A few weeks ago, we went over to The Fashion Institute of Technology to check out the 2017 MFA in Illustration Visual Thesis Exhibition, which was entitled 13 Stories. It is while visiting the exhibit that I discovered a cool Pink Thing created by FIT student and MFA candidate Necdet Yilmaz, who is a native of Turkey. Necdet’s visual thesis, Happy Tank, is a story about a little machine built for war that doesn’t want to fight. Happy Tank must be sent to war, but refuses to fire at a large building where a child is seen crying. For disobeying the order, Happy Tank is decommissioned and melted down. The story concludes with Happy Tank being recycled and used to construct a playground years after the war is over. Continue reading Pink Thing of The Day: Happy Tank→
If you went out dancing last night, and maybe haven’t quite made it into the bed yet, I’ve got the perfect segue into your unconscious state right here. In anticipation of their new album, Totem, Colorado-based funk outfit, The Motet reveal the official video for track “Fool No More,” which will be the album’s second single.
The video brings alive the artwork from Totem for a funky, psychedelic journey through a tune that I can’t help but say reminds me fondly of the Pablo Cruise hit from way back 1977, “A Place In The Sun.” If you know that song, great. If you don’t, it doesn’t matter. We are just free-associating here.
Totem was produced by Lettuce and Soulive guitarist Eric Krasno and is set for release on July 8th, 2016. Check out The Motet on tour at the dates listed below. Enjoy!
The Motet’s US Tour Dates Through Fall 2016:
6/25 Atlanta, GA Big Bang Block Party
7/2 -3 Quincy, CA High Sierra Music Festival
7/15 Lone Tree, IA Camp Euforia
7/22 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
7/28 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen
7/30 Canton, MA Festival at the Farm
8/4- 6 Thornville, OH The Werk Out Music Festival
8/5 Salt Lake City, UT Sky Bar
8/11-14 Scranton, PA Peach Fest
8/13 Fairfield, CT The Warehouse
8/18-20 Bartow, WV Camp Barefoot
9/4 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot Festival
9/7 Tulsa, OK The Vanguard
9/8 Fayetteville, AR George’s Majestic Lounge
9/9 St. Louis, MO The Ready Room
9/10 Urbana, IL The Canopy Club
9/17 Deadwood Jam Deadwood, SD
10/28–30 Live Oak, FL Suwannee Hulaween
1/20–25 Miami, FL Jam Cruise 15
Consider Pink Floyd’s “Arnold Lane” re-imagined as a lullaby about an Interior Design Firm, and you might come close to this week’s video clip: The High Llamas’ “McKain James.” The song has a fascinating origin story, having been culled from the band’s newest album, Here Come The Rattling Trees, which is the soundtrack to a narrative-driven collection of stories first performed as a theater production. Pretty Cool!
Proving that it is never too late to discover a terrific band, this week’s Video Clip represents my first exposure to the outrageous jam/funk band Lettuce, who have been rocking it for twenty years! Wow! I’m not sure if the musical sub-genre of Psychedelic Funk already existed before this video, but if it didn’t, it sure does now. Aurally, “Phyllis” is a stone groove from an eight-piece band that includes two guys named Adam and three guys named Eric (!), and featuring a horn section that makes the Tower of Power sound like amateurs. I am not exaggerating when I say that “Phyllis” is the most transcendent instrumental named for a woman since the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica.” Just being serious.
Visually, the clip offers a taste of what the band must be like to experience live, along with sexy and psychedelic visuals worthy of a Tame Impala live show — and if you’ve seen Tame Impala live then you know that is high praise indeed.
“Phyllis” is the first music video from the group’s fourth studio album Crush, which is available now wherever fine music is procured. Lettuce Tour Dates starting New Years Eve are listed below. Enjoy!
Tour Dates
12/31 at Riviera Theatre in Chicago, IL
1/1 at Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, NY
1/2 at Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, NY
1/6-1/10 at Jam Cruise in Miami, FL
1/12 at The Music Farm in Charleston, SC
1/13 at The Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA
1/14 at The National in Richmond, VA
1/15 at 9:30 Club in Washington, DC
1/16 at Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia, PA
1/17 at Infinity Music Hall in Hartford, CT
1/20 at Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington, VT
1/21 at State Theatre in Portland, ME
1/22 at House of Blues in Boston, MA
1/23 at Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY
2/1 at Belly Up in Aspen, CO
2/2 at Park City Live in Park City, UT
2/3 at Wilma in Missoula, MT
2/4 at Showbox in Seattle, WA
2/5 at Roseland in Portland, OR
2/6 at Wow Hall in Eugene, OR
2/9 at Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA
2/10 at Terrapin in San Rafael, CA
2/11 at Crystal Bay in Crystal Bay, NV
2/12 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA
2/13 at Observatory in San Diego, CA
2/14 at Gem and Jam Festival in Tucson, AZ
3/4 at Okeechobee Music Festival in Okeechobee, FL
4/7 at Euphoria Music Festival in Austin, TX
I’m always endlessly delighted when I can find an animated clip for the week’s featured video, because it reminds me fondly of watching my favorite cartoons on weekend mornings as a child (though I admit that this mostly took place on Saturdays). Nostalgia! This week’s video, “Sleepy Dog” is the masterstroke of a band called Wand. Directed by Meghan Tryon and Garrett Davis, the visual odyssey of this adorable little black dog comes on like a reined-in version of a monochromatic R. Crumb-induced hallucination. And since we already know that the dog is sleepy, it is pleasing to imagine that his many otherworldly adventures — which include a visit to an art museum — are, in fact, just a fever dream of sorts. There are also enough creepy, nightmare moments to make this choice appropriate for Halloween, which is just a few days off at this point. Nice.
Aurally, “Sleepy Dog” pays homage to the very best of ’60s garage rock psychedelia. Nothing more need be said. “Sleepy Dog” comes to us from Wand’s latest album, 1000 Days, which was released on September 25th, 2015Dragcity Records.
