“Mission to Mars” by One Model Nation appears on Totalwerks Vol. 1 (1969-1977). This track kind of reminds me of Kraftwerk and DEVO quite a bit.
With the forthcoming release of Nneka’s third album, Soul is Heavy, the Nigerian-born and German-based singer/songwriter announced a North American tour throughout March and April. And with that announcement came the release of a really cool remix of “My Home,” the first single which sounds as though it could have come out in 1964. The Coki-Digital Remix reminds me a bit of Major Lazer’s remix of LaRoux — eerie textures and beats seemingly under the influence of methamphetamine.
I came across this song, “Squawk” by the Portland, Oregon-based band, Y La Bamba and instantly fell in love with it. Check out the delicate, beautiful harmonies backed by the Latin/Spanish guitar and rhythms, making the song sound achingly despondent.
This song appears on the band’s second full-length release, Court the Storm which will drop on February 28th via Tender Loving Empire Records.
Recently, I came across a series of photos taken in Brooklyn during the summer of 1974 and of New York in the very early 80s, and the photos show a New York that’s both familiar and alien, all while possessing a stark, almost post apocalyptic beauty. You couldn’t help but think that if civilization were to collapse that it would look a lot like some of the scenery the photographers came across. As I’m quickly approaching the end of my project in another 185 days, I find myself getting a bit philosophical — especially in light of the photos I had seen. Certainly, with the photos of kids playing or mugging for the camera, and of every day people, I see a bit of myself in them, viewing them with a greater sense of gravity, dignity, tenderness and awe. And naturally, I wonder if someone were to stumble upon these photos of New York and of random New Yorkers in 2011-2012 in the year 2057, will those New Yorkers look at us with the same kind of reverence? Would they see their foibles and their own fragility in us? Would they try to superimpose their own familiar New York on to our New York, and still look on in disbelief and wonder?
Looking south on 34th Street and 8th Avenue with Madison Square Garden in the background. As you can kind of see, the Garden is in the middle of some rather extensive (and expensive) renovations.
With the New York Giants in Super Bowl 46, almost everyone in town has gone out of their way to show support with the boys. Honestly, can you get any bigger than a display in Times Square?
Times Square Alliance maintenance men taking a break in their duties to gossip, talk trash and complain. The older man on the right hand side was doing most of the talking while the younger guy on the headphones didn’t seemed too inclined to want to listen.
Two human billboards on the corner of West 46th Street and 7th Avenue share a laugh while trying to entice people to their respective businesses. Even in this brief and very human moment, being a human billboard is a pretty terrible job. They’re usually out there in rain, shine, bitter cold and extreme heat with those signs, attempting to entice business to their employers.
This young woman — we’ll call her Scarlett — was handing out flyers with discount information on tickets for the Broadway musical, Chicago. Her warm, enthusiastic smile conveyed an uncommon friendliness and charm, and it immediately caught my attention, even in the middle of a busy New York street.
For these photos and the rest of the photos of the project up to date, check out the Flickr set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yankee32879/sets/72157626259696549/
I was on YouTube looking for U2 videos when I came across the music video for “Gloria.” Look at how young they were here! After all, the video is almost 30 years old!
I think what makes early U2 so compelling is how absolutely earnest they were. So check the video out, it’ll probably bring back memories of terrible hair and even worse clothing but of music that constantly yearned to make an emotional connection with its audience (for the most part).
Mark Stewart’s forthcoming solo effort, The Politics of Envy will drop on March 26th, and much like his days in the Pop Group and other bands, the message has always been deeply political. “Automania” featuring Bobby Gillepsie of Primal Scream was written about Carlo Guilliani, an autonomous protestor who got killed protesting at the 2001 G8 Conference in Genoa. The song is loud, abrasive, exciting, odd and unlike most of the things you’ll normally hear, and it’s no reason in my mind that The Onion’s AV Club premiered the video.
Bob Boilen at NPR has called Liz Green’s “Hey Joe,” off her debut album, O Devotion!, “a bit of Tom Waits, a bit of Kurt Weill, and certainly an original.” And I think on a certain level he’s right. The track is ethereal and haunting, like a siren in the fog.
Battles recently announced that they’re releasing a 4-part 12” vinyl series. The first disc called Dross Glop 1 will drop on February 7th but check out the b side from it titled, “Sweetie and Shag (The Field Remix).” This track kind of reminds me of “Daddy’s Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car” off U2’s Zooropa.
You can subscribe to the whole series at Bleep.com.
Battles recently announced that they’re releasing a 4-part 12” vinyl series. The first disc called Dross Glop 1 will drop on February 7th but check out the a side from it titled, “Wall Street (Gui Borrato Remix).”
You can subscribe to the whole series at Bleep.com.
NPR’s All Songs Considered First Watch: Video premiered this surreal, apocalyptic video for the Phenomenal Handclap Band’s latest single, “The Right One.” Set to some shiny, disco pop, you’ll see a dying world full of cloning run rampant, menacing obelisks, and Egyptian-inspired imagery. The song like a lot of their material is incredibly catchy.
Typical for someone who has a full time job and runs a blog full time, some things had been kind of crazy of late — but the great thing is that I’m heading into the proverbial home stretch with the Black and White Project. Tuesday, January 24, 2012 marked the 300th day of the project. I can see the end coming to the project and it’s kind of sad. What will I do after this? I have a couple of crazy ideas that will probably test my endurance and sanity more than this one project, but I haven’t figured out the logistics. That’s for the future though… Monday night, I stopped at Dempsey’s for a couple of pints of Guinness and a pulled pork sandwich before catching local techno/electronica band Nova Social at Cake Shop when I came across this bit of graffiti on a store front window guard:
Tuesday was kind of busy as I was finishing up an important project so I didn’t get a chance to go out during my lunch break. But I did catch a local breakdancing troupe while walking around in the Times Square 1,2,3, 7, A,C,E, N,Q,R and S station.
I caught one of the members of the troupe, goofing off before their routine with total abandon.
For these photos and the rest of the photos of the project up to date, check out the Flickr set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yankee32879/sets/72157626259696549/
The video for the Laureates’ “Robbers” off their impressive 2011 release, Spells debuted yesterday, and I think it’s a fun video as it employs silly costumes with evil, silent movie mustaches and playfully, surreal bits of animation.
Camila e Mariana Davalos
i want a girl with boobs like these
Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover
This is one sexy song.
