leisure
12 the georgetown voice
october 10, 2013
C r i t i c a l V o i c es
Glasser, Interiors, True Panther Sounds Glasser’s second full-length release, Interiors, shows no evidence of the structure its name might suggest. Instead, the expansive hollowness of this album gives Cameron Mesirow the freedom to drift through her musical dream world, but it leaves her audience yearning for something tangible to hold on to. Inspired by Mesirow’s recent move to New York City, this album is fixated on transformation. Glasser continuously plays with change, varying every element of her sound except her beautifully surreal, dominant vocals. Interiors’ first track, “Shape,” starts off weightlessly with a single floating synth note, soon accompanied by Mesirow’s soft and serene,
yet attention-grabbing vocals. This open sound is quickly grounded as the heavy drum line hits, ushering in a thicker, more robust and layered instrumental line. This hard-hitting track thumps along, swelling and throbbing as Glasser explores her environment while still staying grounded in a concrete and relatable sound. After a brief loss of foundation in “Design,” Glasser touches back down with a more full sound on “Landscape.” The song starts with a playful synth riff, shortly followed by a deep drum line and Mesirow’s beautiful vibrato in a lower range than elsewhere in the album. As its title suggests, this tune is still exploratory, playing with changes in dynamics and tempo. But Glasser proceeds to get lost in the vast openness of her sound. Her songs drift upwards, into an airy, elevated space that lacks the layered foundation of her more successful tracks. Her brief interludes “Window I,” “Window II,” and “Window III” break her momentum and suggest that the album might come back down to a relatable sphere, but following these breaks Glasser’s sound quickly gets lost once more. Still, there are glimpses of brilliance along the way. In “Keam Theme” she incorporates enough
Honey, I brainwashed the kids! Children experience a handful of formative moments: the first sleepover, the birth of a sibling, joining the Boy Scouts, getting kicked out of the Boy Scouts … the list goes on. But, today, our offspring are increasingly shaped by the media we subject them to. Parents face a constant stream of decisions about the shows and movies their children watch, the video games they play, the music they listen to, and the websites they visit. These are not decisions that should be taken lightly. They may ultimately determine whether your child grows up to be a Ron Howard or a Clint Howard. I’m here to show you how a list of hand-picked movies shown in the right order will shape my children. When my baby boy is fresh out of the womb, there is little chance he will remember any of the movies I show him, and their only real presence will be in the subconscious. So why not start out
with some Star Wars? The original trilogy will obviously be shown multiple times before he gets his first glimpse of Jar Jar Binks, and an Ewok baby costume will be his outfit for his first Halloween. Next, I’m going to need to develop his sense of comedy from an early age. (Let’s say between two and four years old.) To get his silly muscles going, he’ll be spoon fed some Mel Brooks (with Spaceballs as an apt introduction to satire), a little bit of the Holy Grail, The Princess Bride, The Blues Brothers, and some physical comedy from the old Pink Panthers. One of the most important responsibilities of parenting is getting your kid ready for your secretions of pop culture references and, since we tend to pull our references from comedies, this exposure will let you quote Austin Powers at the dinner table without leaving your youngster in the dark. Between the ages of five and eight, I’m going to assume my
bass and rhythmic consistency to keep listeners engaged. Unfortunately, Mesirow’s obsession with oscillation and variance ensures that such glimpses do not define her sound. This LP’s journey through change and ephemerality liberates Glasser from a rigid musical identity. Yet this freedom causes Mesirow to desert the scattered moments of full, well-developed sound for her transcendent, unapproachable exploration. Voice’s Choices: “Landscape”
“Shape,” —Josh Ward
Miley Cyrus, Bangerz, RCA Records Four months ago, when the music video for “We Can’t Stop” was son will have an appetite for movies with a little more edge. This is where parental discretion is key, since my kid will have more independence in the media he is exposed to as soon as he is strong enough to pick up a remote. Some required action/adventure movies include Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Independence Day, The Good, the Bad
Reel Talk by John Sapunor a bi-weekly column about film and the Ugly, a few James Bonds, and The Lord of the Rings. This period of movie watching may not have the most noticeable impact on a child, so think of it as a tool for inspiring imagination. When I see my son reenacting scenes from Back to the Future with his Lego set, I’ll know I’ve done my job. As soon as my son turns nine, I’ll be on a mission to show him as many genres as possible. Between the ages of nine and 13 is the last
uploaded to YouTube, the newest iteration of Miley Cyrus was presented to the world—and it was weird. On Tuesday, this changed version of the pop star we all knew and loved released Bangerz, and like the new version of Cyrus, it’s weird. Thematically, much of the album simply isn’t that engaging. A good amount of the record’s 52-minute grind belongs in dark, damp basement nightclubs where the sun doesn’t shine and the music doesn’t matter. “SMS (Bangerz)” is a particularly repugnant example of the LP’s distastefulness. This song shows the album at its worst, employing uninteresting melodies, lackluster beats, and detestable lyrics. The chorus is literally the repetition of the album title—an apt slang synonym for messy, boozey ragers. Miley insists that she “can strut in [her] stuff,” but by the end of the song, which includes a discouraging feature by Britney Spears, it’s clear no one really cares. The album definitely deserves credit in some places though. Many of the songs are not half bad, even bordering on good. “#GETITRIGHT” has a Beyoncé-esque feel, with an offbeat rhythm driven by a clean guitar riff and simple whistle ornamentatime I’ll have a significant amount of control over his movie choices, so it is essential that I educate him on the overwhelming selection of movies he will face as soon as he is out of my hands. Really, this is about telling him what he should like, but more importantly, telling him what he should hate. I’ll introduce him to some of my favorite directors suitable to his age, such as Stephen Spielberg, Chris Nolan, Tim Burton, and possibly the Coen brothers. Then I’ll show him movies by some of the filmmakers I despise, like latter-day Tim Burton, Baz Luhrmann, the guys who made Date Movie, Diablo Cody, etc. And I won’t be disappointed if he likes the movies I hate. There’s nothing I like more than arguing with wellversed movie fans. After he hits the big one-three, my teenager will probably have made up his mind on what he likes or doesn’t like, and I won’t be able to force him to sit down and watch movies with me. However, I know exactly what he’ll want to see: any-
tions. But again, the song disappoints with unimpressive lyricism. “Wrecking Ball,” actually addresses both of these issues with a relatable emotional ballad directed towards an ex-lover. When you look past the controversy surrounding the song’s music video, you can hear the despair in Cyrus’ voice. The final song, “Someone Else,” similarly shows a deeper sense of self-awareness. Cyrus addresses her own flaws through the context of her failed relationships, coming to the conclusion that she’s partly at fault—a profound revelation from the twerking queen. But the song still fails despite its distinct message because of the clunky production that plagues the whole album. Bangerz is massively overproduced, lacking any nuance or restraint. Ultimately, Bangerz benefits from extremely low expectations. The album contains more great musical moments than anyone could have anticipated. And for that reason alone, perhaps you won’t feel ashamed playing it at your next banger. Voice’s Choices: “FU,” “Wrecking Ball” —Daniel Varghese thing stamped with an R-rating. This trend marks the dirty phase in his movie education, the part I most look forward to. Assuming he hasn’t already seen Gladiator, Apocalypse Now, Superbad, Eyes Wide Shut, and some of my other favorite movies only suitable for “mature audiences,” I’ll have him bingeing on raunchy comedies, violent war dramas, and gory slasher movies. If he’s thirteen and asks me to take him to the newest Quentin Tarantino movie, I’ll do as he commands. Lars von Trier? We’ll be first in line. Judd Apatow? I’ll forge his doctor’s note. By his freshman year in high school, he’ll be out in the real world. He will no longer defer to me for opinions, and my only input will be used to maintain his interest in films. But goddammit I’ll have my belt out in a heartbeat if he calls James Franco’s newest 10-hour performance art a masterpiece. Tell John you want him to be the father of your children at jsapunor@ georgetownvoice.com