So this week has been Doomtree Blowout week at First Avenue. Still is. DT is a rap crew from my hometown(s) which currently features 2 producers and 5 rappers (two of whom also produce). They have a new album out — “No Kings” — which is getting pretty good reviews. Anyways, they’ve been taking turns doing solo sets all week at First Avenue’s smaller room, The Entry. It’s been a blast. Tonight I’m hearing the surprise opener is none other than independent hip-hop legend Sage Francis. Monday’s show featured some 40ish artists. It was awesome (here’s a review). But the one I was probably the most excited to see was this group called “Kill The Vultures”.
Kill The Vultures are a bit tough to describe. Above is lyricist Crescent Moon (right) and producer Anatomy (left). Crescent Moon carries a room the same way Tom Waits does: that old-school showmanship, drenched in gritty urban history with a ringmaster type commanding presence. It’s hard to look away. One gets the sense that he’s been through some shit — as we all have — you can see it in his face, hear it in his voice. I think, at least around here, he’s one of the more underrated rappers we’ve got. As far as the music goes… again, hard to describe. There’s an urban tribal feel to it that’s vaguely reminiscent of Velvet Underground: trash cans clanging and unadulterated noise-rhythms. Most of the sampling comes from that noir-type jazz aesthetic you get from watching a hard-boiled crime film. Mysterious, haunting horns and dangerous but smooth upright bass. You know what… here, try it for yourself:
“14th St. Ritual”:
“Walk On Water”:
I know, right?
Now, in their store at their site they’ve got a really cool poster for sale… which led me to this artist.
DWitt has clearly been inspired by his Heavy Metal-induced past. He does comic books, gig posters, design work, and press materials. He’s worked for beer companies, record labels, bands, venues, publishers, even the likes of Nike. His gallery is split into two sections: Posters and Fine-Art. The style is that surreal, line-heavy, complex mish-mash of imagery you’d think of when envisioning a Mastodon concert poster (which he has done before). But it isn’t all skulls and lightening bolts. Some of his stuff features beautifully rendered omnipresent beings, fish, turtles, landscapes, etc.
- Every time I listen to Wugazi — which, for a while there I was quite frequently — I’m reminded of how great both the moving pieces were. Still are. Especially Fugazi. They were indeed something special. The Fugazi Live Series: A to Z has just debuted on their website: a hodgepodge of live shows spanning around a decade, from Berlin to DC. When I see this band perform live, or hear them, I really can relate to the entire experience. And from the looks of this show, I’m not alone:
I’m not sure if there’s anything more punk — as a commenter points out at the YouTube page — than playing a show in the freezing winter outside the gates of the White House.
And speaking of the DIY business model, here’s this:
“The next opportunity to remove the harmful detention provisions from the bill will be when House and Senate conferees meet in conference committee next week.
If the conference committee fails to remove the detention provisions, President Obama should follow through with his veto threat. Today’s vote on the Udall amendment shows there’s more than enough opposition to these provisions to sustain a veto. Stay tuned for more information.”
- First off, apparently there’s a Tumblr page out there that specializes in Thai citizens using clever and unique ways to cope with flooding. Some of these are just brilliant, just slapping empty water bottles onto your dog to ensure it doesn’t drown, or air-sealing your car with a giant plastic bag to ensure it doesn’t get ruined. This is innovation at its finest.
- Then there’s this other ingenious Tumblr page which recreates classic album covers with kittens instead of the artists themselves. Artists range from Prince, the Cure, Sonic Youth, Mary J. Blige, the Ramones, Bob Dylan, etc, etc, etc. Excellent and cute stuff here.
- Not sure what country or city this is from, but if you’re looking for Internet wierdness, look into SUPERNATURE! on LiveJournal. Enough cryptic messages and bizarre visuals to make you question the very nature of reality.
“The new season of Walking Dead started last weekend. In an only-symbolically-related story, October 8 has been designated “World Zombie Day.” I know what you’re thinking: Another greeting-card-company scam! But people are really into it. There was a zombie pub crawl in Minneapolis, a mass zombie commitment-and/or-vow-renewal ceremony in Flint, Mich. The Pittsburgh Zombie Fest, a three-day event in George Romero’s hometown, featured a “Zombie Olympics” where you can shot-put a rubber brain. Here in New York, on October 22, there will be an organized “zombie walk” from Beauty Bar in the East Village to Arlene’s Grocery, with music by somebody named “Dr. Madd Vibe.”
“The basis of shastar vidya, the “science of weapons” is a five-step movement: advance on the opponent, hit his flank, deflect incoming blows, take a commanding position and strike.
It was developed by Sikhs in the 17th Century as the young religion came under attack from hostile Muslim and Hindu neighbours, and has been known to a dwindling band since the British forced Sikhs to give up arms in the 19th Century.”
- Also, really dig this Optimus Prime Halloween costume made exclusively out of beer cases:
I have a really big problem with seeing dead bodies. Videos of, pictures of, with my own two eyes, don’t matter. It isn’t something I’d ever like to see, I don’t care who it is. The way I see it, that’s what horror is for. I can’t speak for all horror fans — or any? — but I’d like to think there are others out there who are horror film freaks but share the same queasy uneasiness when it comes to the real thing. I don’t buy all this “violent television, movies, video games desensitizes kids to real violence”. No, at least it didn’t with me. I think those who are desensitized to it were predisposed to be desensitized, they already had it in them they just needed something to draw it out.
I have this theory about those types of people that need to see the death of a prisoner, or terrorist. The ones that slow down to view the wreckage of a horrific auto accident at maximum capacity. These are people who should be into horror movies,Mortal Kombat… but instead they’re into going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond(Old School reference?) with their spouse on the weekends, watching romantic comedies on weeknights. They suppress that lust. Which is worse. At least with a movie you know it isn’t real.
Back in 2006, it disturbed me even to see Saddam Hussein get executed. For all the awful things he did, the crimes against humanity, the genocidal attack on the Kurds, the killing of his own people, even him… I don’t want to see him die. Especially in such a ancient, medieval way: bag over the head, standing atop a wooden, rickety platform, the noose before him. It was hard for me to even watch that.
Imagine what I thought when throngs of Americans were calling for photos of Osama Bin Laden’s corpse? A number of Senators and Representatives (notably Lindsey Graham) came out of the woodwork to protest their discontent with not showing the photos. What does that say about this culture we live in?? When politicians, who’s sole motivation in life (most of them) is looking good in the eyes of their constituents for purposes of reelection, come out demanding pictures of a mutilated terrorist leader? What kind of people was Graham pandering to (the reactions to the notion that Rick Perry had executed 234 prisoners in TX is probably the answer [Off subject but... holy shit, in 2002 the guy vetoed a ban on the execution of mentally retarded inmates??])?
Opening up my browser today, to my home page which is the BBC’s News site, I see a photo of lifeless Muammar Gaddafi. And I can’t help but think that these inhuman, monsters of people, these destroyers of life, somehow win every single time we view a photo of one of their corpses. When, oh when, will we grow up?
- Perhaps not surprisingly so, FACEBOOK hosts 4% of all photos ever taken (as in: in the history of the world). It dwarfs other photo sharing sites, even FLICKR. 1000Memories estimates some 3.5 trillion photos have been taken. Maybe it’s just me, but that number seems a little low. Anyway, here’s the chart:
- I’m finally realizing that TUMBLR isn’t really for writing. Per say. It’s more of a reblogging site, who’s content therein consists mostly of pictures and animated GIFs (one would be hard-pressed to find 3 or 4 phtotoless entries with a word count of more than 1000). It’s addicting. Though due to the content I’ve posted onDEAD TRUMPETS I’ve never found myself craving it too badly. Or at all. Therefor I’m thinking I’m going to shut her down, and relocate all its entries into a sub-category on this site. To catelog these, I’ve got to post them. Just gloss over if you don’t care to read my shitty fiction about a dead musician. Ha.
- And now, a riff on an old, and very famous, X-Men cover:
- The social-networking feeds, blogosphere, and internet media outlets of the world are fluttering alight right now with memories of 9/11. Everyone seems to be saying something, but the hard truth is no one is really saying anything. All these “We will never forget”s aren’t necessarily accurate, as it seems to me we cannot forget what we never learned. Sadly, 9/11 could have been one of those rare, transcendent moments for a group of people (perhaps, even, all people) that forever alters their very existence. One of those once-in-a-few-hundred-years moments. Where an event is so mind-bendingly huge, so utterly foreign yet so familiar, and so deeply personal that we take a step back to examine where we’ve been and where we’re going; not out of curiosity, out of necessity.
