Halloween weekend rundown
October 29, 2010
Image via tenthousandknives
By now you’ve probably already pinned down your Halloween plans, but I’ll list off a few things going down this weekend just in case there’s a day that you haven’t quite figure out yet.
FRIDAY:
Freaky Friday Halloween Party at Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom. Featuring a total nostalgia-gasm of Guilty Pleasures + My So-Called Band in the Cannery and Yacht Rock Revue + Glam Hammer in Mercy Lounge. If I were going, I’d stay upstairs not because of the bands, but because we all know Guilty Pleasures + Halloween = lots of cougars dressing up as a “sexy _____” and exposing things that no cougar should ever expose. It’s 21+ and $15 gets you a wristband with access to both venues.
Clem Snide & Mountain Man are at the Basement. 21+ $8 9pm
SATURDAY:
Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom host their annual “Nightmare In Music City” party. Cannery Ballroom will be transformed into a giant dance party, Mercy will be an exclusive VIP area, and there will be a huge heated tent outside in the parking lot with more DJs and dancing. $15 GA, $50 VIP.
Mai and 12th & Porter present the 2nd annual “Haunted Valley” block party featuring DJ sets and performances by Ying Yang Twins, Chancellor Warhol, Majestico, Coach, Potamus, Brandon Wahl, Space Capone, Luna Halo, Rod Youree, Cal Ecker, Hands off Sam, and Slow Motion Centerfold. Not sure who’s playing in which venue, but GA tix are $25.
Ra Ra Riot, Villagers, and Givers are at Exit/In. 9pm $15.
There also may or may not be a secret show happening at a secret location that’s about a 40 minute drive down I-24. This secret location may or may not have a very strict capacity limit due to past events. The headlining band may or may not have been recording their debut album in this same secret location over the past few months.
SUNDAY:
Girl Talk at Mai. Outdoor party, rain or shine. Starts at 7pm!
That’s all I got. Have a good Halloween and keep it classy.
Makeup and Vanity Set releases Charles Park II today
October 26, 2010
“Forged with the blood of druid magic.” That’s how Makeup & Vanity Set describes the creation of his latest album, Charles Park II. This album is unabashedly intended for Halloween, just as Charles Park was 2 or 3 years ago (my memory fails me). Because I’m not a professional writer, and I lack the ability to string these thoughts into a coherent paragraph, I’m simply going to list some things that come to mind while listening to Charles Park II.
- A synthesizer turns into a robot monster, transformer-style, the keys becoming its fangs. It then crashes out of its owner’s room in Tokyo, Japan, killing everyone and turning it into a vast wasteland.
- Tom Selleck
- MacGyver
Basically, this record sounds a lot like the music during the chase/attack scenes of any 80’s futuristic b-movie horror flick. This what the soundtrack to Tron might’ve sounded like if it were re-imagined as a horror film. Buy it, then throw it in a boombox and carry it around on your shoulder blasting as you trick or treat this weekend. You will automatically be 10x cooler and you will get laid.
Makeup & Vanity Set-One Last Stand
Buy it at the MAVS bandcamp for just $5. He’s also included a special bonus- buy the original Charles Park for only $2.
Weekend shows/Vandy announcement/I’m hipper than Rivers Cuomo
October 22, 2010
According to the Nashville Cream, I’m hipper than Rivers Cuomo. They also agreed with NME’s sentiments about Caitlin Rose being cooler than Cuomo. Caitlin is way cooler than me, though.
Tune In Music City tweeted the following yesterday: “Press conference at Vandy this Monday to announce a huge music event. ‘It’s been over 29 years’ they say. We’d like 2 know what. Wouldn’t U?” Well, that’s not obvious at all… just read Adam Gold’s Cream post about it if you’re still in the dark. I do know the answer to this question, but as an employee of Vanderbilt, I can neither officially confirm nor deny these rumors.
Now for some stuff to get into this weekend:
FRIDAY:
The 5. 6. 7. 8’s are at Third Man Records. 9pm, $5 (Yeah, it’s that band from Kill Bill and the Vonage commercials.)
Passion Pit, Snoop Dogg, and B.o.B. at Vanderbilt Memorial Gym. It’s the annual Commodore Quake. Doors at 6:30pm, tix $20-$50 for non-students.
SATURDAY:
I’ll be at Mercy Lounge snapping pics of Kurt Vile, who has support from The Soft Pack and Purling Hiss. 9pm, $10 adv. $12 dos.
The 1st annual Circuit Bender’s Ball at Open Lot. This is more than just a show. There are workshops for all ages from 2-6pm, where you can learn about circuit bending and how to make various electronic musical devices. Performances start at 6:30 and run till midnight. If you have no idea what circuit bending is, click here. Trust me, this will be an interesting and fun event.
One more thing- early voting is in full swing in TN! That means you can drop by and vote at any of the 9 early voting stations at your convenience (within the scheduled hours) up until next Thursday, Oct. 28th. If you were worried about long line at the polls on election day, worry no more because with early voting the lines are always much shorter. There’s simply no excuse- be a worthy citizen and do your part- VOTE.
Have a great weekend!
Hipster Runoff makes fun of Caitlin Rose’s NME mention
October 21, 2010
Ok, first of all, let’s be really proud of Nashville’s own Caitlin Rose, who got a spot on NME’s “The Cool List 2010.” Granted, she’s way down at #73, but that’s 2 spots above Rivers Cuomo, who came in dead last! So, way to go, Caitlin! It’s safe to say you’re officially a star in the UK. But sadly the way I found out about this was through my Hipster Runoff RSS feed. In this post from yesterday afternoon he makes fun of the NME cool list and describes Caitlin as “sounds like a girl who sad behind u in Algebra class who got preggers by senior year.” At first glance it’s a little insulting, but seriously, this is Hipster Runoff we’re talking about here. It’s kind of an honor to be made fun of by Carles. And if you take anything on that blog seriously you’re missing the point altogether. ❤ U Caitlin. U rule forevs.
Mayan calendar end disputed/Big Pics of NIF
October 19, 2010
It’s been a while since I got on my soapbox of how the 2012 Mayan calendar doomsday myth is, well… a myth. Let me begin by saying that there is no reason to believe that anything exceptional will happen when the Mayan long count calendar ends. Anyone that tells you otherwise is either totally full of shit, or is very gullible to fluff and hype (generated by the former). The descendants of the Mayans themselves have even said that the doomsday myth is bullshit. So, this thing is already completely blown out of the water by real science and reason, but just in case you needed another reason not to believe the doomsday hype, now the actual date of the end of the long count calendar is in question. The methods used to convert the Mayan calendar into our own Gregorian years has been shown to be unreliable, and this could throw off the date conversion by as much as 50 to 100 years. So in reality, the Mayan calendar might have already ended (and thus simply started over again)! I’ll keep an eye out for any updates and clarifications to this story, but let’s face it- the Mayan calendar doomsday hype is nothing more than fear-mongering and utter ignorance. (Via LiveScience)
Image via Wikipedia
I know I link to this blog all the time, but the Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog continually showcases some of the most amazing imagery you’ll find anywhere, and what’s best about it is the content. This particular series involves the National Ignition Facility in California. This massive experiment could literally solve all the world’s energy problems. What they’re attempting to do here is essentially create a miniature star right here on earth. Just recently they completed a successful test in which they fired 192 lasers simultaneously into one tiny frozen target capsule containing deuterium and tritium (isotopes of hydrogen). The ultimate goal is to create a nuclear fusion reaction- the same process taking place in the center of our Sun. As you can easily deduce, this would release enormous amounts of energy that is completely clean- the only by-product is helium, which is the element formed when hydrogen atoms fuse. The only hurdle is that it already requires a massive amount of energy to power the lasers that start the reaction in the first place, so the reactor must produce significantly more energy than it consumes in order to truly be a viable solution to the energy crisis. Another issue could be safety. With a reaction as powerful as nuclear fusion, things can get dangerous very quickly. Thankfully though, if an explosion were to occur, it wouldn’t involve the radioactive fallout danger associated with current nuclear reactors which use a different process- nuclear fission. (AKA the reaction used in the atomic bomb.) Click here to learn more about the NIF.
BURGERS Fall 2010 MIXXXX
October 18, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the BURGERS Fall 2010 MIXXXX. Download for free:
Tracklisting:
Two Door Cinema Club- Something Good Can Work (Twelves RMX)
Lexicon Don- Student Body (Bit Funk RMX)
Miami Horror- I Look To You (ft. Kimbra)
Burns & Fred Falke- You Stopped Lovin’ Me (Treasure Fingers RMX)
Duck Sauce- Barbara Streisand
Punches- Feelin’ Right (Justin Faust RMX)
Cee Lo Green- Fuck You (Le Castle Vania RMX)
The Armed Forces- Loose All Control
Jensen Sportag- Jareaux
It’s short and to-the-point, and I think I’ll be keeping most all my published mixtapes that way from now on. I feel like some of the past few have tried to do too much for one mix, so this one is just 35 minutes of smooth, sexy disco/house fun.
A weak weekend
October 15, 2010
There’s always plenty of things going on in this City of Music every weekend, but this particular one really doesn’t have much of anything that I personally get excited about. But, here’s my best attempt:
FRIDAY:
DJs Wick-it and Kidsmeal, along with several other DJs, have been throwing a pretty badass party called Mashville roughly once a month for three years now, and they’re throwing the biggest party yet tonight at Mercy Lounge to celebrate. It’s also the release party for Wick-it’s new mashup album. Expect some of the best scratching performances you’ll find in the southeast, along with plenty of hip hop, pop, and maybe some head-bending WOMP WOMP in the form of dubstep. The very mention of dubstep makes me cringe, but I certainly respect those guys because their skills are easily light years ahead of any other DJs in this town. Sean Maloney says I need to smoke more weed to enjoy dubstep… but even then I don’t think I could enjoy it. It just ain’t my bag. There’s a 5% chance I might go just to see Kidsmeal and Wick-it have a scratch-off, and head for the patio when the WOMPs start pulsing, but who knows. Read a much better preview by Mr. Maloney at the Nashville Cream.
SATURDAY:
There is honestly not one thing happening Sat. that piques my interest enough to mention.
SUNDAY:
Matt & Kim w/ Donnis and Girls in the Eighties @ Exit/In. I saw Matt & Kim play a sold out show at this same venue along with the Cool Kids about 2 years ago, and while I don’t call myself a serious fan, they put on a pretty enjoyable show. Not that familiar with Donnis, but he drops some pretty sweet verses on “All The Girls” by Bag Raiders. And I enjoyed Girls in the Eighties’ quick and simple pop punk at their NBN show a couple weeks ago.
Have a great weekend!
New And The Relatives/Big Pics from Chile
October 14, 2010
File this one in the “what could have been” folder. Local classic indie rock (yes I’m using “classic” with “indie rock”) trio And The Relatives have sadly reached the end of their career… for the forseeable future, at least. I hate to say that, but it’s true. I won’t go into explicit details but a member of the band rather unexpectedly made the decision to move to California. That being said, they ARE releasing the debut album Green Machinery which they’ve been working on for the past few years; it will be out very soon on vinyl via a joint effort between Michael Eades’ YK Records and Theory 8. It will also be available digitally via their Bandcamp. You can actually go there now and preview a couple of the tracks. I’ve watched this band develop over the past few years, and it’s rather amazing how far they’ve come. I also must mention the eye candy that is the artwork and new website, designed by Eades and Kyle Scudder. I’d like to hope they will eventually reunite at least to play a show here and there, or even just to work on new recorded material… similar to the Hotpipes’ situation.
Some more random links/tidbits of interest:
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog has a series of beautiful and moving photographs from the Chilean mine rescue. I can’t imagine being trapped underground for 2 months with 32 other men, and no doubt the full psychological effects have yet to be seen. Regardless, these photographs are incredible.
T.I. apparently talked a guy out of committing suicide Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta, just a few days before he’s scheduled to go to trial on a probation violation. Good job, T.I.! Maybe the judge will go a little easier on you?
The Village Voice did a pretty cool interview with Duck Sauce (a.k.a. A-Trak and Armand Van Helden). Just go read it, and be sure to check out their new single “Barbara Streisand” for which they did this awesome came0-packed video:
Doubt cast on Gliese 581g planet
October 13, 2010
Credit: Lynette Cook/NSF
Planet hunting is a delicate and tedious science. A very strong emphasis is placed on multiple teams of astronomers being able to replicate the results of the first team to announce any kind of discovery. If another team is unable to replicate the findings of the first, it casts a serious shadow of doubt on the validity of the initial findings. That’s exactly what is happening with the Gliese 581g exoplanet that was announced just last week. Sadly, a team that works directly with the HARPS detector on the 3.6m telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile has been unable to confirm the existence of Gliese 581f or g. They have access to more data than the team who initially announced the discovery, and they can’t find a clear enough signal in the background “noise” of the observations to confirm this planet. As more teams run computer models and look at observations from other telescopes with radial velocity planet-finding instruments, maybe we’ll get a clearer picture of whether these two planets actually exist. (Via Universe Today via Dynamics of Cats blog)
Don’t worry though, the Kepler mission will undoubtedly start popping out earth-twin discoveries in another year or so, mark my word.
New Armed Forces track/weekend stuff
October 8, 2010
It’s all about the timing, yo. If you’re in Nashville you have to know that this week was the Scene‘s annual Best of Nashville issue, in which the readers fill out polls for a few weeks voting on all kinds of local bests. The writers also compile a small list of their own favs, and our good friend Brandon Jazz was named “Best Lovable Attention Whore.” Whether it was planned or not, the timing of the release of his next single “Lose All Control” is perfect. It dropped today and was produced by Privates’ frontman Dave Paulson’s DJ-altero-ego DPAUL. The track is pure electro/disco-pop, and features a ridiculous/hilarious rap segment toward the end. Seriously, listen to this track all the way through (it’s available for free at his bandcamp)- at about 1:50 in, you’ll smile at the very least, if not have a full-blown ROFLMAO.
Now for what to do show-wise this weekend:
FRIDAY:
Tonight is a VERY rare performance of Nashville legends Jason & the Scorchers at Mercy Lounge. The band was one of the first non-country acts to emerge from Nashville, and were originally called Jason & the Nashville Scorchers. When signed to a label, they were forced to drop “Nashville” from their name because the label thought people would be too shocked to hear rock n roll from a band with Nashville in their name. Thus began the famous “Nashville Curse.” 9pm, 18+ $15 advance, $20 at the door
How I Became the Bomb is at The Basement with Cobra Cheetah Tiger Viper and My Dear Disco. 9pm, $8
SATURDAY:
This isn’t a show, but I must mention that Oktoberfest and the Germantown Street Festival are happening in the Germantown neighborhood. We’ve attended the past 2 years and it’s been a blast. There’s lots of good beer, bratwurst, and all sorts of other unhealthy items, in addition to music, vendors, and people dressed ridiculously. It’s totally free too. Though indistinguishable from one another, the two festivals claim to be separate.
Menomena is at Mercy Lounge with Suckers and Tu Fawning. 9pm
Electric Six at Exit/In was apparently canceled… lame.
The Scene is hosting Saturday’s Musician’s Corner show in Centennial Park. Lineup: Natalie Prass, Evan P. Donohue, Big Surr, Dozen Dimes, and Carter Administration. According the Cream, there might be a 6th band but it hasn’t been confirmed.
Have a great weekend!
steve cross loves music and science 