Welcome to Downtime: a new series in which we ask our favourite artists for their cultural recommendations. This can be anything – but music. This month, we catch up with Crumb.

The Brooklyn-based band, made up of Lila Ramani, Jesse Brotter, Brian Aronow and Jonathan Gilad, brought their neo-psychedelic visions into focus with their recently-released debut album Jinx. Here, the four-piece take a break from their busy tour schedule to fill us in on what they like to watch in their spare time. From anime parasytes to cave-based blood baths, this is not for the faint of heart.

01

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky

While we were making the music video for Nina, our director, Haoyan of America, showed me this film. It’s sort of the archetype for all things surreal, kind of like a music video without the music – just one big image jumble of symbols. The film drags the viewer through highly-choreographed, uncomfortable scenes that keep you in a constant state of unease. I think John Lennon and Yoko Ono threw down some production money and George Harrison was supposed to play Jesus in this.

– Jesse Brotter

02

Parasyte (1990)

By Hitoshi Iwaaki

As someone who tried to kamehameha his first grade Jewish studies teacher, you could say that anime has shaped my imagination. I still love animated action, but find it difficult to enjoy as an adult. Enter Parasyte, a show recommended to me by our sound engineer’s band, Twin Seas. Parasyte tells the story of Shinichi, a timid high schooler who is infected by a sentient parasite that takes control of his arm. As he learns to relinquish control to the creature, he gains strength and confidence at the cost of emotivity. Each fight scene is fresh, and the sci-fi elements evolve until the very end. This show put me back on the anime saddle.

– Jonathan Gilad

03

The Descent (2005)

Dir. Neil Marshall

Over the winter, my friends and I would get together every few weeks and watch horror movies. This was by far the most beautiful and terrifying one we watched. It tells the story of a group of women that go spelunking and get trapped down in a cave where they have some deeply disturbing encounters. There’s a truly iconic shot of one of the women lifting her head out of a pool of blood that will forever be etched in my brain.

– Lila Ramani

Jinx is out now via Crumb Records.

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