White Wilderness (Dead Oceans) is the latest album from the San Francisco-based John Vanderslice, and he’s joined on it by the classically trained Magik*Magik Orchestra. MMO artistic director Minna Choi arranged and conducted the Vanderslice-written music on the LP, which was recorded in a whirlwind three-day session by producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Walkmen, Bill Callahan). Vanderslice himself is no stranger to production, running the Tiny Telephone recording studio for 14 years and having produced records by the likes of Spoon and the Mountain Goats. Now he can add MAGNET guest editor to his resume, as that’s what he’s doing at magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Vanderslice: The Beat That My Heart Skipped is a wonderful film by the endlessly fascinating Jacques Audiard, starring Romain Duris as a real-estate thug cum concert pianist (taking the Harvey Keitel role in the original James Toback film, Fingers). Duris is wicked good, and his father, played by Niels Arestrup is chilling. (If you haven’t seen it, check out his performance as César Luciani in A Prophet, one of the most intimidating criminals committed to film since Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast.) Audiard is always interesting, and Read My Lips, A Prophet and A Self-Made Hero are all very much worth watching.
Video after the jump.
One reply on “John Vanderslice’s Old Flame: “The Beat That My Heart Skipped””
Audiard needs much more attention as does Duris– one of the greatest actors of this (?) generation!