Friendly reminder that earlier this week I announced the re-issuing of Apollo Up!'s sophomore album, Chariots of Fire. It's been fully remastered by John Baldwin (Public Image Ltd, Jesus Lizard, countless Light in the Attic releases) and sounds better than ever. People are already saying great things about the reissue!
ION Magazine review - "The most illuminating moments of the song happen when he and the band channel the same velvet draped darkness that Greg Dulli and the Afghan Whigs used to so effortlessly harness." Lovely.
Nashville Scene - "...the album is a treasure-trove of interlocking riffage that doesn't sag under the weight of too much calculation - it's a full-throated rock record, with plenty of pop hooks..."
According to this post, it seems the world has lost another artist. ORFN is probably most well known for his pervasive tagging; largely around San Francisco. Taking a cruise through this Tumblr or various galleries showcase just how fearless he was in putting up his pieces wherever he wanted.
I wasn't a known fan of ORFN prior to this news but I'm enjoying the deep dive into his work. It manages to feel simple and sweet but often undercut with a strange sadness to it.
"If Black Mirror Had a Showroom, This Would Be It" is the headline for The Glass Room; a pop-up shop / art installation showcasing various books and pieces about our online lives. This writeup contains a lot of the details of the sorts of items you'll find - a book of hacked LinkedIn passwords, a book of geolocation destinations stolen from you by Apple and a Data Bar to help you DeTox your online self.
The website has plenty of details to read through and there's plenty of hashtags to help you experience it, even if you're not able to physically attend.
Pretty straightforward first trailer for the adaptation of Dave Egger's The Circle. On the whole, the book is a somewhat scary and prophetic take on technologies invasive role in our lives - much of which we're already seeing happen with Facebook Live, Nest Cameras, Alexa, Google Home, etc. For me, the book's plot took a twist that made it a bit Hollywood and absurd but I think I mostly just interested in a continued exploration of how technology is altering us, sometimes for the worse.
Regardless, the trailer looks pretty dead on and I'm sure I'll see the movie.
The Mysterious Package Company is, truly, mysterious. In that, after reading over the site you really have no idea what it is they are offering. It's a mystery. You send it to someone. What is it? Who knows!?
Actually, you can get a halfway decent idea of what it is by reading this but the vagueness is intentional. It feels like a version of Sleep No More or The Game but done through the USPS. I am certainly intrigued.
TLDR: yk records is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of this record by re-releasing it on vinyl for the first time.
Without sounding too schmaltzy, I think Chariots of Fire came before it's time. Nashville has always had a rich history of respected country music (Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, The Opry, etc) and recently has found some solid footing in the rock world (JEFF the Brotherhood, Bully, Third Man) but there's a gap of time in between there where plenty of great albums slipped through, particularly in terms of a wider recognition.
Apollo Up! has always been one of my favorite Nashville bands. I've seen them more times than I can count and never been disappointed. It's always been the perfect blend of upbeat, intense rock songs with just the right amount of melody. Sometimes it feels aggressive but you can still shimmy and sing to it.
So, upon learning that 2016 was the ten-year anniversary of the album's release, I knew I wanted to release it on yk records. Re-mastering an album like this takes time and that's why the announcement is coming so late in the year but it wouldn't be right to not do it in 2016.
You can pre-order the limited edition Gold Vinyl here and await the freshly remastered tracks for official release on Friday, December 16th. Until then, enjoy Walking the Plank.
Hopefully you recall the 10x2015 project from last year.
If not, they're up to it again at 10x16. A group of extremely talented designers is asked to contribute a re-imaging of their favorite album covers from 2016 but restricted by a particular color palette.
At this time, only the first day of designs has been released but it's extremely inspiring, not to mention a great resource to find some albums I most likely missed.
Part of me wants to put The Outline up on a pedestal as a "new media" undertaking that subverts the mainstream and presents useful nuggets of information in an extremely well designed way. They approach news differently by making it less snooze to look at. But I'm not sure that's right. I've only spent a little bit of time on it but I'm not quite sure what it is yet.
It's definitely news and it's certainly well designed but it's unclear if it's aggregating chunks of information to tease you elsewhere or if they're presenting their own insights. Maybe both. Maybe it's just an informative homepage.
All that's to say, I can't quite describe what it is but I do recommend reading it. Start here maybe?
Including royalties from cover versions, it is estimated that McCartney makes $400,000 a year from this song, which puts its cumulative earnings at near $15 million.
Last night we watched Glory Daze; a documentary on the New York Club Kid's Scene from the 90's, centered around promoter Michael Alig and his downfall into a drug-induced murder. The film does a decent job covering Alig's time in prison and how he's dealing with the guilt of his actions but the first portion of the movie focused on the emergence of the scene out of Studio 54 is really fascinating and well worth a watch. The culture that made RuPaul and Chloe Sevigny was a wild time born out of almost anarchist creativity. I would absolutely love to see hours more on that.
Glory Daze is on Netflix for the time being, so dive in while it's there.
It's been awhile since I've seen such a massive body of work as adorable as the offerings from Sue Jean Ko. The color palette, the adorable subjects and the textures of everything are just delightful. There's also a good number of equally cute enamel pins over in her Etsy shop.
I love the combopacks of cards, pins and patches all thrown together. It's like a gift basket that's ready to roll.
An ode to letting in the fears of heartbreak and failure and riding on the crest of those feelings.
“Turn those broken dreams, into rainbows of lazer beams…and keep dancing"
After Paskalev is confronted by “Death”, a young, inoffensive man with his customary questionnaire on life and regrets, Paskalev is granted one final wish; to express himself through dance. The scene unfolds in a cheaply converted old swimming pool, as Mik plays out his routine under the gaze and judgement of Death. “A Witness in the Shadow of Love”. The dance slowly inspires a yearning and rapport between both characters as they come together for the last throes of the video. Bringing home the final release and optional metaphors.
Directed by
Mikhael Paskalev, Joe Wills, Jasper Spanning
Cinematography by
Jasper Spanning
Edited by
Joe Wills & Mikhael Paskalev
Production
Viktor Ivanov
Graded by
Hannibal Lang
Actors: Mik&Joe
Special, loving thanks to Mama Paskalev, Dimitur Popov & Gergana Milfovska
