The Ancient Astronauts are said to be extraterrestrial beings who briefly visited ancient civilizations on earth, only to return in modern times. If bios are to be believed, two of these, Kabanjak and Dogu came back to Cologne, Germany, in 2001, and promptly became mash-up and hip-hop experts, remixing and producing for former members of groups such as Digable Planets and The Pharcyde. On the eve of their new release, We Are To Answer on their own Switchblade Recordings, we caught up with the aliens, to glean what we could from them.
Hailing from Oakland, California comes Del the Funky Homosapien no doubt a true innovator and legend in the world of underground Hip-hop. Del got his start rapping behind his cousin, Ice Cube, as a member of his back-up band and crew. After parting ways, Del ventured out as a solo artist, making music that immediately gained attention. Del’s music offered a fresh new outlook on an otherwise gangsta rap controlled California Hip-Hop scene. His viewpoint offered a more detached alternative style laced with humorous rhymes and funky beats. After securing a deal with Elektra Records, Del released two critically acclaimed albums, I Wish My Brother George Was Here (1991) and No Need For Alarm (1993). Despite record sales in the hundred of thousands, his third album, Future Development, was never commercially released.
The Jaguar Club is a trio residing in Brooklyn, NY who formed shortly before New Years Eve 2006. The band has released 2 EP’s of danceable pop tunes and played shows up and down the Eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida. At home they have been thrilled to play with some very fine bands including: The Duke Spirit, The Cinematics, Scissors For Lefty, Mobius Band, Pela, Bear Hands, The Shaky Hands, Love Of Diagrams and many more.
Boy In Static is San Francisco-based duo of Alexander Chen and Kenji Ross. Their third album, Candy Cigarette marks a major shift bringing the floor-stomping confidence of their live show into the studio. Candy Cigarette is an album of contrasts. Rickety 1960′s toy pianos dance alongside glossy, 1980′s synthesied drum machines. Precise viola arrangements sweep over one-mic improvised drum takes. The intimate 1940′s crooning of the title track ushers in the orchestral grandeur of “Half-Lives.”
From the summertime sidewalk soundtrack “Young San Francisco” to the icy paranoia of dancehall-inspired “Tijuana,” 10 songs flaunt equal respect for both the sonic experimentation of Animal Collective and the verse-chorus pop format of New Order.
Almost alone among bands of the last two decades, Tortoise is a group that resists easy metaphors and analogies, who can be described as sounding like only themselves and no one else. Twenty years after its founding, the band’s signature and singularly inimitable sound—a fluid intersection of dub, dance, jazz, techno, rock, and classical minimalism, with no part overwhelming or dominating the whole—remains an American and international original. Even more unusually, they seem to have arrived at their sound with almost no apprenticeship to speak of; to judge from their early singles and albums alone, they seem to have come into being with their musical identity and DNA fully formed, like Athena from the forehead of Zeus. Further, while the group has spawned countless imitators, heirs, and followers—sincere, flattering, and otherwise—Tortoise remains unique in the world of contemporary music for their boundless intellectual curiosity, their unmistakable compositional voice, and their synthesis of seemingly contradictory sound worlds far from their doorstep.
May 29 Buffalo, NY Tralf Music Hall
May 30 Brooklyn, NY The Bell House
May 31 New York, NY World Financial Center Winter
Jun 11 Athens, Greece Synch Festival
Jul 11 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
Jul 13 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Jul 15 Austin, TX The Mohawk
Jul 17 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Music Festival
Jul 19 Washington, DC Black Cat
Jul 20 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church
Jul 24 Tokyo, Japan Fuji Rock Festival
Aug 14 St. Malo, France La Route Du Rock
Aug 22 Hasselt, Belgium Pukkelpop
We came.
We saw.
We drank.
We saw some movies.
We got drunk.
We went to some parties and red carpet events.
We got even more drunk.
And some of us got so drunk we thought it might be funny after seeing The Hangover if we made out with someone named Bob. That was me. It’s not a surprise to say that movies have had an influence on my life… for good and for bad. But I never expected to get so hammered that going to Graceland Chapel for a ceremony would seem like a good idea. I was there for a film festival and only saw The Hangover a week earlier which is a movie set in Vegas, yet not screening at CineVegas, but somehow I ended up at that chapel.
There’s a lot more to the tale, but CineVegas was a whirlwind of amazing A-list stars, epic parties and memorable movies. In fact, I was happy to learn that my festival favorites went on to win awards. Easier with Practice took the Grand Jury Prize with Godspeed getting a Special Jury Award and All In: The Poker Movie was awarded the Documentary Jury Prize. What makes CineVegas special is not just the hospitality, parties and movies – it’s the city itself. Anything can happen. But not everything stays there as anyone who has had photos of their drunken escapades posted on the internet can attest. Um, like me.
I am happy to note that after the dust cleared and I woke up with my “wife” Bob next to me, one detail was overlooked. Our marriage license was never notarized or certified or even made legal. In short, we had a great time , but somehow in my drunken stupor, I avoided the one detail that would have led to real trouble. So while my alcohol-induced glaze drove me to do something stupid… it also saved me from making that stupid thing real. Which means the next round is on me, I’m a single man again!
I’ll always remember… um…. most of CineVegas 2009. 2009! And what I don’t remember, there’s photos to prove I that I did indeed have a time to remember.
The silent half of the post-alt-magic act of Penn and Teller narrates his very personal tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. When we first meet Teller in & Teller, he is clearly distraught attempting to survive in a world taken over by… zombies! As boredom sets in, Teller tells the tale of how he got himself into this mundane post-apocalyptic life… how the first zombie he remembered seeing didn’t look much different than most Vegas tourists. He even tells us how his partner Penn Jillette eventually succumbed to his own zombie fate from the bite of a zombie fan. The sequel & Teller 2 finds a lonely Teller just wishing for some companionship of some kind. His wish is fulfilled in the form of a zombie Vegas showgirl. Teller passes the time being chased by the slow-moving zombie dancer. After awhile, he even develops something of an act with his undead beauty. Is this love? Both films are short, sweet, pee-your-pants funny and leave one begging for more. And even stranger than observing a celebrity deal with a world overrun by zombies is… hearing Teller’s voice for the very first time. Scary!
While Marvel’s Thor film based on their popular superhero comic book series is years away, the Norse God provides comic relief as part of an odd ensemble cast in Thor at the Bus Stop. The God of Thunder is oddly annoyed that his power to wield his might hammer is scoffed at by a persnickety little child who can perform feats such as spell the word “square.” I mean, Thor doesn’t just toss a basketball at a basket – his mighty hammer comes crashing into the backboard. This is just one of the stories in a film that attempts to explain the details behind those random people we see passing by us every day. You know, the ones you meet and wonder to yourself, “Hey, what’s that guy’s story?” We’ve all seen these people, a guy dressed like Thor, the dude with the Mohawk, the man named Lester who was struck by lightning and now has a road sign penetrating his torso yet he still is walking and talking as if the fatal injury does not affect him. Okay, Lester’s story is a bit ridiculous, but each character has a story to tell and somewhere along the way, they’ll get what’s coming to them. The most memorable exchange occurs between Lester and a woman who was so upset with her boyfriend that after he told him to stand up for himself and be more of an asshole, he left her. Shortly after that exchange, she figured it all out. (Be careful what you wish for… you know the rest.)
Like a series of shorts woven together into a random order with some, but not all of them connecting, the results are mixed. Thor is worth some giggles and Lester learns his lesson – but for a mixed bag of good and bad, more than a few smiles are cracked.
At the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, the Santa Monica pier stretches into the ocean. Though open daily, on weekends it overflows with humans and their young – mesmerized by shiny arcades, slightly overpriced restaurants and hobos trying to escape kamikaze flocks of shit-shooting seagulls. Smells of cheeseburgers, sea and teenage love mingle with radiating smiles of green plastic lizards exhibiting themselves on the side, price tags on their tails. A roller-coaster full of children roars through the air. The first and only solar powered Ferris Wheel towers above it all. The sun dips its lower end into the ocean, street performers and fishermen smile into the pink rays enveloping the beach before the onset of night.
Larrabee Studios is one of those mysterious places in North Hollywood where if you aren’t in the inner circles of the music industry, you will never find it. Most recording and mix studios go incognito so they can service high profile clients without becoming landmarks on the maps of the stars. And who would blame them with such talent as Christina Aguilera, Kid Cudi and Whitney Houston all in this very room within the last week.
The reason a string of the most notable names in the business grace these halls is audio mixer Manny Marroquin. He’s won 4 Grammy’s (Mary Mary, John Legend, Kanye West and Alicia Keys) and been nominated for countless others. One year he had 3 out of the 5 records up for Record of the year, losing to the compilation Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? However, when you talk to Manny you get the distinct sense that he’s not in it for the accolades. In fact he keeps those coveted trophies in a corner of his bedroom and he’s gifted them, 2 each, to his two boys. “They really belong to them, everything I do is for them.”
