Weekend stuff/DAAS/Turbo Fruits get p-forked/beer
December 11, 2009
The A.V. Club takes a look at some of 2009’s strangest/craziest/most ridiculous band names. Some of my favs- Bitches With Instruments, the Whore Moans, Pabst Smear, Gay for Johnny Depp, the Christopher Walk-Ins, OMG! Check it out.
Turbo Fruits’ latest album Echo Kid got a 6.4 on Pitchfork today. I’m a little surprised at how late they reviewed this record considering that it’s a Be Your Own Pet-related project, and that Pitchfork lost their shit over both BYOP and the first Turbo Fruits record… (Echo Kid has been out for at least a few months now…) It’s a damn good record though, and I suggest it.
One of my favorite electronic music artists is actually from right here in Nashville- Makeup & Vanity Set, aka Matt Pusti. He’s recently started a side project called DAAS, and the debut album RASLP is available on Bandcamp for free. Go grab it for a blippy, experimental, atmospheric good time. My bandmate and friend Seth Graves has been doing some fantastic video production work recently, and since the two share some influences Pusti asked Seth to do a video for a song from RASLP. The result is a 4 1/2 miutes of data-moshing AWESOMENESS:
That holiday porter I was telling you about a few posts back is now officially ready for consumption. I tried it for the first time last night and while the spices didn’t come through quite as much as I wanted, it’s still by far the best batch of beer I’ve made thus far. You can buy a 6-pack for 6 bucks, just email/facebook/call/come up to me at a show and I’ll hook you up.
As for this weekend, I’m really stoked to be seeing Apollo Up! tonight at the 5 Spot for the first time in several years. They took a hiatus back around 2007 and I’ve missed their awesome live shows ever since. So that’s where we’ll be tonight.
Saturday we’ll be in Murfreesboro to check out the big YEAH benefit show featuring Those Darlins, Six Gun Lullaby, and special VIP storyteller performance from Caitlin Rose. YEAH is pretty much the best thing to happen to youth in middle TN. EVER. So they are more than worth your monetary support, therefore I highly suggest going.
Sunday night I’ll be taking pics and having a total nerd-gasm at the Star Wars interactive/orchestral event Star Wars: In Concert, which is at the Sommet Center (soon-to-be-Nashville Arena).
Other shows of interest:
Friday- La Paz Late Night w/ DJs Potamus and Hippo @ La Paz. Shoot the Mountain, Hands Down Eugene, & Hammertorch @ The End.
Saturday- Brendan Benson & Cory Chisel @ Exit/In (I wish this were on a different night so I could go!).
Have a great weekend!
Black Lips get in fight/Those Darlins on YANP/Carl Sagan autotuned
September 28, 2009
You Ain’t No Picasso does a series of interviews called “My First Time With… (insert band name here).” His latest is with Murfreesboro/Nashville’s own Those Darlins. Check it out here. I was rather surprised to know that The Bang Up was Linwood’s first band… or that the first song he wrote was “Shoot that Girl”…. which was one of the best songs from his band the Turncoats. Actually there’s no way that’s the first song he wrote. Linwood, I’m callin’ bullshit on that one buddy. You don’t write a song that good your first time around. Besides, it’s not like this interview’s serious or anything….
Surprise surprise: The Black Lips got into a fight with WAVVES in Brooklyn. To be more specific, Jared Swilley was the one who actually got into it, but he denies the dude (Nathan) from WAVVES was even involved. I don’t understand why, but I’m eternally fascinated by the ridiculous situations those crazy Atlantans get themselves into…
For all the nerds out there, please check out this video of autotuned Carl Sagan clips/Stephen Hawking robot voices. I’m not sure if this is meant to be serious or not…
Weekend activities/Darlings/New POBPAH on the horizon
July 24, 2009
Image via Pitchfork
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their debut album earlier this year is sure to be on my top 10 list, if not top 5, of 2009. I was quite happy and somewhat surprised to see that they’re following it up rather quickly with another EP and single. The EP will be called Higher Than The Stars, and will be available on Sept. 22nd. This band is the real deal, and I have no doubt they’ve got at least a few more good albums in them. (Via Pitchfork)
While we’re talking about indie pop, I must mention a band that’s just popped up on my radar called Darlings. I received a promo copy of their album Yeah I Know the other day and I’ve had it on repeat almost nonstop ever since. Murfreesboro/Nashville peeps will no doubt compare them to local indie poppers Velcro Stars. It’s a bouncy, playful, honest sound that’s adorned with great melodies. It’s still very simple, however, and not overproduced. This track “Eviction Party” is easily a standout in my opinion.
Another new-ish band that I’ve enjoyed is The Blacks. If you can get past the name (we’re all pretty sick of bands that have “black” in their name by now, right?), I think this band has potential. I like the reverb-y drums and overall dark sound. One might initially group this band in with other girl-fronted groups such as Hole or the Donnas, but it’s not nearly as glammy/gimmicky. I need to hear more before I’m fully sold.
Ok enough mp3s. Here’s what’s going down in Nashville this weekend:
Tonight I have a photo gig right after Vandy work and then will be hi-tailing it to M’boro for the DCI show at MTSU. Yes, I still have a marching band geek inside of me. It comes out every summer when this show comes around.
Other stuff of interest tonight- The Whigs, Glossary, and Ascent of Everest at 527 Main St. Or whatever the hell that place is called now. Also, Heypenny, Caitlin Rose, and The Saps are at the Basement.
For Saturday, I’ll be photographing Neko Case at the Ryman. Also of interest- Chris Freeman makes a triumphant return to TN with a show at the Boro. He’ll be backed by Kelly Kerr’s Distractions. The Kindergarten Circus is releasing their debut self-titled album at the End. Joining them will be The Clutters, Denny & the Jets, and Daniel Pujol & Some Beaus. I may try to make it out to this after Neko Case, since End shows tend to go pretty late.
Then Sunday will be band rehearsal for the Cream 90’s cover night on Monday. Are you excited? Because you should be.
Have a great weekend!
Those Darlins in Reuters/2012 bullshit
June 22, 2009
Reuters news agency recently did a short interview with Those Darlins, Murfreesboro’s own “rough-and-tumble” all-girl alt-country trio. Their debut album is out now on vinyl in your local indie record store, and hit shelves in all other formats on July 7th. I’m proud to see these awesome ladies gaining such national attention. I’m even more proud that they are paving their own path by not signing to a major label. JT Turner and the Thirty Tigers staff have done an amazing job of managing them and timing their album release. They will be celebrating their album release this Saturday at Mercy Lounge with none other than the Black Lips. Via Nashville Cream.
My official DJ Burgers SUMMERMIXXXX 2009 is up for grabs. Download here. Tracklist:
Shoot The Mountain-Islands (Dpaul remix)
Thieves Like Us- Drugs in my Body
Evan Voytas- Getting Higher
Passion Pit- Little Secrets
Kennedy- John and Yoko
VEGA- No Reasons
Spinnerette- Sex Bomb (Adam Freeland remix)
Das Racist- Combination pizza hut/taco bell (Wallpaper remix)
Black Eyed Peas- Boom boom (Chew Fu remix)
Yuksek- Extraball (Breakbot remix)
AutoKratz- Always More (Yuksek remix)
Make girl dance- Baby baby baby
Peaches- Serpentine
Want to be totally creeped out? Go look at these images of children that have been digitally altered to make them look like talking puppets. Yea. CREEPY. Via Kottke.
This HD trailer for the upcoming Ronald Emmerich film 2012 is total eye-candy (please do watch in full screen), but the marketing for this movie really rubs me the wrong way. There is simply too much misinformation and scaremongering out there regarding the Dec. 21st, 2012 myth. I’ve always considered ridiculous disaster movies a sort of “guilty pleasure,” but this one is going a bit too far with their website/viral marketing campaign. Granted, the first thing that shows up when you Google “2012” is the actual Sony Pictures website, but this Institute for Human Continuity website that comes up when you click the middle link is just ridiculous. It’s obvious this website is meant to look as realistic as possible, with the only hint of its relation to the movie being the copyright info at the bottom of the page. And if you happen to recognize Oliver Platt in that “news feed” section. But trust me, there are plenty of extremely gullible people out there who might think this website is for real. Making an entertaining disaster movie is one thing, but intentionally misleading people is another. It’s just sad that a staggering number of Americans actually believe this hype. I’m not a scientist and I don’t have the time to do a full debunking of this hoax on this blog, so here are some good links regarding the 2012 myth:
2012 Hoax- a website dedicated to debunking the 2012 myth.
A very long, scientific explanation of why the world won’t end in 2012.
Face it, the world will not end in 2012. It’s huge scam intended to make money off people’s ignorance and gullibility.
Zooey Deschanel’s cotton ad/Rites of Spring/The Rentals
April 16, 2009
It’s been far too long since I mentioned Zooey Deschanel on this blog. Thus I bring to you a new cotton advertisement featuring the beloved actress/songstress, via Videogum:
One of the bands that literally shaped my formative years was Weezer. Subsequently, I am also a fan of former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp’s project The Rentals. They formed in 1994 and released two albums, but had a large gap in activity until about 2 years ago when they came out with a new EP and did a couple of tours with a revamped lineup. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but getting to see them live twice was totally rad. I saw them in Atlanta with Ozma, and again here in Nashville at City Hall (now Urban Outfitters). See more pics from that show on my flickr here. RCRD LBL features a download from the first installment of their new multi-media project called Songs About Time. The project also includes a photo series by Matt and a bunch of short films.
Speaking of RCRD LBL, I noticed that they also have a download/blurb about local star-tangled indie rock lady Cortney Tidwell. It’s a track called “17 Horses” from her upcoming album Boys. (The download page incorrectly states that the track is from her previous album.)
SNAKES ON A PLANE! IN REAL LIFE! Thanks Kelly.
Nashvillest posted a bunch of great links/ways to help victims of the Murfreesboro tornado that struck last Friday. Check it out.
This is both terrifying and fascinating. The stats for “since you started watching” really hit home. I’ve had the tab open for a good hour or so now- ~28,000 people born and ~11,500 people died. Population control will soon happen everywhere. It’s only a matter of time.
Vanderbilt’s Rites of Spring festival is happening this weekend. I’ll be there both days taking photos. Here’s the lineup/times:
Friday:
Battle of the Bands: 3:20-3:40pm
Battle of the Bands: 4:00-4:20pm
Run With Bulls: 4:40-5:10pm
Blueskyreality: 5:30-6:00pm
K’NAAN: 6:20-7:05pm
Okkervil River: 7:25-8:10pm
Santigold: 8:30-9:10pm
Q-Tip: 9:30-10:30pm
T.I.: 11:00-12:00am
Saturday:
Pico vs. Island Trees: 3:20-3:50pm
Stardeath and White Dwarfs: 4:05-4:35pm
Erick Baker: 4:50-5:20pm
Sara Watkins: 5:40-6:10pm
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears: 6:30-7:10pm
Grand Ole Party: 7:30-8:10pm
N.E.R.D.: 8:40-9:55pm
The Flaming Lips: 10:30-12:00am
South Park may have pulled off the impossible: putting Kayne West’s ego in check. This Billboard.com article reports that last Wednesday’s episode “skewered the famously self-important rapper… painting him as a narcissistic figure so out of touch with reality he couldn’t even take a (very politically incorrect) joke.” Well done, South Park. Check out Kayne’s blog post here.
Stephen Colbert is a smart guy. The most brilliant thing he’s done recently is rally his fans to vote on an open NASA poll for the name of their next node to be added to the International Space Station. They had some suggestions- Serenity, Earthrise, etc… very typical-sounding names for stuff like that. But they had an write-in option, which Colbert exploited. The result was that the name “Colbert” won the contest for naming the node, and NASA has been scratching its head as to what to do about it ever since. Tomorrow night we’ll find out their decision in a clever way- astronaut Sunita Williams will be on the show to unveil the name. Will it really be Colbert? Only time will tell. It’ll be an interesting episode for sure…
The CIA and USAF have finally declassified a project that was based at the mysterious Area 51 base in Nevada. The LA Times interviewed 5 former employees of the facility who disclosed details on a top-secret spy plane code named OXCART. This plane allegedly has an odd shape, and was capable of flying at Mach 3. This could explain a HUGE number of the UFO sightings in that area, because according to this article there were 2,850 test flights of this thing, all conducted from Area 51. This is a bigger deal than it may seem, because up until now, the government didn’t even acknowledge that Area 51 existed. By declssifying this project they’re now admitting that it does exist. A big step forward if you ask me. I’ve always been fascinated by the place, and really want to go out there just to walk up to the signs telling you that you’ll be shot if you try to break in. I’m quite sure that there are some crazy things going on there involving technology that we haven’t even dreamed of yet, but I won’t say or believe that they’re reverse-engineering UFO’s and keeping aliens in freezers until proof of such a claim exists. Via io9.
Friday’s tornado outbreak was pretty devastating, though the vast majority of the damage was from an EF3 twister that hit nothern Murfreesboro. The official NWS survey has determined that a total of 4 tornadoes hit middle TN on friday- three EF1’s and one EF3. The report actually says “at least EF3,” so there’s a chance it may be upgraded to an EF4. One of the things that made this particular tornado so devastating was the fact that it was a multiple-vortex tornado. I will leave you with this absolutely amazing video footage shot from a tall building in Murfreesboro. (Probably the bank building.) You can easily see the smaller funnels inside the main vortex. The first few seconds are jittery but he sets the camera down and you get a long, clear look at this monster. Watch closely at about :45, 1:15, and 1:30 where you can clearly see a smaller vortex to the right of the main one.
Impromptu Matt Mahaffey (sElf) show at the Boro
November 25, 2008
Last night one of my favorite musicians/artists of all time, Matt Mahaffey (of sElf), played a last-minute show at the Boro Bar & Grill in Murfreesboro. I already was planning to attend the benefit show he’s playing this saturday in Johnson City for his late brother Mike’s kids/family, and to see him play twice in one week was all the more awesome. His fans, especially the old-school ones from around middle TN, are all just great people. It’s amazing how his music seems to only attract the best of people as fans. The show was really just a “warmup” for saturday’s show, which he said will include his longtime friend Seth Timbs of Fluid Ounces collaborating on some songs. I was fortunate enough to catch last year’s benefit for Mike, also in Johnson City, and I can only imagine how this one will be even better with Seth’s contributions. It’s amazing how last night’s show was announced at 1pm yesterday, and in about 8 hours word got around enough for 80-100 or so people to cram into the Boro. I won’t get into how that place has gone downhill in the last few years, but Matt and the crowd that showed up definitely made it cool again at least for one night. I was doing some videotaping, but I doubt I will post anything from last night since I’m also taping Saturday’s show. However, Jess McKelly was also recording with her pocket video camera, so check out her YouTube page in the next couple of days for some clips.
Nashville Cream has been doing some cool ticket giveaways lately. They’ve been posting some absurd photos and giving the tix to whoever comes up with the wittiest/snarkiest caption in the comments of the thread. Just go over and read some of the hilarity, or even post one yourself for a chance to win.
This has seriously got to be one of the coolest optical illusions I’ve ever seen on the web. Drag the lines slowly for the best results. Link via Bad Astronomy.
Nicole Kidman apparently loves Nashville, and is a little worried about the “secret getting out.”
steve cross loves music and science 