Category: Uncategorized

so guys

this is coming a little late, but something happened in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago and now I’m feeling the need to write about it as others have written about it and should be – a progressive youthful creative act operating under the cover of a party that will go down in the journals of its leaders and participants and maybe will be rediscovered later and discussed in the Michigan Theatre at a lecture series, or maybe will just be remembered and talked about by the two hundred strong involved, which would be equally as beautiful if not more, actually probably better that way, but anyway something happened.

some context:

the artist/writer/musician/creative group of students formerly and currently known as the TeneT Collective began as and continues to be an underground zine of various media including but not limited to stories and poems and drawings and photos, the group a real raw bunch of subterraneans hangin out on porches all wide-eyed and excited, all headwise, cool, having read and known and talked about good books, all out to make things happen and make people think and feel and think maybe they should go out and express themselves too because dang it sure does look like those folks are havin a good time – and this group of doers and movers and makers got together and decided to step outside the zine for the time being to make something happen that hadn’t happened before, that wasn’t happening yet but should have been the whole time and this is how all great ideas begin –

and on the 6th of September the Happening occurred in Ann Arbor, beginning in Kerrytown (the IT house) and there were drawings all around and paper on the walls and paintings in doorways on hinges, vibes all over the place, everybody gathered and drew together, doodled as One and broke the ice and got their feet wet before being led away by Leg Champii and the Special Knees, the marchingband TeneT sector shepherding the crowd to new digs via the accordion, guitars, drums and other noisemakers; there was a woody nymph in a pale dress twirling a hoop on fire, spinning and dancing and leaving glowing tracers in the night, her and the band leading the way, a skip in their step and on the parade went down State street toward the Fuc* Boys Lair and here it reeked of Art too – there were paintings and performings and the release of a skate video set inside the Stamps studios titled BUT IS IT ART and everyone decided that it was, and on it went, this a brief stop of the Night, and further downtown Champii and the Knees marched, stopping cars in the streets, taking up whole blocks of sidewalk, onward to an underground empty parking lot where the acoustics were choice, the walls sang back, all were good and confused, the band doubled around and up and out the garage as quickly as they’d come and off we were again, making a sort of loop, only a hop and skip from the Origin, ending now at a Lamp house partay – there were lights all over, everything aglow, the lawn full of chairs and couches even all bespecked in glinty light, people teeming in rapture, the air quivering, excited, sharp, there were flashes of light and giant sparklers lit off, waved around, the fiery hoop and fairy hooper returned, swirled and dipped and hung in the air, a lad jumped through cleanly and nimble to cheers, the night went on – and then the cops came, it was only a matter of time, the crowd dispersed, webbing off into the shadowy dark to reconvene in factions, fading into Gloom and tingles, knowing they had just witnessed a Thing, one that doesn’t happen every day, having felt something new –

and to me this feels important – young people takin peers by the hands and the ears and jazzin everybody up, gettin everybody goin, feelin good, feelin light, feelin fine, feelin like dancin in streets and singin loud and lockin arms and huggin and laughin and talkin and makin MOVES, makin vibes, makin life do what they want it to and think it should, makin life, talkin about Life and Now –

so I say: watch out Annie, there’s change in the wind and more on the way –

Although I have arrived upon this news quite late… it turns out that Foxygen is releasing their next album. Their last album, titled “We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic”, a lengthy and boisterous title, embodied fully their ambitiously experimental style. An album that consisted of a song as soft as San Francisco whilst having something that sounded as rough as Bowling Trophies it was certainly an eclectic album, maybe less eclectic than their previous record, “Take the Kids off Broadway” but the point being, that it was an incredibly fun and fresh record. At least it felt that way for me, someone who is not remotely close to being a music nerd. I mean ask me to name a Chuck Berry song and all I can list is “You Never Can Tell” because I watched Pulp Fiction. Am I ashamed? No, Pulp Fiction is a great fucking movie. The song is great too, but I just haven’t invested my time into exploring more of his songs. Except I guess “Johnny B Goode”, except, everyone has heard that one. I think.

Anyways…I am getting off track.

The reason why this is an exciting development is not just because I admire their music, instead, it is the fact that they were able to get past their drama, that at one point, seemed so serious that the bands core consisting of the two friends, Jonathon Rado and Sam France, was in serious risk of splitting up. It certainly puts my mind at ease knowing that these two will continue making music and have made a new record. For now…

Anyways, their new album will be called “…And Star Power”. These album titles man…
Also they have released two singles, “Cosmic Vibrations” and “How Can You Really”, the latter having a music video (attached to this post). The latter song gives me vibes of San Francisco except maybe more tame, can’t speak the same for the music video, I can’t figure out Sam France at all he is just too much of a character. I don’t really feel the energy I felt in their previous songs but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. If anything, listening to Foxygen has made me accept that each song seems to be its own thing. So I don’t really feel the need to compare it to any previous musical endeavors they tackled.

I can’t really go in depth about the specifics regarding why I like this song, because my ability to articulate musical interests has already been stretched. So I will just end it here. I like the sound so far, maybe you will too. Only one way to find out. Hint, click the video.

 

 

It starts the way all these stories tend to start.

By all these stories, I mean the ones where people talk about how they stumbled upon the random song/picture/show/epiphany/etc. this one time. It usually starts with a time stamp, a brief insight into what they were doing at the time and segues into how this random thing came into their lives. These stories are usually rambling in nature, and probably have nothing to do with the thing they found. And you, the listener/reader, will in all likelihood not remember the story but maybe the random thing might stick with you. One can only hope.

I have two such stories today. Two stories, two random finds.

The first one starts with me sitting at the kitchen table in my apartment, the oven clock reading a little after 4 in the morning. I had just finished a rather emotionally taxing episode of The Knick (great TV show, more on that later), tired but not wanting to go to bed yet. I briefly pondered whether to go on with the next episode of the show, but my tired eyes whispered loud protests. I like to listen to music as I fall asleep, so I turned on Soundcloud and started to drift off to sleep when this song came out of nowhere:

Turns out I had accidentally clicked on ‘Folk’ instead of Indie. I’m not a massive folk music fan, wasn’t particularly feeling folk-sy, but the song captivated me. I don’t know if I would call it folk, but it still worked for me. In fact, their whole Soundcloud page worked for me (maybe with the exception of the Coldplay cover), ‘Run’ being followed up by an indie song then a trip hop song, ending in two low-key, somewhat acoustic feeling songs.

I listened to them again this afternoon, just to make sure my sleepy self hadn’t prematurely taken a liking to something that my non-sleepy self wouldn’t have. Verdict: non-sleepy self was indeed still impressed. Lucky finds, oh the things we stumble on at 4 in the morning.

The second story is shorter than the first, I promise.

I was looking for bike horns online, to give to a friend who had recently gotten a new bike. Google recommended that I also look up ‘bike horn mambo no.5,’ because apparently a lot of people search for bike horn mambo no.5. Thinking what an awesome bike horn that would be (can you imagine, a bike horn blaring Mambo No.5?), I had no choice but to click on it.

I was close, but I got much, much more than what I was expecting.

I got this.

A whole album with song covers played on bike horns. Mambo No.5 was indeed on it, as well as Pokemon and La Cucaracha (of all songs). It was so annoyingly impressive. I mean, the work that went into this album must have been quite an incredible amount because the songs are very intricate. But the result is so abrasively enchanting and addicting in a weird way. In other words, my morning alarm for the next few months.

Here’s to the endless number of random things still waiting to be discovered.

Do you like music? How ’bout small local venues that let emerging artists of all kinds show and play their work? Yes? I thought so.

This Friday, September the 19th, The Yellow Barn is hosting a show to raise money for its own upkeep and repair, and you should be present IF you like new strange powerful ear-numbing sound, black lights, body paint, dancing and singing and being generally ECSTATIC about being ALIVE! The show will feature the bands (in no particular order) Ramaganja & Mitsubisiclipse, March of the Ant (who is lucky to have my good friend and extremely talented musician and vocalist Kat Steih as a part of their crew, and whose music I can personally vouch for when I say I’ve never heard anything like it, so fresh and sharp and wonderful), The Pineapple Army, and Watabou, beginning at 7:30 PM and ending when the music stops! The Yellow Barn is located at 416 W. Huron St., Ann Arbor, and the cover (remember, for the best of causes) is $7 upon entry. This is more than worth it because the venue has been supporting local creatives since the beginning of Time, as both a rad spot to sing and dance around as well as a swell place to show visual art. Last year’s Art & Design Senior Thesis Exhibition titled “The No-Show” was held in the very same place, to great success.

So we should keep these things going, right? It’s good to have places for young excited people to show their art and play their music, rrright? RIGHT! There will be good people, good sounds, and good vibes; it will be a GOOD NIGHT!

In case you missed any of the details, consult the below poster (created by yours truly) to review them in full unadulterated color –

Hope to see you there!

 

“That train was never meant to go anywhere.”
“Then for What purpose was it built? You can’t possibly suggest that it was built to be stationary, for if that is the case it would cease to be a train at all.”
“How can it cease to be a train? It most certainly looks like a train. Are you telling me that you are looking at it straight on with your eyes and you see not a train, but something else?”
“I see a building shaped like a train, specifically a café shaped like a train.”
“Now you are just being silly, prolonging this already pointless debate by nitpicking a single perspective, tugging on a single thread amongst many.”
“Well, one must pull the thread to unravel the truth.”
“Truth? My confused brother, you would only distort the knitted cloth that was already created. Stop being a nuisance, a child, and grow up will you?”
“Or could it be, that the ‘knitted cloth’ is just an illusion and my eager and fascinated tugging of the thread simply elucidates that which has avoided us?”
“Stop.”
“Very well then sis, by the way, what a wonderful sunrise.”
“What is better? Sunsets or sunrises?”
“Now who is being childish?”