We accidentally happened upon Pandora’s Trunk over the weekend and need to share! For those of your who haven’t heard, Pandora’s Trunk is a travelling indie-arts show hosted and featuring independent designers here in San Francisco. This month’s show was hosted at the lovely B.U.S. Stop and featured live music, unique takes on clothing, delicious refreshments, and free admission!
Out of the 15 or so exhibiting vendors, one particular booth caught my attention (and wallet)… Recover Your Thoughts is a book bindery’s “side project”, combining discarded public library books, excess print-house paper stock, and twenty thousand dollars worth of high-end book bindery equipment. The creations merge remnants of the previous books with good-quality paper stock to produce one-of-a-kind blank journals infused with some humor and a lot of creativity!
Future dates for Pandora’s Trunk are as follows (check the website for additional dates):
Saturday, November 22, 2008 (1:00 - 5:00pm)
– hosted by Climate Theatre
– 285 9th Street @ Folsom, San Francisco
– featuring live cabaret fashion performance, live music, refreshments
Thursday, December 4th, 2008 (6:00 - 11:00pm)
– hosted by Brava Theatre
– 2781 24th Street @ York (near Bryant)
– featuring live fashion runway show, live music, activities, refreshments
I walk in late as the band was on stage tuning. It reminds me of my high school rock days—guitarist noodling out licks from Zeppelin, Drummer lightly rockin’ a Rush solo lick, keyboardist tinkling away on some atmospheric ditty—and I set my opinion low for what this band was going to be.
Lights go up… crowd hushes down… and Dizzy Balloon takes the stage…
The teenage, garage-band fascade quickly falls as DB’s frontman Petros A.P. reaches out and metaphorically grabbes us all by the shirts… shaking us awake. The crowd goes wild as they launch into their new material and my juvenile first opinion gets crushed to the floor by dancing feet.
Starting the show with a quartet of horn players walking through the crowd; continuing by inviting 30+ people up on stage to sing chorus; and finishing up with a giant balloon drop; the showmanship never faltered.
Through the 45 minute set, there was an exceptional assemblage of musical styles and players on stage as well. This is a band that sounds like it’s from the past, but could only exist today. Sampling styles ranging from the Beatles to Queen; with modern electro sounds, classic musical theater melodies, and 50’s Beach Boys-esque origins they feel at home in all of those era’s… but really just want to rock a show with the likes of The Arctic Monkeys today.
I walked out of the venue afterwards as if they had just played Saturday Night Live. And I can easily see that bright future ahead of them. But back in the present, I encourage all of you to go see them and to pick up their self-titled CD*. You will be singing their praises too (along with humming some unforgettable tunes).
Upcoming shows:
10/25 - Facing New York, Dizzy Balloon, Built For The Sea @ Bottom Of The Hill $10
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** Full disclosure for journalistic integrity: I designed the CD artwork for them (along with the fantastic illustrator Paris Raupach). Although, this is a fair review of their music since I did not get a chance to listen to anything they were doing until this CD release party!!
Reality Jockey just released the my most-anticipated iPhone app of all time… RjDj!!! (Read below the video for our first impressions.)
[ ...skip to 1:20, 2:50, 4:15, and (my fav) 6:00 for the music ]
It truly is a soundtrack to life. By “listening” to input on the iPhone microphone, RjDj plays back music based on whatever it hears. Depending on the “scene” you are listening to, it will play any number of feedback mechanisms, all of which are delightful.
I have been listening to Frank Barknecht’s Gridwalker scene all morning. Just typing away on the computer, or even coughing, generates beautiful, ambient, background music. I can imagine taking the bus or public transportation and listening to the other scenes generating all sorts of fantastical music, based on noises in those surroundings.
On the negative side, I would really love to have more scenes available. This version comes with 6 scenes (the free version has 1) and it is a good start, but a lot of the ones they show on the website are missing. It sounds like they are going to release more scenes as paid or free updates, but there is no download mechanism yet in the RjDj tool. And my fear is that they they release a bunch of different “albums” with different scenes in them… because it would be nice to have all of them in one single player on my phone like the video shows.
Nevertheless, a fantastic purchase and wonderful application showing not only the amazing potential of the iPhone, but more importantly, the ingenious indie spirit of creative developers around the world!!
Available as of this morning on the iTunes store in two flavors: FREE and CHEAP
(both links point to the iTunes App Store)
So far the 2000s have been pretty sucky. (We also need to face up to the subsidiary fact that nobody has come up with a name for this decade yet. My favorite suggestion is “the naughts”, but this doesn’t seem to have caught on.) The political and military carnage of post-9/11 existence is the most obvious symptom of our collective malaise, but the decade hasn’t been great shakes in musical terms either. I expect this to perk up in 2009 (see my forthcoming post on this). In the meantime, even in a musical night there are always dots of light. Here are 20 reasons why the 2000s might not totally suck:
Begin de Cycle
1. All That You Can’t Leave Behind (U2, 2000)
As the French will tell you, you can’t properly begin a new cycle until you have put the fin to the old one. This album finds U2 in a turn of mood and music that perfectly captures the pivot point between the old and the new. We’re all stuck in a moment we can’t get out of, and this album just might encourage us to get ourselves together.
Calling out to idiot America
2. One Beat (Sleater Kinney, 2002)
3. American Idiot (Green Day, 2004)
The problem with politically themed music (or art of any kind) is that it can get so caught up in its ideology that it forgets its artistry. Sleater Kinney never fall into this trap on One Beat, producing a record that rocks without pause and cries out in the wilderness to remind us, just a few months after 9/11 and well before the press or the political opposition came to life again, that dissent is not treason. If the ladies from Olympia produced a political-musical John the Baptist, it cleared the way for the Jesus that is American Idiot, a masterwork that is political without getting didactic, punk without getting repetitive and a rock opera that actually works as a coherent story. Let’s repeat that- Green Day tried to make a political punk rock opera and pulled it off. Wow.
Muses (Throwing and otherwise)
4. Sunny Border Blue (Kristin Hersh, 2001)
5. Beautysleep (Tanya Donelly, 2002)
6. Title TK (the Breeders, 2002)
As someone on the leeward side of thirty, I find it heartwarming that thirtysomething musical veterans made three of the best albums of the decade so far. Half-sisters Tanya Donelly and Kristin Hersh helped form the rock underground of the Eighties (see, that decade has a name, and it doesn’t even deserve one!) and inspired the alternative rock outburst of the Nineties by co-founding the Throwing Muses. Kim Deal meanwhile did the same, in even more influential fashion, with the Pixies in the Eighties and the Breeders in the Nineties. More than fifteen years after starting out all three of them are still going strong, as evidenced by this marvelous trio of emotionally poignant, musically searing, lyrically sophisticated albums.
There’s still life in the old beast!
7. Elephant (the White Stripes, 2003)
8. Chain Gang of Love (the Raveonettes, 2003)
9. the Konks (the Konks, 2005)
10. Carnavas (Silversun Pickups 2006)
If the previous three deserve praise for keeping moving past the age of thirty, how about a round of applause for Rock and Roll itself for still being capable of making dangerous noise past the age of fifty? During every musical trough some opining occurs that maybe, this time, Rock is dead. Even a quick listen to these four records shows that that’s a bunch of bullshit. The White Stripes and the Raveonettes get there through roots revivalism, the Silversun Pickups surf a wave of feedback and distortion, and the Konks, well, there are no words to properly describe what the Konks do, but it’s best to hide the children while they’re doing it.
Genre lives!
11. Dying in Stereo (Northern State, 2002)
12. Straight to Hell (Hank Williams III, 2006)
13. Losin’ It (Vancougar, 2007)
Three white girls from Long Island putting out a totally fresh feminist hip hop album? The grandson of the great Hank Williams producing honky-tonk music with a punk rock attitude? An all-female pop-punk quartet from Vancouver making a record in four days that is better than anything else you heard last year? These three albums remind you that, in loving and inventive hands, surprising things can still happen in even the most formulaic of musical genres.
Promising new voices
14. Chutes Too Narrow (the Shins, 2003)
15. So Jealous (Tegan and Sara, 2004)
16. Martha Wainwright (Martha Wainwright, 2005)
Each of these albums represents a truly unique voice, in both the sonic and the lyrical sense, coming in to its own. Without sounding like each other, all three abound with lyrical sophistication, clever turns of phrase, a surprising emotional vulnerability and an unnerving ability to slip in the knife and twist it just when you thought you were in the middle of a safe pop melody. I hope that long and interesting careers lay ahead of them.
There must be some kind of way out of here
17. 18 (Moby, 2002)
18. Reveille (Deerhoof, 2002)
19. You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine (Death From Above 1979, 2004)
20. College Dropout (Kanye West, 2005)
Despite signs of life, the 2000s as a whole has been stuck in a musical rut. Sooner or later something will come along that will get us out of it. (In 2009? Ibid.) Could it be in the form of electronica and rock meeting, a la Moby? Or through Deerhoof playing the exploded pieces of a power-pop song in asynchronous tightness? With heavy metal as dance music as brought to us by Death From Above 1979? By Kanye West shaking hip hop out of its stagnant gangster subroutine through multi-genre sampling and rhymes that are actually about something? Whether or not these four albums contain glimmers of what the future might sound like, they at least show that the spirit of searching and innovation remains alive.
With all the hubbub over Apple’s iPhone 3G, it keeps you thinking of how big they must be getting. And add to that fact, the minor backlash against the phone and/or company and it becomes east to forget how many small, independent developers wildly thrive and help make the Macintosh platform so great. Same is now true about the iPhone!
I have an old-model iPhone. No fancy 3G here, just your plain old revolutionary phone, web, iPod combo. What has me so excited is the App Store (which Apple released the same day and the new phone)! This is the most exciting new phone feature in my opinion, and all iPhone owners have access! From just about anywhere you get service, you can now download cheap and free utilities for your phone that do everything from baseball scores to restaurant ideas to blog publishing (yes, I am posting this from my phone).
If you don’t know, just about a “billion” stores have opened in the last 5 to 10 years that are usually labeled street or urban. On one end of the spectrum you have stores that sale Shawn John, Phat Farm, Apple Bottom (oh wow, my stomach is getting quisy) and on the other end you have stores that open and only sale their own brand ( The Hundreds, Supreme, Alife, Huf). I have my preferences but I think we can all say that now days it’s difficult to bring the kind of flavor that can’t be denied in a retail location and shopping experence.
Enter Attic. Open since Jan ‘07 I’ve been checking for them for a long time and although I’ve never said anything about them before it’s not because they don’t deserve it. So why now? Well… they just get it. They have made an experience that can’t be matched. Having your own vision helps and not wanting to be like everyone else takes it to that extra level. But hey don’t listen to me take a look for yourself. (pics below) If you’re in LA make sure you go you won’t be disappointed.
When you think of Orange County California, almost the last thing that comes to mind is independent businesses! But unlike the Loch Ness monster, it does exist… even if you have to search a little to find it!
Take Ruby’s Diner, for a great example! Started off as inspiration from an abandoned building—turned 1940’s-style eatery—it has since exploded throughout the nation! With 27 locations (all taking individual and unique elements from the surrounding area, while still maintaining the traditional company style) they are seeing much success. Fortunately, the management is thoughtfully progressive, and inspires it’s high-caliber employees to provide consistent quality service!
That high-quality service is reflected in the food and atmosphere of the restaurant, and is noticeable the instant you walk through the doors. Employees are friendly, the place is spotless, and the food is delicious.
In fact, for the first time in my life I ordered food from a menu photo, and it arrived EXACTLY as it was pictured. Seriously! Light breakfast tacos—same position, same quality, same plate, same little red containers… everything. In a world of mass-produced food where everything is designed to look perfect but never quite comes close, this came as a huge pleasant surprise!
The long and short of it:
This album has to be one of the most anticipated albums of the year for fans of Jamie Lidell. My first listen to Jamie just a couple of years ago (long after his first release) revieled soul music that was still very raw and unfettered. JIM is an explosion into Jamie Lidell as a matured yet still raw artist. The soundscapes and emotion on this album are fun and even silly at times. This is good music. So good that for loyal fans who are die hard indie types this may be their last whoorah. I fear I’m going to hear some of this really good music on chic flics for years to come (but hey as long as Jamie is making some money right.)
Musically:
On the music tip Jamie continues with the new millinium theme of timeless old school flare with that magic of a new school sound. But this isn’t blast from the past music ala Mark Ronson. This is Jamie Lidells version of timeless music. Upbeat happy music, ballads, dance music, funky jams, it’s all here.
Last words:
Keep’m coming Jamie, we love your music and always will. Don’t make our feel good go away!
Our fav songs from the album:
Wait For Me, Figure Me Out
We know that you’re going to want to see that new mag come monday but we thought it would be great to include some of the pictures from the BRANDED event that just went off on Friday night! This is definitely our first time postponing a mag and we’re happy to say it’s for a good reason.
LEGENDmag Stay Tuned,
Rai-mon Barnes
Editor In Chief
LEGENDmag stayed in the Hotel Des Art in SF last weekend and it was a great time. It’s in San Francisco on Bush street and is a hop-skip-and-jump from some of our favorite spots (111 Minna, DaDa Bar/Lounge, and Farmer Brown) and so we were really excited to stay. Some hotels lure you in with great services, and others have restaurants with great food. But for all of you art lovers, Hotel Des Art offers well… Art!
They have rooms painted by some greats in the urban art seen.
Alayna Magnan
Chor Boogie
Jeremyville
London Police
Owen Maigrit
Peat Wollaeger
Plasticgod
Sheppard Fairey
Sugarluxe
Tricia Choi
It was only by coincidence that we stayed in The London Police room. It made the experience exactly what a hotel stay should be but almost never is… unique. You find these little notes to the occupant and thoughts they had while painting all over the room. It makes you want to stay in the room and discover a little. Hats off to Hotel Des Art for a great stay.
With the mellow sounds of typically-good Bay Area DJs… instead, playing uncharacteristically boring, crowd-friendly 80’s hits, the Diggmeet-up was a bit like a Junior High School dance. It was a veritable who’s-who of internet-famous nerds, geeks, and dweebs standing around awkwardly talking amongst themselves as a few intoxicated girls boogied down. And although the bar was packed, a Digg-sponsored bar tab was no where to be found, leaving most of us that attended with a dry mouth and empty pockets.
But it was not all bad music taste and rarely-used sportcoats. LEGENDmag met a bunch of great people in the crowd, including iJustine, Sebastian from Solidground, Glen at Abrahams Design, and Troy from Workhabit. Additionally, we saw a few old friends like Ryan from Viddyou, Min Jung, Jason from Joyent, and Kevin from Raptr. And to top it off, we found a real-live mythical unicorn amoungst the partygoers… so that has to count for something, right?
LEGENDmag was out at Nasa Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in lovely Mountain View to attend the second annual Yuri’s Night World Space Party! The event started last year as a celebration of the first person in space, Yuri Gagarin and similar events happen simultaneously around the world. Think of it as Burningman-meets-science fair with a sprinkling of NASA-rave thrown in for flavor… totally fun, yet a little peculiar.
LEGENDmag attended last night’s showing of Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet (”Crucible-style”) and it was nothing short of spectacular. So much so, that as I sit here typing, it is actually difficult to explain just what made it so remarkable….
Could it be the breathtaking acrobatic talent; the good vs. evil metaphoric dance interpretations featuring traditional ballet and dirty, street break-dancing; or possibly the political/social satire; or maybe the motorcycle acrobatics, flaming trans-am, and brilliant metal sculptures? Then again, it could just be the fact that everything was on fire!
Nevertheless, there is barely time left to still catch this world-class performance. It is not to be missed, and will surely spoil you—in the best way possible—for any future ballet performances you plan to attend!
And for those that didn’t know, The Crucible is a non-profit school offering classes in all the industrial arts. They had a number of disciplines on display in the lobby before the show, including: metal work, welding, kinetics, neon & light, jewelry, and glass blowing. Classes are now in session, check their website for a schedule (or to volunteer).
Meat Beat completely flubbed the dub on this one. I arrived excited—expecting something deep and fresh from my favorite electronic crew—and walked out thoroughly disappointed. Sure, there were new songs from Autoimmune and the accompanying video samples, but overall it was the same frenetic, disjointed assembly as before. And frankly they looked as bored on stage as I was in the audience.
As for tour support… we missed the 1st opening act, and the 2nd was dull at best.
LEGENDmag recommendation: If you are a fan who hasn’t seen them live in years, then you will have a good time. There were enough old fans there to keep it packed. But if you caught a leg of their last tour, then don’t bother with this one.
Nicolay and Kay definitely gave a good show despite sound problems plaguing the first 3 songs of the set, and it only being their 2nd show on the tour! Nicolays music is so soulful you have to move when you hear it, so hearing it live with Kay mcing over top is a treat even when the mic screeches.
notes for the show:Keep dancing on stage Kay we love it and Nicolay keep pointing out when the plane flys by (you had to be there). Big ups to Nicolay & Kay (TIME:LINE out now) , Aimee (happy belated 30th), and Seth (see you soon) thanks for always showing love!
Opening up for Nicolay & Kay were King Most & Kero One. Bay Area favorites and natives definitely had the home town crowd in full force. If you’ve heard theme before, it was a solid showing of the their past works. If you haven’t heard them it’s time for you to become one with your soul. I also want to mention the band in the front room who jammed like a good hiphop/jazz band should, Philtered Soul.
