Riot Material

Art. Word. Thought.

Coming Back to Bite: The Earth Births its Curious Gifts in Blood Quantum

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Reviewed by Robert Sullivan
NYRB

Blood Quantum is an old-school zombie film, as opposed to the recent onslaught of AMC Walking Dead wannabes. Like George Romero’s 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead—which ends when a Black man emerges unscathed after a night fighting off the undead, only to be shot by an all-white militia—the blood and guts add up to a social critique. What makes Blood Quantum a credit to its genre is the way it honors indigenous filmmaking, in particular the work of Alanis Obomsawin, the renowned eighty-eight-year-old Abenaki filmmaker who has, in more than fifty films, chronicled the modern liberal governments of the US and Canada laying siege to North American indigenous communities. [Read more…]

Words On Fire: The Literature Of The Doors

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by Alci Rengifo

The music of The Doors seems to find its place in every era since the band’s stirring debut first appeared fifty years ago. Spawned in the era of Vietnam, revolution and technological innovation, The Doors dived into a dark, literary well that is timeless and always relevant. Jim Morrison alone introduced a manic onstage persona that has influenced every rock genre to emerge since the 60s. He was Dionysus meets Rimbaud, hedonistic jester meets feverish wordsmith. Because the band was fronted by a figure who viewed himself foremost as a poet — the rare rock star who even wrote fan letters to literary scholars — their music endures much the same way the edgiest of classical literature still finds devotees. [Read more…]

The Exploratory Instincts Of Shabaka And The Ancestors’ We Are Sent Here By History

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on Impulse! Records
Reviewed by Henry Cherry

Shabaka Hutchings, the London based musician behind The Comet is Coming and Sons of Kemet, had just  released a second recording with his South African based project, Shabaka & the Ancestors when Covid-19 canceled the promotional tour along with everything else in the world. Hutchings spoke with NPR about the illness, its impact on touring musicians and the financial hit the quarantine has put on those musicians. “Literally, all my gigs in the next two months have been canceled. And everyone I know is in the same boat.” Questions surround the entire world as markets crash, people lose jobs across every sector, and the illness continues to mount. Hutchings isn’t a doomsayer. “We have to make the best of the situation, or the situation will just be tragic. And all situations have the potential to be tragic, or the potential to be tragic and transformative.” [Read more…]

Quentin Tarantino Pure Cinema Podcast

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Elric, Brian, Phil and Jules are joined remotely by Quentin Tarantino himself for an epic discussion about a great feature on the New Beverly website called “Tarantino’s Reviews” where QT has been writing his own articles on movies and TV episodes. He also offers five of his own picks in response to our “Ripoffs” from way back in 2017.

Jazz in LA: Arturo and Adam O’Farrill, Live From Culver City

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The Live Show: Arturo and Adam O’Farrill, 28 March 2020
Please scroll to 8 minutes into the video above; technical setup prior
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Riot Material is proud to present, and stream live this evening, legendary Jazz pianist Arturo O’Farrill and his son, Trumpeter and NPR critic’s fave Adam O’Farrill, performing together in their living room, Saturday, 28 March beginning at 6pm Pacific Standard Time. This will be a very special evening where father and son, two exceptionally fine men and notable greats on their instruments, burn down the so-called house while also lighting fire to our hearts and imaginations, the sonic and creative landscapes of our minds, all in ways where we never have to leave our homes. Dine in with a special dish, either homemade or delivered-in from your favorite local restaurant, click onto the Riot Material homepage / riotmaterial.com, and voilà, sit back and enjoy!
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Dr. Cornel West Speaks Black Prophetic Fire

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An always-welcomed dose of Cornel West, who is the focus of Arturo O’Farrill’s The Cornel West Concerto, a timely recording to be released this week. O’Farrill is onstage tonight with Jacques Lesure and His Soulful Cohorts here in Los Angeles, at Los Balcones, 9pm. Meantime, below is the Professor’s speech that inspired O’Farrill’s composition, which saw its debut at the Apollo Theater with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Dr. West and his “Black Prophetic Fire” speech, at Town Hall Seattle:

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Abandoned To The Voice In My Head: King Krule’s Man Alive!

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on XL Recordings/Matador Records
Reviewed by Henry Cherry

Archy Ivan Marshall is a 25-year-old musician who performs under the nom de guerre King Krule. As Krule, he has delivered a stunning portrait of demonic exorcism across three full length releases and as many extended plays. As Archy Marshall, he’s added a book and another album, both featuring his brother, Jack.

In a universe devoid of the weary and multitudinous musical classification system, people would immediately recognize the emotional content of the Krule/Marshall output and stamp it as such. Within the varied categorization that has been embraced by those seeking to brand themselves with the musical ideologies of others as a lifestyle choice, defining King Krule as Emo is still a contextual misstep. His is the sound of an ambling internal, but revolutionary discord. [Read more…]

McCoy Tyner, Greatest Jazz Pianist Of All Time, Is Dead at 81

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by Henry Cherry

McCoy Tyner’s death was announced on his Facebook page earlier today. Tyner, most famously linked to John Coltrane, was a gale force of rhythmic complexity and ingenuity on the piano. Joining with Coltrane while still a teen, his double-barreled approach to the aural intricacies of modern jazz cannot be fully appreciated. The genius of Tyner’s musicality is still being deciphered. [Read more…]

Documents Of Love

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by C von Hassett & Rachel Reid Wilkie

From Documents of Love, an exhibition of solo and collaborative works by C von Hassett and Rachel Reid Wilkie at Hosfelt Gallery, NYC.

Here, the short film “Documents of Love,” which showed alongside the couple’s languorous wall of poetry, rooms of paintings and their combined photography. The short captures a prodigious and productive moment in the East Village, NYC, bookended by a transformative journey through the Amazon and an eventual migration West: to Los Angeles; the small village of Olancha, California, which sits high in the Northern Mojave, just below the Eastern Sierras; and Rimrock/Pioneertown, the glowing third point in the now Golden Triangle of the Hassett-Wilkie clan.