AU Faculty Art Exhibition Is Here

The AU Art Department Faculty Show is coming February 26th through April 3rd, with a closing reception featuring artist lectures by:

Faculty Artists include: Nathan Cox, Kim Dick, Barbara Ervin, Peter Kaniaris, Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers, Tim Speaker, and Susan Wooten.

This exhibit showcases works in drawing, printmaking, painting, photography, ceramics, and sculpture.

This Makes Me Laugh

Now this, this is truly funny.

Years of Refusal Is Fantastic

Morrissey is one of the rare artists that completely divide the listening public; you either are or are not a Morrissey fanatic. Basically, nobody likes Morrissey; either he has been an influential figure in your life, or you hate him/don’t know who he is. As such, Moz has existed in this odd state of perpetual comeback. Every several years he drifts back into the favor of the critical community. His records are shockingly similar, all the way back to his post-Smiths Viva Hate heyday. But if we are truly being honest with ourselves (and our ears), than we must concede that BIG COMEBACK albums like You Are The Quarry are really not all that dissimilar to critically dismissed pieces like Maladjusted. It’s almost as if we (as a record buying/critical community) tire of the Mozzer’s heart on sleep mope every couple years. But then, when the next record comes out, critics fall all over themselves proclaiming it his BIG RETURN TO FORM, when really, it’s nearly indistinguishable from the work that preceded it. This is a trend that goes back to the beginning, as critics have worshipped or slaughtered at the altar of Moz with each album: Viva Hate – Brilliant, Kill Uncle – Awful, Your Arsenal – Brilliant, Vauxhall & I – OK, Southpaw Grammar – Terrible, etc, etc, etc.

That being said, each Morrissey record is always split into several sections - an anthemic lead single, a clutch of classics, a couple throwaways, etc. Years of Refusal then is no exception, though I must say that Moz does sound incredibly revitalized. Not to appear hypocritical to all that I have just written, I must say that I loved Maladjusted, thought You Are The Quarry was OK, and totally loved Ringleader of the Tormentors, so I don’t fit in with the critical trend. At the risk of skewing this critique, I must offer full disclosure: the truth is, I’m a professed Morrissey fanatic. OK, there it is, you know where I stand..

So, Years of Refusal? Every track crackles with life and vitality. For several years I was in favor of Moz dumping longtime songwriting partner (at this point much longer than Johnny Marr) Boz Boorer. However, what seems to have been truly necessary was to switch producers. The late Jerry Finn (You Are The Quarry) chose to record the band live in the studio, and combined with Morrissey’s famous penchant for knocking out vocal tracks in one take, the result is truly exploding with energy. Opener “Something Is Squeezing My Skull” sparks with punk rock guitars and features a lead vocal a full octave higher than Moz normally sings. Live favorite (and B side) “Don’t Make Fun of Daddy’s Voice” also features this approach but unfortunately is not featured here. This is clearly his most “rock” album since the Mick Ronson helmed the glamtastic Your Arsenal (one of the best albums of the 1990’s). The band consists of the usual cast, yet a fresh energy is present especially in the Gary Day-ish basslines heard previously on Your Arsenal and Vauxhall & I.

This album flies bye at a breakneck pace, as the fantastic Mama Lay Softly On the Riverbed and Black Cloud rip through like a lightning strike, when (the aforementioned anthemic) “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” flows in, all “Alma Matters”/”Interesting Drug” – in other words, doing what Moz lead singles from “Everyday Is Like Sunday” to “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” do – trademarked epic melancholy as it should be.

One of the most overlooked aspects of Morrissey’s songwriting is his penchant for tongue in check, gallows humor, but that is not really present here – it seems like this time he really means it, especially on the crooning and atmospheric “You Were Good In Your Time” and “The Last Time I Saw Carol”, which tread similar territory to “Late Night Maudlin Street” and “My Love Life”. Yet none of this can prepare you for one of the greatest songs in the Morrissey canon, “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore”. Moz howls and shrieks, whispers and speaks in conversational tones on this bombastic full-scale epic. It’s as moving as any song in his repertoire, and that is really saying something. This is the best song by anyone so far this year, and should be a strong contender for song of the year come December. Album closer “I’m OK By Myself” is the best ending to a Moz record since Your Arsenal landed with“Tomorrow”.

The bottom line is that I cannot imagine Morrissey making a better album than this. Should he retire in the next five years as he has stated, then this is a brilliant swansong. Rather than go out with a whimper, he goes out raging against the dying of the light. I for one would like to follow at least one more critical cycle, and as always will enjoy the ride, whatever the critical response.

The Verdict: (a very strong) 4 out of 5 stars

PS - The cover art is absolutely fantastic too.

Strictly Discs Are Strictly Awesome

I am convinced that Madison, WI's Strictly Discs is one of the premiere record stores in the United States of America. I'm serious. And their website is fantastic, packed with useful information. A great record store ran by great people - a record store for real music fans.

My top ten album of the year for 2008 (and here too) have been included on their site, as well as many others, including my good friend Pete who I mentioned in a previous post. Spend some time there and buy your albums from them - they deserve it! Go here to check it out.

BTW - The picture to your left is from a release by The School of Seven Bells, a really excellent CD I am binging on right now. Take a listen to the song Face To Face On High Places and you will be hooked.

AV Club is Always Great

The AV Club is the arts and entertainment section of the brilliant, brilliant Onion. Having lived in Madison, the home base of The Onion, where you can pick it up for free. Since moving down here to good ol' South Carolina, I have to read it online.

In an earlier post I discussed how much I like Steven Soderbergh's The Limey. It's a great B movie wrapped in A list production. Anyway, AV Club has a great review of the commentary track on The Limey. It's a great read, and makes me want to go out and buy the DVD just to hear more of it. Read it here.

PS - the logo for the AV Club is one of my favorites.

The Last House On The Left Trailer Is Better Than the Film

I really, really, really hate when a trailer shows you an entire movie (this is your spoiler warning not to watch the above trailer if you wanted to see this movie). Since I already knew how The Last House On The Left turns out (it's a remake) it didn't bother me as much, but it completely ruins the film for anyone who doesn't. However stupid the people who made this trailer may be in terms of giving away plot details, I must admit one thing: they know how to edit. This trailer is phenominal if viewed as a piece of art - the editing is superb, yes, but it is the song selection that puts it over the top. The Guns N' Roses powerballad "Sweet Child O' Mine" that we all grew up with is reinvented by Taken By Trees as a wobbly, atmospheric, piano driven lullaby with female vocals. By recontextualizing the song in conflict with the visuals, the effect is chillingly creepy and desperate. Truly this is marvelously effective. I must have watched it 10 times, and marvel at the movement created. Spectacular.

Making of Control is Riveting

One of my favorite films of the decade was Anton Corbijn's Control. At some point I will, as I promised earlier, create that epic blog post about Factory Records, Tony Wilson, Joy Division, Ian Curtis, Peter Saville, Anton Corbijn, etc. But for now I will just say this: watch these making of videos, and then go watch Control. It is brilliant filmaking, acting, art direction, etc.

Music Video of the Week: Nine Inch Nails

The music video of the week is for The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails. Mark Romanek is a truly visionary video director, a master of atmosphere. This entire video has s creepy, Victorian/Gothic, Edgar Allen Poe, Turn of the Screw, Edward Gorey type vibe to it, which is a high complement.

This video appeared in 1996 and blew me away, with it's muted color palettes and overhead, diffused lighting. Very influential to my own work in terms of composition and alteration of lighting source. I saw the making of this video long ago, and I was amazed that much of the video was filmed in a meat locker to achieve the cold breathe look. This of course was pre-digital era film making, so it required some ingenuity on the part of Romanek and Reznor to pull of these (still) stunning effects.

Nine Inch Nails have always had arresting videos, back to their beginnings in 1989. Take some time on youtube and watch them.

Some of the Greatest & Most Famous Logos Ever

Lots and lots of design posts lately, with great imagery and links but little content. Sorry for that. Anyway, here are some of the greatest logo designs, all in one convenient place. Again, thanks to nubbytwiglet.com for the heads up.

The King Finally Freaks Me Out

I have always been a fan of Burger King's marketing strategy, which has been humorous and sometimes creepy, occasionally at the same time (like the King commercials, which I find hilarious but I know people who are horrified by it). McDonald's schizophrenic marketing campaigns have felt a bit like that lost kid you went to high school with, who tries just a little too hard to be cool, and one day comes to school with a shaved head and pretends to be punk when he was gangsta the week previous. You know who I'm talking about. Those campaigns began with the "I'm Lovin' It" re sloganeering project and have attempted to grab onto anything "hip" or "in" since then - sad really. Anyway, over at the fantastic nubbytwiglet.com I spotted this: Burger King T Shirts. This leads me to several thoughts:

1. There is such a thing as a Burger King Studio, where they design things that aren't burgers. Seriously, this is really bizarre - you have to take a look.
2. That the t shirts they have designed are actually not bad.
3. That the Burger King Cologne is real.
4. Occasionally I see something that is so bizarre, so odd, so not from this world, that I cannot wrap my head around it or make sense of it. This is one of those times.

I cannot for the life of me understand this; in fact, I feel woozy and disoriented just looking at it. A fast food chain marketing directly to the Shepherd Fairey crowd - what do they wish to accomplish here? Are us artists and designers that big of a demographic that we might topple the fast food industry by tapping into our ranks? It's so bizarre, I feel taken in, and nauseous at the same time. Take a look and decide for yourself.

75 Years of Esquire Covers

Do you have five hundred hours to kill? Then check out the Esquire Cover Archive site. It is amazing to view the progression, all that beautiful typography. For more cover love, check out this site, which links the overs for many, many different long running fashion magazines.

More Awesome Book Designs

There are a ton of great book designs to see here. Simply outstanding work. The Book Cover Archive is awesome.

Great Knock Offs

These are hilarious foreign knock offs of famous brands. Take a look here.

Best and Worst Movie Posters of 2008

The Defamer has their best and worst movie posters of 2008 over here. Check it.

Want Some Free Music?

Of course you do! Then check out pampelmoose.com, a place for free mp3's. It's good stuff.

I Love This Workspace

Nubbytwigglet.com is a great design and fashion blog that I really enjoy. Recently she displayed her amazing workspace. Check it out here, and then stick around and wander around her site.

50 State Logos

Here are the logos for the 50 states. Time for a rebrand! Check out the full size image here.

Inspiring Corporate Design

Saw this great list over at the great graphicfetish. Check it out there.

Etsy Colors: So Cool, So, So Cool

This is so cool. Just go there and try it out. Seriously, don't do anything else, just check it out.

Cuz It Ain't No Sin To Be Glad Your Alive

So the Boss (that's right kiddies, Bruce Springsteen) is everywhere these days. At the inauguration, the Super Bowl, everywhere. Many people are getting over saturated with Boss, but that is not something I am really capable of. My relationship with Springsteen goes back a long, long way, all the way to the early eighties actually. My Boss roots are deep.

The new album, Working On A Dream, was recently given 5 stars from Rolling Stone magazine (still high praise from a semi-worthless rag - it's hard to take them seriously when they put schlock like Brittany Spears on the cover regularly, but that is another post entirely). The reviews have been exceedingly positive, save one small obstruction.

Well it is very good, but not perfect, or even five stars. It isn't as strong as Magic, but it does have some high points that reach altitudes rarely reached by contemporary artists. Let's start with...

The Great: epic open Outlaw Pete is Dylanesque, despite the obvious KISS reference. It also strays into cinematic How The West Was Won, Morriconi territory, all strings and harmonica, and the "Can you hear me?" refrain is moving and heroic simultaneously. Follow that with My Lucky Day, which recalls all of the best Boss uplifting songs like Badlands and Glory Days, driven by a cymbal splashing Max Weinburg and propulsive Gary Tallent bass line. It's songs like this that encapsulate a particular terrain that belongs to Springsteen: driving down the highway with the windows down, My Lucky Day blaring from your car speakers, gives a euphoric feeling that is both distinctly Springsteenian and American. I've always said that Springsteen represents the best of America, and here that notion is on full display.

Title track Working On A Dream follows, and as my friend Pete put it, would feel at home on The River, which is high praise indeed. Album closer (and bonus track) The Wrestler is amazing, displaying the acoustic sensitivity that the Boss also seems to own. It's one of the best tracks of the last several years by any artist.

The Good: This Life feels like it might have been left off of Pet Sounds and is firmly rooted in 60's Pop (I think it would make a great b-side to Girls In Their Summer Clothes from Magic). Good Eye sounds like Robert Johnson, maybe some lost 78 unearthed from the Mississippi mud. In other words, really good. Closer proper The Last Carnival is an understated tribute to fallen E Streeter Danny Federici.

The Mediocre: Kingdom of Days, Life Itself, Surprise Surprise, and Tomorrow Never Knows are not bad, just kind of OK.

The Ugly: Much maligned comes Queen of the Supermarket, which for once I agree with the vehement critical mauling. Yeah, it's bad. And the worst part is that there is a good song in there, melodically and musically strong, it fails only on the cheesy lyrical front. What Love Can Do is also not so hot, but isn't really bad.

There is a euphoric energy to the entire album, an emotion somewhat ensconced in Lucky Town/Human Touch area Springsteen in terms of production and atmosphere. Chop a few songs off and you really do have an excellent album. Worth a listen and does include several "classics".

The Verdict: 3 out of 5 (Ed. Note - this post has been updated 8/12/09)

Flurry of Design Posts Continue...

One last great design post for the day. This Bauhaus inspired can is both functional and beautiful. Check out the site here.

Public Creative is Beautiful

Plenty of great stuff over here. Lots of beautiful typography stuff at Public Creative. I spotted this over at the (one of my daily addictions) the Dieline.

Tons O' Great Stuff by Turner Duckworth

Turner Duckworth has tons and tons of great work over at his site. Check it out - this is just the tip of the iceburg.

StudioKxx Rokxx

StudioKxx has some really great stuff on it. Check it out here.

Amazing Type Stuff by Sean Freeman

Sean Freeman does amazing, beautiful things with typography. Wander around his great site here.

London Print Club is Good Times

As many of you know, I spent my graduate years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is infested with printmakers. Dirty, filthy, printmakers. And I'm proud to count many of them as some of my best friends.

Anyway, there will be more to come about printmaking in general as I will have a piece at the Southern Graphic Council Conference in Chicago in the near future. I'd like to find my way there to get together with some old friends and talk shop about all things print.

Just connected with the London Print Club, and their page is great, as well as their blog. Do check them both out when you have the time.

Moxon, Shirts, Are Great

Rob Moxon is a superb graphic designer/typographer/student working in the UK. Check him out here, he is funny, clever, and talented.

Still Gotta Love Hillman Curtis

I've always been a big fan of Hillman Curtis. When I was a young designer I read his MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer and it influenced me greatly; so much so that as an undergrad I made a film about Curtis for my design class.

His series of short films are so beautifully edited that I wish there were more. Take alittle time and watch them when you have the chance here.

You Never Knocked Me Down Ray

So as promised, here is another of the best title sequences of all time, from Scorsese's seminal Raging Bull. Scorsese has stated that the sequence was the greatest 60 seconds he ever filmed, and it is tough to disagree with him.

From Art of the Title:

Sometimes the opening frames of Raging Bull remind me of the linear roll of a marble in To Kill A Mockingbird’s opening sequence. Both opening sequences share the perfect music (Raging Bull’s theme is Intermezzo from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni), incredibly visualized soundscapes, beautiful black and white cinematography, and a refined sense of gritty production design.

A row of shapes sits in judgment, while old-timey flashbulbs pop and die with the slowness of the tragedy that is about to unfold. What do those photos look like? Robert DeNiro’s Jake La Motta is a coiled human animal, caged like a note on sheet music; fierce, balletic and balanced to its function. The ropes of the ring are framed like bars of music. Indeed, “give me a stage where this bull here can rage…that’s entertainment.”

Director Martin Scorsese: “I didn’t understand what the ring was. I couldn’t interpret it in my life…but I think at that time I was taking it too literally. Ultimately I came to understand that the ring is everywhere. It depends on how much of a fighter you are in life. The hardest opponent you have is yourself.” Listening to Scorsese’s commentary track for “The Set-Up” we learn of that superb film’s influence on what is arguably his magnum opus.



I decided to include the youtube clip of it as well, because of the importance of the music to this sequence. Scorsese chooses to use Cavalleria Rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni (and Francis Ford Coppolla would later use this same piece for the finale of Godfather III to astonishing effect). Now this is true genius. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Watch The Prestige

Christopher Nolan is one of the most underrated directors working today. Everyone is familiar with him for directing both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (which should have been nominated for Best Picture). The range of films Nolan has directed is limited, but astonishing. Both Memento and Insomnia (coaxing Pacino's best performance since Heat) as superb, atmospheric, and unconventional thrillers.

But Nolan's best film is 2006's The Prestige. The cast is truly superb, bringing together Christian Bale and Michael Caine from his Batman franchise, as well as Hugh Jackmen, Scarlett Johannson, Andy Serkis, and the brilliant David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. The Prestige is a story of obsession; two magicians at turn of the century London continue a lifelong competition of wills across several years. This obsession destroys the lives of everyone around the dueling pair of magicians (Jackman and Bale).

This film is extremely well written and acted, and the visual world is unnervingly convincing. You really can't take your eyes off of the screen for a moment, as every frame builds to it's surprising and satisfying ending. A masterfully directed film, and vastly entertaining.

Music Video of the Week: The Killers

The music video of the week is Bones by the Killers. Having just seen them last week, they have been on my mind.

The video was directed by the ubiquitous Tim Burton, who proves that if you follow your weird visions long enough you will eventually be accepted. Anyway, it has a great 50's monster movie, drive-in look and feel (though I wish the skeletons were actual claymation rather than CG made to look like animation). It's an "upper" for Friday of a long, long week.

Enjoy.

To Kill A Title Sequence

Man, I love title sequences, and I just found the best site ever for them. Go there, spend hours there. You won't be sorry.

Here is some screencaps from one of the greatest sequences of all time, from To Kill A Mockingbird. Shockingly contemporary. Genius.

From Art of the Title:

In the first seconds of this dawning glory, Elmer Bernstein’s notes softly dot and fade. A child, our beloved Scout, hums lullaby-like. At the heart of a masterpiece, a cigar box. At the heart of the box, Gregory Peck. A silent pocket watch ticks in remembrance.

Scout lifts a crayon and sets in motion the quiet, unintentional roll of a marble and the wonderment of the examined life found in every moment, of every life.

Art of the Title’s favorite element to Stephen O. Frankfurt’s opening title sequence for “To Kill A Mockingbird” is the window reflected in the marbles. We get the sense that this lolling calm happens just off screen while, on the other side of that window Atticus -the very embodiment of security- sways thoughtfully on the porch swing.

Our appreciation for Frankfurt’s compositions changes not with each viewing but with each sitting. This is the kind of perfection that rewards anyone in illimitable meditation. This is, in part, a testament to Frankfurt’s masterful macro photography, an innovation that broke the mold upon inception. There are many other instances of extreme close up in film, but used in these opening moments we find a kind of lyricism we recognize as honest.

[The goal was] “to find a way to get into the head of a child,” Frankfurt is quoted as saying. What grips you upon subsequent viewing: the sequence is tonally different than the film while being reflective of it.

A wave, as drawn by Scout, is cross matched with the beaded chain over the silent timepiece. The child draws what can be discerned as dividing lines. And in the tearing of the mockingbird, a chasm.

Lots more to come...

More Bardem Magic

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the latest film by Woody Allen. It is a complex tale of two American tourists (Scarlett Johannson and Rebecca Hall) in Spain for the summer who meet and are entranced by local artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). Antonio constantly refers to his ex-wife Maria Elena (the brilliant Penelope Cruz) who attempted to kill him previously. When Maria Elena shows up fresh from a stint in the hospital due to an attempted suicide, things evolve in unpredictable ways.

This is clearly Allen's best film in years, and certainly the most entertaining to me. I was captivated with the film from the get go, and not just with it's gorgeous leading women. The world that Allen has captured here is sumptuous and unlike anywhere he has taken us before. The coloring and lighting are clearly Bertolucci-esque, which in my book is a high complement. In fact, the entire plot line (though more of an ensemble approach) is very much placed in Bertolucci territory, and I could easily see him having taken the reins of this film.

But what really sets this movie apart from the past several efforts by Allen is that it is very heartfelt in every aspect. Infidelity (an Allen staple) is not without loss, both public and private. This is a film full of individuals lost in their own desires, and the consequences of those wanderings are felt in every frame. Cruz is on fire here, (and is Oscar nominated) all blustery brilliance and self-defeated grace. Rebecca Hall (an excellent quiet performance) is the level head, but even she loses control of her carefully constructed facade to unknown consequence.

However, it is Bardem that carries the film. He is brilliantly complex, conveying an immense sense of loss, dread, lust, desire, pain, exuberance, and empathy through his heavy lidded eyes. He is the rarest of talents - an actor (like Brando before him) who is not afraid to go to complicated territory where we (as an audience) never quite find our footing (as I discussed in a previous post). We don't know whether we love him or hate him, we don't even understand him, but we cannot take our eyes off of him as we follow him. I look forward to watching his career develop over time.

These Are The Coolest Things Ever

The great designer known as Spacesick created an entire series of book covers adapted from various 80's and 90's movies. The covers are created in the Saul Bass style, and look worn and frayed. They are beautiful, silly, and clever. Check them all out, they are amazing.

My Favorite TV Commercial of All Time

OK, so I found it, my favorite TV commercial of all time. This commercial appeared somewhere around the early 2000's, and it features one of my favorite musicial artist in history, the late great Nick Drake. There is an atmosphere present in this Volkswagen clip that is entrancing - I want to be in car with them, driving under a million stars. It reminds me of so many times when I was younger, going up north as we Michiganders say. So here it is, in all it's oddly moving glory.

Now I Know What the 1990's Means

It's been a fairly horrifying realization lately; people use the phrase "90's" in the same way that people use "80's" to describe a film/song/band/artist/designer/musician of the period. Y'know, like you would say "checkered shoes are so 80's" or "Judd Nelson is such an 80's icon". I often used to wonder, what will "90's" be in the future? Will it be Grunge and Kurt Cobain, or Nu Metal and Fred Durst? Pulp Fiction or The Spice Girls Movie? What would the 90's be?

So late the other night I was getting ready to go to bed when a movie came on Showtime. The movie was S.F.W. starring Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon. Back when I was an undergrad at Central Michigan University there was a period that I affectionately remember as being the "Semester in the Dark". There was an extended 4 to 5 month length of time where my roommates and I blocked out the windows, did not leave the apartment (except for supplies), slept until 6 or 7 at night, went to bed around noon, watched dozens of films, and would listen to Jeff Buckley bootlegs in repeated silent intensity. We literally would not see the sun for weeks, and it was a long cold winter in Mt. Pleasant. As anyone who has spent a long cold winter in mid-Michigan can attest, the endless gray skies can give anyone the blues, and we certainly embraced it.

It was during this period that we first ran into the 1994 film S.F.W. We wound up buying it, so we could replay it over and over. We wrote down quotes by Cliff Spab, the protagonist, and hung them on our living room wall. Stephen Dorff is Cliff Spab, a greasy haired slacker who was held captive by terrorists and filmed for a live 24 broadcast on TV. Upon ending his confinement, he finds that he is now a media star and an icon of youth. The film soundtrack features prominent grunge era bands like Soundgarden, Radiohead, Hole, and others.

From youtube:

Stephen Dorff (Blade, The Power of One) and Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon (2006: Walk The Line) are slacker teens who discover that fame can be a four-letter word in this raucous send-up of the cult of celebrity. Featuring "hilarious moments" (Movieline), "brash drama" (Los Angeles Times) and an ending that "packs all the wit and satirical edge [you] could hope for" (Entertainment Today), S.F.W. is a cult classic...to swear by. Held captive for 36 days by terrorists who broadcast their ordeal live on network news, Cliff (Dorff) and Wendy (Witherspoon) have become national idols whose words are parroted by the masses. But when they finally escape, only to be hounded by reporters and sold out by "friends", TV's most popular hostages realize they're still prisoners-this time, of the media-and the only place left to run...is to each other.



But the first thing that struck me was that it was not a good movie. In fact, it was kind of awful. What seemed like cool at the time was really just sad whining. And those quotes we so adored? Yeah, they were pseudo philosophical babble; sample line - "I'd like to live forever, but only for a little while". (But the slow motion sequence of Spab walking to Creep by Radiohead was still pretty sweet). But what also struck me was how earnest it was, and in a sense, my entire generation. I know I sound like some hippie reminiscing about the 60's, but it all seemed to mean something. It sure seems like things changed after Kurt died. His death was so cataclysmic - it seemed significant at the time, but in actuality it was the end of the entire era. It just seemed like irony and crappy pop followed. Wow, this is a rambling post.


Anyway, it seems to me that 90's music is Grunge, and that 90's films are Reservoir Dogs, and 90's fashion were flannel shirts and ripped jeans. In other words, the term 90's mostly relates to the good things, not what came after 1994. And that makes me feel nostalgic, and old, and kind of irrelevant. But that's ok as I sit up tonight and watch S.F.W. for the second time this week. Because I guess I still want to live forever, but only for a little while...

Fairey Wins Award

More Shepherd Fairey stuff.

Little ArtBomb Video

Little video about good ol' ArtBomb Studios.

Killers/M83 Show Is Killer

I've wanted to see the Killers for several years, as one of my three favorite young american bands, along with Kings of Leon and The National. The Killers are one of the most underated bands in the world, because the bottom line is that they write really well crafted, emotional songs in the vein of U2, Springsteen, and New Order. The critics hate them, but that's OK - they will continue to be relevant for a very long time.

Not to give anything away from a future post, but I do think that Sam's Town is one of the best albums of the decade. The critics savaged it; it wasn't "dancey" enough, there was too much Springsteen, the songs were too earnest, etc. This was clearly a case of a band not following the path that reviewers wished for, and there seemed to be an intense hatred towards the album on the release (except in the UK, where it was greeted with mostly rapturous applause). To me Sam's Town was an album full of great songs, extremely well crafted and visceral.

New album Day & Age met with critical approval; they are back to making synthetic, danceable pop, thankfully they've left Springsteeen territory behind, etc. Unsurprisingly then, the album felt like a bit of a let down to me (as I've mentioned previously). As I had hoped, the songs from Day & Age jumped to life in the live setting. Highlights of the show were from back to back songs Shadowplay (a Joy Division cover from their phenomenal odds and sods comp Sawdust) and Bling (one of the most entrancing cuts from Sam's Town). The inclusion of b-side Sweet Talk was also a standout. But I can't think of any other young band that could take an audience to the highs the Killers took us; an monumental set ender in All These Things That I've Done led to the last encore finale of a rapturous When You Were Young. I just don't know another young band that could have done this.


Opening band M83 is a superb band in their own right, and I would love to see them again by themselves. On record they are very sythetic sounding, almost techno/shoegaze, but live they are monumental sounding. Additionally their drummer was absolutely spectacular - a "huge" playing drummer, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. They really are a case of needing to see them live in order to "get" them. I would buy a live album by them anytime!

Below is the complete setlist for the fantastic show by the Killers last friday night in Atlanta.

1. Spaceman
2. Somebody Told Me
3. Smile Like You Mean It
4. This Is Your Life
5. Joy Ride
6. Sweet Talk
7. I Can't Stay
8. Shadowplay
9. Bling (Confessions of a King)
10. Neon Tiger
11. Human
12. Sam's Town (Abbey Road Version)
13. Read My Mind
14. For Reasons Unknown
15. Mr. Brightside
16. All These Things That I've Done
17. Encore:
17. Bones
18. This Is The World We Live In
19. Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
20. When You Were Young