Not to be confused with Crystal Castles, Crystal Stilts, or Twin Crystals, Long Beach, CA's Crystal Antlers are set to leave the fair-weathered West Coast for possibly more hot and humid pastures. Following a few solo tour dates in the American Southwest, the chaotic five-piece will hook up with the Fuck Yeah Tour (Matt & Kim, Team Robespierre, The Death Set, Dan Deacon and more) in Tennessee and join the travelling schizo party until it brings havoc to the East Coast in early July. Upon reaching our muggy coast, Crystal Antlers [...]
It all started with the sale of a bike. After moving from East Africa to East London in 1999, Esau Mwamwaya ran a second-hand furniture store down the street from ghettopop duo Radioclit's studio. The story goes that one of the Radioclit guys bought a bike off of Esau and later invited him to one of their housewarming parties, where they "made friends" and the rest was history. Nearly a year later, Esau is primed to release his debut Radioclit-produced long player on a label TBA. Growing up in Malawi's capitol, Lilongwe, [...]
I got into a conversation over the weekend about which weather I would rather have to deal with: a) bitter cold or b) heat and humidity. It's a no brainer for me, I'll take the bitter bitter cold any day over this hot and humid as fuck weather we've been experiencing the last couple of days. It causes me to shut down and not want to leave the confines of air conditioned spaces. That said, I'd like to thank everyone who braved the dirty heat last night and came out for the 30th FRICTION show [...]
The Puritans are coming (and so is a heatwave)! FRICTION returns to Music Hall of Williamsburg this Sunday with the trance-inducing post-punk Brits These New Puritans . Supporting will be Brooklyn faves School of Seven Bells and shoegaze darlings Soundpool . Effi Briest had to cancel this show because they are still busy in the studio on a new record. However, the lineup hasn't lost a beat with the addition of New York City's Soundpool, who we've been crushing on since hearing their second album, Dichotomies & Dreamland , earlier [...]
Oh brother. Justin will probably get one of these so it can go along with his U2 Ipod, he loves Joy Division (he has a framed photo of Ian Curtis next to his bed). New Order was always the better band anyways. To me Joy Division is as overrated as Radiohead. I can't lie though, I wouldn't mind seeing the documentary to see what all the hype is about. I'll also take one of these Zunes if Microcock wants to give me one for free. [...]
Washington, D.C. area indie rock act, Unrest , were a band I first heard about in my teenage years from the inevitable source that most teens in my situation discovered interesting music, MTV's 120 minutes. Today, that station holds about as much worth as the steamy pile of warm shit I pick up off the sidewalk every morning after my dog generously leaves it there for me. But, back then, it played a significant part in what I listened to, kinda like how everyone gets a big veiny hard-on every time a Pitchfork staffer graces a record [...]
GET HYPE! Southend, UK's These New Puritans are bringing their trance-inducing post-punk across the pond in their first U.S. tour, which includes a stop in Brooklyn to play FRICTION at Music Hall of Williamsburg! The show also marks the quartet's New York City debut. Two of Brooklyn's most ambitious bands, the futuristic psych trio School of Seven Bells and the mystical dub wielding Effi Briest , round out the bill. Brooklyn, by way of DC, by way of France, Anicet , spins between sets. [...]
Lo-fi glitchy dance imprint Audio Dregs ' recent double negatively-titled, Ambient Not Not Ambient is an excellent compilation of contemporary artists take on sound art. The comp, curated by Portland's ERock and Strategy's Paul Dickow (and mastered by Kranky and Carpark's Greg Davis), is an outsider's take on ambient music done by a solid contingent of seventeen genre-bending bands. Glancing over the tracklist reveals an impressive list of names: Yellow Swans, White Rainbow, WZT Hearts, Grouper, Lucky Dragons, Valet, Ratatat's EVax and more paint a cohesive, unified soundscape from beginning to [...]
Have you ever been in mid-flight just before sunrise? Gazing out of one of those little porthole windows of the jet as the sky above the cloud canopy gets painted with a swath of orange as the sun crowns on the horizon. The once dark clouds take on hues of cool blues and warm reds, yellows, and oranges, as the sun glistens off the metallic wings of the plane. It's one of the most gorgeous views and for a moment all your stresses and worries float away like the water vapor beneath you. Fitting music further [...]
Thanks to everyone who made it out to last night's festive affair. Big thanks to Dark Meat, Ex Models, and The Naked Heroes for being a part of FRICTION. If you live in or around Philly, be sure to catch Dark Meat's two final shows of their tour tonight at Space 1026 and Johnny Brenda's. They're a live act not to miss. Pics will be uploaded to Flickr later today. FRICTION returns to Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday, June 8th with These New Puritans , School of Seven [...]
Video for Tickley Feather 's scratchy bedroom track "Fancy Walking" features Philly favorite Annie Sachs tapping her toes around the occasional appearance of a tabby cat. Tickley Feather plays the POPPED! Music Festival in Philadelphia on June 22nd with Daniel Johnston and FRICTION at NYC's Cake Shop on June 29th with Crystal Stilts, Rings, and PWRFL Power. [MP3]: Tickley Feather "Fancy Walking" Tickley Feather, Paw Tracks; 2008
Verve Records might just be sitting on one of the most desired jazz and blues vocal collections from the 50s and 60s containing records from artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Marlena Shaw and others. Every few years or so, Verve dives into their vaults and gives modern DJs and producers a shot to remix and rework some of the best jazz music in history. Since its debut in 2002, Verve // Remixed has paired the world's most preeminent DJs and producers with some of the greatest [...]
GET HYPE! FRICTION kicks off Summer at Music Hall of Williamsburg TOMORROW NIGHT with an incredibly festive lineup featuring Athens, GA's wildly eclectic collective Dark Meat along with Brooklyn's avant-garde outfit Ex Models , and in your face rockers The Naked Heroes . Be sure to come out early for this solid bill and take advantage of Music Hall's happy-hour starting at 6pm! Tix available now / Doors @ 8pm / flyer, mp3s + more below [...]
[MP3]: The Kinks "Waterloo Sunset" Something Else by the Kinks, Pye NPL/Reprise; 1967
There's something to be said about the consistentency of interesting artwork from a band. Although it's not as important as the band's music or live show, it's key to create a visual image aside from the music for listeners to latch onto. Some bands manage to do this incredibly well, take Peter Saville and Factory Records for example, his designs weren't that complex, but fit the music he created them for perfectly. One of my favorite designs of his is the cover for the 123 Single of New Order's " Ceremony " (Fac. [...]
From a childhood favorite to influencing the music I listen to today, the 8-bit processor has been with me in one form or another since my 1st Grade Social Studies class. The Famicom, Atari, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega, and groups like Crystal Castles all share something in common, that little processor that has powered favorite games like Super Mario Brothers , Tecmo Super Bowl , Contra , and ExciteBike (click those links to play). Over the years, advances in computer chip techonlogy have rendered the processor pretty much obsolete (I think). [...]
If I still lived at my old place in New York, this is something I would have jumped on in a mirco-second. Granted you can see most Jean Luc Godard new wave films via Netflix, but nothing compares to seeing them on a big screen in the cinema. Ray recently made me aware that Film Forum is showing a selection of Godard's films from the 60s and I'm kicking myself for not being able to be there to see them. Screenings started on May 2nd with the Godard's brilliant Breathless [...]
Philly's Pink Skull (aka Julian S. Process and Justin Geller) are having a solid 2008. Following the release of their stellar and diverse debut LP, Zeppelin 3 , they unleash one of the best remixes for HEALTH's soon to be released HEALTH//DISCO remix album. Process and Gellar do justice to the FRICTION alums' track "Heaven" and spin it into a dark dance-inspired late-night rager. "Heaven" is given a sturdy thumping beat and other electronic flairs, while entrancing vocals bubble up to the surface from the noise and lure [...]
Lucky Dragons remind me of a West Coast version of Brooklyn's High Places on their new album Dream Island Laughing Language . The Los Angeles duo of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara (and the occasional collaborators) has been making music since 2000 and has seven albums and something like 18 releases under their belts, so maybe the comparison should be the other way around. Dream Island marks one of the unusual instances in the group's discography where the band made the decision to craft and album consisting [...]
Tonight kicks off NY Design Week and there are tons of events happening all over the City. The celebration centers around the 20th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javits Center (May 17-19). Over 50 design firms, magazines, and retailers — including Vitra, ID, Surface, and Kartell — host parties around Manhattan and Brooklyn. Events are open to the public unless otherwise noted. Core 77 has put together an easy to use list of exhibits and parties. Bring on the free drinks!
Friction NYC
Avicii – Two Million
Video: M83 – “Reunion”
Check Out: Los Campesinos! – “Tiptoe Through the True Bits”
