Show Review! : Of Montreal!

(not our picture, and not actually of the show, but Kevin was dressed like this and all we had was a film camera)

A couple days ago, on thursday, we headed out to the club to check out Of Montreal! James Husband (Of Montreal's drummer) opened for them, but he was only okay, and pretty bad at times. I wanted to like them since he had a cello player up there but most of his songs sounded pretty similar, and weren't a good match with Of Montreal's catchy, dance-y pop music. He had one preeety sweet song though, but I can't find it anywhere sooooooooo who knows.

and Of Montreal - what can I say? If you've seen em before you know just how crazy they can get, and if you haven't you should get some tickets! Their set started with some guys in animals masks with intro music goin on before Of Montreal came in with Suffer for Fashion. They ran through a bunch of tunes compelte with ninjas sneakin' on stage with props and feather shooting machines before the end where Kevin Barnes got up on some cross thing and got stretched out. They came back out for the encore and ended with a Jackson 5 cover which worked out pretty well.

Kevin's voice was a little different from the records (a little more girly) but the playing was solid and the crazy weird show made up for it (although it was supposedly pretty tame for an Of Montreal show). They focused mostly on their newer albums but didn't play Wraith Pinned to the Mist, which was just fine by me.

Setlist if ya want it: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/of-montreal/2010/930-club-washington-dc-5bd76b34.html

If you haven't heard them, here's a smattering to get ya goin

Suffer For Fashion - Of Montre...

The Party's Crashing Us - Of M...

- Alec

Mediumphobic

This guy, people. This guy. So there's this artist, Nicholas Di Genova, goes by Mediumphobic. He's a madman. The images that issue forth from his mind to his medium are bizarre, intriguing, and often quite frightening. Frequently featuring animal-animal, animal-gun, animal-machine hybrids, his work is like nothing I've seen before.

I asked him about his process, falsely assuming that there were some digital shenanigans going down. and he was kind enough to answer in detail.

"I can give you a quick rundown of how i get the colour on my pieces... It does look digital, but its actually all done by hand with animation ink, mylar, and a lot of patience...

First i start with a sheet of semi-translucent mylar. Then, in black ink, I draw the creature on the front of the mylar, using dipping pens and brushes. Then I flip the piece over, and work on the back of it with animation inks. Animation inks are the paints that used to be used to paint all of the old cartoons... Search 'cel vinyl paint' and you should be able to find the stuff... I use the cel vinyl to paint the back of the drawing, just like a giant animation cell... If you run a search on 'cell painting' you should be able to find some sort of tutorial"

What a doll. So, definitely hit up his site, and maybe if you're into his stuff as much as I am, maybe with more cash to spend than I have, buy some stuff.

mediumphobic.com

BREAKING: As of this post, Nicholas has an opening in New York next week, a chance to see his superbly detailed pen and ink pieces, up close and personal. If it can be helped, it is not to be missed!

-Daniel

Letting Up Despite Great Faults

Letting Up Despite Great Faults is a shoegaze/dream pop type band that combines blissfull, fuzzed-out guitars with synth pop to create tune in the vein of The Depreciation Guild and M83. Based in LA and led by Michael Lee, they currently have out an EP: Movement (2006) and recently put out their self titled full length (Letting Up Despite Great Faults) in October 2009. Check em' out if you've got the time, they're definitely a favorite among my recent discoveries and they've got a great winter-y sound.

- Alec

In Steps - Letting Up Despite ...

The Colors Aren't You Or Me - ...

Look What I Made:

Altitude: 9k ft?
Summer '09, backpacking in Oregon.

Being that we have yet to decide what this blog is about, this should be an okay filler.

-Daniel