M83 vocal audition video (your daily LOLs)
November 8, 2011
Do yourself a favor and stick with this one till the end if you’re already rolling on the floor like I was. I really wish this was real, but it has to be a fake, given the rest of this dude’s videos on vimeo… seems like he’s trying to be a sketch comic or something. I’d say this is step in the right direction. You’re welcome. (Via Kottke)
A Few Good Shows: 11/4/11
November 4, 2011
In case you didn’t know, I’ve been moving since last weekend, and the fact that my life is still mostly in sea of boxes in my new place means that my mind and body have been overwhelmed, thus no posts this week. But- I must tell you about some great shows going down this weekend in Nashville, so behold:
FRIDAY:
The Nobility’s The Secret of Blennerhassett Island album release show @ The Rutledge. 9pm $5 for entry $10 for entry + CD. According to their facebook, they are the only band on the bill and have a “DJ/general merriment” before and after them. I’m very excited for this one because the new album is phenomenal and the sound guy at The Rutledge is Frank Sass- the best sound guy in the history of sound guys. I seriously hope this venue starts getting more inde rock shows like this because he makes it sound like a million dollars, and every band deserves to sound that good.
Shoot the Mountain, Joel J. Dahl, Poly, and Backwords @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5 21+
3rd annual rock for ovaries benefit ft. How I Became the Bomb, Soul Incision, and a fashion show @ Mercy Lounge. 7pm, $15 min. donation.
Girls & Boys Nashville presents: Dani Deahl, Coach, Hands off Sam, Jensen Sportag DJ set, Autoerotique, Rio, Kidsmeal, and Kevin Perryman. Girls free before 10pm, $5 gen. adm.
JEFF the Brotherhood, Mom & Dad, Seafood Hotline @ Walnut House in Murfreesboro. A YEAH! benefit show. 7:30pm $10
SATURDAY:
The Black Angels, Spindrift, and Dead Meadow @ Exit/In. 8pm $15
Big Surr w/ Triptides, Dino DNA, and Chrome Pony @ The End. 9pm $5
Hands off Cuba, Hepatitties, Coupler, Renee-Louise Carafice, and Bird Names @ Noa Noa (620 Hamilton Ave.) 8pm $???
SUNDAY:
Cortney Tidwell w/ Ponychase and Jasmin Kaset @ Exit/In. 8pm $7
Remember daylight saving time ends at 2am Saturday night/Sunday morning, and have a great weekend!
A Few Good Shows: 10/28/11 (Halloween edition)
October 28, 2011
Welcome to Halloween weekend in Nashville. This is a busy one, as always, and I’m just here to give you a smattering of some events of interest. By no means is this a comprehensive list of Halloween happenings. Just some stuff I think looks good/interesting.
FRIDAY:
Self (Matt Mahaffey solo acoustic) w/ Seth Timbs Thing and The Hellens @ The Basement. 9pm $5 21+
Vitalic Noise presents VITAL: 1 Year Anniversary @ Wine Loft ft. La Zebra, Dee Goodz, Deacon, Total Savage, Dark Sister, plus resident CRAVE DJs Losici and Dali Drama. 10pm $5
Halloween Spooktacular ft. My So-Called Band, The Aught-Nots, Space Capone, and Coach @ Mercy Lounge & Cannery. 9pm $15
The Grayces album release show w/ Dave Cloud and the Gospel of Power @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5
SATURDAY:
Halloween Warehouse party ft. Girls & Money, Scale Model (I play drums), and Eight ‘O Five @ The Zombie Lair (aka Jiggy Graphics- 1015 W. Kirkland Ave. Suite 310, East Nashy) 10pm, $5 suggested donation gets access to the keg and spiked punch. Also there will be a professional movie makeup artist zombifying people!
Night of the Living Cover Bands: a benefit for YEAH! music programs (SGRRC/TNTRC/NYCRC) ft. Head over Heels (Go-Go’s covers), Ponychase (Cyndi Lauper covers), Cortney Tidwell, The Non-Commissioned Officers, Uncle Skeleton, and Spaceship of the Imagination. @ the 5 Spot, 9pm $5 or donation.
Jacuzzi Boys, Heavy Cream, and Cy Barkley @ The End. 9pm $6
The Greenhouse Halloween party ft. How I Became the Bomb, the Black Belles, and DJ Mindub @ The Greehouse. 9pm $???
SUNDAY:
Meatmen w/ Hans Condor and Slammers @ Springwater. 10pm $5 21+
MONDAY: (throwin’ it in there because I likely won’t have time to post on monday and there’s shit you should know about)
Dixie Downturn presents Halloween 8 off 8th ft. Lylas, How I Became the Bomb, A Greater Good, Casa Castille, Bows and Arrows, Shaboi, and Bummer. 9pm FREE 21+ For more info and previews of each band, check out Dixie Downturn!
Protomen, Peelander-Z, MC Frontalot @ Exit/In. 9pm $14
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin w/ Evan P. Donohue, Faux Ferocious, & Blown Stag @ The End. 9pm $6
PHEW. That’s it. Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend.
All you ever wanted to know about Daylight Savings Time
October 27, 2011
Every year in the spring and fall the debate about whether to keep doing daylight savings time pops up. If you look at it globally it really is quite complex, and makes things much more difficult than they need to be. I personally think it should be eliminated, BUT I want to keep the clocks permanently on DST. I like having the sun set later in the afternoon, because I’m not a morning person and I don’t really give a shit about when the sun rises. I DO give a shit about when it sets, because I despise how ridiculously early the sun sets in December/January, especially here in Nashville which happens to be on the eastern edge of the central time zone. On the winter solstice the sun sets at 4:33pm! I want at least an hour of sunlight to enjoy after I get of work! If we just kept DST on forever then we could have that. Anyway, watch this very informative video created by Colin Gregory Palmer Grey and learn everything you wanted to know about Daylight Savings Time: (via Devour)
Makeup and Vanity Set: Charles Park III (Your Halloween soundtrack)
October 26, 2011
Ladies and gentlemen, Charles Park III from our man Makeup & Vanity Set has arrived. It will be your Halloween 2011 soundtrack. It can be purchased tomorrow (10/27) but you can stream it all now via his soundcloud. Or below. Words seem meaningless in comparison to simply giving this thing a listen. Only then will you understand. Clearly I am biased because I love this dude, but it’s the TRUTH. Everything he’s done is utter badassery.
New Duck Sauce video (slightly NSFW)/Chromeo & Breakbot tonight
October 25, 2011
Duck Sauce (A-Trak + Armand Van Helden) released a video for their latest single “Big Bad Wolf” today and… um… well… it’s *scratches head* absolutely ridiculous? I don’t even know. I wouldn’t recommend watching it at work, though. (It’s age-restricted on YouTube, so it probably won’t play embedded below, but we’ll try anyway…
Also, tonight Chromeo (fronted by A-Trak’s brother Dave) takes over Nashville at the Cannery Ballroom. As of posting there are still tickets left. What’s possibly even more exciting than Chromeo is the fact that the one and only Breakbot is opening for them. It’s a VERY special treat to get to see an Ed Banger artist in Nashville, so you should seize this opportunity. Breakbot is one of my all-time favorite dance/electronic producers and he will NOT disappoint. Even cooler is the fact that locals How I Became the Bomb are on the bill in place of Mayer Hawthorne, and they’re doing a set of Hall & Oates covers! (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not glad Mayer Hawthorne canceled for whatever reason, just glad that my pals in HIBTB got seize such a great opportunity.) Check the video for Breakbot’s “Baby I’m Yours” below:
A Few Good Shows: 10/21/11
October 21, 2011
This weekend is fairly average in terms of good shows to see, with Saturday’s “The Big Nashty” being the exception. More on that under Saturday.
FRIDAY:
The Swan King, Stallion, Laser Flames on the Great Big News @ The End. 9pm $5
SATURDAY:
Deer Tick, Virgin Forest, Dead People @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $15
The Big Nashty: an all-day music festival featuring a hoard of great local bands including Bad Cop, Hans Condor, Evan P. Donohue, Cy Barkley, Natural Child, Natalie Prass, Reid Magette, and many more. The festival is being held at a farm of sorts at 550 South Tunnel Rd., way out near Gallatin. Camping is encouraged because let’s face it, you’re probably going to imbibe and we don’t want anyone making that drive back to Nashville proper at 3am while questionably intoxicated. Cost is $10 adv/$20 DOS.
Have a great weekend!
Timelapse videos of auroras from the space station
October 20, 2011
This post needs very few words. Just sit back and enjoy these gorgeous timelapse videos shot from the International Space Station. They’re of the Aurora Borealis and/or Aurora Australis. Be sure to click on the resolution and choose the HD version, and make that shit fullscreen! (All via Universe Today)
The Nobility: The Secret of Blennerhassett Island
October 18, 2011
One of Nashville’s most underrated bands is back with a brand new album. The Nobility (formerly Jetpack, then Jetpack UK) just released their latest, The Secret of Blennerhassett Island, and it’s a masterpiece. 2007’s The Mezzanine was their first proper album under the new moniker, and it firmly set the tone for their future as a band. That tone was one of more mature, intricate, and clever songs with a wide array of instrumentation, all with an unwavering pop sensibility. They stated in their own description of the album that they had been listening to early Paul McCartney and Kinks records, and it shows. TSBI (I refuse to type that name again!) is clearly influenced by the same era of pop music, but no matter how obvious the influences are, these songs never get old or tired. I’ve always loved a good marriage of band to producer, and this album is no exception. They worked with Brian Carter of Paradox Productions as they did with The Mezzanine, and honestly I don’t think there’s a better producer for this band than him. The orchestral instrumentation fits perfectly where it’s used, and it’s never over-used. Especially impressive are the horn arrangements. TSBI is easily one of the best albums to come out of Nashville’s rock scene this year, so go get it at their bandcamp page and thank me later. AND go see them at the record release party on Nov. 14th Nov. 4th at the Rutledge.
Addendum to A Few Good Shows: Terminator the Second
October 14, 2011
What the fuck was wrong with me this morning? I completely forgot to mention the amazing/intriguing theater production that’s happening this weekend at Nashville School of the Arts! My friends Marshall Weber and Cody DeVos (known for his role in the feature film Make-out With Violence) have started their own theater company and it’s called Husky Jackal. Their flagship production is a genre-bending story that combines the sci-fi plot of Terminator 2 with the writing style of Shakespeare. Sounds intriguing right? You aren’t the only one who thinks so. The production has gotten the attention of the Tennessean, i09, the Scene, and Mental Floss, just to name a few. It all goes down at Nashville School of the Arts starting tonight, going through Monday night. Tickets are only $15 and you can get them through the official website.
steve cross loves music and science 