Cache Magazine

Nico VegaNico Vega Covers Nico Vega And Rod StewartThe EP features a refreshed collection of the band’s select familiar songs that have been re-imagined as well as a brilliant cover of Rod Stewart’s, “Young Turks.” From the beat dropping electronica version of “Million Years” to the twanging outlaw country, “So So Fresh,” Nico Vega have transcended sonically, delivering an eclectic collection.

The Low Anthem

Smart Flesh

Folk music doesn’t need to be reinvented for it to come alive.

At heart this is a traditional collection of folk songs, their

straightforward rhythms and instrumentation intermittently

embellished with musical saw and pump organ, their lyrics of

loss, redemption and death occasionally startling, with such

vivid imagery as that of a Bible in a bath of formaldehyde.

J Mascis

Several Shades of Why

Across his career, Mascis has let distortion, excess wattage, and virtuoso

technique do most of the talking for him, and the translation can be sur-

prisingly clear. But Several Shades of Why is different. It’s his fi rst solo

album of all original material and it’s almost entirely acoustic.

Just hit the shelf.CHECK OUR THESE NEW ALBUMS AND FILMS THAT ARE JUST IN OUR CACHE. THESE

ARTISTS HAVE JUST CHECKED IN ON OUR RADAR AND WE WANT YOU TO KNOW. TELL

YOUR FRIENDS.

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Life in a DayUnited Kingdom (Director: Kevin Macdonald) - Life in a Day is a historic global experiment to create the world’s largest user-generated feature fi lm. On July 24, 2010, professional and amateur fi lmmakers captured a glimpse of their lives on camera and uploaded the footage to You-Tube, serving as a time capsule for future generations.

Bobby Fischer Against the WorldU.S.A. (Director: Liz Garbus) - The drama of late chess-master Bobby Fischer’s career was undeniable, as he careened from troubled childhood, to World Champion and Cold War icon, to a fugitive on the run.

ReaganU.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Eugene Jarecki) - Rea-

gan examines the enigmatic career of one of the revered

architects of the modern world - icon, screen star, and

two-term president Ronald Reagan.

Becoming ChazU.S.A. (Directors: Fenton Bailey and Randy Bar-bato) - Born biologically female, Chastity Bono invites the viewer into a deeply personal journey as he transitions from female to male, embracing his true self, which is Chaz.

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I don’t have some grand statement to make with my work. That being said, I hope my audience will view they’re world in a slight-ly different way after seeing my work - or think about the medium of photography in a slightly different way - or get a rush of en-dorphins to their system - or start a dialogue about image or process or technique or equipment or science or breakfast ... or have any reactio. I hope my audience has these reactions not because I’m trying to change the world or the worldviews they have, but because these are variations on how my work makes me feel; how it affects me - and really, I make work because I enjoy making it - and I show work in an attempt to communicate un-

known/intangible/incommunicable cable

feelings/ideas/concepts with strangers; in an

attempt to make some connection with them.

What do I hope these strangers take away

from my work? I hope they’re able to get

a glimpse of who I am as a person, maybe;

how i view the world and things around me,

maybe; maybe see the world fresh through

my eyes? hard to say, really. i have just always

felt compelled to make images. i hope my au-

dience gets something out of them.

“Art” is a dialogue and although some-

times I intentionally make images that mum-

ble, more often than not I hope the short

sentences the other ones speak are somehow

decipherable—on some level.

Brian Hart

WHAT IS ART?” IS CERTAINLY TOO BIG OF A QUESTION TO ASK HERE, BUT

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR AUDIENCE TAKES AWAY FROM YOUR ART?

WHAT STATEMENT DO YOU HOPE TO MAKE?

A VISUAL AND LIGHT ARTIST THAT UTILIZES SHUTTER SPEED TO CREATE “LIGHT

DRAWINGS”. BEGINNING IN 2005, BRIAN STARTED EXPERIMENTING WITH THE

TECHNIQUE USING DARK ENVIRONMENT + LONG EXPOSURE + LIGHTS.

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TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WORK, WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM PAST PROJECTS?

I have drawn since I was a baby. I’ve kept a sketchbook since I was 8. Drawing has always been an extremely im-portant part of life. I have been exploring the technique of making drawings with lights and a camera since late 2005. [dark environ-ment + long exposure + lights] Most recently, I’ve been working at combining my inter-est in composite images with this light drawing technique. In some ways, this isn’t completely different from past pro-jects - I’ve worked with composite images before and I’ve worked with light drawings before, but have found that combining the two techniques has given me greater ability to create more highly detailed light drawings - which has been a constant goal of mine since starting down this path 5-odd years ago.

TOP THREE PLACES TO EAT IN KC?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

TOP THREE PLACES TO SEE A SHOW IN KC?

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?

WHY IS KC THE BEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY?

The local hot spots.

TOP THREE PLACES TO EAT IN KC?

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

TOP THREE PLACES TO SEE A SHOW IN KC?

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?

WHY IS KC THE BEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY?

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OUR SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK IS A FREELANCE DESIGNER / ILLUSTRATOR FRESH

OUT OF KANSAS CITY WHO IS REALLY MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE INDUSTRY. TAKE

A LOOK AT WHAT HE LOVES ABOUT KANSAS CITY!

d

c

a

e

b

d

c

a

e

OKLAHOMA JOE’SOklahoma Joe’s has some of the best ribs I’ve ever eaten and as a native Texan (yes, that’s right, a NATIVE Texan) I’ve eaten more than my fair share of ribs. So, if you’re go-ing to eat here, do NOT skip the ribs. You MUST order them.

LE FOU FROGOur visit came with a surprise bonus: the singing pasty chef. You have not lived until you have been serenaded with Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” by the man who will make your dessert. Dude can actually sing, and it was quite fun.

HARRY’S COUNTRY CLUBGreat drinks, with an extensive spirits menu, especially whiskey, scotch and Rum. � e food is well above average for bar food and good ser-vice. Along with a real laid back atmosphere make this a must stop lo-cation downtown.

KNUCKLEHEAD’S� is is the quintessential “Road House” style live music venue. � e walls tell the history and famous musicians that have graced the stage. I’ve seen Junior Brown, JJ Grey, and King Harvest here and have had a great time, each time!

STARLIGHTI recently was here to see the Arcade Fire and I was really impressed by the venue. � ere is nothing better than seeing a show outside beneath the stars. � e sound was great and the venue has a good layout.

RECORD BARLove the bands, love the atmosphere. Love it that they have tea. Every time I’m at the Record Bar, I love it even more. � e closeness of the bands, and the atmosphere makes me regularly visit.

Tad Carpenter is an illustrator and designer living in sunny, snowy and forever changing Kansas City, Missouri. Tad has been lucky enough to work with clients such as: Macy’s, Chronicle Books, Target, Atlantic Records, Sunrise Greetings, The Corcoran Gallery of art in Washington D.C., Simon & Schuster, MTV, Anorak, Hallmark Cards, Kidrobot, Family Circle and Dave & Busters to name a few.

city expert:

TAD CARPENTER

If you ask members of the music and dance ensemble what it is they do on stage, the explanation becomes more of an extensive list of artistic genres than any real description. If you ask them what a typical show includes, they hem and haw until eventually admitting they themselves don’t necessarily know, because each of their shows is catered to the venue they will be performing at.

There is nothing simple about Kansas City’s

Quixotic Fusion.

“A show’s got really energizing music, it’s got lots of visual effects. There are so many elements happening at once: aerial, dance, lighting, music, costumes, make up and hair

–– its got a bit of everything. The cool thing about the group is we can focus on different areas from show to show.

Mica Thomas, co-artistic director for Quix-otic Fusion, says the group’s goal is to go be-yond what an audience would expect to see.

Thomas describes the group as a “full sen-sory experience,” something many people with different artistic interests can appreciate.

“A show’s got really energizing music, it’s got lots of visual effects. There are so many el-ements happening at once: aerial, dance, light-ing, music, costumes, make up and hair –– its got a bit of everything. The cool thing about the group is we can focus on different areas from show to show. That way we can really reach out to a wide demographic of people.

“There’s a lot of people who really like the performing arts side of the group,” Thomas says, “and the younger demographic likes the edgy music and fashion. We try to stay very current and stay up on technology. Because the group has so many branches,

“There’s a lot of people who really like the per-forming arts side of the group,” Thomas says, “and the younger demographic likes the edgy music and fashion. We try to stay very current and stay up on technology. Because the group has so many branches, we can be very dynamic in the types of performances we do.”

Magliano, who also works as a sound de-signer and artistic director for the group, says the goal in creating Quixotic Fusion was to inter-twine multiple disciplines of art, creating some-thing greater than the sum of its parts.

“My background is playing rock shows,” he says. “I just wanted to create something that had a bigger production value and integrated more types of disciplines and artists. It’s cool to see a projection designer and a 3D-effects artist work-ing with a dancer and a cello player.

It’s all to make this

big picture.

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we can be very dynamic in the types of perfor-mances we do.”

Magliano agrees, saying a wide variety of people appreciate Quixotic Fusion’s grandiose, eccentric performances.

“The best thing I’ve heard about who comes to our shows, one lady was like, ‘You have pur-

ple hair!’ It’s a funny comment, because we’ll

have those older, arts-loving people, and we’ll

have the 18-year-old punk-rock girl with the pur-

ple hair. It’s defi nitely something very diverse. An

18-year-old girl will feel cool bringing her parents

to this show.”

“The best thing I’ve heard about who comes to our shows, one lady was like, ‘You guys reach out to the blue hairs and the purple hairs.’ It’s a funny comment, because we’ll have those older, arts-loving people, and we’ll have the 18-year-old punk-rock girl with the purple hair.

An 18-year-old girl will feel cool bringing her parents to this show.”

The next phase for Quixotic Fusion, Magliano says, will be stretching out from its home base in Kansas City and playing to new audiences around the country. The group has been so busy with just their home city, however, that this has proved diffi cult at times.

“Logistically, we’ve been trying to get out and do more, but with our setup everything’s a bit more complicated. We require a bit more. We’ve done shows in smaller venues, but todo the shows the way we want, we need the

space. We have people fl ying around. We’d rather perform less but pull it off the way that we visualize it.” Thomas says touring with this band will be a multi-faceted affair, with nearly limitless possibilities for show types and per-formance locations. He says the ensemble’s fu-ture will include incorporating more technol-ogy into the show.

“The idea is to go on tour more –– do more stuff all over the place,” he says. “We want to hit festivals, performing arts centers, hopefully get a residency somewhere so we can do things for longer periods of time. When you load in a show really quick for a place, you have a really short run, but with a residence show you can kind of dig into the space. Artistically, we’ve been playing with dancers’ moving, triggering lighting and projections. As we build more as a group, I think we can build with our technol-ogy and move forward.”

Sonya Tayeh has always been known as a dynamic whirl-wind of movement and energy onstage, but her career has taken on a new level of intensity as of late. Born in New York but with deep roots in Detroit, Tayeh’s recent work has found her bringing her unique style as both a choreographer and a judge to the primetime television masses via the FOX Network’s reality dance competition SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. Yet as they say, a body in mo-tion will stay in motion, so it’s no surprise that Tayeh also continues to lend her talent to crafting new and exciting work for the stage, including Quixotic’s up-coming production LUX ESALARE, set to debut at Kansas City’s Spencer Theatre on June 19th. Catching up with the daring dancer and renowned instructor dur-ing a recent rehearsal break, Tayeh answered a few questions about working with the Quixotic ensemble and the preparations for LUX ESALARE.

What was your fi rst exposure to Quixotic and what sort of impression did that make on you?

Sonya Tayeh: “When Quix-otic contacted me I was very intrigued. Their team of artists is very inspiring and very talented. They are all individuals with an amazing talent to provoke and main-tain an essence of quality work.”

What was your fi rst exposure to Quixotic and what sort of impression did that make on you?

Sonya Tayeh: “When Quix-Sonya Tayeh: “When Quix-otic contacted me I was very intrigued. Their team of artists is very inspiring and very talented. They are all individuals with an amazing talent to provoke and main-tain an essence of quality work.”

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When you consider every-thing that could potentially be happening on stage, what’s your approach to managing all of these many elements?

I make every detail as clear as I can in the rehearsal process. So when it hits the stage it’s no longer my responsibility to take care of it anymore. I trust what’s meant to happen happens.

What’s the most important thing you try to instill into your choreography?

The words I constantly use in the rehearsal process are ‘conviction,’ ‘details,’ ‘trust,’ and defi nitely ‘intention.’

What’s been the most interesting thing about working with Quixotic?

Choreographing dancers with more of a bal-let infl uence was very challenging for me. But what came out of it was so impressive. They brought fl uidity and softness to my ‘rough’ elements.

What do you want the audience to take away from your work?

I want the audience to ask questions, be provoked and affected by my movement. I’m not looking for everyone to love it. I’m look-ing for everyone to wonder about it. I want to challenge the mind and spirit.

British FX designer Gareth Edwards, making his feature debut

as a writer and director, took a tiny team – himself and four

other crew members, plus his two stars, Whitney Able and Scoot

McNairy – to Central America to improvise an off-the-cuff, on-

the-road journey through a world, not very far removed from

our own, in which aliens have arrived and settled in and humans

barely pay attention to them.

could well be the weather report from the world of

Monsters, one of the most startling movies of our

new do-it-yourself filmmaking culture.

SIX YEARS AGO...NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central america. Soon after, new life forms began to appear and grow. In an effort to stem the destruction that resulted, half of Mexico was quarantined as an ‘Infected Zone’. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain the massive creatures... Our story begins when a jaded US journalist (Scoot McNairy) be-grudgingly agrees to fi nd his boss’ daughter, a shaken American tourist (Whitney Able) and escort her through the infected zone to the safety of the US border.

HERE’S THE SCOOP

The fi lm was devised, storyboarded and di-rected by Gareth Edwards, who also worked as the visual effects artist. Allan Niblo and James Richardson of Vertigo Films work as producers on the production. The fi lm-ing equipment cost approximately $15,000, with the budget coming in at under $500,000. The fi lm was able to be made on such a low budget due to the use of prosumer cameras to capture digital video rather than the more expensive 35mm fi lm. Any settings featured in the fi lm were real locations often used without permission asked in advance, and the extras were just people who happened to be there at the time.

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The fi lm was shot in Mexico, Guatemala, Cos-ta Rica and Texas in the US, over three weeks. For about 90% of the fi lming the crew com-prised seven people transported in one van: Ian Maclagan (sound operator), Jim Spencer (line producer), Verity Oswin the Mexican ‘fi xer’, Edwards, a driver, and Able and Mc-Nairy, the stars. As the low-budget production didn’t run to a camera dolly, Edwards made do by sticking the camera out of the van win-dow, cushioned on some bundled-up cloth-ing. It was also shot entirely on location: any settings featured in the fi lm were real loca-tions often used without permission, and the extras were just people who happened to be there at the time. As most of the extras were non-actors who were persuaded to be in the fi lm, their action was improvised.

When developing the idea for his fi rst feature Monsters, director Gareth Edwards knew that he wanted to start where Hollywood monster movies leave off, with the people left picking up the pieces and cleaning up the rubble.

GARETH EDWARDS DEVISED, STORYBOARDED AND DIRECTED THE FILM WHILE ALSO SERVING AS THE VISUAL EFFECTS ARTIST.

Allan Niblo and James Richardson of Vertigo Films work as producers on the production. The fi lming equipment cost approximately $15,000, with the budget coming in at under $500,000. The fi lm was able to be made on such a low budget due to the use of prosumer cameras to capture digital video rather than the more expensive 35mm fi lm.

AS A RESULT OF ALL THIS RANDOM BEHAVIOUR, THE IDEA OF SCRIPTING

THE FILM WENT OUT OF THE WINDOW. INSTEAD I HAD A LOOSE PARAGRAPH

DESCRIBING THE SCENE WITH JUST THE MAIN POINTS THAT HAD TO BE HIT;

HOW THE ACTORS CARRIED THIS OUT WAS LEFT UP TO THEM.

Certainly offering more than a few “how did they do that?” moments, Monsters is, if its claims are true, an absolutely fascinat-ing work of so called cheap-as-chips cinema; given Edwards’ exhaustive war stories of the project’s production, an informed viewer will instinctively scan the screen constantly, searching for those desktop-produced digital effects, and sneaky, rushed shots obtained without a permit. Either Edwards had the best location scout known to man, encoun-tered several incredibly fortunate bouts of luck, or astoundingly, has actually managed to render complicated objects like derailed trains with scarily convincing verisimilitude. Each night during the shooting period, the editor Colin Goudie and his assistant Justin Hall would download the day’s footage so the memory sticks could be cleared and ready for the next day’s fi lming. While new footage was being captured, the previously captured footage was being edited back at the hotel in which the production team was staying.

Back in the UK, Edwards had over 100 hours of unique, ad-libbed footage (rather than re-peated takes of scripted scenes) to edit into a coherent fi lm. Edwards did all the special effects himself using off-the-shelf Adobe soft-ware Z_Brush and Autodesk 3ds Max. The fi rst assembly was over four hours long, but this was trimmed to 94 minutes after eight months of editing. Once the fi lm was locked, Edwards had fi ve months to create all 250 visual effects shots, a process that he under-took in his bedroom.

I WAS CHURNING OUT ABOUT TWO SHOTS A DAY, UNTIL I GOT TO THE FIRST CREA-TURE SHOT...

Then suddenly two months had passed and still, not a single creature shot; it turned out to be the hardest part of the entire process. Due to time constraints, the sound effects had to be produced before the special effects were undertaken. Edwards claimed that the advances in computer technology in recent years made it possible for him to create the fi lms visual effects on such a low budget;

TODAY, YOU CAN LITERALLY GO INTO THE SHOP AND PURCHASE A LAPTOP THAT’S FASTER THAN THE COMPUTERS THEY MADE JURASSIC PARK ON!”

Nonetheless, Gareth continued on so that he could fi nish the fi lm by the premier. Mon-sters premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival, as part of the SX Fantastic screenings, on 13 March 2010. On 17 March, Magnet Releasing acquired the rights for the North American distribution.

Challenging, frustrating, and absolutely intriguing, Monsters should secure more work for the evident-ly talented Edwards, and despite a general lack of direction, as well as some questionably stagey, forced characterisation, this is a great-looking, well-acted, phenomenally achieved production which plays as though made for several times its apparent budget. Invariably, it gains another star for that blinding end-ing that intentionally blurs ideas like good vs. evil and what’s right or wrong. In the end, Monsters tells us an intimate story in a huge and very unique way.

“

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MONSTERS’ CRITICAL ACCLAIM HAS PROPELLED EDWARDS INTO THE MOVIE INDUSTRY’S ATTEN-TION, AND OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS, HE’S BEEN DEVELOPING A SCI-FI PROJECT WITH RUSSIAN FILMMAKER, TIMUR BEKMAM-BETOV, AND MOST EXCITINGLY, DEVELOPING A NEW ADAPTATION OF THE BIGGEST MONSTER OF THEM ALL, GODZILLA.

T H E Y A R E K N O W Nfor several things: They

excoriate the rap blogs Nah Right and 2dopeboyz, because

those sites refuse to promote OFW-GKTA’s music. They hate the Los Ange-

les hip-hop dance movement called jerkin’ and all practitioners. Their mantra is “Fuck Steve Harvey.” Thewy have re-appropri-ated swastikas for their visual palette. One of their members, 16-year-old Earl Sweat-shirt, is currently in boot camp, or prison, or boarding school, or he’s on a long vaca-tion-- it’s diffi cult to tell. They worship the streetwear brand Supreme’s box logo hood-ies. They have a Tumblr. On that Tumblr, ac-tive since February, they have self-released solo albums, EPs, and mixtapes. All of their music is free. They rap about raping women. Often. They live by a code-- if something is cool, it’s swagged out. If it’s not, fuck it. Tal-ented, hilarious, villainous, immature, pre-cocious, and viral-- they are at the vanguard of modern hip-hop. Odd Future arrive at a fascinating time for micro-rap movements. In February, the storied underground label Defi nitive Jux, co-founded and run since 1999 by El-P, announced it would temporarily shutter operations. The news confi rmed something that has been obvious to many for years: Underground rap is dead. Or is, at least, not a useful way of describing music anymore. In its stead, a different brand of homespun rappers have taken hold. Consider Lil B and Soulja Boy, who have been prolifi cally working the web and diametrically opposed strands of hip-hop to achieve their own kind of teenage heroism.

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Soulja entered on the strength of a local dance song that became a genuine national phenom-enon-- he’s proved a surprisingly durable and in-novative pop song creator. The minutiae of his ca-reer, from his now-defunct “Rich Nigga Shit” web series to recent accusations about cocaine abuse, has become fodder moralizing about young wealthy teens. Still, detrac-tors may have noticed that Soulja Boy continues to crank out hits, 15 minutes be damned. Lil B, the ade-noidal member of Bay Area rap group the Pack, has become a cult fi gure with a low pop profi le but a vo-cal fanbase, turning out literally hundreds of songs in a short period of time, pushing the boundaries of what could reason-ably be called mainstream with his Based music, a spacey, New Age-infl uenced sort of stream-of-consciousness fl ow. He is always creating-- a new Lil B album could be dropping at this exact mo-ment. Lil B’s breathless absurdism defi es Soulja’s hit-at-any-cost sensibility, but they have become allies, united by attitude and prolifi cacy. Both are fascinating, hard-working, loyalty-demanding, capable of greatness, and young. And they are

inspiring dozens of young kids to do likewise everyday. This is all happening amid a somewhat me-dia-invented renaissance for Detroit’s painted sons of outsider rap, Insane Clown Posse. This year’s installment of ICP’s annual Gathering of the Juggalos was alarmingly ubiquitous.

It wasn’t simply reports of the public degradation of Tila Tequi-

la, or the aftershocks of the group’s sil-ly “Miracles” video, or even The Village Voice’s artfully impressionistic report from

the festival. There did seem, fi nally, an honest

affection for the subculture Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope built from the ground up. Over time they

became oft-underestimated owners of a tiny piece of unwanted subculture-- the

ignored and humiliated. But put enough un-washed together, and the masses rise. From the enduring ICP to the insurgent Lil B, Soulja Boy and their youthful contemporaries-- Dan-ny Brown, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Big K.R.I.T., Mac Miller, and others-- underground rap is changing every day, more by individual per-sonality than by an all-encompassing ethos.

Over time they became oft-underestimated owners of a tiny piece of unwanted subculture:the ignored and humiliated.

BASTARDTyler, The Creator

MANIAPacDiv

ALBUMS TO DOWNLOAD RIGHT NOW

BLACKENEDWHITEMellowhype

SLEEPING IN CLASSCasey Veggies

“WHO THE FUCK IS

ANTIPOP COSORTIUM?

CAN PEOPLE COMPARE US

TO COOL MUSIC? FUCK.”

studio-dwelling teenager. But Tyler, though he has unusual taste, is no champion of abstract hip-hop. Consider this recent comment on his Twitter account: “Who the Fuck Is Antipop Consortium? Can People Compare Us To Cool Musicians? Fuck.” And while it’s accessible, their music can be awfully diffi cult to listen to. These are shame-less kids, trying to one-up each other in order to amuse themselves. The videos for “French!” and “Earl” reveal a cracked charisma that’s hard to articulate. How far will you go to make some-one laugh is a standard in the ritual emptiness of teenage life. Which explains their deplorable de-sire to rap about rape as much as it explains their slapping contests. What makes Tyler such a fas-cinating fi gure is how he pairs these indefensible expressions of depravity (From “French!”: “I’m opening a church to sell coke and Led Zeppelin/ To fuck Mary in her ass”) with a wounded emo-tional clarity. When Bastard isn’t about screw-ing around with his friends or violating women, it’s about the father he never met. The haunting opening song on the album, the title track, ends with this: “I just want my father’s email/ So I can tell him how much I fucking hate him in de-tail.” Tyler is clearly a loving son, aware of how his mother has been both

Odd Future, therefore, are right on time. Their de facto leader is a 19-year-old who calls him-self Tyler, the Creator AKA Ace Creator. He is a rapper-producer. His album, Bastard, is among the most stunning things released in the past 12 months. He possesses a charred, viscous groan of a voice; sometimes he manipulates the frequency to make it even deeper and darker. Earl and Tyler have been the most visible, and talented OFWG-KTA members to emerge, and they collaborate of-ten. Tyler’s production appears on several of the songs on Earl’s Earl, a brief, often mesmerizing album. In a recent interview with cool’eh maga-zine Tyler cited Stereolab, James Pants, Liars, British composer Alan Tew, and Erykah Badu as musical infl uences. He also noted, perhaps play-fully, “Grizzly Bear swags their shit out.” Tyler’s productions do have fl ecks of those art-ists in his sound-- highly musical chord changes, slithering funk lines-- but they’re mostly dank, claustrophobic, synth-driven constructions. Think MF DOOM meets Mobb Deep meets Eno. He produces them with Apple’s Logic Studio and Fruity Loops software. They’re uncompli-cated, but surprisingly sophisticated for a home

EVEN AT HIS MOST

DEBASED, EMINEM NEVER

QUITE MADE SKIN CRAWL

THE WAY TYLER CAN.

crucial male and female fi gure in his life. He raps about both of his parents often. His screeds to his father make this otherwise ghoulish teenager sympathetic. I was told by a prominent manager currently circling the crew that Eminem’s violent, outland-ish 2009 album Relapse, is their favorite in recent memory. They are not fans of this year’s more popular “return to form,” Recovery. On Tyler’s “AssMilk”, Earl raps, “I’m the reincarnation of 98 Eminem,” a line notable because 1998 is one year before the release of Eminem’s break-through The Slim Shady LP. Marshall Mathers is an important guidepost for Odd Future, but even at his most debased, Eminem never quite made skin crawl the way Tyler can. So what makes them like this? What turns a teenager’s mind so dark? Not much, really. Tyler explains himself fl ippantly. “It’s the fi rst shit that comes to our heads, seriously. I’m interested in serial killers’ minds and shit, so I rap about it at the

moment. Who the fuck knows, next week I can be rapping about oatmeal if that’s what I’m into. And for the record, I don’t worship the devil, I just hate religion.” That godless outlook, for Tyler in particular, is defi ning. There is no compass, other than, maybe, the Internet-- and the Internet has no compass.Tyler and Earl, while the most notable of the crew, are also the most divisive. Hawthorne’s Domo Genesis, the group’s delegated stoner, is more approach-able. His recently-released Rolling Papers is less accomplished-- it recalls Wiz Khalifa’s recent blunted-for-life output.

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OLLYMOSS

ou’ve seen them. Videogame Classics made retro

and simplified, the Now Panic and Freak Out sign,

and yes, even a lobster with human hands. Real

good stuff, real good. And it’s all over the place,

these picture sharing sites like ffffound, dropular,

and even the upencoming We Heart It. But where

do they all come from? These supercharged pic-

tures are all done by designer Olly Moss, master

of the internets.

Everything you will see in the following pag-

es is by Olly Moss. It’s just a bunch of fantastic

stuff! It’s simple, it’s beautiful, it’s custom made

for today’s internet arena. It spreads like wildfire

through the internets because of this reason above

all: it’s all so very much fun to share.

Y

> HOLLYWOOD

to

THREADLESS

>

>

Moss, when asked about his most beloved Star Wars character and film, responded:

“Obi-Wan & Empire Strikes Back.

Duh.”

With his upcoming art show approaching quickly and the many big projects appear-ing on the net, this art wunderkind is in great demand by the pop culture defined public. At the age of 24, Moss has worked with and for people and companies many only dream of meeting. In just 2 years, he has worked hand in hand with Galleries 1988 and Alamo Drafthouse, created official posters for Duncan Jones’ movies, and created exclusive commis-sioned imagery for Marvel. He has also worked on secret projects, that have his work as the OF-FICIAL poster for a HUGE movie. To sum it all up quickly... Olly Moss is becoming a huge deal. Moss shows his nerdy love for the original Star Wars trilogy in a trio of new posters he created for collectible art house Mondo. They are the first in Mondo’s wildly popular Star Wars series to be crafted as traditional, theatrical one-sheet movie

posters. The new posters show colorful silhou-ettes of C-3PO, Darth Vader and Boba Fett that are filled in with detailed imagery from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. To create original artwork for such rabidly adored films was daunting, Moss said, espe-cially since so many of the visuals are already iconic. “It was so intimidating!” the artist told Wired.com in an e-mail interview. “There is such a wealth of great Star Wars art out there already, from paid professionals and from en-thusiastic fans. I suppose my main aim was to make a set of Star Wars posters that were a little different from what people are used to seeing from the franchise, but still retained that essential Star Wars feel. I started by re-watching the original movies with a sketch-book on my lap, and just sort of went from PAGE

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“ I guess we could get licenses for Twilight because it’s hot. We’d make a lot of money, but Twilight is lame, and we only do stuff that we personally like.”

was no backing away from the challenge. “If you’re as big a nerd as I am, you just can’t say no to Star Wars,” Moss said. Justin Ishmael, Mondo’s creative director, said Moss often nails his poster concepts on his fi rst attempt. “Olly does sketches and will e-mail them to us and ... a lot of the times, they are exactly what the fi nals look like!” Ishmael said in an e-mail. “It’s almost like seeing the inner workings of a genius’ brain in real time.” Given Moss’ talent, he was a coveted artist for Mondo’s Star Wars series, a high-stakes pro-ject for the art house. George Lucas is notoriously protective of his Star Wars images, and it took Ishmael and Mondo a year to woo Lucasfi lm into licens-ing the characters and worlds that would grace the posters. Instead of fl owers, Mondo sent over poster prototypes made with metallic and glow-in-the-dark ink. All that work paid off. Mondo has released 17 posters — and counting — in its Star Wars series, including a

most beloved Star Wars charac-ter and fi lm, responded: “Obi-Wan and Empire Strikes Back. Duh.” The secondary market on his work is incredibly expen-sive. The fi rst editions for his Star Wars art prints sold online for 50 dollars a poster; they are now seen on eBay at $659 per poster or nearly $5000 for the set of three. Collectors are scrambling for these prints with a furvor that is usually set aside for the fi lms themselves. Moss states that money is not a good motivator for work, citing that the jobs that he has done for money have turned out badly. And it shows. On Moss’ fl ickr account there is an image of an invoice he sent a client. This invoice was in re-sponse to the assertion that his

blueprint of R2-D2 and a series of six bounty hunters. Many of the prints sold out within min-utes. Beyond the retail success, the featured artists and Ishma-el have a personal stake in Star Wars. “We’re fans fi rst,” Ish-mael said. “I couldn’t think of a reason to choose something, if it wasn’t because we liked it. I guess we could get licenses for Twilight because it’s hot. We’d make a lot of money, but Twi-light is lame, and we only do stuff that we personally like.” Moss, when asked about his

HI OLLY! WELCOME TO THE COOL KIDS TABLE.

Thanks, it’s great to be here.

WHAT’S IT LIKE BEING TALL, HANDSOME AND BRITISH? ARE YOU REALLY JAMES BOND?

Thanks, but I’m more Mr. Bean than Mr. Bond.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE WORDS THAT THE BRITISH SPELL WRONG, LIKE “COLOR” AS “COLOUR” ETC?

I have lots of FAVOURITES.

WAY TO BE A CHAMP, OLLY. I BET YOU WON ALL THE SPELLING BEES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. SO ENOUGH ABOUT YOU BEING BRITISH AND ME MAKING FUN OF YOU FOR IT. I HEAR YOU HAVE PLANS TO COME STATESIDE FOR A WHILE.

Yeah, I’ll be coming over and staying at Ross Zietz place again. Do you know how long that guy spends in the shower? It’s a little frightening.

RIGHT. I’LL PASS ON THAT MEN-TAL IMAGE. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT YOUR LAST TRIP HERE?

Bob’s party was pretty fun, but also the thing I remember the least about. I’m almost sure Joe gave me a piggyback.

THAT’S IT? YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR TRIP WAS RIDING AROUND ON JOE’S BACK?

He has a glorious back. And it’s low enough to the ground that I wouldn’t get hurt if I fell.

You’re a strange person. You’ve been around Threadless for a long time. How old were you when you fi rst got printed?I think I was 16. Maybe 17. It was so long ago I can’t really remember.

YEAH, RIGHT. YOU’RE LIKE 25 NOW? HAVE YOU GOT ALZHEIMER’S OR SOMETHING?

24 and a quarter. My knee hurts when it gets cold.

GOOD ONE, OLD MAN. ANYWAY, CON-GRATS ON YOUR BESTEES. TELL US WHAT THAT WAS LIKE, FINDING OUT ONE SHIRT EARNED YOU TWO TROPHIES.

I’ll pay you three thousand dollars not to answer the question you just asked.

DONE.

Send it to me via money order, please.

HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH ALL OF YOUR DESIGNS? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THEY’RE ALL GOING TO BE SO SELL-ABLE BEFORE YOU EVEN CREATE THEM? WHAT I’M TRYING TO ASK IS, WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL SECRET DE-SIGN RECIPE? SERIOUSLY... I NEED TO KNOW.

I come up with some of my best ideas in the shower, or in bed. Clothes obviously confi ne me.

You just inadvertently told the entire inter-net that you sleep naked. Congratulations!

It’s the only way to go. Don’t you agree?

I’LL GIVE YOU BACK THE THREE THOUSAND DOL-LARS NOT TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

Done!

OLLY SPEAKS

OM

OM

OM

OM

OM

OM

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invoices were incredibly boring. It includes a monster truck, a velociraptor, an exploding vehicle and a bacon cheeseburger. Who is boring now? This quick fame had everything to do with the website Thread-less and the opportunity they present for getting your name out there. Users submit t-shirt design to be voted on by other users and the minning designs get printed and sold on the website. Moss has been getting printed here since he was 16, with dozens of his designs having been printed. Each design printed gets five thousand dollars, not to mention reprint payment which Moss has recieved several times. This sort of interest is different than that of a poster. If a person likes his design they can choose to wear it, like a walking advertisement for Olly Moss. This interest has translated into designs created for other venues, like Urban Outfitters. Duncan Jones Alamo Drafthouse and Mondo selected direc-tor Duncan Jones to be profiled in its next “Direc-tor’s Series” with a couple of posters from his past and upcoming films. He is the second director to be profiled after director Guillermo del Toro. The art-work for “Source Code” and “Moon” posters are from world renowned artist, Olly Moss. “I’ve been a huge fan of Mr. Moss since I first saw his mock game manual for ‘Half Life’ what feels like an eon ago,” said Duncan Jones in a press release. “I’ve been desperate to own one of his pieces ever since. Getting that piece to be based on my films is even better!” His art show is shrouded in mystery, with only a few details having been shared with the yearning crowds of fans across LA. His blog has posters available to print out depending on the viewer’s preference on poster type, whether your motive is interesting vernacular type with an old time sensibility or

What’s Olly saying?

the “Free Beer... and art show” that the second poster promises. He is quoted as saying of the show,“It’s incredibly nerdy, by far the nerdiest things I’ve ever done.” The show consists 150 one-of-a-kind pieces that work together to create what has been described as “a massive pop cul-ture installation.” In addition the works in the gallery for sale, there will also be screenprints of many of his previous works and some new

I’ve been a huge fan of Mr. Moss since I first saw his mock game manual for

‘Half Life’, what feels like an eon ago.

ones as well. Moss also states “I want people to have fun. I think people will get a lot out of being there on the opening night. I guess I’m shooting for a comprehensive exploration of my favourite parts of pop-culture - movies, tv and, of course, video games. I’ve put months of work into it, and it’s a totally new medium for me. But it’s designed to be fun, and I really hope people enjoy it.”

@ollymossFeels almost blasphemous to be watching It’s a Wonderful Life this far away from Christmas.

@ollymossWatching Kevin Tong alphabet-ise his DVD collection is more entertaining than watching his DVD collection.

@ollymossThis morning I research Cosby sweaters.

@ollymossRemember the Thor poster I made for the cast/crew of the movie? Well there will be ONE available at my show with the money going to charity!

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SLEIGH BELLSDEREK E. MILLER

The inside scoop.

When you fi rst started working with Alexis what music common ground did you share?

Pop music, really. We’re both huge fans. We both like Motown and soul, but beyond that, we’re pretty different. We never talk about music except when we’re making it. I think it was exciting for her because, she’s been doing music for almost her whole life, this is very different from anything she’s done before. It was also challenging. She had never done anything as hard or as rhythmic as what I had written, and it had more of a percussive de-livery and less vocal acrobatics, which she is more than capable of. It was crazy for me to fi -nally be able to share these ideas I had. They’d been kind of driving me crazy for a few years.

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INTERESTING PEOPLE TELL YOU A BIT MORE ABOUT HOW THEY THINK AND HOW

THEY HAVE ACHIEVED THEIR DREAMS.

How did your group form?

I had been looking for a vocalist for a long time. I was asking everyone I knew to help me fi nd someone. I was working in a Brazilian restaurant in Brooklyn. I waited on Alexis [Krauss] and her mother, who was/is really nice and talkative, and I mentioned that I was looking for a singer. Alexis’ mom recommended her. That’s how it got started.

Have you ever gotten into any mischief when you’ve on tour?

I realize there are artists who romanticize a de-generate lifestyle, but it’s not really for me. I try to keep it simple so I can make it to the next show. Beer before and after the set, I guess. When I’m at home I’m a little less responsible.

What are your musical vices?

I don’t believe anyone should associate guilt with pleasure! If you like it, f--- it.

The Beatles or The Stones?

I love both groups but I have to say that the Stones are less cerebral than the Beatles and more appealing in some ways. I think some Beatles music is very heady, deliberate and cer-ebral. When the Stones are at their best, which for me is ‘Let It Bleed,’ they are pretty untouch-able. No idea. though. You could debate this for days and never get anywhere.

BonnarooIf Bonnaroo ever comes up in conversation with anyone, I just always tell them the exact same thing:

That said, the festival is not for the faint of heart. Yes, it can be scorching hot or muddy and rainy like that scene in The Notebook. Yes, our tent had collapsed and fl ooded when we got back to the campsite at 4am the last night of our fi rst year there. Yes, the porta-potties are usually nasty unless you know how to synchronize your bowel movements. But the festival is fl at out unforgettable.

Austin City LimitsAmidst all the chaos, Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips, had summed up the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival in that one sentence. Everything that happened at Zilker Park this past weekend came together; every music fan had now learned how to love music harder, and how to live a little more passionately, and to take all the joy, pain, misery, confusion, and love of all the bands they heard with them wherever they go. Austin City Limits is the yearly music fes-tival that has given Austin the title of musical capital of the world. Since its inception, the fes-tival has grown into a monster, with three days of music and 130 bands on eight stages.

Summer Lovin’

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052

CHECK OUT THESE SPOTS FOR THE BEST SUMMER MUSIC AND FUN

AROUND THE COUNTRY.

WakarusaThere are many roads you travel down to see music, the road leading to Wakarusa Music Festival was one of the most splendid treats about partaking in this years fest. Winding up and down the hills of Arkansas, through the lush Ozark Forest there lay the top of Mulberry Mountain. There was a lot of hype about the location moving to Arkansas last year, I know personally the negative attrib-utes connected with the festival being held in Lawrence, Kansas. There were many attributes to this years Wakarusa that will be talked about for years to come. Being the collaborations and ap-pearances by the acts who made it possible or the behind the scene workers who pulled this fabulous gathering off. The expanded draw to this land is one which cant be denied as next years Festival begins to assemble.

PitchforkOne of the friendliest festivals around! I take issue with any review that says anything about hipsters and their attitudes at this festival.

but I saw nothing but great interaction between festival goers and talked to so many strangers I think my mom’s spidey senses were surely keeping her up at night. Pitchfork music fes-tival is an essential and fantastic part of both indie music and Chicago’s total culture!

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10 MAY 2011Booker T. The Road From Memphis Cirkus Medicine Le Butcherettes Sin Sin Sin Man Man Life Fantastic Man Overboard The Human Highlight Reel Matthew Morrison Matthew Morrison Moving Mountains Waves ohGr unDeveloped Okkervil River I Am Very Far Raphael Saadiq Stone Rollin’ SKOLD Anomie Sleepy Rebels Yellow Tree Sleepy Vikings They Will Find You Here The Antlers Burst Apart The Cars Move Like This The Devil Whale Teeth This Romantic Tragedy Reborn This Will Destroy You Tunnel Blanket Urge Overkill Rock & Roll Submarine Young Legionnaire Crisis Works 17 MAY 2011Company of Thieves Running From A GambleEgypt Central White Rabbit Face To Face Laugh Now, Laugh Later Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV Mai Doi Todd Cosmic Ocean Ship Metal Mother Bonfire Diaries Moby Destroyed Planningtorock W

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3 MAY 2011Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 Cat’s Eyes Cat’s Eyes Dredg Chuckles And Mr. Squeezy Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Giant Pianoramx Smooth Danger Gruff Rhys Hotel Shampoo Have Nots Proud Musiq Soulchild MUSIQINTHEMAGIQ Stevie Nicks In Your Dreams

About to hit the shelfs.

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WE PRESENT THE FIRST OF OUR GUIDES TO MORE THAN 50 NEW ALBUMS TO BE

RELEASED IN 2011, WITH MORE TO COME AS 2011 PROGRESSES.

10 MAY 2011Booker T. The Road From Memphis Cirkus Medicine Le Butcherettes Sin Sin Sin Man Man Life Fantastic Man Overboard The Human Highlight Reel Matthew Morrison Matthew Morrison Moving Mountains Waves ohGr unDeveloped Okkervil River I Am Very Far Raphael Saadiq Stone Rollin’ SKOLD Anomie Sleepy Rebels Yellow Tree Sleepy Vikings They Will Find You Here The Antlers Burst Apart The Cars Move Like This The Devil Whale Teeth This Romantic Tragedy Reborn This Will Destroy You Tunnel Blanket Urge Overkill Rock & Roll Submarine Young Legionnaire Crisis Works 17 MAY 2011Company of Thieves Running From A GambleEgypt Central White Rabbit Face To Face Laugh Now, Laugh Later Lil Wayne Tha Carter IV Mai Doi Todd Cosmic Ocean Ship Metal Mother Bonfire Diaries Moby Destroyed Planningtorock W

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