Aurel Schmidt

Aurel Schmidt is from Canada. She makes art. 

Check out her show in Hamptons. Or buy her book.

Dub Kweli

Where was this all summer? Damn. Good thing it'll be warm for another few months in Georgia, because the windows will be rolled down and this will be jamming. What do you get when you cross Talib Kweli verses with some dub loops? This:
Dub Kweli by Max Tannone

Found this via 2DopeBoyz

If you don't own the Blackstar album, you should really consider picking up a copy.

You're Gonna Miss Me...

If you think you've got a weird family, then watch this documentary about 13th Floor Elevators' lead singer Roky Erickson and learn a lesson about how absolutely milquetoast your home life was...

 

 All kidding aside though, I just watched this for the first time the other night, after it had been sitting in my Netflix queue forever, and it's a pretty amazing documentary. A hard lesson in the bizarre stories that follow rock n roll success, but which often go untold...While there will probably never be a definitive answer, there are many who credit Erickson with coining the term "psychedelic rock." In his prime, he was without a doubt one of the best lead singers ever - like a cross between Van Morrison, Eric Burden and Screamin' Jay Hawkins. 

Buy a copy of the film or pick up a 13th Floor Elevators' record.

Speak Easy "Words Have Power"

ATL-based artist/MC Sean Fahie aka Speak Easy dropped this mixtape today and it's awesome. Straight up classic hip hop feel. Dope beats and dope rhymes. He recorded this at the AWOL studio over the course of a weekend with KidSyc.



Grab a copy of Words Have Power for free.

Bits and pieces

From the ashes of my free time rises these tiny phoenixes (what is the proper plural form of phoenix?), flying to you bearing messages of hope for the future, or just an interesting way to spend a few minutes of your life...

• In what has been one of the best things of the week comes the results of slowing down Justin Bieber's new song "U Smile" to 1/8 speed. [Listen via Fader].  It's like a cross between Sigur Ros and God Speed You Black Emperor. 
• British comedian Tom Scott makes an astute observation about the state of journalism with these warning labels for newspapers..."This article is basically just a press release, copied and pasted." 
• Are you familiar with the new mediators? I wasn't until a few days ago, but I am intrigued by their mission - taking complex public issues and distilling them into more readily understandable visual aids. Here's an interesting series of posters explaining the credit crisis.

Robot Koch makes beats

Berlin's Robot Koch is one of my favorite wonky, dubstep-meets-hip-hop type producers out in the big wide world right now. He's forward thinking, and yet pays an homage to the minimalism of Berlin. He's like the Tresor basement. I also think it's nice that he doesn't live in LA, which has begun to absorb all the forward-thinking beat smiths like a  sponge as all these youngins make pilgrimages to Low End Theory or to search out Flying Lotus so they can ask about what kind of gear he uses... I think geographical diversity is an under-appreciated aspect of production. It expands the stylistic gene pool. Anyway... R.Koch is dropping a new record, Songs for Trees and Cyborgs, on Project Mooncircle soon and here's a track they'd like to share with you in honor of that.
   PMC067 - Robot Koch vs Graciela Maria - Brujeria (Songs For Trees And Cyborgs, 2010) by Project Mooncircle

Also, grab of copy of his first album, Death Star Droid.

Vinyl Appreciation #6

It's that time again. Savannah's DJs and record collectors will gather to play their favorite selections on wax. It goes down August 29, 5-10pm at Muse Arts Warehouse (703d Louisville Rd.) Psychedelia, soul, funk, jazz, new wave, country, classical, garage, electro, hip hop - so long as it's analog it's all good.

Video: Thee Oh Sees "Meat Step Lively"

Thee Oh Sees are ridiculously prolific, but that's cool because their recipe is simple: Punk-y, garage-y, kick out the jams rock n roll. They do it better than most. If you like the Black Lips, this is similar, but with a hint less psychedelia, and a pinch more rage. Coincidentally (or not), the Black Lips and Thee Oh Sees will be in Miami this fall for the Bruise Cruise. This video is for a song ("Meat Step Lively") off their new album Warm Slime, which is their 2nd album in the last year or so.

Hebermehl takes over the Jepson

 

Local artist Matt Hebermehl's installation at the Jepson Center on Sept. 23, 6-8pm. It's gonna be off the chain.

Yeasayer's new video is weird

The hipster world dance icons released a new video for a tune called "Madder Red," and it's weird. Like if Krang from the TMNT starred in a romantic comedy. The tune itself is solid. Still wearing some African influences on their sleeves, they mush that together with a bunch of Duran Duran and New Order. Catchy.

Yeasayer is heading out on tour immanently. They'll be in Savannah in early October for a show at the Trustees Theater.

I loved their first album. Grab a copy if you don't have it already. 

New Flying Lotus EP

Futuristic beat maestro Flying Lotus leaked a track off his upcoming 7-track EP today.
"Camera Day"
   Flying Lotus - Camera Day (taken from Pattern+Grid World) by Warp Records
The new album is called Pattern+Grid World, and it hits the streets on Sept. 21. He's touring North America too, so if you live in a major metropolitan area, take notice.

RIP Fat Beats stores

It was announced today that underground hip hop mainstay Fat Beats will be closing its two retail stores in NYC and LA. The online store and distribution company are sticking around, but no longer will you be able to go to their stores and thumb through albums anymore. Damn. That's the end of an era for a lot of hip hop heads. Not only that, but they did some awesome in-store promotions, shows and other demos. Can't get that online...

Rubber Peeple

Ooh wee! This track is crazy.

They were a hip hop crew from the Commonwealth of VA until about 10 minutes ago when 9th Wonder put them on blast via Twitter and now they'll probably be back heroes by the end of the week. This beat is so nice and the flows are so solid. This feels like some lost classic material.
Get up with the Rubber Peeple via Myspace.

Jacaranda!

Jacaranda! The leisure monster will devour you now.

This sample was the musical foundation for part of the Dan the Automator / Lovage LP
"Music to Make Love to Your Old By"

Some light reading

 

Here's some light summer reading for you - a totally random selection of things I've found entertaining or thought provoking in the last couple days. 

• A timeless rant about the South. I first stumbled across this was late 2005 or early 2006, about a year or two after I moved to Georgia. Carrie sent it to me a couple of days ago, having just stumbled across an archived version. "Fuck the South."
• The effects of aging. Here's a sort of frightening photo retrospective of Iggy Pop aging over the years. It gets really weird in the mid-'00s. I guess it's sort of amazing that he's even alive, but he's showing some signs of wear and tear. The official Iggy Pop shirtless aging timeline.
• It's hard to be excited when you just don't care. A new study says Millenials neither love nor hate anything - at least if you consider "anything" only as brands. This prompted a long conversation about neuro-focus marketing, and how advertising for major corporations is designed to create, at worst, ambivalence. No one is willing to take a chance on anything, so how could anyone love or hate it. Individuals are have no direct relationship with most brands. I certainly couldn't say I love Coca-Cola, but I have enjoyed one from time to time. Meanwhile, there are local businesses that I would say I love without any hesitation, largely because I have very tangible relationship with them and their services/products. Millenial Generation Market Research.

Light my fire

From Grayson Stadium (8-14-10), where Ted Batchelor, the world record holder for being on fire, ran around the bases engulfed in flames.

Gallery 2Ten Debut Show

Bands are guests from DC. The artists are local. This is the debut of the former Jailhouse Choppers in its new incarnation as gallery space and studios. I got a peak in there the other night and it's definitely got some potential.

The opening band, The Shy Violet, really caught my ear - sort of lo-fi psychedelic surf rock run through a blender with some Velvet Underground.
NiFF - the Shy Violet by DoctorSeaver

Video: Holy Ghost! "I Know, I Hear"

Holy Ghost! isn't a laptop somewhere with a guy pretending to be a whole band because he either lives in hermetical isolation or can't get along well enough with people to create something meaningful...What?...Holy Ghost! are guys who play instruments, and the results are like what you'd hear from the guy with the laptop, but in this case, even cooler...You can alternate between dancing wildly and acting aloof...Big shout out to Ben Fries who directed the video, which is awesome.

Holy Ghost! just put out an EP with DFA that you should pick up ASAP, o.k.?

I found the video via Magnet. 

Safe as milk

Although Captain Beefheart may have become notorious for his over the top stuff a little later, his first album is a pretty awesome blues/garage jamboree.

Observe.
"Plastic Factory"


Did you know the Captain and Frank Zappa went to high school together? It's true.


Get a copy of this on vinyl: here

Po Po's Summer Mixtape

Mad Decent cohorts Po Po offer up (via the internet) the mixtape they put together for their appearances with Sleigh Bells earlier this year. It's gritty, distorted new wave garage rock that'll make your toes curl and your grip tighten.



Get it here.


Grab a copy of "Bummer Summer," their single here (via iTunes).

Ticket Giveaway Contest

West Coast Reggae/Punk jammers Slightly Stoopid are dropping into Atlanta on 8/19 with Cypress Hill and Collie Buddz for the "Legalize 2010 Tour." You'll probably be able to catch a contact high if you're within a few hundred yards of the Tabernacle that night, but we'll do you one better and get two lucky folks inside for free.

Stop.Play.Rewind is giving away two free tickets for the show courtesy of Audible Treats. Sound good?
Here's the rules for the contest: Send an email (it's listed top-right under 'about me') with "Slightly Stoopid Tickets" in the subject line. In 50 words or less, tell me either 1) why you're the biggest fan ever and need to go to the show, or 2) the funniest story of you and/or your friends doing something stupid while under the influence of marijuana. The best submission wins the tickets. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, August 12th at 5pm EST.

Soom T "Dirty Money"

Awesome. 8-bit dub is jammin'. 


More about the label - Jahtari.

Also check out this solid mixtape: Maffi vs. Jahtari 

Propers to J.Cobb for pointing me in the right direction. 

Wale offers up More About Nothing

Wale follows up 2008's hip-hop-Seinfeld-tribute, Mixtape About Nothing, and last year's widely acclaimed LP, with a new mixtape More About Nothing. It's quality. Wale is one of the few MCs whose managed to find reasonable success in a wide market without being skrate ignant.

Grab a copy here.