<< 2006年2月 ｜ Main Page ｜ 2006年4月 >>
PIMPSTAR the REMIX
March 31, 2006
Wow, this just gets better and better......
PIMPSTAR the REMIX
PARTY OVER HERE
March 31, 2006
UNION HELD A DOPE LITTLE PARTY LAST NIGHT
THE CREW WAS LARGE AND CAME IN FROM ALL OVER.
THE BAR WAS STOCKED AND THE BEATZ WERE ON POINT.
AND THAT NO JOKE, WITH JUST BLAZE AND MOS DEF IN THE HOUSE......
JUST AND MOS
MAD HECTIC
BERTO ADAM AND CHRIS
DASH PETER AARON
EC AND AARON
IAN AND REGGIE
MC GIBBS
THANKS TO UNION FOR A DOPE JAM............
CAUSE ITS LIKE THAT and THATS THE WAY IT IS......
March 30, 2006
UNION LOS ANGELES REOPENS THIS SATURDAY
NOT ONLY IS THE SHOP PACKED WITH GOODIES
A FEW HEADZ LOOKED OUT AND MADE SOME EXCLUSIVE TEES
FOR THE RENEWAL..................
*****UNION AND CREW
*****W/TAPS
*****NEIGHBORHOOD
*****A BATHING APE
COME ON BY, THESE R EXCLUSIVE JOINTZ........ONLY AT UNION.....ONLY IN LA........
Leica Digital M7
March 30, 2006
Much to the delight of many Leica aficionados there's now more than a hint that Leica are readying a digital version of the M7 rangefinder camera. Stefan Daniel of Leica is quoted in the latest edition of LFI (Leica Fotografie International) magazine as saying "The Digital M will be introduced as a complete package that will include new wide-angle lenses." The rumour mill also carries some specifications; 10 megapixels with a 1.3x crop factor, 2.5" LCD monitor and SD storage.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
March 29, 2006
Gizmondo Exec Loses SLR McLaren
Lord, this boy just doesn't know when to quit. After folding his Enzo into origami, Stefan Eriksson, former Gizmondo exec, has lost his Mercedes SLR McLaren. The car, which wasn’t registered in the U.S., was impounded by Beverly Hills police because Eriksson’s wife was driving without a license.
PIMPSTAR
March 28, 2006
Spinning wheels were bad, but things have gotten worse......I cant wait to see these on the street.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The PimpStar is a huge leap forward in the evolution of the wheel. With the PimpStar's built-in full color LED lights, microprocessor and wireless modem, you can display virtually any image, including text, graphics, logos, and even digital photos!
Super Mario, Communist?
March 27, 2006
Super Mario, Communist? Squat athletic plumber of the proletariat getting us over capitalism one cutely-scored leap at a time?
Why does Mario look like Stalin?
World Tour Group 2
March 25, 2006
Stussy's next stop on the world tour will release 4.8.06
World Tour Group 2
ROSTARR
ANDY JENKINS
BULLDOG
BEN DRURY
JIM PHILLIPS
THEIRSPACE
March 24, 2006
Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad? is danah boyd's latest essay on the big social network sites, and her continued defense of MySpace against rising media driven fears. I'm pretty much in agreement with her on the level she has framed her argument, as the freedom of users to create their space versus the attempts of managers and concern parents to control it. Yet something big is missing from that story, something about MySpace being created by an internet marketing company know for spam, adware and spywear. Something about it being bought for a rather large sum by news corporation known for pursuing power first and profits second.
Through out her writing danah constantly invokes a bottom up defense of youth culture. Essentially that the kids are alright they just need space and privacy to develop their own identities. It's an argument I'm totally sympathetic to, but it becomes completely problematic when one realizes that something like MySpace just isn't a traditional bottom-up youth culture situation at all. Rather it's something more like an engine, a structure to contain the bottom up energy and transform it into something else entirely.
Now that probably comes off as rather critical, yet it actually purposefully devoid of value judgments. If all MySpace is doing is giving kids a place to be themselves on line and transforming that into ad revenue its a rather benign operation in my book. But is selling ads the only reason for MySpace as a company? Is it the only reason News Corp was willing to pay many hundreds of millions for the service? Without inside knowledge it's difficult to answer, but it is an undeniable fact that the MySpace database is filled with a massive, perhaps unprecedented, amount of demographic data.
MySpace knows their users basic info, name, email, age, etc. Then it also knows their friends, their friends data, their favorite bands, the way they speak, who they like, who they don't. Heck it can probably run a simple algorithm and figure out your favorite words (assuming you use MySpace). A more complex algorithm and it can probably imitate they way you talk.
Not only does MySpace have an absurd amount of personal data on people, the sort of stuff traditional demographics companies have been collecting for decades. But it also has something perhaps far more valuable, a wealth of data on the relationships between all those people. And just what emerges from those relationships remains to be seen. We can speculate a little though.
Imagine a new friend request, good looking person, same style, likes the same books and movies you do, never met them but sure you say yes. Something maybe a touch off, a touch cold, robotic maybe. But they are in your network, in the conversation churn. But slowly they push in odd ways, push certain products, certain activities, push for more info. The future of marketing just might read the same zines as you, buy the same punk 7" as you, watch the same YouTube as you. Perhaps they might even know just what you'll buy better than you.
That's just a scenario, imagine another one. One where it's not about the personal touch, but instead the bigger picture. Youth culture has always relied on reality moving faster on the ground than it does in the board rooms. The ability for kids to find and build their own worlds outside of the ones filled with parents teachers and cops. But what happens if MySpace can see trends faster in their data than kids can actually see them on the ground?
Just a scenario, but remember it might be my space and your space, but it's their data in the end...
Written by abstract dynamics
Links to other relevent articles:
Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad?
The MySpace Report
So all of you MYSPACE headz, YOU HAVE BEEN PUNK'd, you just let big brother know a bit more than he should of.
BOOKS
March 23, 2006
Two recent publications are very worth the time to check out.
The first is a zine-book by Ari Marcopoulos.
It is a selection of personal work with a very hands on feel and vibe....
SLOUCHING TOWARDS BROOKLYN
The second book has just been published in the USA.
Rip It Up and Start Again
by Simon Reynolds is a history of what happened next.
Punk's raw power rejuvenated rock, but by summer 1977 it had become a parody of itself. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84 is a celebration of what happened next--bands like Joy Division, Gang of Four, Wire, Contortions, Talking Heads, The Fall, Cabaret Voltaire, The Human League--who dedicated themselves to fulfilling punk's unfinished musical revolution. Based on over 125 interviews, Rip It Up offers a panoramic survey of the seven year period following punk, taking in everything from PIL to ABC to SST to ZTT, and dealing with genres including industrial, 2-Tone, synthpop, and goth.
It is a must read..........
BBQ
March 21, 2006
The crew from W/taps had to get some real LA.
So I hooked them up with one of my no joke TEAM AMERICA BBQ's.
The whole deal, ribs, burgers, hotdogs, mac and cheese, cupcakes and beer....
Me on the grill (rule 1 of my BBQ: Only i get to cook).
Taka, TET, PT, drinks for all.
NAO and SHUSEI, i goin back 2 Cali.
Tom and James (damm those ribs look good). So good I only got 1....
Jeff, Berto and Curtis. Say cheese........
Nova and Solomen, Smile for the camera.
JAV and some kinda soda mixed with something....
SYRUP
I wish i had a plate right now....Until next time........................
Anti-War Protesters Rally Around World
March 19, 2006
Anti-War Protesters Rally Around World
By PAUL BURKHARDT
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK
Thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets around the world Saturday, marking the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq with demands that coalition troops leave immediately.
Wael Musfar of the Arab Muslim American Federation addressed more than 1,000 people who gathered in Times Square near a recruiting station, which was guarded by police.
"We say enough hypocrisy, enough lies, our soldiers must come home now," Musfar said from a parked flatbed truck. Participants chanted, "Stop the U.S. war machine, from Iraq to Korea to the Philippines."
Many attendees emphasized that they support the troops. "I have friends in Iraq and I just want them to know that I may not be able to support them there, but I can here," said Jose Avila, 36.
Protests also were held in Australia, Asia and Europe, but many events were far smaller than organizers had hoped. In London, police said 15,000 people joined a march from Parliament and Big Ben to a rally in Trafalgar Square. The anniversary last year attracted 45,000 protesters in the city.
"We are against this war, both for religious reasons and on a humanitarian basis, too," said Imran Saghir, 25, a Muslim student who attended the London rally.
Britain, the United States' strongest supporter in the Iraq war, has about 8,000 troops in Iraq but plans to pull out 800 of them by May. The British military has reported 103 deaths there. More than 2,300 American troops have died.
In Washington, a protester wearing a President Bush mask and bearing fake blood on his hands waved to passing automobiles outside Vice President Dick Cheney's residence, where about 200 people demonstrated against the war.
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler of the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ said the rallies nationwide are a "tapestry of resistance."
"Most people believe we aren't crazy anymore," he said.
In Concord, N.H., nearly 300 peace activists marched about a mile from a National Guard armory to the Statehouse.
"I feel a huge sense of betrayal that I went and risked my life for a lie," said Joseph Turcott, 26, a former Marine who served in the invasion.
At Dudley Square in Boston, a few hundred college-age protesters and baby boomers waved placards that read "Impeach Bush" and "Stop the War."
"It seems like we are fighting a King George in the same way General Washington fought a King George, who was equally imperialistic," said Askia Toure, a poet and activist.
Protester Susan McLucas wore a homemade sign that read: "Bush Lied! 100,000 died!"
"It's a war based on lies," said McLucas, 57. "We are gaining strength. The war is becoming more and more unpopular."
Several thousand protesters in San Francisco danced in the streets, beat drums and carried signs that read "Stop U.S. Imperialism."
"It's very painful to me that our country is doing this and killing innocent people," said 70-year-old Joan Emerson, who attended with the group Old Lesbians Organizing for Change.
Protesters in several cities worldwide carried posters showing pictures of President Bush, calling him the "World's No. 1 terrorist."
In Turkey, where opposition to the war cuts across all political stripes, about 3,000 protesters gathered in Istanbul, police said. "Murderer USA," read a sign in Taksim Square.
In Stockholm, Sweden, about 1,000 demonstrators gathered for a rally and march to the U.S. Embassy. One protester was dressed as the hooded figure shown in an iconic photograph from the Abu Ghraib prison. "We do not need Abu Ghraib democracy, or Guantanamo Bay freedom," said Eftikar Hashem Alhusainy, addressing the rally.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, more than 2,000 demonstrators marched from the U.S. Embassy to the British Embassy, demanding that Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen withdraw the 530 Danish troops from southern Iraq.
On Sunday, up to 3,000 protesters were expected in Seoul, South Korea, which has the third-largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq after the U.S. and Britain.
Britain's defense chief earlier urged demonstrators in London to support the Iraqi people and condemn terrorism.
"When people go on the streets of London today, I do wish just occasionally they would go out in support of the United Nations, the Iraqi people and the Iraqi democrats and condemn terrorists," Defense Secretary John Reid told British Broadcasting Corp. radio during a visit to Iraq.
Members of the Stop the War Coalition, the organizers of the London march, had little sympathy for Reed's remarks.
"Every day you hear of new deaths. Tony Blair has actually made Iraq a worse place for the Iraqi people," said Rose Gentle, whose soldier son Gordon, 19, was killed by a roadside bomb last year in Basra, southern Iraq.
visual complexity
March 18, 2006
VisualComplexity.com intends to be a unified resource space for anyone interested in the visualization of complex networks. The project's main goal is to leverage a critical understanding of different visualization methods, across a series of disciplines, as diverse as Biology, Social Networks or the World Wide Web. I truly hope this space can inspire, motivate and enlighten any person doing research on this field.
Not all projects shown here are genuine complex networks, in the sense that they aren’t necessarily at the edge of chaos, or show an irregular and systematic degree of connectivity. However, the projects that apparently skip this class were chosen for two important reasons. They either provide advancement in terms of visual depiction techniques/methods or show conceptual uniqueness and originality in the choice of a subject. Nevertheless, all projects have one trait in common: the whole is always more than the sum of its parts.
How it started
The idea for this endeavor started on my second year MFA program at Parsons School of Design. During this period I conducted extensive research on the visualization of complex networks, which culminated with my thesis project Blogviz: Mapping the dynamics of information diffusion in Blogspace. One thing I found while exploring this area was the lack of an integrated and extensive resource on this subject. This is the main reason why this project came to life.
Later on, as a teaching assistant of Information Architecture at Parsons Design+Technology program, together with Christopher Kirwan, I was able to consolidate most of this research as part of an independent study. The key chunk of projects shown here was gathered during this phase. My ultimate goal is to keep adding new projects to a still undetermined limit. VisualComplexity.com was launched in October, 2005.
Complex Networks
Complexity is a challenge by itself. Complex Networks are everywhere. It is a structural and organizational principle that reaches almost every field we can think of, from genes to power systems, from food webs to market shares. Paraphrasing Albert Barabasi, one of the leading researchers in this area, “the mistery of life begins with the intricate web of interactions, integrating the millions of molecules within each organism”. Humans, since their birth, experience the effect of networks every day, from large complex systems like transportation routes and communication networks, to less conscious interactions, common in social networks.
Scale-Free networks, one of the most common topology in either natural or human systems, is curiously enough, a very recent breakthrough. Since its discovery, in 1999, dozens of researchers worldwide have been disentangling the networks around us at an amazing rate. This awareness is helping us understand not only the world around us but also the most intricate web of interactions that shape the human body. The global effort of constructing a general theory of complexity is tremendous and may lead us, not only to a structural understanding of networks, but to major improvements in stability, robustness and security of most complex systems around the globe. Like Barabasi refers in Linked, “Once we stumble across the right vision of complexity, it will take little to bring it to fruition. When that will happen is one of the mysteries that keeps many of us going”.
About me
Manuel Lima was born in the Azores, Portugal, in May 1978. In 2002 he completed a 6 year degree in Industrial Design at the Faculty of Architecture - UTL Lisbon and finished a 7 month internship at the design firm Kontrapunkt, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Currently living in New York, Manuel is a recent MFA graduate from the Design+Technology program at Parsons School of Design. For this purpose he received scholarships from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Luso-American Foundation and a Dean's scholarship from Parsons School of Design.
During the course of the MFA program Manuel was part of a Collaboration Studio with Siemens Corporate Research Center, worked for the American Museum of Moving Image and Parsons Institute for Information Mapping in research projects for the National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency. Manuel is currently working as an interaction designer at R/GA Interactive and teaches Information Design at Parsons Design+Management department.
SYNDICATE: MY POSSE'S ON LABREA
March 18, 2006
Last night VANS SYNDICATE held a little bash dropping Group 3.
The collection is tight and hard. Four stories make up this season.
A collaboration with W/taps, a Jayson Jessee motor bike ready SK8 hi and low,
Some camo joints and a set of new half cabs: play clean up.
I guess its time for me to make room for some new kicks.
THE LINEUP
W/TAPS RANGE
CAMOS
JAYSON'S BIKE AND ART
MR CARTOON AND TAKA ART
W/TAPS SIGNAGE AND JAYSONS SCULPTURES
POSSE
ANDREW
CHRIS GIBBS
JON
SKINHEAD ROB, BERTO and TET
TOM, JAYSON and KCDC comes West side (must be cold in NYC).
TOONZ AND BERTO
...........................................................................................................................
Super Mario Cart
March 17, 2006
This video shows that with some messing around mario can drive like a crackhead.
The race is on....
SUPREME LOS ANGELES
March 16, 2006
Thursday the 16th Supreme LA (and NY) Reopens not with a wimper but with a bang.
The new collection is off the hook and just in time for the nice weather.
Crack open the piggie banks and roll on by.
(better be quick, this shit is hot).
Kate I forgive you. I wish you the best.
And i think you live in LA so come on by.
Public Enemy #1
Now we have, "Too much Posse"
DipSet and Loosie's
For those who dont know, a loosie was when you rolled to the Bodega and did not have enough for a pack so u bought 1 smoke or a loosie.
It looks dope 2 me.....
And dont sleep on the bat and gloves.
Oh ya keep ypur eyes peeled for the kicks that will drop soon.
If you sleep, u will get slept on........
They ain't no joke.....
March 16, 2006
I use to think LAPD were no joke.
But I just got cracked off with this.
Teenage mutant ninja iranian police woman training day type shit.....
Training Day part 2.....
And they push Benzo's with Machine guns.
Its thugged out.
Dialogue with the void
March 16, 2006
Steve hit me back,
He reads this stuff as well.
Maybe its all good.
A good virus.
We will propagate our attitudes and ideas.
We can exchange info and inspire minds.
Cool.....
Steve likes Suicidal Tendencies.
I like ST. I remember the first time i saw the video for, "Institution".
We were on the 3rd floor at Danceteria. Bruno, Aly and crew,
After a late night NYC session we skated up. They had all these shitty TV's and busted couches.
We watched the video in awe, all I wanted to do was go to Venice and skate for Dogtown.
I made it to Venice, the Dogtown warehouse and Jim gave me a deck once.
That was cool.
After i read Steve's post i remembered some old photos i had around...
These are from an old ASR.
Hosoi trying to sell Stussy to Rob Robskopp, ahahahahahaahaha.
James, Mike and SS in the DT booth. Check out Jim's crazy pants and shades??????
That night we found a ramp, and not a mini ramp.
Hosoi, Hackett crazy OG session.
Now i have to go back to work.
L8
I blog, Therfore I am?????
March 15, 2006
Being is now intertwined with bloging in some sort of neo-everyday-life nothing better to do kind of thing.
I use to watch TV, now i look at a 12 inch power book. Why did i buy that Plasma???? Because my daughter needs to watch her cartoons in HD. And I do watch 24, I wonder if I would piss off many people if I told you what happened last night on 24???? It was good, very good.
I often read and post short ,badly written, often odd, self absorbed tidbits of life (or lack of lives????). Last week the cover story of the NEW YORK magazine was BLOG Establishment, The Emerging Hierarchy of the New New Media. This must be popular stuff if magazines are writing about it. Do you remember when magazines wrote about stuff first??? Apparently there are over 27 million blogs in the world .It is easy to do a blog. But it is hard to keep one going. "By all appearances, the blog boom is the most democratized revolution in media ever. Starting a blog is ridiculously cheap; indeed, blogging software and hosting can be had for free online. There are also easy-to-use ad services that, for a small fee, will place advertisements from major corporations on blogs, them mail the blogger his profits. Blogging therefore should be the purest mediocrity there is." Clive Thompson, NEW YORK. Anyone can easily spread their thoughts and opinions. Great, 27 million places to find opinions.
Now the hard work, am I interesting???? Does anyone care what i think? I have no idea. But who cares, thats the point... Somehow this dialogue with my screen and keyboard seems to compel me to post and seek new posts. It is very engulfing.
It is an addiction of sorts, but then again. I guess collecting, records, sneakers or what ever else I over-consume could be an addiction as well. Should i go to consumer anonymous?
Or, are we all on this train wreck of Late Capitalism together?????
Hold on tight, and watch out for the closing doors.
This morning while reading what other people post. Is there a name for reading other Blogs?
I was on Hypebeast reading Steven Vogel's new post. He has been in Japan. I think he liked it. Yes he did like it. Is anyone not in Tokyo now???? Or in the last few weeks? Steve is back in Berlin and has very good taste in music.
Steve's new post is:
March 14, 2006
Youth Against Fascism
another can of worms
another stomach turns
yeh your ghetto burns
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
you got a stupid man
you got a Ku Klux Klan
your fuckin' battle plan
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
a sieg heil-in' squirt
you're an impotent jerk
yeh a fascist twerp
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
black robe and swill
I believe Anita Hill
judge will rot in hell
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
yeah a cross on fire
by a christian liar
a black attack on fire
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
yeah the president sucks
he's a war pig fuck
his shit is out of luck
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
another nazi attack
a skinhead is cracked
my blood is black
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
we're banging pots and pans
to make you understand
we gonna bury you man
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
I'm a human wreck
a redneck in check
I killed the teacher's pet
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate-
lyrics by Thurston. music by Sonic Youth.
probably one of the best and underrated bands ever. I love how this song is 14 years old and still fucking applies.
take heart kids.
This song is not good, its fucking great.
In 1992 and in 2006. Sonic Youth is still, well as Allmusic describes them:
* Cerebral
* Intense
* Spooky
* Sprawling
* Atmospheric
* Volatile
* Detached
* Eerie
* Visceral
* Hypnotic
* Ethereal
* Fiery
* Elaborate
* Tense/Anxious
* Literate
* Restrained
* Enigmatic
* Ambitious
* Complex
* Difficult
* Cathartic
And lets not forget Ian MacKaye played guitar on this track, as well it almost did not make the album.
1991 was the year punk broke, 2006 punk is still dope.
1991 Clarence Thomas replaced Thurgood Marshall in he Supreme court.
black robe and swill
I believe Anita Hill
judge will rot in hell
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
Now we have Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. he replaced Sandra Day O'Connor.
Is everyone in America in a semi-coma?????
This is bad, very bad. Its time to act, march, do something before our world changes. Forever.
Or we can all just sit and watch.
Remember the one million man march??? It is time for a 10 million man march.
yeah the president sucks
he's a war pig fuck
his shit is out of luck
it's the song I hate, it's the song I hate
I guess history does repeat its self.
And thats too bad, i hate dialectics......
Cookie Monsters of death-metal music
March 14, 2006
While the extreme branch of heavy-metal music known as death metal is defined in part by often-vile lyrics about violence, catastrophic destruction, nihilism, anarchy and paranoia, its singing style is associated with a beloved goggle-eyed, fuzzy blue puppet.
Death-metal vocalizing is also known as Cookie Monster singing, if not in tribute to, at least in acknowledgment of, the "Sesame Street" puppet that blurts in a guttural growl, his words discharged so rapidly that they tend to collide with each other.
All this was news to people at Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind "Sesame Street." "We have nothing to do with it," said Ellen Lewis, vice president of corporate communications. "What is it?"
"It's a whole new thing to me," said Frank Oz, who originated the voice of the Cookie Monster. "I've never heard of it."
Most death-metal vocalists don't seem to mind the term. "We think it's funny," said Angela Gussow, lead singer for the Swedish band Arch Enemy and one of the few female death-metal vocalists. "We take ourselves too seriously."
The term is considered derogatory by some metal fans, but it's an apt description. Issued like machine-gun fire, death-metal vocals are low, guttural and aggressive, with no subtlety, no melody and very little modulation. But unlike the garbled sound emanating from the lovable and occasionally frenetic Cookie Monster, death-metal vocals seem to come from a dark spot in a troubled soul, as if they were the narrator's voice on a tour of Dante's seventh circle of hell. Cute and funny they ain't.
It's not easy to determine where and how Cookie Monster singing actually began. Early death-metal bands such as Death and Morbid Angel that emerged from Florida in the mid-'80s helped create the musical template that characterized the blasting sound as well as that of its Satan- and occult-obsessed sibling, black metal: fast, relentless drumming often featuring two bass drums; grinding, rapid-fire chording on guitars; squealing guitar solos; muted electric bass; unexpected sudden tempo changes; and a sense of theatricality that's inevitably threatening--"a horror film put to music" is how Monte Conner, a vice president at Roadrunner Records, sees it.
But while the vocals in early death metal are low, raspy and aggressive, not unlike the vocals by, say, Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, that extreme degree of Cookieness is missing.
To be a true Cookie Monster vocal, said Mr. Conner, who signed some of the subgenre's biggest bands, including Sepultura and Fear Factory, "it's got to be really, really guttural. It should sound like they're gargling glass."
Nic Bullen of Napalm Death can sound remarkably like the Cookie Monster; his performance on the band's 1987 debut "Scum" (Earache)--which contains 28 songs, 11 of which are under one minute in length, including "You Suffer," which clocks in at less than two seconds--is a virtual Cookie Monster tribute. Frank Mullen of Suffocation, whose 1991 album "Effigy of the Forgotten" (Roadrunner) is considered a model of death-metal music, sounds like an especially malevolent Cookie Monster.
The term also signifies a level of incomprehensibility of the lyrics, which in most cases is absolute. Given the subject matter, that's probably for the best. Carcass, a band featuring vocalist Jeff Walker, sings in graphic detail of disembowelment and the mechanics of the autopsy. Bloody annihilation is another popular theme among the groups. For most death-metal bands, the gorier the better, and few gruesome details are spared.
"If you want to make music that's terrifying, you have to sing about ripping people's heads off," Mr. Conner of Roadrunner Records told me. "Singing about puppies and kittens isn't too cool."
Death-metal singing takes a toll on vocalists, according to Ms. Gussow, who joined Arch Enemy in 2001. She says that despite the characteristic rock-salt-and-razors growl, the sound doesn't originate in the throat. It gets pushed up from the abdomen.
"If you use the right abdomen muscles, you get a lot of power," she says. "It's a primal form of vocalizing, but it's also a very controlled style of singing. You can get weak if you don't have muscle power."
She does vocal exercises to keep fit, some of which she learned from Melissa Cross, a New York-based voice teacher whose instructional DVD "The Zen of Screaming" is a favorite of extreme vocalists.
"We're on tour, sometimes, for 2 1/2 months," the German-born Ms. Gussow said. "I can't miss even a day."
Mr. Oz agrees that making Cookie Monster sounds is an arduous occupation. "I never trained for it and I blew my pipes out," he told me. "It's completely unnatural, an explosion of force that comes from the belly through the throat. I would do a day of it and my normal voice would be a half an octave lower." (During our conversation, Mr. Oz demonstrated the Cookie Monster voice. The sudden force was startling and the volume so loud, I had to pull the phone from my ear.)
Alas, the Cookie Monster school of death metal is dying, says Mr. Conner. In the late '80s, popular death-metal bands like Sepultura, Obituary and Deicide sold about 100,000 CDs, not a bad total for bands on the musical fringe. Today's bands that play only old-school death metal are lucky to sell 15% to 20% of that figure. "I stopped signing death-metal bands in '93 or '94," Mr. Conner told me. "The glory days have long ago passed."
Part of the reason is a reaction to a natural instinct among pop musicians: a desire to expand the audience. Death-metal pioneers Entombed now leapfrog between the sound of their classic '89 album "Left Hand Path" (Earache) and more traditional heavy metal. Fear Factory's singer Burton C. Bell modified his Cookie Monster vocals that were prominent on the band's early work in time for its '99 release "Obsolete" (Roadrunner), which incorporates melodic or "clean" vocals, rap and metal singing without the Cookie Monster edge. The lyrics, clearly decipherable, tell the story of the war between man and machines. "Obsolete" sold more than 500,000 copies, significantly more than any of the band's previous albums.
Led by 20-year-old vocalist Matthew K. Heafy, who counts Metallica and Pantera as major influences, Trivium also blends almost-Cookie Monster guttural singing with melodic vocals. The music of the Orlando, Fla.-based group echoes classic death metal, but has elements of other heavy-metal schools. Mr. Heafy says: "I can't even do Cookie Monster vocals. It's kind of a limited style. You can convey much more emotion with other types of singing."
The article was found in the Wall Street Journal.
Long live the Monsters or Rock...
New York Changing
March 12, 2006
A continuing conversation with most of my friends who live in NYC is how the city has changed.
Yes the city has changed, so has Tokyo, Los Angeles and everywhere else. For better or for worse the world as we knew it goes on.
In all reality by the time this post is finished something will of changed.
The Future is now.
New York Changing, the current body of work by New York City photographer Douglas Levere, is a photographic record of the ever-changing landscape of New York City. Guided by Berenice Abbott’s 1930’s project Changing New York, Levere revisited neighborhoods and former storefronts, documenting the evolution of the metropolis known for constantly reinventing itself.
I lived on that street for a long time, it still looks pretty bleak to me. Oh well.
If you can make time head out to the Brookyln Museum.
William Wegman: Funney/Strange is the first retrospective of William Wegman's art in over fifteen years and represents his work in all media, including photography, painting, collage, and video. In all of Wegman's work the light humor of "funny" mediates the darker human comedy of "strange."
The VANS song
March 11, 2006
THE VANS SONG
This shit is bonkers
Down load this joint, it is on some next level........
Laotian rock rat
March 10, 2006
This image provided by the Journal Science shows a Laonastes, the only living representative of the otherwise extinct Distomydae, a family of rodents that lived in south Asia and Japan. It has the face of a rat and the tail of a skinny squirrel _ and scientists say this creature discovered living in central Laos is pretty special: It's a species believed to have been extinct for 11 million years. The long-whiskered rodent made international headlines last spring when biologists declared they'd discovered a brand new species, nicknamed the Laotian rock rat. It turns out the little guy isn't new after all, but a rare kind of survivor _ a living member of a species until now known only from fossils. Nor is it a rat.
Jun's Paris Collections and Stoner Rock
March 9, 2006
Jun's Paris photos are the joint. It is dope to see how much work goes into a collection show.
Check out his last few posts.
As for me i am just gonna blast my new SUNN0)) album BLACK ONE.
New BORIS is great as well.
Head over to Stoner Rock to check out more Drone-sludge....
All That's Heavy is the world's first and best online store dedicated solely to Stoner Rock, Doom, Drone, Sludge and Psychedelic Rock! We scour the world for the most obscure vinyl, the most sought-after singles and the most promising new unknowns in the genre. Look no further, your quest is over!
I almost forgot. More new iPOD videos.
I do not think i want one anymore.
I am going OG, mixed tapes and Betamax.
Since most of the music and movies I like were made back then, why do i need new shit.
I liked music and films just as much when they were not so clean. And I am sick of the trash all this crap I buy makes......I am heading over to Ebay to buy a walkman a big old one and go find all the old mastermix tapes that i saved.
I need some batteries as well.
Good times.....
SIDEKICK w/flic
March 8, 2006
In LA everyone has a SIDEKICK.
But not many have one with a flic of Mr.Cruise.
Estevan's Mister Cartoon SIDEKICK w/ flic of Estevan with Tom Cruise...
Check out Estevan's Photos
1989
March 7, 2006
NEWS
US planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean (Jan. 4).
Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him to death (Feb. 14).
Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing's Tiananmen Square in rally for democracy (April 19 et seq.). More than one million in Beijing demonstrate for democracy; chaos spreads across nation (mid-May et seq.). Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators (June 4 et seq.).
Mikhail S. Gorbachev named Soviet President (May 25).
P. W. Botha quits as South Africa's President (Aug. 14).
Deng Xiaoping resigns from China's leadership (Nov. 9).
After 28 years, Berlin Wall is open to West (Nov. 11).
Czech Parliament ends Communists' dominant role (Nov. 30).
Romanian uprising overthrows Communist government (Dec. 15 et seq.); President Ceausescu and wife executed (Dec. 25).
US troops invade Panama, seeking capture of General Manuel Noriega (Dec. 20).
George Herbert Walker Bush inaugurated as 41st US President (Jan. 20).
Ruptured tanker Exxon Valdez sends 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound (March 24).
US jury convicts Oliver North in Iran-Contra affair (May 4).
Army Gen. Colin R. Powell is first black Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (Aug. 9).
January 7 - Last day of the Showa period due to the death of Emperor Hirohito (aka Emperor Showa after his death) in Japan. Akihito became Emperor of Japan, and the Heisei period had begun from the following day.
January 16–18 - Race riots in Overtown, Miami
January 24 - Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair
February 2 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul ending nine years of military occupation
February 14 - Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini encourages Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a three-million-US dollar bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie
March 4 - Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner
March 7 - Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with United Kingdom over Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses"
March 14 - Gun control: President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States
March 24 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground
April 21 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Students in Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Nanjing started to strike.
April 21 - Nintendo begin selling the Game boy in Japan
May 19 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Zhao Ziyang met the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
May 20 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The Chinese government declared martial law in Beijing.
May 30 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10 m (33 ft) high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators
June 3 - The Ayatollah Khomeini dies
June 4 - The Tiananmen Square massacre takes place in Beijing and is covered live on television
June 4 - Solidarity's victory in the first partly free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland, this event was first of anti-communist revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989
July 5 - The television show Seinfeld premiers.
August 20 - In Beverly Hills, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez shoot their wealthy parents to death in their family's den.
September 5 - President George Bush holds up a bag of cocaine purchased across the street at Lafayette Park in his first televised speech to the nation.
October 17 - The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the richter scale, strikes the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz areas in the American state of California, killing 63.
November 7 - David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor of New York City.
November 7 - In California, convicted murderer Richard Ramirez (the "Night Stalker") is sentenced to death.
November 9 - Cold War: East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to freely travel to West Germany for the first time in decades (the next day celebrating Germans began to tear the wall down).
December 17 - The Simpsons premieres.
December 25 - Bank of Japan governors announce a major interest rate hike, eventually leading to the peak and fall of the "bubble economy".
MOVIES
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Do the Right Thing
DRIVING MISS DAISY
My Left Foot
Mystery Train
Uncle Buck
MUSIC
Paul's Boutique Beastie Boys
Just Like Heaven Dinosaur jr
3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul
13 Songs Fugazi
Altars Of Madness Morbid Angel
Dr. Feelgood Motley Crue
Straight Outta Compton NWA
Fuck tha police comin' straight from the underground
a young nigga's got it bad 'cause I'm brown
and not the other color so police think
they have the authority to kill a minority
Bleach Nirvania (the last great band)
Fear of a Black Planet Public Enemy
Sports
Detroit Pistons win 4 games to 0 over the Los Angeles Lakers to win the franchise's first championship.
World Series: Oakland Athletics won 4 games to 0 over the San Francisco Giants. The Series MVP was Dave Stewart, Oakland.
Tour de France - Greg LeMond of the United States
Super Bowl XXIII: San Francisco 49ers won 20-16 over the Cincinnati Bengals
1989 Stussy World Tour Tee
2006 "the remix".
Group 1 drops this weekend, many more groups of artists all year.....
STAY TUNED
iWONDER
March 7, 2006
2 more new iPODS, hahahahaahahahahaha....
Just think one day some new i POD will really come out.
I hope it is better than that radio thing they introduced last week.
These pics are not real, but one day a new iPOD that does not scratch the second you touch it will be made.
And whats up with the silver back anyway???? I want matte black or carbon fiber. Hook me up with so dope finish.
Then once this new toy is out you will need the iWEDGE.
Convert your obsolete iPOD into and elegant doorstop.
On more interesting news, Adbusters has published a new book: DESIGN ANARCHY
William Eggleston In The Real World
March 6, 2006
Not much to say here, If you do not know William Eggleston's work this is a good time to begin.
His pictures create a lexicon, that starts a new space in modern image making.
This film about a man and his work is a fine place to start.
If you are still down check out the pictures, go buy one of his many monographs.
All of his books are worthy editions to any contemporary library.
Eggleston is one of my favorite photographers.
His vision is no joke...
As wel,l he is the master of color.
This documentary brings his creations into a new light and vividness.
William Eggleston In The Real World
In another real world. The revolution might not of been televised. However, it was filmed.
The moving images of Guy DeBord are very interesting and worth the cryptic navigation about this site.
GUY DEBORD CINEASTE
When culture becomes nothing more than a commodity, it must also become the star commodity of the spectacular society.
Society of the Spectacle
Guy Debord
Week in review
March 5, 2006
Its been a long, long week....
Tokyo was great, but ridden of anxiety and stress...
God bless that city, its a crazy place.
Always changing, yet still the same...
Thanks to Tomoki, Ken, Brian,Kazu,Hiroki,TET, and I will see u soon HF....
Actually special thanks to Tomoki, he is the Japanese brother I never had.
With a few hours of sleep and mad jat lag, it was snow time.
5 hours in the car and boom, fun time.
Mammoth is great, I love this shit.
I wish I could ride all year, and now Nova is a skier, wow life is wild....
Nova and Bella, ski school racoon buddies.
And I had some good FRESH as well...
Idiom keeps me dry and Burton keeps me movin, thanks guys.....
I just unpacked and the best thing in I got in Tokyo was some reissue AJ1's.
The kicks still rule. I loved Basketball in the late 80's. On my crappy TV. I have a HD rig now and i have watched 1 game all season. What went wrong? I use to love the Knicks and kicks.
I still love kicks but i miss MJ. I like AI, but it aint the same. The Garden and hot dogs, John Starks, Oakley and Ewing. We traded Rod Strickland. Anyway, I just want more AJ1's....Please.
The idea of coming home from Fulton Mall with fresh kicks still makes me happy.
I bought this pair for way too much, but i like them.
I laced the puppies up an rolled to Brooklyn Projects with Berto, Jeff, Jav and Curtis. For a Gravis and Stash bash...Good times, and mad heads were on the scene.
Its good to be back in LA.
And this dog was dope,
Tomorrow, sunshine and back to work....
Ask Me, Don't Tell Me
March 5, 2006
This vintage San Francisco, "youth gang" short movie from the 60's it super cool.
Ask Me, Don't Tell Me
