The title track is easily my favorite of the 4. There's something a little bit grungy about it and the m/f vocal pairing is evocative.
Showing posts with label hipsters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hipsters. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
stream the new ringo deathstarr ep
Austin's shoegaze / lo fi act with the hipster name just released an LP in February but they've already got a 4 song EP called Shadow on the way in November. Nylon Magazine has it available to stream a full month in advance. Unfortunately, they won't let me embed the soundcloud so you'll have to follow this link to hear it.
The title track is easily my favorite of the 4. There's something a little bit grungy about it and the m/f vocal pairing is evocative.
The title track is easily my favorite of the 4. There's something a little bit grungy about it and the m/f vocal pairing is evocative.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
the EARL
Tonight was my first visit to the EARL (East Atlanta Restaurant and Lounge). It's in East Atlanta, a sector of the city supposedly overrun by hipsters. There was definitely a hipster vibe to the crowd but not the over the top, cringe-worthy walking disasters made famous by websites like look at this fucking hipster or internet memes like hipster ariel. A couple of interesting folks I met said Atlanta hipsterdom is about 5 years behind the rest of the nation and I did notice a dearth of lumberjack beards on the crowd. But I'm getting off topic here...
The EARL is a great live music venue in terms of atmosphere. Even though the front half of the space is a restaurant, the place conjured more of an Emo's vibe for me than Stubb's (these are Austin music venues). The stage is in the back of the lounge. It lacks the Flintstones BDSM graffiti, punk Ganesha, and theater seats that conjure so many fond all ages shows memories of Emo's. In fact, the walls of the EARL are mostly just black. But it's got that same intimate feeling with the stage. In fact, we stood next to members of opening acts Blair and La Sera to watch Say Hi and Tennis play. I didn't see any mohawks or studded leather jackets to let me know the punks were present like the staple Emo's crowd. Atlanta seems to be light on punks, in fact; I've only noticed a few out at shows, most notably at No Age / Rene Hell show at the Drunken Unicorn.
Like I said, the atmosphere is great. The crowd was mostly chill, too, unlike my many bad experiences with people at the Tabernacle and Variety Playhouse.
The one big complaint I have about the EARL is the acoustics. Hopefully it was just an off night. One positive sign was the tech coming out to replace the lead's mic during the La Sera set to improve the volume of her vocals.
All in all, I like. Still doesn't fit quite as nicely as the aforementioned Emo's and Stubb's or the Mohawk or La Zona Rosa or the Parish, but a solid venue, assuming the sound techs get their act together and dazzle me next time. Because there will be a next time. Many of my favorite acts tour through their, including the Lower Dens on Sunday, Telekinesis! on Monday, Asobi Seksu on the 21st, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart with Twin Shadow on April 5.
Yew can dew it, earls!
The EARL is a great live music venue in terms of atmosphere. Even though the front half of the space is a restaurant, the place conjured more of an Emo's vibe for me than Stubb's (these are Austin music venues). The stage is in the back of the lounge. It lacks the Flintstones BDSM graffiti, punk Ganesha, and theater seats that conjure so many fond all ages shows memories of Emo's. In fact, the walls of the EARL are mostly just black. But it's got that same intimate feeling with the stage. In fact, we stood next to members of opening acts Blair and La Sera to watch Say Hi and Tennis play. I didn't see any mohawks or studded leather jackets to let me know the punks were present like the staple Emo's crowd. Atlanta seems to be light on punks, in fact; I've only noticed a few out at shows, most notably at No Age / Rene Hell show at the Drunken Unicorn.
Like I said, the atmosphere is great. The crowd was mostly chill, too, unlike my many bad experiences with people at the Tabernacle and Variety Playhouse.
The one big complaint I have about the EARL is the acoustics. Hopefully it was just an off night. One positive sign was the tech coming out to replace the lead's mic during the La Sera set to improve the volume of her vocals.
All in all, I like. Still doesn't fit quite as nicely as the aforementioned Emo's and Stubb's or the Mohawk or La Zona Rosa or the Parish, but a solid venue, assuming the sound techs get their act together and dazzle me next time. Because there will be a next time. Many of my favorite acts tour through their, including the Lower Dens on Sunday, Telekinesis! on Monday, Asobi Seksu on the 21st, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart with Twin Shadow on April 5.
Yew can dew it, earls!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Youth In Revolt
O Michael Cera. You play the same awkward, lovesick nerd in every movie and yet you still somehow manage to keep it fresh. Youth In Revolt (based on the novels of C. D. Payne) isn't a fantastic movie but it is quite fun and entertaining. Like previous Cera big screen forays, Miguel Arteta's Youth In Revolt wears its indie rock hipster cred firmly on the sleeve of its vintage t-shirt with ironic iron-on decal.
Nerdy teenager Nick Twisp longs to lose his virginity but all the signifiers of his hipper than hip tastes (Fellini films, Frank Sinatra records, vintage shirts and too short pants) keep tripping him up with the girls from his Oakland high school. When his mother's (Designing Women's Jean Smart) current live-in boyfriend Jerry (Zach Galifianakis) crosses a trio of sailors with a shady used car deal, the family packs it up to stay in a conservative Christian trailer park in Ukiah until things blow over. Here Nick meets the flirtatious, bright and pretty francophile Sheeni Saunders (played by newcomer Portia Doubleday) whose tastes and knowledge of film and music rival his own. Unsurprisingly, Nick falls madly in lust and love.
The hitch comes when Jerry, with Estelle Twisp, Nick, and a dilapidated trailer in tow, returns to Oakland. The two young lovers plot their reunion through a series of what-if's: Nick's unemployed, sex-addicted, status-loving father George (Steve Buscemi) gets a job in Ukiah and Nick somehow manages to convince his mom Estelle, who depends on the child support to eat, to let him live with George. "You have to be bad," Sheeni counsels Nick. And so is born Francois Dillinger.
Nick's supplemental personality Francois, a hybrid of Sheeni's avowed longing for a bad boy French lover and Nick's own distorted vision of what the cool guy should be, provides Cera a novel angle from which to showcase his stammer-y, rabbit-in-the-headlights chops. Francois (complete with bad boy moustache) encourages Nick to do all kinds of things, from blowing up downtown Berkeley to uttering such ridiculous lines as "I want to tickle your belly button... from the inside," in an escalating bid to finally bed Sheeni.
Youth in Revolt is helped out immensely by a strong, funny supporting cast. The aforementioned Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, and Zach Galifianakis are all amusingly repulsive as the flawed adults in Nick's life. Ray Liotta is menacing and grotesque as Officer Lance Wescott, Estelle's new live-in boyfriend after he consoles her upon delivering news of Jerry's death by heart attack and then never leaves. The one truly supportive adult presence in Nick's life is Mr. Ferguson played spot-on by veteran funny guy Fred Willard. His rescue of Nick and Vijay (Adhir Kalyan, last seen by yours truly playing assistant Timmy to David Spade on the unfunny CBS sit-com Rules of Engagement) after a 200 mile road trip to see Sheeni at boarding school, resulting in Vijay getting some from Sheeni's avowedly loose roommate and Nick stopped just short of finally getting the tip in with the aid of Francois' smooth talk, is a truly knee slapping, laugh out loud moment. Justin Long also induces a few laughs as Sheeni's older brother Paul, a cool guy drug user with oracular powers who helps Nick while stealing George's comely young girlfriend (Ari Graynor).
As I said before, Youth In Revolt traffics in all the same conceits we've grown accustom to in a Michael Cera film. The soundtrack is crowded with indie and hipster-approved tracks, the wardrobes were obtained by laboriously scouring through vintage re-sale shops, and the youth deliver lines full of adult spunk and wit. Unlike say Juno, which suffered from wise beyond her years cracks from Ellen Page seeming at times forced, Youth In Revolt is inspired by Nick's love of Italian masterpieces by Fellini et al and Sheeni's devotion to French cinema and Belmondo. The dialogue is steeped in important, deep, and passionate thoughts as imagined by hormonal, lower-middle class teens who turn their noses up at anything made after 1977.
Youth In Revolt is charming and quirky if familiar territory. But there's a reason you keep that old ugly sweater and ask mom to make her meatloaf every time you go home. Michael Cera has carved out a niche as a character actor playing the same nervous, mumbly, lovelorn underdog. I loved him on Arrested Development and you can be sure I'll see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Fans of the genre will surely be pleased. We're not seeing anything new from Michael Cera ('cept the 'stache) but, then again, there's nothing necessarily wrong with that.
Nerdy teenager Nick Twisp longs to lose his virginity but all the signifiers of his hipper than hip tastes (Fellini films, Frank Sinatra records, vintage shirts and too short pants) keep tripping him up with the girls from his Oakland high school. When his mother's (Designing Women's Jean Smart) current live-in boyfriend Jerry (Zach Galifianakis) crosses a trio of sailors with a shady used car deal, the family packs it up to stay in a conservative Christian trailer park in Ukiah until things blow over. Here Nick meets the flirtatious, bright and pretty francophile Sheeni Saunders (played by newcomer Portia Doubleday) whose tastes and knowledge of film and music rival his own. Unsurprisingly, Nick falls madly in lust and love.
The hitch comes when Jerry, with Estelle Twisp, Nick, and a dilapidated trailer in tow, returns to Oakland. The two young lovers plot their reunion through a series of what-if's: Nick's unemployed, sex-addicted, status-loving father George (Steve Buscemi) gets a job in Ukiah and Nick somehow manages to convince his mom Estelle, who depends on the child support to eat, to let him live with George. "You have to be bad," Sheeni counsels Nick. And so is born Francois Dillinger.
Nick's supplemental personality Francois, a hybrid of Sheeni's avowed longing for a bad boy French lover and Nick's own distorted vision of what the cool guy should be, provides Cera a novel angle from which to showcase his stammer-y, rabbit-in-the-headlights chops. Francois (complete with bad boy moustache) encourages Nick to do all kinds of things, from blowing up downtown Berkeley to uttering such ridiculous lines as "I want to tickle your belly button... from the inside," in an escalating bid to finally bed Sheeni.
Youth in Revolt is helped out immensely by a strong, funny supporting cast. The aforementioned Jean Smart, Steve Buscemi, and Zach Galifianakis are all amusingly repulsive as the flawed adults in Nick's life. Ray Liotta is menacing and grotesque as Officer Lance Wescott, Estelle's new live-in boyfriend after he consoles her upon delivering news of Jerry's death by heart attack and then never leaves. The one truly supportive adult presence in Nick's life is Mr. Ferguson played spot-on by veteran funny guy Fred Willard. His rescue of Nick and Vijay (Adhir Kalyan, last seen by yours truly playing assistant Timmy to David Spade on the unfunny CBS sit-com Rules of Engagement) after a 200 mile road trip to see Sheeni at boarding school, resulting in Vijay getting some from Sheeni's avowedly loose roommate and Nick stopped just short of finally getting the tip in with the aid of Francois' smooth talk, is a truly knee slapping, laugh out loud moment. Justin Long also induces a few laughs as Sheeni's older brother Paul, a cool guy drug user with oracular powers who helps Nick while stealing George's comely young girlfriend (Ari Graynor).
As I said before, Youth In Revolt traffics in all the same conceits we've grown accustom to in a Michael Cera film. The soundtrack is crowded with indie and hipster-approved tracks, the wardrobes were obtained by laboriously scouring through vintage re-sale shops, and the youth deliver lines full of adult spunk and wit. Unlike say Juno, which suffered from wise beyond her years cracks from Ellen Page seeming at times forced, Youth In Revolt is inspired by Nick's love of Italian masterpieces by Fellini et al and Sheeni's devotion to French cinema and Belmondo. The dialogue is steeped in important, deep, and passionate thoughts as imagined by hormonal, lower-middle class teens who turn their noses up at anything made after 1977.
Youth In Revolt is charming and quirky if familiar territory. But there's a reason you keep that old ugly sweater and ask mom to make her meatloaf every time you go home. Michael Cera has carved out a niche as a character actor playing the same nervous, mumbly, lovelorn underdog. I loved him on Arrested Development and you can be sure I'll see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Fans of the genre will surely be pleased. We're not seeing anything new from Michael Cera ('cept the 'stache) but, then again, there's nothing necessarily wrong with that.
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