiner” which I was more than happy about having seeing as hip-hop tends to be my favorite type of music and ultimately my forte when it comes to writing. I started writing about my own personal feelings about the industry in itself and started getting a following shortly after that and was able to interview a bunch of acts in Long Island that weren’t always necessarily the hip-hop vibe. Regardless, it was a great starting off point for me but I never really saw it as a career because the pay was pathetically low and it didn’t pertain to what I majored in in college.

I continued to make leeway for Examiner for the next year or so but nothing really seemed to come out of it the way that I wanted it to. Finally I was granted passes to The Vans Warped Tour in July of 2012. It was there that I met a pivotal role model for myself, Glenn Gamboa at Newsday. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and is uber professional in so many different ways. Newsday is a paper that I have been reading since I was a kid on Long Island, and the thought of writing an article for such an esteemed paper really made me want to push myself harder than I ever have before. I came up with a great idea for the paper which he loved and I continued to work on it over the next month or so.

Around that time, I got an email from a PR agency out in Los Angeles asking me if I wanted to interview T-Pain. That’s right, chart topping, Grammy award winning hip-hopper T-Pain. I instantly replied back with an emphatic YES (or as I like to say lately YAAAAAAAAAAASSS) and interviewed him the next day over the phone. That was when it really set in that I was doing something right for agencies to feel comfortable enough for me to interview someone on that level and my drive, which I already thought was at an all time high, increased exponentially over what had happened.

I got to write for hip-hop site HipHopDX and do an in depth story about the never ending saga of beef and problems at hip-hop award shows, something that got me recognized by many up and coming rappers and people alike for just that one article. I also had a good stint at AOL’s “The Boombox” in which I interviewed legends in the game from LL Cool J to Fat Joe just to name a few. About a month later some sort of ubiquity happened. The article that I pitched for Newsday was finally becoming a reality. On February 19th, 2013, I woke up extra early to see where I would land in the paper. I am glad that I went into this with no expectations because I actually was the cover story in the supplemental section of Newsday called “Explore LI”. I was in total disbelief and shock and couldn’t have been more on cloud 9 than I ever was before. Just baffled that such an esteemed paper would take a new kid on the block and write something that they deemed worthy of a cover story. Truly blessed.

Around this time is when me and my partner in crime Lane developed this site, Manhattan Digest. Since its inception we have garnered close to 200K in views which is huge for a new site. I have been able to interview some really big people in the celebrity world for my site such as Kristin Cavallari to Andy Grammer and the writers for this site have gone above and beyond what was necessary of them to make this site a success. It is most likely the reason why I was granted a press pass to the Video Music Awards last week. I was one of 126 press outlets that were invited out of thousands and for that I am truly grateful and happy. The moral you should get out of this story is this- Be persistent, be patient, but above all realize that you make your own destiny in life. No one else does.

Cold Justice is Under Cooked and in Dire Need of Seasoning

by Michael Tyminski

Cold Justice: Tuesday Nights at 10p.m. On TNT

It seems like one of the trends that is starting to gain steam (at least on basic cable) is the proliferation of reality content on networks that up to this point had hung their hat on scripted series. Just this year alone, we’ve seen USA pick up Summer Camp, TBS debut it’s reality series King of the Nerds, and AMC trot out Owner’s Manual. One of the most pronounced shifts towards reality TV, however, has to be TNT, which went from being exclusively devoted to dramas (hence the tagline: We know drama) to unleashing both the Dwayne Johnson vehicle The Hero, as well as tonight’s offering, Cold Justice.

Cold Justice, comes from the brain of Law and Order mastermind Dick Wolf, and unsurprisingly, takes a similar tack to the iconic series. Former crime investigator Yolanda McClary and prosecutor Kelly Siegel travel around the country digging up unresolved cold cases (cases that have been dormant for years) in the hopes of bringing justice to the families of murder victims. The cases themselves range from about five to thirty years old and span from Ohio to Arizona.

So is the real life Law and Order as compelling as it’s drama counterpart? The answer to that question is the most emphatic of nos. While I laud the work that McClary and Siegel do, it’s very clear that the same factors that make them great at solving cases make them incredibly weak TV personalities. Both of them speak with the same clinical monotone, and neither shows a hint of personality at any point (even during their own introductions). This nondescript matter-of-factness extends to the narrator, who speaks in the same exact Ben Stein-like tone.

Similarly, the show relies on a very bland visual palate. The bulk of the show seems to take place in the same one office room, with white walls, white tables, and papers huddled all around. The closest the show does give to a solid visualization is a quick scene involving a turned shoulder in the dingy trailer bathroom that is the scene of the crime. However, the show seems perfectly content to tell (which as mentioned above with the leads– not so much the show’s strength) when it could show, something even most low budget true crime shows manage to find space for in the hour (even a cheesy re-enactment or lazy CGI modeling would do). When it does use visual effects, it mostly comes in the form of a nauseating (and unnecessary) 3-D effect to make words and still photos look like they were literally ripped forward out of the photo and/or page they came from.

To the shows credit, Wolf creates a very realistic depiction of the criminal investigation process. Unfortunately, since the criminal justice process involves a heavy amount of fairly mundane tasks, Cold Justice doesn’t seem to possess any of the interesting qualities that turn procedurals into hits and make the fine people at CBS lots of money. This would be fine if it built to any sort of confrontation, but the shows potential big moments (the interrogations, the DNA results, the big sell to the DA) ultimately fizzle out, thus making for a completely drama free and remarkably unexciting hour of watching people sit in an office and sputter the same points over and over again.

The Final Verdict (no pun intended this time around): Cold Justice is a bland pastiche that quite frankly had me ticking down the minutes to the end of the show. While there have been shows in the past that have offended my sensibilities (LA Shrinks), made me question the logic of the producers (Blood and Oil), and have been comically incompetent (Cult and Zero Hour), this is the first show that I found boring enough that I had to force myself to keep watching it. Skip at all costs and watch grass grow, it will be more entertaining.

Album Review: Forest Swords – Engravings

by Rio Toro

Forest Swords: Engravings

Similar Artists: Burial, Earth, The Haxan Cloak, Arca

Genre: Psych, Dub, Bass, Experimental

Label: Tri-Angle

In these perfectionist times, three years is not such an unreasonably long incubation period for a full-length album, but after the mouth watering psych-rock/dub fusion that Matthew Barnes concocted on his first release as Forest Swords — the immeasurably stellar Dagger Paths EP — his follow up has been one of the truly exciting things to look forward to in music. If you aren’t familiar with Forest Swords, ever since 2010, the English producer has gained wide acclaim and a steady cult following due to his unique, genre-melding style. Even with such a scarcity of material, he stands as a touchstone in today’s experimental music scene, and a prime example of how new forms of music are far from obsolete.

Much of Barnes’ success can be attributed to his singular musical style, which mixes the aforementioned genres with other, even harder to trace ones (noise, drone, jazz) into a living, breathing organism. However, while he’s rooted in the abstract, the music is given its levity through a sound palette that is earthly and humane. The appeal to Forest Swords lies with the array of sharp, psychedelic guitars mixed within heavily detailed and expansive electronic compositions. It can be a challenge to discern what is being sampled (if anything), as everything flows so seamlessly within one another. Although he does “borrow” the emotive, ghostly vocal samples of Burial, he does so in a way that remains naturalistic and evocative. For instance, the voices (which are mostly his own) often sound grainy and decayed from the inside out, yet they don’t lose their ethereal qualities through the process.

Atmosphere, however, is where Forest Swords truly makes its strides. Tracks often conjure images that are both nightmarish and skeletal, but strangely, these “dark” soundscapes are represented through stark, bioluminescent instrumentation. When there’s a key change, you’re going to notice, because this is music that tends to penetrate on a gut level; almost as if a post-rock or metal song were slowed down to an unrecognizable state. Needless to say, it lends itself more easily to woodsy, outdoor environments than clubby indoor ones, and due to its high emotive qualities, it’s perhaps most intended as introspective headphone music.

It turns out it was a good thing he took the time off, because this acts as the thirst quenching follow-up we’ve been waiting for. Matthew Barnes continues to develop his singular vision through Engravings — his first release for Tri-Angle — and he does so with a newly developed level of maturity that makes this his most refined release yet. While Dagger Paths had the ability to ride on the immediate shock and “wow” factor of its sound, Barnes knows he can’t simply repeat his previous successes — so this ends up being both a return to his former style as well as a move away from it. As a whole, Engravings does remain similar in style and tone to its predecessors — you won’t be mistaking this for any other artist — but thankfully, this effort isn’t a simple copy and paste procedure either.

This is a more restrained and minimal effort for the artist, and some of the immediate boldness on previous releases seems to have dissipated with age. Because it’s less showy and attention seeking than the Forest Swords or yore, it might take a bit longer than expected to sink in. Tracks like “Gathering” — which focus on spliced up vocal samples — sound particularly barren at first, and its clear Barnes is going for a more subtle, slow burning approach. It pays off though, and the structure of the album flows similarly to The Haxan Cloak’s Excavation (another exceptional Tri-Angle release from this year), as certain pieces act as interludes for more epic, single oriented tracks (“The Weight Of Gold”, “Thor’s Stone”, “Friend, You Will Never Learn”). However, if you want to get the full enjoyment out of this record, I suggest you play it loudly, as it seems the most profound aspects of the music are hiding.

There’s still plenty of risk-taking going on, such as on “Thor’s Stone”, which expertly introduces avant-jazz elements, or “Irby’s Tremor”, with its sharp orchestral flourishes. Piano is another instrument that is incorporated into many of these songs, sounding all the more curious for being the one element not treated with effects. Best of all are the vocals, which seem to be implemented in a fresh and interesting way on every track; he even works with the rare outside vocalist on the lovely “Anneka’s Bottle”. While what these vocals are actually saying is usually pretty undecipherable, I find this makes them even more emotive, as we are allowed to interpret them as we see fit. The finale, “Friend, You Will Never Learn” — if you can tell from the title alone — is particularly heartrending, and at 8 minutes it easily stands as a career highlight for the artist.

As good as it sounds now, i’m putting money down that Excavations is a grower. It’s a record that often causes me to feel hazy for minutes at a time, and I will often drift off into thought and miss entire songs. All the pieces are in their right place, but it’s almost as if I can’t see all of them in my current state. It would be too easy to say I occasionally get bored while listening to this album — but it’s really not that at all — I’d much rather blame my fading attention on how this is a record that sounds painstakingly, and most of all effortlessly, ahead of its time.

Track Listing:

1.) Ljoss

2.) Thor’s Stone*

3.) Irby Tremor*

4.) Onward

5.) The Weight Of Gold*

6.) An Hour

7.) Anneka’s Bottle*

8.) Gathering

9.) The Plumes

10.) Friend, You Will Never Learn*

Album Highlight – *

Tamra’s OC Wedding Is Middling at Best, Vapid at Worst

by Michael Tyminski

Tamra’s OC Wedding: Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern on Bravo

Happy Labor Day everyone! We are in September, which means tons of new TV around the corner (most of it hits around the middle of the month). Tonight we get the first show that could be plausibly called “new fall TV”, and it’s in the form of a spin-off of the series that has it’s long tentacles fully wrapped around Bravo TV.

Tonight marks the debut of Tamra’s OC Wedding. It follows Tamra Barney, one of the Real Housewives (Orange County edition) as she prepares for her upcoming nupitals to Eddie Judge. Presumably, like other similar spin-off series, this show will take us from engagement to wedding and will find at least six quality hours of looking for dresses, photographers, honeymoon destinations, wild relationship threatening bachelor parties, and of course, the big day at the end.

So, does the long elaborate process that comes with planning a wedding turn into compelling TV? Well luckily, Tamra tries to squeeze a level of grandiosity in such a short time frame (five weeks) that it feels like the Iron Chef of wedding planning. Luckily, her planner Diane Valentine is game for a ridiculously extravagant wedding. Needless to say, Eddie’s cries for simplicity will fall plaintively (though when you consider it’s his second and her third wedding, he kinda has a point).

While the dynamic that occurs between Tamra and Eddie works, it also ends up exposing the sheer vapidity of Tamra’s cause for the most elaborate wedding ever. This is particularly notable whenever a price tag comes up, showing Tamra’s desire for $2,500 wedding cakes, $100 hand delivered invitations with glasses of champagne, and an anticipated expenditure of $60,000 for food. Conversely, when a story from Heather’s bachelorette party ends up , it was amazing to see Eddie try to carve out some space to screw up later that night.

Needless to say, when Eddie tangentially screws up that night (someone buys him a lap dance, during which he commits the capital offense of being aroused while being ground up on), we see a total role reversal, with Tamra going berserk (because the takeaway of this whole show is that the wedding is to be entirely about her and not a partnership) and flipping out at Sapphire’s (the aforementioned strip club).

A pleasant surprise is the considerable restraint used on many of the production aspects of the reality show playbook. It’s tracking shots are used judiciously, it doesn’t seem fluffed to death, and any manipulative editing feels considerably less noticeable. Unfortunately, much to Bravo’s fiercest attempts otherwise, I felt much more likely to sympathize with Eddie at every turn over the very egocentric rantings of Tamra.

The Final Verdict: At it’s best, it can be light, empty, entertainment, but unfortunately Tamra’s OC Wedding often feels vapid and convoluted. As much as it tries to play Eddie as an affable antagonist, at no turn are you convinced that Tamra’s trials are the fault of anyone but herself, whether it’s blowing the budget or feeling the need to know what nasty lap dance her fiancee is receiving. While it’s no worse than many of it’s contemporaries, that doesn’t necessarily make it good. Check it out if you’re really into Real Housewives style drivel, otherwise skip it– there’s enough on Monday nights now that it’s the fall.

Hanson rocks the house at Paramount

by Ryan Shea

Ah, nostalgia. You never know when it is going to happen or where it is coming from. And last night, it hit me like a sack of bricks. Taylor, Zach and Isaac Hanson, better known as, you know, Hanson, came to the Paramount Theater last night in Huntington as part of their “Hanson Anthem World Tour” in which Long Island (Huntington specifically) was one of the lucky spots. Honestly, I originally went because a good friend of mine is a gigantic fan of theirs so I figured I would make her night and get us some seats and go. The turnaround was that I left in just as good spirits as she did, and was pleasantly surprised at how phenomenal they were in person.

Hanson really exemplifies what isn’t around in the music industry anymore, which ultimately is home-bred talent. They made an announcement during the concert last night that this marks their 20th year working together (which also made me feel elderly as two of them are around the same age as me) but it also made me realize how much of an accomplishment that is for a band to do itself. There is a good population of people out there who for one don’t know who they are because they were popular in the late 90’s and two only see them as that band that did “MMMBop”. Last night proved they were so much more than those near-sighted people and really gave quite a spectacular performance.

The opening performer of the night was Paul McDonald, who some might know for a couple of reasons. One, he was a top 8 finalist on season 10 of American Idol and he is also married to “Twilight” hottie Nikki Reed. Normally I don’t stick around for the opening act but he fit the bill completely and did great number after great number and I hope he breaks the American Idol curse per se of contestants who become a has been even though they are immensely talented.

Now, onto the main thrill of the night. Hanson did really a great mix of old and new stuff. The true fans knew all of the songs that they did whereas the former fairweathered fans (this guy here, now I am legit) knew the popular ones. Each song was incredible in its own way. They performed their new singles “Get The Girl Back” and “Been There Before” and also had some fantastic solo pieces from Zac (“Go”) and Isaac (“Love Song”) both of whom I have to say have cleaned up quite nicely since their long haired days in the late 90’s. Of course, to my delight and happiness, they did some of their classics such as “Where’s The Love”, “This Time Around” and the pivotal track that earned them Grammy nominations and adoration from millions of fans, “MMMBop”. The only song that was noticeably missing was my personal favorite song of theirs, “I Will Come To You”. Sad face indeed.

Overall the concert was great and if invited I would definitely go and see them again. Such a talented trio that I really hope sees the mainstream world again one day and ushers in a new generation of Hanson fans.

OPINION

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