March 2015

featuring our favorite albums of 2014

march EMILY D’EMIC

President and Publisher

JEREMY ISABELLAEditor-in-Chief, Layout

LORY MARTINEZAssociate Editor

MELISSA NEIRAPhoto Editor

REGINA BELLCopy Editor

2. IMMA LET YOU FINISH BUT...ZAUDITA FENDER, STAFF WRITER

3. Album Review: Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper GRANT HERSON, STAFF WRITER

5. Film Review: BirdmanALLIE YOUNG, STAFF WRITER

7. Renaissance MenREGINA BELL, COPY EDITOR

8. Staff List: Top Albums of 2014IMPACT STAFF

10. Album Review: Hot SugarARTHUR VIZOSKI, WHRW NEWS

11. Film Review: ChappiePATRICK HAO, WHRW NEWS

12. The Return of Optimistic Science Fiction CinemaMATT GREENBERG, STAFF WRITER

13. This month’s spotify playlist

14. The Vital Calendar: Upcoming Shows Near YouIMPACT STAFF

front and back cover photos by melissa neira, photo editorall other photographs property of their respective owners

The brilliant and lyrical genius that is Kanye West has solidified himself as a quadruple threat. Not only is he a rapper, producer, and fashion designer, but he is also a notorious interrupter-at-award-ceremonies. During the 2015 Grammy Awards, Beyonce lost Album of the Year to Beck. In true Kanye fashion he stormed onto the Grammy stage while Beck was accepting his award, but he refrained from actually saying anything. Most people assumed he was being play-ful and simply mocking his incident with Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs. However, when speaking to correspondents at the E! after party, he clarified his actions. West stated that “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyonce.” He further went on to address the Grammys as a whole, stating that “...when you keep on dimin-ishing art and not respecting the craft and smacking people in the face after they deliver monumental feats of music, you’re disrespectful to inspiration.”Beyonce’s self-titled album was her most diverse stylistically. She released it without any promotion whatsoever, made a video for each song on the al-bum and produced record-high sales. As a Beyonce fan I can fully understand West’s reaction. However, it does not justify him ruining Beck’s winning mo-ment. Moreover, Beyonce doesn’t need a spokesperson to convey her feelings. If she felt cheated in any way, she could have vocalized those sentiments herself. Also, being the narcissist that he is, West would have thrown a tantrum if any-one dared to suggest that he give away his award in an effort to respect true

artistry. To say that Beck winning over Beyonce is disrespectful to inspiration implies that Beck is incapable of inspiring his listeners. Contrary to what Yeezus believes, inspiration does not begin and end with Beyonce. Although having an opinion is important for any functioning society, there’s a proper way to express one’s opinion and Mr. West missed the mark. Kanye should heed his own ad-vice about respecting artistry and refrain from belittling the hard work of his con-temporaries.

IMMA LET YOU FINISH BUT… by ZAUDITA FENDER

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Since the release of 2009’s Merriweather Post Pavillion, recent Animal Collective endeavors have seemed rather lost and unfocused. Their 2011 release Centipede Hz was somewhat of a return to form, with it being more chaotic and sporadic, but by the end, the album came off as muddy and the songwriting didn’t add up to much. Now, Noah Lennox AKA Panda Bear is back with Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, but given Animal Collec-tive’s recent track record, is it a journey worth taking? The album trickles in with “Sequential Circuits” which gives one the impression of fog settling on a dark moonlit for-est. Through this settling fog we see the Grim Reaper appear offering himself up as a guide, and echoing off the trees we hear Noah Lennox’s Brian Wilson-esque vocals encouraging us by saying “Dread follows that lead, follow the lead”. We follow the Grim Reaper and the next thing we know we have had our mind rattled with the banger “Mr Noah”. The song has an undeniable amount of en-ergy and contagious hooks. Noah Lennox paints pictures of dogs turning on dogs and men turning on men; he reminds us that none of us are safe from death. After emerging from these ghastly im-ages we encounter our first major mo-ment of realization that the album has

to offer in the form of “Crosswords”. It is in these moments of realization that the album shines. Lennox’s lyrics on “Crosswords” and throughout the al-bum are cryptic but they also offer a lot of room for the listener to relate to and identify with. In “Crosswords,” he is basically echoing something that mostly everyone has heard at one point in their life: “You’ve got it so good.” We often focus on what we don’t have instead of what we have, this idea seems to come through in spades as the album pro-gresses. “Butcher Baker Candlestick Maker” and “Boys Latin” are both songs that seem to pride themselves on their grooves, hooks, and their ability to apply different layers of sound subtly, adding more and more texture as the song progresses. Sonically these songs are the equivalent of listening to a lava lamp that is bub-bling and spitting with color. The last lyrics of the song “Boys Latin” which go; “Dark Cloud descended again and a shadow moves in the darkness” imply that death has come in full force and is here to take us away. The chaotic and mind-altering intro to “Come to Your Senses” gives one the im-pression of their life flashing before their eyes in the blink of second through a dial-up connection. After that eighteen-

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ALBUM REVIEW: PANDA BEAR MEETS THE GRIM

REAPER

by GRANT HERSON

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second wall of sound has succeeded, we are treated to a Dust Brothers-esque groove and we are bombarded with the question, “Are you mad?” Like in “Cross-words,” Lennox’s lyrics here are simple but poignant. He is echoing words that sounds like something a dad would say to his son and he reminds us that we don’t get another chance at this game of life by saying, “Don’t make that again, this is the last time”.“Tropic of Cancer” is Noah Lennox’s “Mo-tion Picture Soundtrack” (Radiohead) or “‘Til I Die” (The Beach Boys). It is a hauntingly elegant track that represents the emotional breaking point of the al-bum. This has to be one of these best tracks to ever come out of any Animal Collective project. “Selfish Gene” is another standout mo-ment from the album. Lennox finds him-self admitting that he is not a perfect person and that he will undoubtedly make mistakes or “Trip up again”. Once we acknowledge these ideas that the album presents, such as death is part of life that stimulates growth, there is no going back, live for tomorrow instead of yesterday, and value what you have

instead of what you don’t, we may feel a little bit of weight lifted off our shoulder. This weight lifting or moment of release is captured ever so perfectly by the clos-er “Acid Wash” in which we the listeners find ourselves in a joyous victory over the paralyzing nature of death that the Grim Reaper represents. Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper doesn’t really seem to mark the end of an era like the title may seem to imply, but instead seems to represent a step in the right direction. Sonically this marks the most cohesive, consistent, and fully realized Animal Collective output since Merriweather Post Pavilion and my fa-vorite since Strawberry Jam. The album is polluted with hypnotic hooks and grooves that will be kicking around the back of your mind for days. Lyrically and conceptually the album often comes off as poignant, poetic, and quite profound if heard in the right context. This is an album spitting with so much cosmic color that it demands you to listen to it all the way through multiple times in order to fully appreciate it.

Check out our new Impact BU Spotify playlist featuring songs from this issue and more: tinyurl.com/impactbu

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FILM REVIEW: BIRDMAN OR (THE UN-EXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)

by ALLIE YOUNG

In the opening shot of Birdman, Riggan Thomson, played by Michael Keaton, levitates in his dressing room. We see a note card printed with the quote, “A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing” tucked in the corner of his dress-ing room mirror. Though it is only briefly visible, this quote serves as Thomson’s great struggle through one of the best films of 2014.

In an attempt to regain the fame he once had and the respect he always longed for, washed-up actor Riggan Thomson writes, directs, and stars in a Broadway rendition of Raymond Carver’s What We

Talk About When We Talk About Love. Thompson struggles to show the differ-ence between being an actor and being a celebrity, haunted by his former success as Birdman, the superhero from a ‘90s trilogy. As the play consumes Thomson’s life, the voice of Birdman terrorizes him and manifests in the darkest corner of his subconscious.

Director and writer Alejandro González Iñárritu has created a film that plays off the current Marvel and DC box-office craze, and Birdman’s cast is one not un-familiar with that craze. Emma Stone of The Amazing Spiderman plays Thomson’s

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anxiety-stricken daughter; Edward Nor-ton of The Incredible Hulk plays Thom-son’s costar, a manipulative man more himself onstage than off. While Keaton played a superhero icon in Tim Burton’s Batman, his career is nothing as desper-ate as that of Riggan Thomson’s.

When we meet Thomson, he is on the brink of self-destruction. He is strug-gling to prove, not only to himself but to everyone around him, that he is more than a man in a suit. With his new proj-ect under extreme scrutiny, Thomson never has a moment of solitude. His anxiety becomes increasingly prevalent when he tries to be alone, yet he finds himself constantly harassed by the voice of Birdman. As Thomson’s mental state deteriorates, the manifestation of Bird-man strengthens. Eventually viewers are given a physical being to match the ee-rie, hoarse voice that has been torment-ing Thomson throughout the film. Upon viewing the superhero that has infiltrated Thomson like an illness, we realize the film is from Birdman’s perspective.

The most notable aspect of the filming of Birdman is that it seems like one con-tinuous shot. Upon my first viewing of the film, I was thrilled to see such a long and carefully executed opening shot; I waited for the shot to end—but it never did. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) and production designer Kevin Thomson worked to create an incredibly aesthetic film. The events of Birdman take place in a Broadway theater and its few surrounding streets. Kevin Thom-son’s production design took full advan-tage of the great lighting and lines that

the wings of a theater provide. Crooked staircases, ropes and pulleys, and smoky blue lights add a grungy tinge to the already tense atmosphere of the film. Furthermore, Thomson’s crew rebuilt the set after almost every day: the walls become increasingly narrow as the film progresses, creating a physical manifes-tation of the main character’s anxiety.

Birdman is an innovative work with in-credible post-production achievement and a script with actors that execute it to its full potential. However, this film is not one of universal admiration. Many have critiqued the film for its ambigu-ity and distracting soundtrack of frazzled drumming. If you chose to see the film, you must be prepared to watch some-thing atypical of Hollywood. Alejandro González Iñárrit has created a film in contrast with the craze of bombastic ac-tion movies. Birdman terrorizes Riggan Thomson, and we are reminded of what sells in the media as he growls, “they love blood and action.” Though Birdman may not be the average Oscar-winning film, its recognition is greatly deserved. Iñárrit’s message for viewers is quite clear, as he opens the film with the fol-lowing Raymond Carter excerpt: “And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth.” Though we don’t always know the path to admiration, we can share in the universal seeking of it. After all, there is an unexpected virtue to ignorance.

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STAFF LIST: OUR TOP ALBUMS OF 2014

Soft Opening - PosseGrant Herson

What happens when you take the lyrics from Yo La Tengo combined with the vocal deliveries of Galaxie 500, mixed with the laid back guitar work of Pavement or Sonic Youth? Answer: You get my favorite album of 2014. While Posse do seem to take a lot from the aforementioned bands, they never come off as though they are merely ripping them off or cashing in. Instead they seem to take their influences and turn it into something truly special and original. Soft Opening sounds like an album that will pollute college radio station across the country in the years to come.

Strange Journey Volume Three - CunninLynguistsJeremy Isabella

This album received constant rotation on my car’s stereo system and my head-phones this year. It has everything I look for in an alternative, “out-there” hip-hop project: smooth flows, thought-provoking lyrics, witty wordplay, cultural references that I get, and spaced-out, hard-hitting production. I have been following this group for years, and this might be the best thing they’ve ever put together. This is a con-cept album with the overarching theme being a search for “intelligent and empa-thetic life” on planet Earth by an advanced alien species. It begs the question of how our society would be perceived by an outside, unbiased observer and it makes us reexamine what it means to be human. We are encouraged to take a step back and examine humanity’s vices and virtues from the perspective of an intergalactic observer. Woah, deep. Basically: listen to this.

AM - Arctic MonkeysSydney Fusto

I was never a huge Arctic Monkeys fan. For some strange reason, they never got any airtime in the soundtrack to my life. But this all changed for me one night over Christmas break last year. I was sitting on my bedroom floor with my two best friends from high school. We had been passing a joint around, playing whatever

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songs came across our minds on my laptop. Suddenly, one of my friends sat up ex-citedly and went, “Wait, you guys, I need to play this one song for you.” Given our collective questionable mindset at the time, I figured it would be some trippy, gonzo electro band that would make us all see our own brainwaves inside of our heads. But as she pressed play, a beat began to pulse all around the room that made me sit up from my reclined, eyes-half-open position and I stared wide-eyed, attentively listening. The song was Arabella. Perhaps it was the drugs, but that song got into my bones. It is deeply sensual and it makes my torso undulate. I want to get up and do things. Bad things. It makes me want to smoke cigarettes and wear silk stockings and run my fingers through the greasy, James Dean coif of Alex Turner. Maybe tug it a little, and bite my lip. Yes, lots of lip biting. From that moment on, I listened to that entire album on repeat and fell in love with the band. It is a genu-inely cool experience to really get into a band you never gave a second thought to before. It just might have tapped into my mind and soul.You can’t be sure.Top Tracks: “Arabella,” “R U Mine?”

EDITOR’S PICKBiophilia - Björk (2011)Lory Martinez

2011 was a long time ago, but I only just discovered this album on an IcelandAir flight back home during winter break. Among a smattering of in-flight foreign films was a documentary about this very album. Björk, the Icelandic Queen of experi-mental music, created this wonder based on the biophilia hypothesis: the theory that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. And if that’s not poetic enough, she uses a tesla coil as a musical instrument. If you haven’t already, I strongly recommend this album which features instruments spe-cifically designed to illustrate that bond.

Niggas on the Moon - Death GripsRegina Bell

There are timeless moments in everyone’s life and I like to consider the day I found out that Death Grips were breaking up to be one of mine. I wouldn’t put it past them to do something like what they did, and by that I mean post a picture on Facebook of what was essentially a suicide note of their “project” of a band written on a napkin, but it nonetheless surprised and upset me that I would never again get any more music from them. Fast forward several weeks from that fateful day and we have a not-so-surprise re-lease from them called Niggas on the Moon, part one of a two-part album called The Powers That B that was set to be released post-mortem. Featuring vocal samples from Björk on nearly every track of the album, this release is a banger in its tradi-tional Death Grips fashion -- distant and neurotic, its energy pounds like a heartbeat and feels like being shot in the head. Just how I like it. Top Tracks: “Have A Sad Cum,” “Billy Not Really”

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These music and movie reviews are part of a collaboration with WHRW News. You can hear Arthur and Patrick talk about arts and entertainment on The Evening Re-view, weekdays 5-530 on WHRW FM Binghamton.

Hot Sugar, also known as Nick Koenig, has released his debut album “God’s Hand.” The album resides in a genre called “associative music.” The genre involves feeding real-life sounds intro microphones, recording those sounds and then meticulously manipulating them into track worthy noises. These noises are then sampled, looped and cut up to create the melodies of Hot Sugar’s music. The album, along with much of his other work, is littered with sounds from New York City streets, though they may be difficult to recognize due to Hot

Sugar’s production methods. The album is an excellent example of Hot Sugar’s instrumental abilities. A track titled “Rat City” off the “Midi Murder EP” uses a sampled piano melody played by Hot Sugar’s rat after it ran across the keys of a grand piano. He has two previous EP’s that feature New York emcees such as Heems, Lakutis, Antwon and Big Baby Ghandi. Those EP’s can be found under the titles “MiDi Murder” and “Made Man.” All of Hot Sugar’s music is available to stream for free on Spotify.

ALBUM REVIEW: HOT SUGAR- GOD’S

HAND

by ARTHUR VIZOSKI

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FILM REVIEW: CHAPPiE

by PATRICK HAO

Neill Blomkamp should be the ideal di-rector for me. He makes moderately large budget sci-fi films all based on original ideas that serve as allegories ranging from Apartheid to class warfare to artificial intelligence and drones. Un-fortunately, with each successive film, it becomes more and more apparent that he is a terrible director.

He is innovative with his methods, mak-ing high concept sci-fiction with a Ci-néma vérité style. His claim to fame is “District 9” in which he sets aliens in apartheid South Africa, creating a com-pelling piece of allegory. The mix of moc-kumentary, CGI and real life huts really gives it a sense of world. Unfortunately, he constantly struggles with tonality, never being quite sure what message he’s trying to deliver; a problem which is generally okay for other blockbuster film directors. But the thing is, Blomkamp purposefully sets his films under a politi-cal veil.

His latest film is Chappie, starring fre-quent collaborator Sharlto Copley as a Pinnochio-esque police robot. He is brought to life by Dev Patel and raised by gangster thugs played by the South African rap duo Die Antewoord. The film’s villain is played by an overly-exag-gerated heel-and-mullet enthusiast,Hugh Jackman, and the whole thing is as jum-bled as the way I am describing it. On one hand, the film is about a mechanized future and the possible dangers of that but the main villain is an opponent of artificial intelligence. It raises an allegory about creation and a God-like creator but it so loosely expounds upon that, that it is a non-factor. And I do not know what to make of the “gangsta” characters of Die Antwoord who are gratuitously vio-lent and attempt to be sympathetic, neither of which works. Neill Blomkamp still has potential but maybe he should stop writing.

TO BOLDLY CONTINUE: THE RETURN OF OPTIMISTIC SCIENCE

FICTION CINEMAby MATT GREENBERG

It’s hard to imagine there would exist any comparisons between a time-bend-ing journey through deep space and an animated superhero origin story, but in early November, releases Interstellar (directed by Christopher Nolan) and Big Hero 6 (directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams) both mark a comeback for ex-ploration and experimentation as positive attributes of modern science fiction. Each film’s enthusiastic depiction of science as a means to improve human produc-tivity and functionality, hidden beneath jaw-dropping spectacle, helps reverse a recent cinematic tendency for the down-beat and dystopic. While these films are not without dark narrative flourishes, they ultimately encourage their audienc-es to look up to the achievers of today rather than fear the darker possibilities of tomorrow. The space crew of Interstellar is driven beyond our known galaxy by a need to protect and repopulate human-kind. It is a mission of extreme concern, leading the scientists to cautiously ana-lyze and weigh every choice. When faced with difficulties during their voyage, sci-entists Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and Brand (Anne Hathaway) square off in a debate of passion and logic. The film takes care to depict the scientific method as a crucial component of experimenta-tion, yet does not ignore human emotion as another key element of the process. Likewise, the characters of Big Hero

6 are shown tinkering with advanced technology in order to accomplish com-mon academic (and later heroic) goals. In particular, teen prodigy Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) is driven by his superior intellect and familial loss to design and optimize his robotic creations. Both films contain moments of emotion trumping reason, which are depicted as threaten-ing to one’s character. Yet, each draws the conclusion that such passion is nec-essary to fuel inventive thinking. In fact, Big Hero 6 explicitly shows its characters in an academic setting, presumably to persuade its younger demographic to pursue a scholarly path. Hiro and his fellow student engineers are all characterized as dedicated and collab-orative workers, despite the variations in their level of ability. Interstellar similarly encourages careful examination of peda-gogy, with characters being undermined and later respected for their intellectual abilities. An early scene referencing the legitimacy of the Apollo 11 moon land-ing in a school setting demonstrates a need for honesty and empiricism in our

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current system. This message was likely supported by the film’s executive pro-ducer and consultant, theoretical physi-cist Kip Thorne. To universalize the importance of learning to their respective audiences, both films carefully include heroic multi-cultural and multi-gendered characters. As such, every character is depicted as capable of triumph over antagonism and destruction. But what would these brave thinkers be without their technol-ogy? Both films show robotic companions as aids, avoiding the common trope of an “evil machine.” Interstellar’s TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin) cracks wise about the enslavement of the human race, and yet is the first to protect its human companions in a perilous situation. Big Hero 6’s Baymax (voiced by Scott Adsit) is also a lighthearted invention, though despite its cuddly appearance and social incompetence it is powerful beyond any

human ability. These are important char-acteristics, discouraging a pre-conceived fear of artificial intelligence in favor of reminding us why we choose to improve our technology. The humans and robots of these films are the carriers of a message for modern audiences: to examine the prob-lems of the present and ponder their solutions for the future. Each film treats the scientific process as meticulous ex-perimentation, almost as a puzzle on a grand scale. While not every moviegoer will be motivated to be the next scientific revolutionary, both Interstellar and Big Hero 6 explore the unknown by raising a significant question: what if one could be?

Matt Greenberg is a Cinema student at Binghamton University, and the host of CINE 123 on WHRW 90.5FM Bingham-ton.

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THE VITAL CALENDAR: UPCOMING SHOWS NEAR

YOUCashmere CatSaturday, Mar 21Webster Hall125 E 11th St, New York, New York 100037:00pm | 18+ | $25

Alex G / Lust / Lucia RobertsThursday, March 26th Angry Mom Records115 The Commons (basement of Autumn Leaves Books)Ithaca, NY 14850 | 6PM-8PM | All Ages | $8

Spring Fling || Dinowalrus // Field Trip (EP Release Show) // The Teen Age // Rivergazer // CavernsThursday, March 26Knitting Factory Brooklyn361 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11211ALL AGES w/ ID

Told Slant, Free Cake For Every Creature, Florist & Trace MountainsThursday, March 26thShea Stadium20 Meadow St, Brooklyn, New York 112068:00pm | $8

Teen Suicide/LVL UP/Crying/Amanda X/Flagland/WasherFriday, March 27thBrooklyn Night Bazaar165 Banker St, Brooklyn, New York 112227:00pm | FREE

Crying / eskimeaux / Misses Bitches / Naps Monday, March 30thWaffle Frolic 146 E State St, Ithaca, NY 148507:00pm | $8 | All Ages

Invertebrate Presents: Digital Nowhere || Diveo // Mad Animals // Off.White // Mowri // Ackerman // Xtra Colours // SleestakThursday, April 2ndAviv496 Morgan, Brooklyn, New York 112227:30pm

CUTTERS / Gay Panic / Cutting Room Floor / Garrett Walters / Little WaistSunday, April 5thThe Silent Barn603 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, New York 112068:00pm | ALL AGES | $8

S.H.I.T., VAASKA, PARTY PLATES, AJAX, RAID + Special GuestsThursday, April 16thThe Acheron57 Waterbury St, Brooklyn, New York 112068:00p, | 18+

Shakey Graves with David RamirezFriday, April 17thThe Haunt702 Willow Avenue, Ithaca, NY8:00pm | 16+ | $15

Modest Mouse plus Special GuestSunday April 19thCornell’s Barton Hall 518E Willard Straight Hall Cornell University, Ithaca, NY7:00pm | All Ages | $40

Adult Mom / Small Wonder / Care / RailingsSaturday, April 25thPalisades 906 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY7:30pm | $7

Sunflower Bean, Honduras, Slingshot Dakota, Field TripFriday, May 8thThe Studio at Webster Hall125 E 11th St, New York, New York 100038:00pm | $10 | 18+

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