Our boy Bong-Ra has come through with an exclusive dark-step track for XLR8R.com listeners only. Unlike his patented doomy brakcore, Bong-Ra rips the dub-step template to shreds with ghostly bass from the center of hell. “Woody Strobe” may be the anthem for the dreadlocked, satanic elite.
Chromeo’s Dave One and P-Thugg ardently reject being labeled an ironic band, but as with 2004’s She’s in Control, it’s hard not to notice a knowing wink spread throughout Fancy Footwork‘s 11 tracks of sex-fueled funk boogie. But why is that such a bad thing? The album’s squiggly analog synth breaks, call-and-response vocoder hooks, and b-boy electro consistently sounds more fun than funny, more danceable than laughable. Footwork may wear its adoration for New Edition’s adolescent, skirt-chasing romanticism on its sleeve, but it’s also a fantastic pop album on its own terms.
You thought punk was dead? Let bands like L.A.’s No Age and art spaces like The Smell remind you why you fell in love with the genre in the first place. Randy Randall and Dean Spunt of No Age explain that the key to a good scene is a tight-knit community and fearlessness, and then prove it with a ferocious live show.
With the release of journalist Simon Reynolds’ book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 (Penguin) and Paul Rachman’s American Hardcore film, punk has become a major player in the study of contemporary arts. Now, editors Mark Sladen and Ariella Yedgar are proud to introduce the art of punk’s past in the book PANIC ATTACK!: Art In the Punk Years.
Featuring 160 images, care of 30 artists from punk’s heyday (a.k.a. the mid-’70s-mid-’80s), PANIC ATTACK! contains essential paintings, graffiti, and iconic album artwork from the era’s greatest confrontational innovators. The hardcover book is filled with imagery from Basquiat, Jamie Reid (the Sex Pistol’s God Save the Queen artwork), Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman, and others.
Set for release in August, PANIC ATTACK!, is more than just another book chronicling underground art. It exposes the aesthetic and attitude that blossomed into the subcultures that have since evolved (post-punk, hardcore, etc), and the political and social concerns thrown into the limelight as a consequence.
PANIC ATTACK! is available in August from Merrell Publishers.
Derrick Hodgson (also known as Mad Real) creates crazy, chaotic worlds populated by floaters, poppers, peepers, and sprouts–doodled characters that are mixed-up and pastel-colored, but with personalities not unlike those found on Earth. The bearded Hodgson grew up on a farm north of Toronto, and even though he now calls the big city home, he keeps in touch with nature, surrounding himself with light, plants, and animals, and subsists mainly on ale and wild blueberry pie. Hodgson recently collaborated with camping retailers Mountain Equipment Co-op and on t-shirts with fellow Torontonian Tania Sanhueza. He’s also been hard at work on two forthcoming winter art shows in Toronto and Madrid. His boombox humming with the gentle strains of King Jammy, Loscil, and Neil Young, we asked Hodgson what products he wholeheartedly endorses.
Tom Dixon Eco Ware table set ($199)
This “Eco Ware” table, cup, and bowl set reminds me of backwoods cabins and chuck wagons. They’re 80 percent bamboo, but the remaining is a resin binder so if ya drop ’em and they break, instead of chucking them in the garbage, just pitch ’em on the old compost pile.
Tania Sanhueza Kaleidoscope Owl ($150) and New Year Mushrooms ($110)
Tania Sanhueza is a Toronto-based artist who works primarily with textiles. These little sculptures are done in the true folk/craft tradition using recycled material and lots of love. The burrowing owl is an endangered species here in Canada and I love the mushies, especially when they are made out of cashmere. (Available at Magic Pony)
Grain Surf Boards ($1950)
These sliders are pure works of art. I have never ridden one of them but I’m saving my pennies. The Wherry 6.4 Fish is what I have my eye on. Handmade goodness outta Maine.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Stüssy Presents
Paintings and Sculpture by the Imaginary Foundation
Stussy SF, 1409 Haight St., S.F.
8 – 11 p.m., Open to Public
imaginaryfoundation.com
The Exhibition runs from Thursday, January 19 – Wednesday, August 15, 2007
You thought punk was dead? Let bands like L.A.’s No Age and are spaces like The Smell remind you why you fell in love with the genre in the first place. Randy Randall and Dean Spunt of No Age explain that the key to a good scene is a tight-knit community and fearlessness, and then prove it with a ferocious live show.
Previous Episodes
Episode 12: Soul Skate ’07
Episode 13: Detroit Ghettotech
Episode 14: Black Milk
Episode 15: Crafting with Adult.
For those who don’t stay in the East Bay, Kafani‘s “Fast” will be heard trying to bust out of many-a-trunks at any given point in the day. This alternate version featuring Keak Da Sneak is more of the lazer-beam production that’s got the nation in a hyphy-uproar. Drink an energy drink and jump around like a fool to this one.
Download this song as an MP3, or preview a week’s worth of tracks at the XLR8R Podcast. Subscribe using iTunes, or with an RSS reader of your choice.
For those who don’t stay in the East Bay, Kafani‘s “Fast” will be heard trying to bust out of many-a-trunks at any given point in the day. The alternate version featuring Keak Da Sneak is more of the lazer-beam production that’s got the nation in a hyphy-uproar. Drink an energy drink and jump around like a fool to this one.
