VOLUME FOUR
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE
LOONY ________ RICKIE McCANNA TOOTHGRINDER _________ SUPERCRUSH HOVEY EYRES
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE VOLUME FOUR - QUARTER FOUR
FOR THOSE WHO ARE COMPELLED TO WEAR THEMSELVES DOWN TO THE FLESH & BONE IN ORDER TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT SHOWS THEIR HEART.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE C R E AT I V E T E A M
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Brandynn L Pope DESIGN
Brandynn L Pope WRITERS
J a m e s L i a m Wa rd PHOTOGRAPHERS Ashley Altus
Brandynn L Pope Cassie Deadmond
W W W. O B S E S S I V E C O M P U L S I V E M A G . C O M E M A I L fleshbonemagazine@gmail.com I N S TA @obsessivecompulsivemag
AURAL 46
WRT
ALBUM REVIEWS
J A M E S L I A M WA R D
VISUAL
06 TOOTHGRINDER
10
C A R LY B O O M E R
18 SUPERCRUSH
24
HOVEY EYRES
32
RICKIE MCCANNA
PHG
BRANDYNN L POPE
42 LOONY PHG
BRANDYNN L POPE
TOOTHGRINDER You are all from a variety of musical influences. Would you care to expand on that?
Let’s focus to I Am. How long have you been holding onto some of these songs?
I can speak for myself and say that I have a very punk-rock, underground, alternative background. When I was a kid my first band, or style of music that was other than what my parents were listening to was punk-rock. It spawned hardcore, post-hardcore, and eventually metal and deathmetal ... Really all forms of underground music. Both of my parents are pretty big music fans so I’ve always had a background of classic rock, blues and R&B. As far as other guys in the band, I know that Johnuel is a big Prog-Rock fan. He went to college for music so he’s really big on the techy stuff. Will is kind of the same as me and has a punk rock background. Matt was in a couple of blues and jazz bands in High School. As for Jason, I think he was pretty much a metal head from the beginning. We all have a lot of eclectic views on music so have have a lot of arguing when writing about music these days. I think in the end it kind of works out. You’re two months after the records you forget about the fights and you forget about the pettiness, you look back on it and get excited. Everything everybody put into it ... We created something.
A few of these songs we have had licks, hooks, and riffs that have been circling in the band for a while now, probably even towards Nocturnal Masquerade or right after that. We’ve changed our writing style a lot since our EP as well as Nocturnal. We took a lot of these songs that we’ve had and take a riff or two out of them and build on them. We used to be a lot more scatter brained and were all over the place. As we’ve gotten older we’ve tried to concentrate a little more on song writing. Instead of having twenty riffs in a song, we try to have two or three and then go from there.
Yeah, because at that point it all makes sense. Mhmm, which is funny because in the middle of it you think every little tiny detail is make or break or the end of the world. But at the end of it you are like, “Awesome, I’m glad we did this.”
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With this process, were you all together writing? Before we hit the studio everybody worked on it where usually the rhythm section will be together. So the drum and bass or drum and guitar, will be working on some sort of rhythm and riff and finding some foundation for the song. Once we get a solid foundation they will send me the song and I will start working on vocal melodies. I don’t get deep into lyrics until we are in the studio because I get so caught up in the stream of consciousness way of writing lyrics. Once we get in the studio we get really deep in the details. We’ve learned to not get too in depth before we hit the studio. People get too attached to the songs and they aren’t willing to change certain parts so it’s easier to have something more basic and mold it when we are together.
Based on the title would you say that a lot of the themes revolve around self-exploration and self-realization? For sure! It’s a monster that I’ve come to be quite familiar with after becoming sober and the whole journey. I think the sobriety journey is one that a lot of people take but not just for getting sober but with whatever your thing is that you are trying to get over. Whether it’s a relationship, food, addiction or social media. I think that I Am mantra is a big part of it. It’s a thing I used to do when I would meditate. It covers a lot of ground and I think it just makes a great title. You mentioned when you are writing you tend to lean on a stream of consciousness. Do you think that was particularly prevalent this go around? Absolutely. I wrote 90% of the lyrics in the studio. I think when I put the lyrics on and immediately record a day or two after they are written they tend to be more honest. I don’t think about it as much. I usually go to a coffee shop or something before I get the rhythm tracks and come up with lyrics and then come back. People will be like, “Let’s change this, let’s change that, this word is kind of wonky.” Other than that, it’s all very much a stream of consciousness.
For the most part you’ve been consistent with writing music. Releases come after year and a half or so, I wanted to ask about the productivity and what keeps your inspiration up? I think really, as a band, we aren’t exactly where we want to be yet. We have a lot of drive. In todays age you need to keep putting out a lot of content. If we weren’t obligated to a record deal we probably wouldn’t put out a full record but would put out EP’s with a few tracks here or there. Keep people engaged. I think the whole music industry is going in that direction, at least I’ve noticed that bands and artists are more successful with doing things how ever they want now. We are fortunate where the metal and rock world still do like having physical copies of albums compared to the pop and EDM world.
I wanted to ask about your album art for I AM and why do you feel that this art work encompasses the tracks? We’ve always had what we call Jubilee, which is our elephant head. It’s actually three different animals, elephant, a deer and a wolf, that was the original drawing. Then it morphed over time. We put out this old demo years ago and it was the first time we used that elephant head. With every record we’ve had a different rendition of it. This time we went with a new producer, Matt Squire, everything else was Taylor Larson. There was such a difference in this writing process that we wanted to keep the initial idea of the elephant head but with a different take on it, so we used the eye. I think the eye is almost like a third eye and with the I AM we figured it went together. Do you do your own designs or do you reach out to freelance artists? The original drawing was created by our drummer, Will but that was so long ago. Now we do work with a company called Forefathers but a lot of the work we do ourselves. They are like a branding company and amazing artists. So we will put the art together and they make it brand-able and polished. You specifically were lending an ear to those who have dealt with similar vices as yourself. What prompted you to extend yourself to this kindness? I’m fairly active in a recovery program. It’s really hard for me to get to meetings when I am on the road so I connected with an online group where I do virtual Skyping with whenever I can. It inspired me to try to get connections with people who are fans of the band and dealing with the same things. Part of the program is when you go through these certain steps you now need to help somebody else. Being on the road it’s kind of hard to help people when you’re always traveling. There’s not a lot of stability or schedule. I’m trying to do my part in it with having email conversations with people or sponsoring people who need help. So far it’s been working out where I am emailing people, and trying to get them on the right path. It’s probably going to be a lot harder than I think. It’s hard to get a lot of people, especially on the first go around to get sober. It’s my way of giving back and it’s a part of the program that I’ve been told, “You’ve got to give it away to keep it.” It’s great, I’m
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happy about it. It’s kind of funny because we say it’s a selfish program where helping others selfishly helps us, which there’s truth to that. I don’t want to put it out there that I am some self-righteous guru, because I’m not [laughs] I’m just trying to play my part and do my thing. Some people get a little carried away with it and the ego comes back. I’m trying my best to not do that. In terms of music videos and promo material, when you go to create them how much control do you have over the project? I’d say this time around we have about 50/50. Will and I are both into photography and videography pretty heavily, so we have a lot of say of who we want to work with and what we want to do. Creating video concepts are always neck-in-neck with whatever director we are working with. Our first video, “I Am” Will and I did it ourselves. With our next video we went with Anthony, he’s actually the bass player in Stray From the Path. He’s from the New Jersey / New York area so it was super easy. We had so much on our plate at the time that we just wanted to bust a video out. Their live videos are cool and we had as much input as we could. Will and I for that kind of stuff we want as much input as possible. Sometimes if you dip your toes in everything it’s really hard. Our lawyer we worked with was telling us about a book he read with billionaires and the advice they give to people who want to be successful. The one thing they said is become really good at the one thing that you do. He was saying that we are musicians and that we should be concentrating on music and let other aspects of it fall on other people. There’s truth to that but as artists, we don’t like that very much, we want to have our hands in everything. When it comes to your art we are all kind of control freaks and sometimes you have to let go and let other experts have control over.
What should people be expecting next from you? Right now we are in the middle of a tour and we are going to be on a Mega Cruise which is going out of Los Angeles. It’s going to have a bunch of legendary bands on it such as Megadeath and ANTHRAX, it’s going to be very cool. In the winter I think we are just going to be doing stuff at home and get as much content as possible out. We do have some tours in the works for the Spring and Summer time. That’s it so far.
CARLY BOOMER
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Do you have a formal education in photography? Tell us a bit about your journey with studying photography. My journey to studying photography goes back to when I was in high school! I had the privilege of completing a vocational Photography program that was offered from grades 10-12. For a minimum of 2 hours a day (not including all the lunch hours I spent in the lab), I had unlimited access to cameras, lenses, Photoshop, studio spaces, lighting, backdrops, and a darkroom. My teachers were the coolest, most supportive people and they really encouraged me to take risks and find my own style. The two of them were the perfect balance of supportive and critical in helping guide me. Was there any turning point moment for you when you realized that you wanted to do it on a professional level? I always knew Photography was something I wanted to continue with after I finished high school. After I graduated, I continued shooting and enjoyed when I’d have the occasional booking with a client, but I mostly shot for fun and spent about two years mainly shooting film. I dedicated most of my free time experimenting with different film stocks and cameras, and developing my own film. Eventually though, I knew I wanted to expand my clientele and put more focus on getting shoots booked, so I decided I would dabble into some digital stuff again. It was definitely a more cost-efficient way to be able to provide quality images to clients and freed me of having to limit the amount of photos I take in a session (shooting digitally won’t cost you $20-$30 per 24 or 36 exposures). From there I was able to open up some more opportunities and built up my portfolio in different areas that interested me.
You’ve ventured into a lot of different avenues with photography. Is there any one that you find the most enjoyment from? How do you approach the mediums differently from the other? I feel like I go through lots of different phases in regards to my photography and what I’d like to be shooting. Freelance photography is cool because you aren’t necessarily limited to shooting one concept all the time, it’s just a matter of putting in the time to prioritize gaining experience in whatever area you’re interested in. For the past little while I’ve been really enjoying focusing on music photography and continuing to grow in that field. With that said though, it is definitely always nice to have other projects going on as well to keep things fresh and interesting, and to give myself some more imagery to play with. How do you approach your digital work versus analog? What does your analog photography set up look like? When I shoot digitally, I can shoot shoot shoot shoot and shoot and know that I’ll for sure have a lot to work with in a set of photos. I’m immediately able to see what I’ve shot and can adjust my camera settings if I so desire based on what I can see. Shooting with film though has it’s own kind of irreplaceable, indescribable magic to it, but it requires a lot more patience from me. I shoot film whenever I travel and try to include it in as many projects that I can. As for my set up, the camera I mainly use is my Canon F1, but I often reach for my Canon AE-1 Program and my Pentax K1000, as well as a few others. Lately I’ve been shooting with a lot of Lomography and Portra 800 film and will either pre expose my film to bits of light to get some leaks, or open the camera for a split second to burn the film. Coloured filters are also fun to play with along multiple exposures.
Is there a particular feeling or theme that you try to evoke from your work? My goal with my photos is to capture something that catches the eye. I want the viewer to automatically imagine they’re either present or dreaming of the moment the photo was captured haha.
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When photographing a scene, what sort of moments do you find yourself most attracted to?
What is it that you find so attractive about light modifiers such as prisms and crystals?
This really depends on the scene, but I’m just going to use shooting a show as an example! My absolute favourite moments while I’m photographing a musician perform are the ones where you can see their connection with their audience; when the energy is at its peak. When everyone involved is feeding off of each others energy and “vibing” hard. I looove shooting shows where everyone is present and going buckwild, but even if it is s a chiller show being able to capture the mood of the environment, as well as the artists’ passion and genuine expression of their music is equally as awesome.
My style of photography has generally always been based around experimentation. When I primarily shot with film, as I experimented with ways I could enhance my photos in-camera and manipulate my film to create something unique and different whether that was double exposing, letting light into my camera, developing my negatives at wacky, “not-recommended” temperatures, soaking my film in juice, etc. When I started shooting with my digital camera more consistently, I still wanted to somehow maintain having that other “layer” to my photos that made them interesting and dreamy, which was where I started to play around with different lens filters, prisms, crystals and other various pieces of glass.
Who are some other artists that have greatly influenced you and your work and how have they influenced you? Whether it’s a band/musician that I’m shooting, or another visual artist, I am constantly discovering more and more people who inspire me immensely every single day. Any local bands that I’ve shot here in Winnipeg, from the time I started shooting shows have always granted me creative freedom when shooting for them and have consistently encouraged me to experiment and to explore past the perimeters of my comfort zone. The local music scene in Winnipeg is full of amazingly talented people who all work to the bone and deserve recognition. Thanks to Daphne Bleue, Screaming at Traffic, Prinport, JayWood, Lake Disappointment, Dinner Club, A Grizzly Fate, Planeshifter, Sit Calm, Alone I Walk, Ceilings, Danger Fuzz, Nice Cops, and any other touring or local band I’ve photographed that I may have missed, that has given me an opportunity to grow as an artist and photographer. There are tons of visual artists [and] photographers that inspire me as well by continuously producing content that never fails
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to impress and capture my attention; while also giving me the drive to take more risks and improve my own work. Some honourable mentions there include (but are most certainly not limited to) @kateh00k on Instagram, @brandondacosta, @_spectrelight, @brandynnleigh, @_holdfastphotography, @albolen, and @devfilm. What are some techniques or, genres if you will, that you want to test out that you haven’t been able to? I really want to dive into shooting some medium format film! I’ve gotten quite comfortable using my 35mm film tools but it’d be cool to explore something in the same realm that I’m not super familiar with.
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What other sort of interests do you have outside of photography?
What sort of work should people be expecting from you in the future?
I’ve generally always been super into art. I find when I’m feeling less inspired photography wise (usually winter time), I’ll venture into periods where I’ll draw, make collages or paint more often. I feel like sometimes my “art brain” kind of switches up on me and there will be times I’m way more involved on expressing my art on paper rather than through my camera lens, and vice versa. I’ve also always really loved music. Playing guitar, going to shows and travelling around the world to see my favourite artists has been a significant part of my life.
I’d love to start doing more video, both with Super 8 and digitally. I just recently took my first shot at filming a live music set and editing together a montage-like video to one of the bands’ songs. It completely pulled me out of my comfort zone which was exactly what I needed to do, and would love to work on more stuff of that nature with more musicians! It’s also a huge goal of mine this year to tour with some bands across Canada to shoot for them, eventually leading into the US as well (if anyone needs a photo taker / documenter for their tour, le’me know).
SUPERCRUSH The artwork with everything Supercrush related is very consistent. What is it about this design work that you are attracted to and feel works with the music behind Supercrush? I have a tendency to become obsessive about little details, both musically and visually. You can see that manifested in the design work for the band. There is a borderline obsessive focus on making everything match, or at the very least be complimentary in order to create an ongoing visual theme. From the record covers, to the music videos, to the promotional photos, to the merchandise designs, even to what I wear when we perform, I try to keep that theme in mind. Right from the start of the project I wanted to have a consistent aesthetic that was bright and colorful. I wanted the visuals to match the music. Dark blacks or stark high contrast imagery didn’t seem appropriate for the music I was making with Supercrush. I wanted a light, almost bubbly aesthetic to go with the music. Even though the songs sometimes touch on sad subject matter, it’s always presented through a hyper-melodic, poppy, sunshine-y musical lens. The visual had to match that. I’ve also become really into being self referential with the visuals, with frequent call-backs to bits of ephemera that appeared in earlier covers or videos. Like little clues sprinkled here and there if you’re looking for them. And of course I love making art in a series, as can be seen with the covers of the four 7” singles as well as some of the shirt designs.
Do you think that there are specific motifs or symbols that you keep on coming to when you think of the idea of Supercrush? Visually there are definitely motifs and symbols that I return to over and over again with Supercrush. All the Expo 86 imagery and iconography is the obvious example. That stuff comes up repeatedly. That goes back to my childhood. Some of my very first memories are from Expo 86 in Vancouver so it has been fun to incorporate that into what I’m doing now as an adult. Aside from that, there are some less obvious symbols incorporated whose significance would probably only be recognizable to specific people who know me really well - former partners and so forth. Like little trinkets that represent a time and place or specific experience we shared. You know, like a little toy, or stuffed animal, or a cigarette lighter, or something. To the average viewer these are items that are probably just kinda cute and colorful, but to the right individual they can be like a little secret wink or acknowledgement of a shared experience.
Why did you decide to do the original two songs released at a time before putting everything together in a ten track album? When Supercrush started it was just intended to be an occasional recording project to do from time to time when the mood struck me. At the time I was playing in a bunch of bands, a couple of which were touring heavily and working on pretty expansive full length albums. I enjoy large scale projects like that, but at the time I kinda craved a quicker, less high stakes, smaller scale project to work on as well, which is why the two song single format was appealing. They didn’t have to be some grand scheme expression like some of the other albums I was working on at the time, they just had to be be about 5 minutes of catchy tunes. Of course, that model has changed in recent times for the project and now Supercrush has taken on some extremely large scale expansive recording projects of our own, but at first it was just intended to be a sort of lighter approach to making records.
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What kind of themes do you like to pursue in your writing? What sort of emotions do you hope to bring out of people when they experience your music? Well, the vast majority of the Supercrush songs are relationship songs of one kind or another. It’s tried and true subject matter: falling in love, breaking up, longing for a relationship that is no more. To be honest, I don’t think much about what emotions I hope to bring out of other people with the music. I suppose I’m self involved in that way. I’m happy for people to experience the songs on whatever level suits them, either as simple, catchy, little pop songs, or as deeper expressions with a heavier emotional significance. Or anything in between. How do you feel listening to your work recorded differs from the experience of seeing it live, if any at all? We try really hard to duplicate what’s on the records as best we can when we perform live, but of course there are limitations. With a four piece lineup it’s impossible to cover all the instrumentation that’s on the recordings so certain elements are given priority over others. I suppose the live experience is slightly stripped down, but we do our best to cover as much as we can.
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When it comes to writing, what does the process look like? For you, is it something that is more based around the moment that you find inspiration, or rather that you force yourself into a state of writing?
Coming from a background of different genres, do you feel that your progression into this lighter atmosphere of music was just a natural evolution from life, or was it more of something that you always were more attracted to?
Typically I write very intuitively. I’ll just be messing around on the guitar or piano and something will just pop up that I like. A little riff or chord progression. From there the song will usually kinda just tell me what to do. The guitar part will suggest a melody and a lyric and I just go with it. I try not to outsmart the song, if that makes sense. I’ve learned over the years to just listen to what the song is telling me to do. Like perhaps I’ve got it in my head that I really want to write a song about a specific topic, but if the song is suggesting different lyrics and telling me that it’s about something else altogether it’s much wiser to listen to that than to try to shoehorn the subject I had in mind into the song and force it to be about that. The song knows what’s best for itself, basically. I’m not smarter or more clever than the song. Occasionally I’ll have a specific type of song that I try to write. For example if I’m making an album and most of the songs are a similar tempo perhaps I’ll set out to write a slow song. Or if all the songs are loud and heavy perhaps I’ll intentionally try to write a quiet acoustic song. Actually, recently just as a little challenge or experiment I tried to specifically write a song in the mold of those one hit wonder radio hits from the second half of the ‘90’s. You know, those songs that are pretty cheesy and annoying, but get stuck in your head forever. And I specifically challenged myself to write lyrics that were kinda snide and mean, but present them with such a sugary melody that it could be easy to miss the fact that they are actually kinda harsh. That was a fun experiment, but that was an anomaly. Generally I write in a very intuitive way with out a lot of forethought.
Well, in the early 90’s when I was really young I was into the alternative rock of the time, prior to getting into punk and hardcore and heavier stuff. So in a lot of ways Supercrush is a call back to what I was listening to when I was 12. Smashing Pumpkins, Sugar, stuff like that. You’ve pressed all of your releases on vinyl. What is it that you find valuable about having this physical copy of music and it specifically being on a vinyl record? I love making a physical document to accompany the music. A strictly digital release scarcely feels “real” to me. That might be just be my age and era revealing itself, I’m not sure, but the tangible physical aspect is still important to me. It creates a format for the artwork that I enjoy working within. However, I’m not specifically partial to vinyl - a cassette or CD can fulfill the same role for me, it’s just the physicality of an actual item that I’m still attached to. What should people be looking out for from you in the near future? We’ve got 15 songs all recorded and in the can. We need to have those mixed and sort out a record label situation, but once that’s all taken care of we’ll release a full length album as well as an EP and be back on the road playing all over the place.
HOVEY EYRES Tell us a bit about your time at the University of Victoria. What prompted you to pursue postsecondary for art? What was your main focus in your Bachelors Degree? The University of Victoria was a surprise. When I applied to the Visual Arts Program I had just been hoping to improve my technical drawing skills. Little did I know, the course was a deep dive into conceptual theory and art history. Analyzing art made me more intentional with my art-making. What do you feel were the greatest take aways from going to post-secondary with this focus? Before school, I thought art was something you make with your hands. Now, I look at everything that already exists around me and see it as art. It’s really about the relationship between the object (or experience) and the viewer.
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Can you remember a moment in time that made you decide that you were going to pursue art as a career undoubtably? What was your greatest push or inspiration to do so? I remember sitting at the computer with my mom, browsing applications for post-secondary and stressing about my future. She said, “It doesn’t matter what program you choose, just going to school gives you the opportunity to open your mind, gain experience and develop your critical thinking skills.” That was all I had needed to hear. It’s noted that you have performed live paintings. What are some of your most important materials, or at least materials that you swear by? Can you tell us a little bit about that and what that entails? I love Faber-Castell polychromos. They are oil-based I absolutely love performing. Art Battle gave me some pencil crayons that blend like butter. I also have a million erasers, because I insist on buying every single incredible opportunities to compete in live painting kind there is. Erasers really help render textures. across Canada. Explain a little bit of your process when you are confronting a painting or a drawing. What does it look like in the beginning and how do you evolve it into its final product? All of my work starts with an emotion. Sometimes I let emotions simmer for a long time before I’m ready to put them on paper. Most of my work takes weeks or months to finish, because I can only draw when I am in touch with the emotion that sparked the idea. Music really helps me stay in the emotions.
Tell me a bit about your studio space. What does it look like and how do you like to have it organized? My studio is immaculate. I keep all of my pencils organized by colour, and layout all my tools before I start drawing. I like to keep my surroundings organized so I can let my mind run free. You have worked quite dominantly in drawing and painting, is there any other medium that you have pursued in the past that you feel you could also be passionate about? Or, is there something else that you’ve been wanting to try out? I’m so happy with drawing and painting. I would like to dip my toes into performance, like improv and spoken word poetry.
Do you find that your work follows any particular themes or moods? Are there any subtle themes that you engrave into your work that people don’t notice at first? I am obsessed with self-expression and selfexploration. Someone once told me that all my drawings look like me, and I’m really not surprised. In terms of mood, I love the ambiguous mix of anger, despair, and fear. Intense emotions always captivate me. With how long you have been crafting your work, how do you feel it has all evolved from when you first started your venture with drawing? I have come full circle with my approach to art. I began drawing at age 4 by doodling potato-shaped stick people. I have spent the last two decades refining my technical skills and focusing on realism. Now, at age 26, I am more intrigued by expressive, gestural life drawing. What do you feel are some of your greatest accomplishments? Honestly, I am never really looking at my successes. I’m very hard on myself. I don’t celebrate very often. I feel like I could always be more skilled, more authentic, more creative…
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Is there any simple trick or tip that you learned that has blown your mind that you share with others? There are no simple tricks. Making art is not a simple pursuit. It’s years of practice, loads of passion and an unyielding desire for expression. Where would you like to see your work in the next five years? I let art take me where it wants to go. I have tried many times to make it my career, but the pressure of making a living always takes away my inspiration and motivation. Is there anything that people should be expecting or anticipating from you next? Expectations stress me out, so I really hope not.
RICKIE McCANNA Tell us a bit about your journey with photography. When did you first pick up a camera and when did you realize you had a specific direction with the sorts of images that you wanted to take? It started around 2009, when MySpace and Tumblr were big. I was one of the kids who got way too into anime and emo culture, spending hours online. Selfies, editing and perfect profile photos were even bigger back then. You could spend an hour or two with your friends doing makeup and hair you’d never dare wear to school to impress some stud-beltAsking-Alexandria-loving emo boy across the country, that was probably a catfish anyway. It was an entire production for us just to take some unique photos for our profiles. Now it’s a bit more normalized, but it was so much fun when I was younger.. sleepovers were a blast. I just fell in love with portraits, editing and makeup. Just creating a cool image for social media as well as myself. I had backdrops, lights, a Nikon Coolpix and a vision, which was all I really needed. I even remember getting into fights with a few big scene queens back in the day, coping my photoshoot ideas. Not to brag but I was pretty big on Tumblr and MySpace, even had a decent following on both platforms. I’d kill for that kind of engagement today.
It’s been a long time coming for me, over ten years that I knew I wanted to do something with portraits and photography. A lot of people I know picked up a camera in the past few years and started going to shows, when I was playing America’s Next Top Model as long as I can remember. Portrait photography led me to music photography, around the second wave of pop punk in 2012-2014 when I realized it was a real career. I hopped on with Flesh & Bone Magazine after high school and the rest is history. Do you have any formal post-secondary education that has helped you with your work, or that is completely outside of your career? Yes! I went to a trade school which was an awesome experience, I actually met my husband there and I recommend to everyone to go to one even if they’re not super interested in that specific trade. You gain so much experience right out of high school and some programs offer degrees or certifications. I went for Media & Photography, was top of my class, picked up a lot of skills and even won a few state awards.
You’ve had the opportunity to document several shows in your career. Which one were you most excited for? Is it also the same one that you are most proud of your images coming from? This is a huge question I get asked a lot and it’s usually not what people expect, but Alice Cooper was a tremendous opportunity for me. It was very early on in 2016 when I was just starting to really get into Music Photography, something more than a way to get into shows, you know? I called my roommate screaming Wayne’s World quotes when I found out before she pieced it together. Alice Cooper is an experience, what an amazing act to shoot and see in person as an adult. He comes out on stage, pyro first thing, throws a cane into the crowd and just stands there and looks at everyone in silence while everyone is screaming at the top of their lungs. We made eye contact and I’m pretty sure I blacked out after that, he’s just the definition of cool. He was my mom’s favorite and I had seen him a bunch but I’d give anything to relive that night over and over. It was just so cool to be on his guest list and it’s the first one that comes to mind when people ask me about my favorite shows, absolute highlight of my career. I’m also very thankful to have photographed Mac Miller before he passed, that one took a toll on me and it’s really hard to take bad photos of him anyway so they came out great.
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In recent years, you’ve evolved a style that fuses graphic design with your photography. What inspired this, and how do you feel out a photograph for the kind of graphic that you will draw over it? I’m glad you noticed this! I guess I just wanted to try something different you know? My friend sold me an iPad along with the Apple Pencil and I just got to work. At first I didn’t know what I was doing but I take a lot of inspiration from my to-do lists oddly enough. You know those people that do journaling and planning real intensely with stickers and stuff? I do that with a journal of to-do lists. My graphic design education came into play and I just wanted to do more with my photos so I started doodling on them. I don’t know if it’s going to be a series or something I’ll do for a long time but it’s really fun at the moment. I just want to try and be different with my art, not because I feel like I need to but because I want to. There’s so many music photographers out there and the ones that really stand out always have some sort of signature, I’m just trying to find that with different mediums.
With your personal work, do you think that there is a particular feeling that you are trying to evoke? What do you hope people take away from looking through your images? That one’s tough because I’m not really sure. Even though I’ve been doing this a long time I still haven’t quite figured it all out yet. I want people to think my photos are responsive. I try to not publish any photos that are boring or don’t have any movement. I’m really big on textures and grain and again, try and stand out. I’m happy if someone takes the extra second to really look at my photo or give me a thumb ups. I may be a bad photographer when I say this: but I don’t really take photos for other people. I try to create a piece of art and stray far from photojournalism, I see it as a canvas before I go into editing with almost everything I post. I try to make something I’d like to see in a magazine or framed on my own wall. I have a pretty specific aesthetic I stick to: I just want to create “cool” images.
I’d like to focus some more on your publication, MNSTRM. What is something that you know now that you wish you had a better grasp on both with starting in photography as well as working on your own publication? Honestly a lot, I’m not proud of past issues and I don’t really think MNSTRM was whole and complete until I quit my day job last year. I wish I had put more time into it. I would rush a lot of projects and they wouldn’t turn out well, because I stuck to deadlines as if it wasn’t my own magazine or something. I wish I would have started out with more reliable people: I wish I would have believed in myself more; I wish I would have put more effort into listening to others. There’s so much I would do differently even just from yesterday. I’m learning and figuring this out as I go. What have you found to be the greatest thing to over come when you first started your publication, MNSTRM? It’s not exactly MNSTRM related, but it happened a year or two after it started. My Dad passed away when I was twenty-one very suddenly. He wasn’t ill, we had no idea it was coming. It was a super big shock for me and I even had to go back to therapy for about a year. I didn’t really grieve publicly or even around my friends. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, I didn’t cry at calling hours; I didn’t cry at the funeral; I didn’t even cry when I found out, I was a zombie. What I will say is, the day after the funeral it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was in the bathtub and I had just started sobbing and it didn’t stop for hours. I cried everyday on the way to work for six months, after that, it was about every other day. I never really showed it or even cried with anyone around, but I was a wreck for about a year. I took it out on people I loved and ruined friendships. I tried to control other people because I had no control over myself. If anything didn’t go according to plan I had a meltdown. It’s been a year and a half, I still can’t believe he’s gone.
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I had to put off MNSTRM for months and somehow still put out the magazine. I still went to shows and hung out with my friends, instead of focusing on myself and my grieving process. It was such an unhealthy time for me and I became so depressed. I hurt so many people in that time and I don’t expect them to understand why, even I don’t know. It wasn’t fair to anyone. The reason I go back to that time, instead of 2016 when it launched, is because I feel like MNSTRM was reborn after that. I brought on some management help, I left my day job in late 2018 and pursued MNSTRM full-time, because that’s what I thought my Dad would want me to do. That’s when MNSTRM really started and became what I wanted it to be. It was a turning point in my life and also the magazine. Do you have a goal or an idea of where you would like to see MNSTRM go in the next 5 years? I’d really like MNSTRM to become a brand. I’d love to put out a full merchandise line, host more shows; host more creatives; provide a platform for photographers and writers. I’d love it to be almost like a management company for those behind the scenes of the music industry. Providing connections, a platform; photo pass access etc. to those just getting started or even industry veterans looking for something new. I’m not sure where it’s going to go, but I’m sure it will still be here. I just want it to be so much more than a magazine.
What’s something that you find people most often get wrong about the work you do, whether it’s strictly as a photographer or as an editor of a publication? Most of the people I talk to have no clue about the industry, or have a full idea of what I do. Most probably think I do it for fun and it’s not actually hard work. I don’t think people take it as seriously as I do. You have put a lot of hard work and dedication into all aspects of your artistic practice. What was the motivation that really drove you to devote so much time and energy into everything? Do you have any tips for people who want to take a similar journey as your own? I really just want to do what will make me happy. I think my Dad passing made me realize that I only have one life, and only so much time here to do what I want. It’s not about money, popularity, or even getting to go to concerts. It all comes down to what makes me enjoy the life I have. I’m genuinely so happy when I’m in that photo pit, no matter how much I complain about it, or say I hate it all the time. It’s such a fun and exciting thing I get to do all the time! I’m so blessed to be here. As for advice to others, I like to keep it simple: just be kind. Respect other people and most importantly, respect yourself and make sure you’re having fun. What kinds of things should people be expecting from you? New mediums, new platforms and maybe even a hair color line. Who knows what I’ll get up to?
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LOONY While many see Toronto as the hub for Canada, it’s easy to mistake the smaller communities around Toronto for having that same vibrant display of arts. Many artists are from the outskirts and have to travel “downtown” to the actual city in order to play their shows and attempt to make a name for themselves in the Canadian music industry. One of those people happens to be LOONY. Based out of Scarborough, a community just East of Toronto, LOONY has been working on music trying to make strides as a musician in Canada.
Hungry is the word that LOONY used when she described how being from the Greater Toronto Area affected her pursuit of music. Coming from Scarborough, there’s a limitation on the music scene, LOONY even noting how most shows end up happening, “downtown,” referring to the actual city of Toronto. “I have to be very motivated if this is something I want to do, [even though] Scarborough is super musical. There’s people that will start a cypher in the park, or in the stairwells. It’s everywhere but it doesn’t get a lot of attention. Since it’s not getting a lot of attention people don’t feel motivated to go chase it.” There has been small outlets, though. For one, R.I.S.E. Has been a healthy resource for youth who have interest in pursuing a career in the arts. While LOONY was growing up it was a smaller part of the Scarborough community, and something that she had attended. From her understanding, the program
has gotten quite a bit larger and has even moved many of its events into the city of Toronto, allowing even more youth to be a part of the program. It was a great start for her to actually see a little more of the creativity in the city. But other than that, a lot of the city of Scarborough tends to be on a “if you know, you know” sort of situation. Seeing how we met up with LOONY on the other side of the country, there is something to say about her motivation for the journey. “I’ve always wanted to sing, that’s something that I’ve always been doing since I was a kid,” LOONY explains noting when she first started falling in love with the captivating voices of Amy Winehouse and Alicia Keys, “That’s when artist-wise, I got really inspired to create in a new soul-based way.” She started reflecting on specific moments in school. “I remember listening to Jasmin Sullivan in gym class
in Grade Nine, just listening and thinking, ‘I want to be her’ ... I have no words for her type of voice.” You could see the admiration in her eyes as she spoke of these influential people. This is what prompted LOONY to start writing some more, or using her voice to creatively. It started with something simple, such as finding riffs on YouTube to sing over and start piecing together melodies. Now, much of her work comes together more like a puzzle, “I have a notebook at all times where I start scribbling stuff ... I will take something I wrote a few weeks ago with something that I am writing right now and put it together like that. I don’t know if that’s a legit way of writing a song but I totally do that.” LOONY is also lucky enough to have found a producer that she trusts and enjoys working with, Akeel Henry. There are times where they sit down together as he starts to write something and then she starts to write over it. “Sometimes, when I am really called to write, I can get a song out really easily ... It can go anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks.” The amount of time put into a song is no worry for LOONY, though. She realizes how different each song is written and that not all of them have the same circumstances brought to them. Some working sessions are just easier than others and she has no fear of revisiting songs until they finally make sense to her. She just wants to make sure that everything is perfect and how she wants to represent herself in music. Whether or not it’s simply a commentary of her age, LOONY tends to focus her writing into reflecting on her thoughts or different moments in her life. “I’m trying to untangle all of these things that I haven’t been conscious of yet. Some of it can be super lighthearted or self-defacing but other times it can be very serious. A lot of the time I am talking about how I feel or that I am fucked up,” She laughed for a moment apologizing for the (welcomed) language. As of late, a lot of these themes have enabled her to go to the more dark and eerie side of things.
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You can see hints of the darker elements that LOONY is referring too in her music videos. For her, it’s really important to actually have something created that works in harmony with her songs. In all of her available music videos, you can see how much work goes into all of them, how creative they are and how much attention is paid to different moments and details, “I am annoyingly picky and controlling over most things that I do much to the, probably, annoyance of anyone who ends up working with me.” Specifically, we felt the need to ask about one of her most recent videos, “Dare You.” This music video features dancers in this red, hazy space beautifully choreographed by Jade Whitney. LOONY commented on it, “I knew that I wanted this video to have a lot of contemporary dance with how the song feels. There’s so much movement to the music. I wanted it to have an actual visual counterpart. [Though], I knew the the outline of what I wanted to do I am no dancer at all.” Between LOONY, the choreographer and the director, Kosta Kolev, they were all able to work out something with a smooth, cinematic feel. The day of the music video shoot was her time to be particularly stress-free. Everything had already been set up for success and it was just time to let the director do their thing. But come editing time, LOONY noted how she likes to be there for that particular process to ensure that things were laid out on beat and how she had imagined it would be cut together. “I really don’t want to mess up the visual part,” she comments on it slightly embarrassed to admitting the amount of control she wishes to have in it, “I try to let them do their own thing ... Kosta has such an amazing eye and knowledge. I try to let them do their own thing but I definitely like to have my hand in the treatment and the editing process.” With the Part I EP released as well as a few additional singles LOONY is eager to get some more new music out there to the world. While she is happy to have Part I released there are still a lot of other unreleased tracks that she wants to put some focus on for their release in the future. Part I didn’t quite have the
the comment, but notes how it’s the warm feeling of the brass that she’s really drawn to. After talking with her about the new music and the direction she wanted to head into, I couldn’t help but ask if this was something that she also wanted to pull into her live set. On this tour that we caught up with her, LOONY was directly supporting Rhye and was unable to tack a full band on the road with her. With it being her first full tour and a trek across Canada, there was still a lot of fleshing out with the live set and for now all she could say is, “I want to put on a good live show. I feel like when you record a song you can curate it so perfectly, I love having that control where you can put out a product that you feel good about. With a live show, I want when someone sees me that [they] like it the same way as they would like a recorded song.” It’s understandable with the performance of Rhye and all of his instrumentation and subtle moments in performance. For now, she can allow her voice to be a huge draw for the audience, the thing that draws them into the other details of her music.
feeling that she wants to push forward with noting, “It was my first attempt of releasing a project after graduating University, where I could focus on music. I definitely want to have a much more live sound. A lot of my new songs have a lot more live sounds like live drums, strings and brass instruments.” Not that she’s opposed to the MIDI that was used for her previous tracks, she’s just excited to move forward with some live instrumentation. “I might go back again at some point but right now it’s all about the live,” she continues to comment, “The vibe feels more like me and how I am growing and as my budget is increasing, I am able to reflect the music I want to create and a lot of that is brass. My producer makes fun of me and says, ‘You put brass on anything and LOONY will love it,’ It’s bad.” She starts laughing at
With the year slowly coming to an end, there are still some more plans in sight for LOONY. There are several songs that she’s been sitting on and just figuring out which ones are right for whichever time. She’s excited by the prospect of playing some more live shows now too since the taste for it all is settling in, “Already, I feel like I am growing a lot.” At the moment you can check out all of her music on the internet, but stay tuned for some new tracks coming in before the New Year!
ALBUM REVIEWS CLAMS CASINO 11.07.19
6.0
MOON TRIP RADIO SELF-RELEASED
Clams Casino is an American producer known for his work with artists such as FKA Twigs, Joji and serpentwithfeet and has returned with a new project entitled Moon Trip Radio. Clams Casino is known for his spacious, textured and other worldly production which brings a potent flavor to the instrumentals he creates. This new project opens with “Rune” which is a solid summation of what Clams brings to the sonic table on Moon Trip Radio. The song opens with spliced vocal samples rich in reverb that are soon joined by a rumbling sub bass, sizzling hi hats and a dusty sounding snare. The beat progresses well and becomes more off kilter as the kick patterns grow more stuttered and detailed. The final drop amps up the sub bass, but fails to add anything more that increases to the intensity, and I find this to be an issue on many of the tracks on this album including the twinkling “Cupid Wing”. “Healing” begins with atmospheric tones and ethereal tremolo guitars as watery strings ebb and flow throughout the mix. As the track ups the intensity, hi hats are introduced maintaining a rapid 16th note pattern over trap influenced snares and kicks. The cavernous vibe of “NSX” adds to the melancholic echoing synth melodies and spacey percussion, and I really appreciate the detail of the grinding sub bass on this song. This instrumental is intoxicating and it sounds as though all of the mournful melodies on this song pour over the beat like cold molasses. At the midpoint of the album, “Glowing Bones” takes a darker tone with its instrumental, using pitch shifted vocals that echo in to a despondent, abyssal atmosphere. These vocals are almost reminiscent of the whispering sound effect that is heard from Jason Vorhees in the Friday the 13th films. “Fire Blue” and “Twilit” are great examples of where this record begins to lack for me; they sound far too amorphous and lack a solid or sticky melody or sound. These tracks are pleasant and meditative while they’re playing, but there is very little for the listener to return to
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on repeated listens. The lush, atonal chords on “Lyre” are a bit more tangible, the glitchy beat progresses in a slow, lumbering fashion, giving more and more context to the synth chords layered throughout the song. “In A Mirror” starts off with promising piano chords, tension filled and delicate before song glitches out in points and pans to only one side in a very attention grabbing production technique that keeps you invested when the wonky, subterranean beat is worked into the mix. The album lacks in leaving the listener with anything memorable, other than maybe the lush vocal harmonies on the title track, and overall a lot of the material here fails to leave a lasting impression. Moon Trip Radio is nice while it is on, but doesn’t do much more than set a tone or a vibe, and many of these instrumentals are too washed out or meditative to really stick. BEST TRACK: “NSX” WORST TRACK: “Twilit”
COUNTERPARTS 11.01.19
7.6
NOTHING LEFT TO LOVE PURE NOISE
Nothing Left to Love is the sixth studio album from Canadian metalcore band Counterparts, and sees the group taking a few unexpected risks as well as improving a number of issues from their previous album. Right from the first single “Wings of Nightmare”, it is apparent that Counterparts’ guitarwork has improved by strides. The hypnotic groove of this song is greatly improved by the colorful guitar embellishments, and as the song’s energy quickly picks up, the guitar work stays consistently impressive and effectively melodic throughout. “Paradise and Plague” opens with more traditional sounding metalcore riffs and embellishments that transition with mathematically dizzying shifts in time signatures before opening up into a tom-heavy drum groove. The chorus on this track is surprisingly sentimental, with clean vocals being sung loudly over catchy, rhythmic guitars. The rapid juxtaposition of aggression and melody on this record is emphasized by this track; with the refrain representing the song’s “Paradise, while the heavier sections represent the “Plague”. Ironically these heavy sections tend to consistently “plague” Counterparts’ songs with chugging guitar passages that occasionally hurt the strength of the guitarwork on this record. The chorus of this song is great though, and the drums do an excellent job of propelling the band towards the conclusion. “The Hands that Used to Hold Me” begins with a more straightforward and urgent chord progression, diving heavily into the melodic side of Counterparts’ sound before the inevitably heavy switch up of the song. To counteract the typically simple chugging breakdowns of metalcore, the band typically works in dizzying synchronized rhythms which will effectively disorient the listener before transitioning into the next musical passage; flashy breakdowns don’t exactly lead these songs to exciting conclusions though, and the ending to this track feels somewhat underwhelming. The title track opens with tender reversed notes paired with a mellow synth bass before busting into a section that rapidly switches between chugging breakdowns and noodly lead guitar lines; it sounds very Converge inspired, especially when the passage is repeated later in the song. The clean vocals make an appearance on this song as well, but I don’t find the hook to be nearly as catchy or impactful as tracks like “Paradise and Plague”. It is important to note that Counterparts seems to recognize that hooks are not their strong suit, and they tend to avoid repeating them more than once. This is an excellent idea, as their more labyrinthine, progressive sections are consistently more exciting. Case in point is the groovy riff that follows the hook on
“Separate Wounds” which is laced with colorful natural harmonics before transitioning into an even heavier passage with dazzling and melodic guitar leads. “Your Own Knife” is the token heavy song on the album, but thankfully Counterparts didn’t make it a minute and a half for once, and the track’s progression through disorienting riffs and groovy chugging passages all culminate to a single eerie guitar lead piercing though the mix before the entire band busts into a crushingly heavy breakdown. It is an absolute highlight of Nothing Left to Love and the band jams out the end well, leaving plenty of room for the bass to take up a large presence in the mix. This highlight is followed by “Cherished”, which contains the best hook on the entire record; the way the guitars cut in and out on this chorus really accentuates the groove of the song and there are great embellishments and transitions throughout this track. The meditative, blissful bridge of swelling tones and reversed guitar chords is elevated by the beautiful drum and bass groove before a soaring guitar lead ushers in the chorus, which is complimented nicely by distant sung vocals. After a run of some of the best Counterparts songs put to tape in a few years, the band fails to serve up anything different on the forgettable “Imprints”, as it feels like everything the band brings to the table on this song was done better on the previous track. “Ocean of Another” leaves a better impression with its dramatic strummed chords and syncopated rhythms. The snareheavy, droning riffs bring a freshness to the guitar work on this song, and although at this point in the record Counterparts has dropped to a quiet bridge three times in a row, the noisy, searing guitar lead brings the track back to a climactic conclusion. I appreciate the risk that Counterparts took with the direction of the final song, but have trouble connecting with the deadpan delivery of the vocals. This track resembles a lot of the more modern emo and pop punk that has been making waves over the past few years and although it isn’t anything special, repeating the “Will you love me when there’s nothing left to love?” mantra that is introduced on the album’s opening track does effectively bring the album full circle. Overall this is a step in the right direction for Counterparts, although the album’s bookends are weak, some of the band’s riskiest and most satisfying material to date lands on Nothing Left To Love. BEST TRACK: “Cherished” WORST TRACK: “Love Me”
EARL SWEATSHIRT 11.01.19
7.0
FEET OF CLAY Warner
Not even one year after rapper Earl Sweatshirt released the oppressive and cerebral album Some Rap Songs, the reclusive artist has released a surprise follow up EP entitled FEET OF CLAY. Hinted by the grim looking cover, this collection of songs is a dark and woozy albeit brief journey beginning with “74”; an introductory track finding Earl spitting bars at a rapid rate over a gloomy warped guitar and despondent drum loop. The following “East” sees earl dropping percussion altogether and rhyming over a looped accordion and flute arpeggios that are borderline maddening repetitive. The flow of the rapping carries more rhythm than the instrumental, which is so static that the ear pines for even the slightest hint of variation of modulation. This is an artist whose instrumentals are entire atmospheres; they are so consistently nuanced and detailed that it is disappointing to be presented with such a basic sounding beat. What’s worse is Earl leaves the last four bars empty, forcing the listener to be further subjected to an instrumental that is already tired. Thankfully The Alchemist picks the project back up with the soulful and more rhythmically straightforward instrumental of “MTOMB”. This is a breath of fresh air after the obtuse instrumental that precedes it, and the moody pianos, simple bassline and beautifully chopped vocal samples makes me wish the track didn’t fade out so quickly. “OD” is very reminiscent of the strange, sampled production of Earl’s previous effort and features a thick and angular bassline beneath chopped horn samples that give the song a wonky, off-kilter rhythm. The production stays impressive on the track “El Toro Combo Meal” with a beautiful harmonized soul sample and bright piano fluttering throughout. Mavi’s feature is a welcome change of pace, as his more on-tempo flow and aggressive cadence starkly contrasts Earl Sweatshirt’s typically slurred flow on this project. Earl takes the latter half of the instrumental with a much more subdued and psychedelic delivery; the vocal effect throughout is pretty interesting and I love some of the pop culture references dropped in this verse, but there is no denying he was outshined by his feature on this track. Earl delivers hypnotic, triplet flows over the dark, glitchy beat on “Tisk Tisk / Cookies”, which is very
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reminiscent of his 2015 album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. I love the line “Sunny Day but I’m staying inside” as it references the instrumental palette he is pulling from. The project closes with “4N”; featuring psychedelic sounding reversed percussion that gives the instrumental a hypnotizingly strange groove with a sinister bass line. Earl and his feature deliver solid performances, and while I love the reference to the track “The Bends”, but it feels as though Earl is calling back to these old songs because there is no stylistic progression between FEET OF CLAY and his other work. BEST TRACK: “El Toro Combo Meal” WORST TRACK: “East”
FKA Twigs 11.08.19
7.8
MAGDALENE YOUNG TURKS
Magdalene is the second LP from English singer/ producer FKA Twigs, arriving half a decade after her incredible, intoxicating and detailed debut, LP1. I was floored by the flagship single “Cellophane”; a heart wrenching piano ballad that displays Twigs at her most vulnerable. The way she bends up to her notes on the hook is very unique, and once she goes an octave up and begins reaching into her higher range the song becomes absolutely bone chilling. The rush of ethereal sounds as the chorus reaches its climax is absolutely stunning, and the overall spaciousness of the instrumental really works in line with the tender and fragile themes Twigs is conveying. This single was followed by the starkly contrasting “Holy Terrain” which contained a well textured but skeletal instrumental with roaring sub bass and a feature from none other than Atlanta trap rapper Future. Twigs melodies are soaring, haunting and melancholic, but I still find the feature to be a weird fit and overall the track is not as detailed as it could be considering how many names are attached to the song. “Home With You” switches dramatically between despondent, cold verses before slowly blooming into a tender, piano driven chorus. The verses are tense, and the effect on Twig’s voices displays an ominous tone, hinting at the explosive transition into intense, overblown bass and percussion halfway through the song. After this detour, the track progresses back to the beautiful ascending chorus melody, which is surrounded in its apex with beautifully fluttering saxophone and flute embellishments. The minimalistic production takes the lead on the track “Sad Day” as well; the synthetic sounding harmonies give nice texture, and while the perc laced beat slowly builds in intensity, Twig’s performance does little to keep up with it, leaving the song’s more energetic passages feeling flat. The watery tones and skeletal beat on “Daybed” keep the album’s end detrimentally sleepy, and I am left feeling unsatisfied with instrumentals like this in comparison to the overwhelming amount of textures and sounds that are typically worked into an FKA Twigs song. There are still many great moments on Magdalene however; the first track opens with heavily reverbed acapella vocals as dreamy instrumentation, harmonies and lush sub bass swirl and surround the
mix. This introduction is subterranean, immersive and intoxicating as synthesizers buzz gently through Twig’s opening verse, building in strange intensity before her glitched out vocals consume the entire song. “Mary Magdalene” is also a complete rollercoaster of a track that opens with eerie reverbed percussion and strange distorting tones before melting away into Twig’s vocalizations. The effect on her vocals layers her with otherworldly harmonies that add a lot of color to the verse. The hook on this track propels the song forward into a bass heavy instrumental with hard hitting percussion and plucking strings, adding a fuzzy lead melody and looped vocals towards the conclusion. I much prefer the heartsick hook of “Mirrored Love” as well as the swaying groove that flows in and out of the song, to the strangely staccato and atonal pianos of “Fallen Alien”, but the lush piano and rumbling bass of the latter track do well to keep up the intensity. After waiting five years for a new album, it is admittedly difficult to keep expectations in check. Although I don’t find these instrumentals nearly as vibrant or deep as I’d like them to be, and many of the performances lean more towards the reserved side, there is still a strange beauty to Magdalene, making it one of the most unique sounding records of the year. BEST TRACK: “Cellophane” WORST TRACK: “Sad Day”
FINNEAS 11.04.19
5.0
BLOOD HARMONY OYOY
Finneas O’Connell is an American singer/songwriter and sibling as well as co-writer/producer of alt-pop sensation Billie Eilish. Blood Harmony is Finneas’ first project since his skyrocket to fame and is an eye opening listen considering he has a writing credit on every track from his sister’s debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. The resemblance between the projects is very intriguing; because although Finneas takes many of the pop-sensibilities and layered vocal production, he brings little to the table that isn’t overshadowed by either his sibling or his contemporaries. The only track that stands out is the opening “I Lost A Friend”, a melancholic piano ballad with a solid hook and vocal harmonies. The fluttering synth arpeggios and 1-2 groove that drives the chorus are what really make this song stand out. Beyond this song though, the plucky melodies and acoustic strumming of “Shelter” bear too striking a resemblance to Ed Sheeran, while “Lost My Mind” essentially just sound like Billie Eilish B-sides but lacking in the potent personality and vocal dexterity. “I Don’t Miss You At All” differentiates itself with an upbeat, minimalistic drum groove and pleasant synth chords that transition surprisingly well into buzzing bass lines. It is perhaps the most unique song on the album, which is a shame because it also happens to be the shortest. The ascending acoustic guitar melody on “Partners In Crime” gets tiresome quickly and the slowly building instrumental does little progress the song. The real offender to this track though is Finneas, who’s lyrics romanticizing cocaine and sleepy melodies evoke a sensation of uncomfortable boredom. Little effort is put into creating a unique sounding closer, as the harmony heavy piano ballad “Die Alone” would have fit snugly into the track listing of his sister’s last album. Finneas serves up a nice melody, but it is very distracting listening to this project knowing that all of these tracks are more than likely just his Billie Eilish throwaways. Blood Harmony seems to lack a solid identity, and this issue seeps into all of the tracks on this record, making them feel ultimately inconsequential. BEST TRACK: “I Lost A Friend” WORST TRACK: “Partner In Crime”
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ICE NINE KILLS 11.25.19
2.0
THE SILVER SCREAM (FINAL CUT) Fearless
The Silver Scream (FINAL CUT) is the extended fifth album by American metal band Ice Nine Kills; a highly conceptual album pulling inspiration from many of the most iconic horror films in popular culture. The deluxe edition of this project spans seventy minutes of material in a gauntlet of tracks that seems fun at first but slowly turns into an endless nightmare. Seeming to start with its best foot forward, the angular guitar leads and rapid vocal tradeoffs bring an intense energy to the opening “The American Nightmare”. I do find myself smiling at a number of the clever references to Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the atonal sound effects and music from that film are worked into the song quite effectively. Standing at the foot of this immense and bumbling track list, it feels more like a fluke than anything… My main issue with The Silver Scream (FINAL CUT) is the writing. Many of the tunes on this record are written with the same basic skeleton that the band follows almost religiously throughout the album; bouncing between high energy verses and anthemic choruses, while always saving enough time for an overproduced breakdown full of gimmicky sounds and samples from whichever spooky movie they are choosing to pay tribute to. Twelve minutes into the album and the writing begins to feels stale, meanwhile Ice Nine Kills has the audacity to throw a song like “Savages” into the track listing, where the listener is subjected to the same borderline unlistenable chorus five times over a three minute run time. One of the scariest thing about this album is that the band decided to put some of the worst tracks on the album twice; although I can admit Matt Heafy does make the chorus of “Stabbing In The Dark” slightly less corny. I think one of the most abysmal songs on The Silver Scream (FINAL CUT) is “Freak Flag”. The gimmick to this track is its anthemic appeal to the outcasts of society, which comes off as more corny than empowering, but its the lead vocals that are the true nail in the coffin. Spencer Charnas is completely flat on the end of chorus line “Everything’s alright” and what is more offensive is the delay on his voice that seemingly echoes this terrible vocal into oblivion. I would have thought more care and time would have gone into a production with this kind of money behind it… At least enough to prevent something as simple as a
sour note from getting through to the final product. This entire project feels like a money grab, especially when taking into account what little effort was put into the bonus tracks; four brain-numbing acoustic renditions of songs that were already on the album, as well as an abhorrent cover of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Considering the quality of the source material and inspiration that Ice Nine Kills was pulling from, it wore on my soul to sit through this album. What bothers me the most about this is album is that Ice Nine Kills is banking their careers on others artist’s work, and they don’t even adapt it well; no matter how much money you have, cheap gimmicks and expensive production cannot cover up bad songwriting. BEST TRACK: “The American Nightmare” WORST TRACK: “Thriller”
JIMMY EAT WORLD 10.18.19
6.0
SURVIVING Exotic Location
Surviving is the tenth studio album from American rock band Jimmy Eat World. Opening with a simple guitar riff, the title track builds with a 1-2 snare groove as the rest of the band slowly melds in. The instrumentation is constructed entirely around this riff, building with tremolo guitars, driving rhythms and syncopating cymbal hits that propel the song to its conclusion. It displays the sound of this record eloquently; it is mixed very well, and all of the instruments sound fantastic together. “Criminal Energy” presents a more standard song structure with single string guitar verses progressing into an effective descending vocal hook. The lead work is mostly solid on this song with the exception of the bridge, which sounds like the open e string guitar riff written by a 14-year-old in their first pop punk band. I feel much the same about the most of the guitar solos on Surviving, which add little to no substance or color to these songs with the exception of “Recommit”, but it is really the bass guitar that steals the show on that tune. Considering how long Jimmy Eat World has been a band and how many pop punk bands have fallen from grace over the past two decades, I can respect the band for sticking to their guns. “555” is the closest thing to a radio hit on Surviving with its rubbery synth bass, repetitive hook and electric drum samples the track resembles hip-hop more than rock music. It is a strange change of pace considering the raw presentation of the band on this album up to that point. On the topic of rawness I was shocked to hear the slip of autotune in the verses of “All the Way”, which sounds more accidental than intentional. I do enjoy the unexpected saxophone solo over the bridge of this song however; It is surprises like these that I want more on Surviving, as much of the album feels very safe. Thankfully Jimmy Eat World was able to surprise with the massive closer “Congratulations” which opens with an off-kilter, droning drum beat that is reminiscent of more progressive rock bands like Tool. Featuring solid vocal performances in the verses, the song is constantly building by adding layers of guitar leads and vocal harmonies before everything cuts to bass guitar halfway through. Tension builds as the bass is joined by synths and a hypnotic drum groove
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before the song dramatically increases in energy, introducing heavy sounding one-string guitar riffs and a bouncy aggressive drum groove to close out the album. This deep into their career, I’m pleased to hear Jimmy Eat World has remained a tasteful and enjoyable rock band, I just wish they were taking more risks with their sound to bring more diversity and depth to Surviving. BEST TRACK: “Recommit” WORST TRACK: “555”
REX ORANGE COUNTY 11.25.19
6.9
PONY Sony
Pony is the major label debut of British songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rex Orange County. Opening with a set of bright synth chords, pitchshifted vocals and a descending bassline, “10/10” starts off the record on a positive sounding note, considering the depressive content of the lyrics. This juxtaposition is presented throughout the record and is reminiscent of the tone Twenty One Pilots will occasionally shoot for. The smooth harmonies on this track are fantastic and despite the slight corniness in the lyrics this is a pleasant and warm welcome to the album. “Always” sits in the same vibe as the opener but adds so much more; the saxophones worked into the refrain sound excellent, and the little synthesizer and xylophone embellishments really add to the upbeat character of the song. The fantastic saxophone work continues on the following “Laser Lights”, which progresses impressively for only a two-minute run time, and the ascending instrumental mantra coupled with Rex’s flowing vocal delivery make for a very engaging performance. “Face to Face” bookends with its sticky refrain sung acapella, layered with rich vocal harmonies. The verses build and blossom beautifully with a twinkling guitar lead and warm bass, driven by a 1-2 drum groove laced with earwormy double claps. The track “Stressed Out” is a tepid follow up though and doesn’t leave much of an instrumental impression. The vocal performance is solid but the pitched harmonies on this track don’t add much and the snare introduced at the one-minute mark is more distracting than groovy. “Every Way” is equally underwhelming; it is clear by this point in the record that most songs begin with a solo piano and vocals, and many of these songs begin with a lack of dynamics. The retro synth pop track “Never Had the Balls” is more memorable, whose strumming acoustic guitars and catchy pre-chorus lead to a decent refrain. I hear another dusty drum machine pushing this song’s rhythm section, and it really adds to the charming, vintage sound that this song is going for. Rex’s crooning over the finger-picked guitar melody of “Pluto Projector” makes for a very tender and personal moment on the album, and the way the laid-back beat builds with the luscious piano embellishments is simply beautiful. This song contains
the best performance from Rex Orange County on the whole record and the layers of strings that carry the song to its conclusion are layered with some surprisingly effective sub bass. “It Gets Better” is another well layered and textured song but too much is being borrowed here; the strings pulling from the iconic “Canon In D” are clever but the verse melody bears a distracting resemblance to Swae Lee’s “Borrowed Love”. Rex closes out the album with “It’s Not The Same Anymore” which makes a fantastic instrumental shift at the three minute mark as the vocals sync up with the groovy guitar strumming. The harmonies are stunning throughout and Rex leaves the album on a lyrically satisfying high note, before a rush of strings carry the album to its somewhat meandering end. I do have my issues with some of the songwriting on this record; considering its length some of the songs seem to amble around, but it is well performed and produced and there is a pleasantly hopeful tone to the overall project that I find very charming. BEST TRACK: “Pluto Projectorl” WORST TRACK: “Stressed Out”
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