issue 6// vol 47

arts // no. 9

Kurt Vile resurrects John Prine via new EP

» ‘Speed, Sound, Lonely KV’ album review

CJ Sommerfeld
Staff Writer

 

kek KK

L° folk artist Kurt Vile has just released
a new five-track EP titled Speed,

Sound, Lonely KV. Its title is a diminutive
of its first song, “Speed of the Sound of

  

Loneliness”—a cover of a song by the late
John Prine. Two of the album’s five songs
were written by this dignitary, one of
which—“How Lucky,” nostalgizes his raspy
voice with a duet of the two.

Fourty percent of the EP’s tunes were
John Prine originals. Well, what about the
rest? One, titled “Gone Girl” is Vile’s take
on “Cowboy” Jack Clement’s 1978 version.
Vile does away
with the lap steel
and trumpet,
and instead
sticks to his usual
fingerpicking
ways. He does
however revive
Clement’s smooth,
conjunct voice
with a bit of
fine-tuning. In
the original 1978
version, Clement’s
throaty voice
dominates; in
Vile’s remake,
his vocals and
instrumentals
proportionately
share the stage. I
find it is difficult
for a cover to
supersede an
original, as is the
case here. Vile’s
version is great,

Cover of ‘Speed, Sound, Lonely KV'

but I would say it has not outdone the
original.

The remaining two tracks,
“Dandelions” and “Pearls” are Vile
originals. Anyone who has listened to his
previous works will probably instantly
identify his fingerpicking and hazy,
twanged voice. In “Pearls,” Vile showcases
his intricate guitar abilities. The track is
shared evenly between repetition in lyrics
and guitar solos. Such lyrics read “Where
you been now, little girl? Did you get your
purse all filled with pearls?” Despite him
addressing this gal as a little girl, the song’s
words soon unveil her to be beyond the age
of prepubescence: “Where'd you go out all
alone? And why'd you come back looking
stoned?” As the tune unfolds, its words
uncover itself to be a dialogue between Vile
and what seems to be a lover.

Vile’s second original, “Dandelions,”
is correspondence to his “three baby girls”
which are presumably his two daughters
and wife. It is composed of uncomplicated
lyrics describing the matured, pappi-rich
flower. This tune is more lyric-affluent
than “Pearls,” which at first glance sounds
like a song dedicated to the lawn weed. In
listening further, the frequent integration
of “for my three girls” shows the listener
that Vile has instead dedicated the track to
three important gals in his life. Effortless
instrumentals match the piece’s lyrics,
making the whole ensemble a light melody
to listen to.

What is so special about this album is

that the late John Prine—a contemporary
folk legend whose life was taken this April
by COVID—contributed so greatly to it.
The duet “How Lucky” is said to be one

of the last songs which Prine recorded
before his passing, making it an eerie tune
to listen to. In it, Prine’s trademarked
sandpapery voice harmonizes with Vile’s
fingerpicked arpeggios and what sounds
like a tambourine. Prior to this song

being recorded, Vile and Prine performed
together multiple times. Prine was notably
one of Vile’s biggest heroes. In an article
about the new album, Rolling Stone
reinforces this by mentioning notes which
Vile wrote in the liner notes for his album
where he describes the experience by
saying "[It was] probably the single most
special musical moment in my life [...] I
was floating and flying [...] and I couldnt
hear anything he told me.’

Vile also covers Prine’s 1986 neo-folk
tune, “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”—
which, as noted in the lead, is where the
name of the EP was derived from. This
song has been covered by multiple artists,
but I can say that Vile accomplished
refining Prine’s original. Vile’s hazed voice
is the perfect addition to this melody.

The twangy pitch progressions that he
incorporates to the song’s cadences elevate
the original—he truly makes it his own.

This album is great beyond its cultural
significance, and it has five great melismatic
tunes—making them great tracks to master
for karaoke. Go have a listen.

Sports, winter, and slice-of-life documentaries

» Canadian films at VIFF this year

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

he Canadian films that were shown

in the Vancouver International Film
Festival this year were highly anticipated,
interesting, and informative. Despite the
coronavirus pandemic continuing, they
were relevant to the other major events that
are happening in the country right now.
Some of the films that I saw included one
that presented what would have happened
if the pandemic did not occur and a few
films about multiculturalism that a lot of
people are talking about.

First, I saw the Canadian film that

I was excited for which was going to be
shown in the Cannes Film Festival this
year: Pascal Plante’s next film Nadia,
Butterfly. It was unexpectedly presented
in full screen, making it look like it was
made in the 1980s. The film mainly focuses
on Nadia (Canadian swimmer Katerine
Savard) after she completes her events
at what would have been the Summer
Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer.
According to Plante in a talk after the film,
they filmed the outdoor scenes in Tokyo
last fall.

Also, it shows what athletes might do
after getting medals at the games and the
emotional aftermath. After that, I watched

another sports film that took me back to
an interesting time in my childhood in the
1990s: Ted Stenson’s Events Transpiring
Before, During, and After a High School
Basketball Game. The movie was filmed

in Stenson’s high school, Queen Elizabeth
High School in Calgary, and we see the
basketball team in Middleview High
School compete in a game while being
distracted by conversations on The Matrix,
a theatre club planning a protest, and a
referee checking on a dog, all of which are
happening at the same time. There were

a lot of static images throughout the film
which made the events look seamless and
seem to be occurring in real time. The
conversations that were shown throughout
it resembled the conversations that I have
today.

Winter is a starring character in two
of the documentaries that I saw in the
festival this year—one of them being Jean-
Francois Lesage’s Prayer for a Lost Mitten.
The documentary not only talks about the
residents of Montreal trying to find their
lost items at the Montreal Metro system,
but it also talked about their lives living in
the city, discusses the losses people had
(including a family that immigrated from
Haiti after the earthquake in the country
in 2010), and features a man who lost his
partner to AIDS and became homeless. At

times, I was trying to figure out if this was
a documentary or a film because it looked
like I was watching a French New Wave
film. It was beautifully shot to show winter
in Montreal. The other documentary that I
saw is No Visible Trauma.

While it was shown on CBC edited
down, the entire documentary had its
world premiere at the festival. It talks
about Calgary being the city with the
most shootings in North America while
following the key people that were involved

  

Photo-illustration by Anastasia Simonovich

in three of those major shootings. What I
learned from the documentary is that it’s
relevant to the protests related to racism.
Police protocols and the work environment
in the Calgary Police Service are starting

to be reformed after these incidents. There
were also a lot of panoramic shots of the
city throughout the film.

The Canadian films at VIFF this year
shows the filmmaking talent of our country
and when the pandemic ends, you could
see these on the big screen.