Me, Teddy, and Paul are out here in my home state of Texas gettin' hype for SXSW 2008! Here are a couple shots from the first day (Wednesday, March 12th). Mostly street shots and one of Cut Copy , the best live act I've seen so far. Been gettin' too krunk to take a decent picture.
It's no secret that Joy Division is one of my serious crushes and over the past few years I've collected a bunch of covers done by all sorts of different bands since the early 80s. The ten tracks below represent some of my favorite covers, with my pick of the lot being the hazy laid-back Galaxie 500 rendering of "Ceremony." I actually prefer the song to the Joy Division and New Order versions, it's slowed down but still retains the elegiac feeling of the original. Another highlight is Skog's (a previous incarnation of [...]
I had a chance to check out favorites The Cribs in Houston the night before I head to Austin for SXSW. The guys played a raucously fun, but at times sloppy hour and fifteen minute set. They play many more shows at SXSW and are definitely worth seeing again and again. More pics on Flickr .
We were going to do one of those mixtapes we typically do on this site to welcome Spring, but with fellow contributors out climbing mountains , moving, having kids, and getting all important at work, it's been tough to pull something together this month. Every year there seems to be a certain track that wakes me up from the cold and darkness of winter and thanks to "springing forward" on Sunday I've been getting even more excited for warmer weather. On my walk home yesterday, I noticed trees budding, the sun shining, and even a group of [...]
Awesome instrumental 8===D/metal rock is how I would categorize Chicago's Russian Circles . These guys are on the top of my list of the many bands I am anticipating to check out during SXSW. They sound like the bullying elephant that marches in the room and pisses these huge and heavy drums and basslines with a shake of big-ass riffs on you. If you didn't get that, how about; this would be the perfect soundtrack for one of those action flicks where the good guys strap on their guns or swords [...]
Aw shit! Better pack up those earplugs, Immodium, and Emergen-C's because the 2008 SXSW Music Festival is just 2 days away. I'm pussing out for the second year in a row, but in classic form, Nghia, Paul, and Theo will be representing FRICTION NYC down in Austin this year (I wouldn't expect too much coverage though - HA!). I think this is Nghia's like umpteenth year in a row or something, seems like the fool has been going since he was a toddler. Anyway, insead of highlighting the typical buzzed about indie/blog/cock/ rock acts [...]
New York City playboy and FRICTION contributor/photographer, Pat, recently came back from a trip to Africa. While he was there the crazy fool decided it would be a good idea to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro . Luckily, he made it and is back at home in Queens in one piece. In his own words, Pat describes his feelings at Uhuru Peak , the highest point in Africa. Despite my smile, I was terribly unhappy at the peak. My body shutdown due to the lack of oxygen. I wouldn't have [...]
The last time we checked in with Violens , the group had just played their first live show and made available an unmastered version of their psychedelic pop gem "Violent Sensation Descends." The New York-based five-piece consisting of keyboardist Iddo Arad, bassist Ben Brantley, Jorge Elbrecht on vocals/lead guitar, Jay Israelson, and drummer Kris King has just dropped the mastered edition of the song and are kicking off a tour supporting Montreal's Handsome Furs. The band also has a couple of new tracks up on their MySpace page including the ringing and melodic [...]
GET HYPE! Toronto's Crystal Castles , along with Los Angeles quartet HEALTH , and New York's Team Robespierre and Apache Beat are set to turn the next installment of FRICTION into a balls-to-the-motherfucking-wal l dance party. Expect a night of dizzying strobe lights, throbbing basslines, blasts of noise, tropical and psychedelic freak-outs, and plenty of ruckus as these four acts bring hype to the Mercury Lounge on March 26th . Dayton Ohio's very own, Ruckus Roboticus will be laying down tracks between sets. [...]
According to the Philadelphia quartet, Cheers Elephant , the first elephant to arrive in America had the knack of being able to open beer bottles and drink their contents. The elephant developed this ability because the Derby-owned ship carrying him (I'm assuming it was a male elephant) was lacking in potable water, and in turn, the only thing left for the elephant to drink was dark beers. The poor bugger got hooked on the bottle and became written off as a sideshow. After discovering the elephant's "talent," the ship-owner, Captain Jacob Crowninshield charged spectators [...]
FRICTION alum Bell is set to self-release their six-song debut EP, titled just that, EP , as a digital download early this spring. I've been spinning the EP over the last couple of weeks and the demo work that we've heard from the band over the last few years has expanded into a solid, sparkling cohesive EP. A long time favorite Bell track "Echinacea" receives a shiny new makeover on the EP. The new version begins with chopped samples of a crowd cheering, handclaps, and bouncy IDM beats before the introduction of front-girl [...]
Shopping carts. Who would ever think that a shopping cart could mean more than just that, a shopping cart? They're simply designed to gather and transport groceries, housing goods, etc. But, seeing this video of Beach House 's "Heart of Chambers" from their excellent sophomore effort, Devotion , reminds me of a lot more than going to the market. Devotion ( buy ) is out now on Carpark . [MP3]: Beach House "Heart of Chambers" [...]
Most of the tattoos that grace my winter ravaged skin were inspired by old-school tattoo legends Sailor Jerry (aka Norman Keith Collins) and Bert Grimm. I've been fascinated with the Hawaiian-based tattoo artist's Japanese influenced art for the better part of the last 5 years and was psyched to see that Philly filmmaker Erich Weiss will be premiering his Sailor Jerry documentary, Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry this year at the SXSW Film Conference and Festival . Read some more about the tattoo legend and check [...]
I felt ancient standing among the crowd at the St. Vincent/Foreign Born/Pattern Is Movement show at the First Unitarian Church last night. Looking around I realized that I was 10-years senior (or more) to over half of the crowd, which pretty much filled a good portion of the room (Paul, this should make you feel really old, HA!). Shit, there was even an 8-10 year old kid in there who rolled right up front with his parents looking dapper in his suit and all. Must have been first communion, bible night, or some shit upstairs [...]
Simple and Beautiful. Take a look here . Plus check out his colorful photos of my people in Vietnam on Flickr . Polaroid is gonna stop making instant film so stock up for forever. [MP3]: La Scala "Parallel Lives" The Harlequin; Highwheel Records 2008 Sounds like nice strange mix of stellastarr* and Gogol Bordello. [...]
I've been spinning Monitor's LP The Voices And Drums Of Africa , a lot recently. It's a record I picked up at Philly's Beautiful World Syndicate and features 18-tracks that focus on various African artists like Mouangue and his African Ensemble doing music of Cameroon; Kante Facelli and his African Ensemble doing music of Dahomey, Niger and Guinea; and Keita Fodeba and his African Ensemble doing music of Guinea and Casamance. I mention the record because it served as a nice transition into listening to The Ruby Suns [...]
Yeah British Sea Power 's new album Do You Like Rock Music? is pretty much BA. As in Bad @ss. Their third full-length has been getting constant play everyday since released a couple of weeks ago. I think BSP is literally the best name in music today (behind Depeche Mode of course) plus lead singer Yan is one of my favorite voices ever. The sweeping epic sounds contained within fierce guitars and volatile vocals are back. While at times their second album was unlistenable, lets not make [...]
LTM has announced the release of the first ever "Best Of" compilation from Section 25 . The comp is titled Dirty Disco (1978-2008) and set to be released on March 31st. The cult group that was initially mentored by Joy Division went on to release four albums on the Factory Records imprint between 1980 and 1986. The albums received production from Factory alums like Martin Hannett and Bernard Sumner, along with Ian Curtis/Rob Gretton produced singles. Much like labelmates the Durutti Column, A Certain [...]
Get HYPE!!! SXSW 2008 is coming up around the corner and I cannot wait for my sixth year in a row. I'll be adding free party information to this page as I get them so keep an eye out. Party throwers get in touch, invites are welcome. click for larger view Mess With Texas 2 is worth being at just for The Breeders alone. Music: The [...]
It's ironic that Nghia sent me an email this morning about Wired's ' Top 10 Holga Photos .' Over the weekend I picked up my Holga for the first time in months which still had a roll of film in it dating back to sometime over the summer. I haven't been using it as much since getting my Lomo LC-A , which is great because it uses 35mm film and is much easier to work with than the Holga (and smaller too). Anyway, after picking up my Holga, I tried to turn [...]
Friction NYC
No Church In The Wild
CHROMATICS "THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME"
Nas - Daughters
The Rains of Castamere by The National
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Avicii – Two Million
Video: M83 – “Reunion”
Check Out: Los Campesinos! – “Tiptoe Through the True Bits”
