Molly Crabapple is my new hero. When I emailed her to set up some time for me to meet her and watch her in action, she replied, “I’m pretty much ALWAYS working.” It’s true. You’d need to hire an assistant just to keep up with this girl. With this much success at age 27, its hard not to wonder how she got to this point.
It’s Mad Lib Monday at ChinaShop, where they fill in the blanks and we make up the rest. Check out our exclusive portraits and listen to some brand new music.
Chicago rain came pouring down in the night, so the pristine grounds of Lollapalooza 2011 have turned into a mixture of mud, hay and grass on Saturday, August 6. It now smells like the true heartland of America that it is. Yet nothing will deter the up-for-it music fans coming to Day 2 of the sold out event.
Feel the love of this shiny, happy festival.
Walking over the 11th Street Bridge towards Grant Park, the immaculate city center grounds of Lollapalooza, a pulse emerges in the hot, moist air. Chicago’s grand architectural beauties loom all around with the anticipation and calm that something significant is about to happen.
5.The Joker vs. Mayor Garcia (Nestor Carbonell) in The Dark Knight
You take a lot of what The Joker does in The Dark Knight with a grain of salt – but it’s mostly because of Ledger’s bad-ass performance. Gotham cops in Nolan’s movies never seemed particularly bright (anyone notice the pasty white guy with the scar smile?), and here’s proof.
“Oh, wow! Old school. Look at that. Shame Ninja didn’t spring for a gatefold.”
Fin Greenall, lead man of the three-piece better known as Fink, is looking over a vinyl copy of his 2000 debut, Fresh Produce, that I’ve pulled from my shelves at home and brought to our interview. Back then, Fink was a one-man operation, mining samples for smoker’s delight trip-hop tunes. Good stuff, too. Five years ago he swapped the decks for acoustic guitars, and in doing so, helped lead Ninja Tune’s deep dive into singer/songwriter territory.
Biscuits For Breakfast (2006), Distance And Time (2007) and Sort Of Revolution (2009) were “the middle bit.” Simple, lush acoustic records backed by everyman songwriting that cropped up on more than a few tastemaker best of lists. After Greenall co-wrote the John Legend mega-hit “Green Light”—which garnered the Brit two BMI songwriting awards—Legend returned the favor with two Revolution collaborations: “Move On Me” and “Maker.” Then, late last month, came Perfect Darkness. Changing up direction on everything from the songwriting and recording process to the cover art, Greenall has created a masterstroke of an album, tastefully embellished and sonically elevated with the help of producer Billy Bush (Garbage, Eric Avery). The title track may be the best tune Greenall has ever written, and “Yesterday Was Hard On All Of Us,” the latest single, isn’t far behind.
I caught up with Fin at LA’s famed Village Recording Studio—where he’s working on another hush hush collab—to talk about the long, strange trip leading up to the release of Perfect Darkness. And chicks. Gotta talk about chicks.
Maskull Lasserre’s installation, “Anatomische Holzschinitzereien,” confronts the origin and essence of man through its pairing objects of every day human life with various animal corpses. The pieces do so through pairings that are almost disturbing and uncomfortable to even look at. They are almost macabre. There is suggestion of our origin; our distance from a more base form of human existence.
The MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles) not only legitimized decades of street art with their current exhibit Art in the Streets, but they initiated a campaign for the public to truly participate in the approval or criticism of that art.
ChinaShop sent one of our finest photographers to show us his perspective on what’s what. Its not to late for you to get out there and think for yourself. Art is truly in the eye of the beholder. Get out there and behold already!
Mariachi El Bronx celebrated the release of their second self-titled album at La Cita in downtown Los Angeles with a two night sold-out stand.
Taking on an artistic challenge, ChinaShopMag was there rockumenting with the aid of the Instagram app.
New Year. New Music. New Favorites. ChinaShop handpicks the Women to Watch in 2011. Don’t sleep…
