TechNews | Tuesday, February 17h, 2015

 

Netflix and Nachos: “Dog Pound"

Timothy lyodele
TECHNEWS WRITER

Sometimes after a hard day of classes
and studying, it’s nice to just relax a bit. So
grab some nachos and enjoy the movie being
reviewed this week, “Dog Pound.”

“Dog Pound” is a movie directed by
Kim Chapiron about the life and times of three
kids in a juvenile prison. This gritty drama
tracks these kids’ experiences as they go from
mutts on the street to dogs in the dog pound.
Now, as a trend of this series, there won’t be
any spoilers of any of the movies getting re-
viewed, so don’t worry, this won’t ruin this
gritty emotion-packed film for you even a bit.

What seems to be just another pris-
on movie on the foreground, “Dog Pound”
does a lot to separate itself from the pack (last
dog pun, swear.) The setting of a juvenile pris-
on is the most noticeable difference, as the cast
of teenagers pulls the heart strings even more
as you witness the life of a bona fide criminal
in the eyes of a high school dropout. The film
also does a great job of fusing the problems

    

that any teenager would usually have with the
strifes of a prisoner, molding together bullies
and adolescent fantasies with prison violence
and guard brutality in compelling fluidity.

The movie is well made by design,
but the actors are where it really shines; young

bloods Adam Butcher and Shane Kippel are
both actors that deliver inmate performances
that rival some of the greatest prison dramas.
The dark reality of all the things that happen
in a prison can been seen in these actors’ eyes,
as they deliver the psychological aspect of the
movie that really drives home the idea of the

Band review:

Reno Waswil
TECHNEWS WRITER

The abstract, percussive music gen-
erated by 905 rock band ‘Soul Coughing: I dare
to say, is some of the most transcendental and
consistent ever created. In the decade they
were together, they released three magnificent
albums, each so full of insight, at what can be
accomplished when everyone in a band be-
comes their individual part in the music while,
in kind, elevating each of the other members
so that the finished product is one piece of
tight, amazing harmony.

To say that it’s a rock band seems
somewhat misleading. All sorts of artists that
are held in the ‘Alternative Rock’ genre, like
to pick and choose elements from whatever
genres that suit them, but the sheer power
of the funk, the abstract noise, the rhythmic
chanting and beat poetry that came together to
create Soul Coughing deserves its own genre
entirely—some direct offshoot from jazz that
reinvents it in a way, that is somehow funda-
mentally different from what other Soul of Ska
bands may claim to do—perhaps under the
guise of what singer and guitarist Mike Dough-
ty has dubbed ‘Slacker—Free Iazz.’

A good drummer lets the rhythm
flow through him/her into his/her motions;
Yuval Gabay becomes the rhythm. The primal,
indelible, funky hook played by a true expert
really gets to you no matter how much you
may hate the concept of dance music: It almost
makes you want to dance yourself. Not at all
to say that he played homogeneously though.
In fact, one of their most famous and popu—
lar songs “Super Bon Bon” has actually a very
atypical drum beat, but Gabay makes it work.

The only thing better than a good
drummer is a good drummer [with a good
bassist to back him/her up. It’s so important
that the two might want to pair up and form
a “freelance rhythm section”, like Reggae duo
Sly and Robbie. Gabay and Upright Bass player
Sebastian Steinberg definitely had formed
that relationship with some of the Grooviest
rhythms imaginable. He was a musician with
an astounding flexibility and intuition in his
playing, and with each song, fell into the per—
fect niche. '

Perhaps the interview with Sebas-
tian “Flexible Agendas” by Anil Prasad on the
website “Innerviews” sheds some light on that
fact when our Bassist describing his interac-
tions with “sound guys” in his time with Soul
Coughing explains, “So, the house guy would
always think ‘Oh, he must want a jazzy, stringy
tone.’ I’d say ‘No man. Think Aston Barrett.
Think reggae—that’s what I’m going for. I just
happen to be playing the bull fiddle.” Together,
Sebastian and Gabay were both catchy and
unconventional, blending the rhythmic styles
of numerous genres together seamlessly, and

laying the foundation which would let the in-
depth sonic experimentation, the band would
become known for flourish without sacrificing
the popular aesthetic.

The blunt of that experimental style
of the music is manifested in the Enoesque
(Which is defined on Urban Dictionary as
“Music which is similar to the later ambient
music of British musician and all-round ge-
nius Brian Eno”) keyboarding creations of key-
boardist Mark De Gli Antoni. Sometimes, he
will use general keyboard sound in unconven—
tional ways—the application of forced chords
and catchy riffs--, most of the time, his contri~
butions range from dissonant samples that of-
ten create dissonant punctuating to the general
rhythm and adding to, nay, establish the over-
all tones of the song that work out perfectly.
The metal scraping sounding aerial accents
in “Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago,” the fluctuat-
ing minored horn notes looping and building
upon each other in “Screenwriters Blues,” the
castrated samples of Raymond Scott’s classic
song Powerhouse, (or as you may know it, that

jazzy sounding Looney Tunes song) that he
layers magnificently throughout the song “Bus
to Beelzebub,” and so many more happenings
of pianos, horns, synthesizers, voices, beeps,
boops, effects etc. improvised and/or looped,
emphasized and diminished with feeling and
expert precision that truly make Soul Cough-
ing’s song catalog unique.

De Gli Antoni is a true genius of
sampling and keyboarding if there was ever
one, and in that way, bridged the gap between
1321 and Hip-Hop that even music forces to be
reckoned with, like Miles Davis, never could
(Miles Davis made a poorly received Hip-Hop
inspired Iazz albums in the 905 called “Doo-
Bop,” which attempted to do a similar thing).
It plays with the basic idea of what music can
mean, using both the primal meanings and as-
sociations we have for sounds, with the infinite
possibilities and feelings attainable with being
an active, live, imperfect musician.

The most memorable aspect of Soul
Coughing’s music and the most apparent ex-
ample of the wonders of building a song from
the ground up, from a jazz-influenced notion
of flexibility is Mike Doughty’s truly inspir-
ing contributions lyrically. His guitar playing,
as instinctive, and with a thoughtful prowess

effects of juvenile detention on kids. Their
characters are not just bad, they’re broken,
each dealing with personal demons that heav-
ily effect the direction of the plot. But the plot,
woe is he that couldn’t be; it isn’t that the plot
was bad, it was just fulfilling. The movie has

the potential to deliver on a powerful plot that
can really captivate an audience and put you in
the story, but at the same time the story almost
leaves a hole in the heart, as one yearns to get
more out of a plot that just won’t share the love.

It’s like a birthday party with only
enough cake for 5 kids, sure the party was fun,

but something feels missing. Nonetheless, the
acting and delivery from the thematic design
is enough to create a film worth at least cheese
and beef with the nachos. Be warned though,
this is not a movie for the faint of heart or the
easily offended. There were points in the movie
that could even have a grown man shielding his
eyes. That being said, despite it being a movie
about kids, it is not for kids. This movie is also
quite dark, so any plans with a date should not
include a romantic screening of this film. Un-
less you’re into that, in which case nobody is
judging.

If the idea of a dark, gritty, suspense-
ful drama that has you on the edge of your seat
and the nub of your nails, feel free to take a
look at “Dog pound,” currently available on
Netflix, a subscriptionobased streaming site for
movies and TV series that if you’re interested,
can get a free trial by signing up to enjoy thou-
sands of movies. Or just get your best friend,
parents, siblings, girl or boyfriend’s password.
They won’t mind right?

Image courtesy of thepeoplesmovies.com

oul Coughing

reminiscent of the alternative art rock playing
of Fugazi, don’t come anywhere near to being
as instinctive, and as meaningful as his lyri—
cisms. As De Gli Antoni explains in an email
to The Pitch, “I could enter a rehearsal with
Sebastian and Yuval begin playing a shell of
something, and the two of them would then
completely invent a whole drum—bass world
around that. I would then drop what I was
initially doing and do something else. Mike
would then start riffing words, and eventually
we would have a ‘Super Bon Bon,’ one of their
most famous, songs. This emphasis on free for-
mation, especially in the vocals and lyrics, is a
powerquy audible factor of the music and sets
it apart from so much of the other popular mu-
sic of the era.

Doughty’s style may enact a free-
flowing, visceral, powerful, unpredictable po-
etry like mechanic such as in “Screenwriter’s
Blues,” which contains lyrics like, “Gone Sav-
ages for Teenagers with Automatic Weap-
ons and Boundless Love, Gone Savage for
Teenagers who are aesthetically pleasing, in

 

other words fly.” Sometimes they will take the
forms of actual raps, as is the case in the cho—
rus of “Super Bon Bon” and the end of “Trues
Dreams of Wichita.” Sometimes it’s a definite,
but struggling singing like is the case in “la-
nine” and “Soundtrack to Mary.” Most of the
time though, it’s a combination of all three to
the point that you cannot tell which one he be-
lieves he is using, and it is always great.
Choosing a best album is really just
based more upon distinctions and tastes than
anything. Soul Coughing’s first album ‘Ruby
Vroom’ [1994] can only be described as an
experimental introduction for the band that
establishes their jazz side as well as their will-
ingness to experiment with song structure and
sampling. This album, with its feeling of not
knowing what they wanted to do, mixed so
much poetry, feeling, so many different styles,
and so much more time to experiment on a ba-
sic level falls into the typical notions of the first
album, for most bands, being, if not their best,
then at least one of the most personable, before
they seem to start falling into either trying to
recreate the effect of that one, or trying to write
what will actually be popular. It is considerably
funkier than what they would later put out
and seems to have more experimental insight

into music, such as the awesomeness of the
songs “Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago” and “Moon
Sammy” starting off with the exact same gui-
tar strum, but then later, suddenly switching a
few seconds in, with the addition of the other
instruments, showing how much the rhythm
section really does effect the song entirely. This
is why “Ruby Vroom” is my favorite and why it
is a must listen definitely.

The second album ‘Irresistible Bliss’
[1996], really launched them into the level of
fame they achieved, and unsurprisingly: its
songs definitely push more in the direction of
the mainstream while still remaining solunique
and tight. All of the amazing elements are still
there, but applied a little more conservatively
than the first album. More of the songs seem to
be about girls and love and all its implications
than the first, and were sung more typically to
the rhythm, which is not necessarily a negative,
but when its music still basically to the same
end as the first, seems like a step backward in
the artistic department. Still endlessly more
entertaining than most other music and reeks
of freedom and personality.

The last studio album, ‘El Oro,’
[1998] cannot be said to be another exercise in
towing along that direction. It is different than
the albums in a way that is undeniable, going
against that notion of a band trying to recre-
ate an album and instead, reinventing them—
selves. Whereas ‘Bliss’ and ‘Vroom’ seemed to
be towards the same end goal musically, ‘Oro’
seemed to be something fundamentally differ-
ent in that effect they were trying to generate.
Everyone in the group changed ever so slightly
enough not to undo any of the positive they
had created, but reinforced a reimagining, both
in the production as well as the conceiving of
the music. Generally, the album seemed much
happier, such as “Circles” which, as Doughty
claims in one of the many live albums that ex-
ist, was written because his mother was disap-
pointed that his songs were too depressing.

Probably the first thing someone lis-
tening will recognize, is the propensity for the
repetitive Doughty vocals going on and on in
such areal way. The true measure for the suc-
cess of an album or really any art, is whether it
succeeds in doing what the artist was intending
it to uncompromisingly with an inspired gran-
deur and genuine personality. This album was
not compromising in its repetitive vocal style
and direction towards a powerful, ever exis-
tent chorus as heard in songs like “I’m Roll-
ing” and “Monster Man,” and it is obvious that
as much time and commitment and personal
growth went into making this album as went
into “Ruby Zoom.” Soul Coughing, for their
last album, seemed to reinvent themselves in
a versatile way which has only been done suc-
cessfully by a few artist. For this artistic prow-
ess, they deserve recognition and props.

Image courtesy of lustfm