Kingdom for a voice

Cool Video: Iron & Wine Godless Brother

2012-01-15T15:31:00.004-05:00

Iron & Wine released another great video from one of my favorite albums of last year.

While watching this video I kept thinking, "This could easily be the kids from the Smashing Pumpkins 1979 video a few years on if they had a wistful Asian and not quite so many assholes in their group."

And for no reason except the song is amazing, Kathyrn Calder.

Top 25

2012-01-06T01:53:00.000-05:00

I just checked my itunes and here are the 25 songs I listened to the most in 2011.

1. Generator^Second Floor - Freelance Whales
2. God Made the Automobile - Iron & Wine
3. Belated Promise Ring - Iron & Wine
4. On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz
5. Tree By the River - Iron & Wine
6. Generator^First Floor - Freelance Whales
7. Kilojoules - Freelance Whales
8. Big Burned Hand - Iron & Wine
9. In Step - GirlTalk
10. Newport News - Pernice Brothers
11. Calgary - Bon Iver
12. Tony the Beat - The Sounds
13. Goshen - Beirut
14. Finish Line - Fanfarlo
15. Bottled in Cork - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
16. Half Moon - Iron & Wine
17. Carolina - Ben Gibbard and Andrew Kenny
18. Port of Call - Beirut
19. Can't Relax - The Dead Milkmen
20. Let it Out - GirlTalk
21. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale
22. Godbird - Sufjan Stevens
23. The High Road - Broken Bells
24. Superfast Jellyfish - Gorillaz
25. East Harlem - Beirut

Haha

2011-12-28T08:13:00.001-05:00

I found this over at The Chive and I've been laughing about it all morning.

Coeur De Pirate

2011-12-13T07:29:00.004-05:00

A couple of cool videos for cover songs by Coeur De Pirate and then an original. The covers are pretty awesome because she usually sings in french. I've only listened to her new album once and it sounds pretty good but her last album was great, even if you don't know a word of french.

Cool Site: Minor Thread

2011-12-05T04:46:00.003-05:00

I came across this awesome site called Minor Thread last week. The idea behind it is that the blog's author wears a different shirt everyday, he estimates that he can do 500 with no repeats. Most of his shirts are music related and you can glean from some of his statements that he has a long history of promoting shows. Today he is on number 146. He also writes up a little something about the shirt most days. His spelling and grammar are so bad that it must be done on purpose. I'm in love with the site, i managed to read through every post in the last week.

I can relate to the guy to a certain extent. I used to feel compelled to buy a shirt at every show I attended. Over the years the price of shirts has grown. I clearly remember buying a few $10 shirts and once picket up a Robert Randolph shirt for my wife for only $8. For the longest time it seemed like shirts stayed at $20 but now $25 or $30 seems to be the norm. I've been able to break the habit or at least limit it to buying only really kick ass shirts although I still reflexively reach for my wallet when I see a shirt with tour dates on it. The short run tour date shirt is another thing that seems to have fallen by the way side. The tour shirt is one of the big draws of buying a shirt, it screams "I was there and are therefore cooler than you." Now it seems like bands don't want to do the small run anymore. I'm sure it's a lot cheaper to order thousands of a design that you can sell wherever you are instead of ordering a few hundred that are specific to that tour but damn those tour shirts were cool.

Before we moved to Vermont and again when we moved to Paris my wife made me get rid of a lot of my shirts. I ended up cutting the designs off the shirts that were ripped, stained or I just didn't wear anymore for a project. I hope to eventually turn them into a quilt/blanket. We'll see if it ever gets done but each shirt represents a pretty awesome night and hopefully will make a warm blanket.

Wayback: Iron & Wine

2011-11-24T03:09:00.002-05:00

I got on an Iron & Wine youtube kick and came across a set of videos from the show I attended in February. Looks like these were shot from the balcony. I was right in front on the floor.

Cool Video: Iron & Wine

2011-11-23T18:20:00.001-05:00

Here is a really cool version of God Made the Automobile by one of my favorite bands, Iron & Wine.

Paris street art

2011-11-21T02:57:00.002-05:00

There is a pretty cool run down of Parisian graffiti writers over at Complex magazine.

The Show: Ryan Adams

2011-11-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

The show exceeded all of my expectations and my expectations were high.

Ryan Adams looked and sounded great. He really seems to have turned a corner and he was funnier and more relaxed that I've ever seen him. I've never been to one of his shows where he joked with the audience so much.

Chris Stills opened the show with a good set. I really enjoyed it especially considering that i'd never heard of him before. In the middle of his set a cat jumped up on stage and slowly walked around for a minute, Stills changed the words to the serious song he was in the middle of to include the cat.

Adams played a great set covering most of his career. I told someone that it was almost like he was touring behind a greatest hits album. It was a solo tour so all of the choices were on the more mellow side, his really rocking numbers didn't surface although he did play Dear Chicago in the style of Kiss's lick It Up.

Here is a rundown of the set list.
1. Sweet Carolina
2. Ashes & Fire
3. Damn Sam
4. Dirty Rain
5. Winding Wheel
6. Sylvia Plath
7. Mr. Bananas(Improv)
8. Invisible Riverside
9. When Will You Come Back Home
10. Everybody Knows
11. Firecracker
12. The End
13. Rescue Blues
14. Please Do Not Let Me Go
15. Why Do They Leave
16. New York, New York
17. Lucky Now
18. Crossed Out Name
19. Two
20. 16 Days
21. Avenues
ENCORE
22. Dear Chicago
23. La Cienega
24. I See Monsters
25. Goodbye Song
26. Come Pick Me Up

See what I mean? he reached all the way back to the Whiskeytown days. He actually made an off hand comment about being too drunk back then to remember the words to all of the Whiskeytown songs. His self deprecating humor continued through the entire show. It was a great night. I hope to catch him on the next tour, maybe he will be playing all rocking numbers.

A quick note on the venue. Le Trianon is a great old theater. It's elaborately ornamented, has two balconies and sounds great. It also has permanent seating. For this type of show it was great but some shows need standing room. Yuksek is playing there soon and it would be interesting to see how the crowd deals with the seating situation.

Bonus fact, Ryan was wearing vision street wear hightops.

Here are a few videos of the show from youtube. Keep in mind that Ryan has a crazy no photo, no recording policy that is strictly enforced(I ran into this when I saw him in Vermont) so these are mostly audio recordings.

Ryan Talking to the crowd and the first few notes of "The End".

The awesome kiss version of "Dear Chicago".

Most of "Come Pick Me Up."

One last story. The first thing I did at the show was visit the merch table. The woman working it looked at me and asked if I was from Oklahoma. I had almost work my OK shirt but knew I hadn't so I was a little taken aback but answered in the affirmative. her next statement was that the owners of the Cain's Ballroom were really shitty to outside merch vendors. It was then that I realized that I had on a sweat jacket with a small Cain's patch on the breast. We chatted for a few minutes, she was Scottish or Irish but her husband was from Edmond. I then bought a t-shirt.

Ron Swanson Awesomness

2011-11-10T09:09:00.003-05:00

Not much to say about this because sometimes reality is too awesome. Nick Offerman, the actor behind Ron Swanson is a woodworker. For real. He has a workshop with a website here.

Lucky Now

2011-10-11T01:17:00.003-05:00

The new Ryan Adams album, Ashes And Fire, is as great as I had hoped it would be as evidenced by the first official single from the album, Lucky Now. I am also even more excited for the live show after hearing the recent Denver show posted on I Am Fuel. Take a look at that setlist, cuts from his Whiskeytown days, a piano version of New York, closing with Come Pick Me Up, pretty astounding show. I can't wait.

Tips: Garlic

2011-09-29T04:34:00.001-05:00

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

It's the little secrets that make life so much easier.
via lifehacker

Anticipate: Ryan Adams

2011-09-23T03:33:00.002-05:00

I can't wait for the new Ryan Adams record. If the various live versions of tracks from the album floating around on the web are any indication this is going to be another great album. Most of the press reports are comparing it to his Heartbreaker album and the unreleased music that he created during that period and that is a good thing. Most people cite Heartbreaker as their favorite and he garnered a lot of critical praise for that album before really striking a chord with his Gold album. Adams seemed to lose some fans as he got jammy with the Cardinals and rocked out with his Spacewolf side project but I've been into everything he put out. This album was recorded on analog equipment in his new Pax-Am studio and will be released on his Pax-Am label.

I bought my ticket to his Paris show, in November, ten minutes after they went on sale. I don't know how popular he is here but he booked into a mid sized venue, La Trianon. I've seen Adams several times, from the tour for Gold to his stint with the Cardinals and he has never disappointed. I saw him freak out in Dallas, Texas, rock a festival audience in Austin, Texas and play a beautiful set in a quiet, intimate space in Burlington, Vermont and each time I walked away saying "Wow."

The Wolf

2011-09-02T03:39:00.002-05:00

Tom Neely's new painted book The Wolf has been out for a couple of months now and I still haven't gotten my grubby hands on a copy. Tom's stuff never fails to impress be it his work with the Igloo Tornado collective or his recent cover for Decibel magazine. His previous book The Blot was pretty amazing. He is taking the book on a little tour, unfortunately nowhere near Paris .If you live near any of these places check it out, he's a cool guy and the book will undoubtedly rock.

Tom has some great stuff for sale over at his web site.

Robopocalypse a review

2011-08-18T02:41:00.002-05:00

As if I didn't have enough to worry about with the eminent zombie apocalypse, I now have to add a possible robot uprising to the list.

It's hard to read Robopacalypse without thinking about the most pervasive techno nightmare in popular culture, the Terminator franchise. Daniel H. Wilson's robot/computer uprising story, in reality, draws few comparisons. He begins in such a benign place, turning everyday computer controlled appliances against us, a stark contrast to the nuclear holocaust unleashed in the Terminator universe. Instead of a horrible unknown future for humanity, in Robopocalypse we know the final outcome of the struggle within the first dozen pages but it's getting the characters there(in an unforeseen way) that makes this a great read.

I love the Terminator movies but while the premise is creepy there is something unbelievable about the whole thing. Robopocalypse seems like a more likely scenario. Instead of a murderous Skynet we have Archos who we aren't completely sure isn't somehow bent on helping it's human creators in the long run. While killing humans at an astonishing rate, Archos is also revitalizing the natural world. Instead of specifically creating killing robots, with Archos we see the evolution of common everyday robots modified for a new purpose.

There are several threads that due to the structure of the novel are never wrapped up. Why were humans being experimented on? What will happen to the freeborn as a species? What happened to Takeo Nomura and Mikiko? These threads could easily result in more novels something I'm hoping for.

I'd be remiss in not mentioning that while he currently lives in Portland, Oregon, Daniel Wilson is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma and his background is heavily reflected in the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It's the type of work that fires the imagination, go read it, or you can wait for the movie. Wilson sold the movie rights to the novel before he even finished writing the book. I'm excited to see what ends up on the screen.

Daniel H. Wilson gave a great interview to The Geeks Guide to the Galaxy.

Ron Swanson Awesomness

2011-08-17T04:12:00.003-05:00

There are some amazing artist out there tackling the unfathomable depths of the subject that is Ron Swanson. Check them out here.

Packing For Mars: Mary Roach

2011-08-04T09:08:00.000-05:00

I've been bothering everyone around me with facts about the space program for a couple of weeks now. I spent a good half hour describing the development of the space toilet to a friend at the pub the other day and it's all due to this book.
Mary Roach has tackled the subjects of sex, death and now space all in a hilarious but extremely informative style that always keeps me glued to the page and staying up to read way too late into the night. I can't recommend this book enough for those of us who want to be educated and entertained at the same time.
How cool is it that they made a commercial for the book? Get it here.

Milos in Paris

2011-08-03T02:13:00.000-05:00

Again I find my self way behind the times. We got to see classical guitarist Milos a couple of months back at an exclusive album release party put on by Universal.
We have been to a couple of events like this in the past and they are usually jumping until two in the morning or thereabouts but those always involved rock bands. I probably don't have to tell you that the classical crowd is a little different. Right when we walked in it was clear that we were the youngest people there by several years. Like all these things there were great snacks and even greater booze. The concert was short and sweet and then instead of everyone gathering around the makeshift bar they all started to split. A few stuck around to talk with Milos but by 11 the place was virtually empty. That left a small group of us to do our best to liquidate the bar.

Milos was a really good guitarist, the only problem was that at the end of every song he had a look on his face that would lead you to think he had just creamed his jeans. It was hilarious and awesome at the same time.

At the Drive-In and final album greatness

2011-08-02T10:15:00.000-05:00

At the Drive in's final album hasn't left regular rotation in my house since it came out way back in 2000.

This album makes me think of other exceptional final efforts from some of the bands I love.
Whiskeytown - Pneumonia
The Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

Random Links

2011-07-12T02:22:00.002-05:00

Supra is dropping a "Paris" edition of their skytop, only 100 are available.
Fecal face has posted a recent visit to Jeremy Fish's studio.

Here is an extremely cool step by step guide to making a silicon mold.

Cool Stuff: Declaration Clothing

2011-07-03T03:40:00.002-05:00

Declaration is an amazing clothing company producing designs used and inspired by the American revolutionary war. They have classics like the Join, or Die woodcut and other lesser known designs like the first American coin and pictured above, a take on the Rhode Island Regiment flag. Great stuff.

Neckface and Public Domaine

2011-06-16T11:46:00.002-05:00

Neckface did this limited edition deck recently but sadly, it's already sold out. I would have liked to have gotten my hands on this piece but with a run of only 45 in this color and 30 in a brown background these were gone before I was even aware of them.

Playlist

2011-05-25T16:02:00.002-05:00

The first ten songs on my ipod after hitting shuffle.
1. Ready to Start - The Arcade Fire
2. Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem
3. Tree By The River - Iron & Wine
4. Bottled in Cork - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
5. So Lonely - The Police
6. Things Are What You Make Of Them - Bishop Allen
7. We Could Be Friends - Freelance Whales
8. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
9. Rip Off - Ryan Adams
10. louder Than Ever - Cold War Kids

At the Drive-In and final album greatness

2011-05-19T11:47:00.001-05:00

At the Drive in's final album hasn't left regular rotation in my house since it came out way back in 2000. I really regret that I didn't get to see them live but they imploded not long after I first became aware of them. I have had the good fortune to see The Mars Volta and they did melt my face but if ATDI was anything like reports and you tube clips indicate they were a force of nature live. They really had something with their sound back in the day. Losing Jim Ward really stripped away that hard core, punk edge that I really loved.
It doesn't sound like they will ever be reuniting and even if they did twelve plus years on down the road it just wouldn't be the same. Not that I wouldn't travel a ridiculous distance to see them. Hey, I never thought I'd get to see The Pixies live but I won't hold my breath.

This album makes me think of other exceptional final efforts from some of the bands I love.

Whiskeytown - Pneumonia is another album that I constantly listen to. This was released in 2001 a couple of years after it was recorded. I actually found this album because Ryan's debut solo album Heartbreaker managed to get released before Pneumonia.

The Pixies - Trompe le Monde was released in 1991 and I still listen to it. Damn I'm getting old. Everything awesome about the band is on this disc. It may not be quite as good as Debaser but it has three of my all time favorite Pixies songs on it.

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne was released in 1993. The argument could be made that the breakup of the band was a good thing since it gave us both Son Volt and Wilco but Uncle Tupelo was a pretty amazing band even though on this disc it's easy to hear which song is a Tweedy composition and which one was a Farrar. How great would they have been if they could have written together? This is an album of gem after gem. I might go out on a limb and call it the pinnacle of the alt country genre.

I'm sure I've forgotten some other great final albums but sadly the rule for most bands is to fade away after a couple of crappy albums. It must be nice to go out on top. That having been said would I prefer that R.E.M. had gone out on top and be deprived of the handful of great songs sprinkled across their last few albums, I'm not sure.

Battle - Ice Cream

2011-05-17T08:29:00.001-05:00

What a great video for an even better song. I can't wait for the new Battles album to drop. Gloss Drop should be here soon.

Alien Workshop x Warhol

2011-05-16T02:40:00.003-05:00

Alien Workshop has come out with the second set of their collaboration with Warhol and I'd say this batch is better than the last (see below)! I love skateboards as art so it's nice to see recognized art set in the skate world.

I've got to say that Andy Warhol has been on my radar in a big way since his big retrospective last year at the Grand Palaise. That show really opened my eyes to what he had done outside of the soup cans and the boring movies he's probably best known for. The guy had vision and chops and got stuff done.

If anyone wants to send me one I'm partial to the pink and black self portrait.

JACE/ Shepard Fairey Print Show

2011-05-11T06:42:00.002-05:00

My wife and I made it to the opening of the JACE / Shepard Fairey print show at Gallery Magda Danysz this weekend. Somehow I didn't take any shots of JACE's work which was on the ground floor. It could be due to the fact that the free bar was down there, but I did take a couple of short videos of the OBEY pieces on the first floor. The show was hipster thick, cider fueled and a lot of fun.

The JACE work was really cool and very funny. Let me take a shot at explaining the series. It looked like he had found a kids book from the sixties or seventies and then painted weird things or situations into them. Picture a page from a Dick and Jane book but one of them is stabbing an alien or taking a hit from a big joint. I think I'll go back and take a few pictures because my description just ain't cutting it.

The Shepard Fairey print show was cool. It was comprised of prints of some of his most famous pieces, from the classic OBEY Andre the Giant stuff to his series with Glenn Friedmann to the Obama print. Last year the gallery had a show of his original pieces and this paled a bit in the comparison but was still very impressive.

Undone by Robb Gentry

2011-05-04T06:01:00.002-05:00

This amazing piece was done by my brother. I thought it was cool enough that he had a hand in the construction of Cowboy's Stadium(he didn't make the giant T.V.) but out of left field he created this amazing piece.

I suppose it shouldn't come as a complete surprise, anyone who is friends with him on facebook can see his creative side come out in his excellent writing that just drips with a bold, recognizable voice that's chock full of humor. The fate of this piece is up in the air but if anyone is interested in it email me and I'll put you in touch with him.

I don't know much about sculpture even though I'm surrounded by it here in Paris. But even as an art idiot it is easy to see the skill and vision it takes to create something in three dimensions whether the media is granite, steel or paper mache. To infuse that piece with life is even more difficult and rare.
Many apologies for the image quality, my photoshop skills are weak.
Full Disclosure: My favorite sculpture is Cupid and Psyche by Antonio Canova in the Louvre. My second favorite is in the Orsay and it depicts a dog with a giant penis. Humor and nudity are big pluses in my book.

Finally Caught up: Game of Thrones

2011-04-19T13:43:00.004-05:00

I was sorely tempted to post this picture as reason enough to watch HBO's Game of Thrones, the new show based on George R.R. Martin's still unfinished fantasy series. Look at those sideburns tied into a beard, I think any viewer would agree that this is costuming genius and reason enough to watch.

But I can't leave it at that.
My wife was halfway watching with me, even though this is nothing like what she usually spends her precious few viewing minutes on. Her sole comment was "Is that a midget getting a blowjob?" Indeed it was, the first of many if the show stays true to the books. Clearly another mark in the show's favor.

I just finished the series of books the show is based on literarily known as A Song of Fire and Ice and I read them specifically to prepare for this show. Never mind that for years I had friends telling me I had to read the series. Since Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books I've been wary of far reaching series of books that aren't finished written by older authors.

The funny thing is that when I worked in a bookstore a few years ago this George R.R. Martin series was the go-to recommendation for anyone just finishing the Harry Potter series or Tolkien's books. I personally probably sold hundreds of copies of these books and it's nice to know my recommendations were for good reasons. In my defense, two employees nerdier than myself raved about these books on a weekly basis.
The books are really, really good. The world Martin has created feels real, avoiding that trap that fantasy writers fall into of just taking our world and adding dragons. It has a medivel feel but with a deep history to it. The world has its own mythology and gods that have a real sense of being developed over time within the world Martin has created. The strangest thing is that the seasons aren't fixed. When the novel starts there hasn't been a true winter in years although we get the feeling that one is coming.

The characters are very well crafted. The first book is almost overwhelming with the sheer number of characters that seem important. But Martin has created this vast cast for a reason and quickly (SPOILER ALERT) begins killing off characters that seem intrigal to the plot, it's bewildering and awesome. I found myself going back and rereading paragraphs as soon as I finished them because I couldn't believe my eyes.
Based on the first well-done episode of the show and what I can find online it looks like the books will be followed pretty faithfully. The first season is based on book one A Game of Thrones. The casting looks pretty spot on to what I was envisioning. The show didn't shy away from blood, midget blow jobs, creepy siblings or nudity in the first episode although they may have overdone Drogo's eye makeup.

The television series has already been picked up for a second season so no worries about getting emotionally invested and having the show canceled right away (Caprica). Another possible plus is that if the show continues Martin may be forced to get the books written in a more timely manner than he has managed over the last several years. The next installment of the series comes out in July and here's hoping he is busily scribbling down the next one.

Photo Overload

2011-04-06T01:50:00.005-05:00

Metal

Sometimes nudity is weird.

Literature is bad-ass

Art

Cool Spot: Magda Danysz

2011-04-03T03:56:00.002-05:00

Le Visionnaire - Magda Danysz from Le Visionnaire on Vimeo.

The Magda Danysz gallery is just around the corner on the edge of the arrondismont. We've been to several great openings there and met some great artists.

Mindblowing Special Flip

2011-04-01T11:06:00.002-05:00

If you watch Nitro Circus you already know that the crew over there do some insane things. Check out this Special flip by Special Greg, of all the crazy stuff they do this has to be the most impressive. I've watched this a good dozen times today, it is sick.

The Plague of the Zombies

2011-03-26T16:30:00.002-05:00

My daughter and I caught a fun movie at theMusee D'Orsay. This is the last weekend of Dans la nuit de la Hammer Festival de cinema and it is dedicated to monsters. Last week was "Under the Devil Moon" and the first week was "The Return of Dracula." Being a lover of all things zombie I opted for a showing of The Plague of the Zombies from 1966.
The Plague of the Zombies is from the less hollywood side of the zombie myth, the VooDoo zombie. A zombie created by a voodoo priest is basically a slave to its creator, so you don't get the classic flesh-eating, brain-loving zombie. But this mindless workforce is fun nonetheless.

The film kicks off with a bang, Haitian drummers who have apparently been imported to England and kept underground just to rock a mean drum circle in native dress every few days. A well respected doctor and his cheeky daughter get a letter from a former student asking advice about a plague in Cornwall. Sir James immediatly heads off to help and mayhem ensues. We get treated to fox hunts, near rape, blood theft, doll making, tin mining, grave desecration, decapitation, and everything else a horror fan might want. Several part had the entire audience laughing. Over all the film holds up really well, there isn't hardly any blood and not much overt violence but it's still creepy.
I'll leave you with one thing. What's scarier than a zombie? A zombie on fire!
I rate it five out of five nails.

Alicia Kelly :Good Web

2011-03-25T05:31:00.000-05:00

A good friend and great artist from my hometown has a cool new website that features her art, check it out.

Freelance Whales Fleche D'or

2011-03-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

The problem with my blogging is if I don't write up something immediately there is a good chance that I'll forget it for a week or so. My wife and I caught the Freelance Whales and The Broken Records at Fleche D'or on February 12th.
Fleche d'or is a great venue, super small, great sound and the beer is cold. Pretty much all you could want in a venue plus it's within walking distance of my apartment.

A pretty cool band that I've completely forgotten the name of opened the show. They were a French band but they sang in English. Their English was so good that I was surprised that they were speaking French between songs. I'll try to track down the name.
The Broken Records were in the middle slot. They are a great band, so great that I thought they may have blown the Freelance Whales off the stage. They had an intense sound with a violin that added an amazing amount of texture to the music. It was one of those sounds that just roll over you in waves.
I shouldn't have worried about the Freelance Whales, they put on a kick ass show. The fact that the Freelance Whale music is so different then the Broken Records rock sound really helped. Their album sound translated really well to a live setting. They ran through every song on their album and they actually said at the end of the show that they had played every song they knew. I've said it before, shows are so much more fun when the band is having a good time on stage and the Freelance Whales were having a ball.

Iron & Wine does George Michael

2011-03-15T14:13:00.002-05:00

Iron And Wine covers George Michael

What more do you need to know, Iron & Wine doing a serious cover of One More Time by cool leather jacket wearing 80's dude George Michael.

The Mark of Satan: Hammer Horror

2011-03-12T04:39:00.002-05:00

I watched another great Hammer House of Horror episode, The Mark of Satan. I usually prefer scary movies with a good classic monster but this one hit it out of the ball park without one.

Check out that sweet hairdo.

The ending was quite a surprise which is pretty rare for older horror pieces, having seen so many it's hard to sneak one past me. The descent into madness trick isn't new but they did it quite well.

Don't even think about it.

All in all a great episode, I give it five of five nails.

Children of the Full Moon: Hammer Horror

2011-03-09T06:54:00.003-05:00

I happened across eight of the thirteen episodes of Hammer House of Horror, the television series made by the British horror institution in the eighties. The best part is that my daughter loves them, and if you can believe it, I just found out that there is a Hammer Horror Film Festival her in Paris over the next two weeks.
I watched Children of the Full Moon last night and it was awesome. The picture above is from my favorite scene, the couple has just seen a werewolf at the window and the man says, "I'm a lawyer, a logical man," and then jumps out the window in pursuit. What kind of logic is that? He besmirched the good name of lawyers everywhere with that move.
Those creepy children are a pain in the ass from the very beginning.
This scene was obviously going to end up like from the very outset. There is something about faintly cheesy special effects that just make me feel good.
I'd rate this episode four out of five nails.

Mike Giant Vinyl Toy

2011-03-03T15:30:00.001-05:00

Check out this coolness, Mike Giant and Reckless Toys got together to produce this sweet toy. Get it here.

Good Music News: The Dead Milkmen

2011-03-02T14:49:00.002-05:00

THE DEAD MILKMEN ARE RELEASING A NEW ALBUM!!
I am sooo excited about this news. The tentative title is The King In Yellow.

Pictures are Cool

2011-03-02T05:04:00.001-05:00

Concert Roundup

2011-02-23T15:24:00.003-05:00

Lot of shows coming through Paris with more being added all the time.
Peter, Bjorn and John - March 2nd
Reel Big Fish - March 6th
Amos Lee - March 11th
The Black Keys - March 15th
KT Tunstall - March 16th
Cake - March 19th
Jamiroquai - March 23rd
Matt and Kim - March 24th
The Go! Team - March 25th
Slayer - March 26th
The Twilight Singers - March 31st
Nas - April 5th
The Kills - April 6th
Belle & Sebastian - April 11th
Portugal the Man - April 13th
The Dears = April 15th
Deerhoof - April 19th
The Walkmen - May 20th
Queens of the Stoneage - May 23rd
Fleet Foxes - May 3oth
Bright Eyes - June 22nd
Iron Maiden - June 27th 28th

Iron & Wine L'Alhambra Fevrier 17

2011-02-20T10:53:00.000-05:00

I was able to catch Iron & Wine here in Paris at l'alhambra on the seventeenth for the last date of this leg of the tour. As I've said here before I really like the new album and they played a nice selection from it including one of my favorites Tree by the River.
Sam is touring with a full on band so he didn't do many of his quieter songs although he came out alone for the encore and did Flightless Bird, American Mouth. The full band allowed him to rework some of his older material, The Sea and the Rhythm was almost unrecognizable, but in a good way, and Lions Mane sounded really good sped up and given a little funk.

Sam mentioned that this was the last show of a longer than usual tour for them and they were feeling tired but it didn't show. It seems like the best live shows are when the band is having fun and the band was having a blast. The horn player and the roadie danced almost the entire time, after his solos the horn guy would be so excited he would dance a little jig, it was great to see. Sam even did a dance during some of the jammed out sections. The Guitarist looked like Gene Ween which counts for bonus awesome points in my book.

A little bit of Boy with a Coin.
All in all it was an amazing show. Iron & Wine have been on my "must see" list for years and the wait was well worth it although now that I've had a fix I want more. They fire uo the tour once again in about a month hitting England before heading back to the states, go out and see them.

Video Chain

2011-02-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

The newest New Pornographers video is pretty awesome and among the talented cast is one Ted Leo.

Ted Leo wrote one of my favorite songs last year, Bottled in Cork, and the video is hilarious. The dude in the crowd scene at the end with the nice beard and the emotion written all over his face is the lead singer of Titus Andronicus, Patrick Stickles.

Titus Andronicus put out a rocking album last year and one of the best songs on it is An Airing of Grievances.
Bonus info, Tom Scharpling, the man responsible for the above mentioned New Pornographers and Ted Leo video is directing the next Titus Andronicus video.

Zombie Stuff: Action Figures

2011-02-19T07:42:00.003-05:00

Mcfarlane toys is making a set of Walking Dead action figures that look pretty cool. They have two series in the works, one based on the long running comic book series and another based on the hit television series.
THE WALKING DEAD Series 1
Officer Rick Grimes
Michonne
Zombie Lurker
Zombie Roamer
THE WALKING DEAD Series 2
Deputy Rick Grimes
Daryl Dixon
Zombie Walker
Zombie Biter

Shuffle 4 mardi 8 fevrier 2011

2011-02-18T05:01:00.007-05:00

Drinks in fancy glasses

I got the chance to attend a universal music showcase consisting of two known signed acts and a few prospective bands. The event was pretty cool, it was in a nice venue and the drinks were free.

Aude rocking

The line up consisted of Wladimir, Housse De Racket, Marvin, Aude Henneville and Arthur Le Forestier with the headliners Fefe and Coco Royal & Jenifer.

Fefe doing his thing and doing it well.

Fefe is an established act and really stole the show. The difference in his performance and the new bands was pronounced, he owned the stage and worked the crowd very effectively. His Micheal Jackson cover drove the Jackson crazed French crazy.

Fefe had the crowd moving.

I really felt for the new acts in the showcase, they only had two songs to impress a music industry heavy audience. That's a high pressure situation, no warm up for a performance that could potentially kick start a career, so much respect for them.

Housse De Racket

That having been said, there was only one group that I really liked from the crop of newcomers, Housse De Racket(that translates to Tennis bag). They have a big indie rock sound that was pretty cool and they got up to speed within the two song limit. Some of the other bands were ok for what they were doing , singer songwriter, bluesy chick rock, another singer songwriter they just didn't quite have that undefinable something.

Jenifer wearing tight pants

Once again big thanks for my girl at universal.

B Movie Banksy

2011-02-14T12:47:00.002-05:00

Last year the awesome (maybe) documentary Exit through the Gift Shop came out, the movie was sold as being about Banksy but it really wasn't. Exit through the Gift Shop was about the meeting of commerce and street art and what street cred means or doesn't mean. All in all it was a great film but for something more focused on Banksy check out B Movie. Oddly enough, the interview segments seem to be outtakes from Exit Through the Gift Shop.

More than a little late

2011-02-11T16:06:00.006-05:00

My wife asked me the other day why I hadn't done an album of the year post, I had written out some notes but had forgotten to put it in a post. So with out any more thought here are my notes in the order I wrote them done in.

Girl Talk - All Day Beyond a doubt this was my favorite album of the year.
Arcade Fire - the Suburbs

The Black Keys - Brothers

Broken Bells - Broken Bells

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
The National - High Violet
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Wolf Parade - Expo 86
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
Sleigh Bells - treats
Yea Sayer - Odd Blood

Freelance Whales - Weather vanes

Titus Andronicus - the Monitor

Igloo Tornado Curated Group Show

2011-01-27T03:16:00.002-05:00

After the huge success of the hilarious comic Henry & Glenn it is the perfect time for a show curated by my favorite art collective, Igloo Tornado. The awesomeness is going down on Friday February 18th at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in sunny L.A.Besides all our favorite Igloo Tornadoers there is a shit load of other artists doing their takes on Henry & Glenn.
The crew is putting pictures of the art up on the Henry & Glenn Forever FaceBook page so swing by and check it out.
If you don't already have it the Henry & Glenn book is a must, grab it here. They also put out two great t-shirts, I'm not sure where to purchase them but if you hit the gentlemen up through FaceBook or their site I'll bet they will help you out.

Zombie Stuff: T-shirt

2011-01-26T14:53:00.002-05:00

Teefury's shirt of the day is pretty awesome. I don't really understand how shirt sites like this work, they offer a shirt for one day only and then it's gone for good. Do they print only what's ordered on that day or do they have a retail store where they sell anything not sold on that day? The threadless model of doing a run of shirts and only reprinting the most popular makes more sense to me but I don't know much about the t-shirt business. Anyway get on this design quick, there are just a few hours left to order.

Forbidden $torage

2011-01-25T02:56:00.004-05:00

I had to stop and ask myself if I had time in my life for another show about people bidding on storage lockers and after a few minutes of introspection and prioritizing the answer was a resounding "YES". In a nutshell this is just like $torage Wars but with more cursing, fights and less developed characters.

The age old debate, piece it out or one money?

As near as I can tell the strategy here is to take $torage Wars and amp it up as much as possible. Above we have the "Beantown Bidders" who travel around the country buying up storage lockers.

Squeezing people

The auctioneer in this series is more of a character then in $torage Wars. At one point he talks about milking the bear. It should be noted that right after a locker is sold he goes into it with the buyer and goes through it with them, I'm still not sure I like this set up.

Papa Bear's victory dance

This is the Bear that gets milked, more specifically this is Papa Bear. He bought a locker filled with crazy bondage gear. There is also a "pawnshop pro" who, so far, is a bigger asshole than Dave from $torage Wars. I expect great things from his seeing as how he almost got in a fight in this first episode.

Professional appraiser

The appraisers may be one of the highlights on the show. Would you trust the judgment of a man in a fringed jacket if her were appraising anything other than fringe jackets? I plan on staying tuned and seeing how this series develops.

Iron & Wine News

2011-01-22T13:09:00.002-05:00

It was a good week for Iron and Wine fans with an even better week coming up with the release of the new album Kiss Each Other Clean. The week started with a great video piece on the Daytrotter website followed by the entire album streaming on Conan OBriens's website and finally an episode of Tiny Desk Concert on NPR.

The Daytrotter session was shot beautifully and featured three new songs and one old favorite. Here's the set list:
Tree By the River
Naked As We Came
Godless Brother
Glad Man Singing

If you've seen The NPR Tiny Desk Concert series before you know what to expect, a great looking and sounding set shot at Bob Boilen's desk. Here's the set list:
Half Moon
Big Burned Hand
Tree By the River
Naked As We Came

Good Web : Black N White and Red All Over

2011-01-19T05:53:00.002-05:00

The first thing you will probably notice about Black n White and Red All Over is that it hasn't been updated in almost nine months but there is some great stuff here. The postings go back a long way presenting plenty of material that is already old so the timeliness of the updated aren't really an issue. Here is the tagline of the blog SHOWCASING THE GREATEST BLACK AND WHITE ARTWORK found in comic books, magazines, movie posters, billboards, and anywhere else black and white graphics are visibly displayed.
There are some great classic comics posted for you to read in their entirety.

Batman goodness

2011-01-18T05:37:00.005-05:00

The internet is a beautiful, beautiful thing, it's easy to find examples of this all over the place. I have to clue you into two awesome sites where one of the nerdiest things(comic book characters) meets one of the most awesome things(pretty girls).

I recently became aware of this amazing site Hot Chicks in Batman Shirts and it is exactly what it sounds like although they might want to add "and sometimes in Batman panties."
Another great batman related site is Batman and the Girls which covers anything where Batman and girls intersect.

I have no doubt that Adam West approves.

What's being played

2011-01-13T04:30:00.003-05:00

I just looked at my itunes most played list, check out the rundown.

1. God made the Automobile - Iron & Wine
2. Belated Promise Ring - Iron & Wine
3. How I needed you - Puggy
4. On Melancholy Hill - Gorillaz
5. Generator First Floor - Freelance Whales
6. Jump On Stage - Girl Talk
7. Airplanes - Local Natives
8. Tony the Beat - The Sounds
9. kilojoules - Freelance Whales
10. Oh No - Girl Talk
11. This is the Remix - Girl Talk
12. Tree By the River - Iron & Wine
13. We Share the Same Skies - The Cribs
14. Finish Line - Fanfarlo
15. Bottled in Cork - Ted Leo

The only real surprise to me is that How I Needed You by Puggy is so high. I love the song but didn't realize I listen to it so much. I'm a little surprised that no Titus Andronicus made the list because it feels like my wife is always telling me to turn it off. I think it was in November that I had to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything so itunes has only been keeping track since then.

Speed Weed

2011-01-10T15:36:00.002-05:00

Why haven't I noticed this before?

Zombie Apocalypse Good News

2011-01-08T04:45:00.002-05:00

How would an average joe do in a zombie apocalypse?

Iron & Wine New Album Stream

2011-01-07T05:54:00.002-05:00

Iron & Wine performed his entire new album for NPR and they put it up here. It's pretty amazing with several stand out tracks. The band sounds great. The horn player looks like he used to be a member of Huey Lewis and the News, Sam's sister was absent but there were electric guitars.. I have tickets for the show here in Paris in February. It's my first time to see him live and I can hardly wait.

Bootie Mash ups

2011-01-05T05:47:00.002-05:00

Bootie has their best mash ups of 2010 all available for download right here. While this is nothing like the artistry of Girl Talk, some of these are pretty entertaining.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T07:57:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone, this year is bound to be better than the last one.

Storage War$ Rundown Episode Four

2010-12-29T04:21:00.000-05:00

Not in it to win it.

Storage War$ still has my complete attention with its riveting drama and unanswered questions. Who will win that sweet locker? Did Barry take his meds today? Why is big breasted Brandi still with Jarrod? When will Darrell purchase some sunscreen? It took all my willpower not to power through all the episodes I have on my computer.
After taking an episode off Barry was back and on his meds for the time being. Don't fret, he was crazy enough to wear skeleton gloves and bid on a locker that was full of items from a beauty salon. The irony of Barry's purchase is that in it he found a mini piano and in his last episode he had a midget with him, what I would give to see his little person friend playing that little piano.

Barry commented on the fact that he was all alone at this auction more than once. On one hand I feel a little sorry for Barry having to auction by himself but on the other hand this makes me almost certain that Barry will have awesome partners in tow in future episodes.
I don't have much to say about Dave, he continued to mogul. Dave did talk shit quite a bit and ran up bids, clearly he is the villain of the series. My man Darrell did manage to figure out Dave's tell, simply put, when he is interested in something he criticizes it. The producers set this up nicely with Darrell breaking down Dave's strategy followed by Dave explaining the strategy like it was genius.

For the sweet love of Christ, give me sunscreen!

Yes, Darrell is still sun burnt, either this entire series was shot in one week or he doesn't care for his skin at all. Besides his brilliant insight into Dave's strategy Darrell admits to stupidity in this episode. His admission turns out to be misplaced because he scores a sports memorabilia collection amongst a locker full of junk that he was purportedly stupid for buying.
Jarrod and Brandi ended up not buying a locker this week but not for lack of trying or maybe it was from lack of trying. Brandi was very interested in the "salon unit" that Barry ended up with and instructed Jarrod to get it. Jarrod admitted to the camera that he was only bidding to shut Brandi up but didn't really want it. Brandi quickly caught on to the fact that he was not in it to win it and took over the bidding herself but without Jarrod's support dropped out early, she was not pleased.

The greatest moment in the show came at the very end, after Jarrod explains to Brandi how the auction works with a series of cliches she looks at the camera in the interview and says "Yeah, that's the father of my children."

Jeans, Proof of God

2010-12-28T07:48:00.003-05:00

Only divine inspiration could lead to something as amazing as the Fresh Jive "The Hellions" fleece jeans. Just look at that, a jean cut but sweatpants material. I have two pairs of sweatpants courtesy of my good buddy Union Shane but this being Paris I've never worn them outside the house in fear that the Parisians would throw stones at me because of my fashion faux pas. But these are the answer, I'm assuming they are as comfy as sweats but still look like a great pair of jeans. They come in the classic gray or a darker charcoal color. Nice work Fresh jive.
Now if anyone wants to buy me a pair I would probably take a 38 since I like my sweats and jeans loose and these are based on Fresh Jive's slim cut hellions jean.
Get 'em here in gray or here in charcoal which for some reason are 4 dollars more.

Storage War$ Rundown Episode three

2010-12-27T09:08:00.000-05:00

Ahh Storage War$ is back, in fact, I found several new episodes. First things first, Darrell still has a sunburn. There was a lot happening in this episode, Darrell brought his son Brandon and Jerrod has Brandi in tow once again but Dave was flying solo.
Darrell decided to run up the bids on a couple of lockers and got a little carried away and got stuck with a locker he didn't want. Unfortunate since we learn in this episode that Darrell is financially providing for his niece. but hings work out in the end because Darrell finds a coin collection amongst the junk he's bought.

Jarrod cracks a safe.

Jarrod leaves the bidding up to Brandi because for some reason no one but Dan knows she is Jarrod's wife. You can't fault Jarrod's logic since Dave says he would have run up the bid if he had known who Brandi was. There ends up being a safe in the unit and Jarrod brags on his safe cracking skills for a minute before getting into the safe only to find it full of paper.

Brandi is pleased with her purchase.

The locker Jarrod and Brandi buy ends up being full of unopened electronics so they make a nice profit and their thrift store is stocked.
Sadly Barry didn't bring his crazy to the auction.

So Dope

2010-12-21T15:56:00.001-05:00

This is so awesomely bad and so NSFW. Rhymes this dope are rare.

Will Farrell as Bowie

2010-12-14T16:40:00.000-05:00

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

This is Christmas magic.

Eiffel penis

2010-12-14T11:25:00.002-05:00

This is the view from the Eiffel Tower last Friday. The question is was it tourists or Parisians? My money's on the French.
(from Boing Boing)

Henry & Glenn 4-ever X-Mas Special

2010-12-10T18:19:00.003-05:00

The Igloo Tornado guys are back at it with this hilarious Henry & Glenn X-mas Special. These guys are genius. If you don't have the book yet get it immediately right here.

Cycling Pixies

2010-12-10T17:33:00.003-05:00

The Pixies got with Miltag to create this cool cycling jersey. It's hard to tell but that's the flying P that makes up the pattern. You can see detailed picture and buy the jersey here(quantities are super limited.) or on the Pixies official site. I'm not sure that even the XXL would fit Frank but damn these are sweet. The Pixies are into cycling!

Michael Stipe Photo Project

2010-12-09T08:23:00.000-05:00

Our boy Michael Stipe is busy, R.E.M. has a new album on the horizon and he finished a cool photo project that Slam X Hype did a great write up on complete with behind the scenes video.

Vans x Tron

2010-12-08T08:05:00.002-05:00

After all we've seen the new Tron movie can't be bad, right? It would be a major bummer if it were. I read somewhere that Disney won't re-release the original on DVD until after Tron Legacy hits screens. The rational behind the move is that if people think the original was cheesy they won't see the new flick. I'd bet that there are enough of us nerds out here that we will see it regardless and hey, we loved the original.
This post was supposed to be about these new vans branded with the tron logo. They should be out soon but regardless of whether Tron Legacy rocks or not these shoes look great.

Storage War$ Rundown Episode two

2010-12-07T16:36:00.004-05:00

I don't know when Storage War$ actually airs but I found episode two the other day, and got way too excited about it, here is the rundown.

Darryl hopes this locker has sunscreen in it.

The biggest disappointment of episode two is that Darryl was only in it a little bit, he didn't buy anything this time but he did still have that gnarly sunburn. He also said something about whoever had owned one of the storage lockers being a pack rat, I guess he forgot that we saw his house last episode.

Barry is getting in our heads.

This was "The Collector" Barry's breakout episode. He rolled up to the auction with a midget named Jay, stilts, and night vision goggles. The problem according to Barry was that he wasn't able to get a good look at the locker contents when they opened it up for the five minute observation period. I had assumed that he would get on the stilts for the bird's eye view and the Jay would take the low view but instead Barry decided to put the Jay on the stilts in effect making him normal height. The lockers are dark so the night vision goggles were a good idea but a little person on stilts? It did allow Barry to nab the locker with a hidden, wait for it... micro car, you can't script shit like this.

Plenty of leg room in here.

Not too much from Dave this episode, he did take a little too much pleasure in running up the bids on "The Young Gun", Jarrod. Dave's partner Steve was absent but we did get a quick introduction to Dave Jr. whose job was to look up prices for the stuff Dave Sr. had bought, riveting television.

The watch dude and his VCR hat.

I thought Darryl was my favorite character but now I think Brandi is gonna be my number one. She had a bigger role in this episode, showing up at the auction to keep Jarrod's spending and crap buying in check. She was unsuccessful. They overpaid for one locker that she was quick to point out had porn in it. While going through said locker she pointed out that if Jarrod were to break his neck she would be out.

Brandi is not happy.

They thought they had scored with an expensive watch so they went to the watch expert and she began making fun of his hat. I like this girl. I also think she might have nice breasts.
Jarrod's best quote had to be when other "people see junk, I see mystery." He probably just saw that stack of porn.

Grammy Predictions Part two

2010-12-06T14:48:00.003-05:00

More grammy predictions!
21. Best Rock Album. Backspacer - Pearl jam
I know that Muse album kicks ass but man that Pearl Jam album is good.
22. Best Alternative Music Album. Brothers - The Black Keys
Toughest category by far.

23. Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Faith Evans
I voted for Faith because i've never heard of anyone else in this category, oh wait, I know who Monica is maybe I should vote for her.
24. Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Usher
Is that Debarge, Debarge? I'm still going with Usher.
25. Best R&B Performance by a duo or group. The Roots.
Ok, I guess it's John Legend and The Roots but the Roots are where it's at.
26. Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. john Legend and The Roots
R. Kelly is in this category, is he still peeing on ladies?
27. Best Urban/Alternative performance. Cee Lo Green
None of these are alternative bands.

28. Best R&B Song. Shine - John Legend and the Roots.
Debarge is up for another award.
29. Best R&B Album. John Legend and The Roots
30. Best Contemporary R&B Album. Usher
Contemporary means older folks listen to it right? If so I gotta go with Usher, he's harmless and the old people like that.
31. Best Rap Solo Performance. Eminem
Just as long as it's not Kanye. i wonder if he would interrupt an acceptance speech by Eminem?
32. Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz
I haven't heard any of these songs but it's Jay-Z.
33. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz
Again, it's Jay-Z.
34. Best Rap Song. Empire State of Mind
Great song, maybe the song of the summer, I heard it a lot in New York this summer.
35. Best Rap Song. The Blueprint 3

Winona Black Swan

2010-12-06T03:05:00.002-05:00

This is what Winona Ryder wore to the premiere of her new movie Black Swan. Very disappointing Mrs. Ryder.

Grammy Predictions Part one

2010-12-04T06:39:00.009-05:00

The nominees for the 53rd Grammy awards were announced this week. What could be more fun then making predictions, 90% of which will be wrong? The Grammys have never really meant much to me but it's fun to see where the bands I like (I do have superior musical taste) rank within the confines of the pop leaning Grammys. i should mention that there are 110 categories so I might be skipping around.
1. Record of the year. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Based on plays on my itunes I have to go with Cee lo with Jay Z a close second.

2. Album of the year. The Suburbs - The Arcade Fire
What's the difference between Record and Album of the year? I know full well that Lady gaga will win this one and Boobalicious Katy Perry will be right behind her but who would I be if I didn't cast my lot with one of the greatest bands in the world?
3. Song of the year. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
I know that Ray Lamontagne is in this category and he put out a good record this year but damn that Fuck You song is good. What are the chances he'll perform and what will he wear?
4. Best new artist. Mumford & Sons
My head tells me that it's Justin Bieber but my heart says it's between Mumford & Sons and Florence & the Machine and they actually put out good music.

5. Best female pop vocal performance. Lady gaga
It's gotta be Lady Gaga, right? She did wear that meat dress. Wait, Norah Jones has a new album? Then again, Katy Perry has those breasts...
6. Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Half of My Heart - John Mayer
Ugh, what horrible choices. I chose based on tattoo quality.
7. Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals. Don't Stop Believing - Glee Cast
I like Glee.

8. Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. California Gurls - Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry
Snoop Dogg!
9. Best Pop Instrumental Performance. orchestral Intro - Gorillaz
The Gorillaz album is one of my favorites of the year.

11. Best pop vocal album. The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
She's going to win a bunch of awards right? This is a good bet.
12. Best Dance Recording. Rocket - Goldfrapp
I'm going Goldfrapp but La Roux has awesome hair.
13. Best Electronic/Dance Album. La Roux - La Roux
Really awesome hair.
14. Best traditional pop vocal album. Crazy Love - Michael Buble
The older ladies love Buble and they are the ones voting, right?
15. Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. Angry World - Neil Young
Why is everyone in this category old except for John Mayer?
16. Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. Tighten Up - The Black Keys
Tough category, there are actually several good groups in this one.
17. Best Hard Rock Performance. Let Me Hear You Scream - Ozzy
There is no one I'd rather see on stage accepting an award.
18. Best Metal Performance. World Painted Blood - Slayer
Never bet against Slayer.
19. Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Black Mud - The Black Keys
Man that Black Keys album is gooooood.
20. Best Rock Song. Tighten Up - The Black Keys
Again, that Black Keys album is good but the Mumford & Sons song has a great shot.

Storage Wars Rundown Ep 1

2010-12-03T12:18:00.002-05:00

Barry started collecting antiques when he was fifteen.

There is a new show on A&E called Storage War$ (the $ is their doing) that I stumbled across a couple of days ago. The title really told me nothing, which made me curious, which meant I had to watch it and somehow I got hooked. I should probably confess that i've got a soft spot for reality t.v.; cooking shows, fishing, pickers, builders, I actually watched a couple of episodes of that Vanilla Ice remodeling show.

Jarrod owns a thrift store.

Obviously my standards are incredibly low so this may sound really stupid but the show is about people who buy the contents of storage lockers once the owners stop paying their rent. The exciting part is that the storage lockers are auctioned off by another colorful character, Dan. Dan lays out the most important rules of the auction
1. Cash only (Dave likes to bring at least ten-thousand with him.)
2. The bidders only get five minutes to look at the contents of the locker before the auction begins.

3. They can't actually go into the locker or touch anything!
Riveting television right?

Brandi is pissed at Jarrod.

Let's run down the characters shall we? Darryl "The Gambler", may be my favorite. He has been in the auction buying buisness for a long time. I say "long time" because he says twenty years at one point and then a commercial break later goes with thirty years. His most noticeable quality is the horrific sunburn he sported all episode long. If that had been me I would have been wearing a half inch of aloe and trying not to touch anything.
After the scenes at the auction Darryl volunteers to take the viewers to his house so we can see "the life of an auction buyer", I had a brief "Cribs" flashback which was spoiled when we entered the cluttered house. Darryl found four Picasso's in a storage locker, he tells us that many times. He also bought an expensive flower pot and a shit-ton of comics. Darryl is the blustery type that every reality show needs.

Dave knows organs.

Barry "The Collector" is the old dude. He's been collecting antiques since he was fifteen, seems like a strange hobby for a fifteen year old but ok. Soon after claiming his cred as an antique collector all he ends up buying a bunch of clothing from Suge Knight's movers. Not the antiques I was thinking of but he does end the show with the biggest profit.
Dan "The Mogul" owns a thrift store and a consignment shop. I guess the rules for moguldom have changed during the recession. Dan also has a partner, which feels a little like cheating but he does say that he's the boss so we can let it slide for the time being. Dan strikes out by buying a locker he thought had a Hammond B3 organ in it. It did not but did contain a bunch of baseball cards so he finished strong.

Darryl needs sunscreen.

Jarrod "The Young Gun" has a wife, Brandi. Brandi did not go to the auction with him and was pissed when he came home with a bunch of crap and a questionable car. The car ended up being worth something which was a nice save for Jarrod but isn't the real head scratcher here. Brandi is actually kinda cute (the picture does not do her justice), why is she with Jarrod? He gives of a faint mexican gangster vibe and owns a crappy thrift store. I hope that question gets answered during this season.

Good Web: Terry Richardson's Diary

2010-12-02T04:48:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd share some of the web sites I check out on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. First up, Terry Richardson's Diary. You're probably familiar with Terry's work, he's the famous photographer from NYC who shoots lots of hip people in a stripped down but recognizable style but also does commercial work for all kinds of companies including high fashion mags like Vogue. The reason we should all love him is that he's a big fan of nudity. His site is NSFW and if you get uncomfortable around naked dudes it might not be for you. The site is a visual diary that mixes street shots with off-the-cuff studio shots and occasionally highlights some of his commercial work.

p.s. Speaking of commercial... don't forget to click on those adds to the right.

Iron & Wine

2010-11-30T07:00:00.005-05:00

After years of nothing (Around the Well wasn't new material), there is a lot of cool stuff happening with Iron & Wine in the next few months. Sam Beam dropped a pretty amazing single last Friday for the black Friday Record Store Day event. The track, Walking Far From Home, is streaming on the Iron & Wine myspace page (there's still a myspace?). Check it out, this is another big musical leap forward for Sam.
The new album Kiss Each Other Clean drops here in Europe on January 24th and in the states a day later. Check out the track listing for the new album. There's a song called Monkeys Uptown, how kick ass does that sound?

Walking Far From Home
Me And Lazarus
Tree By The River
Monkeys Uptown
Half Moon
Rabbit Will Run
Godless Brother In Love
Big Burned Hand
Glad Man Singing
Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me

Iron & Wine hit the road in January and will be playing a show in Paris at Alhambra on February 17th. This is one of the bands on my Must-See-Before-I-Die list (the Pixies were a long shot on the list for years but were finally crossed off) so I'll be making a big effort to make it to this show. If the countless bootleg shows i've listened to are any indication it should be a hell of a show. I've narrowly missed seeing the band twice and have kicked myself ever since so keep your fingers crossed.

Girl talk Breakdown

2010-11-23T05:06:00.004-05:00

The Girl Talk obsession continues unabated here and since we can't get enough of the new disc now we can listen to the entire album and watch exactly where he drops each sample on this site.

A big thanks to Matt for the heads up on this one.

Here's another site that does the same thing but in a slightly less visual way.

Looking for a cool way to support GT and pick up a Christmas gift for someone? Check out the t-shirts here. I'm torn between "Night Ripper" and "I'm not a Dj".

Amazing moves : Kilian Martin

2010-11-18T15:01:00.001-05:00

This video of Kilian Martin is sick, this kids skills are amazing. Shot by Brett Novak this is a very well put together video.

Katee

2010-11-16T15:42:00.001-05:00

I don't know why the fact that Katee Sackoff is on CSI has me so excited but she does the bad ass cop very well. I only know her from my much loved Battlestar Galactica(may it rest in peace) where she played the bad ass pilot very well.

Girl Talk All Day

2010-11-16T02:51:00.003-05:00

It looks like my album of the year may have just dropped. Girl Talk is back at his mash-up magic with a new disc, All Day. The term mash-up doesn't do justice to what he's doing. Gregg Gillis plays samples like other artists play instruments to craft pop gems. If this great new album (I'm one listen in) gets as much play as his last disc it will soon dominate my itunes top 25 most played list. Like all his work the new album is free, get it here. The list of all the samples used isn't out yet but I hear some amazing things in this album.

CocoRosie Gallows

2010-11-09T04:24:00.002-05:00

I've never been a big fan of CocoRosie's music but they really nailed the creepy vibe with this great song and even greater video. It's not that I think they aren't a good band but I can only take that fragile, high pitched, warbly sound in very small doses. It's kinda like the voice of the guy in The Crash Test Dummies, it sounds really cool for a song or two but drops off into annoying territory pretty quickly. But I digress, the video has some classic creepy elements, Victorian dress, twins and bloody tears ranking high on the creep o meter. Bonus points for making me think they were topless for a moment.

Not much going on there but their official site is here.
You can get their new album Grey Oceans from the Sub Pop site.

Rosie Huntington photo shoot

2010-11-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

Proof that there is a God. NSFW because of boobs.

Engineered Garments Irving Jacket

2010-11-06T18:35:00.002-05:00

This isn't a fashion blog but I'm really digging this herringbone jacket by Engineered Garments. This could be dressed up for a fairly formal event but would also look great over a t-shirt and jeans. You can buy it at Inventory Stockroom but the price isn't listed which means it's probably not cheap. Bonus points for being made in the U.S.A.
Buy it here.

Octophant

2010-11-04T14:28:00.002-05:00

This great group is putting out some great work. I love the Octophant idea, how cool of a tattoo would that make? These pieces are very reasonably priced, hello Christmas.
Check it out here.

Maxence Cyrin Where is My Mind?

2010-11-02T15:13:00.002-05:00

Some times the best covers are so widely different then the originals that it takes a few minutes to place the tune. Check out this amazing Pixies cover.
Or how bout a little Arcade fire? The crazy videos are just icing on the cake.

I'll leave you with a little Daft Punk as a nod to my adopted country.

Daft Punk and Tron Legacy

2010-11-02T04:27:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid Tron was one of my favorite movies so I was a little worried when I heard they were making a sequel. Thankfully, every piece of information that has come out about It has been cooler and cooler. Daft Punk creating the soundtrack is brilliant and obvious at the same time. Check out this video for another taste of what's to come.

Pixies Music relaunch

2010-10-28T03:29:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite bands of all time are up to some pretty cool stuff. The Pixies have re vamped and relaunched their web site Pixiesmusic. The site looks great, they've obviously put some thought into it. All the usual components are there, merch links, tour info and current news but the band sets this site apart in a couple of cool ways.
They have shows available for download. If you sign up to the mailing list you get one for free. All the shows are priced at 3.99 USD for the digital download or the CD plus the download. The site says that they plan to release a new show every week. So far they cover a huge span of time, one show from '88 and two from '04. I might have to buy the shows I saw.
Another cool feature is the gigography where fans can upload pictures and video of shows and make them available for everyone else in the pixies universe. I'm gonna have to dig out my old pictures, I wonder if they want shots from Frank's solo acoustic show I attended before the band had officially broken up?
One last note, if anyone wants to get me a super awesome Christmas present the band still has the super deluxe "limited edition" of their minotaur package that contains all the pixies stuff you could ever need for just 449.99 USD.

Die Antwoord coming out

2010-10-23T03:43:00.000-05:00

Die Antwoord, the South African internet sensation, recently released another video, this one is called Evil Boy and is pretty awesome and very NSFW. I went back and looked at their other videos and a couple of live performances and I'm gonna have to come out and say I really like what they're doing. It's strange that the bad tattoos, bad hair and the performing in boxers thing works so well visually. The music is just weirdly cool with Yo-Landi's weird voice, the tempo changes, South African slang and well put together beats.
They have a show scheduled for Paris on November 17th at the Social Club that I might have to look into attending.
Check out their web site for videos, more tour dates and merch.

Video of the Day: The Cribs

2010-10-22T01:59:00.002-05:00

My love affair with The Cribs' album Ignore the Ignorant continues unabated. I might have to figure out a way to make this my album of the year despite the fact that it's a 2009 release. Anyway here is the video for We Share the Same Skies which seems fitting on this cold, gray, overcast morning in Paris.

NBA bans APL shoe

2010-10-20T05:12:00.002-05:00

Look at this crazyness. The NBA has banned these Concept 1 shoes from advanced propulsion labs due to the unfair competitive advantage they provide. In essence, David Stern has endorsed these shoes as a way to better your game, specifically these increase a players vertical leap.
While these aren't bad looking for technical basketball shoes, they currently only come in two colorways, the black shown above and a white version. They also come with a pretty hefty price tag of 300 dollars. These are almost guaranteed to do well now. Every middle aged weekend baller with a little cash will be sporting these soon so I'm sure new versions will be out soon. I suspect that the average 18-25 year old will avoid these in favor of "cooler" brands but if APL can place these on the feet of a few college teams that may change.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. Remember that the last shoe the NBA banned(the Jordan I) went on to do pretty well.

Read more about the technology behind these shoes and get a pair here.

Zombie Attack

2010-10-15T03:05:00.001-05:00

Is it too early to vote for parents of the year? Those kids will be messed up for decades.

Zombie review: "Brains a zombie memoir" by Robin Becker

2010-10-11T08:31:00.003-05:00

I worked at a Border’s book store for two years right before the big box book sellers started their nose dive towards bankruptcy. In those two years the number of zombie books available was unbelievably small. It wasn’t until the very end of my time there that World War Z came out, so imagine my surprise when on a visit to the states this summer I wind up in a Border’s and on the new release table I find two zombie novels. I picked up Brains because it was a couple dollars cheaper and several hundred pages smaller then the other book. I thought it would be the perfect size to get me through an upcoming day of sitting in airports.

Right out of the gate I was a little intrigued and a little skeptical, a “zombie memoir?” I’m a zombie classicist. I prefer my zombies in the Romero vein, stupid, lumbering, brain hungry corpses. I once started a short story about a camera man who is bitten while his camera is recording but that’s as close to a zombie memoir as I could imagine. But in this novel, the zombie actually writes his own memoir. (This is the same zombie who lacks the dexterity needed to start a car.)

I know that the bulk of this write-up is going to sound a little crazy, “you can suspend disbelief enough to get into a book about zombies but this other stuff gives you fits?” Yes, yes it does. Let me clarify, I like the idea of a zombie memoir in that we are seeing the apocalypse through their eyes. I can see a person getting bit and writing about the process until they actually die and reanimate but I can’t buy the professor zombie who retains the ability to think and write.

Huge props to the author Robin Becker for exploring the zombie morality side of things. I love the comparisons to sharks that simply do what they do. They are simply designed to kill with no particular love or hatred towards their prey. That aspect of the novel was really cool and something that I had never thought of despite being a long time zombie fan. The whole slave to a biological imperative take on things was very fresh.

Unfortunately the novelty of the zombie point of view wasn’t enough to get me past the “what the heck” parts of the story. I might have eventually gotten behind the professor zombie but when he meets up with a former nurse who can’t help but patch up any zombie in her vicinity I was out. And the list of zombies with “special powers” continues to grow through out the book. There was the zombie kid who could think and move like a human, the two former soldiers with the ability to think and one of them could even speak, and the icing on the cake is the child born of a zombie mother who resembles a red-eyed, pointy-toothed devil. If I were somehow inclined to go along with the idea that a few zombies out of millions might somehow retained some of their human abilities how could I possible believe that they would all end up in the same place? It’s just too much for me.

My other complaint with the book is the tone. I really felt like the book suffered from either too much or not enough work shopping. On the one hand, I can see a group praising some of the witty, throw-away pop culture references. An author could easily think “if two cute literary references and one pop culture nod to Scooby-doo went over so well why don’t I squeeze eight references into the next paragraph?” Or the exact opposite could occur when writing in a vacuum (like blogging) since no one is around to step in and say “Jesus Christ, do you really need to reference eight super heroes and throw two Keats quotes into the same paragraph?” All in all it feels like the author is aware that she is “slumming it” as far as the subject matter goes and loads the book down with witty references to show you that she knows she’s above it. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a fun read. It moved along and was engaging. As I said before, I really liked the bits concerning the zombie’s view of his role in the (almost) destruction of the human race. This short 182 page book that I expected to read in a day’s travel ended up taking me almost three weeks to get through, and that’s not a good thing.

I’m a sucker for all things zombie so I’m not sorry I bought this book and believe me, I’ve read books on the subject that were much worse. I’m happy to add this to my zombie collection. I think in the end I’m too into the classic zombie and was unable to step out of that box and enjoy a new take on the genre.

I have to give this two out of five severed fingers.

Buy it from Amazon where it's also available for Kindle

Tell 'em Steve Dave: Night of the Livid Walt

2010-09-27T13:56:00.005-05:00

Tell 'em Steve Dave is a relative newcomer to the podcasting game but they have pretty quickly become one of my must-listen podcasts. They are part of Kevin Smith's Smodcast empire and have an amount of fame due to their affiliation with Smith's movies. Recently one of their listeners animated one of Walt Flannigan's stories and the result is amazing. Check out the clip above and start catching up on the podcasts immediately.

An evening with Puggy

2010-09-20T03:28:00.007-05:00

Last week JO, G and I were able to attend an industry event for the band Puggy. You may remember that when we attended the taping of the show Taratata a few months ago, Puggy was one of the bands we had never heard of but really liked. This event was for winners of some contest, Universal staff and select members of the media(that's us, bloggers count). There may have been 150 people in a tiny venue filled with great champagne(Mumm) great finger foods, and skinny French folk.
We arrived early and found the champagne almost immediately so instead of a detailed journalistic description of the night let me run down my impressions.

It's hard to convey how small a space it was but in a good intimate, right next to the band way. There was a separate room with a giant sunken hot tub in it. The funny thing is that I walk past this place almost every day and never knew it was there.
The drinks were fantastic and the champagne came in glasses that lit up when full and winked out when empty. These were later accidentally smashed on the sidewalk in front of the Marie.
The band sounded fantastic, they played all of my favorites from the new album. I still think "How I needed You" could easily be a big hit.
Matthew, the singer guitarist, is a really good guitarist.
The band soldiered on for half a song sans electricity, nice work.
The band was super cool, we talked to the lead singer for a solid half hour right after their set and also got in some time with the other two band members.
Matthew is a big metal fan and was able to carry on an in depth conversation about a bunch of great bands including a good five minutes on Pantera. Not only were the band members willing to talk about whatever but each one asked about us in a genuine interested way, again, great guys.
All the band members speak English and French really well. The singer is English but grew up in Belgium, the bassist is French and the drummer/pianist is Swedish.
Matthew demonstrated a pretty good knowledge of 80's skaters when I compared his hair in a shot from the "I Do" video to Bones Brigade era Tony Hawk.
They haven't played the U.S. yet, how is that possible, Americans would eat this music up.
They have a great "big break" story involving incubus and faulty video cameras.
They toured with the Smashing Pumpkins recently and actually defended Billy Corgan's live singing abilities.
At the end of the night when i finally remembered that I had the new album in my bag Romain, the bassist, took it around to all the band members and had them sign it, awesome guy.
Mumm might be my second favorite champagne.

All in all it was a great night with a great band. Puggy will be playing my favorite Paris venue, La Bataclan, in a couple of months and I hope to see them then. Check out their new album "Something You Might Like," you won't be disappointed. A big thanks to our lady at Universal music for inviting us to the event.

Check out the singer when they are walking towards the Monolith, Tony Hawkish?

The exploding bunnies are the best part of this very cool video.

This is my favorite song on the new album. We were at this taping, you can't see us but we are behind the unused drum set.

Links:
The French site
Twitter
Buy the album:
Itunes
Amazon
Pictures by JO and G via Iphone

Rentree

2010-09-09T13:51:00.002-05:00

After a nice long summer break it's time to get back to the blog. I'm back in Paris and happy to report that my dog shit radar is still fully functional and finely tuned. The Parisians are still throwing out chairs at an alarming rate and we've already had one major strike. I've got several ideas for posts stewing and a couple are even half written so for anyone still reading expect a little more activity starting NOW!

Tour de France

2010-07-25T12:35:00.000-05:00

Last year I was watching this live and in person.

Bike stuff mostly

2010-07-21T09:24:00.001-05:00

Attention to detail
fake boobs
yeah
huh?
Awesome

Sapulpa Race Day

2010-07-08T15:15:00.001-05:00

http://www.sapulparoute66criterium.com/

Random

2010-07-08T15:10:00.001-05:00

This might be the raddest picture ever.