Rave On

I'm not going to write a Raveonette's review. I love them lots and will at some point. I'm sure they've been mentioned on here during various Saturday Playlists and whatnot. I'll just say that, of all the bands I had the pleasure of working with at Sony, The Raveonette's were one of my favorite campaigns. They're great people and make great music. My old colleague, Davey Wilson, is now a pretty good photographer in NYC and has continued to work with the band.

So, here's NME's latest on them (written with more in-the-know shizz than I'm pulling from the pits of Norfolk right now). It's about how they're influencing NYC and LA pop kinda hardcore right now. Enjoy some pics, as they do it right with the image:

By Davey Wilson

pic: NY Daily News

pic: Shawn Mortensen

pic: viceland.com

pic: clashmusic.com

Perked

All photos by Richard Perkins except the Jack Keruoac by Allen Ginsberg.

Local Artiste Richard Perkins premiered a photo exhibit at A Latte Cafe on Friday night. I love his work on his blog, Parachute Full of Forks, and got more familiar with it a few months ago when I scoured his various websites to feature him as a Friday Featured Artist for AltDaily. I particularly like how he incorporates poetry and photography (he's since also been a Featured Poet at AltDaily).

Just a hipster taking pics of his hipster friends and writing around the edges...

When we put him up as a Featured Artist, some of the feedback from the online commentators was that his work was amateurish and nothing more than a hipster taking pictures of his hipster friends. Well, while this is true, does this make it any less artistic? I defended him at the time by comparing his work to an Allen Ginsberg exhibit I'd just seen in DC's National Gallery of Art. Documenting the truth of the situation and making it pretty, ugly, odd, etc--that's what art is.

The thing is, when I go to Richard's blog, the combination of all the photos together, sometimes linked with random statements written somewhere between prose and dada, I get it. It's youthful and dirty and trying and sometimes it's wrong but most of the time it's right.

So, I was excited, stoked even, to hit up A Latte last Friday to see his exhibit. Not sure what I thought upon arrival. There were a couple of awesome pictures. One big frame with a small pic--the extra space used for creative writing. I especially liked the one they used for the invite:

After a quick walk around, though, I wasn't feeling it. And I hate to say that, because I really really like his stuff. Maybe it was the framing? Or the juxtaposition that works so so well online doesn't work on real walls? Maybe A Latte just isn't the right venue, with its arts & crafts vibe and vintage bookshelves? I couldn't put a finger on it, but knew if this had been just some show I walked into without knowing about the artist, I wouldn't have dug it at all. I told Adam, "Seriously, wait til you see this stuff online, it's so much better."

What does that mean? Can art exist solely online? How can one transition the pairings of multiple pictures to solo prints that lose the core of their meaning when separated from the rest of the night they were taken? I'm not sure and I'm certainly not giving up on Richard Perkins as a photographer or as an exhibitionist in various forms of creative expression. I think this was one of his first shows, and, you know, it shows. Can't wait for the next one though.

Gatsby on Film?

pic: partyscenegg

Remake news. The Great Gatsby may be getting a Hollywood update. Hmm.. I remember seeing the 1970s version and thinking "eh." I don't see how words as magnetic as Fitzgerald's translate to the screen, no matter who works on the film.

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby? I could get behind this. I'm not a Leo fan, per se, but usually find I enjoy the films he's in. He pulled off 1920s with The Aviator and seems to have a literary understanding (Basketball Diaries, Romeo & Juliet). He also has the ability to pull off the role of a guy from the wrong side of the tracks doing whatever it takes to get to the right side (Titanic). I'm not boycotting yet.

Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway? He's got that innocent-boy quality required of anyone playing the narrator to this story. I'm mainly familiar with him from Spiderman, but a quick IMDB search shows me Maguire's uber-familiar with this role, as it's the only one he's ever been cast in (The Cider House Rules, Wonderboys, Seabiscuit). I could still be down to see this.

Amanda Seyfried as Daisy Buchanan? I haven't seen anything she's been in except for Mean Girls, which was good. I know she gets good press and critics seem to like her, so I'm down. 

The best news, however, is the potential director, Baz Luhrmann (Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge). He has owned the rights to the story since 2008 and has great talent in moviemaking. He has only directed four films, and if this is his fifth, I'll be there.

A Saturday on Foot

Public readings by Waterside.

Paul Shugrue from WNRN's "Out of the Box"

Gayla Robinson (last year's Sea Level singer-songwriter contest winner)

Beautiful buskers on a stroll.

Sea Yay Saturday

pic: snailtrail.com

Started with Lungs by Florence. I wrote about this yesterday, so no need to reiterate other than to say, I'm still digging it but can't wait for the new release.

pic: melophobe.com

I've liked Yeasayer a while, mainly because I trust my dear Heather's taste and she told me to like them. Of course, she was correct. I listen here and there. Then,  yesterday, as I was looking over the Florence & the Machine post, noticing how they're remixing her, etc., I decided to listen to All Hour Cymbals again. I don't have Odd Blood yet, but hear it's more dancey-poppy.

Back to Cymbals, the psychedlics on "No Need to Worry" rival any 60s or 70s Doors song you will ever find. I dig. "Wait for the Winter" satisfies that jungle drummer in you, yet also pleases the Wolfmother, Witchcraft, or even Decemberists fan inside. Then "Waves" pulls out non-electric Joy Division melancholy ambience. Yes yes. Yeasayer (per their wiki) call themselves "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel." Well, yeah, I mean, who doesn't? They're right, though, as there are elements of all of this.

Check out the best thing ever: La Blogotheque's The Take Away Shows, featuring Yeasayer performing on the Paris Metro: click here for the awesome.

pic: youaintnopicasso.com

Ended my sesh with The Whigs out of Athens, GA. They're more traditional rock than Flo or Yeasayer, but I felt like upping the energy but keeping with the solid percussion and indie undertones was fitting. These guys are more Southern rock than I normally even listen to--but if you like Drive By Truckers or The Damnwells, you'll definitely dig on The Whigs. With Kings of Leon's popularity growing like cancer, there's a chance these dudes can ride some coattails. I don't mean they sound like KOL. I just mean I think they should take advantage of the popularity of a not-dissimilar sounding group's rise to the top.

I hope to see them live in 2011.

 

Florence IS the Machine

I have been digging on "Heavy in Your Arms" by Florence & the Machine since the Eclipse soundtrack came out months and months ago (and which I highly recommend: Beck, Jack White, Metric, Black Keys and on and on). Turns out, she's gonna release it as a single and also release her album Lungs as a two-disk re-introduction to our ears called Between Two Lungs (full track list below).

I like Lungs. Especially her voice and the percussion. It's just a little muted and I can't tell you exactly why. Her songs are almost there, but need a friend to pull out all the stops. Even on her current single, "Dog Days Are Over," the vocals and drums are what you remember, and the rest is retro-pop and Britty and cute...just not punchy enough--not dancey enough.

It's not all bad, not at all. "A Kiss With A Fist" is rocky bossy in the vain of early Strokes and 50s American rock-n-roll. "Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart." That's a great lyric.

I'm glad to hear she'll be collaborating with some Britrap people, including the effin' great Dizzee Rascall. I think it'd be cool if she worked with Mark Ronson too, but that's not happening just yet. Anyway, bottom line is, I like Lungs and I'm totally excited for its fuller, fatter big sister.

Tracks:

CD 1:

Dog Days Are Over

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

I'm Not Calling You A Liar

Howl

Kiss With A Fist

Girl With One Eye

Drumming

Between Two Lungs

Cosmic Love

My Boy Builds Coffins

Hurricane Drunk

Blinding

CD 2:
Heavy In Your Arms

You've Got the Dirtee Love (this features Dizzee Rascall!!)

Hurricane Drunk (The Horrors Remix)

Strangeness & Charm (Live from Hammersmith Apollo)

Swimming (Live from Hammersmith Apollo)

Dog Days Are Over (Yeasayer Remix)

Florence &The Machine perform acoustically Live from The Roundhouse:
Drumming Song
Girl With One Eye
Hurricane Drunk
Dog Days Are Over
My Boy Builds Coffins

Hospital Beds

Artorexia

Hannah just showed me these awesome skeleton pinups online.  I did a search and behold: this crazy find from a blog called Randommization. Turns out, they weren't arts & crafts, but are sales tools from an x-ray company. Can you say brilliant, creative marketing? Kudos. Here are a few more...

Great job. Reminds me subtly of Norfolk's own Stuntkid. I went to his gallery opening over the summer. Here's what I mean:

Stuntkid is Jason Levesque and he's one of the best artists around here (meaning Virginia and beyond...not meaning Norfolk). He does a lot with muted, yet vibrant colors and is a "pin-up" period (in a good way) right now. AltDaily wrote about him last spring when he illustrated the first ever issue of The Many Loves of the Amazing Spiderman with Marvel Comics, which shows some pinup but not the haunted skeletal vibe of th above works, which I really am digging on.

Dressin It Up

Here's a picture (taken by Louis Fisher) of Mo and I doing the twist at AltDaily's Pulp Fiction afterparty last weekend at The Boot. DJ Android killed it, so props to her. You can't really tell from the pic, but Mo is Mia Wallace before the overdose, and I am Mia Wallace after.

 I love, Love, LOVE costumes, Halloween, silliness, dressing up, Halloween, and, well, Halloween. My year of Halloween blogging is almost up and I'll soon be picking a costume. Listing ideas monthly has been a great help, though, as this is the first year ever I don't find myself a couple of days before the big day wondering what I'm gonna wear--and by then all the thrift stores are pith.

I predict a good Halloween this year, as we at AltDaily will be showing Zombieland at The Naro on October 29 (preparty at Colley Cantina), and after that....ZOMBIE PROM complete with the Dead Michael Jacksons doing it up at Taphouse. Dead Michael Jackson's isn't really a band, btw. It's the uber-talented Chris Dean (who sings for Virginia Symphony Chorus and Beachstreet USA, as well as directs a Sunday choir and participates in ONE with his cohort Ivan King. Ivan's gonna be a dead MJ and so is their friend Casey, who'll alternate between guitar and bass as Chris sings and Ivan runs the laptop.

Here are some more Pulp pics for your enjoyment.

Unplanned.

pic: absolute1

Ancestor to the Merowl (aka: Owlmer)

A day I didn't expect. 

Work morning after Pulp Up Down Etc.

(Too many smokes with old friends).

Hour, maybe two

Town Point Park

Thought buskers & jammers 

But was not

WAS its own. 

Was warm. Jovial. Nice.

View/Vapor/View

Walking. Mansions stoned to their time. Massive. Strong. 

Stockley. Art. Twilight. Balloons.

Norfolk. Pub. Scheme.

Home.

Unplanned.

Over Normal

Stanley Donwood's first US art show is premiering as we speak in San Francisco's Fifty24SF Gallery. Called "Over Normal," the artist most famous for doing Radiohead's artwork (both albums and websites) has created seven pieces using the primary colors found in Interstate billboard advertisements and the primary words found in solicitous spam emails. I wish I could go. I wish I wish I wish.

BUSK You Up in My Love

This is big. Bigger than the event itself. Big because the point of its existance carries more weight than any single promotion, busker, or fan. Friday night, post-hurricane and pre-Labor Day, we invited buskers down to Colley Avenue. They came and sang and people walking to movies or ice cream shops got special treats for their eyes and ears. Check out SPIN to learn more. Here are some pictures I took: