The Maccabees @ The Mod Club
I just caught UK’s The Macabees for their very first Toronto gig. The band’s got three albums under their belt already but what’s got the world’s attention right now was there 2012 Mercury Award nomination. Sadly, they lost out to Alt-J (or ∆)’s spectral folky sounds. No matter, they played a full house so I don’t think the loss is really affecting them much. And no, they didn’t intentionally reference Judah The Maccabee, nor are they jews or really fans of Hannukah, but apparently they were flicking through the bible one day looking for band names and the Hebrew Hammer just stuck with them.
It’s easy to say that pretty boy guitarist and brother to other members, Felix White, stole the show with his expert posing and capturing the light in just the right manner. You can give the dreamy full album a listen here at the CBC or stream it on Spotify if you’re savvy like that.
FLASHER!
Posting this here because it might give my Pinterest followers the wrong idea…
From the original site’s catalog:
| Legendary porn director Lasse Braun helms this atmospheric tale of flashers, freaks and fiery sex. A masterpiece of erotic compulsion! |
Depeche Mode tease new album with Blawan & Matthew Dear remixes – BeatPort News
Mist – Tilt – Alëxone @ Gallerie AtDown
I first met street artists Mist and brother from another mother, Tilt, back in 2009 at Toronto’s Circa club opening in collaboration with Kid Robot. They were both running around airbrushing babes with their signature bubble letter styles. It’s great to know that the guys are still at it, in combination with Alëxone. They’re showing together and I wish I could be there, but it’s all the way out in Montpellier! Here’s a vid of a similar project they all worked on, also through curator, Nicolas Pinelli.
BEAR now on Xbox 360!
Ghost Capsules
I’m really impressed with this new album from Ghost Capsules, made up of Vienna’s Bomb The Bass’s frontman Tim Simenon and a supporting band he met back in the day. It’s a far cry from Bug Powder Dust (classic) but it has that classic Chilled Out Vienna sound (yes, I think that is a thing?) that you’d have heard in other Germanic trip hop artists from the late 90s like Rainer Trüby, Tosca or Kruder & Dorfmeister but updated with modern technology and dark synthy aesthetics echoing Trentemøller’s epic dirge ‘Even If You’re With Another Girl‘. Like everything old, this stuff is having a comeback and i’m really happy that it is. As if the jellyfish/space zeppelin/mothership/portal album art work wasn’t enough… whoah….chills! I wish I could post the full album to give you the full effect but I’ll let you figure that out on your own.
10/10!
Don’t F*ck with Giraffes!
I was watching a random animal documentary on Netflix and came across this vicious tidbit. What we think we know of giraffes as gentle creatures is so incredibly wrong. They are actually highly territorial beasts with enough power in their forelegs to bludgeon a lion (or human) to death! I was skeptical at first so of course I rushed to the Youtube to see if I could see any vids of them in action. Most were cheesy family videos from African Lion Safari type parks with the long-necked buddies leaning into car windows for a snack, but I did find these choice two.
The lesson? Do not fuck with giraffes (or any wild animal for that matter) or you will FEEL THEIR WRATH!
Surprise Diplo DJ-set creates a frenzy at Uniun – BlogTO
Hormones ran high Thursday night as hundreds of Toronto partiers flocked to Uniun Nightclub in hopes to get an earful of Diplo (Mad Decent label founder, DJ and rising super-producer) and quaff some sudsy Buds, Bud Light Platinum that is.
A group of a few hundred media, industry members, and professional partiers — a.k.a. “influencers” — were initially invited, but the floodgates were opened to the masses a day before the event, which caused a mad rush to sign up with a “first come first served” disclaimer. Unfortunately many didn’t read the fine print, as hordes of people were being turned away when I showed up at 11pm.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Toronto crowd this hyped up for anything. Everywhere I went on the sprawling dance floor, people were jumping into each others arms, grinding, winding, and getting down with new make out partners. Never underestimate the power of free American beer with a “bold, smooth, triple filtered” 6% alcohol content and a sexy ad campaign featuring edgy, high contrast photos of tattooed babes in sheer, lacy nightclub wear and dudes in chambray and plaid shirts.
I don’t think Diplo was really bringing his A-game to the night but unlike the beer, the sound was not light or watery. He even dropped some poppy crowd-pleasers like a remix of Rhianna’s Birthday Cake, and a couple “Oppan Gangnam Style!” samples between the jackin’ car-alarm Moombahton beats.
Prior to arriving, I was a bit concerned that the sponsors would ask him to tone down his sound given the corporate nature of the event but this was a balls-out rager. Getting to the downstairs washroom required pushing through the frothy orgy of fun-loving bodies. The table of cowboys in plaid shirts, hats and boots, fresh off the plane from Calgary didn’t seem to mind either, and were some of the last men standing on the dance floor.
Many factors came together to pull off a decent launch party, so cheers to the crew for pulling it off. Even when he’s not bringing his A-game, Diplo’s pretty darn good. The Food Dudes truck parked at the exit doling out snacks to exiting partiers was a nice touch too.
Photo by Conrad M. Stocks
Hormones ran high Thursday night as hundreds of Toronto partiers flocked to Uniun Nightclub in hopes to get an earful of Diplo (Mad Decent label founder, DJ and rising super-producer) and quaff some sudsy Buds, Bud Light Platinum that is.
A group of a few hundred media, industry members, and professional partiers — a.k.a. “influencers” — were initially invited, but the floodgates were opened to the masses a day before the event, which caused a mad rush to sign up with a “first come first served” disclaimer. Unfortunately many didn’t read the fine print, as hordes of people were being turned away when I showed up at 11pm.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Toronto crowd this hyped up for anything. Everywhere I went on the sprawling dance floor, people were jumping into each others arms, grinding, winding, and getting down with new make out partners. Never underestimate the power of free American beer with a “bold, smooth, triple filtered” 6% alcohol content and a sexy ad campaign featuring edgy, high contrast photos of tattooed babes in sheer, lacy nightclub wear and dudes in chambray and plaid shirts.
I don’t think Diplo was really bringing his A-game to the night but unlike the beer, the sound was not light or watery. He even dropped some poppy crowd-pleasers like a remix of Rhianna’s Birthday Cake, and a couple “Oppan Gangnam Style!” samples between the jackin’ car-alarm Moombahton beats.
Prior to arriving, I was a bit concerned that the sponsors would ask him to tone down his sound given the corporate nature of the event but this was a balls-out rager. Getting to the downstairs washroom required pushing through the frothy orgy of fun-loving bodies. The table of cowboys in plaid shirts, hats and boots, fresh off the plane from Calgary didn’t seem to mind either, and were some of the last men standing on the dance floor.
Many factors came together to pull off a decent launch party, so cheers to the crew for pulling it off. Even when he’s not bringing his A-game, Diplo’s pretty darn good. The Food Dudes truck parked at the exit doling out snacks to exiting partiers was a nice touch too.
Photo by Conrad M. Stocks
Blue Cat Crap – Gary Taxali
As if there weren’t enough cats on the internet, now you can frame them on your walls too with Gary Taxali’s Blue Cat Crap. Comes with a free box of fries… and kitty litter. Ok, not really. If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can skip over to my interview with the man from my Format Mag days where he dishes helpful advice on creating your own vinyl toy sculpture from start to finish.
Li’l Pooh
I got an email from this rapper named Li’l Pooh today, possibly one of the most awkwardly named guys in the rap game. The message he sent me only had a link to a cover he did of Trinidad James’s “All Gold Everything” but the video content was pretty dull, just a static shot of him posin’ all gangster like, so I did a Youtube search and found this instead. I don’t think it’s the same guy but I figured this was a bit more entertaining. I hope Lil Poo of Santa Fe is holdin tight in max min. pen. and gets off his 15-30 year burglary charges early for good behaviour. We’re waitin’ for ya li’l homie!
