RED EYED N BLUE
May 2011
19 posts
Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
ok its hot. but instead of fighting it, embrace it. sweat it out with this new album Arabia Mountain by the Black Lips. It’s a little toned down from their earlier albums, as they embrace the new “flower-punk” genre they’ve created…and its all good. Stream it here.
So White Denim, a four piece psych-ish-rock band from Austin TX just released their fourth album, D, which you can stream online for free. It’s fine. What’s even cooler is the mixtape they put out, highlighting some of their influences and favorite bands, ranging from Hank Williams Jr to Moby Grape to George Duke to…well a whole lot of new weird bands I plan on looking up tonight. Just an excellent 60 minute compilation of tunes which really does a great job of showcasing where they’re coming from.
Faile, 2010. Abandoned nyc underground subway station. Part of the Underbelly Project
Garage Rock Sunday
Two new awesome bands. Both of these dudes belong to the San Fran psych-rock scene and finding out about both of them was a serious highlight of my weekend. Give ‘em a shot.
- Ty Segall just released Ty Rex, an EP featuring his takes on some killer T. Rex tracks. His album that came before that, Melted, has been on repeat in my house all day.
- Thee Oh Sees, from what I can gather, are basically an outlet for the frontman John Dwyer to explore his love of Captain Beefheart and 60’s rock. Awesome. Listen to their album Castlemania, and you’ll see that this makes perfect sense.
Two Sweet Ways to See Movies
Rooftop Films: This NYC based non profit schedules public (and usually free) screenings of indie films in some amazing outside venues (…ahem)!
Bike-In Theater: I just signed up for this and I think you probably should do. The creators of Forkin’ Tasty have created a super-mysterious dinner party for a few lucky bikers. Sign up on their website and within a few days, they’ll supply you with some details about where to go. All you have do to is get your butt down there and they’ll feed you and show you an awesome classic movie
Brooklyn Had a Hockey Team!
whaaat? History is awesome. Turns out one of the first teams created in the NHL was the New York Americans in the 20’s, who moved to Brooklyn for their final years in the 40’s, after being seriously upstaged by the Rangers. The team wasn’t so bad either, they made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs twice! The Brooklyn Americans: I couldn’t think of a better name myself. Rep your (now defunct) home team here.
Let me begin by saying I am not one for super personal blog posts. But I had a really great experience last night that I’d like to share. I signed up to be an extra on an HBO show, because it meant making money for riding my bike. Having no idea what to expect, I showed up to the shoot with a group of about 50 people, most of whom were active members of the bicycling community. Some were people I knew from activist organizations, some were messengers, and others where just regular commuters.
Immediately, we all started chatting, checking out each other’s rides, asking what route we took to get here, explaining all the sweet custom features on our bikes, etc. People started passing out flyers under the radar, for group rides or new bike blogs, getting signatures for petitions for bike lanes, even handing out event info for an upcoming naked ride. A hackey sack circle formed. People were passing around trail mix and rolling cigarettes.
It was such an awesome, welcoming vibe. Aside from bikes, people were talking about their urban gardening projects, radio collectives, and non profits they worked for. It was a really amazing way to meet a lot of really great people. Plus I made a hundred bucks! A big high five to the bike community, and to people for being awesome.
Happy Bike Month
It’s May, so it’s Bike Month here in NYC/Brooklyn. There’s some really great events going on all month, check them out here. I’m psyched for the Brooklyn Bike Jumble taking place next weekend, where you can buy and sell some extra bike parts, frames, and complete builds, plus meet a lot of great people! I’ll be there hawkin wares. Enjoy all the events this month, and don’t forget your helmet
John Rafman's Google Earth Screen Grabs
In a seriously awesome project, artist John Rafman began collecting insane screen grabs from Google Earth street views. He had no idea how big his collection would become…I highly recommend setting the next half hour aside to check out his website
