° Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey

° Visage - Fade to Grey

° Trae - Grey Cassette feat. Bun-B & Lil Keke

[l-r: Jeremy Earhart, Sharon Van Etten, Growing's All the Way]

Sorry, there. Had to take a break from the internet for a spell. But here's some time-sensitive arts and entertainment info.

So I take it back. I do believe in snow. I also believe in the boots I just had re-heeled so I'm set to brave the sub-freezing temps and hit up a few of the many options tonight.

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First up is the Jeremy Earhart opening tonight at Goff + Rosenthal .

Influenced in part by childhood nostalgia, album cover art and the ambient music of Brian Eno, Earhart's mixed media sculptures are also rife with historical ornamentation. ... Exploring a new visual language through mirrored plastic black lights and neon string, Earhart questions what these images mean while exploring how they are interpreted and/or rethought within our contemporary context.

° Brian Eno - Spirits Drifting mp3

Jeremy Earhart
Goff + Rosenthal - 537 West 23rd Street
6p - 8p

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Next up is Sharon Van Etten at Glasslands . I first saw Sharon at Glasslands over Thanksgiving break when Nick and I were trying to decide which lineup of bands we'd never heard of before to go see. Super glad we chose Glasslands over Public Assembly that night. Sharon's self-described "sad prairie folk music" is nothing short of arresting. As a performer she's a bit self-conscious, which I think is all part of her charm. Her voice moves between hauntingly gossamer and more weighty and determined as if she's actually singing with a lump in her throat. Her songs are heartbreakingly well-written (I got choked up), yet she still cracks jokes on stage and can be quite bubbly in person. We had the pleasure of running into her at Savalas afterward and she was nice enough to give me one of her limited-edition self-recorded CDs, which you can order through her site . Below are some of my favorites. Can I call her the Cat Power of Bushwick? Ok, then. Check her on RCRDLBL and UKTimes , too.

° Sharon Van Etten - It's Not Like

° Sharon Van Etten - Holding Out

° Sharon Van Etten - Damn Right

Sharon Van Etten
w/Forest Fire, She Keeps Bees, Virgin Forest
Glasslands - 289 Kent Ave, BK
$6 - Doors 8p
[flyer ]

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Then skate your way around the corner to Death By Audio for Growing , who are now labelmates with Gang Gang Dance on Social Registry. One of my new favorite things as I am sadly late to this tip. I've been listening to their music on repeat, which is easy to do as it is already looping, oscillating mind music. And they use the Ebow . Neat.

° Growing - Innit mp3

° Growing - Swell mp3

Growing
w/ ARP, Noveller
Death By Audio - 49 S2nd St at Kent, BK

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Speaking of Bushwick, and the Ebow.. the super hardy and relatively nerdy among us may wish to extend the magic and trek out east for the Etsy /Make Mag Handmade Music night at 3rd Ward where you can dig on "circuit-bent toys, custom software and patches, interactive digital & visual instruments, custom electronics, electricity-powered noisemakers, DIY robots and new acoustic instruments" while drinking free Pabst. Also sponsored by XLR8R mag.

HandMade Music Night
3rd Ward - 195 Morgan Ave at Stagg (Grand L)
7:30 - 10:30 pm & Every 3rd Thursday

When I first moved here, I liked to stop by Bembe on a slow winter night like, say, Tuesday, and order a fresh coconut drink ("Coco Loco" or something) to make me forget it was freezing outside. I'm not even sure it will ever snow again, but I'm still bummed that it gets dark around 4pm and I'm jonesing for some tropicalia. So tonight's double bill of El Guincho and Lemonade —talkwasadream favorites from back in the summer days—will hit the spot by being exotic, electric, eclectic, eccentric... If not like a smooth coconut cocktail, then like some combo of herbal kombucha and a dose of theraflu—fizzy, warm and weird, and not something you should imbibe before operating heavy machinery. But you'll escape the holiday crisis season to another place, for sure.

° Lemonade - Sunchips (Ghosts on Tape Remix) mp3

° Lemonade - Sunchips mp3

° El Guincho - Costa Paraiso mp3

° El Guincho - Cuando Maavilla Fui mp3

Lemonade's Blissout and Guincho's Palmitos Park were my summer anthems. Sunchips is my new favorite, in which the bass just drops on top of you. The Ghosts on Tape Remix pushes the beat to nasty levels, and is part of Lemonade's new Remixtape. If you're missing tonight for band practice or something, you can also catch them Friday at Zebulon and next Tuesday at Annex with Friendly Fires.

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Tuesday, December 2 @ Le Poission Rouge
El Guincho and Lemonade
$12 / doors 10p / music 10:30p
tickets

Here are some links, then.

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Internet thing of the moment.
This is sand.
via

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Track of the moment.

° College Feat. Minitel Rose - The Energy Story (DVAS Remix) mp3
via

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Quote of the moment.
"While survival, adaptation, and regeneration form the cornerstones of biological existence, it may be that culture is fundamentally a means for implementing qualitative transformations of man’s biological status. Art, then, and the whole image-making drive may be means for preparing man for physical and mental changes which he will in time make upon himself." — from Beyond Modern Sculpture by Jack Burnham, 1968
via

I'm trying something new. It's a podcast mix .. and it's a bit all over the place. Which is sort of the way I like it. The name just showed up one day (as names are wont to do around here ), and it wouldn't leave.

I didn't have time to post this before CMJ, but some of these bands played during the festival. (Some are just personal faves and/or fit inside this Brooklyn/NYC bubble I've been in lately.) In my hunt to find shows to hit up that I would later end up blowing off, I still discovered some cool stuff. My new favorite thing is Teengirl Fantasy , who I didn't get to see. They are not from Brooklyn nor did they go to RISD. But hopefully they'll be back.

Here's the tracklist:

° High Places - Golden (Brenmar Remix)
Brooklyn, NY: myspace.com/hellohighplaces

° Hercules and Love Affair - Classique #2
Brooklyn, NY: myspace.com/herculesandloveaffair

° Black Dice - Roll Up
New York, NY: myspace.com/blackdicemyspace

° ESG - My Love For You
Bronx, NY: myspace.com/esgband

° Lightning Bolt - Dracula Mountain
Providence, RI: myspace.com/laserbeast

° Lansing-Dreiden - Part of the Promise
New York, NY: myspace.com/lansingdreiden

° Lemonade - Blissout
from CA but just moved to Brooklyn, NY: myspace.com/bananasandecstasy

° (bootleg) - The Right Shorty
Brooklyn, NY

° Teengirl Fantasy - Portofino
Oberlin, OH: myspace.com/teengirlfantasy + teengirlfantasy.angelfire.com

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I did see Women and Ponytail (and I think Vivian Girls) during a Todd P show Friday at this big Bushwick warehouse called Danbro Studios. With not much to it but brick and rafters, this raw space made it sound kind of like hearing music in a castle and was therefore pretty awesome. As a friend pointed out, it was a lot like something out of Berlin. The view of Bushwick industrial graveyard magic out the back was nice, too. The Danbro flyer said something about 'restaurants' and 'photo' along with recording and rehearsal spaces, so rumors that they're turning this into a proper build-out may be true.

I popped by Spoonbill on Bedford Ave earlier this week and noticed that Peter Saville will be signing stuff there this Saturday 1p-3p.

° A Certain Ratio - Knife Slits Water mp3

° Brian Eno + David Byrne - The Jezebel Spirit mp3

° Santogold - Starstruck mp3

Here's an interesting snip about the "undesigned" from an interview with Saville in Digital Arts Magazine:

Are there any trends in current design that you particularly appreciate or dislike?
There’s a trend at the moment towards the undesigned. There’s a lot in there that just gets directly to the point; it understands the truth in something. There are certain works at the moment that are just what they need to be – it’s like walking into Muji for the first time again. The worst thing, though, is ironic un-design that has then become a sort of design, and then become a mess. When it’s still radical – a spread or an ad in a magazine – it’s effective. Once 99 per cent of the publication has adopted a don’t-care poise, it’s a mess and has become that which it sets out to mock.

° Killing Joke - Change mp3

Last Friday night I watched the first presidential debate at the new LEED-certified Galapagos space in Dumbo. Outdoing the aquatic entrance of its former Williamsburg location, the new Galapagos is laid out with an undulating archipelago of round booths hovering above an impressive 1600-foot lagoon. Plenty of pix on their site help illustrate. I think it's a good look, even though there's not much open floor space. The seating-focused design signals a shift in programming—toward cultural events that are a bit classier than, say, rocking, raving and titty dancing (all of which are still in full force up at the original space, now Public Assembly.)

° Brian Eno + David Byrne - America Is Waiting mp3

Despite its supper-club layout, the venue was standing-room-only for the debate. I barely made it in, just as they were reaching capacity an hour before the broadcast, and friends who weren't so lucky texted me to say the line outside had become super long. Because CurrentTV's Hack the Debate was hosting, instead of watching pundits and regular folks keep score on CNN , we were watching a real-time feed of Twitter messages as they floated up over the broadcast, "powered by Adobe Flash." Neat idea, but the execution was a little distracting. I found myself reading them during McCain's time but trying to ignore them when Obama was up. (It was also in 3D, apparently, but I was too late to snag a pair of glasses.) Photos of the night, including screen shots, are Flickr'd here .

° Baby's Gang - America mp3

Galapagos is showing the VP debate Thursday, this time with a $5 guaranteed-seat-and-free-drink reservation .

If you're Burg-bound that night, you should try to reserve a spot at MonkeyTown , which will have just celebrated its 3rd anniversary the night before with free food, free drinks and djs. It has teetered on the edge of being priced out (a la Galapagos), and I'm really glad it's still in the hood. (Who doesn't love that place?)

° Devo - Freedom Of Choice mp3

Before the debate, head to Kiosk , where my favorite traveling merchant-curators have cleverly timed the spectacle with their next Opening Party:

The KIOSK American Installment #1, an exploration of sorts into our past, present and the future. With all the activity going on in this country now we could not think of a better place to focus on. Opening Party October 2nd, the night of the Vice-Presidential debates, from 6 - 9 pm. Obama fundraiser comb and hopefully a poster (we are taking sides: OBAMA YES!). Economics and coin rolls, politics and surprise balls, things to fish with and stuff for babies to chew on, it's America after all, we hope you will like our sampling. Opening party starts early this time so we can watch the debate at 9, FYI we hope to have a TV hook-up here and are working on getting reception now. Hope you can pass by! Hope you are hanging in there during these trying times!

° Jupiter - I Love America mp3

Kiosk threatens to move overseas if Obama doesn't win. Make sure you're registered to vote by October 10th and that your friends and fam and neighbors all know what's up.

° Antiballas - Who Is This America Dem Speak Of Today? mp3

See also: The nascent American Design Club has its first show up at Character through Thursday: "The club produces events and socials to improve the lives of designers and the appreciation of American design."

You will not be able to stay home.

° Dead Kids - America (RAC Mix) mp3

I'm only a little scared: Hadrons, yes. Collisions, no. End of world to follow...

Eddie Izzard - The Awesome Universe mp3

Kode 9 and the Spaceape - Portal mp3

Electric Light Orchestra - From the End of the World mp3

See also: NYTimes article and infographics

image: The Big Picture (Boston.com)

° Magazine - The Light Pours Out of Me mp3

Apologies. Been too busy to post lately. But as promised here's an update.

Just a quick collection of experimental music [re/]production methods that freshen up old ideas with new technology or work old-fangled tech into new designs. Some of the tracks are directly related; some I've just correlated.

[Also: The lettering above is from a new typeface I'm working out. You can see it in action on the flyer for the Sharegroove get-down last Friday and on this Bastille Day Party invitation.]

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[A] PLOrk: Princeton Laptop Orchestra
Of course. I think it's cute.

° PLOrk - Conflict: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Parse Error mp3

° Computer Club - Bizarre Love Triange mp3

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[B] Graphite Sequencer
I love when visuals are tapped for sound source material and vice versa. This does both with a simple lo-fi charm.

"Graphite conducts electricity. Two wires brush against the surface of a paper disk as it spins. The wires are connected to a simple electronic tone generator. When a line of graphite is drawn across the disk, connecting the two wires, a tone is heard."

(via new favorite blog dataisnature.com)

° Muddy Waters - My Pencil Won't Write No More mp3

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[C] MAKE: Blog: Is Gilligan the next Jules Verne?
I often wonder what impact Lost might have on the rest of popular culture, like how much is the series to blame/thank for this so-called 'cocopunk' craze? Anyway, check out this cute ukulele amp housed in a coconut shell, and forget I ever asked.

° High Places - Shared Islands mp3

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[D] Big Ideas (don't get any)
For his final project in a Glasgow School of Art graphic design course, James Houston punk'd Radiohead's "Nude" remix contest. Except he missed the entry date.. but won our hearts! Aw.

"Based on the lyric (and alternate title) 'Big Ideas: Don't get any' I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they're trying their best to do something that they're not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there."

Give the vid some time to get going. The still shots of vintage hardware are reason enough to watch.

° Radiohead / James Houston - Nude (Big Ideas (don't get any) Remix) mp3

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[E] Final Product // ATTIGO TT
Another thesis project demo'd on Vimeo, this prototype of a digital dj setup lets the beatmaster paw actual waveforms running across touchscreens instead of handling records (or CDJs or Serato Controls or.. paper-disks!)

° Daedelus - Touchtone (feat. Paperboy and Taz) mp3

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See also: Random music-technology scene in one of my favorite '70s sci-fi fantasies. And here's the Speilberg mashed up with M83.