Back in 1997 Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian wrote and published what eventually became my favorite Los Angeles guidebook. That book's name was (and is) LA Bizarro . A few years ago on this website I talked to Matt about the original book's undertaking ( fun interview with Matt here ). Since that time the two authors have now revised, updated and significantly expanded that original tome, and their collective output was published by Chronicle Books just this fall. In the 2009 updated edition of LA Bizarro (available at the time of this [...]
Track 6 on Oneohtrix Point Never's Zones Without People is called "Emil Cioran." OPN's Daniel Lopatin said a bit about his interest in Cioran here . I finished the book this morning in the can. Here are some quotes. "I am absolute contradiction, climax of antimonies, the last limit of tension: in me anything is possible, for I am he who at the supreme moment, in front of absolute nothingness, will laugh." "A world full of philosophers, what a terrifying prospect! They should all [...]
Soundcheck is a bi-weekly(ish) concert guide featuring local Denver bands accompanied by a custom audio stream which will allow you to hear the bands before they play their show, similar to a live soundcheck (get it?!?!). It's been a while since I've had the time to curate this column. Soundcheck was popular when it debuted and I felt like I was getting back to the roots of this website, which is to contribute to the already lively arts scene we have here in Denver. Unfortunately, not long [...]
MySpace is over. Traffic is falling. Google's new enhanced music search has pushed my Wikipedia entry further down the page. Why should I care what a bunch og geeks write about me anyway, right? Wrong. First, both MySpace and Wikepdia still get massive amounts of traffic; and to the degree that you can control anything on the net; both offer opportunities for you to shape your own message. Now, add all the new traffic that Google music search is bringing to these sites. MySpace and it's new acquisition iLike [...]
If Chipmunk has seriously been posting suicidal thoughts to Twitter, and it's really because he's having trouble coping with the fame and attention, doesn't running a massive story about it across two pages of The Sun make it worse? Gordon tries to tack on some social conscience at the end: Years ago a young artist would have slowly developed their career. But today they are thrown straight into things. Really? What about Lena Zavaroni? Or Leif Garrett? Or.... who was that chap, the one with the nose, who was in the papers [...]
On a foggy morning recently, I climbed to the top of Doug Sahm Hill. It was just a few days after a bunch of Austin musicians gathered at Antone's to pay respect to the late, great Douglas Wayne Sahm. I didn't go to the concert but I did drop by Austin's new Lady Bird Lake park and took the winding path up to the top of the hill named after this legendary Texas musician. Doug Sahm Not much to see from the top - especially with the fog and all [...]
Shane Sakkeus is busy. Really fucking busy. As one third of design collective Trust Fun! Sakkeus battles psychedelic algorithms in the morning, produces a fashion/comic book hybrid in the afternoon and works for clients such as London Fashion Week and Topshop in the evening. On his lonesome he's a publisher, art director and graphic designer whose current responsibilities include redesigning Oyster Magazine, rebranding Josh Goot and answering way too many questions from Pedestrian. We pestered Shane incessantly to get these answers back but now that we're privy to his workload, the tardiness is completely understandable. Prepare to [...]
Yes, we live in an interesting world. Wonder what a visionary like Jules Verne or H.G. Wells would say if they saw the plugged in, fiber optic-linked, satellite-fed world we live in today. Would the visionary of the Fax machine and the submarine be impressed? Would the predictor of alien technology stare gape-mouthed? A while back, I was asked to write an article on how the internet was influencing new bands and artists. Was the ready access of a history's worth of music a boon to creativity or a bust to commercial overload? [...]
After a summer of hard work, the payoff is here: Flawless Hustle proudly presents Money Isn't Real , our first compilation. If there's one topic that's a constant in Hip-Hop is money. Whether heads are making it, spending it or stealing it, the scene (and our world) is obsessed with money. Hell, one of the reasons people hustle is to get loot, so we ourselves know the power of a dollar, which got us thinking: what the fuck is money, really? It's an interesting concept, and was a great jumping off point for this debut project, so [...]
On October 16th 2009 Jan Moir published an article on Daily Mail questioning the death of Stephen Gately, a pop star singer in Boyzone. The death of Stephen Gately was announced to be from natural causes, but the following morning Jan Moir questioned the real reason behind the death, hinting towards the death being related to Gately being gay. These statements lead to a storm of protest almost immediately after the posting. Over 1,000 complaints were made to the Press Complaints Commission. Brands including Marks & Spencer have asked for their advertisements to be removed on [...]
The rummage through our back pages continues this morning with a rummage...outdoors: (First Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009.) This past December, under the guise of a little experiment here at TVD, I wrote that I, you, we spend an inordinate amount of time by ourselves in our daily lives performing those basic, mundane tasks that are the essence of being human--showering, brushing one's teeth, taking out the garbage...the list goes on. In my teen years which are normally the most [...]
We'd already recorded the FOUND Toad Session earlier this same day, and Honeytrap had just recorded their session with Off the Beaten Tracks . So basically, the sun was baking and we were all absolutely shit-faced. Consequently, to describe the interview as any sort of conversation as opposed to some kind of deranged, cataclysmic cluster-fuck would be to massively flatter it. In all honesty, this is a complete and completely splendid mess - enjoy! Again, all the videos can be seen on the Song, by Toad Vimeo or YouTube pages, and the photo [...]
Michael Hurley plays Mississippi Studios TONIGHT with Jolie Holland. 9 pm. $15. Wahoo! -Ed. Michael Hurley has been writing and recording songs since the early '60's. He was born in Pennsylvania, lived in Vermont for twenty years, and currently resides in Astoria, Oregon. He has made up a lot of songs, forgotten a lot of songs, made up better ones, forgotten those, and then remembered them again. If you haven't heard his own recordings you might have heard one of his songs covered by Cat Power, who recorded two of his tunes on [...]
A week ago my mate LOTEK and I had the pleasure of seeing BURNS and DEADMAU5 when they were in Winnipeg. While the opening disc jockey warmed things up I asked the promoter if I could say hi to Burns and thank him for the guestlist spot. I didn't make arrangements for an interview so I didn't bother bringing anything to record the chat but as it turned out, I really wish I did. The 23-year-old remained refreshingly candid, and his personality [...]
We all have enough plenty of mp3's in our collections, but what about books? My Morning Jacket 's Jim James has some recommendations if you're looking for a new read. Be Here Now by Ram Dass (Three Rivers, $15). I was given this book at a point in my life when I needed it most. I digested its meditations on consciousness and spiritual identity, and knew I had met a lifelong friend. "Be here now." What else needs to be said? The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and [...]
It's was a nice surprise to see that this weeks edition of the great magazine The Week featured a list of Jim James' favorite books. James is the frontman of My Morning Jacket, has a side project 'Yim Yames' under which he made a tribute album for George Harrison, and is one of the members of the power-group, Monsters of Folk (with Conor Oberst, M.Ward, and Mike Mogis). Here is the list if you are looking for some book recommendations. I'm actually way behind on reading and could use a recommendation from his recommendation [...]
Fairy tales are usually the stories we grew up with, and by the perpetuation of disney, we take for granted that they're only meant for kids. Jordan Martin is an individual who knows otherwise, and explored the stories written by the brother's grimm and translated them into an EP filled with beautiful, simple melodies and instruments. my favourite track of his EP, grimm's tales for tiny tots, vol. I , is the slightly melancholic the wolf and seven little kids . Folksy at heart, acoustic guitar and banjo [...]
photo: Chris Rushin mule.net Gov't Mule 2009/09/26 The Warfield Theater San Francisco, CA Disc 1: Intro One Of These Days Fearless Wish You Were Here Thorazine Shuffle Kind Of Bird Frozen Fear Brighter Days Like Flies Don't Let It Bring You Down (w/ Jackie Greene) > [...]
It's not very often Shane or myself really wants to give anyone else the chance to talk - especially about music on our own blog - but after the countless hours of work required to get the Mississippi Sheiks tribute record out the door, Steve Dawson has earned a few moments of your time. Plus, with such an amazing collection of artists talking about music that influences them, well, it's better to get the goods right from the horse's mouth. So here is Steve's own two cents on a project that means more to him than [...]
David Byrne talks to New York Magazine about his new book, Bicycle Diaries . Byrne has lent his name and talents to the pro-bicycling movement, speaking at forums and designing a series of whimsical bike racks (one was shaped like a high-heeled shoe, another like a dog) that are installed around town. He can't help but sound evangelical on the subject of biking. "I believe that the exhilaration, freedom, and convenience I experience as I ride around will be discovered by more and more people," he writes [...]
Vampire Weekend - Cousins
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
Bobby B's Top 50 Albums Of The Decade (#25-21)
Tila Tequila NSFW UStream Freak Out (Video)
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
