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The CHIRP Blog
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writes@CHIRPRADIO (Week of March 12)
Special Announcements
- March 12 to 23 is CHIRP Radio's Spring Fundraiser! We want to raise $25,000 for station operations. It's a Sound Investment! Go to chirpradio.org/donatenow to contribute!
New Media
- Marites Velasquez chats with Dirty Fences
- Kurt Conley thinks back to a formative 1997 Buffalo, NY gig by KMFDM
- Clarence and Kevin absorb Altered Carbon
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Altered Carbon
Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the Netlix series Altered Carbon.
This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.
Clarence:
In the Netflix series Altered Carbon (based on the Richard K. Morgan 2002 novel), highly trained killing specialist Takeshi Kovacs is shot to death in a hotel room for some reason. But it’s OK, because in his world, human consciousness can be downloaded and transferred between human bodies, which are lovingly referred to as “sleeves.”
Logan... pardon me, Kovacs...is revived hundreds of years after his “death” to solve a rich man’s murder, because rich people can pretty much do whatever they want to whomever they want.
Along with a motley collection of allies/cyperpunk sidekicks, Deckard... sorry, Kovacs...has to figure out who killed the rich man who’s not really dead (because science) in order to win the freedom to wander around moping about all the violence stuff he’s done in his many pasts.
theironkurtain writesMusic as Memory: KMFDM and Pig at the Ogden Street Music Club, Buffalo NY (Nov. 19 1997)
by Kurt Conley
KMFDM and Pig
November 19,1997
Ogden Street Music Club (652 S Ogden St)
Buffalo, NY
It only seems right that this new series is propelled by my memory of music. During a recent cleaning spell in our new condo, I came across an old photo album filled with the concert tickets stubs I’d kept over the years. They span an era starting in the late '90s, when I first started going to shows in earnest, all the way up to the mid 2000s.
The only reason I don’t have more parallels the advent of online, print-at-home, and now mobile tickets, which lack that tactile quality. No waiting for them to come in the mail, putting them in a safe location until the show. As convenient as it is to have your tickets on one’s phone, I’m still nostalgic for that time.
SKaiser writes@CHIRPRadio (Week of March 5)
NEW MEDIA
- CHIRP volunteer Andrew Meriwether catches up with Chicago musician, Paul Cherry.
- Mike Nikolich writes 8-bit crEEps Play New Sounds on Old Circuits
- The Final Word from Ultimate Painting by Craig Bechtel
- 15 Minutes with CHIRP's popular DJ and accomplished local musician, Ayme "Superfrye" Frye by Mike Nikolich
- Patrick McMahon writes Top Five Songs I Want Played at My Funeral
- Oscar Night Special: All 2017 Best Picture Nominees Reviewed by Kyle Sanders
TOP OF THE CHIRP CHARTS
1. Serengeti – To the Max (self-released)
2. U.S. Girls – In a Poem Unlimited (4AD)
3. Rhye – Blood (Loma Vista)
For a full listing of the CHIRP Radio charts, click here!
KSanders writesOscar Night Special: All the 2017 Best Picture Nominees Reviewed
by Kyle Sanders
Lights, camera, Oscars! It's time for the 90th Annual Academy Awards, highlighting and celebrating the best films 2017 had to offer. This year's nominees range from basketball legend Kobe Bryant to Mother of French New Wave Agnes Varda, and feature a diverse Best Director category, a first time nomination for a woman in Best Cinematography, and a record-breaking 21st nomination for Meryl Streep, the most nominated actor in the Academy's history.
And this year's list of Best Picture nominees is no different, representing a multitude of different genres and directed by a varied group of talented filmmakers. This year, I accomplished a goal I had previously been unable to complete: seeing ALL Best Picture nominees prior to the telecast. For those of you not as awesome as me, here's a rundown of all Best Picture contenders to catch you up before the awards are handed out!
Call Me By Your Name (aka The Sensitive Film)
Like its predecessor, Call Me By Your Name draws comparisons to Brokeback Mountain, as it is a literary adaptation about a budding romance between two men that screams Oscar gold. Substituting the cold Wyoming wilderness for the sweltering summer heat of Italy, Luca Guadagnino's direction highlights the palpable attraction between teenager Emilio and grad student Oliver, beginning as a friendship that gradually builds into something much more. The chemistry between Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamat and co-star Armie Hammer is almost as smoldering as the sun drenched Italian countryside and the subject matter never falters into tragedy. The melancholic mood is set by the dreamy soundtrack composed by Sufjan Stevens (who scored a much deserved Best Original Song nomination). Like Brokeback Mountain, the tender love story is anchored well with the lead performances, but the "ick factor" regarding the forbidden love between a man and a teenage boy could hinder the film's chances of winning.