I was very happy to get another chance to talk with one of my favorite directors Joachim Trier in this profile for MINISpace. If you haven’t seen his debut Reprise quickly move that to the top of your Netflix queue and if you’re in New York or LA you can catch his latest feature Oslo, August 31 which opened in both cities on Friday.
Photo by Evan @ bread factories
If you know me at all you know I love The Walkmen. I don’t think we’ve hosted a single BBQ without a couple of their songs playing in the background and I see them live any chance I get. I got a headstart on their new record Heaven this week and I couldn’t be happier. It sounds like the starter’s gun for summer and instantly puts me in a good mood. Trust I will be first in line next Tuesday to get a proper copy on vinyl.
Had a crazy, classic New York City day with my wife on Saturday. We woke up and went to the record sale at Smorgasburg in Williamsburg where some super serious record nerds had already boxed out space around most of the bargain bins. We did manage to grab some gems from local labels like Domino where I came up on the excellent new Patrick Watson album and a reissue of Four Tet’s classic Pause. Then we hopped a cab and headed for The Great Googa Mooga which frankly on Saturday was a total shit show. We didn’t stay long but I was back again on Sunday and the festival made a nice recovery (article and photos will be posting on MINISpace later this week). We stopped off for a drink at Bar Tabac, one of my favorite spots on that side of Brooklyn. Then my friend Patrick who works at the Supra store in Soho reminded me on Twitter that they were hosting a demo by Fool’s Gold artist and Blue Chips producer Party Supplies so we popped over there just in time to catch him banging out some MPC wizardry. We had some time to kill so we ended up at the Mondrian in Soho where I enjoyed a Don Julio rocks before heading to some ICFF parties on Greene Street. We sipped champagne, ate finger foods, lusted after expensive furniture and laughed at the fashion inadequacies of rich people in some gorgeous showrooms before cabbing it back to Bushwick. It was a long day but also a good reminder of exactly why we all put up with so much bullshit in order to live here.
One word initial reaction to Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music = WOW!!! The album was produced entirely by Def Jux/Company Flow legend El-P and Pitchfork compares the combination to when Ice Cube teamed with The Bomb Squad. I have to say that’s a pretty accurate description. I’ve been a fan of El-P’s production and Killer Mike as an MC for some time but the two together just hits so hard… To quote Busta Rhymes “Powerful impact BOOM! from the cannon.” I’m looking forward to giving this a more in-depth listen but I’m sure it will be serving as gym fuel for months to come.
El-P is having a very good week. Aside from collecting rave reviews for his work on R.A.P. Music and gearing up for the release of his own solo album Cancer 4 Cure he also went on Letterman last night and shut shit down with a performance of “Stay Down” even managing to sneak in RIP shout outs to fellow Brooklynites MCA and Maurice Sendak.
Revisiting this underrated 90′s gem and one of Gary Oldman’s best performances in Romeo is Bleeding this weekend I had to laugh when my wife and I discovered that the abandoned industrial wasteland featured in this clip is the now ultra-gentrified Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Not a single hipster in sight…
Very proud of my talented friend and fellow Florida native Brent Chesanek who will be debuting his first feature City World later this month at the Seattle International Film Festival. Anyone who can make the city of Orlando look cinematic is automatically a genius in my book. Check the City World trailer for proof.
