#an original musical about an American World War II veteran who struggles to fit into his old life until he finds a purpose in a national rad

[js116]

Silent Planet’s Everything Was Sound

22 May 2021

A wee bit of background before we get to the main event:

Silent Planet is an American post-rock metalcore band from California headed by retired psychologist/therapist Garrett Russell, and Everything Was Sound is their second studio album. Released in 2016, this concept album did nothing short of blow my mind; the total runtime is 41 minutes, but it took me a couple hours to write out everything I picked up from each song. 

Everything Was Sound has thirteen tracks, standard, so that is the album I listened to for this review! For the purpose of sticking with the album’s story concept, I’ll be adding my standout lyric quotes with the description of the song, rather than sticking them at the end. 

- I want to post a warning before I get into this album: this one covers topics some may view as disturbing. There are mentions of death, suicide, war, several mental disorders including depression and eating disorders), politics, and generally dark themes. This is where you should stop reading if any of these will bother you. -

The concept for this album revolves around the idea of the “panopticon,” which describes a circular prison surrounding a central guard tower. There are bright lights shining down from the tower so that the prisoners cannot see into the tower, where they are told there are guards watching them constantly. The prisoners are isolated from the guards and each other, being unable to see into the tower or other cells due to the walls and the lights. This setup removes the autonomy of the prisoners, and the paranoia that the guards are constantly watching (whether there are truly guards in the tower or not) removes the will to try to escape or act out. 

This concept is introduced in the first track of the album, Inherit the Earth. This first song begins by referencing the events of the previous album’s last track (Depths II from album The Night God Slept, in which the viewer has a vivid vision in the forest before falling asleep) as having happened only a few hours before, and now the viewer is waking up in the woods to find it is starting to rain. The viewer (us) stumbles through the rain and the forest under they find a structure: the panopticon. They enter the prison to escape the weather, and so we are pulled into the story of the album -- a metaphor for the human condition. 

“We inherit the earth, we inherit the war / I inhabit the wound, I dwell in the harm / Oh how far we fall: We’re casualties of time / Oh how far we fall: Forgive existence.”

The second track, Psychescape, (and each subsequent song, except the last one) introduces us to the contents of one of the cells: Schizophrenia. The theme of this song is paranoia and delusion, and the tower’s lights and watching guards are revealed to us; there are two distinct, conflicting voices. 

“I waited on the tracks of reason / But my train of thought never came / It never came.”

“Scrawled across the walls the suffering saint cries out: / ‘Is it madness to retreat from the myopic gaze that holds us captive?’”

Dying In Circles, the third track and second cell, holds the prisoner Organized Religion. Heavily rooted in Biblical principles, I was surprised to find this track used those principles to highlight and call out the hypocrisy of the modern church; the gatekeeping, neglect of those in need, the isolation of outsiders. Silent Planet calls on systematic religion (particularly modern Christianity) to return to its original purpose: to care for others, rather than turn them away or determine their worth as an organization. They are charged with trading their religious superiority for the awe and compassion for humanity they once had; to return to being a religion about the life of God, rather than being solely about his death. I really do love the idea of the “Image of God” being represented by a homeless person sleeping on church steps. 

“Beside the shadow of a frozen chapel / Under the marriage of cross and crown / Outside the privilege of the ‘chosen ones’ / The Image of God is sleeping on the ground.”

“We are the eulogy at the funeral of God.”

“Trade your certainty for awe.”

The fourth track took me for a spin, personally, as I’ve encountered the prisoner described here myself. Understanding Love as Loss opens with a few brief lyrics outlining the suicides of writers Sylvia Plath (“Searching for solace in a toxic temple--” death by toxic inhalation), Earnest Hemingway (“Fragments of lead climbing through your head--” death by shotgun to the skull), Virginia Woolf (“Stones load your coat as you wade through the winter current / Dancing with the dead on the riverbed--” death by drowning), and David Foster Wallace (“Wanton hanging of the wise pale king.” death by hanging). 

The line immediately following the deaths of these writers stuck out to me, as a fellow writer who has struggled with depression: “And I see myself.”

The title of the song explains that love is sacrifice; you lose a piece of yourself when you love someone else. Lose that piece, Silent Planet urges in this song; lose that piece to another person instead of losing yourself to your suffering. 

Lead vocalist Garrett Russell: “[Sometimes with depression,] the world feels like there’s no color. Even if you can’t see the color, be bold enough to ask someone to describe the colors of the world to you.”

This song was my favorite this far into the album, for its bare, unflinching honesty on the subject. The footnotes for this song in the album booklet include the number for the National Suicide Hotline. I respect that. 

The fifth track, Tout Comprendre, draws its title from the first half of a French quote, and translates loosely to “To Understand All.” This song is an interlude, meaning it does not contain any lyrics, and it is the first of two interludes on the set. 

Immediately following Tout Comprendre comes Panic Room, a track that tells the story of a veteran who has come home, but is mentally haunted by the war. The lyrics take us to bloody battlefields in desert sands, and lay out the plague of terror-memories. Panic Room’s prisoner is PTSD, and it delves into the American treatment of returned veterans and their struggles with armed-conflict trauma. 

“Praise me for my valor, lay me in a crimson tower / Justify my endless terror as my ‘finest hour’ / Treat me as a token to deceive the child / Whom we fatten for this scapegoat slaughter / I learned to fight, I learned to kill, I learned to steal / I learned that none of this is real, none of this is real / None of this is real, NONE OF THIS IS REAL”

Just after this verse, there is a brief, almost total silence, before the song resumes. There are several breaks like this in the music; periods of calm between the intense music. 

We move on to the fifth cell and seventh track, REDIVIDER. This song threw me off at first; I thought the words were being reused and rearranged before I realized the song is a palindrome. About halfway through, the lyrics flip to mirror the first half of the song. 

“Death ran away then life flooded in world / This I am: Imbalance, beautifully so / Hands connected, perhaps… / Then dead reflections saw you / I did, didn’t I? / I didn’t, did I? / You saw reflections dead then / Perhaps, connected hands… / So beautifully imbalance: Am I this world? / In flooded life then away ran Death.” 

The fifth prisoner is Bipolar Disorder. 

Nervosa is the name of the eighth track; this one disturbed me the most out of all of them. My first impression of this song was, if you’ll excuse my Irish here, “Holy sh*t.” None of the imagery prior to this song was nearly as vivid and disturbing as it was here. The clean vocals (singing instead of metal-screaming) are very well done, capturing the desperation of the situation in a very raw way, which is fitting for the theme of the song -- this cell’s prisoner is the deadliest of psychiatric disorders, bulimia nervosa. The entirety of the lyrics are well-written (although, again, vividly disturbing), so I chose the most poignant of them.

“I am not my own reflection / I am not myself, I am not myself / I am haunted by a non-existent lover / The spectre, the ghost, the self-starving host / I am haunted by a non-existent lover / I was gifted with the vision but cursed to be the witness.”

This song, too, contains links to help services for eating disorders in the footnotes of the album booklet. 

We come now to the second interlude, C’est Tout Pardonner, titled after the second half of the French quote, the entirety of which translates to “To understand all is to forgive all.” The prisoner held in the two of these is ignorance. 

Just as C’est is the second, contrasting half of Tout, which was followed by war-themed Panic Room, so Orphan, the second, contrasting half of Panic Room, follows C’est. 

Orphan relays the perspective of orphans of war, the prisoners of this track. Particularly focusing on crimes against peaceful civilians (especially in the Middle East), Orphan also describes the reunion of two brothers on opposite sides of war. 

“I’m finding the violence -- it looks like me.”

“Terrified little son, encumbered by your sword / You can hide your fear, but won’t shed the weight of your humanity -- Humanity / You can face me toward the mountains / Where I meet our mother’s gaze / Too blinded by this hatred / To recognize your brother’s face.”

The eleventh track, No Place to Breathe, was both ahead of its time and should not have had to be written in the first place. The prisoner in this eighth cell is fascism, specifically within enforcers of the law. It dives into how easy it is to turn a blind eye to issues like systematic racism, police brutality, and inherent injustice, if these things do not affect us personally. There are three murder victims, (Eric Garner [2014], Hernan Jaramillo [2013], and Kelly Thomas [2011]) all killed by police, whose last recorded words are attributed in the song: “I can’t breathe.” 

Does that sound familiar from more recent news? This album was released in 2016, to give some perspective on how things have changed. 

“We shout at fascists, hands fixed on asphyxiating those in need / Place your hands to the pulse of this city / Keep your ear to the ground / Hear him gasp, / ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.’”

The ninth and final cell is explored in the twelfth track, First Father (which is the partner of a song called First Mother from their previous album). The final prisoner is the grief over losing a loved one. Switching between a rushing, loud tempo and a low-toned quiet of guitars and vocals, the song captures the process of moving forward through personal loss. 

“‘You pulled me through time,’ through the edgeless night / I’ll learn to love as you learned to die / I’ll begin to feel again and finish the chapter you couldn’t write / Candles in the dark, defiant to the night / Defiant to the shadow / You pull me through time, through the edgeless night / I learned to love as you learned to die.”

With the thirteenth and final song, we’ve literally come full circle and are finally at the prison’s central tower, where we discover we are the guard watching the prisoners. Titled after a line from the first track’s lyrics (”We inherit the earth[...] We inhabit the wound”), Inhabit the Wound tears down the guard tower, freeing the prisoners from the confines of their situation or disorder. Each of the nine prisoners reaches into themselves and retrieves a seed, which is planted in the place of the tower. The album closes with this image:

“The earth, with a final gasp, shook free from our inventions. Grace and nature reconciled as I heard ‘it is finished.’ The final seal was broken, the concussion blew me back -- I teetered on the edge of re-creation and the wrath. The nine lovers stumbled out of their shells of brokenness, they reached inside their wounds to find the seeds borne from their suffering. Coalesce upon me to plant the tree of life inside the heart of the machine. Reach inside -- heal the wound -- make us whole.”

I found this album to be an absolute masterpiece, and metal isn’t usually a preferred genre of mine. I’ve got to give this one five out of five symbolic and vivid frogs. Well done, Silent Planet, both in composition and in raising awareness about different types of struggle.

Next week I’ll be reviewing an album that was recommended to me, and that was released today: Twenty One Pilots’ Scaled and Icy.

Thanks for listening with me!

[thinkaboutnetwork-blog]

Tonys: Which Winners Stand to Gain at the Box Office?

Tonys: Which Winners Stand to Gain at the Box Office?

Getty Images Lead producer Stacey Mindich and the ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ team accepting the Tony for best musical The ceremony’s top honorees, ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and ‘Hello, Dolly!,’ already are playing to capacity audiences, but a handful of other shows should see a boost in traffic.

How do you translate Tony Awards glory into box-office bounty when you’re already selling every seat in the house?

[topbeautifulwomens]

#Kris #Kristofferson #model #cool #eyemakeup #fanart #instaart #lifestyle #maccosmetics #magazinecover #musically #photoshoot

A former U.S. Army captain who turned to songwriting and helped rejuvenate the country-and-western scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s with songs like “Sunworking day Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and “Me and Bobby McGee,” Kris Kristofferson made the rare successful segue into films. Making his acting debut as a singer in Dennis Hopper’s “The Last Movie” (1971), Kristofferson temporarily gained stature as an actor with “Cisco Pike” (1972), “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymuch more” (1974) and “A Star is Born” (1976). Though years of alcoholism and later triple-bypass heart surgery slowed down the momentum throughout his career, Kristofferson routinely bounced back better than before, establishing himself as a grizzled veteran performer and bona fide music legend.

Kristofferson was born on June 22, 1936 in Brownsville, TX. His father, Henry, was a major general in the Air Force, whose frequent relocations eventually brought the family to San Mateo, CA where Kristofferson attended high school and became a Golden Gloves boxer. After studying creative writing at Pomona College, in 1958, Kristofferson won a Rhodes scholarship and attended the University of Oxford, earning a masterâ€s degree in English Literature and developing a flavor for poetry – particularly William Blake – which informed his lifelong desire to write songs. But instead of pursuing that passion right away, Kristofferson instead joined the Army and flew helicopters. He was planning on starting a teverying job at West Point, but after a few weeks spent in Nashville with musicians and songwriters, his lifeâ€s goal changed forever. “It was like my salvation,” he later said to NPRâ€s Terry Gross. After developing a thriving music career – which included Janis Joplinâ€s heart-wrenching take on “Me and Bobby McGee” – Kristofferson made the transition into acting.

Kristofferson made his first big acting splash with a strong performance in Sam Peckinpahâ€s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” (1973), playing the famed outlaw who ignores the advice of his old comrade-turned-lawman (James Coburn) to flee to Mexico, choosing instead to meet his fate on his own terms. It grew apparent with each role, that the actor’s weathered good appears inflamed the hidden longings of women with his romantic roles opposite Ellen Burstyn (“Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”), Sarah Miles (“The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with The Sea”) and Barbra Streisand (“A Star Is Born”), but his rugged vulnerability appealed to men as well. Meanwhile, he seemed headed for a big film career, but instead, had the misfortune of starring in Michael Cimino’s disastrous “Heaven’s Gate” (1980), which seemed to put an end to his onscreen career. Kristofferson did rebound with two pictures for director Alan Rudolph (“Song Writer” 1984; “Trouble in Mind” 1985), but he located more substantive roles on television during the 1980s.

Despite the fallout from Cimino’s bomb, he continued to act in films that were smaller in scope. In addition to starring as Willie Nelson’s friend in Rudolph’s “Songwriter,” he also received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song Score, losing out to Prince’s Purple Rain. In a recycled plot that had already made the rounds on large and small screens, he flopped with “Welcome Home” (1989), playing a presumed dead Air Force officer back after 17 years in Cambodia. He costarred in the little-seen Civil War drama “Pharaoh’s Army” (1995), before demonstrating his range in playing bad guys as a racist sheriff in John Sayles’ “Lone Star” (1996), rejuvenating an A-record career nearly two decades in abeyance.

Having appeared on television since the early 1970s in music specials, Kristofferson made his TV acting debut alongside Muhammad Ali in the 1979 NBC miniseries “Freedom Road;” also appearing in two more acclaimed miniseries, “Blood and Orchids” (CBS, 1986) and “Amerika” (ABC, 1987) – the latter proposing a world in which the Nazis won World War II. He acted with friends Nelson and Johnny Cash in ABC’s “The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James,” and joined them and Waylon Jennings for the CBS remake of “Stagecoach” (both 1986), executive-designed by Nelson who would executive produce (and act in) two more CBS vehicles, “Pair of Aces” (1990) and its sequel “Another Pair of Aces: Three of a Kind” (1991). He worked steadily throughout the early 1990s in fare like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s TV-directing debut, “Christmas in Connecticut” (TNT, 1992), Showtime’s “Sodbusters” (1994), and the Family Channel’s “Tad” (1995), playing Abraham Lincoln in a tale of his presidency told from the point-of-view of his youngest son.

Kristofferson, who had flourished since “Lone Star,” was just warming up with the features “Fire Down Below” and “Girls Night” (both 1997), as well as a TNT movie “Two for Texas” (1998). He appeared in two pictures that opened on the same day in 1998 – “Blade,” as an obdurate vampire hunter, and “Dance With Me,” as the lone and remote owner of a dance studio. But even these were just mere preludes for perhaps his finest work ever, playing a character based on novelist James Jones in the Merchant-Ivory vehicle, “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,” adapted from the novel by Jones’ daughter Kaylie. In the deft hands of the Merchant-Ivory team (including screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala), Kristofferson soared earlier mentioned his “sensitive man” typecasting to deliver a multidimensional portrait of an assured but vulnerable patriarch; a role that fit the father of eight like a glove. In 1998, he wrapped an additional four projects; two for television – the ABC miniseries “Tom Clancy’s Netforce” and the CBS movie “Outlaw Justice” – and two for the big screen – DreamWorks’ “The Joyriders” and “Limbo,” reuniting him with the agent of his rebirth, director John Sayles.

As narrator for “Journey Inside Tibet” (1999), Kristofferson described the journey of flutist Paul Horn to Tibet to become the first Western musician to record inside the sacred temple of Potala Palace. In “The Ballad of Ramblin†Jack” (2000), he appeared as himself in this intimate portrait of folk music hero Ramblin†Jack Elliott. Kristofferson then made a rare foray into mainstream Hollywood fare with “Planet of the Apes” (2001), playing the captive human, Karubi, a forgettable role in a remake that turned off fans of the original. He later revived the character of Whistler, mentor to half-human, half-vampire Blade (Wesley Snipes), in “Blade II” (2002). In “Chelsea Walls” (2002), an art house film by first-time director Ethan Hawke, he displayed his acting chops as a middle-aged novelist struggling with his latest novel and an alcohol problem. Meanwhile, his collaboration with Sayles continued in “Silver City” (2004), a satire about politics and murder in the “new west” of Colorado.

Kristofferson once again played Whistler in “Blade: Trilogy” (2004) – the third installment of the horror trilogy that played more like a videogame than a movie – before appearing as a mental institution doctor in the thriller, “The Jacket” (2005) opposite Adrien Brody. Meanwhile, Kristofferson was rewarded for his outstanding music career, earning an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and receiving the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. He continued racking up acting credits, taking supporting roles in “Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story” (2005), “Fast Food Nation” (2006) and “The Wendell Baker Story” (2007).

Name Kris Kristofferson Height 5' 11″ Naionality American Date of Birth 22 June 1936 Place of Birth Brownsville, Texas, USA Famous for

The post Kris Kristofferson Biography Photographs Wallpapers appeared first on Beautiful Women.

source http://topbeautifulwomen.com/kris-kristofferson-biography-photographs-wallpapers/

[erickmalpicaflores]

Erik Malpica Flores Erik Malpica Flores recommends: What is Coming to Netflix in January 2019

UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT’s final episodes are coming to Netflix in January 2019, as are new seasons of FRIENDS FROM COLLEGE and A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. On the movie side, here’s your chance to stream SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, INCREDIBLES 2 and ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, as well as all of the INDIANA JONES films.

Related: What is Coming to Netflix Canada in January 2019?

January 1

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 3 (Netflix Original): In the series’ third and final act, the Baudelaires will stop at nothing to solve the mysteries of the VFD and end Count Olaf’s relentless pursuit.

Across the Universe

Babel

Black Hawk Down

City of God

COMEDIANS of the world (Netflix Original): This global, first-of-its-kind, series will showcase 47 comedians from 13 regions in 8 languages in an unprecedented stand-up comedy experience. The groundbreaking series will feature a range of stand-up specials from comedians diverse in style, gender and ethnicity. Get ready to start the new year off with a laugh!

Definitely, Maybe

Godzilla

Happy Feet

Hell or High Water

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

It Takes Two

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Jersey Boys

Mona Lisa Smile

Mr. Bean’s Holiday

Pan’s Labyrinth

Pinky Malinky (Netflix Original): Pinky Malinky sees the bright side of everything, including being born a hot dog. With his BFFs in tow, this little wiener takes a bite out of life.

Pulp Fiction

Swingers

Tears of the Sun

The Addams Family

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Dark Knight

The Departed

The Mummy

The Mummy Returns

The Strangers

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (Netflix Original): In a series of inspiring home makeovers, world-renowned tidying expert Marie Kondo helps clients clear out the clutter — and choose joy.

Watchmen

xXx

XXX: State of the Union

January 2

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

January 4

And Breathe Normally (Netflix Film): An Icelandic single mom struggling with poverty and a Guinea-Bissauan asylum seeker facing deportation find their lives intertwined in unexpected ways.

Call My Agent!: Season 3 (Netflix Original): Rising tensions prompt two agents to hatch a secret plot in a new season of showbiz antics with Isabelle Huppert, Monica Bellucci and Jean Dujardin.

El Potro: Unstoppable (Netflix Film): A singer makes a splash in the Tropical music scene thanks to his good looks and magnetism, but must navigate tragedy and the trappings of fame to survive.

Lionheart (Netflix Film): When her father falls ill, Adaeze steps up to run the family business — alongside her uncle — and prove herself in a male-dominated world.

January 9

GODZILLA The Planet Eater (Netflix Original): With the earth alliance weakened, Haruo weighs siding with the Exif, whose death cult is summoning a monster that can destroy the world.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

January 10

When Heroes Fly (Netflix Original): Years after a bitter falling out, four Israeli military veterans reunite and travel to Colombia in search of a loved one they’d presumed to be dead.

January 11

Friends from College: Season 2 (Netflix Original): Mistakes were made. Feelings were hurt. Life goes on. Now, with a wedding on the horizon, the gang tries to put the past behind them.

ReMastered: Massacre at the Stadium (Netflix Original): For years, the murder of Chilean protest singer Victor Jara was blamed on an official in Pinochet’s army. Now in exile, he tries to exonerate himself.

Sex Education (Netflix Original): Meet Otis Milburn – an inexperienced, socially awkward high school student who lives with his mother, a sex therapist. Surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, Otis is a reluctant expert on the subject. When his home life is revealed at school, Otis realizes that he can use his specialist knowledge to gain status. He teams up with Maeve, a whip-smart bad-girl, and together they set up an underground sex therapy clinic to deal with their fellow students’ weird and wonderful problems. Through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realises he may need some therapy of his own.

Solo (Netflix Film): In a remote area of the Canary Islands, young surfer Alvaro Vizcaino accidentally falls from a cliff. Seriously injured, he must fight to survive.

The Last Laugh (Netflix Film): Retired talent manager Al reconnects with former client Buddy, a comedian who gave up performing decades ago, and urges him to go back out on the road.

January 15

Revenger (Netflix Film): A former detective hell-bent on revenge infiltrates a remote island serving as a prison for dangerous death row criminals in search of a brutal fiend.

Sebastian Maniscalco: Stay Hungry (Netflix Original): Sebastian Maniscalco takes on life’s many annoyances with his singularly expressive approach in a live special based on his memoir of the same name.

January 16

January 17

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace

January 18

Carmen Sandiego (Netflix Original): Carmen Sandiego returns in this series that follows her new international capers as well as past escapades that led to her becoming a super thief.

Close (Netflix Film): To protect an heiress from highly trained kidnappers, a lone security expert must unravel a sinister plot — while striving to stay alive.

FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Netflix Original): The Fyre Festival was billed as a luxury music experience full of social media influencers on a posh island, but the reality was far from the promises.

GIRL (Netflix Film): In this award-winning drama inspired by a true story, 15-year-old Lara trains to become a ballerina as she transitions from her assigned gender.

Grace and Frankie: Season 5 (Netflix Original): In the return of this Emmy winning comedy, two friends launch a scheme to get their old lives back.

IO (Netflix Film): One of the last survivors on Earth, a teen races to cure her poisoned planet before the final shuttle to a distant space colony leaves her stranded.

Soni (Netflix Film): While fighting crimes against women in Delhi, a short-fused policewoman and her level-headed female boss grapple with gender issues in their own lives.

The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes: Season 2 Part B (Netflix Original): Award-winning architect Piers Taylor and actress/property enthusiast Caroline Quentin continue to travel the globe touring striking homes.

Trigger Warning with Killer Mike (Netflix Original): In this subversive comedy documentary series, rapper and activist Killer Mike and a team of funny correspondents explore socially relevant topics.

Trolls: The Beat Goes On!: Season 5 (Netflix Original): This season, the trolls get lost in wormholes, journey to the Fountain of Glitter, go for a ride in a submarine, play in the snow and more.

January 21

Justice (Netflix Original): Instead of joining her father’s law firm as her family expects, Farah strikes out on her own as a defense attorney after returning home to Abu Dhabi.

January 24

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (Netflix Original): Get a unique look inside the mind of an infamous serial killer with this cinematic self-portrait crafted from statements made by Ted Bundy.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

January 25

Animas (Netflix Film): When her best friend starts acting odd after a strange accident, a young woman descends into a living hell where nightmare and reality are blurred.

Black Earth Rising (Netflix Original): A contemporary thriller that follows the difficult journey of a woman, a Rwandan orphaned by the genocide, raised in London by an adopted mother, trying to discover the truth of her past. The series examines the West’s relationship with Africa, set in a world of prosecution of war crimes.

Club de Cuervos: Season 4 (Netflix Original): Chava and Isabel come to terms with their futures and the future of the Cuervos in an all-new season of surprises.

Kingdom (Netflix Original): In a kingdom defeated by corruption and famine, a mysterious rumour of the king’s death spreads as does a strange plague that renders the infected immune to death and hungry for flesh. The crown prince, fallen victim to a conspiracy, sets out on a journey to unveil the evil behind it all and save his people.

Medici: The Magnificent (Netflix Original): He already sacrificed his dreams of being an artist and marrying his true love. Will building and protecting the Medici legacy cost him his soul too?

Polar (Netflix Film): The world’s top assassin, Duncan Vizla, aka The Black Kaiser, is settling into retirement when his former employer marks him as a liability to the firm. Against his will, he finds himself back in the game going head to head with an army of younger, faster, ruthless killers who will stop at nothing to have him silenced.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 4 Part 2 (Netflix Original): As the series comes to a hilarious and moving close, Kimmy has to choose between helping her friends, Titus (Tituss Burgess), Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski) and Lillian (Carol Kane), and helping someone she’s never put first before: herself. This final season includes a double-sized “Sliding Doors” episode exploring how the main characters’ lives might have been different if Kimmy had never been kidnapped.

January 27

January 29

Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias: One Show Fits All (Netflix Original): In a new comedy special for 2019, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias discusses his teenage son, encounters with Snoop Dogg and an overzealous fan, and more.

Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp

January 30

Disney•Pixar’s The Incredibles 2

Coming Soon

Marvel’s The Punisher: Season 2 (Netflix Original)

Last Call – Titles Rotating Off the Service in January 2019

January 1

Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure

Blade

Blade II

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Catwoman

Face/Off

Finding Neverland

Friday Night Lights

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

I Am Ali

Interview with the Vampire

Into the Wild

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Kung Fu Panda

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Fifteenth Year

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Seventeenth Year

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Sixteenth Year

Like Water for Chocolate

Love Actually

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Marie Antoinette

Meet the Fockers

Meet the Parents

Million Dollar Baby

Monsters vs. Aliens

Mortal Kombat

Rent

Sharknado

Sharknado 2: The Second One

Sharknado 3

Sharknado 5

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens

The 6th Day

The Godfather

The Godfather: Part II

The Godfather: Part III

The Green Mile

The Iron Giant

The Princess Diaries

The Queen of the Damned

The Reaping

The Shining

January 4

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World

January 13

January 14

January 18

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

January 19

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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[paulisded]

Live Ledge #314: Best Records of 2017

As I was putting together this year’s list of my favorite records I came across a article from a music journalist claiming that lists such as this are idiotic. Since it’s impossible to hear every single album that was released over the year, nobody has the needed knowledge to proclaim anything as the year’s best records.

Come on. This is ridiculous. Nobody is claiming to have the definitive look at the year in music. I’ve never read any music critic claim to have heard each and every record.

But that doesn’t mean these sorts of think pieces aren’t worthwhile. Every writer, fan, or publication has an area of expertise, and if they’re honest they’ll admit to their cultural shortcomings. Mine just happens to include pop, hip-hop, and bro-country. I know that the new Kendrick Lamar is probably the year’s greatest musical achievement, but it’s not my thing. At the same time, I don’t need to hear the latest records by the likes of Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, or whatever Jonas Brother that still makes music. Why would I waste my time when I know I’m going to hate it?

The purpose of these lists aren’t for people to proclaim themselves as the world’s biggest music expert. They exist mainly because as fans we want people to discover records they may have overlooked. I look at dozens of these types of articles, from giant publications to local music nerds, hoping to discover something that I’ve missed. Inevitably, I find quite a few, and I hope that my yearly list does the same for others.

This is a good year for this type of exploration. It’s been the best year in music in quite some time. Oftentimes, finding 40 records worthy of inclusion is not easy. This year, I started with over 80 candidates, and it took quite a bit of soul-searching to cut it down to my usual length. It’s such a good year that artists that routinely reside near the top (The National, Spoon, Steve Earle) didn’t make the cut.

What is it about 2017? Why was this a fertile year for music? Given the state of the music industry these days, there really shouldn’t be such an abundance of fabulous tunes. My theory is that as the possibility of fame and fortune fades away we’re left with artists who just HAVE to create. It’s in their blood. A musician and/or songwriter is who they are, and they’ll carry on as long as they can.

What’s even more surprising to me is the number of great releases by veteran artists. So many of my favorites from years past came out with their best records in decades. Who would have predicted the return of The Jesus and Mary Chain? Or that Robyn Hitchcock would put out one of his best records? Or that Guided By Voices would release not one but two albums that weren’t full of half-assed, seemingly unfinished tracks?

So here are 40 records that I consider the best albums of the year, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on my picks. Let me know what records have turned your crank this year. Tracks from each of these albums were also aired on Live Ledge in a reverse, countdown format. Click here for Live Ledge #314, or nab it via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, or many other online spots.

1. Bash & Pop, Anything Could Happen. Anybody that knows me well probably knew this would be my favorite record of year. Yet the return of Tommy Stinson’s first post-Replacements band is even better than I ever predicted. It’s every bit as good as the 1993 Bash & Pop debut. In fact, it may be even better, as the original was Stinson’s first serious stabs at songwriting. Almost 25 years later, Stinson’s skills as a tunesmith has deepened, and combined with the Faces-ish feel of his outstanding bandmates this would have been towards the of any year’s list.

2. The Courtneys, II. The best description I’ve read of this great Canadian trio is “fuzzy, slacker pop”. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Yet that would be meaningless if it wasn’t combined with sugary, singalong melodies. There’s a bit of a Blake Babies influence, but I also hear elements of late 80’s post-Jesus and Mary Chain bands such as The Primitives.

3. Ty Segall, s/t. James Brown used to be called the “hardest working man in show business”, but he’s a slacker compared to what Segall accomplished in a given year. Besides his usual album and a handful of singles, he’s involved with at least a half dozen other bands, and is inevitably a contributor as a musician or producer on a ton of his friend’s records. This year’s main release is also among his best, as it flows in and out of a number of styles.

4. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Damage and Joy. It was a big enough surprise that the warring Reid brothers reunited for a tour in 2007, but few thought that would result in a new album by the groundbreaking 80’s noise-pop veterans. The fact that it took a decade for it to happen is probably a sign that not all wounds have healed over the years. Yet this album is a pure joy for any fans of the original run. Yeah, it rarely deviates from the patented J&MC formula, but if it works why fix it?

5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound. Easily the most acclaimed Americana album of the year, and it deserves each and every accolade. Isbell is at the top of his game, as rousing anthems comfortably sit next to heart-wrenching looks at crumbling relationships and the difficulties of chasing the American dream.

6. Guided By Voices, August By Cake/How Do You Spell Heaven. Robert Pollard has always been one of rock’s most prolific songwriters, and is also quite possibly the worst at quality control. Each and every year has seen a handful of albums that are frustratingly dominated by half-baked song fragments. 2017 saw the release of his 100th and 101st albums, and both of them Pollard’s best efforts in well over a decade.

7. Juliana Hatfield, Pussycat. How can a record of bitter politics sound so sweet? Juliana Hatfield is not happy with what’s happening these days, but it’s somehow inspired her to write some of her catchiest songs ever.

8. Warm Soda, I Don’t Wanna Grow Up. Let’s get this out of the way. Matthew Melton found himself dropped from his label earlier this year for comments he and his musician wife said about immigration. Having said that, the final record by Warm Soda is easily the best power pop record of the year. Can one separate the music from the opinions of the person who creates the music? That’s definitely a major question these days, and I’m not sure that’s entirely fair.

9. Kevin Morby, City Music. One of my favorite new finds of this year. Formerly of Woods and The Babies (not the 70’s pop band), Morby’s fourth album has been described as a tribute to New York City. While there is a definite nod to the Ramones (“1234”), the record’s nods to the metropolitan experience works with almost any skyline.

10. The Feelies, In Between. Hoboken’s greatest band’s first album in six years actually feels like a sequel to 1986’s The Good Earth. Those same loud/quiet dynamics are again the focus, but not in the Pixies/Nirvana way. Instead the record’s best songs feature a gradual buildup that ultimately turns into a cacophonic roar.

11. Beaches, Second of Spring. Certain albums deserve to be played in full. This is one of those records, even if it’s a 17-track double album. Each and every song of the all-female Australian psych rockers’ third album perfectly fits with what precedes and follows it. Sonic landscapes of fuzzy instrumentals dissolve into catchy pop nuggets, which then spins into more experimental fare.

12. L.A. Witch, s/t. This fabulous new trio is pretty much impossible to pin down. There are elements of 60’s girl groups, but it’s mixed with surf, rockabilly, psych, and garage rock. It’s sort of like if The Runaways had a bigger record collection (and minus the dictatorship of Kim Fowley).

13. Matthew Ryan, Hustle Up Starlings. Only a handful of songwriters can create intense environments with (relatively) quiet sounds. Matthew Ryan is one of them, and it’s simply because he completely inhabits the identities of the subjects of his songs. Those subjects tend to be the forgotten members of society. The people who struggle to find work, let alone keep their jobs. The people with regrets over past mistakes. People who need their voices heard.

14. Danny Dodge, Baby Let Me Be Your Mess. I know next to nothing about Danny Dodge except that I love this record. Discovered via bandcamp, the only information I’ve been able to find is that he’s a veteran of various garage and glam bands in Portland. This album definitely has elements of those genres, but there’s also a does of sugary jangle pop.

15. Waxahatchee, Out in the Storm. I’m not going to lie. I’ve found most of Kate Crutchfield’s prior releases to be a bit hit and miss. However, her fourth album under the Waxahatchee name is great from beginning to end. Credit may have to go to producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth), who primarily recorded the band playing live in the studio.

16. John Moreland, Big Bad Luv. After the success of 2015’s mostly acoustic High on Tulsa, it would have been pretty easy for Moreland to just copy the sound and production of that record. Instead, he wisely expanded into a full-band sound that accentuates his hook-laden songs of heartbreak.

17. John Murry, A Short History of Decay. Murry has lived quite the life. A second cousin of William Faulkner, his childhood was marked by undiagnosed autism. He eventually turned to drugs, and was hospitalized for both psychological and drug issues. Music may have saved his life, but it also led to other issues too numerous to list here. His second solo album was recorded in five days with help from members of Cowboy Junkies, and his heartbreaking songs detail much of his life’s lower moments.

18. The Cairo Gang, Untouchable. Discovered due to his summer appearance in town, Cairo Gang leader Emmett Kelly is best known for his presence on the last two Ty Segall records along with various Bonnie “Prince” Billy releases. The fifth album under The Cairo Gang, produced by Segall,  is truly a solo album, as Kelly plays that vast majority of instruments.

19. The Buttertones, Gravedigging. Another great bandcamp find, the debut release by this Los Angeles band is sort of like rock and roll history condensed into one full-length album. What other record combines surf, rockabilly, post-punk, garage, and psych with elements of The Clash and Cramps?

20. Meatbodies, Alice. I’m not going to lie. The name Meatbodies threw me off a bit. Yet once I heard this latest album by Chad Ubovich and crew I was itching for the rest of their discography. A little bit of research explained exactly why. Ubovich has spent time in Mikal Cronin’s band, and also plays in Fuzz with Ty Segall and Charles Moothart. Yep, it’s part of that L.A. orbit of musicians and bands.

21. Hurray For the Riff Raff, The Navigator. This record could have easily made the top ten, as the first half is about as exquisite as one could expect. Most of the second side doesn’t live up to that standard, though, so while it contains one of the year’s most inclusive record. Inclusive? Yes, leader Alynda Segarra combines various elements of Latina styles with classic American doo wop, folk, gospel and Motown sounds.

22. Alex G, Rocket. Alexander Giannascoli started off as a bedroom singer/songwriter who somehow got the attention of Frank Ocean. This led to his guitarwork appearing on a recent Ocean album, which has given him a weird notoriety that has very little to do with the lavish dream pop-ish sounds of his latest album.

23. Together Pangea, Bulls and Roosters. I first discovered this great band thanks to Tommy Stinson, who recorded their 2015 EP, The Phage. Their sound is firmly established in garage rock, but a bit quirkier than most bands of this type.

24. CFM, Dichotomy Desaturated. Here we go again. CFM is Charles Francis Moothart, who we’ve already noted is Ty Segall’s drummer. He’s also toured in Mikal Cronin’s band, is the guitarist/vocalist with Segall in Fuzz, and also participates in other Segall side projects. CFM is his band, though, and this second album is a great companion to that self-titled Segall album at the top of this list.

25. Old 97’s, Graveyard Whistling. After a few albums where the alt-country veterans took some mini-detours, this year’s model harkens back to the mid-90’s revved-up country roots. Leader Rhett Miller is still a master at turning a clever phrase, and the rest of the band has not lost a step.

26. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Lotta See Lice. This is something I’d love to see more often. Two critically acclaimed songwriters befriend each other on the festival circuit, and decide to collaborate on an album. Each of them brings some new tunes, and they both sing a song written by the other. Plus they cover a Belly song, and another tune written by Barnett’s girlfriend, Jen Cloher.

27. John Wesley Harding, Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding. Let’s get everything straight. The artist known as John Wesley Harding was born Wesley Stace. He uses his birthname on his novels, and has also put out a few records under that name. This year’s album, his best in decades, attempts to clear up the confusion over his name. His writing is still full of wit and snark, and who can’t love an artist who makes fun of the music industry? It’s also worth noting that his band on this album is The Jayhawks, who do a masterful job at staying out of his way but adding whatever elements are needed.

28. Flat Worms, s/t. Flat Worms would be considered a supergroup in some circles, as everybody in the band has played with artists such as Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Kevin Morby, and Dream Boys. Regardless of where they’re from, this collaboration doesn’t rely on the usual sounds that generally come out of the Segall/Cronin/Thee Oh Sees circle of friends. Instead, this is a bit of a tribute to the heavier postpunk bands of the past. There’s a bit of Wire, later Buzzcocks, and even some pre-grunge Seattle in their sound.

29. Wand, Plum. You know what I love about this band? First off, they’re prolific, as this is their fourth album in three years. They’re also a band that’s constantly changing, as none of their albums sound the same. Plum may be the best of the bunch. It’s certainly their most varied, which makes it next to impossible to describe as it flows in and out of various subgenres.

30. Dream Syndicate, How Did I Find Myself Here? Here’s another band I never expected to see release new music. And I certainly would have never predicted that anything they did record would be so great. Their first new studio album since 1988 is similar to the new Feelies record in that it’s like there hasn’t been any time between releases. It’s a perfect companion to their neo-psychedelic classics The Days of Wine and Roses and Medicine Show.

31. Palehound, A Place I’ll Always Go. Palehound leader Ellen Kempner recently lost her grandmother and best friend, and poured all of her grief into her second album. While that may sound depressing, it’s tempered by the fuzzy, alt-rock guitar rock that fans of Waxahatchee should love.

32. Son Volt, Notes of Blue. It’s been quite some time since anybody but the biggest Jay Farrar fans paid any attention to Son Volt. Weirdly, it took a recent obsession with Skip James and Mississippi Fred McDowell that led to a record that’s reminiscent of the band’s classic early records.

33. Robyn Hitchcock, s/t. Again, a veteran artist puts out his best album in decades. For his 21st album, Hitchcock actually gives a few nods to his Soft Boys power pop days, and that energy permeates through the entire album.

34. Ne-Hi, Offers. Chicago’s place in indie rock circles has certainly grown in recent years, thanks to the likes of Twin Peaks, Whitney, and our very own The Kickback. As they told me in an interview before playing Total Drag earlier this year, Ne-Hi originally formed to record a soundtrack for a friend’s film, and it worked so well they decided to become a “real” band. After a debut recorded in a basement, they hit an actual studio for this record, but the resulting still feels like the result of a marathon jam session.

35. Micah Schnabel, Your New Norman Rockwell. Two Cow Garage is one of our country’s most underrated musical jewels that took Americana and gave it a Replacements-ish edge. This record may be a solo record, but it’s really a more stripped-down version of a typical Two Cow Garage album. Which means, of course, that it’s brilliant.

36. Daddy Issues, Deep Dream. This list doesn’t have enough snotty all-girl punk rock, even though it’s been a great year for bands such as this. As my friend Gorman Bechard says, they’re so good that they can even make a Don Henley cover (“Boys of Summer”) sound great.

37. POW!, Crack an Egg. This is a record that one needs to hear on vinyl. The first time I heard this was a digital version, and it was way too dominated by their propulsive synths. The vinyl version, though, obviously still has this despised (by me) instrument prominently in the mix, but the analog version is highlighted by the deeper, fuller sounds of the entire band.

38. Damaged Bug, Bunker Fun. John Dwyer is another artist who obviously had little to no free time this year. Besides running a busy, successful indie label that’s well-represented on this list, Dwyer released records under the names Oh Sees and OCS. (Thee Oh Sees name was retired after two 2016 releases.) He also had time for his solo side project that relies more on electronics than his other bands. His third release under this name is a bit heavier, a bit funkier, and heavier on prog elements than his main band.  

39. Greg Ashley, Pictures of Saint Paul Street. Although a veteran of Texas garage-punk bands, along with a number of solo records, this record was my first hearing of this interesting songwriter. From the very first song, I heard a bit of Flowers-era Stones, mid-period Kinks, a pinch of Dylan, and even a touch of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen. Ashley’s songs may primarily deal with despairing, hopeless characters living on the fringes of society, but he manages to turn them into messengers of righteous anger.  

40. David Nance, Negative Boogie. Describing this lo-fi Omaha musician is next to impossible, as he’s anything and everything. There’s a bit of Crazy Horse at their one-take coked up best, quite a bit of Pere Ubu-weirdness, and maybe a bit of the Velvets and The Chills, and even a touch of 70’s outlaw country. Yet it somehow works, even when he throws in a surprise shambolic cover of Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings”.