
There was a time when I was very partial to San Fran band Film School, almost to the point where they had ascended the prejudices and downright snobbery that are the peaks of my mount tastebuds. But then they made the fatal mistake of disappearing and returning with a diluted effort and with that their lustre waned. I’m a terror for that old adage - ‘I prefer their older stuff’ - and in this instance I am not using it as a way to signal my superior ear to the groundism. For it is in fact true. Anyway on a [...]

Singer-bassist Lorelei Plotczyk knows her way around the moody shoegazers — she handled those duties for the Los Angeles incarnation of Bay Area-bred Film School . Now based in San Diego, she's fallen in with singer-keyboardist Susie Ghahremani (formerly of the Boston-area indie-pop band Snoozer), singer-guitarist Itai Faierman (The Mashtis, Mu) and drummer Luis Galvan (Galactic Club) as Bulletins . The quartet's first two demos play right to their stated influences: ’90s U.K. indie. "Narc" and its slippery synth are not about drugs — it's short for "narcissist"— and "Heart of Hearts" suggests some early Metric. The tones [...]

Sofia Talvik's Xmas Calendar, window 8 A couple of years ago I wrote a soundtrack to a Swedish short film called "Vit som snö" or "White as snow" in English. Neither the movie or the song is made for Christmas, but the lead motive could actualy pass for one of my Christmas songs, so I decided to share a download with you, as well as the short film (which unfortunately doesn't have any English subtitles). Click the player below to listen or download here: http://soundcloud.com/makakimu sic/vit-som-sn [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Film School, Autolux Song: Girls Names - The New Life [download here ] What's so good? While Belfast-based Girls [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: SIIVB, My Bloody Valentine Song: Teen Daze - Union (Ft. Frankie Rose) [download here ] What's so good? Hands [...]

Greg Bertens and Nyles Lannon have taken off in a new direction, and they didn't even start in the same room. Mates in the shoegazing rock outfit Film School, Bertens and Lannon are now collaborating on electronic music as Sacred Caves . They weren't even in the same city when they wrote their debut EP "Sanctuarium," (which drops July 31 on hausKAT Records). The new project from L.A.-based Bertens and San Francisco-based Nyles Lannon was conceived via e-mails, FTP and Dropboxes, and the duo's first offering of creation, "On the Outside," is perfect for those summer electro mixtapes. They [...]
My coworkers are typically too annoyed by his voice for me to play him out loud, but ever since he floored me with a snarling performance of "Positive Jam" when opening for Les Savy Fav back in 2004 , Craig Finn's lyrics have been ones that I give my full and undivided attention to. One of my favorite Hold Steady lines is in "Multitude of Casualties": We heard the deacon's hopeful eulogy At least in dying you don't have to deal with new wave for a second time In reality, [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Strange Birds, Doves, Film School Song: Weird Dreams - House Of Secrets [download here ] What's so good? Beautiful [...]
Film School alum Nyles Lannon and current vocalist/guitarist Greg Bertens dropped a new single through Interview mag today as Sacred Caves , and it’s really good. “On the Outside” is more electronic-driven then you’d anticipate from two gentlemen who specialize in big hooks and textured guitar blasts while in Film School, but the transition into more digital and rhythmic territory is very refreshing and insanely catchy. Free download at the duo’s Soundcloud page with a forthcoming four-song EP entitled Sanctuarium on July 31.

Director Martin Scorcese sat down for a four hour interview with Fast Company and made so many movie references throughout that the magazine compiled all of the movies mentioned into one alphabetical list and then included a postscript of that film's relevance to Scorsese and his work or Scorsese's own feelings on that particular film. What Fast Company ended up producing was an 85 film master class provided by arguably the greatest film director that's ever lived. What's most interesting to me is the number of Robert Altman movies mentioned, which could be an [...]

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO seijun suzuki is my favorite song of Blue Scholars last project, "Metropolis" is great to see equally awesome visuals, attached to the dope sounds. This video was filmed in Los Angeles on October 15 and 16 during the Southern California leg of the Cinemetropolis tour. We had been talking with our guy Jon Jon Augustavo for over a year about collaborating on a music video sometime before he finishes film school and blows the f up. [...]

Blogophilia 21 Songs from Blogs: July 5, 2010 – August 31, 2010 Ripped at 320 kbps VBR Gapless Mix Download All Files in One Zip TRACKLIST 01 Intro – Weak Soul Patch 02 Night and Day – Chief 03 Justine – Unicycle Loves You 04 No One's Fucking to the Radio – The Streets on Fire [...]
From the students at The Film School of Scottsdale Community College who brought us Portgual. The Man ’s first ever video for AKA M80 The Wolf back in 2006, we present their video for P.TM ’s “So American”. Much more abstract than the original , their video includes disintegrating cops, burly beards, hipster color schemes, pools of milk and lead singer John Gourley in full make-up, which creepily mirrors Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka in the 2005 remake. Also, Gourley is rocking a clean shave - he must be too busy to realize we finally [...]
Hello, all. What's shakin'? I've been burning the midnight oil to get through the last of the summer releases. This is the best of the lot. A little something here for almost everyone. I'll be back soon with a few surprises. As always, thanks for reading. Out... AMH Film School, Fission (Hi-Speed Soul) On this album the atmospherics of San Francisco's Film School (Greg Bertens/Lorelei Ployczyk/Jason Ruck/Dave Dupuis/James Smith) p...

It's been some time since I've posted on this blog and I am happy that topomodesto gave me the opportunity to put together a mix. In the face of algorithm driven mix generation I hope that there continues to be interest in crafting diverse listening experiences. What may start as a matter of convenience easily translates into common practice. Collecting and orchestrating music samples into coherent ideas may be perfected by professional dj's, but I find my interests don't take root until I search out the connections between songs and artists myself. And this invariably leads [...]

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen arena. // Words: Saam Das This (short) history of computer-generated characters in movies starts with its beginnings in stop motion animation, popularised by the likes of Ray Harryhausen before focussing more heavily on the likes of Industrial Light & Magic upto WETA Digital 's work on 'Avatar' . Watch below. [...]
It's almost hard to believe that it is summer here in northern California and the Pacific Northwest, because it has been unusually cool, and even rained (which almost never happens in the Bay Area during summer). One of the best things about summer is taking trips to the beach. We're blessed with being only a [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
It's almost hard to believe that it is summer here in northern California and the Pacific Northwest over the past week. But the unusually cooler temperatures, and even rain (which is almost non-existent in California in summer). Nevertheless, the rest of the country is enjoying the summer, and it'll soon be returning to these parts. [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe

Film School 101 highlights overlooked aspects of film and television to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the screen arena. Well, that's the idea anyway. Words: Saam Das Watching 'Beverly Hills Cop II' the other night reminded me about a brilliant little video on the art of foley - which is the way sound effects are produced for film and television productions. Watch the video below, which features foley artist Gary Hecker [...]