Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Under the BQE or BQE drapes
Wierd things happen under the Brooklyn-Queens expressway. They store all types of construction equipment under there as well as do quite a bit of construction on the structure itself. Sometimes when they do that they put up these crazy huge canvas drapes to keep the dust in or whatever. If you sneak in on a sunny day it makes for some really interesting photographs.
Some random photos from last semester
Browsing through my files I found these images from last semester. I'm ready for spring. Open studios at Pratt is next week. Hopefully it will be as fun as it was last semester.
We may be in NYC but we still sport Lone Star
Anthony May in his studio with his varnished hanging wooden block sculpture
My studio
Random studio floor
Woman in Chelsea
???????
Alleyway in Chelsea
My subway stop
walking home from class
Tricia outside her apartment on that long exposure tip
View of Devon Klapp's studio at Pratt. He's an awesome printmaker.
Wesley chillin in my studio after open studios.
We may be in NYC but we still sport Lone Star
Anthony May in his studio with his varnished hanging wooden block sculpture
My studio
Random studio floor
Woman in Chelsea
???????
Alleyway in Chelsea
My subway stop
walking home from class
Tricia outside her apartment on that long exposure tip
Caitlin Peluffo's pig insallation
My fellow classmate Caitlin Peluffo did a very interesting installation and video in her studio a couple weeks ago. She bought a very frozen and very heavy pig, hung it on meat hooks in her studio and proceeded to wash it ceremonially then splatter paint all over it and then beat the living daylights out of it. this was all recorded of course. The installation was like the scene of a crime with the recording of her performance projected upon the wall behind it. Caitlin told me she was inspired by a story her mother told her about coming home and her father had made a mess and expected her to clean it up. Its most definitely was a gnar gnar experience.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
SXSW recap saturday
Saturday was a slow going day. I spent almost my entire day at the Levi's Fader fort. If you havent been hitting this place up during sxsw you should. it's free you just have to rsvp and the line-ups are always good. this year Nas played as well as a bunch of the bands that I mentioned below. there was also free Budweiser and SoCo and delicious Salt Lick Barbie Cue. But the reason we were at the fort was because we found out That Bone Thugz n Harmony was going to close out the night there. The first band we saw was Stones throw artist Dam Funk. he is suck a character. very entertaining. see what i mean below. and yes he busted out the keytar.
other bands that followed were Dum Dum girls who looked very cool but I didnt find them engaging, Real Estate, Salem, Yelawolf, Sleigh Bells and then Bone Thugz. This was my second time to see Sleigh Bells this year and I must say they arent very good. They're actually annoying. The guitarist looks angry and acts like his riffs are so hardcore when they're actually kinda weak and the lead singer although she is easy on the eyes is trying way too hard to be a rock. Boo Sleigh Bells Boo. But the band that wins the award for funniest/worst/unbelievably bad/ I cant believe what I'm seeing/ I cant believe I like their music(on record) goes to Salem. I'm sure anybody who saw them at sxsw would agree. I actually like their new record. It's dark, has alot of depth and texture and their is some interestin g and creative stuff going on. But their live performance at the fort was horrendous and they were boo'd off stage. They started the set with a rap song called trapdoor (these are disaffected heroine addicted white kids from detroit so keep that in mind). The lead singer/rapper or whatever then proceeded to go over and try to play the drum machine. he was totally offbeat and looked as if he had never touched the instrument before. it was comical. they were not into it, you could tell. it was just really really bad and its a shame.
see what i mean?
but this song is good
Yelawolf was quite entertaining. He's a fast rapper. lots of bass. kind of like a white Twista. I wouldnt buy his album but I'll see his live show for free any day. He threw a bunch of beer in to the crowd as well as free jeans and shoes. He also brought two girls on stage and asked them if they liked to get drunk. they said yes and he gave them beers too. He could play my graduation party if he wanted.
He's really an intellectual.
and thats that
other bands that followed were Dum Dum girls who looked very cool but I didnt find them engaging, Real Estate, Salem, Yelawolf, Sleigh Bells and then Bone Thugz. This was my second time to see Sleigh Bells this year and I must say they arent very good. They're actually annoying. The guitarist looks angry and acts like his riffs are so hardcore when they're actually kinda weak and the lead singer although she is easy on the eyes is trying way too hard to be a rock. Boo Sleigh Bells Boo. But the band that wins the award for funniest/worst/unbelievably bad/ I cant believe what I'm seeing/ I cant believe I like their music(on record) goes to Salem. I'm sure anybody who saw them at sxsw would agree. I actually like their new record. It's dark, has alot of depth and texture and their is some interestin g and creative stuff going on. But their live performance at the fort was horrendous and they were boo'd off stage. They started the set with a rap song called trapdoor (these are disaffected heroine addicted white kids from detroit so keep that in mind). The lead singer/rapper or whatever then proceeded to go over and try to play the drum machine. he was totally offbeat and looked as if he had never touched the instrument before. it was comical. they were not into it, you could tell. it was just really really bad and its a shame.
see what i mean?
but this song is good
Yelawolf was quite entertaining. He's a fast rapper. lots of bass. kind of like a white Twista. I wouldnt buy his album but I'll see his live show for free any day. He threw a bunch of beer in to the crowd as well as free jeans and shoes. He also brought two girls on stage and asked them if they liked to get drunk. they said yes and he gave them beers too. He could play my graduation party if he wanted.
He's really an intellectual.
and thats that
SXSW recap friday
Golly gee golly gee. Fatigue is starting to set in. it's harder to wake up. I can feel my legs beginning to ache. But you know what it's SXSW and there is places to go and people to see and live music i think. We biked downtown to meet up with my friend Frannie at the Village Voice party at La Zona Rosa. The xx was headlining that party so of course there was a ridiculously long line. No problem for a balla chillin in da VIP! Frannie works for the voice and is really awesome and nice and hooked us up. if you check out the village voice's music section or twitter music account thing that's frannie. In the VIP we drank free delicious drinks and ate free fajitas from freebirds. Superchunk played but we were too enthralled in free booze and food. We chilled there for time to get full and get our buzz on then it was off to the French Legation again for chillin in the sun. I honestly dont really remember if we saw any bands between the french legation and where we ended the night at Klub Krucial. But we were poppin off all up in Klub Krucial. We saw Memory Tapes and Washed out. ALl our friends met up there and we were partying hard. Memory Tapes' song Bicycle went especially hard.
Washed Out closed out the showcase (I saw him again the next day at the fader fort) he was backed by indie band Small Black. Chill Wave party braaaaa!!!!1
there can be nothing better than enjoying live music with friends you love in your beloved hometown. my friends are the dumbest and I mean that ina good way. shout outs to will, anna, nathan, laurel, justin, daddy brems, beck, ali, herb, cody, jamie, jackie, catherine, twomps, mickey, julian, frannie, pat, stew and anyone else who partied with me at sxsw. thanks for the good times.
Washed Out closed out the showcase (I saw him again the next day at the fader fort) he was backed by indie band Small Black. Chill Wave party braaaaa!!!!1
there can be nothing better than enjoying live music with friends you love in your beloved hometown. my friends are the dumbest and I mean that ina good way. shout outs to will, anna, nathan, laurel, justin, daddy brems, beck, ali, herb, cody, jamie, jackie, catherine, twomps, mickey, julian, frannie, pat, stew and anyone else who partied with me at sxsw. thanks for the good times.
SXSW recap thursday
Thursday was another day to enjoy music. I'm finding it harder to recall exactly what we did. But i do remember us discovering the French Legation Museum's lawn party. The museum has beautiful space and the lawn party provided two stages with pretty cool line-ups everyday. We caught Real Estate(whom I saw twice at SXSW). They have some good songs. They're nothing to write home about but they're a solid band. Beach Comber is a choice track.
One thing people should learn about sxsw is that if there is a band that is extremely hyped before the festival you should steer clear of any shows they are playing for fear of a human clusterfuck. This is twicely important to do if the band sucks. This year that band was brittish trio The xx. I'm sorry i dont like them. I find their live show boring and I dont buy the whole "minimalist sound" thing. yawn. The fat that people were wait in line all day to see this band is pathetic. dont waste your time.
Since I'm on the topic of the French Legation lawn party. I'm just gonna do a run through of the shows we saw there. Sharon von Etten played some quiet songs on electric guitar. Julianna Barwick bored us with her looped vocals but it was OK because the weather was beautiful and we were in the company of good friends laying in the grass. Holly Miranda played some forgettable songs as well. But the highlight of the lawn party besides the friends and the beer and the sun was one of my new favorite bands Woods. This trio is just a great band. Their lead singer is quite high-pitched (think Shins) and they write well-crafted songs while also retaining the ability to jam over a heavy bass line. Great band. I saw them twice at SXSW as well.
Night time time. Their were tons of big showcases to go to but we decided to go to a low key one at Wave. Our decision payed off big time. It was the carpark showcase and we saw Kria Brekkan, Toro y Moi (again), Lesser Gonzales Alvarez (baltimore represeent), and a pretty good band from california called the Growlers (be prepared for an awesome story here in a little bit). Avey Tare from Animal Collective was also "spinning records" in between sets. I couldnt muster up the courage to go talk to him. Kria Brekkan is his wife and she wins the award for most disturbing musical performance. I would almost consider her a performance artist. She sings in a high pitched child-like voice and uses loop pedals and keyboards. She is very thin to the point of unhealthiness. As bizzarre and creepy as her show was I really enjoyed it.
a favorite of mine that i was wishing they would play. Avey did not oblige.
In between sets I went to the bathroom. A guy in there was like "my friend just texted me and he says Bill murray is upstairs but I dont wanna walk up there if he isnt here." I went over to my friends and we decided to go upstairs and check it out. The growlers were playing on the roof and what do you know a old/high looking Bill Murray is standing front and center. Excitement ensues and we worked our way in to the crowd right behind Billy boy. Of course a semi-aggressive mosh pit break out. So yeah I moshed with Bill Murray that night. No big deal.
The growlers werent bad either.
And day two of sxsw was finished. two nights down two to go. great job life.
One thing people should learn about sxsw is that if there is a band that is extremely hyped before the festival you should steer clear of any shows they are playing for fear of a human clusterfuck. This is twicely important to do if the band sucks. This year that band was brittish trio The xx. I'm sorry i dont like them. I find their live show boring and I dont buy the whole "minimalist sound" thing. yawn. The fat that people were wait in line all day to see this band is pathetic. dont waste your time.
Since I'm on the topic of the French Legation lawn party. I'm just gonna do a run through of the shows we saw there. Sharon von Etten played some quiet songs on electric guitar. Julianna Barwick bored us with her looped vocals but it was OK because the weather was beautiful and we were in the company of good friends laying in the grass. Holly Miranda played some forgettable songs as well. But the highlight of the lawn party besides the friends and the beer and the sun was one of my new favorite bands Woods. This trio is just a great band. Their lead singer is quite high-pitched (think Shins) and they write well-crafted songs while also retaining the ability to jam over a heavy bass line. Great band. I saw them twice at SXSW as well.
Night time time. Their were tons of big showcases to go to but we decided to go to a low key one at Wave. Our decision payed off big time. It was the carpark showcase and we saw Kria Brekkan, Toro y Moi (again), Lesser Gonzales Alvarez (baltimore represeent), and a pretty good band from california called the Growlers (be prepared for an awesome story here in a little bit). Avey Tare from Animal Collective was also "spinning records" in between sets. I couldnt muster up the courage to go talk to him. Kria Brekkan is his wife and she wins the award for most disturbing musical performance. I would almost consider her a performance artist. She sings in a high pitched child-like voice and uses loop pedals and keyboards. She is very thin to the point of unhealthiness. As bizzarre and creepy as her show was I really enjoyed it.
a favorite of mine that i was wishing they would play. Avey did not oblige.
In between sets I went to the bathroom. A guy in there was like "my friend just texted me and he says Bill murray is upstairs but I dont wanna walk up there if he isnt here." I went over to my friends and we decided to go upstairs and check it out. The growlers were playing on the roof and what do you know a old/high looking Bill Murray is standing front and center. Excitement ensues and we worked our way in to the crowd right behind Billy boy. Of course a semi-aggressive mosh pit break out. So yeah I moshed with Bill Murray that night. No big deal.
The growlers werent bad either.
And day two of sxsw was finished. two nights down two to go. great job life.
SXSW recap wednesday
Another year and another South by Southwest experience. I believe this was my 8th in a row. I had a great time and got to spend some quality moments with great friends. But in the end its about the music and I saw plenty of it. The first day started out at The Austinist party at the Mohawk. Anni Rossi delivered an OK set and then Toro Y Moi really impressed me with his looped reverb drenched vocals and 80's/beachy synths. The song Blessa is always a jam. This guy is headed for bigger things.
We then proceeded outside and caught sets by The Besnard Lakes and White Denim. I'm not really big on the Lakes they bore me and I really dont see what the big deal is. But fellow texans White Denim blew my face off like they always do. I love this band. If you ever have the chanced to see them gather up some friends, drink some beers and get ready to pee your pants in excitement. This three-piece plays blistering rock shows almost without a second of pause. The songs melt into one another perfectly and alll three guys are great musicians. You can hear, blues, punk and funk influences but they have a go for broke style that is all their own. Lead singer and guitarist James Petralli's voice is complex and powerful. He also has a great scream. I cant say enough about these guys. They're just a great cohesive band holding it down for Texas.
The night came and we started out at Stubb's to catch The Walkmen. I have been a fan of this band for a while and they are seasoned and extremely professional. It will only be a matter of time before lead singer Hamilton Leithauser loses his voice forever. He sings unbelievably loud and hard every show. They were accompanied by an 8 piece brass section which really enhanced the performance. Especially on songs like the beautiful Red Moon.
After this show we were gettin our buzz on and ready to party. Wednesday night happened to be a great night for hip-hop so we headed to Speakeasy to catch the Stones Throw Records showcase. We saw sets by J Rocc (who was a pleasant surprise spinning awesome soul and funk jams), Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf, and my favorite producer of all time Madlib. This show was packed and extremely fun. the set up was kind of wonky though with the stage/DJ booth right next to the bar. A great time was had by all.
The goal was to end the night at The Phoenix to see Flying Lotus. Mission accomplished. Flying lotus blew us all away with haunting futuristic beats and glitchy tripped out visual projections. It was a great show. He has great stage presence and converses with the audience well. I cant wait to see him again at Le Poisson Rouge on tuesday. about halfway through the show Flying Lotus cut off the beat and said "Yeah so all y'all can tweet Flying Lotus is killin shit right now." Thats about right. Highlights of the set were tracks like "Camel" and "melt" as well as remixes of Lil Wayne's "A Milli" and "I feel like dying." Fly Lo was also kind enough to give us a sneak listen to some new material. All in all. It was a great night.
here's a low quality video that will give you an idea of what the show was like
And that was my wednesday. SXSW is the best.
We then proceeded outside and caught sets by The Besnard Lakes and White Denim. I'm not really big on the Lakes they bore me and I really dont see what the big deal is. But fellow texans White Denim blew my face off like they always do. I love this band. If you ever have the chanced to see them gather up some friends, drink some beers and get ready to pee your pants in excitement. This three-piece plays blistering rock shows almost without a second of pause. The songs melt into one another perfectly and alll three guys are great musicians. You can hear, blues, punk and funk influences but they have a go for broke style that is all their own. Lead singer and guitarist James Petralli's voice is complex and powerful. He also has a great scream. I cant say enough about these guys. They're just a great cohesive band holding it down for Texas.
The night came and we started out at Stubb's to catch The Walkmen. I have been a fan of this band for a while and they are seasoned and extremely professional. It will only be a matter of time before lead singer Hamilton Leithauser loses his voice forever. He sings unbelievably loud and hard every show. They were accompanied by an 8 piece brass section which really enhanced the performance. Especially on songs like the beautiful Red Moon.
After this show we were gettin our buzz on and ready to party. Wednesday night happened to be a great night for hip-hop so we headed to Speakeasy to catch the Stones Throw Records showcase. We saw sets by J Rocc (who was a pleasant surprise spinning awesome soul and funk jams), Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf, and my favorite producer of all time Madlib. This show was packed and extremely fun. the set up was kind of wonky though with the stage/DJ booth right next to the bar. A great time was had by all.
The goal was to end the night at The Phoenix to see Flying Lotus. Mission accomplished. Flying lotus blew us all away with haunting futuristic beats and glitchy tripped out visual projections. It was a great show. He has great stage presence and converses with the audience well. I cant wait to see him again at Le Poisson Rouge on tuesday. about halfway through the show Flying Lotus cut off the beat and said "Yeah so all y'all can tweet Flying Lotus is killin shit right now." Thats about right. Highlights of the set were tracks like "Camel" and "melt" as well as remixes of Lil Wayne's "A Milli" and "I feel like dying." Fly Lo was also kind enough to give us a sneak listen to some new material. All in all. It was a great night.
here's a low quality video that will give you an idea of what the show was like
And that was my wednesday. SXSW is the best.
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