No Fun Fest 2008 Lineup Announced; I Can Already Taste the Soul Sausage
By Papaya on Nov 20 2007
As I write this stranded in an airport in Birmingham, Alabama, I can't help but note the irony that I'm having a little "No Fun Fest" of my own. Mine, however, is a literal no fun fest, which has nothing to do with the No Fun label. For example, mine doesn't include any music or interesting activities, but rather a lot of waiting around with relatives in a bizarrely sterile environment with nothing to do but kick back and soak in the boredom. I have discovered some awesome YouTube videos, though, which can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Also, the terrorist threat level today is "orange."
The real No Fun Fest will take place May 16-18 at the Knitting Factory in New York City, and the bill-in-progress includes: Tony Conrad (pictured) and M.V. Carbon, Skaters, Burning Star Core, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Emeralds, Alan Licht, Rick Potts, Nautical Almanac, Carlos Giffoni, Religious Knives, Hiroshi Hasegawa (of C.C.C.C.), and others. A full list can be found at the No Fun Fest official site.
Ladytron Signs to New Label, Midterm
By Hanky Panky on Nov 20 2007
Midterms are in the air, as you may have sensed from Nobodaddy's stress-inspired story last Wednesday (TMT News). Frankly, if I have to struggle with information I have learned and barely retained, then I think you should too. Thus, Tiny Mix Tapes is proud to inflict upon you: The Ladytron Challenge!!!!!
This test will be multiple choice with each question worth 666 points, so please do the best you can. Your reputation as reader with a strong repertoire of musical knowledge depends on it. Furthermore, Tiny Mix Tapes staff, myself included, shall personally shame each individual who scores poorly.
Properly motivated? Let's go!
1. Who is Ladytron?
a. Helen Marnie
b. Mira Aroyo
c. Daniel Hunt
d. Reuben Wu
e. All of the above, and don't you forget it.
Answer: E -- That's correct, vintage analogue electro-pop sensation, Ladytron (shit that was a lot of adjectives), has been harnessing the power and talent of Helen Marnie, Mira Aroyo, Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu since they formed the group in 1999. An anonymous and overly informed asshole on Wikipedia notes that, "When playing live, Ladytron uses vintage synthesizers/keyboards, including a Korg MS-10 (played by Wu), an MS-20 (Aroyo), Roland SH-2 (Hunt), as well as four MS-2000Bs." And you know what that means? It means Ladytron doesn't fuck around.
2. Ladytron has how many studio releases?
a. Several hundred
b. Just 100
c. 3
d. None -- they're currently working on their self-titled debut
Answer: C -- Three albums currently exist by the Ladytron-tastic
five-some. Debuting with 604 in 2001, their Light & Magic release
kicked clubs' asses worldwide with pedophilic anthem "Seventeen,"
whose popularity was only superseded by the single "Destroy Everything
You Touch" off their 2005 album, Witching Hour. Ladytron is currently
harnessing their collective sexiness into a new mind-blowing album
(title pending), set to be released to many electro-pop heads'
delight in May 2008.
3. Which label has Ladytron signed to?
a. Emperor Norton Records
b. Ed Banger Records
c. Nettwerk Music Group
d. XL Recordings
Answer: C -- Ladytron has joined the Nettwerk Music Group family alongside acts such as Datarock and Felix da Housecat, two acts who I've never fully appreciated. (Extra Credit will be rewarded to those who agree that the Datarock self-titled debut was nowhere near as ass-kicking as many have touted it to be.)
4. What sort of sheisty shit is Ladytron up to these days?
a. Dancing
b. Gigging
c. Being sexy
d. Engaging in rock-star workaholic-ism
e. All of the above
Answer: E -- Always sexy, dancing, touring, and working, Ladytron has been making appearances worldwide in support of their Witching Hour material for nearly two years now, both headlining and as support for acts such as Nine Inch Nails and The Chemical Brothers. Ever the multi-taskers, Ladytron continued to develop new material while on the road and are now in the studio with co-producer Vicarious Bliss of Ed Banger records to nail down the new release. "We came straight from our final shows in the US to the studio in Paris to complete what we have been working on for the last year or so," said band member Daniel Hunt in a Nettwerk press release. "The sessions are exciting, and we can't wait to get the new tracks out there."
A full North American tour is being slated for late spring of 2008.
Steal This Film 2 Leaked on BitTorrent; Irony Crushes Unsuspecting Leechers
By Elzee on Nov 20 2007
Like rain on your wedding day, dying right after winning the lottery, and that t-shirt you bought at Urban Outfitters last week, irony takes a toll on everyone. It's preying on innocent fiction writers and hipsters alike, and now it's taken a new victim: the makers of documentary Steal This Film 2. The original Steal This Film documented The Pirate Bay controversy and its fallout; the sequel takes a look at the role of file-sharing in our culture on a broader scale. It's scheduled for release on trackers across the globe in a couple days.
Wait, you say, that's not ironic?! Well, reader, what's ironic is that someone leaked a cammed version of the film onto The Pirate Bay last Wednesday. The quality's pretty bad, so I would suggest waiting for it to be properly leaked. Jamie King, producer of STF2, told TorrentFreak, "We think people better not watch it, as we'll track them down via haxxoring their IPs and sue their asses off." Oh man, I think he was being ironic. Can someone please find that My Chemical Romance album? Because it's really good. No, seriously, someone get it for me.
Peter Bjorn and John Are Touring the States, But I’m Sure They Miss Sweden!
By Scout Leader Kyle on Nov 19 2007
Peter Bjorn and John are that sexy Swedish indie pop group that everyone was talking about last year and earlier this year. They topped the pop charts in the UK with their happening single, “Young Folks,” and successfully had their songs featured in Levi and Pontiac commercials. Go them! You may be asking why they're so fly, and -- let me guess -- you think it's because they have both a knack for creating really nice pop structures and a nice publicist who has helped them along the way. You'd be wrong. The reason Peter Bjorn and John are so cool is because they're Swedish.
Most people don't know that Sweden kicks an unusual amount of ass as a country, so let's cast aside our ignorance of the Swedes for a bit. I'm here to point out three really incredible facts about Sweden to you.
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Number One:
Sweden Is Second On The Environmental Performance Index
The EPI is a scale used to measure a country's environmental impact, using factors such as air quality, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and child mortality. Sweden is second in the rankings of the EPI, where Canada is eight and the U.S. is twenty-eight. The report is fairly new and these findings are from the pilot test, but Sweden obviously kicks a lot of ass when it comes to the environment.
Number Two:
Sweden Is The First Country To Officially Join Second Life
Second Life is a gigantic online computer game where tons of people sign up and play. The real draw for the game is its ability to offer a way to build and create your own avatar to explore a digital world that is built by other users like yourself. The game is pretty fascinating and possibly could be as addicting as World of Warcraft. This year, Sweden opened up a digital embassy in the world of Second Life to help promote and educate people about how kick-ass Sweden is.
Number Three:
The Same Dude That Invented Dynamite and Instituted The Nobel Prize Is From Sweden
That's right, Alfred Behnard Nobel was from Sweden. Homeboy patented dynamite in 1867, and not long after, he invented gelignite, or a blasting gelatin, that could be handled without protection. This sparked the eventual invention of other plastic explosives. Alfred ended up using his massive fortune to fund the Nobel Prize. Long story short, the reason he wanted the Nobel Prize to be established is because certain media sources condemned him for inventing dynamite and Alfred Nobel wanted to leave a more positive legacy behind him.
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And to think you thought Sweden was only good for pop music! Shame on you! You might want to make it up to the Swedes by attending one of their biggest musical attractions in these cities:
Deerhunter Officially Go on Hiatus
By Mango Starr on Nov 19 2007
According to a post titled "Goodbye 21st Century" on Deerhunter's blog, the band members have decided to go on hiatus after their appearance at the Estrella Damm Primavera Club festival in Barcelona, saying they need time to "organize" their lives. Check it out for yourself, straight from the loving fingers of Bradford Cox:
So we have one show left tomorrow night in Leipzig, Germany. Then we drive through the night to Prague where we fly home from early in the morning. This tour has been really insane. We met a lot of amazing people and finally got to play the UK, making our debut at the forum even. We are totally grateful for the opportunity to play everywhere we did. When we started this band years ago we never imagined playing outside of Atlanta, so this has all been like a hallucination. We are all exhausted now and ready to be home. I would like to announce that the show we are playing at Primavera in Barcelona (I hope to god i spelled that right) will be our last for quite some time. It will also be the last time we are ever playing the Cryptograms set we have been playing for the last two years. After that the band are going on hiatus. We all need some time to organize our lives. Thanks to everyone who has helped us out. This has been a crazy year that I will always remember.
Meanwhile, Bradford Cox's solo project Atlas Sounds will release an album, Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, on February 19, 2008 (TMT News). You can read our reviews of Cryptograms (TMT Review) and the Fluorescent Grey EP (TMT Review). And then you can weep like a stupid little baby, all the while knowing that this probably isn't the last we'll hear from Deerhunter. Do I smell a greatest hits?
