Kassa Overall’s music is a modern, often jarring synthesis of hip-hop and jazz. Overall is adept as both a rapper and jazz drummer, and the Seattle-based musician’s third album, Animals, features a bevy of underground hip-hop legends and jazz musicians (including pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpet player Theo Croker).
While Overall looked back on his past struggles with mental health on 2020’s I Think I’m Good, including a hospitalization during college, Animals is filled with unease about the objectification that comes with success in the music industry. “Ready to Ball,” for one, addresses the lure of materialism, as Overall’s malleable voice is sped up and slowed down, suggesting an alternate persona: “If he got more than me, I might have to make him bleed.”
The song structures on Animals are often chaotic. “Still Ain’t Find Me” mixes Latin rhythms and free jazz, as saxophones squeal over congas,...
While Overall looked back on his past struggles with mental health on 2020’s I Think I’m Good, including a hospitalization during college, Animals is filled with unease about the objectification that comes with success in the music industry. “Ready to Ball,” for one, addresses the lure of materialism, as Overall’s malleable voice is sped up and slowed down, suggesting an alternate persona: “If he got more than me, I might have to make him bleed.”
The song structures on Animals are often chaotic. “Still Ain’t Find Me” mixes Latin rhythms and free jazz, as saxophones squeal over congas,...
- 5/20/2023
- by Steve Erickson
- Slant Magazine
The Disney+ series "Andor" has finished the first of its two seasons, giving us the backstory of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the rebel pilot who helps steal the Death Star plans in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." In the 2016 film, Cassian says he's been in the fight since he was six years old, though we didn't get a lot of his backstory until now, when early episodes of the series take us to his home planet of Kenari, a lush green place that has been destroyed by an Imperial mining operation.
A mining disaster leaves the children alone to fend for themselves. And though the series gives us no subtitles, we get the gist of what's going on in the flashback scenes. The children are clustered together, planning to scavenge an Imperial ship that has gone down. It's clear that there are no adults there to help out, and...
A mining disaster leaves the children alone to fend for themselves. And though the series gives us no subtitles, we get the gist of what's going on in the flashback scenes. The children are clustered together, planning to scavenge an Imperial ship that has gone down. It's clear that there are no adults there to help out, and...
- 12/2/2022
- by Jenna Busch
- Slash Film
Warning: Contains spoilers for Andor: Season 1
“Faster, more intense!” That was always George Lucas’ direction to his actors while shooting Star Wars. When devising the narrative tone of his galaxy far, far away, he wanted pulp. He wanted adventure. He wanted energy. In his head, he saw a combination of propulsive TV serials, Flash Gordon space operatics, and epic samurai mythology, all told with the technical mastery of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Since no-one else quite got exactly what Lucas was going for with Star Wars until it arrived, it all came down to those three words to get the feeling across: Faster. More intense. That ethos has informed Star Wars stories ever since – whether chronicling the fall of the Republic, the raging of the Clone Wars, the battle for the Death Star plans, the reawakening of the Force, or the bond between a bounty hunter and his tiny green surrogate-son,...
“Faster, more intense!” That was always George Lucas’ direction to his actors while shooting Star Wars. When devising the narrative tone of his galaxy far, far away, he wanted pulp. He wanted adventure. He wanted energy. In his head, he saw a combination of propulsive TV serials, Flash Gordon space operatics, and epic samurai mythology, all told with the technical mastery of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Since no-one else quite got exactly what Lucas was going for with Star Wars until it arrived, it all came down to those three words to get the feeling across: Faster. More intense. That ethos has informed Star Wars stories ever since – whether chronicling the fall of the Republic, the raging of the Clone Wars, the battle for the Death Star plans, the reawakening of the Force, or the bond between a bounty hunter and his tiny green surrogate-son,...
- 11/23/2022
- by Ben Travis
- Empire - TV
"Andor" might be a movie spinoff focused on a familiar character, but in terms of the overall "Star Wars" canon it's right out on the fringes. The first Disney+ series set in that galaxy far far away, "The Mandalorian," started out on relatively fresh and original turf, but by season 2 it had been dragged into the vortex of legacy characters. Boba Fett showed up ahead of his own Disney+ series, and even Luke Skywalker himself joined the story (via a body double for young Mark Hamill and some VFX trickery) to whisk Grogu away to space wizard school.
Many "Star Wars" fans are delighted to see so many returning characters, from Max Rebo to Ahsoka Tano, but there is such a thing as too much fan service. When Lucasfilm did step away from the Skywalkers with a bold gamble of a spinoff movie -- one that introduced a cast of almost entirely new characters,...
Many "Star Wars" fans are delighted to see so many returning characters, from Max Rebo to Ahsoka Tano, but there is such a thing as too much fan service. When Lucasfilm did step away from the Skywalkers with a bold gamble of a spinoff movie -- one that introduced a cast of almost entirely new characters,...
- 9/26/2022
- by Hannah Shaw-Williams
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
[This story contains spoilers for Andor‘s first three episodes.]
Star Wars has a thing for Killing Eve as Andor star Fiona Shaw is now the third key figure from the BBC America series to join a galaxy far, far away. Following in the footsteps of Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and star Jodie Comer (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), Shaw plays Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) adoptive mother, Maarva, who first encountered young “Kassa” (Antonio Viña) inside the wreckage of a ship on his homeworld of Kenari.
For Shaw, the answer for why Maarva assumes responsibility for this Kenari child has to do with the fact that Cassian’s fellow Kenari people had just killed a Republic officer.
“He would’ve definitely died if she hadn’t taken him home. She saw him and thought, ‘This is a spectacular kid.’ So she brings him up as her own,...
[This story contains spoilers for Andor‘s first three episodes.]
Star Wars has a thing for Killing Eve as Andor star Fiona Shaw is now the third key figure from the BBC America series to join a galaxy far, far away. Following in the footsteps of Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and star Jodie Comer (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), Shaw plays Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) adoptive mother, Maarva, who first encountered young “Kassa” (Antonio Viña) inside the wreckage of a ship on his homeworld of Kenari.
For Shaw, the answer for why Maarva assumes responsibility for this Kenari child has to do with the fact that Cassian’s fellow Kenari people had just killed a Republic officer.
“He would’ve definitely died if she hadn’t taken him home. She saw him and thought, ‘This is a spectacular kid.’ So she brings him up as her own,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This Star Wars: Andor article contains spoilers.
In the first three episodes of Star Wars: Andor, we get a glimpse at Cassian’s (Diego Luna) life as a child on the Mid-Rim planet Kenari and how he came to know Maarva (Fiona Shaw), a mother-figure in his life whom he lives with on Ferrix. Through flashbacks we see that they met in the wreckage of a ship that crashed on Kenari when Cassian, or Kassa (Antonio Viña) as he’s known by his people, was a young boy.
Kassa goes with his friends to investigate the crash, but after one of them dies at the hands of an injured officer, he stays behind. Kassa explores the ship, growing more angry as he goes on. He eventually stops in the bridge to take out his anger on the control panels, doing his best to smash the consoles to pieces. Maarva, her...
In the first three episodes of Star Wars: Andor, we get a glimpse at Cassian’s (Diego Luna) life as a child on the Mid-Rim planet Kenari and how he came to know Maarva (Fiona Shaw), a mother-figure in his life whom he lives with on Ferrix. Through flashbacks we see that they met in the wreckage of a ship that crashed on Kenari when Cassian, or Kassa (Antonio Viña) as he’s known by his people, was a young boy.
Kassa goes with his friends to investigate the crash, but after one of them dies at the hands of an injured officer, he stays behind. Kassa explores the ship, growing more angry as he goes on. He eventually stops in the bridge to take out his anger on the control panels, doing his best to smash the consoles to pieces. Maarva, her...
- 9/21/2022
- by Brynnaarens
- Den of Geek
This Star Wars: Andor article contains spoilers.
Star Wars: Andor opens up a whole new corner of the galaxy far, far away, one where workers clock in to their jobs at the scrapyard and corporate bureaucracy rules entire sectors of space. It’s here where Cassian is poised to introduce a bit of chaos, as he goes from common crook to the Rebel secret agent we’ve already met in Rogue One. While the first three episodes of the show focus on who Cassian was before there even was a Rebel Alliance to join, they also introduce plenty of other characters, planets, and factions who play a role in the Galactic Civil War to come.
As you might expect, like all other Star Wars shows on Disney+, Andor is full of easter eggs and callbacks to other parts of the universe. Here’s what we’ve found so far…
Morlana...
Star Wars: Andor opens up a whole new corner of the galaxy far, far away, one where workers clock in to their jobs at the scrapyard and corporate bureaucracy rules entire sectors of space. It’s here where Cassian is poised to introduce a bit of chaos, as he goes from common crook to the Rebel secret agent we’ve already met in Rogue One. While the first three episodes of the show focus on who Cassian was before there even was a Rebel Alliance to join, they also introduce plenty of other characters, planets, and factions who play a role in the Galactic Civil War to come.
As you might expect, like all other Star Wars shows on Disney+, Andor is full of easter eggs and callbacks to other parts of the universe. Here’s what we’ve found so far…
Morlana...
- 9/21/2022
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
The similarities between Andor‘s Bix Caleen, played by Adria Arjona (Emerald City), and Raiders of the Lost Ark‘s Marion Ravenwood are not insignificant.
Marion was happily running a saloon when a rakish man from her romantic past came looking for a favor, appealing to her unique access to certain information.
More from TVLineAndor Review: Rogue One Prequel Differs From Every Star Wars Series Before It, in the Best WaysShe-Hulk Director on Episode 5's 'Missing' Bonus Scene, What Was Left on Cutting Room FloorFrom Rogue One to Andor: Diego Luna, Genevieve O'Reilly Share What Most Surprised Them About Prequel Series
Andor‘s Bix,...
Marion was happily running a saloon when a rakish man from her romantic past came looking for a favor, appealing to her unique access to certain information.
More from TVLineAndor Review: Rogue One Prequel Differs From Every Star Wars Series Before It, in the Best WaysShe-Hulk Director on Episode 5's 'Missing' Bonus Scene, What Was Left on Cutting Room FloorFrom Rogue One to Andor: Diego Luna, Genevieve O'Reilly Share What Most Surprised Them About Prequel Series
Andor‘s Bix,...
- 9/20/2022
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
“The history and the story of immigration here is one of, primarily, exploitation,” says Isa Noyola.
Noyola, a transgender activist based in Phoenix, is the deputy director of Mijente, one of the country’s most prominent immigrant-rights organizations, representing Latinx communities around the country. When Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, Noyola pointed to a dual sense of relief and hope: that the whole system of immigration in America (and the myriad constructs that affect it) needed an overhaul, and that there was now an opening to advance...
Noyola, a transgender activist based in Phoenix, is the deputy director of Mijente, one of the country’s most prominent immigrant-rights organizations, representing Latinx communities around the country. When Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, Noyola pointed to a dual sense of relief and hope: that the whole system of immigration in America (and the myriad constructs that affect it) needed an overhaul, and that there was now an opening to advance...
- 11/18/2020
- by Reed Dunlea
- Rollingstone.com
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