Serengeti & Polyphonic – Terradactyl (2009) [Anticon] // Grade: C+

It pains me to grade this record so poorly. I really wanted this album to be an A++. I stayed anticipating it after I heard Alias’ remix of “2 times 2″ (which consequently, is a track off another album), and saw the video for “I don’t know“. I checked out a bunch of Geti’s stuff, and I was impressed to say the least. He’s a smart rapper who’s managing to present himself in a way that is accessible without catering to the standard hip hop pre-requisites. So, as the release date for the record approached I got pretty psyched. I was hoping that this record would be something that undeniably fit into the genre of hip hop, but that’s not the case–it lacks gusto, it lacks oomph, and perhaps most upsetting is that it lacks drums. While it manages to segue into immediacy a few times (“My Negativity” stands out), the weight of Geti’s words is eviscerated by the sprawling void that is Polyphonic’s beats. It’s not that the beats are bad music, it just seems like they are a pretty ill fit for hip hop music, and more acutely for Serengeti’s raps.

But, I’m not a huge fan of electronica. I want big tough drums, and deep rolling bass, and beyond that I’m not too picky. Terradactyl is neither booming nor banging, so the chances of me getting amped off of it are impossibly slim. What it is, is bleeping and textural. The album is mixed and mastered really well, and and there’s a lot of space to be soaked up in the songs. I wouldn’t tell you to ignore this album, no matter what your tastes are. However, approaching this album expecting something that fits the hip hop bill is gonna leave you underwhelmed.

I’ve been the past few weeks. Why haven’t I seen you there!?

Tonight and Every Wednesday Night in June, July and August!

Resident DJS:
Andy Rourke (The Smiths)
and
Olé Koretsky

Bring you Jetlag @ Beauty Bar. Spinning rock, electro, indie, hacienda, new wave, post punk, etc…

Drink specials all night long! Text ‘JETLAG‘ to 50500 for weekly drink specials and guest DJs.

Beauty Bar
231 East 14th St. (btwn 2nd & 3rd)
2 for 1 Vodka – 11pm – 12am!
Free!

It’s that time of year! We’ve dropped prices through-out our online store and at our Brooklyn shop on almost every single thing from 15-40% off! Tees, New Eras, Snapbacks, Cut & Sew, etc, etc!

Sale ends on August 31st and stock is limited!

Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY

Friday & Saturday: 12-8pm
Sunday: 12-6pm
Monday: 12-7pm

J/M/Z to Marcy Ave.

I had ordered her over the Internet. It was an impulse thing. I was lonely that night, and I just wanted to feel special, even if it meant spending money to buy myself some happiness. I’m not usually that kind of guy, okay? So don’t go judging me so quickly.

This was a one-time thing. Honest.

I was upset it was going to take so long for her to come to my house, but beggars can’t be choosers. And I assure you, I was begging. And after what felt like forever, the big day came. Today was the day she was coming. I was nervous, and I didn’t know what to expect. I raced around the house, making sure that everything was in order. I was a bit embarrassed, because she was going to see my room. And I’d have to explain to her, like everyone else. Yes, I live with my parents. Yes, I live in their basement. No, I don’t have a job. But listen, I paid for you, so you’re going to lay there and like it!

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My friend Mike Shantz sent me over this link to this Blog post over at the Magic Carpet Burn.

It’s a great collection of photos from a Halloween party from the 60s in Japan. The funny thing about these photos is that I totally saw them for sale on eBay about 6 months ago. I actually saved the images and was going to make a post around Halloween this year, but looks like someone beat me too it!

In this episode: The Toilet Cobra introduces us to Captain Walrus who then chats with Pete from Dinowalrus about rock, architecture and deathtraps. Also some kids get weirded out! YOU’VE BEEN TOUCHED!!!!

Tiny Vipers – Life on Earth (2009) [Sub Pop] // Grade: C-

Tiny Vipers, the musical project of Seattle-based singer-songwriter Jesy Fortino is the darkest music you’re likely to hear this year.

Fortino’s second album, Life on Earth, picks up where 2007′s Hands Across The Void left off, and never really deviates from her formula of sparse, finger-picked acoustic guitar and slow, drifting lyrics. The lack of significant instrumentation works in Life On Earth‘s favor, with each track wandering seamlessly into the next. Tiny Vipers’ sound is defined by Fortino’s husky, ice-cold voice that sucks the peacefulness from her instrumentation and transforms her compositions to folk catacombs.

Ironically, the successes of the Life on Earth are also its undoings. The lengthy tracks shift so seamlessly that they become indiscernible from one another. Fortino’s voice is mesmerizing and unique, but its effect is numbed by her static instrumentation. Life on Earth has all the markings of a memorable album, but manages to sabotage itself by adhering too strictly to a formula.

It really seems like we can’t get enough metal over here at 350 Broadway. After successful collaborations with Arik Roper and Ed Repka, we’ve decided to continue our legacy of working with the finest artists that encapsulate the twisted and macabre. This summer, we teamed up with artist Richard “French” Sayer for three new shirts. French’s usage of twisted, ghoulish images, plus an undying love for everything metal, made the partnership an inevitable one for Mishka.

Hailing from Aldershot, Hampshire in the UK, French is known for his extremely detailed line work of ghastly, mutated creatures. Having done projects for numerous skateboard companies – Zero, Creature and Real to name a few – as well as a handful of record sleeves, French is now bringing his unique designs to Mishka and blessing us west of the pond with not only his shirts but an art show featuring a selection of works. This will mark the very first of many art shows to be housed under the 350 Broadway roof.

French’s latest shirt design for Mishka drops July 30, 2009 at the Cursed Scrolls art show at our flagship store 350 Broadway. Cursed Scrolls runs for six weeks and will host the opening party on Thursday, July 30th at 350 Broadway from 7pm – 10pm.

Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY

J/M/Z to Marcy Ave.
G to Broadway
L to Lorimer

Gorilla Biscuits – Start Today (1989)

Vs.

The Misfits – Static Age (1978)

The Game is simple… if only one could exist which would it be?  What’s more important… personal relevance, cultural significance, or simply being the better album all other things aside? Choice is yours…

Ignition City #4
Ah, Warren Ellis, I desire your seed. Ignition City #4 comes out this week, and as a Warren Ellis fanboy, I follow all of his releases with a teenybopper-esque craze. They involve me running up to the New Release shelves covered in my own fluids and screaming. Ignition City is a five-issue miniseries that follows some hot red-haired chick named Mary as she sets out to find the culprit behind her Dad’s murder. Pretty standard bullshit, right? But this book rules because it takes place in some alternate 1950’s where space travel has already occurred, been banned throughout the planet, and is only allowed in one place.

You guessed it, Ignition City.

Even as a Warren Ellis fanboy, I recognize that he releases a lot of slop. The dude publishes like 400 titles a year, what can you expect? Ignition City sets itself apart from some of Ellis’ other flotsam because it does its best to jerk off fans of ultraviolence, steampunk, Firefly, and any nerd like me who digs dystopian retro-futures. The first three issues featured a old decrepit groaning as he struggled to shit out of a window, gratuitous amounts of cleavage, alien sandwich vendors, gratuitous vomiting, and a man being incinerated by a lasergun.

It’s an interesting look at a world that has already seen the cosmos, peaked, and then come back down to rotting Earth. Perhaps an interesting allegory of our own reality’s space exploration of the 1960’s, and the death of our own optimism staring at the stars. Or perhaps just guns and aliens. Ellis seems to enjoy examining how our own conceived futures happen before we realize it, and then let us down. Issue #4 continues the five-part mini-series, and we’re promised to see more violence, more of Mary’s cleavage, and more alien eccentricity. Probably not for everyone, but any copy I can sell for my dark master Ellis, the better I feel.

Ultimatum #5
If you’re sitting around thinking to yourself, “What is the most amazing train wreck I could be buying this week?” then I have the answer for you. Ultimatum #5. This month’s copy of Ultimatum continues following Jeph Loeb’s MEGAEVENT for the Ultimate Marvel Universe. The first four issues have been so shockingly awful, that I’ve fallen in love with them. Loeb has rampaged across the Ultimate universe, using yet ANOTHER MAGNETO AS ENRAGED GUY DESTROYING SHIT storyline to kill character after character. The whole story thus far has read like the secret diary of some fourteen-year-old Adderall addict. The violence feels so over-the-top, so ridiculous, it can only be the product of fourteen cases of Mountain Dew and some sort of white powder to snort. There’s a moment when Magneto snaps Professor Xavier’s neck, and I can only imagine a tweaking out Hot Topic Kid running around his bedroom after he wrote it yelling FUCKING EXTREME!!! like those kids from Harold and Kumar.

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