In the movie Breakin‘, when Turbo’s moon walk sweeps the sidewalk to Kraftwerk’s “Tour de France”, cinematic history was made. That scene will be noted in the annals of time as the greatest two minutes in cinema ever, forever, until the end of time.

Greatest two minutes of cinematic history, AKA Turbo broom scene:

Breakin‘ has everything a good movie should have; leather gloves, moon walking, nice butts in tights, electro music, a guy with no legs doing the windmill and Ice mutha fuckin T. Breakin’ literally broke the mold when they came up with that insanely awesome movie formula.

This is real break dancing -not this bullshit “so you think you can dance” kinda break dancing that we see so much of in today’s society. This is breakin’ back when it was more punk rock than punk rock, with ripped T-shirts, leather, studs, spray paint and took place in the streets. To sum it up I will quote the illustrious Bar-Kays it was a “Freak show, baby, baby on the dance floor… They’re wearin’ miniskirts and camisoles, tight leather pants or nothing at all… Guys with guys, chicks with chicks, it really doesn’t matter they just do it for the kicks”. Those are words to live by my friends.

Which brings me to my last point of proof that this is one of, if not thee best movie of all time. The sound track is insanely good. I had this 12′ growing up and it largely inspired my entire music making process. The music in the movie is proper Electro, back when that term was used to describe artist who made people dance to their unique brand of electronic funk, not this new bastardization of that term by EDM dicks with mouse masks; seriously, fuck those guys.

The soundtrack features amazing bands like the Bar-Kays, Kraftwerk, The Art of Noise and Hot Streak. The jewel of the sound-track and the movie is Ice-T and the Glove’s amazing 808 and 303 acid bass line, hip-hop monster “Reckless”.

Grab your leather gloves, fasten your head band, tighten your sneakers and watch the full movie here:

Playing as an opening act for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds this June, is acclaimed movie director Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers, Coffee and Cigarettes) and his band SQÜRL – (Logan Carter and Shane Stoneback).

“SQÜRL began in 2009 when Jim and Carter teamed with producer/engineer Shane to record some original music for the film The Limits of Control. Echoing the varied Spanish landscapes captured in the film, the three emerged with a set of slow-motion psychedelic rock’n’roll songs (releasing them as Bad Rabbit),”  says their publicist. They’ve since renamed and incorporated said songs into a fresh SQÜRL skin. May 21 sees their debut EP release as limited run 12” picture disc vinyl with DDL on All Tomorrow’s Parties. Only 1000 worldwide.

So what were they doing over the last three years? After the making of The Limits of Control, the band’s focus became about an exploration of the darker sides of American Country and Psychedelic Rock. They’ve also embraced aesthetics of the New York Noise scenes.

The result is a trilogy of EPs, recorded in a Brooklyn studio, ready and prepped for release.  Despite their fame, the band prefers to stay in the music margins (they are by no means billed near primetime at the ATP Iceland/Nick Cave show). They are taking an understated stance on proceedings. Something I respect. It shows a willingness to be involved in underground and indie music and gives the underground added value.

SQÜRL embrace analogue and digital tech in their production. Plenty of feedback, noise, samples etc. Stoner/boner rock guitar oozes sludgen sound over chopped n screwed compositions. #1 is heavier, much more expressive and arcane compared to the two previous releases Jamusch produced and distributed through Insound and Sacred Bones. Those were closer to New York art rock, with fragile baroque lute plucks by experimental dutch composer and long time collaborator, Jozef van Wissem.

Now, with this first EP, Jarmusch and gang go for the jugular; pensive and brooding. It’s deep, troubled, yet fully in command. A perfect jam out with huge drums and molasses drips undulating and looping. I wonder what they have in store for us with the succeeding 2 EPs. How long will it be before we can collect the next one?

Pre-order now through ATP Recordings.

This weekend I eavesdropped on the girl next to me at a cafe telling her friend about her film premiering at all these different festivals. I have no knowledge of film (moving pictures, so I hear), but films, specifically short ones, are great topics of conversation amongst pretentious, bougie people. However, I will cede that when done well, they can be pretty fucking cool.

North Bay is one such project, a psuedo sci-fi short about Sachin Fayez, a scientist obsessed with the prospect of discovering frequencies that exist outside our dimension entirely. It’s a cool concept that straddles the line between campiness and genuine evocative cinema, not always perfectly. We get the standard tropes – a scientist that believes wholeheartedly in his theory, to the point that his reputation has been ruined, he’s lost his tenure, and now spends his days roaming the North Bay hills. He sends his recordings out into the ether, hoping they will somehow resonate with his chasm strait particles. Fayez (played by Jamie Harris) has been at his project for 17 years, but that’s when a rogue camper provides the proof he’s been waiting for. Suddenly, Fayez is forced to deal with the prospect that his life’s work may not be in vain.

North Bay’s plot is intriguing and provocative, but its real strength comes in its cinematography. Long, beautiful static shots of mountainous hiking trails illustrate the loneliness of Fayez’s devotion, as well as just being naturalistically beautiful in their own right. The film also plays with some ideas of new media, including clips of Fayez watching youtube videos, watching analog tapes, and their interaction is central to the film. Regardless of the occasionally weak dialogue, it’s hard not to feel gratified at the film’s climax, just as Fayez does. And peep those Mishka leggings on actress Corsica Wilson!

‘North Bay’ will premier at the London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film, running from April 30 to May 6.

The internet is home to a lot of crazy shit. You got your BDSM porn, your mail-order drug websites, and now you got an animated short depicting Miami Heat power-forward Christopher Bosh as a trans-dimensional prince, sent to earth to defeat an evil witch. Despite accusations that Bosh might sue the creators, the video premiered at the Borscht Film Festival, since accurately dubbed the Bosh Film Festival. I don’t think I’d be able to accurately describe the sick mix of Web 1.0 references, ludicrous mythologies of humble Bosh, or the show-stealing cameo by teammate Mike Miller, who gets possessed by a Wolfman. Suffice to say, it’s worth it to take 12 minutes and watch the video, to follow Chris Bosh across time and space, through your monitor.

The year is 1998 and Houston’s underground rap scene is at its apex. DJ Screw and the S.U.C. are in full force, UGK has just released “Ridin’ Dirty”, and more established acts like the Geto Boys provide an anchor. It was out of this scene that Super Tight-producer DJ DMD unleashed “25 Lighters”, introducing the iconic hook “25 lighters on my dresser/yessir”. It was DMD’s breakout hit, featuring S.U.C. members Lil’ Keke and Fat Pat, former titans of the scene. Pat was shot to death in between the video recording and the time the track was actually released, which adds a whole macabre layer, like his hard-as-fuck verse is speaking to us from beyond the grave. In case you didn’t know, the whole thing is about crack dealing anyway; dealers would pop the fluid out of lighters and put the rocks in, less conspicuous than handing off a vial. DJ Screw eventually gave the joint his signature chop/screw treatment for one of his mixtapes, giving the scene even more national exposure.

15 years later, you’ve probably never heard of that track, and the national scene has largely forgotten the names of random S.U.C. members. The whole thing would just go down as another strange moment in southern rap ephemera if it wasn’t for the sudden revival that “25 Lighters” seems to have had amongst artists as disparate as they are talented.

In 2010, Houston up-and-comer Fat Tony made a song out of the “Luv It Mayne” sample at the very beginning of the track, an obvious homage to those that came before him, which was then remixed with Das Racist. Somehow, that seemed to send a signal out in the collective unconscious, creating a zeitgeist that drew everyone’s attention to this very specific era, and this specific track. What we get, after nearly 15 years of this track existing in relative obscurity, are three drastically different reinterpretations. On “Backseat Freestyle”, we hear a roaring Kendrick Lamarr invoke DJ DMD’s hook. Big K.R.I.T., as well, enlists heavyweights MJG & 8Ball, and the ever-lovable 2Chainz to make “Money on the Floor“. The chopped-up hook sings “Money on the floor/Lighters on the dresser”, while MJG absolutely kills, directly quoting DMD’s hook, with 2Chainz closing out the track with a verse structured around that line.

The most unlikely cover comes from grandpa-blues rockers Z.Z. Top, who in 2012 released their first album in 9 years, covering none other than DMD’s hit. The band had shared studio space with many members of the S.U.C. in the 90’s, where they first heard the track. Guitarist Billy Gibbons says he “became fixated with this ‘hypnotic chronicle of the toil of a ghetto hustler, and I was determined to use it as the basis for something ZZ Top could record.” And record they did, as their Rick Rubin-produced ‘I Gotsta Get Paid’ features a ripping, bluesy guitar riff over snippets of DMD’s original hook. Even in Screw’s wildest codeine dreams, I don’t think he could’ve predicted this.

There’s one more twist, if you can believe it. After that 15 year stretch, DMD saw it fit to record an updated version of the track himself. Only this time, surprise! He’s found Jesus! The name of the song? “25 Bibles”. I cannot make this shit up. The narrative of the video reflects this transformation, as 41-year old DMD walks in on his family watching his old video, and sees fit to school them on the nature of real, heartfelt, God-fearing hip-hop. The video looks like it was recorded at a local public park, and features fellow Christian rapper Bizzle, who also has a song with No Malice. As far as what sparked so much interest in a niche Houston song from the late 90s, I have no fucking clue. In the end, I guess DMD’s prayers have been answered, and, in a weird way, the track got the popularity it deserved.

There has to be a better post title for this; and probably a better blog category and whatnot. But at the same time, words just fail to capture this thing. This discovery made on Pompano Beach, FL of a goddamn softball-sized eyeball. Does it come from a giant squid? Or some kind of really large fish? No one knows yet, which is funny to me, because if somebody somewhere knew they should have already said something. I kind of want to know, but at the same time, I don’t. I just want to stare into this eyeball and get incepted.

Also: can we hook that eyeball to some kind of contraption that will let us see what it sees? I mean, we can make bionic eyes now, we can make silicon retinas, there has to be a way to find the right nervous frequency that this thing uses. Should we slice it open to figure out what this eyeball has that we don’t? Or should we just keep it as it is, suspended in a vat of fruit juice at an aquarium so kids from all around the world can come in and stare into this eyeball and get incepted?

Or send it to the Will It Blend? guys. That eyeball looks kind of fresh too, I’ve seen fish at the farmer’s market look gloomier. Did the salt water preserve it or something? Do you think the guy who found it got spooked when he picked it up on the beach – thinking it was a funny looking rock, that turns out all gelatinous and HOLY SHIT IT’S LOOKING AT ME. I would have dropped it. Probably. Do eyeballs float? If you click on the picture (or here) you can see more angles (hah!) from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Flickr page. Stare at this with me, yall. Let’s get incepted.

There really isn’t a “reason” for this post. It has no connection to recent developments in music, art, film or fashion. It doesn’t tie into any live events (although I’d totally go to a gallery that featured these). It’s just really, really cool.

Here’s the skinny: the good folks over at CVLT Nation have posted this huge collection of 80s and 90s punk fliers for your viewing pleasure (and a little bit of nifty historical documentation), featuring art for pretty much every legendary band from the era, drawn up by the likes of Pushead, Ric Clayton and countless others. Awesome, right? At least until you’re overcome, either by nostalgia or by the fact that you weren’t even alive when most of these shows were played. Up top are a couple of my favorites, but check out the whole collection hurr.

I’m sure this has been floating around the internet for a while now. There’s no way something this good could remain hidden (although there was that woman who customized her Barbie & Ken dolls with accurata genitalia and pubic hair. Still wish I had bought one of those actually…). Jim Lego is a Quebecois portrait photographer/nightmare creator who has blessed the world wide web with some of the strangest photography I’ve seen in a long, long time.

At first I was like “holy shit, I can’t believe people payed for this” but then very quickly changed my tone to “holy shit, I would pay so much for this.” I graduate from college this Friday. Jim Lego, if you’re still out there, please, please come document this occasion. Y’know, I never really understood what people were talking about when they said photographs could steal part of your soul. Until now. Check out the site for more. So much more.