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Thursday, July 18, 2019

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS

In the truest sense of the word, a

“mixtape” is a compilation of songs
that come from multiple sources.
This definition harkens back to the
days before digital playlists. Mix-
tapes were not endlessly augmented,
so they were often made with a cer-
tain vibe or theme in mind.

In the mid to late 2000s hip-hop

scene, though, the definition began
to change. At this time, a mixtape
was essentially a free album that
could not be held accountable for
any sort of uncleared sample or
copyright
infringement.
Entire

careers were made off of this plat-
form. Take Lil Wayne for example:
Some fans only listen to mixtape
Weezy. That’s how popular mix-
tapes were for a time. Today, the def-
inition of a mixtape is changing once
again. Mixtapes are being released
for profit, but they are intended to
be taken less seriously than a nor-
mal studio album. With his latest
release Angel’s Pulse, Blood Orange,
also known as Dev Hynes, combines
each interpretation of the mixtape
into one final product.

Hynes said during the tape’s

short promotional period that after
each album he creates, he also cre-
ates a mixtape of sorts to serve as
an epilogue. He usually gives these
mixtapes to friends and random
passersby, but for the first time,
Hynes is sharing one of these tapes
with the world.

Angel’s Pulse serves as the epi-

logue to Hynes’s phenomenal 2018
release Negro Swan. It fleshes out

any incomplete ideas and wraps
up this chapter of Hynes’s career.
With this mixtape, Hynes explores
the different sounds presented on
Negro Swan and experiments with
their strengths and limitations in
a context that is not meant to be
taken as seriously as an album. With
that said, the sound is not cohesive
throughout, true to the original defi-
nition of a mixtape. Angel’s Pulse is
a collection of songs that Hynes felt
effectively represented this moment
in his life.

Despite the implications of the

word “mixtape,” Angel’s Pulse
deserves to be taken seriously. It’s

lighthearted, but that doesn’t mean
it’s not heartfelt. Opening track “I
Wanna C U” is bouncy and loved up.
It ponders Hynes’s relationship with
the person trapped in his head. It’s
very sweet sounding, but the repeti-
tive nature of the song makes Hynes
seem almost tortured in a way, as if
performing the song is the only way
to make the person in his head man-
ifest themselves in real life.

In stark sonic contrast to “I

Wanna C U” are “Dark & Hand-
some” and “Benzo.” The songs
depart from the light tone of “I
Wanna C U” to a more contempla-
tive and somber sound, but they
share the same themes and suggest

the mixtape’s overall concept. “Dark
& Handsome” yearns for days long
gone as Hynes’ sings, “Nothing lasts
forever, and I told you / Everything
you need to know is not true / Lyin’
to myself because it hurts you.”
“Benzo” continues this theme of
yearning for something that is not
there. He laments, “Open the door,
leave with arms exposed / Outside,
I saw where I belong.” Hynes knows
what will make him content, but the
only way he can get there is if he can
leave the past behind him.

Angel’s Pulse continues this

theme of yearning for an altered
past with the heartwrenching “Bir-
mingham,” a reflection on the 1963
16th Street Baptist Church bomb-
ing in Birmingham, Alabama that
tragically took the lives of four chil-
dren, and “Baby Florence (Figure),”
a track in which Hynes assures his
partner that he will help deter-
mine where their relationship went
wrong. However, mixtape standout
“Gold Teeth” seems a stark depar-
ture from this theme. The track is
stacked, featuring Tinashe, Gangsta
Boo and Project Pat. It’s highlighted
by braggadocio and talks of life in
the streets over a chopped sample of
Project Pat’s “Rinky Dink II/We’re
Gonna Rumble.” Everything on the
track screams assuredness: Project
Pat’s gruff delivery on the refrain,
Gangsta Boo’s empowering verse
and Hynes and Tinashe’s lush, con-
fident chorus. Despite all this, it still
falls perfectly in line with the vibe
of the mixtape. It presents a desire
to be someone who does what they
want, when they want to do it.

Hynes redefines ‘mixtape’

JIM WILSON
Daily Arts Writer

ALBUM REVIEW

THE NEW YORK TIMES

On July 11, Nevertheless Film

Festival, founded and directed by
University FTVM alum Meredith
Finch, launched its inaugural run at
the Michigan Theater. The festival
assembled a wide variety of feature-
length and short films, all created by
female-identifying filmmakers.

The name was inspired by wom-

en’s rights motto, “Nevertheless, she
persisted.” Within the film indus-
try, equal representation behind
and in front of the lens has been,
to say the least,
concerning.
In

2017, USC Annen-
berg
conducted

a
study
which

found that across
the
top
movies

from 2007 to 2016,
only four percent
of the respective
directors
were

female. However,
filmmakers
who

identify as female
make up at least
half of the leader-
ship behind every
film presented at Nevertheless, as
proclaimed in every program given
out at each showing.

Between actors speaking publicly

about the need for more women in
the film industry — like Regina King
vowing to make future projects 50
percent female during her Golden
Globe acceptance speech — and
sexual misconduct running rampant
around the industry, the festival sets
a much needed precedent for the
next generation of filmmakers.

Two films were screened open-

ing night: “Throat Singing in Kan-
girsuk,” directed by Eva Kaukai and
Manon Chamberland, as well as
“A Colony.” directed by Genevieve
Dulude-De Celles. The former was
a three-minute short film, which
managed to blow my mind in just
that amount of time. It depicted the
rugged Arctic terrain of the direc-
tors’ home of Kangirsuk, a village in
Quebec, Canada, while they throat
sang their way through the short.
The guttural and, at first, borderline-
frightening throat-singing acted as a

complete contrast to the peaceful,
snowy landscape.

Next was the full-length film “A

Colony,” screened in French with
English subtitles. Sometimes, I find
that watching a movie with subtitles
adds a layer between the viewer
and the film which can hinder emo-
tional connection, but the subtitles
did not take away from the immer-
sion. Language was one of the many
themes throughout that added to the
endearing and fragile nature of the
piece.

Along with showing films, the

festival held panels that were free
to attend. Connecting film audi-
ences with these filmmakers gave

a perspective to
movies that many
in Ann Arbor have
yet to experience.
Held
in
North

Quad at Michi-
gan, the various
filmmakers spoke
on their creative
process as well as
what drew them
to their respective
projects. The main
objective of these
panels being to
connect film audi-
ences with film-

makers, a privilege afforded to both
parties. Every filmmaker exuded
excitement and gratitude. It was sur-
real to see such high-quality work
and then get the filmmaker’s per-
spective on it. After certain show-
ings, viewers even had the option to
head over to HopCat afterwards to
share a beer with the filmmaker.

Nevertheless Film Festival was a

refreshing and soul-fulfilling break
from this summer’s superhero mov-
ies. As I entered the Michigan The-
ater, women smiled at me from the
welcome desk encouraging me to
take whatever swag I wanted. Scat-
tered along their table were pins
with “the future of film is female”
emblazoned on them. I shyly took
two of those with anticipation of
adorning it on my rapidly deterio-
rating backpack for senior year. Not
only is the festival socially beneficial,
but the selection of films was easily
the most emotionally nuanced I’ve
seen this summer. I’m looking for-
ward to seeing what they have in
store for Ann Arbor next year.

New female film
festival fascinates

NATALIE KASTNER

Daily Arts Writer

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

Read more at michigandaily.com

The festival
assembled a

wide variety of
feature-length
and short films,

all created
by female
filmmakers.

Angel’s Pulse

Blood Orange

Domino Recording

Company