Manhattan Digest

Album Review: Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe

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.

Owner’s Manual is Off Model

by Michael Tyminski

Owner’s Manual: Thursdays at 10 p.m. Eastern on AMC

One of the more subtle underpinnings of TV’s unscripted genre has been the notion of life imitating art. This can come from many possible angles, including: blatant real life knockoffs of hit shows (Real Housewives in all of it’s forms), testing the plausibility of what happens in other media (Mythbusters just did a special devoted to Breaking Bad’s most plausibility-shattering moments), and the increasingly common tactic of finding a cliché or stereotype and running with it (Duck Dynasty feels like “blue collar reality”). It is from that third well that AMC debuts it’s newest show, Owner’s Manual.

Owner’s Manual operates on the age old observational comedy yarn about men being seemingly incapable of asking for directions on anything whether from a book or another person. The show puts this theory to the test by having it’s hosts Ed Sanders and Marcus Hunt try to operate some of the world’s most intricate machinery, with Marcus insisting on being “by-the-book” while Ed is more “on-the-fly”. Each week brings not only the challenge of book vs. instinct, but also forces the two to collaborate in order to complete the week’s challenge.

Our first episode involves our stars trying to learn how to operate a plane in a dogfight not too dissimilar from the Top Gun. In order to make it there, however, Ed and Marcus must perform some basic maneuvers and prove that they can handle gravitation. Marcus aces the first test as Ed passes out almost immediately when the plane goes into a tailspin. However, it’s Ed who seems more adept at feeling his way through loops and spins. The two do ultimately get to dogfight, but it’s Marcus who gets the upper hand solely for knowing the phrase “permission to engage”.

So how does Owner’s Manual play out? Well not as well as you think. While the show is built on book learning vs. gut feeling, but at the end of the day, most of the major learning comes from asking questions, making the distance between Marcus and Ed’s approaches not nearly as far as you’d think. This is made even less distinct when one considers that the second challenge often ends up requiring some sort of teamwork. The end result is a show that ends up showing the primacy of a hybrid approach to tackling any sort of project.

The show’s remedy for this is to have a never ending string of trash talk. Basically, unless something goes horribly wrong mid-challenge, the two only communicate through smack talk, which while entertaining, also ensures that we will never glean any deeper into this rivalry, making this the sort of show that makes you feel like once you’ve seen one episode, you’ve seen them all.

The Final Verdict: Owner’s Manual feels pretty middling. It’s inoffensive, but at the same time often blows it’s own internal logic to smithereens. It sets itself as a hardened rivalry, but ultimately leans on teamwork, co-ordination, and the expertise of others (which doesn’t particularly count for either of it’s supposed methodologies) in order to have successful teamwork. Furthermore, the show seems like the sort of enterprise in which a well constructed SNL sketch would probably capture the show well enough that you would never have to watch it to see what comes next. Skip this one, it’s pretty mediocre in what typically tends to be one of the hottest contested time slots on the dial.

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 – *

The Spectacular Now: Summer’s Surprise Masterpiece?

by Peter Foy

Now-a-days, it really does takes a lot for me to get chocked up while watching a film. This didn’t always used to be the case, as I remember being on the verge of tears as I watched Darth Vadar cut off his son’s hand in The Empire Strikes Back, or watching two childhood friends hold a battle to the death in Akira, or even seeing Michael Jordan being taunted by alien scum in the vastly underrated animated masterpiece that is Space Jam. In recent years, however, I’m lucky to catch a new movie that I could even term as “sad” in a manner that’s a compliment. It’s a real shame too, as as I grow older I sometimes wonder whether it’s because I’ve just been exposed to so much more now, or if it’s because I myself am becoming more emotionally cold and didactic. Then, however, something will come along that will come across to me as so human, and so heartfelt, that I will have that pleasing sense return to me, both in a nostalgic fashion and in a way that’s completely fresh to my being. More frequently these are actually real events that happen in my life, but in this most recent case it happened to be from watching a movie. That movie was The Spectacular Now!

Adapted from the eponymous novel by Tim Tharp,the film is a teen-romance set in the present day. The film’s protagonist is Sutter Keeley (Miles Terry), a high school senior who thinks he has it all. He’s popular, has an active sex life with his girlfriend, and equipped with a car and a steady job (something not all teenagers have in today’s economy). Still, Sutter also has insecurities to him, that aren’t completely hidden. He’s a budding alcoholic who constantly needs to be sauced, and he’s also deeply upset that he never got to know his father who left their family while he was still at a young age. After breaking up with his girlfriend, he rebounds by having a long night of drunk driving, eventually waking up after passing out in front of the hous of a classmate, Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). She’s different than the females he usually mingles with as she’s not the wild type, but the two almost immediately seem to bond. Not long after this chance meeting they begin to date.

This is a movie that comes off as realer-than-real in terms of confronting the high school experience. Writers Scott Neustadler and Michael H. Weber (who also penned (500) Days of Summer), really know the lingo of the today’s high-schoolers (albeit slightly exaggerated so that it’s not too esoteric), and ardently avoid coming-of-age story cliches. What’s more, they’ve also found the perfect director for the film in James Ponsoldt. Those that saw last year’s Smashed can verify that he is a solid visual stylist, as well as a film maker that can conduct a satisfying comedy-drama ratio, but his script for the film was very modest and played it a bit too safe at parts. For The Spectacular Now, however, he’s working with a superb script, and one that really tests his girth. The film has a rather dreamy feel to it thanks to effective music and filmmaking cues, and he also knows exactly when to hold back. There are several times in the film where the screen cuts to black, and it serves to have audience members either catch their breath, or evaluate what just happened.

Also, the subject matter in the film is very reminiscent to what Ponsoldt explored in Smashed, only this time the substance abuser is even younger. While the film is about young love, it’s also just as much a film about alcoholism, which is handled in a very delicate manner. Flasks, beer bottles, and pitchers frequently surround Sutter, and while there’s only one scene in the film when a character comments about his drunken state, the raw emotional scenes in the film are enough to tell us viewers that Sutter’s drinking is well past the mentality of simply being a social activity. When the film delivers us a brief yet harrowing image during it’s final act, it could have come off as a cheap shock tactic in a lesser film, but here it feels mandatory towards the film’s communicating on it’s rough message.

Of course, this is a romantic film, so no matter how great the writing and directing is, the film needs chemistry between it’s two leads above all else. Fortunately, Teller and Woodley are simply resounding, with the two leads not only seeming to really be in love (wait till you see the sex scene!), but they fully understand the unique traits of their characters. Teller’s performance fluidly merges with the fact that Sutter is a character who plays it cool, yet has deep emotional problems in his life. It’s a performance that actually recalls Richard Dreyfuss’ role in the underappreaciated 70s film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Woodley is an actress I’ve been intrigued with for a bit, as while I happened to think that The Descendents was quite possibly the most overrated film of 2011, I was really impressed with her performance. In the Spectacular Now, however, she continues to proves she a vibrant talent in Hollywood’s under-25-crowd, and really went the extra yard to make Aimee connect. She gained a little bit of weight for this role to make the character look more normal, and she also settles on a sense of charm and care for this character that just seems right. Also while we’re talking about cast, I have to mention (even if it’s just of interest to fans of great television), that it was just so great that they managed to cast Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Mr Show) and Andre Royo (The Wire) in bit parts.

The most remarkable thing about this film is that the complete impact of what I just saw only became apparent the moment the credits began. I was enjoying the film the whole way through, yet I couldn’t shake away from my mind that The Spectacular Now was a bit too generic in some regards. For some reason though, the scene’s ending just had all it’s parts come together in such a sublime fashion, that it made me realize that I had just watched something really special. In my mind, the movie went from a B to an A in just a millisecond. Simply put that this film is the teen-romance that critics have been waiting to see for a very long time, and hopefully this will be the sleeper hit of the summer.

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 – *

Breaking Bad: The Legend Ends – Blood Money

by Peter Foy

*Warning: Spoilers a plenty*

So Hank just got an inkling that Walt is Heisenberg, and he already tried to bust his fucking skull.

That’s what I love about Breaking Bad so much. It always manages to subvert our expectations, while also playing it logically and staying within the show’s very distinct nature. Gilligan has said before that “once you tip your deck you have to show it.” This serves as the reasoning as to why some revelations on the show have come fairly quickly where other shows would drag them on for perhaps seasons. For example, by season 3 the writers decided Skyler should become aware of Walt’s secret life, which has certainly worked wonders for the show’s direction (even if her character hasn’t exactly become a fan-favorite). Now here we are where we have a face-to-face confrontation between Hank and Walt only one episode after Hank’s shocking reveal, but if you think about it, it’s been a long time coming. Walt’s crimes have been under Hank’s nose the whole time, not to mention it’s been a whole year since we the audience have seen the last episode’s shocking cliff-hanger. In a way, Vince Gilligan was very kind to us patient viewers by letting us catch a glimpse at the long gestating Walt Vs. Hank arc.

Aside from that pivotal scene, however, Bloodmoney acted as a great re-entry point for Breaking Bad’s final season, and once again it began with a flash-forward. Last year’s season premiere started off with a flash-forward in which we see that Walt had changed his identity and purchased some rather heavy artillery for unknown reasons, but now we’ve seen a bit more of what’s to come. This premiere does indeed begin with another flash-forward scene, with Walt returning to his old house which has now been vacated, and left in shambles. We see a group of teenagers skateboarding on his drained pool, and even more damning is a graffiti mark in his former living room that reads Heisenberg. We now know that Walt is going to be revealed to the public as a drug dealer, and perhaps even become a living urban legend. Of course, the real kicker is when we find the reason Walt has returned to his abandoned home. In pure Breaking Bad form, we discover that Walt is here to reclaim the vial of ricin that he hid here back at the beginning of the season. Whatever the reasoning for Walt’s doing this, we know that everything is coming full circle, and that there will be no loose threads hanging.

Returning to the present, however, we find that Walt seems to be doing fairly well with his ordinary life. He’s opened the car wash that he and Skyler have been talking about, and we see that he’s become a family man again (albeit it’s very possibly just a guise for him at this point). Still, Walt’s past is never far behind. Lydia, the cowardly woman who helped Walt commit a brutal prison slaughter-fest last season, has come back and is demanding Walt’s help again. It’s clear to me that this woman is intended to be the proverbial monkey wrench for Walt’s plans, and there’s no question that she’s going to be the sole reason that everything fucks up.

Then, of course, there is Jesse Pinkman. We first see the character hanging out with a few of his stoned-out buddies, who supply a bit of levity for us. His friends are talking about an absurd script idea for an episode of Star Trek, but Jesse’s mannerisms let us know that he isn’t in the mood for such bafoonery right now. He goes to Saul and ask that the millions of dollars that Walt left him be sent to the parents of a boy they killed, as well as the granddaughter of Mike Ehrmantraut. Of course, when Walt hears about this he immediately goes to Jesse and asks him to put such a thought behind him, knowing that this money links them to their crimes. Walt once again shows how casually dishonest he’s become, as he tells Jesse that Mike is still fine even though he is his murderer. Jesse however, finally seems to be catching onto Walt’s lies, as he tells Walt that he feels Mike must be dead, and he thinks that he knows it.

More so than any other character on the show, Jesse has really gone through the most pain and soulful torment. He’s in direct contrast to Walt who has grown power-hungry and merciless, Jesse feels like shit about all the death and destruction their drug dealing ventures have caused. He has become the show’s most sympathetic character. Jesse does something really unexpected later on in the episode, as he drives around town throwing stacks of money out onto the street. It kind of acts as a parallel to Walt’s attempt at morality back in season 3 when he contemplated burning his money after the plane crash he caused. The difference here though, is that Jesse was actually able to give his money away, and perhaps it suggests that the character might achieve redemption before the final credits roll.

Getting back to the Walt and Hank scene though, it really was the perfect way to tie up this extremely successful premiere episode. It shows that both of these characters (whom we know so well at this point) are both onto each other. Walt’s not so thinly veiled threat to Hank (“If you don’t know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly”), is the ideal set up for the chess game these two characters are about to play with each other. Walt certainly feels almighty after killing several drug game big-shots, and then being able to “leave” the game physically unscathed. Of course, through the episode’s haunting flash forward, we know that Walt is about to be outed in at least several ways. Next week’s episode can’t come soon enough!

Episode Rating: 4.5 Bags of Blue Crystal out of 5

Low Winter Sun Doesn’t Burn So Bright

by Michael Tyminski

Low Winter Sun: Sundays at 10 p.m. Eastern, AMC

One of 2013’s most recurring TV threads is that this year feels like a year of transition. As veteran series either end (Breaking Bad, The Office, Dexter) or are winding down towards a 2014 conclusion (Mad Men, It’s Always Sunny, How I Met Your Mother), networks are trying to tie their new chosen favorites to these aging favorites in order to get viewers to hang along for the ride into the future. We see this tonight in AMC’s attempt to keep the Breaking Bad crowd hooked in with its’ newest entry: Low Winter Sun.

Low Winter Sun delves deeply into a corrupt police force in America’s most dysfunctional city: Detroit. When Detective Frank Agnew (Mark Strong) murders one of his own colleagues in a fit of passion, he finds himself at the mercy of one of his corrupt colleagues in Joe Geddes (Lennie James). Now he must figure out how to navigate the aftermath of his actions as well as the corrupt underworld that can now force his hand.

If there is one word I would use to describe Low Winter Sun, it is competent. By that I mean that on the little technical measures that can affect how a show is perceived, it manages to handle then in a fairly average to above average manner. The camerawork is solid, conveying the grime and emptiness that comes from the show’s setting, contemporary Detroit. The score, similarly enough, conveys this sort of mood, using a lack of fanfare more often than not as well.

The acting is also generally very strong. Lennie James, who plays bad cop Joe Geddes ends up popping off the screen at every opportunity, while playing a character who is one part cop, one part hustler, and one part ruthless sadist. Mark Strong, who also played the lead character in the original British mini-series, excels as Agnew, a conflicted but honest man who realizes that while he was desperate, he was also duped.

So if the surface elements are there and performed well, and the acting is superb, then why is a show like Low Winter Sun fail to resonate on the same level as many of the best dramas on TV (like perhaps it’s lead-in)? Much of that comes from the show’s pacing, as it opens on the climactic murder that the show’s main storyline hinges on (without really doing a sufficient job of showing Agnew’s desperation), before slowing down (to the point where some of the scenes feel like pure filler) only to spike the action with a big twist at the end. Unfortunately, when scenes seem to exist solely to space out plot points as opposed to providing character development or further building the world in which these characters live in, it makes it harder to get attached, especially when they crowd out moments that potentially provide resonance: Frank gets drunk and rambles about why he has to kill a man, but instead of providing some more coherent set-up (maybe devote a couple of scenes instead of a quick and nonsensical flashback?), the show finds room to place a redundant scene of Frank in the bathroom.

The Final Verdict: Low Winter’s Sun feels like a doppelganger for any dark, gritty, urban, contemporary drama in the last few years. All of the surface elements are there: the profanity, the darkness, and the bleakness of the world, but unfortunately it’s not backed by any real plot hook or emotional resonance in order to compel further viewing. This is a shame, as the central pairing of Mark Strong and Lennie James both do superb work. Check it out to see James light up the screen, but I can’t imagine it becoming appointment viewing when there are better options in that time slot.

Big Brother 15- This is some bullshit.

by Ryan Shea

I wrote something similar a little while back regarding Big Brother but since then the level of bullshit and ridiculousness that has happened in the house has gotten so out of control that I really just can’t hold my tongue anymore. The fact that this season has turned into what it has is really the producers to blame but seeing as they are pulling in a decent amount of viewers this year I am sure that they are laughing all the way home, so why would they care who is hating the show this year?

First off, after the double eviction on Thursday night, I can firmly say that the majority of this country feels that there is no one left to root for. Not that there really was in the first place. The men are getting decimated one by one and the two people that went home on Thursday were ones that I was rooting for the go the long haul (Judd in particular). Did anyone else think it was kind of ironic that the two racist pigs in the house got rid of the African Americans each week? Hmmm. Oh and Gina Marie you are a disgusting troll who in the real world could never get a guy like Nick. Saying the things you said about Asians and African Americans, especially what you said to Candice on her way out the door regarding her mother, really shows the kind of person that you are and I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see how much America hates you and that you got fired from your pageant job (I really am curious to know how in god’s name she got that job in the first place).

This being said, let me break down each person that is left to give my personal opinion on them. Normally I would rank this from who I like the most or who I think is playing the best, but I really think all the people that are left are frankly terrible so let’s just leave it at that-

1. Helen- I was originally Team Helen in Week 3 when she won HOH because I felt that her group was the outcasts that finally got some power. Over the weeks though, her cocky attitude has really rubbed me the wrong way and she is completely in the dark about how Amanda and some other people really want her gone. The icing on the cake came on Thursday night when Aaryn won POV and she said “Girl, you are Janelle. Don’t you realize that?” Or something along those lines. Aaryn being Janelle is like Melissa Joan Hart being Meryl Streep. In other words, not even close. Helen, shut up seriously you are annoying.

2. Aaryn- or shall I say Aryan. Good god girl. The funny thing about her is that if she NEVER said anything racist or did that stupid shit that she did early on in the game most of America would actually be rooting for her. That’s the funniest part. She’s won three HOH’s and a POV and clearly is a smart cookie when it comes to winning things. Unfortunately, she’s listening to what everyone else wants. The fact that BB hasn’t rigged it to get her out so we can all watch that eviction interview like they rigged Jeff winning everything really annoys me because that would be riveting television.

3. Gina Marie- you are a waste of space. You are a joke. America laughs at you. Take Nick’s hat off. Nick- run for the hills dude.

4. Spencer- As a fellow bear, I find Spencer the only attractive man left in the game as he is quite cute. That’s as far as I am going to go about this. He is alone in the game and will be put up every week because these houseguests are going with the majority each time and refuse to put power players up so they will go after him until he gets home. No shot in winning in the game.

5. Jessie- Cute girl but at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of an alliance. Her winning HOH would’ve been crucial as she is the only houseguest left who I feel would go against this majority bullshit, but seeing as she didn’t its a matter of time before she enters jury.

6. Andy- Andy is the most pathetic houseguest they have had in a very long time. He also is another awful example of a gay man playing this game. He can’t keep his mouth shut and tells Amanda everything. He’s formed an alliance with Amanda and McCrae, which is stupid in the sense that if they are in the final three together they aren’t taking Andy. Andy is a true floater that just like some other houseguests can’t make a decision for themselves.

7. Amanda- Girl, you are getting a phenomenal edit this year. In the house, you are a ballistic psychopath who has gone after pretty much everyone and their mom this week. You are another person that I can’t wait to see your reaction when you find out that America put your ass on the block twice and not Judd (who should still be there). Amanda has said some pretty racist stuff in the house too, which I think is unfair for them to not show seeing as Aaryn has gotten the brunt of everything so far. She is the one to beat in my opinion because everyone in this house is scared.

8. McCrae- Amanda’s right hand man. He hasn’t had to do much because of her, so I really see him riding this to the end as I predicted a while back.

9. Elissa- Who?

I really, really hope that someone goes back into this game as they have done in other seasons. If so, bring Judd or Candice back and please have them kick one of these people out. There has been a common thread in the past couple of seasons in that the person that wins the game is generally a likable person both in and outside the game (Ian, Hayden, Jordan, not Rachel). I just hope the show comes to their senses and realizes this and does something about it. Because if Aaryn, Amanda or Gina Marie win this game I will lose it.

Sneak Peak Sunday- The Como Brothers

by Ryan Shea

The Como Brothers are a couple of the guys that I have had the pleasure of writing for over the past year. I really am a firm believer in if you really strive for something you can definitely make it happen, and these guys are a great example of that. Well, now things are really kicking into high gear with the announcement that they are finally coming out with their first full length album in the coming months and now as a part of our “Sneak Peak Sunday” series you get to listen and see the videos of their two first singles off the album.

The first of the two tracks is called “Straight Face”. The song gives a really good Micheal Buble’ type feel to it with its laid back energy and feel to it. It’s also uber cute with the chorus going something like- “Yes I can say it with a straight face you’re lovely to me. I’ve been thinking about your kisses sitting under your tree”. Aw. Definitely a good lead off single in my opinion and a great video to go with it as well.

The second preview on Sneak Peak Sunday is called “Late Nights”. (Sidenote, love how both these videos are clearly shot on Long Island. Represent yo!). Unlike “Straight Face” this song has a darker and deeper feel to it, reminiscent of The Wallflowers “One Headlight” or something more recent like Imagine Dragon’s “Radioactive”. What I really love about this song and these guys is their ability to change it up in all their songs but keep it as authentic as possible in any arena.

Go ahead and support these talented guys. Buy “Straight Face” and “Late Nights” here and for all things Como Brothers log onto their official website for more information.

Matt and Andrew Como (22-24 years old) are songwriters and musicians that value organic music, musicianship, and songs with original integrity. All of their songs are credited as written by Matt and Andrew Como. Music is not a hobby of the brothers but a way of life and a career. Early in life their Dad and his brothers played music at family parties and Matt and Andrew were inspired along with their parents encouragement, to play music. They played in various bands throughout high school and are now an experienced live act playing in bars, festivals and local shows most weekends over the past years. In 2010 they began The Como Brothers Band and have been pushing forward for their dreams of a long term career in music.

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