Tags archives: zoe marquedant
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11 years ago
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Premiers aren't just for Hollywood theaters anymore. Now movies and entire TV series can materialize on Netflix or on some other streaming service sans the red carpet party and garner just as much success. This is due partially to the raise of the internet. While box office sales are still important, the web has an increasingly important role in a film's pre and post release existence. You can follow films from funding to box set all via Twitter feeds and emails.
For new movies, the internet has somewhat infinite potential when it comes building hype. Think of how many times Netflix tried to get you to watch Blackfin or YouTube showed you yet another trailer for The Great Gatsby. In this day and age, you don't have to go to a theatre to see a trailer anymore. You can watching a clip on infinite loop until the film premiers and then long after.
Here are some recent music documentaries/bio-dramas that have utilized it in different ways. Some used the web purely as a promotional tool, one used it to crowdsource the filming and another used it as its release platform. The main tread that ties them all together is that they have been popping up in forum discussions, some for years now, and the have the internet talking.
Straight Outta Compton
“Our art is a reflection of our reality”
Due out August 13th, this film follows the rise of rap group NWA. Raised in Compton, California, the group's members Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren and DJ Yella translated their experie[...]
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11 years ago
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South by Southwest (SXSW) is the Coachella of the American South. Much like over-hyped Indio music festival, this Texas alternative has skyrocketed in size and popularity in recent years. What began in 1987 as a local music festival has grown into an epicenter of not only music, but also culture. The SXSW events calendar has expanded exponentially and now includes film premiers, like Bridesmaids and Tiny Furniture, and speakers, like Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Wales.
The coverage of the festival has grown at an equally alarming rate as well. Now-a-days it seems everyone has a tent, a representative, a something at Southby. This year’s festival in particular, which began on the 13th and will conclude on the 22nd, seems to be THE place to be. From McDonalds to Meerkat, brands have coated the festival in free gear and hashtags. This has been a rising trend, year to year, and in response, some claim SXSW has lost some of it’s original purpose amidst all this commercialization. The same or similar was said about Warper Tour, Burning Man and Sundance once they outgrew their underground status. It was only a matter of time before people started claiming the same of SXSW.
In 2013, Andrea Swensson wrote a piece for NPR's the record entitled "Why I'm Not Going To SXSW This Year". In her piece, Swensson admitted, “I can't help but feel that it has strayed far away from its original premise as a grassroots gathering place for new, undiscovered talent and increasin[...]
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11 years ago
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Brooklyn by way of D.C. band Jukebox the Ghost playing Irving Plaza Saturday night to a packed house. For what was effectively a hometown show, the fans showed up in force. Openers Secret Someones and Little Daylight warmed up the crowded venue and around 10 the band finally took the stage.
They began with “Postcard” off of their newest album, Jukebox the Ghost, which came out earlier this year. It’s an upbeat follow-up to the more somber, but still poppy Safe Travel that the band released in 2012. The record was the first on their new label Cherrytree Records. Jukebox signed to the branch of Interscope Records in late January. The month turned out to be a busy one for the band. In addition to releasing a new records, the band also played Conan, did a cover swap with Twin Forks, recorded a Bangels cover with Secret Someones and did a Bands and Brews sessions with Baeble Music. The band's guitarist Tommy Siegel also spoke to the Nerdist for their Car Tunes and Cartoons series and released a book of his "van doodles" after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
For their Irving Plaza appearance, the band played a mix of songs from each of their albums. This included tunes from their debut Let Live and Let Ghosts, like "Static to the Heart" and "Victoria", and songs from their second album Everything Under the Sun, like “Schizophrenia” and “The Stars”. For long-time fans, a highlight of these older songs was the combination of “My Heart’s the Same” and “Lighting Myself on [...]
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11 years ago
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Beginning with the opening track off their debut album Throw Up Your Hands for One Night Stands, Freshman 15 played a short, but enthusiastic set at Chinatown's Santos Party House. The floor was dotted with young fans (and a few 21+s in wristbands) who had arrived early to see the one of the many openers that night. Before the Georgia pop rock band took the stage their statemates, Everybody Run, played an equally empty house. Despite the showing or rather lack there of, both bands played a high energy and spirited sets. Freshman 15 especially played a well-rehearsed, even choreographed show with intermittent, but well-timed stage jumps and similar stage antics. Lead singer and bassist Davey Fortner hoisted his instrument in unison with guitarist Mike Baker, showing a clear chemistry amidst the band. Despite being down a member and having to borrow Everybody Run's bassist Shaan Singh, they showed no signs of being tired of the road or of one another. The Don’t Worry Be Happy tour they were on with headliners Carolina Kings and Survey Says was well underway, but even missing a bassist (Davey Hoogerwerf left the band in 2012), Fortner, Baker and drummer Leo Teran powered through.
The earlier band's bassist meshed seamlessly with their energy and matched their goofy smiles with a grin of his own. There was a positivity to the set, as there was to their second album, that translated to their live show. "Our California Song", a sad tune with an upbeat and plenty of crunchy [...]
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11 years ago
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In 2012, Emily Hakes and Eric Osman started the Philadelphia-based independent label Lame-O Records. A two short years later Lame-O has bands like Johnny Foreigner, Ma Jolie, Steady Hands, The Hundred Acre Woods, The Weaks and Three Man Cannon on its roster. Pulling from this pool of young talent and the surrounding state, Lame-O has compiled a six-way split entitled Strength In Weakness. The album includes songs by all Pennsylvania-area acts. From West Chester's Spraynard to Philadelphia's Marietta, bands from all over the PA (and one by way of Maryland) contributed a track. Proceeds from the album sales will benefit the Philadelphia area chapter United Cerebral Palsy.
Strength In Weakness is available for purchase from the label’s website as of today. For this eye-catching limited pressing, Lameo released 100 Black/Clear Half and Half, 150 Transparent Sea Blue and 250 Grimace Purple vinyl records; however, when the record was made available for pre-order early last month all 500 copies of the pressing sold out immediately. If you did not get your hands on one or if you prefer digital media, the album can be downloaded from Lame-O’s Bandcamp.
One of the most anticipated songs on the album is "Alpha Kappa Fall Of Troy The Movie Part Deux" by Modern Baseball. Brendan Lukens, Jacob Ewald, Ian Farmer and Sean Huber, members of the Brunswick/Frederick, Maryland band, attended Chestnut Hill College and Drexel University in Philadelphia, which explains their connection to th[...]
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11 years ago
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Over the course of the past few years, vinyl has made something of a comeback. Spurred on by nostalgia and hipster culture, records sales are once again on the rise and the average person has a turntable. This renaissance has changed not only the popularity of vinyl, but has also changed the access to records. You can find them everywhere from Amazon to Urban Outfitters. Younger artists, who may have missed the vinyl boat all together, are releasing new music in this older format. To meet the demand, several services have surfaced to supply music fans with the newest pressings. Here are a few options to help you expand your record collection and/or just explore new music:
Vnyl is a record subscription service that has gotten a lot of press lately, both good and bad. Using Vnyl, subscribers can determine the contents of their delivery by indicating which “#vibes” they would like to go with. The hashtags to choose from range from #betweenthesheets to #cooking to #work to #danceparty and more. Once the records have been put togethers, they’re mailed to the user, much like in Netflix's old DVD-in-a-paper-sleeve model. From there Vnyl allows subscribers to hold on to records they love and return the ones they don’t. Subscribers can also track the journey of each record, from one Vnyl user to the next. Each person can comment on their experience and inform whomever gets the album next.
Vinyl Me, Please funtions in a similar way. Much like a book of the month club or the free [...]
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11 years ago
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Singer-songwriter Nick Santino has blossomed into quite the solo artist since leaving A Rocket to the Moon in 2013. Where his former band had only hints of the midwest and barely a twinge of country to it, his newest EP is decidedly country. It bears more resemblance to Santino’s short lived sort-of-solo act Nick Santino & The Northern Wind. Under that moniker, Santino released Going Home EP and The Ones You Meet Along the Way: A Collection of Stories from the Road EP in 2013. The records are more electric than his newest EP, but they provide a good transition between his career as a frontman to his career as a solo musician.
Compared to his past alt rock efforts, Savannah is completely stripped back, populated by little more than Santino’s slow strum. The EP is built almost entirely by acoustic guitar and gentle piano, a backdrop which fits Santino’s voice perfectly. Savannah sounds like Santino has cemented himself in whatever sub-genre of country he’s cornering. It isn’t anything like what Brad Paisley or Luke Bryan play, but rather something resembling an acoustic session. The slide guitar and various other instruments of Santino’s 2014 release Big Skies are nowhere to be found. Instead these six quick tracks, which follow up Live in Sao Paulo, a split EP he recorded with The Maine, make a science out simplicity.
The opening track “Rio” is a bright point. The storyline is sweet. Santino paints a picture of eating breakfast in bed and running away to Mexico t[...]
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