NXNE Coverage June 14 – Bad Bad Not Good & Bishop Morocco
Bad Bad Not Good (via AOL Spinner)
Bad Bad Not Good are probably the most precocious group to emerge from the Toronto jazz scene in a very long time. Their second set of the night at the Hoxton was announced with an “It was good before, but this time we’re going to go twice as hard, we gonna do this sht!” Their talent has attracted attention from numerous media sources as well as foul-mouthed trendsetter Tyler the Creator of Odd Future. Their show proved that the young’uns can still rock out to experimental saxophones, drums, keys and guitar, and even drop more than a couple stage dives and mosh pits thanks to Gucci, their wildcat mascot. — Jesse Ship
Bishop Morocco (via AOL Spinner)
Bishop Morocco played a dark, haunting and reverb-heavy set at the Rivoli as part of the Arts & Crafts showcase. Soaring, anguish-inducing guitar riffs pleased the crowd. Even when they were uplifting their tone was still plaintive thanks to the deep Ian Curtis-esque baritone channeled eerily well by both bassist and guitarist James Sayce and Jake Fairly. As Sayce said to Spinner after the show as he made a thirsty beeline to the bar, “We’ve been making music together for over 20 years. What’s come out of it is this — an amalgamation of everything we’ve ever listened to.”
Max Burgundy NXNE Coverage (via AOL Spinner)
Max Burgundy got the start treatment in my Spinner NXNE coverage last Wednesday. Here’s what you missed!
Max Burgundy
A Bronx, NY native, Max Burgundy wasn’t fazed in the slightest when he was told his slot at The Crawford would be pushed back to accommodate some of the acts orphaned due to the Rich Kidd showcase cancellation. The half-Puerto Rican rapper delivered an emotionally wrought set that reflected on hard times growing up with alcoholic parents, cynical views on Internet privacy, and fantasizing over doing it with girls at the Museum of Modern Art. Songs borrowed bars from ’90s acts like No Doubt and the Cranberries, which ably reflected his new mix CD, The Death of Mark Fuhrman. It seems he knew Spinner might be in the building as he shouted out, “AOL! A/S/L?”, yet another reference to pre-millennium glory. — Jesse Ship
His new mix tape “The Death of Mark Fuhrman” also just dropped and you can give it a listen here. Max told me pre-show that the title is a reminder that racism and discrimination are still very real things, and despite some progress, not much has changed since the mid-90s. The controversy over the Rivoli show cancellation only furthers the truth.
Northstar & Geoff Mcfetridge Capsule Collection
I once wrote an article about North Star Clothing, a Canadian heritage sportswear brand that had its heyday in the late 70s and 80s. The article was for Pound Magazine who were trying to revive their print magazine but it never ran because it took them maybe 9 months to get the issue off the ground and by that time they felt that my article was too ‘dated’ since the brand’s resurrection was a seasonal thing. (aside – I’m not sure the print issue ever got off the ground even, but Pound is alive and well online, with a completely different editorial team from the print side) There’s truth in that but it was pretty shitty of them to not offer any thanks or compensation for the work I had done. Getting to talk with designer Adrian X of TooBlackGuys (also of Canada Goose, The Bay, Roots, and others) was a privilege, so that was a saving grace.
North Star’s new summer 2012 capsule edition is brought to you by Geoff Mcfetridge, an artist based in Los Angeles California. Born in Canada, he was schooled at the Alberta College of Art and the California Institute of the Arts. For two years, he was art director of the famous underground Beastie Boys magazine Grand Royal. Since then he has started the design studio Champion Graphics which has done projects for numerous clients ranging from Nike, Pepsi, Stussy, Burton Snowboards, Girl Skateboards and Patagonia. He made clips for Plaid, Simian, and recently also for The Whitest Boy Alive, and he created film title sequences for The Virgin Suicides and Adaptation.
Hot Sauce Boys vs. Epic Meal Time
I met the Hot Sauce Boys at the NXNEi Epic Meal Time Q&A panel last week and they were smart enough to give me a bottle to test out. I’m a big fan of hot sauce and spicy food in general, (I literally have 10 different kinds in my fridge) and I can tell you that the Sauce Boss wasn’t lying. This is some seriously tasty stuff. It’s a cayenne base but it has a wide variety of woody, peppery, sour and earthy undertones that you won’t find in any other hot sauce I’ve ever tasted. Habit forming it is, the label don’t lie, it’s been the highlight of my dinner plate of late. There’s also a really nice story behind it. The sauce is based on a family recipe, and has been produced for retail sale to commemorate the passing of the head of the family, it’s creator. Wishing you guys tonnes of burning hot luck. The sauce is now available at a few different stores in the Oshawa region and from the website, www.hotsauceboys.com
Mind Fish – Can’t Control At All
Someone should tell the Andy Warhol Foundation about the thrashy fun garage rock band, Mind Fish. Apparently they spent some big bucks on an overproduced music video but scrapped it in favour of this minimalistic silkscreen and typography-inspired work of art, shot and edited by Teamwork! Yeah!
Like ’em on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mind-Fish/40586157541
http://www.themindfish.com
Stream/Purchase/Listen/Make out to their album WATCHOUT!:
http://themindfish.bandcamp.com
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/watchout!/id497551760
http://open.spotify.com/album/7LNlNa5IAjUaqhoLvSN8rB
ART VS. SCIENCE: AUSSIE DANCE-ROCKERS CREDIT BAND’S BIRTH TO A RELATIVE’S DEATH
The chemist and the painter would probably disagree on most things in life. But merging art and science for the sake of music can sometimes create the best of both worlds. Especially if you ask Jim Finn, keyboardist and vocalist of the Australian dance-rock actArt vs. Science.
“We like the idea that the duality of art and science exists in all of us,” Finn tells Spinner. “When you’re creating something as an artist or a musician you’re drawing on influences from the past. There’s also the scientific part of writing with grammar and song structure, but there’s always the unknown that comes out of nowhere, which is the combination.”
The band, made up of Finn, Dan McNamee and Dan Williams, met at an all-boys school in Sydney. It wasn’t so much art or science as it was death and circumstance that helped the band discover their signature jangly sound via an old keyboard that a band member’s uncle left after his passing.
Click here to read the rest of the article on AOL Spinner!
It’s The Pitts! Jesse’s Trip to Pittsburgh – FlightCentre.ca Blog
May 28th, 2012
Originally published on FlightCentre.ca’s Travel Blog
Built by immigrants who were drawn to her steel mills, the city of Pittsburgh is now sitting back on its laurels and offering a more leisurely and aesthetically pleasing lifestyle to residents and visitors alike. Once dubbed ‘the Smoky City’, Pittsburgh’s mills have closed down and the emphasis now is on making the most of the city’s natural beauty. Guest Blogger Jesse Ship recently spent some time exploring Pittsburgh and shares with us the best places to eat, party and take in the local art scene:
When the opportunity to visit extended family in the balmy hills of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania came up, I just couldn’t resist taking the weekend off. Silkscreened visions of the Andy Warhol Museum, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece home, Fallingwater, and the world famous installation art museum, The Mattress Factory, danced in my head.
Entering Pittsburgh through the I90, the first thing that strikes you is the lush and hilly deciduous greenery, with tiny farmhouses dotting the countryside. The hills are a running theme throughout the city, with steep inclines that would make a seasoned San Franciscan think twice about darting down on their bikes.
As any NFL fan would know, Pittsburgh was once the Steel City, but after environmental and cultural initiatives in the 80s, the steel mills were dismantled leaving room for new industries to flourish, and for Pittsburghers to embrace their birthright as the birthplace of Pop Culture and Andy Warhol.
Going on the recommendation of some locals I hit up prior through social media sites, I found myself at the Brillobox bar for Pandemic, a monthly (now in it’s sixth year) playing out Balkan and Global dance rhythms. The dance floor was hot and sweaty as 300 plus partiers shook their butts to the playful beats. The Brillobox also offers over twenty different craft brews on tap, many of them unfamiliar to this hops loving Canadian. Bonus!
But as much as Pittsburgh is a University town, it is also one steeped in culture, and architectural reform. My Saturday afternoon was devoted to Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece of environmental and organic architecture built for the Kaufmann family in 1935, Surrounding their parcel of land that included a well-placed waterfall, just an hour out of town. Coloured mostly in ochre, to match the surrounding rhododendrons, with Cherokee red beams, the compact and zen-like country home was meant as a weekend getaway for the Pittsburgh-based family. Mr. Wright over delivered beyond the family’s wildest dreams and built the home right into the waterfall and surrounding boulders.
My tour started in the living room, and we were shown the “hatch”, a stairway that leads into the waterfall its self, where guests could sit and dip their legs into the water. Almost everything at Fallingwater is intact from the 1930s and 40s, including the mostly designed by Wright furniture, the family’s original library and an art collection of Picassos sitting plainly on night tables, ancient Chinese Buddhas, and works by Frieda Calho, who was once a guest of the Kaufmanns. Aside from its unique stacked design, other striking features are the low ceilings, Armstrong cork lined bathrooms and an icy stream-water filled swimming pool. Words can only describe so much of the home that once graced the cover of Time Magazine in 1938, so an actual visit is a must!
The next day I woke up early to try and cram as much of Pittsburgh into my weekend visit, anticipating complications due to the Pittsburgh Marathon. It took me one and a half hours to make what should have been a twenty-minute trip at most. Rats… precious time was wasted but I did get to take in some local colour on my detour, and discovered the Oh Yeah! Ice Cream & Coffee Co., an indie shop serving up a variety of waffles, famous for a whopping 60 different ice cream topping options.
It’s one thing to see reproductions of Warhol’s ubiquitous prints, but to be in the presence of seven floors of unadultered and original Warholia is surreal. Classics like the Mao print series, the Elvis Eleven Times series, a room of Andy’s early video art projections and candid home videos of him with the Kennedys at the beach, David Bowie at Factory, a behind the scenes look at his famous drag shoot, and many others.
What many forget, despite being gay, Warhol was a devout Catholic, so there is a room dedicated to his religious work that involves sexualized Madonnas with child, and large paintings of glowing crosses.
A brisk 20 minute walk from the Warhol Museum is the Mattress Factory, a world class museum dedicated to art installations, that is, works of art that take up one, or many rooms. I was dazzled by Yayoi Kusama’s hall of polkadot mirrors, and James Turrell’s mesmerizing 3D “Catso, Red” cube, made of light cleverly projected into the corner of a darkened room, giving it the illusion of solidity.
No visit to the US would be complete without a meal at one of many overconsumption themed restaurants, and Primanti Brothers Restaurant (almost famous since 1933) does not disappoint. I ordered their #2 most popular item, the Pittsburgh Cheese Steak, (the #1 most popular item is beer, ha ha ha) which comes loaded with large handful of fries, tomatoes and a bowl full of crisp and hardly creamy coleslaw.
I wish I knew that these guys went easy on the spice, or else I would have slathered on some hot sauce before hopping into the car for the ride home. Overall, it was a satisfying meal in a hand that left no need for stops for food on the six-hour ride home.
ASTRALWERKS OUTS HALF ITS ROSTER! – PRIDE 2012 COMPILATION
According to Astralwerks, the following artists make “gay” approved music. Makes me wonder who’s finger was up whose bottom, er, on the button, when this concept was being decided. Ok, JUST KIDDING. Branded “Pride” swag has always been amusing to me, what with the weird doggy toothbrushes (essential for your gay dog) and MoneyMart sunglasses (yes, MoneyMart is gay too. You didn’t know?) I’ve acquired during Toronto’s celebratory mid-summer blowouts.
But seriously, here’s the official statement from Astralwerks on their mix CD which will make it’s appearance at Pride events around the world:
“From the uplifting disco-house of Eric Prydz to the electro-acoustic atmospheres of Air, Hey Boy, Hey Girl! – Pride 2012 is a journey through contemporary electronic dance music, and features music that we hope will be part of your soundtrack to Pride 2012 festivities. In recent years Astralwerks has enjoyed numerous successful album campaigns with luminary artists such as Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, David Guetta, The B-52s and others. Working closely with lifestyle and media contacts in the LGBT community has been a big part of that success. Glenn Mendlinger, Astralwerks General Manager, notes…“we are grateful for the support and love that this community has shown to our artists. This is our way of saying thank you.”
Go to the bandcamp page to stream and download (hey Astralwerks, stop being greedy, let’s share some embed codes)
Hey Boy, Hey Girl! – Pride 2012 Tracklisting:
1. Eric Prydz & Andreas Postl: “Mighty Love” www.ericprydz.com
2. Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party: “Antidote” (Tommy Trash Remix) www.swedishhousemafia.com
3. David Guetta : “Paris” www.davidguetta.com
4. Gold Fields : “Treehouse” (Gloves Remix) www.goldfieldsband.com
5. Morning Parade: “Headlights” (James Nije Remix) www.morningparade.com
6. The Chemical Brothers: “Don’t Think” (Live from Japan) www.thechemicalbrothers.com
7. The Good Natured: “Video Voyeur” (Adrian Lux Remix) www.thegoodnatured.co.uk
8. Air: “Seven Stars” www.aircheology.com
Dirty Car Art – Scott Wade – Cystic Fibrosis #SoapsItup
The world famous “Dirty Car Artist”, Scott Wade joined Toronto last week for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation #SoapsItUp $5 charity car wash campaign kick off and showed off his world class works at a condo presentation gallery (the latest fad in event spaces, of course). The event was hosted by the CARSTAR Quality Collision Centre and pulled together by Praxis PR.
Scott Wade has toured the world with his spectacular Dirty Car Art, a technique he discovered while living in a house off of a dirty road in the Austin, Texas outskirts. He started using popsicle sticks and rubber paintbrushes but now has a fully developed toolkit that he uses to etch his dusty designs. I was told that he starts his canvas with a layer of almond oil and movie prop dirt which is actually partly paint to begin with.
He’s often flown all over the world to present his paintings and he’s not restricted to just car art. He told me his dream gig would be to illustrate a massive office skyscraper in a desert town in Dubai, but his largest canvas so far was in Vancouver where he painted a swimwear storefront window with a surfing Elvis escaping a great white shark and a bikini-fied American Gothic (seen below).
Hackman & Bluto – What Matters (Rob Da Bank radio rip)
‘WHAT MATTERS’
(DEADPLATE RECORDS)
Release date: 18th June 2012
Format: 12” / Digital
Just a quick announcement here.
Carrying on from the success of their last release from Artifact, Deadplate Records present Hackman & Bluto’s ‘What Matters’.
‘What Matters’ is a Marimba infused house track with a weighty bass line, perfectly timed for the summer. South London based James Fox creates a powerful 4/4 remix on the flip, stripping back the original and bringing a 90s UKG flavour to the table. Fox has quickly established himself as a producer and DJ that blends the jack and groove of the rawest deep house with the soundsystem bass pressure of the UK underground. A real powerhouse on the dance floor, this is one of his strongest pieces of work to date.
A: What Matters
B: What Matters (James Fox Remix)
soundcloud.com/hackman
soundcloud.com/james-fox
deadplate.com
Deadplate Records is a hotly tipped new label coming out of the London underground dance scene, releasing a hard hitting, percussive sound that sits somewhere in between house, UK funky, UK garage and dubstep. With support coming from DJs such as Blawan, Dark Sky, xxxy and Raffertie, it’s fair to say that Deadplate have started very strong and look set to go on to becoming a household name in the UK underground dance scene.
