New Hot Chip
Not one but two new Hot Chip tracks dropped on the net this week. The first is a Jesse Rose remix of their upcoming single "Ready For The Floor” and the second is their remix of Everything But The Girl's Tracey Thorn's cover of the Pet Shop Boys “King’s Cross." Discobelle is already saying that their upcoming album "will most likely be one of THE albums in 2008." Absolutely can't wait to get my hands on this one.
Explosions in the Sky Tour
Unless you got pre sale tickets for the New York stop of Explosions in the Sky's supposed last tour, tickets go on sale at noon today. I'm not sure Terminal 5 will be a great venue for this but it's not to be missed either way.
New Portishead
Where were you in 94...94...94...when Dummy dropped and changed your life? It's been a whole decade since we've seen a new Portishead album, excluding their live releases. Urb posted three new songs and videos from the band on Monday. It's about time.
Let's ride
It was nice to see a skate shop pop up on Smith Street earlier this year. But it was even nicer to see a flyer from them on my doorstep yesterday morning advertising snowboard trips leaving from the location starting December 15th. Hella convenient.
We're moving!
Buh bye Blogger! The bots are taking the blog elsewhere. We're moving this operation over to http://www.lazyrobots.net in the near future. Stay tuned!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Five for Friday
Merry Stache-mas!
Sadly, my days of walking dogs in Williamsburg and planting flowers in Fort Greene Park have come to a screeching halt in light of the weather but it's important to remain benevolent during the holiday season. And what better way is there to give back to the community than by growing a sweet mustache...for the kids! It's the only good deed I can think of that will not only make you feel warm inside but also keep your upper lip warm in the frosty nights of winter.
A friend of mine is doing just that for the New York chapter of "Mustaches For Kids", an organization that's been raising money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other children's charities since 1999. This year they're supporting DonorsChoose.org to improve at-need public schools.
So check out my friend Steve's profile, check out their hilarious FAQ, make a donation and hop on over to the Montauk Club in Park slope at 8pm on Saturday, December 15 for the grand finale, The 'Stache Bash.
Anyone else find it ironic that growing a creepy mustache can benefit school kids while simultaneously getting you banned from being within 500 feet of a school?
Sunday, December 9, 2007
All Quiet on the Brooklyn Front
A Look at Old Skool Bronx
Well, its been quiet, finals are bulldozing through and I've spent most of my rockstar/partytime lost in various libraries and in every book known to man concerning the beginnings of hip-hop starting in the mid-70s and early 80s, some call this the true "old school." The music evolved on the streets of the Bronx as an alternative to street and gang violence, inspired by multiple music genres and cultures and spread by DJs at house and block parties. The Jamaican dancehall culture with their booming mobile sound systems were a great source of inspiration for early pioneers of hip-hop, what up, Dj Kool Herc! Starting as early as 1973, Kool Herc would plug his rigged sound system (made from old TV sets) into street lampposts and start spinning old school jams, sampling a bit of funk, jazz, R&B and blues. His sister would throw house parties charging 25 cents for the ladies and 50 cents for the gentlemen, it's nice to know we still get in cheaper! The party favors: malt liquor and 40oz beers, my kind of party. The parties would be about dancing, something, I've been feeling nostalgic for, not exactly the b-boy/girl parties of the late 70s and 1980s, but the parties I knew so well in the 90s.
When is dance coming back and what has happened to Hip-Hop? I have this theory that if everyone started wearing baggier clothes, dance will come back, you really can't move in cigarette jeans and concerning Hip-Hop, well, it's interesting to see how it has transcended America and has become a global phenomena, but where's the future? Bling and violence, booty and sex? I hope not . . .
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Banksy Craze
Unfortunately, our trek in the snow to see Banksy at the Vanina Holasek Gallery ended in a resounding, "I will not stand in this line!" Our refusal was plain logic since the show will be up for the next month (duh!) and who wants to elbow their way through an art show, anyway? Apparently these crazy folks in line did.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Dear God,
It's me Yer and I just wanted to thank you for bringing Banksy to New York.
I've admired the politicking, graffiti artist and ninja, Banksy, for a long time now since first discovering his mad hatter ways while living in London and seeing his art work canvas the city. I love his incognito ways, his graphic style, his political balls busting imagery. Can I go as far as saying, Banksy is my hero? No, because he wouldn't want me to believe in heroes. Well, let me just say he's the no. 1 badass, next to Bruce Lee, of course and I'm thankful he is a part of this generation of artists.
Bansky uses his medium to attack and question all that is wrong with today's society and he continues to say something with his art and I love this kind of sensibility. Even though there's been flack about how his art work has been selling for millions and how he's a sell out, aren't the real suckers the museums and dealers willing to pay these crazy prices, esp. since his work is mostly public art already?
I'd be content with staying in all weekend just to prepare myself for the opening on Sunday at the Vanin Holasek Gallery but the no. 1 DJ extraordinaire and overall HOTTIE, Diplo, is in town so I'll try to hit up that up, but Banksy, I'm really saving myself for you, love.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Lazy Obsessions
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Ladies and Gentlemen, Diplo’s back
I think I’ve made it abundantly clear on this space that I love Diplo and that some of the most off the hook soirées in my New York repertoire took place in his presence. Though I missed his last stop through town, who could forget this night at Studio B?
And how hard did we rage at his Apple Store appearance (aka the Apple Store BYOB extravaganza) the night before S’s birthday this summer?
And long before the birth of Lazy Robots, Y and I danced our faces off at the Diplo/CSS/Bonde Do Role show at the Warsaw in Greenpoint, where sweat and polish sausage mixed in the air filling it with an interesting odor like none I’d encountered before.
Simply put, it’s always a good time when Diplo drops by and he’s gracing us with his presence once more on November 30th at Studio B. Tickets are available here. I just bought mine. Don’t sleep!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Artists and commercials
When the temperature drops and winter lurks around the corner, I tend to let laziness dominate and hole up in my apartment. So last night, I cozily curled up in front of the TV and turned on the American Music Awards. Unfortunately, because I have Tivo and fast forward through all the commercials, I missed the only interesting thing about happened during that broadcast.
Halfway through the show, a T Mobile ad aired featuring Of Montreal. The commercial, which you can check out here, revealed the band sitting in a hotel room when their manager calls a band meeting (very Murray of Conchords) and informs the group that he’s chatting with Japanese promoters about their upcoming reunion tour. A few lines of dialogue are exchanged and the spot ends with “Gronlandic Edit” playing under a voiceover.
Admittedly, I wince more often than not when I hear one of my favorite bands blaring out of my TV speakers but at the end of the day, what’s good for them works for me. These guys took a lot of heat for that spot prompting lead singer Kevin Barnes to write up a lengthy discourse posted on Stereogum defending their stance. He raises some interesting points.
If the song works with the product, I don’t object. For example, I’m a big fan of the CSS iPhone/”Music is my hot sex” combination. I love how they skirt around that lyric, the most prominent and song title, but don't use it. The one they do use however, “My music is where I want you to touch,” makes perfect sense in this context.
I’m a little confused about what Shiny Toy Guns’ “Le Disko” has to do with RAZRs and completely dumbfounded about the connection between Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Chromeo’s “Needy Girl.” I also don’t understand why Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On” was used to sell cars as opposed to cameras. Or is that too obvious?
Finally, we’ve all seen M.I.A.’s “Galang”/Honda spot, (a questionable combo) but did anyone notice that she’s still doing some free advertisement for them with the lyrics “ Barbarella look like she's my dead ringer / When I'm dogging on the bonner of ya red Honda” from “Bamboo Banga?” Is this her FU to anyone who accused her of selling out or is she just trying to score more dough? Genius!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Drum and bass is alive and well...in Budapest
Last Saturday night, I hit up a dubstep night in the Slope and ran into a friend of a friend who also happens to be a regular reader of our blog.
He gave me some slack for posting an old Treasure Fingers mix last week and I replied that TF primarily produces drum and bass and had been focusing on that and touring Europe recently. I was then faced with an interesting question.
"Drum and bass? Does that even still exist?"
It turns out that it does. In Budapest, as evidenced by the video above where a 3000 strong showing came out in support of Mr. TF himself, spinning under his dnb alias, The Enemy (of Evol Intent.)
In fact, all of Europe still has a really good drum and bass scene but Eastern Europe takes it to ridiculous levels. As though pyrotechnics and S&M dancers on stage weren't enough, where else would you expect to watch a magician saw a girl in half in front of you right in the middle of your DJ set, revealing all his tricks to you as his victim glances over and winks at you?
Be on the lookout for a full length LP from the Evol Intent crew entitled Era of Diversion which is slated for release February 11 (UK) and February 12 (US). The album will consist of 19 tracks total with only 7 being drum and bass. The rest will be idm, downtempo, glitchpop and post rock and Evol Intent will be doing a live instruments tour to support it starting March 7th.
A cultural affair
It's not often that I step foot inside a church or attend a performance involving any sort of classical music, both of which happened last weekend. And as if that weren't enough of a culture shock, on Sunday afternoon Y, Jake and I checked out a whopping three art exhibits in Midtown and on the Upper West Side.
First on the agenda was the Museum of Art and Design for the "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" exhibit. Pieces ranged from a set of wings made out of black gloves to figures embroidered on a light silk fabric that looked as though they'd been sketched in pencil. This very unique and interesting show will be up until March 9th and is well worth seeing.
Next, we wandered uptown to the Neue Gallery for a Gustav Klimt exhibit: “Gustav Klimt: The Ronald S. Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections.”
It’s primarily a collection of Klimt’s drawings, as well as some photographs, most notably one of him in a large blue robe cradling a cat in his arms, and a replica of one of his studios featuring original furnishings. Some of Klimt’s most famous paintings are also present, including “Lady With Feather Hat,” and “Adele Bloch-Bauer I.”
I saw a number of Klimt's drawings at the Met two summers ago and one of my favorite things about his shows is people watching. There’s nothing like seeing the look on an 80-year old, wheelchair bound woman’s face as she gazes upon Klimt’s sketches of nude women exploring themselves.
This exhibit will be up until June 30th.
Finally, Y offered to take us over to the Met to check out Damien Hirst's “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” AKA, The Shark.
I'm not a huge Damien Hirst fan and generally find myself scowling when I come across his work, but being the kind of girl who stayed up all night watching Shark Week as a kid and whose idea of a dream vacation is South Africa to cage dive with Great Whites, this particular piece attracted me.
The shark is massive and when looking at it, I can't help but to try and envision the story that brought this animal from its home deep in the ocean to this giant formaldehyde filled tank inside a museum in New York City. Where and how did Hirst even get a shark? It's an impressive feat and certainly worth seeing in all its gruesome glory.
The Met will house it for the next three years so there's plenty of time to see it.
