music art film review - REDEFINE magazine
Farewell, REDEFINE. It’s Been Real. (2004-2016)
In the same way that my 13-year-old self once fretted over who might eventually receive my postcard collection when I passed away (morbid, I know), a younger adult me used to wonder what it might look like when this day came, and how I would be certain that it had come.
But today — on my 33rd birthday and at the tail-end of one hell of a rollercoaster year — I feel less sad than emboldened by a shifting sense of personal and social responsibility when I say:
Thank you for more than 12 years of readership and collaboration.
2016 is the last year REDEFINE magazine will be published.
When I started REDEFINE in 2004, the world was a different beast. We all knew technology, and we knew the internet, but we didn’t KNOW technology or KNOW the internet. At least, not as the entities which would shape our societies into the sci-fi cyborgs our individual selves are likely to eventually become. :P
I could harp on how much that has affected the shifting media landscape, as I did in 2012, when REDEFINE was rebranded to critique arts journalism from a more social justice vantage point… but that conversation has already been had and, frankly, is constantly being had within our private hearts of hearts, every single time we stream music from Spotify or donate money to tastemaker radio stations, or even just mull over the once taboo concept of “selling out”.
We could mourn it, I guess, and on some days, I do. But the world doesn’t need to be crippled by mourning. It needs more action, more justice.
And with that… while I encourage artists and creators who still find art to be their way to passionately fight the good fight… the time has come for me to move away from arts journalism to more direct activism.
—
(Thus, I will soon be shooting a narrative short that comments on the Syrian refugee crisis, working on a political phone app and resources like Social Defense Network, and co-leading a group on National Electoral Strategy and Voter Empowerment. If you would like to chat or collaborate on any of those things — or just wanna shoot the shit — please write.)
—
Endless thanks and hugs to our readers over the 12+ years, creators who have offered endless inspiration, venues that have hosted our baller ass events (Holocene and House of Commons, especially), record labels and publicists that have come or gone, and all the other partners, collaborators, and participants in the complex music and art ecosystem — especially the unsung heroes who are happy to help sustain it despite seeing very little of its glitter and glam. You and your work are so, so appreciated.
And lastly, the REDEFINE staff. You have been some of the warmest, most dedicated, and genuine folks I have ever worked with, and REDEFINE would literally have been nothing without you. Thank you for being respective of deadlines, of critical thought, and of the value of not only quality art, but quality arts journalism… even when only being paid pennies. (Or early on, nothing at all.) :D
I couldn’t be more proud of the content that we have created, especially in the past five years. Truly.
Still, I can’t sugarcoat that I don’t think 2017 is gonna be a better year. It’s shaping out to be pretty darn crappy. But how we react to tangible threats as well as existential crises is something we can all do better. Let’s REDEFINE “being human” as being more compassionate, supportive, and community-oriented than feels comfortable… so that we will make hope within that desire for hope.
“As a bee seeks nectar from all kind of flowers, seek teachings
everywhere. Like a deer that finds a quiet place to graze, seek seclusion
to digest all that you have gathered. Like a madman beyond all limits, go
wherever you please and live like a lion completely free of all fear.”
– Ancient Tibetan text (via Ron Brezney’s Free Will Astrology)
Below, you will find a small portion of our content through the years, and most articles from the print versions prior to 2008 have not been posted online. Nevertheless, enjoy the overview. This site will remain archived and intact for the foreseeable forever-future.
Much love. Much peace.
Vivian Hua
Editor-in-Chief, REDEFINE
(May 2004 – December 2016)
Album Covers of the Year
In contrast to modern patterns in music consumption comes our annual Album Covers of the Year feature, where, instead of forgetting album artwork even exists, this feature, which is divided at times into thematic elements and at times into artistic medium, incorporates interviews with not only musicians, but also artists involved throughout the artistic process.
2015 – 2014 – 2013 – 2012 – 2011 – 2010
Albums of the Year
A smattering of our different kinds of albums of the year and top albums features!
Staff Picks: 2015 – 2014 – 2013 – 2012 – 2011 – 2008
Top Tracks: 2011
Miscellaneous: 25 Essential Modular Synth Records
Psychoactive Soundscapes: 2015 – 2014 – 2013 – 2012
Plus, revive the long-lost art of writing Album Reviews and Live Show Reviews.
OR SORT BY INTERSECTIONALITY
Special Features, Scene Reports & Bilingual Articles
Blues Music: Marketing Nostalgia Using “Race Records” in the 1920s & 1930s
Bringing Intimacy to the Celebrity Myth: Teddie Dahlin & Sid Vicious
Butoh Dancing (舞踏): Discovering Emptiness, Embodiment & Environment in an Archeology of Body
China’s Indie Music Scene: Transforming Contemporary Chinese Culture From The Bottom Up // 中国独立音乐现状剖析：从底层跃升并改变中国当代文化
The Child in The Mirror: A Nietzschean Reading of the Myth of Michael Jackson
English-Spanish Bilingualism in Indie Music: This is El Futuro (Bilingual Feature)
Experimental Music on Children’s TV (EMoCTV): Mike Haley’s Retrospective Blog
FANTASTIC BABY: K-Pop Music Videos & Discussion Panel (w/ Transcription)
Frank Correa Photographer Interview: Color-Drenched Urban Fantasies // Entrevista con el Fotógrafo Frank Correa: Fantasias Urbanas Saturadas de Color
HOOPDREAMS – “Spirit Momentum” Video Gallery
James Murphy Is Playing At My House : Saying Goodbye (Hello) To LCD Soundsystem
Philosophical Influence Timeline: Alejandro Jodorowsky – The Holy Mountain
The Radical Capacity of Glitch Art: Expression through an Aesthetic Rooted in Error
The Real Icelandic Music Scene
Remembering Freedom Fighter Leroi Jones & Examining His Recorded Output as Amiri Baraka
Superman is a Rocker: Robert Pollard and the Third Mind
Transformational Festivals: Where Ecstatic Spirit and Sonic Celebration Unite (w/ Timeline & Preview Guide)
Tuva’s Meridian of Musicality, Spirituality, and Cross-Cultural Place: A Primer On Tuvan Throat Singing
“Music is the art of the intonated sense; the sound, the groan, the cry and the song where the aural quintessence of the spiritual world of human beings. The aura that personifies sound is transparent through timbre and tone, envelops and tightens the other side of sound, the space of meanings and feelings.” – Sainkho Namtchylak, on Tuvan throatsinging
Band Interviews & Music Features
2016
3 Moons – Jefferson Zurna Band Interview: Inward Revolutions & Astrological Mythologies
Anna Homler Musician Interview: The Mythology Behind Breadwoman
Beyond Beyond is Beyond Record Label Feature: Openings to Epiphany
Christopher Tignor Artist Interview: Living in Modern Tension
Nonkeen Band Interview: Decades of Friendship & Collaboration, Forged from Vintage Tape Recorders
“For me, my individual works are those emotions via the music. The exploring, the playing, and the transmission… I transmit what I perceive, and then somebody, the listener, receives that transmission. It feels a bit preposterous to say that, but still, it is. I capture. I’m an antenna. I’m an area. I receive, I capture, I translate, I play, I record — then it’s the listener.” – Ariel Kalma
2015
Alice Cohen – Backwards Music Video (w/ Musician & Director Micki Pellerano Interview)
Ariel Kalma Musician Interview: We Know Each Other Somehow (RVNG INTL Collaboration w/ Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe)
Autre Ne Veut – World War Pt. 2 Music Video (w/ Arthur Ashin & Director Allie Avital Interview)
BRAIDS – Miniskirt Music Video (w/ Raphaelle Standell-Preston Interview)
DOOMSQUAD Band Interview: More Than A Family Band, A Total Time, Total Way of Life
felte Records Label Feature: A Balance of Give & Take
Hit City U.S.A. Record Label Feature: A Casual Californian Approach to Music & Lifestyle
Lilacs & Champagne Band Interview: Midnight Features w/ Emil Amos & Alex Hall
Lulacruza Band Interview: Esperando el Tsunami Visual Album & Documentary (Bilingual English-Spanish Feature)
Metavari Band Interview: Black as Midnight on a Moonless Night
Petite Noir – “Best” Music Video (w/ Director Travys Owen & Rochelle Nembhard Interviews)
Sóley – Icelandic Musician Interview: Ask The Deep
Swahili Band Interview: Journeys of AMOVREVX
Vinyl Williams Band/Artist Interview: Hypercolored Crossovers
“We were… thinking about the ‘undifferentiated unconscious’ – something which manifests itself in any work and gives you this overwhelming sensation of eternal space being reconstituted. This quality, however you want to describe it, is something we’re very much attracted to and something that appears ubiquitously in the natural world.” – Melati Melay, Young Magic
2014
Arbutus Records Label Profile: Friends Supporting Friends in the Montreal Music Scene
Bear In Heaven – Time Between Music Video (Interview w/ Jon Philpot & Director Nick Bentgen)
The Bug (Kevin Martin) Producer Interview: Exploring Duality on Angels & Devils
Brian Reitzell Retrospective Feature: From Film Soundtracks to Auto Music
Chad VanGaalen Artist Interview (2014): Sci-Fi Visions of Sight & Sound
Connan Mockasin Band Interview: Caramel Dreams of an “Oddball”
Dustin Wong & Takako Minekawa – She He See Feel Music Video (Bilingual English-Japanese Interview)
Gardens & Villa Band Interview: The Realism Behind Contrasting Experiences
Glasser Band Interview w/ Jonathan Turner: The Architecture of Personal Interiors
Francis Harris Artist Interview: Touching Motion and Emotion Between Minutes of Sleep
Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann) Composer Interview: The Sonic Topography of No Man’s Land
How To Dress Well – What Is This Heart? Music Video Trilogy (w/ Interview)
Inventions Band Interview: Matthew Cooper of Eluvium & Mark T. Smith of Explosions in the Sky
Jeffertitti’s Nile – No One Music Video (w/ Jeff Ramuno & Johnny Maroney Interview)
Kiev Band Interview: Iconoclasm & Possibility in a Prescriptive World
Liars Band Interview (2014) Brooding in Ecstasy With Mess’s Playful Catharsis
Peaking Lights Band Interview: Deciphering Cosmic Logic
Shy Girls – Voyeur’s Gaze Music Video w/ Director Tony Lowe & Bailey Stiles Interview
Woman’s Hour – Conversations LP Music Videos & Visual Branding
Young Magic Band Interview: Melting Into The Introspection of Breathing Statues
“I am a devotee of letting nocturnal dreams / daydreams guide you when looking for inspiration. I am most interested in those moments where intuition is free.” – Christelle Gualdi, Stellar OM Source
2013
Barn Owl Band Interview: A Bilateral Reflection On Meditative States
Charitable Musicians: Doomtree Collective Rapper Dessa Says Hip-Hop and Charity Go Hand-In-Hand
Efterklang Band Interview: The Ghost of Piramida
Flicknife Records Label Feature: Retrospective on a Legendary UK Label
Fuck Buttons Band Interview: Slow Focus Into Constructive View
Jimmy Edgar Artist Interview: Building Rainbow-Colored Bridges Between Music, Aesthetics & Metaphysical Ideas
Lumerians Band Interview: Exploring The High Frontier’s Internal and External Territories
Matmos Band Interview: Psychic Sessions and Meta-Concepts Form The Marriage of True Minds
Moderat – Bad Kingdom Music Video (MV of the Week + Pfadfinderei Design Collective Interview)
Moodoïd – Je Suis la Montagne Music Video (w/ Band & Director Interviews in French & English)
Natasha Kmeto Interview: From Crisis To Growth Cycles
Nils Frahm & Ólafur Arnalds Conversational Interview: Modern Classical Composers in the New Electronic Age
Pure Bathing Culture – Dream The Dare Music Video (w/ Band & Director Interviews)
Rose Windows Band Interview: Remote Viewing The Future (w/ The Sun Dogs Full Album Stream)
Royal Canoe Band Interview: Today We’re Believers in Pop Music (w/ Lyrical Analysis & Infographics)
Stellar OM Source – Polarity Music Video (MV of the Week) + Process Interview w/ Christelle Gualdi
Strangefruit – Sea of Fog Music Video (MV of the Week) + Director / Musician Interviews
Tape Recorder And Synthesizer Ensemble (T.R.A.S.E.) Musician Interview: Uncovering a 30-Year-Old Project
“What’s important is being a good person and tending your own garden as responsibly as you can.” – Benoit Pioulard, ORCAS
“I see a lot of similarities between fascinating engineering and fascinating art. Both have to do with craftsmanship; both have to do with finding a simple solution for a complex problem. And it has to do with elegance and needs inspiration.” – Robert Henke
“Everything you lose you can either try to recreate and get back or just let go and start anew.” – Michael Silver, CFCF
2012
Charitable Musicians: Hip-Hop Rapper Ikonoklasta Protests Against The Angolan Government
CFCF Producer / Musician Interview: Exercises, A Classical Experiment (w/ Full Album Stream)
Charlie Salas Humara (of Grapefruit, Regular Music, Sun Angle) Musician Interview
Chelsea Wolfe Musician Interview: Shedding Natural Light On Visions Of Doom
Com Truise Interview: Unabashedly ’80s
Deep Time Band Interview: Making More Out Of Less
Diplo – “Set It Off” Music Video (Director Ryan Staake & Producers Talk Infinite Stripper Pole)
I and I: A Collective Interview With Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras, Tony Lowe & The Congos
Liars Band Interview (2012): WIXIW Confusion
Lyonnais – A Sign From On High / Modern Calvary Music Video (w/ Director Interview)
Midnight Magic Band Interview: The Facts of Life…?
Nurses Band Interview: A Pop-Infused Spectrum From Light To Dark
Orcas Band Interview: A Balance Of Majestic Forces
Polica – Wandering Star Music Video (w/ Director ELY Interview)
Prince Rama Band Interview: Utopia Of The Now Age (w/ Manifesto)
Robert Henke Artist Interview: Engineering Artistic Solutions
Sister Crayon Band Interview: Emerging From Watery Depths, Victorious
Soft Fall Album Cover: The Music of Sun Airway & The Art of Japan’s NAM (Bilingual English-Japanese Interview)
Substrata Festival Brings Intimate Ambience To Seattle (w/ Curator Interview)
“A lot of my songwriting comes from a desire to open myself up to nature and the universe, experiences with love, my subconscious, childhood memories, imagination and various cocktails of each.” – Christopher Lynch, Gardens & Villa
“Selling art doesn’t bother me. Making insipid, vacuous art bothers me. The cult of personality bothers me especially because I feel as though I have very little to offer. I’m a bad self-promoter, and I’m constantly reminded of how bad a trait that is for an artist to have.” – Jeremy Greenspan, Junior Boys
2011
Anamanaguchi – Airbrushed Animated Album Cover (w/ Art Interview)
Arrington de Dionyso Interview: Shouting Into The Void (w/ Full Album Stream, Lyrical Analysis & Translations)
The Cave Singers Band Interview : Pacific Northwest Simplicity
Chad VanGaalen Interview (w/ Animated Video Retrospective)
Chikita Violenta Band Interview : “How Do They Do It In The States?” Mexicans In An American Rock Scene
Gardens & Villa Band Interview: Naturally Mystical (w/ Lyrical Analysis)
The Get Up Kids Band Interview (w/ Retrospective)
La Dispute Band Interview : It’s Like Medicine. It’s Self-Discovery. (w/ Full Album Stream & Lyrical Analysis)
Leftover Cuties Video Interview (w/ Full Album Stream)
Little Wings Interview: The Symbolism Behind Black Grass (w/ Full Album Stream & Lyrical Analysis)
The Radio Dept. Band Interview : An Unexpected Success Story From Sweden
Translinguistic Other Interview: Forever Sounds (w/ Midday Veil’s Emily Pothast)
Young Circles Band Interview : Expanding Horizons (w/ Full Album Stream & Lyrical Analysis)
“There is a kind of sense of falling backward that I think the songs conjure. Or blindly driving your car into a wall. A sense of sadness in all the amazing things in the world.” – Ben Shemie, SUUNS
“It’s hard; I want to live my life and have money, but it’s good to… question yourself… like, ‘Am I giving back enough?’ or, ‘Am I doing enough?'” – Merrill Garbus, tUnE-yArDs
2010
Bear In Heaven Band (w/ Video) – Ben Sollee (Ditches His Car) – Between the Buried and Me – dd/mm/yyyy B(w/ Video) – Defeater – Holy Fuck – Liars – Menomena – The Mercury Program – Metavari (w/ Video) – The Octopus Project – Red Sparowes – SUUNS – Tu Fawning – tUnE-yArDs – YACHT – Zola Jesus
2009
Bowerbirds – Crystal Antlers – The Everyday Visuals – Fuck Buttons – Grand Hallway – HEALTH – Hyperpotamus – Mae – mewithoutYou – Portugal. The Man – Shook Ones – Sunn O))) – The Valley Arena – To Write Love On Her Arms
2008
2*Sweet – Danger Radio – Dr. Manhattan – Feral Children – Fear Before – Russian Circles – Tegan & Sara
2007
Lesbian – Neon Blonde
Visual Artist Features & Interviews
2016
Eric Beltz Artist Interview: Frozen in Transcendence
Morehshin Allahyari & Ryan Woodring Artist Interviews: Ghost Prints – A Joint Conversation About Destroyed Objects
Studio Swine Artist Interview: From Plastic & Metal Reuse to High-End Art Objects
Yumi Sakugawa Artist Interview: Expansion through Meditation and the Dark Corners of the Mind
2015
Julie Alpert Artist Interview: Following Forms
Matthew Craven Artist Interview: Getting Existential Through Pattern, History & Anthropology
2014
Brian Vu Photographer Interview: True False = No Rules For Psychedelia
Chad Wys Artist Interview: Colorful Blurs of Digital & Analog
Mark Dorf Artist Interview: Scientific Approaches to Artistic Practice
MSHR Art & Music Collective Interview: Pathways In & Up
Nathan Hayden Artist Inteview: On Nature, Ritual Dance & Induced Visions
Phebe Schmidt Photographer Interview: The Plasticity of the Mundane
The Radical Capacity of Glitch Art: Expression through an Aesthetic Rooted in Error
Sam Songailo Artist Interview: Sci-Fi Futures & Electronic Beats
Torkil Gudnason Photographer Interview: Hot Bodies & Electric Blossoms
Yoshi Sodeoka Video Artist Interview: Psychedelic Apocalypse in the Digital Realm
2013
Bryan Olson Collage Artist Interview: Ultrastructures & Human Placement in Space
Dana Popa Artist Interview: Uncovering The Intimate Details of Sex Trafficking
Frank Correa Photographer Interview: Color-Drenched Urban Fantasies // Entrevista con el Fotógrafo Frank Correa: Fantasias Urbanas Saturadas de Color
Layla Sailor Photographer Interview: A History & Reinterpretation of the Classical Russian Headress, the Kokoshnik
Lucas Simões Photographer Interview – Desretratos: Communicating Transience and Character through Deconstructed Portraiture
Massimiliano Grandoni Artist Interview: Expressing the Poetry of Quantifiable Matter
Saman Kesh Music Video Director Interview & Retrospective (w/ Placebo, Vitalic, !!! and More)
Saya Woolfalk Artist Interview: All Kinds of Mixing
Top Vintage Polish Film Posters: A Comparative Interview w/ Eye Sea Posters & The Affiche Studio
2012
AJ Fosik Artist Interview : The Fierce Fictional Folklore Of AJ Fosik
Alexis Arnold Artist Interview: Crystalizing The Present
Arn Gyssels Artist Interview: Binary Fluidity
Bette Burgoyne Artist Interview: Cobwebs Of Pattern And Form
Compare & Contrast: Mao Zedong, Then And Now
David O’Brien Artist Interview: Manipulating Organism Through Art
Gala Bent Artist Interview: Capturing The Graceful Failure Of Enforced Order
Ian Michael Anderson Artist Interview: Gently Organizing Organisms
Joey Bates Artist Interview: Competence Over Concept
Nicholas Bohac Artist Interview: Rearranging Oneself
Sarah Applebaum Artist Interview: Crafting Ahead Of The Curve
Shaun Kardinal & Erin Frost Joint Artist Interview: Entangled In Embroidery
Stacey Page Artist Interview: Using Thread To Explore Ego & Avatar
Troy Gua Artist Interview: Le Petit Prince
2011
David Welch Photographer Interview: Material Worlds
Justin Kane Elder Artist Interview: A Carpenter’s Eye For Portraiture
Mandy Greer Artist Interview: Timeless Textile Landscapes
Matt Leavitt Artist Interview: When Engineering And Zen Join To Inspire Art
Skinner Artist Interview: Two Sides Of A Metal Coin
2010
Christopher Davison Artist Interview: Beyond Black And White Disaster
hydEON Artist Interview: The Delightful Character Of Eccentricity
Jeremy Mangan Artist Interview: The Magic Revival Of Rural Landscapes
Stacey Rozich Artist Interview: Patterns Of Renewal
2009
Chris Crites – Thea Wolfe – Theo Ellsworth
Ω
music art film review - REDEFINE magazine
Farewell, REDEFINE. It’s Been Real. (2004-2016)
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