Iñárritu Stakes Another Claim for Best Director with 'The Revenant'

The latest film from Alejandro G. Iñárritu is a deeply immersive experience realized by its various conflicts and their depiction through Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography. Though The Revenant is set in the early 19th century frontier, the dilemmas faced by both the local Native American tribes and the fur trappers exploiting their land resonate with fundamental conflicts of modern survival. Iñárritu has produced a commentary on the ethics of surviving off the land and amongst other people, examining the right to live for both humans and non-humans, and the power struggle between societies of opposite interests. 

From its earliest opportunity onward, The Revenant establishes a kinship between its audience and nature through beautifully serene landscapes that make us cognizant of how superior the natural world is to our mortal selves. Varying between rising embers of a campfire, snow thawing on pine, and wilting reeds in heavy winter, they serve as indications of the action to come and the conditions of central characters while communicating an array of emotions. 

When trapper and regional expert Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is viciously attacked by a grizzly bear, we gain a sense that nature has been avenged by injuries done to a fur trader. However, Glass seeks his own vengeance as he is left for dead and his son is murdered by fellow trapper John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). The film’s leading men are stunning as protagonist and antagonist. DiCaprio impresses with convincing delivery of the Pawnee dialect and Hardy realizes Fitzgerald’s character through calculated deviousness and volatile aggression. 

While The Revenant does not retain the “single-cut” aesthetic which made Birdman a cinematic wonder, Lubezki reemploys long and continuous shots to develop a realistically linear narrative that is sparsely interrupted. Close camerawork accentuates the unpredictability of fight scenes making an unforeseen stab of a knife particularly thrilling. Iñárritu’s foray into filming combat is marked by graphic imagery – cheek bones collapse upon impacts with rifles while arrows penetrate throats and eyes with quicksilver speed. The aforementioned approaches work in tandem to make the scene in which Glass is attacked by a grizzly terrifyingly inescapable and gruesome.

The Revenant maps a frontier of its own through the many directions it pulls its audience, traversing territory between a father’s devotion to his son and the utter helplessness of being at nature’s mercy. Iñárritu capitalizes upon the affinity the audience develops for Glass’s survival, simultaneously questioning our motivations for violence, the imperialist agenda, and our appraisal of life and the world at our disposal.

Gláss Stays Darkly Translucent on Second 'Accent' Single "You're Not Real"

Following lead single "Glass(-accent)", post-punk upstarts Gláss have allowed a second track titled "You’re Not Real" to ascend from the murky depths of their upcoming full length album, Accent.

Immediately apparent from the beginning of "You're Not Real" is a certain sense that something, however undefined, is coming. Like a sunset seen through the thickest smog, or a pulse of light coming from the remnants of a dead star, a certain sense of hopelessness and disquietude oozes from every part of the song, from the way the crystalline yet dissonant guitars dig into themselves, the sprightly yet lumbering drums, and the cold, disaffected vocal delivery repeat “you’re not real in any way”.

The ghost of Joy Division hangs heavy here, but Gláss manage to, in spite of everything, instill a certain youthful vigor into their songs and a certain mischievousness in the face of bleak despair. If Gláss has anything to prove, they’re doing a hell of a job.

Gláss "You're Not Real" Accent (02/05/2016) http://Post-Echo.com Find Gláss on Facebook- on.fb.me/1QHk02U Bandcamp- bit.ly/1FtcRmo

Quentin Tarantino Titillates With Bloodiest Title to Date, 'The Hateful Eight'

Grandmaster of cinephilia, ultra-violence, and all around cinematic agent provocateur, Quentin Tarantino is one of Hollywood’s most befuddling entities. Regardless of one’s personal view on Tarantino’s oeuvre to date, it is downright damning to argue that Tarantino’s body of work does not, at the very least, pique the general movie-goers’ interest.

Tarantino’s eighth addendum to his bloodlust anthology is The Hateful Eight, presented in resplendent, wide-screen 70-millimeter Panovision. While such a detail may not have been a pertinent morsel of information to most movie goers, one Mr. Tarantino felt it was vital to the film’s release.

The screenplay The Hateful Eight followed a treacherous pathway into becoming a film. Tarantino admitted his first draft of what would eventually become The Hateful Eight had originally been intended as a sequel to his 2013 release, Django Unchained, this time in novel form, called Django in White Hell. Upon deciding the character of Django would not fit in such a story, Tarantino reworked the story into a script that would eventually become the film’s first draft.

Unfortunately, the script for The Hateful Eight leaked shortly after the film’s announcement in January of 2014, and Tarantino threatened to cancel the project altogether. Following a Los Angeles live reading of the leaked script, which featured a number of the finished film’s cast (Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, James Parks, Zoe Bell) in April of 2014, Tarantino announced he was working on two separate drafts with alternate endings.

Fast forward to around the film’s official release, the 70-millimeter “Roadshow” version set to premiere at select theaters (ones that had the proper setup to run 70 mm film) on December 8th, 2015. Sadly, as had become the motif throughout the journey of The Hateful Eight, the film itself was leaked by Hive-CM8, an internet group with a dubious goal of leaking “40 films.”

Despite being torrented on a number platforms and thousands of people, the film finally made its way to its select theater and eventual wide release on Christmas Day with plenty of steam, even with the leak. Tarantino’s preference for shooting in 70 mm cinemascope surely enticed enough cinephiles to see the film in theaters.

The Hateful Eight is a three-hour master class in Tarantino-isms – a film clocking in at a hair over three hours, a magnificent Ennio Morricone score, gratuitous violence, and dark comedic relief that leaves viewers painfully aware of the irony of their own existence.

In short, The Hateful Eight is a post-Civil War character study set in a sequestered haberdashery somewhere amongst the Rockies, following the trials and tribulations surrounding a vicious blizzard, a motley crew of despicable bounty hunters, and conspicuous developments throughout the film.

The Hateful Eight is divided into five chapters, each respective scene being set by Tarantino’s narration. The film opens in the midst of a mountain passage, a stagecoach plowing through the ivory snowdrift. Shortly thereafter, we’re introduced to whom we’re led to believe as the film’s protagonist, one Mr. John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell), and his bounty Debbie Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) as they reach an impasse on their journey to Red Rock. The aforementioned impasse would be none other than Civil War-hero-turned-bounty hunter, Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), who also happened to be in close correspondence with President Abraham Lincoln, proved by the letter kept in his pocket, which becomes an integral aspect of the film.

Warren and Ruth make a pact to give Warren and his slew of bounties transport to Red Rock, but after stopping at Minnie’s Haberdashery a little ways outside of the town of Red Rock. Along the ride, some expository dialogue is exchanged between Warren and Ruth, mostly admiring and sympathetic as Ruth badgers Warren to share his Lincoln letter. Jason-Leigh’s Domergue reveals her truly despicable nature while throwing epithets at Warren and eventually spitting on his Lincoln letter, to which Warren promptly punches her out of the stagecoach. In true Tarantino fashion, the characters in The Hateful Eight are not spared in the slightest when it comes to receiving punishment.

The film spends two whole acts before it reaches Minnie’s Haberdashery, the film’s primary setting. Following their dustup in the stagecoach, driven by the trusty O.B. (James Parks), Ruth, Warren, and Domergue come across a former Confederate sympathizer, Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who is coincidentally headed to Red Rock to (supposedly) become the town’s newest sheriff. Ruth is skeptical of the all too convenient run in of two well-known bounty hunters en route to hanging Domergue, but nonetheless allows Mannix to join. The remaining journey to Minnie’s Haberdashery is poignantly filled with deft dialogue on racial inequality and indignation of failing institutions, under the guise of fresh wounds from the Civil War.

When the blizzard beaten travelers finally arrive at Minnie’s Haberdashery, they’re met by the likes of Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) aka “The Little Man,” Bob (Demian Bichir) aka “The Mexican,” Joe Gage aka “The Cow Puncher,” and General Sanford “Sandy” Smithers (Bruce Dern). From the travelers’ arrival at Minnie’s Haberdashery, R-rated hi-jinks ensue, and in the most classic of Tarantino fashion, an all out salvo of verbiage and bloodshed, all within the confines of a singular setting, making The Hateful Eight one of, if not the most violent Tarantino film to date.

Rather than delve into further details surrounding the film’s unique perversions and ultimate outcome, it may be best to give the film one final aerial view. Tarantino manages to combine vengeance, sympathy, pure evil, and cumbersome characters into powerful character study that is at times convoluted, but all in all entertaining. There are powerful performances from Tarantino mainstays (Jackson) and pleasing debuts from first time Tarantino collaborators (Goggins), who manage to survive the film’s pitfalls of elaborate bigotry under the guise of period epithets, and at times unimaginative (albeit amusingly graphic) violence.

The Hateful Eight is certainly one of Tarantino’s best, an exceptional addition to his catalog, but just like the other films in Tarantino’s collection, the film itself is not for the soft minded or the conflict averse. All in all, The Hateful Eight is Tarantino’s most stylized and hellacious effort to date, that not only degrades the characters within the film, but will surely test the tolerance of those who go to see it just the same.

David Bowie Avoids Complacency, Continues to Push Boundaries on Bizarre '★' ('Blackstar')

The concept of fluidity is not necessarily a notion an artist would aim to procure, much less at the risk of their own legacy. However, if there ever was an artist so poised, so precise, and so deft to continually morph and adapt with a sort of genre androgyny, it would certainly be David Bowie. Each release throughout Ziggy Stardust’s career is uniformly unique - each record adopting aspects of various influences throughout, most of which are equally ambitious and ambiguous, but always maintaining Bowie’s mystical hallmarks. 

Bowie’s newest addition to his compendium is ★ (stylized, but technically Blackstar, which is what the writer shall reference for the rest of the article), an ambitious collection of jazz leaning tracks that continue Bowie’s half century long career of genre fluidity that continues his status as one of the true icons of rock music, not necessarily for a “classic” rock sound, but rather the intrepidity to stretch the confines and concepts that rock music once resided within. On Blackstar, Bowie continues to explore new sonic landscapes, but this time, rather than challenging conceptions of rock, Bowie virtually spurns what we know of rock music altogether.

Released three years after 2013’s The Next Day, which followed an unsettlingly long period of Bowie-less music, Blackstar enlists New York jazz musician Donny McCaslin and his group of acclaimed players (Ben Monder, Jason Linder, Tim Lefebvre, and Mark Guiliana) to create one of the most unnerving Bowie albums to date. Blackstar’s incorporation of dark jazz flair with undertones of death, savagery, and detachment is more defined than past efforts.

Bowie being who he is, a number of devout fans have spent considerable time trying to uncover the cryptic themes within the tracks, with most being no closer to meaning than before, but others are quite apparent and only further confused by those closest to Bowie.

The title track, “Blackstar” seems like a direct reference to the rise of ISIS and is supported by Donny McCaslin, with the continual allusion to a “solitary candle.” Such a subject matter would not be out of the realm of possibility for Bowie, who has seemed to have a morbid fascination with despicable characters, a la Big Brother, President Joe and his murderous Saviour Machine, and Thomas Newton on previous projects. Another interesting aspect of “Blackstar” is track’s run time, which stands at nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds; it had been even longer, but when Bowie and his cohorts found out that iTunes did not place songs longer than ten minutes up for individual sale, they shaved time with two seconds to spare.

Despite Blackstar’s considerably darker themes, it also shares an air of more lyrical playfulness from Bowie. Second track, “Tis a Pity She Was a Whore,” in name alone is playful and about as “out there” as any in recent memory. The track opens with a heavy drum and bass lead and horns whirling every which way, before Bowie opens with the delightful “Man, she punched me like a dude / Hold your mad hands / I cried,” setting a disparate scene for Bowie’s narrative. The track moves at a rattling pace, leaving an unstable scene of uncertainty whether or not the narrator had been robbed by the titular “whore” or not. Bowie certainly spares every outside detail in order to enhance the strange nature of the song.

“Lazarus” is the second Blackstar single, as well as the eponymous title of Bowie’s recent Off-Broadway hit, starring Michael C. Hall of Dexter television fame. “Lazarus” unsettles throughout, never quite reaching a point of comfort for the listener or the track’s protagonist, who had experienced ascension into “king-like” living in New York, but ultimately yearns for freedom from the confines of the life being presently led. The track was performed by Michael C. Hall on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in which Hall sang Bowie’s lyrics “nothing left to lose,” which undoubtedly doubled the meaning, with Bowie’s notable absence and acknowledgement that being a 69 year old pop-icon, there was hardly any way his legacy could be sullied.

Overall, Blackstar is one of Bowie’s most audacious of undertakings, an effort that could potentially be with great consequence, but because of such risks being as they are; Bowie only elevates and exceeds expectation to meet the task at hand. But then again, anyone ever really doubted any aspect of Bowie’s work? “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” is a haunting admission that Bowie is aware that his time is reaching an end, and rather than being a single voice from one point in time, he has become a voice that spans multiple generations. Bowie is aware of his deity status in the world of music, and no matter what new direction he takes his music, the masses will not doubt it. He's virtually untouchable, unassailable entity, but not above admitting imperfection in being so.

Yeasayer Announce New LP 'Amen & Goodbye', Release First Single and Video "I Am Chemistry"

Yeasayer are officially following up 2012's fantastic Fragrant World with their 4th full length record, Amen & Goodbye, via Mute on 4/1. The Brooklyn band have been teasing quite thoroughly with several small snippets being sprinkled around the internet in past days, but have now revealed the first full taste with a music video for leading single "I Am Chemistry."

Featuring an unholy marriage of sci-fi and psychedelia, "I Am Chemistry" appears to be a faux-claymation computer animated hellscape in line with the captivatingly bizarre digital aesthetic first introduced circa Odd Blood. Deformed incarnations of the trio dance among undulating orchids to the sound of freak synth grooves and a curious choral interlude. 

The post-apocalyptic foreign world depicted even seems to contain a severed Trump dictator statue head rotting in the background at the 1:12 and 1:35 marks, which would be their first political foray since "Reagan's Skeleton."

EDIT: Yeasayer has confirmed:

@TransversoMedia first one to comment on the severed dictator head. Kudos!!

— Yeasayer (@Yeasayer) January 7, 2016

A press release describes the forthcoming release as “a collection of strange fables from the Bible of a universe that does not yet exist," which, after viewing the tracklist, seems to be the only possible explanation.

Amen & Goodbye

1. Daughters Of Cain
2. I Am Chemistry
3. Silly Me
4. Half Asleep
5. Dead Sea Scrolls
6. Prophecy Gun
7. Computer Canticle 1
8. Divine Simulacrum
9. Child Prodigy
10. Gerson’s Whistle
11. Uma
12. Cold Night
13. Amen & Goodbye

Amen & Goodbye

You can preorder Amen & Goodbye here.

'Carol' Is a Gorgeously Filmed Portrait of Love and Loss

Set amidst a hazy glow of 16mm, Todd Haynes' Carol is a beautifully devastating piece of melancholia. Returning to the familiar '50s backdrop of his tribute to Douglas Sirk, Far From Heaven, Haynes focuses his unusually soft lens on a timid but curious young shop girl named Therese (Rooney Mara) and her affair with the mysterious but intriguing socialite Carol (Cate Blanchett).

Adapted from the Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking novel The Price of Salt, Carol takes its time in carefully constructing the forbidden romance at the center of the film as something genuine. By taking the time to let it grow, the effusion of romance becomes more cathartic and the heartbreaks become even more achingly painful.

Mara is pitch-perfect as the young Therese, a girl who thought she knew what she wanted until it all comes tumbling down. Her ambitions to discover what she truly wants in life are subverted by her own shyness, and in a role where she's meant to be such a mild-mannered piece of wallpaper, it truly speaks to Mara's talents that she's able to imbue Therese with just the right amount of both optimism and anguish. The scene in which she confesses to Carol she has no idea what she wants because she "says yes to everything" is one of the film's most powerful.

Blanchett too is astonishing as the titular Carol, infusing her elegant socialite airs with a sense of pain, especially in her moving interactions with her young daughter. Blanchett gives Carol this queer sense of aloofness, and even when it seems she is closest to Therese there is still a mysterious "otherness" to the older woman character. Yet once the dramatic punch of the second half hits, she drops all airs of fragility and evolves into something more touchingly humane, giving Carol a sympathetic sense of desperation in her loving pleas.

Seemingly lost among the awards chatter however is the perennially underrated Kyle Chandler as Carol's estranged husband Harge, a man so torn apart by the futility of his marriage but so desperate to make things normal in his life again. When at first it seems his role is simply "the evil ex-husband," it was a pleasant surprise to watch him evolve into something wonderfully more complex, as his love for Carol grows increasingly more strained against the circumstances of her sexuality. 

Forsaking the crisp sharpness of digital photography, cinematographer Edward Lachman opted for the beautiful simplicity of 16mm film and it lends Carol a strikingly gorgeous haze and grit. The breathtakingly composed shots are given the dreamlike qualities of memory, as if groggily recalling the nostalgic minutia of romance: the lingering gaze of a lover, the offhand smile, the squeeze of a shoulder. It's a rush of color but also of feeling, and it makes Carol a truly sensual experience in every sense of the word. 

Todd Haynes beautifully captures the flourishing romance between star-crossed lovers, but also deftly illuminates how tragic this kind of affair felt back in 1951. It's a portrait of the outsider in a way that can truly break your heart, even if it leaves with a sense of optimism, and a gorgeously orchestrated piece of filmmaking with a tender ache that won't fade quickly. 

The Top 30 Records of 2015

In this, the last day of 2015, we at Transverso Media have compiled our list of the top 30 records that were released in the past year. What are yours?

30. Wilco - Star Wars

29. The Dead Weather - Dodge and Burn

28. Cage the Elephant - Tell Me I'm Pretty

27. Autre Ne Veut - Age of Transparency

26. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style

25. Jamie xx - In Colour

24. Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp

23. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love

22. Destroyer - Poison Season

21. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass

20. Grimes - Art Angels

19. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

18. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle

17. Youth Lagoon - Savage Hills Ballroom

16. Beirut - No No No

15. Gardens & Villa - Music For Dogs

14. Big Grams - Big Grams

13. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

12. Beach House - Depression Cherry

11. Mac DeMarco - Another One

10. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

9. Foals - What Went Down

8. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

7. of Montreal - Aureate Gloom

6. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love

5. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear

4. Hot Chip - Why Make Sense?

3. Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars

Thank Your Lucky Stars acts as both an extension of and pivot point for Beach House’s career as a whole. Many may want the band to actively change in a progressive way, but the band chooses to continually broaden their sound in the most familiar and microscopic ways possible instead. Perhaps one of the best integration of all five preceding albums, you hear the metronome, drums are crisper, individual instruments are audible, and Victoria Legrand’s lyrics are unexpectedly discernible at certain points. It's what works for them, and its afforded Beach House the ability to carve out a dream-pop legacy (and avoid becoming a caricature) on their own terms.

2. Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone?

Are You Alone? takes off where the Montreal duo’s preceding Impersonator left off; a paradox of bare-bones, minimalist soundscapes ebbing with lush depth that are somehow simultaneously tranquilizing and uplifting. Welsh’s immaculately vulnerable monologues and unflinching vocals are gently bold, and they drive their synth lullabies forward with severe care. It's Welsh at his most overbearing, and yet his tight grip is irresistible. Calculatedly organic, passionately controlled, it’s a journal reading in a dream.

1. Tame Impala - Currents

Currents is the most adventurous, interesting, and well-produced collection of songs Kevin Parker has created thus far, sitting atop Tame Impala's discography as the most mature and painstakingly crafted iteration in their twisted psych-pop world. From the lush synth tracks that bubble through the mix to his effortless, washed out vocals, every sound is rendered with the utmost care. Currents proves Parker is unable to stick with a certain sound, forever looking for new ways to evolve his ideas and push his project beyond what was expected when Innerspeaker first hit the shelves.

'The Big Short' Is Smartest Movie of Year

Well, it’s happened. The man most famous for being a frequent Will Ferrell collaborator, Adam McKay, has made (arguably) the smartest movie of 2015. The Big Short is a derisive satire based on the 2010 best-selling non-fiction book of the same name, focusing on a handful of key players on Wall Street and across the country who not only predicted the inevitable housing crisis of 2008, but looked to capitalize on the looming crash quite handsomely.

McKay and Charles Randolph adapted the screenplay from the Michael Lewis’ book that chronicles the real life series of events that lead to a respective group of money managers (Steve Carell and his motley crew), investors (Christian Bale and Brad Pitt), and Wall Street types (Ryan Gosling) who looked to bet against the wildly profitable sub-prime mortgage industry. Seems like a tough sell, right? A movie that revolves around a bunch of rich white guys in their offices outsmarting all the other rich white guys sounds hardly interesting, or original (see: Gordon Gecko). That’s where the combination of McKay’s comedic prowess and ingénue along with the A-list arsenal of acting immersion lift The Big Short into unparalleled satirical standing.

The Big Short is grimly funny – opening with an uncanny (and later on, intermittent) fourth-wall break a la Wolf Of Wall Street from Ryan Gosling, whoops, in the movie he’s Jared Vennett, a hotshot Deutsche banker. Vennett takes the viewer through a brief montage on the history of the real estate, mortgage, and various other large-scale financial industries in a fun and expository manner. Despite the light and playful nature of Vennett’s historical run down, the overall sardonic tone is established, allowing the film to become much darker and fuel itself with clever wit and rage.

The players introduced in Vennett’s expository homily are as follows: all around acting chameleon Christian Bale as the glass-eyed, hermitic M.D. turned San Jose investing consultant with a penchant for drumming, Michael Burry, Steve Carell as the New York corporation-condemning neurotic misanthrope Michael Baum and his troupe of equally maladjusted money managers (one of the films truly unexpected highlights) portrayed by Hamish Linklater, Rafe Spall, and Jeremy Strong. Brad Pitt not only stars as Ben Rickert, a despondent Wall Street banker turned political activist/guiding light to a couple young gunners from Denver (Finn Wittrock and John Magaro), but also lends a hand as a producer on the film. Finally, the film’s pseudo narrator, docent, fit fanatic, Jordan Belfort-lite, antagonistic protagonist, resident “burn” distributor, Jared Vennett, played by Ryan Gosling in a jerry curl.

Due to the magnificent People magazine fodder the exceptional cast actually is, the film takes a couple beats to fully commit to the characters within the story. That being said, Bale disappears into Burry’s anti-social, atypical nature seamlessly almost instantaneously, with Carell’s well-intentioned, yet cynical portrayal of Michael Baum not far behind.

Rather than give a full recount of the film’s synopsis, the reader may be better served with focuses on the unique and clever aspects of the film instead. The film operates in multiple parts - documentary, farce, drama, satire, etc. – with each aspect being highlighted in various capacities. Gosling’s Vennett serves as a wonderful narrator for the more historical, expository asides, while Carell and Bale offer more dramatic performances within the film. Pitt’s role in the film is mostly ancillary, but provides a lens that inevitably makes the viewer question the protagonists’ moral standing as a whole.

The A-list cast certainly carries the film, but perhaps the most notable aspect of the film as a whole is the manner of which complex real estate and mortgage terms are explained in layman’s terms by the likes of Margot Robbie, Anthony Bourdain, Richard Thaler, and Selena Gomez.  When key terms and complex mortgage phrases are introduced, Gosling inevitably throws a quick cut to a cameo. Each cameo is essentially an informational vignette that gives both a humorous and informative explanation of the term. Again, instead of reproducing each individual informative vignette, just know that one involves Margot Robbie in a bathtub (eerily similar to Wolf of Wall Street), Anthony Bourdain in a kitchen, and arguably the best of the three, economist Richard Thaler and pop star Selena Gomez explaining synthetic CDO’s (Collateralized Debt Obligations) and the “Hot Hand Fallacy” over a game of blackjack.

The Big Short is the smartest movie in 2015. It’s sharp, divisive, engaging, and humorous, without sacrificing any ounce of information in the name of Hollywood dramatics. It is a movie that focuses on subprime loans, something so complex, even the banks that doled them out failed to fully grasp exactly what they entailed. McKay manages to take a bewildering piece in history and craft it into a digestible package that does not sacrifice any wit or edge so audiences can understand more clearly. The Big Short observes and utilizes the events (24-hour celebrity news cycle) that obfuscated the eventual recession, and in turn illuminates the situation so viewers can make their own decisions on what went wrong, and who (if anyone) is to blame.

From the outrageous mind of director Adam Mckay comes THE BIG SHORT. Starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, in theaters Christmas. When four outsiders saw what the big banks, media and government refused to, the global collapse of the economy, they had an idea: The Big Short.

Cage the Elephant's 'Tell Me I'm Pretty' Earns the Request

What does a band do when their most successful album to date generates just as much inner turmoil as it does critical acclaim? In the case of Cage the Elephant and their 2013 release, Melophobia, the answer is simple – blow things up. After a run of three insatiably frenetic exercises in pseudo-punk rock anxiety, a spectacular reputation as live performers, major label ascension with RCA, and an eventual Grammy nomination for Melophobia, Cage the Elephant had reached an impasse.

The extensive touring and massively unanticipated (yet much deserved) reception of Melophobia led to friction within the band. Guitarist Brad Schultz called the experience "a living hell,” so much so, that it culminated with lead guitarist Lincoln Parrish’s eventual departure in December of 2013. Parrish, who had been a part of Cage the Elephant since age 16 in 2006, had not foreseen the rapid growth and success of the group, stating that his ultimate goal was to “be a producer before anything else.” Nick Bockarth, filled Parrish’s void for the remaining Melophobia tour stops supporting The Black Keys and Foals, which stretched well into 2014.

During the Kentucky rockers’ run with The Black Keys, Schultz and Black Keys lead man/Nashville super-producer Dan Auerbach tossed around ideas for some new Cage songs, and long story short, the rock n’ roll salons led to a collaborative relationship between the two which ultimately led to the creation of this fourth studio record, Tell Me I’m Pretty.  

Opener “Cry Baby” is a jolt to the system; cleaner and brighter than former Cage openers, the twinges of Brit-pop throw TMIP into uncharted territory. "Trouble" is a deceptively wistful tale of woe spun over breezy woos just begging to be sung along to, complete with a lyrical nod to their magnum opus with "You know what they say / Yeah the wicked get no rest," while the other single “Mess Around” pairs fuzzy riffs with infectious poppy hooks, perfectly wrapping up the band's dirtier feel in a tight 3 minute package. Auerbach himself even provides the guitar solo, though it would be unfair to automatically dismiss this effort as Black Keys fodder.

While Auerbach’s association with TMIP may trigger an automatic assumption that the album as a whole would be filled with Black Keys-isms, that assumption overlooks how Cage the Elephant’s greatest mores and themes are present throughout the album, though ever-evolving. From Matt Schultz’s familiar wailing on “Sweetie Little Jean" to the stark Rolling Stones-esque rollercoaster that is “Cold Cold Cold," it heavily mixes their brand of manic bravado with sixties rock n’ roll pop whimsy. 

TMIP artfully toes the line between alternative and radio-ready, being much more direct and polished than records past, though this is more a testament to the maturation of Matt Schultz’s lyrical and melodic presence, rather than the involvement of a ubiquitous rock personality. Where previous Auerbach collaborations did fall victim to this (Lana Del Rey), TMIP comes off as entirely a product of the group’s effort.

Tell Me I’m Pretty is also arguably Cage the Elephant’s best recorded album to date, and though it does have variances from what’s become their “sound,” there’s really no reason to fault the band for wanting to expand their sonic catalog. Should they not want to alter the sound and design of previous efforts that left the group frictional and dejected? What Cage the Elephant has created on Tell Me I'm Pretty is an album that will inevitably strengthen the group’s future efforts, rather than being shackled to a particular vibe or genre. It may not shatter with the same chaotic dynamism along the way, but it does manage to be, well, pretty.

A Very Transverso Holiday: 50 Songs for the Season

The holidays are a magical time of year, a time often evoked through the use of song. We at Transverso have decided to collect some of our favorite festive tunes into a playlist for you and yours to enjoy in the coming days, beginning with the original Christmas song, Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime."

These 50 seasonal tracks are sure to be the perfect soundtrack as you hang ornaments on your tree, bake cookies, or leave your young son at home without supervision in a crime-ridden Chicago suburb for an extended period of time.