Grab your swim trunks and sunscreen.
mp3 | Boys Noize - Lava Lava
Don’t be afraid to get your hair wet.
mp3 | Wzt Hearts - Lava Nile
Dir. Roy Andersson, 1991. Sixteen minutes.
Part 1
Part 2
“World of Glory” is featured on the Cinema16: European Short Films DVD set, available September 25th.
It’s been almost a week since Daft Punk’s Rainbow Pyramid of Joy touched down (complete with the 5-tone “Close Encounters” greeting) in Los Angeles and shook 20,000 very happy people into a lather. I don’t have much of a review beyond that. Regardless of how I might come across, the show was a complete thrill. Almost enough to make me reconsider Human After All. It looked like this:
My friends who saw Daft Punk at Coachella last year said the set was virtually identical. No one was surprised, but no one was complaining.
When Planningtorock broke my heart and canceled her opening spot at the Knife show last year, the 2-hour-plus DJ set that took her place was dull and exhausting. So I was pleasantly surprised that SebastiAn and Kavinsky, with even more time to fill, kept the crowd’s interest and energy levels high. The fact that I had a place to sit probably helped. Ratatat’s live show was more energetic than I would have expected from their albums. Lots of heavy metal guitar theatrics. The visuals were impressive, and “Seventeen Years” brought folks to their feet.
I envy anyone seeing this show at The Greek in Berkeley tonight.
0:35: “It’s your party, but I’ll die if I want to, I’ll die if I want to.”
mp3 | Los Campesinos! - We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives
2:45: “It’s your party, you can die if you want to, die if you want to, die if you want to…”
mp3 | Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted
Cardiff septet Los Campesinos! recently released their EP, Sticking Fingers Into Sockets. London sextet Lucky Soul released their album, The Great Unwanted, in April. Both feature singles that rank amongst the year’s most jubilant:
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
Lucky Soul - Add Your Light To Mine, Baby
Both are highly recommended, highly recommended.
Wait! Spoilers within!
Read More
“Sexy! No, No, No…” is a fairly typical Xenomania/Girls Aloud single:
Despite the presence of a line about getting some coffee, “Biology” it ain’t. Maybe the vocoder bits go on longer than they need to. But I already like it more than “Something Kinda Ooooh.”
mp3 | Girls Aloud - Sexy! No, No, No… (Radio Rip)
“Sexy! No, No, No…” will be released on September 3rd. The fourth and probably final album follows in November.
Released in the states this week, the deluxe edition of The Knife’s awesome awesome so-awesome Silent Shout comes with the original album, a live cd, and the DVD Silent Shout: An Audio Visual Experience. On that DVD, you’ll find the April 2006 concert in Gothenburg, Sweden, 11 music videos, and the short film “When I Found The Knife.” I was lucky enough to catch The Knife’s video installation/planetarium laser show/black mass at the El Rey last November. It’s a hell of a thing, and you can dance to it. Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you.
But as you know, The Knife isn’t just about otherworldly fear. If the Dreijer siblings weren’t tapped into great swaths of human experience, would they have been able to write what might be the best song of the decade?
mp3 | The Knife - Heartbeats (Live)
Maybe you don’t live in Arizona. Maybe you can’t see the stars at night. This is for those days when you’re just not feeling fluffy.
mp3 | The Orb and Alan Parker - Grey Clouds
Blog darling and Sufjan Stevens/Polyphonic Spree alum Annie Clark released her debut album under the St. Vincent moniker, Marry Me, a week ago. An exemplary work of alt-pop, um, singer-songwritersmanship, it can sit comfortably alongside—or above—recent releases by Andrew Bird, Rufus Wainwright, and My Brightest Diamond. Most of the press I’ve been reading on Marry Me seems to stress a between-the-wars French cabaret feeling. While the sound is there, and its presence far from disagreeable, it certainly doesn’t overwhelm the album or any one song in particular, and you could easily point to a dozen other musical points of reference. Any attempts to peg down the album’s sound inevitably discount the breadth of Clark’s songwriting interests. Or perhaps my life is so much like a French cabaret that I no longer notice these things.
mp3 | St. Vincent - Land Mines
The first time I heard “Land Mines,” the song it most reminded me of was “Pilots” from Felt Mountain. It has that same, lush, patient quality. Here, Clark seems to be granting her emotions a sort of indifferent otherness. Sometimes our desires get away from us, and a heart in love, especially one’s own, becomes dangerous. One misplaced step and… KA-BOOM.
Marry Me is available now.
Created for the Estuaire 2007 art exhibition, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s 105-foot-tall “Rubber Duck” spreads joy as it floats freely around France’s Loire River estuary.
A yellow spot on the horizon slowly approaches the coast. People have gatherd and watch in amazement as a giant yellow Rubber Duck approaches. The spectators are greeted by the duck, which slowly nods its head. The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn’t discriminate people and doesn’t have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relief mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages!
Healing properties! Giant Ducky FTW!
More photos are available at Hofman’s official site. Be sure to check out some of his other projects, especially Signpost 5, Stuck Pig, DHL, and Musk Rat.
Artist Shayla Maddox will be exhibiting her light-reactive abstract paintings at the Townley Gallery in Laguna Beach from July 13th to the 27th.
There’s a reception at the gallery on Friday, July 13th, from 6-9 pm featuring music, wine, and hors d’oeuvres. Yes, that’s three solid hours of hors d’oeuvres. And art.
1294 South Coast Highway - Suites D & E
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(Get Directions)
Turn east on Cress St. off of PCH. There is plenty of parking on Cress St.
Photos simply do not do Shayla’s work justice — her paintings need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. Hope to see you at the reception!