Tuesday, June 27, 2006

MUSIC: Dry Ink Mag #2 (Brass Castle / Black Lips)



Hey kiddos, Dry Ink Magazine has come out with Issue #2 and I thought I'd point you in that direction plus provide you with some relevant listening material. They've got some excellent articles on Atlanta-area rock bands this time around. Take a listen to both Brass Castle and The Black Lips, both are quite talented and possessing much rock.

::: Brass Castle - Angel Fights
::: Brass Castle - Freon Knights
::: Brass Castle - Due It
::: The Black Lips - Not A Problem
::: The Black Lips - Hippie, Hippie, Hoorah
::: The Black Lips - Gentle Violence

Both bands have albums out; both are deserving of your attention.

[Photo credit goes to Andy Lock.]

Monday, June 26, 2006

MUSIC: Radiohead @ The Greek Theatre (Berkeley, CA)



I got a chance to check out Radiohead on Friday night, the first of two shows they were playing at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. Foeweel has the entire show, complete with mp3's and a nice review. Apparently, Persistent Sound did the recording, but I couldn't find anything on that.

Anyhow, it was a fantastic show. Lots of new stuff (which was complained about incessantly on the radio, as mentioned in Foeweel's review, which I also listened to on the way home), some new stuff, and an amazing ambiance created by the typical Bay Area fog rolling over the Greek Theatre. Here's a couple of my favorite Radiohead tracks, for what it's worth.

::: Radiohead - No Surprises
::: Radiohead - Sit Down. Stand Up.
::: Radiohead - Nobody Does It Better (live)

You can buy albums by Radiohead at Insound.

[Photo credit goes to Thomas Hawk.]

MUSIC: Post-Parlo's HOME series



One of my personal favorite music series comes out of Austin's Post-Parlo Records. Here's the down low according to their website:

HOME is a ten-volume split series featuring some of the most talented artists in music today, including (but not limited to): Kind of Like Spitting, Jeff London, Bright Eyes, Britt Daniel (of Spoon), Super XX Man (Scott Garred of Silver Scooter), Rhythm of Black Lines, Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie & The Postal Service), Eric Metronome (of Tiara), Pavo, Andrew Kenny (of The American Analog Set), Crooked Fingers, Damien Jurado, The Wrens, Julie Doiron, Les Savy Fav, and many more.

Now, this makes me quite excited considering I'm a huge fan of Les Savy Fav and The Wrens, who've yet to appear on the series. You can get a full subscription to the series for only $90, which includes the 5 presently released albums, the 5 to come in the regular series, and a bonus album available to subscription members only. That's a grand total of 11 albums for those of you counting at home.

As it stands now, here's the count:
HOME I - Kind of Like Spitting & Jeff London
HOME II - Super XX Man & Eric Metronome
HOME III - Rhythm of Black Lines & Pavo
HOME IV - Bright Eyes & Britt Daniel
HOME V - Benjamin Gibbard & Andrew Kenny

A couple of my favorite tracks come from the HOME V album which features Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie) and Andrew Kenney (of American Analog Set). Just well-written, skillfully played acoustic tracks.

::: Ben Gibbard - You Remind Me of Home
::: Ben Gibbard - Carolina
::: Andrew Kenny - Secrets Of The Heart

And, as a special bonus, here's a track from HOME IV, recorded by Spoon frontman Britt Daniel, accompanied by Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes fame).
::: Britt Daniel - You Get Yours

Again, you can order individual albums or a full subscription from the Post-Parlo website (click here for that page). Anyone know what the next couple in the series are gonna be?

[Special thanks to DIY Rockstar who turned me onto the series with this post.]
[Photo credit goes to giacomo; he's from Italy.]

Friday, June 23, 2006

ART: Damon Soule



Alot of my recent art attention has been aimed at this artist, Damon Soule. I find his paintings to be an excellent modern exercise, combining elements of street art, geometric figuration, and a good deal of skill. You can see lots more of his works at his website, which is excellent. He is currently showing at Lineage Gallery in Philadelphia; wish that I could see this two-man show (the other artist is Mars-1).

My introduction to him came through Luna Park, a restaurant in SF. They've got three large works there (owned by the restaurant) which have been up since the beginning. Hotel Des Arts has one room which was painted/designed by Soule as well (see it here). Lots of other up-and-coming artists have painted rooms there, see the list here.

[Photo credit goes to the Lineage Gallery.]

MUSIC: Nathan Asher & The Infantry



Holy smokes, these guys are seriously good. Praise has been drawn from many other respected blogs (see here, here, and here) and much has been made of their winning the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. All totally deserved. I can see the comparisons commonly being drawn, a conglomeration of Bright Eyes and Hold Steady. But the great thing is that it comes off as original, not derivative. See for yourself:

::: Nathan Asher & The Infantry - Thursday Night / Friday Morning
::: Nathan Asher & The Infantry - Sex Without Love
::: Nathan Asher & The Infantry - Turn Up The Faders

You can buy the album for 12 bucks (or $19.20 for two) at CD Baby here. You can visit their myspace page to listen to a couple other tracks as well.

[Side Note: One of my alltime favorite songs is on an album called "Ride The Fader" by Chavez, which I blogged about here. Coincidence?]

[Second Side Note: Wasn't "Hootie & The Blowfish" from North Carolina as well? Actually, it's South Carolina, so says their wikipedia page.]

[Another shot in the polaroid series by KirkT seen above.]

MUSIC: White Whale (Update)



Just got word through the excellent new blog Heavy Metal Mouth that Merge is taking pre-orders for White Whales debut album (WWI). Preorder here, I don't imagine that you'll be disappointed. There's a couple good write-ups on the promo materials and pre-released tracks up on Good Hodgkins and My Old Kentucky Blog (although Dodge doesn't answer the question: Who would win in a fight? Superman or a White Whale? That was kind of disappointing.)

All in all, I'm pretty excited about this album. Here are the four tracks that've been plastered across the internet over the last couple months.

::: White Whale - The Admiral [personal favorite]
::: White Whale - Nine Good Fingers
::: White Whale - What's An Ocean For?
::: White Whale - We're Just Temporary, Ma'am

[Photo credit goes to mirelamiada; just fantastic shots.]

Thursday, June 22, 2006

MUSIC: The "F" Word



So it seems like "fuck" is consistently slipping itself into Macktronic these days. Heck, the word's even the subject of a fairly recent documentary (See "Fuck"'s IMDB page here). It's a versatile word.... band names, song titles, album titles, lyrics, you name it. Here's a sampling:

::: Holy Fuck - Tonebank Computer
::: The Fucking Champs - Andres Segovia Interests Me
::: Fuck Off Machete - Copper and Lead Fight

Just for the record, I love the band name Fuck Off Machete. Now, what about songs with F in the title?

::: Big Black - Talk About Fucking
::: Liz Phair - Fuck And Run
::: The Coup - Laugh Love Fuck

Or the million versions of "Fuck The Police" that are out there. That's a seminal F word song if there ever was one. And, one of the more favorite lyrical approaches to the F word, referencing an animal.

::: Nine Inch Nails - Closer

You can buy albums containing these songs here. Please do so if you're rocking out to them regularly.

[Another thing that set this post off was seeing a "Fuck Art Let's Kill" sticker at the Toronado Pub in SF]

[Photo credit goes to bright tal; she seems to like colorful, geometric compositions.]

MUSIC: Song of the Day (Thursday)



Can't exactly remember where I got ahold of the 2004 release by FemBots (called Small Town Murder Scene) but this song has stayed with me over the years. It's a weird/wonderful combination of folk and americana (even though they're from Canada) and electronica and noise. One of those haunting but beautiful tracks; thought it might be a good addition to your Thursday.

::: FemBots - Broken and Blue

You can buy albums by the FemBots here.
(By the way, if anyone has listened to the newer album (called "The City"), please let me know what you think of it. Seems like I haven't heard much on them.)

[Photo credit goes to KirkT; this is a picture of coffee, and i love photos of coffee. I also love Polaroids.]

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

MUSIC: Song of the Day (Tuesday)



Every now and then a song reaches up and grabs your brain by the frontal lobe and yanks you down to the ground. That's this song for me.

::: Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds

Just like me, you can pick up both EP's from Cold War Kids at this website. You can also download a complete live show here at Cable And Tweed, another excellent music blog. And, if you're especially brave, you can try and ignore the buzz around these guys but that's not recommended.

[Excellent photo by kimicon seen above.]

MUSIC: 10% Animal



Got a fantastic music tip from I Rock Cleveland a bit ago on 10% Animal, the side project of Black Keys member Patrick Carney (Read their original post here; leave'em some comments too). Dig on these excellent rock tracks.

::: 10% Animal - The Whale
::: 10% Animal - Burglurglery
::: 10% Animal - Tribal Taboo

No album plans that I know of yet, but I imagine that they'll eventually get around to releasing something on the the BK's label called Audio Eagle, which is distributed by Fat Possum. So these demo tracks will have to keep us satiated for the time being.....

[The good folks over at I Rock Cleveland also did a little review of a Macktronic favorite, American Princes (new album titled "Less and Less"); you can read it here.]
[Photo credit goes to nicolai g; many more pinhole photos on his flickr page, check it out.]

Monday, June 19, 2006

MUSIC: The Fucking Champs (Etc.)



So I'm coming to work today (public transit!) and listening to my iPod (hip!) and suddenly realized I made a grave mistake last week when posting some of my favorite instrumental tracks (an excellent post, by the way, if i do say so myself)....

How could I leave out The Fucking Champs? Borderline blasphemy, indeed. So here are two tracks from the extremely rocking, highly enjoyable band.

::: The Fucking Champs - Andres Segovia Interests Me
::: The Fucking Champs - Policenauts

You can buy loads of albums by The Fucking Champs at Insound (click here). Speaking of Insound, Think About Life is having a little promotion where you can get 15% your whole order by proceeding to Insound through this portal and using the discount code TAL15. The band also forwarded this track (which is apparently the secret 11th track on their debut album) onto the blogosphere. And, surprisingly, it's dang good.

::: Think About Life - Hidden Track 11

[Many thanks to Stop Loving Everything and Something Less Than Intended, two excellent blogs which were hosting these Fucking Champs tracks; I had to download them to post them, as my music was trapped on my iPod and my work computer was FC-less, if you can believe it; So gold stars to those guys.]

[Photo goes to the lovely and talented diastema.]

Friday, June 16, 2006

MUSIC: C/Kasimir S. Pulaski (Sufjan Stevens and Big Black)



While getting all excited for the July 11 release of Sufjan's collection of Illinois extras, called Avalanche if you've been living under a fairly large heavy object, I've been playing lots of the good troubadour's music. I kept wondering where I had seen Casimir S. Pulaski before, and since I'm not a Midwesterner it's not the actual holiday associated with Mr. Pulaski. According to the good Wikipedia:

Casimir Pulaski Day is a regional United States holiday celebrated on the first Monday of every March to commemorate Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born March 4, 1747. It is celebrated mainly in areas which have large Polish populations.

Note that his full name is actually Kazimierz Michał Wacław Wiktor Pułaski herbu Ślepowron for those of you keeping score. This led me to remember that Big Black recorded a Pulaski Day song back in 1987. (Big Black, led by Steve Albini, is a Chicago area band; for more info on their influence check out their wikipedia page.)

Here's the two songs, I don't think they could be any more different. Give a listen and see for yourself.

::: Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
::: Big Black - Kasimir S. Pulaski Day

Insound is taking pre-orders for The Avalanche, which you can get for 11 bucks. Also pick up Big Black's album called Songs About Fucking, a totally amazing record. (And, if you want to be totally awesome about it, get the vinyl; I think that it would make Steve Albini happy.)

[Photo credit goes to Yoshihiro.]

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

MUSIC: Macktronic Mixtape #1



It's a day of firsts around here at Macktronic! Announcing the first ever Macktronic Mixtape, containing my favorite tracks of recent history (some highlighted here previously, others not). Huzzah! Details after the excellent excellent tracklist.

Macktronic Mixtape Volume 1 (MMV1)
Track 1 ::: The Good Fear - "Heroes/Outsiders"
Track 2 ::: Built To Spill - "Car"
Track 3 ::: American Princes - "In The Dark"
Track 4 ::: Modest Mouse - "Never Ending Math Equation"
Track 5 ::: Lucero - "Sixteen"
Track 6 ::: Kings of Leon - "Taper Jean Girl"
Track 7 ::: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Phenomena"
Track 8 ::: Tapes 'N Tapes - "Insistor"
Track 9 ::: Birdmonster - "Resurrection Song"
Track 10 ::: Tel Aviv - "About Hysteria"
Track 11 ::: Kings of New England - "Woodson Lateral"
Track 12 ::: Right On Dynamite - "Hard To Know"

Now, of course, these aren't all of my favorite tracks but rather a sampling that carries a similar tone throughout. And the tone you ask? It's in the tone of awesome.

And, as always, support these artists if you like their songs by buying the albums. Most can be purchased through Insound while others require direct contact with the band. Additional information can be found in the archives of Macktronic or by emailing me at macktronic@gmail.com.

[Photo credit goes to me. It's on my FlickR page.]

MUSIC: High Sierra Music Festival / My Morning Jacket



So it's into the time of summer festivals. One I've got on my calender is High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California. The line-up is WAY outside my normal listening patterns but it's a good excuse to get away from the Bay for a bit and drink beer outside (as opposed to inside). The personal highlight for me will be My Morning Jacket playing a 2 hour set the day after a late-night gig (which starts at 1:45AM and goes as long as they're standing). It's gonna be amazing. So, in honor of that excitement, I'm gonna post three tracks from MMJ's 2004 Bonnaroo set. They're fantastic live.

::: My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday
::: My Morning Jacket - Golden
::: My Morning Jacket - Mahgeeta

Buy My Morning Jacket albums at Insound here.

[Photo credit goes to Yoshihiro, who has lots of great pictures taken with interesting cameras like the HOLGA by LOMO .]

Monday, June 12, 2006

MUSIC: The Blend



I'm kind of a sucker for a good ny-centric indie rock band; this much i admit. Previously I gave thumbs up to Right On Dynamite, an excellent act out of Brooklyn. Another group that runs in the same circles is The Blend (you can also check them out on myspace). Their debut EP was released by Leftwing/Retone and they also participated in a residency at Pianos in NYC. Here are a couple tracks from that release:

::: The Blend - Shoot Shoot
::: The Blend - On My Knees

A couple other tracks can be taken from their website.

::: The Blend - In Between Circuit
::: The Blend - I'm Not That Way

You can download The Blend on iTunes, or hound the band personally through their myspace page to get ahold of the great EP.

[Photo credit goes to the lovely richelle, whose flickR page is most enchanting.]

MUSIC: Holy Fuck



Posted a song last week by Holy Fuck and it seemed to garner some serious interest; rightfully so in my opinion. This experimental/noise/electronic/rock band has an interesting energy and an even more captivating approach. Here's an excerpt from their bio:

Holy Fuck are creating a legacy based on near stupidity. It's a simple concept, to mimic modern electronic music without using modern fail-safes like laptops and programmed backing tracks... and of course make people freak out and smash stuff. So for last year's NXNE festival they armed themselves with a drum set, bass guitar, a myriad of toy keyboards, guitar peddles, mixers, and even a 35 mm film synchronizer and hit the stage, without even rehearsing.

Granted, at first blush this might sound pretentious.... but, it takes balls and talent to pull something off like that. It's also part of another concept which makes my wheels turn.... using music as art rather than entertainment. Few bands do this well (with well being defined as an end result of entertaining/captivating without that being the goal). Just something to think about.

Check out their website and myspace page for more information. Plus, dig on these tracks.

::: Holy Fuck - Tonebank Jungle
::: Holy Fuck - Tonebank Computer
::: Holy Fuck - Korock

You can pick up their self-titled album from Maple Music here. And I suggest that you do just that.

[Photo credit goes to seventytw0dpi. She's got more freaky-ass photos on her flickR page.]

Friday, June 09, 2006

MUSIC: Friday Indie Instrumentals



Sometimes I'm in the mood to listen to songs that leave out the words. So here's a little compilation of some of my favorite instrumental songs. Some are by artists who normally use vocalists, others are by straight instrumental groups.

Here's the intro track for the latest album from A Frames. Just a fantastic tone-setter for the rest of the album. (By the way, Black Forrest II and III are painfully good).
::: A Frames - Black Forrest I
(Definitely check out their latest album, out on Sub Pop)

Ratatat is coming back to us, my friends. New album called "Classics" being released in August. See their website for more information, including plans for some 12" singles. I plain loved their last offering, here's my favorite track.
::: Ratatat - Desert Eagle
(I love the fact that there's a wiki page on the desert eagle)

Here's a band that I'll most likely highlight at some point in this macktronic experiment. Storm the Castle, who have an awesome website, cannot do wrong with this track.
::: Storm The Castle - Victory.... But At What Cost?

Perennial favorites around here, Kings of New England, lay down an awesome little instrumental track on their release titled "On The Cusp".
::: Kings Of New England - 2 Year Stand

Bay Area experimentalist (and multi-instrumentalist) Delux did some damage with his debut EP, here's a track off of that one.
::: Delux - Informed

Part of the oft-celebrated and heavily lauded Arcade Fire crew did a side project called Bell Orchestre which many of you have probably heard of, I'm assuming. Here's my favorite song off of their "Recording A Tape The Colour Of Light" release.
::: Bell Orchestre - The Upwards March

I'm a huge off-and-on fan of Bonobo, currently residing in the "on" stage. Again, this is an excellent excellent song, even sans words.
::: Bonobo - Kota

A new fascination around these parts is Holy Fuck (more info coming soon), and here's a song off their self-titled album.
::: Holy Fuck - Korock

Lots of songs here, if you like any of them please buy the albums. Most of them you can buy from Insound, but others require a bit of extra work. You can buy the Holy Fuck album through Maple Music here. Contact Kings of New England through their MySpace page to get their album. Same with Storm The Castle, direct contact will be needed to get your hands on their demo.

[Photo credit goes to the super talented akida. I love her photos.]

Thursday, June 08, 2006

MUSIC: Tel Aviv



Seriously, these tracks have been in near-constant rotation over my last week, you've got to check them out. Tel Aviv is out of Little Rock and I had the pleasure of catching a few of their early shows a while back. Excellent live, and the recordings actually do some justice to their music. Try these on for size.....

::: Tel Aviv - About Hysteria
::: Tel Aviv - Sunburned LA
::: Tel Aviv - Black Marketeering

But, the big news is the release of their EP which you can pick up for only $5 through the PayPal link on their myspace page. Here's a review of the EP I found on Indieville.....

This pretty little homemade EP comes courtesy of Tel Aviv, a promising young indie rock act out of Arkansas. They have a slick, modern style that wouldn't feel out of place in New York (think a less glossy Cloud Room), with hip basslines and very memorable melodies. "Sunburned LA" starts the disc off with a brooding sound and an infectious "we move from small towns to LA" vocal part.

"About Hysteria," the EP's strongest track, uses a dark keyboard part and a desperate vocal delivery to convey a wonderful sense of urgency to the listener. It's impressive how cohesive it sounds with just keyboard and no guitar. After the eight minute plus "Vampire/DJ/Stripclub," a moody, moving instrumental (inessential but entertaining), Tel Aviv finishes Lay Me Down off with Strokesy "Ill Office" and keyboard-intense "Securities." Based on this EP, I see Tel Aviv as a very solid act on the cusp of a recognized indie rock career. Whether they'll succeed in today's crowded music climate remains to be seen, but they do have the chops.

There's one more track on their myspace page and another on pure volume, if you're interested. Go ahead and order the EP if you're into the tracks above, you won't be disappointed. Plus you get to support an up-and-coming band, and that gives you the warm fuzzy feeling we all love so much.

[Photo credit goes to John Conners]

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

MUSIC: Song Titles Go Hollywood (Addendum!!)



Continuing Monday's post of "Song Titles Go Hollywood", I thought I'd drop some more tracks on you. First off, I can't believe I forgot the Mu track about Paris Hilton last time. (I also couldn't bring myself to lead-in with a photo of Paris; likewise, if you haven't heard her new track cruise on over to Stereogum. She's an utter parody at this point). Getting to the point, here are the tracks.....

::: Gorillaz - Dirty Harry
::: Mu - Paris Hilton
::: Jhae (Feat. Bumba) - Lindsay Lohan
::: Boyskout - Jesse James

[I realize that the Jesse James in the above tracks is not the Jesse James of motorcycle/sandra bullock fame, or even the wrestler; there are also many more jesse james songs out there]
[Thanks to Aquarium Drunkard for the Lohan track]
[Photo credit goes to duncan who has some amazing pictures of tags on his flickr page]

Monday, June 05, 2006

MUSIC: The Paper Hearts



I came across The Paper Hearts in the process of working my way through the excellent maze of Arkansas-area bands. According to their myspace page, they are a mix of indie/folk/rock but i'd like to pour some country and some whiskey into the mix. Led by ex-Lucero guitarist Todd Gil, they play a similar brand of whiskey rock but with slightly softer edges, probably due to the use of a female vocalist (with a fantastic voice). Here's another description of their sound:

With dynamics ranging from quiet, somber acoustic to crashing rock, the songs are rhythmically energetic, lyrically honest and creatively heartfelt. Ink 19 has described their sound as "(one) of an up-an-about Whiskeytown with the craftsmanship of The Posies," delivering "vivid stories of hearts lost and found in a charming, personal style.

Between their website and the myspace page, you can find a number of tracks. Here are some of my favorites.

::: The Paper Hearts - Guns Are Loaded
::: The Paper Hearts - On Again, Off Again
::: The Paper Hearts - Hard To Smile
::: The Paper Hearts - Circles

You can order their album through New Scatch Records. They've got the full-length (Plans For The Past) plus the newer EP (Hard To Smile), so buy them both. Let me know what you think.

(Todd Gil, lead singer of Paper Hearts, also plays with The Good Fear, a Macktronic favorite. Check out some of their tracks (here, here, and here) and cruise on over to his blog called Crasymaker.)

[Photo credit goes to khtoo, check out his FlickR page]

MUSIC: Iwori



I've got a band for those of you who miss the good old days of classic rock. With influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix and Led Zepplin to Neil Young and Leonard Cohen, Iwori cranks out some consistently catchy tunes. Here are two tracks (off of their myspace page) for your listening pleasure.

::: Iwori - Sirens
::: Iwori - River Song

(There are two more songs to listen to on the myspace page, both of which are fantastic)
Go show them some love by purchasing the album (via paypal) if this stuff lights your fire.

[Photo credit goes to kimicon]

ART: Michael Page



Now here's an artist that inhabits an incredibly strange/interesting world. (Seems like everyone in my group drew a parallel to Beetlejuice). Michael Page had some work up at Madrone Lounge in SF a couple weeks ago but I'm just now getting around to posting about him. His paintings are fantastic, he's really got a method that suits his subject matter. You can check out more of his work on his website.

MUSIC: Song Titles Go Hollywood



Fame is such a fickle creature. It's trappings include paparazzi, award shows, and getting songs named after you. Some folks even get songs named after their characters. Here are few I had in my head, but I'm sure there are loads of others. Leave a comment and let me know of some good ones I missed.....

::: Gorillaz - Bill Murray
::: Adam Green - Jessica Simpson
::: Kings of New England - Topper Harley
::: Black Nasty - Rudy Huxtable

And, even though she's not technically Hollywood, she's too awesome not to be included.
::: The Hold Steady - Stevie Nix

And, Rick Rubin is the man.
::: Spank Rock - Rick Rubin

I'm hoping that this little post can lead to a Hollywood-Song-Titles mixtape, and maybe a version 2 with Musicians-As-Song-Titles edition!

As always, you can buy these albums here, except for the Kings of New England one which you might have to get directly through the band's myspace page.

[Photo credit goes to lilylord]

Friday, June 02, 2006

MUSIC: Herbert (Scales)



Well, the new Pitchfork-applied gold star goes to electronic/pop guru Matthew Herbert. This guy is one interesting cat. Harmonium Music has an in-depth review of the record which you might want to check out (plus another track not listed here). Here are a couple samples.

::: Matthew Herbert - Movers and Shakers
::: Matthew Herbert - Something Isn't Right
::: Matthew Herbert - Birds Of A Feather

[Photo credit goes to Angela]

Thursday, June 01, 2006

MUSIC/LITERATURE: Dry Ink Magazine



Thought you guys might be interested in this online magazine that was recommended to me by a very trusted source. Take a look at Dry Ink Magazine...... Here'a little blurb on what they're about from the website:

"Dry Ink Magazine is dedicated to bringing an insightful and well-timed look into music, art, film, literature and urban culture. Our profiles, interviews and feature stories strive to chronicle the role of the underdog, investigate the character and motives of the artist and celebrate the timeless players of influence. This endeavor is a grassroots one, undertaken and supported by a community of writers, artists and musicians who love to tell stories and have a story to tell.

We will publish a new loosely-themed issue every month, or pretty close to it. We'll also be updating in between publications with new tales and happenings, so check back often. Please sign our mailing list to receive all the news from Dry Ink."

There's an excellent article on Lucero, one of Macktronic's favorite bands, in the first issue. Here's a couple (previously posted) sample songs for those of you not familiar with their brand of awesomeness.

::: Lucero - That Much Further West
::: Lucero - Into Your Eyes
::: Lucero - Diamond State Heartbreak
::: Lucero - Hello Sadness
::: Lucero - Little Silver Heart

Buy the Lucero albums at Insound, and you can get "That Much Further West" for only 8 bucks. They've also got the reissued Attic Tapes, which I blogged about here. Every album is incredibly solid, I can promise you that.

[Photo credit goes to drp]

MUSIC: Apollo Up!



Ah, how I love the post-punk movement (although we could argue that we're recycling some sounds, but isn't that always that case?)..... Anyhow, here's a band out of Nashville that plays some extremely solid music. Apollo Up! (another exclamation point band, i.e. Oh No! Oh My! or Panic! At The Disco) has an album coming out this month on Theory 8 Records. Try out a couple of the tracks.

::: Apollo Up! - Invisible Syllable
::: Apollo Up! - Cut Up
::: Apollo Up! - Plans

Catchy from the first listen, if I do say so myself. Each Note Secure has two more songs if you're interested. Apparently, these fellas are playing as part of the Desdemona Festival in Cincinnati so check them out if you're in the area along with a host of other bands. It looks like an excellent line-up (Ghostface Killa, Stellastarr*, The Walkmen, and many others).

[Photo credit goes to hiromama]