To talk about two-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Edward Lachman is to talk about his long-running creative partnership with director Todd Haynes. Responsible for the visual look of five of Hayne’s films (I’m Not Here, Far From Heaven, Carol), their latest collaboration, a feature-length documentary, marks new territory. Entitled The Velvet Underground (now streaming on Apple TV+), the film is a visual feast of mid-century art and music, chronicling the seminal American band formed by Lou Reed and John Cale in 1964 (under the auspices of legendary artist and impresario Andy Warhol). ADDICTED’s Myles Herod recently talked with Edward Lachman about…
Author: Myles Herod
Electric Treatment Free, the experimental electronic solo project of Ottawa musician/producer Mark Uygur, does not suffer fools lightly. The odds are good that most people will be off-put by his brand of musique concrète and knotty guitar etudes. For others, it might provoke admiration rather than scorn. Admittedly, this self-titled EP isn’t traditionally paced or melodic either. Rather, it’s much more engrossed in playing with unique and rewarding ideas. Take for instance “Study 4”, which opens things on a gradual ascension of electro pulses and plunking piano keys only to dissolve into the ether. It’s an appetizer of things to…
There are some people, like myself, who consider Men Without Hats’ “Safety Dance” to be one of the catchiest pop songs of the 1980s. Now four decades later, the Canadian band is still taking their trademark sound to unexpected places. Their latest project, Again (Part 1), delves deeper into the music that shaped them as aspiring songwriters, albeit with a twist. Songs by The Rolling Stones and Lou Reed are covered across the five-song EP, but Men Without Hats have also rewired their “Safety Dance” – now retitled “No Friends of Mine” – into a slower, more meditative take on…
If there was ever a genre created for Norwegian rom-coms, then The Worst Person In The World might be its Citizen Kane. Yes, this is a great film. It’s also an exciting and unbridled one, offering a portrait of a devil-may-care 29-year-old across 12 chapters (bookended by prologue and epilogue). Julie, the story’s heroine, is played in a star-making turn by Renate Reinsve (a role which incidentally won her Best Actress at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival). An over-achieving academic (sorta), Julie competes for brain-space with inner-monologues of uncertainty, and director Joachim Trier reveals those shades from the start. Bright and…
Monday evening saw Liquid Media Group’s in-person gala event, Big Splash, take place at Toronto’s iconic Windsor Arms Hotel. Hosted by Canadian actor Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek, Dr. Death), the formal setting – which happily complied with COVID-19 protocols – celebrated TIFF 2021 and its quest for bringing independent and international cinema to the forefront. Walking the red carpet, notable attendees included Eric Benet (singer), Adam Swain (The Hardy Boys), Sharon Taylor (Big Sky), Zach Smadu (Family Law), Megan Park (The Fallout), Chris Sandiford (What We Do In The Shadows), Daniel Mazzone (Artist). Ultimately, the lively party was a resounding…
New Zealand’s Jane Campion has been making world-class films for over 30 years. Although a decade has passed since her last full-length feature, The Power of the Dog marks a triumphant return and as potent a vision as she’s ever helmed. Based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, the story centres on Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), a cowboy of grit and vitriol who operates a successful Montana ranch in 1925 with genial brother George (Jesse Plemons). Phil, content with playing banjo and castrating bulls barehanded, has his world uprooted when George announces that he’s married Rose (Kristen Dunst), the…
Children often see life much differently than adults do. Sometimes wide-eyed, but forever inquisitive. However, there also comes a time when every child discovers their world is not a gentle place, either. At the centre of Celine Sciamma’s quietly enchanting Petite Maman is such an impressionable youth named Nelly. Played by Joséphine Sanz (in a remarkable performance), she is just eight years old when her maternal grandmother dies. The news hits especially hard for Nelly’s grieving mother Marion (Nina Meurisse). Deciding to take the burdensome drive back to her late mother’s rural house – and the place of her own…
Canadian artist Sam Drysdale is a unique talent with a unique voice. Favourably compared to John Mayer and Ray La Montagne, his musical journey began in earnest after winning the prestigious Slaight Music’s “It’s Your Shot” competition in 2014. Since then Sam’s passion has paved a path for opportunities far and wide. Between formative stints in Los Angles and Nashville, he has now relocated back home to Toronto, ON, where he continues creating new music including his second EP, Vicelove, produced by Thomas “Tawgs” Salter (Lights, Walk Off The Earth, Scott Helman). With the release of his latest single, entitled…
The musical output of Istanbul-based rock project Barista percolates with ambition. Give credit where credit is deserved. Unfortunately, its immediate aftertaste is one of a frothy, overly earnest residue. Sweet in some spots, vapid in others. Bahadir Han Eryilmaz, the linchpin behind the Barista moniker, serves as chief songwriter of the pillaged pop found across these six tracks. The album in question, named Open Sesame Vol 2: Press Rewind, continues in a similar vein to Barista’s previous collection Open Sesame Vol 1: Her Dress. Both exhibit sturdy musicianship, ostensibly described as “blur[ing] the lines between authentic classic rock, heavy prog, mystic alternative,…