WHISPER puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com By MaryEllen Uthlaut ©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 02/05/20 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis 02/05/20 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: Release Date: Wednesday, February 5, 2020 ACROSS 1 Twinings products 5 Wolf pack leader 10 Oft-misused pronoun 14 Hall of Famer Donovan, first woman to coach a WNBA championship team 15 One-piece dresses 16 Georgetown athlete 17 Compact 20 Outshine 21 Codgers 22 Shorthand writer, for short 23 Haus husband 24 “Apollo 11” org. 27 Solution for contacts 32 Decides 36 Attended, as college, with “to” 38 Fibula neighbor 39 Compact 42 Thumb one’s nose at 43 Air Quality Index factor 44 Old flames 45 Bench-clearing brawls, e.g. 47 Big fusses 49 Grammar, in grammar 51 Slices in a pie, often 56 Christmas show 60 Nutritionist’s unit 62 Compact 64 Soaks (up) 65 Aptly named 1955 and 2019 Disney dog 66 Oboe vibrator 67 Tupelo, e.g. 68 Chips in a chip 69 Mixes in DOWN 1 Subdues 2 Make into law 3 Common sprain site 4 Welcome at the door 5 Snakes in hieroglyphics 6 Bodice trim 7 In favor of 8 Depend (on) 9 Daisylike fall flowers 10 Zoom (by) 11 Refine, as skills 12 Open hearing, in law 13 “24K Magic” singer Bruno 18 Familiar with 19 Force gas into 23 Word-guessing game 25 Cobbler’s tool 26 Swell places? 28 Margarita garnish 29 Goat with recurved horns 30 Start of many a workday 31 Revived Alton Brown cooking show “Good __” 32 Rip-__: thefts 33 Olympic vaulter’s need 34 Home run pace 35 Indecent matter 37 Stepped heavily 40 Without a musical key 41 Self-awareness 46 Piano __ 48 46-Down, often 50 Difficult move in a busy intersection 52 One leading a charmed life? 53 Made an attempt 54 Needed to skip work, perhaps 55 Closing documents 56 “Hey, you!” 57 Deity with a bow 58 Stare in amazement 59 Otherwise 60 “The best is yet to __” 61 Concert gear 63 Bit of body ink SUDOKU 8 3 9 7 8 2 7 5 5 8 9 9 7 4 3 4 8 8 5 4 1 2 7 6 1 8 7 1 9 4 6 Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ 1 of 1 3/23/09 11:17 AM “mitchel mingi hong.” Before I had even set foot in the Midwest, I felt like I had a bit of an idea what the Midwest sounded like. Discovering bands that were integral to the past, present and future of the DIY Midwest emo scene painted a picture in my mind about what growing up in the Midwest would be like. One of the first bands that really caught my attention was the group Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate). As I explored the scene more and more, I started to listen to other bands, like Into It, Over It., Snowing and even Ann Arbor’s Brave Bird. The one thing uniting all of these bands was their label: Count Your Lucky Stars (CYLS). Started by members of Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate), Keith and Cathy Latinen, CYLS started as a way for the band to release a 7” they originally recorded for a split with Florida’s Save Mexico. In a phone interview with The Daily, Keith Latinen talked about the independent label’s origin. “I don’t think we started the label with any great aspirations,” Latinen said. “It was just a vehicle for us to put out our own band’s record, and then when we started touring more and more, we started to see all these incredible bands that were also in the same situation as us where no labels were paying attention to them and there was no way for people to hear those bands. So, we just started putting out those bands, and it just kind of evolved from there.” Latinen described how entering the age of the internet changed everything for smaller DIY bands, especially for CYLS. “We get orders from all over the world, and there’s no way those people would have ever heard of us without the internet,” Latinen said. “It connects everything.” Latinen talked about initially messaging people on Myspace to promote the label, and said “when we first started getting orders from anywhere we were really excited, but when we started getting orders from overseas, it really kind of blew our minds.” Latinen emphasized how with increased connection to the internet, “it’s a lot easier to connect with people, and invite those people to shows. A lot of places that we played in Michigan, the Midwest and on tour … I never would have known about it if it wasn’t for someone from that DIY community reaching out to me.” Along with the internet, he also believes that tolerance and openness play a large role in DIY ethics and its growth, and because of that mentality, “if one DIY venue ended up shutting down, there will be somebody else that would pick that slack up and there’d be a new place for bands to play.” As a newcomer to the Midwest, I asked Latinen about how he thought the Midwest impacted his music and the DIY community. “I think the term Midwest emo comes from living in these wide open spaces, long drives, and the earnestness and honesty that you’d associate with the Midwest too,” Latinen said. “And I think that has something to do with the openness and patience in my music. And that’s part of being a Michigander too — it’s that patience and sort of appreciating beauty for what it is.” Latinen talked about how these characteristics of the Midwestern scene helped Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) back when they first started playing shows, saying that one of their first shows in Ypsilanti “was with a bunch of screamo bands.” And that local DIY support doesn’t just stop in southeastern Michigan — it’s global. Because of their connections with labels across the world, the band was able to have international pressings of their records and even play a series of shows in Japan and Europe. “It’s surreal,” Latinen said. “I think every local scene sort of chains together to the larger DIY scene, and it makes you feel at home wherever you play.” In early 2016, the band decided to call it quits, and Latinen took a break from signing new bands onto CYLS. However, towards the end of 2019, CYLS announced the signing of their newest group in quite some time, Overo, along with the release of the group’s debut album. Shortly after, the label announced the signing of another new group, Singing Lungs, along with a new EP they would be putting out. Then, on Nov. 4, CYLS announced the album Tomorrow I Will Take a Knife to Your Confidence from a band called Anna Flyaway. Started over 14 years ago, the group was originally a solo project by Latinen in college, but later went on to include many of his friends. Towards the end of recording their debut album, a series of lineup changes and the loss of their recording engineer indicated that the band might not have the longevity to finish the project. So, Latinen took matters into his own hands, learning to record on his own and in turn starting a new project, Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate), just as the band broke up. “It took years and years but we finally ended up doing it. I do sort of a stereotypical list of New Year’s Resolutions every year, and every year ‘Finish Anna Flyaway’ was at the top of that list. So I finally got to cross that off this year,” Latinen said. The amount of care put into the album really shows. Between the sincere lyrics and harmonically rich arrangements, the album reminded me of why I began romanticizing the Midwest, and the magic of this music. Check out Anna Flyaway’s album, or any of the other new bands on CYLS, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s Midwestern magic. Keith Latinen talks DIY, Counting Stars RYAN COX Daily DIY Columnist Upcoming Shows (courtesy of Outta This World Booking): Feb. 6 Thank You, I’m Sorry (CYLS band) Ness Lake Boyfrienders Something Missing Button & Bella’s Music Box (Ypsilanti) Feb. 8 Ship & Sail Young Ritual Holy Profane In A Daydream Button & Bella’s Music Box (Ypsilanti) Feb. 9 Dogleg Mover Shaker Niiice BPD Boyfrienders The Sanctuary (Hamtramck) DAILY DIY COLUMN After the release of their 2017 album, The Underside of Power, it was unclear which direction Algiers would take their music. The only certainty was that their next full-length project would come with a lot of expectations. With The Underside of Power, they managed to perfect the gospel and post-punk sound they flirted with on their debut record. Many fans were simply hoping to hear more of the same. Others wanted more noise-rock and post- rock influences in their repertoire. Regardless, the anticipation was palpable. In late 2019, the fans finally got the news they wanted, as Algiers announced their next release for Matador Records, There Is No Year. The question now was whether they would expand on the sound of their last record or go in a completely different direction. Unfortunately, we may have set our expectations too high. This is clearly a new sonic direction for Algiers. The novel sound expresses a sentiment of dilapidation and exhaustion, which is best illustrated with their heavy use of synths. This is not to say that the project takes sounds from synth-wave or adds pop qualities to their music. In fact, most of the synth lies in the lower register which adds an ulcer-inducing tension with nearly every track. Often this record feels subterranean, like on the track “Wait for the Sound,” where the pulsing, synth bass mixed with the lead singer’s soulful crooning can easily get under one’s skin. This track also exemplifies Algiers’ decision to make this record their least instrumentally dense, with the synth and vocals being the two primary forces of the song. Quite poetically, There Is No Year tries to be the valley that comes after the mountain that was The Underside of Power. The problem surrounding the new record is the band’s inability to fully commit to this new style. Whether it’s on songs like the title track, or the closer “Void,” or in other smaller moments, Algiers can’t seem to let go of their post-punk roots. They can’t fully rid themselves of the wall-punching, bombastic energy that has started to define them, and the lyrical content certainly proves the point. Algiers have always embodied the spirit of protest. The genesis of their name ties back to the city itself, which is known for having a history of anti-colonial dissent. Frontman Franklin James Fisher uses his powerful lyricism and forceful vocal prowess to create this atmosphere. In this particular album, he weaves a narrative addressing the disintegration of society and the individuals that inhabit it. On the track “Dispossession,” he aims his crosshairs directly at the current state of America and how it has developed from a place that once offered so much, to one that takes as much as it can. Each track develops its own idea that ultimately contributes to the overarching narrative in a way that feels uninterrupted. Perhaps it’s not so surprising that nearly every word on this album comes from an epic poem Fisher wrote titled “Misophonia.” The poetry on this record is almost breathtaking at times, but it never aligns with the music playing beneath it. Ultimately, this conflict between verse and music demonstrates a fundamental issue surrounding the band. It feels like they haven’t located their identity yet. Embracing their post-punk roots would mean having to forgo the less-is-more approach they have towards instrumentals; favoring this new meditative and gloomy atmosphere would require the lyrical content to complement this dourness better. It seems like they are struggling to make this decision, which is strange considering how confident they sounded on their previous release. It could be that There Is No Year is actually an admission of this apparent lack of direction. The album cover even alludes to this — large block letters spelling out the name of the band are depicted tumbling above the picture of a man falling through the sky. Perhaps Algiers feels as though they are the man tumbling through the sky, powerless in their movement. Algiers lose themselves on new LP ‘There Is No Year’ DREW GADBOIS For The Daily There Is No Year Algiers Matador Records ALBUM REVIEW As a newcomer to the Midwest, I asked Latinen about how he thought the Midwest impacted his music and the DIY community. 6A — Wednesday, February 5, 2020 Arts The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com