EpiBLOG

Apocalypse Now

2010-03-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

There is a Blockbuster’s worth of "classic" movies I haven't seen, and a record store’s worth of "classic" albums. Thankfully I now have Netflix, and BitTorrent. I am attempting to fill in those gaps. Please do not leave comments saying "zomg, i can't believe u haven't seen/heard _____." Please do send suggestions.

Apocalypse Now

A couple weeks back, Paul Greengrass released "Green Zone," the new Matt-Damon-as-Jason-Bourne vehicle. It's a fairly pedestrian action movie, made worse with the knowledge that it was based on a pretty great book, Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," a non-fiction account of the real Green Zone, filled with the black humor of Americans lounging poolside while car bombs exploded around them in Baghdad. There was precious little of this influence to be found Greengrass' conspiracy-fueled jerky-camera fest, and to plagiarize myself, it would have been nice to have Francis Ford Coppola give the material the "Apocalypse Now" treatment.

Black humor is at the heart of Apocalypse Now's darkness. An opening scene mixes a napalm bombing with Martin Sheen's blinking eyes beneath a ceiling fan spinning in time with the whirr of helicopter blades. Colonel Kilgore - of napalm for breakfast fame - raids a hostile village for the purpose of securing a particularly spectacular stretch of waves, for surfing. Half a dozen Vietnamese are killed for a puppy. (an unrecognizably young Laurence Fishburne does the killing. He was 15.) Gases of various sorts release in comically technicolor shades of lavender and buttercup and and lime. The heart of the movie was summed up in this juxtaposition: One chopper lands during a bloody massacre with "Death From Above" and a pair crossed swords painted on. Later, another chopper with the Playboy Bunny on its side drops the Playmate of the Year into an amphitheater of sex-starved G.I.'s.

Along with its model, "Heart of Darkness," the movie's plot flows downriver. Deeper and deeper into the jungle we go, and the current pulls each of the characters on a slow descent into insanity. Martin Sheen is talking to himself, and one character covers his head with a giant leaf, like a man wrapping his head in tin foil to keep the aliens out. By the end, everything's in shadows. Namely, Marlon Brando's shaved head. Nothing is certain: we're in "the worst place in the world," and we don't even know it, until it's too late. In Green Zone, we're in the 21st-century's worst place, but everything is certain. The morality is so black-and-white, Greg Kinnear is somehow turned into the face of unquestioned evil.

Back on the river, a soldier dies in the arm of his commander, and a taped message plays. It's his mother speaking, on a recorded message she sent in the mail, telling him she plans to buy him a car when he returns. In this one moment, the black humor simply gives way to blackness. As Conrad would have it.

—
Reeves Wiedeman

Chat Roulette Funny Piano Improv #1

2010-03-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

This has been floating around the internet for a bit, shown to me the other day by Azita Rasoli. Enjoy.
—
Marshall

Enigmatica

2010-03-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

ENIGMATICA from Kit Webster on Vimeo.

Enigmatica acts as an experimental platform for the combination of light, sound and space in order to develop immersive synthasthetic environments.
—
Marshall

3D Truck Advertisements

2010-03-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

German semi-trucks with 3D advertisements on the side and back panels of the truck. These are engaging, creative, and fun. Find the rest of the pictures here.

Chad E

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

2010-03-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

The first time I heard Johnny Cash, knowingly, was on the local alternative station in Kansas City, covering Trent Reznor. Songs don't get much grimmer than "Hurt," and here was a song by a man I knew, vaguely, to be very legendary and very old. And apparently very sad. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't have known it was a cover if the DJ hadn't told me. The song seemed natural.

Just last week, also for the first time, I heard Cash sing "Flushed From the Bathroom of your Heart," which goes something like this:

In the garbage disposal of you dreams I’ve been ground up dear
On the river of your plans I’m up the creek
Up the elevator of your future I’ve been shafted
On the calendar of your events I’m last week

The song is from Cash's live album, "At Folsom Prison," but I couldn't help imagining Adam Sandler with a guitar and a stool on Saturday Night Live. If all you knew of Cash was "Hurt," or any of his other AARP-approved recordings, you'd never know this humorous side of Cash existed. There are so many Cashes on display at Folsom Prison that it makes me sad to have never witnessed this version - in the same way it would have been nice to enjoy Gore Vidal when he wasn't a crank, or Michael Jackson without the baggage. There's anger ("I shot a man in Reno/just to see him die"), sex ("Come here Sugar/Ya know, I believe this is the first time I ever watched the sun come up/That I couldn't come up"), and heartbreak ("Sweethearts walk by together/And I still miss someone.")

And, if it needs to be done, note that Cash let all this loose in a state penitentiary. Could anyone do that today? Bruce, perhaps, but he's lost his edge. Jay-Z doesn't have the sense of humor. It seems no coincidence that Cash's dark humor comes across nowhere more than the half a dozen songs he seems to have picked specifically for his prison audience. There's no "Ring of Fire" or "I Walk The Line." Instead, there's "Folsom Prison Blues," "I Got Stripes," and "25 Minutes to Go," a song that recounts a death row inmate's last half hour of life:

Won't somebody come and cut me loose with 4 more minutes to go
I can see the mountains I can see the skies with 3 more minutes to go
And it's too darn pretty for a man to want to die 2 more minutes to go
I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows 1 more minute to go
And now I'm swingin' and here I go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!

The inmates hoot and laugh and holler throughout. You only want to do the same.

—
Reeves Wiedeman

Record Makers Promo

2010-03-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

Moriceau for Sebastien Tellier/10th anniversary of Record Makers.

Check out our interview with Sebastien.
—
Marshall Rake

Manhattan

2010-03-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Manhattan

There’s a scene near the end of “Manhattan” in which Woody Allen lounges on a couch talking into a tape recorder. He’s listing things worth living for: Cezzane’s apples and pears, Marlon Brando, the second movement of “Jupiter.” The last item on the list, which he admits only after a long pause, is “Tracy’s face.”

Tracy, it must now be noted, is the 17-going-on-18-year old with whom Allen, closer to AARP benefits than high school graduation, has an obviously problematic dalliance. We watch with a strange mix of relief and horror as Allen breaks off the tryst to begin a relationship with a woman more his age - a woman who is also the “other woman” in his best friend’s marriage.

In fact, the only affair that never wanes from the opening scene, when Gershwin punctuates still images of the Manhattan skyline, is with New York City. The black and white film (my Netflix sleeve tells me this was Allen’s first black and white film) makes the city’s grit almost tender as Allen’s character narrates a tale of adoration and disenchantment to scenes of people passing by.

There’s a sense of romance deep in the city's DNA, and in the story. The doomed relationships, the self-destruction, the convertible rides on the West Side Highway. It’s all loudly neurotic. But many of the best scenes take place in silence, barely visible: a moment of breathless anticipation set against moonscapes at the Hayden Planetarium, silent fidgeting as the star-crossed lovers - all of them - sit in a row at the opera. Even the lone physical gag in the film, a literal muckraking of the Central Park Reservoir, is silent. It’s not a movie to see with a lover, perhaps, but it sure makes having one seem nice.

—
Reeves Wiedeman

Design is Blank!

2010-03-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

Epilogue co-editor Marshall Rake and collaborator Nick Toga have started a slick design directory called Design is Blank. It's packed with information, including interviews, a blog, and other resources for designers. It's hella rad!
—
Corban Goble

PPM SXSW 2010

2010-03-07T22:12:00.000-08:00

If you're going to be at SXSW be sure to check out the PPM showcase.
—
Roy Tatum

Robin Pecknold does "On a Good Day"

2010-03-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

A pretty cover of Joanna Newsom's "On a Good Day" by Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold. If you haven't already worn out the grooves on your three Have One on Me records, it's probably a good time to start. I'll be spinning this one deep into the summer.

—
Corban Goble

Too Zoned

2010-03-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

Nice random image depository site.
—
Marshall Rake

New York Tilt Shift

2010-03-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

I still can't get enough of this tilt shift stuff. Enjoy a nice one of NY.
—
Marshall Rake

NY Art Beat

2010-03-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has ever been frustrated by the totally opaque art scene in New York, will be as excited as I am about the NY Art Beat iPhone app I just found out about. Pop open the app and within seconds, view a map of your current location populated with gallery shows and openings. Sort shows by the number of days until they end, or how much media they are getting. 99¢ in the app store until the end of the month. Buy it here.
—
Adam Okrasinski

Slanted and Enchanted

2010-03-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Slanted and Enchanted

It was some time back in the early 2000s, a decade after Pavement released its subcultural torpedo, Slanted and Enchanted, when a more-musically subcultured friend first told me about it. It’s the greatest indie rock album of all time. You like Nirvana, right? This is better. You gotta check it out.

So, I did, once or twice. And I just didn’t get it. In an increasingly rare act, I actually deleted the burned MP3’s from my almost-never-decreasing iTunes library.

Now, another decade after my first listen, and two decade’s after everybody else’s first listen, Pavement is coming back, and people are losing it. At their first show in ten years, the band played more songs from Slanted and Enchanted than any other album. So, I listened, again. And I still didn’t get it.

This is the first review of our ongoing series here where the subject simply proved impenetrable. "Slanted and Enchanted" seems like an artifact from its time and place: a time when where louder was almost always better and a place where kids still recorded in garages. The drums sound only dread and the guitar just sounds...well, it makes a lot of sounds, loudly. These aren’t bad things; just jarring things. There are notable breathers – “Trigger Cut” is delightfully melodic on a third listen, and "Two States" is catchy enough. But the rest is a blunt, if venerable, piece of indie history.

Midway through listening and writing, several more friends told me I needed to go back and listen again - that it was an album that would grow over time. And it's true that the songs burn slowly, and riffs I hadn't noticed before suddenly appeared through the fog. I still don't quite get it; but if this was 1992, and I was sitting in a bedroom with a cassette player, I can see exactly what there was to get.

—
Reeves Wiedeman

All Tomorrow's Parties NY

2010-03-02T05:26:00.000-08:00

Best kept secret this side of the pond just keeps getting better. What more could you want than a long weekend with all your favorite Alt-rockers from the '90s? Imagine basking in the cool, Summer air of the Berkshires while jamming out to Explosions in The Sky. Too bad we don't get the Matt Groening version.
—
Micah Salkind

New Gorillaz Streaming

2010-03-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Streaming at The Guardian.

—

Corban Goble

Flashes and Chu's

2010-02-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

Just a quick photo of Corban with John and Chris Chu of The Morning Benders.

—

Marshall Rake

Swim

2010-02-28T01:01:00.000-08:00

Just came back from watching Surfer Blood and The Morning Benders rock Brooklyn. Still can't get enough of Surfer Bloods record, and everyone get ready to be blown away by The Morning Benders new album (out March 9th).

This song has been stuck in my head successfully for the last 5 hours. Enjoy it! Read our interview with Surfer Blood here. And our interview with The Morning Benders here.
—
Marshall Rake

Best Coast Announces East Coast Tour

2010-02-25T14:08:00.000-08:00

Rad. NYC dates include 4/1 at Bowery Ballroom, 4/6 at Knitting Factory, and 4/7 at Mercury Lounge. Check out our interview with Bethany here and her appearance on Pitchfork.tv's Tunnelvision here.
—
Corban Goble

Persistant Pyramis

2010-02-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of pixel manipulation, and this is some of the best I've seen. Check out more for Anatoly Zenkov.
—
Marshall Rake

No logo logo

2010-02-23T21:47:00.000-08:00

Fashion designer Rick Klotz, owner/designer of some of our generation’s most iconic brands, including Freshjive, RMK, and Warriors of Radness recently dropped all logos from his work. Read a great interview about his thought process here.
—
Marshall Rake

The Godfather: Part II

2010-02-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

The World's First Street Art Disaster Movie

2010-02-23T11:28:00.000-08:00

To follow up the premiere of his first movie, enigmatic graffiti artist Banksy is debuting his own screen. The Lambeth Palace is a 150 seat auditorium in a tunnel under the Waterloo train station in London. Banksy's site describes the Lambeth Palace as "London's newest, darkest, and dirtiest purpose built cinema."

The built purpose is of course to screen the aforementioned film debut: Exit Through the Gift Shop. The trailer:

The film, a collaboration with French videographer Thierry Guetta, premiered at Sundance to positive reviews. Anyone familiar with Banksy's work won't be surprised by the reviews which toss out words like "raucous," "comic," and "inventive." And anyone familiar with Banksy's legend, a product of his outrageous pranks and maniacally guarded anonymity, won't be surprised that there's considerable confusion about what's real and what's invented for the film's narrative.

No word on if the film is slated for a Stateside release any time soon... or, for that matter, a larger release in the U.K. Tickets are scarce so I *guess* you Londoners have an excuse to skip out. Still, why you people wouldn't want to leverage all your contacts for a chance to sit an hour and a half in a dark, dank underground tunnel is really beyond me. More Banksy:

Music Monday: Janelle Monae

2010-02-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

A couple essential listens from Monday's MP3 round-up.

Janelle Monae-"Tightrope." Enjoy this while you still can.
Glasser "Tremel"
—
Corban Goble

Nôze plus Riva Starr Makes Club Magic

2010-02-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

I've been hammering Riva Starr's "I Was Drunk" in my DJ sets for a couple of months now. The raucous Baltic horns and French-accented club banter are hands down the perfect antidote to dance floor pretension. Being that this "Black Cat, White Cat" mash-up is featured on Mr. Starr's official youtube feed, I assume he endorses it. It's certainly reinforces the tune's Yogoslavibe.

While I still feel excited about "I Was Drunk," I'm getting impatient for Riva's upcoming double-disc for Defected Records. His mix of Arthur Baker's "Tear Down The Walls" is probably the best thing I've heard since the 80s.
—
Micah Salkind

Never Sleep

2010-02-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

A book and website from Dress Code to "demystify the major disconnect between the life of a design student, and transition to being a design professional."
—
Marshall Rake

NPR Exclusive First Listen: Joanna Newsom

2010-02-22T15:58:00.000-08:00

NPR will be streaming Joanna Newsom's new three-disc album Have One on Me, starting at midnight. Click here to listen. The album will be available in stores today as well.
—

Chad

Epilogue 2.22.10

2010-02-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

This weeks Epilogue features:
+ Paintings from artist Landon Metz.
+ An interview with Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy).
+ An interview with theater director Nikolas Weir.

http://www.epiloguemagazine.com
—
Epilogue

Owen Pallett- Lewis Takes Off His Shirt

2010-02-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

Owen Pallett playing one of my personal favorite songs in the rain and wind. They actually try to pull him off stage because the weather conditions are so bad. Truly a rock star.

Our interview with Owen will be in Epilogue tomorrow! Be sure to check it out, and be sure to buy his new record, Heartland.

And of course, you can check out the total fan video I took with my iPhone of him preform one of my all time favorites "The Butcher"

—
Marshall Rake

Most Curious

2010-02-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

via Dezeen
London shoe designer Tracey Neuls and Danish artist Nina Saunders have collaborated to create an installation using fabrics by British textile brand Sanderson at Neuls’ London shop called Most Curious.

—
Azita Rasoli

FIRME LETRAS

2010-02-20T15:26:00.001-08:00

Great type design from Ramon Coronado.

View more of Ramon's work on Epilogue here and here.
—
Marshall Rake

Street Cred Stack Up

2010-02-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

Donald Glover has been busy.

Perhaps best known for his role as Troy Barnes on NBC's Community, Glover recently appeared in Band of Outsiders' new Spring/Summer lookbook. The blogs went nuts (it's Band of Outsiders, of course they did.)

So it shouldn't be a surprise that the equation of actor+fashion+musician is one Troy the "Golden Boy" embraces. Via Internet, Glover has released a couple of mixtapes under the name Childish Gambino. Clever rhymes, plenty o' pop culture references, and the use of songs from Neon Indian, Washed Out, Discovery, and Grizzly Bear make for a good listen. From "Bitch, Look at Me Now":

I'm a try and make my street cred stack up/ I mean I'm rapping over Grizzly Bear wtf?

Mission Accomplished.

—
Luke

Steffen Bygebjerg "End Scene"

2010-02-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

End Scene from Steffen Bygebjerg on Vimeo.

"The animation work was made in Adobe After Effects. Each frame was then printed and the print was subsequently scanned back into the computer. The scanned frames were then assembled back into the original animation, now with a new rugged look, created by the visit in the physical analogue world. No effects added after scanning."
–
Azita Rasoli

The Argument for Twitter: the Fake Jenny Holzers

2010-02-19T01:35:00.000-08:00

I recall an article about Twitter in the Times by Maureen Down. Maybe a year ago. Maybe less. Dowd, a bonafide member of the literati, descended upon Twitter's offices in San Francisco to take its creators to task. In the end, she praised Biz Stone and Evan Williams for their smarts yet scolded them for their anti-practical creation, like a school marm scrunching her nose at a prank pulled off cleverly by class clowns.

Regarding Twitter, it's a convenient pose to strike, reclining against the downfall of Western civilization with skeptically crossed arms. It's also one that I'm comfortable in... yet I still check my Twitter account once a day (posting quotes from Once Upon a Time In the West, natch). Why?

Exhibit A: Jenny Holzer(s).

From Jenny Holzer's instillation at the Whitney Museum

Holzer is a conceptual artist best known for projecting aphorisms - PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT, I NEED TO LIE BACK TO FRONT WITH SOMEONE WHO ADORES ME - into public space, often with the use of large LED screens.

Holzer has employed several different mediums besides LED screens over the course of her career. The medium, however, isn't important; throwing phrases in our faces that make us think is.

But the one medium Holzer hasn't employed is Twitter. Yet there http://twitter.com/jennyholzer is, launching Holzer-like phrases into the internet ether... with 14,420 followers to boot.

Quite simply, authentic or not, it's hilarious.

ABSTRACTION IS A TYPE OF DECADENCE (8:11 PM Feb 16th, 2010)
PEOPLE ARE BORING UNLESS THEY ARE EXTREMISTS (12:02 PM Sep 25th, 2009)
THE FUTURE IS STUPID (1:28 PM Apr 29th, 2008)
NOISE CAN BE HOSTILE (6:17 PM Jan 20th, 2008)
FREEDOM IS A LUXURY NOT A NECESSITY (1:02 AM Sep 3rd, 2007)
BEING ALONE WITH YOURSELF IS INCREASINGLY UNPOPULAR (2:10 PM Jun 19th, 2007)

Some of the tweets are taken from Holzer's work, perhaps all are. And if harmlessly impersonating a well known artist isn't internetty enough for you, there are, of course, deliberate imposters gleefully sending up Holzer's style.

fake jenny holzer:

SOCIOPATHS NEED HUGS TOO (5:58 PM Jun 6th, 2009)
LACK OF FATALITY CAN BE CHARISMATIC (6:19 AM May 19th, 2009)
WHAT IS UP WITH THAT (1:45 PM Mar 22nd, 2009)

Not Jenny Holzer:

THE CLUTCH BAG IS A DEBILITATING INCONVENIENCE TO BOTH GENDERS (4:44 PM Feb 12th, 2010)
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF LATVIA (10:41 AM Dec 24th, 2009)
HUMANS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SNOWSHOES (9:00 PM Dec 6th, 2009)
SOYBEANS ARE HONORARY MAMMALS (10:48 PM Nov 30th, 2009)
POSITIVITY IS BAD IN THE MEDICAL SENSE (11:36 PM Nov 29th, 2009)
MARINATION IS A FORM OF COERCION (9:42 AM Nov 29th, 2009)

Logging in to missives from multiple Jenny Holzers side-by-side is, as you can guess, the cat's pajamas. Early morning, December 15th, 2009:

jennyholzer: EXTREME BEHAVIOR HAS ITS BASIS IN PATHOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY (1:49 AM)
notjennyholzer: CHEESE IS A CELEBRATED MISTAKE (8:03 PM Dec 14th, 2009)

It's not art. And like art no one ever sounded like anything but an ass claiming its usefulness to society. It is, at least, inspired... and hilarious.
-
Cian O'Day

Pill Wonder-"Wishing Whale" video

2010-02-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

wishing whale - pill wonder from Martin Anderson on Vimeo.

Cool clips from various movies from the 70s I'm assuming. There's even vintage kaleidoscope porn for the bros (and broads?)!
—
Azita Rasoli

Welcome to the tUnE-yArDs

2010-02-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

If you haven't had the pleasure of checking out the inimitable Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-yArDs, live, there's plenty of video on the internet to give you a sense of what she's doing sonically, and technically. What's really big about the tUnE-yArDs project is that Garbus, seen here in the studio with Quinn's Nate Brenner on bass, is unabashedly incorporating the textures and stylings of R&B into low-fi, indie songs. The only other band to get this type of uniquely American, Afro-melismatic folk sound, with its pitch-perfect vocals at times seeming to nod to the polished aesthetic of autotune, is The Dirty Projectors. That Garbus toured with the Projectors as well as Micachu should come as no surprise. This is 21st century indie, as indebted to the sample-based aesthetics of contemporary radio jams as it is to David Byrne or Björk.

Exile on Main St.

2010-02-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

jj et "Jules et Jim"

2010-02-16T16:42:00.000-08:00

Swedish artists, Elin Kastlander and Joakim Benon, are the members of reclusive Swedish pop group "jj". They will be releasing their follow-up LP jj n^3, March 9th. Their band name is inspired by the French film "Jules et Jim", released in 1962 by director Francois Truffaut. The NYT recently featured the film in their "Critic's Picks", where A.O. Scott profiles the synopsis of the critically acclaimed movie. You can watch it here.

Mr. Scott says the film "celebrates love, which turns out to be contradictory, complicated and even dangerous." It seems as though more than just the name of the film has influenced their take on music. Lil' Wayne obviously being the other.

—

Chad Evenson

Epilogue 2.15.10

2010-02-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Epilogue 2.15.10 features:

+ Videos from artist Pierre Vanni.
+ Photos of the Yeasayer/Javelin/Class Actress show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
+ An essay from Arna Hemenway.
+ A story from Charlie Naramore.

Epilogue Magazine.
—
Epilogue

Valet on Gant

2010-02-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Valet gives insight on the ballyhooed collaboration of Gant and designer Michael Bastian.

Luke Bettis

Mia Doi Todd " Open Your Heart"

2010-02-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

Mia Doi Todd "Open Your Heart" dir. Michel Gondry from Viewers Like You on Vimeo.

Fun music video directed by Michel Gondry

—
Azita Rasoli

Reeves Wiedeman in KC Star

2010-02-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

EpiBLOG contributor Reeves Wiedeman in the KC Star writing about the Nathan Louis Jackson's play "Brokeology."
—
Corban Goble

39 Olympic Logos 1924-2012

2010-02-13T17:45:00.001-08:00

In honor of the Winter Olympics, here is a great collection of previous Olympic logos. Some of them are absolutely beautiful. Some of them...well...some of them are absolutely beautiful.
—
Marshall Rake

Anton Gerasimenko Web Art

2010-02-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Beautiful web art from Anton Gerasimenko.
—
Marshall Rake

The Morning Benders "Excuses" with Orchestra

2010-02-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

The Morning Benders record "Excuses" with a little mini orchestra and choir of friends. Awesome performance! Recorded by Yours Truly.
—
Azita Rasoli

Sulki & Min / More & Less

2010-02-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Fantastic Korean graphic designers Sulki & Min will be giving a design lecture tomorrow evening.

February 12, 5:30pm
Pratt Manhattan
144 W 14th St, New York, NY
Room 213

—

Marshall Rake

Super Bowl VW Commercial

2010-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm not a fan of sports or football but this Super Bowl commercial had a couple of my favorite things: Grizzly Bear and Tracy Morgan.
—
Azita Rasoli

Black and What?! A Blog for Photo Oddities

2010-02-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

A fantastic collection of creepy black and white photographs.
—
Marshall Rake

Mountain Man in SF

2010-02-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

Mountain Man "Mouthwings" [part 1 of 3] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

The ladies of Mountain Man sing a hand-in-hand a cappella performance of "Mouthwings", in a Hawk Hill tunnel of San Francisco. The acoustics of the tunnel provide for an open-sound with a slight echo and increased dynamics, which make the harmonies sound especially beautiful.

Mountain Man "Honeybee" for Yours Truly [part 2 of 3] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

"Honeybee" is shot once again in Hawk Hill, but takes us to a expansive view of the Golden Gate Bridge/San Franciso bay area. Amelia, Alex, and Molly's pretty vocals seem like a perfect match to the gorgeous scenery.

Mountain Man "Babylon" [part 3 of 3] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

In the last performance, "Babylon (Psalms 137)", the girls sing the biblical psalm in a musical round.

"Mouthwings" and "Honeybee" can be found on their S/T album.

––
Chad Evenson

Do The Right Thing

2010-02-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

No Age Daytrotter

2010-02-09T08:31:00.000-08:00

We always put in a press request with sub pop for punk rockers No Age. Nothing has turned up, so far. But, the group did a Daytrotter session (which turned out great) which may serve as a nice content bridge until the interview materializes.

Three new songs, available for download. Get after it.
—
Corban Goble

Feeling Nostalgic?

2010-02-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

Great tumblr of your favorite 90s memories. From creepy crawlers,
laser challenge, ring pops, and more!
—
Marshall Rake

Epilogue 2.8.10

2010-02-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

Epilogue 2.8.10 features:

+ Design work from Golnaz Ghodstinat
+ An interview with Brooklyn-based filmmakers Weird Days
+ An interview with Portland, Oregon pop group Parenthetical Girls.
+ A short story from Kellyn Perez.

http://www.epiloguemagazine.com

If Boston Were Miami Beach ...

2010-02-08T05:02:00.001-08:00

It wouldn't be ground zero for public drunkenness and the dreaded Uggs/fleece combo. But aside from the superficial differences, New England has as much year-round love for electronic music as the home of the legendary Winter Music Conference and Together is Beantown's answer to the WMC formula: a dance music summit aligning the region's promoters, DJs, scholars and geeks for a week of workshops and parties.

The madness starts tonight with DJ Rupture at DJ Flack/Wax and Wayne's weekly listening party, Beat Research, and continues deep into valentines day weekend. Highlights include AC Slater and Udachi guesting at <3throb on Tuesday, Klever and Congorock spinning Redbull's We The People party on Wednesday, Neon Indian at Great Scott on Thursday and a headline set by Sinden on Friday.
—
Micah Salkind

Exploding Kitty

2010-02-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

We all know the Surprised Kitty video that's been floating around youtube, but here's a remix that actually made me laugh out loud despite it being truly horrifying if it happened in real life.
—
Azita Rasoli

The Human Printer

2010-02-07T10:08:00.000-08:00

The Human Printer is a great project that I stumbled across a few months ago. The Human Printer prints images by hand. Drawing pixel by pixel, processing in the same ways that an actual non-human printer would print. They do CMYK, Black and White, and Spot processing.
—
Marshall Rake

Good Music in NYC Tonight

2010-02-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

Some Epilogue contributors will be attending tonight's Terrible Records party at Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg, which features past Epilogue interviewees like Acrylics and Class Actress (Elizabeth Harper).

If that's not your bag, then Keepaway and Small Black will be playing at Brooklyn Bowl tonight for $5.

It's cold, but the music will warm your heart. Or something like that.

Brooklyn Cookie Jar Porter

2010-02-06T07:58:00.000-08:00

So, last night I found myself at the premier party for Brooklyn Brewery's new Brewmaster Reserve beer Cookie Jar Porter. Simply Amazing. With ingredients like "floor malted barley malt, golden oats, raisins, brown sugar, honey, vanilla beans and a subtle dash of spice" this beer is another home run by the man who brought us Blast, Manhattan Project, and the rest of the stellar Brooklyn Brewery lineup.

Based on the oatmeal cookies from Feed Your Soul Bakery, it's a robust dark beer that isn't heavy and dense like Guinness. Lancaster Brewing's Milk Stout comes to mind. This feels more premium though. Dark enough for winter, light enough to drink a shit-load of it.

Cookie Jar Porter is taking the place of Brooklyn Backbreaker Ale on the taps, and hopefully while its still cold outside. No word yet on availibility, but you can probably expect to see it in the next couple of weeks at one of the Brewmaster bars in New York, Mass, or Philly.
—
Adam Okrasinski

Spoon "Written In Reverse"

2010-02-05T18:05:00.001-08:00

New Spoon video. Not only is it beautiful, but they did it live.
—
Marshall Rake

Yeasayer in LA LIVE STREAM!!!

2010-02-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

Yeasayer is playing a show tonight at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. Show starts at 9:45 PST. The whole show is being streamed online here, live, for free!
—
Marshall Rake

J. Depp, H. Ledger, and T. Waits in "Imaginarium"

2010-02-05T11:41:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been a lot of press for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but it's currently playing in theaters nation wide. With imaginarium in its title, I wont even try to summarize the plot, so here's the trailer and you can decide. If you're intrigued, Google will take care of the rest and show the nearest theatre. If any readers are in the Chi, I recommend watching it at Music Box off Southport; it's a great place to see a flick. Imaginarium is for certain tastes, but if you still see cheetahs in cumulus clouds, I think you'll like it.

—
Matt Marsaglia

Parenthetical Girls "Evelyn McHale"

2010-02-04T08:44:00.000-08:00

Parenthetical Girls' new video "Evelyn McHale." Look out for an interview with them in this weeks issue.
—
Marshall Rake

Matt Marsaglia in McSweeney's

2010-02-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Check out Epilogue writer Matt Marsaglia in McSweeneys!
—
Marshall Rake

Vampire Weekend Soiree de Poche

2010-02-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

La Blogotheque has long been the source of the web's best live-performance videos, capturing some of today's most prominent artists performing amongst a number of interesting elements. Sufjan Stevens on a roof. The Shins in a Parisian town square. Phoenix on a bus. Arcade Fire in an elevator. And now Vampire Weekend in a small hall of some kind.

—
Corban Goble

The Internet Case Study Book

2010-02-03T06:22:00.001-08:00

Web-design and digital media extraordinaire’s, Rob Ford and Julius Wiedemann, have collectively written a storybook, titled The Internet Case Book. However, these stories are anything but children tales; they are success stories of how 60 clients have managed to make their work thrive online. The book divides the studies among five chapters of online tactics: e-Commerce, Corporate Sites, Campaigns, Social Media, and Promotional Sites. A look into each category can help you decide how to distinguish yourself from competitors and figure out which ones can specifically help you construct a strong online presence. They provide information for the smallest of businesses to the largest of corporations, examining a shared goal: creating a successful, efficient, and cost-effective investment on the web.

Rob Ford is the founder of “Favourite Website Awards” a Web site paying tribute to cutting-edge web design. Julius Wiedemann has worked in graphic design and marketing, and was an art editor in Tokyo for digital and design magazines.

The Internet Case Study will be available April 1, 2010.

—
Chad Evenson

Pet Sounds

2010-02-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Molly's Vertigo

2010-02-02T11:24:00.001-08:00

New video from Acrylics (read our interview with them here). Video was made by Epilogue contributor Weird Days.
—
Corban Goble

Queer Skater Geeks and Superhero Pinups

2010-02-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

David M Buisán - I hate Lady Gaga (2010)

David M Buisán, the Barcelona-based illustrator behind some of the best queer, fanboy, vector art in the world, just completed a stunning submission for dirtyrentboy's newest zine, Guarro #1, a designer's tribute to Lady Gaga. You've got to love the surreal skin-tones and chest tats on Buisán's heroes, even if you don't agree with his sentiments about the Gaga.
—
Micah Salkind

My Parents Were Awesome

2010-02-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

At first I thought this site was just a joke (a perm here, an aggressive mustache there) but after scrolling through more and more pics I thought differently. My Parents Were Awesome is much more sincere than a platform for a cheap laugh. What I like about a lot of the photos is the unapologetic moxie everyone has in their style. Sure the outfits were trendy, but they wore the hell out of 'em. Take a couple of minutes to browse through (you'll spend more than that though.)

—
Luke Bettis

Brooke Reidt Dollhouse Auction

2010-02-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

Epilogue artist Brooke Reidt had a painting featured in an episode of Dollhouse. This painting is now available for an auction to help raise money for the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
—
Marshall Rake

Lemonade "Lifted"

2010-02-01T07:58:00.000-08:00

Epilogue favorite True Panther just released a fantastic new video for one of their bands, Lemonade.

Like what you saw/heard? Check out our interview with Lemonade here.
—
Marshall Rake

The Antidote @ Claire Oliver Gallery

2010-02-01T05:37:00.001-08:00

The set-up is simple – or, perhaps, the fix is in… The Antidote, a new show at the Claire Oliver Gallery in New York City, sets out to prove that the ancient technique of painting is far from dead in modern art. I attended The Antidote’s opening last night to see if the remedy was truly taking effect.

Enter the impressively massive glass façade of the gallery and two works by Ulf Puder greet you. Muted color palettes, barren landscapes, the two pieces focus on buildings, their form, their regularity, subverting their clean lines with occasional drips and impossible construction. One building is intact, the other collapsed as if simply shoved over like a child topples building blocks. Upon closer inspection I can’t tell which building is more absurd.

Ulf Puder, Kreidefelsen

Up the short steps to the gallery’s main showroom hangs the rest of the featured collection. Tom Sanford’s darkly funny questions of celebrity – Tiger Woods, the Salahis, and Susan Boyle this time – are to one side; Jesse McCloskey’s intricately constructed noir mysteries to the other. I find myself taken in by Rina Banerjee’s exotic demons rendered in watercolor and with a sort of gleeful disregard for formality. Each of her demons melds with the tenuous world that surrounds them on canvas. Aaron Johnson’s demons, however, are a different story.

Aaron Johnson, Bleeding Heart

At the main room’s far end William T. Wiley’s The War Your After Durer bludgeons me with its multiple drab layers. It’s a confusing mess, sometimes sickening, sometimes funny. The press release tells me Wiley’s work is chock full of social commentary and it certainly is. But Wiley’s piece is dense and disorienting like the volume of commentary out there, a point I find important in and of itself… and an interesting counter to Herb Jackson’s similarly large abstract pieces beside Wiley’s. Colorful, textured, jagged, there’s an epic feel to Jackson’s pieces. Maybe an epic journey is the wrong evocation... maybe it's more an exploration into the pieces' surprising sense of space.

Herb Jackson, Veronica’s Veil CXCIII

Before entering the show, my comely acquaintance who I was fortunate enough to have on my arm for the evening reminded me of a thing told to us when we met. At one of those East Village dives that specialize in shot-and-a-beer deals, while watching the New York Jets go gently into that good night against the Indianapolis Colts, a man with a face long ago merged with the sidewalk outside and a voice tattooed by Philip Morris, leaned in uninvited to our discussion about art and offered this witticism:

“Writing about art is like dancing about architecture.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

The Claire Oliver Gallery is at 513 West 26th Street in Manhattan. The Antidote featuring the work of William T. Wiley, Ulf Puder, Herb Jackson, Rina Banerjee, Jesse McCloskey, Aaron Johnson, and Tom Sanford runs until March 6th.
—
Cian O'Day

Epilogue 2.1.10

2010-01-31T18:35:00.000-08:00

Epilogue 2.1.10 features:

+Interview with rapper Freddie Gibbs
+Interview with Chicago pop band Skybox
+Photography of Robin Schwartz
+Stuff We Liked: January 2010

Epilogue Magazine

Ooga Booga / Slavs and Tatars

2010-01-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

Two great Ooga Booga related events. One in their backyard (Los Angeles), and another in New York.

Slavs and Tatars & Ooga Booga present a selection and sale
of Slavs and Tatars posters, editions, and printed matter.

Until february 7th 2010
Ooga Booga, Los Angeles

Ooga Booga installed a reading room with over 300 titles. A great selection of printed matter and a nice slice of LA on a cold New York afternoon.

until February 13th, 2010
Swiss Institute , New York

—

Marshall Rake

Pick up, I'm calling ewe! (so punny)

2010-01-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

Awesome sheep sculptures made from old telephones by Jean-Luc Cornec at the Museum of Telecommunication in Frankfurt.
—
Azita Rasoli

Tham & Videgard Hansson apartment in Stockholm

2010-01-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

Swedish apartment designed with a beautiful use of color and patterns.

Design by Tham & Videgard Hansson Arkitekter.
—
Marshall Rake

The Hood Internet

2010-01-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

Chicago remix duo The Hood Internet (Aaron Brink and Steve Reidell) have hit the new year in a really hard way with some pretty excellent new mashups. I heard about these guys last summer, when they put Ratatat against Michael Jackson for Billie "Wildcat" Jean to celebrate the late king of pop, but there newer work is better than ever. My current fave's are:

The XX vs. DMX (The XX Gon' Give It To Ya)

Washed Out vs. Nicki Minaj (Crazy Hold Out)

YACHT vs. Ke$ha (Summer Of Tik Tok)

Really raiding the best tracks of 2009 lists, these three songs are all 2010 releases. Currently on tour (though no NY dates), check em out. Get your game up everybody.

Telephoned Mixtape

2010-01-29T05:27:00.000-08:00

New York's Maggie Horn and Sammy Bananas are not playing. This shit sounds fun, but technically, its got to be a bitch to integrate and re-imagine such a diverse repertoire of pop hits and original floor-ready material. On their new promo mix, the duo, better known as Telephoned, plays off the Afro-centric notion that novelty can be fostered expertly from a common cultural well; "Off The Hook" bites into Whitney, T-Pain and even Armand Van Helden/A-Trak to create a 30-minute power mix that's one part genre-blending, peak-time DJ set and one part sophisticated, karaoke jam session. Horn's got the pipes and Sammy B has the production skills to rock with the best of them. Can't wait to see what happens when the Fools Gold EP drops.

—
Micah Salkind

LACMA Reading Room

2010-01-29T05:25:00.000-08:00

LACMA has just launched the new Reading Room area of their site, allowing for access to out of print and rare catalogs of exhibitions. Available to read online or download as a PDF.
–
Roy Tatum

Unhappy Hipsters

2010-01-28T14:46:00.000-08:00

Beautifully written unhappy reflections from a hipster, with fantastic photos to match.

—
Marshall Rake

Tomorrow, In A Year

2010-01-28T09:46:00.001-08:00

Sweden, as a nation, exists as an ideal set to countryside. The landscape looks like Wisconsin, but without the harsh climate. The people are beautiful. Their lifestyle is not overrun with the demands of their jobs. And their musicians are subsidized by the government.

Now, I'm not sure if that applies to Swedish group The Knife, but it would make total sense. While American artists are supported by beer companies or LiveNation, Sweden's finest could afford to experiment and create with relative artistic freedom. And that's where concept albums are born.

Tomorrow, In a Year is an opera based on Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species written by The Knife, and it's stream-able and buy-able from their website. Though I've just started, looks like The Knife's well on their way to continuing their career-long hot streak.
—
Corban Goble

Gitman Vintage

2010-01-28T09:30:00.001-08:00

Around this time of year, the weather's still dead cold but the fashion that's rolling into stores and sprouting up online is nothing but sunshine innuendo. The 2010 Spring/Summer collection of Gitman Vintage is sending me to that teasing daydream of rocking linen to backyard barbecues, drinks poolside, and going sock-less in some white sneaks.

I'm welcoming the upcoming weather change, not only for the need to thaw out, but also to expand my wardrobe from the monotonous yet steadfast blues and grays into pieces like the green cotton poplin and red chambray shirts (pictured third and fifth from top to bottom) that Gitman's throwing our way. It's a mirage in late January for sure, but come May: a stylish reality.

—
Luke Bettis

Universal Everything 2010 Reel

2010-01-28T09:27:00.001-08:00

New reel from UK based studio Universal Everything showcasing their recent work.
—
Roy Tatum

Survive Style 5+

2010-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

Survive Style 5+ is the best movie that exists in the world. You haven't seen it so you cant tell me I'm wrong. It was directed by Gen Sekiguchi and released in 2004, and it blows my mind that this guy hasn't directed anything else. Featuring an amazing cast that includes Tadanobu Asano (of "Ichi the Killer" fame), Sonny Chiba (international Karate man, and Hattori Hanzō from "Kill Bil"l), and Vinnie Jones ("Snatch", "Gone in Sixty Seconds", "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"), Survive Style 5+ is the kind of movie that could never actually exist until you realize that it already does.

In addition to being the most colorful film I have ever seen, the writing is absurd and whip-smart, and the story is fantastic. Half of the cast play either criminals or assassins, and although it doesn't feel like an action movie, people definitely get killed (sometimes more than once).

It's got multiple simultaneous plot lines (a man trying to kill his wife, a father permanently hypnotized, three best friends who might be in love with each other, a female advertising exec who dreams commercials, and a foreign assassin doing freelance work) that all cross and interweave, and the first time I saw it, I must have said "what the fuck?" at least fifteen times. Now it all makes perfect sense.

The simplest movie pitch I can think of would be—"If I Heart Huckabees" and "G"o moved to Japan and had a baby together, and that child grew up learning Karate, that child might someday grow up to have a feverish wet dream on Christmas Eve that is similar to the plot and aesthetic reality of Survive Style 5+.

You really need to see this movie. You could torrent it (if you are a thief) because it definitely ain't on Netflix, or you could buy it on Amazon. Shit, come watch it at my house if you want, but don't forget to bring beer.

—
Adam Okrasinski

Tilt-Shift Time-Lapse Video

2010-01-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

Beached from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Can't get enough of Tilt-Shifting. Tilt-Shift Time-Lapse Videos by Keith Loutit. This is Tamarama Beach, Sydney, on the first warm weekend of the year.

Another video of Keith's was featured on Epilogue.

Art For Your State Of the Union Ennui

2010-01-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

Let's not get too political here... still, with tonight's State of the Union address, I can't deny the spotlight is on a glut of fatigue concerning 44's young presidency. In order to keep the discussion properly nuanced and not getting too didactic, here's a look back at some Obama art curated at The Art of Obama.

[There's a fair amount from the "Obama Vs" genre on the site, as well as the wacky merch genre (his face on acid blotter: hi-lar-ious!)... but in-between the sycophantism there's some thought provoking work as well as an interesting time line of our thoughts about this president.]
—
Cian O'Day

Milky, Messy, Delicious Ink

2010-01-27T07:02:00.001-08:00

Michaela Colette Zachilli, Rav3 Cover and Detail, 2010

Providence-based Michaela "Mickey" Colette Zacchilli draws really dope comics. Their full of creepy, weakling superheroes who always seem to come out on top after bouts with their own guilt, or the internet, or with ominous morning rainbows. Mickey also happens to be a take-no-prisoners printing guru. Her 2,3 and 4-color show posters, t-shirts and comics wobble with vibrant tone clashes, fantastic monsters and heavy doses of cramped, hand-drawn text. Mickey's newest masterpiece, RAV3, is finally available on her website, as are a slew of her previous projects.
—
Micah Salkind

Notebook Babies

2010-01-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

Notebook Babies is a series of animated shorts made by a 5th grade teacher, Anthony J. Dusko, to motivate and teach kids different life lessons if you will (lessons that wouldn't hurt some of us adults to relearn). They "are funny little characters that are designed to help kids learn but, like kids, are sometimes silly. Yet, in the end, they will usually do the right thing."
—
Azita Rasoli

The Stimulus Package

2010-01-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

Designed by Brent Rollins, the packaging for Freeway and Jake One's The Stimulus Package is one of the more creative concepts I've seen as of late (more creative than say, using package and packaging in the same sentence).

For a dramatic look at the uh, packaging, watch the promo video here.
—
Matt Marsaglia

The Company of People Exhibition in Los Angeles

2010-01-26T07:50:00.001-08:00

Epilogue friends Hannah and Landon Metz (creators of The Company of People) currently are exhibiting work along with other Company contributors at Space 15 Twenty in Los Angeles. The show goes from now until March 7th.

Beach House-Teen Dreams

2010-01-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

Photo by Bek Andersen for Epilogue

After finishing recording in an Upstate New York studio, Beach House announced the release of their third full-length album Teen Dreams for early 2010. The buzz was so immense you would have thought Teen Dreams would be included in most critic’s “Top 10 Albums of 2009”. I experienced this thrill first hand during a Grizzly Bear/Beach House show that left me probing YouTube for an unknown new song they performed that I was unable to hear the name of due to crowd noise. Using expert search engine techniques, I located the performance and watched “Walk in the Park” over and over, proceeding to post it all over my social networking pages exclaiming my anticipation. It was fall of 2009, but I had my first taste of excitement for the upcoming music landscape in 2010.

Beach House, made up of lead singer/organist Victoria Legrand and guitarist Alex Scally, are Baltimore natives and have been working and recording together for the past five years. The result is a trademark sound of sleepy rhythms, vintage keyboard melodies, sliding guitar, and Victoria’s unmistakable leisurely and heavy vocals. They have managed to expand and develop their trademark sound with each release, and nowhere is this more evident than Teen Dreams.

Familiar aspects from Devotion are noticed upon first listen, but with an attentive ear it is easy to detect a change in direction. The sounds are warmer and brighter; the haunting melodies are substituted for more friendly refrains. There is more spirit and color in the textures, which in previous releases sometimes found themselves washed out underneath a more melancholic, dreary sound. Victoria’s vocals are more upbeat and have a warmer tone while remaining unique and spellbinding. While sonically Beach House has developed a more accessible sound, a closer look into the lyrics reveals mysterious and somber topics more akin to Devotion. However, without a glance at the album booklet, one might have a hard time noticing these themes. The liveliness of their arrangements manages to mask some of the glum subject matter.

“Silver Soul” weaves in and out between sliding guitar riffs and an underlying organ. More importantly, this is where the listeners will notice a change in Legrand’s voice. The lyrics are sung with greater emphasis and contain a more dynamic tone, which were less present in previous albums. Her vocal range is expanded as well; with mixtures of tenor and teetering falsetto during the repeated chorus “It is happening again”. Backing vocals and Legrand’s pronounced groans bring the dense-layered track to a satisfying end.

Tracks such as “Norway” and “Used to Be” also accentuate Teen Dreams switch to more shimmering melodies and glowing vocals. The first single “Norway” is by far the closest thing to a pop song Beach House has created to date. Breathy soprano voices and woozy guitar in the intro set up a swift chorus most Beach House listeners might not be used to. “Used to Be” uses a bright and compact keyboard melody accompanied by a galloping percussion for Legrand to express emotions on the subject of growing apart.

Beach House still embraces aspects of their trademark sound throughout the album, but overall, Teen Dreams is a more blissful, fun and approachable album, without sacrificing ambition or talent.

MP3 "Norway" (via Sub Pop)

—
Chad Evenson

Music Monday

2010-01-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Photo of The Morning Benders by Matt Jacoby

"Promises" by The Morning Benders from forthcoming (and very awesome) LP Big Echo. (via The Fader)

"Real Life (Memory Tapes Remix)" by Tanlines (via P4K)

"Yellow Wings" by Keepaway (via P4K)

RIP Coco

2010-01-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

It's been a sad week for network television. I think I speak for the majority of Epilogue, we're all on Team Coco.

Check out more zombie drawings from Reza Rasoli here.
—
Azita Rasoli

I'm Here

2010-01-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

Spike Jonze has done it again. He teamed up with Absolut to make a half hour short about a relationship between two robots living in LA. Watch the trailer! Awesome as always.
—
Azita Rasoli

Welcome to Monument City

2010-01-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

Derrick Adams, The Root of it All, 2010
During an 1827 presidential visit, John Quincy Adams dubbed Baltimore the "Monumental City," adding that he hoped it would see as much prosperity and happiness as it had seen strife. A gritty little metropolis just outside DC and Philly, Baltimore still glitters on society's margins, a metonym for both the plight and promise of the 20th-century American metropolis. Its been variously known as "Charm City," "B-More" and "Bodymore," depending on whether one's primary identification has been gleaned from a reality show about artisan cake-craft, a banging strain of club music or The Wire.

In Brooklyn-based, artist Derrick Adams' imminent New York gallery exhibition, he riffs off the sacred/secular proclivities of Black civilizations past and present with the sounds of his hometown on repeat. Baltimore's palette colors the monumental sculptures, photographs and multimedia pieces on display from January 23 to February 28th at the Collette Blanchard Gallery.

Replete with plastic-coated, African totems, solid brick walls with shimmering silver mortar, and boxing iconography, Adam's latest work meditates on Black hero worship and the nostalgic, innocent space between a child's dreaming and being. What will the wreckage of contemporary Black civilization tell those sifting through the rubble? Mike Tyson and Darth Vader idols might give voice to a richer story than a Battle Monument to the war of 1812. They'll certainly speak more plainly about a shared American identity.
—
Micah Salkind

Blue Velvet

2010-01-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

There is a Blockbuster’s worth of "classic" movies I have yet to see, and a record store’s worth of "classic" albums. Thankfully I now have Netflix, and BitTorrent. I am attempting to fill in those gaps. Please do not send notes saying "zomg, i can't believe u haven't seen/heard _____." Please do send suggestions.

Blue Velvet

So, what the fuck is up with Blue Velvet? I felt bad enjoying myself during this movie, for two reasons: there are a lot of rape scenes, and I truly can’t explain why I enjoyed it.

Some of the small-town dialogue is atrociously bad – soap opera bad (that’s the point, I think). Several scenes make little sense, unless you think really, really hard about why the curtains are red rather than blue (thinking hard is the point, too, I think). Kyle McCullough is a less-than-charming Michael Cera thrown into the middle of a screwed-up, not screwball, murder mystery: painfully awkward, making decisions for no logically apparent reasons. An obscenely skinny, pre-Jurassic Park Laura Dern is also the love interest, and Isabella Rossalini talks crazy the whole movie. This is weird.

Yet here I am, finding Blue Velvet to be not only artistically meaningful, but also thoroughly entertaining . It's all in the "iconic" scene (Who knew? Not me, until I read about it afterward.) where Suave Ben sings some Roy Orbison. I started smiling – until I realized the most poignant part of the scene is a tear in the eye of a sadomasochistic-kidnapper-rapist. That would be Dennis Hopper who flips a switch from crazy to sad and back to even more crazy in, like, 90 seconds. The only similar thing I’ve seen was Anna Kendrick, in Up in the Air, after receiving an unpleasant text message. She should win an Oscar for that scene alone, if Mo’Nique hadn’t risen from the ninth circle of hell in the form of Precious’ mother.

Kyle McCullough says this at one point in Blue Velvet: “OK. It's a strange world, Sandy. This is what I have found out. What I think I have found out.” He goes onto make a lengthy connection of many dots seemingly out of thin air. It’s a mystery. It’s a strangely enjoyable movie. This is what I have found out, I think.
—
Reeves Wiedeman

Adventure Time!

2010-01-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure I once told an entire classroom of design students that all you ever needed to know about art and graphic design you could learn in 8 min from watching Adventure Time. I couldn't possibly defend this claim in reality, nor do I remember any of those kids' names. Now however, not only is my favorite Youtube animation of all time finally going to become an full length animated series on Cartoon Network this March, but its creator Pendleton Ward has released the animators style guide for drawing the characters. Check it out here and learn the officials on how to draw Finn and Jake (via: Drawn!). Maybe those truly stupid kids will finally learn something. Finn can have three, four, or five fingers, afterall.
—
Adam Okrasinski

Epilogue Commercials

2010-01-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

EpiBLOG

Apocalypse Now

Chat Roulette Funny Piano Improv #1

Enigmatica

3D Truck Advertisements

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

Record Makers Promo

Manhattan

Design is Blank!

PPM SXSW 2010

Robin Pecknold does "On a Good Day"

Too Zoned

New York Tilt Shift

NY Art Beat

Slanted and Enchanted

All Tomorrow's Parties NY

New Gorillaz Streaming

Flashes and Chu's

Swim

Best Coast Announces East Coast Tour

Persistant Pyramis

No logo logo

The Godfather: Part II

The World's First Street Art ­Disaster Movie

Music Monday: Janelle Monae

Nôze plus Riva Starr Makes Club Magic

Never Sleep

NPR Exclusive First Listen: Joanna Newsom

Epilogue 2.22.10

Owen Pallett- Lewis Takes Off His Shirt

Most Curious

FIRME LETRAS

Street Cred Stack Up

Steffen Bygebjerg "End Scene"

The Argument for Twitter: the Fake Jenny Holzers

Pill Wonder-"Wishing Whale" video

Welcome to the tUnE-yArDs

Exile on Main St.

jj et "Jules et Jim"

Epilogue 2.15.10

Valet on Gant

Mia Doi Todd " Open Your Heart"

Reeves Wiedeman in KC Star

39 Olympic Logos 1924-2012

Anton Gerasimenko Web Art

The Morning Benders "Excuses" with Orchestra

Sulki & Min / More & Less

Super Bowl VW Commercial

Black and What?! A Blog for Photo Oddities

Mountain Man in SF

Do The Right Thing

No Age Daytrotter

Feeling Nostalgic?

Epilogue 2.8.10

If Boston Were Miami Beach ...

Exploding Kitty

The Human Printer

Good Music in NYC Tonight

Brooklyn Cookie Jar Porter

Spoon "Written In Reverse"

Yeasayer in LA LIVE STREAM!!!

J. Depp, H. Ledger, and T. Waits in "Imaginarium"

Parenthetical Girls "Evelyn McHale"

Matt Marsaglia in McSweeney's

Vampire Weekend Soiree de Poche

The Internet Case Study Book

Pet Sounds

Molly's Vertigo

Queer Skater Geeks and Superhero Pinups

My Parents Were Awesome

Brooke Reidt Dollhouse Auction

Lemonade "Lifted"

The Antidote @ Claire Oliver Gallery

Epilogue 2.1.10

Ooga Booga / Slavs and Tatars

Pick up, I'm calling ewe! (so punny)

Tham & Videgard Hansson apartment in Stockholm

The Hood Internet

Telephoned Mixtape

LACMA Reading Room

The World's First Street Art Disaster Movie