Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
My Bloody Valentine reunion confirmed*
Kevin Shields, the mercurial and elusive leader of My Bloody Valentine, confirmed that the legendary band has reunited in the studio for the first time since 1995, recorded new material, and that an album release is forthcoming, possibly as soon as this year. In an exclusive interview set to air Monday, Nov. 12 on VBS.tv, Shields speaks at length with Ian Svenonious on Soft Focus about his career and art, including some tantalizing hints about the next phase of My Bloody Valentine.When The Daily Swarm first reported on the upcoming My Bloody Valentine reunion in August, their sources insisted on remaining anonymous, and Kevin Shields’ own statements came only in the form of fans’ personal encounters culled from a variety of message boards. Some accused TDS of rumormongering, but were confident in their work and that after years of false starts and dashed hopes, one of the most innovative guitar bands (second only to SY) of all time was truly gearing up for a return to action.
Watch Part One of the interview here
November 06, 2007
SOURCE: The Daily Swarm*
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Twenty-Three Minutes Over Brussels
How do you introduce Alan Vega?One half of the seminal electronic duo Suicide, Alan Vega was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began his career as a visual artist, gaining notoriety in the early 70s for his radical light sculptures and through the mid-80s had numerous one-man art exhibitions at OK Harris and the Barbara Gladstone galleries in Manhattan. Also in the early 70s, Vega co-founded a lower Manhattan art & music forum, ‘the Project of Living Artists’ in a large warehouse space in SoHo. It was there he met Martin Rev and together they formed Suicide, whose minimalist music, a fusion of Rev's ominous, repetitive keyboards and Vega's rockabilly snarl, helped paved the way for the electronic artists of the future.
Five years in the making, Vega's tenth solo release, Station, is a blistering statement of intent from a rock'n'roll shaman whose work has always stretched parameters, managing to defy expectations at every turn.
As Vega himself says, “Station represents a kind of culmination point for me. It gathers up many of the elements that have been in my previous work and takes them all the way. In many ways, it's my most truthful record in that I'm now at the age where it’s easier for me to listen to my own heart-beat and act on it creatively.”
'Station' is out now on Mute.SOURCE: AlanVega.com
Perpetuum Mobile
Einstürzende Neubauten is the first and only band which successfully uses the Internet productively to gather and concentrate activities of their fans from around the world. Einstürzende Neubauten launched their official website www.neubauten.org in 2002, and made it the center of their musical activities. Entire albums are financed by registered Supporters via subscription. The principle is simple: their Supporters buy the next Einstürzende Neubauten album before it’s recorded. With this funding in hand the band has time to work in peace rather than wasting time and energy in endless discussions with record companies about marketing and “brand identity” – irksome intrusions into the artistic process! In return Supporters world-wide have exclusive access to Einstürzende Neubauten’s internal working processes.
New release, Alles Wieder Offen (pronounced: ah-llus vee-der off-en), out now.
Find out more here.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Straight trippin', Boo…
East Village Radio (from 10/19)
Stream the "The Let out" Click here
Download the mp3 for free! Click here
Add the show to your favorite podcasts by pointing your preferred podcast software to:
http://www.eastvillageradio.com/podcasts/2008/68.xml
SOURCE: TheFader.com
Monday, October 22, 2007
Super Dave versus the Vampire
The Ultimate Larry Craig Interview
Last week, Super Dave Osborne conducted the ultimate interview with nosferatu Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and his wife for the Jimmy Kimmel show. In the best John Stossel manque fashion, Osborne "cuts the crap" and asks the questions American voters want to hear answered, especially the one about whether Craig hawked his wife's body parts on eBay.
SOURCE: Reasontv.com
Tangled up in blue
Police in Orlando Friday (10/19) arrested three employees of the Orlando Weekly on charges of aiding and abetting prostitution. The three worked in the paper's classified section. Police say they were helping the city's escorts and massages parlors write coded ads to attract johns while escaping detection from police.
SOURCE: Reason.com via Orlandoweekly.com
Do you belive in GodTube?
It's here!GodTube.com
Last week the upstart Christian video site, GodTube became the first religious website to offer the hot-ticket social media trinity: user-generated video (à la YouTube), social networking (à la MySpace and Facebook) and live webcasting (à la Stickam.com). GodTube's claim that it has become the most trafficked Christian website on the Internet is trumped only by a second boast: that by the sheer volume of video watched by its users — 1.5 million hours last month — it is now the world's largest broadcaster of Christian video.
SOURCE: LATimes.com via MediaBistro.com
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
David Byrne's 2007 Nonesuch Records reissue of the Knee Plays
SLIDE SHOW WITH MUSIC
David Byrne's 2007 Nonesuch Records reissue of the Knee Plays — from its original conception, as part of Robert Wilson's epic play the CIVIL warS.
Robert Wilson’s the CIVIL warS — “a theatrical production concerning human myths, conflict and brotherhood over the ages” — began as a commission for an arts festival in conjunction with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Originally conceived as a day-long performance in five parts, the work called for writers, composers and performers from many different countries to assemble in Los Angeles to present their comprehensive work of art. Although no performance of the full work took place then, and devotees of new music continue to await an integral staging, its component parts have fared better in numerous international performances.
SOURCE: DavidByrne.com
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Metal Machine Music
Dragons of ZynthCoronation Thieves
Release date: September 25, 2007
Label: Gigantic Music
This disc is out of the known universe of current independent music. It is rich, textured and an amazing lift from the crop-o-crap of new releases. Imagine Radiohead, at their most eccentric and blip-heavy. Add a large portion of confidence, swagger and grow the idea in Cincinatti and Brooklyn instead of Oxford, England. Dragons of Zynth start off like Sun Ra channeling proggy pop and it just gets better with every listen. David Sitek, Tunde Adibempe, Kyp Malone, Jeleel Bunton and Gerard Smith of TV on The Radio contribute their amazing talents throughout the 45-minute disc.
• Standout tracks: Who Rize Above, Take It To Ride, Rockin Star
DOZ made more than heads turn at 2007 SXSW Festival, Gigantic Music showcase. The response the band received has a direct-connect to their debut disc, 'Coronation of Thieves,' becoming the most anticipated new release of the year.
'Coronation Thieves' is a pleasure, a wonder and a marvel of rhythmic and psychedelic proportions.
DayTrotter.com has some early tracks available for free download here.
SOURCE: Zelo
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
This just in from Pitchfork…
Radiohead's In Rainbows Premieres on Xfm RadioConsider this a chance to try before you buy: tomorrow (October 10), London-based radio station Xfm will broadcast Radiohead's seventh and latest opus, the much-chattered-about In Rainbows, in its entirety. The on-air unveiling begins at noon UK-time, which translates to sometime in the wee hours of the morning for Radiohead's fans in North and South America.
SOURCE: Pitchforkmedia
Friday, October 05, 2007
This just in from Pitchfork…
Black Kids Wizard of Ahhhs EP
[Self-released; 2007]
"[I'm] struggling, really, to be honest," Reggie Youngblood said on a 102-degree day in Georgia this summer. It was between songs during Black Kids' set at Athens Popfest, and the singer/guitarist's onstage banter wasn't sounding quite as sharp as his songwriting. The guitar-jangling, Jacksonville-based five-piece were hardly "struggling" musically, though: Eyewitness raves about the performance spread faster than you can say "Technorati," and positive notices soon followed from the NME, Vice, The Guardian, and, yes, Pitchfork. All this for a band with no announced label, or even much touring history.
READ MORE
SOURCE: Pitchforkmedia.com
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Short, Sharp, Schrapnel
Vicious Intent: The Rock 'N' Roll Art and Exploitation of Stainboy Reinel
In December 2007 Dark Horse will publish Stainboy Reinel's first book of collected works, Vicious Intent: The Rock 'N' Roll Art and Exploitation of Stainboy Reinel. Unschooled, undisciplined and unstoppable, Stainboy now carries out his deadly assignments and other secret services in sunny Orlando Florida while indulging his tastes in beautiful women, fast cars, expensive restaurants, and sharp, stylish clothing.
SOURCE: StainboyReinel.com
Local promoter pays it forward
Gamble Records organizes 2 shows to benefit local non-profit groups*.Here's a look at Friday night's set opener at Dandelion Communitea, in downtown Orlando. The Token Gamblers rock the house with some foot-stomping bluegrass goodness, including special guest Big Jef on fiddle.
*The proceeds to benefit:
Florida School of Herbal Studies
Simple Living Institute
Solilla Center 4 Creative Kids
Check them out!
SOURCE: Zelo
E.L.L.A. Music Festival next weekend
October 5 and 6, 2007As part of the Orlando-based Gamble Records Presents series, Orlando audiences can hear a different voice for Florida female singer-songwriters. Put together mainly through the valiant efforts of Robert Johnson (I know what yr thinking) and Jonathan Andrews, this recent press release sums up the goal:
For Immediate Release!
Gamble Records is setting the stage for a cultural renaissance of the Floridian feminine spirit. Ten amazing musicians will be linked together by one of the most righteous music festivals to ever grace the presence of our city beautiful. The E.L.L.A. Music Festival, on October 5th & 6th at the Rogers’ Building Theater (37 S. Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL, 32801) in downtown Orlando, will be one of the only festivals in our city that stays true to its purpose; to bring the finest female singer/songwriters that Florida has to offer to the attention of the Central Florida listening audience.
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FOR 1 OR 2 DAYS @ DANDELION COMMUNITEA
Produced by Gamble Records
SOURCE: Zelo
Sins of the Gawker
Elijah Pollack Is Going To Be A Horror
When is it okay to hate a 4-year-old? Maybe when the kid's name is Elijah Pollack. Elijah is the son of Alternadad Neal Pollack, the author and oh-so-hip dad who has been remanded to blogging his existence away on Epicurious. This week, they visit a cheese store and, well, Elijah is the worst. Now we know both he and his portrayal are at the mercy of his daddy.He is essentially a formless mass that has been fashioned into what he is by his father. But if we were to come across a sculpture that resembled, for instance, a large penis, we would be remiss not to mention that fact simply because the statue was created by a sculptor and did not form itself. And if you think we are somehow being hyperbolic or unnecessarily cruel in being so harsh on little Elijah, let us show you.
READ MORE
——————————————————————————————————————————
AUTHOR RESPONDSNeal Pollack Half-Heartedly Defends His Character/Son
Understandably unhappy professional father Neal Pollack is understandably unhappy that yesterday we called his four-year old son Elijah the worst and predicted that in a few years he'll be a full-grown horror show. Why did we launch this "disgusting sneak attack," he asks, in an email blast to his "Friends, Colleagues, Supporters, and anyone else who might be interested."
SOURCE: Gawker.com
Friday, September 28, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Sad news
Jeff Wood Kept The Beat For Tampa's Music Scene By KEVIN WALKER
The Tampa Tribune
Published: Sep 14, 2007
TAMPA - Jeff Wood, a beloved fixture of the local music scene and one of its most talented drummers, died Wednesday night at his mother's home in Valrico. His family and his fiance gathered around the 42-year-old as he died at 7 p.m.
"It was very beautiful," his mother, Jan, said.
Shortly after his death, lightning flashed and thunder boomed. That was beautiful, too, and appropriate for a local rock 'n' roll icon."He would have liked that," his mother said.
Skip directly to the full story.
SOURCE: The Tampa Tribune
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Remain in light
Osho Zen Tarot
The Fool
A fool is one who goes on trusting; a fool is one who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it. Be a fool in the Taoist sense, in the Zen sense. Don´t try to create a wall of knowledge around you. Whatsoever experience comes to you, let it happen, and then go on dropping it. Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here now, as if just born, just a babe. In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you...let them. They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you. And each time you don´t allow situations to corrupt you, that opportunity will become an integration inside. Your soul will become more crystallized.
Osho Dang Dang Doko Dang Chapter 2
SOURCE: Osho.com
This just in from the A.V. Club…
Dirty Projectors
Rise Above
(Dead Oceans)
The concept is irresistibly rich—young musician goes home to his parents' house, finds an empty cassette case for Black Flag's Damaged, and tries to remake the album from memory—but it would be a mistake to hear Rise Above as a mere conceptual exercise. For one thing, Dirty Projectors couldn't sound less beholden to the source material. Barely a note of "punk" rage plays out in songs as elaborately restructured and emotionally reconstituted as "No More," which laces cries of "I need action" with haunting harmonies and quasi-African guitars. Dirty Projectors leader Dave Longstreth clearly had more than a remake on his mind—a mind whose wandering ways will be worth following for years to come.
A.V. Club Rating: B+
Reviewed by Andy Battaglia
September 11th, 2007
SOURCE: TheOnion.com
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
And not just in a Bright Eyes release
Paradise LostSquabbling, bad management and development threaten to destroy Cassadaga, the one place in Central Florida that doesn't look like every other place In 1875, New Yorker George Colby and three spirit guides hiked through the brush and muck of Central Florida until they came across a serene place of rolling hills and ponds. Colby was a spiritualist – someone who communicates with the dead through mediums and séances – and he wanted to establish a spiritualist camp in the South. He found a property and, in 1880, filed a homestead for 74.4 acres with the state of Florida. About 15 years later (there is some confusion on the exact dates), Colby deeded 35 acres of his land to the newly formed Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association.
By Deanna Sheffield/ORLANDO WEEKLY
Thursday, September 6, 2007
SOURCE: OrlandoWeekly.com
This just in from The Washington Post…
Author Dave Eggers Cops $250,000 Heinz Award Author, philanthropist and literary entrepreneur Dave Eggers has become the youngest person ever to win one of the annual $250,000 awards from the Heinz Family Foundation. Eggers, 37, used earnings from his autobiographical 2000 bestseller "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" to launch 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in San Francisco for children ages 6 to 18. Since then, the center has replicated itself in five other cities, with another branch scheduled to open this fall in Boston. "I think of it as a validation of the work that 826 does," a grateful Eggers said in an interview. He said the $250,000 would be split evenly among the seven centers.
By Bob Thompson/Washington Post, Wednesday, September 12, 2007
SOURCE: WashingtonPost.com
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A look see
PJ Harvey: "The Mountain" (Live for Norwegian radio)
Polly Jean Harvey stopped in Oslo on Wednesday for a Norwegian radio interview and also played five songs from her forthcoming White Chalk. Luckily, the performance was filmed, and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has posted this performance of "The Mountain" from the session for all to see. If you've heard fellow White Chalk track "When Under Ether", you might not be surprised by the piano or the high vocal register. The shadowy lighting and the intense performance still make this riveting viewing, though, and there's no preparing yourself for when Harvey's voice leaps up for a Tim Buckley-esque flight of vocal fancy. "I feel nothing," she complains, describing dying trees and betrayal between lofty howls. It's still intriguing how quickly she can go back to an easygoing chuckle after this, too.
SOURCE: Pitchforkmedia.com
This just in from Pitchfork…
Weather Report founder Joe Zawinul Dies Keyboardist, songwriter, and jazz fusion pioneer Joe Zawinul passed away today, September 11, in his native Vienna, according to a Reuters report. The report cites local news agency APA as saying that Zawinul succumbed to a rare form of skin cancer at age 75.Read more
SOURCE: PitchforkMedia.com
Boxer briefs
The National: "Apartment Story"
If you've seen the cover of the National's Best New Music'd Boxer, then the latest video from that album might look familiar. Filmed in a Brooklyn church, the Banner Gwin-directed clip for "Apartment Story" shows well-dressed singles shyly introducing themselves to each other, tapping their fingers and their toes to the National's thrumming anthem. From a stage behind them, the band plays, and eventually the spiffy young folks start moving out to the dancefloor. "We wanted to capture the sweet but awkward vibe of a wedding reception or singles mixer," the National's Matt Berringer tells Spinner, which has the video. Funny, my wedding DJ thought it would be a good idea to get things going with some Kenny Rogers.SOURCE: PitchforkMedia.com
Monday, September 10, 2007
If you happen to see either of these men…
…ask them when they are going to get off of their fat asses and produce something close to good music again.Damn!
Sincerely,
Bart Silverfish
Blissink Records
Black Lips
Black Lips
Good Bad Not Evil
[Vice; 2007]
Rating: 8.3
Black Lips can, to date, be depended on for raucousness, irresponsibility, occasionally pissing in their own mouths onstage, and sloppy garage tunes indebted to noise and punk as much as the band's Southern roots. Given all that, the idea of them hitting anything outside of a niche audience seemed slim. They're a go-to band for filth-rock puritans, even as their unhinged live shows have helped them slowly gain a larger audience with each album's release.
SOURCE: PitchforkMedia.com
Print enlightenment
Art as interactionLocal Projects is turning museums into places where people interact with information—and each other. Its latest commission will have the whole country joining the conversation.
By Angela Starita
SOURCE: PrintMag.com
Animal Collective
Animal CollectiveStrawberry Jam
[Domino; 2007]
Rating: 9.3SOURCE: PitchforkMedia.com
In March, Animal Collective's Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) had his breakout moment with the release of Person Pitch. It was his first solo album that didn't sound like what we'd previously heard from Animal Collective; sample-heavy and based on loops, the album's songwriting devices favored expansion and contraction over conventional chord changes. Person Pitch reflected Panda's interest in dance music-- even when it veered toward the angelic pop innocence forever associated with the harmony-drenched hits of the 1960s and 70s. Both the album and its transcendent centerpiece, "Bros", are deservedly being widely considered among the year's best.
Gilliam's Island
The alternative tothe All-American,
family-fun movies
of the last 5 years.
NOTE: Not for the faint of heart
A poem: If I Owned the Internet
How many poets could cram eBay, Friendster and Monster.com into 3-minute poem worthy of a standing ovation? "If I were in charge of the Internet," Rives says, "You could Mapquest your lover's mood swings/Hang left at cranky/Right at preoccupied/U-turn at silent treatment ..." Enjoy a unique talent.
About RivesSOURCE: TED.com
A Jaw-dropping Photosynth demo
A Cross-modal, cross-user, multidimensional experience
Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from around the Web, Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation.
About Blaise Aguera y Arcas
SOURCE: TED.com
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Dave Eggers: Where you at?
Before he started reading, he was talking about his process
for twisting Deng's voice into his own. This excerpt is one
of the first things he wrote when working on the book.
Moe's Books, Berkeley
There seems to be a suspicious lack of Dave Eggers on television these days. A scant few years ago you couldn't swing an old issue of Might without hitting a mention of the D to the E. He was last sighted at the 2005 Hay Festival of Literature & Arts.*
Upon further investigation we found this at McSweenys.com:
… In 1998, he founded McSweeney's, an independent book-publishing house in San Francisco that puts out the McSweeney's quarterly literary journal; the monthly magazine The Believer; a daily humor website, www.mcsweeneys.net; and Wholphin, a DVD quarterly of short films. In 2002, Eggers opened 826 Valencia, a writing lab for young people located in the Mission District of San Francisco, where he teaches writing to high-school students and runs a summer publishing camp; there are now branches of 826 in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and Ann Arbor, and in 2007 a seventh center will open in Boston. With the help of his workshop students, Eggers edits a collection of fiction, essays, and journalism called The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He is also the co-editor of the Voice of Witness series of oral histories.*In 1988, the festival was described by Bill Clinton in 2001 as "The Woodstock of the mind".
His fiction has appeared in Zoetrope, Punk Planet, and The New Yorker. He has recently written introductions to new editions of books by Edward Wallant, John Cheever, and Mark Twain.
His most recent work is What Is The What:
Valentino Achak Deng, real-life hero of this engrossing epic, was a refugee from the Sudanese civil war-the bloodbath before the current Darfur bloodbath-of the 1980s and 90s. In this fictionalized memoir, Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) makes him an icon of globalization. Separated from his family when Arab militia destroy his village, Valentino joins thousands of other "Lost Boys," beset by starvation, thirst and man-eating lions on their march to squalid refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where Valentino pieces together a new life. — Publishers Weekly
SOURCE: zelo research
Panoramas of the Moving Image: Mechanical Slides and Dissolving Views from Nineteenth-Century Magic Lantern Shows
September 12, 2007–February 25, 2008 Painted or printed images on glass were among the earliest forms of projected "motion picture" entertainment. Mechanical glass slides were manipulated to simulate various kinds of change in the image, and multiple projectors allowed for superimposed and dissolving views. Brightly colored, handcrafted slides, depicting human activity, fantasy figures, and landscapes, were typically presented with live narration, music, and sound effects, in what became popular by the 1870s as Magic Lantern shows. Experimental media artist Ernie Gehr's Panoramas of the Moving Image (2005) is a synchronized five-channel video installation that uses eighty-seven original slides and views selected from Gehr's personal collection and that of renowned pre-cinema collector David Francis. Projected side by side, the slides create a mesmerizing wide-screen spectacle. A selection of vintage paper Zoetrope strips and Phenakistiscope discs—complementary artifacts of nineteenth-century moving-image technology—are also on display.Organized by Jytte Jensen, Curator, and Ron Magliozzi, Assistant Curator, Research and Collections *All dates are subject to change
SOURCE: MoMA.org
This video inspires smiles
Caribou's 'Melody Day' Song of the Week on BBC Radio 2
Melody Day is this week's record of the week on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's show on BBC Radio 2.
SOURCE: www.caribou.fm
Friday, September 07, 2007
St. Moist
MoistWorks is an audioblog started by James Morris* in April of 2004. A year later it was hijacked by a number of additional writers, many of them divas. We update Monday through Friday, putting up all sorts of music and as much text as the occasion seems to call for.*JAMES MORRIS is the founder of moistworks. He played wide receiver briefly in the AFL. He is the editor of The Roxanne Diaries, the UTFO fan club newsletter.
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