The Roots

April 9th, 2009

Paramount Theatre

Seattle

When I was growing up, it seemed as if only a few thing were always consistent.  One of those was my love for music.  Me and my brother would lock ourselves in our rooms for hours, going through albums from Jazz and Hip-Hop to Rock n’ Roll and Punk.  It didn’t matter what it was as long as it was captivating .  In one of those sessions I was introduced to the Roots crew, Philadelphia’s stetsasonic-style hip-hoppers.  At the time, the only other rap group that I was familiar with who were accompanied by instruments, in addition to their turntables, were the Beastie Boys.  I was already very fond of the New York trio, so I became an instant fan of The Roots, and was extra stoked when Dead C asked me to review their recent Seattle show at the Paramount Theatre.   It was a show that I would obviously need to take my big bro to. (more…)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Say what you will about our inability to beat a deadline, because we have an unparalleled skill for beating a dead horse like Chris Brown.  I only just received the review for SXSW from our temporarily disabled Austin, TX correspondent, Dr. Radical.  Based on what I’ve read, I’d like to believe that maybe this horse was prematurely buried alive and there’s still some breath in this massive beast.  Since Dr. Radical is an Austin local, his perspective on the festivities which took place is substantially different from everything else that I’ve read about the festival.  He also provides some information about maneuvering through the chaos and getting the most out of  time and money.  Don’t look at this like a review that’s a month late.  Rather, let’s look at this like an 11 month advance on the inside scoop for next year

-Dead C

SXSW 2009

I hobbled onto the bus, got my seat and looked over at a kid holding a box of cd’s. He was either going to ask what happened to my leg or see if I wanted to hear some “good” music.

An older lady missing her front teeth got on the bus after me. The bus started moving while she was getting situated. She caught her balance and looked over at the box of burned cd’s.  She sat down and asked kid, “What you got there?”

“They just hip hop cd’s for sale”

“OH…he he, I thought they was chocolate bars, he he he!”

I nodded and smiled to myself, and thought, “South by Southwest really is here!”

Lots of bands come into town for SXSW. Great bands, alright bands, and really shitty bands.   By the end of the week I will have seen a good number of each.

There are day shows and night shows. Night shows usually cost money and day shows are always free.

I’ve been in Austin for 6 years, and that helps out a lot also. I don’t spend much money at SXSW. I usually rely on the day shows and personal hook ups. (more…)

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I saw Onsen‘s Subaru from the balcony of my apartment, so I ran down the steps and hopped in to the passenger seat.  We were running late to meet with the artist Thea Wolfe, creator of the WEEN coloring book.

A week earlier, I had received a Google instant message from a friend and staff member at Cornish School of the Arts here in Seattle.  He informed me that there were some really great paintings of WEEN posted up at the institution and suggested that I come down and see them.  In all honesty, I was a bit leery about the validity of the work.  I knew that it was probably either going to be amazing or fucking terrible.  For me, it’s hard to find any gray area with that sort of subject matter.  I was sent a couple of iphone photo images and quickly realized that the artist was no joke; the paintings were, in fact, much more than I could have ever expected.

I wanted to help the student get their work to the source and I quickly had delusions of grandeur, in which I became like Maurice Starr when he discovered New Edition and NKOTB.  I’ve been in semi-regular contact with WEEN‘s management since the site began and I knew that, if I forwarded the images of the painter to them, the work of the artist that I was “discovering” would be undeniable.  “What’s her name and contact info?“  I asked my friend.  He went to check and typed back the name “Thea Wolfe“.  I recognized it immediately and knew that she didn’t need any help from me; I already owned a copy of the coloring book that she created for the group last year.  She wasn’t a current student at all, her paintings were posted up on the alumni wall.

After checking out her site, I headed down to see the paintings in person.  They were much more impressive than any still frame camera could represent.  Colorful and full of motion, many of the paintings had reflective iridescent shapes and pentagons within them that shifted depending on the view, lighting, and angle.  I had never seen a simulation of psychedelic experiences portrayed that way through paint, or any that more accurately conveyed them.  The artist statement explained that the series was based on what Wolfe refers to as “The Year of the Wrong“, a period of time in which she traveled thousands of miles to attend a number of performances on WEEN‘s “La Cucaracha” tour with a primary focus of doing what she felt inside, regardless of how unreasonable, ridiculous, or “wrong” it may seem to the outside world.  Based on her work and various statements and views that she’s expressed through interviews, her website, and elsewhere, I knew that there was the strong probability for a good conversation to come from meeting her in person. (more…)

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Stones Throw records and MF DOOM have ventured into the realm of childhood whimsy in the past.  Their newest collaboration with RBST (aka Robeast) falls right in suit with the Adult Swim related albums, as well as the vinyl Madvillain and Lord Quas figures released by Kid Robot.  This Madvillain (Mad Lib and MF Doom) inspired creation (pictured above) is called a “Cubeecraft” and is available through a free downloadable PDF file, which then can be folded into the character above. (more…)

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CONTEST HAS ENDED!

DJ’s Rob Garza and Eric Hilton have been performing together since 1995 under the collective name of Thievery Corporation. Over that time they have been featured on numerous soundtracks, gained endless accolades, and have been able to seemlessly merge styles from Dub and Dancehall to Indian Classical and Ambient. Their new album Radio Retaliation is said to be a direct response to the commercial approach that radio stations currently embrace and is a representation of what they would like to hear themselves. From what we’ve heard about the East Coast dates, this new tour is an amazing spectacle and features the duo performing with a full live band

THE PRIZE
We are giving away 2 free tickets to the following performance
Tuesday April 21st
The Paramount Theatre
Seattle

Winner will also recieve a limited edition silkscreen print commemorating the show

Contest ends @ midnight on Sat. April 18th

To peep out the details and enter now, CLICK HERE

Popularity: 3% [?]

You may have seen last month’s post where we featured the video of Alex Pardee illustrating “S.Urkel Jerk“, his demonic portrait of Steve Urkel.  If so, you probably also read that the work was created for a TV themed exhibit entitled Idiot Box which was scheduled to commemorate the 5 year anniversary of Gallery 1988 in LA.  The group exhibit will continue to run until April 23rd so, if you are in the Los Angeles area, we recommend that you take full advantage and go check out the show in person.  If you are like the rest of us who are unable to make it in person, don’t worry; you are not completely out of luck.  In fact, you can purchase one of the pieces from the show to display in your very own study, rumpus room, nursery, bathtub crank meth lab or Winnebago.  Images of the featured works were recently made available to the internet world and we have chosen to display a few of them here that really popped out at us and made an impression.

The image above, featuring child star tragedy Dana Plato (R.I.P.) giving herself a “different stroke” in her Playboy spread, was created by Netherland.  It is an acrylic, collage, and resin work on wood called “Proud Brother“.  Due to being one of the less elaborate pieces construction-wise, the piece was modestly priced at $250 and has already sold.  According to Netherland‘s website, the buyers of the piece were Chelsea Handler and her boyfriend, Ted Harbert (CEO of E!).

Here are a handful of the other current pieces being featured in the exhibit in a variety of mediums: (more…)

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