Banksy has stepped up his game by setting up shop in NY and taking his artistic vision into even more 3-dimensional and interactive areas.  When I find out about something this amazing I have an urge to post something about it immediately.  When it deals with the work of an artist that I already have a large amount of respect for I feel like jumping right in the middle of the subject even more.  The issue with this is that, to achieve the accessibility for everyone that we want on Monster Fresh, no one should have to jump into a swirling article or topic like a game of double dutch.  There is always that moment that we first find out about something new and I want to be able to help introduce new forms of expression and artists instead of just featuring the latest release or project so, before providing the latest update, let’s first tackle a little of the back story behind Banksy and his work.

Banksy is one of the most influential and forward thinking graffiti artists of the last 20 years. He is well known for his stenciled bombing which he honed in the Bristol area of the United Kingdon.  In his book “Banksy: Wall and Piece” (2005) he states that he decided to start doing his tagging with a stenciling format after being caught and running from the cops at the age of 18.  He claims that, while hiding, he “spent over an hour under a dumpster truck with engine oil leaking all over (him)“.   He looked up at a stencil on the fuel tank and realized that he had found his answer to cutting his painting time down to a fraction of what they currently took.

I highly recommend “Wall and Piece” because it is, not only an impressive composition of his collected work, but also full of quotes and passages that display the artist’s distinct vision and philosophies.  What makes Banksy’s work consistently relevant isn’t his ability to draw or paint, or even his cunning vandalism, but his voice.  I’m not going to claim that all graffiti is vital and has something to say beyond simple territorial pissings or blind destruction, because much of it is done ignorantly, but I will openly argue with anyone that claims that Banksy’s work isn’t absolute art in its purist form.  His graffiti work evokes thought, inspires hope, and contains strong social commentaries about capitalism, politics, and, most of all, humanity.  Like artist Ron English, Banksy’s hopeful, yet “illegal“, art pieces are often created in response to the corporate advertisements and “legal” oppressive imaging that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. (more…)

Popularity: 17% [?]

Since 2003, David Wang has released a body of work that pretty much runs the gamut of experimental electronic music.  As “Mochipet“, Wang made his first waves with his mash-up masterpiece, “Combat“, on the Violent Turd label (an offshoot of Kid606’s seminal Tigerbeat6 techno label), in 2003.  Breakcore-inspired exercises like “Yes vs. NoMeansNo” and “They Might Be Giants vs. Lyrical Giants” proved that the mash-up genre has more to offer than Girl Talk’s pop-friendly blend of modern hip-hop and radio hits.   From there, Mochipet went on to release “Uzumaki” (2004, Component Records), a blend of cut-up beats, ethnic percussion, and tense ambience.  2007’s “Disko Donkey” (on his own Daly City Records label) saw Wang move toward the more dance floor friendly styles of disco, techno, and electro-pop with a little help from friends, like minimal queen and BpitchControl label-head Ellen Allien and SF rockers Scissors For Lefty.

But fans of Mochipet’s breakcore spasms didn’t have to hold their breath for too long.  2007 also saw the release of “Girls (Heart) Breakcore” (Daly City Records), an all-out attack of drill-n-bass chaos slipped over several seemingly unrelated genres, including Chinese Opera, Metal, Hip-Hop, and falsetto Pop a la JT. As the title suggest, Wang is all-to aware of the testosterone-heavy tendencies of the genre (seriously, how many female breakcore artists are out there?).  The album also features several remixes by partners-in-crime Aaron Spectre (Drumcorps), Rotator, and Otto Von Schirach.   Soon after came “Feel My China II“, the second installment of albums featuring remixes of Mochi’s work by his peers.   Remixes by glitch-hop poster boy edIT, Venezuelan breakcore/dubstep innovator Cardopusher, and IDM noodler Machine Drum reinterpreted Mochipet’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink style in their own language, often with exciting results.

Mochipet’s latest offering,”Microphonepet“, is a collection of collaborations with MCs and vocalists of the underground hip-hop variety.   Spanning several years, Mochi offers up a blend of classic hip-hop ( “Do What You Feel” with Artlinkletters, “Ride On” with Mike Boo & Raashan (Crown City Rockers), club-friendly dance tracks (“Get Your Whistle Wet” with The Hustle Heads), and glitchy bass stutters (“Boys And Boys And Toys” with Jahcoozi, “Mr. Malase” with Humanbeings, Dopestyle, and Casual of Oakland’s Hieroglyphics crew).   Albeit a little scatterbrained genre-wise (mostly due to the span of time in which the tracks were produced), Microphonepet offers a little something for everyone, from the Burning Man/Glitch Mob crowd to the Tribe Called Quest purists to the indie rap scenester.

Mochipet was kind enough to meet me after our first interview attempt was botched by technical difficulties.  Upon arriving at his house, I was offered a glass of wine by his girlfriend, Fiona.   “Or, we have beer.”  Having just drank a tall boy of PBR on the drive over, I opted for the brewski.  We chatted for a few minutes while I set up my recording equipment, and we were on our way… (more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

I am a sucker for a clever title and cover art, if you were to look at my Netflix queue you would see a bizarre collection of movies that I have no idea of what their plot or production quality is.   It is like reaching into some crazy grab bag, sometimes you find treasure, sometimes it is a plastic spider ring that barely fits on the tip of your finger.  One movie that caught my eye was a little independent film called “Murder Party”.  I could not pass up a movie that had a poster of a man in cardboard armor, wielding two chainsaws.

Part of the magic of this movie was not knowing what I was getting in to, so this review is not going to go much into the plot but into my experience watching it (and being so impressed and entertained by its dark humor). After my first viewing I was moved to contact the makers of the film for an interview (which will be included after this jump).
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Popularity: 9% [?]

Those that read the site might not expect me to be a fan of Bjork’s music, but I am.  This might not be a consensus across the board for all  MonsterFresh.com writers, but I’ve always liked her work and my affinity grew after she started physically attacking and slap-fighting journalists and paparazzi.  I had a great appreciation for the Vespertine album but I never really put the effort into listening and/or trying to find that same appreciation for the A cappella-centric album Medúlla.  I think that the drastic shift between those two albums, along with the even less accessible “Drawing Restraint 9” work with artist/husband Mathew Barney,  helped to slow down the Icelandic songstress’ momentum among the masses.  You need to pick your battles and, although I enjoyed “Drawing Restraint 9” and am someone that often does spend extra time deconstructing and absorbing various forms of artistic expression, I didn’t feel like putting that energy into Medúlla.  There is too much out there that draws my attention and sometimes it’s an issue as simple as, “Fuck it!  I’m not going to work at this just to try and experience a sound!“  I had purchased a used copy of Bjork’s latest album, Volta, for my lady a while back but, neither of us really paid much attention to this latest effort, until now. (more…)

Popularity: 9% [?]

This video just popped up on Phish.com and Youtube today.  Phish has finally announced their reunion to take place at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia on March 6, 7 and 8, 2009.  Obviously, Hampton has been one of the more popular venues for the band to perform at over the years.  If you have never been to a show at Hampton or seen a photo of the venue,  it looks it looks somewhat like an extra-terrestrial space craft, complete with alternating multi-color lights.  If it’s anything like the last time I saw the guys perform out there, you can get a slew of velour hoodlum gear just blocks away from the venue in shopping centers that house a TJ MAX, ROSS, and a MARSHALLS (that’s right all 3)!  Get your budget gangsta on and pop down to the lot.

Of course, this was only a matter of time and more tour dates will be announced shortly.  It appears that there will be a summer tour which will end with another classic festival in the North East.
For now, there is a week long ticket request lottery that closes on the 8th.  You can attempt to purchase some by clicking here.

Tickets open to the rest of the public on the 10th.

Good luck ya’lls!

Popularity: 6% [?]