@ va

Iglooghost crafts

a futuristic

masterpiece

> ‘Neo Wax Bloom’ album review

Joshua Toevs Contributor

kkk

eo Wax Bloom is the first full

length album from UK producer Iglooghost and on this record, he showcases his warped ideas of what electronic music should sound like.

This record features industrial sounds blended into electronic, hip- hop, and jazz soundscapes, producing an erratic, yet focused project. There is a lot to like sonically from this record, with Iglooghost using a cavalcade of sounds to entice both those familiar and foreign to this artist’s work.

One of his most powerful instruments is the use of vocals. Iglooghost takes vocals and manipulates them to varying degrees as a way to infuse them within the soundscape he is trying to create. On “Pale Eyes,” the vocals dance along the synth line, which allows the rainforest samples and that harrowing drum loop to dominate your ears. That specific drum loop sounds like a fusion of TNGHT and Kanye West’s “To the World.” Vocals showcase themselves again on “Solar Blade,” a record which interpolates and feverishly speeds up an André 3000 rap, as well as “Géd Grid,” which pitch shifts vocals with such ease that you almost don't recognize the amount of

skill it takes to tweak chords like that.

Iglooghost has a penchant for using unique presets throughout this project. From the dog bark on “Bug Thief” to the obnoxious referee whistle on the already mentioned “Solar Blade,” Iglooghost hides these sounds behind a bevy of rumbling hi-hats and deep 808 drum loops to present something truly refreshing.

Refreshing and unique are two words that you will keep coming back to when listening to Iglooghost’s music. It is honestly like nothing I have ever heard before. There is minimalist restraint on the Caribbean-inspired “White Gum” and “Peanut Choker,” while at the same time presenting this dichotomy with heavy, in- your-face tracks like “Teal Yomi / Olivine” and “Zen Chomp.’ That is not to say that there aren't missteps and deficiencies on this record. The featured vocals of Cuushe on “Infinite Mint” can sound too clean and crisp, which results in them sticking out in all the wrong ways. Some of the production also starts to blend together, especially near the end of the album where it becomes a challenge to differentiate the songs as they don’t incorporate enough spice to keep them unique enough.

This record will keep you coming back to discover different sounds ranging from sophisticated saxophone arrangements to the glitched and abrasive piano melodies. With a run time of 41 minutes, this record facilitates repeated deep dives.

Image via ninjatune.net

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Experiencing being public schooled

> ‘Public Schooled’ film review

Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist

wkkeknknx

here are a lot of high school films

about people in high school. However, there are far fewer films about homeschooling, which makes this film stand out. Public Schooled shows what being homeschooled is like and how public school might not hold as much value as homeschooling.

Liam (Daniel Doheny) has been homeschooled for his entire life by his mother Claire (Judy Greer), and he is about to do his graduation requirement test in a public school. When he finishes his test early and sees a one- legged girl named Anastasia (Siobhan Williams), he goes back inside the gym, changes his answers, and does not pass the test because he wants to experience what public school is like.

With the help of the principal of Cherry High School (Andrew McNee), Liam substitutes for a sick student named Maria (Eva Day) for a week and does all the activities that she does, tries to spend time with Anastasia, and learns life lessons from Claire at home. Director Kyle Rideout uses modern filmmaking to show how Liam gets around public school and gives the movie a nostalgic feel of high school films in the 1980s. There are a lot of twists throughout the film that will cause you to question how it will end. Will Liam get his girl and will he pass his graduation

with 1a

requirement test the second time?

The songs in the film have a distinctly BC sound, as they were composed by local artists. The homeschool scenes will cause you to think about the things that you learned in high school Planning class in another way. The film shows that the education of homeschooling can have more value with its one-on-one approach, though you might not have a lot of friends like in public school.

During a Q&A after the screening of the film at the Vancouver International Film Festival, one of its producers, Josh Epstein, described how they were able to get a lot of famous international and local actors, thanks to their great casting director. Russell Peters plays a school councillor, Kim’s Convenience star Andrea Bang plays a protesting homeschooled student named Autumn, and Hawaii Five-O star Grace Park plays her mother, Mackenzie. Also, Rideout can be seen playing Liam’s uncle and Epstein is seen as the adjudicator of the graduation requirement test.

At the Q&A, I asked some of the people in the film if they drew upon personal experiences when they were filming it. Most of them told me that they used personal experiences from school, though they were not like the characters that they played in the film. Also, Doheny and Day attended the screening in-character.

Public Schooled has a lot of funny moments and twists and when you see it, you might feel like you have been schooled. Public Schooled airs on The Movie Network soon.

(Y ‘Deception: Murder in Hong Kong’ board

(¥ The best Thors waiting for the big screen

Screenshot from ‘Public Schooled’