- Sally Shapiro - "Time to Let Go" (Lindstrom Remix) - The sensations of a summer weekend walk thru Prospect Park: Enveloping heat and green. Distant drums on the breeze. A slow-building wave of bliss. Lindstrom's cosmic rework of this whispery disco track makes it even dreamier, as shards of funk guitar and synth shimmer like sunlight off a lake, and two alternating notes are enough to suspend time.
Here are 2 short and lo-fi (but fun) YouTube clips of Chromeo in performance, adding their talkbox magic to a couple of covers: Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and 2Pac's "California Love".
posted by Maximus |
10:44 am EST |
2008.06.11 |
link
________________
MADE YOU PRISONER INSIDE YOUR OWN FREQUENCY
»General
The Guardian's profile of Ladytron covers the band's record label woes, their international following, and the emotional essence that animates their icy sound:
The key to Ladytron, though, isn't technology, it's songs. Their topics suggest a yearning for a future sanctuary from the past, but they insist this isn't because they're "sci-fi" - it's more about their songs' human core.
Aroyo sings two tracks in her native Bulgarian on Velocifero, and calls Ladytron's new album folk music. "We're just writing about what we know, and it happens that we're surrounded by technology. Certain technological objects didn't exist 60 years ago as they do now, so all we're doing is building them into our songs." She smiles. "So to me, our songs are like fairytales."
Tickets for Ladytron's June 25 show at Terminal 5 in NYC are still available here.
posted by Maximus |
4:35 pm EST |
2008.06.04 |
link
I thought the uptick in good Mexican food in NYC was due to illegal immigration. But Idle Words offers a more entertaining story:
Who can imagine New York City without the Mission burrito? Like the Yankees, the Brooklyn Bridge or the bagel, the oversize burritos have become a New York institution. And yet it wasn’t long ago that it was impossible to find a good burrito of any kind in the city.
As the 30th anniversary of the Alameda-Weehawken burrito tunnel approaches, it’s worth taking a look at the remarkable sequence of events that takes place between the time we click “deliver” on the burrito.nyc.us.gov website and the moment that our hot El Farolito burrito arrives in the lunchroom with its satisfying pneumatic hiss. ...
Taqueria owners have tried hard to cope with the additional demand, but even they admit that it can get hectic. “The New York metro area has fifteen million people,” explains Javier Corrientes, manager of Cancun Burrito on Valencia Street. “San Francisco is barely a tenth of that size. You got all those people out drinking on a Friday night who want a burrito at ten o’clock, just when the dinner rush is starting here, there’s no way we can keep up.”
posted by Maximus |
10:04 am EST |
2008.05.23 |
link
The WFMU blog has unearthed a great circa-1982 clip from a dance party program called The Scene, which aired for many years on a local TV station in Detroit:
I like the retro styles and moves of the kids -- mostly black, Jheri-curled, and dressed to kill (but don't miss the swivel-hipped Napoleon Dynamite lookalike at 3:00). But I really dig the music they're getting down to.
"Sharevari" is a classic: arguably the first Detroit techno record, and a key part of the transatlantic exchange that created modern electronic dance music. In it, you can hear the Kraftwerk and Moroder that the producers had clearly been steeping in.
But you can also hear the many Italo-disco records to come that would cop its Eurotrash-in-deep-space vibe. (For a long time, the singer's cheesy fake accent and broken English had me fooled into thinking this was an actual Italo track.)
And you can recognize the blueprint of almost three decades of hard, dark, late-night floor-fillers that have followed since.
Initial impressions: Solid, familiar. Their trendy French producer didn't take them in any shockingly new directions. I do hear some interesting gated drum sounds -- along the same lines as what Portishead's been playing around with lately.
posted by Maximus |
3:18 pm EST |
2008.05.09 |
link
________________
WIR FAHREN FAHREN FAHREN AUF DER AUTOBAHN
»General
The Eclectric Company, Shakey and Moldover present:
WARPER + SPLICE = OVERLOAD!!!
THURSDAY APRIL 24th
at THE TANK NYC
2 floors of biomorphic musicians, eclectic electronics, & multimedia meltdown
Splice celebrates 2 years of bringing live and eclectic electronic music to NYC -- by joining forces with the Warper crew, for one amazing night of audiovisual excess!
PLUS: DJ Maxx Klaxon spins new and classic electronic sounds all night!
7pm - 1am
$10 at the door
$7 with RSVP (contact splice.nyc@gmail.com by 4pm Thursday)
$5 with Bent Festival hand stamp
ALL AGES!
21+ to drink
The Tank at Collective: Unconscious
279 Church St. btw. Franklin & White
A, C, E, J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, Z, or 6 to Canal Street
1 to Franklin St.
212.563.6269
www.thetanknyc.org
posted by Maximus |
11:38 pm EST |
2008.04.21 |
link
After last night's Democratic debate -- which opened with almost an hour of asinine questions about flag pins, the word "bitter", Reverend Wright, etc. -- Obama explained this morning how he deals with the haters:
Here's a screening I've put together in conjunction with the Monkeytown guys. Sorry for the short notice...
Monkey Town presents:
Silent Films + Unique Instruments Festival Battleship Potemkin and Metropolis
7:30 PM: BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN
Sergei Eisenstein's BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925, 73 mins.) is a dramatized account of a mutiny by oppressed sailors on board a Russian warship. Its bold visual compositions and provocative storytelling made it an instant classic; eight decades later, it still stands as a powerful propaganda piece and a stunning work of avant-garde filmmaking. This screening features the electronic/orchestral score composed in 2005 by the Pet Shop Boys, and recorded by them with the Dresden Sinfoniker Orchestra.
10:00 PM: METROPOLIS
Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS (1927/1984, 80 mins.) blended Art Deco futurism, shameless melodrama, class struggle, and a sexy robot into a science fiction masterpiece. Much footage from the 210-minute original has been lost forever; this restored and "enhanced" (with color tinting) version was released by electro-disco producer Giorgio Moroder in the mid-'80s. Moroder also produced the soundtrack, which features Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler, Jon Anderson, and other New Wave-era rockers. A heady mixture of cinematic art and pop kitsch.
Sunday, April 13
Admission: Free ($10 drink/food minimum)
Showtimes: 7:30 and 10pm
Reservations are recommended (718.384.1369)
Monkeytown
58 N 3rd St
(btw. Kent & Wythe)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn Map
posted by Maximus |
2:15 pm EST |
2008.04.13 |
link
Simian Mobile Disco gives a video tour of their stage setup:
Lots of cool gear, arranged on a circular table which they move around while performing. Money quote: "The whole idea, really, was that we'd try and create a kind of TARDIS type thing for us to mess around in..."
[The director] told them, “I’m not laughing at you, this isn’t going to be a piss-take joke video.” We talked with [him] and said, you know, “We trust you, ...you go, do it.” At first the people in the village weren’t happy with him filming because they had heard about “Borat.” Eventually through interpreters he explained himself that what he wanted to do was respectful.
posted by Maximus |
12:40 pm EST |
2008.04.08 |
link
The Sharper Image catalog listing makes it clear that this is not a real musical instrument:
With the beamz, there should be no performance anxiety at all because — whichever beam you break, in whatever sequence — your music is guaranteed to be harmonious. All discordant chords and sour notes have been programmed out so everyone plays great.
Basically, the software chooses the notes and sounds, with the user merely controlling (to some degree) the timing.
Unfortunately, the video gives the impression that all the music this thing comes preprogrammed with is utter shite. And the people "playing" it look like big dorks.
Perhaps there's a way to adapt/abuse/hack this device into producing some interesting sounds (does it output MIDI signals?)... but for $600, I'd rather buy some real music gear instead.
posted by Maximus |
5:54 am EST |
2008.04.05 |
link
[A]s the House of Representatives voted this week to speed up the visa approval process for some foreign artists and entertainers, the heads of arts organizations said attention was finally being paid to the real problem: the time, money and complexity involved in getting visas for lower-profile artists, including dancers, singers, musicians and actors.
“It has become a huge burden,” said Nigel Redden, director of the Lincoln Center Festival, the renowned arts showcase that this summer will bring together 57 performances and events from nine countries. ...
“We’re turning the United States into fortress America,” Mr. Redden said. “It turns everyone into an enemy. It loses us friends around the world and respect around the world.”
Now, those seeking entry must run a bureaucratic gantlet that can include having to establish their artistic credentials, hire a lawyer, pay visa fees and visit a United States embassy or consulate. ...
Once the application is made, the Homeland Security Department is supposed to act within two weeks, but recently it almost never has; in the worst cases, getting an answer takes as long as six months, arts organizations said. So-called premium processing is available to expedite an application, at a cost of $1,000 for each petitioner. ...
Matthew Covey, executive director of Tamizdat, a nonprofit group that helps artists get visas, said the House bill was a step in the right direction. Emerging artists without much money or the organizational skills to get together a visa application are the ones especially hurt by the visa labyrinth.
“An awful lot of musicians don’t make a lot of money,” he said. “They are looking to break even, to promote their work. Most musicians need to expedite their visas because many clubs book six to eight weeks in advance.”
And American audiences may never know what they are missing.
The new bill isn't perfect -- it only applies to non-profit arts groups, so individual artists who don't have a non-profit to bring them over are still out of luck. But it's a step in the right direction.
Previously: M.I.A. was denied a visa in 2006; Ellen Allien was denied one in 2004.
posted by Maximus |
2:00 am EST |
2008.04.04 |
link
This Tuesday, join us for an evening with former BUST columnist Janice Erlbaum, whose new book, HAVE YOU FOUND HER, is a psychologically captivating follow-up to GIRLBOMB: A HALFWAY HOMELESS MEMOIR, and Ed Hamilton, author of LEGENDS OF THE CHELSEA HOTEL: LIVING WITH THE ARTISTS AND OUTLAWS OF NEW YORK'S REBEL MECCA.
Before and after the reading, DJ Maxx Klaxon (Splice, Popular Front Records) spins sublime electro, subversive pop, and subterranean rock.
Janice Erlbaum + Ed Hamilton
with DJ Maxx Klaxon
@ Rapture Café & Books
200 Avenue A
(between 12th & 13th Sts.)
Tuesday, March 24, 2008
8 pm - 10 pm
Free
posted by Maximus |
1:54 am EST |
2008.03.25 |
link
The characters in his stories were, like their creator, always polite and well-spoken, with a dry, understated British wit. Sometimes it seemed that Clarke was almost incapable of writing a truly angry character, which dulled the sense of human conflict in his work (but there were plenty of extraterrestrial perils to make up for it).
The science was always rigorous -- his "hard SF" approach avoided space opera for a sober grounding in plausibility. But what made his work truly special was its sense of cosmic perspective: the awe, tinged with loneliness, that his protagonists experienced before the grandeur and strangeness of the universe. Clarke was non-religious, but his writing was saturated with a sense of the spiritual.
from 
and 
), then moving on to his novels (including 
, 
, 
, and, belatedly, the chilling 
).
