DAVID VIVALDINIS SHORT FILM: PAPERBOY
Director David Vivaldini takes you on a little cruise in this very simple & short cycling movie called “Paperboy”, selected for the 10°th anniversary of BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL which was screened on 20/6/10 in New York. David has spent the last 2 years working as Creative Director and VFX supervisor, in a division of Filmmaster, one of the larger movie picture companies in Italy, based in Milan. He works from video (SD-HD) to 2k resolution, in music videos, commercials, documentaries and feature films. You can watch the full film below:
FREE MP3:LELAND SUNDRIES:ELEGY
(Photo credit: Jennifer McManus)
Leland Sundries is the mostly solo project of New York based Nick Loss-Eaton. He is re-branding Nashville’s original blues Americana with a touch of indie rock sarcasm.
Although he isn’t the first person to use a resonator guitar (see “Bon Iver”), it is a refreshing sound in a landscape of bands utilizing the same 3 piece set over and over. Leland Sundries has also been known to use a 2 string Cigar Box Guitar made in Memphis, giving his New York audiences the chance to experience something that few city kids even realize exists. Loss-Eaton also uses a megaphone-harmonica set up which captures the vintage-recording-scratchy echo that defines the original Americana sound for modern audiences.
For me, the cigar box was a sound that I had heard many times, but could never actually identify. Played with some hefty slide and nice backing guitars by Dan Kaplan, the Cigar Box was definitely my favorite surprise at the show. The stand out Leland Sundries song was “Giving Up Redheads” which according to insider,s might just be Loss-Eaton’s favorite kind of lady. Touching on the classical theme of love-lost man, Leland Sundries takes the twang-y Americana sound and infuses it with a little bit of classic rock styling and extra energy.
Leland Sundries plays both solo and with Dan Kaplan’s back up guitar. I liked a little bit of back up guitar and vocals to both support and define Loss-Eaton’s intended sound. I also saw some of Dan Kaplan’s solo set (with some nice backing by Mr. Nick Loss-Eaton) and was struck by the charming quality to Kaplan’s voice. His acoustic guitar and sweet vocals are certainly a crowd pleaser.
Although I only stayed for a few songs, I felt there was real potential for a bigger collaboration between Loss-Eaton and Kaplan. They have very different sounds and very different strengths. I want some banjo/cigar box twang with Kaplan’s soft strumming and delicate vocals. I want some deep spoken word growls from Loss-Eaton on top of the soft strumming and delicate voice of Kaplan. There is a juxtaposition there that I think could be explored.
Leland Sundries is playing in October, but there are whispers of shows upcoming in the next few weeks, if we hear anything.
-<3 the elephant
THE ARCADE FIRE UNSTAGED: LIVE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
Check out some footage of Arcade Fire performing live at Madison Square Garden in New York on 8/5/2010. Part of the UNSTAGED series presented by American Express. Directed by Terry Gilliam. You can also check out a really cool Flickr stream from Arcade Fire right HERE.
THIS WEEK FROM ROOFTOP FILMS: LAST TRAIN HOME, WASTELAND
This week at Rooftop, they are continuing thier partnership with Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival. In May, Rooftop Films travelled north, co-presenting a series of rooftop screenings in Toronto. This Friday and Saturday, they team up yet again, this time bringing two incredible documentaries previously screened in Toronto to the roofs of New York. Filmmakers Lixin Fan (Last Train Home) and Lucy Walker (Waste Land) will be present for Q and A’s following the film. Details are below.
Friday, August 13th
LAST TRAIN HOME
Every New Year, 130 million people leave China’s industrial cities to return to their rural homelands–the largest human migration in the world. This overwhelming yet intimate documentary follows one family through their chaotic, desperate, agonizing journey. Presented in partnership with Hot Docs and Zeitgeist Films.
“Stunningly photographed and expertly constructed, Last Train Home features the work of a filmmaker who has immersed himself in the lives of his subjects . . . to explore the story of their fractured family. Many moments in this intimate movie are incredibly striking and ultimately symbolic of a much broader situation.”
– IndieWire
Tickets are $10 online or at the door. Tickets and more info at:
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/39-last-train-home
Where:
On the roof of the Old American Can Factory
232 3rd St. at 3rd Ave (Gowanus/Park Slope, Brooklyn)
Take the R to Union or the F or G to Caroll St.
When:
8:00 Doors Open
8:30 Live Music by Mountain Man
9:00 Film Begins
11:00 Filmmaker Q & A
11:30 After-party in the courtyard courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
Saturday, August 14
WASTE LAND
Brazilian artist Vik Muniz has valuable pieces in museums worldwide (including El Museo del Barrio), but his most inspiring work might be made by garbage pickers who illustrate the value of every last thing, because 99 is not 100. Brazilian artist Vik Muniz has valuable pieces in museums worldwide (including El Museo del Barrio), but his most inspiring work might be made by garbage pickers who illustrate the value of every last thing, because 99 is not 100. Presented in partnership with Hot Docs, Arthouse Films and Museo Del Barrio.
Tickets are $10 online or at the door. Tickets and more info at:
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/45-waste-land
Where:
On the roof of El Museo Del Barrio
1230 5th Ave at 104th St. (East Harlem)
6 to 103rd St. or 2/3 to 110th St.
When:
8:00 Doors open
8:30 Live music
9:00 Film begins
10:30 After party on the roof courtesy of Radeberger Pilsner
NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR.: NOTHING BUT OUR LOVE
Discosalt Video of the Week 8/8/10: The weekend might be over, but you can go back to sleep, courtesy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. The Detroit Duo of Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott have a new sleepy dream-like video for their chilled out single ”Nothing But Our Love” to lull you back into inception. Footy Pajamas optional.
SPOON PERFORMS “NOBODY GETS ME BUT YOU” ON LATE NIGHT
Spoon stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this week while in town to play MSG with Arcade Fire. They performed “Nobody Gets Me But You” off their most recent album Transference with some percussion from QuestLove. Check it out.
REVOKED: NEW YORK MOVIE ONLINE EDIT
Chris Fonesca began filming Revoked 2, his fixed freestyle film, while the crew was in New York for the Bicycle Film Festival a couple months ago. As it turns out there was more partying that went on than riding, so he decided to use the footage for a 15 minute online edit.
You can check out some of the footage below, starring: Ed Wonka, Mike Schmitt, Justin Mitchell, DJ Mull, Gus Molina, Jakob Santos, Chris Fonseca, Shea Hardacre, Kareem Shehab, Antonyo Wothe, Matt Spencer, Tom Mosher, Jeph Howard, Mike Gnarlinghouse, Billy O’Neil, Chris Farmer, Franco Cammayo, Torey Thorton, Zack Zlog Hoffner, Joe Kelly, Ines Burns, John Prolly.
Music:
Nine Inch Nails – The Frail
Frou Frou – Old Piano
Daedelus – Fair Weather Friends
Metric – Empty
Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait
THE FAMILY JAMS DOCUMENTARY: LIFE ON THE ROAD WITH DEVENDRA BANHART, JOANNA NEWSOM, AND VETIVER
The Family Jams documentary, not to be confused with the Manson Family album by the same name, is an intimate portrait from documentary filmmaker Kevin Barker of life on the road for three San Francisco-based musical acts – Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Vetiver. It follows the three, early in their careers, playing tiny, obscure clubs and art galleries but on the verge of larger success where small vans are replaced by large, impersonal tour buses. Here music is a creative, organic, inclusive endeavor. They not only sing about – they create – the world in which they want to live. They help each other overcome family tragedies and car accidents, and meet colorful characters, forgotten musical heroes, and folk luminaries as they travel across the country.
FREE MP3: SHARON VAN ETTEN: LOVE MORE
If you missed Sharon Van Etten at Union Hall in May (review), you can still support the little lady by grabbing one of her songs “Love More” and spreading the word about her music to your friends. “Love More” is definitely one of my favorite tracks and it just crushes me. When shes not performing on stage with The Antlers or opening for The National, shes been working on a song “I Couldn’t Save You” for the soundtrack of the forthcoming Rick Alverson DVD, The Builder, which you can watch a trailer for below. She also has a new album called Epic, out on October 5th from our friends at Ba Da Bing! and a video of her recording process at Weathervane’s Shaking Through Vol. 1 that you can also check out below. We also think her ex-boyfriend can suck it.
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”
Weathervane’s Shaking Through Vol. 1
The Builder Trailer:
BRIGHT EYES PERFORM COYOTE SONG LIVE FOR SOUND STRIKE
Bright Eyes have a new ballad called “Coyote Song”, which they performed live for the Sound Strike website. The Sound Strike is a coalition of artists who are boycotting Arizona after it passed the SB 1070 bill against suspected illegal immigrants. The love song comes on what may be Bright Eyes last album released before the band retires and is about a couple who can’t be together because they are separated by a border. Check out the lyrics below and while you wait for the official video to go viral, you can check out Connor and his band performing the song live:
Verse:
Loving you is easy
I could do it in my sleep
I dream of you so often it’s like
You never leave
But you’re down below the border
With a nightmare in between
So I’m sending a Coyote
To bring you back to me
Well there’s a fancy hotel waiting
In South San Gabriel
Where the movie madames sunbathe the playboy’s
Parisail
I know you think I’m crazy
But most people, they can’t tell
And I’ll meet you there tomorrow
If I can have you to myself
Chorus:
And so the time
I tried to find a way to occupy
a way since you been away
It’s hard, the plans we starred
of calling cards
I can’t see your poker face
While your voice is sounding so brave
Verse:
Our Lady Guadalupe
In plaster on the wall
Joseph Smith saw Jesus in
America
Well I don’t know much about it
It doesn’t matter much at all
If you keep your head down lady
As you travel through the dark
And if I should seem distracted
By the color of the sky
As a copper wire sunset plays
A lullaby
It’s just to know they’ve stolen
Another day from you and I
It gets me feeling lowdown
When the moon is full and high
Chorus:
Been fake
We’re out to take
A place that’s safe
That you might wait a day
A lonesome broken dawn
That finally comes
Just as I was losing faith
You keep every promise you make
Verse:
Loving you is easy
I could do it in my sleep
I dream of you so often it’s like
You never leave
But you’re gone below the border
With a nightmare in between
So I’m sending a Coyote
To bring you back to me
Yes I’m sending a Coyote
To bring you back to me
FREE MP3: PHOSPHORESCENT: IT’S HARD TO BE HUMBLE (WHEN YOU’RE FROM ALABAMA)
Check out the new video from Phosphorescent for the southern honky tonk single ” It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)” off their most recent album Here’s To Taking It Easy. Director Natalie Johns takes the band to New York and back below the Mason Dixon line for this Ala-f@kin-bama pride video with plenty of uptempo horns, retro southern style and some sweet hogs that make for an equal part homesick /celebratory ode to Matthew Houck’s roots.
Phosphorescent, “It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)”
MP3 Download
FREE MP3: EAT MORE CAKE: CLIMB THE LADDER, LIVE THE DREAM
FREE MP3: CHROMEO: DON’T TURN THE LIGHTS ON
Discosalt Video of the Week 8/1/10: Chromeo has a new video for “Don’t Turn the Lights On”. The 80’s sounding synth pop electro-jam gets an eye popping video treatment here from director Keith Schofield with Dave1 and P-Thugg singing in and out of the dark. The track come from their new album Business Casual which drops September 14th. (Alright)
Grab the MP3 below:
Chromeo – “Don’t Turn The Lights On”THE LEMONHEADS: LIVE AT THE KNITTING FACTORY
Evan Dando and the Lemonheads played the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn last night (July 30) with Josh Lattanzi and The Candles. Both bands, whose front men oddly resemble one another, put on two great sets but what is most amazing, besides Dandos voice, is that he looks the same age as I remember him when I was in Junior High. Hard to believe he is 43.
Seeing Dando perform live is both nostalgic and strangely relevant at the same time. He sings with a humility, a reckless weary voice, and a bit of either nervous stage energy or ADD (cutting some songs short as if he made his point, next song, awkwardly introducing the next). And while he still can’t seem to shake off his slacker image, his stage presence never parodies his early 90’s fame as one of pops biggest screw-ups . Whether he is playing punk, rock, pop, country or metal, his lyrics still seem poiniant to where he is in life and credible. Dando performed a mix of old lemonheads power pop favorites, some inspired covers from his most recent album, Varshons and some intimate acoustic songs, ending on a stripped down solo version of the Lemonhead classic “Alison’s starting to Happen”.
Since their breakthrough in ’86 with, what is now one one of the most sought-after punk relics of the 80’s, the indie EP Laughing All the Way to the Cleaners, The Lemonheads have certainly had one strange trip. After a slew of college radio friendly LP’s like Hate Your Friends (1987), Creator (1988) and one of my favorites, Lick (1989), the band enjoyed some mainstream success where Dando was one of Peoples “50 Most Beautiful people”, and appeared in a cameo at the end of Reality Bites. Then he admitted to smoking crack cocaine. The tipping point. There was more crack cocaine, a public arrest for possession of drugs at Sydney airport while high on heroin and LSD handing out flowers to strangers and feeding money through the grates in the pavement, depression, a nervous breakdown, rehab and people just stopped taking the band seriously. The Lemonheads and Dando disappeared from the spotlight for about 10 years, but he cleaned up and returned in 2006, most recently releasing the cover album, Varsons, which “sounds like a mix tape slipped to you by a music-obsessed friend anxious to turn you on to something new.” Varshons is “filled with obscure nuggets… [which] cut a wide swath, jumping from early British psychedelic to Dutch electronica and like all good mix tapes, you never know what is coming next.” Kind of like Evan Dando’s career.
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Check out Dando’s cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Waiting around to Die”, and a Smudge song.
ARCADE FIRE PRESENTS: THE SUBURBS
Arcade Fire’s third full-length album The Suburbs, recorded in both New York and Montreal, drops Monday (Aug 2), with eight different covers designed by Caroline Robert, Art Direction by Vincent Morisset and photos by Gabriel Jones. You can check out versions of each cover, front and back, on the bands website or in the image viewer below and pick a fave:
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The new albums 16 tracks will also be released on vinyl, mastered to a 12 inch lacquer and then transferred back to digital format so that the CD and digital version of the record sound just like the vinyl. We have also been hearing some buzz that the band is also working with Spike Jonze on a mysterious short film. But, while we wait for news on that front, check out a track for “Ready to Start” and a pretty sweet fan made music video. You can also stream the album in it’s entirety on NPR right HERE
a note from the band:
THE DRUMS: SELF TITLED LP
[rating:4]
The Drums: Self Titled
Label: Downtown
Release Date: September 14, 2010
“If you like The Smiths, you’ll like The Drums.” – anonymous indie rock guy
It’s a crass assumption, but it’s one supported by The Smiths Rule Of Averages, which alleges, “If a band claims The Smiths as a major influence, the average Smiths fan will like said band. The Drums wear their Moz & Marr-worshipping hearts on their sleeves and on their debut self-titled LP (finally released stateside) lead singer Jonathan Pierce, guitar duo Jacob Graham and Adam Kessler, and Connor Hanwick on drums prove they have the moody-but-bright pop chops to set the hooks in deep without the added baggage of a bassist.
This is first and foremost beachwave though, so as long as clean guitars, 60’s surf drone, reverb, and So-Cal pop melodies still set you on fire, this won’t disappoint. It’s weird, really. For such a hugely hyped band from Brooklyn loved all over the EU, you half expect (by default) to like this much less, but the album is surprisingly solid. The majority of the LP doesn’t sound like 2009 ‘s “Let’s Go Surfing” (included on the U.S. release) and as huggable as that single was, these latest offerings are musically as downright friggin’ adorable as a LOLcat in a fixie basket. Much of this is owed to Jonathan Pierce’s earnestness to love and his equally easy to love sugar-rimmed delivery.
Yearning to know why? or why not? (“It Will All End In Tears”) and trying to make sense of love and life (“Skippin’ Town,” “We Tried”), Jonathan seems genuine enough as a romantic. He sings like the lovelorn crooner he adores and though Pierce ‘s lyrics may be a scant less profound (or dark, or funny) as Morrissey’s, that’s a level no one has any business attempting to reach anyway. Still, a big chink in the armor, “I Need Fun In My Life” contains such a cringe-inducing impression of the Wilde Child and so much dead space, it’s hard to believe this song made the final cut for album inclusion.
Forgiving, forgetting and focusing on the good stuff, “It Will All End In Tears,” “Forever And Ever Amen,” and the very excellent “Book Of Stories” all achieve indie pop perfection. With relatable lyrics that are easy to sing along to (“I thought that my life would get easier / Instead it’s getting harder.”) and big, bright beats easy to dance to (all other 11 tracks), The Drums for the most part is a promising debut LP from this still very new band.
If legions of blog readers feel cheated at all, it’s only because, like every other rushed-to-record indie “it” band they’ve encountered, the gargantuan hype always hinders more than helps. In the end, it all comes down to believing. Do you believe him when he tells you he loves you?
“And all the stars in the sky
And all the flowers in the fields
And all the power in the earth
Could never take you from my heart”
– “Forever And Ever Amen”
-Casey Bowers
While you are here grab some free tracks:
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SKATEBOARD WITH BAND OF HORSES AND WIN STUFF
Do you have what it takes to hit the skate park with Band of Horses? Then pull out some of your sickest tricks and enter The Band Of Horses Skate Contest
Watch Creighton’s video message and face the challenge.
The best ollies, grinds, and flips might land you: a trip to LA, tickets to see a BOH show, a BOH Girl skate deck, custom BOH Lakai skate shoes, AND a chance to skate with Creighton!
ENTER NOW on facebook.com/bandofhorses
ESOTERIC TRAVELER’S LANDSCAPE PHOTO NARRATIVE
West coast photographer Anthony George Noceti has just assembled a new series of landscape photo narrative’s on his website Esoteric Traveler. The images are taken from within vehicles along Anthony’s travels with a low resolution digital and 35mm camera. Read what Anthony has to say about his work:
“Conveying a detached and voyeuristic presence, the mode in the Esoteric Traveler is that of a passenger moving through an every changing landscape where the notion of reality is blurred. An onmiscient sort of being, the passenger is more of an implied character who does not take part in the narrative, but only relates it to the viewer. In this sense the narrative takes on a feeling of esoteric projection, wherein the traveler leaves the physical to explore a greater realm.”( Esoteric Traveler)
Check out some of our favorite images below:
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JEREMY & CLAIRE WEISS’S DAY 19
Jeremy & Claire Weiss are far and away my favorite husband and wife photography team (ok, maybe the only one i know of) but they are two of the hippest photographers on the West coast with an amazing portofilio that dips into portraits of musicians, directors, actors, friends, hipsters and the girl next door. Based out of Los Angeles, CA, the couple, who also go by the name of their photo studio Day 19, have put together a really amazing portfolio for you to check out. They work on composition using light and shadows to create simple, highly stylish images that can take you right inside moments of real comfort or high energy. Their work has been featured on the covers of Nylon and Paste and they have shot portraits of a slew of musicians, film makers and actors from David Lynch, Jack Black, No Age, Slash, Devendra Banhart, The Black Keys, Rivers Cuomo to Billy Corgan. The list goes on and on.
Visit their website or check out some more of our favorite images below:
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THIS WEEK FROM ROOFTOP FILMS: PROFESSOR NIETO REANIMATES A CHICKEN LIVE AND CAPUCINE
Rooftop has an event coming up this week that you dont want to miss: for one night only Professor Nieto will perform one of his infamous experiments live at this Thursday’s Rooftop Films show!
During his illustrious career as the world’s first mad scientist filmmaker, the Professor has documented the education of filmmaking monkeys, taught Brazilian bugs to play soccer, and created mice that multiply like earth worms when cut in half. Though his ambitious experiments don’t always go as planned, they never fail to amaze and flabbergast.
Now, at Thursday’s Rooftop show, the Professor will attempt to reanimate a chicken… Will it work? Don’t you want to be there to find out?
Following the Professor’s experiment, we will screen Capucine, his fascinating look at the life of a genuine filmmaking monkey.
Learn more about Professor Nieto’s mad experiments here:
http://rooftopfilms.com/blog/2010/07/mad-scientist-filmmaker-professor-nieto-live-at-rooftop.html
CAPUCINE: FILMMAKING MONKEYS AND OTHER RENEGADES
Crazy characters who make their own rules, as cake-addicted cranks, Rambo-revering detectives, and an actual filmmaking monkey. Plus a live experiment by mad scientist filmmaker Luis Nieto. In this program of short films, as Sean Sharpstone says, “rules to take a backseat to justice, and justice rides shotgun, ‘cuz that bitch is blind.”
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/31-capucine-filmmaking-monkeys-and-other-renegades
When:
Thursday, July 29th
8:00 p.m. Doors Open
8:30 p.m. Live music by Family Portrait
9:00 Films Begin
Where:
On the Roof of Brooklyn Technical High School
29 Fort Greene Place (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
G to Fulton, C to Lafayette, 2,3,4,5 to Nevins or B,M,Q, R to Dekalb
