Video: Cloud Nothings - "No Future / No Past"

Cleveland Ohio’s Cloud Nothing just released their third LP, Attack On Memory, last week via Carpark Records along side the first video for track "No Future, No Past". The  clip was directed by John Ryan Manning and sees actor Mike Gassaway being uncomfortably dragged around in a fashion not unlike a body being disposed of. The visuals are top notch as is the album its self.

Cloud Nothings - "No Future / No Past" Official Video from Urban Outfitters on Vimeo.

Video: Liturgy – “True Will”

Brooklyn black metal act Liturgy has a new video from their Onomatopoeia 2011 favorite LP, Aesthethica. Check out “True Will" below which sees the band using found footage from the stranger side of religion as their inspiration. 

Liturgy - True Will from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Video: JR – “The Wrinkles Of The City – Los Angeles”

Sometime ago prolific Photographer, Street Artist and TED Prize Winner JR was in Los Angeles pasting up his signature large-scale prints throughout the city for his "The Wrinkles In The City"project. Today we are happy to share a video that shows some of the back stories of some of the people he photographed for those murals during that time, enjoy below….

Video: Florence and the Machine, Lykke Li Live Sets From Austin City Limits

Following up Arcade Fire and FleetFoxes/Joanna Newsom, Austin City Limits continues its stellar drops with another 54 min. double bill featuring Florence andthe Machine and Lykke Li. Florence kicks things off with the Ceremonials bonus cut  ”Strangeness and Charm”, followed by some tunes from Lungs “Cosmic Love”, “What the Water Gave Me” and coming to a close with fan favorite “Dog Days Are Over”.

For her part, Lykke Li plays five tracks off her latest LP, Wounded Rhymes, including “Jerome”, “Sadness Is A Blessing”, “I Follow Rivers”, “I Know Places”, “Love Out of Lust”, and “Get Some”. Enjoy the sets below…

Watch Florence + The Machine / Lykke Li on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.

Show Opening: “Resolve Artists“ Curated by Tony Curanaj @ Joshua Liner Gallery NYC

Last Thursday saw the opening of “Resolve Artists” the latest show at Joshua Liner Gallery. Resolve, an exhibition of twenty-five emerging and established artists whose work is rooted in classical art traditions and training, was curated by Tony Curanaj. Tony might have started out as a graffiti writer (“SUB”, the founder of the esteemed “D.F.” crew) but his reputation expands far beyond since those early days having worked at Disney as a head designer and painter before his decision to concentrate solely on his love for representational realism started. 

In rendering the figure, still life, or landscape subject, this illustrious group (including twenty-two painters, two sculptors, and one photographer) composed of Anthony Waichulis, Brad Kunkle, Christopher Gallego, Dan Thompson, David Kassan, Edward Minoff, Graydon Parrish, Jacob Collins, Jacob A. Pfeiffer, Jefferson Hayman, Jeremy Mann, Kate Lehman, Kim Cogan Kris Kuksi, Kris Lewis, Lee Misenheimer, Michael Grimaldi, Rob Leecock, Scott Waddell, Shawn Smith, Shawn Barber, Steven Assael, Tony Curanaj, Travis Schlaht and Will Wilson expresses a collective interest in classical art forms with a variety of distinct and decidedly contemporary voices.  

According to curator-artist Tony Curanaj: “This exhibition of colleagues and influences reflects a relatively narrow but varied slice of the art world, and presents it to an audience that may not be exposed to this segment of contemporary art practice. The title Resolve speaks of their determination and progression, qualities that imbue each of these works with beauty and technical virtuosity. From concept to execution, these contemporary masters of their craft are completely engaged in the artist’s process and an artistic direction that is unwavering, regardless of fashion or trend.”

If in the NY area be sure to check out this fantastic show before it closes February 25^th, 2012.

Resolve Artists - Curated by Tony Curanaj @ Joshua Liner Gallery NYC January 26, 2012 - free slideshow

Video: Shabazz Palaces - "Are You... Can You... Were You? (Felt)"

Experimental hip hop act Shabazz Palaces  dropped the latest video from their excellent 2011 LP Black Up. The airy, sunshine and flower-filled clip for' "Are You... Can You...Were You? (Felt)" was directed by Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes and saw Futsum Tesgai acting as director of photography, enjoy below…

Video: Feist - "The Bad In Each Other"

Feist has revealed her latest video from her sophomore LP Metals. Check out the clip for “The Bad Each Other” below with some words about it from the artist herself…

“This video captures glimpses of something human, we get a peek inside something real between people - could be loss, longing and love. A lot of things which is about being a human being....

It is told in a way where it opens up more aspects than it concludes.

Maybe something we can't grasp, but it points at it or touches it and

leaves us with different kinds of emotions.

You could think about the video like a song or a poem, and different

people will connect to different things- and those connections might

be different from time to time when they watch it.”

Listen: Chairlift - "I Belong in your Arms"

Straightforward and efficient pop songs about love are in short supply these days, which is why I immediately appreciated the wide-eyed optimism and hook delivery of Chairlift's "I Belong in your Arms" off their Something LP out now on Young Turks.  The duo sound like a post-millenium Fleetwood Mac both in terms of production and vocals.  Listen to the track below:  

Video: Rachel Fannan - "Let Me Sing You Love Songs"

Since her split last year with Bay Area psych band, Sleepy Sun, Rachel Fannan has been busy.  She toured under her solo project, Bird Fled From Me, and formed a new all-girl band, Only You who are getting ready with a debut release and tour.  Fannan found time to stop by to record a sessions w/ video-blog Welcome to the West in their Echo Park studio.

Here she sings a haunting version of "Let Me Sing You Love Songs", accompanied by Brandon Intelligator of Slang Chickens.

Listen: Pepe Deluxe - Solid Steel Mix (1/27/2012)

Finnish electronic collective Pepe Deluxe dropped a great mix on Solid Steel this week along side Ninja Tune head honchos Cold Cut. The mix falls in conjunction with the release of Pepe’s highly anticipated 'Queen of the wave' album, out on the 30th January. The session is full of inspirations ranging from the Brit heavy rock of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, to pseudo-classical music, some 60's pop and a little garage rock, plus we get a taste of the new album and an exclusive spin of a Husky Rescue remix for Pepe Deluxe.

Solid Steel Radio Show 27/1/2012 Part 3 + 4 - Pepe Deluxe by Ninja Tune

Ice Cube's Good Day Revealed

Someone has gone and solved one of life’s big mysteries.  What day was rapper Ice Cube referring to in his 1993 hit “It Was A Good Day”? 

CLUE 1:
     “went to short dogs house,
       they was watching Yo MTV
       RAPS”
Yo MTV RAPS first aired:
               Aug 6th 1988
CLUE 2:
Ice Cubes single “today was a good day” released on:
               Feb 23 1993
CLUE 3:
      ”The Lakers beat the Super
       Sonics”
Dates between Yo MTV Raps air date AUGUST 6 1988 and the release of the single FEBRUARY 23 1993 where the Lakers beat the Super Sonics:
      Nov 11 1988    114-103
      Nov 30 1988    110-106
      Apr    4 1989    115-97
      Apr  23 1989    121-117
      Jan  17 1990    100-90
      Feb  28 1990    112-107
      Mar  25 1990    116-94
      Apr  17  1990    102-101
      Jan  18  1991    105-96
      Mar  24  1991    113-96
      Apr  21  1991    103-100
      Jan  20  1992    116-110
CLUE 4:
Dates of those Laker wins over SuperSonics where it was a clear day with no Smog:
                Nov 30 1988
                Apr   4  1989
                Jan 18  1991
                Jan 20  1992
CLUE 5:
     “Got a beep from Kim, and
         she can fuck all night”
beepers weren’t adopted by mobile phone companies until the 1990s. Dates left where mobile beepers were availible to public:
                 Jan 18 1991
                 Jan 20 1992
CLUE 6:
Ice Cube starred in the film “Boyz In The Hood” that released late Summer of 1991, but was being filmed mid-late 1990 early 1991 and Ice Cube was busy on set filming the movie Jan 18 1991 too busy to be lounging around the streets with no plans. Ladies and Gentlemen..

The ONLY day where:
Yo MTV Raps was on air
It was a clear and smogless day
Beepers were commercially sold
Lakers beat the SuperSonics
and Ice Cube had no events to attend was…
      
          JANUARY 20 1992
      National Good Day Day

-Donovan

Via: http://murkavenue.tumblr.com/

Show Openings: Natalia – “Fabia Punk Rock Rainbow Sparkle” & “Hybrid Thinking” (Curated by Wooster Collective @ Jonathan Levine Gallery

Natalia Fabia - "Palace Amusement Jump" Oil on Panel.

Jonathan Levine Gallery opened its first show of 2012 with a joint effort from L.A. based painter Natalia Fabia and her new collection of works entitled “Punk Rock Rainbow Sparkle” and The Wooster Collective curated “Hybrid Theory”. This was the NYC debut from Fabia who is known for her colorful photorealistic paintings of equally colorful woman who often act as her provocative subjects. The new paintings based on East Coast culture and style that Fabia experienced first hand during a three-month stay give the artists signature work a new twist.

In the artist’s words: “Punk rock is one of my true loves. Punk to me is an attitude, a lifestyle. Punk is a middle finger, punk is do-it-yourself, do what you want. It’s a kind of freedom. I’m attracted to my subjects for having that quality. This attitude is what I wanted to convey in this series. My models (many of which are friends) are all tough, independent, strong, fun, hard working, talented, tattooed and stylishly dressed. I look at punk rock as being dirty and rough, yet sparkly and enticing at the same time, and that’s the theme of my paintings.” 

Wooster Collective’s Sara and Marc Schiller take up the second half of the gallery with their curated group exhibition entitled “Hybrid Thinking”.  The show brings together six preeminent emerging artists from around the world including Dal, from Beijing, China (now based in Cape Town, South Africa); Herakut, a duo based in Frankfurt, Germany who we have featured in the past; Hyuro, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, currently based in Valencia, Spain; Roa, based in Belgium; Sit, from the Netherlands; and Vinz, born and based in Valencia, Spain.

With a wide array of discipline, medium, style and cultural influence, work by the six artists in this exhibition is thematically cohesive in its related subject matter—through figurative pairings of human and animal elements, the artists explore concepts of instinct, identity and metamorphoses.

In the curators’ words: “Hybrid Thinking refers to the current zeitgeist of our time: disparate cultures coming together to create something completely new. Though from distinctly different cultural backgrounds, these artists share an understanding of our cities, of the human condition and our complex relationship with nature.”

If you are in NY be sure to make it to the gallery to check out the shows first hand which will be running till February 11, 2012.

Natalia Fabia/Hybrid Thinking @ Jonathan Levine Gallery - January 14, 2012 - slide show

Listen: Heems - "Mr. India"

Das Racist member Heems dropped a leftover track from his recently released mixtape Nehru Jackets titled "Mr. India." The production is built around traditional Indian instrumentation, always highlight when the Das boys go in this direction. Check it below…

Heems - "Mr. India"

Video: Hand In Hand Presents - Thurston Moore Talks Skateboarding

Ride Channel series Hand in Hand recently filmed a two part video piece on Thurston Moore's influence on the skateboarding community and vice versa.  Moore discus’s how he originally fell into skateboarding culture via magazines like Thrasher citing the common punk spirit held by playing music with his band Sonic Youth and Kids skating the streets of NYC. After a chance encounter with legendary boarder Mark Gonzales at a Sonic Youth concert Thurston was gifted a copy of the Spike Jonze directed Blind feature length, Video Days.  From there a union was formed seeing the band’s music used in many skate films over the years to having things come full circle with Spike Jonze directing the video for "100%" from the band’s Dirty album.  Look to the videos below to get the full story including an appearance from Pro skater and artist,  Ed Templeton, in the second part.

Happy Friday!

Art by Russian steet artist Pavel Puhov aka Bankski.

Throwback Thursday's: Spike Jonze's "How They Get There"

I don't really think I need to recap the career or filmography of Spike Jonze as most people are pretty familiar with it.  Along with some of his early music video work (Daft Punk - Da Funk, Ween - Freedom of 76' ) one of my favorites he did was a short film entitled "How They Get There" filmed in 1997, starring ex-skater Mark Gonzales & Lauren Curry.  It is short and sweet and encapsulates a lot of the style and humor that Jonze has become known for.

Video: A Day with Nick Zammuto

After 10 years and 4 albums, NYC-based band The Books are calling it quits.  But all you glitch-beat fans, do not give up hope.  One half of the band Nick Zammuto (the other half being Paul de Jong) is embarking on a solo career and has been busy in his own right.  Zammuto's new band aptly titled Zammuto will be releasing a self-titled album April 3rd on Temporary Residence Records and will begin a small tour next month.

Docu-music website, Naked Musicians, has been putting out a string of really well produced recordings of live 1 or 2 track sessions with touring bands and has begun releasing new mini-documentary "A Day with.." featurettes which are pretty self explanatory.  Recently they caught up with Zammuto at his home in Readsboro, VT and gave a peek into his home and family life as well as a bit of his crazy creation process.  They have a slew of good videos on the site so be sure to take a look.

For those of you who still can't get enough of The Books, the band will be releasing a box set compiling their albums, a DVD of material as well as some new LP's of unreleased work down the line.  In the meantime, check out Zammuto's Soundcloud to listen to some tracks and mixes.

Crabbing - F U C-3PO - Album Version by zammuto

Video: “CASSETTE” A Documentary Film about the Cassette Tape

A few months ago, the term cassette tape was taken out of the Oxford English Dictionary… As recorded sound continues its love affair with the mp3, the tangible object is quickly going the way of the dinosaur… But in a community born of children who grew up with the format, like myself, the cassette has experienced a quiet comeback over the last few years, as independent labels issuing tape-only releases have begun popping up around the world.

Zack Taylor and Seth Smoot have been creating CASSETTE: A Documentary, a film that celebrates the love for the A Side, the B Side, the mixtape, and the whole of cassette culture by taking a look at all parts of popular culture influenced by the cassette, including hip-hop and B-Boy culture, indie rock, home recording, and beyond. Check the trailer below and if you like what you see help the boys finish the film over at Kickstarter.

Listen: Justice - "On'n'On" (Rick Rubin Remix)

Legendary producer Rick Rubin switched up his role recently to do some remix work for Justice's upcoming single "On'n'On," Rubin has given the song much more natural instrumentation, all the while keeping the original sound and feel of the track in tact. The song will serve as the b-side to the single when it is digitally released on January 30th, Give it a listen below…

JUSTICE "ON'N'ON" RUINED BY RICK RUBIN by edbangerrecords

Video: "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography" Trailer

As we mentioned some time ago ex-pro skater/filmmaker Stacy Peralta will be releasing a documentary on the legendary Bones Brigade skating krew made up of likes of Mike McGill, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Lance Mountain, Rodney Mullen & Tony Hawk.  The film was announced last year but will soon be premiering at this years Sundance Film Festival.  "Bones Brigade: An Autobiography" is Peralta's 4th documentary to premiere at Sundance and much like his previous films (Dogtown & Z-Boys, Riding Giants, etc..) treads on personal material as he was very involved with the Bones Brigade at their inception in the 80's. Check the preview below....

 Bonus - Bones Brigade III - "Search for Animal Chin"

Video: Mastodon - "Dry Bone Valley"

Mastodon premiered the latest video from their recently released LP The Hunter in the form of track “Dry Bone Valley". The clip uses the animation we've come to get used to in their promotion of the LP over the past 6 months but taps renowned contemporary artist Tim Biskup to direct and animate this time around. 

Video: El Mac in Vietnam

Vietnamese art hub, VietNow is making some interesting things happen over there. I am a bit confused on what they are actually as they have the typical artsy "statement" of being a movement of joining communities, social media and being an expressive outlet for youth culture, etc... but regardless I like what they have been pulling off.  Artist El Mac has been traveling SouthEast Asia showing off his talents and skills with the locals by creating a number of street murals and sharing his techniques with local artists.

VietNow produced a nice interview which follows him for a couple days in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in which he speaks on the origins of his style and how his recent work has been influenced by some of the local culture.



Bonus - El Mac in Singapore

Video: Vegan Black Metal Chef Episode 7- “Indian Feast Of The Gods”

Vegan Black Metal Chef has been locked away deep in the pits of despair working on his latest dark spell for 2012 called Indian Feast of The Gods.  The video below is a complete instruction on how to make three deliciously devilish Indian dishes including...

1) Mung Bean Dal (really any dal) - These are Indian style lentils. Basically it’s like an Indian mushy bean paste that goes great over rice or with an Indian bread.

2) Vegetable Pakoras - These are indian spices vegetables breaded and deep fried. They are incredible. You will not believe how evil the Broccoli pakoras are until you taste one. Also included are onion and sweet potato pakoras.

3) Aloo Palak - This is an Indian spinach and potato dish. Add a whole lot of earth balance (vegan butter substitute) or a rich oil like safflower oil at the end to give it a really rich and oily taste.

Video: Jeff Soto Black Keys poster process

Jeff Soto has really come on strong in the gigposter world the last 2 years.  He is an amazingly detailed painter whose work is always super colorful and vibrant but has been able to successfully transition his work into the much simpler, flatter medium of screenprinting.  He recently released a process video for his new Black Keys print (for Paris & Lille) which gives an nice look into how he goes from sketch to final.

"The inspiration was sculptural works I got to see in France, in particular those celebrating the French Revolution. I designed the poster loosely as a representation of Marie Antoinette’s head. I wanted it to be beautiful and sculptural, and maybe just a bit tragic."
"The lettering was inspired by the fonts used in the Paris Metro. I couldn’t believe them the first time I saw them. It reminded me of 60′s era hippy letters, but older looking."

The image above is a variant of the the final copy.  Prints go on sale Jan. 25th at PotatoStamp.

Video: Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”

Sleigh Bells will follow up their début Treats on February 21 with their new album, Reign of Terror. We've already heard two cuts from the LP in the form of "Born to Lose" and lead single “Comeback Kid” and now the band has offered up the visuals for said lead single that you can enjoy below….

Get More: Sleigh Bells, Comeback Kid, Music, More Music Videos

Go Buy This: Mickey Division T-Shirt

Inspired by the Peter Saville’s iconic sleeve art for Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album, two icons paired together for great results. For more info click HERE.

Peter Hook had this to say of the shirt...

"I have seen a lot of Mickey Mouse t-shirts in my time. But I have to say this is probably the best... I hope that [Disney] will be as understanding when we start doing Donald Duck shirts."

UPDATE:

A representative from Disney says, "As soon as we became aware there could be an issue, we pulled it from our shelves and our online store to review the situation further." Still want the shirt? Try Ebay where they are going for upward of $200 a pop at the moment.