GIVE A SHOUT TO WORD UP! wordup@papermag.com
Entries tagged with 'Pitchfork'
Posted Apr. 30, 2008,
The Beach House that Juan Built
By Meagan Brant
There are more photos in this gallery. View them all.
Juan's Basement, a television show that syncs up a band's style with a like-minded visual aesthetic, has come a long way from its days on Plum TV, since when we last checked in with them (in our June/July '07 issue). They've recently upgraded to a spot on Pitchfork's newest (and heavily fawned over) media project, Pitchfork.tv, and it's evident the quality of the show has exceeded its primary expectations.
But the space? That’s still the same -- real fucking tiny. I have the battle scars to prove it: a bump on the head (because I didn't learn the first, second or third time to duck when going down the stairs), a cramped leg from sitting perched on the corner of a mattress -- the authentic Juan's Basement experience. It's gritty, intimate, and an excuse to get messed up on a Sunday afternoon.
Host of the show Juan Pieczanski admitted that his show originally "was supposed to be just like a party. Now, it's super like --"
"It's like a job," noted David Yoonha Park, the director.
Posted Apr. 23, 2008,
Eight Items or Less: Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey at a Miami Gay Bar, Scissor Sisters on LOGO and the Bent Festival in NYC
By Gary Pini
1. Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey were hanging out at South Beach gay bar Halo on Tuesday night. The actors are in Miami researching and filming I Love You Phillip Morris based on the true story of a Texas convict who falls in love with his cellmate. The book was written by Houston Chronicle crime writer Steve McVicker. (via the Miami Herald)
2. The Scissor Sisters are hard at work on their third album but you can catch them on LOGO tomorrow night (April 24) at 8 p.m. The high-def footage was shot last year during one of their sold out shows at London's O2 Arena.
3. The Bent Festival is back in NYC this week (April 24 to 26). Bent is a mixture of "DIY electronics, hardware hacking and circuit bending" with installations and nightly concerts including one by Austin, Texas' Furby Youth Choir featuring an army of customized Furby toys. It all goes down at the DCTV building at 87 Lafayette Street, right below Canal.
4. Pitchfork raves about Cut Copy's new album: "A gloriously positive record...a combination of ingenuity and easiness that you don't often come by. "In Ghost Colours" is a brilliant summer record!' The band is appearing at Coachella on the 25th and will be in NYC for a couple of shows in mid-May. We can't wait.
5. Ang Lee is set to direct the filmed version of Elliot Tibor's 2007 memoir Taking Woodstock. Tibor headed the Bethel, New York, Chamber of Commerce that issued the permit for the 1969 concert on his neighbor Max Yasgur's farm. (via Reuters)
6. Also via Reuters: "Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises." Sorcerers? Penises? Go here for all the gory details.
7. UK music festival All Tomorrow's Parties announced its first East Coast version will take place September 19 to 21 at Kutsher's in the Catskills ("the last of the Borscht Belt grand resorts" -wiki). My Bloody Valentine is headlining (and curating) in their first US show in 16 years. Also appearing: Meat Puppets, Mogwai, Built to Spill and many more.
Posted Aug. 6, 2007,
Okkervil River: Ha, We Told You So!
By Alexis Swerdloff
Remember back in June when we were all hootin' and hollerin' about how much we were really digging the new Okkervil River album, The Stage Names, and we warned you that there would be fanfare surrounding their upcoming release? Well, we were right! Their album earned an impressive 8.7 on Pitchfork today, garnering them the "Best New Music" stamp. Not that Pitchfork is the be-all-end-all by any means, it's just cool sometimes to feel sort of validated. In any case, the album's out -- so go buy it! Or see them on September 28th, when they take to the Webster Hall stage alongside Damien Jurado!
Here's a (pretty low budg) video of OR lead singer Will Scheff singing "Our Life Is not a Movie but Maybe" at an in-store concert:
Posted Jul. 18, 2007,
Skeletons & the Kings of All Cities Get Short-Shrifted
By PAPERMAG Editors
PAPERMAG contributor Jonas Oransky sent us this here little screed this morning:
Like them or not, Editors really have to be out-marqueed for their new record not to get Pitchfork's top review spot on any given day. It takes a band with serious vintage and a little mainstream crossover -- a band like the Meat Puppets. And the Puppets did win that popularity contest on Pfork today, even as both albums were trashed in their top-of-the-fold reviews.
So it really sucks for the little guys, Skeletons & the Kings of All Cities. Their new album Lucas -- read what else I had to say about it here -- got a great review today [8.2], but the piece was stuck not only below the Puppets and Editors, but also under a German dance compilation, which failed to pull even a 6. And Lucas' rating just barely failed to earn the record a "Recommended" appellation, which would have given it some extra play.
How long is the attention span of the Pitchfork reader? Will he or she even get to the Skeletons review? Will the band get their due from a potential audience that would probably get interested if they knew the king of websites loved this record?