DAILY FIX: Depeche Mode, Personal Jesus (LIVE)

Good god what a performance. Stage presence, lighting, great recording, and my personal favorite are the backing vocalists in pink boas adding a bit of soul to a wonderful, but bit mechanical song*.

*I am well aware that I might get the crap beaten out of my by a group of 80's music fanatics for saying this song is a bit mechanical. What can I say...

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One Way Richmond: RVA bands that we miss.

From One Way Richmond comes a great list of bands that aren't around anymore. Some of these bring a tear to my eye; I still have a few of these shirts, and would like to add (without OWR's permission) Man Speaking Chinese to the list.

Alter Natives
Breadwinner
Burma Jam
Dirtball
D’Angelo
East Coast Boogiemen
Hallelujah
Hose Got Cable
Infectious Organisms
LaBradford
More Fire For Burning People
Nudibranch
PCP Roadblock
Slang Laos
The Dads
Ugly Head
VCR
Young Pioneers

I would have included Mudd Helmut, but they are playing the Stacy Prescott Benefit on Saturday. You should go. And, this is all I can think of just off the top of my head...

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Cynthia Camlin's 'Glacial Speed'at 1708 Gallery

Showing at 1708, Cynthia Camlin's Glacial Speed examines mankind's impact on our world, from the point of view of, well, a god.

From 1708:
Through watercolor washed screen prints and video, Glacial Speed portrays the phases of a melting glacier. The 80 screen prints shown are depictions of a USGS map featuring glaciers at Mt. Sanford in Alaska. Over the course of two years, Camlin painted each print individually using washes and crystal-like abstract forms to represent the passing of time and how it affects the topography of the glaciers.

With her work, Camlin explores “how it would look for a glacier to melt, if you could watch the changes year to year, decade to decade from above.” To enforce the feeling of change, and bring a stronger sense of connection to the paintings, the exhibition also features a video slideshow. The video, complete with sound connects, simultaneously constructs and collapses time over the course of a 4 minute loop.

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DAILY RECORD: Arcade Fire, Sleigh Bells

The Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
The Suburbs is an absolutely wonderful counterpart to the Arcade Fire’s past two releases. The wait from Neon Bible has only allowed the band to come off as even more tried and true to their methods. While The Suburbs exists primarily in a sound that doesn’t feel too unexpected from the group, the record finds itself taking departures from track to track that make the listening experience exciting. From a storytelling standpoint, the tales that unfold feel like a return to the homes and characters that existed in Funeral. Yet, the narration is bound with a sense of weary eyes and hopeless romanticism that is inescapable. Coming from someone that initially listened to Funeral and found it to be overrated only to fall in love with it later, I truly find The Suburbs to be a phenomenal release that is worth a listen.

Sleigh Bells
Treats
There was so much hype surrounding Sleigh Bells that I didn’t want to buy it. Sometimes you just can’t deny a record like Treats that is an absolute joy. Hopefully a release like this ends up being the dance soundtrack of the summer. The similarities to MIA are inescapable, but I don’t find anything wrong with that. I dig the noisy dance beats that are flooded with distorted guitar riffs. As soon as the synthesized layers start building up and Alexis Krauss’ vocals are introduced, the songs delivery epically. Just listen to “Crown on the Ground” and try not to have a blast. I dare ya!

Both reviews by Shannon Cleary

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RVALUTION 17 is MAGIC

Tonight is RVALUTION 17 and you already knew that. What you don't know is what's in store for you... We've been asked by management not to say much other than MAGIC. Tonight's DJ lineup:

Loose Lipps vs Fantastic Planet (Virginia Beach)
Oh!Boy and Dj Wizard
Aline Nuntez (Cackalacky)

PHOTOS by JIM NELSON
click picture for Jim's Flickr

click picture for Jim's Flickr

click picture for Jim's Flickr

click picture for Jim's Flickr

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First Friday at Gallery 5: Cherry Bomb's White Whine, Lord of the Yum Yum, Flechette, PIZZA!

Gallery5 doesn't open new art exhibits during the summer months, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stop in on them during your First Fridays wanders! It's a BIG FAT FREE music event, deejayed by Cherry Bomb's White Whine. Performances by Lord of the Yum Yum (video below), Flechette, and Pizza (members of Pygmy Lush).

We'll be posting more this week about which galleries are showing what at First Fridays, so stay tuned! Info for Ghostprint Gallery is below, or here if you're too lazy to scroll.

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Good news, everyone! Registration for the Richmond Zine Fest is open!

Hey Folks -

Just wanted to announce that registration for the 2010 Richmond Zine Fest is now available! Visit our website, and from there you will either sign up via Pay Pal or find the info to sign up via snail mail. If you have questions please send those to us at richmondzinefest@yahoo.com

♥
The Richmond Zine Fest

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Ghostprint Gallery this FIRST FRIDAY: Wretched Glory

Opening friday at Ghostprint Gallery: A retrospective of screen-printed posters, fliers, and handbills for bands and venues, from the late 70's to the present, that define the music scene in Richmond.

Curated by Patrick Godfrey and Spencer Hansen.

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TOP 5 FILMS: Zombie edition!

So, I’m scoping out the latest happenings on RVA when I start seeing zombies. I don’t mean that zombies had invaded my home, mind you, but rather that there were zombies on my computer screen. You can probably connect the dots. If you guessed that these gore-soaked fiends led yours truly to the conclusion that it was time for a Top 5 Zombie Films, you* can promptly move to the head of the class. You should have seen the title of the piece prior to reading this paragraph anyway, so if you came to a different conclusion maybe you should come back once the room stops spinning.

Ever since George Romero unleashed the living dead on cinema patrons in 1968**, zombies have been a constant presence in the horror genre. For whatever reason, zombie films have always ranked among my favorite sub-genres, and there have been a number of significant offerings in that vein over the years.

As I write this, A&E is developing a television adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s comic book sensation The Walking Dead. With Frank Darabont at the helm and Greg Nicotero handling effects, this series is building a lot of anticipation throughout the horror community. The show will debut in October, not long after the latest Resident Evil, a 3D spectacular with the surname Afterlife, hits the big screen.

Zombies are apparently as relevant now as ever, and I have to wonder if Peter was right after all. In the original Dawn of the Dead, when an exasperated Stephen asks Peter what the zombies are, Peter coolly replies: “They’re us.” Whether he was right or not, they’re definitely here to stay. What follows are the results of another agonizing debate, as it’s time for me to unveil my Top 5 Zombie Films. Let the gut-munching commence!

1 ) Dawn of the Dead (original) - 1978

So visionary and thoughtful that even now, some 32 years after the fact, it’s still damn impressive. It’s also a testament to the creativity and the iron will that make George Romero the director he is. No one says: “Screw the MPAA, we’ll release the damn thing unrated”—no one except George, that is. No one else could capture the goriest satire and perhaps one of the most profound statements on commercialism ever on film. No one else would be able to dig so deeply into the premise, lovingly examining each character and the fragile relationships they share. No one else would bring us the heartbreak that comes as a result of watching these determined survivors struggle, facing off with both the undead and their futile attempts at trying to pretend things really aren’t that different from before when there aren’t zombies knocking down the door. This film has a little bit of everything, to include terror, drama, humor, and suspense, but I think it functions primarily as a character study of the highest order. It should be noted that none of the leads are established stars, though Ken Foree has had a nice career and is currently enjoying a bit of a resurgence thanks largely to Rob Zombie. Regardless, that doesn’t stop these thespians from putting on a hell of a show, and though of the four characters the piece centers on are amazingly complex, none of the performers fails to deliver. Tom Savini also shines in a small
but crucial part, and his effects work is still impressive to behold. That man is a true wizard within the industry, and his importance to the horror genre can’t be overstated. I sometimes wonder if this was his finest hour. It was certainly Romero’s best film, and it is easily the finest zombie film of all time. I greatly enjoyed the remake, but this is a film that will never be topped, at least so far as originality and depth are concerned. DOTD is a true juggernaut that hasn’t lost a bit of its magnificent scope and clearly remains one of the most introspective horror films of all time.

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BEST OF THE WEB: FreddieW's Psychedelic Action Scene

Ever hear a hippie talk about "what if guns, you know, like, shot flowers in stead of bullets, man? Wouldn't be the world be beautiful if, like, that happened?" Apparently, YouTube awesome-maker FreddieW decided to put that theory to the test with this fantastic video. From his production blog:

This one was basically Brandon thinking “what if we did red flower petals as blood hits?” because it would let us be ridiculously violent, yet not appear so because it’s, well, flower petals. We went from there – sunflowers for muzzle flares, flowers shooting up with the ground hits, general 70s look and vibe (although the G36 is most definitely not a gun from the 70s). Once we got the VW Bus, it was on.

He shot it on a Canon 7D. His website has great notes on how he shot the video and all of his videos are pretty damn awesome.

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