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The CHIRP Blog
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Nomadland
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the 2020 Oscar-winning film Nomadland.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.
Kevin:
When you grow up with all the trappings of middle-class suburbia, it's hard to imagine a Shadow America out there, roaming the land. Poor neighborhoods? Sure. The homeless? Absolutely. But not three million transients (according to the BBC) who shuttle from town to town across our country, living out of their vehicles and subsisting on odd jobs along the way.
While you'd never describe these drifters as wealthy, they're largely not indigent either. And for the most part, their decisions to eschew the conventions of modern living don't seem to be born out of financial calamity. Theirs is a conscious lifestyle choice. Who are these people? What drives them? This is the backdrop of director Chloé Zhao's Nomadland, based on a 2017 novel of the same name by Jessica Bruder.
Like The Rider, Zhao's previous film, Nomadland might as well be cinéma vérité as it follows the life of Fern (Frances McDormand) while she travels the country in her rickety van. Outside of an intertitle which explains the collapse of her Nevada hometown following a mine closure, the exposition is minimal, and much of the film revolves around Fern's survival. Today's work might be at an Amazon distribution center, while next month's employer could be a state park. After that? Perhaps a gig as a line cook.
All the while, her van needs upkeep. Rinse. Repeat. Fern ain't the loquacious type, and her backstory is parceled out in dribs and drabs. Eventually you learn that she lost her husband right around the time when the town went under, which might account for her steely, detached disposition.
Eddie writesTake Two: “I Wanna Be Adored” (The Stone Roses vs. The Raveonettes)
There is a chance that you have come across a song (or two, or so many more) that you enjoy and did not realize that it's either been covered by someone else or is a cover itself. We hope that this series allows you to appreciate both the original and the covers they have inspired, and to seek out and enjoy new music in the process.
We take a look at The Stone Roses’ signature song and how another band from across the sea from them made it their own decades later while sorta plugging some English footwear.
The Original: The Stone Roses
From the album: The Stone Roses (Silvertone, 1989)
“I Wanna Be Adored” is the opening track from The Stone Roses’ 1989 self-titled debut album, and it is the perfect introduction for this English rock band. One of the most memorable bass lines in rock ‘n’ roll history, the buildup to the first verse is nothing short of pure joy. The lyrics are simple and to the point, with “I don't have to sell my soul/He's already in me” comprising half the lyrics.
The Stone Roses is a prime example of when a band’s spotlight shines a bit too bright very quickly and fades away almost as fast, either by circumstance or the band’s own undoing. By the end of 1989, they were on top of the charts, performing sold out shows at large theaters, and allowed numerous other neo-psychedelic rock bands to exist like the Charlatans UK and Happy Mondays.
By the end of 1990, they were fighting with their record label, Silvertone (which ended up in court, with the band winning) and taking their sweet time on their second (and final) studio album to follow-up their impressive debut.
The band split up in 1996 and though they have since reunited and toured (and split up again), sometimes it’s for the best when a band and its lead singer have reached their prime and remain in the past, like 8-tracks and MTV’s 120 Minutes.
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio Weekly Voyages (May 2 - May 8)
Upcoming Events:
- Tuesday May 10: CHIRP Radio welcomes Bambara to Sleeping Village
- Thursday May 12: CHIRP Radio welcomes Julianna Barwick to Lincoln Hall
- Thursday May 12: CHIRP Radio welcomes Destroyer to Thalia Hall
- Sunday May 15: CHIRP Radio's CD Blowout Sale at Burning Bush Brewery
- Friday May 27: CHIRP Radio welcomes Makaya McCraven to Lincoln Hall
On the Podcast:
- Matt G interviews Porches
On the Blog:
- Mick R interviews a Light Sleeper
- Kevin F and Bobby E discuss After Yang
Top of the CHIRP Charts for the week of 4/25/22:
Julmud جُلْمود – Tuqoos | طُقُوس (Bilna'es)
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: After Yang
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the 2021 film After Yang.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Bobby Evers.
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"Are you happy, Yang?"
-- "I don't know if that's the question for me."
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"Did he ever want to be human?"
-- "That's such a human thing to ask, isn't it? We always assume that other beings would want to be human. What's so great about being human?"
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Kevin:
As the idea of artificial intelligence and androids comes closer to fruition, we seem to be shifting to a kinder, gentler species of robots in Hollywood, no?
The days of T-800s and renegade replicants are on the wane, while a growing number of today's celluloid "technos" -- whether they exist in the ether as in Her, or in corporeal form like the title character of After Yang -- no longer have designs on world domination. As Samantha of Her alludes to, well... what would be the point from a computer's point of view? It's far more likely that an autonomous AI would consider humans not worth the bother. What Yang and others of its ilk can offer us, however, is reflection on what it means to be human.
DJ Mick writesThe CHIRP Radio Interview: a Light Sleeper
by CHIRP Radio DJ and Features Co-Director Mick R (Listen to his most recent shows / Read his blog)
a Light Sleeper is an orchestral rock band from right here in Chicago. They’re an expressionist collective founded by friends Dheeru Pennepalli and Matthew Jung back in 2005.
The group has weathered many a shifting tread in DIY music but has remained dedicated to an investigation of the ghostly ambient potential of chamber music through a blurring of the line between rock band and orchestra.
Their latest album Distinction (a Ballet in Six Parts) dropped back in 2019 and was the first recording they produced with the current lineup. The album is an interrogation of the creative process, its challenges, the anxieties it allows to manifest, and the intoxicating by ultimately fleeting victories it offers.
Notable highlights like the pensive “Ends and Means” and the title track presently a swarthy swooning croonerism that resembles a demonic twist on a Norah Jones set, while numbers like “Invisible Measures” and “Blankly Stated Spaces” manage to muster an exhilarating tension and momentum through the interplay of jazz-like theses and curving post-rock ramparts.
a Light Sleeper will be playing at the Hideout on May 3, 2022 with Maurice and Graphics. Doors open at 9:30pm, and entrance is $12. You can get tickets here. Remember to bring a mask and proof of vaccination.
Because we’re excited about their upcoming show and a Light Sleeper in general, we had a quick, but highly informative (if we do say so ourselves) chat with the band via email and you can now check out the full interview below.