Goodnessgraciousme! THIS put a swagger in my step:
…or are you a hater?
Apr 022014
Slim Jade
Feb 072014
Russian fine-art duo Komar and Melamid made a name for themselves as painters of images that are an amalgamation, based on polls of what people look for in a painting.
I came across a musical recording they did in 2008 called “The Most Unwanted Music.” Based on one of their polls, the team made what they call a “scientific attempt to create the most annoying song ever.” They actually pull off quite an interesting opus of undesirable elements.
Can you make it through?
Dec 312013
Sounds of the hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
Something entertaining for your evening if, like LMKR and myself, you’re gonna have 2 or 3 beers and hit the sack to read a book by 10 tonight.
RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, Episode 123
[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]
The List (after the jump):
Nov 252013
Even better than the real thing?
Okay, so for whatever reason, the only thing I can listen to lately is my entire oeuvre of Sonic Youth. Wait a minute, wait a minute, I know, most of you lot don’t like them. That’s not the point.
The point is: I was thinking about how Smashing Pumpkins‘ 1979 is the best thing Sonic Youth “never wrote.” Similarly, I feel that The Verve‘s Bittersweet Symphony is the best thing Jagger & Richards never wrote. [Or did they? – Mod.]
So that got me to thinking: What are other songs that one-up the influence? Which tunes distill the shape and inspiration to manifest and encapsulate the essence of their model? Fill in the blank: ________is the best thing______never wrote.
Jul 202013
Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
This is a dual production by myself and Ladymisskirroyale. It’s a follow up to Cliff Sovinsanity‘s recent summer-themed mix, and we gave it our personal spin as we gear up for our own trip to the coast.
[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]
Jul 012013
The work of graphic designer Mike Joyce is a marriage made in heaven: Typography and Punk. Joyce has transformed the d.i.y. flyers announcing punk and indie shows–the collaged, the Xeroxed, the disposable–and treated them to Swiss modernist style (anyone seen the documentary Helvetica?).
These posters, re-contextualized, visually engaging, and slightly humorous, are an homage to great gigs (see how many you’ve attended), and the formalized text and images that arose out of Switzerland in the ’50s that focused on cleanliness, order, objectivity, and readability.
See the work here at http://www.swissted.com
They’re all also available as an 11 x 14 book, with each page perforated so you can hang ’em on the wall.
Loading ...Jun 242013
Popular music goes through its cycles, just like anything else. I look around, and it seems that blue-eyed British soul has once again come to the surface. The last time I remember this happening big time, was around the mid- to late-’80s, when the coolest music was coming from England, and everything had to be stamped with passion and neo-soul. The airwaves were ruled by the likes of Simply Red, The Style Council, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, The Blow Monkeys, Paul Young, Boy George, Alison Moyet, Phil Collins, Prefab Sprout…everything was redolent of Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin, and everyone wanted to be a smooth operator.
I can see where the groundwork has been laid for a recent rise in British White Soul. With the exception of some hold-outs, black music has gone all Money, Gats, and Ho’s a long time ago. A lot of White music is taking a Luddite approach, and the jug band look rules the indie coda today. Dance music is ruled by an inane “wub-wub-wub” aesthetic. Continue reading »
