3 Feet High & Rising: Guillaume Destot AKA Vim Cortez Re-emerges As NATION with Future Soul-minded Baltimore Rising EP (Kromatik Records)

"NATION is a Paris-based project that combines Pop song-writing with futuristic R&B influences. It showcases a synth-heavy, brooding brand of Future Soul and some of their preferred themes like complicated love, existential doubt, and the way music can repair our souls," read part of an email I recently received from MusigaMy founder Philippe Manivet. NATION is just the latest alias of French song-writer and multi-instrumentalist Guillaume Destot AKA Vim Cortez AKA Vim le Commodore. Destot's latest release and first billed as "NATION" is a 2-track EP titled Baltimore Rising, which I would fittingly describe as a stylistic mix between The Postal Service and Mayer Hawthorne & The County with a hint of "Get Lucky"-era Daft Punk thrown in, for good measure. NATION's Facebook page (The Sound of NATION) readily lists Guillaume & Co.'s influences as Little Dragon, D'Angelo, Jai Paul, Ben Khan, James Blake, NAO, Jamie Lidell, Mura Masa, Raphael Saadiq, Prince, Nina Simone, Otis Redding, and Bill Withers. NATION's Future Soul-minded debut, Baltimore Rising EP is currently available for streaming and download on Apple Music, Google Play, Soundcloud, Spotify, YouTube, etc. as well as Bandcamp as part of the subscription-only NATION Club; "for the first 30 subscribers, you'll also get a cool, super-limited edition cassette with hand-printed, numbered linograph artwork. Side A is [the Baltimore Rising] EP and Side B, an audio slice of NATION's offline life."

"'Baltimore Rising" was inspired by the 2015 events in Baltimore following Freddie Gray's death. I was deeply moved by Freddie Gray's story, of course, but also, by the reaction of the community and the sense of human tragedy that seemed to pervade the atmosphere; although, I watched it from very far away. I started imagining what could happen, in the mind of a cop, in front of such grief, shared by so many people (the "heaving tide" in the song) as he realizes that he's on the wrong side of history and humanity. Musically speaking, it's hard to pinpoint where the riff came from; although, there are always traces of my obsession with 80's synth music, but the riff's bittersweet—insistent presence translates the mixture of despair and hope that the events inspired me [in Baltimore]."

"'Computer Purple" is, similarly, a combination of several sources of inspiration. The title might remind the listener of Prince's song, "Computer Blue" and this is no accident, as Prince was, and still is, a huge influence for me. I think I hear something of Prince, especially 80's Prince, in the beat and the way I used the synths. But the lyrics are also inspired by Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, a movie that was extremely influential for me and that still fuels my imagination. The theme of trans-humanism is coming back under the spotlight and the question of how we'll deal with machines that might have more "soul" than many humans we know. I find the notion of "soul" complex, fascinating, and problematic and looking at it it through the prism of humans/machines relationships, makes it even more thought-provoking for me. Especially, when love is thrown into the equation!"

- Guillaume Destot (NATION)

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel

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