It’s the 2nd BFS in Stockholm this weekend, Feb 1-2nd! This show has quadrupled in size from last years modest beginnings so if you’re out there do go check it out. MonkeyBizz Distribution will be showing our Fall 2008 collection and (duh) obviously handling all Scandinavian distribution of Mishka.
Plus don’t miss all the awesome party action this weekend in celebration of BFS! On Friday night in you’ll also find the Caliroots/Califorina Sports joint with DJ Mehdi of Ed Banger Records! And on Saturday your fun will be hosted by Vice Magazine!
Prolly’s post gave me the perfect segway to this so I’m taking it! Geffen has been putting out Deluxe Editions of their classic albums the past couple of years. Sonic Youth, Weezer have gotten the Deluxe treatment and now so does Beck’s Odelay. And album more deserving I can’t think of. Two CDs including the original album and then another full CD of B-sides and remixes from the same period. It’s kind of hard for me to imagine someone out there hasn’t heard or owned Odelay at this point, but I know you exist somewhere out there, so here’s your chance to make up for it with a double dose of Dust Brothers goodness!
Sadly I called it quits on Beck after Odelay (being all whateverz and Im too cool for this shit). He just kind of stopped doing it for me.. the weirdo kitsch was gone replaced by a serious artist. Mutations didn’t hold a candle to One Foot In the Grave and everything afterwards just reeked of trying too hard. But for a brief while in the 90s Beck could do no wrong for me. Oh wells!
My apologies to Vampire Weekend, whose album is OK as a whole (for what it is). But listening to it yesterday sparked this train of thought that had been kicking around in my head for a while. Recently while watching SNL I couldn’t tell who was performing from the song and number of people on stage if it was the Shins or Arcade Fire, to which my Girlfriend correctly pointed out that it was because it all sounded like Adult Contemporary nowadays… “it” being Indie Rock. It’s weird that Vampire Weekend are getting comparisons to Orange Juice, Talking Heads, Belle & Sebastian to name a few. Lets just really say what we hear is The Strokes filtered through some musical cues you read about in a Maxim style article about bands you’ve never heard but should check out cause your favorite band probably like totally loves them.
I think the whole reason I’ve so heavily departed back into Metal and 90s Shoegaze is because all the new trumpeted heroes of Indie Rock have zero bite! A lot of new albums play like quirkier takes on Paul Simon rather than providing some sort of escape from the mundane of mainstream radio like they once did. Urgency has been replaced with complacency, sloppiness with skilled fiddlers and feedback with 3 part harmonies. I never thought that I would actually long for those days when every band and album sounded like the same three Gang of Four songs. Where’s the edge?
So much of what we do at Mishka is centered around not letting go of our youth and aging gracefully. So to me it’s sad when certain things needlessly just decide “lets totally grow up, wear suits, ties and sell insurance”. That’s what Indie Rock is doing! Hopefully like Indie-Dance this is just a phase.
Anyway, Vampire Weekend do a very good job of translating the Strokes to fit more into the oh so glamorous lives of the Murray Hill sect.
I’m so psyched to announce that my bandmate Quinn Walker will be releasing not one but two debut albums tomorrow (Tuesday, January 29th) on Voodoo-Eros! We’ll be celebrating at the Glasslands in Williamsburg tomorrow night with performances by us (Suckers), Durty Nanas, Barghest and Cameron Hull. Come Out!!!!
So in the recent months, there’s been an explosion of Youtube videos featuring different skilled riders across the world showcasing their fixed-gear freestyling abilities. Last month, a DVD of different riders from all over the US was released. In the spirit of the early 411vm VHS tapes, Bootleg Sessions was born.
From the Bootleg Sessions website: Bootleg Sessions is not a “film.” It is a down and dirty DVD compilation of cuts from several of our favorite riders from around the U.S. who have agreed to bootleg their daily sessions, progressions, and general post-transport tomfoolery. It is not meant to be ground-breaking, life-changing, trend-setting, or scene-defining. It’s just fun. Ride/Relax.
To give you a better idea of what exactly I’m talking about, here’s the trailer.
These DVDs are now available at the Mishka Pop-up shop in Williamsburg. We’ve only got a few copies, so get over there fast and grab one!
Also be on the lookout for D.A.R.T., the Death Adder Riding Team soon!
Cloverfieldis pretty fucking awesome! Being how were unabashed gorehounds over here I figured what the fuck lets talk about Cloverfield some. I’m a huge Lost fan, so I was really excited when it was announced that J.J. Abrams would be producing Cloverfield but that excitement turned to malaise when I saw that the studios planned to release it in January. Traditionally January is where movie studios dump the duds they’ve pumped money into to die and recoup whatever profit they can. So my hopes for Cloverfield being awesome tanked pretty quickly. I actually decided that I’d hold off until DVD to see it based on the release date.
When it came out last week it got such mixed reviews that it sparked my interest yet again. I then started to notice how any and all complaints about the movie were hardly things I’d even consider flaws. Comparisons to the Blair Witch Project, imagery of NYC being destroyed too soon after 9/11, New Yorkers being portrayed unrealistically, Compliants about carrying around a camcorder for that long in the event and it’s batteries lasting… huh, it’s a movie, a monster movie! Suspend suspend some disbelief why don’t ya? So my interest was peaked again. I saw it last night and it was fucking awesome! This is such a well executed monster flick! And though we’ve gone back and forth on the Dark Knight, both Prolly & I give it a thumbs up! My only wish was that the actual monster (from hat you could see of it) resembled Cthulhu more!
Speaking of Doom, Chicago’s Trouble have re-released two classic albums Psalm 9 and The Skull on Escapi music. Which were Trouble in the past to track down.
I know we probably should be reporting from Agenda about all the great new this and or that brand, and what dude from such and such long dormant brand has cooking up for 2008/09, but eh… everyone else seems to get a good handle on it. So I’m continuing on what has been an onslaught on my wallet in monolithic new album releases for this past week!
Now this one is a little bit of a cheat, because it came out last week, and originally came out way back in 1998 and has since been long out of print. So all you who salivate at the mere mention of Doom Metal, rejoice as Southern Lord has put out a deluxe edition of Burning Witch’sCrippled Lucifer: 10 Psalms For Our Lord of Light! This baby is basically the blueprint for any and all current Southern Lord bands AND was Southern Lord founder’s and SunnO))) Stephen O’Malley.
Crippled Lucifer was originally a compilation of Burning Witch’s lone two EP releases The Towers (featuring production from Steve Albini) & Rift.Canyon.Dreams. This new deluxe 2CD edition also compiles 3 out of print to the mixes. Yeah I know just 3 extra songs, how does that make it deluxe? It’s fucking doom metal three songs could be the length of a whole new EPP or album in that world! And keeping on the streetwear limited edition tip, only 2000 of these babies will be pressed! Get on the doom tip.
The goodness of albums releasing this past week just doesn’t seem to end! We had awesome new albums fro Blood On the Wall & Black Mountain, and now a much due retrospective for Japan’s electronic noise group C.C.C.C. (Cosmic Coincidence Control Center) simply titled C.C.C.C. - Early Work out on Brooklyn’s No Fun productions. Tracking C.C.C.C. material is nothing short than a real bitch, so I’m more than happy for this 4-Disc set which culls 8 tracks over 4 discs. Most of which are 30 minute never before released whoppers recorded live. C.C.C.C. is most definitely not for everyone, Fronted by Japanese Porn/S&M star Mayuko Hino and her husband Hiroshi Hasegawa are not the easiest of bands to just put on and get into. but if you’ve ever found your self with proclivity towards walls of cacophonous sound, other Japanese noise groups like The Boredoms or Merzbow, or just feel like expanding your musical horizons then by all means get this!
Mishka contributors Dennis Chow, Alister Lee, and Robin Nishio get a check out in the newest issue of Lodown. Thanks go out to Sven, Alex, and the good people at Breadwinner.
