#michael vallera

[dustedmagazine]

Luggage — Hand Is Bad (Amish)

Hand Is Bad by Luggage

Luggage clanks and rumbles, with force but no particular hurry. Its songs, and indeed itself as a band, combines the minimum number of elements for maximum impact. The three piece—that’s all-rounder Michael Vallera (Cleared, COiN, Maar and solo) on guitar, drummer Luca Cimarusti and Michael John Grant on bass—has been honing a corrosive, minimal wallop since the teens. They’ve got it down to essence: the steady throb of bass, the rupturing simplicity of drums, little torrents of guitar dissonance and words half-sung, half-moaned in the background.

The sound is very much like 1990s noise. It has the buzzing, bare-wire intensity of Shellac, but doesn’t run as fast or introduce as much rhythmic complication. There’s something of the Jesus Lizard here, too, though in a self-effacing way with far less frontman drama. You could also draw connections to Luggage’s Chicago contemporaries in FACS. They share a certain punchy, blistering desolation, a carefully deployed violence with lots of negative space in it. 

This is Luggage’s fourth album, according to Discogs, and it’s not radically different from 2019’s Shift, despite all the upheaval that’s come in between. “Hand Is Bad” follows a burly, bass-led riff into blinding firestorms of guitar noise. That’s likely the best part live, the part when the sound just rolls right over you. But it’s not uncontrolled excess. There’s structure and architecture in even the most overdriven intervals. And you can’t get lost. Cimarusti whacks the drums so hard it cuts right through the most extreme obliteration.

“Mirror It” sounds a little brighter, a little more major key. Its sawing, industrial strength riffs work laboriously up the scale, take a look from the top, and plunge back down like Sisyphus. Vallera is singing way down in the mix, something about mirrors and “exactly like it,” but it gets lost in torrents of mid-tempo agitation. You are not going to be humming these tunes in the shower, but you won’t forget them either.

Luggage’s music is heavy and full of distortion, but it also allows for contemplation, even lyricism. Listen, for instance, to how the guitar line goes exploring in “River,” finding a thoughtful path through monumental riffage. Or how the ground-shaking, steel-booted rhythm of “Sunshine through Your Teeth” allows for pensive, even introspective, leads. There’s a sensitive soul at the center of this massive machine, and whether it’s driving or trapped there is hard to tell.

Jennifer Kelly

[screamingforyears]

IN A MINUTE: // A POST_PUNK_ISH EXPRESS… // “CITY” is the lead single/track from INSTITUTE’s forthcoming LP titled ‘Ragdoll Dance’ (10/13 @usetogiveadamnbutnevrgaveafuk @lavidaesunmus) & it finds the OG Austin-based unit of Moses, Joe, Owen & Albert subtly swaggering their way across a 2:22 clip of primitive post_punk. // “MIRROR IT” is the latest single from @luggage_chicago’s forthcoming LP titled ‘Hand is Bad’ (9/29 @amishrecords) & it finds the Chicago-based trio of Luca Cimarusti, Michael John Grant & Michael Vallera operating in their minimally astute less-is-more approach across 3 ½ mins of dizzyingly droned_out AltRock. // “ANDY” is the flip/side to @mercury_tracer X @nyxynyxmortuary’s recently released 7” & it finds the New Mexico-based artist Madeline Johnstone linking up at “our house” w/ Philly’s Brian, Tim, Alex & Ben to bring 2 ½ mins of “heaven metal” meets “psychedelic gothic punk art rock freaks learning how to play the recorder in 3rd grade” vibing. // @strandedmusic is here w/ “VACANT SPIRITS,” the latest single from their forthcoming LP titled ‘Velvet Trace’ (9/27 @greymarketrecords) & it finds multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield’s Atlanta-based project reveling in the murk ‘n the mire across a 2:20 clip of rangily goth’d out & Bunnymen-esque PsychRock. // “I65” is the lead single from @vyva_melinkolya’s forthcoming LP titled ‘Unbecoming’ (10/26) & it finds the Louisville-based vocalist/guitarist Angel Diaz stretching out across 6+ heavily hazed mins of dreamy dissonance that packs the proper amount of six-string crunch & slacker’d AltRock punch.

[musicollage]

Michael Vallera — All Perfect Days. 2018 ; Denovali. [ support the artist ★ buy me a coffee ]  ~ [ Album Review | Dusted Magazine ]

The most opportune moment is for naught if you can’t grab it when it comes along. To make All Perfect Days, Michael Vallera struck a balance between preparedness and spontaneity. The Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist and visual artist’s previous solo albums sound fairly worked over, which each instrument evidencing post-recording interventions. This time he worked on the music for a good six months in advance, but actually recorded it at Chicago’s Electrical Audio Studio fairly quickly and limited the post-studio work to assembly, not processing.

The result is more immediate than his other recordings under his own name (Vallera also records with Maar, Cleared and Luggage).  The title track opens like a snapshot of a Phill Niblock composition, with a thick wall of sound that contains a swirl of activity behind a flat, unmoving surface. But because Mike is Mike, not Phill, the music takes another direction. An elegiac keyboard melody courses through the wall of sound, ending each phrase with a pedal point that both punctuates and fades into the big grind. “In Midafternoon” follows with a leisurely, resonant electric guitar melody that seems to be doing its best to evade the occasionally synth voices that loom in its path.  

These two tracks establish the album’s palette of looming surfaces, boldly unclothed tunes, and quietly subversive counter-melodies. One thing that’s missing from his earlier work is clearly stated, and its absence gives these tracks a tableaux-like quality that is at odds with the energy expressed by the elements that remain. It’s at this point that Vallera’s work as a photographer comes into play. The best photography can imply movement and action with static elements; All Perfect Days is likewise charged with kinetic potential even when it seems to be going nowhere.  

[musicmakesyousmart]

Michael Vallera - Divisions of the Source

Los Discos Enfantasmes

2011

[m3t4ln3rd]

Annihilus streaming "Draw The Beast"

Band: AnnihilusSong: “Draw The Beast” feat. Ryan WichmannDirector: Michael ValleraAlbum: Follow A Song From The SkyRelease Date: August 13th, 2021Label: Federal Prisoner Mastermind Luca Cimarusti said of the single: “This song features lead vocals in the verses by Ryan Wichmann of Chicago grindcore band Sick/Tired, and he also wrote the lyrics, which are based on Barry Windsor-Smith’s 1991…

[senorboombastic]

Album Review: Luggage - Shift

Album Review: Luggage – Shift

Words: Nate Holdren

Chicago noise rock trio Luggage have just released ‘Shift’, their third and newest record, on Corpse Flower Records. The band have taken their music in an even more minimalist direction, recording their most sonically sparse songs to date. Of the band’s three records, all of which are very good, Shift gives the listener the least to work with, the least help in making sense of…

[earinfluxion]

Cleared: “No Path to Claim” (Breaking Day, Immune 2012)

The fourth track from Michael Vallera and Steven Hess’s Cleared project’s second album encapsulates everything I like about the project. Thick, hazy ambience so dense it’s practically tangible, while bells and chimes resonate in the distance. It’s not as immediate as the title track or others from the album and feels more in alignment with the hushed drones of their debut, though its epilogue hints at the more overt musicality they tap into elsewhere.

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Ryley Walker - Mark & Kim’s Backyard, Flushing, New York, June 5, 2021

Feels good to be linking over to the venerable NYC Taper — to a recording of a Ryley Walker show in 2021! Of all things. Is live music really back? (Live music taping is back, anyway — there’s actually another source for this show. Thank you, tapers.) Ryley admits to a little rustiness, but he sounds great, playing tunes from all over his catalog, plus some choice covers of John Martyn, Jim O’Rourke, Bill MacKay and others. Anyway, it puts me in the mood to catch a show in person ... I haven’t done it yet, but maybe soon? 

The new RW record, Course In Fable, came out this spring, and it is fannnnntastic. In fact, since we’re here, you can read my little one-sheet essay about the LP, which Ryley asked me to write earlier this year. An honor and a privilege. 

Ryley Walker - Course In Fable

Ryley Walker currently resides in New York City. But his latest LP is a Chicago record in spirit. The masterful Course In Fable, the songwriter’s fifth solo effort, draws from the deep well of that city’s fertile 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The Sea and Cake and Gastr del Sol were reshaping the underground, mixing and matching indie rock, jazz, prog and beyond. Walker spent his formative years in Chicago, absorbing those heady sounds and finding ways to make them his own. Even though he emerged at first in folk-rock troubadour mode, it makes sense that he’s arrived at this point; each LP has grown more intricate and assured, his influences distilling into something original and unusual. To put it simply: Course In Fable is Walker’s best record yet, full of active imagination and endless possibilities. Last October, Ryley went straight to one of the primary architects of the Chicago sound to make the LP. John McEntire, Course In Fable’s producer/engineer/ mixer, can rightly be called a legend for his work with Tortoise, Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Jim O’Rourke and countless others over a prolific career that now spans more than three decades. Seeing his name in an album’s liners is pretty much a trademark of quality. Another Windy City exile, McEntire is based on the west coast these days, working out of the Portland, OR studio he’s dubbed Soma West. On the seven songs here, he delivers the signature shimmering and pristine sonics he’s become known for over the years. But McEntire was also intimately involved with Course In Fable’s overall creative process. “I told him to take the mixes and have at it,” Walker says. The result is a rich, immersive affair — a headphones record if ever there was one. Course In Fable’s songs are twisty, labyrinthine things, stuffed full of ideas (Walker half-jokingly calls it his “prog record”). But no matter how complex it gets, the album is never overwhelmingly busy. Wiry guitars melt into gorgeous string sections (arranged by Douglas Jenkins of the Portland Cello Project). Tricky time signatures abound but feel as natural as can be. Melodies o@en dri@ in unexpected directions but remain downright hummable. Like Walker’s beloved Genesis, the pop element is never too far from the surface even when shit gets weird. (And speaking of weird, Ryley says that in addition to Genesis, much of the album’s inspiration comes from “Australian extreme scooter riders on YouTube and balding gear heads on Craigslist.” Go figure.) To help put together these various puzzle pieces, Ryley assembled a band made up of several longtime collaborators. Bill MacKay (another Chicago mainstay) and Walker have made two excellent instrumental duo records of interlocking guitars and warm give-and-take — a rapport very much in evidence throughout Course In Fable. The freakishly talented drummer Ryan Jewell has performed with Walker for years now in a variety of settings, from straightforward song-centric sets to blown-out improv extravaganzas. Bassist Andrew Scott Young (Tiger Hatchery, Health & Beauty) has logged many miles on tour with Walker; he and Jewell are frequently astonishing, a buoyant-but-always-locked-in rhythm section, able to navigate sometimes dizzying turnarounds with apparent ease. Listening to the interplay between Walker and these musicians and you might be fooled into thinking they’d spent a year road-testing Course In Fable’s songs. But it all came together relatively fast, thanks to demos, rehearsals and the kind of musical empathy that comes from years of playing together. Beneath the wondrous interplay, you’ll find some of Walker’s most personal – if still typically cryptic — lyrics, hinting at some of the trials the songwriter has been dealing with in recent years. Balanced with necessary doses of dark humour and oddball poetry, Course In Fable feels most of all like a life-affirming record, fresh air in the lungs, sun on your skin. “Fuck me, I’m alive,” Ryley sings at one point, a moment of both disbelief and pure joy. Walker has released his albums on a who’s-who of independent labels over the past decade — Tompkins Square, Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey and Drag City among them. This time around, he’s doing it DIY-style, putting Course In Fable out on his own Husky Pants imprint. You’re in good hands. This is an album that sounds great (mastered by Greg Calbi), looks great (artwork by Jenny Nelson and design by Michael Vallera). It probably even smells great. Whether you’ve been onboard since the beginning or are new to the Ryley Walker universe, you’re in for a treat.

[tabloidtoc]

OK, March 29

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Panic at the Palace -- Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Duchess Kate Middleton

Page 1: Big Pic -- Kevin Bacon and Juliette Lewis were among the many artists who put on a performance for Linda Perry's Rock 'N' Relief Live Stream Concert Series, benefitting Sean Penn's CORE Response organization

Page 2: Contents

Page 3: Contents

Page 4: Sparks are flying between Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt on the set of their new action movie Bullet Train and not just when the cameras are rolling -- their chemistry is through the roof and Sandra lights up whenever she's around Brad and some of the cast and crew could swear they've seen him blushing in her presence -- Brad and Sandra have been hanging out more than your typical costars and they have a lot in common and seem to really enjoy each other's company and they'll frequently spend their breaks socializing and they can often be heard laughing over each other's stories and topics of conversations range from mutual friends and house repairs to more personal stuff, like kids

Page 6: Bruce Willis turned 66 on March 19 and as he celebrates the occasion, he has been reflecting on his life and it's been quite the journey but Bruce looks back at it all with that classic smirk

Page 7: Producers of the Gossip Girl reboot have been begging Blake Lively to join the cast of the new show but she's turned up her nose at the idea -- she's not ungrateful, because the original show made her star, but she closed the book on that part of her life a long time ago -- she's blissfully content in her role as a mom to daughters James, Inez and Betty whom she shares with her husband Ryan Reynolds and being a stay-at-home parent and filming an occasional movie sounds way more appealing to her than returning to that hothouse Gossip Girl universe -- she says she had her show and wants the new team to have theirs, but to die-hard fans, it still feels like a major snub

* After calling it quits on her romance with Ben Affleck in January, Ana de Armas is ready to play the field and Hollywood's heartthrob du jour, Rege-Jean Page has caught her eye and she was over the moon when the Bridgerton hunk recently signed on to her new thriller The Gray, which also stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans -- of course, Rege is gorgeous, but Ana also likes that he isn't your typical Tinseltown success story and comes from a rich cultural background, just like she does and she's hoping to get to know him better once they start shooting in L.A. -- while Ana has been warned that won't sit well with Rege's live-in girlfriend, Emily Brown, that doesn't seem to bother Ana

* Janet Jackson's life story is set to get the full documentary treatment next year, and no stone will be left unturned when it comes to her famously dysfunctional family -- the family is freaking out, as well they should be -- Janet will be brutally honest about her late father Joe Jackson, who bullied her and made her feel like she was nothing with out him but her siblings say they had it much worse especially when it came to Michael Jackson, who suffered verbal and physical abuse from Joe throughout his childhood -- Janet, who became a mom at 50 with her businessman ex, Wissam Al Mana, is also ready to tell all about their divorce and custody battle -- doing this documentary has been incredibly cathartic for her and she can't wait to shed light on her family's deep, dark secrets

Page 8: Angelina Jolie has been legally single for two years, and now she's finally ready to mingle -- she's been laying low since her 2016 split from Brad Pitt and she's feels it's time to get out there and she's eager to meet some new and interesting men and the mom of six is open to being hooked up by Hollywood pals like Ellen Pompeo, whom she was seen dining with in Beverly Hills and Angie likes the idea of dating a fellow A-lister who can relate to her about living in the spotlight and Ellen's been helping out with suggestions -- Angie is even open to joining an elite dating service and now the hunt is on to find a suitable bunch of candidates -- she wants fun and adventure again and after months of just being Mom, dressing up, putting on some perfume and engaging in stimulating conversation sounds good to Angie

* It's only been six months since Drew Barrymore launched her chirpy daytime talk show, but behind the scenes, she's on the verge of a major meltdown -- the multitasking mom who shares daughters Olive and Frankie with ex-hubby Will Kopelman, has no idea that juggling work and family would be this hard and she's feeling pressure from every side -- she desperately wants to be there for the kids, but she's trying to make her show a hit, and with her production company, she has a million others things on her plate as well -- the stressed-out star has also been chowing down on junk food and drinking too much caffeine so she can't get more than a few hours of sleep a night -- Drew doesn't want to let anyone down, but if she doesn't dial it back, she's going to collapse from exhaustion

* Matthew Perry announced his engagement to his on-off girlfriend Molly Hurwitz in November, but he seems to be having second thoughts -- he's crazy in love, but he's scared of messing up a good thing by making things official and he also worries what kind of husband he'll make given his health woes and battles with addiction -- Molly has faith in Matthew, but she can see wedding planning is stressing him out, even more so now that the Friends reunion is set to start shooting and he's pushing himself to go through with it, but his doubts are gnawing away at him

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars show some skin in dramatic decolletage-baring frocks -- Nicole Richie, Aja Naomi King

Page 11: Kate Hudson, Becky G, Mindy Kaling

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Kat Graham vs. Nicole Kidman in Erdem, Oliva Wilde vs. Bella Hadid in Ralph Lauren

Page 13: Danielle Bradbery vs. Paula Abdul in Hamel

Page 14: News in Photos -- Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox stepped out for dinner in West Hollywood

Page 16: Ariel Winter brightened up her monochromatic look with a pink face mask during a trip to the hair salon in West Hollywood, Justin Theroux went for a walk with his beloved dog Kuma in NYC, Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted on his daily bike ride in L.A.

Page 17: Susan Sarandon stopped to get her caffeine fix while shopping solo in Soho

Page 18: Lea Michele proved to be quite the doting mother while walking with her son in a stroller in Brooklyn, Lucy Hale and her dog Elvis were inseparable during an outing in L.A., Krysten Ritter took her RadRover electric bicycle out for a spin in L.A.

Page 19: John Stamos and his wife Caitlin McHugh stopped by an antique shop where they purchased a bunch of old goodies in Santa Monica

Page 20: This year, instead of a traditional runway show, Moschino released a 12-minute film featuring Karen Elson, Shalom Harlow and Amber Vallera wearing new styles from the Fall/Winter 2021 line

Page 21: Alessandra Ambrosio caught up with a pal while walking dogs in L.A., David Harbour eating a treat while out and about in NYC, Daisy Ridley stopped by The Graham Norton Show in London

Page 22: Amelia Gray Hamlin and boyfriend Scott Disick caught some rays while vacationing in Miami, Katie Holmes and boyfriend Emilio Vitolo Jr. color-coordinated their gray-and-black outfits for a lunch date in NYC, Rebel Wilson taking a walk around the neighborhood in L.A.

Page 24: While on the set of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Rachel Brosnahan shielded herself with a see-through umbrella, a newly brunette Lady Gaga in a white suit as she left her hotel in Rome to film the upcoming Gucci biopic, The Masked Singer panelist Jenny McCarthy gave herself a last-minute touch-up before posing for some promo shots

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Chelsea Handler's sleek setup -- she is checking out of her longtime L.A. home

Page 28: In 2009, LeAnn Rimes made headlines when she was caught hooking up with her costar Eddie Cibrian while they were both married to other people and now, more than a decade later, she is opening up about that time in her life and spilling secrets that she's never shared before -- looking back, LeAnn thinks it's unfair that she got raked over the coals like that and the public shaming caused her to suffer panic attacks and all LeAnn did was fall in love -- of course, there are likely big regrets about the way everything happened, but she and Eddie never meant to hurt anyone and they just had this connection they couldn't walk away from and a few months after their romance was revealed LeAnn parted ways with then-husband Dean Sheremet and Eddie filed for divorce from Brandi Glanville and they wed in 2011 -- while LeAnn has been a great stepmom to Eddie's sons Mason and Jack, she'd love to have a child of her own someday and she and Eddie have tried and tried with no success and now that she's pushing 40, they know time is ticking and they could always go the surrogate route, and they just might do it if it doesn't happen naturally in the next few months

Page 29: Liam Hemsworth has been dating Gabriella Brooks for 15 months, and he's so smitten that he could put a ring on it any day now -- Liam's made it clear that he's ready to walk down the aisle again after calling it quits in longtime love Miley Cyrus in 2019 -- everyone is thrilled because Gabriella is so sweet and easygoing, which is just what Liam needs -- Gabriella has already gotten the stamp of approval from the Hemsworth clan, who had long been skeptical of Miley and when Liam brought Gabriella home, his parents thought, that's more like it -- now that Liam's settled in at his new $5 million spread on Byron Bay, all signs point to him popping the question because he's never been happier

* Shedding post-pregnancy weight is never easy but luckily Katy Perry has a secret weapon to help her get back in shape which is Orlando Bloom -- Katy had already dropped 35 pounds since giving birth to the couple's first child, Daisy Dove, thanks to her fitness-obsessed fiance and Orlando has her eating five small vegan meals a day and he follows the same diet to make it easier for her, and Orlando makes sure she hikes or swims at least five days a week and those are the type for fun activities where he can join her -- Orlando's also her biggest cheerleader: during their recent Hawaiian getaway, Katy was nervous because she felt she hadn't lost enough weight but Orlando told her she was one sexy momma and he really is her biggest supporter

* Despite the pandemic, Nicole Kidman's remained one of the busiest women in Hollywood, which is getting under her stuck-at-home husband's skin -- while Keith Urban was forced to cancel his concert tour last year, Nicole had a whirlwind 2020, shooting her miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers in Australia and her historical thriller The Northman in Northern Ireland back-to-back and it's been incredibly hard on Keith because it drives him crazy not being able to get out there on stage -- Nicole hates seeing him the dumps, but she's told him he's lucky to be able to spend so much time with their daughters Sunday and Faith -- with Nicole set to play comedy legend Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos, which starts filming this spring, that can only put more stress on the marriage but Nicole has no plans to slow down, and she's not making any apologies

Page 30: Patrick Duffy and Linda Purl went from zero to 60 practically overnight, but their turbo-charged romance appears to be slowing down -- ever since Patrick and Linda reconnected last summer, the late-in-life lovebirds have been joined at the hip at Linda's Colorado home, where things have gotten too close for comfort because Patrick's a laid-back guy, but he hasn't had a moment to himself because Linda is always pushing him to get outdoors and do stuff with her and Patrick feels the need for more space and some along time -- spending every moment together and hanging on each other's every word was fun for a while, but they don't want to lose their independence and they realize they need to bring their relationship back down to earth if they actually want to go the distance

* After nearly five blissful years together, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are still going strong, and it looks like a baby could be in their near future -- Sam recently sent tongues wagging when he revealed that he wants to take their relationship to the next step and be a young dad and Britney is totally on board because she has always wanted another child and now with Sam raring to go, she figures it's the perfect time -- growing her family would be a welcome distraction from Britney's bitter battle with her father Jamie Spears over her controversial conservatorship

* Love Bites -- Jenni "JWoww" Farley and Zack Carpinello engaged, Morena Baccarin and husband Ben McKenzie welcomed a son named Arthur, Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata married

Page 32: Cover Story -- Palace in Crisis -- the Royal Family is in disarray following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell tell-all -- what really offended them was how much Harry and Meghan said they love Queen Elizabeth in one sentence and attacked the institution, everything she stands for and works for, in the next -- it's going to take a miracle for Harry to reconcile with his family after what he and Meghan revealed

Page 36: Celebrity Hall Passes -- stars reveal the Hollywood crushes their partners have granted as freebies -- Eric Decker gets Jessica Alba and his wife Jessie James Decker gets Post Malone

Page 37: Lisa Vanderpump gets George Clooney, Seth Rogen gets Charlize Theron while his wife Lauren Miller gets Brad Pitt, Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa both get Cynthia Bailey

Page 38: Taron Egerton gets Rachel Weisz while his girlfriend Emily Thomas gets Daniel Craig, Kyle Richards wouldn't let her husband Mauricio Umansky near Eva Longoria or Demi Moore but he gets a hall pass for Betty White, Beau Clark gets Bethenny Frankel while wife Stassi Schroeder gets Joaquin Phoenix

Page 40: Interview -- Queen Latifah -- the entertainment icon is having a blast kicking butt in her new TV crime drama The Equalizer

Page 42: The Great Outdoors -- these stars know fresh air and fitness make a killer combo

Page 46: Style Week -- Hailey Bieber has been named global ambassador for Superga's Spring/Summer 2021 season

Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- lifestyle brand Sporty & Rich just launched chic athleisure pieces to help you look effortlessly cool this season -- Amber Valletta

Page 49: Stylish Shades -- shop Ashley Graham's flattering frames the model's new collection with Quay

Page 50: Chic House Dresses -- trade knits for airy frocks that will make you feel beautiful all through spring -- Whitney Port

Page 52: Girls' Getaway -- planning a safe spring break with a few BFFs? Pack these stylish essentials to easily look fab on the fly -- Rita Ora

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 55: Q&A with Wayne Brady

Page 58: Buzz -- Lady Gaga sent the internet into a frenzy after sharing a behind-the-scenes photo of herself with Adam Driver from the set of their Ridley Scott movie, House of Gucci

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Cardi B on staying away from celebs, Mary Steenburgen on husband Ted Danson, Kate Hudson on her iconic yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Page 61: Paul Bettany on his stunt with Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code, Jada Pinkett Smith on not focusing on exterior beauty at age 49, Nikki Bella on being intimate with fiance Artem Chigvintsev, Charlize Theron on homeschooling, Julia Garner on her roles of choice

Page 62: Horoscope -- Aries Jessica Chastain turned 44 on March 24

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Paris Hilton

[13melekradyo]

Güncel drone/ambient kayıtlarından bir seçki // A selection of recent drone/ambient recordings. Download.

01 – Apparat – Tolga 02 – epic45 – Private Path 03 – Michael Vallera – Blue Mind (excerpt) 04 – Patricia Wolf – Lament (excerpt) 05 – Frederik Valentin & Loke Rahbek – The Heart Of Things 06 – William Ryan Fritch – Progress Traps 07 – Ivan Kamaldinov – Deco 08 – Stromboli – Dive 09 – Teleplasmiste – A Goodly Company 10 – Tengger – Achime 11 – Hakobune – Furiko

[screamingforyears]

IN_A_MINUTE: // AN INDIE EXPRESS… // @explosionsinthesky are back w/ “TEN BILLION PEOPLE,” the lead single/track from their forthcoming LP titled ‘End’ (9/15 @tempresltd) & it finds the long running Austin based quartet of drummer Chris Hrasky & multi-instrumentalists Michael James/Munaf Rayani/Mark Smith once again expertly soundtracking our post_rocked lives. // @hurryband are here w/ “PARALLEL HAUNTING,” the latest single from their forthcoming LP titled ‘Don’t Look Back’ (8/11 @lameorecords) & it finds the Philly-based quartet of Matt Scottoline (vox/guitar), Rob DeCarolis (drums), Joe DeCarolis (bass) & Justin Fox (lead guitar) power_poppin across 4 mins of horn-laden & six-string jangling Indie.  // “LOVE IN NEW MADRID” is the second single from @johnny.dynamite’s forthcoming LP titled ‘The Tale of Tommy Gunn’ (9/6 @bornlosersrecords) & it finds the Brooklyn-based artist John Morisi detailing the titular Tommy’s experience of “finding love in new places when you least expect it” across 2 ½ mins of bouncily retro’d NuPop. // @luggage_chicago are here w/ “HAND IS BAD,” the lead single/title-track from their forthcoming LP (9/29 @amishrecords) & it finds the Chicago-based trio of Luca Cimarusti, Michael John Grant & Michael Vallera bringing the minimalist goods across a tension filled 3:36 clip of knotted up post_post_hardcoring_punk. // “SKIN IN THE GAME” is the second single from @slowdiveofficial’s forthcoming LP titled ‘everything is alive’ (9/1 @deadoceans) & it finds the UK-based quintet of Rachel Goswell (vocals), Christian Savill (guitars), Nick Chaplin (bass), Simon Scott (drums/electronics) & Neil Halstead (guitars/keys/vocals) dropping a sub 4 min bout of surgingly simmered DreamPop.

[eatwhelksleepwhelk]

Michael Vallera - Deep Sleeping Exit

[soundaslanguage]

Michael Vallera - Window In (Denovali)

released March 27, 2020

RIYL: Forest Management, Celer, Grouper

Window In is Michael Vallera’s third full length album, all coming in the last four years. Vallera deconstructs guitar recordings through sampling to create something completely removed from their original state. Moving in and out of the void, Window In is haunting ambient drone lingering through the darkness only to arrive back where you began. Yet everything looks much different now.

https://michaelvallera.bandcamp.com/album/window-in

[sinceileftyoublog]

Live Picks: 10/8

Joanna Newsom; Photo by Annabel Mehran

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Emphasis on the strings.

Joanna Newsom, Thalia Hall

Joanna Newsom has labeled her current tour (which includes her current four-night stint at Thalia Hall) The Strings/Keys Incident, solo performances including only voice, harp, and piano. She hasn’t released a record since 2015′s fantastic Divers, (also one of our favorite albums of that year), so expect her to play from that plus her three other beloved solo albums.

William Tyler, Constellation

We’re huge fans of instrumental guitar artist William Tyler here at SILY, having loved albums like Modern Country and his live performances. Tyler’s most recent album came out at the beginning of the year; Goes West was produced by heavyweights Bradley Cook and Tucker Martine and features contributions from other guitar gods like Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy and Bill Frisell (!) as well as bass from Cook and percussion from Dawes’ Griffin Goldsmith. He also recently released an Aquarium Drunkard Lagniappe Session including covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”, Yo La Tengo’s “Tears Are In Your Eyes”, and pieces by Dvořák and Handel.

Local experimental artist and photographer Michael Vallera opens.

[albumcore]

Michael Vallera - All Perfect Days (Full Album) [iTunes]

Michael Vallera – All Perfect Days (Full Album) [iTunes]

Michael Vallera – All Perfect Days (Full Album) [iTunes]

Released: May 25, 2018

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[theseventhhex]

Michael Vallera Interview

Michael Vallera

Michael Vallera is a musician and visual artist currently based out of Chicago. His first solo LP Distance was released on Opal Tapes in 2015 after a series of cassettes under the pseudonym COIN. ‘Vivid Flu’ is the second full-length solo recording from Michael Vallera, and his first on the Denovali imprint. The record is committed to pushing the electric guitar into new territory among a latticework of samples, piano and machinic stutter. The five tracks operate as a fever dream, filled with confusions of space and the cosmic thrum of post-industrial life. The total image is an obscured perspective on something once familiar… We talk to Michael about his latest collection of songs, Ryley Walker and future plans…

TSH: Talk us through your creative process when forming new music…

Michael: I’m working on stuff all the time, so that helps keep me motivated. I’m involved in quite a few musical projects. I find that I always have the right frame of mind when it comes time to doing a solo project, I think it’s a slower process for me compared to other musicians I know. It all starts on the guitar, mostly in my home studio space and from there I’ll gather and track my music with some of my friends based in Chicago who are also musicians, which is always helpful for gear. I guess it’s a process of collage really; I’m just piecing it all together.

TSH: The next steps lead to studio time…

Michael: Well, I’ll gather all the preliminary material that I’ve self-recorded and take it into a studio. I recently went to a studio in Chicago I really like for the first time, ‘Electrical Audio’, this place has a great history, and it had the space that allowed me to find the sound I was searching for. Everything I’ve pre-recorded gets put through a lot of the outboard gear in the studio and all of the proper guitar tracks I record in the studio too. It’s great to just to be able to have access to certain microphones that I want and certain spaces too.

TSH: How were you looking to take the guitar into new territory?

Michael: I feel I used the same amount of guitar that I always do. Whenever you hear pad or a synth in my work, a lot of the time it’s still a guitar or some kind of process that’s implementing the electric guitar. I’m always trying to make progress with the processes that I’m using. Basically, I’m trying to conjure new sounds or create a certain type of mood with guitars.

TSH: In what way does the machinic stutter come into play?

Michael: I’ve had elements of this on previous releases but with this album I tried to take it a step forward for what I’m doing personally in terms of my studio process and that’s how it came into play. There was a lot of attention paid to the inequalities that have to do with rhythm or repeating percussive phrases and stuff like that - I spent a lot time digging and manipulating those.

TSH: What was your thought process with the title track?

Michael: A lot of music with rhythm or electronic drums these days is very much a dance type of material, it’s all across the board these days and that’s what’s going around. I didn’t want this record to have anything to do with that, which is implied straight off with the opener and title track. This track, as well as the album, is completely interior and of myself. I wanted this track to operate more as a score in terms of how it moves with the beginning and end. It pretty much necessitates a filmic and classic ambient energy.

TSH: ‘Drug’ also resonates with a cinematic outlook?

Michael: For this one, the guitar and drum machines were straightforward. I’m a huge 4AD fan and that type of sound was inspiring for this track, I guess I was aiming to articulate that type of influence through my own sort of personal type of lens.

TSH: What’s it been like being signed to Denovali records alongside so many like-minded musicians?

Michael: It’s been really incredible. I’ve been doing my thing for a while, but my music isn’t really suited for normal places or even live performances. My sounds are suited to more specific places, thus making it more difficult music to push out; I mean you can’t throw it on at a social gathering, ha! It’s music to listen to by yourself or with one other person and Denovali totally gets this. I’ve had great experiences working with them and they have huge goals to get my music to reach Europe. I like that they have a different type of attention that they pay to their artists. Denovali respects their artists and delivers for them in a certain way, which is most important to me.

TSH: How would you sum up the live performance atmosphere that you aim for?

Michael: I’m a really big control person in terms of how things sound on the front end and how things are presented live. I’m not a laptop performance type of guy, that doesn’t mean that I’m against it; it’s just not for me. Whilst I’m performing there’s an element of a backing track, but it’s essentially just me and an electric guitar and couple of devices. Also, it’s important for me to have a visual interface as well, especially as a solo person performing electric guitar. My shows have always gone over well and they are not too complicated to produce. I always try to tailor the sound to whatever space I’m playing.

TSH: Having a friend in Ryley Walker must be great for your musical undertakings?

Michael: Definitely. First and foremost, I’m a guitar player and my main goal is to always get better with it. Part of this is playing in a lot of different contexts. Ryley is a really close friend of mine and a great musician, I’m touring with him now and he’s just always assisting me. It’s great to travel and tour with him, as it’s yet another way to be able to keep playing and learning.

TSH: How do you like to unwind?

Michael: I don’t ‘get to unwind much man. You know, I work full time. I do physical modelling, like model building, it’s for an architecture firm in Chicago and I like that they give me a lot of freedom with my music. I guess in between writing and touring, I like to travel. I usually try to get out West a couple of times a year, if I can. Also, photography is another hobby that keeps me intrigued.

TSH: What do you feel will define your musical path as you look ahead?

Michael: I just want to contribute to the conversation of music really. I’m not tearing things apart or breaking new ground, but that’s not what I’m about, I simply want to be part of the music conversation and create a space within it. I guess I just simply take it as it comes. In the wake of what’s happening with this country, just being a part of a community of close friends, musicians and artists, whilst continuously creating - that is liberating. Music is just something I get up and do continuously; this is how it’s been for a long time.

Michael Vallera - “Distance”

VIVID FLU