Music A.M. Architect

June 26, 2009 - 11:56 am

A.M. Architect

A.M. Architect’s latest project, The Road To The Sun

“Its like the soundtrack to life,” Daniel Stanush explains, “you can always find a part of it to relate to, a part you can put in your pocket.” He is describing of the fruits of a music partnership with friend and producer Diego Chavez (Aether, Otic Angst) and its a sentiment shared by many. “When we set out to write all these songs, we wanted to make them personal and accessible, but also resonate on a deeper level.” The compositions that constitute the duo’s first full length album, The Road to the Sun, are a study in the mix of organic and electronic music, a blending of the tones and niches that define the two, while simultaneously blurring the distinctions that set them apart. Fender Rhodes and acoustic guitars reside comfortably alongside glitched-out beats and unintelligible samples, creating something both ambient and decidedly pointed; something that resonates across genres.

A.M. Architect – Next of Kin

Read the full story

Event B-Boy Legend Ronnie Abaldonado – Day 2

June 26, 2009 - 11:51 am
B-Boy clinic led by RonnieBoy

The Clinic
Day two began with a two hour b-boy clinic lead by Red Bull BC One champ and 17yr veteran Ronnie Abaldonado.  After a brief meet and greet, Ronnie (accompanied by the Red Bull DJ) launched into a challenging routine that hurtled the students through the basics of B-Boying with the style only Ronnie could bring.

With over 20 B-Boys (and B-Girls) in attendance, the warehouse rehearsal studio heated up as everyone got busy learning how to sharpen their toprock, spice up their footwork, and build toward the perfect freeze.  Later on, the students showed Ronnie their power moves in an impromptu cypher.

Read the full story

Event Turning Ronnie Abaldonado Loose – Day 1

June 26, 2009 - 11:51 am


Left to Right: David “MEX ONE” Alvarado, Jose’ “Keebz” Chapa, and Ronnie Abaldanado”

Ronnie Abaldonado (Red Bull B-Boy RonnieBoy representing Full Force & Super Cr3W) descended into the sweltering Orlando heat for the worldwide premiere of “Turn it Loose“, a documentary about six world class B-Boys battling it out to become the Red Bull BC One Champion.

Joined by the winners of this year’s “Soul Cypher Jam”, Ronnie got down to business in Thornton Park’s “Graffiti Junktion.”  Ronnie is considered a fixture within the international community of B-Boys so it’s no surprise that local breakers like David “MEX ONE” Alvarado and Jose’ “Keebz” Chapa are on a first name basis with the former Red Bull BC One Champ.  With conversation around the table ranging from the resurgence of B-Boy culture in mainstream media to event promotion and merchandising, it’s clear that for these guys  B-Boying is about more than just dance.

Read the full story

Music Thieves Like Us Version 2.0

June 25, 2009 - 1:22 pm

Thieves Like Us

The band Thieves Like Us not only shares in name with Robert Altman’s 1974 shoot em’ up feature “Thieves like Us” , but is one near shot for shot remake that I actually enjoy.  In this aural version, two guys from Sweden meet up with an American at a picnic in a Berlin park and begin to go from disco to disco dancing and drinking in a vast foreign city. After deciding they had heard and seen enough euro trash electronic they didn’t like, they formed their own self described”POP BAND”. In this version, instead of breaking out of prison and robbing banks—they enjoy being locked away on stage and stealing the dance floor at clubs the world over.

Thieves like Us – Really Like to See You Again

The band’s newest EP, “Really Like To See You Again “, is a soundtrack of Bowie inspired synth melodies, Iggy Pop drawn rhythms, and Hip Hop laced break beats which would intertwine seamlessly with any Altman shot love scene, bank heist, or car chase.

In this listener’s opinion, I just hope they end up in gay Paris’ in their final scene instead of closed curtains ala’ David Caradine.

Words by Dustin Downing

Thieves Like Us – Party in My Head Remix


Read the full story

Film Palermo Shooting

June 25, 2009 - 1:22 pm

palermo_shooting_poster

Director Wim Wenders is one of those directors that delivers a film that is either sheer brilliance or difficult to sit through.  For me, Palermo Shooting is a film that will stay with me, and while it does not reach the kind of brilliant heights we’ve seen before, it is an admirable failure.

The story is fairly simple, Finn (played by German actor and musician Campino) is an arrogant photographer whose work is exhibited in art museums worldwide.  Finn is sought after for his eye when it comes to photography, but his own eyes cannot see the dilemmas he faces in his own life.  During a near fatal car accident, Finn’s camera photographs Death.  Yes, Death.  Yes, the Death, the guy who shows up when you die.  And he is played hauntingly by Dennis Hopper.  Finn is then victim to some very close calls with menacing arrows meant to end it all.  His journey to avoid Death’s arrows takes him to the city of Palermo, oddly, Wim Wenders hometown. It’s there that Finn gets a dose of life lesson 101 when confronted with statements such as, “Take everything seriously, just not yourself.”  And the ever popular, “Live each moment as if it were the last time.”  Of course, no one escapes Mr. Death and the final confrontation is uplifting or “down”-lifting depending on how you look at it.

Read the full story

Music Love Me or Hate Me…

June 24, 2009 - 12:00 pm

Lady Sovereign

I’ve decided I need to develop a Lady Sovereign complex. That’s right, you heard me, and if you don’t like it, then f*ck you!

Wow, that was easier than I thought. It turns out being loud, opinionated and a tad on the boastful side isn’t that hard. Doing it while rapping and while somehow maintaining a level of adorableness that makes you want to eat a bowl of rainbow sherbet just for the hell of it, however, is another story. But Lady Sovereign can pull it off no problem, which is why she’s got the record label and the fans and the rad silver Nike hightops, not me. Go figure.

Read the full story

Film Transformers 2 – Bay Curious?

June 23, 2009 - 4:51 pm

trans3

(Possible minor spoilers ahead)

Michael Bay must have been on a short leash when making the original Transformers since it didn’t feel like, well, a Michael Bay movie.  Transformers was like an old school summer movie with every element of fun imaginable… in many ways, it had that classic Spielberg summer movie touch.  The first film introduced mainstream audiences to the worldwide toy and cartoon sensation in a way that made it entertaining and palatable for non-fans.  Transformers was simple and sweet… it was about a boy and his first car… and then all hell breaks loose in the midst of robot on robot action.  (Or “Autobot on Decepticon” action to be specific.)

Read the full story

Music Hudson Mohawke – Glaswegian Beat Genius

June 23, 2009 - 8:35 am

hudson_mohawke_by_christina_kernohan_at_luckyme_8

I first heard about the Glasgow-hailing producer, Hudson Mohawke via one of my favorite BBC1 radio DJs, Benji B. Save perhaps Rich Medina and Gilles Peterson, Benji B is the best at mixing soul, funk, electronica, r&b, hip-hop and jazz selections into a seamless continuum of pure goodness. Before he played Mohawke’s track, “Overnight,” he warned the listeners, “This guy is so good, but his songs are so short, so I’m going to have to loop it back to back.”  He was right. What followed was a terse cut that sounded like a Timbaland-esque, stutter-step beat spliced with Atari-style electronic blips, and the kind of melodic, syncopated, bass chops that made the Neptunes and J. Dilla household names. It was an instrumental that felt as if it was rising to some kind of head-busting crescendo, but that sweet release never came – instead it steadied to a frothy, simmering tableau … and just like that, it ended. DJ Benji B was right, it would be an unforgivable sonic travesty not to give this joint an immediate encore.
Read the full story