SXSW: a report from the frontline
So I just got back from SXSW, and what a blast! SXSW is one of the most hectic, insane three day parties your kidneys could ever endure. It’s so messed up that even the most messed people up think it’s messed up! It’s one of those festivals that comes at you from all angles — parties day and night, free drinks and food everywhere you look, and constant impromptu parties at one minutes notice. Some of my highlights include witnessing Justice alongside 200 people in a crammed room drunk off my head at the infamous Playboy party, chatting up a playboy bunny, and ending up in a hot tub with buzz band MGMT at 7am at their hotel — all in one night! Then there was the adventure of heading to a farmyard party in ‘Hicksville’, on the outskirts of Austin; watching Spank Rock perform on a ten storey building rooftop at 2am at the Nylon party; bumping into ZZ Top by accident; getting caught up in the revelry of a show by some unknown band that moved itself from the stage inside the venue Emo’s out onto the street; sneaking into a wine tasting party which served up some of the most orgasmic food on offer whilst watching an intimate set by Erika Wennerstrom — the next Emmylou Harris; witnessing one of the most intense politically charged hip hop shows by unknown Mississippi rising star David Banner at the Fader/Levis Fort; and watching Pharell Williams of N.E.R.D rip it up with a ten man band. Phew!
RELATED
So here are my picks of acts to watch in 2008 from this year’s SXSW — Jeremy Jay: New K records signing. Sounds like The Microphones meets Buddy Holly; David Banner: political effusive Hip Hop from the heart; Iglu & Hartley: the next buzz band. Epic new wave pop from Hollywood; The Dodos [above]: the most talked about band at SXSW. Everyone wants a piece of this ethnocentric psych band. Read more
Short film about an 80 year old skydiving double amputee
Here’s an inspiring story: eighty year-old Malcolm is a human rights activist, double amputee, and now skydives for justice. How wonderfully uplifting.
Live Mashups by Umphrey’s McGee
There is a long standing tradition for jambands to don a ‘musical costume’ for Halloween and cover an album in its entirely. The band Umphrey’s McGee has taken this concept a step further by performing ‘live mashups‘ for their Halloween gigs. They cleverly juxtapose two songs on top of each other, and then proceed to tear the roof off. Highlights from this year were a Robert Palmer and Prince mashup (Addicted to Kiss) and a MGMT and Nirvana mashup (Come As Your Kids).
Also by ARI STEIN
Ten years of German photographer Jürgen Teller’s candid, glamorous photo campaigns for Marc Jacobs’ men’s and women’s collections have been collated into one cohesive 576-page fashion bible. This book does an excellent job of detailing just how significant this collaboration has been for fashion, featuring appearances from the likes of Sofia Coppola, Charlotte Rampling, Meg White, Thurston Moore, Rufus Wainwright, William Eggleston, and Winona Ryder. Read more
One of the most intriguing stories I’ve come across this year is about a young artist called Yonlu, born Vinicius Gageiro Marques in the town of Porto Alegre, in Brazil. His story is short but fascinating. As it goes, this sixteen year old songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and virtual artist locked himself in his bathroom, signed on to one of the various suicide forums he belonged to on the Internet, and took his own life, remaining online until the very end. After his death, his father went through his computer and found numerous musical creations, including the songs that make up his debut album through Luaka Bop. It’s an amazing listen and very ahead of its time.
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Edgar Muller’s three-dimensional street art
Some people are talented, others are just truly remarkable. German artist Edgar Muller makes these three-dimensional apocalyptic fantasy street art in cities across the world. His work is reminiscent of that of English artist, Julian Beever. Read more
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Dame Edna Everage looking anything but average, Michael Jackson small and sensitive? It all seems rather fitting, really. As does the rest of this brilliant series of photos featuring pets tussled, styled and pampered like the hungry celebrities that they are. Read more
I recently stumbled across the beautiful work of Isreali artist Tal R in all it’s raw and colourful splendor. Rough, spontaneous texture, tapestry-like compositions, and artfully placed drips all come together within Tal’s folksy oeuvre. I can’t even really decide which I’m swooning over more — the Grosz-like paintings or his fantastically raw drawings. Read more
Back in the day, when I was a skinny teenager on the great pedestal of life, I had a real obsession for the understated, low-fi, deliciously melodic and somewhat blurry sounds of the New Zealand Flying Nun bands. I would pool my meagre savings and canvas the local record shops, scouring the racks for the latest cassettes from The Bats, The Chills, The Clean, and, later, The Straitjacket Fits. Read more
Located on a mountain in country outside Mudgee, in New South Wales, Australia, a permanent camp designed by Casey Brown has been set. A timber structure clad in copper has been designed to have a closed state and an open state. From the closed position, the flanks of copper are hoisted and capture views across the valley. With an imagery of structures, materials and mechanics of old, there is something romantic about this foothold on the hill.
Shorpy is a great blog dedicated to digitally restored photos, mostly from the first half of the 20th century, but some from as early as the 1840s. Read more
The Kevin Ayers record Joy of a Toy from 1969 was released by Harvest Records and sits somewhere between Nick Drake and The Byrds. A record slightly ahead of its time, it was filled with enough interesting and clever arrangements and instrumentation to never bore. Girl on a Swing is my favorite tune for the tremolo guitar.
This nifty little Royal Elastics package includes a pair of Sosei shoes, two Homogeny tees, a Homogeny scarf, and two Homogeny figures that come together to make one. Sweet! Read more
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Francoise Nielly’s Yellow series
Parisian visual artist Francoise Nielly brings technicolour to the forefront in her latest series, Yellow. Featuring thick impasto palette knife strokes and trippy neon hues, Nielly captures the vulnerable expressions of her muses to a tee. Read more
Mathematics? Leave me out. Fashematics? Now you’re talking! This gem of a site is a runway equation that adds up to a whole lot of wonderful.
Get lost in a daydream or a craving for something sweet while gazing at these cool sculptures by Brooklyn-based WiNK WiNK PONY. Made using clay, tree bark, wood, and mossy moss.
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
We love the re-Issue of the original Raised by Wolves and Furni digital watch collaboration, which comes with a built-in phone book, stopwatch, countdown timer and multiple alarm features with melody setting. Read more
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