June 2008

The Archives

• 06.25.08
  Icelandic Graffiti   Graffiti (0)

  

  Beyond music, one of my favorite things is graffiti and street art. Living in Los Angeles, I do appreciate the amount of great graffiti going on out here. For Taking Tiger Mountain, I’m starting a new bit to focus on good graffiti around the net (as well stuff I see day to day, once I get a new camera).

  For the first one, I’d like to throw some light on the Icelandic graffiti scene. I’m a fan of most all everything Icelandic (except maybe Hákarl) and thanks to the magic of the internet I found a fantastic Flickr stream of graffiti pics from around Reykjavik. Flickr user Orgelpianoman brings us a ton of great shots of the Reykjavik scene. I saw a bit of what the city had to offer when I was there in ‘06 (the pic at the top of the post is one of mine), but as a local he gets into the hidden away spots to the good stuff a tourist wouldn’t feel comfortable sniffing out.

  Click for the high rez on each:

  

  

  

  

  

  Check out the full Flickr stream for more.

• 06.23.08
  60 Belgian Women Sing Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ – Scala & Kolacny Brothers   Singles (77)

  

  Now, I’m a fairly sizable Radiohead fan. I picked up tickets for their upcoming stop at the Hollywood Bowl. I used to scour the net for b-sides and the rare acoustic stuff. I used to shell out cash for a variety of import disks in the pre-MP3 days. Who’s got the Japanese only Itch EP…I do. That said, it’s been a long time since I’ve actually listened to any early-era Radiohead, but I recently discovered this fantastic live recording of Scala & Kolacny Brothers doing a beautifully sullen piano and voice rendition of Radiohead’s ubiquitous 1993 single. The cluster of sixty something Belgian women focus primarily on minimalist reworkings of pop tunes: Kraftwerk, The Knife, Placebo, Bjork, Coldplay, Air & (regrettably) The Cure…yeah, I still don’t like The Cure.

  Now, this is a fine example of a cover bringing a new dynamic to a well established song. There’s nothing quite like the sound of multiple voices stacked together (in a more freewheeling light, see also: Arcade Fire live). I’m not 100% behind the straight piano accompaniment, but on the other hand, it does feel like a slight stylistic nod to the ballad-y version of ‘Like Spinning Plates’ off 2001’s I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings. Either way, the track’s slow build manages to become more and more atmospheric as it progresses. The half whispering of the line ‘I wish I was special’ towards the end, in combination with the slight glimmers of accents throughout the whole song just make it for me. A delightful take on a well established classic.

  
  
  

  Scala & Kloancy Brothers – Creep (Live)

  

• 06.20.08
  I love the Beat Drop – Metal Lungies’s in-depth discussions of Kanye and J Dilla   Rant (1)

  

  A random click today landed me at the hip-hop tinged blog Metal Lungies. Much to my delight they have a reoccurring feature entitled Beat Drop. The site gathers writers to do a round table discussion examining the production skills of a particular hip-hop producer.

  The most recent focuses on the great polarizer Kanye West. This discussion has of course garnered more comments than any of the other Beat Drops. Love him or hate him, Mr. West has a fantastic sense and feel for giving life to samples, at a level which belies his campy ego-driven persona. If I’d ever have to pick a bone with the man, it’d be that he chose to be the only man in hip-hop to sample Can and use it for the crappiest track on Graduation. I’ll forgive him…his almost equally strange choice of sampling Steely Dan’s Kid Charlemagne was an charming flip-cum-ploy for the ears of nerdy, white scenester kids. (See also, A-Trak). Weather you like his persona or not, his skill is undeniable. Listen to ‘Spaceship’ off Late Registration and try to say otherwise.

  (On a related note, check out this Portfolio article on Steely Dan’s arrival into the world of samples)

  For an even better dissection of a great career, their Beat Drop for the late master J Dilla is a wonderful exploration into catalog cut short. I became a fan quite late, well after his passing. One night a friend showed me the beautiful, Mixtape Club directed video for ‘Nothing Like This’.
  

  
  
  The track is a kind of musical Schrödinger’s cat; something that is simultaneously hip-hop and not. The song, in combination with the beautiful video, blew my mind open and I began to probe the back catalog. There’s something startling about many of his production choices; combining elements both slinky and gruff to make unique compositions.

  All of the Beat Drops are insightful & engaging bits of writing, something rare in this age of the McDonalds-esq music blogging. Where else are you going to find a statement like this:

  I believe that people don’t truly change your life until your life has gone on for some time without them — only then do you realize the difference that they made on you.

  It’s hard to find writing with such introspection in most corners of the internet, it’s even nicer to see such words written about hip-hop. Both posts alerted me to tracks loved but had no clue either had a hand in producing. (Kanye produced Goodie Mob…really?) Give them a read and I guarantee you’ll learn something…

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• 06.17.08
  Free Sigur Rós & Björk Show (Far enough away that you’ll never go)   Recycled News (0)

  

  Björk, Sigur Rós, & múm participant Ólöf Arnalds will perform together in Reykjavik June 28th in an effort to raise awareness for the growing environmental crisis. While this concert takes place in one of the more beautiful spots on Earth, the ultimate issue with it takes to transport folks from around the world to Reykjavik might create a worse dent along with the awareness. I wouldn’t fault you wanting to go anyway. It’s free, except for the $600+ plane ticket.

  Instead, you can check out the recent DVD release of Screaming Masterpiece. The documentary, which focuses on the the ever intriguing Icelandic music scene hit the shelves back in ‘06 and features live clips from a variety of the country’s top talent.

  As an added consolation prize, here’s a track from Sigur Rós’s upcoming LP Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. The simple song, almost completely unadorned by Rós-ian standards, lets the acoustic guitar provide most of the backing for Jonsi’s ever otherworldly voice. A promising prospect for the new album, which releases on June 24th via XL.

  
  

  Sigur Ros – Illgresi

  

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• 06.13.08
  The best of the new absurd: Let’s Paint TV   Video (0)

  

  Every time I come across things that are so delightfully strange, it renews my faith in the world. One of those such discovery is Let’s Paint TV. I ended up randomly at a launch party for a web 2.0 venture. While I was terribly out of place, I managed to bump into a fellow misfit who, while double-fisting free Stella Artois, told me about the majesty of Let’s Paint TV. Strangely enough, 8 hours later I got a facebook message recommending the show to me from a someone I hadn’t seen in years. The stars were aligned for me to find this.

  

  Let’s Paint TV is the absurd brainchild of Los Angeles artist John Kilduff. The show is of those little gems who’s freaky energy that can only be contained by cable public access cable. It’s hard to really describe what it is, the truth of the matter is that you just need to see it for yourself. The constant of the show is John Jilduff on a treadmill while painting. What goes on around him changes: sometimes, he’ll blend smoothies while jogging, sometimes no-core bands will screech away in the background. All this is done against a slowly dissolving bluescreen. As the minutes tick by, the severity of the blue screen effects increases, like a drug kicking in.

  The topper to each episode is that it’s a call-in show and the people who call in tend to primarily harass poor John as he runs on his treadmill. Again, it’s really just something you have to watch. The entire spectacle is beautiful in its chaos.

  Tune in for the unholy union of these three influences:
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  You can watch Let’s Paint TV live every weekday from 11am to 12 noon PST on Let’s Paint TV.com and Stickam.com. You can call into the show and ask John a question (818) 528-4516.

  If you live in Los Angeles, you can catch him on the following Time Warner cable channels:

  Channel 3 – West Hollywood
  Channel 37 – Beverly Hills
  Channel 77 – Santa Monica
  Channel 98 – West Los Angeles-Eagle Rock

  If not, take a peek at the Let’s Paint TV Youtube Channel for archives of the show.