Midnight Surprise

The Coachella lineup was just released.

Pardon the short post, I am shitting my pants looking at the list at the moment.

Coachella 2009 Lineup

Goodbye, Good Radio

RIP Indie 103.1

It's a sad time for radio broadcasting. Traveling around, there isn't better radio than there is in LA, and it's a shame that one of it's best stations is going off the airwaves. For those lucky to sit in front of a computer all day, you can stream the online broadcast from their website, http://www.indie1031.fm. For those who were fans, they can't listen to rebroadcasts of Jonesy's Jukebox on the rush hour drive home anymore.

From their website, Indie 103.1 states, "This is an important message for the Indie 103.1 Radio Audience -

Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option --- to play the corporate radio game.

We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the sound, spirit, and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves and take an alternative course.

This could only be done on the Internet, a place where rules do not apply and where new music thrives; be it grunge, punk, or alternative - simply put, only the best music.

For those of you with a computer at home or at work, log on to www.indie1031.com and listen to the new Indie 103.1 - which is really the old Indie 103.1, not the version of Indie 103.1 we are removing from the broadcast airwaves.

We thank our listeners and advertisers for their support of the greatest radio station ever conceived, and look forward to continuing to deliver the famed Indie 103.1 music and spirit over the Internet to passionate music listeners around the world."

Bent Festival: Your Guide to Circuit Breaking

For your circuit breaking needs

LA says wassup to the Bent Festival, arriving today in Downtown before its stint in New York and Minneapolis. It's all about circuit bending and the festival presents workshops, lectures, music, and should appeal to anyone interested in making electronic music, especially in the DIY manner.

Their site says, "The Bent Festival is an annual art and music festival celebrating DIY electronics, hardware hacking, and circuit bending. Each year we invite artists from across the country and around the globe to perform music with their home-made or circuit bent instruments, teach workshops to adults and children alike, create beautiful art installations and to generally come together, face to face, and showcase the state of the art in DIY electronics and circuit bending culture."

Here's some info on the fest:

Bent Festival
April 17-19, 2008
Check out the schedule here.

Tickets

Each night is free with a suggested donation of $10.

A Festival Pass to all events is available for $25.

Locations

Grand Performances at California Plaza

350 S. Grand Ave (map)
Los Angeles, CA, 90017

Zero Point

1049 E 32nd St (map)
Los Angeles, CA,

Kool-Aid Reeboks!

Came across this event, happening Wednesday, April 16th if you're interested. I think the time on the flier should be 9PM-12AM (midnight).

Double check if you RSVP though:
reebokla@complex.com

Justice (apparel) for All (but not really)

(via Hypebeast)

Have you ever dreamed of being as awesome as Justice? Well this might get you one step closer to having your fantasies come true. French clothing label Surface 2 Air made nice with our favorite 2nd favorite French House duo and produced a very limited quantity of their signature leather jackets and jeans. By limited, I mean approximately a hundred-and-fifty pieces per model, so if you're so inclined I'd crack that checkbook open right now and line-up infront of one of these exclusive outlets:

Colette, Barneys, Lane Crawford, Isetan, Le Bon Marche, Paris Texas, Asylum, Le Shop, Incu, Surface to Air (Paris/Brazil)

The threads drop in June.

Blek le Rat at Subliminal Projects Gallery

"I fought the war and the war won..."

I heard this guy on Indie 103.1 the other day on Jonesy's Jukebox, guest starring with Shepard Fairey. Hailing from Paris, his first LA solo show will be at Fairey's gallery, Subliminal Projects, Saturday, April 5th, from 8-11pm. He's been on the scene way longer than most active stencil artists, pioneering the life-size stencil on the streets. He is also one of the first people to use stencils instead of bombing their name all over walls.

Written in the show's press release: "The concept for Art Is Not Peace But War is inspired by an article about graffiti written by Norman Mailer for The New York Times in 1972 read by le Rat during his first visit to New York. For le Rat, an artist is always in a constant fight to create. He views graffiti as the most democratic form of art and parlays this perspective into each of his works. 'Urban art is a powerful way to serve social causes and evoke reaction from the people, and if you have a message to give to the public, it is the best way to give it.'”

Check it out. I'll be there, and so will Blek le Rat.

Subliminal Projects Gallery
1331 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
8:00-11:00pm

Radiohead Strips Stems for a Nude Remix

Click picture for details!

Radiohead cut up their song "Nude" for fans to remix and put the tracks on iTunes available to purchase. Each track is $0.99, or if you want the package with all the tracks that includes a GarageBand code, it's $5.94. Right now the Holy Fuck mix is leading, and in all honesty, it can be beat. I encourage someone to make a remix that'll blow that one away. The deadline for this is May 1st (does anybody know if there is a prize for this?)

More details at www.radioheadremix.com

Gibson owns your Guitar Hero Controller

Whoa! So it finally happened (over a week ago, actually). Gibson is now suing major game retailers for selling those Gibson-esque Guitar Hero controllers, after previously attempting to stop Activision Inc. from fabricating the controllers in the first place. If you haven't noticed, Guitar Hero has cranked the controller versions of many signature Gibson guitars including the Flying-V, the X-Plorer, and most notibly the Les Paul.

CNN Article

Polish your kicks, it's Spring Time!

I know it' s a day early but I'm taken up tomorrow, so Happy Spring all and thanks for reading!

Elation - Spring Fever (via zShare)

Scion Sampler Vol 21: IHEARTCOMIX Remixed

Speaking of Ocelot, the most recent of Scion's mixtapes is actually Franki Chan's evil bidding.  This mix is a collection of tracks from Chan's label, IHEARTCOMIX, which would include artists such as Ocelot, HEARTSREVOLUTION, Death Set and more.  It would definitely do you some good to check it out.

By the way, if anyone's lucky enough to be in Austin tonight there's a HUGE event by IHEARTCOMIX and Mad Decent with a line-up that would blow anyone's mind.

New Ocelot Mixtape

Looks like our pretty kitty friends, Ocelot, made this exxxclusive mix for No Love Lost Records, featuring a couple remixes of their recently released Lo Sforzo track plus a lot more hard thumpin' electro house goodness.

I especially like their mysterious "Untitled" track, and their remix of Razorlight's "America".  Amazing stuff.  Find a link to the mix and its full tracklist on their myspace.

Ocelotspace

A Korg MS-10 on your DS

Via Music Thing

I know. What the ef, right? Among the clutter of "meh" music games on portable consoles stands an application to be reckoned with. Modeled after the legendary Korg MS-10 synth, this "game" has a 6-track sequencer, two sound engines, Reason-style patching and the ability to play wirelessly with friends. It sounds like it would waste more of my time than tetris (maybe) and hell, it might just kick the crap out've that Chocopoolp thing for beat sketching on the go.

But hey, you tell me.

Unfortunately, this baby is one of them "Japan Only" games. Someone selling a Japanese DS?

*Update 03/19/08: Looks like the game WILL be available in other regions, w00t!

This is Your Brain on Jazz

Any neuro majors out there?

A recent study funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (phew...) has found that jazz musicians, when engaged in improvisional solos, shuts down a sizable amount of the brain involved in observing performance "while a small region involved in organizing self-initiated thoughts and behaviors is highly activated."

The Study

Stencil... Reincarnation??

What are those flying things on the upper right?

...Reincarnation in the sense that it has been away from the mainstream for quite some time... introducing us to artists some have never heard of. The last BIG show I remember was when Banksy showed at some rundown warehouse in LA. Since then, Logan Hicks came and did some wall art on Melrose for the release of his designed K-Swiss kicks. If you love stencil art, this show looks promising already with some of the art featured on their flyer. I love the Carmichael Gallery shows, being introduced to them when they brought art to the Biscuit Company Lofts in Downtown LA. They know how to set up their space for maximum visual pleasure, as well as atmospheric pleasure. The opening reception is this Saturday, March 1st from 8pm-12am.

Logan Hicks doing some stencil work
(regards to the 'mastodon' who posted this on YouTube.)

Video of the Meek FM "Typographic Synthesizer"

If Moog worked for a type foundry...

Music and art is (among other things) what this blog is about, and as often as the two intermingle with each other I had never thought that analog synthesizers and typographic design could be married.

Well it has. Rob Meek and Frank Miller's invention of the Meek FM has taken the internets by storm and finally some video footage of the thing in action has come along for all of us to enjoy.


"Meek FM is an interpretation of type as sound. Using new software and the M.E.E.K. typographic synthesizer, the musician/designer develops sounds and typographic visuals in parallel."


A good way for the sound designer to break into type and vise versa. Personally, I wouldn't mind tweaking knobs instead of Bézier handles.

The Meek FM in Action

Puremagnetik Squeezes out the "TeeBee"

TeeBee!

Puremagnetik is just an amazing company. Every month they release two sample packs stuffed with great quality sounds for a measely 5 bucks a month. This month they released the "TeeBee", a pack that samples the original TB-303.

Samples can be heard on the Puremagnetik Website.

If you're interested go and subscribe now! The packs jump in price when the new flavors of the month set in.

Para One + Ayumi Hamasaki?

via Palms Out

Yeah, you heard me right. Soon to be released by the Japanese record label Avex is an Ayu remix album featuring a Para One refix of her song "Greatful Days".

...and I thought he was lucky enough to be remixing Daft Punk's "Prime Time of Your Life".

If you don't know who Ayumi Hamasaki is, the girl is huge. Dubbed the "Empress of Japanese Pop Music" she's a powerhouse of award-winning tracks with enough top singles to put even platinum artists to shame. Just check her wiki.

As for how the remix sounds?  It's a light-sounding club beat with "Voyager" style basslines that drop in around the middle.  Nothing special, but Ayu remix compilations tend to be pretty inoffensive like that anyway. Download the remix below and check out the original track if you can.

Ayumi Hamasaki - "Greatful Days" (Para One Remix) (via zShare)

Get'em Para One, you silly Frenchman!

Polaroid (1948-2009)

Shake it like a Polaroid picture, while you still can

It is with great regret that I announce the Polaroid Corporation's decision to discontinue Polaroid films. Starting this year, Polaroid will start to discontinue the first of its instant films and by September of 2009 the last batch will have been packed and shipped from the factory. There is no solid speculation if another manufacture will take its place, but it is said that Polaroid is seeking a partner to acquire licensing rights in hopes that a firm will produce the film and hardware long after the company is gone.

As a Polaroid fan myself, I have always enjoyed taking fun instant photos (I even gave in to the Joy Cam and i-Zone craze in grade school). I loved to apply the smudge/scrape effect on my pictures, remember that? Now I sit and stare at my old Polaroid Spirit 600 with great grief. Snap 'em up while you can, fellas.

Polaroid Notification

I can't figure out why this song reminds me of Polaroid pics but it does, so here:

Jah Cure - Love Is (via zShare)

*Update 2/22/08: I came across this post about the post-Polaroid scare. Stock up on that film!

Two Notable Events: MSTRKRFT + Ed Fella/Geoff McFetridge

Ed Fella!

Unfortunately, MSTRKRFT and the Ed Fella/Geoff McFetridge event isn't happening at the same venue. Damn bookers raining on my parade.

MSTRKRFT's tickets for their February 29th show at the Music Box at the Fonda in Hollywood are on sale now for $26. Get your dance on with Z-Trip and DJ Diabetic opening. Why do awesome electro duos like to hide their identity?

The REDCAT gallery has been overshadowed by the larger Downtown LA museums, but it's not worth overlooking. On February 20th, it's holding the opening reception for two great and influential designers Ed Fella and Geoff McFetridge from 6:00-9:00pm. Spectators will be able to meet the artists through an artist talk at 6:30pm. The show will be open until April 6th, so there's no excuse to miss this opportunity!

That Fool Kanye

The Evolution Theory: Edwin Birdsong's "Cola Bottle Baby" > Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" > Kanye West's "Stronger"

Getting clowned on left and right by celebrities such as Usher and Vince Gill, Kanye took it like a champ at the 2008 Grammy Awards.  What doesn't kill him makes him stronger, right? Speaking of stronger, the pop icon performed the ever-so ironic popular song live at the awards show, which I learned a couple of things from: 1) I found out that Daft Punk uses something like a Lemur controller for their live performances, and 2) I found out Kanye CAN actually see through those window blinds-styled glasses.

Congrats on your "Best Rap Album" and your "Solo Performance" award, Kanye.  You're still a douchebag.

Daft Punk - Around the World/Harder, Better, Faster Stronger (from the "Alive" album) (via zShare)

Oh, Snap!  Was someone putting up the pyramid sign during his performance sixteen seconds into that vid?