Canadian musician Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, is changing the hip-hop game. In fact, it is hardly the same game at all. While the subject matter of sex and drugs might not be anything new to the genre, his voice is clearly his own.

The opening song on House of Balloons (the first mixtape in an epic trilogy), “High For This” is the perfect introduction to the whole series. It exemplifies not only his sexually explicit, drug fueled lyrical content, but also musical style, influences and his incredible voice. House of Balloons is full of hazy vocals, crackly buzzing synths and bone rattling base but is still somehow beyond catchy. This album is exceptionally good at showcasing his wide musical influences featuring samples from bands like Beach House, Siouxsie and the Banshee’s and Aaliyah. Not to mention the similarities in his vocal styling to one of the most popular and influential artists of all time… but we will talk more about that later. I should mention how adult the content in The Weeknd’s music is, especially on House of Balloons. Songs like “Loft Music” and “The Knowing “ will make you feel the need for a shower… make it extra cold.

Moving on to Thursday, the second mixtape in the trio. Released only 4 months after House of Balloons, Thursday was met with the anticipation of something that took years to drop. For me Thursday is a fantastic sequel but like the most epic movie trilogies, the second installment never hits the levels that the original does. The music is well arranged and the recording quality is probably the best out of the three tapes. Unfortunately the lyrics lacking the depth we know from House of Balloons, and the vocals are a little showy. Hip-hop artist Drake expressed a lot of interest in The Weeknd during his first release, but got heavily involved in the making of Thursday. Drake even makes a very significant appearance on my personal favorite “The Zone”.

“D.D.” (Dirty Diana) is probably the best Michael Jackson cover ever. The Weekend is somehow able to emulate Jackson’s voice to a ‘T’. Almost as if he is channeling him from the beyond. But his singing in general bares undeniable similarities to the prince of pop.

Where Thursday falters Echoes Of Silence redeems tenfold. The rhymes are tighter, vocals crisper, lyrics bolder and the music more intoxicating. The song “Initiation” will put you in a trance with a pitch effect on the vocals bringing you higher and higher and lower and lower again and again. And after listing to the lyrics you will feel as if you have been doing something you shouldn’t, but in a good way. The bleak unsettling beauty of Echoes Of Silence will keep you tossing and turning at night and you will waking up with the lyrics running through your head and yet you can’t get enough.

I chose to do the whole mixtape series in one review because I feel it is truly one story. The music feels so honest that it could almost be autobiographical and maybe that’s just how it turned out. It is a story of unfaithfulness, a broken heart, revenge, escape, sex, drugs, misplaced anger, getting super faded and dealing with the inevitable come down, reality and the deep emptiness that follows the peak. But most of all it’s a story about choices and consequences.

I am not one to give high praise to just anything. Even if I am in love with an album I would have a hard time giving anything over an 8, but The Weeknd is one of the most unique and talented artist on the scene today. With a career that has not even commercially started, we have a lot to look forward to. X.O.

Imagine you’re a Noir P.I. gagged, bound and blindfolded being dragged to the top of a volcano by men in tribal masks and body paint to be sacrificed to some pagan god. Bruised, bloody and tired but still fighting up to your last few moment before being dropped to your molting end. Or maybe you are in a bayou face to face with some swamp monster straight out of an old horror movie or on a mystic Jim Morrison style peyote trip through the desert. I have no idea what was going through Alex Hall and Emil Amos minds while creating this album but the above are the vivid images that streamed through my mind’s eye as I listened to Lilacs & Champagne with my headphones on blaring.

Lilacs & Champagne is a full, immersive album with so much sound and complexity that its hard to know where to start when talking about it. It is so retro and familiar but at the same time like nothing you have ever heard before. Driven by an array of obscure samples from old movies and bargain bin thrift store records, it’s no wonder this album is so nostalgic. Chalked with every instrument you can think of but arranged so well it really works for the most part.

Alex Hall and Emil Amos aka Lilacs & Champagne were both a part of the band Grails. Grails has a very similar style but a restrictive format as a classic bass, drum and two guitars band. So it makes sense that they sought out a more open and experimental way to make music.

Lilacs & Champagne is a bleak, haunting and powerfully intoxicating album that will take you to a place in your mind you never knew existed…in a good way.

An indie romantic comedy with a hint of drama revolving around a young mattress salesman and confused girl with a rich daddy. Directed by Matt Aselton, Gigantic deals with some fairly common life problems like dealing with family, friends, relationships and taking a close look at what you want in life.

Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) a 28-year-old mattress salesman, has a life long dream. This is not a normal dream for a young single man like opening a coffee shop or starting a band. No, since he was a young boy he has wanted to adopt a baby from china. The adoption process is long and grueling and to make matters worse he keeps getting viciously attacked by a homeless man (Zach Galifianakis). Now that we have established that Brian is a not so normal boy, let’s talk about a not so normal girl. Harriet or Happy (Zooey Deschanel) is the daughter of a wealthy customer of Brian’s (John Goodman). Happy works for her sister but doesn’t know what she is doing or where she is going in life. So boy meets girl, girl distracts boy from his life goals then girl freaks out and screws everything up when she realizes that they’re relationship might really mean something.

I don’t know how this movie flew under my radar for so long, but I’m glad it finally made its way to me. After seeing Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood, I knew he was someone to watch. The character he plays is very likable but different and I think he was perfect for this part. Zooey Deschanel is VERY well liked in the indie world, for her singing and most of all just because she is so darn cute, but her acting has always been well… dull. So I was pleasantly surprised to see her do such a range of emotions. This was by far the best acting I have seen from her ever. John Goodman was amazingly funny and makes you feel like this part was written with him in mind. Really there wasn’t a bad performance in the movie. Well written and well directed, Matt Aselton executed this movie like a pro.

If you are looking for a movie with depth and emotion that will still make you laugh, Gigantic is it. A truly way too indie film.

The authentic 80’s atmosphere in this demonic horror flick really makes you feel like you are watching something they pulled out of a vault somewhere. Director Ti West baptized The House of the Devil in the most unholy of 80’s horror nostalgia. Shoty camera work, big Farrah hair and an even bigger Walkman cassette player are just a few of the things that make it such a wonderful blast from the past.

Samantha, a sweet collage sophomore is moving out of the dorms, away from nasty, nympho, slob roommate and into a her own little cozy apartment. Unfortunately, like many collage kids, she has no money. So paying first months rent is going to be tricky. Desperate to take any job she can get, she calls a number she finds on a flier that simply says “baby $itter needed”. She gets there and they offer a overly generous wage. So whats the catch? Well for starters there is no kid, just pure evil.

This was a fun movie with a few really good moments. I feel like a lot of horror movies go for cheap scares these days, so its nice to to see something with a little class. But it was certainly not perfect. I felt at times that they started making it without really knowing where it was going. When I was done watching I felt that nothing really happened.

Aside from the sloppy storyline and the slight feeling of “that’s it?” It was quite enjoyable.