A plague has turned most of the population into vampires who now face possible extinction once all of their human reserves of blood run dry.

I have to say that this looks kind of promising even if Twilight proved Vampires are no longer immune to being lame. It looks pretty campy, has Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke and best of all Sam Neil who is usually pretty awesome whenever he takes on roles like this. The drawback? It’s opening in early January, OUCH! So despite it’s cast, the studio obviously doesn’t have that much faith in it.

Wild Beasts - Two Dancers (2009) [Domino] // Grade: C-

Wild Beasts’ sophomore release would be infinitely better without vocals. Not because Hayden Thorpe can’t sing, or his operatic falsetto is too different/over-the-top/easy to demonize. Not even because the vocal melodies are too boring to drive a song. It’s just that when Thorpe’s Antony-meets-a pitched down Klaus Nomi voice wafts in with such grandeur and import, you realize how seriously Wild Beasts take themselves—and it infects every good thing about the album. It’s sort of like the guy who whips out an acoustic on your first date and plays one of his “originals” while staring earnestly in your eyes. The thought is there (I guess), but it’s just impossible not to make fun of, you know?

It’s a total shame, because Two Dancers has the odds stacked toward it in a way the band’s debut Limbo, Panto didn’t. Vocals aside, this album doesn’t suffer from nearly as much self-conscious quirkiness or as many ill-conceived tangents. In fact, it seamlessly channels some pretty fantastic things: War-era U2, Peter Hook in both New Order and Joy Division, early Interpol, Joey Santiago, The Smiths. Even Thorpe’s voice (Tom Fleming’s too, which is just as grating) feels appropriate when it’s merely accented over a bridge or humming in the background.

But it all goes downhill mere seconds into each song. A track like “Hooting and Howling” is so dark and enigmatic from the start, the repetition so strangely interesting, it’s maddening to be reminded that Wild Beasts exist in a world with nary an ounce of humor. I mean, it’s just infuriating. Even Klaus Nomi and Morrissey—hands down the kings of operatic bravado and willful crooning, respectively—winked at listeners through their most dramatic overtures. And Wild Beasts? Not Klaus Nomi or Morrissey. Seriously, lighten up.

Back with part two of Falls offering of New Eras in the first drop. Return of a classic! The Death Adder gets the premium treatment with a melton wool crown and buttery suede brim.

Available in Burgundy & Hunter Green, I can’t think of anything besides turning leaves that screams Fall as much these two caps.

Finally we have the Black Magic New Era. The graphic is grounded in traditional military patch design infused with a hefty dose  superstition.

Available in Grey with a Navy brim and Hunter Green with a Black brim.

Slim Aarons’ (1916-2006) photographs indulge my darkest, most superficial desires to become filthy stinking rich.

I want to have some sort of affair where I’m required to wear a Rich Uncle Pennybags Top Hat while carrying around a conductor’s wand.

I want to have a summer wardrobe and be able to pull off yellow pants while relaxing by the most perfect pool in the universe on a Wednesday. Don’t lift a finger, my butler will serve refreshing beverages.

Why yes, I’d love a schnapps break at a Swiss Alps Summit. Splendid!

…and most of all, I want Truman Capote to design my apartment. So, SO ill!

Analyzing his pictures, I get the feeling that his subjects were more indulged IN themselves than with life; hoping to parade about a facade of an identity through Slim’s lens…as if their lives are really this perfect every other second of the day. Extravagant, no doubt. But as lavish as these portraits are, it’s transparent how symbiotic Slim’s relationships were with his subjects. There is nothing candid about these photos.

See, now It becomes a bummer (and a bore) to think about the egos of the wealthy and famous. I just want to take it easy by that pool in my top hat.

CUT NYC + Mishka present
Keep watch XI: NINJASONIK RELEASE PARTY

KLEVER
D.I.M.
NINJASONIK (LIVE!)
ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

CUT+ Mishka are teaming up to celebrate Mishka’s 11th installment of their infamous Keep Watch mix series featuring Ninjasonik and very Spankin’ guests from London!

$1 Drinks & $1 Admission ’til 12 With RSVP

Webster Hall: 125 E11th St between 3rd & 4th Ave.s
Doors 10pm. 19+ w/I.D.

Photos by NickyDigital

Don’t forget to download Keep Watch Vol. XI: Ninjasonik!

Today marks the air date of the final episode of Reading Rainbow. After 26 years it seems the show is the victim of not only an educational programing shift, but of a financial crunch. This quote below sums up the tragic and fatal flaw that lead to the show’s cancellation.

Grant says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that’s not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

“Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read,” Grant says. “You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read.”

How sad is that? Encouraging reading is no longer a sound educational investment. I don’t know a single person who didn’t fondly remember the show and love it. Of PBS’ big three (Sesame Street & Mr. Rogers being the other two) it was by far my favorite show and even the one I’d take pleasure in watching well after I was too old for it!

I leave you with LeVar Burton taking Reading Rainbow on a visit to his double life as Geordi LaForge.

Ducktails - Landscapes (2009) [Olde English Spelling Bee] // Grade: B-

For Ducktails’ mastermind Matt Mondanile, beach pop isn’t about Miami Vice, fun-fun-fun or however many California girls (and it’s certainly not about any mid-century ponying with Frankie and Annette). Rather, Mondanile’s tropical influence seems to come from the shore at dusk—just after the beach balls and coolers have been put away, just before the post-sunset dinner and drinks. That lazy vacation moment when everything goes all orange and you sit silent and introspective on the sand.

And it’s a mostly pleasant place to see through Mondanile’s eyes, even if the image falters at times. Landscapes is a warm, ambient jaunt through lo-fi Florida, all washed out technicolor and layers of harmony; definitely of the same stripe as fellow bedroom producers Wavves and even Mondanile’s own Real Estate, but with an aesthetic keenly focused on beach buskers and Muzak versions of, like, “These Dreams”. Opener “On The Boardwalk” really does feel like a boardwalk stroll (if that boardwalk happens to run through 80s Miami), and the few vocal-focused tracks like “Wishes” and “House of Mirrors” (“focused” being a relative term here) live in some world where guys really do sit on the docks of bays and mumble sweet songs about, you know, whatever.

‘Course, this sort of lo-fi instrumental can shift quickly from intentional aesthetic to jam-band amateur if even the slightest element is off, and Landscapes definitely has its blah moments. Take “Landrunner”: ostensibly an amped-up ode to the more frantic inland ways (i.e. a sort of hilarious counterpoint to the rest of the album) all but ruined by too-squealy guitars and seemingly preset drum loops. Few tracks are truly awful, but the album would be miles better without any distraction from the sunset, the sand and that one guy strumming a weird little song at the other end of the beach.

Final Destination returns for its 4th installment with all the tools that made the first three such trashy gems. Bad acting, cheesy one-liners and the star of the show: lots and lots of satisfyingly gory kill scenes. If you’ve never seen any of the Final Destination films, the basic premise is this: one lucky sap’s premonition causes a bunch of people to miss some horrific accident… and cheat death in the process. But you can’t cheat death, of course, and one by one, each survivor is killed off in the order they would have been killed in the original vision.

This installment’s big accident happens at a run down stock car race track and, as always, the cast of survivors are all unlikable stereotypes you can’t help but want to get theirs! First you have your central circle of pals containing the non-threatening hero, his asshole best-friend, and their generic girlfriends. Then we get some flavor in the form of supporting crew of survivors: there’s the racist (billed as such in the credits), his obvious nemesis…the kindly black security guard (who killed his family while driving drunk), the rich MILF, the Cowboy, and the Redneck mechanic. One by one, they’re cut down by some pretty gory twists of fate that you can’t help but grin at.

While not as well written as either of the first three, the film does find its own way of making up for that slight shortcoming. The Final Destination 3D includes not one but two premonition scenes and a bevy of clever and methodically tense buildups to gratifying kills! All of which, I might add, are more gruesome to watch in 3D. Plus there’s even an attempt at boobies in 3D. It’s unsuccessful but the ambition is still appreciated.

This latest sequel’s bad acting and dialogue may not play as tongue-in-cheek as in the previous films, but in the end it doesn’t really matter because The Final Destination 3D is just as fun. It’s a shame that fun had to abruptly end when the producers chose to shortchange the audience of one final death scene by showing it as some lame music video style X-Ray CGI.

The Sky Drops – Truth Is

Catherine Wheel – Judy Staring at the Sun

Yo La Tengo – The Summer

Slowdive – Alison

Blind Mr. Jones – Spooky Vibes

So, I’m definitely a fan of all of these dudes on their own. Unfortunately for Kanye, a track like this really highlights the fact that dude makes great beats, but he’s just ok as a rapper. He has some great lines, and I’d rather hear him than most of the other dudes calling themselves rappers, but in the company of beasts he comes off kinda sheepish. I can’t front, I’m really impressed with Drake. The guy writes really well, and he’s still mad young. He could have a brilliant career ahead of him if he keeps it on task. I got chills when Weezy came on. I ride hard for this dude (pause). And Eminem’s flow was ridiculous. I don’t think most people consider the musicianship of rapping, but ever since Spoonie Gee turned it up you can’t ignore the fact that some simply play the instrument far better than others.

All in all “Forever” is a dope track. Peep it.