Su-Su-Studio!

This post is a nice book-end to my last post about ReBirth being released for the iPad. Alesis, makers of all sorts of music products, has just announced the new StudioDock Pro Audio Dock for the iPad at the 2011 NAMM Show! This ridiculous little piece of hardware is a beautifully designed dock for the iPad that adds a variety of input and output options that were sorely missed by musicians using the iPad for production and performance. According to Alesis' website:

The StudioDock is the first device that enables anyone with an iPad to create, produce, and perform music with virtually any pro audio gear or instruments. The StudioDock is a universal docking station specifically designed for the iPad, and it gives musicians, recording engineers, and music producers the connectivity they need to create and perform with iPad. Connect all your pro audio gear to virtually any app in the App Store with the StudioDock.

The device features two combination XLR and 1/4-inch inputs (each with its own gain control and switchable phantom power for condenser microphones), MIDI in, MIDI out, USB MIDI, 1/4-inch footswitch input, two 1/4-inch outs plus 1/4-inch headphone out, and video output. With this little dock, your iPad basically becomes a touch-screen recording studio, or touch-screen performance controller, or touch-screen instrument controller, or really whatever sort of touch-screen musical device you would like (assuming there is an app for that).

I can just see myself, up in the club, sippin' on some syzurp, jamming out some ReBirth through the PA, with my keyboard and guitar runnning through my iPad. Sounds like a good time to me. So far, there is no word on Alesis' site on pricing or release date, but I expect this right around the time the iPad 2 is released, so your guess is as good as mine!

Moving Right Along

This past weekend Anne and I traveled 3,004 miles (twice) at an average air speed of 452 miles per hour and ground speed of 45 miles per hour from Los Angeles, California via Atlanta, Georgia to Fenwick Island, Delaware. It was a grueling trip that began at 12:55 am (PST) Friday night in Los Angeles and concluded at 3:05 pm (EST) Saturday afternoon on Fenwick Island, but it was worth it. Somewhere in the Atlanta airport, I lost my mind. Luckily, I didn't sleep Friday night, so when you factor in the time change, I was awake for 38 hours straight. Sleep deprivation and traveling across time zones rapidly does some strange things, especially when you add alcohol, which I promptly did upon arrival at our palatial beach house, mere steps from the beach.
I didn't make it to the beach that first day, but I did eventually make it to bed. Before that, though, I was treated to the finest of foods: corn on the cob, hamburgers and Frogmore stew. The second day began with a trip to the beach for a little boogie boarding, volleyball and getting sun burnt as hell. Sunday afternoon, Seth grilled up some sickly delicious lobsters for lunch [pictured above]. They were indescribably good. After lunch we set up the horseshoe pitch and threw some shoes. That was fun. Sunday night I made a huge pot of paella with grilled chicken, sausage and shrimp for the family. It was delicious. I think some of the family might have had their doubts, but I know what I'm doing when it comes to paella. After dinner we had what everyone had been waiting for, Mama's chocolate bourbon pecan pie a la mode. I went to bed drunk and full again Sunday night. The sunburn and jet lag didn't help, though.

Monday, Seth and Gena left in the morning, then it was off to the beach again for more boogie boarding, walking hand-in-hand with Anne on the beach like two lovebirds and trying to keep from burning any worse than I already was. I wore the wrong shorts for boogie boarding, and lost them in the surf a couple of times, to everyone on the shore's delight. Lunch Monday was hamburgers, hot dogs and barbecue chicken on the grill a la Scotty G. It was delicious, and still we begged for more. After lunch Anne and I walked down to a little skateboard shop called Rebel One to check out their 45% off sale. They had some decent wares, but I don't have any money to spend right now. But if I did, I would definitely get one of these exclusive Limited Ed. Yuta Onoda Wishing Upon a Star prints [pictured below] from the I am 8-bit show that are available from A Paper Tiger. It is a 12" x 16" archival print, signed, numbered, and limited to only 30.
Scott, Magnolia, Hip Hop, and Peter left Monday evening, then the rest of the gang ordered pizza and played Taboo until it was time to go to bed. Anne and I had to leave early Tuesday morning, but not until after a hearty breakfast of blueberry pancakes and french toast bagels. Back in the car, back on a plane, back to the Atlanta airport, and finally home to Los Angeles. It is still a little weird to call Los Angeles home.
Anyway, another Los Angeles, well Culver City, friend of Limited Ed., project:gallery, is moving. After their new exhibit, Fresh Faces [Yuta Onada's Libido, pictured above], which begins this Saturday, September 6th, from 7-10 pm (PST), they will be moving to a larger space just down the street. The new exhibit features the work of Nimit Malavia, Yuta Onoda, Dominique Fung and Martha Chan. I might try to make it there. I will see if I have fully recovered by Saturday.

Speaking of recovery, Lee "Scratch" Perry [pictured above] will be at Amoeba Music on Sunset this evening at 7 pm (PST). I would like to make it out for that, but I don't know if I will be able to. Anne isn't home yet, she will have Kallie the Kat with her and we haven't had dinner yet. It is going to be a mess trying to get everything taken care of before seven. I still might try to make it out, 'cuz I'm a huge "Scratch" Perry fan. Anyway, I am exhausted from work today. Check out my pictures from this weekend here.

Nanoo Nanoo

Unlike Mork or the iPod nano, this nanoSERIES of MIDI controllers from Korg can be used to produce your own music (with the help of a computer)! Although some of the noises coming out of Robin Williams in the late 70's, early 80's could be considered crude music. Or something, I don't know. Anyway, the nanoSERIES comes in three distinct "Flavors to Satisfy Your Creative Palette". A keyboard controller, a pad controller and a knob and slider controller. There's no information about whether they can be daisy-chained together or if you would need or could use three USB ports to use all three at the same time, but I see this and a fast laptop as quite possibly the ultimate portable recording studio. They will be available in October and will be available for pre-order sometime at Digital Village. Pretty sweet!

Pink Elephants On Parade

Sticking with the animal theme, and promotion (this time not self- but family), here's the score to my bro's movie The Elephant King. It was composed by Adam Balazs and won top honors at the Park City Music in Film Festival, the premiere festival for film composers, and received the first prize for score at the Sacramento Film Festival. It is available now through iTunes or Amazon. The dance hit "Chiang Mai Nights" is also available as a single. After you listen to this score, you will be able to divide your life into the period before you heard it (the empty years) and after you heard it ("Valhalla"). Sweet! Now when is the movie coming out?

Ridiculousness

What could be the most expensive "magazine" I have ever seen at $250, the Limited Ed. Visionaire Issue 53: Sound [pictured above], features five 12-inch picture-disc records inside a specially produced domed case that contain more than 100 minutes of sound content, including spoken word, samples, unreleased songs, and audio experiments. Also included is a Mini Cooper Clubman "Vinyl Killer" record player: a battery-operated toy car containing speakers and a needle so that the car plays a record as it drives along the grooves. The package also contains CD's of the recorded content if you are afraid of ruining the records with a player called the "Vinyl Killer" and a booklet featuring credits and instructions.

Contributors include: musicians David Byrne, Courtney Love, Michael Stipe, Adam Horowitz (Beastie Boys), Antony & the Johnsons, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk), Andrew WK, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Danger Mouse, Malcolm McLaren, Ruyuichi Sakamoto; artists Robert Wilson, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay, Doug Aitken, Gary Hill, Sylvie Fleury, DJs Miss Kittin, Trevor Jackson, Towa Tei, Michel Gaubert; fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Helmut Lang; bands Littl'Ans, Fischerspooner, Unkle, Animal Collective, SunnO))) and many more.

Available at Turntable Lab.

Alife Presents Moby Q-Tip!

Enjoy the music video!

Do You Even Remember The 80's?

I do! It was a time when Ronald Reagan ruled the Earth with an iron fist. A drowsy, forgetful iron fist full of jelly beans. Snow drifts of cocaine flooded the financial district of Wall Street. Art was considered a good investment. Clothes and hair were puffy and fluorescent-colored. Women's shoulder pads resembled those of football linebackers. And music was composed entirely on keytars.

Well, now you can relive those glory days, at least musically, through my friends over at Turntable Lab, because they got a boatload of 80's 7-inch records in stock. Nothing says, "the 80's" like the warm, scratchy sound of 7-inch vinyl. And what a selection!

For just $4 a pop, you can get 7-inchers of [pictured above, left to right] The Cars classic Shake It Up (Cruiser b-side), Blondie's sexy Call Me (Instrumental b-side) (anytime, babe), Hall & Oates unstoppable I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) (Unguarded Minute b-side), the cover of the Willie Nelson song Always On My Mind by the Pet Shop Boys (Do I Have To? b-side), or Synchronicity II by the Police (Once Upon A Daydream b-side).

And I know This Beat is Technotronic by Technotronic (Rap To Beats b-side) was released in 1990, but it is still a classic 7-inch for just $4! How can you pass these up? Add 'em to your 80's dance party and you will be the hit of the scene. Radical!

I Wish I Had A Record Player

'Cause Turntable Lab is kickin' out some records that look amazing and I would really like to hear 'em. First off is a new remix of the Franki Valli & The Four Seasons song Beggin' produced by Pilooski [pictured above]. If I could install RealPlayer at work (damn, no admin access), I would take a listen to it, but even without hearing it, Turntable Lab's endorsement of it is enough for me. Here's what they have to say,

Pilooski's edit of "Beggin'" is unstoppable! Almost everyone in the office is eyeing a copy, and we can never agree on shit. Keeping all the best bits of Franki's original intact, Pilooski changes things up just enough to make "Beggin'" the dancefloor bomb it deserves to be. On the flip, the Speaker Killer remix is more of the same, while "Who Loves You" is a fun FV&TFS throwback original.

There are also a couple of 7-inchers available from TTL that I am really digging. First, there is the Herbalist 7" from Alborosie [pictured above]. Here's TTL's words:

The kush-infused fragrance continues with Alborosie's "Herbalist." Released last year, this tune is making a serious come-back thanks to the success of current big singles "Slam Bam" and "Kingston Town." B-side brick-wall dub and guest saxophone from legend Dean Fraser seals it.

Sounds tasty to me. Then there's the Skatalites Collie Bud 7" [pictured above]. According to TTL,

Fierce, fierce, fierce. Tommy McCook and the boys rock you upside the head (and feet) with this wicked ska dance crasher. That ain't no collie weed I ever tasted. Charlie Organaire does "Royal Charlie" on the flip, a pleasant stroll after the maniac mosh of the A-side. See how I didn't even make any "charlie" vs. "collie" puns?

Next up, keeping with the same theme, comes Linval Thompson's Marijuana 12" [pictured above].

(Cough cough cough) Say what? Oh yeah, right, the review. This here EP is a primo chunk of Channel One / King Tubby high-grade, 1978 vintage (a very good year). Linval Thompson's immortal cannabis anthem leads off, last seen in the bomb shelter of one Otis Jackson Jr. Another tough Linval track, ("Dread At the Control") and Barry Brown takes over for the flipside. "Step It Up Youthman" and "Big Big Pollution" date to the early days of the melodic micstro's career, and are some of the choice cuts in the catalog of this connoisseur's choice crooner. Don't be put off by the tacky graphic design, the heavy 12-inch, 45-rpm pressing means this is a record audiophiles can enjoy. Rack up another import deadstock find!

And lastly but definitely not leastly, one of my favorite albums of all time and one that used to hang prominently in our living room when I lived with Mike Lucas, the amazing, one-and-only, Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters Super Ape LP [pictured above]! This is a must-have for any dub, reggae or "Scratch" Perry fan. One of the best albums ever produced. Here's TTL's take,

For a long time, this was one of the holy grails of reggae collecting, rare as hell and legendary as one of the roots era's best, lost records. The hype is for once worth it and this thing has easily jumped up to the top of my list of Perry albums. A lot of his stuff has somehow gotten seriously over-rated, hyped to oblivion by press people looking for a latch to grab on to and hipsters doing likewise; but this is the real shit, the dreader than dread dub. If you've been wondering why everybody makes such a big fuss about him, this is a good place to start. A couple of the songs have lyrics and chatters (check "Croaking Lizard", the Prince jazzbo voiced version of Max Romeo's "Chase the Devil") but all the songs are dubbed out as hell and deep deep deep. This is the height of the roots sound and one of the heaviest I know of. If you are anything interested in roots or dub music, you have to have this record.

I especially like that these records range in price from $4 for the 7-inchers to $12 for the LPs, so there isn't anything out of my price range. It's just the record player that is the expensive part of the equation. Oh well, at least I can enjoy looking at the album covers.

Happy Friday PaloozaHead!

Check out my fancy-dancing little doppelganger. You can create your own PaloozaHead or just visit Lollapalooza.com to get more information on the event, taking place August 3-5 this year. It makes me feel old to think back on the very first Lollapalooza, which I attended way back in 1991. I remember being so excited to see Jane's Addiction, Ice-T and Body Count, and the Butthole Surfers that I didn't even care that my friend sold me a bag of oregano for the show. It didn't get me high, but I enjoyed the show regardless. Now Lollapalooza has gotten so big it cannot be contained in a single day. It can be contained in a single city, however, as it is no longer a traveling festival but centered in Grant Park in Chicago instead. Oh well, I can't afford the $195 ticket price anyway. Not to mention, I'm getting too old for this shit.

How Low Can A Punk Get?!

   

Last night, Mac and I were sitting around reminiscing about the bad old days of the Durham/Chapel Hill Hardcore scene of the late 80's and early 90's, looking for pictures that might have people in them that we vaguely remember, talking about people like Napalm with his beautifully quaffed, multi-colored Mohawks, mouse-clicking our way through the close-by and infinitely influential DC punk scene via Yellow Arrow.

This morning I continued our search, and Mac joined in. I discovered some slightly used Celibate Commandos 7" records [pictured above, left] on a French online record store. Only three copies available, pretty damn Limited Ed. Of course, I have both of their records already. Mac found a great looking book, entitled Punk Love [pictured above, right] by Susie J. Horgan with text by Henry Rollins, Ian and Alec MacKaye about the birth of the Washington, DC punk movement.

I kind of remember the late 80's, early 90's (too many blows to the head), going to Street Scene and Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill and the Duke Coffeeshop in Durham to see bands like the Celibate Commandos, Rights Reserved, Rat Nuts, Tonka, Creeping Flesh, 23 More Minutes, Bad Brains, Corrosion of Conformity, etc. Of course, Ernie Dollar remembers that stuff a whole lot better than I do. And he has the Myspace page to prove it. I remember Ernie, we were both friends with Edward from Celibate Commandos. Also, we went to the same high school. He was a couple of years older than me, but I would see him in Mr. Pustaver's art room all the time because we were both artists.

With all this reminiscing, I was wondering, is there anything like this for kids today? Is there a scene for the social outcasts and misfits of today to go let off some steam, thrash around, yell, and bang on things? Or is that why things like Columbine happen now, because punk is dead? Maybe kids today are too busy playing World of Warcraft to get out and play some guitar, grow a Mohawk, pin a banner on a leather jacket, and scream at the top of their lungs. It's too bad. I miss those days. Sigh.

Mad Mutha' F**gin' Doom!

I can't believe I missed this! Luckily, there are good people like Mr. G at Socialpest to pick up the slack for me. According to the 'pest, Kidrobot and Stones Throw Records have collaborated on this brilliant looking Limited Ed. Madlib & MF Doom Madvillain figure [pictured right]. I love me some Madlib and MF Doom! The Danger Doom album The Mouse and the Mask is still the shit. And Madlib's Shades of Blue is on constant rotation in my iPod. The new Madvillain figure will be dropping January 4th to coincide with the release of the compilation album Chrome Children Pt. 2 featuring Madvillain (a.k.a. Madlib & MF Doom). You can watch the video for the first single, ALL CAPS, here.

New Kidrobot Hoodie

I got e-mail last evening from Kidrobot letting me know that they have a new Limited Ed. Dunny hoodie [pictured above] in their clothing collection. This one is purple with an all-over Dunny print. Cute, but not something I would ever wear. I'm not a huge fan of the all-over print. I prefer just one image on my hoodies: large and in the middle of the front, small over the front pocket, or extra-large on the back. The all-over print just looks too childish. Maybe this is appropriate for clothes from a toy store, but apparently these are made for adult men, whom I don't foresee rockin' them on the block. The new Dunny hoodie goes on sale this evening at 6pm and I'm sure, even at a $165 price (hey, their hoodies used to be $140! Wahappen?), these will sell out quickly. The Dunny hoodies are limited to just 228 pieces, each one has the number and edition embroidered on the inside, and they feature an interior iPod pocket with a cord loop and button hole for your headphones. So head on over to Kidrobot NY or SF and pick yours up tonight.

Also, Kidrobot just announced the release of a new set of Gorillaz figures [pictured below]. The Kidrobot Gorillaz site is up and running, and their brand new edition of the Gorillaz figures will be available on October 26th. Fresh off their multi-platinum selling album Demon Days, Gorillaz and Kidrobot teamed up again, this time with a multi-set toy collaboration. The set features all-new designs of Gorillaz band members 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel. Each figure comes in a unique box with exclusive accessories! Figure heights range from 6 to 8 inches, and each one is available for $19.95. Check the site for more information on the upcoming toys, downloads, and more!

Potluck Show!

I just wanted to let all of my readers know that there will be a special Potluck Show beginning tomorrow, Friday, October 13th (Spooky! Friday the 13th!) at Wootini at Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro. The show will feature the work of such artistic luminaries as Jim Koch, Laird & Kevin Dixon, Plaseebo [featured above, top painting], Casey Robertson, "Hello, Brute", Jason Hankins, Phoneticontrol, Marialana Albani, Tiffany O'Brien [featured above, bottom painting], Forest Steel, Lany Devening, Brandon Reese, Maria Britton, Alec Grossman, Lorna Wang, Increase Maready, Alyssa Stepien, and more. If you look closely, you will see my name amongst the list. Sweet! Anyway, the show opens this Friday beginning at 7 pm and running until midnight. Music will be provided by Family, who have been on hiatus from Wootini exhibits for the last two months. Potluck-style food will be provided for the show by friend-of-Wootini Eliza. The show will run until November 8th in anticipation of David Huyck's solo exhibit, "Playground Rules".