Filmmaker Steven Lewis Simpson’s latest project, “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” offers its audience the opportunity to slow down and listen.

The film is an adaptation of author Kent Nerburn’s award-winning 1994 book of the same name. The movie follows Kent Nerburn (Christopher Sweeney), who has been tasked with writing a book based on the life and experiences of a Lakota Elder named Dan (Dave Bald Eagle). Over the course of the film’s 110 minutes, it gives the audience a realistic portrayal of an important Native American narrative — the type of narrative that is often overlooked in larger-budget Hollywood pictures.

“This was about intimacy,” Simpson said, speaking about the film’s low-budget, independent style. He filmed “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” over the span of just 18 days without the benefit of a large crew. Most of the time, Simpson worked with only two people behind the camera. “[This] allowed an intimacy in the performance that would have been hard with a crew,” he said.

That performance belongs to Dave Bald Eagle, a Lakota Elder who was 95 during the filming of this movie. He has since passed away. Bald Eagle carries this story and benefits from the film’s bare-bones production style. The result is an honest and emotional portrait that is often shockingly close to reality.

“In some respects, he was even more the character than the character,” Simpson said. “There was nothing that Dave could have come out with that would have been inaccurate.”

During the film’s climax, Dan brings Nerburn to a mass grave and memorial for the lives of those lost in the Wounded Knee Massacre. Bald Eagle improvised his own lines.

“Wounded Knee is front and center and is symbolic of so many things within Indian country,” Simpson said. “To have such a noted Elder go to that place, and for that to be documented for a long time to come, is culturally significant in itself — regardless of whether the film is good or bad.”

The film has garnered a warm reception, and Simpson has been pleasantly surprised at the success of its distribution. “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” played in smaller towns until it began to open up at larger theaters in various parts of the country. “We’re almost like a virus covering the U.S.,” Simpson said. “It’s sort of slowly building from one part to another.”

But most importantly, the film resonates with its viewers. “I’m consistently hearing of audiences that are still in their seats after the credits, just absorbing it all,” Simpson said. “There is a place that the audience can go with this film emotionally, where a lot of big films might leave them cold.”

For those willing to be present, “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” offers an important and deeply moving experience that will be relevant for a long time to come.

“For a short time in a darkened room Dave transports people somewhere,” Simpson said. “I think some people leave looking at the world in a slightly different way.”

The film recently opened at the Broadway Metro in Eugene. It will play through Sept. 28. For more information and tickets, visit the Broadway Metro at 43 W. Broadway or call 541-686-2458.

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Back in 2011, the Brooklyn-based band LCD Soundsystem performed an over three-hour live show at Madison Square Garden—a show that was meant to be its final performance. Tickets sold out immediately, and thousands of people showed up to see the band close out its celebrated, decade-long career.

Throughout the night, devoted fans danced as the band powered through a career-spanning set. Comedian Reggie Watts and members of Arcade Fire made guest appearances on stage, and Aziz Ansari could be seen crowd-surfing in the audience. At the show’s end, hundreds of white balloons fell down from the ceiling onto the crowd during an emotional performance of the band’s ballad “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.” For LCD Soundsystem—one of the best bands to come out of New York in the last 20 years—this was a fitting end.

But now, less than a decade later, frontman James Murphy has brought the band back with a  fourth studio album, “American Dream.” It’s easy to see why some people might be skeptical—or even nervous. After all, the only thing worse than a great band breaking up is a great band getting back together—shortly after its huge “farewell” show—only to release a mediocre album. But thankfully, Murphy, the band’s principal songwriter, has enough self-awareness to prevent that from happening.

“American Dream” brings back LCD Soundsystem’s familiar dance-punk style. Murphy still wears his musical influences on his sleeve. Many of these songs are reminiscent of artists in Murphy’s own record collection: Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Can and Kraftwerk. Yet the album never feels like a cheap imitation or a rehash of old ideas.

In fact, a number of these songs feel like a progression in the band’s songwriting, and the lyrics show a renewed sense of sincerity and self-reflection. “You made me throw my hands at my own tradition/And then you had a laugh at my inhibitions,” Murphy sings on the song “I Used To.”

After years away from this musical project, Murphy has had some time to think things over. He comments on personal issues like getting older or losing friends. The lyrics also deal with broader topics, like the growing sense of urgency in American pop music or a general dissatisfaction with the vapidity of American life.

But also present is a sense of musical maturation, evident on songs like “Oh Baby,” the album’s sprawling opener. This track may be harder to dance to, but the band is able to find an oddly comforting landscape amidst the song’s towering synth chords.

About midway through the album comes “How Do You Sleep,” now one of the most challenging songs in LCD Soundsystem’s discography. It’s shadowy and monolithic as it contemplates greed and separation over the course of nine minutes. Five minutes pass before any sense of a welcoming beat emerges. However, it subtly shifts during the latter half into something confident and danceable while still retaining its dark tone.

The most enjoyable moments on “American Dream” come when the band sticks to its strengths – a solid amalgamation of post-punk, synth pop, and dance music. On “Other Voices,” Murphy rambles about some dismal postmodern environment, while backed by chaotic synthesizers and sequenced analog sounds.

And the song “Emotional Haircut” features some of the band’s most entertaining lyrics – “The look of great concern in your eyes and your surprise at my emotional haircut” – since 2007’s “Sound of Silver.” As always, Murphy finds a perfect balance between humor and desperation.

It is strange to have LCD Soundsystem back after such an intentionally dramatic end, but this is clearly something Murphy is aware of. He commented on this unexpected return in an interview with the New York Times. “If we’re going to play again, we really have to justify it,” he said. “We’ve got to do something good enough.”

On “American Dream,” the band certainly does something good enough. It’s nice to have them back.

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Robert Pollard, the principal songwriter and core member of Ohio’s Guided By Voices, is known for his prolific musical output. “How Do You Spell Heaven” is not only the band’s 25th studio album, but also its second album released this year.

Since the band’s formation in the mid-’80s, GBV has developed a strong cult following, thanks in part to some of its more successful lo-fi albums including “Bee Thousand” and “Alien Lanes.” Taking into consideration solo work and various side projects, “How Do You Spell Heaven” also marks the 101st album in Pollard’s discography. While this release is nowhere near groundbreaking, Pollard’s talent for songwriting still shines through. Somehow, he has not run out of steam.

Pollard’s knack for catchy melodies is immediately apparent on the album’s triumphant opener, “The Birthday Democrats.” The meaning of the song may be somewhat ambiguous, but its lyrics – “You fall like a drip on a wedding gown” – offer up strong images and fit comfortably over the song’s gritty guitar. Towards the end of the track it devolves into an unrelated song fragment, reminiscent of home recording techniques. This should feel familiar to GBV fans — given that many early releases were created on four track tape recorders.

In some ways, the album refuses to stay in one place for too long. For example, “Steppenwolf Mausoleum,” starts off with a foreboding acoustic guitar riff and later features a hook similar to that of David Bowie or Marc Bolan. Many of the tracks also avoid traditional song structures, and only a few of them pass the three-minute mark. Some might consider these songs to be fragmented or underdeveloped, but they are simply the unique result of Pollard’s pop sensibilities matched with an erratic songwriting style.

On the other hand, tracks such as “King 007” and “Boy W” are tedious to listen to. They either borrow from bad aspects of classic rock or take on a stiff and stilted sound – like post-punk without its necessary edge. “Pearly Gates Smoke Machine” is a nice guitar-heavy instrumental, but as the longest song on the album at four minutes, it feels a bit overstretched. It feels like Pollard is sacrificing quality for quantity in these moments. In the already massive GBV discography, songs like these will easily be forgotten.

But there are still songs throughout this album that make it worth listening to. “Diver Dan” and “Cretinous Number Ones“ are both satisfying rock ‘n’ roll jams, and “Just To Show You,” the album’s sentimental closing track, proves that Pollard is still capable of eliciting emotion through simplicity and sincerity.

It is important to look at this release from a larger perspective. Not many bands are capable of recording 25 studio albums, and Pollard’s incessant songwriting effort is still respectable. For that reason, many dedicated GBV fans have stuck around and will continue to stick around until Pollard finally runs out of energy. “How Do You Spell Heaven” is a welcome addition to the Guided By Voices discography.

Check out the video for “Just to Show You” below:

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Arcade Fire is essentially classic rock. Only 13 years have passed since the release of the band’s first full-length album “Funeral,” but most of the band’s discography since has been canonized as essential listening. Arcade Fire has managed to create a style of art-rock that does not feel out of place in stadiums and headlining festival sets — similarly to bands like Radiohead —thanks to the band’s large lineup fronted by husband and wife Win Butler and Regine Chassagne. “Everything Now,” the band’s fifth studio album, is an attempt to continue the group’s well-established legacy. Most of it falls flat.

“Everything Now” is a concept album, and sees the band focus on consumer culture and the information age. In order to make that obvious, the band fed its fans information for this album through the satirical Everything Now Corp, a fake finance company they invented for the release. Arcade Fire is good at dedicating themselves to a concept, but a concept alone cannot carry this entire release.

The album starts off strong with a series of well-produced songs, all of which were released as singles before the album dropped. The energetic title track includes a breathy pan flute and a full choir, all backed by a lively, disco-influenced drumbeat. Butler sings over the lush production, reflecting on the overwhelming access to both culture and content. The song is followed by “Signs of Life,” an upbeat track about the search for meaning in a pleasure-driven society. The hand claps and driving bassline help to tune out its gloomy lyrical content.

“Creature Comfort” is a return to the band’s well-molded anthemic sound, and it’s one of the strongest tracks. The lyrics touch on self-hatred and suicide, but seek to reveal the things that make life worth living. “Born in a diamond mine,” the song states. “It’s all around you but you can’t see it.”

However, there are a handful of songs that are unlistenable for long-time fans. From the dub-influenced “Peter Pan,” to the horrible lyrics on “Chemistry” and “Put Your Money On Me,” some tracks feel particularly out of place and uninspired. Additionally, the song “Infinite Content” feels heavy-handed, and “Everything Now (Continued)” feels like it’s just there to remind you that you’re listening to a concept album.  Most of this comes across as filler.

“Everything Now” is a very danceable record. But it feels less realized and less cohesive than anything else Arcade Fire has put out in the past. The closer Arcade Fire gets to dance-rock, the more they sacrifice substance and songwriting.This album ends up being a disappointment, especially considering the band’s capability to record masterpieces such as “Funeral” and “The Suburbs.” Most fans are better off returning to their earlier releases.

Check out the video for “Creature Comfort” below:

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