Laughs,Web Sites »The Kitten Covers

Covers with Kittens

It’s simple things like The Kitten Covers tumblr that make the internet such a special little place.

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Posted on November 4, 2011

Laughs »Google Homage to Freddie Mercury

Animated Google Doodle

As a fellow Freddie Mercury fan, I was tickled with Jennifer Hom’s Google homage in honor of what would have been his 65th birthday.

I don’t usually notice the celebrated google doodles that often, but this one’s extra special, with rainbows and tigers and that signature mustache.

Happy Birthday Freddie.

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Posted on September 6, 2011

Laughs »The Record Books

Music As Literature

These clever, funny, and amazingly rendered albums reinterpreted as novels are fantastic! There are so many great ones, but of course a science fiction cover for Purple Rain ranks among my very favorites.

London designer Christophe Gowans has also done a bang up job reinterpreting classic art as classic album covers. Just check out that Black Sabbath/Nude Descending a Staircase mashup. Genius!

Thanks to Will from The Stencil for posting these on FB…

Which in turn posted a link to these Pelican Book versions of classic albums.

These pretty much made my day.

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Posted on August 3, 2011

Web Sites »Star1973

A Magazine for Groupies

Oh yes!!

If you remember, eons ago I discovered a little gem called Star Magazine – a publication devoted entirely to the art of being a groupie. The site I marked then is now all gone, but in it’s place has emerged Star1973, an amazing site where you can find all five editions scanned front to back (!!)

I am dying with excitement.

Ryan Richardson gets major props for sharing this with the world (and for all that scanning – if I only had half the time and patience for my own vintage mag collection…).

I can’t wait to really spend some time with this one – I mean, come on, just look at the article below. The Girl Who Fights Over Guys – Will You Be Ready To Face Her?.

It just so deliciously brazen and upfront about it’s goal – to help you, the young groupie, bed rock stars (even if you have to bust some heads to get into Alice Cooper’s bed).

And the fashions! Girls and boys alike would be dropping over dead in the streets if these ladies were to strut down Bedford Avenue today.

Thanks to Sarafina and Will of The Stencil for alerting me to this fab site.

 

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Posted on May 26, 2011

Spend a Couple Minutes »Make Your Own 30 Day Song Challenge

With Your Own Categories!

Dear friend Ashleigh, of The Awesome Brothers has been posting her very own 30 Day Song Challenge which includes such gems as:

“The song that pretty much sums up the magic of courtship (we ate cereal): Iesha by Another Bad Creation

” The liveliest TV performance ever: Major Tom by Peter Schilling”

and

“The best song to play at a roller skating rink during the couples skate: I Wanna Be Your Man by Zapp and Roger

I am stealing the idea and will feature a song for every day in May.

See, the challenge is to make up your own categories! Hope you all will join in on the challenge and post your own song picks in the comments. (Steve Olson, if you’re reading this – I assume you’d be awesome at it).

PS. The image provided is one of the first large scale photos to come up on a “music challenge” google image search.

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Posted on May 1, 2011

Web Sites »Retrospace

Fab Blog

Retrospace is a new discovery for me and a great, constantly updated treasure trove of all things retro: from long forgotten magazines, catalogues, found photographs, TV shows and books. There are also Podcasts that feature old radio ads, novelty songs and other intriguing oddities.

The archives go back three years, so I have only really scratched the surface but I am in love already. Any blog where you can find Mexican porno mags from the 70’s and a history of stewardess outfits through the decades is alright with me. Do set aside some real time to go through it all.

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Posted on April 18, 2011

Web Sites »emusic

Music Downloads

A subscription to emusic was my birthday gift to myself. Not finding satisfaction with any free services – which either have a very limited selection and or don’t let you keep any music – I decided to look into paid services for my music needs.

I find itunes too expensive and can’t always find what I need, so emusic, a monthly subscription site (you get a certain number of credits each month that carry over if unused) that features more obscure stuff as well as the more mainstream, sounded good.

The fact that albums cost half what they normally would (usually around $6) sealed the deal. The easy browsing searches have already introduced me to new fabulous things (like recent pick, Darondo) and a nifty “save for later” feature helps me make sure I don’t forget albums that interest me.

Added bonus points and discounts were a nice addition. Once my new month credits come, I think I’ll finally get that Grinderman album which is exciting.

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Posted on January 11, 2011

Style Icons: Male »Hipgnosis

Album Artists

If you can remember the image of an album cover from the seventies and eighties that’s got a touch or more of photo surrealism then Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell, and Peter Christopherson, aka Hipgnosis was probably behind it. The British design group basically dictated what the enduring face of rock and roll would look like for a decade.

Not only were they behind iconic albums like The Dark Side of the Moon and Houses of the Holy but some of my personal favorites – Scorpions’ Lovedrive and 10cc’s How Dare You! (favorites in album art only – The Scorpions cold never live up to their controversial covers).

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Posted on December 30, 2010

Movies »Amadeus

directed by Milos Forman (1984)

While working at home, it’s hard to decide on a background movie. If it’s foreign or too interesting, it’s a distraction, but if it’s too dull, I’d rather have nothing on. So, I’ve been delving into my very, very favorites and Amadeus has been one since I was a kid. Possibly the film I’ve watched more than any other, I can pretty much watch it with my eyes closed.

Milos Forman’s exquisite take on the legendary composer is based on the Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play. While the historical facts are played with, it’s a sensationally entertaining movie, with a perfect soundtrack and an amazing cast that for the most part was strangely rarely seen from again.

It’s the winner of numerous awards, including an Oscar for Best Picture, is available on instant netflix – there’s no excuse not to see it if you haven’t yet, or, like me, you can watch again for the thousandth time.

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Posted on August 1, 2010

Web Sites »Berlin Beatet Bestes

A blog mainly about odd German 45 rpm records. New records every Thursday.

I have the quite interesting site, Berlin Beatet Bestes to thank for this week’s song, but there’s much more the in pages of this German based collection of odd records. There are high res images of albums you’re very unlikely to see anyplace else as well as information about the artists and illustrator when blogger Andreas is able to find it. He also made a visit to our very own neighborhood record/junk shop The Thing! I’ve posted just a handful of personal favorites below/after the jump, but the extensive archives are worth browsing yourself. A great random find during a google image search.

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Posted on July 11, 2010

Web Sites »The Look

Rock Pop Fashion

The Look (rockpopfashion.com) is an ultrahip stroll down the psychedelic, super cool sentimental Kings Road. With impressive images (that are not easily found anywhere else) of Britain’s heyday of cutting edge youth culture and fashion. McLaren, Siouxsie, Mary Quant, Iggy Pop, Vivienne Westwood and Marc Bolan are all here, plus the biggest hangouts of the day like Carnaby St., Granny Takes a Trip, and Westwood and McLaren’s shop SEX.

But even more exciting, especially for those of us that didn’t grow up in a time and place that looks incredibly fun, are the names and places that are new: Dinah Adams, Wonder Workshop, Antony Price, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin, Harry Gordon, Jah Wobble, Pamela Motown, and the list goes on. I love new discoveries and The Look is spilling over with them.

Click here for the rest of The Look

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Posted on May 9, 2010

Web Sites »Wolfgang’s Vault

Where Live Music Lives

Jim stumbled across Wolfgang’s Vault, a site that specializes in live music downloads and memorabilia and is currently holding a pretty awesome Family Dog sale poster. For those not in the know:

The Family Dog was a loose collective of free spirits managed by Chet Helms, a contemporary of Bill Graham, who put on rock dances at the Avalon Ballroom more or less continually from 1965 to 1970. These almost-nightly events, like those hosted at the Fillmore, were more than conventional concerts; they were social gatherings with plenty of dance, music and light. Some of the early Family Dog posters are among the most significant art of the period

The posters are fun to browse and worth checking out for those of you looking to add some psychedelia to your walls; there are some pretty great prices for first run printings.

Click here for the rest of Wolfgang’s Vault

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Posted on March 21, 2010

Web Sites »Tickets & Music

Tickets and MusicScouring the web for music tix

When it comes to purchasing tickets to live music events, sometimes StubHub and TicketMaster are your only options – but just as frequently someone’s trying to dump tickets through Craigslist and using a whole different rate structure. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a one-stop resource (that defaults to a home page showcasing immediately upcoming shows in your geographic area) that automatically returned all the available ticket options?

Enter Tickets & Music (the brainchild of our friend Marcus), an incredibly useful site that does exactly that.

A couple of days after Halloween, I was thrilled to discover that the one and only Blues Traveler was playing locally – but I was (understandably) stunned by the prices TicketMaster was charging. I checked T&M and discovered that some dude was getting rid of tickets through Craigslist for just $12! Armed with that kind of bargain basement price info, I quickly got in touch with Fred, who had worn a Blues-Traveler-themed costume just days earlier.

Of course, he firmly rebuked me for even suggesting that he’d want to attend such and event but, thanks to T&M, I was able to get the conversation going. Just wait until the Spin Doctors come to town!

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Posted on December 6, 2009

Spend a Couple Minutes »Play the Hurdy Gurdy

hurdy gurdy paintingMy friend Shaun, who's peeking up all over this week's Renaissance themed week, is a real Hurdy Gurdy man. We pitched in to buy the once popular instrument for his birthday last year online.

The only catch was that he had to construct it himself. After months of toiling with scary looking woodcutting contraptions and crazy glue, a beautiful hand crafted piece has emerged, just in time to show it off at the Ren Fair.

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Posted on September 14, 2009

Movies »Jazz on a Summer’s Day

jazz on a summer's dayI put on the 1960 documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day on a recent half day afternoon while Jim was still at work hoping for some pleasant background entertainment as I took care of stuff around the house, but I quickly found myself far more enthralled than I expected – and I even went so far as to pour a smallish glass of wine as this soothing and stunning film washed over me.

Centered at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and interspersed with the WASPy beauty of a yacht race, the movie is almost without dialogue, except for the the occasional introductions from a radio program and the banter of performers – and what performers they are! From a cooler than cool Thelonious Monk, to a cheery, feather-capped Anita O'Day, from an energetic Chuck Berry to the solemn and powerful Mahalia Jackson, the music will be instantly diggable to any fan of the genre, and possibly even create a few new ones.

Beyond the performances, the style of the film and the subjects are highly inspiring. The director seems to almost know the exact images that would excite the current nostalgic movement: a man gathering old timey bottles, a ragtime band playing on the back of a pickup through the coastal Rhode Island landscape, a woman's perfectly red lips and pony tail – these are the images that can make men who name their babies Miles and open up speakeasy barbershops weep.

It plays like a living, breathing mid-century Sartorialist, and it's little wonder that the pure visual aesthetics (and fashions in particular) are given so much weight once you learn that noted fashion photographer Bert Stern (famous for his intimate shots of Marilyn) is behind the lens. He's just as amazed by Dinah Washington's white silk banded gown as her vocals. Stern's amazing eye, combined with what has to be one of the most impressive lineups in jazz festival history, make this seemingly simple film into an extraordinary experience.

I hope this collection of stills will further inspire you to watch.

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Posted on July 20, 2009

Laughs »Hoogie Boogie Land

hoogie boogie landI might not be giving enough credit to the idiots in other countries, but I believe that terrible, drunken jam rocking by a dude wearing a cat in the hat hat is uniquely American.

Hoogie Boogie Land, though initially familiar in terms of the great American drunk jamming tradition, is like nothing else. You will gape in wonder. No one could try to be this bad. No one.

If you don't find it amazing the first go round, it will hit you on the tenth viewing, because I promise, you will be somehow compelled to watch again and again.

So spark it up, Sparky!

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Posted on June 29, 2009

Web Sites »Rotating Corpse

rotating corpseWell it certainly took long enough, but Rotating Corpse is finally here! It's a new collaborative blog Jim and I put together with a number of our most awesomest friends. It's updated daily with amazing things to delight your mind. It's tons of fun to be a part of and just as fun to browse. Please, please stop by, subscribe to the feed and feel free to leave comments!

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Posted on April 6, 2009