Stretching along the Central Pacific equator, the island nation of Kiribati rests, on average, only two meters above sea level. Based on the latest scientific consensus, all of Kiribati’s 33 coral isles and atolls will be completely underwater within the century. … read more
Sandi Tan might’ve been a strange teenager, but it was in the very best way. Growing up in Singapore, she published a zine and scribbled hundreds of handwritten letters and postcards. Mostly, she obsessed over film. … read more
Sundance World Drama Selection Time Share (Tiempo Compartido) intrigues with its elusive screenplay, which alternates between the narratives of Pedro and Andrés. … read more
White Rabbit is a wide-eyed and heartfelt dramedy, compelling with a clever, entertaining premise before digging into its lead heroine. … read more
High & Mighty is a kind of Chicano, stoner-humor amalgam of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Workaholics with a serial dash of Breaking Bad. … read more
As far as filmmaking goes, there may be something in the water in Greece. Director/screenwriter Babis Makridis’ and screenwriter Efthimis Filippou’s work in Sundance World Drama Pity converses with a similar vernacular to that of fellow Greek Yorgos Lanthimos. … read more
Sundance World Documentary film Genesis 2.0 is beautifully shot. Yakut “Hunters” travel to the isles to dig for mammoth tusks, which they sell with aspirations for riches. Some sell to/for scientific projects while others sell tusks that end up in the hands of artisans. … read more
A local band making the decision to utilize what sounds like Russian lyrics on an opening track= balls. Some members of the Utah community would be miffed if an intro track didn’t have some entirely English reference to how much they love God and/or how much they love their country. … read more
Oh my! I don’t know what I was expecting with this CD … actually, I thought it was going to be second-rate, diluted folk music; something about the calligraphy font on the front cover. But the album opens up with a big, classy, big band-era sounding rock extravaganza and goes on from there to 40s and 50s crooner hits with “fun” pschedelia thrown in (think Flaming Lips, not Jefferson Airplane). … read more
Die Monster Die has truly become a staple of Salt Lake’s underground scene. They play on a fairly regular basis and release a record every now and then. Their metal-laden horror punk is fun and creepy, but they’ve never really stepped above the regular horror punk sludge that inhabits the music collection of anyone who wishes there were more Misfits’ records. … read more
Dirty Uncle Davey is all you could expect from a synth-based noise band, long droney tracks of feedback and mysterious sounding tones meandering through dimensionless matter. What is great about this release and most really good noise music is that it steps into your subconscious and plays a few tricks on you, the biggest being that of time confusion. … read more
It’s not very often I’ll get a tasty treat of chunky doom from our local bands, but holy shit, Invaders has nailed it. This humble little EP pounds three songs of heaviness into your pink, supple little ear drums without regard for whether or not you like them. As DIY as the release appears, the production is extremely high quality without much feeling of intrusive digital polish, which can often sacrifice that sweet atmospheric buzz you feel in the back of your throat. … read more
