Big things to come for the Wurlitzer...

This upcoming week is going to offer some slightly broader selections for your reading pleasure as we explore some different content together.

First I plan on introducing a serious look into some of the new comic books/graphic novels as they hit the shelves. Now, before dismissing this venture and myself off into total nerd-dom remember that this is the internet, and us nerds invented it - if you dont like it - shut your damn computer and go play sports or something. Also comic books have grown up over the years, and Stan Lee (god bless his enthusiasm and boundless creativity, but the days of superheroes in comics are very pre-9/11 & pre-summer blockbuster.) is not going to be discussed (sans the aforementioned parenthetical note). This will be a forum on style, narrative, and execution - because, ladies and gentleman, works of thinkers/artists like Adrian Tomine, Frank Miller, Allan Moore, Craig Thompson, Jeffery Brown, and tons more devote so much time and energy to their efforts. The least I can do is afford them my two cents for theirs.

Secondly - for all those who accuse me of dumbing this down- I present to you, in small digestible tid-bits for your consideration, my thoughts on two considerable forces in literature and social critique: Brett Easton Ellis & the late great Fydor Dostoevsky. Look for it beginning next week and continuing on through its shocking conclusion.

So keep your eyes open for those along with regular music posts (which I am also looking to expand with live music coverage [photos & bootleg mp3's & reviews]) and I am always up for submissions/suggestions- this is the interweb after all.

SO I suppose I'll leave you with a taste of what's to come with a fantastically applicable music video by the lovely & kiwi Brunettes. This duo will be featured a little later on in the week and this vid for Her Hairagami Set should pique your interest if they're not on your radar already.

The video follows, in lieu of today's post, a comic book format of paneled action played out by rather cute marionettes. The video also touches on important social issues of the day including school violence and self image issues of the... oh who am I kidding, it's really just a damn good song acted out by some cool puppets.

ENJOY! (song download below the photo and after the jump. This really did become the parenthetical post. go fig.)





Her Hairagami Set

Boadrums 77 Revisited

A couple of months ago in the sweltering heat of july- july 7th to be more exact - the boredoms and about 73 of their closest percussionist friends set up and performed one of the biggest spectacles of the summer/ever. The day of 07.07.07 became a "were you there?" moment for hundreds (many of whom traveled incredible distances to witness it).

I, unfortunately (and unforgivably) had to work that saturday and was screwed out of a chance of a life time. I did however, prior to the event get to witness a rehearsal in a quaint practice space up in harlem with just the boredoms and the 15 drum leaders. While the enormity of 77 is unmatchable, this rehearsal was still incredibly intense and intimate. The creative energy in that room and the volume and energy of the drums was fantastic and beautiful. It had a very organic feel to it as the patterns of banging swirled around the room. I was also unaware of the emmense talent i was in the room with - drummers from lighting bolt, oneida, gang gang dance, and more. It truely was something not to be missed.

and thanks to viva radio (barf. i used to work at american apparel and most of what they play is borderline muzak.) we can all share the experience.

For your viewing pleasure:







PS: I work with this guy Mcswain who proves his awesomeness in this clip:




PPS: Dessert Storm really does kick ass.

Day of Atonement & Strawberry Jam.

I hope all who celebrated had a good yom kipper, and for all you who like me just go for granny's pre/post-fast meals enjoyed them (I haven't fasted at yom kipper for years).

For me it was a time to rediscover the painful consumer mecca of the mall. Living in an urban environment has me accustomed to a more diluted form of capitalism where i need to travel a bit to find what i want, and where i am taken to different neighborhoods and areas to find what i need/want. To travel to a mall, see it looming over the horizon, and walk through a food court and to know there are countless other faceless buildings like this in all directions, sprawling their homogeneous messages of blase spending really makes me worried.

The mall is a place where more and more children spend their days learning to be good americans (consumers) and wasting valuable time and energy on unhealthy food, poor saving habits, retarded trends, and unnatural socializing. The mall is no new image of a sick culture. George Romero's Dawn of the Dead has the living dead wandering their malls much like the were doing when they were just living. Even the name doesn't make sense--- what is a MALL anyway--- and why do they use the same word for that area of political buildings and museums in DC?

It is easy to be suckered in to the their "no interest for 1 year", "one day sale" mentality - but in the end is there one fucking thing you really need from the Sharper Image? I'd love to see some of that useless shit on some painfully impoverished brown family in some country i have trouble pronouncing in which electricity is a far off myth.

Hunter S. Thompson's understanding of the book of Revelations may be more represented through these malls and their signaling, along with the hurricanes, tsunamis, mass corruption, government upheaval, terrorism, and the state of current radio that the end is near.


whew.

well if you've read this whole thing you deserve to be rewarded. The apocalypse isn't really on the horizon- unlike the mall- we are as alive as anyone else who came before us, perhaps more so- and we have Animal Collective who prove that our ears can still be in good hands.

I had heard the hype regarding Strawberry Jam, and questioned its validity, but they guys have truly out done themselves and have crafted a different, energetic effort that begs to be enjoyed. Winter Wonder Land is a good representation of the albums layered psychedelic beauty. The album unfolds for the listener; shedding layer after layer- or conversely works from bare minimum of sounds and texture to towering crescendos.




Enjoy.

Winter Wonder Land

The Black Lips take over the streets...

Tonight in Brooklyn the Black Lips and about 200 kids, weirdos, and general miscreants took to the streets after the Lips played an acoustic set at SoundFix. The set was peppered with circus like interludes in which a burlesque dancing wolfman and girl got things moving to Britney Spears' "Toxic" as well as a full marching band on stage which then took the audience on their parade to the newly opened Music Hall of Williamsburg. The parade took control of the whole street leaving cars slowly following behind the madness. Confetti was strewn into the air a few times on the walk as onlookers gathered on the street to see what the hell all the fuss was about. With horns blaring and drums banging the parade ended at the start of the real show.

It was quite a spectacle and a fun thing to be a part of. To commemorate I'm putting up a classic Lips song that they played in full acoustic glory - Hippie, Hippie, Hoorah.
PS: There were wigs, gold lame tights, and face paint far as the eye could see. grand.



Enjoy!

Hippie Hippie Hoorah

On the Horizon: Devendra Banhart

In a couple weeks freak-folker Devendra Banhart's newest sun bleached, acid washed LP, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (Which was briefly and tentively title "Jewish Anarchy."), hits store shelves. It is a moody, crackly experiment in genre hopping between spanish lyrics against stripped down guitar, to some downright funky material. His signature warble returns in full force, however with a slightly deeper , richer quality to it. The songs are very strong on Smokey... There is the very Jim Morrison soaked Sea Horse... and the little diddy i'm posting out there for ya called "Shabop Shalom." Beginning with a spoken word intro bringing together two star crossed characters --- through Devendra's flowery vocabulary- then the song breaks into its waltzy goodness.

While some may have already written off Devendra as putting out his best material when he was only 21, this record finds him coming into his own and bringing his many influences to the table. I expect Devendra's best is yet to come. [CD Comes out 9/28 - pick it up.]




ENJOY.

SHABOP SHALOM

Song for the day: The Next Best Thing.

For those of you who don't know, Aesop Rock just put out his tightest release to date on Def Jux at the end of last month. None Shall Pass is a real progressive step forward for Aes while much of the content is a reflection of where he's been. The album features tracks laid down by Blockhead and Aesop himself (whose seem to feature some real bass groove provided by the man himself.). This track is called The Next Best Thing and didn't make it on the album but is featured on the Coffee 12" and may sound familiar to those who picked up the 7" collaboration with Jeremy Fish. It's a sweet track featuring Aesop's signature stream of consciousness flow and urgent delivery. Try and keep up- and for those who can- check out his current tour featuring a well synced up video show as well as great support by Rob Sonic.




Enjoy.

THE NEXT BEST THING.

A very eclectic first day on the Blog-o-sphere:

I wonder what place she got?





Gotta dig the slow-mo, multi-angle approach... that way every effect of gravity can be seen on our scantly clad uneven bar champ.


Perhaps a weekly pick of strange porno's would be a nice feature?

Obtuse Thoughts Early in the Day:

He sat under the muted lights of his small windowless room typing away at the keys in front of him. There was an electricity the air. Something beyond the parlance of words. Something that was an invisible presence in the room, like the anticipated ring of a stared at phone.

Still he smacked away at the keys hoping in vain that some answer would reveal itself through the symbols that when placed next to one another, constructed larger representations of objects, ideas and emotions on the screen. How, he wondered while pausing for a moment, could these feelings- this mood- transmit itself through the symbols, which when placed together in just the right way, create these larger representations, be interpreted by another soul, a reader?

Who was he writing for anyway? Does the word hold the key to understanding, and furthermore does that understanding mean anything if it is not read by others? Does the world truly fit into this narrow constraint of standardized communication we have constructed for ourselves? Perhaps. Perhaps just the action of doing was enough. Life through Creation, which sprinkled through the creative unconscious could prove to be strong enough to make a dent. If only on the internet. Suddenly he wasn't so alone in that windowless room.

Hey Drrrtay!

Ahh the smell of fresh blog in the morning. For all intensive purposes this is to be my outlet for daily musings, stumbled upon media that should be shared, photos, songs, and whatever other nonsense flows forth from my brain, out through my finger tips and on to this screen.

In other words a direct link to you from me- and vice versa.


Today i want to share the joy of ridiculous cover songs. Follow the jump to check this bad boy out:

Here's a hint-




enjoy.

Got Yr Money!