How Much For That Panda ?

clarion alley series 2007

last monday night was the lcd soundsystem show at mezzanine and since it was a monday night coupled with the fact that i get up at about the same time as the early newspaper delivery people, and that the band did not go on until 11.30, i was keen on leaving a few songs into the set, especially if it wasn't good. a few years back they played with m.i.a. at the fillmore and it wasn't anything great. well, for the next hour and a half at mezzanine, lcd ss took over the place and made sure everyone paid close attention. it was non-stop energy that even made some of the indie kids dance. there were great versions of 'someone great', 'all my friends' and a sped up version of 'tribulations'.

i just found out that adrienne shelly was killed last year in a bizarre murder that was initially thought of as a suicide. she was a somewhat famous actor in a number of indie films. and most notably for me, hal hartley's 'trust' (1990). one of the first independent movies that showed me that like music, there was important creative things being made outside of the mainstream machine. you'll have to catch it on sundance or ifc because it still has yet to be released on dvd in this country unless you're still hanging on to one of those vhs/beta machines. a deadpan dialogue driven movie about two malcontent's connection to one another.

Boxcutter - Skuff'd (Abstract Beats)- there's a music shop on valencia st here in san francisco called aquarius records and on occasion i stop in to this small shop and hope to find something. it has weird music from all parts of the world and caters to a more indie type crowd. well, i found this cd and from their site hope to find some other peculiar things that i normally wouldn't find from my other sources. go to the site and you'll find great/extensive writings on their releases as well as short sound clips.

Charles Mingus - Epitaph (Jazz)- this is a song from the infamous toen hall concert that some have said was genius while others have said it to have been an absolute disaster. while the expanded cd shows the chaotic nature of the concert, there are moments of genius that made me want to take up the upright bass in a jazz band.

Mylo - Drop The Pressue feat Spank Rock (Hip Hop) - from the fabric33 release, a rundown on the history of hip hop as well as a fearless bravado to drop yes and the romantics in the same mix shows why this group has crossed all boundaries of music categorization and captured fans from all sides of music .

Battles - Atlas (Hard Rock, Abstract) - a sorta superstar band and this first single being from their first release on warp records, 'mirrored'. the former drummer from helmet who puts his crash stand 6ft into the air. check out the video for this song. it's one of the best videos i've seen in a long time.

People Press Play - Always Wrong (Abstract Pop) - from morr records. lali puna-esque. dreamy pop electronic based music.