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  • Blythe Gruda

    This year in honor of Earth Day, Art For Progress put on the “Music Saves the Planet” show at The Bowery Electric. With the tag line “Creative Culture Accelerating Social Change”, the event was meant to “celebrate Earth Day and to raise awareness.” Ticket proceeds went towards the NYC non profit’s arts programs. Door prizes from the event ranged from a Gibson guitar to tickets to The American Museum of Natural History.

    The evening began with Blythe Gruda. The singer was accompanied by guitarist Graham Norwood and violinist Claudia Chopek. Together the trio started the evening off with that can only be described as genuine, awe-inspiring talent. The opening slot isn’t an easy place to play. The audience is still filing in and/or hasn’t really arrived yet, but you’re still expected to put on a show as if it were a packed house. Gruda seemed utterly unphased and absolutely appreciative of the healthy showing that welcomed her warmly to the stage.

    Idgy Dean (Lindsay Sanwald) took the stage second at 9:00. She carried her floor tom on stage with no rock star airs. In a pair of black over alls, she seemed more roadie than rock band. Where was the rest of the band?  She IS the band. In fact Dean performs as a one-woman psychedelic rock band. She employs tUnE-yArDs-esque loops and drum beats to create multilayered garage rock that without her trusty pedal board would take a good half-dozen band members to recreate. Throughout her set Dean swapped her drumsticks for her guitar, singing all the time and holding up the act all by herself.

    The next act was Wyland. The New Jersey quartet brought the traditional band structure back to the stage. Singer Ryan Sloan, guitarist Mauricio Salazar, bassist Kara Delonas, drummer Matt Pana played a mix of indie and electronic (think plays like Coldplay, looks like Keane) tunes. It was clear- watching the band jam with such energy and cohesion- why they won the 2014 Break Contest. Ever since forming two or so year ago, the band has been making waves in the music community. They’ve supported bands like Awolnation and Cold War Kids as well as playing gigs as big as the Center of the Universe festival and Skate and Surf Festival 2014. About the band, CMJ wrote, “Wyland has an instantly digestible sound. The band blends suburban angst with city kid confidence.” They brought that confidence and “You’re in the World, Get Off Your Feet” to the stage.

    The smooth and poetic Jeremy Bass closed the night. As a poet, Bass has been featured in the New England Review as well as Pleiades. As a musician, he has been bouncing between The Bowery and Rockwood Music Hall, prepping and then celebrating the release of his newest effort Winter Bare. The EP came out on April 14th, just in time for spring itself. His previous album/debut Tenant came out in only 2014. Magnet Magazine praised “Winter Bare”, the title track off his sophomore album, calling it a “laid-back single” that was “beautifully composed, features subtle female vocal harmonies and, in keeping with the love-song theme of the album, is quite emotional.” Bass was recently featured as Magnet’s “MP3 @ 3PM” and a download of “Winter Bare” was featured on the publication’s website.

     

    -Zoe Marquedant

  • My cousin, Carmela Cirilli Mattson, is a real food chef, teaching probiotic workshops, near her home in New York’s Hudson Valley  selling cultures for kefir, kombucha and more, and creating delicious Paleo meals for delivery.
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    Lacto-Fermentation Workshop
    Carmela loves the magic that happens with fermented foods—watching raw ingredients transform into amazing, flavorful food is adventurous and fun for her.  
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    Sourdough Starter
    But, as she stands committed to reviving “the lost cultured food traditions,” sharing her “knowledge to help build a strong real food community,” she’s also doing it nine months pregnant, simultaneously minding a three-year-old daughter. Yikes!  
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    Ladybug Apple Snack
    “Juggling work while parenting hasn’t been easy,” she shares, including her daughter in her kitchen adventures, teaching her healthy eating habits. “It’s been tough working with ferments during pregnancy because I had terrible nausea for the first two trimesters;” Carmela admits. “I had to put my ferments on hold because I couldn’t tolerate the smell and taste.”
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    Some “Kombucha” Humor 
    Luckily, she won’t have long to wait before jumping back into fermented foods.
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    Kefir Milk and Kombucha
    In the meantime, she and her filmmaker husband, Tim, are busy preparing for a new addition in their household. While on prescribed bed rest, Carmela took some time out to share her three favorite maternity items.
    Jacqueline Colette Prosper, @yummicoco

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  • Courtesy of KBiz Entertainment

    Courtesy of KBiz Entertainment

    Patrik-Ian Polk, creator of the LOGO series Noah’s Arc and subsequent film Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom, as well as Punks (2001) and The Skinny (2012) is one of the few filmmakers around portraying the lives of gay African Americans. His new movie Blackbird, based on the novel by Larry Duplechan, is a coming of age story that is both melodramatic and charmingly offbeat. Shot in Polk’s hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the film is unusual for several reasons, not least of which is its main character’s plight: a small-town, devoutly Southern Baptist teen heavily conflicted about his homosexuality. It isn’t an issue often explored in popular media.

    The movie stars sweet-faced, angelic-voiced Julian Walker as charismatic choirboy Randy, who wants desperately to be a good Christian, yet keeps having disturbing (to him) sexual dreams about his schoolmate and friend Todd, on whom he clearly has a crush. This attraction is obvious to everyone but him, especially his coterie of open-minded friends and fellow drama students, including the wisecracking, openly gay Efrem (Gary LeRoi Gray, who has the movie’s funniest lines), football player Todd (Torrey Laamar), who is dating rebellious preacher’s daughter Leslie (D. Woods), and Crystal (Nikki Jane), who wants to lose her virginity to someone she actually likes, i.e., Randy. The kids come up with the idea of putting on a male version of Romeo and Juliet, starring Julian and the incredibly game Todd. Though Randy’s friends are almost too good to be true, their natural-sounding dialogue is appropriately profane and sarcastic. (At one point, Efrem paraphrases Oscar Wilde, who knew all about feeling alienated.)

    Adding to all this melodrama is Randy’s super-religious mom, played by Mo’Nique (one of the film’s executive producers), still distraught over the disappearance of his little sister six years before, and his dad (Isaiah Washington), who left the family some time ago but keeps checking in on Randy, who initially wants nothing to do with him. As Randy and Todd rehearse love scenes from Romeo and Julian, the former is torn between his obvious yearnings and trying to stay in Jesus’s good graces. As his dreams get more explicit, he prays ever more desperately to be “normal.” To complicate things even further, Randy auditions for and wins a part in a local student film, where his co-star is the strikingly cute and white Marshall (Kevin Allesee), who becomes instantly smitten with the teen.

    Courtesy of KBiz Entertainment

    Courtesy of KBiz Entertainment

    It’s a testament to Polk and his strong cast that despite these baroque storylines, the movie glides along briskly and enjoyably. Punctuating the action are musical interludes – Randy leading the choir in rousing praise or breaking into irreverent song during rehearsals – and the soundtrack is an interesting mix of soulful hymns and lo-fi indie tunes, another unusual element in this atypical film. With its likeable characters, stirring music and big emotions, one can’t help but visualize Blackbird staged as a big, fabulous musical.

    Randy eventually finds his way with the help of his friends and tolerant father, who admonishes him: “Never disrespect God by being ashamed of his work.” The film’s rather neat (and quick!) resolution doesn’t really detract from its strengths and is actually somewhat consistent with its fable-like tone.

    Can deep Christianity and homosexuality co-exist? Clearly Polk thinks so and he has made a work that could bring comfort to those, especially the young, who are struggling with these issues. For the rest of us, Blackbird is an entertaining, poignant film with a terrific soundtrack.

    Marina Zogbi

    Blackbird is playing in NYC at AMC Village 7,  AMC Empire 25, and AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9.

  • Radio has made a strange sort-of come back. Streaming services, apps, iTunes and the seemingly endless potential of the internet has helped radio transition rather gracefully into the digital age. You can still turn on a radio, flip to a certain channel and find stations, but it’s the ability or perhaps the willingness to adapt that has helped bring the other older model radio shows into the future. They have been joined by countless podcast and live streams all of which are as accessible as wifi.

    One thing hasn’t changed. Whether a show is being beamed to you through your car stereo or through your phone via your Stitcher account, there’s still one common factor: sound. Radio is still something you just listen to. It hasn’t added another sense or dimension. You just listen. The same way you just listen to an album. It’s a simple interaction, but can leave such an impression. A good song can make you cry, laugh or turn off your iPod. The same goes for radio. Here are a couple good shows worth a listen:

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    Hosts of NPR’s All Songs Considered Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton also record smaller segments, the most recent being about Record Store Day. They two covered what releases to keep an eye out for. Their longest, more regular series All Songs Considered is also worth checking out. It’s a good resource when trying to sort of the week’s essential listens.

    All Sogs Considered at SXSW

    All Songs Considered at SXSW

    The Mike Herrera Hour
    Idobi Radio airs a segment of MXPX’s Mike Herrera podcast, The Mike Herrera Podcast, on Fridays at 20:00 ET. The shortened version, known as The Mike Herrera Hour, is the first hour of Herrera’s show, but features the same mix of conversation. Tune in to hear a seasoned and well-respected musician discuss culture, tech, travel politics and of course music. With its refreshingly frank manner, there’s no way Herrera’s radio presence will go the way of the buffalo.

    Hi My Name Is Mark
    Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus hosts this podcast somewhat infrequently, but installments are always worth the wait. Hoppus started recording and posting episodes of “just music and thoughts and whatever” when the band was on hiatus and has continued much to the delight of both Blink and radio fans. The HMNIM podcast has since grown in followers, who now gather around their speakers await the answers to life’s important questions, like “What the hell is a Matt Skiba?”

    Full Frontal

    Sideshow’s Full Frontal features pop punk band All Time Low’s vocalist/guitarist Alex Gaskarth and Jack guitarist Barakat. Known for their crude humor and rather imaginative conversations, the two musicians have hosted Full Frontal for several seasons now. Taping from the back of their tour bus or really wherever they can set up, the two banter openly and honestly in a way that makes you feel like you’re talking to friends… albeit somewhat immature friends. Their most recent installment just kicked off their fourth season and features news about the band’s must recent album Future Hearts as well as other musings.