“We Cast a Shadow” (One World), by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

A fear-driven, racially charged world is the land in which the narrator of “We Cast a Shadow” lives. Half the black community - and eight out of 10 black men - are arrested in their lifetime. A ghetto has been fortified, walling in the black population for the “health, safety and general welfare” of citizens. Curfews are enforced. Those who break the law can be deported. And for the narrator, a black man lucky enough to have avoided prison (unlike his father) and who holds a position at a law firm, his top priority is creating a better life for his son - even if that means turning him white.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin weaves many threads, from the fragile complexity of a father-son relationship to a person’s capacity for change. The world Ruffin creates is semi-satirically extreme, yet there is an air of plausibility that is unsettling. What is the result of fear, power and discrimination left unchecked? And where is the line between protecting your own and subjecting them to the very prejudice that has ruled your world?

Heart-wrenching and morally ambiguous, “We Cast a Shadow” explores questions of justice and self-actualization. Life’s fulfillment may only seem within reach when cultural assimilation to the most extreme degree takes place. But what is the price that is paid? The moral high ground in such a society is reserved for those who haven’t faced discrimination themselves, from the narrator’s perspective.

Unapologetic in his ability to make the reader uncomfortable, “We Cast a Shadow” is a challenging, thought-provoking debut by Ruffin.

Better Oblivion Community Center (aka Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers), “Better Oblivion Community Center” (Dead Oceans)


Singer-songwriters Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers have been navigating the dark corners of their own minds, but now come together as Better Oblivion Community Center for a concerted effort. Pondering your own capacity for good, missing someone so much you want to dig them up from their grave, questioning what lies beyond death — “If we’re going somewhere I’m ready/If it’s just dirt I’m not” — these are the subjects Oberst and Bridgers explore and in these subjects, they lay themselves bare.


Those familiar with the careers of Bridgers and Oberst know that the two are poets, lyrically revealing even their darkest thoughts to audiences. Oberst’s songwriting has allowed him to stand out in his solo career and with his early work in indie rock band Bright Eyes. Bridgers is newer to the scene, releasing her debut “Stranger in the Alps” in 2017 and collaborating with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus to create the critically acclaimed group boygenius in 2018.


As Better Oblivion Community Center, Bridgers and Oberst commit to bringing dismal, burning imagery and salient pain into their writing. Their transparency is harrowing at times, but succeeds at being identifiable, reminding listeners that internal turmoil can be relatable in the end.


The album opens with “Didn’t Know What I Was in For,” relying heavily on the lyrics and distinctive vocals of Oberst and Bridgers to carry the weight of the track, while still incorporating a full band sound. “Service Road,” where the layering of Bridgers’ tender vocals over the strained, emotional sound of Oberst’s voice give the song a haunting quality, is accompanied by the searing imagery of a described brother, “Asking strangers to forgive him/But he never told them what it is/He did to them that made him feel so bad.”


A synthesizer creates an ethereal layer on the track “Chesapeake,” where Oberst and Bridgers again showcase their striking harmonization. “Forest Lawn,” named after the Los Angeles cemetery, is ambiguous (is the one missing deceased or out of touch?) and has a folk-quality to the style and writing.
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It’s difficult to find fault in “Better Oblivion Community Center.” Beautiful in their melancholy, Bridgers and Oberst work as a grand duo on their powerful self-titled debut album.

Deerhunter, “Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?” (4AD)

Leveled, steady, Bradford Cox coaxes, “Come on down from that cloud/And cast your fears aside.”

That perfect line leads Deerhunter’s “Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?” — cradling listeners in choruses that describe imminent oblivion.

Deerhunter’s latest album is bleak, but in such a way that invokes a sense of calm in an anxious, disparaging world. Fading time, fading individuality, a fading world: these are realities frontman Cox and bandmates — Lockett Pundt, Moses Archuleta, Josh McKay and Javier Morales — have accepted.

Consistent with their past work, “Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?” can’t be boxed into a single genre, with punk and pop tones among others. As the group’s eighth LP, the band is comfortable in its own lack of sonic cohesion. The harpsichord on “Death in Midsummer” provides a Western tinge, yet avoids being nostalgic with the layering of synth.

“Detournement” adds deep distorted vocals to a Radiohead-like atmospheric track, sounding futuristic. “What Happens to People?” adds jaunty keyboard to an upbeat track and sounds hopeful when it asks, “What happens to people?/They quit holding on.”

The unity of the album lies in the theme it draws from introspection and extrospection: Deerhunter sees the world for what it is, but repeatedly asks the question, what can we do with it? A seeming acceptance of disparity is shown through the pairing of dark lyrics with pleasant musical composition.

“No One’s Sleeping” decries the country’s “duress” as “violence has taken hold,” yet, if it weren’t for Cox’s deadpan voice and the subject of the lyrics, you might be fooled into thinking it was a much happier song. The group could be reflecting on times today or an apocalyptic setting as Cox sings out, “No one’s sleeping/The village green is nocturnal finally/Follow me to golden pond/There is peace — the great beyond.”

Deerhunter challenged the texture of their sound and context of their lyrics and produced a complex and pleasing result: a musical journey into their ideas of death and the beyond.
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A self-proclaimed sci-fi album about the present, “Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?” proves again Deerhunter can rise to the challenge of reinventing their sound without losing themselves — without disappearing.

The Smashing Pumpkins, “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN.” (Napalm Records)

It’s no question The Smashing Pumpkins has had a tumultuous past. Multiple iterations, breakups and solo careers later, three founding members of the 90′s Chicago-rooted rockers — Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin — are back to release their first collaborative album in 18 years, “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN.”

The title of the LP is fitting, considering there’s a past the band likely wants to leave behind.

The Smashing Pumpkins has teetered between dissolution and reconciliation since 1996, after the overdose death of touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and the firing of Chamberlin. Members have been in flux ever since, with the current roster featuring Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin with guitarist Jeff Schroeder.

Ahead of their latest tour, one founding member, bassist D’arcy Wretzky, was left in the dark. The circumstances surrounding her exclusion from the band’s reunion started a feud between Wretzky and Corgan, complete with publicized text message screenshots and name-calling.

Peel away the dramatics and dysfunction that marked the launch of “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” — and the Pumpkins’ past, for that matter — and you’re left with an album that stays true to the band’s classic sound with the help of legendary producer Rick Rubin.

Triumphant strings and distorted vocals open the album, as “Knights of Malta” crescendos to a choir singing with the guttural Corgan singing, “We’re gonna make this happen/I’m gonna fly forever.”

While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan — swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like “Solara” and delicate, trance-like songs such as “With Sympathy” — overall, “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” is no masterpiece. Songs build then fizzle, like “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts),” a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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Highlights on the 8-track album include “Travels” and “With Sympathy.” The optimistic “Travels” affirms the album’s commitment to “No Past. No Future.” in a fluid reality where Corgan sings, “See love, see time/see death, see life” before unfolding into a chorus of, “It’s where I belong/but far from here or else I’m gone.” There’s an element of opacity, common to Pumpkins lyrics, but one that manages to feel pleasantly unresolved by the anthemic track. “With Sympathy” pleads, “Please stay confused/disunion has its use,” but wraps itself in a comforting, steady melody.
“SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” brings hope that the band’s dark days are distant. Millions of Pumpkins fans certainly hope so.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bejeweled bodices, thigh-high platform pumps, stiletto nails and seductive fishnet stockings brought a new level of femme fatale among Disney villains onto the catwalk.

The catwalk of the design duo The Blonds, that is. David and Phillipe Blond, known for edgy, provocative collections and runway shows, collaborated with Disney to merge the wicked and the sleek among its most famous villains — Ursula, Maleficent and more.

Paris Hilton was Cruella de Vil in a studded silver bodysuit, carrying a Chihuahua down the runway Friday, long black and, of course, blonde, hair extensions cascading down. She wore one black thigh-high boot and one in white.

The Disney collaboration, the Blonds told The Associated Press, took them even more over the top than usual.

“It just gave us license to have a lot more fun,” David said.

Phillipe agreed: “Yeah, it gave us a lot of creative license. Our shows are theatrical already.”

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Fashion Week has opened its glamorous tent wider to feature models with disabilities wearing adaptive clothing designs by Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Target.

Organized by the Runway of Dreams Foundation, the show on Wednesday included a catwalk welcoming to wheelchairs, crutches, walking canes and more. Actor and model RJ Mitte of “Breaking Bad” was host.

Mitte said he understood the importance of inclusion on a personal level, having been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 3. “I’m really excited to see all this inclusivity and all of these strides to be diverse,” he said.

The founder of Runway of Dreams, Mindy Scheier, was inspired to start her foundation when her son, Oliver, who has muscular dystrophy, told her he wanted to wear clothes like everyone else. His request was for blue jeans_a clothing item that would prove difficult to pull on and off with his condition unless the pants were modified. She decided to make him an adaptive pair on her own and realized the need for more adaptive clothing lines for individuals with disabilities.

“Fashion is a direct correlation to how we feel about ourselves, our confidence, our self-esteem,” said Scheier. “And if you don’t have that, if you don’t have options, it can really affect how you feel about yourself. So truly, clothing is a basic need. So, shouldn’t we all feel really good and have options like everybody else?”