The Audiozine -

Lynchburg Street Style and Chromat Fashion Show

kaveh — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:15:24 -0400

My friend, Becca, has been maintaining a Lynchburg Street Style blog for a few months now. If I didn't know her personally, I'd fretfully wonder if the whole effort is a condescending mishmash of affluence and, well, non-affluence. But, knowing Becca's enthusiasm, I can assure you that the blog is a really refreshing, honest, and exuberant look at the fashion styles that people are sporting in this small, humble Virginia town. I think it's a really great egalitarian move, especially considering her blogroll effectively puts Lynchburg in the same company as NYC, Paris, etc.

You'll note that the post from Aug 29th, 2008 is for a fashion show. Chromat was put together by Becca and Emily and was, in my opinion, a strong effort overall. The duo reconceived hunting clothes, plaid patterns, a Nascar jacket, and other common fashion statements in the Lynchburg area as raw materials for a decidedly modern collection. And, critically, at no point was their bluegrass couture smug or disdainful of Lynchburg and her people. Now I'm just waiting for a men's line...

What Does It All Mean?

kaveh — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:17:42 -0400

The recent Steinski retrospective on Illegal Art is absolutely essential listening for anybody who cares about hip-hop, sampling, copyright, electronic music, advertising, or sonic collage...

...and if you don't know...

...now you know!

In San Francisco

kaveh — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:10:53 -0400

Earlier this week, Farsheed (who runs Midnight Parking) posted a picsound that I finished a while back. It was inspired by a 2003 news article about a blackout in San Francisco as well as a photo of an abandoned theater in SF that my friend Dan Finnerty (aka Spinnerty) took. The music features sounds from my childhood home (kitchen table, chairs, air vent, bubble wrap, light switches) arranged with some pizzicato violin by my brother in a vaguely dub inspired way.

Wait a sec, what's a picsound? I think of them as little audiovisual postcards -- usually a picture and/or bit of text to which we score a short (30-60 sec) looping musical accompaniment.

Visitations + DJ Steve Richmond -- Aug 22nd @ Teahaus

kaveh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:48:42 -0400

SHOW:
When/Where: Fri Aug 22nd at the Teahaus
Who:
1) Visitations -- Athens, GA band. self-described "electronic folk". Compared to (and actually involved with) Elephant 6 Collective, who are best known for bringing us Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Apples In Stereo, Of Montreal, and a slew of others. The band is touring behind their upcoming disc, The Conundrum Tree, which features an interesting mix of buzzing and whirring synthesizer drones, reversed acoustic guitar, and lots of other homespun electro-psychedelic flourishes. Nominally folky on record, I wonder what they'll sound like live. And it sounds like they have a history of political provocation.

2) DJ Steve Richmond -- I think I've heard this guy spin before. I think I remember it being awesome. I think he has a solid reputation and has played his fair share of gigs around town. Some connection to the old Atomic Burrito spot maybe? Dap-Kings and King Tubby are some of his top MySpace friends so maybe some kinda soul/dub/reggae/ska fix? Whatever, I expect dancing. Or, I expect you to dance.

What?

kaveh — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:03:40 -0400

RIAA.

Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet -- on Pitchfork only until Thursday!

kaveh — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:31:34 -0400

Hey all,

Get excited: My good friends Asif Siddiky and Paul Owens (of 2 Player Productions) have gotten their documentary film, Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet, onto Pitchfork TV. The film is in their "One Week Only" section and will only screen until Thursday Aug 21st.

The film, which screened at this year's SXSW festival, sheds light on the thriving, underground NYC Chiptune scene. Chiptune musicians retool Gameboys and other classic video game hardware into synthesizers, rhythm units, and other musical doodads. The music isn't video game music, but rather a punky DIY recasting of gaming technology into a mode of creative expression. Even if you don't watch the whole film (it's divided into Chapters), I strongly recommend that you at least dip into it and get a taste of this music culture.

When visiting some friends in NYC a few months ago, I attended a show at The Tank, the scene's CBGB-like epicenter. The music ranged from blippy shoegaze to hard techno-like dancefloor bangers and it was all followed by a slamming DJ set that put chiptunes up against house music and some crazy Dizzee Rascal remix. Dancing ensued, despite my horrible hangover from the night before. The musicians and concertgoers were much more honest and enthusiastic than the art-for-fashion's-sake hipsters encountered elsewhere in NYC.

Later this week, I'll update with some audio and text about shows I've seen over the course of the summer. Madonna, Sean, and Me.

Web Radio + Pumpkins

kaveh — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:12:17 -0400

Interesting WashPost article on how a little known panel of judges may have finally dealt a death blow to Pandora and other web radio services.

Credit goes to Howard (Howie?) Mandel's excellent Jazz Beyond Jazz blog for the article. His original post re: Pandora is here.

Also, over at Nailgun, James wrote up an absolutely spot-on defense of the Smashing Pumpkins's 90's output and a similarly sharp attack on their current pseudo-reunion and bloated 00's output. It's all rounded out by a swift smackdown in the comments section. Delicious! James, I'm with you: essential band, less-than-essential show (especially for the price).

This Time I'm 90% Sure I'm Going

kaveh — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:15:56 -0400

Tonight -- a show at the Teahaus, and this time (unlike the last two shows this week that I hyped up) my work should not interfere with my ability to attend.

Who:
1) TRUMAN SPARKS -- venerable Cville band, one of the many (including Invisible Hand and Articulate Chewbacca) that swirl around resident genius Adam Smith

2) TITUS ANDRONICUS -- hyped! but they might be pretty good!
Where: Teahaus
When: show o'clock

Showbiz.

kaveh — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:45:15 -0400

Amazing.

Modern Guilt

kaveh — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:12:50 -0400

Trying to get back into the habit of posting here, since I've been out of sight for a while. Besides, grappling with some insomnia this week that started with one bad night's sleep and then threw my whole schedule off.

Neglected to mention that I published my first freelance review for the C-Ville Weekly not long ago -- Beck's Modern Guilt. I enjoyed the album quite a bit, although I've been listening mostly to Jens Lekman, Ragga Twins, and Steinski lately.