David Icke discusses his latest, ‘Moon Matrix’ theory

Man, does David Icke drive a hard line! One minute you’re completely down for the cause of questioning your reality and deprogramming yourself from the mind control manipulation of government, society, and the school system … then he goes and starts talking about the Reptilian Agenda.

Goddamn reptiles. Fucking up everything!

David Icke on the Reptilian manipulation of Humanity

Some believe his Lizard bloodline theory is just a ruse to make everyone believe he’s crazy. Some believe he IS an agent of the Lizards indoctrinating us to the brainwash. I don’t bother with rationalizing with these sort of concepts or making judgments on David Icke. It’s really up to what the listener wants to hear. So…

David Icke is back with a new book, Human Race Get Off Your Knees where he exposes our Moon as a fake broadcast beacon created by the Shadow Rulers of Earth to hack into the human ‘body-computer’ system.

Fake Moon?! Okay Icke, what ya’ got?

I wanted to share some images with you of Justine Joli and Ryan Keely together to encourage you to join us this Friday, August 27th from 7-10pm at the Acclaim Magazine signing.

These images make me want to squeeze the both of them real, real hard whenever I see them because they are such beautiful, fun and lovely ladies.  Head after the break for two more sexy shots. See ya Friday.

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Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard (2010) [Barsuk] // Grade: B-

The powerfully grandiose pop stylings of the usually underrated Ra Ra Riot have finally released their second album The Orchard. The 6 piece band have blown audiences away due to their charismatic energy on stage and by mixing in a variety of instruments (guitars, cello, violin, keyboards & drums) it’s natural to understand why. Ra Ra Riot’s music takes the upbeatness of pop, mixes it with the monumental effect that an orchestra can provide but then takes a turn for the melodramatic with singer Wesley Miles high pitched passionate voice trembling through those epic melodies. The Orchard seems to be a much more reflective album than the band’s previous The Rhumb Line and with the tragic loss of their original drummer John Pike (due to a drowning) there’s no doubt that the band has a lot to look back on and express.

This album alternates epically dramatic tracks “The Orchard”, “Foolish”, and “Kansai” (that create such a full bodied sound due to the use of cello and violin) with spunkier pop influenced tracks “Boy”, “Shadowcasting”, and the 80s synth influenced “Foolish”. The slightly whiney warbling of Alexandra Lawn’s vocals mixed with toy music box sounding keyboards on “You and I Know” made me picture some girl sitting in her room melodramatically yearning over a lover’s trials and tribulations. The album highlight for me is song “Massachusetts” which is a phenomenal preppy track, although it’s hard not to draw a comparison to Vampire Weekend while listening to it (however, it is by no means a replica of their sound). “Keep It Quiet” uses a drum beat that mimics a heart beat (or at least that what it sounds like to me), poetic lyrics like “cold water for cooling down” and “it’s a cruel life I choose”, and Rebecca Zeller’s somber violin creates a beautifully saddening track to cap off the album.

Ra Ra Riot have not disappointed on The Orchard, if anything I think this album will impress the loyal fans and hopefully bring attention to a new audience for this often overshadowed band.

Mater Suspiria Vision returns after an uncharacteristically long gap in new material… well long for them is like a week or two. Brand new track featuring Butterclock who we profiled earlier on Sounds from the Otherside. Good stuff as you could probably expect from these two working together.

And don’t forget that unlike past Zombie Raves, the current Special Edition that ℑ⊇≥◊≤⊆ℜ (of Mater Suspiria Vision) did for us is still killer and available for download… so zombify your weekend and download it if you already haven’t. Or hey… just share it with a friend and induct him into the CVLT.

Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom (2010) [self-released] // Grade: A

More often than not, listening to instrumental doom is like jerking off and not… Well, you know. There’s this epic build-up and all you want to hear is some vocals. Something human and intense. Instrumental doom by definition lacks this. Few bands can pull it off. In fact, the only ones that I regularly listen to is Earth and Chicago-based Bongripper. With their previous-releases, Heroin, Hippie Killer and Hate Ashbury they just kinda killed the genre for anyone else.

Satan Worshipping Doom is as much of a satirical jab at the instrumental doom genre as anything. How could something be Satanic without vocals? Duh. Get some evil-ass album art! Opening the abyss is the first track “Hail” which picks up where Hate Ashbury left off. The distinct sound, the picking of the riffs, the colliding percussion and the shear fucking weight of it all. Bongripper is like a ton of bricks.

Picking up the pace a bit is “Satan”. This is Bongripper. Epicly-heavy with a bit more tempo. “Satan” is my second favorite cut on the LP because it’s more akin to modern instrumental black metal than doom. It’s a pace I’ve never heard Bongripper travel at and towards the end, they take it back down a few notches.

With only 4-tracks, my favorite is by far “Worship”. Sixteen minutes of hellish fun. I say fun because once again, have you seen the album art? To end the LP is “Doom”, an homage to the genre. You really can’t beat Bongripper. Their entire catalog is one-long hit and Hate Ashbury solidifies all of their efforts. As an unsigned band, they thrive off of album sales so make sure you hit up their Myspace and buy their limited-edition vinyl! It comes with a free download as well.

Acclaim Magazine is a lifestyle publication based out of Melbourne Australia. It’s 21st issue focuses on “Friends”, no not the 90′s sitcom but rather the magazines extended family of talented artists, musicians, photographers and brands. Мишка is proud to be a part of their extended family and as such will be celebrating the issues release in style at the our 350 Broadway shop on August 27th.

For the event Acclaim has produced a limited number of issue #21 featuring Ellen Stagg’s photo of Ryan Keely and Justine Joli frolicking in the sun, both wearing our Playhouse Painters Caps. Ellen and the girls will also be in attendance to sign these limited edition copies that day and there will of course be free refrshmnets and good tunes on the speaker.

Put on your boner shorts and don’t miss out on this opportunity to be in the presence of beauty!

Friday August 27th, 7pm-10pm
Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY
718-388-1725

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

Behind-The-Scenes on the Fall 2010 Video

So hopefully you remember this video from this past weekend? Well Truth of a Liar’s Chris Gualano also snapped a few really great behind-the-scenes shots during the filming of our lovely model, Chloe Wise. We’ve now uploaded them into their own little gallery that you can ogle at your convenience.

It’s a nice 20 images which include Chloe decked in a lot of our graphic tees that are currently online and in-store now or will be available in our second delivery for Fall. Enjoy!

Com Truise - Cyanide Sister (2010) [Amdiscs] // Grade: A-

It’s odd to think that Washed Out’s debut EP, Life of Liesure has gone on to become this sort of watershed moment ushering in not only “Chillwave” as a whole, but giving rise to an army of kids armed with a computer and the necessary software that they too could be the next toast of the blogosphere. There’s been no shortage of artists (mostly kids still in college) toiling in this warm and fuzzy electronica so far this year. Some have risen out of anonymity and attracted some attention, while others become another log on the fire. But there is one commonality amongst them all… this early in any “scene” and most of the bands generally sound the same, with their songs interchangeable from one artist and release to the next. So how does the cream start to rise to the top, if there’s so much of it and it all kind of tastes, well, sweet and creamy? Well it’s in the nuances, and Com Truise’s debut EP, Cyanide Sister has a lot of them.

Hailing from New Jersey, Com Truise is one of many aliases of Seth Haley records under, but also his most fully formed creation. Go on, visit his website and you’re transported back to 1984, come 2010. This kid really knows how to present himself and his sound  he’s crafted. And when you’re fighting amongst 50 other “chillwave” bands forming every two weeks, that counts!

But presentation will only go so far, it’s the icing on the cake, or rather a nice upgrade of RAM to his already humming hardrive and motherboard. Cyanide Sister for the most part is an instrumental journey into a synthscape of familiarity that ranges from ColecoVision games, movie montage soundtracks and sputtering electro-funk breaks. It’s hard not to imagine a montage of fingers furiously pounding pocket calculators on”Sundriped” and “Slow Peels” could have come straight out of an 80s break dance epic. “IWYWAW” the only song on Cyanide Sister with anything resembling a vocal melody should be standard curriculum for anyone hoping to jump on the Chillwave band bandwagon. It’s an addicting bop of retro synths and beats, augmented by a hazy distorted melody perfectly capture the retro-modern essence of a scene still finding it’s legs.

While most glo-fi/chillwavers can only hope to give an allusion of nostalgia, Com Truise has a full flux capacitor humming to take you back, forward and sideways in time over and over again. Stereogum wasn’t kidding when they said Com Truise would soon join the ranks of Washed Out, Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi as the “chillest” around. You can download Cyanide Sister for free along with 3 volumes of Komputer Cast Mixes from Com Truise’s website. I strongly recommend you do so.

Dowload Com Truise – Cyanide Sister EP (Click Here)

Us over here in Echo Park were recently treated to a pretty cool visit from an LA native who’s touring & cooking his way to the top. I’m talking about Toscan Elrod, who is the current tour manager for GBH. Yes GBH, the hardcore punk band that has produced kick ass albums such as City Baby Attacked By Rats & City Baby’s Revenge. You don’t get more punk rock than these true schoolers.

They’ve kept at it for over 30 years and they’ve been touring consistently during that span, most recently on the strength of there newest album Perfume and Piss. The album is reminiscent of their earlier work and just so happened to be mixed by the well known Lars Frederiksen of Rancid.

If any of you bloglin goons are in Europe, Japan, Australia or New Zealand, then check for their next tour which goes from September thru December. As for Toscan, he’s been hitting the road hard and has some culinary treats lined up. Good luck with your future endeavors and oh yea…Those of your looking, we still got a few of that Banned in Moscow tee but not for very much longer!

Мишка LA
1547 Echo Park Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213-536-4234

Instead of glazing over the release lists this week, I’m more interested in sounding off on what I fear is the forthcoming over-saturation of my boy Thor. I love me some Thor. Always have. Giant guy, swings a hammer, is a god. Of lightning. And It seems that Marvel is intent on getting everyone into the love fest. By the end of the year there’s going to be so many god damn Thor titles that you’re not going to know what to do with yourself.

There’s Thor proper, which is going to be taken over by Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry.

Awesome.

Then there’s Ultimate Thor, which is going to be helmed by Jonathan Hickman and Carlos Pacheco.

Double awesome.

But wait, true believers! There’s more!

Thor: The Mighty Avenger is currently out, and it’s absolutely excellent.

The list doesn’t stop there! There’s also Astonishing Thor, and Thor: For Asgard, and on and on and on.

Are you getting fatigued yet?

This is all being done, I assume, to ramp up public knowledge regarding our boy Thor prior to his movie dropping next year. I don’t really know how popular Thor is/has been, since I am out of touch and I sit in my dungeon all day. Rough guessing based on my own ignorance puts Thor at significantly less beloved than Iron Man, and even below Captain America. Which means, again, using my own ignorance, that they need to get his gorgeous Viking frame firmly injected into the collective nerd consciousness. It’s understandable while they’re ramping up his exposure, I just wonder how much he can take before there’s a breaking point.

I’ve always loved Thor for a couple of reasons. Namely because I play World of Warcraft and listening to thrash metal in a basement. Couple that with the fact that he suffers on occasion the same existential angst as Superman that I relate to; a strange man in a stranger, alien land, and he’s my boy. Of thunder. But again, I need therapy for my fatal case of Emo Angst and I’m a dork. So there’s that.

But for other people? I have no idea.

But I’m fearing Thor may suffer the same over-exposure that seems to bury every franchise eventually. I mean, who doesn’t fucking yawn when they seen Wolverine now? And Jesus Christ, at his core, that Canadian Feral Ball is awesome.

The good news is that Marvel seems to be stacking all of Thor’s titles with beyond talented teams. I mean, I don’t have to go into detail, if you read any of my slop regularly you know I go absolutely Viagra Priapism for Fraction and Hickman. I’m going to read those titles based purely on their names alone. I mean, if you want to get his name out there, you might as well have true genuine talent backing up the titles. But as you continue to release more and more titles with his name on it, when does it stop being wise, and start burning people out?

And does Marvel even care?

I mean, how can people go and buy nineteen Deadpool titles a month, and now want to rip their hair out?

I’m a different breed of reader, though. I don’t generally align myself with characters, but rather with creators. So as I said, I’m stoked for some of the Thor titles. And while I enjoy the guy, my excitement is just as much for the people working on the title than it is for another Thor title. I can imagine that for some people, they simply have to buy the Thor titles because they’re well, Thor. They have a place in their comic book boxes sequestered under “Thor”, and they have to fill it with every title.

Complete every run.

Et cetera.

Madness!

My fear, in other words, is that Marvel goes beyond accomplishing getting Thor out into the minds of comic book readers. And furthermore, having titles for would-be new comic book readers to check out after they’re all tots excited after seeing the movie. My fear, to be precise, is that they’re going to take a character who was previously under appreciated and till him for every fucking penny he is worth, to the point where people like myself who used to dig the dude just sort of “Meh” and keep scanning the rack for something else to purchase.

What do you guys think? Is there a tipping point? Where exposure becomes over-exposure? Where saturating the market to gain recognition actually ends up hurting the franchise? I’m interested to hear what you think.

Holla back.