The Submission, by Amy Waldman

The Submission is one of those books that plays with the controversy of its topic. Amy Waldman, former co-chief of the South Asia bureau of The New York Times, writes this novel trying to recreate a portrait of the fears of prejudices of a society suffering from ignorance and irritation, as well as the capacities to forgive and show forgiveness.

An art jury gathers in NYC in 2003 in order to judge and decide which submission is the winner for a memorial where the twin towers once stood. The anonymity of the contest leads the judges to choose a submission called ‘The Garden’ that turns out to be designed by Mohammad Khan, an American-born and non-practicing Muslim.

Waldman describes perfectly well the agitation of the characters in the novel balancing the emotions of the reticent jury and the public’s emotion, especially those family members of the victims. Thus, she sets up a debate that mixes up topics such as religious freedom, cultural identity and immigration.

The story works thanks to one of Waldman’s most prominent skills, storytelling. Her sense of plot and her eye for small details, along with her cinematic and smooth writing, her cogent dialogue and the fast-paced rhythm of the writing are the strengths of The Submission.

However, it is perfectly recognizable her journalist grounding. Sometimes, even the story works and the style is pleasant, there are some weak points that impoverish the whole perception of the book.

Perhaps, the most evident is the multiple perspectives point of view, that weakness the characters and make them plain. The main characters, Mohammed and Claire appear detached from the reader and it is complicated to feel empathy with their issues. The secondary characters, like the journalist, anti-memorial activists, the Bangladeshi wife of a victim, the politician, among a others, enriches the background of the story, but most of them are stiff and they all sound pretty much the same.

The ending located 20 years after the time of the story probably is surprising and pleasing, as Waldman imagines an America healed from its paranoid mood, leaving suspicion Muslims behind, showing her own optimism in the future.

The Submission does not offer new reflections on or understandings of 9/11. It excels at bringing up again many of the 9/11 issues and leading the readers to rethink their preconceived ideas, resorting to sentimental and thought-provoking fictional arguments that seem really true to life.

From Genius to Pariah (Abstract)

Fashion is a crazy world. Everybody is a Little bit out of their minds. After all, fashion is another way of Art, isn’t it? Designers express their selves by means of clothes, especially if we think about the wonderful Haute Couture

John Galliano must be one of the most controversial figures in fashion during the last decades. This creator born as an English man in the tiny Gibraltar, in the Iberian Peninsula in 1960 has been a master of fashion since he graduated at Saint Martin College with a collection called Les Incroyables.

After a short stay as Chief Designer on Givenchy, he finally was recruited by Dior in 1996, where he has been working until 2012, when his addictions put himself in a complicated situation in a bistro in Paris with some homophobe accusations to other customers.

Nowadays, rehabbed and creative as always, he keeps unemployed, though the creative directors of the different maisons have been changing a lot lately. His talent would mean success for the collections in any of them, but he is still at home, watching how fashion comes and goes, without him. Would he come back eventually?

So, who was the 85th Oscars' winner?

This year’s Academy Award gala was a clear tribute to musicals. One of the strongest points of the night was the singing performances, the musical numbers and the famous soundtracks as background music. All in all, it was good and entertaining, especially if we take into account the dullness that dominated the whole ceremony.

But Adele, Barbra Streisand, Norah Jones, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Shirley Bassey are too much for just one gala, especially if we add the Gordon-Levitt and Radcliffe number, the Charlize Theron’s dance or the boobs’ number -completely justified thanks to its irreverence-, among others.

As every year –except last year with Franco and Hathaway-, the host is the best part of the whole thing. In the 85^th Oscars’ gala, Seth MacFarlane was the chosen one. He said “I can't believe I am hosting the Oscars. It's an honor everyone else said no.” And it was quite surprising this guy was there.

The Family Guy creator, singer, entertainer and so on put on stage the idiosyncratic elements of his well known TV-show: his patented kind of humor -full of a few funny quips and a lot cringe-worthy jokes- and a lot of musical numbers.

Probably, he was paid to be the smartass and spare nobody. He tried to be funny and he achieved it at the beginning. William Shatner coming from the future to amend his work as a host and the recreation of Flight with sock puppets were hilarious. But he ended up being too wounding with a bunch of jokes about sex, gender, race, etc. ‘funny not funny’.

Regarding the awards, there was too much predictability. The obviousness of Waltz and Hathaway in the Best Supporting Roles, as well as the Best Original and Adapted Screenplays for Django Unchained and Argo was really disappointing. There’s no fun when there’s no tension.

As well, Daniel Day Lewis was the clear Best Leading Actor… who else but Lincoln? Surprisingly, Hollywood’s new spoiled brat, Jennifer Lawrence, beat the magnificent Jessica Chastain taking home the Best Leading Actress. Argo became the best film of 2013, with a very moved and moving Ben Affleck on the stage.

In general, the gala was something to forget. Probably, in one week there would be nothing left, except for some of MacFarlane’s musical numbers and jokes and Lawrence lying on the ground on her way to pick up her award.

Visionary Wilde

It is funny how when we think about Oscar Wilde, the first thing that comes to our mind is Dorian Grey or The Importance of Being Ernst. But behind this writer there's much more, as we can see in the  essay "The Critic as Artist".

The English author shows a whole phylosophical theory on how Criticism is as much important as Art itself. According to him, criticism is the wheel that moves the gears of Art. Probably this is one of the most revolutionary concepts on his essay, especially in a time when the job of the critic was not as appreciated and broadcasted as it is today. This contemporanously is surprising, yet visionary.

It is also really the concept of individualism and personality the text reveals. "If you wish to understand others you must intensify your own individualism" (910) or "it is only by intesifying his own personality thatthe critic can interpret the personality and work of others" (910). These ideas are really revealing and get along with the ideas about what a good critic should be, related especially with the revolutionary figure of Pauline Kael in the 20th century.

Finally, the idea of "Criticism is itself an art" (904), is quite new. Wilde considers that writing about art becomes an art itself, because its raw material is Art. It made me think about ekphrasis, the description of visual arts that many poets and writers have done along History and that constitute a piece of art, as well as a piece of criticism. Sometimes, the critical pieces can became real pieces of literature, of art made by words out of a pictorical, dance, musical masterpiece.

If critics can't have the thing to be an artist, they can always become an artist with their pens, writing wonderful stuff about the work of others, "putting them into a form that is at once new and delightful" (904), [...] "a creation within a creation" (904).

Quotes from WILDE, O. Excerpt of the Part I of The Critic as Artist.

Tarantino wants to be a historian

Have you ever imagined about Tarantino making a trilogy? Neither have I. Apparently, he already has the idea wandering around his head and part of the job done.

During the post-BAFTA gala interview, the moviemaker of the controversial Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs awarded with the Best Original Screenplay BAFTA, declared: "This [rewritten history theme] begs a trilogy, it begs to have a third movie on this theme. I haven't decided about what yet, but I wouldn't be surprised."

His two last movies, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained are supposedly part of the plan. Whit this two and the one probably upcoming, the moviemaker will achieve his goal of rewrite the wrongs on history and give his own vision of the things. Ambitious, huh?

The big question here is: what would be the issue of the third part of the trilogy? It is impossible to tell, but it is sure that his legions of fans will be already rubbing his hand waiting for more Tarantino. 

Sincerely, I will not give much credit to Tarantino's promises of prequels and sequels of his movies. After all, Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction) and Vic Vega (Reservoir Dogs) were never reunited and Black Mamba's (Kill Bill) third episode never saw the light...

NYT'S Critical Defense: 'Wang’s Going-Away Present'

Here you can read the full article.

Cathy Horyn has been writing for the Fashion and Style section of The New York Times since 1999. She started her career in fashion journalist in Detroit and soon she was writing for The Washington Post. Also, she has contributed with her articles to Vanity Fair, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

The review published on Monday, February 11, 2013 is entitled Wang’s Going-Away Present and covers the third day of the New York Fashion Week Fall 2013. In the review, she analysis the collections of Alexander Wang, Joseph Altuzarra, Prabal Gurung, Rag & Bone, Band of Outsiders, Victoria Beckham, Louise Golding and Yuming Weng.

Horyn centers her attention in Alexander Wang’s collection and slightly analysis the other designers according to their relevance. She puts several “buts” all along the review, as she analysis different collections. However, the strongest “but” is on the review of Wang.

It’s not surprising Horyn’s rowdy reputation in fashion’s world, taking into account her judgemental writing style. In this review, it is distinctive the ironic tone with hints of provocation.  Also, the strength of her voice is remarkable all along the review, especially when she uses the first person or certain words such as, “this collection was more merchandised than designed”.

Josh Haner/The New York Times

'Sight and Feeling': Anselm Adams at Kalamazoo

From January 26 to May 19, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is hosting an exhibition of the work of Ansel Adams, sponsored by Friendship Village and Consumers Credit Union.

The showing is entitled ‘Sight and Feeling’ and it contains twenty-four original photographs placed in a cramped room in the lowest floor of the Institute of Arts. All of the photographs are framed in silver with a big white passe-partout.

The technique of the pictures is gelatin silver print. Besides of the pictures, the exhibition contains a replica of the camera which Adams used to take the pictures back in the first half of the 20^th century.

"In my mind's eye, I visualize how a particular . . . sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph.” This quote describes the way Ansel Adams conceived photography.

The work of this Californian photographer is outstanding. His pictures are unique because of the black and white usage with high contrast of shadows and plenty of details.

Most of the pictures show one of the passions of Adams: the breathtaking views of Yosemite National Park in California. These shots are one of the identity signs of this photographer who was a declared environmentalist in love with United States of America’s landscapes.

Besides the Yosemite pictures, there are also some landscapes from Alaska, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Also there is a still life picture, some macros of leaves and tree branches, as well as a portrait of Edward Western.

The negative aspect of the exhibition is the arrangement of the pictures and the misplacement of lights. The crystal of the frames reflects the light which makes it complicated to appreciate some of the works properly. Besides, the space in which the collection is located is really narrow and it is mixed with the museum’s permanent collection.

All the works are labeled with their correspondent information (authorship, place, date, technique…). In addition, there are panels with information about the author and the techniques he used. This is formative for the attendants, taking into account that there is no catalog.

In short, Ansel Adams’ exhibition is worthy and a must-see. Sometimes, it is really astonishing how small institutions in small towns can organize interesting exhibitions and with a high artistic value.

Ansel Adams, Vernal Fall, Yosemite Valley, California, 1920, gelatin silver print | Collection of the KIA, Gift of Wm. John Upjohn, 1995/6.27.6 © 2013 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

The same good old story

Last Wednesday, it took place the dressing rehearsal for the play they are going to be showing at Kalamazoo's Civic Center during the next weeks: Sherlock Holmes: The Last Adventure

The play was good enough to be a interesting entertainment. Though Sherlock Holmes is a little bit cliché, personally, I enjoyed it quite a lot as I have always been a huge fan of sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's works. However, I think there are episodes quite more interesting than this last one, who tells about the death of the famous detective (and that Conan-Doyle had to resurrect afterwards because of the fans).

Regarding the technical aspects of the play, I liked the lightning, simple in most of the scenes but extremely correct what is good, as many times it is not necessary at all big effects to achieve a good result. The costumes was probably what was more surprising. I consider that all them where really rich and I really enjoyed specially with the female ones and the cape of Sherlock... classic! The setting was correct, but sometimes it was kind of poor, and it did not fit with the global tone of the play, as in the train moments.

Besides, I think the acting was pretty good, specially if we take into account that many of the actors were volunteers and not professional actors. However, I think the acting of Sherlock Holmes was exceptional and I enjoyed a lot how he embodied the character of the English detective.

One only thing that I should blame on all the cast was the British accent they tried to fake, and that some times was really rough. 

So, roughly speaking, I have to say that I enjoyed the play, specially the second part, where there ir more action and the script and lines are quicker and not as slow as in the first part.

I will recommend everybody to go to the theater. It is always nice to see some live acting in front of you, instead of only movies. And also, Sherlock Holmes is always a good reason to do, even if it is the same old story as always. 

'Chrysalis', the beginning of something else?

College is a crucial phase for kids. It is fundamental to develop dreams, discover passions and find the own personality, or at least, start building it.

Charles Weber (21), senior at Kalamazoo College (Michigan), is trying to pursue his dreams that walk hand in hand with his enthusiasm for dance.

Last Thursday, January 31^st, the young student performed his SIP (Senior Individualized Project), the result of many moths of hard work. He named his project Chrysalis.

On the mandatory introduction, Weber described the performance that was going to take place as a reflection on the evolution of modern dance, especially during the 20^th century.

The influences of the young dancer are many and diverse. Weber recalled the names of some of the best choreographers of the last decades, from Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham to Paul Tylor.

The performance did not last more than thirty minutes, but it was more than enough to show the potential of this young man and the five dancers in his crew.

The show was divided in five independent parts. They were connected quite logically by the soundtrack, a really careful selected variety of songs that made increase the rhythm of the performance.

Hits from Muse, Kimbra, Sigur Rós, Swedish House Mafia or Robyn, besides chill out music, made the audience vibrate as many could relate with many of the songs played.

Another element of special importance was the lightening, combining flashes of blue and red, Weber achieved to create very intense atmospheres for the dancers and a great visual delight for the audience.

Besides, the lightening was the element in charge of the performance’s structure. The different acts were separated by blackouts with slight flashes of orange, which allowed the dancers to get ready in between acts.

Probably, one of the worst aspects was the dressing of the dancers, though they tried to match colors, the differences on the clothes the dancers wore spoiled the visual effect, especially in the group performances.

However, it was really surprising how accurate and beautiful was the dance execution of Weber’s crew. Even if it is impossible to forget that this was an amateur performance, sometimes the movements and formations seemed really professional.

Weber demonstrated not only his skills as a dancer, but also showed up his skills as a choreographer and as a stage director. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of a long and successful career. 

J. J. Abrams, seriously? And what else, huh?

Nowadays, Star Wars is a recognized brand, a sign of identity, some kind of cult that many millions of people follow with passion all over the planet. The mythic first thrilogy and the weak and spectacular second one are still watched fervorly. The fact that George Lucas and his company, Lucas Arts, announced some time ago that the whole two thrilogies were going to be shown in theatres again but now, remastered and in 3D. Fans are devotely waiting to see A New Hope with this new cinematographic technology and the other titles, that's for sure.

The thing is that not everything are good news or almost, news that everybody is pleased to hear. Last summer, the announcement of Disney buying Lucas Arts Inc. burst all over the Internet and all over the planet, the fans received this news shocked and intrigued... Nobody knows what is going to turn out of this weird association...

As well, the rumours of J. J. Abrams as the person in charge of directing the new episode were getting bigger -he's also directing the new Star Trek movie-. The disappointing director and creator of series such as Lost or Alcatraz denied everything, arguing that he had projects of his own and that he didn't care about Star Wars at all. Fans were relieved. Nobody wanted him to turn Star Wars into a fiasco such his shows, all of them very promising but afterwards really disappointing.

The surprise was huge when last week in the Arts Briefly section of The New York Times Arts they gave the news: J. J. Abrams was for good the director of the new Star Wars episode. Also, the Internet was full with fans blessing or complaining about the decission made by Disney. Waiting is the key but the fear is big, because J. J. Abrams is not 100% trustworthy. Anyways, hope is the last thing to lose... May the force be with us!


[Edited] Breaking news!! Disney just cancelled the release of episodes II and III on theatres in 3D justto give priority to the new episode... Intriguing, huh?

The Queen of a House of Cards

Documentaries have no script. They are based on filming and interviewing and then, editing the material. It is difficult for directors imagine how a project will end up.

It was unimagined that the story Lauren Greenfield was using for her second long documentary as a director would turn into something like The Queen of Versailles turned out to be by chance.

David Siegel (73), president of the largest timeshare corporation in the country, his wife Jackie (43) and his family are the main characters of Greenfield’s new documentary, which seems to be a TV reality show that illustrates the nouveau riche way of life.

The stock market crash on 2008 was what made this movie become something remarkable. The economic collapse gave Greenfield the turn of the screw she needed to make a pretty compelling ‘rags to riches to rags’ story.

Only the story is outstanding here. The camera seems amateur, out of focus sometimes. The characters, vain and self-centered, are usually overacted as they are perfectly aware that a camera is following their steps, especially Jackie, Siegel’s trophy wife, all fake and plastic.

Therefore, the story of this couple will drive the audience from laughter and irritation to some kind of Schadenfreude, the pleasure experimented by the disgrace of others.

The main issues during the first part of the movie are the construction of their Versailles à la Americaine, as well as the emptiness of their lifestyle and the hypothetical strength of their marriage.

However, when everything collapses due to the burst of the economic bubble, is when the plot becomes truly gripping as it shows the Siegels’ miseries. They define themselves as “normal people” but cannot endure living without servants or enough money to spend irresponsibly.

The marriage of Jackie and David becomes problematic and everything starts to fall apart, as if the whole reality the Siegels were living in was nothing but a huge house of cards. “Nothing is really normal about this life”, claims one of the Siegel’s kids.

Greenfield rejects to resort to the easy criticism on how everybody contributed to the crisis and gives an insider’s perspective of how many individuals fell into the trap of easy and cheap money and could not get out of it. And in the end, that’s what makes The Queen of Versailles a really clever and free of prejudices documentary: it lets the true go out by itself.

Image taken from Google Images.

Lena Dunham is back in town

Everybody knows Lena Dunham already. Pretty much, actually. Since her debut movie Tiny Furniture that starts many of her fellow friends as well as herself, her hugest success has been HBO's show Girls.

Yet the first season was nothing wonderful, it was entertaining yet moving and even, most of the young people in front of the TV or the computer felt some kind of identification with the four girls -maybe not the weird Jessa- and the rest of their group.

Two weeks ago, it was the premiere of the second season. The HBO was proud of the success of its girls, and many of their followers were waiting more from them.

What Dunham offered new? Nothing. The same stuff she showed last season. Strange relationships, explicit sex, hilarious situations, parties and the same messed up heads: Hannah's, Shoshanna's and Marnie's.

The thing is that many of the people won't care at all. Girls is good because of that. It's not pretentious at all and shows real lives -kind of- of real people, with quite real problems. All of that with a strong humoristic point of view.

The audience was looking for that and we'll be looking for that the next one and the following ones. There is no place anymore for Carrie Bradshaws: très demodé. Now, Lena Dunham and her Girls are the ones who rock.

Passion Pit's Magic Powders

Habemus new Passion Pit clip! Gossamer, probably one of the best albums of the last 2012 and the second one in the Massachusetts' band career, now give us a new clip of Carried Away that comes with a remix and a funny clip. Special effects and magic powders are mixed with Dj Tiësto in order to transform thee protagonists of the clip.

It's obvious that the version included in the album has nothing to do with the remix that now sees the light, but the clip is worthy enough to forget about Dj Tiësto, enjoy the song and get carried away.

Christian Dior Couture Spring 2013 au le merveilleux jardin du Raf Simons

The skills of Raf Simons as a pattern designer are widely kwon, specially if we take a look at the latest colections for Jil Sander were the pure lines and the simplicity of every piece were enogh avoiding color and patterned fabrics.

That is something that Simons shares with monsieur Dior: the pattern-making skills. But, does he also has the exquisite taste of the French couturière? The first collection was too short and came too fast that was difficult to judge accurately and wisely.

However, the spring has arrived to the chilly Paris and the fashionshows are on again! Christian Dior HC has opened the series of events in the Couture Fashion Week of the French capital with a lot of embroidered flowers and pastels colors.

After taking a first look, it is impossible not to tell that Dior is there. The correction of the patterns is the master key of this dull but correct collection. Plain and soft colors mixed with shocking bright tights. A lot of black and a lots of pants and suits. Asymmetry and superpositions are also present.

Some of the dresses seem to be specially designed for red carpets and celebrities, specially those that have a slight but clear Valentino-ish scent...

Arguing Raf Simon did it bad wouldn't be admisible, he did it good. Perfectly correct. His couture has its feet well setted in the ground as he himself declared at some point. Is this what was expected from him after Galliano? Probably. Correct and beautiful collections. Tha fact is that the haute couture has to be more than beauty, has to be astounding... Haute couture has to be dream, not just perfectly wearable clothes at parties. Somebody said -scared of- crisis? 

All the images were taken from Style.com

Django blurs Tarantino (Revisited)

The expectations on Tarantino are always high. His movies have always certain symbols of identity very powerful and present in all of his masterpieces from Reservoir Dogs to Inglorious Basterds (and that many others have followed, as Robert Rodríguez).

The thing about Django is that it’s probably the less tarantinian movie of all his cinematography. However, it’s easy to find many of those identity symbols of his style.

For instance, in Tarantino’s movies blood and violence are absolutely mandatory. And Django has it –plenty, actually- Irrational and exaggerated, as always. Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill more violent sequences should be green on envy.

Catchy and witty lines in the dialogues -bordering on the absurd- are also expected. Django have them. The shaking-hands argument between Calvin Candie and Dr. King Shultz demonstrates it, as well as the several sequences with Dr. Schultz playing the bounty hunter (ironical wink on classic Westerns). Though the dialogue during the funny Ku Kux Klan scene will make everyone burst in laughter.

Characters to remember as well as great acting are also a must. In Django, it’s Waltz who shines with his hilarious lines and the empathy we feel for him (especially, taking into account the hideous colonel Hans Landa he played in Inglorious Basterds). Also, DiCaprio takes a turn in his career to be the villain and, surprisingly, he does it quiet well.

The problem is the story: too lineal, too easy, too predictable… what ends up being too boring (as well as too long). The end is expected, though spectacular. And that’s not Tarantino.

Probably, Django is the main problem here. Foxx overacts Django in many sequences. He looks pretentious (wait for the blue custom) and it’s difficult to classify him as the classical Tarantino hero looking for revenge, much more authentic (Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, for instance).

In some sequences, Tarantino’s voice is lost in behalf of Django’s. After all, the entire Western and slavery background is a vague excuse for the hackneyed story of the damsel in distress (Broomhilda) that Django and Schultz want to save from Candy. Actually, the whole movie is an excuse for that.

Nevertheless, the magnificent photography and a powerful soundtrack (including Ennio Morricone and rap) are still in, as well as Tarantino himself, with his longest cameo ever. But Tarantino is no longer “the –only- trouble maker”. Django is now. Because Django is in town.

Django blurs Tarantino

When I go to the cinema to watch a Quentin Tarantino movie I know what to expect from it. He has developed very strong symbols of identity that are present in every single movie he has directed and that has many other has followed (Robert Rodríguez, for instance). But what do we expect from a Tarantino movie?

We expect violence: irrational, exaggerated and bloody violence. We have that in Django, plenty of it, actually. The sequence in the hall of Candieland is Tarantino at his best (I can’t help finding resemblances with Kill Bill’s sequence with the Crazy 88 and Gogo Yubari).

We also expect catchy and witty lines in the dialogues that sometimes borders on the absurd. We also have that in Django. The shaking-hands argument between Calvin Candie and Dr. King Shultz demonstrates it, as well as the several sequences in which Dr. Schultz ends up the problems with his bounty hunter side, that clearly shows some kind of irony about classic Westerns. Though my favorite dialogue is the one during the funny Ku Kux Klan scene (Tarantino couldn’t make it seem more ridiculous).

Finally, we expect characters to remember, as well as great acting too. Christoph Waltz is magnificent and it is incredible the empathy we can feel for his character (especially if we take into account the hideous colonel Hans Landa he played in Inglorious Bastards). But if there is a role we have to remark is the one that Samuel L. Jackson plays as Stephen, a double-faced butler black outside, white inside.

The problem with this movie is that there’s too much Django in Django Unchained. I found it a more conventional and less transgressor movie that the ones before it. Tarantino’s seal blurs gradually and, by the half of the movie, Django is already doing all the talking of the film. Probably, the classic tale that lies beneath (lady who needs to be saved by the brave knight) that happens to end happily is so not Tarantino that makes the movie predictable and boring.

Nevertheless, the photography, that is awesome (as always), and the soundtrack (it includes Ennio Morricone, making another wink to classic Westerns), that matches every scene, offsets the bad acting of DiCaprio and Foxx as well as the dull story. The pitty is that, though Tarantino makes Django a nigger in a thousand, he lets him be the only trouble maker.

Music tagging issues: Tame Impala's sound

I love Spotify and the main reason is because through it, I can discover new artists that I can start adoring. Actually, it happens to me all the time. A few weeks ago, I found out a band that I have never heard of. I googled its name and I reached their official web page (in order to know more about them). My surprise arrived when, reading a wonderful 'About', they described themselves as a psychedelic hypno-groove melodic rock band. My poker face was kind of epic at that point.

I do not like tagging. I hate tagging, in fact, And this is why. Tags are useless and totally confusing.  Tame Impala is a great band. From Perth (Australia), like many other cool bands that cool kids listen to. I'd describer their sound like kind of The Beatles in their last stage -when they were getting a more psychedelic vibe, like in Tomorrow Never Knows- but without sitar and more electronic rythms. Gotta say that the fact that the leading singer has a really McCartney-ish  voice helps to make this association. 

Elephant is the song that made me give them a chance. Lonerism is the album that made me believe in them. They have a new fan. I hope they don't screw it up with the albums to come.

P.S.: Please, dear bands, avoid tagging yourselves. It is not necessary at all.