March 2020 - Slow Culture Magazine

Stuck, Change Is Bad (out April 3, 2020) – ALBUM REVIEW #20

26 March 20203 May 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Excellent news from Born Yesterday Records: the four members of Chicago-based post-punk band Stuck bring out their first LP Change Is Bad on April 3rd.

Our readers know that hate marketing is neither our forte, nor our ambition. We’re here to write about moving art. There’s one problem, though. We don’t know the first thing about post-punk. Okay, we might have posted one article or two on the subject, and yes we’ve seen the movie Control. But that doesn’t give us the legitimacy to talk about this scene. We’re jazzheads, after all.

That being said, we believe that our curiosity easily tops our biggest clichés and beliefs. This explains why we decided to review Change Is Bad adopting a peculiar approach.

From the press release:

Change Is Bad may be the first album you hear from Stuck, but it’s a record so knee deep in mental anguish, post-punk spirit, and profound sincerity that you can’t help but listen to it again.

Let’s find out, Good Cop, Bad Cop style.

Billow (new single “Girls”, out now) – ITW #14

23 March 20203 May 2020Interviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

Billow is a four-piece dream pop band from Veselí nad Moravou, Czech Republic. Veselí is a small town in South Moravia – not far from the White Carpathians mountains where Billow write and record their songs.

Billow’s debut album, Maps, was released in 2017 on a Slovakian cassette label Z Tapes. This dreamy acoustic lo-fi record received a positive reception among Czech critics and was ranked as 5th best Czech album of that year on Beehype.

In 2019 Billow released on Z Tapes their sophomore album Seascape. They now promote their new single called Girls, and work on their next full-length album.

Trivial Shields, Levity EP (out May 8, 2020) – ALBUM REVIEW #19

22 March 20203 May 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

With Levity EP, multi-instrumentalist Christian Carpenter aka Trivial Shields invites you to a world full of energy, contemplation, and fun. All this in three tracks only.

Christian Carpenter’s CV? Judge by yourself: among other experiences, his previous band, My Dear Disco (with Theo Katzmann and Joey Dosik) preceded the creation of Vulfpeck. It’s no surprise Levity EP is so colorful and emotionally intense, considering the quality of the guests invited aboard this voyage of the senses.

Trivial Shields is also set to release his debut LP First Edition Paperbacks this fall.

EDIT: due to the current situation, the release of the EP has been postponed to May 8.

Sarah Elaine Smith, Marilou is Everywhere (Penguin Random House) – BOOK REVIEW #8

17 March 20203 May 2020Book Reviews, Literature Marc Louis-Boyard

Sarah Elaine Smith’s Marilou is Everywhere was published a few months ago, and is now getting a due and essential reissue.

The plot of the book is not revolutionary itself, but the reader’s experience is the true and spectacular value delivered by the author.

Consumed by the longing for a different life, a teenager flees her family and carefully slips into another — replacing a girl whose own sudden disappearance still haunts the town.
– Excerpt from the press release.

Do not expect a dark and depressing ride. Marilou is Everywhere is an excellent reminder of the human condition, and of the humans’ shared desires. This piece is the perfect balance between Louisa Luna’s Brave New Girl and Juliet Escoria’s Juliet The Maniac.

Three keywords to describe the book: growth, adventure, consciousness.

Keith Kahn-Harris, Denial: The Unspeakable Truth (Notting Hill Editions) – BOOK REVIEW #7

11 March 20203 May 2020Book Reviews, Literature Marc Louis-Boyard

With Denial: The Unspeakable Truth (Notting Hill Editions), Keith Kahn-Harris discusses a burning, sensitive, critical societal topic. If you had the opportunity to enjoy our review of John Berger’s What Time Is It? from the same publisher, be warned that this book is a very different matter. But not for worse.

Freshness of spirit and entertainment are not absent from Keith Kahn-Harris’ literary world and reflections, but do not expect a happy ending or some kind of burst of hope. Denial: The Unspeakable Truth is raw power that is not on a “rounding the corners” mission.

That being said, this book contributes to sharpen the view one can have on society, not with never-ending complaints disguised as weapons, but with an enlightened and elaborated train of thought that is not afraid to expose the incongruous and the dangerous.

Horse Lords, The Common Task (Northern Spy Records) – ALBUM REVIEW #18

5 March 20203 May 2020Album Reviews, Music & Records Marc Louis-Boyard

When we first heard about Horse Lords and their forthcoming album The Common Task, we read the following lines :

Horse Lords make music for the liberation of mind and body.

Five listenings later (and counting), we are really happy to confirm that these words weren’t a form of overstatement.

Let us insist: The Common Task is not disposable experimental music which would have novelty for only emotional value. Andrew Bernstein, Max Eilbacher, Owen Gardner and Sam Haberman delivered a confident, textured, introspective album. Let’s see how.