Live – Girl Talk, Snoop Dogg, TV on the Radio and The Black Keys : Catalpa NYC

Over the weekend, Discosalt attended the first ever Catalpa Festival on Randall’s Island. Two solid summer days/nights of diverse live music from an eclectic lineup including The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg , TV on the Radio and Girl Talkall under a blue leopard print banner commanding the crowd to “DANCE BITCHES!”. Despite the rain, some poor footwear decisions and two “wham jam, no thank you ma’am” sets of Umphrey’s McGee, the NYC festival, striving to be a pioneering East Coast festival comparable to California’s Coachella and Chicago’s Lollapalooza, managed to deliver.

SATURDAY – JULY 28

8-8:45PM TV on the Radio

Having not performed in New York since September of 2011, this was a real homecoming for Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio and a real treat for the predominantly New York based crowd. After being cheered on stage by the collective fan cries of “Brooklyn!”, the band tipped their hat (and beard) to another New York musician – dedicating “Second Song”, to a “dear-departed inspiration, Mr. Adam Yauch…I would not be in New York City without the words of that man.” This was one of the best performances I’ve seen out of these guys, and in a surprisingly short set, the band managed to hit all the crowd pleasers, squeezing in “Staring at the Sun”, “Wolf Like Me” and “Will Do”.

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9:30-11PM The Black Keys

The Ohio garage-rock duo (with a little help from some friends), oiled up their gritty back-to-basics blues engine with some sonic lube worthy of classic rock torque. Ripping into a seemingly endless zeppelin-esc guitar rock grab bag to draw the biggest crowd on Saturday – with plenty of audience participation na-na-na’s. In only 90 minutes, Auerbach and Carney cranked through a crunchy set of soulful modern blues rock, gunning down broken dreams and witchy women with a raw intensity that is best experienced live, and along the way nailed down some fan favorites like “Your Touch”, “I Got Mine”, “Thickfreakness”, “Girl Is on My Mind”.

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SUNDAY – JULY 29

5:15-6:15PM Matisyahu

So…the last time I saw Matisyahu perform, he was an Orthodox Jew. Now, he’s ditched the Chassidic shtick for a clean shaven look, crowd surfing and inviting female audience members to dance on stage with him. “No more Chassidic reggae superstar. Sorry folks, all you get is me … no alias.” His face is smooth, but his voice is even smoother,  as Matisyahu managed to skank out some new gems off his new album and revisit some old classics –  playfully chastising the audience for requesting “King Without A Crown” and “One Day”, saying –  “Obviously I’m going to play them, Those are the only two songs everyone knows”.

6:15-7PM Matt and Kim

Matt and Kim definitely win the festival award for funniest stage banter …or drummer Kim Schifino has revealed a horrible case of tourettes. “I know what you’re thinking, we’re a little out of shape, I’ve been doing exercises, though — something called a Kegel…because I want to fuck the shit out of you tonight!” When Kim wasn’t shouting “fuck” or “shit”, she was shouting, well “fuck” or “shit” or restarting “Daylight” after hitting Matt’s keyboard with her sticks. “I get crazy with the sticks and I just have to hit shit”. The band left the stage thanking the crowd for taking their 2012 virginity.

7:45-9PM Girl Talk

In my next life I want the energy level of DJ superstar – Greg Gillis. The one man mash-up party monster (along with a crowd of 20 or so aggressive people dancing non-stop around Gillis) drew the biggest crowd of the day and did not disappoint. Gillis performed an hour plus set of dozens of effortlessly produced classic hip-hop, pop and rock mashup-style remixes – including everything from M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” mash with Ice Cubes “It Was a Good Day” to Nirvana, Notorious B.I.G, Elton John and the bounce friendly Nine Inch Nails “Wish” mashed with Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”. There were lights, confetti, inflatable animals, balloons, balloons filled with confetti, toilet-paper guns, crowd surfing and enough sweat and bouncing to make a porn star blush. Gillis closed the high energy set with his version of Gun’s and Roses “November Rain”, as confetti rained down on the crowd.

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9-9:40PM A$AP Rocky

I was really rooting for A$AP Rocky… that is, until, the air horn. The upcoming 23-year-old Harlem rapper, rocking a “Fuck Swag” T-shirt and signature skinny Jeans, spent more time shouting over his own backing tracks and firing off bullet sound effects, whistles and air horns, than he did rapping. While surrounded by a stage entourage that never consisted of less than 8 people at one time, the image conscious A$AP Rocky told the crowd –  “people used to fuck with us for wearing skinny jeans around 2004. Now we’re right here with our skinny jeans and you embrace that shit”…well…how about embracing some music.

9:40-10:45PM Snoop Dogg

Interspersed by pre-recorded blacksploitation inspired skits on a giant projection screen – which included the Doggfather firing an assault weapon at the crowd, smoking weed and taking out a “bitch” – was a crusty old man dancing, a Lady of Rage appearance, a furry Nasty Dogg with an eight-foot long stuffed penis and a giant spliff, a cloud of weed smoke and of course Mr. Snoop Dogg backed by the original Dogg Pownd, performing the 53- minute gangsta rap classic – Doggystyle. The set was on point as the entire crowd, even security, could be spotted singing along with the familiar sounds of “Gin and Juice”, “Murder Was The Case,” “Serial Killer,” “G’z and Hustlas” and, of course, “Doggy Dogg World.” Snoop ended the Doggystyle set declaring –  “I ain’t stopping, I’m like the bunny, I keep going and going”, just  before coming back with two encores- a Pharrell-assisted “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and “Young Wild and Free” as his DJ played Wiz Khalifa verses. Unfortunately, Snoop’s alter ego Snoop Lion never made an appearance.

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Then….there were these people…

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Video – Chromatics Tour Documentary : Eclipse

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“Eclipse” is a beautiful two week tour montage of the Chromatics / abstract short film compiled & directed by Altberto Rossini on location.

Live – Chromeo, Deltron 3030, Rich Aucoin and David Gray @ Ottawa Bluesfest 7/4-15

 

Chromeo DJ Set 

The Chromeo DJ set on July 8th felt just like that – a DJ set. Regardless, good times were had by all – even the Ottawa Police and fathers of small children. Chromeo plays their next show July 28th in Sacramento (with instruments).

For more information visit: Chromeo.net/tours

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Deltron 3030

‘If I had known Deltron was playing’, a statement heard from a Snoop Dogg attendee following the Snoop Dogg show on July 10th. I think it would be safe to say that Deltron had some competition that night, with Snoop playing on the main stage and El-P and Killer Mike playing at Ritual nightclub nearby – but never the less, the fans did come out.

The excitement level was high before the show even began. Fans spoke about the legendary album that came out over a decade ago, reminiscing about how they found out about the trio and wondering what Deltron 3030’s new music would sound like. I personally found out about Deltron through Tanner Hall’s pioneering ski segments (circa 2002) and found some fellow skiers in the crowd that night that were just as enthused as I was.

The ‘Deltron Orchestra’ came onto stage and sat modestly while the crowd roared with anticipation. This was followed by Kid Koala then by Dan the Automator (rockin’ tails) who kicked things off with an instrumental to get the crowd going. Then all of a sudden, like a lion out of a cage, Mr. Del the Funkee Homosapien graced the stage accompanied by Dan the Automator conducting the Deltron Orchestra.

They played the classics like ‘Mastermind’, ‘Things you can do’ and ‘Virus’ off the Deltron 3030 album. They played some new songs off of ‘Event II’ coming out in August. They even ended things off with ‘Clint Eastwood’ by Gorillaz, which I think was the highlight of the night since it caught everyone off guard. Apart from Del battling with the extreme volume of the orchestra on some songs, this was a show with no sad faces – all members of Deltron delivered and I predict that ‘Event II’ will be of epic proportions.

They continue their tour at ‘Rock the Bells‘ in San Bernadino, August 19th.

For more information visit: www.kidkoala.com

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Rich Aucoin

The kid who never left summer camp

It started off with an exciting interaction between musician and fan that you see little of these days; a guy who went into the crowd, shot streamers, played humorous videos and got the fans involved – In every single song. The over-involvement and camaraderie with fans brought me back to an awkward phase in my life; a time of dirt-staches, first hairs, under confidence, and no-reason-boners (NRB’s). Rich Aucoin brought me back to summer camp – circa 2001.

His motivational, ‘you-can-do-it’ attitude reminded me of the camp counsellor who eats, sleeps, and would even die for camp (if it came to it). The one who counts down the days in which he can once again take part in the mind-moulding process of young pre-teens. Not to say that Rich Aucoin didn’t have his songs but the show grew tiresome when every song consisted of the same crowd/chorus involvement and motivational slogans.

All things aside, the Halifax native is a promising musician with foot stompers like ‘It’ and ‘Push’ and the fans that liked him, loved him to death. I don’t think this will be the last you will hear of the CMW indie award winner and I am intrigued to see what he comes up with in the future.

For more information: www.richaucoin.ca

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David Gray 

Usually when David Gray comes through the capital he plays at the intimate and high class venue known as the National Arts Centre. At the NAC people are accustomed to wearing fancy clothes, drinking expensive wine, sitting down while the musician plays and erupting into a unison of applause when the song finishes. Singing is frowned upon and dancing is strictly forbidden and punishable by death.

Last Friday marked the first time David Gray has not played at the NAC in Ottawa and the first time he’s ever played at Bluesfest. There was singing, there was dancing and there were a lot of first timers to the Englishman’s bobble-head style, but he was of no disappointment to them. He played songs from ‘White Ladder’, ‘Life in Slow Motion’, ‘Draw the Line’, and his newest album ‘Foundling’. At the end of the show the crowd shouted for an encore, but because of strict festival scheduling, the encore was not possible.

David finished off his tour in Shelburne, Vermont on Saturday and has no other tour dates planned yet.

For more information visit: www.davidgray.com

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-Darcy Ujjainwalla

Incredibly Small : A 300 Square Foot Love Story

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Anne and Amir are an unlikely pair. Amir is an escalator attendant by day and aspiring sculptor by night. Even though he has never sculpted anything before, he hopes to one day fulfill his lifelong dream of making a marble bust of Charles Barkley. Anne comes from a well-to-do family and just started law school where she spends most of her days studying. Against the odds they decide to move into a shabby 300 square foot apartment and try to start a life together.

But things don’t exactly go as planned. The combination of their small apartment, their threateningly charming neighbor next door and unexpected visitors from the past make them realize that maybe they aren’t as perfect for each other as they previously had thought.

At once both singularly funny and painfully poignant, Incredibly Small is equal parts Woody Allen, John Hughes, and Eric Rohmer.

Shot in Minneapolis, MN over the course of 14 days in the summer of 2009 with an independently financed micro budget, Incredibly Small exemplifies the true spirit of independent film.

WATCH THE FILM HERE


INCREDIBLY SMALL – Free Independent Feature Film from Dean Peterson on Vimeo.

MP3 + New Video – Marty Angus : Break Free

Grab some fresh tracks and check out a new music video from Martin “MartyAngus – an upcoming hip hop artist out of central New Jersey with plans of releasing his debut EP “Elephants” early Fall 2012. With influences from Mos Def, Tupac, Andre 3000, Common, 90’s Black Cinema, Pelé, Ambient Cultural Music From Around The World, and Lee “Scratch” Perry, Marty has a refreshing, throwback sound and a nasty ear for production. Download some free tracks after the jump.

Listen as RJD2 lays the instrumentation for “Break Free”:

New Video – Sebastien Tellier : Russian Attractions

French vocalist Sebastien Tellier just dropped a great new video for the Morrissey-esc single  ‘Russian Attractions’ produced by VICE with the help of Air. Starring an olympic caliber synchronized swim team, the video for the latest track from his new album My God Is Blue is reminiscent of a classic kaleidoscopic Bond title sequence.

BFF New York 2012

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The Bicycle Film Festival  hits New York City June 28- July 1 at Anthology Film Archives.  Watch as Discosalt Magazine goes inside The Bicycle Film Festival headquarters in New York City with it’s founding director, Brendt Barbur to discuss the festival. Then, check out, what looks like another great schedule of events and films after the jump.

FRIDAY JUNE 29

PROGRAM 1

6:30PM // BIKE STORIES

TDF
Rockville
Another Bike Theft Experiment
Georgena Terry
The Inverted Bike Shop
Boy
Three-Legged Horses
Candy Rides

PROGRAM 2
8:30PM // BIKE STORIESSee PROGRAM 1
PROGRAM 3
10:30PM // BIKE STORIESSee PROGRAM 1

AFTERPARTY // TBA

SATURDAY JUNE 30

STREETPARTY // 12PM-6PM

PROGRAM 4
2:00PM // HIT ‘EM IN THE MOUTH

Boy
Inspiring Ride With Ines Brunn
Hit ‘Em In The Mouth

PROGRAM 5
4:00PM // L’EROICA

Rockville
Philippa & Nancy
Spoke Folk
Bikes, Bread, & Wine: L’eroica

PROGRAM 6
6:00PM // URBAN BIKE SHORTS

Sister Session
Camper Bike: Kevin Cyr
Signatune Bis
Full Glory
4th Grazian Old Building Cycle Criterion
The First Unstoppable
Bike Cart Bungee Skating
Monstertrack: MT13

PROGRAM 7
8:00PM // URBAN BIKE SHORTS

See PROGRAM 6

PROGRAM 8
10:00PM // URBAN BIKE SHORTS

See PROGRAM 6

AFTERPARTY // TBA

SUNDAY JULY 1

PROGRAM 9
1:00PM // BFF’S GREATEST HITS

Stephan and Simone
Bike Lane
Belle Epoch
Denton/Fort Worth, T.X.
Mark On Allen
Le Tour de Kagawa
Waffle Bike
+ more

PROGRAM 10
3:00PM // FUN BIKE SHORTSWe Love Bikes
Courier Culture
Less Car, More Go
Tour De Tan
Joe Moody
The Road Ahead
Make The Move
+ more
PROGRAM 11
5:00PM // SHAY ELLIOT

Cross-Dressed
Nifty-Ten-Fifty
Shay Elliot: Cycle of Betrayal
PROGRAM 12
7:00PM // LINE OF SIGHT

Brooklyn Rides
Line Of Sights
PROGRAM 13
9:00PM // LINE OF SIGHT

See PROGRAM 13AFTERPARTY // TBA

10 Amazing Collage Artists

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1. Mowgli Omari  –  At only 20 years old, this Art University student in South East London, has already showcased his complex works at an international solo show in Zurich. His works combine simple geometric shapes with retro images to create very complex, futuristic looking optical illusions.

2. Matt Wisniewski –  A web developer and collage artist based in Brooklyn, NY, Matt creates digital art collages that incorporate both the beauty of the human form and the beauty of nature.

3. Benjamin Evans – A photographer based in Brisbane, Australia who creates collages…sometimes, for his girlfriend.

4. Julien Pacaud -A french illustrator, currently living in Le Mans, France, who before becoming an illustrator, studied film-making, was an astrophysician, an international snooker player, a hypnotist and an esperanto teacher. He creates surreal sci-fi collages with a narrative atmosphere that are truly unique.

5. Ben Giles – Another young artist from the UK, at just 19, Ben has worked with various styles.

6. Laura Red­burn – A 25-year-old collage (and mixed media) artist currently living in Cardiff, Wales. Color, animals, nature, old films, science fiction, dreams and vivid imagination inspire her. She likes to create snapshots from dreams and other worlds in her work, leaving the viewer to reflect upon their own dreams, imagination and experiences to gather their own meaning from the illustrations.

7. Marco Migani– Known as Inserirefloppino, Italian visual artist Marco Migani was born in Rimini, in 1983. He is also a musician who plays in 3 different bands, besides running an independent record label together with his friends.

8.Jeffrey Meyer – Born in Indiana, currently in the Pacific Northwest, Jeff has created a huge body of work who marries actual illustration and collage.

9.Esh Šehanović – Esh creates mash-up’s of f things found in his environment- virtual or real.

10. Erika Lawlor Schmidt – Born in Lake Forest, Illinois in 1956, Erika Lawlor Schmidt has forged a career as a visual and performing artist whose work is deeply shaped by investigations into Eastern philosophy and Indian mysticism. Her prints and collages draw on a range of influences but still recall one of the founding principles of Surrealism.

Rooftop Films Presents Kid-Thing

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Kid-Thing follows Annie, an angst-riddled prepubescent wasting her days away in a drab landscape on the outskirts of Austin, who stumbles upon an elderly woman trapped in a dep hole in the ground and must decide what–if anything–she is going to do to help.

Venue: 

Automotive High School

50 Bedford Avenuw

WIlliamsburg, Brooklyn

L to Bedford Ave. or G to Nassau Ave.

Kid-Thing 
June 14th
8:00PM Doors Open
8:30PM Live Music
9:00PM Film Begins

Oslo – Official Trailer

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A Norwegian film – with a successful festival streak –  about a junkie spending one day outside the rehab centre.

Live – Radiohead @ Blossom Music Center 6/6

 

Radiohead Live June 6, 2012 @ Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

My brains have been scrambled. Radiohead probed my mind… and I liked it.

Radiohead may actually be dark scientists, merely posing as musicians who are highly adept at their craft. Operating at forbidden frequencies, and unlocking aural sequences the equivalent of cosmic code breaking, it seems plausible that this band could cause a cataclysmic celestial event. An event, where formulas and proofs replace measures and movements and theorems and algorithms, substitute tempos and time signatures.

(photography by Mike Mittman)

Radiohead was the band that sold us jazz by convincing us it’s rock. But, after witnessing their experimental mastery onstage, a more fitting decree is  – Radiohead is purging our arcane notions of dance music and reprogramming it into something unearthly, maybe even a little unnerving ( like a college student’s introduction to David Lynch).  The truth is, Radiohead is alien. The band speaks an entirely different language than most of us, and live, summon an other worldy sound -both unnerving and beautiful. I heard the death rattle of a thousand dying star systems. Felt the rumblings of  an astral anomaly and ancient planets violently rotating. I heard all earthly matter beautifully swirling towards a wormhole, being replaced by antimatter as it enveloped all it touched. I heard the sound of the apocalypse, and Radiohead were the end of music on earth.  The effects this sonic experiment, caused audience consciousness to disintegrate.  From the front row to the lawn, everyone seized and convulsed in unison, as if losing control over their bodies and minds.

 

-Casey Bowers

 

360 – Official Trailer

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The slightly ambiguous thriller links several characters around the world, examining their sexual relationships and how they transgress society. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz

Ruby Sparks – Official Trailer

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Paul Dano stars as a neurotic novelist crippled by that dreaded writer’s block. When he finally receives a burst of inspiration by crafting a story about a wonderful dream girl named Ruby, he’s astonished to discover that his story willed her into existence.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild – Official Trailer

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The pint-sized Wallis carries the film on her back as Hushpuppy, a young girl living with her father in an impoverished Delta community. When her father’s health begins to fail, Hushpuppy’s world goes out of whack. Great floods and the appearance of mythical beasts known as aurochs take over her community, as she must learn how to survive without her father.

To Rome With Love – Official Trailer

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Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz and Roberto Benigni…

But if you need more – Allen’s European roadtrip hits Italy, with an ensemble cast caught in a variety of Woody’s trademark romantic and social misadventures.

Peace, Love and Misunderstanding – Official Trailer

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An uptight NYC lawyer gets dumped by her husband and decides to take her two kids upstate for a summer vacation; their destination is grandma’s house, and grandma just happens to be a pot-smoking, chicken-raising hippie. Directed by Bruce Beresford (“Driving Miss Daisy”)and starring Elizabeth Olsen, Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener.

Safety Not Guaranteed – Official Trailer

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Safety Not Guaranteed stars Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Rec) as a magazine intern working on the story of a small-town wacko, who put out an ad seeking a partner to help travel back in time. As she gets closer to the man behind the ad, she begins to realize that the mysterious circumstances surrounding him aren’t as crazy as they first seemed.

God Bless America – Official Trailer

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Dark comedy director Bobcat Goldthwait’s new film God Bless America starts Bill Murray’s younger brother, Joel as Frank, a terminally ill man who takes his nothing-to-lose scenario and decides to clean up society. Aided by the crazy 16-year-old Roxy, he goes “Taxi Driver” on annoying reality TV debutantes, media loudmouths and people who text in the theater.

New York Surf Film Festival 2012

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Watch this short story about shaping surfboards from Joel Fitzgerald Surfboards.  You can catch this and other films at The New York Surf Film Festival – a curated  exhibition of the highest quality surf films from around the world to give the surfing community and general public a spotlight in the city to celebrate the filmmaking craft,  honor the heritage, and learn about the new movements within and surrounding the surf lifestyle.

 

Ben Nordberg’s First Skate Video for Flip Skateboards

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Ben Nordberg is one of the most well known Brits in international skateboarding,  known for his easy-going style. He’s so laid back, he looks like he’s half- asleep most of the time. This is Ben Nordberg’s first ever, full-length Flip video part. Filmed by Russell Houghton, Ewan Bowman, Greg Hunt & Greg Poisionner. Edited by James Gardner. Presented by Relentless Energy, Analog, Gravis & Flip Skateboards.

Watch below!