Authors: Alexander Ortega
Fresh and Solid: The Broship’s National Homie Collective
“It’s comedy, music and art … And good, ol’ fashioned, hard partying. We’re the partiest partiers in Partyland,” says Dreu Damian Hudson. He illuminates one of the core axioms of his party gang, the Broship. This group of men and women has been chugging beers, snapping necks and cashing checks since the early part of the millennium. … read more
Bringing the Brew From Beyond the County Line: Shades of...
The sky’s the limit for Trent Fargher and Alexandra Ortiz de Fargher, owners of Shades of Pale Brewing Company in Park City. They will join Dale Harris, owner of Zion Canyon Brewing Company in Springdale, to circulate their brews throughout Salt Lake County. Through Ortiz and Fargher’s subtle infusion of juniper to their Belgian wits and Harris’ wholesome use of the mineral-rich groundwater of the Virgin River, these breweries seek to employ Utah to command craft brewing. … read more
Dead To Me’s Stampede of the Unscreamed
“There’s all these things that we know about, that we should be talking about, but we’re not,” says Chicken, vocalist and bassist of San Francisco’s Dead To Me. While Dead To Me do touch upon common subjects such as war and homelessness in their songs, their takes on such subject matter aren’t your typical “elephants in the room.” “We’re interested in talking about the things that people shy away from, which are our emotions, our fears, our drives.” … read more
National CD Reviews – July 2011
New releases from Black Lips, Crystal Stilts, Dox, Explosions In the Sky, Friendly Fires, Iceage, Jello Biafra, Los Vigilantes, Set Your Goals, Sol Invictus, Thurston Moore. Tyler the Creator and many, many more are reviewed.
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All Out Ballz Out with Cerebral Ballzy
As Cerebral Ballzy eased into the intro of “On the Run” at Urban Lounge last June, you knew that front man Honor Titus was going to do justice to the Dead Boys back patch on his jean jacket. The normal, grooving, garage rock vibe that Urban usually hosts transmogrifies into a pissed, circle-pit hardcore show as Titus screams, “Catch me if you can! Catch me if you can! I don’t think you can! … read more
Bubblegum Thunderstorm: Spell Talk Crackles and Booms
I barely beat the rain as I roll into an open garage where drummer Sammy Harper of Spell Talk shoots a game of pool on a worn down table. Bassist Jared Phelps shuffles about while guitarist Andrew Milne lounges on a couch next to new member and rhythm guitarist Elle Rasmussen, who quietly smokes a cigarette. The quartet is like a calm set of siblings on another stormy day, but they keep a loud secret in their pockets: a physically engaging album that will have you ready to stomp your feet and holler along with the band’s newborn thunder. … read more
Tooth Fractal Psychedelia: Tyler Densley’s Acid Math
“Growing up Mormon and being straight edge most of my life, I had these weird inklings to do hallucinogens,” says Tyler Densley. “I always, in the back of my mind, thought that I would like to hallucinate—be able to see outside of what I know, be able to see a cartoon in my head.” When Densley followed this desire, he found commonalities between what he liked about American traditional tattooing, his fondness for cartoons and his psychedelic experiences. … read more
Cat Power and Nico Turner Live @ The Depot 11.25
It wasn’t utterly packed—just full. Cat Power draws an interestingly eclectic crowd: professors, obligatory hippies, hipsters and maybe a vegan–straight edge kid, too. After the release of her electronica album, Sun, it seemed that there was a yearning for the older, more classic styling of Chan Marshall, and there was no better way to realize that desire than an intimate, seated setting where she would perform solo. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Vanishing Pearls
Vanishing Pearls zones in on the small bayou fishing town of Point à la Hache where catching clam was the chief industry, with protagonist Byron Encalade serving as the representative of bayou fishermen affected by the BP oil spill. Vanishing Pearls analyzes key points at which BP skirted resolution of the problem and reveals BP’s nefarious actions to cheat this small community—and others—out of their due reparations. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Love Steaks
Love Steaks finds the timid and awkward Clemens (Franz Rogowski) starting a new job as a massage therapist and reiki trainee at a luxury hotel in a German-speaking country. While he learns the ropes amid the stringent attitude of the hotel, Lara (Lana Cooper), a blonde host mess who works in the kitchens, begins to crush on him amid her alcoholism, and when he finds her passed out on a beach and massages her gluts, the two initiate a clandestine but reckless romance. … read more
Slamdance Film Review: Rover (or Beyond Human: the Venusian Future...
David (Liam Torres) leads a group of five (later four) followers of a cult that is hilariously secretive about their beliefs. They live in an old church with odd symbols drawn on chalkboards and the pews removed, and the film opens as he explains a “vision” to his glum followers: that the mysterious Randall wishes for them to make a movie about him. … read more
