CollageFace

Giant A-Hole

2010-04-29T04:31:00.000-07:00

Wow. I am such a giant A-Hole. Rawr. So i started this blog... and then... life happened.

As a little FYI, in recent news: 1) i opened a bar including: a) making signage b) booking talents who've never played together c) hiring and firing and managing(?) staff... 2) i've pretended to direct Olio Festival: a) supervising this and that b) making gay people straight c) sleeping til noon thirty then getting very serious about driving a Scion... 3) i've fallen deep deep deeply in love with a slightly disheveled and fully brilliant writer with consistently impressive verbiage who a) makes an already endlessly exciting life even more exciting and b) cements my comfort of... being.

I have a private blog that talks all about my love life. And my privates. So i'm not gonna talk about that here. I be work. Art. Politics. Life. Related.

So with the new job, managing a brand new bar, i've been learning a lotta lot a lot of new things. Besides the imaginable: creating a vibe, ordering stock, and tracking sales, the foremost is managing the staff. OK, so, listen: i'm a bit of a softy. I really really like people. It's hard for me to like somebody so much and simultaneously reprimand them for a shitty job.

I feel like i'm always hinting. Which is ridiculous for someone who has "YAY FOR LIFE!" tattooed on her forearm in big bold letters for all to see. I should be direct. I should be able to say: "I feel disappointed by your performance. I would like you to be more of a team player. These are the ways you can make a difference:"

In fact. Pact. I will.

And, in the meantime, in appreciation of solidarity:

Sitting alone in a clutch chair made from drinking straws by Scott Jarvie

mp3: MOUTH'S CRADLE - Front Porch Back Porch
Blog credit: The Burning Ear

Rainblurg

2010-02-02T00:45:00.000-08:00

I found this illustrator CousCous Kid just now... he seems to be one of these guys who just really likes looking at women. Most of the time naked women. Pretty much all of his stuff is ladies. Ladies ladies ladies. Though i did find the second one called Bedtime Story below which doesn't have a lady in it and happens to go pretty nicely with Hallmark.

Hallmark by CousCous Kid

Bedtime Story by CousCous Kid

Whoah! I just realized all my posts have been pretty rainbow lately. Am i GAY?!?!? MOM! Am i?? Or maybe i'm just getting in touch with my lesbo side now that i'm all hitched and shiz. Yeah that's probably it.

Speaking of rainbows, my pal and amazing contributor to Vancouver music scene, Cam Reed, has just signed to Warp Records with his solo project Babe Rainbow. Eerie eerie stuff.

mp3: BABE RAINBOW - Shaved
Blog credit: The Fmly

Music Video: Major Lazer

2009-11-27T18:49:00.001-08:00

Oh. My. Word. This has got to be one of the most repulsive videos in recent history made for a similarly repulsive song.

Major Lazer "Keep it Going Louder" from Eric Wareheim on Vimeo.

The colors and the digital is all eye candy, so why creep it out with those shrunken man faces on large, scantily clad, ladies bodies? Are you trying to be witty? Create some juxtaposition? What does that have to do with the song? Nothing. There is nothing challenging about this song!!

Darkness

2009-11-26T17:02:00.000-08:00

I get all of 4 hours of daylight these days. I find the nearly-constant darkness to be a catalyst for complete personal metamorphosis: from a bubbly, active outdoor-type to a lethargic, whiny indoor-type. I ache more, i sleep more, and therefore i dream more painfully staccato dreams: murders, loss, ruin, endless pursuit, dead robots, peril.

Meathaus represented illustrator Farel Dalrymple has announced his forthcoming comic book, The Wrenchies, from which the above panels were jacked. If you likey like... there's an interview with Farel on the Vice site where you can also see more illustrations from the book.

mp3: I LOVE YOU BUT I'VE CHOSEN DARKNESS: When You Go Out
Blog credit: Music Is Art

Music Video!

2009-11-08T20:16:00.001-08:00

Ready, Able by Grizzly Bear

Collage. Face.

2009-11-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

I started this blog as an outlet for my collaging - and yet this is the first time i've posted my own collage. This is something i like to do (and impose it on my friends during drunken nights). I have stacks and stacks of them. Anyway... most recently:

by Adam Jessop

by Malissa Jeffers

by Dean Halford

by me, Dani Vachon
mp3: ELLEN ALLIEN & APPARAT: Do Not Break
Blog credit: Circle Square Triangle

Quickie = Simian Mobile Disco + some rad photograph

2009-09-14T02:18:00.000-07:00

Oops it's after midnight. I did it again. Didn't mean to go out dancing til 2:30, but free beer and good music and un ske un ske un ske... i gotta work tomorrow (today). So here... lemme give you a Quickie (and i know my art posts haven't been kickin as much ass lately, but... i'm sleepy... cut a girl some slack):

mp3: SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO - Audacity of Huge
Blog credit: Dinleme Parki

*sigh*

Les Electrix

2009-09-08T01:14:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure my hard drive is out to get me. It's not tersely holding a knife over it's "head" with the tip quivering an inch from my face while i lay unknowingly asleep - and it's not planting delicious poisons within arm's reach - it is, however, stubbornly refusing to accept new songs, and it is regularly warning me of its illness. It's playing les trix... ELECTRIX. Clearly, as someone paid to select songs in the hippest of public hangouts, it puts my life in danger to know of a vast array of fabulous new songs that i cannot play for the people.

So i'm protesting! Eff tha plastik! I suggest a return to des animaux de les woods (that's french, just to let all y'all Americans know):

(FALSE ALARM! I hope you didn't get your hopes up that you might buy one... these shits are 404 NOT FOUND)

mp3: EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROES - I Come In Please
Blog credit: Pasta Primavera

To Babies or Not To Babies

2009-09-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

There is no question that the world is over populated. Global warming is clearly an issue. We have transformed the majority of our natural resources into hectares and hectares of trash. A scientist once said that the world cannot safely support more than a million and half human beings.

Giraffe Sex by Belle Brooks

So people have to die. We can't keep everyone alive indefinitely. All these population thinning terminal illnesses have arrived for a reason. And we can't be procreating at the same rate our grandparents were. They all thought, "more babies is good for the economy!" The economy can no longer be our number one priority.

So what does this mean for people like me (and maybe you) who naturally have an instinct, and accompanying intense desire, to have a child? I've been thinking about this for many years now, and my theory is this: each couple who wants children should have one and only one and commit to using cloth diapers and teaching the ways of green, while those who do not want children should TIE THOSE TUBES and guarantee that they never do.

Harsh? Maybe. But not as harsh as the average 600 "disposable" diapers per baby per month (that's 7200 per year) used by over 90% of the world's 134 million babies per year. That's 868.3 BILLION DIAPERS PER YEAR. "Disposable" being a sickening term given that most "disposable" items are made with plastics that will take 1000 years to biodegrade. Just sayin.

mp3: BABY DAYLINER - You Push I'll Go
Blog credit: Cerulean's Love of Music

Hint: Vacuums In Reverse

2009-08-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

As you well know, when a vacuum is working normally it sucks up all those little bits and pieces that you can't sweep up or collect with your fingers. It gets in the corners. It sucks up small, winged insects. It's thorough.

by Raquel Issima

So who was the genius that invented the reverse switch? Think about it for a minute... what is the need for a "blow" feature? So you blow all those little bits and pieces that you can't sweep up or collect with your fingers into... what? the air? the corner? your dog's face? all over your person? And in the instance of fruit flies... ??? Nope. Not OK. This is chaos. This is mayhem. And this is dirty.

by Raquel Issima

mp3: GOLDEN SILVERS - True Romance (Remix)
Blog credit: Hate Something Beautiful

Today my song and art don't relate to my hint. Cuz i'm too busy to look for related items. Suck it.

Hint: Apples

2009-08-27T11:06:00.001-07:00

So there are a whole bunch of thoughts that i really feel like blogging about because they are so on me brain, but then what if so-and-so browses my blog or google search results reveal my true feelings about such-and-such? So i'll be cryptic.

As with the wind spreading dandelion spoors, gravity can make the apple fall far far from the tree. Two apples from the same tree can even end up different colors, so that if they were presented to you on two separate plates you'd think they were unrelated brands of fruit.

by Jason Levesque aka StuntKid

mp3: PANDA BEAR - I'm Not (Phaseone Remix)
Blog credit: Pasta Primavera

Olio Festival

2009-08-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

Dearest 25 people who heart my blog: sorry i've been lacking in the post department, but as you may already know, i've been throwing a festival. And while this may sound pretty straight forward, it is actually quite challenging and time consuming. I hope to be back in blog land next week. In the meantime, please enjoy two whole entire photos from the fest and a song i'm really digging this week:

I'm not sure who this is (!?) performing at the Red Room Thursday August 13th in front of a giant wall installation by Robert Mearns and Andy Dixon. Photo courtesy of The Futurists

Fake Shark-Real Zombie! performing at Funky Winkerbeans Thursday August 13th. Photo courtesy of The Futurists

mp3: SEA WOLF - You're A Wolf

Questions

2009-08-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

I have questions... so many questions... i think it means i'm having an existential crisis.

Are we inside our bodies, or are we our bodies?
What are forces made of (ie. gravity and attraction)?
Does free will exist or are we slaves to fate?
Can we really manifest anything we want like The Secret suggests or is Rhonda Byrne just a lucky hippy who saw a window and opened it?
Where do we get one of these for our house?

Baltic Installation by Seripop

I'm Listening by Seripop

mp3: GANG GANG DANCE - First Communion
Blog credit: Cream Team

Funerals

2009-08-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

I hang out with a lot of grieving people. And by "hang out" i mean "walk past them on the street." There is a funeral home and crematorium downstairs of my apartment. I have no idea where they put the burning corpse smoke, cuz i never smell it. Must be some rigorous bylaws that apply to crematoriums in the middle of the city. But they can't put a bylaw on crying. No crying in the streets. I wish. It's a off-putting event to weave your way through a bunch of bawlers every afternoon.

by Daniel Danger

by Daniel Danger

I thought the darkness of Mr. Danger's work might correlate with that story. But you know me... my stories almost never correlate with anything.

mp3: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Brothers On A Hotel Bed
Blog credit: The Mahogany Blog

Mindsplosionz : three different songs (!!!)

2009-07-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

I win. My mind made the biggest splash when it exploded. I like to dance harder than you.

by Yuko Shimizu

Tonight my roomie and i went to see the Bowerbirds at The Biltmore in Vancouver. I knew i loved their songs based on the fact that i'd been mad stealing them off the internet since the buzz hit and, when i found out they were in town this afternoon, i knew it would be self-punishment for weeks if weren't there. But really... they hit every note of their perpetual 4-part harmonies. Accordion, violin, upright bass, sideways kit, acoustic guitar and poets. Brilliance.

mp3: BOWERBIRDS - In Our Talons
Blog credit: Citzen Dick

I wanted to tell them, "I stole 3 songs of yours off the internet." I really did. I wanted to tell them that "It's OK that I stole them cuz I 'DJ' them at Narrow Lounge on Tuesdays and people ask what's up." I'm perpetuating the love, see? Love ooze. But i didn't tell them that. I was too busy riding the high of having whistled using my fingers for the first time

Anyway. Yea. Random change of subject: I'm still hell-bent on bringing some dancier artists to town. Things 'n' stuff.

mp3: KID CUI - Man On The Moon
Blog credit: The Burning Ear

Diverse Populations

2009-07-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

Little dots, big dots, white dots, red dots, dots with dots inside...

by Jacob Livengood

Momma always told me "It takes all kinds..." And as you probably know (because everybody's momma says it) this is in reference to the variety of people on this earth.

Regardless of that deeply insightful wisdom, i still don't understand people who press their faces into a frown while simply walking down the street or sitting on the bus. That takes a lot of facial muscles... if you work those out too much you risk developing strange bulges in your cheeks, lips and forehead. And that's a Dani-fact. Differing from real-live-fact only in that it's not necessarily true.

Today, my experience doing advance production for Olio Festival has highlighted the diversity of people in the world. There are people who are easily excitable. There are people who look for any excuse to throw a tantrum. There are people who are flexible. There are people who, for the life of them, can't help but be the most beautiful, creative souls you have ever laid eyes on.

by Jacob Livengood

mp3: THE VERY BEST - Julia
Blog credit: The Tape Is Not Sticky

Digital Surrealism

2009-07-24T02:49:00.000-07:00

My phone can tell where i am. It can tell me how to get to the closest coffee shop. It can play my favorite songs, take photos, write in my blog. I can video chat real-time with my sister who lives on the other side of the world. I can boil water in 30 seconds. When something big happens, we all know about it within hours because we're all connected by electromagnetic rays. Yeah that's it. Electromagnetic rays.

Here in the future, some of us even have the ability to render the most realistic-looking, surreal, digitally manipulated images and soundscapes:

by Erik Johansson

mp3: GROUPER - Heavy Water (Phaseone Edit)
Blog credit: Gorilla vs. Bear

Quickie = Joanna Vasconcelos + The Big Pink (remixed by Gang Gang Dance)

2009-07-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Both by Joanna Vasconcelos

mp3: THE BIG PINK - Velvet (Gang Gang Dance remix)
Blog credit: Gorrilla vs. Bear

How Much Vancouver Kicks It

2009-07-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

Vancouver is SO RAD. We have festivals and car-free Sundays. We have beaches and mountains. We have green roofs. We have a chef cooking for 48 hours straight (2 hour seatings of 20 people) down at grace-gallery this weekend while indie short films are shown on the projector. We have culture to the moon. Today i share with you two very talented visual artists and two amazing musicians from Vancouver:

Portion of the Atlantis installation by Christian Nicolay

Portion of the Generation Atari installation by Christian Nicolay

Winning album art by Andy Dixon

Detail of a Sitka T-shirt design by Andy Dixon

mp3: LIGHTNING DUST - Never Seen
Blog credit: Citizen Dick

mp3: HEY OCEAN - Mama Cries
Blog credit: i heart music

Dinner for Lovers

2009-07-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

Share by Dan Park

A four letter word
I clutch my breast
I hang my head
Release my breath

I want not a psychology song or
Forbidden minutes the whole day long

A five fingered hand
I count the ways
I sink my teeth
In loin fillets

I fear not a long, thin life alone
But the digestion of my own marrow

Poem by ME, gaylords

Finally by Dan Park

Swim by Dan Park

mp3: METRONOMY - The End of You Too
Blog credit: Blog Rockin Peet

Sleep Dep

2009-07-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, i seriously just spent 100 solid hours over 5 days designing the program guide for my festival. I had an average of 5 hours of sleep a night, ate at my computer, and had one break consisting of walking 3 blocks to a sushi restaurant for an hour. Thank God it's done and it looks good. So here's the thing, i'm exhausted. I shouldn't even technically be conscious right now. So what i'm gonna do: i'm gonna get horizontal, then when i wake up, i'm going to find you some amazing art & music. Deal? Deal.

Quickie = James Jean + Mum

2009-07-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Trike. Graphite and Digital, 4.75 x 7", 2006. By James Jean.

Chemistry. By James Jean.

Wallpaper for Haaz Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey. Graphite and Digital Color, approx. 10 x 33 feet, 2008. By James Jean.

mp3: MUM - The Smell of Today Is Sweet Like Breastmilk In The Wind
Blog credit: The Decibel Tolls

Never Grow Up

2009-06-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

I read Getting The Love You Want while at the farm. Mom likes self-help books and i forgot to pack a fiction. It was surprisingly interesting. The psychology of romantic partnership suggests that we pair up to heal old childhood wounds. And here i thought it was for the sex and spooning.

The book also suggests that as children we are "whole beings" and as we are raised, we push parts of our personality into repression in an effort to please our parents and therefore survive. This repression apparently makes us partial beings who wander the earth as adults looking for our other half.

I don't know about that, but i do know i like kids! And i've always loved their drawings. South Korean photographer Yeondoo Jung obviously shares my appreciation but with more lust. Check it out:

If you like his stuff, please follow the link, there is so much more incredible work posted there. And you know what is SO BALLZ??? I just blew a speaker. Fuck.

mp3: NOW NOW EVERY CHILDREN - Car
Blog credit: Eldur Og Is

The Farm

2009-06-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

Remember art-deco?

both by Erte

So i'm going away to the farm for 5 days. Helping the mom with the chores. Right in the middle of a huge work rush. Good one, Dani. So anyway, thought it best to leave you with another Quickie cuz there ain't gonna be fresh materials for a few days. Unless, miraculously, one of my "contributors" decides to contribute something. Ha! Prove me wrong, ladies... prove me wrong :-)

mp3: THE ART OF NOISE - Moments In Love (12" Beaten Version)
Blog credit: Art Decade

Quickie = Moby, Apparat, Neasden Control Centre

2009-06-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

Hayward Gallery Installation (part) by Neasden Control Centre

TV On The Radio -music video by Neasden Control Centre

mp3: MOBY - Pale Horses (Apparat remix)
Blog credit: Datasapiens

Sheena Beaston

2009-06-12T04:34:00.001-07:00

Sheena, you're a fucking Goddess. And you know it. Thank you for e-tronically sharing your amazing stiz-eez from the NY to the Ceeeez.

Sheendawg, we friends on the ol FB! And we never actually met. So um... next time i'm in NYC me+you+sparks=something like my vibe right now, except instead of being alone in front of a computer drinking vodka, it'll be me and you and a shit ton of radsters making hilarious jokes.

And also, i'm heavy petting this song right now. Not even kidding you.

mp3: MORRISEY - When Last I Spoke To Carol (Toy Selectah remix)
Blog credit: Subex

Hi! Like art?

by Container Collective

by Container Collective

I might be drunk. It's the time of day that teachers get up and influence the youth... whilst i attempt to influence that one random dude from Amsterdam who stumbles upon my blog before i decide this post is foolish and remove it.

Craig Kosak

2009-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

Up here in Vancouver, if i were a painter, i would paint ocean and mountains and glass-steel high rises. Maybe the odd seagull eating some litter or scenester drinking a can of Dude Beer in skinny jeans on the beach.

So when i see Craig Kosak's paintings, knowing full well that he's from the South West, i imagine he's surrounded by horses, ravens and buffalo on a regular basis. And here i thought the South West was all strip-malls and fast food restaurants. Pfft. Go back to school.

Four Winds by Craig Kosak

Ravens And The Bison by Craig Kosak

mp3: CHRIS GARNEAU - Fireflies
Blog credit: Winter Academy

A. Andrew Gonzalez

2009-06-05T17:57:00.001-07:00

This morning (noon) i woke up in the bathtub after walking home drunk post-DJ-debut. I had been dancing pretty hard all night on what turned out to be the last day of a heat wave. I think i exercised for a good solid 4.5 hours all told, including 1 hour directly up a mountain... i'm not even kidding, there were like 1000 "stairs" straight up. Anyhoo, the point of my story is that when i woke up in the tub, which was filled with blankets not water, i smelled like a hippy. Now, i got no problem with peace and love, but B.O. leaves something to be desired.

I did wash the grime off pretty much immediately, but the feeling of hippyness remains. I love you Dawn & Nik. Love you mom. Love you Rache and Antonia. Love you Matty. Love you everybody! I loOove you, world. Love your hippy ass, A. Andrew Gonzalez.

Naga by A. Andrew Gonzalez

Unio Mystica

mp3: LEE HARVEY OSMOND - Love of One
Blog credit: Hero Hill

Inka Essenhigh

2009-06-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

I am refreshed, despite this massive sun burn on my back (uh oh no ozone!), by the uniquely fluid delivery on these paintings.

The Snow At Night by Inka Essenhigh

Now i know Inka Essenhigh is not the newest kid on the block, but she was a forger, and for that she holds a special place in my blog. In the late 90's she inspired several artists in New York (most noteworthy: Cecily Brown, Will Cotton) to follow her "Pop Surrealist" style.

Pop Surrealists, great term, great art. Can it be applied it to music, too?

mp3: HOT CHIP - Take It In
Blog credit: Mr. Meuble

Moments

2009-06-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

I went to the ION Magazine party last Saturday. It took place in an old abandoned bank on Main & 2nd Avenue in Vancouver. It was very raw and original and there was free chocolate and gum everywhere. Needless to say, i scooped as many chocolate bars as i could fit in my purse; i'm just that kind of girl. They are called Cadbury Moments - 8 individually wrapped pieces of solid chocolate with soft gooey chocolate in the middle (per bar).

Having a plethora of free, soft chocolate is an absolute hazard for me. I have been eating ludicrous amounts of the stuff. Yesterday it felt like my blood was vibrating. It wasn't until this very moment that i realized it may have been from consuming detrimental quantities of chocolate goo. My veins got snakey and i felt nauseous. To illustrate to you how i felt, i have found these paintings by Jack Morefield:

Red by Jack Morefield

Tara by Jack Morefield

Do you feel it? No? Grab yourself about 75 Moments, eat them in 3 days, and you will. Guar-an-teed.

mp3: JON HOPKINS - Light Through The Veins
Blog credit: Pampelmoose

Um

2009-05-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

What is this? Seriously, what is this?? And better yet, what kind of person would paint this? I did a little surfin trying to find out who this Chris Ryniak character really is, but all i found out is that he was born a baby.

(an ulcer with eyes eating a rock?) by Chris Ryniak

(an angry hummbingbird carrying a giant lima bean?) by Chris Ryniak

So what have i learned today? Hallucinogens make you crazy.

mp3: MEW - Introducing Palace Players
Blog credit: Esoteric Mumblings

Grasshopper-kabobs

2009-05-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Few times in my life have i been cruel to animals, but when i was about 4 years old with family and friends at an outdoor Blues Festival in the Okanagan, i did a terrible thing. The Okanagan is hot and dry and laden with grasshoppers. Me and my little friends thought it would be fun to make grasshopper-kabobs, skewering them alive, and then placing the kabob in a plastic bag and pulling the stick out and watching them spazz about until they eventually died. It was disgusting. Lucky for my conscious, i saved a baby bird that had been bitten on by my cat a few months later. Its brains were coming out of the holes my cat's teeth had left in its skull. Regardless of that act of sainthood, my conscious has not been cleared. The first thing i thought of when i saw this beautiful illustration, was grasshopper-kabobs.

by Feric

For the record, i now hold a deep respect and love for animals (and insects), and prefer vegetarian food.

mp3: LA ROUX - In For The Kill
Blog credit: Chrome Music

Gayness

2009-05-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today's topic of conversation is gayness. The happy, fruity kind. Imagine a world where black, white and the infinite gamut of grays in between didn't exist - where your standard choices were lime green and hot pink, and instead of shadows there was a flurry of rainbow noise. In that world, the boogieman would look a little something like this:

by Nagi Noda

Did you even realize that a flurry of rainbow noise could be so scary? Well that's what i'm here for. To edjamicate you. The spunky Japanese born NYC artist/director, Nagi Noda, has directed music videos for The Scissor Sisters and TIGA, a series of fashion installations and a bizarre series of Animal Hair Hats:

I don't know about you, but if i had a bizarre Animal Hair Hat to wear out tonight, i'd be pretty gay.

mp3: PATRICK WOLF - The Vulture
Blog credit: Obscene Mannequin

Paper Cuts

2009-05-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

OMG! WTF! I'm so giddy! Cut up paper! Paper. Cut. I can't even hold it together long enough to write about this artist i just found. Taylor McKimens makes life-sized 3D cartoon installations out of paper:

Sorry Truck by Taylor McKimens

Sorry Truck by Taylor McKimens

Boob Tube by Taylor McKimens

Detail of Boob Tube by Taylor McKimens

Detail of Boob Tube by Taylor McKimens

On the music tip, Telepathe is coming to Vancouver on June 9th at the Biltmore. So gonna be there:

mp3: TELEPATHE - So Fine
Blog credit: Et Musique Pour Tous

Polterguys

2009-05-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Maybe i'm a creep. I'm always assuming there are poltergeist (polterguys?) in my apartment, making the printer go off in the middle of the night, or the coffee maker spray black goo all over the kitchen, or condiments whip out of the fridge, across the room and directly into my eye. But maybe the polterguys are actually in my brain!

All that might explain why i want creepy art like Matt Duffin's on every wall of my apartment. Even his medium sounds creepy... encaustic wax. Buh Buh BUHHHH...

In The Hole by Matt Duffin

Greener Grass by Matt Duffin

In sticking with the theme here, Murder by Death has a creepy name, taken from the 1976 Robert Moore film by the same name. And Adam Turla's vocals are pretty effin creepy, too. This entry is like one gigantic party for creeps... and polterguys.

mp3: MURDER BY DEATH - I'm Comin Home
Blog credti: Anyone's Guess

And now, for just $18K...

2009-05-20T01:24:00.000-07:00

...you could own this magnificent sci-fi nightmare! What is it with sculptors and their uncanny ability to create frighteningly beautiful (and frightening) works? Like those lady-busts with their perfectly firm tits poppin out for all the world to see... beautiful, beautiful tits... on headless, armless, groinless women!

And what is this now? A squid? A squid wearing a jaw-restraint so he doesn't bite your face off? Good. And what if this "jaw-restraint" breaks? Do you think Timothy thought of that? Do you think he considered the consequences??

Midori Ika by Timothy Hochstetter

mp3: PHOENIX - Love Like Sunset, Pt.I
Blog credit: Cities of The Plain

Water Studio

2009-05-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

With ever-increasing human populations and the value of waterfront property these days, i've often wondered why we haven't yet mass-adopted floating communities.

Water Studio in the Netherlands is the leading architectural firm for floating homes, roads, parking garages, airstrips, restaurants and harbors. Global warming bla bla bla... when the flood comes, Noah green-eyed, these people are going to be ready.

mp3: THE WALKMEN - On The Water (Live on WOXY.COM)
Blog credit: The Futurist at WOXY.COM

Images

2009-05-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Dudes, i just looked at this blog using someone else's computer and all the images were stretched wonky. I'm gonna try to figure out why and fix it, cuz that shit's embarrassing. Come back soon, ya?

Ric Stultz

2009-05-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hey it's a long weekend!! What does that mean to someone who doesn't have consistent work (like myself)? That there's no need to feel guilty for a lack of productivity!! AND... it's time to get reckless in the streets!! POW! ...and possibly nude at some point.

But while you're deciding if you want to take your clothes off or not, check out Ric Stultz. He tends to illustrate popular cliche's in a consistent color palette and simplified, blocky, cartoon style. His medium is gauche and gesso on paper, and he currently has three series on the go:

1) Things

There Goes The Neighborhood

2) People

Making Ammends

3) Sci-Fi

Bird On A Wire

Believe it or not, you can get a piece commissioned by Ric for under $300 (or at least that was the price when i inquired several months ago). He is also a Gelaskins artist - Gelaskins make a variety of illustrated covers for laptops and iPods.

Here's a dance party song for your dance party Friday night... booty shakin strippin tunes. Now GO - get reckless!

mp3: DON DIABLO & EXAMPLE - Hooligans (Extended Mix)
Blog credit: We Like It Indie

Stumbled Upon

2009-05-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

So i use StumbleUpon to fill voids in my schedule, which were rare up until this week. Generally i love Stumbling because it allows me to discover all kinds if great web sites i otherwise would never see, however, since certain items are sometimes added by themselves (like a JPG instead of a www) it can be tricky to explore the authors of certain articles or art. I found this haunting, erotic drawing, for example:

If it weren't for pasting the URL in this blog right now, i would have no idea who created it. Lucky i can now tell that it's by a Japanese artist whose web site (written entirely in Japanese) is called Hakuchi. In researching this term, i've found no further information on the artist, but have learned that hakuchi is the Japanese name for the years 650–654.

mp3: JAPANESE CARTOON - Firing Squad

Jeremy Shaw

2009-05-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

As an esteemed visual and installation artist and musician, Jeremy Shaw understands aesthetic and intrigue more than most people. Add that to the worldliness acquired by traveling the globe on tour with his band Circlesquare and showing exhibitions of his installation art, and you've got a recipe for unimaginable kicks.

The most noteworthy of Jeremy's installations is probably DMT (2004) an 8-channel video installation featuring video cameras focused on 8 different subjects (including himself) who have taken Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a potent psychedelic drug that is found naturally in many plants and even in the human body. Though the drug's purpose in the human body is not entirely clear, it's release has been noted during birth, death, and dreaming. The 8 subjects were then filmed with the music of their choice in the background and their eyes and heads rolling. In the editing room the subjects' post-trip description of their experiences were added as subtitles - curious, disjointed recountings that might make even the squarest of squares want to go circle. The exhibition has shown in Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles and London.

• • •

The album "Songs About Dancing and Drugs" (2009) leaked in Vancouver several months ago because Jeremy has so many friends here, but whatevs, sharezies today are still Circlesquare's "Hey You Guys." I was browsing through all the remixes of Circlesquare that are out there as freebies right now (by artists like The Juan MacLean and Russ Chimes/Annorak), thinking maybe i'd turn up something a little fresher, but while the remixes seem to be getting significantly more attention from fans and critics, i staunchly swear by Jeremy's OG (Original Genius).

mp3: CIRCLESQUARE - Hey You Guys
Blog credit: Certain Songs

Mark Jenkins

2009-05-11T02:03:00.000-07:00

Back to more relaxing things, like stumbling randomly around the Internet. I just found this sick installation artist named Mark Jenkins who has a tendency toward creating "natural" things like plants and animals out of unnatural materials like packing tape and placing them in interesting settings, sometimes natural and other times urban.

He also has a series like the below, where he uses stuffed clothes that end up looking like parts of people, and placing them around the city generating reactions from passers by. Defs check out his web site if you have the time.

Le Sigh

2009-05-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Usually i'm not a procrastinator. Usually i just get the shit done. But that's when it's something i love. Currently, the looming responsibility is term-end grading. I do not love passing the judgment. I cleaned my whole apartment from top to bottom yesterday (and like taking everything off the counter and scrubbing in the back corners) because "it just had to be done" and not at all because grading is the worst thing in the world. Today, after mom's day brunch with someone else's mom i absolutely had to update my blog and surf Hype Machine. Lucky for you, it means i have a killer song to post.

mp3: MODERAT - A New Error
Blog credit: MBV Music

Oh! And i found this hilarious, adorable photo yesterday. Hahahaha! It makes me laugh so hard.

Couch Surfer

2009-05-09T20:16:00.001-07:00

My genius room mate just figured out how to surf the internet on Apple TV using this shareware called Couch Surfer. Obv we are using it so we can listen to Hype Machine on our big system in the living room.

Poked Studio

2009-05-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

I found these awesome free desktop wallpapers the other day by
Poked Studio and downloaded them all. Then i set my desktop to change images every 30 minutes and it's added this sick, burly excitement to my work day. Almost as much as the time i figured out you could add a widget to your iGoogle called "The Daily Puppy".

by Poked Studio

RemixFace

2009-05-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

I was listening to my music collection earlier, doing ye old spring cleaning whilst blasted on pot, and KAPOW! i was hit with a case of the "this is TOTALLY AWESOME"'s and every song that came on the jook melted my brain a little more. This was the moment i fell-in-love-all-over-again with two remix EPs: Junior Boys "Dead Horse EP" and The Raveonettes "Remixed". I rushed over to Hype Machine to heart these songs for my stream when i realized that the perfectly balanced rock/electro Trentmoeller remix of Raveonettes' Lust was not on there. The world deserves this track (and be patient with it because it gets progressively better and better):

mp3: THE RAVEONETTES - Lust (Trentmoeller Remix)

This one, however, was on there, courtesy of the talented illustrator Lauren Hrybyk. It's the kind of track that you can shake yer azz to while getting ready for the Playas Ball Penthouse Party. I should know, cuz i'm going there. Red carpet, biznitches! Meow.

mp3: JUNIOR BOYS - In The Morning (Hot Chip Remix)

A piece for Urbanite Magazine by Lauren Hrybyk

So Over Vocoder

2009-05-05T13:08:00.001-07:00

Does anyone like autotune and vocoder anymore? Q of the day, fo rilzz. If you can't sing, maybe you shouldn't try. Maybe you should just make the instrumental part... like Mimosa. But if you CAN sing, like Peaches, for example... maybe you should just keep up the good work, Merrill.

mp3: MIMOSA - Kinetic (mp3)
blog credit: www.dinlemeparki.com

mp3: PEACHES - I Feel Cream (mp3)
blog credit: Reformusique

Crush-a-saurs

2009-05-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

Well i'll say, isn't this a treat: www.textsfromlastnight.com

I Twitted it and shared it on Facebook and then realized that i really want to post a text that the crush-a-saur sent me a few days ago, in all it's ridiculousness... but then it dawned on me that we might not be in that zone quite yet... you know the one where you can publicly mock someone you like, or make jokes at their expense. That's, like, at least 3 months in, right?

Speaking of crush-a-saurs, do you ever, say, join eHarmony just so you don't lose your mind when you're super into someone?

Jizz Shrubs

2009-05-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

You know those shrubs with purple leaves and yellow flowers that smell just like jizz? Jizz shrubs... um... good one, Big Guy.