Lebanon in SXSW

Not only did we have the amazing opportunity to play in SXSW, but the film Lebanon by Ben Hickernell was also featured in the festival. A lot of the ADR for Lebanon was done at MilkBoy Recording. Several songs heard in the film were also provided by MilkBoy. Check it out at http://my.sxsw.com/events/eid/8006

Live Music Blog

News about tour dates, festivals, streaming audio, photos, links to other blogs. Good source for what's going on in the music world. http://www.livemusicblog.com/

Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations of a Crazy World

There's a really cool exhibit at the ICA featuring the work of children's author, illustrator and designer Maira Kalman. This is the first major museum exhibit of Kalman's work. It encompasses thirty years of original art on paper and design production, as well as photography, embroidery, textiles and performance. The exhibit is running until June 6th, so stop by and check it out. http://www.icaphila.org/exhibitions/kalman.php

Simon and Garfunkel 2010 Tour

On Saturday, at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, Simon and Garfunkel kicked off their 2010 U.S. tour! Here's a link to the list of locations they will play. http://www.simonandgarfunkel.com/live.html

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Check out this book by Jonathan Safran Foer. It made me laugh on the first page. It's about a little boy named Oskar Schell who ventures through the five boroughs of New York to find the lock that corresponds to a key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Oskar is only 9 years old, but he's an inventor, a tambourine player, an actor, a francophile, a pacifist... He meets an eclectic group of people on his journey who have all survived something in their own way. To quote the Washington Post: "The tragedy of September 11 has made Oskar older than his years, but in Foer's tender portrayal the grief that weighs him down makes children of us all." Check it out at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Extremely-Loud-and-Incredibly-Close/Jonathan-Safran-Foer/e/9780618711659/?itm=1&USRI=extremely+loud+and+incredibly+close

Lock Stock and Two Smokin' Barrels

How amazing is the three-card brag scene from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels? What a great movie... Directed by Guy Ritchie, it's about a group of Cockney guys who owe a porn lord a large sum of money after one of them loses half a million dollars in a rigged poker game. Check out the scene at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLGWuWt8wfY

Laughing Squid

Check out the Laughing Squid blog. It's an online arts and culture source with lots of cool stories on music, comics, technology.... http://links.laughingsquid.com/

Andy Warhol as a Pinata...

Check out this article about a giant pinata representing Andy Warhol's head. It will be displayed at a gala 4/22 at the Brooklyn Museum. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/in-the-future-everyone-will-be-a-pinata-for-15-minutes/

Today, a hip-hop innovator and member of Gang Starr, Guru, has passed away after a year long battle with cancer. Here is a link to the whole story. http://au.eonline.com/uberblog/b177184_guru_gang_starr_founder_hip-hop_hero.html

The Shape of Things

Ever read (or seen) the play The Shape of Things by Neil Labute? It's about two graduate students- a confident, opinionated artist, and a shy, self-conscious English student. The artist, Evelyn, befriends and dates the Lit major, Adam, but there's more to this relationship than meets the eye. With seemingly innocent suggestion, Evelyn is able to retool Adam's strict moral code to the extent that he gets cosmetic surgery to improve his appearance, and (although hesitantly at first) has an affair with his best friend's girlfriend. Only at the end of the story does Evelyn reveal her true intent in regards to her relationship with Adam. The play premiered in London's Almeida Theater, with Paul Rudd as Adam and Rachel Weisz as Evelyn. Whether viewed in the theater, watched on screen, or read as a manuscript, this play is thoroughly enjoyable. Check it out at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Shape-of-Things/Neil-LaBute/e/9780571212460/?itm=1

I Heart "I Heart Huckabees"

Has anyone stopped to appreciate the sheer brilliance of this film? It poses such poignant questions regarding society's collective mindset in this day and age. We focus so much on the physical- on materialism and self-image. We are not aware of the truly important things in life- those that are invisible to the eye. Jason Schwartzman plays Albert Marcovski- our protagonist who hires a couple of existential detectives to investigate a series of coincidences in his life. Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman are hilarious as these two eccentric detectives. We see Albert's story unravel, exposing the roots of the adversity in his life and the lives of the other characters in the story. Check it out at http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/I-Heart-Huckabees/Jason-Schwartzman/e/24543169482/?itm=1&USRI=i+heart+huckabees

WXPN Music Blog

Check out the WXPN music blog! It's got everything you will ever need to know about our local, Philly, music scene. Check it out at http://xpn.org/allaboutthemusic/?bloggerURL=/

Jose Saramago- The Notebook

There's an article in the NY Times Blog Paper Cuts about Jose Saramago's latest oeuvre- The Notebook. It's a series of blog posts written by Saramago at the request of his wife and friends. He touches on topics such as politics, literature and blogging itself. Check it out at http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/jose-saramago-litblogger/

Plushgun and Radio Moscow

Ya gotta listen to Plushgun and Radiow Moscow. Plushgun just played at North Star Bar with Freezepop, and Radio Moscow will be at there tonight with Naam, Screaming Rattler and The Love Club. Check out these two bands on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/plushgun; http://www.myspace.com/radiomoscow

August, Osage County

Check out the play August, Osage County by Tracey Letts. It's about a dysfunctional American family and their interactions with each other. Secrets are revealed when the patriarch of the family goes missing one night and everyone convenes to discuss the matter. Look it up on: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/August/Tracy-Letts/e/9781559363303/?itm=1&USRI=august%2c+osage+county

Futurama

New episodes of Futurama to air in June on Comedy Central. It's finally back! Check out previews here: http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/futurama/index.jhtml (I would watch them, but I am already in my pajamas... :)

Music By Day

Check out Music by Day! It's a music blog with features from album reviews all the way to music trivia. I think you'll enjoy it. http://www.musicbyday.com/

Making of Around the World

Check out the making of Daft Punk's Around the World- made by Michel Gondry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7OhiXVv_VE&feature=related

AC/DC #1 on Billboard Hot Tours

AC/DC has been touring lately down under in Australia and New Zealand, topping Billboard's "Hot Tours" list. Here's a link to the original article. http://www.billboard.com/#/events/hot-tours-ac-dc-rascal-flatts-jay-z-1004080019.story

Video from the February Rezz

Fresh footage from our residency at MilkBoy Coffee in February. I think this was from the night we did songs from the 60s...

The World in Six Songs

If you're a musician or if you just love music, you've got to read The World in Six Songs by Daniel Levitin. He combines his knowledge of music and research from his cognitive science lab to unravel how music has formed and tightened human bonds, and ultimately enables our culture and society to develop. He includes interviews with musicians, conductors, and anthropologists to show how six song functions- friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge and love work in our brain to retain the emotional history of our lives. Check it out at http://www.amazon.com/World-Six-Songs-Musical-Created/dp/B002RAR126/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270489712&sr=1-1

Sunshine Cleaning

Check out the movie Sunshine Cleaning. Directed by Christine Jeff, it's about a young woman who starts a murder-scene clean up business with her dead-beat sister. Rose, the main character, was previously the head cheerleader in high school and dated the quarterback of the football team. Ten years later, she's a single mom who has to work two jobs to try to get her son into a better school. She continuously gets into relationships that are short-lived or that end disastrously. Her sister, Norah still lives at home and gets fired from her job as a waitress. Together, Rose and Norah start a pretty grim but very lucrative business, and in so doing they ultimately become closer. You can watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf5S-1tJlg0

Video from Feb Residency

Hey guys

Here's some fresh video from our February residency at MilkBoy Coffee in Ardmore PA

Art News Blog

If you like painting and drawing, visit Art News Blog! It has art news, art reviews, and art stories. Check it out at http://www.artnewsblog.com/