The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: Out of Town

Austin Psych Fest 2013

Kelly O — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:15:43 -0700

This report, from the 2013 Austin Psych Fest, by former Seattleite, Stranger contributor, and photographer Victoria Renard...

Victoria Renard
Tinariwen

Founded by the Reverberation Appreciation Society which include members of the Black Angels, this past weekend's three day festival marked the sixth occasion to bring together psychedelic musicians—both legends and newcomers. This year, APF took it a step further and brought bands from around the world. Tinariwen, from Mali's northern Sahara region, play a guitar-driven style known as assouf which translates roughly into "loneliness," "longing," or "nostalgia," or to paraphrase the words of an unknown nomad "everything that lies in the darkness beyond the light of the campfire."

Coincidentally, this year's Austin Psych Fest choice location, the Carson Creek Ranch, allowed festival goers to camp on-site for the first time ever. Located just three and a half miles from Austin-Bergstrom International, it probably made for little sleep, but having a gargantuan commercial aircraft flying closely overhead every 15 minutes added a unique dimension to the otherwise serene setting alongside the Colorado River. To keep things even more interesting, a central Texas springtime downpour, accompanied by wild flashes of lightning, delayed Brazilian Tropicália musicians Os Mutantes by 45 minutes, and turned the ground to oatmeal on Saturday night.

Victoria Renard
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The use of the word "black" in band names prevailed this year with performances by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Black Mountain,
The Black Ryder, Jennifer Herrema's (Royal Trux) band Black Bananas, and Sunday night headliners and festival organizers the Black Angels...

So much more, after the jump!

...This irony was not lost on hot dog vendors who sold blackened Vienna beef dogs named after the bands. Fans buzzed with excitement in anticipation of Seattle's Night Beats who did not disappoint.

Night Beats

Other notables were Oakland's stripped down darkwave trio the Soft Moon, Dead Skeletons from Reykjavík, Iceland, and the band that can still be heard loud and clear over the noise of a jet fuselage, Japan's metal experimental band Boris. Any music festival with the words "psychedelic" and "Texas" would be incomplete without the indomitable Roky Erickson performing 13th Floor Elevators originals along with his eerily themed solo material. The Black Angels played a long and lush set on the final night of Psych Fest and pulled out a few new songs. The crowning glory and final night headliners were, however, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbon's original psychedelic outfit, The Moving Sidewalks, who recently reunited after 46 years. The band had all the style and charisma of a young band with the polish of a finely aged vintage wine. —Victoria Renard

Boris

Black Angels

Indian Jewelry

Acid Mothers Temple

King Khan and BBQ

Black Bananas

Raveonettes

The Growlers

Roky Erickson

Moving Sidewalks

Moving Sidewalks

And the Peoples and Animals of APF

All photos by Victoria Renard.
More information about the Austin Psych Fest at austinpsychfest.com.

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Coachella Sunday: Desert Lung Dust Bowl [Photos]

Josh Bis — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:46:53 -0700

Wu Tang Clan: Headliners for the rest of us.

WEATHERWATCH
I grew up in the midwest and live in Seattle; I should've known better than to gloat and/or revel in the near-perfect desert weather. The mere mention of the ideal nature of the Coachella weekend's weather was enough to summon an epic dust storm to the polo grounds late Sunday afternoon. By evening, the air was thick with dust and the constant wind grew more and more punishing. Although those arriving through the Do Lab's time-space portal from Burning Man were probably fine, the rest had to repurpose sunglasses as eye protectors and souvenier mank tops as makeshift respirators.

We braved the storm long enough for some essential celeb-watching (teen stars of an ABC Family series that is not Bunheads interpreting James Blake through dance; unlocking the true achievement of walking past Jared Leto and Paris Hilton within the space of 20 minutes), grounds-touring, taco truck-consuming, and band-watching (staying through most of Wu Tang Clan's [Outdoor Theater] headlining set), but when it was time to check in on Red Hot Chili Peppers, our lungs were so filled with dirt that we couldn't bear to do more than pause briefly for a glimpse on the way back to the car. From the perilous traffic situation on the highway, it seemed like we weren't the only ones to throw in the towel early.

While I'm still processing the whole weekend, enjoy too many photos after the jump. Let's chat up our Coachella/Couchchella experiences in the commentary section?

And see many, many more photos in this Flickr set!

DUST BOWL BANDS

Grimes, Totoro's Neighbor

Grimes Dance Team #1

Tanlines: "We flew here from New York in an airplane to play music for you."

Tanlines comedy/dance hour: "All my life I've dreamed of playing at the exact same time as Social Distortion."

James Blake: A kinder, gentler, dubworld

Vampire Weekend: Smoke machines or dust storm?

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend: Modern vampires, holographic mirrors

Vampire Weekend

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (or, the final challenge for for all-day front-row RHCP fans)

The Bad Seeds (or, these kids have better wristbands than you)

Nick Cave: Wizard or warlock?

IN WHICH I WON'T EVEN INSULT YOU BY PRETENDING TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY MEMBERS OF THE WU TANG CLAN

Wu Tang Clan: "No disrespect to the rest of them, but we came here to steal this."

Wu Tang: "Music will rise ... but don't forget to get that money!"

Wu Tang Clan: "Can we get all the cellphones up in the air for O.D.B.?"

Wu Tang Clan: "... if you don't have a lighter, a peace sign will do."

Wu Tang Clan: Nothing to fuck with.

ALL THE PEOPLE YOU MEET AT COACHELLA

Bronies?

Chili peppers.

Fancy conceptual reptiles / industry execs?

Muppets

Celeb cutouts were so hot this year. Here's Swift on stick.

Shoulder sitters.

HOW ABOUT A QUICK STROLL AROUND THE GROUNDS?

Shadecone

Power Station / Hippo Improv Theater Experiment

All of these people were waiting for the Lumineers to play "Ho Hey."

LAND SHARK!

spirit gastropod

Your windstorm is no match for Recyclosaurus Rex.

See many, many more in this Flickr set!

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Coachella Saturday: Postal Service Delivers, R. Kelly to Phoenix

Josh Bis — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:29:38 -0700

Did you know? "R. Kelly" is French for "hologram".

TRENDPIECE: Blame Afghan Whigs. Ever since their duo with Usher at SXSW, surprise R&B guest appearances are the must-have accessory for the touring rock band. Although everyone was secretly hoping that the string of consistent denials about Daft Punk docking their pyramid starship to Phoenix's headlining set were just a convincingly elaborate ruse (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo were allegedly spotted out-of-costume in the VIP holding pen while their teaser trailer opened for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Instead of French robots, the encore featured the truly surprising appearance of R. Kelly, who bounded on stage to perform an amazing live remix of "1901" with his own "Ignition." Kids in our immediate vicinity proclaimed it to be "the most random thing they'll see in their whole life."

Twitter reinforced my suspicion that watching them instead of cruelly simultaneously-scheduled New Order condemns me to music hell, but the heart wants what the heart wants. The rest of the exceptional set provided the blend of perfectly-performed high energy, danceable, electro-rock that we've come to know and love from America's sudden French sweethearts. We thought about splitting our time between the two stages, but the combination of the crushing crowds, their ultra-compelling stage presence, and the aforementioned R. Kelly encore that concluded with lead singer Thomas Mars sweetly serenading a dozen or so iPhones before summiting the sound booth (while still tethered to the stage by a glowing microphone cord) and crowd-surfing/swimming back across several dozen yards of fans kept us transfixed until closing time. We can only hope that the webstreams will be archived.

The Postal Service

RETRO INDIE HITS: Saturday's mainstage programming was a celebration of indie-electro. Sub Pop all-stars and self-described "imaginary band", the Postal Service brought back almost all of Give Up and then some. With some help from Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) and Laura Burhenn (the Mynabirds), Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello satisfied a decade's worth of fan longings. It felt like they'd opened a time capsule from 2003; everything sounded just as good as when they sealed it away in carbonite and collective memory.

I'm terrible at estimating crowd sizes, but the densely-packed audience stretched almost the entire depth of the polo grounds appeared to be bigger than the sum of everyone who managed to catch the band playing during their initial club tour. Cex, however, was nowhere to be found.

CELEBWATCH: We arrived a little too late to catch all of the essential public canoodling and/or pre-staged appearances at frozen fruit smoothie stations, but off in the distance, Kristen Stewart was spotted, sprinting across the grounds to the relative safety of the backstage area in order to avoid ravenous paparazzi. This is why it's always a good idea to wear sensible kicks to a music festival, folks.

Earlier/elsewhere/after-the-jump: Hot Chip set the mood with an unrelenting sunset dance party, Yeasayer kept it just a little weird on the Outdoor Stage, Spiritualized spaced out for a small but devoted following in the Gobi Tent, Descendants savaged the Outdoor theater, Franz Ferdinand provided an energetic diversion from the always lovely (but not quite the right speed for my own personal evening mindspace) the xx, and Violent Femmes are still a band that plays shows. At 6:30 pm. On the Coachella Mainstage. To vast numbers of fans. In 2013. It's been six years, after all.

CROWDWATCH

Sound Guy Super Style

"We can't believe Descendants are playing Coachella either"

repurposed ballon art = coachella love

SOME BANDS, ROCKING OUT

Hot Chip: ready for the floor, safari style.

Hot Chip: Desert Chic

Yeasayer

Yeasayer

Spiritualized

Spiritualized: ladies and gentlemen we are floating in the desert

The Postal Service

The Postal Service: Jenny Lewis / Laura Burhenn

the Postal Service: initiate cute dance sequence

Descendants

Descendants

Franz Ferdinand: right action (to skip most of the xx for indie dance hits?)

Phoenix: Hello Coachella, we are from Paris France!

Phoenix: Christian Mazzalai

Phoenix: Laurent Brancowitz

R. Kelly

Phoenix's Thomas Mars, preparing to swim across the mainstage crowd.

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Coachella Friday: Goodbye Feathers, Hello Flowers

Josh Bis — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:31:45 -0700

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: the most crowded/best show of the night.

Blur

Greetings from sunny Palm Springs, where just down the street, Coachella 2013 is in full swing. In contrast to last year's study in extremes—both the coldest and hottest Coachellas on record—this one is positively temperate, which has perhaps encouraged higher-than-usual actual attendance (and/or more ambitious fence-jumping). For a few hours yesterday, absolutely every stage, beer garden, minor celebrity holding area, and parking lot felt absolutely swarmed. Although we're taking a LazyTown approach to the weekend—this dispatch comes to you from the Ace Hotel's Desert Gold (poolside blogging: cool look or super coolest look?), festivities for the ambitious, Day Two is already in full swing. Even if you're celebrating spring break #fucksunshine Northwest Style instead of basking in the gorgeous 85 degree dry heat, you can Couchchella from home and tune-in to the weekend's live stream to follow key happenings on the Polo Grounds.

Below, a few quick points from Friday. Expect a less unsubstantial and more photo-filled recap about What It All Means on Monday.

BANDWATCH: By far, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on my favorite set of Friday. Karen O is at the pinnacle of this era's most compelling triple-threats: performance artist, fashion icon, and utterly magnetic rock stars. The crowd for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was among the largest and most engaged of the mainstage sets I caught. The show alternated between previews the soon-to-be-released album along with old favorites, winding down with most of the audience belting along to YYYs love-song "Maps". The left the stage fully warmed for a seemingly happily-reunited Blur. Although the occasional moody deep cuts felt like gifts to the purists, they opened with "Girls & Boys" and including intervening rock-blocks of unassailable hits (e.g., a "Coffee & TV", "Song 2", "Tender", and "Parklife" complete with footraces around the stage) won near-universal acclaim.

The answer to Who Are the Stone Roses Dot Tumblr Dot Com: quite possibly the least-watched Coachella headliner in (my own) memory. Walking back after sampling Foals and Tegan & Sara on other smaller stages, the area around the mainstage was crickets. The audience looked smaller than most midday sets and we're going to musical hell for being part of the problem and not sticking around to see more than a song on our way out of the venue. Maybe no one had acclimated to the new later curfew.

TRENDWATCH: I'm happy to report that the #nativeappropriationwave may have fully and finally bottomed out: this year feather headdress "fashion" is rare-to-nonexistent. In place, every third girl is donning hand-made(ish) artisanal floral headbands. This satellite office of FashionTunnel (TM) approves.

CELEBWATCH: There was a moment during which the mere sighting of Paris Hilton caused the entrance to the main VIP cage to grind to an immediate halt, stranding a minimum of fifty vaguely important humans in a single file line outside the single narrow entryway as the line's bent to her resilient gravity and dozens of long-lensed photographers infiltrated the amateur cellsnappers from nowhere in particular to get a shot. Good for her! She is, after all the original Coachella celeb. Other sightings: Kate Bosworth, Alexa Chung, Whitney Port and her sidekick from the Hills. None pictured, because I never recognize these people until someone else points them out to me once they're a half mile away.

PROTIP: if you're electromagnetic field is feeling a bit fuzzy or your aura's a little broken down, a good way to prepare for a giant music festival is to arrive early enough to make a pilgrimage out to the magical mojave desert for a good old fashioned sound bath at the Integratron. A half hour in the company of a man tickling a set of giant quartz bowls is a great three-to-five dimensional experience that might just flip spacetime to timespace for a few minutes. Or was it the other way around?
More pictures after the jump.

BIG BANDS

Japandroids: the best way to start any music festival.

alt-J: brings all the folktronica kids to the middle tent

Passion Pit: always enthusiastic

Modest Mouse: #keepisaacweird #hakunamatata

Karen O: America's pre-eminent fashion icon/performance artist/rock star

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: happiest drummer/best facial hair in rock and roll.

Blur

Blur

CROWDWATCH

Japandroids crowdsurfer

last of the featherwavers

FASHION TUNNEL (TM)

There's a 99% chance this dog has a better wristband than you.

This Zebra Print.

Modest Mouse crowd: is that a Real Housewife?

D.I.Y. Glowstick GoogleGlass?

VIEWWATCH

View from the foodgarden.

Night falls over Coachellaville.

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Burger Records "BURGERAMA II"

Kelly O — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:01:19 -0700

Last Friday and Saturday, in Santa Ana, California, Burger Records held their second annual BURGERAMA music fest. The lineup looked so swell! Now, thanks to Burger TV, you can watch the highlights in this handy-dandy YouTube video.

Bands in the video include:
BLEACHED, THE GARDEN, HUNX AND HIS PUNX, TOMORROWS TULIPS,
KING TUFF AND KING TUFF'S MOM AND DAD, COSMONAUTS, THE SPITS
NICK WATERHOUSE, NIGHT SUN, VIVIAN GIRLS, THE PHARCYDE'S BIZARRE RIDE, THE MEMORIES, NATURAL CHILD, GUANTAMANO BAYWATCH, FUZZ, AND MASTER OF CEREMONIES JAMES QUALL.

Video after the jump. Also check out Burger's test-pressing sale on EBAY...

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Glastonbury 2013 Line-Up

Dean Fawkes — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:47:05 -0700

Glastonbury, continuing its tradition of over forty years, shames all others.

Click For Full Size

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Joe Walsh Plays the Tacoma Dome Tomorrow Night!

Mike Nipper — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:49:30 -0700

Up until 1980, Joe Walsh had been a member of James Gang, Barnstorm,
and (vomiting in my mouth a ~~little~~ lot) the Eagles. In 1983 he released "Space Age Whiz Kids" from his album You Bought It, You Name It. Oh, 1983... it was time when video games like Donkey Kong and Pac Man and the Return Of The Jedi were all brand new, and playing pinball was what the confused "old" greasers did.

Yeah... the '80s were an odd time for aging and struggling rock guys to remain relevant. It's prolly better to remember his grander achievements, such as "Funk #48," "Funk #49," and just 'cause, the badass James Gang cover of the Yardirds' "Lost Woman."

Joe Walsh opens for Bob Seger at the Tacoma Dome tomorrow night; get your tickets HERE!

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What's Up! Magazine's 15th Anniversary

Casey Nolan — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:32:40 -0800

If you've ever been to Bellingham, you already know about What's Up! Magazine—the local music mag that covers both Whatcom and Skagit County. This month marks the 15th Anniversary of the publication, and this upcoming weekend the city is celebrating it with a bender.

What's Up Magazine

The fun starts Friday night. Black Eyes and Neck Ties will return from the grave they dug in 2009 to play a reunion show, or as I'd like to call it: the "please buy all of our leftover merch that's been sitting in the garage for four years" show. The show will also have The Narrows, The Wastelanders, and Sugar Sugar Sugar performing. Tickets will definitely be hard to get on the day-of, so think about buying them online, here.

Before the music on Friday, there is a gallery art opening at the local DIY art and music space Make.Shift that will have every What's Up! Magazine cover that has ever been published (about 200), as well as photographs of live shows and bands from the area during the lifespan of the magazine (think photographs of bands like Federation X, At The Drive-In, Murder City Devils, Full Frontal Assault, Black Eyes & Neckties, Macklemore, and Black Breath).

If you think that's still not enough...

Saturday's Lineup

Saturday, there's something that gives not only headaches, but migraines to bookers and event organizers everywhere: an all day festival with 62 local bands spanning 23 venues (including some that usually hold shows and some that don't). All of the shows are free. It will be physically impossible to walk down any street in downtown Bellingham and NOT hear some sort of music bleeding from a store's glass windows. If I were to list all of the shows and bands playing, you would cry. But, if you'll be bored this weekend, and like seeing many different types of bands play, all within walking distance, go up to Bellingham Saturday.

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Bonnaroo Fest Announces Partial Lineup

Dave Segal — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:03:01 -0800

Bonnaroo has announced its lineup for this year (it happens June 13-16) and it looks pretty missable, from my perspective, although the presence of Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste is probably worth all the hassle and expense. Other acts I could envision caring about include Four Tet, Wu-Tang Clan, Tame Impala, John McLaughlin, Bombino, Swans, and Death Grips. Soul man Allen Stone and hiphop innovators Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are the only local artists slated to play, so far.

Tickets go on sale on Sat. Feb. 23 at 12 pm EST on Bonnaroo.com. Watch the fancy video below for a more dazzling presentation of this information, featuring nobody's favorite comedian, Daniel Tosh.

Are you going?

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Riff Raff Explains The "Versace Baby Rattle"

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:52:06 -0800

Do you remember that rapper Riff Raff, who's coming back to Nectar tonight for all ages (5pm) and 21+ (9pm) shows, made a song about Seattle?

The chorus: "VERSACE BABY RATTLE GOT ME SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE."

When we encountered him at the NADA party in Miami last week, I brought up this 206-centric masterwork, and he very graciously broke down the science.

"Y'all know what 'molly' is? Well when you get really pure molly, from Germany or Australia, it's in little rocks. So when you have a little bottle of those, and you shake it"—here he imitates the motion—"it's a Versace baby rattle. So 'Versace baby rattle'"...he trailed off. "Got me Sleepless In Seattle," we finished, in unison. "Yeah", Riff Raff said. Around his neck was the mixed-fruit colored diamond Cheshire Cat chain Diplo gave him for signing to Mad Decent. His hair was in crisp curls, like translucent blonde bacon, his Miami-hued Brian Bosworth BluBlockers smudgeless, his Picasso jacket very rare. Hit up Nectar tonight, you might see "Griffey Junior, Griffey Senior in the limousine-a."

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Change Makes You Wanna Hustle

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:50:21 -0800

Neptunes/N.E.R.D./BBC/Qream mogul Pharrell Williams has a new book called Places And Spaces I've Been. The title of the book is the hook of a song very dear to me, Donald Byrd's "Places And Spaces", written and produced by Larry and Fonce Mizell; this song first floored me some years ago during a long morning walk to work at Charlie's At Shilshole, as I stared out at the water—something I've been doing all week. The song has been sampled a grip of times but my favorite is Pete Rock & CL Smooth's "All The Places".

Anyway, a few days ago during Art Basel, Skateboard P was hosting a Q&A about his book, and Kanye West showed up to stroke his Basel real quick: "Pharrell I wanted to ask you...just about y'know, your taste in art, and how you developed such a high taste level and influenced so many people around the world, through y'know, pop culture and music and visuals?"

I love how P ends his answer with "...just like you. Kanye West, everybody!"

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It's Not Really Work, It's the Power to Charm

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:43:34 -0800

I'm in Miami, winding down a week of taking in the city during Art Basel. Friday night, we went to warehouse that had, on one side, a cavernous, dark exhibit of GIFs on one side, and on the other, a party with free Belvedere, inflatable soccer balls, and Dan Deacon "spinning" the "cuts." After the haircut before him finished his Clams Casino instros, Deacon set the party off with Bowie's "Modern Love," R.Kelly's evergreen "Ignition Remix," and Rod Stewart's "Young Turks." The party was presented by Tumblr and Paddle 8, an auction site that provided the branded soccer balls that were occasionally punted around. I watched a couple vodka and cranberries get knocked onto people's Basel outfits. I liked to imagine the party turning up too far, with a rowdy, Belvy-fueled game of dodgeball breaking out, people leaping over benches, Dan Deacon getting bombed into unconsciousness for playing "This Is How We Do It." To all my neightbors, you got much flavor.

As for the exhibit, there was a short film about the GIF's history, made by one Sean Pecknold:

A Short History of the Gif | Moving the Still from LEGS MEDIA on Vimeo.

The gifs themselves seemed dwarfed by the space they were in, not to mention static—for being moving images, that is. Watching them cycle through on a flat wall, they left less of an impression on me than usual; maybe I'm spoiled by the experience of scrolling down a Tumblr dash. The seriousness of the space (aside from Deacon spinning "Tequila" in the other room) seemed to dampen their impact as well—I'm conditioned to gifs as decontextualized little bits of pop culure flotsam, reflecting the itchy anxieties and VHS nostalgia of the online generation. No gifs of Cliff Huxtable, face all a-wobble, preparing to eat a sandwich, or a wasted-looking loop of Kelly Kapowski glitching into a Pizza Hut commercial. I would've loved to see the work of Seattle's GIF LORDS too, for that matter. Maybe somebody could "reblog" this happening in Seattle. I would "like" that.

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I'm In Miami, Dude

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:33:19 -0800

Currently The Stranger's Mike Ramos, Seattle Times' Andrew Matson, myself, and our significant others are in Miami, taking in the events in and around the Art Basel festival. We're staying in South Beach a block from the sand. When we bought these plane tickets back in spring, we all acknowledged that it would likely be just in the nick of time, to jailbreak us from Seattle's scheduled programming of rain and drear. The piss-dumping week leading up to this trip definitely set that in stone. So now we're here, the sun's out, the coffee's thick and sweet, the ropa vieja is sublime. The cab drivers give you game: don't get run over, people are crazy, some of the cabs are actually undercovers. Every sixth car is a Bentley. Cab Driver Jean (pronounced, I think, like 'Wyclef Jean') tells us that billionaires from everywhere are here, copping rare artworks. Diddy is definitely walking these streets. (We'd rather run into Gunplay.)

My request for press credentials was denied—wamp wamp—so I guess I'll be missing what's happening at the convention center, but there's so much going on out here that I doubt I'll miss a thing. There's art happenings everywhere. There's a GIF festival presented in part by Tumblr, with Dan Deacon DJing. ASAP Rocky, SpaceGhostPurrp (word is that those two squashed it for now to make sure there's no repeats of last month), Mr Muthafuckin xQuire, Metro Zu and plenty others are all doing shows. It seems like the music component to Basel is really taking off.

Last night we hit a spot in Wynwood called The Stage (a half indoor/half outdoor venue—it's a goddamn shame we can't have more stuff like that) and took in a show with THEESatisfaction and LA's Georgia Anne-Muldrow, who's Madlib-produced Seeds was one of my favorite albums of 2012. Stas and Cat, making their first Miami appearance, killed. There was a crew of young women that looked right out of a THEESat video, and they stepped lively to every word. Even the real-hiphop-looking heads nodded approvingly.

The show started late and the opener played for something like an hour and a half, so it wasn't until 1:45 am that Muldrow hit the stage. To warm up, she brought her "Husfriend" Declaime AKA Dudley Perkins AKA Dr. Stokely onstage to perform four solo songs, then Georgia took center stage. She's got a powerful voice, a Betty Davis wardrobe, and an enveloping Earth-mother aura that got the crowd grinning and singing her hooks on command; everybody in there joyously sang the words "I'ma feel brand new", and at that moment, I did. "Y'all got me, though", Georgia grinned, smile big as a Cheshire cat.

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I'm Going to Miami in a Couple Weeks for Art Basel

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:08:46 -0800

Which is fantastic to think about while I listen to this disgusting, pissing cold rain I'm hearing right now. So far, I definitely know that I'm going to go to the beach, and that I'm going to eat some shit, and that I'm going to a castle to see Purity Ring and a shitload of art. Flying Lotus, Zola Jesus and Dan Deacon are playing somewhere. There's a Maybach Music show at the Fillmore. (No Gunplay, no deal tho.)

I feel like I'm honor-bound to see this too:

World premiere of the short film Kurt (an abstract portrayal of the late Kurt Cobain), with a live version of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video choreographed by Ryan Heffington, and a live performance by Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) at the Gusman Center

(Is this the first Nirvana reference on Line Out this week?)

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Best Halloween Costume: Fremont Street, Las Vegas 2012

Kelly O — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 14:30:26 -0700

I just got back from downtown Las Vegas where it's ~~already~~ always Halloween. Which street hustler did it best? Please vote for the winner in the comments! More after the jump...

Kelly O
I'm not homeless, I'm a wizzzzzzzz'ZARD!

2. Alien

3. Some rock band

4. Spock!

5. Grecian lady

6. Angry ninjas

7. Native American wearing thong

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Northern in Olympia Gets Robbed

Kenneth M. Piekarski — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:43:31 -0700

On Saturday night, rather than being out and about in real life, I was out and about on the internet. Something that came to my attention via the effbook page of Olympia's All Ages venue, Northern, was this...

All of our equipment has been stolen!!! Please keep your eyes and ears open for any leads.

This sucks!

I emailed Bob Schwenkler of Dub Narcotic Studio/Northern to get a list of the equipment stolen so that those who want to help recover their gear (individuals or music stores) can know what to look for:

x5 SM58s
x2 SM57
x1 Audix D4
x2 EWI passive direct boxes
x2 Mackie SRM450
x2 Mackie SRM350
x1 MAckie swa1501 (sub)
x1 Mackie frankenboard
shitload of electric blue cables w/orange and yellow velcro
x2 Rane ME30b (graphic eqs)
x1 Rane ME60 (graphic Eq)
x1 Alexis Microverb III (fx)
x1 Behringer Composer Pro- XL (compressor)

Basically their entire stage was stolen. If anyone is interested in donating money to the Olympia All Ages Project to help them buy new equipment, you can do that here.

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WONK Festival Tonight and Tomorrow - Late Night Dome

Trent Moorman — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:45:05 -0700

Frank Blau

For those wanting to get out of town, and space travel with Papa Smurf, there is the 4th Annual WONK Festival. Tonight and tomorrow, all day, all night, 15 minutes south of Bellingham, outside of Alger, at the Lookout Arts Center Quarry - Home of the Dream Science Circus. WONK features two stages. Bands will be throwing down. There's camping, swimming, performance art, vending, and a late night laser show. There is a Late Night Dome. Gypsy men and women will very possibly be spinning glow-sticks in that dome. There will also be an older man who thinks he’s Papa Smurf. He will have a hemp knapsack and be handing out waffles. His real name is Howard, he’s from Burien, and he has a pet newt named Raymond Carver that lives in the plume of his beard. He doesn’t like it when people try to touch or grab Raymond Carver, so please be nice.

All WONK info - here.

Glenn Danzig will NOT be playing WONK fest. Promotions Director Austin Santiago spoke.

What does WONK stand for?

Wizards of the North Kascades.

What is the Dream Science Circus?

They run the grounds, which is basically an old rock quarry. Hippie, circus folk took over. Wild humans.

Will there be people spinning glow sticks who are high on drugs in the Thunder Dome?

Lots and wizard staffs made from rare glowing minerals. And Tina Turner.

Will the guy who thinks he's Papa Smurf be back?

His presence powers the whole event.

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The Sound of a Star Being Sucked Into a Black Hole

Dave Segal — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:49:22 -0700

Via schocklee.com

Professor of Astronomy at the University of Michigan Dr. Jon Miller and his associates hypothesize on what it would sound like when a star gets consumed by a super massive black hole 3.9 billion light years away. All in a day's work, right? The result, however, is not as heavy as you might expect, although it does sort of resemble a Goblin soundtrack for a giallo film.

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Russian Synchronized Swimming Gold Is Scored by... Goblin's "Suspiria"

Dave Segal — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 11:01:36 -0700

Russian synchronized swimmers Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina won a duet Olympic gold medal while performing to the eerie strains of Italian prog group Goblin's "Suspiria," which appears in the soundtrack to the 1977 horror film of the same name by director Dario Argento. Respect to the people who conceived this idea and routine. Let's hope more prog rock and bizarre soundtrack music find their way into the Olympics.

Tip: Davey Schmitt-Schrenker

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Photos: Pitchfork Music Festival

Josh Bis — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:30:35 -0700

#p4k2k12

Last weekend, a couple of miles and a quick train ride west of downtown Chicago, Pitchfork held its seventh (or eighth, depending on who's counting) music festival in Union Park amid thunderstorms, occasional rain, and trademark heat and humidity. Refreshingly egalitarian, three color-coded stages played host to high level seminar covering the last few years of critically-acclaimed (in at least one important quarter) up-and-comers making it a particular delight for the sort of fans who look at giant festival lineups and find themselves salivating over the small print instead of the biggest boldfaced names. Though the park was filled with a sold out crowd—guessing about 20,000 well-behaved (and sensibly dressed!) attendees per day—the grounds never felt overfull, due in part to the mellow mood and need to conserve energy sitting under trees, browsing Flatstock, or shopping at the indie record market during the sunniest parts of the afternoon.

The most galvanizing and raucous hours of the festival had to be Saturday's back-to-back performances from Sleigh Bells and Hot Chip. While I find the former's sound to border too often on the sound of forks dropped in a garbage disposal, I can't deny the infectiousness of their onstage energy and the appeal of some of their bombastic hits. As for the latter, with LCD Soundsystem out of the picture, Hot Chip may be the biggest indie-electro-dance-pop outfit left in the business. In any case, after a rainy afternoon and the combination of those two bands on adjacent stages a substantial portion of the grounds had been danced into a vast muddy field. Other highlights included a Friday night sets from always epic Japandroids and intellectually intricate art rock from Dirty Projectors as well as a searing Sunday afternoon of various strains of guitar rock from Iceage, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, and the Men, gauzy evening jams from Beach House that lulled me into missing the Field, and pure pop perfection from Vampire Weekend who took a break from writing their third album to close out the weekend.

A bunch photos and republished tweets after the jump.

For @japandroids I will suffer through a 15 sound check in the rain. (6:56 pm)

Feel like the point of *Swing Lo Magellan* might be: "so, you thought our last album was 'weird' ..." (Friday 6:05 pm)

Purity Ring

Cults set starts with a sunbreak and a little light blasphemy. (Saturday, 3:52pm)

In which we realize that Youth Lagoon is two dudes and not just a witchy woman with synths. (Saturday, 5:18pm)

Yep. Sleigh Bells is still fun to watch even though they mostly sound like a garbage disposal. (Saturday, 6:43pm)

Kid up against the barricade's so excited about Chromatics finally starting that he puked all over a photographer. (Saturday, 7:44 pm)

Hot Chip: pitchfork's sexiest nerds teaching the indie kids in the muddy DMZ to dance again. (Saturday, 7:59pm)

Come on you black emperor and play the goddamn hits. (Saturday, 8:54pm)

Somehow no one told me that Grimes kept a straight up warlock and pair of stage dancers in her entourage? (Saturday, 9:19pm)

Grimes Warlock

Nothing makes teenage Danes more sullen than heat/humidity equipment troubles. (Iceage, Sunday, 2:39pm)

Nice touch: Thee Oh Sees put up a wall of incense between themselves and the stinking mass of humanity/photogs. Also: bless [them] for being the first Blue stage band to say eff the soundcheck and start on time. (Sunday, 3:19pm)

Ty Segall

Morning forecast of sweaty with a chance if screamy guitar rock continues with a Ty Segall to the Men band browse. (The Men, Sunday, 4:40pm)

Nine out of ten Pitchfork attendees agree that Beach House is better sunset music than the Field. (Sunday, 7:42pm)

Embarrassing levels of affection for these seasoned pros. ‪vampyweeks‬ p4k‬ andybaioshappyfeet‬ (Vampire Weekend, 8:39pm)

Pitchfork Kids

Even more pictures embedded in this Pitchfork flickr slideshow:

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Folkies and Country Bumps! You Going to Slackfest Tomorrow?

Kelly O — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:50:59 -0700

The yearly, one-day music fest, originally started by Don Slack (ala KEXP's Swingin’ Doors show) is this Saturday. It's at a perfect Northwest-y setting—on a farm in Stanwood WA, with a dirt racetrack, next to a river.

Bands this year include: Moondoggies, Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers, Hobosexual, Hounds of the Wild Hunt, Rolling Stones, Wayfinders, Big Wheel Stunt Show, Country Lips, and Pipsisewah.

It makes me laugh, that this needs to be clarified on Brown Paper Tickets:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ROLLING STONES ARE A ROLLING STONES TRIBUTE BAND. Not the actual Rolling Stones of course.

Find directions, and every last but of information that you need right here.

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Pitchfork Music Festival : Chicago and Online This Weekend

Josh Bis — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 08:21:45 -0700

A convergence of family obligations, absence of meterological foresight, and an apparent desire to haphazardly attend every music festival at least once finds me heading into Chicago this afternoon for Pitchfork's music festival in Union Park headlined by Feist, Grimes, and Vampire Weekend (never forget). Luckily for those less interested in sweltering in the near-tropical midwestern summer heat (and/or dodging predicted weekend thunderstorms), the festival is streaming the whole thing online for your climate controlled viewing pleasure at Pitchfork.tv.

Despite the Seattle-(but-not-Washington)-free lineup, I'm thoroughly excited to see the collection of bands that the tastemaking/breaking website has put together, I wouldn't blame anyone for perusing the well-stocked lineup remotely. Regardless of whether you'll be watching from home or the park, the set-times are re-posted after the jump to help you plan accordingly.

Let me know if there's anything that I'd be a fool to miss; if I make it out alive, expect photos and a recap on Monday.

FRIDAY, JULY 13	SATURDAY, JULY 14	SUNDAY, JULY 15
8:30 (G) Feist 8:20 (B) Purity Ring 7:20 (R) Dirty Projectors 7:15 (B) Clams Casino 6:25 (G) Big K.R.I.T. 6:15 (B) Japandroids 5:30 (R) A$AP Rocky 5:15 (B) Tim Hecker 4:35 (G) The Olivia Tremor Control 4:15 (B) Willis Earl Beal 3:30 (R) Lower Dens 3:20 (B) Outer Minds	8:40 (B) Grimes 8:30 (G) Godspeed You! Black Emperor 7:40 (B) Danny Brown 7:25 (R) Hot Chip 6:45 (B) Chromatics 6:15 (G) Sleigh Bells 5:45 (B) Schoolboy Q 5:15 (R) Wild Flag 4:45 (B) Nicolas Jaar 4:15 (G) Flying Lotus 3:45 (B) Youth Lagoon 3:20 (R) Cults 2:50 (B) Liturgy 2:30 (G) Atlas Sound 1:55 (B) Lotus Plaza 1:45 (R) Cloud Nothings 1:00 (B) The Atlas Moth 1:00 (G) The Psychic Paramount	8:30 (G) Vampire Weekend 7:40 (B) The Field 7:25 (R) Beach House 6:45 (B) King Krule 6:15 (G) AraabMUZIK 5:45 (B) Oneohtrix Point Never 5:15 (R) Chavez 4:45 (B) Kendrick Lamar 4:15 (G) Real Estate 3:45 (B) The Men 3:20 (R) Ty Segall 2:50 (B) Thee Oh Sees 2:30 (G) Iceage 1:55 (B) Milk Music 1:45 (R) Unknown Mortal Orchestra 1:00 (B) A Lull 1:00 (G) Dirty Beaches

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Nordic Soul to Play Dimensions Festival in Croatia

Dave Segal — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:35:54 -0700

Versatile electronic-music DJ/producer Nordic Soul (aka Decibel Festival founder Sean Horton) has been booked to perform at Dimensions Festival in Croatia on Sept. 8. His bill also includes Theo Parrish, Moodymann, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Morgan Geist, and fellow Seattleite Pezzner—exceptional company. Congratulations, Sean.

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Anacortes Unknown Music Series #1 Is This Weekend

Kenneth M. Piekarski — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:18:26 -0700

Dark Cloud At Water by Hungry Cloud Darkening

Remember how last year I told everyone to go to What the Heck? Fest? Remember the report that former Stranger Intern Dan Oberbruner wrote about it in which he quoted an excerpt from the guidebook of Heck Fest?

“Welcome to the 2011 edition of our festival. Yes, the rumors are true: this will be the last one. This is not just a “goodbye” but also a “hello” to our future projects.”

It is true that last year was the final Heck Fest but since then everyone I know who has their hands deep into the pockets of our NW music scene has been calling it former festival name, Not What the Heck? Fest or "What? I thought they stopped doing that?!"

So, for the record, this "new" thing is called the Anacortes Unknown Music Series and it's essentially happening everywhere that it was before except the Port Warehouse (that replaced the Department of Safety after it closed) is being replaced by the desanctified church known as the Unknown.

Partial passes are $29 (doesn't get you the dinner), you can get them directly from the Unknown website, and the festival runs from 4pm on Friday the 13th until whenever you decide to leave between then and the 15th.

Here's everyone that is performing:

Dylan Carlson
Grouper
Karl Blau
Mount Eerie
LAKE
Ô Paon
Calvin Johnson
Lori Goldston
Bret Lunsford with Wallie Funk and Bill Mitchell
Thollem McDonas
Vanessa Renwick
Mark Baumgarten
Joe Gurba
Ashley Eriksson
D+
Bryan, Frank & Bob
Bouquet
Hungry Cloud Darkening
Sleepy Lagoon
Motorbikes
"Mikey Going Down"
Dennis Driscoll
Lovers Without Borders
Bitpart
Takhoma
Urine

I'm not attending this year for a few reasons but good fun to all those who can make it.

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Run-D.M.C. To Reunite @ Fun Fun Fun Fest

Kelly O — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 12:51:15 -0700

Fun Fun Fun Fest, in Austin Texas, Nov. 2-4, just turned into FUN-D.M.C. Fest!
The full lineup will be announced later this month—leaks confirm that Danny Brown, Against Me! Bob Mould, Tomahawk (featuring Mike Patton), Rakim, Baroness, Atlas Sound, and Black Moth Super Rainbow are definitely playing. Tickets and more info here.

AUSTIN, TX (JULY 10, 2012) — Fun Fun Fun Fest is excited to announce today that Run-D.M.C. will perform at the 7th annual festival which takes place November 2-4th in Austin, TX for the first time since disbanding in 2002. Surviving members Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels will headline the main stage.

Run-D.M.C. formed in Hollis Queens, NY in the early '80s and are considered by many to be the true pioneers of hip-hop, in terms of beats, lyrics, fashion, and impact. Both their self-titled debut as well as the much-lauded Raising Hell in 1986 influenced the youth of a generation and eventually paved the way for many of today's rap's superstars.

Run-D.M.C. retired the moniker in 2002 following the untimely death of legendary DJ and producer, Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell. In honor of Jay's life, FFF festival promoters are working with the band to donate a portion of proceeds to his foundation the JMJ Foundation for Music which is dedicated to providing access to the arts, regardless of socio-economic status, for children and young adults. Learn more about Jay's foundation here: jammasterjay.org.

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Orbital-As-One

Dean Fawkes — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 09:14:45 -0700

To take up where our overseas festival reminiscing left off, dunk yourself in a complete two-hour collection of live Glastonbury clips by Orbital from 1994 to 2004, all edited together as a single, seamless, sequential performance. A snappy look-at-the-crowds-grow trick we wish more musicians would toss out there for fans.

Comments:

"Acid house was big. It was exciting and music was heard like never before. There was no violence. Everyone was your friend. You knew what each other was thinking. The music controlled your trip. The feeling was beyond amazing. This video has reminded me that everything today is just..... SHIT! Absolute SHIT! Nobody is your friend and everyone wants to fuck you up or beat you to within an inch of your life."

"Now im dancing in the garden then i will set up my lasers and 1500 watt speakers in my dance tower then the moment i hear the call of the doctor i will pump up the volume."

"The one dislike is the devils mums turd."

Setlist:

Walk Now [1994]
Are We Here? [1994]
Attached [1994]
Kein Trink Wasser [1995]
Impact (The Earth Is Burning) [1995]
Remind [1995]
Halcyon [1999]
The Box [1999]
Style + Bagpipe Style [1999]
The Girl With The Sun In Her Head [2002]
Funny Break (Weekend Ravers) [2002]
Belfast [2002]
Frenetic [2002]
Satan [2004]
Doctor? [2004]
Chime [2004]

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Atlanta July 4th: Peachtree in Heat, People Still Wear Stormtrooper Suits and Boxing Gloves

Trent Moorman — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:02:00 -0700

On the 4th of July in Atlanta, 60,000 people wake up at the cracking of dawn and run a 10K called The Peachtree Road Race. It starts at 7:30 AM. The cold water here is warm. Heat rises visibly off the asphalt - invisible cobras. Cream cheese is shunned. Someone offered a Michelob Ultra at mile five. It was sitting in a chest of ice, and I mistakenly consumed it. Three blocks later, a grown six foot man breastfed on a balcony overlooking the street. Or maybe he was putting his mouth on a biscuit. A shitty band played Bob Seger, shittily. People lit off firecrackers, in daylight. A small girl burned birthday napkins. Southern white people like to light things on fire.

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Queerview Mirror: Portland Pride With Vockah Redu

Kelly O — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:15:02 -0700

Adrien Levitt is back (yes!) and brings funtime photos from our sister city to the south. I hope Seattle Pride is as fun as these photos make it look. And how is Vockah Redu always such a total babe?

Adrien Leavitt

Adrien Leavitt

More photos after the jump, and check out Adrien's incredible work at
#1 must have

all photos Adrien Leavitt

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Truckasauras Contribute Their Best Track Ever, "Bothell Trance," to London Exhibit, "Soundworks"

Dave Segal — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:24:54 -0700

Seattle electronic ensemble Truckasauras are contributing a track for "Soundworks," a collection of tracks commissioned by the ICA in London to coincide with the showing of artist Bruce Nauman's exhibit Days, being shown there this summer. According to the press release, "Soundworks embraces the ephemeral and peripatetic nature of sound, creating an online platform that doubles as a virtual exhibition space."

Truckasauras' piece, "Bothell Trance," will appear on their forthcoming 2012 album. It will also be released as part of the Sequencing show of the 2012 series in August. Truck's longest work to date, "Bothell Trance" is a 15-minute tour de force of mantric, brisk rhythmic repetition, penetrating pings, strident synth stabs and excited piano(?)-string plucking. It sounds like an all-star minimalist-composer jam among Steve Reich, Arnold Dreyblatt, and Philip Glass. Breaking new ground for themselves, Truck have achieved a creative peak.

Truck drummer Tyler Swan describes "Bothell Trance" below:

Bothell Trance is a 60 count form that explores the relationship between the 2, 3, 4, and 5 count. Voiced by three monophonic voices and one polyphonic voice. Each count has it’s own pitch and timbre and variations are derived from the common events the different counts share, patterns that emerge when visually represented, and the order in which the events occur. The variations are discovered and then arranged in an attempt to achieve musical elements. Harmonics, form, progression. Theme, rest, return. Lose, build momentum. Create, fill space. Producing dynamics through patterns of events that are within the confines of a static measurement and speed. The arrangement is circular.

The online and Gallery exhibitions go live at noon today, and it runs through September. More info after the cut.

SOUNDWORKS

From acoustic environments to audio fiction, commentary, found sounds, minimal composition, and experiments in music, the medium of sound is attractive to artists coming from a wide array of practices. This diversity is made apparent in SOUNDWORKS, a project which presents over 100 sound works by artists from across the world. Selected by ICA curators and art institutions worldwide, the artists have been invited to submit a sound file, taking its stimulus from the themes evoked in Bruce Nauman’s Days.

SOUNDWORKS embraces the ephemeral and peripatetic nature of sound, creating an online platform that doubles as a virtual exhibition space. The online presentation makes the works accessible worldwide, the place to explore sound as a medium which is simultaneously inclusive, interactive, and subversive. The exhibition includes a wide range of audible approaches by artists who have been working with the medium for many years, as well as artists taking their first venture into sonic arts. The exhibition will be presented online and in the ICA Galleries.

The sound season will be accompanied by a series of talks, screenings, and performances that culminates in a 2 day programme of events on 14–15 September.

To explore the SOUNDWORKS online space please visit www.ica.org.uk/soundworks

www.facebook.com/icalondon

@icalondon

Contributing Artists

Adam Christensen

Agnieszka Polska & Tomasz Kowalski

AIDS-3D

Alan Dunn

Alberto Tadiello

Alejandro Cesarco

Alex Waterman

Amy Granat

Andrea Büttner

Andy Holden

Anke Eckardt & Henry Koch

Anthony Discenza

Anthony Green

Artie Vierkant

Asli Çavuşoğlu

Atau Tanaka

Aura Satz

Barry Johnston

Beatrice Gibson

Ben Owen

Benedict Drew

Bonnie Camplin

Bonnie Jones

Brandon LaBelle

Byron Westbrook

C Spencer Yeh

Cara Tolmie

Caroline Devine

Catherine Czacki

Charles Free

Charlotte Prodger

Chelpa Ferro

Chris Kraus & Robert Dewhurst

Clare Gasson

Cosey Fanni Tutti

Cynthia Zaven

Dan Fox

Darius Miksys

David Raymond Conroy

David Tibet

David Toop

Ed Atkins

Edwin Burdis

Emma Hedditch

Eric La Casa

Factory Floor

Florian Hecker

Floriano Romano

Forté

France Fiction

Francisco López

Garrett Phelan

Goodiepal

Haegue Yang

Hanna Schwarz

Haroon Mirza

Helen Brown

Hilary Koob-Sassen

Holly Ingleton

Ida Applebroog

J/K

Jacob Kierkegaard

Jacqueline K Gordon

Jem Noble

Jesse Ash

John Akomfrah

John K. Farah

Juliette Blightman

Kian-Peng Ong

Lars Laumann & Dan-Ola Persson

Laure Prouvost

Lawrence Abu Hamdan

Lee Patterson

Liam Gillick & Corinne Jones

Lili Reynaud-Dewar

Louise K Wilson

Lucy Clout

Lucy Raven

Luke Fowler & Richard Youngs

MadeIn Company

Marcellvs L

Maria Loboda

Mariana Castillo Deball

Mark Aerial Waller

Mark von Schlegell

Matt Davies

Matthew Buckingham

Mattin

Max Schneider

Meris Angioletti

Michael Dean

Michele Di Menna

My Barbarian

Naomi Kashiwagi

Nathaniel Mellors

Oscar Murillo

Oswaldo Maciá

Patricia Esquivias

Patrick Coyle

Peggy Ahwesh

Penny Slinger & Dhiren Dasu

Raydale Dower

Richard Aldrich

Richard Higlett

Richard Sides

Robert Wilhite

Rossella Biscotti

S Mark Gubb

Sabisha Friedberg

Salomé Voegelin

Samon Takahashi

Scanner

Selçuk Artut

Sergei Tcherepnin

Shana Moulton

Signe Lidén

Stephen Prina

Steve Bates

Steve Roden

Steven Claydon

Stewart Home

Sue Tompkins

Tim Skinner

Torsten Lauschmann

Toshiya Tsunoda

Tris Vonna-Michell

Trisha Baga

Truckasauras

Tyler Coburn

Tyler Friedman

Viv Corringham

Will Rogan

William Furlong

Yan Jun

Yolande Harris

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What Is the Summer MixTape Festival?

Kathy Fennessy — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:29:04 -0700

Warner Bros. Television
Full cast, full house

I can think of few line-ups more off-putting than the one below. While I understand the nostalgia for 1990s acts like Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine, NKOTB is another matter. Plus, the Fray? Steel Panther?*

The great thing about this promo, though, is that copywriter Julian Stern seems to think this year's Summer MixTape Festival is pretty awful, too, so he decided to have fun with it. And the fest picked the perfect '90s host: Full House's Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber) to crack wise about LL Cool J's abs and Snooki's baby.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm more than a little familiar with Full House—not by choice, mind you. In my other life, I'm a movie/TV writer, and my editor sent me most every season of the show to review, and so I did (hey, I got paid). If you ever gave the sitcom a watch, you may enjoy this video, too. Bonus: jabs at hipsters, ironic mustaches, and desert fests like Burning Man and Coachella.

* Kelly Clarkson gets a free pass, because I have a few friends who are fans.

What is the Summer MixTape Festival? from MixTape Festival on Vimeo.

Hat tip: Rolling Stone editor Evie Nagy, who tweeted, "Kimmy. Fucking. Gibbler."

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